Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	king_n	queen_n	spain_n	7,368	5	8.4419	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40071	An answer to the paper delivered by Mr. Ashton at his execution to Sir Francis Child ... together with the paper itself.	Fowler, Edward, 1632-1714.; Ashton, John, d. 1691.; Child, Francis, Sir, 1642-1713.; Stillingfleet, Edward, 1635-1699.	1690 (1690)	Wing F1695; ESTC R30132	19,700	32

himself in the Vindication of both and that this is not repugnant to the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England It was not thought disagreeable to them for Q Elisabeth to assist the Dutch against the King of Spain yet she had no such reason for it as our King and Queen had to prevent the suppression of their own Religion here and the Rights of that People to whom they were so nearly related For there was nothing in her Case so considerable as the growing Power of Spain and the danger of overturning the Religious and Civil Liberties of a neighbour People The Queens Professor of Law in Oxford at that time saith that it was then made a Question by some whether Q. Elis. had just Reason for that War in assistance of the Dutch and he resolves the Lawfulness of it upon 3 Grounds First That it was to prevent ensuing Mischief Secondly From the ancient Alliance between the two Nations Thirdly That if the Dutch were totally vanquished by the Spaniard they would be made Slaves under an Arbitrary Power The Queen herself owned this as the Ground of her Resolution That it was Christian Piety to relieve them who were of the same Religion which she professed and Wisdom to prevent the pernicious designs of her Enemies And in her Declaration she published this as the Reason of her sending Forces to the Aid of the Netherlanders That they might peaceably enjoy their ancient Freedom In the latter end of the Reign of King Iames I. the War broke out in Germany wherein the Emperor used his utmost endeavour to establish absolute Power and Popery together There was occasion offered to try whether the giving Assistance against these were against the Principles and Doctrines of the Church of England For the Prince Elector Palatine was chosen King of Bohemia and sent over for King Iames's Advice about it But his Designs lay then so much another way that he had no mind he should engage in it But the Archbishop of Canterbury in his Letter to Sir R. Naunton then Secretary of State saith That God had set up this Prince his Masters Son in Law as a Mark of Honour throughout all Christendom to propagate the Gospel and to protect the oppressed that for his own part he dares not but give Advice to follow where God leads apprehending the Work of God in this and that of Hungary that he was satisfied in Conscience that the Bohemians had a just Cause that the King's Daughter the Elector's Lady had professed she would not leave herself one Iewel rather than not maintain so Religious and so Righteous a Cause In the beginning of the Reign of King Charles the First when I suppose it will be granted That the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England were understood and followed the King of Denmark had taken up Arms to settle the Peace and liberty of Germany as he declared But he met with a great Defeat Whereupon King Charles the First thought himself concerned to give Assistance to him And Archbishop Laud was then employed as Dr. Heylin confesseth by the King's Command to draw up a Declaration to be published in all the Parishes of England which was read by the King and approved by the Council wherein the Greatness of the Danger they were in is set forth and the People are exhorted to serve God and the King and to labour by their Prayers to divert the Danger Wherein lay this Danger It is there said to be That by the Defeat of the King of Denmark there was little or nothing left to hinder the House of Austria from being Lord and Master of Germany And what then Why then there will be an open way for Spain to do what they pleased in all the West part of Christendom It seems then it was not thought disagreeable to the Principles and Doctrins of our Church to hinder the growth of a Western Monarchy although it be by assisting Subjects against their Princes who promote it And then follow these remarkable Words You are to know therefore that to prevent this is the present Care of the King and State and there is no proba●le way left but by sending of Forces and other Supplies to the said King of Denmark to enable him to keep the Field that our Enemies be not Masters of all on a sudden And not long after If he be not presently relieved the Cause of Religion is not only like to suffer by it in some one part as it hath already in a fearful manner in the Palatinate but in all places where it hath got any footing So that if we supply not presently our Allies and Consederates in this case it is like to prove the Extirpation of true Religion and the Replanting of Romish Superstition in the