Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	head_n	king_n	supreme_a	4,443	5	9.1068	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52706	A letter from a gentleman in the city to a gentleman in the country, about the odiousness of persecution wherein the rise and end of the penal laws for religion in this kingdom, are consider'd : occasioned by the late rigorous proceedings against sober dissenters, by certain angry justices in the country.	A. N.; Penn, William, 1644-1718.	1687 (1687)	Wing N3; Wing L1388A_CANCELLED; ESTC R9450	23,013	34

for Matters meerly of Religion and in particular For meeting together meerly for matter of Religion Doubtless their Answer would have been given with one general Voice That it was not Lawful and that it was against the Rule of Christ and the Law of Nature Quod Tibi non vis fieri Alteri non feceris Do not unto another what thou wouldst not have done unto thy self And that true it is the Jews who Persecuted the Lord of Life and put him to Death for matter of meer Religion did alledge for their Justification That they had a Law and that by their Law he ought to Dye But that that Law and all Laws of that Nature were against the Law of God And that the Christians had no such custom nor the Churches of Christ is I think a most undeniable thing These Ages by the Agreement of all were esteemed the purest Ages of Christianity Religion being then most Pure when the Professors of it were most Poor And if any one shall conceive that the Christians of those Ages would have given any other Answer contrary to what I have here framed for them and shall give a convincing Reason for such his Apprehension I shall confess my mistake In the mean time I must say That I cannot see what other answer they could have given but what must have justified the Persecutions against themselves to have been innocent on the part of the Persecutors who believed those first Christians to Err in Religion and to be Disturbers of the Peace and Government of their Countries and their Meetings to be unlawful Assemblies And much more Innocent on the part of the inferiour Magistrates who took care to put those Laws in Execution they being as much obliged in all civil Respects to put in Execution the Laws of their Superiours as our Inferiour Magistrates are obliged to the Execution of our Laws and they gave the same Reasons And the same is to be said in the Case of the Persecution of our Lord Christ as seems very clear from that Prayer which he offered for his Persecutors Father forgive them they know not what they do here then is a Principle of Christianity undivided In the next place We are to consider Christianity in England when divided only into two distinct Parties viz. Protestants and Papists and when the Protestants had made a Sub division amongst themselves here This I take to be in the times of K. Hen. 8. K. Edw. 6. Q. Mary and part of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth for though there were diversities of Opinions amongst Protestants as well here as in other Countries even in the first beginnings yet they were not divided into Parties being every-where upon the Defensive In the time of K. Hen. 8. which I intend to instance in both Parties were persecuted The Case stands thus That King at his coming to the Crown found the whole Nation in a quiet possession of Popery and holding it as an Article of their Faith and the Principle whereon they believed the Unity of their Faith depended that The Pope was the Supream Pastor and visible Head of Government next under Christ of the Catholick Church of Christ of which the then National-Church of England was a Member The King had defended this Article by Writing so vigorously against M. Luther that the Pope had for that very work conferred upon him the Title of Defender of the Faith to be enjoyed and used by him and his Successors for ever After this by Act of Parliament this Supream Pastor this Visible Head was thrown off and this King put in his place so far as concerned the Church of England by the Title of Supream Head of the Church of England annexed to the Crown and this by a Law 26 Hen. 8. C. 1. And then by another Law 26 Hen. 8. C. 13. it was Enacted That if any by Word or Writing should attempt to Deprive the King of the Title of His Royal Estate he should be adjudged a Traytor This change of the Headship of the Church was and is truly at least in England a Protestant Doctrine and undoubtedly there is no Protestant whatsoever but approves the casting off the Popes Headship as conformable with the Doctrine of Protestants And upon the latter of these two Laws divers suffered Death for their denying the Kings Supremacy This was the first step made in England from Popery towards Protestancy And the Vigorous Execution of this latter Law encouraged several Protestants from Forreign parts to come into England not doubting but to have a Liberty to Exercise their Religion here and it gave confidence to many of the Subjects of England to receive and to others to entertain good thoughts of Protestancy being perswaded that after the shedding of so much Blood as had been shed here upon that Occasion England would never any more admit of the Article of the Popes Supremacy and consequently