Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
soul_n	body_n	creature_n	nature_n	5,226	5	5.4212	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70553	The thoughts of a private person, about the justice of the gentlemens undertaking at York, Nov. 1688 wherein is shewed, that it is neither against scripture, nor moral honesty, to defend their just and legal rights, against the illegal invaders of them : occasioned then by some private debates, and now submitted to better judgments.	Leeds, Thomas Osborne, Duke of, 1631-1712.	1689 (1689)	Wing L923A; ESTC R15799	20,236	31

THE THOUGHTS OF A Private Person About the JUSTICE OF THE Gentlemens Undertaking AT YORK Nov. 1688. Wherein is shewed That it is neither against Scripture nor Moral honesty to defend their Just and Legal Rights against the Illegal Invaders of them Occasioned then by some Private Debates and now submitted to better Judgments Printed in the Year 1689. The present Undertaking of the Gentlemen at YORK Nov. 88. taken into Consideration wherein is shewed That it is neither against Scripture nor moral Honesty to defend their Just and Legal Rights against the Illegal and Unjust Invaders of them by way of Objection and Answer FIrst That it is not against Scripture is shewed Obj. 1 2 3. 2. That it is not inconsistent with the Frame of the Government in General Obj. 4. 3. Not against the Law but the Law-breakers Obj. 5. 4. Not Rebellion Obj. 6. 5. No Vsurpation of the Power of the Sword Obj. 7. 6. No unlawful Act in a moral Sense Obj. 8. 7. Not against true Allegiance Obj. 9. 8. Not against the Declaration in a Legal Sense Obj. 10. 9. Not against Political Power but Force without Political Power Obj. 11. 10. Not against any Royal Prerogative in general Obj. 12. 11. Not against the Supremacy Obj. 13. 12. Not Criminal Disobedience Obj. 14. 13. Not incommodious or unsafe for the Publick in respect of the present and approaching Evils in removes Obj. 15 16. 14. No disparagement to the Frame of the Government that cannot otherwise decide at obstinate difference between King and People Obj. 17. Lastly The Conclusion shewing That Non-resistance of illegal Force does in effect make all Monarchs Arbitrary and the People Slaves The Thoughts of a Private Person c. MEN have three Rules to walk by which we may call Laws that is Nature Reason and Religion and and answerable to these three a Christian hath three Principles that is Sensitive Rational and Spiritual which I take to be the distinction that St. Paul makes 1 Thes 5.23 I pray God your whole Spirit Soul and Body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Nature considers all Men as single Persons and directs them to Self-interest and Self-preservation as the chief end Reason considers Men as sociable Creatures and directs them to unite the Government for the publick Good inclusive of their own Safety as the chief End. And the Spirit considers Men as Candidates for Heaven and directs them to live according to the Word of God that they may attain Eternal Happiness the chief End of Man. All these have the divine Warrant and are of force where the Lower is not superseded by the Higher A single Person is not to expose himself to ruin unless it be for the Publick good and the Publick are not to expose themselves to Beggary and Slavery unless it be for the Kingdom of Heaven Now though these Rules may be considered separate and apart yet they all ought to be in a Christian Government Laws for the publick Good do not destroy the Law of Nature but supersede it for a greater Good and the Laws of God do not destroy the Law of Reason but supersede it for a higher end and so makes it still more Reasonable to do so Nothing therefore can justifie a Private Injury but the Publick Good and nothing can hinder the Publick Good for being carried on but Sin. For these Laws are not destructive but supportive of one another and all supportive of Man. When a Man cannot defend himself by the Method and Measures of the Publick as in case of sudden Assaults he may by the Law of Nature break the Peace and smite his Adversary to save his own life because humane Laws can reward no Person 's obedience with so good a thing as life and therefore the publick good excepted his life is to be preferred before all forms of Law. But it is not so with the Laws of God for if I be urged to deny my Faith or dye I must dye rather than break God's Law because God will give me a better Life and an infinite Reward Necessity can suspend a positive Law of Man that is merely such but it cannot supersede what is established by God or Nature an Act therefore that is civilly Unlawful may notwithstanding be Lawful because it is not Lawless but under a more extensive Law. If it be according to the Laws of God or sound Reason the Conscience is safe and the Act commendable before God and good Men though it be against the form of Political Law For though it be against the Form it is not against the Reason of that Law and the Form not being extensive enough of Man's safety it must give place to necessity and absolve him of his duty when his duty