Neighbouring parts of Christendom And the Coldness of the State shall suffer in all places as the Betrayers of that Religion elsewhere which it professeth and honoureth at home which will be an Imputation never to be washed off And God forbid this State should suffer under it And in the last place You are to call upon God your selves and to incite the People to joyn with you in humble and hearty Prayers unto God That he will be pleased now after long Affliction of his dear People and Children to look in mercy both upon them and us and in particular for the Safety of the King of Denmark and that Army which is left him That God would bless and prosper him against his and our Enemies Thus far Archbishop Laud. Let those who now with as much Ignorance as Confidence upbraid Men with Renouncing the Doctrins and Principles of the Church of England read and consider these Passages and if any thing will make them more wise and humble this will Did Archbishop Laud go off from the Church of England or King Charles the First who both suffered for the sake of it But some Men have never throughly penetrated into the Doctrins and Principles of our Church but look only on some Principles in opposition to the late Times of Rebellion and think there is nothing farther to be looked after Whereas the Consideration is very different as to our Duties with respect to our own Princes and those of a more general Concernment as to the state of Religion and Government in the World But from hence it is plain that it was then thought not only Lawful but a Duty to prevent the dangerous growth of such a Monarchy which designs to suppress Religion and Civil Liberties and not only to give Assistance to those who joyn in the same Design but to pray God to bless and prosper it And accordingly a Form of Prayer was then Appointed for those Dangerous Times Not long after this a Breach with France hapned and the King Published a Declaration of the ground of the War wherein it is laid down as the first Ground That the House of Austria Conspiring the Ruin of all those

these and several others are allowed by such who have written the most warmly against the republican Principles But we need not run to any difficult Cases Ours is only the case of a just War which is allowed by all sorts of Casuists who do agree that Allegeance is due to the Party that prevails in it and if it be due to one it cannot be due to another at the same time altho' he be living and do not discharge Persons from their Oaths for the obligation of Oaths depends on the nature and Reason of things and not upon the Pleasure of those to whom they are made But where there is a Right to govern there must be a Duty of Allegeance And that Success in a just War doth give such a Right I could produce so many Testimonies of all kinds of Writers as would make the Reading of them as tedious as of those in the History of Passive Obedience Nay some go so far as to assert a Right of Sovereignty to be acquired by success even in an Unjust War But we need none of these Testimonies But doth not all this resolve this whole Controversy into a Right of Conquest which is not so much as pretended in our present Case I Answer That we must distinguish between a Right to the Government and the Manner of Assuming it The Right was founded on the Iust Causes of the War and the success in it But the assuming of it was not by any ways of force or violence but by a Free Consent of the People who by a voluntary Recognition and their Majesties acceptance of the Government as it is setled by our Laws take away any pretence to a Conquest over the People or a Government by Force Thus I have endeavoured to set this matter in as clear a light and in as little a compass as I could I now return to Mr. Ashton's Speech Next to his Obligation on the Point of Religion he mentions that of Gratitude to the King his Master whom he had served 16 years But this he adds is a thing not much esteemed at this time As little as it is esteemed I know no body would have blamed his Gratitude if it had not carried him beyond the bounds of his Duty But it is strange he should be so much for Gratitude and yet should allow none for so great a Deliverance What is 16 years service to the Preservation of a Nation from the imminent danger of Popery and Arbitrary Power Such men look but a very little way who talk at this rate And can they imagine a French Power under our Circumstances could secure any thing to us but Ruin As to his Master's usage which he saith after the Prince of Orange's Arrival was very hard severe and if he may say it unjust I would desire his Friends to consider a little better and to think if any such thing as Severity had been intended how easy it had been to have Executed it and to have prevented his going away and consequently a great deal of the charge of the War he complains of immediately after Let them name any one Person in such Circumstances who was allowed so great freedom as he had of disposing of himself