Selected quad for the lemma: parliament_n
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B01421
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An apologeticall declaration of the conscientious Presbyterians of the province of London, and of many thousands of other faithfull and Covenant-keeping citizens, and inhabitants within the said city and suburbs thereof. Wherein their firmnesse and faithfulnesse to their first principles and to their solemn league and covenant is conscientiously declared; and the covenant-breaking and apostacie of others is disclaimed and abhorred before God and the whole world. Ianuarie the 24th, 1649.
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1649
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Wing A3539AA; ESTC R176217
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6,833
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to preserve and defend the Kings Majesties Person and authority in the preservation and defence of the true Protestant-Religion and Liberties of the Kingdom yea the Lord God himselfe Angels and Men may bear witnesse with our Consciences that we have no thoughts or intentions nor ever had to diminish His Majesties just power and greatnesse and that we the Subscribers hereof are not Covenant-breakers but do utterly dislike and disavow the present proceedings against him either to the taking away of His Majesties Crown much lesse his life the very thought whereof we from our souls detest and abhor We do hereby most freely faithfully and plainly discharge our consciences and do testifie our loyaltie unto the Kings Majestie according to the duty of our allegiance expressed in the foresaid Protestation May 5th 1641 and the Solemn League and Covenant And we do hereby further declare that when we so cordially concurred with the Parliament at first in the opposition of the Forces raised by the King seduced by evill Counsellors as we propouned the preservation and defence of our Religion Parliament Laws and Liberties so also to preserve and not to ruine the Kings Person but mainly to remove the wicked from his throne that so it might be established in Righteousnesse to Him and his royall Posterity But we say not to pluck Him out of it and to bring him to an Arbitrary-tryall for his life both in respect of his Judges and their Law In summe therefore we have in all these most weighty respects too great and just cause to be extraordinarie sensible that the bringing of the King the Head of the Common-wealth to a tryall for his life before an arbitrary and illegall power warranted by no Law of God or Man and the most strange irregular and unparallel'd proceedings and contemptuous carriages toward His Majestie The puting down of the House of Lords and The restraining of so many eminent Members of Parliament by the Generall Councell of Officers in Arms against all Laws of God and Man the known priviledges of Parliament the liberties of the Subject and their justification of all these exorbitances in print instead of Repentance and deep humiliation for the same is but a sad prologue to the ensuing slavery and ruine of all the free borne Subjects of this Realm For if the Head and most eminent Members of the Common wealth legally to be protected from violence and tyranny by so many Oaths Covenants priviledges Laws and Engagements be thus tyrannically and barbarously already insulted over and trampled under feet like dust in the streets by an imperious Military-power We who are inferior to them in all respects and not invironed with so many priviledges and protections cannot but most justly fear and expect far greater insolencies and intolerable pressours to be unmercifully exercised on us by them when these pillars and foundations are not onely thus shaken but even quite removed and set by According to our Saviours own words Matth 10.25 If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub how much more wil they call them so that are of his houshold In sad and serious consideration hereof therefore we say again and again we cannot possibly keep silence though it be an evill nay because it is so evill a time But as professors of the true reformed Protestant Religion which teacheth no such Doctrines as these fore-mentioned and as are now adayes so unblushingly practised in relation to the Kings Majesty and to the rest of his free-borne Subjects without any respect or least distinction to their places or qualities That we may as much as in us lyes wipe-off that foul blot and scandalous stain that will otherwise inevitably fall upon Religion by this most horrid breach of our Covenant especially in relation to our King that professors of the Gospell in other Kingdoms may not also suffer by being cast out of royall protection for the sin of some pretended professors among us And that we our selves when the approaching Earthquake which is like to be in the three Kingdoms by fearfull commotions and endles wars and inevitably like to attend the intended deposure or violent death of our Soveraign King sadly falls upon us may not have outward misery and inward guilt to meet together without and within us even our Consciences flying in our faces for our at least seeming consent unto it by our sinfull silence But what we may in the singlenesse and sincerity of our hearts wash our hands and clear our innocencie in the sight of God and the whole Christian world We do not onely in generall make this our just Apologie that we are far from the approving of the breath of our Covenant in any part or branch of it But in particular in reference to that of the Kings Person so clear and innocent that we declare our Detestation and Souls abhorrency of that most disloyall action conceiving it to be such a sin as Men must create a New Name for and God a New Hell or punishment for it And thus now having in the unfeined sincerity of our hearts witnessed a good Confession as in the sight of God and Men not from a factious seditious vain-glorious or peevish Spirit of contradiction or in the least tinctured vile malignity or apostacie from the common cause of Religion Liberty and peace of the Kingdome Though we fear not persecution for righteosnesse sake in being true to our principles from those who have power now in their hands yet not knowing whether by Gods permissive providence Satan may not â—ast some of us into prison for thus setting our Consciences at liberty We therefore commit our Souls in this our Well-doing unto God as unto a faithfull Creator hyding our selves under the shadow of his wings till these calamities be over past and looking unto Jesus who hath assured us That whosoever shall forsake houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for his Name and Truths sake he shall receive an hundreth fold and shall inherit everlasting life We have therefore hereunto subscribed our Names with our hearts and hands FINIS
