Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	church_n	good_a	scripture_n	3,617	5	6.0363	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44619	The character of a trimmer his opinion of I. The laws and government, II. Protestant religion, III. The papists, IV. Foreign affairs / by ... Sir W.C.	Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695.; Coventry, William, Sir, 1628?-1686.	1688 (1688)	Wing H296; ESTC R38783	43,501	48

ease than we are to Rob an House with a devout intention of giving Plunder to the Poor in this case our Compassion would be as ill directed as our Charity in the other In that the veneration due to the Laws is never to be thrown off let the Pretences be never so specious yet with all this he cannot bring himself to think that an extraordinary diligence to take the uttermost penalyt of the Laws upon the Poor offending Neighbour is of it self such an all-sufficient vertue that without something else to recommend Men it should Entitle them to all kind of preferments and Rewards he would not detract from the merits of those who execute the Laws yet he cannot think such a piece of service can entirely change the Man or either make him a better Divine or a more knowing Magistrate than he was before especially if it be done with a partial and unequal hand in Reference to greater and more dangerous Offenders Our Trimmer would have those mistaken Men ready to throw themselves into the arms of the Church and he would have those arms as ready to receive them he would have no supercilious look to fright those strayed Sheep from coming into the Fold again no ill-natur'd maxims of an Eternal suspicion or a belief that those who have once been in the wrong can never be in the right again but a visible preparation of mind to receive with joy all the Proselites that come amongst us and much greater earnestness to reclaim than punish them It is to be confess'd there is a great deal to forgive a hard task enough for a Church so provoked but that must not cut off all hopes of being reconciled yet if there must be some anger left still let it break out into a Christian Revenge and by being kinder to the Children of Disobedience than they deserve let the injur'd Church Triumph by throwing shame and confusion of face upon them there should not always be Storms and Thunder a clear Sky would sometime make the Church more like Heaven and would be more towards the reclaiming those wanderers than a perpetual terrour which seemeth to have no intermission for there is in many and particularly in English Man a mistaken pleasure in resisting the dictates of Rigorous Authority a Stomach that riseth against a hard imposition nay in some raise even a lust in suffering from a wrong point of Honour which doth not want her greater applause from the greater part of Mankind who have not learnt to distinguish constancy will be thought a vertue even where it is a mistake and the ill Judging World will be apt to think that Opinion in thought which produceth the greatest number of those who are willing to suffer for it all this is prevented and falleth to the ground by using well-timed Indulgence and the stubborn Adversary who values himself upon his resistance whilst he is oppress'd yieldeth insensibly to kind Methods when they are apply'd to him and the same Man naturally melteth into Conformity who perhaps would never have been beaten into it We may be taught by the Compassion that attendeth the most Criminal Men when they are Condemned that Faults are more natural things than Punishments and that even the most necessary acts of severity do some kind of violence to our Nature whose Indulgence will not be confin'd within the strait bounds of inexorable Justice so that this should be an Argument for gentleness besides that it is the likeliest way to make Men asham'd of their Separation whilst the pressing them too hard tendeth rather to make them proud of it Our Trimmer would have the Clergy supported in their lawful Rights and in all the Power and Dignity that belongeth to them and yet he thinketh possibly there may be in some of them a too great eagerness to extend the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction which tho' it may be well intended yet the straining of it too high hath an appearance of Ambition that causeth many Objections to it and it is very unlike the Apostolick Zeal which was quite otherwise employ'd that the World draweth inferences from it which do the Church no service He is troubled to see Men of all sides sick of a Calenture of a mistaken Devotion and it seemeth to him that the devout Fire of mutual Charity with which the Primitive Christians were inflam'd is long since extinguish'd and instead of it a devouring Fire of Anger and Persecution breaketh out in the World we wrangle now one with another about Religion 'till the Cloud cometh whilst the Ten Commandments have no more authority with us than if they were so many obsolete Laws or Proclamations out of date he thinks that a Nation will hardly be mended by Principles of Religion where Morality is made a Heresy and therefore as he believeth Devotion