would every day make greater steps from that Church of which the Pope was owned to be the Supream Pastor And certain it is that Protestancy upon this Occasion also made its entrance into England and gained Ground here and such if not by open application to the King for that purpose yet at least in their Hearts desired a Toleration and to be admitted to Preach and Exercise their Religion here without being Persecuted for their so doing so that their Principle was at that time at least against Persecution for meer Religion But Protestancy being now taken notice of to grow another Law was made 31 Hen. 8. for setling unity of Opinion in the six Articles therein named by which the denyal of Transubstantiation and several other Doctrines therein named are Enacted to be punished with Death And now Persecution in England for matters of meer Religion grew sharp and high so that it is observed by our Historians that upon one and the same day some who were Professed Papists were put to Death for denying the Kings Supremacy which was a Protestant Article And some who were professed Protestants were put to death for denying Transubstantiation which was an Article of the Papists So that at this time the Government could neither be said to be Popish nor Protestant but both Parties were Persecuted most severely for matters of meer Religion And he who should then have said to either Party in justification of the Proceedings of the Magistrate in the Execution of either of those Laws That that Party did not then suffer for any matter of meer Religion but for breaking of the Peace in breaking of the King's Laws would certainly have been taken not to have understood those Laws or the cause of their then Suffering And now suppose each of these Parties separately interrogated when thus under Persecution for Afflictio dat intellectum Is it lawful to Persecute and to make and Execute Laws for the Inflicting of Pains and Penalties upon quiet and peaceable People for matters of meer Religion for it seemed a time to teach both Parties an

Eternal temperance and moderation most certainly each Party in their then present Circumstances would have answered in the Negative That it was not lawful They would not have fallen into the debate to consider what Religion their Persecutors were of whether of the Popish or Protestant to the end to have fixt the Cruelty and Injustice of Persecuting for a matter of meer Religion upon that Party as a Principle of their Religion which their Fancies should have perswaded them to have been the Religion of their Persecutors The Papists would not have then stood formalizing that because the first Persecution was occasioned upon the denyal of the King's Headship over the Church of England which was a Protestant Doctrine in opposition to the Pope's Headship which was the Popish Doctrine therefore the Protestants were the Aggressors in the Persecution and therefore the Principle of Persecution was a Protestant Principle and the Persecution of the Protestants afterwards was no other than a just Judgment of God drawn upon the Protestants by themselves as a Consequence of that Principle of Persecution which gave them the first occasion of introducing their Religion nationally into England Nor would the Protestants by way of Recrimination have charged the Papists then that because that King and the then Government were of the Popish Religion in every point save only in the Article touching the Supremacy therefore the Principle of Persecution must necessarily be a Popish Principle No they would most certainly each Party have disclaimed the Principle as unwarranted by the Principles of true Christianity which each of them claimed to be theirs and each of them would have agreed that it was their common Principle To do unto others as they desired others should do unto them Here we see the Principle of Christianity in England when divided The Persecutions before mentioned being quieted by the Death of K. Henry the Eighth and the Crown descending unto K. Edward the Sixth an Infant of such tender Years as made him uncapable of Exercising the Government in his own Person not being come to the use of right Reason the Duke of Somerset took upon him the Administration of all things under the Title of Protector and with him the Protestant Party had their sole Interest Several Penal Laws were made in this King's Reign for the Inflicting Pains and Penalties for matters of meer Religion which gave occasion to the Papists to charge upon Protestants the Principle of Persecution for matters of meer Religion as their Principle It is true the Papists were at that time Sufferers and were actually Persecuted by the then Government for matters of meer Religion But true Charity might easily have found other Reasons unto which those Persecutions might warrantably have been Assigned and there was certainly no necessity of Assigning them to any Principle of the Protestants The first Law which was made relating to these matters was 1. Edw. 6. C. 1. touching the Lord's Supper Entituled The Penalties for speaking against the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ or against the receiving thereof in both kinds This seems to have no other tendency than barely to keep both Parties from