would destroy him The Safety of Man shows us both the Necessity and End of humane Government for when private Persons found they could not be Safe they were willing to enter into Compacts and Associations and reposite their private Safety in the publick Interest And therefore if after this Association some of their Fellows will break the Covenants and go about to destroy the Rest it is lawful both by the Laws of God and Man for the injured to defend themselves and by the Laws and Compacts by them made and consented to on both sides for the publick Good. Otherwise it would be unlawful to resist Injustice and consequently a Thief or a Robber Objets 1. But you will say in all Governments there are Superiours and Inferiours and God has made Obedience a part of Religion and consequently conducive to a higher end than the Publick Good and therefore if the Governours break the Laws and introduce a Publick Evil for a Private Interest they must not be resisted upon pain of Damnation Answ This were a good Plea if it were true but God is not the Patron of Injustice and therefore he gives no Prince or Potentate more Authority over the People than the Tables of the Government express and of these there are diverse degrees Those that are Govern'd by the Will of their Prince whose Word is a Law if he command their Persons for Slaves or their Estates to serve his Ambition they must obey and God requires it of them because it is the Prince's Right Arbitrary Princes have a Political Power to treat a Subject cruelly and inhumanely their Immortality is an offence against God not in justice to the Subject who had given himself up to be used at their discretion But those that are to rule by Laws made for the Publick Good and such as render the Subjects Freemen not Slaves such as secures their Religion Liberty and Property if these Princes contrary to Law imprison their Persons or seize their Estates they do it unjustly without God's Warrant or any Political Authority and may be resisted or else we might not resist the Devil should he creep into the Court in a Jesuits habit and Haman-like get a Commission

but Force without Power may The Political Power of Arbitrary Princes is more extensive than their Moral Power And this tyes the Subject to Non-resistance when he is Immorally or Unchristianly used They that subject themselves to anothers Discretion devest themselves of all defence But they that reserve Property and Liberty to themselves may justly defend them when they are unjustly invaded Had the King an Arbitrary Power which he did abuse to vex the Protestants I for my part should think my self obliged to suffer and not resist as I believe did all the Primitive Christians but seeing he has no Political Power to use me as he lists and the most Absolute Monarch has no Moral Power to do an unjust Act to his Subject I should be a senseless Fool it without any Obligation either from God or Man I should stand Blows rather than withstand them The Truth is Non-resistance stretch'd thus far under this Government would make us like the Two Fools that went to the Field to fight with one Staff with which Vice Versa he that had it cudgell'd the other who stood all the while with his Hands in his Pocket Valiantly bearing all the Blows his Brother Fool thought good to lay on 2. Others conclude otherwise against this Doctrine and say The King having the Sacred Power Lodged in him may not be resisted though he Act without or against that Power for reverence of that Just Power of God that is in him This looks like a piece of Courtship to God and smells more of Superstition than Divinity God requires no Honor to the prejudice of Justice or the Advancement of Injustice but this too Devout kind of Reverence would inable a bad Prince to injure the Innocent and would leave Justice defenceless on Earth Just Power is a Sanctuary indeed but the Sanctuary is of no larger extent than the Power This is evident by the Tenour of all Commissions the Granter must have a competent Power of what he Grants and that Warrants the Executor to proceed to the and of the Grant but the having Power to one Purpose cannot protect a Man from Resistance if he proceed to another The Chimneyman that is Irresistable in his Office is Resistable if he gather the Corn in the Town-fields And the King that Receives his Commission from the King of Heaven to execute the Law and is therefore Irresistable in the Execution of it is yet Resistable if he shut up all the Courts of Justice and abuse his Subjects contrary to Law In this case he Acts not by the Power of God but his Own by an Arm of Flesh or the Strength of Wicked Men not by any Political Power or Moral Power but by the Savage Power of a Beast or the Malicious Power of Hell. And how any Honor should accrue to God by a Voluntary submitting to such a Power is beyond my comprehension they are most likely to Honor God that stand up most for his Power and will submit to no other I have brought in these Two Objections here because the Declaration is the most specious and obvious Plea for Non-resistance and is usually back'd