Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	good_a	king_n	people_n	13,375	5	4.9419	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61436	A plain relation of the late action at sea between the English & Dutch, and the French fleets, from June 22 to July 5 last with reflections thereupon, and upon the present state of the nation : together with A preparation for death and a perswasive to criminals to do right to their countrey, and a specimen of a bill for reformation of manners, drawn for the bishops, and mentioned in the folowing reflections.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.	1690 (1690)	Wing S5434; ESTC R13699	53,677	77

Abominations be removed either by the Reformation or Removal of the Persons or by the Destruction of most of them in a long continued War without Honour to the King or Satisfaction to the People 'till that be done And I may be bold to say it is desir'd and expected of him by all the Serious Virtuous and Pious that is the best and which will prove in conclusion the most prevalent Part of the Nation Christianity will certainly revive here in a short time in its ancient Power and Splendor and nothing can be so glorious and advantageous to this King as to be a vigorous Instrument in it This Foundation being well laid we may proceed to the rest with Confidence of the Divine Favour and Blessing upon us and that no Opposition shall be able to stand before us And the next Business will be to put the Management of our Affairs into the hands of such as the King may reasonably Confide in for their Integrity and Affection to his Cause and sufficient Qualifications for the Imployments committed to them And this is a Duty which the King owes both to the Kingdom and to his Confederates in this great Cause and he cannot in Honour no more than in Prudence do otherwise Nay I will say more it is a Duty which he owes to God whose Cause it is who hath raised him up to be his Instrument in it who hath given him so great Experiments of his Conduct and Protection and is still ready to prosper him in it provided he be faithful to his Conduct and do not dishonour him by relaxing his Confidence therein and yielding to the Temptation of vulgar Politicks which would but weaken his Interest and prove deceitful and a Snare to him Fidelity of Soul to God is the great business and exercise of all our Lives but in them who are raised up to be Instruments in any great Work it is in a special manner required that it be firm and steddy as becomes those who are experienc'd Masters in it not mutable and unstable like Novices and Learners To this is required great Courage and Vigour grounded upon firm Trust and Confidence in the infallible Wisdom and Power of God with an intire resignation of the Event of all to his Will But there is also required true Wisdom to improve all Opportunities and Advantages and to avoid all Inconveniences and truly to distinguish which are which And there is moreover required Righteousness without which there can be neither true Wisdom whatever specious appearance it may have nor Fidelity to God for it would be a departure from his Ways and a Distrust of the sufficiency of his Conduct and a Dishonour to him And whoever steps out of his Way will certainly intangle himself and lose all his labour at the least Such courses shall never prosper or bring a Man benefit if they bring not greater Mischief upon him I speak of his good Instruments for good and not of his Instruments for Correction and Vengeance such as Evil Spirits and Evil Men whom he frequently lets loose to satisfie their own wicked Appetites for punishment of others I have already distinguished with relation to this business four sorts of People in this Nation one part who are zealous for restoring of the late King James and that these are not to be employ'd I need not use many words to demonstrate but yet I think that they also are to be distinguish'd and that such of them as never submitted to this Government but appear fairly as Enemies are to be treated no worse than Enemies of War and not as Traitors but such as appear and act in publick as Subjects and yet shall be found in secret Conspiracies against this Government may justly be dealt with as Traytors Only thus much Favour I should be for ever for them that whereas I doubt not but there have been many this Summer actually engaged in or privy to a most dangerous Conspiracy and that not only for their King James but under that pretence with the French who are Enemies to their Countrey yet if they will confess how far they have been concerned in any such matter and either give sufficient assurance to submit and live peaceably for the future or declare themselves and depart the Kingdom they should be free so to do but they who will not are to be looked upon as Traytors and it is part of that Fidelity which the King owes both to God and to the People who entrusted him with the Government to cause diligent and strict Enquiry to be made into it least we be involved in greater Michiefs before the next Summer be over Another sort are