Selected quad for the lemma: england_n
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A37283
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A thanksgiving-sermon preach'd at Sutton in Surrey, April the 16th, 1696 being the national thanksgiving day for His Majesty's most happy preservation from the most detestable assassination, in order to a French invasion / by Henry Day ...
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Day, Henry, M.A.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing D463; ESTC R16920
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10,274
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30
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Head might satisfy the letter of this Text and pray for the peace of Jerusalem but in that they sought to dethrone him it appears they did or not understand the meaning of the words or not obey it They pray'd for the Peace of Jerusalem as Sinners do for the Grace of Repentance who pray but do not labour for the Grace they pray for they pray'd for the peace of Jerusalem as some Nominal Protestants have done for the Church of England at the same time they labour'd to bring back merciless Tyranny and foolish Superstition To know the ways of righteousness according to the Language of Scripture imports not only bare knowing but actual walking in those ways and to remember the word of the Lord denotes more than a simple calling it to mind even a conscientious conformity to it So the Command of praying for the peace of Jerusalem implies an honest endeavour of every man in his Station to promote it And what the Israelites were commanded to do on behalf of Jerusalem the Capital City of the Land of Promise the Law of Nature or right Reason commands every particular man to do for the peace and prosperity of that City Kingdom or Common-wealth whose Protection as a Member of the same Body Politick he enjoys Some of our Order my Brethren have been justly reproached for running too much out of their Province to meddle with Affairs that concern'd them not principally State-Affairs in the late Reigns And we all know out of what Design and to serve whose Purpose the Sons of Levi became the Disciples of Achitophel But Morality being a part of what we are oblig'd to teach I think none of you will say that I forget my Duty if I spend some time to shew you the Just Obedience due to the Legal Powers set over us for as these so is Religion and we that preach it ordain'd for the use and good of the Publick Our Prayers then for the Peace of the Kingdom of England and for the renowned Metropolis London our great Jerusalem and our Endeavours in our several Stations to promote that Peace cannot be sincere and honest unless we do these Three things 1. Own the Legality of the Government under the Administration of King William our Rightful and Lawful King 2. Forbear traducing it or patiently hearing it traduc'd 3. Associate for its defence against all the Enemies thereof whatsoever 1. Own the Legality of the Government under the Administration of King William our Rightful and Lawful King By nature all men are free equal and independent no man can be mov'd from this State and made a Member of a Community or Government but by his own consent and when for the better securing to himself his Temporal Interests he has giv'n his consent and becomes a Member of a Community or Government he must be contented to regulate himself according to the Laws and Measures which shall be prescrib'd by the majority of the Government or any number of men chosen by the Majority for that end No man in Civil Society ought to be exempted from the Laws of it for such an exemption brings him back to the state of Nature and in such a state every injur'd private man has a right to be reveng'd of him To apply this When the late King James after that he had tyrannically labour'd to alter the whole Frame of the Old English Government and utterly to root out the Christian Religion as it is profess'd and exercised by all that bear the name of Protestants did abdicate and renounce the Government of England Scotland and Ireland with their Dependences that would never basely yield themselves Popish Slaves to his Arbitrary Lust the Majority of the People chose their Valiant Deliverer to be their King to go in and out before them to fight their Battels and see their old Laws put in execution Now there is not an Englishman but according to the Law of Nature and Reason ought to be concluded by this Choice For as a Modern Author convincingly argues If the consent of the Majority shall not in reason be receiv'd as the act of the whole then nothing but the consent of every Individual can make any thing to be the act of the whole and then say I it is impossible there should be any such thing as Society I hope no man will he so foolish as to say That the Majority of the People chose King William to be their King in Fact but not of Right for they had not chose him to be their King if they had not been satisfied that the Tyrant his Predecessor had Forfeited and Renounc'd all the little Right that he could pretend to But supposing let me be pardon'd for so extravagant a Supposal that the Choice of the Oppress'd and Abandon'd People of England gave to King William only Possession of the Government and no Right since it came to pass I know not how he was not solemnly and expresly declar'd Rightful and Lawful till t'other day when it appear'd clear as the Sun that the de Facto Doctrine miss'd but narrowly of taking away not only both his Crown and Life but also our Religion Laws and Properties suppposing as abovesaid yet the present Parliament by whom the Nation is to be concluded have God be thanked at last recogniz'd King William as our Rightful and Lawful King He therefore that refuses to do the same being now by Law expresly call'd to it declares himself an utter Enemy to the Government and not only justly may but necessarily ought to be treated as such for the Safety and Preservation of the Government When Mercy to Restless Conspiring Traytors so plainly as in our Case appears to be Cruelty to the Government the Magistrates that show it cut not only their own Throats but the Throats of all Loyal Subjects who depend on their Vigilance Fortitude and Wisdom These seven Years that we have been disputing the Right of King William and the honesty of our Establishment what have we been doing but exposing his and our own Lives Religion Laws and Liberties to the bold Insults of bigotted Unreasonable Licentious Superstitious Needy Atheistical Men I do not think that all these Epithets belong to the Character of every Frenchifi'd Jacobite but if every one of them does himself Justice they will not leave me a word of Reproach upon my Hands 2. Our Duty of praying for the Peace and endeavouring to promote the Prosperity of our Nation obliges us to forbear traducing it or unconcernedly hearing it Traduc'd A discontented Reflection upon the Government naturally tends to weaken the Hands of it and cannot well be understood to be meant otherwise And since every particular is included in the acts of the Majority such Reflection is not more injurious to the Government than to the reputation of the Man who makes bold with it If a man cannot bring his mind to approve the Title of the Prince in Possession why is he so disingenuous as to