But this is very far for Mr. Ashton's occasion of Suffering Well But all the new Methods of Setling have hitherto he saith made the Nation more miserable poor and exposed to Foreign Enemies It is possible such may believe that the Nation would be less miserable and poor under the French Power than it is now But no man who observes the vast designs of France and the incredible industry of the French Monarch to inlarge his own Power and Dominions can think if he thinks twice that ever he should undertake so great a Work out of kindness to any but himself much less out of perfect good will to the English Nation Hath he given so much evidence to the World of his Sincerity in his Promises when the keeping of them hath been prejudicial to his Interest Suppose he should compass his end upon us and under so fair a Colour make Provinces of these Kingdoms what possible remedy would there be for this then indeed poor and miserable Nation What comfort will it then be to say they did not think he would have broken his word so with them In the mean time Is it not great Wisdom and Policy to venture our Religion and all our Liberties on the sincerity and kindness of France But if there be any present hardship it is no more than a necessary War involves our Neighbours in as well as our selves and that in a common Cause for preserving the Liberty of Europe against the growing Power of France as it did formerly of Spain But there is another Insinuation of a higher nature viz. that the Religion we pretend to be so fond of preserving is now much more than ever likely to be destroyed What is the meaning of this What! More in danger than when Penal Laws and Tests were taking away in order to the taking away our Religion after them When the design was as plain and open as a thing of that nature could be in such a Nation When some of the Factors themselves complained they made too much haste and were too eager and forward to accomplish it And altho' nothing was then pretended but the setling Liberty of Conscience upon a new Magna Charta yet all wise Men saw through these pretences and that nothing was really designed but Popery which the Jesuits did not conceal in their Letters to each other One of the which hapned to be intercepted and the thing it self is now fully owned in the Kings own Letter to the Pope printed at the end of the late Trials So that there must be a design either to deceive the Pope or the Nation and which is the more probable let any man of sense judge But where lies the danger of our Religion now Have we not the same Laws the same Protection the same Encouragement which we ever had at any time since the Reformation If our Religion be now in danger it is by such men who would bring in the French Power to establish it however it be disguised under another Pretext After this follows a Charge of no less than Perjury and Rebellion upon his Fellow Subjects whom he adviseth to return to their Allegeance before the Iudgments of God overtake them for their Perjury and Rebellion This is a heavy Charge indeed upon the Body of the Nation which hath taken the Oaths of Allegeance to their Majesties But if it be true it is accusing the greatest part of mankind of these Sins who have hapned to live in the time of any great Revolutions or changes of Government Was the Nation Forsworn in the times of William the Conqueror and his two Sons and his Nephew Was it Forsworn all the time of King Iohn and the several Reigns of the 4th 5th 6th and 7th Henries One would think it

better became a dying man to judge more charitably of his Fellow Subjects Had he never heard of the Law of England requiring Allegeance to the King on account of the Possession of the Crown and that our most eminent Lawyers in peaceable and quiet Times have been of that Opinion Methinks at least that should make modest men not so peremptory in such a Charge for it is to make such an Oath unlawful which the Law makes not only lawful but a Duty And when the greatest Lawyers this Nation hath had thought this a part of our Law shall such who confess themselves unskilful in the Law charge the Nation with Perjury for taking an Oath which the Law requires But if our Law did not require it there is such a general consent in mankind about it that it seems to me to be a Law of Nations That an Oath of Fidelity should follow Possession because otherwise there would be infinite snares to the Consciences of all such who are required to obey but are not bound to enquire into the Rights of War Is it Perjury and Rebellion in the new French Conquests for the Inhabitants to take Oaths of Fidelity to the French King If not how comes it to be so here Is there not the same Right of War here as abroad Was it Perjury and Rebellion in the Subjects of the King of Spain in Portugal to take a new Oath of Allegeance to the Duke of Braganza when he was declared King And yet they were all sworn before not only to the King of Spain but to his Heirs And even the Duke himself had not