such who from some mistaken Notions of Government which they had unthinkingly imbib'd are perswaded that the late King James hath still a Right but considering his Religion and to whom he hath subjected his Conscience for Information and Direction and what Confusions and Mischiefs were thereby begun and likely in time to have been brought upon these Nations and our Confederates are sensible of the Providence and Mercy of God in sending us such a Deliverance and therefore thô they will not foolishly and ungratefully resist this gracious Providence of God but are willing to enjoy it in quiet yet think fit not to stain or strain their Consciences in acting against him who they think hath a Right And these in my apprehension are right honest Men and deserve all the Favours and Kindness they can in reason desire And I shall endeavour in a more proper Place to do them some Service by shewing them their Error but I have no more to say of them here in relation to such Employments as I speak of for like honest men they will not accept them A third sort are of those who have the same Opinion of the Right of King James that the former have and will not recognize the present King and Queen to be rightful King and Queen yet make no scruple to swear Allegiance to them to act under their Authority and not only so but to act in Council and War against him whom they believe to have the Right still and they know hath had not long since the Possession also I know very well that by our Laws what is done for or against a King de Facto is equally justifiable or punishable as if he was also King de Jure and good reason there may be for it viz. That honest well-meaning People may not suffer for what they do in the sincerity of their Hearts believing it to be just and right and That the Peace of the Kingdom may not be disturbed upon pretence of or for the Right of a particular Person though King de Jure But this just and reasonable Law cannot I doubt excuse in foro Conscientiae such as for private temporal respects or unnecessarily act against one whom they believe to have the Right and to be King de Jure All honest Conscientious Men are very cautious

Prudent Letter to the Bishop of London and the other Bishops for that belongs to them to do But this I will say though it make the Ears of all pious People that hear it to tingle if by any means I may raise up a better Spirit in the Nation and shame the great Men of it into better Manners in time to prevent a more severe Correction I had a Message sent me by a very Pious and Reverend Divine of the Church of England That it was desired by divers of the Bishops that I would prepare a Bill for them for an Act of Parliament for more effectual correcting of the notorious Sins and Vices of this Nation Who those Bishops were I was not told nor was it material but I could not but readily embrace so pious a Motion and therefore presently set to work drew up a foul Draught and advised first with some private Friends of good Ability and at last with divers of the Judges who were then in Town about it The Sins and Vices were the same which were express'd in that good Letter before mentioned of the King to the Bishop of London and the Preamble most of it in the words and to the effect of that Letter and the Punishments such as are warranted by the Laws of God and Man and being fair transcribed it was delivered to a very good Bishop who was spoken to by the Bishop of London to Preach before the Lords the Fast-Day before Easter The good Man laboured with much Zeal to promote it and intended to have recommended it to their Lordships at their House before they went to Church as the most proper time that could be but the Lords neither met at their House nor came to the Abby Church as is usual upon such Occasions in a Body though an Omission apt to be imputed to want of Devotion to God in some and of Affection to the Cause in others and therefore being disappointed in that the next time they met he acquainted them with the Bill and desired Leave to bring it into the House which was granted indeed but the Motion so entertain'd by some that the most Prudential of our Bishops advised not to venture the reading of it till a more favourable time least it should be rejected and their Authority kept it out at that time and I doubt will be apt to do the like at any other unless this plain dealing can help it and therefore I think fit to consider this Matter a little further And First here is matter of very serious and sad Consideration that Vice and Wickedness should be so prevalent among the Nobility of this Nation that the whole Body of the Bishops of the Church of England should not dare to offer to bring in a Bill for the Reformation thereof least it should be rejected And if our Nobility be come to that Degree of Obstinacy and Impudence in Sin and Wickedness and Infatuation and Folly as to outface the Gravity and Authority of our Bishops and that not severally but when assembled together and in so solemn an Assembly what good can we expect from them but rather that they should provoke