be beholding to him for his Protection Let him pack up his awls and be gone to some more blessed Region where he may Sacrifice all that he has to the Divine Right of an Arbitrary Lord and if he manages his business well arrive at the Honour of sqeezing and oppresing others I do not remember any nation of Old but I am little read in History with whom it was safe to reflect on the Authority of the Government but that such as give themselves this liberty should enjoy and execute Offices of Honour and Trust Sure it was never so in any Nation or if it were they lived upon Providence by the day and took no care of themselves lest they should seem to distrust the goodness of God But it is not enough to forbear traducing the Government A good Subject will not patiently hear it Traduced Qui non vetat peccare cum potest jubet He that can and does not prevent a Sin tho' he join not in the immediate Act yet partakes of the Guilt What Son will endure to hear his Father abused and shall I without resentment hear the Father of my Country who freed me from insupportable Tyranny blackned with the Odious name of an Usurper God forbid When Absalom reproched his Father's Administration and rose up against him David took all prudent care to suppress the dangerous Insurrection but he had a tenderness for Absalom and took it ill that the forfeited Life of the Ambitious Youth was not spared but his valiant and faithful Captain Joab put it home to him 2 Sam. 19. 6. I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all we had died this day it had pleased thee well Upon this honest Remonstrance the good King was satisfied and the Kingdom safe Shall I hear mention the Heroick vertue of Lucius Junius Brutus who when his own Sons were found engaged in the Conspiracy for bringing back the Proud Tirant Tarquin himself dragged them to condign punishment Indeed the Romans in the Infancy of their State were impartially zealous for the publick Good they Sacrificed not only their private Interests but their natural Affection to it But you had rather hear me deal in sacred Story I will speak of David again Psalm 62. 3. he expostulates with his Enemies in these words How long will you imagine mischief against a man I suppose some honest Secretary stood at his Elbow and answer'd for them As long as they are unpunish'd for his very next words are You shall be slain all of you as a bowing Wall shall you be and a tottering Fence 3. Our duty of praying for the Peace and endeavouring to promote the Prosperity of our Nation obliges us to Associate for its defence against all the Enemies thereof whatsoever The great end why Men at first unite and associate into Bodies Politick is that they may be able to maintain their just Rites and if Wicked Men among them by base Arts and Treacheries labour to betray the Community they find it necessary to tye themselves in stricter Bands for the discovery of their treacherous Enemies and setting a distinguishing Mark upon them that so if they be longer endur'd in the Community they may be prevented from doing it Mischief Indeed our first choice of the Prince of Orange to be our King was in Law and Reason the Act of the whole Nation and our Oath of bearing Faith and true Allegiance to him if it be not shamefully misinterpreted obliges us not only to live quietly under but also actually to support the Government But so it has happen'd some among us who as yet are contented to be called Protestants nay challenge the name of Church of England Men have learn'd some Sophistical skill from the Schools of the Jesuits whereby they miserably impose upon themselves and others they prate and publish that such Oath obliges them only to live quietly under King William tho' that is more than they will do for under pretence of Charitable Collections for the relief of Non-Jurers Wives and Children to raise vast Sums to promote a French Invasion is not living quietly and by no means will they admit that the Oath requires them to oppose the reduction of the Late King whose Soul thirsts to be reveng'd of our taking the advantage of his Forfeiture Well then Hac non successit aliâ aggrediundum est via This Oath will not hold them we must try what an Association will do for shall they Associate to destroy us and shall not we do as much to preserve our selves When Jerusalem was Besieg'd by Titus there were three strange Factions in the City that battled one another as often as the Romans intermitted their Onsets but when the Romans came on they laid aside their intestine Hatred and all united for the common defence of the City Nature teaches the worst and the simplest of Men this common Prudence to Associate for their common Defence I am sure we have now had a demonstration That not King William nor any Friend of the Government under him can possibly be safe without it even they that have been unwilling to think that King James could forfeit his Crown were he never so great a Tyrant even they have seen with their Eyes and heard with their Ears those Evidences that he was like to have been brought home not Re-inthron'd Boufflers would have taken care of that at the charges of their ruin also and the ruin of their Families Therefore after the Oath of Allegiance which so many Jacobites have play'd with it is not only prudent but just and necessary that an Association be requir'd under a severe Penalty A Command without a Penalty has not the face of a Law the Person to whom it is given must be very well dispos'd if it pass but for so much as good Counsel-Rewards are proper encouragements to Vertue but Penalties are the necessary sanction of Laws therefore well and wisely like King Williams true Liegemen and old England's genuine Patriots have the King and Parliament enacted that whoso refuse the Oaths shall be deem'd as a Papist convict and he that speaks or writes against it as Illegal shall be deemed a promoter of the designs of King James and a betrayer of our Religion Laws and Liberties and yet for all this so tinctured with their old leaven are some sour minds that they pretend Conscience against one Clause in the Association which is this and in case his Majesty come to any violent or untimely death which God forbid we do hereby further freely and unanimously oblige our selves to unite Associate and stand by each other in Revenging the same upon his Enemies and their Adherents In truth the Men that Scruple this Clause would be glad to be excused from the Declaration that goes before nay I am afraid had rather absolved the Traytors than oppose their Treason but they shall Associate they shall or the World shall see that Conscience is not the Reason of the refusal When they put