AN APOLOGETICALL DECLARATION Of the Conscientious Presbyterians of the Province of LONDON and of many thousands of other faithfull and Covenant-keeping Citizens and Inhabitants within the said City and Suburbs thereof Wherein their firmenesse and faithfulnesse to their first Principles and to their Solemn League and Covenant is Conscientiously declared And the Covenant-breaking and Apostacie of Others is disclaimed and abhorred before God and the Whole World Ianuarie the 24th 1649. Ezek. 17.15.18.19 Shall they prosper shall they escape that do such things or shall they break the Covenant and be delivered Seeing they have despised the Oath by breaking the Covenant when as lo they had given their hand and have done all these things Therefore thus saith the Lord God As I live surely mine Oath which they have despised and my Covenant which they have broken even it will I recompense upon their own heads Job 22 30. The innocent shall deliver the Iland and it shall be preserved by the pureness of thy hands LONDON Prented in the Year 1649. To the Reader COurteous Reader It is prudentially considered and concluded on by the Subscribers hereof that seeing their reverent Ministers Representation with subscription of their Names hath not taken that happie effect which was desired nor stayed the hands of those to whom it was directed therefore the publishing of their names that have subscribed to this Apologeticall Declaration will in like manner do but little good in that respect And therefore although they are upon record to the honour of the Gospel they are not now published in regard of the present over-awing Power of the Sword but may and shall in due time appear in publick with more ample and we hope most satisfactory Demonstration of the just Reasons of this their present concealment Vale. WE the Subscribers of this our Apologeticall Declaration who desire to approve our selves sincere Professors of the true Reformed Protestant Religion Presbyterian Citizens and Inhabitants of the honourable and lately famous and renowned City of London who have cordially adhered unto the Parliament in its first and second War against the Kings Forces for the defence of the true Protestant Religion His Majesties Person Crown and Dignity the Rights and Priviledges of both Houses of Parliament and in them the Lawes and Liberties of the Kingdome Calling to minde our solemne engagements not only by our Protestation May 5th 1641. but especially our solemne League and Covenant which was so religiously and unanimously sworn unto with our hands lifted up to the high and holy God of Heaven that we would really sincerely and constantly through the grace of God in our severall Callings and with our lives and estates endevour the preservation of them all Artic 1 2 3. c. And being in our Consciences perswaded and assured of our indispensible obligation so to do because most deeply engaged by our said Covenant not to suffer our selves directly or indirectly by whatsoever combination perswasion or terror to be divided or withdrawn from that Cause which so much concerneth the glory of God the good of the Kingdome and honour of the King But all the dayes of our lives zealously and constantly to continue therein against all opposition Artic. 6. And whereas by wofull experience we are made very sensible of the dangerous effects of the violation of all our Covenant-concernments and of the disappointment of our hopes of reaping the expected fruits of this defensive war for which we the Subscribers have many of us adventured our lives and most of us our estates in a measure beyond our abilities besides the Common Taxes that have been imposed upon us And though wee cannot but with bleeding and trembling hearts complain that our Cause doth in these sad and perillous times in which we live meet with such violent Opposition such mighty Lets and Impediments as we are not able to suppresse and overcome yet considering with our selves that what we cannot suppresse or overcome we are obliged to reveal and make known Artic. 6. Being also moved with fear lest in this time of imminent danger to all that is dear unto us our Silence should be taken for Consent and so contract upon our selves the guilt of betraying Religion King Parliament the Lawes and Liberties of this Nation having also no other way left us to set our Consciences at liberty from the aforesaid guilt we might contract by our sinfull silence in this juncture of time We do therefore with all sincerity fidelity zeal and humility before the most just and righteous Lord of Heaven and earth make known unto all the three Kingdomes of England Scotland and Ireland to all the Reformed Churches and unto the whole Christian World not onely the dis-satisfaction of our Spirits at the late and present Transactions of those who have forcibly assumed the Supreme-power unto their own hands But also do make this our following most solemne and serious Apologeticall Declaration for our clearing and justification from allowing or assenting to the illegall actings of these present times And that we may also publish unto the world the grounds of these our most just exceptions and necessitated complaints herein we declare That not only in generall our righteous Cause before mentioned is perverted deserted apostatized and fallen from by those who most injuriously and falsly reproach us with Apostacie for not associating with them and bearing them companie in their unwarrantable wayes But also in particular that it is perverted and abused in every part and branch thereof As first in point of our Religion which we are most deeply engaged by Covenant to preserve and reforme in power and purity Whereas in our own experience confirmed by the Parliaments first Remonstrance Exact Collect pag. 4. Religion in its purity was greatly endangered in the Prelates times in the Doctrinall part by the errors of Popery and Arminianisme and in worship with superstitious Innovations And in our sad apprehension the Doctrine of the Gospell is now adayes not onely more endangered through the increase of Popery and Arminianisme but of most blasphemous Antiscripâ—urisme Antitrinirarianisme Antinomianisme Socinianisme and many other such like heterodox opinions and damnable Doctrines But also in point of worship which instead of fear of corrupting is now in great danger of absolute Nulling by accursed opinions both against the very being of Ordinances the set-times and dayes appointed by God for their Administration and even of the Officers and Ministers appointed by Jesus Christ for their dispensation Which doth the more sadly affect our hearts and enforce this just Declaration and complaint because of that so eagerly endeavoured unwarrantable Tolerating of them all except in that subtill exception of theirs of the open practise of Popery and Prelacie as if it were that Liberty of Conscience which we have all this while engaged for But rather against which We doe not onely protest but contrariwise professe and declare that it was onely a Liberty of Conscience from sin and error which