Selected quad for the lemma: justice_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
justice_n	king_n	law_n	right_n	3,390	5	7.1155	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77694	A key to the Kings cabinet; or Animadversions upon the three printed speeches, of Mr Lisle, Mr Tate, and Mr Browne, spoken at a common-hall in London, 3. July, 1645. Detecting the malice and falshood of their blasphemous observations made upon the King and Queenes letters.	Browne, Thomas, 1604?-1673.	1645 (1645)	Wing B5181A; Thomason E297_10; ESTC R200224	40,321	55

repeale all the Lawes made against Recusants therefore the King is a Papist then it is to say the King will make no Lawes against the reading of the Alcaron therefore the King is a Turke The making or unmaking of Lawes of this nature having no naturall Influxe upon the Truth or Falshood of the Things or that conception which those men have of those things who make that Law but only upon the Conveniences or Inconveniences of Times The necessity then of those present times was the reason of the making of those Lawes the Queenes person was in danger from the Catholiques and that danger was so much the more because those Catholiques could not well be knowne To discover them and to defend her selfe were all those Lawes enacted and as God would have it they did that for which they were made they distinguisht Traytors from good Subjects they made her lov'd of the one and fear'd of the other and so between both she continued a long and prosperous Reigne amongst us But now the Tables are clean turn'd And the Kings Person is more in danger from a pestilent faction of Schismatiques then ever the Queen was from her Catholiques So that ceasing the reason of those Lawes there can be no great offence if the Lawes themselves now be made to cease and other Lawes establisht against those kind of men of whom the Person of the King is so notoriously knowne to be in great perill and danger Well the thing it selfe being thus clear'd that any Law made may be Repeal'd the King doth not erre in the Matter of his promise when He bidds the Queen promise in His name that he will take away all the Lawes in England made against Recusants provided they shall deserve so great a favour at His hands for he promises nothing but what may be performed without any breach of any known Law of the Kingdom whatsoever All the scruple is that he hath erred in the Manner of it and that in Mr Liste's opinion these two wayes first privatively by secluding those that have the right of Abrogation with him that is both His Houses of Parliament and assuming the power wholly to himselfe because the words of His Letter doe runne thus I will take away c. and so soon as God shall enable me to doe it And secondly Positively by superinducing those that have no right of abrogation either with him or without him and that is Force and Armes because he speaks in his Letter of some powerfull assistance which surely can be meant of nothing else but of Armes and Forces But the truth is it is neither so nor so For first concerning His excluding of the Parliament Is any man so simple as to think the King is bound to write every private Letter of Complement in that severe stile and clogging forme as if he were to write an Act of Parliament and to choake up every line with The Kings Majesty by the Advice of his Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled as often as occasion offereth him discourse of the Transaction of any Parliament affaires Nothing can be plainer then that the King in saying I will take away the penall Lawes implyes the Power of the Parliament as virtually comprehended in Him and meanes that He will doe it in a Free convention of Parliament and as it ought for to be done and therefore if you marke it he addes as soon as God shall enable me to doe it which words must referre to such a Convention or they have no meaning For if the King had a meaning to repeale these Lawes without his Parliament or could thinke that He could Lawfully so doe Certainly He might have done it long ere this God hath enabled Him with Power and Might answerable to the compasse of many such Designes and for my part if He should doe it to morrow though I am confident He never will yet cannot I see what the Rebells have to object against it For I would faine know why the King may not repeale the Lawes against Recusancy without the Parliament as well and as farre forth as the Parliament Repeales the Lawes for the Common-Prayer and for Episcopacy without the King But the Kings Power loveth Iustice as the Psalmist speakes and Psal 99. 4. he considereth not his Might so much as his Right and therefore knowing well enough that He cannot lawfully doe it but in Parliament He presumes so farre upon the affections and gratitude of all His true hearted Subjects as to promise the Catholique party that in their names out of a Parliament which he doubts not but the better eloquence of successe against this present Rebellion by meanes of their Assistance will make appeare reasonable in it to performe Nor does this any way crosse shinnes with those Declarations and Protestations which the King hath made if a reasonable man have the laying of them both together For what if the King have upon some occasions made a Declaration to put the Lawes in execution against Papists Surely their suspitions and jealousies owe him more thanks for that inanimation which no doubt procured it But did the King ever make a Declaration that upon no occasion whatsoever He would consent to the Repealing of those Lawes If He did not then certainly the King