misplac'd where it getteth into a Conventicle he concludeth that Loyalty is so when lodg'd in a drunken Club those Vertues deserve a better Seat of Empire and they are degraded when such Men undertake their defence as have so great need for an Apology themselves Our Trimmer wisheth that some knowledge may go along with the Zeal on the right side and that those who are in possession of the Pulpit would quote at least so often the Authority of the Scriptures as they do that of the State there are many who borrow too often Arguments from the Government to use against their Adversaries and neglect those that are more proper and would be more powerful a Divine grows less and putteth a diminution on his own Character when he quoteth any Law but that of God Almighty to get the better of those who contest with him and it is a sign of a decay'd Constitution when Nature with good diet cannot expel noxious Humours without calling Foreign Drugs to her Assistance So it looketh like want of health in a Church when instead of depending upon that Truth which it holdeth and the good Examples of them that teach it to support it self and to suppress Errors it should have perpetual recourse to the secular Authority and even upon the slightest occasions Our Trimmer hath his Objections to the too hasty diligence and to the overdoing of some of the dissenting Clergy and he doth as little approve of those of our Church who wear God Almighty's Liveries as some old Warders in the Tower do the Kings who do nothing in their place but receive their Wages for it he thinketh that the Liberty of the late times gave Men so much Light and diffused it so universally amongst the People that they are not now to be dealt with as they might have been of less enquiry and therefore tho' in some well chosen and dearly beloved Auditories good resolute Nonsence back'd with Authority may prevail yet generally Men are become so good Judges of what they hear that the Clergy ought to be very wary how they go about to impose upon their Understandings which are grown less humble than in former times

fit only for the Society of Wolves and Bears therefore in all Ages it hath been the Foundation of Government and tho' false Gods have been impos'd upon the Credulous part of the World yet they were Gods still in their Opinion and the Awe and Reverence Men had to them and their Oracles kept them within bounds towards one another which the Laws with all their Authority could never have effected without the help of Religion the Laws would not be able to subdue the perverseness of Mens Wills which are Wild Beasts and require a double Chain to keep them down for this Reason'tis said That it is not a sufficient ground to make War upon a-Neighbouring State because they are of another Religion let it be never so differing yet if they Worship'd nor Acknowledg'd no Deity they may be Invaded as Publick Enemies of Mankind because they reject the only thing that can bind them to live well with one another the consideration of Religion is so Interessed with that of Government that it is never to be separated and the Foundations of it are to be suited to the several Climates and Constitutions so that they may keep men in a willing Acquiescence unto them without discomposing the World by nice disputes which can never be of equal moment with the publick Peace Our Religion here in England seems to be distinguish'd by a peculiar effect of God Almighty's goodness in permitting it to be introduc'd or more properly restor'd by a more regular Method than the Circumstances of more other Reformed Churches would allow them to do in relation to the Government and the Dignity with which it hath supported it self since and the great Men our Church hath produc'd ought to recommend it to the esteem of all Protestants at least Our Trimmer is very partial to it for these Reasons and many more and desiring that it may preserve its due Jurisdiction and Authority so far he is from wishing it oppressed by the unreasonable and malicious Cavils of those who take pains to raise Objections against it The Question will then be how and by what Methods the Church shall best support it self the present Circumstances consider'd in relation to Dissenters of all sorts I will first lay it for a ground That as there can be no true Religion without Charity so there can be no true humanePrudence without bearing and condescension This Principle doth not extend to oblige the Church always to yield to those who are disposed to molest it the expediency of doing it is to be considered and determined according to the occasion and this leadeth me to lay open the thoughts of our Trimmer in reference first to the Protestants and then to the Popish Recusants What hath lately hapned among us makes an Apology necessary for saying any thing that looketh like favour towards a sort of Men who have brought themselves under such a disadvantage The lateConspiracy hath such broad Symptoms of the disaffection of the whole Party that upon the first reflections while our thoughts are warm it would almost perswade us to put them out of the protection of our good Nature