only taken this Oath but the Spaniard particularly charged him with Perjury and great Ingratitude Yet the obligation to his Countries good was then thought to overrule that Personal Obligation to the King of Spain But if they were all guilty of Perjury and Rebellion how came the other Princes of Europe so frankly and readily to own his Government and the French as much and as early as any sending Assistance by Sea and Land to support it But in this Revolution of Portugal the best Title was the Success of War sounded on a remote Title to the Crown when the King of Spain had enjoyed the Possession of that Crown to the Third Generation But it may be said That the Practices of other People are to be no Rule ●o us and that we are not to be guided by bad Precedents abroad but by the Principles and Doctrins of our own Church This were to the purpose if our Church had any where declared Taking such an Oath to be Perjury But where is that done I confess I can find no such thing And if Mr Ashton or his Friends had made such a Discovery they ought to have told the World of it But if there be no such Declaration to be met with then we are left to the General Rules of Conscience and the Common Reason of Mankind according to which I see no ground for this heavy Charge of Perjury and Rebellion in our present Case But although Mr. Ashton be so abundantly satisfied in the Design he mentions that if he had ten thousand Lives he would sacrifice them all in so good and necessary a Work yet the Remainder of his Speech is spent in clearing his Innocency as to the Fact for which he was Condemned If it was so Meritorious an Act to Die in such a Cause a Man might have been tempted to be thought Guilty But before he could think fit to Die in Charity with all the World he saith several things with a Design to blacken the Iudges the Iury and the Government The Iudges he Accuses of a Severe Charge and the Hard Measure he received As to the latter it is a very odd kind of Hard Measure when he was so very little sensible of it then that he said He did not Complain of the Court fo 112. and more fully afterwards fo 115. I cannot but own I have had a fair Trial for my Life Where was the Hard Measure then Therefore this could not be Mr. Ashton's Sense unless he would contradict himself and those who would free him from it must take these Words to have been written by others who thought to serve another End by it and were not so near giving an Account for such Calumnies The severity of the Charge lay in applying the Statute 25 Edw. 3. to his Fact Which was a Design to carry into France a Treasonable Scheme and Project of an Invasion in order to the deposing the King and Queen This last the Judges declared had been always held to be High-Treason All the Question was then Whether such a Fact were an Overt-Act of such a Design and so it was left to the Jury whether Mr. Ashton intended to go over with such a Design or not If there be any Severity here it must be in the Law and that all those who suffer by a Law are apt to complain of He particularly chargeth that Iudge and that Iury-man who did he saith signally contrary to common Iustice expose themselves to destroy him This is a very hard Charge from a Dying man and ought to have great Evidence to reconcile it to common Charity but he offers none The Iury were to Act according to their Consciences and if they did so how could they expose themselves contrary to common Iustice to destroy him But what Evidence doth he give that they did not so Some have told him that he was the first man that was ever Condemned for High Treason upon bare suspicion or Presumption and that contrary to my Lord Cook and other Eminent Lawyers Opinions The main point as to the Iury was Whether they were satisfied in their Consciences that Mr. Ashton intended to go into France with such a Design And where the Fact lies in the Intention there can be no direct Evidence without seeing the Hea●t but it must be gathered from a Concurrence of Circumstances strong enough to determine an honest mans Judgment And such the Iury believed to be in his Case My Lord Cooks words are on the Case of Treason That the Compassing Intent or Imagination thô secret is to be tried by the Peers and to be discovered by Circumstances precedent concomitant and subsequent with all endeavour evermore for the safety of the King It is true he saith afterwards Fol. 1● That conjectural Presumptions or Inferences or strains of Wit are not sufficient but there must be good and manifest Proof but still this Proof must be such as the thing will bear for there can be no direct and plain proof of a secret Intention Either therefore no man can be justly Condemned for a secret Intention manifested by an Overt-Act or there must be such a Proof allowed as is sufficient to satisfie a mans Conscience although it come not up to plain and direct Evidence as it is opposed to the highest degree of Presumption But it may be said that the Presumption lies in judging