may Declare that the Lawes against Recusants should be put in execution for one Reason at one time and yet consent that those very Lawes should be repeal'd for another Reason at another time His Religion all this while being the same although his Reason be not For his reason for the one was but their suspition His reason for the other is his own safety which certainly is the better reason of the twaine in regard that the obligation which is upon the King to satisfy the suspition of a peevish sort of People as he did in the one is but a Temporall obligation but that which is upon the King to provide for His own safety and the safety of all his good Subjects as he did in the other is an eternall The King hath made Declarations in behalfe of the Starre-chamber and of the Common Prayer and yet the Rebells are well contented He should quite abrogate the one and at this instant are as angry with him that He will not abolish the other nay it is yet within the memory of Man since our deare brethren of Scotland were esteemed and accounted Rebels by a Declaration and yet these men never yet question'd or accus'd the King for Accepting and Treating with them afterwards like honest Subjects When they have a purpose to repeale the Lawes made concerning Episcopacy then every solemne Oath which the King hath made against it is esteemed but a Gnatt but when they have a purpose not to Repeale the Lawes made against Recusants then every Declaration made for executing of those Lawes becomes a Camell This is just the trick of the Jugglers books that so amazes Country People and Children which being turn'd one way shewes

of us more Cause to pray for Him For his maintaining the Lawes you may observe in a Letter dated in March last to the Queene there is this passage I give Thee leave to promise in my Name to all that thou thinkest fit that I will take away all the Penall Lawes against the Roman Catholiques in England as soone as God shall enable me to doe it so as I may by their meanes have such assistance as may deserve so great a favour and enable me to doe it To this promise of His He enjoynes much secrecy which He hath need to doe being so contrary to former Declarations and Protestations If this be done He may as well alter and take away all our Lawes both for property and liberty These Lawes against Papists are of as much force and bind as much as any Lawes whatsoever Vpon all these Letters and Passages together you may observe the great Designe to put an end to this Parliament although it cannot be done without the Consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament and the Kings joyning with them You see another Designe is to take away all Lawes against Recusants and that must be when the King is able to doe it as He saith and that cannot be without Force You see to enable himselfe to doe these things He invites in Forreigne Forces You see He deales with Papists and Protestants and all to assist Him against the Parliament You see by those letters what Priviledges and Immunities are promised to Papists and nothing at all to His Protestant Subjects You see the great Trust Hereposeth in the Queene to make a bargaine for Him although it concerne Religion which is the strongest poynt of Confidence He can expresse to her I need not repeat the words Animadversions All this upon the matter is nothing but some of Mr Lisles cold meate newly minc't and the whole face of this part of the discourse is but drest up like Mr Sheriffes dore somewhat perchance added of Paint but still the same Post All that hath not been said and answer'd before is this That the King reposeth such trust in the Queene as to make a Bargaine for him though it concerne Religion which is the strongest poynt of confidence He can expresse unto Her And to this Mr Browne in a negligent and loose manner addes I need not repeat his wordes But is the matter worth the seeing and are the words not worth the saying pray let us heare you repeate them Your Citizens are used to repetitions and will like it well enough unlesse you think to put them off as they doe Beggars with saying It was the last thing you did for I am sure in all this Section you have done nothing else but repeated what Mr Lisle hath said before you Well if you will not repeat them I will repeat them for you For I will not have my Country-men of London cousened in their measure You shall not think to serve them with a bare yard and then save the thumb The whole period of the Kings Letter is this I need not tell thee what secrecy this businesse requires yet this I will say that this is the greatest poynt of confidence I can expresse to thee For it is no thankes to me to trust thee in any thing else but in this which is the only thing of difference in opinion betwixt us And can a cleerer testimony be given of the Kings uprightnesse in the poynt of His Religion If men would not tread inward with their faith and believe nothing but what makes for their own ends and advantages the Industry and Art of Innocence could not invent a clearer Light to shine by For here is Fire without Smoake here is Truth without modifications and disguises Here is nothing of designe like that profession the King makes in His often Declarations which the jealous world is tender of believing for feare of being cousened but here is a downe-right profession of differing in Religion with Her who with all Her heart I dare say could wish the King would have deceived Her And therefore as some Heretiques are said to worship Judas not because he betray'd his Lord and Master but because of that inestimable benefit which accrewed to mankind by meanes of his betraying which otherwise could never have befallen it So will some men who doubted here to fore of the Kings Innocence in His publick Declarations have reason to forgive this Rape upon His private Letters for the very Religion of this Evidence and Satisfaction which otherwise could never have so clearely been transmitted and derived unto them And thus have you seen the bottome of that Heart which the Scripture calls unsearcheable The Cabinet hath imparted Prov. 25. 