Selected quad for the lemma: law_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
law_n	heart_n	lord_n	people_n	7,941	5	5.2475	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A31361	An epistle to King Charles the II sent from Amsterdam in Holland, the 28 of the 10 month, 1660 wherein is contained certain orders and laws there, concerning the liberty granted to those which cannot take up arms, nor swear, which laws there do yet continue : as also several arguments shewing that the people called Quakers are no popish recusants, who are cast into prison for not swearing : with advice & direction to King Charles, that his tendernesse may appear likewise to tender consciences, who keep to their yea and nay, that if they break their yea and nay, they may be punished as for breaking an oath / William Caton.	Caton, William, 1636-1665.	1660 (1660)	Wing C1513; ESTC R22831	9,863	16

for them like as some do now the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy as I have shewed before and not only in this praticular but sometimes in other cases is swearing made a snare for the people of the Lord in thy Dominion which snare thou might as easily break by an Order to the same purpose even as he did by the Order or Orders aforesaid by vertue of which thousands at this day have their Liberty in this particular concerning swearing under the States of Holland and their yea to this day is as commonly taken before a Magistrate in the place of an oath as an oath is from others in matters of differences or other occasions when in the Magistrates judgement there is need of an oath The Ho. Mo. Heeren Staten General of Holland and West-●ri●sland So called did in this particular follow the foot-steps of the beforementioned Prince and the Governour and Counsel of Zealand For upon a certain time when they had occasion for mony after their great and tedious war with Spain they made an order for to injoyn the Citizens and others to pay them one Guldert out of a thousand or one pound of every thousand and upon their oathes were they to declare so near as they could what their Estates were worth But the Sta●es excepted the Anabaptists aforesaid from swearing and ordred that their word should be taken for truth without an oath yet if it could be proved that they did not speak the truth then were they to be punished like the rest that swore falsely It is probable that thou thy self hast had knowledge of these things before now being Thou hast been a Traveller in these parts in Thy own Person Now the Anabaptists so called do not onely enjoy this Priviledge in these Low-Countries but also Thy Kinsman C. Lodovicus Prince of Palatine He affordeth the same Liberty unto this People who are neither constrained to swear nor yet to bear Armes within His Dominions no more then they are here in these united Provinces where they are neither fined nor imprisoned for not bearing of Armes nor yet for refusing to Swear But doth not the common Goales in England witnesse the contrary which doth make the hearts of the Righteous sad who have desired that Thou mightest so far have exceeded other Princes in giving Liberty to the Lords People as He hath exceeded in mercy towards Thee even beyond what He hath done or manifested for or to other Princes Oh therefore let none of them excell Thee in Nobility or any Vertue but strive to be equall with them if not to go beyond them in every good work and especially that viz. in giving Liberty to tender Consciences Moreover O King if Thou be not satisfied in Thy self concerning the conscientiousnesse of those People in thy Realm that cannot swear the Truth of their Doctrines and the equitablenesse of their Principles then chuse forth some of Thy ablest Divines and let them have a fair Dispute in Thy Presence and in the presence of judicious Men that fear God and will judge impartially of the things they shall hear discussed that so the Truth may be manifested and embraced and Errour and erroneous opinions discovered and avoided Hast Thou not read how that Prince Frederick of Palatine in the year 1571. did grant forth an order for a Dispute betwixt a People called Wederdoopers or Anabaptists and the Priests and how He caused the aforesaid Order to be published throughout His Dominion in all Cities and Villages that all His Subjects might have timely notice of it and He appointed two or three men to take care that things were kept in good order and that each Party had free Liberty to speak what they understood and thought good concerning the things propounded And He also caused ready writers to be appointed to take what was spoken in writing and all was to have their Liberty to speak one by one And that none of the Anabaptists might refrain coming by reason of expences or want of money to bear their charge The Prince therefore undertook to take care to provide lodging with meat and drink for them that were appointed to mannage the Dispute during the continuance of it which was 19. dayes and every one was to be admitted to hear whether they were Anabaptists or whatsoever they were and the Prince himself was present at much of it as appears by the Protocoll These People called Anabaptists had suffered exceeding much persecution before the Dispute before-mentioned when the Prince saw that they could not be wel suppressed with violence then did He grant forth the Order aforesaid for the Dispute and those were a sort of people that were not conformable in many things to the generality of his Subjects in that they would not baptize their Infants neither would they swear in any wise neither would they take up Armes c. So the Prince being in a strait concerning them did as aforesaid And afterwards came they to obtain Liberty and Freedom not onely in the Paulz but also in the Low-Countries where at this day here are many thousands of them And surely it hath been for the States profit that they have been suffered and that they have given them that liberty which they have afforded them And so will it be for Thy benefit to give liberty to that People in Thy Dominion who abide in the Doctrine of Christ and cannot swear at all though I know some may endeavour to perswade Thee to the contrary like as Haman did perswade the King Ahasuerus against the Jews saying There is a certain People scattered abroad and dispersed among the People in all The Provinces of Thy Kingdom and their Lawes are divers from all People neither keep they the Kings Laws therefore it is not for the Kings profit to suffer them even so mayest Thou be instigated against the Lords People who are as dear unto him as the Apple of his eye These things lay upon me to communicate to Thee some of which may serve as Presidents and examples for Thee whereby Thou may in part see how to make a progess into that which the Lord requires of Thee Wherefore consider of them with Thy Counsel and if the Lord put it into your hearts to do good do it quickly before your glasse be run and your day spent And though many of those Anabaptists did abuse their liberty and so came to suffer for it formerly in breaking their yea yet the Law remaineth still which thousands have the benefit of to this day that keep to their yea In the united provinces and in Germanie And the people called Quakers have had opportunities and provocations enough to have taken up Armes and to have defended themselves and who have suffered more then ever they did that broke their word and that you know and are convinced of therefore have they chosen sufferings by all the powers before you knowing that their Kingdom and their Glory is not of this World therefore do they not fight for the Kingdomes of this World THE END vide their little Catho Catechismus fol. 5 Fol 15 16. 17. Rolw Apo. fol. 100 101 102. Vide 〈…〉 ligion 〈…〉 Vryhe 〈…〉 fol. 68 Hest. 3. 8.