falling together by the Ears and the Protestants were more likely to fall under the Punishment of this Law than the Papists None could say That it was the effect of Intemperate Spirits for though it directed Communion in both kinds to such as defired to Communicate yet it compelled not any person to communicate And it had a Clause of great Temperance in the very close of it in these words Not condemning hereby the usage of any Church out of the King's Majesties Dominions The next Law of this Nature was made in the same Parliament viz. 1. Edw. 6. C. 12. it is Entituled thus viz. Statutes concerning Treasons c. repealed and this cannot be denyed to be sharp against the Papists It makes it highly Penal to affirm That the King is not or ought not to be Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland or any of them immediately under God or that the Bishop of Rome or any other Person or Persons other than the King of England for the time being is or ought to be by the Laws of God Supream Head of the same Churches or any of them But there is no necessity or reason of ascribing this neither to any Protestant Principle though it is supposed to be made in affirmance of a Protestant Principle Another penal Law was made 1. and 3. Edw. 6. Entituled The Penalty for not using Vniformity of Service and Administration of Sacraments And in 3. and 4. Edw. 6. C. 10. was made an Act For the abolishing and putting away of divers Books and Images Both which were severe against the Papists in matters of meer Religion yet do I not find any necessity why the Persecutions which these Statutes occasioned should be imputed to any Protestant Principle During the whole Reign of this Infant King it is clear that the Papists in some degree suffered Persecution from the Hands of the Protestants for matters of meer Religion And without doubt had it been then demanded of the Papists Whether such Persecutions and such Laws Enacting such Persecutions were lawful and agreeable with the Principles of true Christianity which they pretended to maintain their Answer would have been in the Negative And they would then with one accord have readily agreed That Persecution for matters of meer Religion was no more consistent with the Rule of Christ requiring us To do unto others as we would that others should do unto us than Murder and Robbery But the Persecutions Inflicted upon the Papists by the Law made in the time of King Edward the Sixth did not last long they ended with his Life and by the descending of the Crown to Queen Mary the Papists were rescued from all their Sufferings All the Laws made against them in the Times of Hen. 8. and Edw. 6. were Repealed But the case was altered with the poor Protestants whose Sufferings were so great and are so sharply and justly reflected on even to this day that I who love not to aggravate any thing especially that carries its own aggravation with it will say no more of them but beg of our good God to fill us with mercy in place of revenge and to forgive them as we would be forgiven Sure I am had any Protestant been asked his Judgment in that Age touching the Principle of Persecuting for matters of meer Religion he would have disclaimed it as absolutely contrary to the Principles of his Religion which is the point that I am labouring to Evince And after all this shall any one take it ill if upon a Principle of Charity I shall profess that I could never as yet see any thing offered which in my poor apprehension did necessarily Evince That Persecution for meer Religion was even an avowed Principle of either side The Bloody Fury of Persecution under which the Protestants

suffered so miserably in Q. Maries time did end with her Reign which was but short And after that the Protestants never suffered more from the Papists But upon the death of Q. Mary the Crown coming to Q. Elizabeth and she thereupon declaring her self a firm a zealous and to all intents religiously a Protestant the Edge was turned against the Papists before any differences were discerned to be among the Protestants Several of the Popish Clergy suffered Persecution some even unto Death in several parts of the Kingdom And new Laws were from time to time framed and multiplyed for those purposes And if now we ask the Opinion of the Papists as to Penal Laws either Sanguinary or others and Persecutions for meer matter of Religion they will tell you and they continue in that protestation even unto this day That all such Laws and Persecutions are unlawful and against the Principles of the Gospel And though the Protestants under several changes have been in the possession of those Laws and have at times more or less Executed them yet so far as I can find they do not own Persecution for matters meerly of Religion to be their Principle or so much as lawful After the Papists had some time continued the alone-Persecuted Party for Matters of Religion several Differences in Matters meerly of Religion happened to divide the Protestants into distinct and separate Parties during some part of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and also during the several and successive Reigns of King James and King Charles the First And about the beginning of the Reign of King James some few desperate