and to think that the Christian Indulgence which our compassion for other Mens Sufferings cannot easily deny seemeth not only to be forfeited by the ill appearances that are against them but even becometh a Crime when it is so misapply'd yet for all this upon second and cooler thoughts moderate Men will not be so ready to involve a whole Party in the guilt of a few and to admit Inferences and Presumptions to be Evidence in a Case where the Sentence must be so heavy as it ought not to be against all those who have a fixed resolution against the Government established besides Men who act by a Principle grounded upon Moral Vertue can never let it be clearly extinghish'd by the most repeated Provocations if a right thing agreeable to Nature and good Sence taketh root in the heart of a Man that is impartial and unbyass'd no outward Circumstances can ever destroy it it 's true the degrees of a Mans Zeal for the prosecution of it may be differing the faults of other Men the consideration of the Publick and the seasonable Prudence by which Wise Men will ever be directed may give great delays they may lessen and for a time perhaps suppress the exercise of that which in a general Prosecution may be reasonable but whether be so will inevitably grow and spring up again having a Foundation in Nature which is never to be destroy'd Our Trimmer therefore endeavoureth to separate the detestation of those who had either a hand or a thought in the late Plot from the Principle of Prudential as well as Christian Charity towards Mankind and for that reason would fain use the means of retaining such of the Dissenters as are not injurable and even to bearing to a degree those that are as far as may consist with the Publick Interest and Security he is far from justifying an affected separation from the Communion of the Church and even in those that mean well and are mistaken he looketh upon it as a Disease that hath seized upon their Minds very troublesome as well as dangerous by the Confequence it may produce he doth not go about to excuse their making it an indispensable duty to meet in numbers to say their Prayers such Meetings may prove misch evous to the State at least the Laws which are the best Judges have determin'd that there is danger in them he hath good nature enough to lament that the perversness of a Part should have drawn Rigorous Laws upon the Body of the Dissenters but when they are once made no private Opinion must stand in Opposition to them if they are in themselves reasonable they are in that respect to be regarded even without being enjoyned if by the Change of Laws and Circumstances they should become less reasonable than when they were first made even then they are to be obey'd too because they are Laws 'till they are mended or repealed by the same Authority that Enacted them He hath too much deference to the Constitution of our Government to wish any more Prerogative Declarations in favour of scrupulous Men or to dispence with Penal Laws in such manner and to such an end that suspecting Men might with some reason pretend that so hated a thing as Persectuion could never make way for it self with any hopes of Success otherwise than by preparing the deluded World by a false prospect of Liberty and Indulgence the inward Springs and Wheels whereby the Engine mov'd are now so fully laid open and expos'd that it is not supposable that such a baffled Experiment should ever be tryed again the effect it had at the time and the Spirit it raised will not easily be forgotten and it may be presum'd the remembrance of it may secure us from any more attempts of that nature for the future we must no more break a Law to give Men

them may in some sort be mittigated yet no Treaty can be made with Men who in this Case have no Free Will but are so muffled by Zeal tyed by Vows and kept up by such unchangeable Maxims of the Priesthood that they are to be left as desperate Patients and look'd upon as Men that will continue in an Eternal State of Hostility till the Nation is entirely subdued to them it is then only the Lay Papists that are capable of being treated with and we are to examine of what temper they are and what Arguments are the most likely to prevail upon them and how 't is adviseable for the Government to be Indulgent unto them the Lay Papists generally keep their Religion rather because they will not break Company with those of their Party than out of any setled Zeal that hath Root in them most of them do by the Mediation of the Priests Marry one another and by keeping up an ignorant Opinion by hearing only one side others look upon it as the Escutcheons the more Antient Religion of the two and as some Men of a good Pedigree will despise meaner Men tho' never so much superior to them by Nature so these undervalue Reformation as an Upstart and think there is more Honour in supporting an old Errour than in embracing what see meth to be a new Truth the Laws have made them Men of Pleasure by excluding them from Publick Business and it happens well they are so since they will the more easily be perswaded by Arguments of Ease and Conveniency to them they