with one of these Conceits that either want of Political Power is but abuse of Political Power or that a limitted Political Power is a Sanctuary for unlimitted Actions in whomsoever it rests Obj. 12. But to resist such Forces as are Commission'd by the King is against the Royal Prerogative of the Crown Answ The King has no Prerogatives except such as are wrapt up in honorary Formalities but what the Law gives him we must not therefore presume a Prerogative and then conclude it Law but first find the Law and by it prove the Prerogative and when we have found the Prerogative it must be measured by what the Publick Good will bear and not by what the Absoluteness of the Prerogative will admit For no Prerogative can be used that is against the Frame of the Government or the Publick Good. Interpretations of Law therefore ought rather to favour Liberty and Property than Prerogative because the benefiting of the Subject comes nearer to the End of the Government than the excessive Honouring the Prince Honorary Prerogatives are in their Degree necessary and not superfluous there must be something to maintain the Reverence of Magistrates but they ought to give way to Publick Interest and the rest are nothing but Powers placed in the King to do Good with and not Good or Ill as he pleases A Prerogative therefore cannot destroy a Law but it may supply its Defects pardoning a Condemn'd Innocent or a hopeful Penitent or dispensing with a Law to one that by particular Accident the Law in its Rigour would undo But no Prerogative can Impower the King to destroy the Peoples Liberty or Property That dispensing Power that like a State Opium casts all the Laws asleep and is an Engine of Publick Mischief is no Prerogative belonging to the Crown of England but a Vice that does not belong to it For it brings Guilt upon the King and Damage upon the Subject and is a real diminution of the Dignities of the Crown For it and such like serve only to Impower the King to do Mischief with securely that is they give an Immunity from Punishment but not from Guilt As suppose the King by such a claimed Prerogative should shut up all the Courts of Justice so that none should be had he might be free from Punishment but not from Guilt he is clear by Necessity only not by Right the Case Transcends the Frame of the Government none can Judge him that has neither Equals nor Superiours and so he escapes because he cannot be Punished not because he deserves it not Thus the pretended Prerogative bespatters him and so leaves him Obj. 13. But it is against the Supremacy for the Supreme ought to have the Supreme credit both in judging what is Law and what is for the Publick Good. Answ As the King is Supreme in the Executive part so the Parliament have a share in the Legislative which I take to be the very Apex of Supremacy and therefore they ought to have their share in interpreting Laws as well as the King or his Judges because none knows the meaning so well as the Makers if they be alive and if they be dead none knows the publick Necessities so well none so unlikely to deceive or be deceived being so numerous none likely to be so faithful and so unlikely to be corrupted having so great an interest in the publick Good none like to be so effectual in working a compliance in the Peoples hearts seeing it is in effect their own Determination But yet they cannot do it without the King for that would place his Parliament above himself The King indeed is Supreme in the Legislative part as well as in the Executive part but he has not the whole Supremacy in the Legislative part as he has in the Executive He is the Head of that Body in which it

rests but the Power like the Soul of Man is in the whole Body though most eminently in the Head. The Parliament have their Existence but not their Essence from him When they are called together they Act by a proper and inherent Right of their own and not by the King's Commission and Direction It may be good Manners to fall upon what he directs them to first but if any thing of greater Moment require dispatch they must wave a Complement to do a real Kindness to the publick Interest which they could not do were they his Commissioners and received their power to Act by from him It is unnatural for the Stream to stop the Fountain head But seeing they Act by their own inherent Power when met they can restrain in the King that he cannot make a Law without them or give such an interpation of any either by himself or his Judges as shall bind the Subjects to follow or is not Reversible in Parliament for such Interpretation is part of the Legislative Power and that rests in the King and Subjects Conjunctim Had the King Authority to bind his Interpretations for Law upon the Subject he might at Pleasure elude any Law and Law would be but a Sconce for Arbitrary Power The Opinion indeed of the Judges is reverend but not irreversible None can finally bind an Interpretation on the Subject but those that can make Law Therefore if the King and Parliament differ about the sense of a Law it is not legally decided till both agree in one sense But