2. to you so perfect an Image of the Kings very Thoughts that the Rack could not afford a clearer The Rebells have often promised to make him a Great King and now as the High Priest when he prophecyed they have made him so indeed when they never meant it In stead of His Three Kingdomes they have endowed him with Foure severall Empires For so long as Kings or Christians so long as Husbands or Men shall live upon this habitable earth they will all submit to the Scepter of His Pen and confesse themselves subdued in their chiefest Graces and Glories As a Man see but with what Sagacity He writes and with what Judgement See but what a cleane sence he hath of things which does so overlooke all his most perplexed Affaires that they seem to blush they have no better Difficulties See but how farre his Wisdome lookes into mens Persons which doth so weigh them and their Actions with the graines and allowance of their unworthy servile ends that He seems not more to observe then Prophecy See but what an even spirit of Elegancy runnes through every line which beares and leaps as much in the description of His saddest condition as of his serenest Fortune in so much that posterity will a little love His Misery for her very clothing Then as a Husband doe but observe how kinde He is and yet withall how Chast How full of warme expressions of Love and yet how farre from Wanton Doe but observe how He weighes his own Health by His Wives Standard Every line beares a Venus in it and yet bears no Doves And He drives the Trade of Thoughts between the Queen and Him with so much eagernesse and yet with so much Innocence in all His Letters as if He meant they should be intercepted As a Christian see but what a Conscience He makes of Oathes esteeming them not according to the Popular account as if their Ceremonie made them the lesse Sacred Or as too many men use them in the World as bracelets to their Speech not as they are indeed as chaines unto their Soule look but how He startles at the name of Sacriledge though never so commodious a sinne Doe but observe notwithstanding all his succours from the Queene on whom His patient eyes doe wait for better Helpe how he throwes himselfe upon the Providence of God how he rolles and gathers upon his justice in a confidence that as their mutuall interest in innocent Blood hath hither to poys'd the ballance between both sides So now the Rebells overflowing guilt and wickednesse will at last turne the Scales And then doe but observe His Constancy to the Protestant Religion which is the greatest difference between His Queen and Him and yet such a difference too that diversa virtus parem laudem consecuta est as the Orator speaks of Thucydides and Herodotus in his Institutions He is as much to be admired for his Difference as for his Love Last of all as a King see but what a constant and True soule He bears to Iustice which none of His sad infelicities can alter A Soule that would come off True were it put to Plato's tryall who saies that for a man to approve himselfe a True Iust Plato man indeed His vertue must be spoyl'd of all her ornaments He must be thought a vitious man though he be never so virtuous He must be reekon'd a False man of his word though he be never so True He must be mockt scorn'd and derided as though he were a Foole be he never so Wise nay saith that Philosopher I had almost said that Father He must give up his Life into the power of those that seek it laetius esse honestum putans quoties magno sibi constat esteeming it the greatest pleasure of Honesty to be gotten at the dearest purchase How many of these Tryalls hath the King endur'd and yet hath never shrinkt How hath his happy Government been traduced and his own sacred Person exposed How hath his Affection been abused and his Iudgement scorn'd how often hath he been reputed for a weake man nay how often for a Wicked how often hath he been esteemed a Fickle man nay how oft a False and yet our of all these His Letters which are the very Thoughts of the Kings heart but once remoov'd and where all the scapes of Nature or Breeding were most like to harbour cannot their acute malice impute or fasten any one thing upon him which is inconsistent either with the principles of Prudence Justice Conscience or Honour Insomuch that notwithstanding it be very probable that the Publication of these Papers is conceived by some slight men at this present as an attestation of the perfect glories of their Conquest and to shew the world how neare they came even to the very Person of the King yet it is altogether as probable that to men of the next sad and wiser age this very Triumph will confute the Victory whilest attributing that just veneration which is due from all cleane eyes to the Magistery of that Religion Elegancy Judgement Wit and Honesty which ruleth in this hasty composition and sodaine stile They will never gaine this Power over their beliefe or so farre subdue their understanding as to think either that so decryed a King as He hath been could Penne such Papers or that such wise Rebells as they would faine be thought could Print them FINIS