have not put off the Man in general nor the Englishman in particular those who in the late storm against them went into other Countries tho' they had all the Advantage that might recommend them to a good Reception yet in a little time they chose to steal over again and live here with hazard rather than abroad with security there is a Smell in our Natural Earth better than all the Perfumes in the East there is something in a Mother tho' never so Angry that the Children will more Naturally trust sooner than the Studied Civilities of Strangers let them be never so Hospitable therefore 't is not adviseable nor agreeing with the Rules of Governing Prudence to provoke Men by hardships to forget that Nature which else is sure to be of our side When these Men by fair Usage are put again into their right Senses they will have quite differing Reflections from those which Rigour and Persecution had raised in them A Lay-Papist will first consider his Abby-Lands which notwithstanding whatever hath or can be alledged must sink considerably in the Value the moment that Popery prevaileth and it being a Disputable Matter whether Zeal might not in a little time get the better of the Law in that case a considering Man will admit that as an Argument to perswade him to be content with things as they are rather than run this or any other hazard by Change in which perhaps he may have no other Advantage than that his new humble Confessour may be rais'd to a Bishoprick and from thence look down superciliously upon his Patron or which is worse run to take Possession for God Almighty of his Abby in such manner as the usurping Landlord as he will then be called shall hardly be admitted to be so much as a Tenant to his own Lands lest his Title should prejudice that of the Church which will then be the language he will think what disadvantage 't is to be look'd upon as a separate Creature depending upon foreign Interest and Authority and for that reason expos'd to the Jealousie and Suspicion of his CountryMen he will reflect what an Incumbrance it is to have his House a Pasture for hungry Priests to grow in which have such a never-failing Influence upon the Foolish which is the greatest part of every Man's Family that a Man's Dominion even over his own Children is mangled and divided if not totally undermin'd by them then to be subject to what arbitrary Taxes the Popish Convocations shall impose upon them for the carrying on the Common Interest of that Religion under Penalty of being mark'd out for half Hereticks by the rest of the Laity to have no share in Business no opportunity of shewing his own Value to the World to live at the best an useless and by others to be thought a dangerous Member of the Nation where he is born is a burden to a generous Mind that cannot be taken off by all the Pleasure of an easie unmanly life or by the nauseous enjoyment of a dull Plenty that produceth no good for the Mind which will ever be consider'd in the first place by a Man that hath a Soul when he should think that if his Religion after his wading through a Sea of Blood come at last to prevail it would infinitely lessen if not entirely destroy the Glory Riches Strength and Liberty of his own Country and what a Sacrifice is this to make to Rome where they are wise enough to wonder there should be such Fools in the World as to venture struggle and contend nay even to die Martyres for that which should it succeed would prove a Judgment instead of a Blessing to them he will conclude that the advantages of throwing some of their Children back again to God Almighty when they have too many of them are not equal to the Inconveniences they may either feel or fear by continuing their separation from the Religion established Moral things will have their weight in the World and tho' Zeal may prevail for a time and get the better in a Skirmish yet the War endeth generally on the side of Flesh and Blood and will do so till Mankind is another thing than it is at present And therefore a wise Papist in cold Blood considering these and many other Circumstances 't will be worth his pains to see if he can unmuffle himself from the Mask of Infallibility will think it reasonable to set his imprison'd Senses at Liberty and that he hath a right to see with his own Eyes hear with his own Ears and judge by his own Reason the consequence of which must probably be that weighing things in a right Scale and seeing them in their true Colours he would distinguish between the merit of suffering for good Cause and the foolish ostentation of drawing inconveniences upon himself and therefore would not be unwilling to be convinc'd that our Protestant Creed may make him happy in the other World and the easier in this a few of such wise Proselytes would by their Example draw so many after them that the Party would insensibly melt away and in a little time without any angry word we should come to an Union that all Good Men would have Reason to rejoyce at but we are not to presume upon these Conversions without preparing Men for them by kind and reconciling Arguments nothing is so against our Nature as to believe those can