that sense that is really for the Publick Good has the Right of a Law though not the Form and they that justifie such an Interpretation are justifiable by the Law of Nature for though it transcend the Process of Courts and cannot have the force of a political Law yet Reason Mankinds prime Law justifies Men to prefer a publick Good before a private Interest and what is for the Publick Good they that feel are best able to Judge Obj. 14. But it is Disobedience Answ Disobedience to a Lawful Command is a Grievous Crime and a great Sin but it may be a great duty to disobey an unlawful Command Obedience is due as far as the Law requires and something farther a particular Person must suffer rather than the Honour and Majesty of the Prince should be brought into Contempt for though the Law does not bind to this yet Conscience and Reason do the publick Interest must be promoted Scandal prevented and the Government secured from Contempt though it prejudice some particular Person for such Contempt may arise from a just refusal of Obedience in some small and single Instances and may be of worse consequence to the Publick than a private Injury but if the thing commanded tend to destroy the Government or introduce a general Calamity Disobedience becomes a Duty and such commands in this Government are Morally Politically and Divinely Powerless and the Disobedient in such a Case does the King as good Service as he that discovers Treason for he gives him Notice that his Foot is entering into a Snare and that his Preservation stands in desisting and repenting if he would but heed it And if the Disobedience be once Good the higher it goes the better it is continuing still Good it is absurd to go from Good to Worse extensively Disobedience that is Good is still better as it is more likely to prevent the Evil And then Disobedience Defensive is doubtless better than Passive for that would introduce the Evil Voluntarily that is they that were not willing to do it themselves were yet willing to let others do it and how far that can clear them I see not For though it is not a downright consenting to subvert the Government yet it is a consenting that it shall be done rather than they will run the hazard to defend it or prevent it which is but Pilate-like to wash the Hands of what their Hearts tell them they are Accessary to Obj. 15. But War is hurtful to the State. Answ The Arm that is broke cannot set it self nor can he that sets it set it by any Natural Power derived from the Spirit but by a Violent disturbing them again the Bone-setter is often forced to pull them further asunder ere he can joyn them well and so it is when Wicked Men have disjoynted and broken the Bones of State the languishing Law cannot restore it self nor can those that seek to restore it restore it without doing Violence to its broken part but it is better to do that Violence than to let them grow Crooked or Gangreen He that has taken Poyson must suffer the Violence of a Vomit and they that are Sick must be made Sicker oft before they can be made Well The prejudice therefore the Government receives by those that go about to restore it does no more denominate them Enemies to the State than the little griping of Physick can denominate Physicians Enemies to Nature The Evil proceeds from the Disease not the Remedy and the Guilt is upon them that gave the Wound not those that drest it all the Anguish and Smart that follows the Skilful Chirurgeons Hand is not to be attributed to the Chirurgeon but to the Wicked Assasline and therefore though this Restoration have the Evil of a Civil War yet the Guilt of all that Evil lies upon the Causers Men are not bound to lose their Right for fear of harming Wicked Men nor to save a less Good by loosing a greater a short Evil is to be chosen rather than a perpetual one Men had better drudge to preserve their own Freedom than to enter into Bondage to drudge for others and the Patriots of our Country do well to bear the Burthen of a War rather than to become Slaves themselves and leave Popery Beggery and Slavery to their Posterity Obj. 16. But it is an unsafe and dangerous Medicine it opens a gap to the People to rebel at Pleasure and may indanger the change of the Government Answ A desperate Disease must have a desperate Cure but doing right can no way open to do wrong resisting illegal Forces is hedging up a Gap not making one Raising of Men to take a Fellon will not excite the same Men to rise and seize an honest Man We must not therefore forbear to take up Arms in a just Cause lest it should incourage others to take up Arms in a bad Cause for then some that were breaking the Peace and would not be quieted with Words might not be resisted lest it should teach the People to break the Peace but Blows bestowed on such Malefactors is no breach of Peace and therefore can teach the People no such thing if they do ill by that Example it is not long of the Copy but of those that do not heed to write by it 2. I know Men in Passion and heightned with Success and back'd with Strength are apt to soar with high and fall in love with new