Selected quad for the lemma: soul_n
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A28353
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The souldiers march to salvation wherein is shewn the lawfulness of voluntary serving upon the assured knowledge of a just cause, how it is lawful and necessary for prest souldiers to obey authority in case of doubting ...
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Bland, Francis.
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1647
(1647)
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Wing B3156; ESTC R13075
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31,824
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51
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Image Secondly There is neverthelesse some which neither out of zeal to revenge nor desire of vistory kils a man but only for remedies sake of avoyding or eschewing some ill as to suppresse Rebellion to resist invasions oppessions and the like In which cases to kill an enemie is undoubtedly lawfull And yet herein it shall much behove the killer though necessity compell him to destroy the body of his enemie to wish well unto him that falleth under his hand and together with the wounds of death which hee giveth him to pray unto God to save his soule and to grant him repentance faith and every grace that is needfull to everlasting life Againe not only in taking away the life of the enemy but also in imprisoning or enslaving his person and taking his goods appropriating them to the Conquerours themselves is much moderation and gentle clemency to be used And that for these Reasons First humanitie requires it the conquerours and conquered being both of one Nature and deriving their originals both from one Roote and that these warres as other oppositions are the consequents of mans fall wherein the Conquerours and conquered had equall share being in the loyns of Adam which should move the Conquerours to pity those who by hostile Acts whether force or feats of warre are subdued And to say of them as Ahab King of Israel said of Benhadab King of Syria subdued by his Forces and making suit for quarter Hee is my Brother and the conquerours should behold neither the mortall wounds nor the living miseries of their subdued enemies but with compassion Thus of Aneas it is said when he saw the blood and fall of Lausus his enemie slaine by his owne hand He lamented him pitifully and therefore is called The image of piety I may say of pitie And of Marâ—ollas which having conquered Sicilie which had stood out very obstinately against him and standing upon a high place that he might behold the condition of that Citie which of late was most rich and flourishing but now most miserable hee could not abstaine from weeping so as if some man had seen him and not known how the case had been he would have thought the victory to have been anothers which made one say to distressed Sicilie This may be some gratulation or mitigation of thy griese Because seeing thou mightest not stand in safety thou fallest so easily under so gentle a Conquerour Omitting other examples these shew us that The sweetnesse of humanity pierceth the brutish dispositions of Barbarians mollifieth the hard and cruell eyes of enemies and bendeth those spirits that are most proud and insolent of their victory it conquereth Anger scals hatred and mixeth the blood of an enemie with his enemies teares Againe as humanity so Christianity teacheth us to be propense and ready to clemency and mercy unto conquered enemies Seeing those warrs which are waged amongst Christians when they are of one Religion are more then civill warrs yea though they be just our Magistrates except their be just reasons that withstand it ought to carry minds so much more ready to shew mercy unto those that are conquered And not only Magistrates and Commanders but all souldiers and military men even for Christianities sake if so be they be Christians ought to be ready to shew mercy and gentlenesse to those that are subdued or brought under their power Excellent and imitable is the example of the valiant and victorious first Christian Emperour Constantine who in his warres during the battell gave charge That there should not be a slaughter of many whereby he tooke no more care for the safety of his owne then of his enemies and when victory was gotten his charge was That they should have mercy on the prisoners and seeing they more men the oblivion or forgetfulnesse of humane nature should never overtake them And if at any time he saw the minds of his Souldiers to be very fierce he would refraine them with gifts and further gave order that if any could take an enemy alive he should be rewarded by which means the wisdome of the Emperour found out an alluring way for the conservation of men so as infinite numbers even of very Barbarians escaped safe Of this rare goodnesse and mercy of the Emperour one as it were sighing thus speaks Alas for this clemency and gentlenesse that it is out of fashion in this our Age Further it would much induce the victors or conquerours to shew clemency and be kind to the conquered and subdued if they should reflect upon themselves and seriously bethink what clemencie or kindnesse they would desire if they were in the same case and therewith remember the speech of our Saviour whatsoever yee would that men should do unto you doe yee even so unto them and that with the the same measure that â—ee meete to others it shall be measured to you againe And surely such considerations may well at some time take hold of them as Iulius Caesar hearing this sentence it may befall to every one that befall to any one to any one he fell a weeping and being demanded the cause of such teares he answered I lament the fall of Pompey and am affraid of mine owâ—â— fortune And it is a very frequent that the same quarter men give to others they receive backe againe from others as in the case of Adonibezek and Agag Generall Ioaâ— and others may be seen To be short a warning peece unto all men may be that severe threat of the Lord by the prophet Isaiah we unto theo that spoylest or as we say plunderest and thou wast not spoyled and dealest treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with thee for when thou shalt cease to spoile thou shall be spoiled In which wordes the prophet seemes to threaten the King of Assyria or the land or Ninivelh the chiefe city of Assyria which did oppresse spoile and plunder the Nations about them that they should be spoiled afterward As if it should be said Woe unto thee that spoilest and plunderest the Nations about thee Now thou maist spoile and plunder at thy pleasure there is no strength to resist thee but there will be some one time or other that will plunder thee againe which came to passe when the Câ—aldeans did come and destroyed Niniveh so the Assyrians did plunder the Jews and the Chaldees did plunder the Assyrians wee will conclude with a sentence of an Heathen Author a little refined Thus doth the providence of God change the affaires and businesse of men Unto these Arguments we may add this one that gentle and courteous usage of those that are subdued helpeth to drew others unto a voluntary submission to lay down Armes and embrace peace and justice as Benbadab King of Syria his servants moved their Master that with sackcloth upon their loyns and Roapsâ— about their neckes they might grave pardon for him and obtaine a