the Judgments of God upon themselves and the whole Nation for the Chastisement of that which doth so outface all Humane Authority Secondly It is matter of as serious and sad Consideration that the Bishops of the Church of England should be sunk so low in their Authority be become so mean in that Esteem and Veneration with the People which used to be paid to Persons in that Sacred Function and should retain so little of true Christian Generosity and Magnanimity as that the whole Body of them in such an Assembly should not be able by their Gravity and weighty Admonitions to awe and confound the Malapertness of a few inconsiderate Noblemen if any such should appear though with the concurrence of divers of the Temporal Lords which doubtless would not be wanting and in case the leading Men among them did dislike that Bill or any thing in it that they who dislike it should have so little Zeal for the Honour and Service of God the good of this Church and Nation and the Reputation of their own Order as not of themselves to provide a better before this time Thirdly And this opens a very sad but useful and necessary Prospect to all the sincere and serious Friends of the Church of England whereby we may come to a better understanding both of our own Communion and of the Dissenters and of our Behaviour toward them what it hath been and what it ought to be For our own Communion we see here that which may correct and humble us for our vain magnifying of our Church above all others and our despising villifying and disturbing our Brethren who are in many respects better than our selves and how properly applicable that Admonition of the Faithful Witness to the Church of the Laodiceans is to us Rev. 3.17 Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked And what reason we have to fear least that Judgment denounced against them be inflicted upon us who are so little behind them in the same fault Because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out For here we see the chief of our Clergy and the chief of our Laity in one of our most solemn Civil Assemblies and if we look into those which should be Sacred Assemblies we cannot deny but that they are generally greatly prophaned For all these Persons of whom our whole Body of Bishops are so afraid are all Members of our Church not only admitted into it by Baptism but freely admitted to the most sacred Rites in it And as much overspread with Vice Prophaneness and Debauchery as this Nation is all is receiv'd with a full torrent into our Church So that there is scarce a notorious scandalous Person in the whole Nation but is of our Communion and if he be a Person of Quality and Zealous for the Church Complemented and Treated even by our Bishops themselves Such is the Discipline of our Church the end of which among the ancient Christians was to preserve the Honour and Integrity of our Holy Profession but so little of that have we remaining among us that that Popish Relique which we have of Discipline doth rather increase what the genuine Christian Discipline would cure We are guilty of a like neglect in our Worship only it is not peculiar to us but common to all the Reformation which is very defective in that respect Nor is there any Excuse for us that I know of but Ignorance which is shameful enough among Men pretending so much to Learning But if we can but purchase a little more Humility Modesty and Condescention to the Infirmities of our Brethren by it it will be well I do not know of any Church in the World from

King though it light so much the heavier somewhere else For I am so well satisfied that neither of these Prudential Advices which I have mention'd are consistent either with true Policy or sound Divinity or free from such Sin as doth usually provoke at least smart Corrections that I dare undertake to make it good against the Author or Authors of them whoever he or they are But as this is no proper place to add more to what I have said already on that Subject so I hope the fair Admonitions which our own Experience hath already given us will make it needless And therefore without further Reflections upon what is past we are now to look forward what is now to be done and what are those Good and Effectual Means to set us free from this impedited and enchanted Condition And the first thing to be done is to lay a good Foundation to secure the Favour and Blessing of the Divine Providence which alone can make all go on prosperous and smooth and very succesful but without it all other the most proper means that can be propos'd will still prove ineffectual and abortive and be retarded with perpetual cross Accidents and Disappointments nay prove themselves occasions of Mischief And this in truth has been our Case whether it has been understood or not from our first Attempts of reducing Ireland Miscarriages in Persons imployed and intrusted I easily allow to be the immediate Causes But 't is a superficial Inspection that can see no farther into the Matter The Original Cause lies a step or two farther back but we are here only to look forward