Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
kingdom_n	england_n	ireland_n	lord_n	4,257	5	3.5470	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29263	A short account of the several kinds of societies, set up of late years, for carrying on the reformation of manners, and for the propagation of Christian knowledge	Bray, Thomas, 1658-1730.	1700 (1700)	Wing B4296A; ESTC R13860	3,417	4

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE Several Kinds of SOCIETIES set up of late Years for carrying on the Reformation of Manners and for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge AFTER that the Virtuous Part of England had long complain'd of the infamous Clubbs of Atheists Deists and Socinians who for many Years past have Labour'd to set up the pretended Oracles of misguided Reason against the undoubted Oracles of God too many of whom by their scandalous Lives most agreeable to their Principles have endeavour'd to destroy in themselves and others all Notions of Divine Things and of the differences of Good and Evil it was thought necessary by divers serious Persons of the Church of England That the Children of Light should endeavour to be as Wise as they and by forming themselves into Societies should assist one another in their most Holy Faith and a Practice agreeable thereto These and the like Considerations brought together a considerable Number of such Pious Persons about Twenty Years since who met often to Pray Sing Psalms and Read the Holy Scriptures together and to Reprove Exhort and Edifie one another by their Religious Conferences and their Number hath been daily so encreased that they make at present about Thirty Nine Societies in and about London and Westminster and their Example hath been follow'd by Devout Persons in divers other Parts of this Nation and in Ireland especially in Dublin where there are about Ten of these Societies supported by the Reverend Bishops and Inferiour Clergy there These Societies and their Methods and Orders were enquir'd into and approv'd by our late Queen of Blessed Memory and the late Excellent Archbishop Tillotson and are greatly esteem'd by several Most Reverend and Right Reverend Bishops who have made the same Enquiry And these are the Societies which are particularly call'd THE RELIGIOVS SOCIETIES whose Rise Progress and Charitable Designs are Describ'd and Recommended in a Pious Discourse by the Reverend Mr. Woodward But the Private Devotions and Exemplary Lives of the Members of these Societies were not sufficient to stop the Torrent of Vice which had broken down all the Banks of Reason and Religion and therefore about Ten Years since Five or Six private Gentlemen Members of the Church of England Considering that the higher the Tide of Wickedness was the more need there was of opposing it they resolved to Associate themselves to make their utmost Efforts for promoting the Execution of the Laws against Vice and Immorality and the suppressing of them by adviseable Methods And this Design tho' at first violently oppos'd by the Champions and Advocates of Debauchery yet by the Divine Assistance the Patronage of His Most Sacred Majesty and His late Most Gracious Queen the Countenance of the Clergy of the greatest Figure in the Church particularly of His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury by his Circular Letter and the Zeal and Industry of the Persons engag'd therein hath prosper'd to a Degree Exceedingly Great beyond what Humane Wisdom did or could expect for this Design Encountring no Man's honest Advantage no ways intermedling in Matters of Controversie being directed by Men of considerable Rank and Fortune as Members of Parliament Justices of the Peace Lawyers and Eminent Citizens and who are also of the clearest Character and the Executive Part manag'd by such who have refus'd even that part of the Forfeitures on Convictions which the Law allows to Informers least they should seem to aim at Their own private Advantage many Virtuous People of the too various Denominations of Protestants amongst us have readily agreed to joyn Hearts and Purses in the Prosecution thereof and this Union of Hearts and Affections in things so agreeable to all who deserve the Name of Protestants of Christians of Englishmen or even of Men hath been of great use to remove the Prejudices which many had taken up against The Establish'd Church and against one another and hath laid a Foundation of that Union which may be a probable means of putting an end to Schisms and Divisions of restoring the Primitive Discipline in the Church and of teaching England to Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace It is by the Endeavours of this Society assisted by the Religious Societies aforesaid and divers others since form'd and acting under the Influence of it that more than Twenty Thousand Persons have been Convicted for Swearing Cursing or Prophanation of the Lord's-Day in and about the Cities of London and Westminster and many of them at least outwardly Reformed thereby and the Prosecutions have been manag'd with so much Tenterness and Christian Charity that no just Cause of Complaint has ever yet appear'd against them and by the Endeavours of one of these Societies alone Three