AN EPISTLE TO King Charles the II SENT FROM AMSTERDAM IN HOLLAND The 28. of the 10. month 1660. Wherein is contained certain Orders and Laws there concerning the Liberty granted to those which cannot take up Arms nor Swear which Laws there do yet continue As also several Arguments shewing that the People called Quakers are no Popish Recusants who are cast into prison for not Swearing With Advice Direction to KING CHARLES that His tendernesse may appear likewise to tender Consciences who keep to their Yea and Nay that if they break their Yea and Nay they may be punished as for breaking an Oath William Caton LONDON Printed for Thomas Simmons at the signe of the Bull and Mouth near Aldersgate 1660. Carole Rex FOrasmuch as the Lord hath been pleased to permit Thee to sit upon Thy Fathers Throne and to sway the Scepter in England after Thy sojourning some years in a strange Land where Thou was invironed with strangers and sometimes compassed about with many fears and then did grief with sorrow of mind attend Thee when Thy Subjects had dissented from Thee Thy enemies prevailed over Thee and Thy trusty Friends obstructed from communicating of their substance to Thee thereby to have done Thee a pleasure Dost Thou not yet remember how Thou was in those days dejected and cast down in Thy Spirit when there was scarce hope remaining of ever seeing such a day as this And was there not then also much commiseration in Thy heart in the day of Thy affliction when Thou was a sufferer Thy self towards suffering people And didst Thou not then cry out against the oppression wherewith Thy Friends were oppressed that could not conform in all things to the powers that then were the Supreme in the Nation of England And was it not an evil in Thy own judgement in them then that would not let people have their liberty to worship God in that way of which they were the most perswaded in their own hearts that it was according to the way of God whether they desired to have the Common-Prayer-Book or the Directory or to have their liberty to worship God without either of these in Spirit and in Truth which were before these were made and in which the Saints worshipped God before these were framed or composed Now certainly if it was an evil in them to debar people of their liberty in things appertaining unto the Worship of God then must it also be an evil now in them that will not give liberty to tender consciences in matters of worship which tendeth not to the breach of the peace of the Kingdom And inasmuch O King as Thou Thy-self hath found by experience an excellency in the liberty that was afforded Thee with Thy Friends in the time of Your exilement in things appertaining unto your Worship It is therefore the more hoped by some that thou wilt yet excel other Princes in this particular considering Thy own condition Surely if Thou with those that out of love to Thee exposed themselves to the inconveniency of exilement with Thee had not been allowed to refide in any place except You had been conformable to their Religion and by an Oath to have bound your selves to have been true and fa●thful unto their Discipline though it had been contrary to your consciences this would by You have been accounted hard measure nay moreover not only to have been debarred of your liberty in the place but also to have forfeited your goods chattels and your whole substance unto the Supreme Mag●strate of that place except you would have acted contrary to your consciences surely you would not have approved well of this neither would you have had it thus done unto you And now be it known to Thee O King that the Lord God of Heaven and Earth hath a little Flock in that Nation where the Lord hath set Thee to sway the Scepter and they are exceeding dear unto him and pretious in his sight for they tender his Glory more than their natural lives his Commands more than their liberty wherefore if thou desire that it may be well with Thee and that Thy dayes may be prolonged in Thy Realm be cautious how Thou layeth Thy hand upon them as thereby to afflict them or of suffering them to be oppressed by the Laws of Thy Kingdom for abiding in the Doctrine of their Lord For it hath been upon me from Him to signifie to Thee That if thou suffer them to incurr the danger of premunirae upon them for abiding in the Doctrine of Christ Know from the Lord that their Estates their goods and their Chattels shall not make Thee rich neither will they be blessed to Thee and moreover if they be excluded out of Thy protection for doing the will of their Master and for obeying his Command they shall not therefore be shut out of the Protection of their God who is both mighty to save and mighty to deliver And if thou should exclude Thy self out of His protection by Thy sinning against Him and oppressing His people then all Thy Forces under Thy Command within Thy Dominions would not be able to deliver Thee out of the hands of Thy enemies nor yet to preserve Thy Treasures out of the hands of spoilers It is well known already upon this side of the Seas what a snare the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy are made unto the People of the Lord within Thy Dominions and how that many of them are already cast into the common Goals for refusing to take them Even as it was in the dayes of Oliver Cromwel many of them were cast in prison by such as acted in his name for not taking the Oath of Abjuration and other Oaths And because they did not take it therefore were they deemed to be Jesuites by such as made that a snare for this People even as they now that act in Thy Name make the Oaths before mentioned a snare to this People and because they now take not these therefore are they now deemed to be Popish Recusants as before they were supposed to be Jesuites when that some of them who was accused to be Jesuites had never learned the Accedence and so were far from being Jesuites and now many of them are judged to be Popish Recusants who peradventure do not know what a Popish Recusant is Moreover it is well known that many Popish Recusants in the Nation go free and have not these Oaths tendred them yet through the envie of many that are in Authority this People before mentioned are brought into external trouble about this very thing which they are clear of as they may see that do understand the true intent and meaning of the Act which was made Anno tertio Iacobi Regis chap. 4. For the better discovering and repressing of Popish Recusants in which Act the Oath of Allegiance is contained and as for the other Act made Anno primo Reginae Elizabethae in order to the restoring to the Crown c.