Therefore in short the only true way to obtain or secure the Favour and Blessing of God is to remove the Cursed Thing which hath all this while interposed and with-held them from us And it must be begun by a speedy resolute and effectual Reformation of the great Impiety and Wickedness of the Nation and this must be begun by the King himself and in another manner than is yet done His Letter to the Bishops is a good and pious Letter but what good it hath done I know not The Bishops I know talked of other Letters also of their own but I see them not or any good Effect of either But the King hath a Civil Power which must be exerted It is his Office and Duty To see the Laws duly executed and when he finds that neglected to send out his special Command to require and enjoin the due Execution of them and to punish or displace such as are Negligent and Remiss and put others in their places who will more faithfully discharge their Duty It is his Duty also to recommend to the Parliament to make further Provision for such Laws as he finds wanting to supply the Defects of those we have already And 't is likewise His Duty as well as His Wisdom to encourage Vertue and Piety and discountenance Vice and Wickedness by the dispensation of his Favours and demonstration of his Displeasure accordingly All this is most certainly his Duty and if he doth not faithfully discharge it both to God and to the Nation he cannot expect either the Blessing of God or the faithful Concurrence of the People with him But because I find no reason to doubt of his own good Inclinations to so good a Work I see but two things further necessary to be noted to this Purpose The one that he beware of and banish from his Presence such Persons especially Clergy-men as he hath found either evil Counsellors or false Guides in a Matter of so apparent Duty and great Importance to himself and the Nation The other that he likewise beware and to that purpose give encouragement to faithful Informations that he partake not in the sins of the late Kings by setting up notorious Examples of Vice and Wickedness in Honour or great Places And upon this Occasion I cannot but take Notice of what I have been told by one who said he was present that two of the Principal Officers of our Fleet whom he Named before the late Engagement when they had received the Sacrament to qualifie them for their Employment entertained themselves at Dinner with pleasant Discourse of what Women and whose Wives they had Debauch'd And it is reported that a Person notorious over all England for the like Injury with some aggravation to a Person of Quality is lately put into a great Place in Ireland Such impious Persons who glory in their Impiety and Contempt of Religion ought to be abominated and detested by all Men as Enemies of God and Men and Associates of Devils and Cursed damned Spirits Shall a mortal Man be moved at an Affront or Contempt offered to his Father or his Friend thô absent and shall not all Men even the Mob as we call them who have more Steddiness Constancy and Virtue than a great part of our Nobility and Gentry have had of late express their Indignation against those who shall dare thus to Contemn and Affront the great and glorious Author of our Being upon whom we all continually depend by such impudent Violation of his righteous Laws Be they Gentlemen or Noble-men or what they will they are ten thousand times worse than the Dirt of the Streets and ought to be trod upon by the meanest of Humane Race Nay shall a King who is but a mortal Worm expect Honour and Obedience and Fidelity from his Fellow-Creatures and many of them possibly upon a true estimate much better than Himself and yet endure the Majesty of Heaven whose Deputy he is to be so affronted by those whom his Divine Providence hath subjected to his Power to be govern'd in all Righteousness and not exert the utmost of that Power and use all means possible to suppress them thô it were to the hazard of twenty Kingdoms and a thousand Lives besides Certainly Humane Nature were it not mightily corrupted could not with any Patience endure such Contempt of our Creator and Redeemer and the Religion we profess And besides all this what good can we expect with any Moral Assurance from People of so little Consideration and Constancy or Command of themselves as to hazard their Souls by prostituting Religion to give Credentials to a vitious Prince that they might more easily obtain his Favour or of so little Wit and Observation as no better to distinguish Times and Persons but think this King must needs be such as themselves are or the former that they impudently persist in the same wicked Courses and take this Liberty to affront Religion which he professeth not in shew as the other did but in reality And therefore to conclude this Matter as it is the Kings Duty to remove such Abuses and scandalous Persons it being in his Power of himself to do it so it is the Right of the Subject and their Duty too to God to desire and demand it For we cannot expect the Blessing of God to be with us 'till those Scandals and