must encounter together with their enemies in the field and so afraid of their enemies as Deaths messengers The reward of an evill Conscience is to fear those unto whom a man might be a terrour and this makes them to be as swift as Harts in time of warre that are as stout as Lyons in time of peace whereas a candid and clear conscience that is not terrified with the memory of by-past sins makes them that expedite a good cause as bold as Lyons It was a noble saying of one Dercyllidas a Senatour of Lacedemonia hearing that Pyrrhus lead a great Army against them and threatned sore If he be a God that threatens us let us not fear for we do nothing amisse but if he be a man let him know that he threatens men This I say is the fruit of a guiltlesse conscience which may encourage the possessor to say of his enemies Kill me they may hurt me they cannot But the evill conscience fearing death not onely as the dissolution of Nature but as Gods Provost-Marshall to arrest him binde him hand and foot neck and heels and so cast him into utter darknesse and eternall torments no wonder it is if it beget a cowardize the heart of Souldiers and so they become either Runawayes from their Colours or in hot service to hang back which giveth advantage to the enemie discourageth their fellows disorders the Army and hazzards all Thirdly violence rapine and injustice in some Souldiers causeth God to withdraw himself from the whole Army and so for wicked and impious men the rest are destitute of the help of God and beaten of their enemies yea although they otherwise prosecute a good Cause as is apparent in the case of Achan whereunto I referr you and of the Jewes affairs in their warrs it is observed by Chrysostome that they were conquered not of the weaknesse of Body but of their wickednesse and further notes how the Midianites understanding that the Israelites could not be vanquished by the sword cunningly sought to bring them into sin by sending their daughters to commit whoredome with them and then after they fell into sin they became easie to be subdued of all and those whom Arms and Horses and Souldiers and so many enemies could not take the nature of sin betrayed them bound unto their enemies And not unlike to this observation of this Ancient Father is the observation and sad complaint of the impiety and wickednesse of some souldiers by a learned Author of latter times what fruit I pray you reap we from such seed we are conquered of the Turks we are a scorn to all Nations Kingdoms perish and are subdued to Mahometisme and wee are daily involved in inexplicable miseries Thus by violence rapine and other sinns in souldiers whilest their prayers are rejected their courage abated and Gods favour and help alienated are whole Armies routed and discomfited and thereby Kingdoms overthrown and ruinated A fourth reason and that a very forcible one to disswade souldiers and indeed all manner of men from violence rapine and injustice may be taken from the unfruitfulnesse of such Acts and consideration of what benefit is gotten by such deeds suppose a man could get into his hands all the wealth of the world and bring the Kingdoms under his dominion when he shall thinke to sing a Requiem to his soule and to take his ease having goods laid up for many years at last hee must heare or feele what is spoken to the Richman Thou fool this night shall they fetch away thy soule from thee then whose shall those things be that thou hast gotten Those Kingdoms which thou hast subdued those Lands and Houses which thou now possessest having expelled the old inhabitants those clothes and jewells wherewith thou now arrayest and adornest thy selfe whilest the ancient owners goe fortorne and distitute whose shall they be thine they shall not be for thy soule shall be fetched away from thee and for thy body naked camest thou out of thy mothers wombe and naked shalt thou returne thither All thy high Trophies and rich prizes and booties left behind thee â—nd thou if thy desires were as boundlesse as Alexanders of whom it was said that One world doth not the Pellaean youth suffice Yet Then with a Cophine thou must be content But if thy Ashes after thy death shall have the honour of a Statue or a rich Monument yet time will consume it or malice breake it downe As Scipio Africanus his Statue was broken downe and removed from the place where it was first set and the brazen urne wherein his ashes were put with an Epitaph inscribed of which these verses were a part Whom neither Europe could resist nor Afrique in times past See mens Affayres how him doth hold a little â—â—rn at last But might they so part with on even hands their acts of violence plundering and injustice happy were they but then comes their mischiefe that 〈◊〉 S. Austen sayth This is the unhappinesse of men that the thing for which they sin when they die they leave here behind them But their sinnes themselves they cary along with them and an heavy burthen will such a carriage be unto their soules Aâ—hans heape of stones which were cast upon him were heavier sure then the Babylonish garments and all the Gold and Silver that he had plundered at Hiericho But if those stones were poysed they would be found lighter by much then the guilt of those sinnes which by violence plundering rapine and other Acts of injustice men doe contract unto their soules â—o heavy is it as they are not able to beare it and yet so adhering that they were not able to shake it of Oh who is able to expresse with what unwillingnesse the soul at death doth undertake its necessitated departure being loath to leave the things that were precious to it and appear before God with a conscience blotted with innocent blood and other acts of cruelty and injustice which if it might it would now cast away with as much disdaine and anguish of spirit as Iudas did the thirty peeces of silver gotten for betraying Christ and through the terrour of an accusing conscience despairing cry out I have sinned in shedding the blood cheating extorting and plundering the goods and in slandering and defaming the credits and causes of just and innocent persons There is an excellent passage in S. Bernard which we will borrow being very profitable to the pursuance of this Argument When the soul with great feare and mighty griefes is separated from the body then do the Angels command arrest it and bring it before the Throne of the dreadfull Judge and then the silly soule remembring all the evil yea the worst deeds which day or night it wrought shal tremble crave sparing or as wee say cry quarter saying give me leave spaning if it be but for an hours space but then his sinnes as it were