Of free justification

Mi. God doth all things with perfect Righteousness and Equity.

Conel. Therefore God exacts not punishment for those things, which cannot be performed.

A Fallacy of the Accident is committed. For this want of ¹strength and impotency should have a just excuse, if Nature had been properly and simply so created. But when this weakness was not at first created with Nature it self, but crept in some other way against Nature by Sin, we must therefore see not only what this corrupted Nature now can do, or cannot do, but also what it ought simply to do: Therefore I answer to the Major, ²and freely own that punishment is not unjustly inflicted for those things, which there is no cause but they might have been observed, either in regard of the Lawgiver himself, or in the nature of the things themselves, but only by reason of the impotency of the Subjects themselves, an impotency contracted through their own default; as if a ⟨p. 177⟩Prince send forth an Ambassador any whither very sound and whole, to whom afterwards he had commanded some things which he could easily have performed, unless he had made himself Cripple & lame thro' his own default. Now if in performing the Commands the Ambassador wants ability, is there cause why this impotency should be imputed to the Prince, and not rather to the Ambassador, who deprived himself of his own soundness? And that is it which Augustine signifies, lib. de ³Justic. perfect. Yea therefore, saith he, it is man's fault, because it came to pass by the will of Man only; that he is come to that necessity, which the will of Man only cannot shake off. Therefore that representation which is brought in by you of a Servant in Bonds, is nothing to the purpose, unless you likewise prove this, that this impediment was cast upon him, not thro' any fault or cause in himself; which seeing it cannot be denied by you, what cruelty should there be reckoned to be in it, if a Lord, require just punishment to be inflicted on a Servant that is corrupt and flagitious? Yea, behold rather singular Clemency in the Lord, who is so far from inflicting upon the Servant the punishment which he deserved, that he receives him into favour without any merit; yea moreover, exposes his dearly beloved Son to undergo punishment for the Servant? Go now, Osorius, and when you have sufficiently considered with your self about this matter, then tell, who those are, that are enraged with so