Male-contents professedly of the Popish Religion being found Guilty of a wicked Plot whereby they had designed the Destruction both of that King and of his Parliament by Gun-Powder for which they were deservedly Executed several new and more severe Laws were then and at several times after made against the Papists in general by which several Punishments were Inflicted on them for Matters of meer Religion and several Penal Laws were also made by which the then Governing Protestant Party then and still distinguished by the Name of the Church of England or the Episcopal Party persecuted Them. The Dissenting Protestants of all sorts were Prosecuted under the general Name of Non-conformists who cryed aloud for Liberty of Conscience and declared it absolutely Unlawful to Punish any for Matters of meer Religion The refusal of which bred bad Blood in the Kingdom and we all know what followed During the continuance of the War and after King Charles the First was not able to make Head against the Non-conformists the Non-conformists Retaliated the Church of England and not a little crusht the Popish Party both having engaged on t'other side and being of other Religions esteemed themselves Persecuted for matter of Religion That War being ended with the Death of King Charles the First and the expelling of our late King out of his Dominions and the Ruine of Episcopacy and the Suppression of the Papists and the total Change of the Government the Non-conformists under the several Forms took upon them and kept the Government until the late King was by the Divine Hand of Providence restored to his Crown During all which time the Episcopal Party and the Papists Suffered more or less for matters at least in their Apprehension meerly of Religion But these two Parties were not alone in their Sufferings for during those Bloody contests there appeared another Party which from its very first rise in this Kingdom hath been severely Persecuted and that only for Matters of Religion This Party was the People called Quakers They did at their first shewing themselves in the World go under the name of the Children of Light because they assert as their main and first Principle That Christ is the True Light that Enlightens every Man and Woman with a measure of saving Light which all ough● to obey on pain of Damna●ion but by one Bennit an Officer in 1650. were nick named Quakers They Professed themselves to adhere to the plain Principles of the first Christians and particularly to hold it as their Principle That all Persecution whatsoever against any Party People or Person whatsoever for matters meerly of Religion is absolutely Vnlawful Vnrighteous and against the Spirit and Will of God and Doctrine of true Christianity And to give them their due they have been true Contenders for their Principle both by their frequent Apologies and Remonstrances on the one hand and Invincible Patience in Suffering on the other hand Upon the Restauration of the King the Episcopal Party was also Restored The Presbyterians Independants and Anabaptists expected a general Toleration in matters of Religion according to some of the King 's Gracious Letters as a Reward for their helping or not opposing His Restauration The Papists also expected the same thing as a reward for their Loyalty in adhering to the Crown The Quakers now a great People grew confident of the like Freedom because of their Inoffensiveness to Government But instead of this expected Liberty all the former Penal Laws made in the time of Q. Elizabeth K. James and K Charles the First were Revived and ordered to be put in Execution as well against all Non-conformists who were Protestants as against the Papists And new and more severe Laws were made against them all And by these respective Practices we see what all these Parties have done when they had Power I think such as understand the Transactions of our Country will clear me from having made any mistake as to matters of Fact in any thing that I have here said touching past Persecutions though I believe there will not want some who will either think me mistaken in the point of Charity when I profess to believe that I do not think there is any one Party now in England who holds it as a Principle of their Religion That it is Lawful to Persecute or to make or Execute Laws for the Inflicting of Pains or Penalties for any matters of meer Religion Or else they will supect I do not in Truth believe what I here profess to believe in this point since even what I have said as to matters of Fact before urged by my self it plainly appears that there is not one Party now in England the People called Quakers only excepted who profess themselves Christians but have been notoriously Guilty more or less of the very Fact or at least of a publick allowing if not abetting of it And every Party will be apt to censure me of Singularity at least since each Party thinks that they have Arguments drawn from Facts sufficient to six this ugly Doctrine as a Principle upon that Religion which they hate most O that the Man could prevail against the Beast and that we would permit our Passions to give way to our Reason to consider things nakedly and as they truly are Si satis est accusasse Quis erit Innocens If to accuse be a sufficient