Thousand lewd and disorderly Persons have been Punish'd within the same Limits And 't is of these Societies and their Rise Progress and Success that the World has had an Account in a Book Entitul'd An Account of the Societies for the Reformation of Manners in England and Ireland with a Perswasion to Persons of all Ranks to be zealous and diligent in promoting the Execution of the Laws against Prophaness and Debauchery for effecting a National Reformation Publish'd with the Approbation of a considerable Number of Lords Spiritual and Temporal and of the Honourable Judges of both Kingdoms But altho' the Success of these Societies was already very great and tho' it should be still more and more abundant there seem'd yet something more that was needful to be done against Satan's Kingdom and to promote the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The meeting together for mutual Edification in Religious Societies is a probable means of making good Men better and the Vigilance of Societies for Reformation of Manners is likely not only to keep ill Men from growing worse but to Convert and Amend them But for the lasting Establishment of our holy Faith and the spreading of it in the World there is a visible Necessity of some special Care to be taken for the breeding up of Children in Virtue and true Religion for the reclaiming of those who Err in the Fundamentals of Christianity and for encouraging the Propagation of the Gospel in our Plantations This Consideration mov'd some Persons of Honour and Quality who had a true Zeal for the Glory of God the Salvation of their Brethren and the Reputation of our Mother-Church to Unite themselves into a Society for the promoting of Christian Knowledge both at Home and Abroad and they apply'd themselves to form Methods and to find out means of accomplishing so glorious an Undertaking regulating themselves always by the Ecclesiastical Constitutions as the Societies for Reformation do themselves by the Temporal Laws of England And thus about March Anno 1698 9 began the Society for promoting of Christian Knowledge which has since that time been daily encreased by the Accession of many worthy Persons who were desirous to be instrumental in so Excellent a Design so that at present it consists of a considerable Number of Persons of Quality and Estates Bishops Eminent Clergymen Lawyers c. besides their Correspondents which are carrying on the same Work in all the Counties of England and Wales and in the Plantations beyond the Seas This Society meets Weekly to deliberate about what is Expedient for the carrying on of those Pious Ends for which they United and they have already made a Progress beyond what could reasonably have been hoped for in so short a time They have by their own Subscriptions and others which they have procur'd bought great Numbers of Useful Books for the furnishing of the Plantations with Parochial Libraries to invite Worthy Clergymen to those Parts by whose Labours the Christians who are there may be Edify'd and the Gospel Propagated among the Vnbelievers They have dispersed great Numbers of good Books for the Instructing of poor Families in the true Principles of the Christian Religion They are using means for the providing Catechetical-Libraries in the smaller Parishes to enable the Inferiour Clergy the better to perform their Duty of Catechizing according to the LIXth Canon and the greater Parishes with Lending-Libraries which will be of great use to the Poorer Clergy to assist them in the more successful opposing of Errors and Heresies And they have more particularly apply'd themselves to the setting up of Schools for the Education of Poor Children many of which are Erected and are now Erecting in the Country In and about London and Westminster there are already set up about Twenty of them in which near a Thousand Poor Children of both Sexes are taught to Read the Bible and to repeat and understand the Church Catechism and the Boys are besides taught to Write and Cast Accompt to fit them for Trades and the Girls to Knit Work with their Needle c. to make them good Servants in others Families or good Wives and Mothers in their own and by this means we have a fair prospect of a great Reformation of the poorer sort who are now so much Corrupted by the bringing up of such Numbers of them Piously in a true conformity to the Church and in ways that lead them to be serviceable to the Publick It is not doubted but that all true Lovers of the Church of England to whom this Account shall come will with their Prayers Countenance and Assistance joyn in these Pious Endeavours by which so much Good may be done to the World and so much Honour redound to our Holy Religion and the Establish'd Church that our Enemies may have no room to charge us with the betraying the Interest of our Church by Supinity or Negligence or with Coldness in promoting true Piety and Religion at Home or in spreading it Abroad in the remoter part of the Earth And we need not doubt but these blessed Designs will gain Credit to this Church both at Home and Abroad and help to continue it as it hath constantly been since the Reformation the Bulwark of the Protestant Religion FINIS LONDON Printed by J. Brudenell in Jewin-street 1700.