Selected quad for the lemma: parliament_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
parliament_n	king_n	power_n	prerogative_n	4,869	5	9.9586	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41771	The nonconformists vindication, or, A testimony given against the indulged assembly of separatists wherein the false calumnies and aspersions cast upon the suffering Presbyterians, are answered and confuted : also, the heads and causes of separation are opened and explained, together with an illustration of the Erastian state of the present church.	Grant, Patrick, 17th/18th cent.	1700 (1700)	Wing G1522; ESTC R12655	52,064	65

and receive that King who complyes with Prelacie and invests himself therewith neither can a King serve two Masters at once For this were to build and destroy simul semel which is a compleat contradiction Therefore none Godly whose Consciences are not byassed and prejudged will ever subject themselves to such a King altho they should suffer the utmost of Cruelty Secondly As to vertue and exercise of Trade how much is this Land opposed hindred and imprisoned by that Nation of England as sad experience has taught us they having the Seat of the Throne and Sitting at the Helm Advising and Counselling their Kings not to Countenance nor assist Scotland in the exercise of Trade But on the ot●er hand to declare Enmitie againg them of which we have had a late instance But I will not insist upon this head seing both Noblemen ●everal others has spoken Learnedly and reasonably upon this head And I think it is approven by the whole Land except only by these few who are by assed prejudged and bought for Self Interest to the Selling and betraying of their Nation Now from the Consideration of what is abovementioned I think we may be moved to reject that King And if we may refuse and reject him upon the account of Prelacy Then much more may we refuse that Popish Prince who pretends to a Heredetarie Succession contrair to the Lands Engagements and Laws upon the Account of Popery whose intention without doubt is to pollu●e and d●si●e the Land with Idolatrie and therefore to be resisted and oppo●ed to the outmost of our power by all the Inhabitants of the Land 2. There is a second di●siculty that do occur to these who would be for the continuing of Mon●rchy Government and for choi●ing a King from among our selves The difficulty is this the Mould of Kingly Government is lost by that unlawful and intolerable Priviledge and Prerogative that is given to Kings which is a Negative Voice which is not proper to Kings but to the Parliament as Learned Buchannan and Mr. Rutherfo●d gives an Account in his Rex Lex concerning the power of Parliaments where he gives instances that under the days of Peagantry the Parliament had the Negative Voice And downward under the Christian Faith yea to the days of our Reformation So that it is out of late crept in bu● how unlawful this Negative Voice is let Men of understanding Judge for by that they call and raise Parliaments and not any thing can pass in Act but what they please likewise in matters of Life and Death and this is done contrair to the Law and cons●quently to a Faithful Parliament For the Law and Faithful Parliamenters d●th not distinguish That whoso opposes the one opposes the other And this usurped prerogative is so in use in the Land and h●s been dispensed with silence and connivance So that now it is difficult to find the Mould of Kingly Government or to perswade M●n to imbrace it And therefore easier to change the Government than to set it up I have spoken this in a Politick way by manner of civil Policie 3. There remains now only this on mean to make use of in order to set up Government in the Land viz. A Common Wealth and this must be done by counsel and direction from Gods word Otherways the Building will be in vain Psal 127. Except the Lord Build the House they labour in vain that Build it Now you must either Build on the Foundation already laid or else you must make it unlawful and disagreeable to Gods word But this will not be as is aboundantly proven from the invincible grounds and Reasons given above For surely what we have done must either be approven or disapproven for as I have already told you that there is no Action situate in individue but must be either good or evil that is It must be either rancked up among the sins of the Fathers or else among the duties of the Fathers And I think when this is Faithfully done it shall appear that the Mercies and Deliverance of the Church shall not run in any other Channel than what we have espoused So that in this I think I have brought this contraversie to a point Now let this Generation play their Game as they will Yet surely this deserted cause will arise coast what it will And hath the Lord been at such pains if so I dare speak to keep his Church in the Fu●nace of Affliction near Twenty Years from the Year 61 to the Year 79 inorder to oring forth this duty Then c●rtainly he will bring them to the same Wilderness and plead with them there as in Hosea 2 14. I will go and return to my place till they acknowledge their offence and seek my Face in their Affliction they will seek me early Hath the Lords Church been under the Feet of cruel Boody Tyrants in Scotland already I fear there is worse dayes coming in which this Land shall be brought under the Feet of cruel Bloody Papifts And then Backsliders shall be Robbed of their Idols of Erastian Indulgence and it may be Burried Convictions will arise though more than Twenty Five Years in the Grave and that with Josephs Brethren some will say as in Gen. 42. 21. We are verily Guilty concerning our Brother c. Now you have thought that such a duty a● this would have brought furth much Blood and Confusion in the Land But it will be found that the neglect and omission shall bring furth greater But none believeth nor seeth Judgments but these who sees sins Now having commented at large upon these three heads because in them the most material and substantial part of the Contraversie did lay I shall in the next place proceed to consider the premisses that you lay out against us in your Phamphlet called the Seasonable Admonition taken from the Writings of Mr. Durham concerning Scandalous Divisions which Premisses I shall speak to in order as they lay Ye say we may and ought to endeavour Union though there be many things defective This likewise I acknowledge for no perfection is to be obtained Heir on Earth 1. But first you say Though there be differences of Judgments in many things namely in such things as are consistent with the Foundation and Edification It may be interrogat what Sins can consist with the Foundation I Answer Personal sins sins of ignorance infirmity deadness in wanting Zeal and Courage But no wilful deliberat contented sin that 's obstinatly defended nourished and maintained can be said to consist with the Foundation And that because the Attribut● and Properties of dutie are given unto it which properly belongs to the Foundation So that here Durham understands sins of ignorance of duty because he saith Mens understandings are not perfect nor of equal reach Now ignorance or simple infirmity can never be cause of Seperation Seing Separation consists either in Defect or else in Excess Now it cannot be said That a Man in

Scaffolds ●mprisoned keeped in Irons and with exquisite Torters Tormented Exilled Badished and sold as Slaves amongst Savages All which they endured most patiently a long time or ever they offered to appear in publict Arms against them And all this they have met with as a reward First upon the Lords part tho unjust and ungreat as to his part for their too great and inordinat love wherewith they prevented him in the day of his distress being the first and only beginning of his unhappy Restauration Fifthly Time would faill us to narrate what exorbitant impossings taxings cessings and every way impoverizing of the Subjects Grinding of the Faces of the Poor Delapidating the Rights and Revenues of the Crown for no other end but to imploy them for keeping of a Bordel rather than a Court Since there is no Court in the World has attained to suc● a height in Debauchry and Deprivedness as that Court by his Example has done For the whole Nation follows the Kings example R●gis ad exemplum totus componitut orbis Sixthly As it had not been enough to exercise such a Tyrranical Arbitary power himself He by a la●e Parliament such as the former intends that his Cruelty and Tyrrany shall not dye with himself but that he shall in his own time instal such an one if not worse than himself contrair to all Law Reason Religion And in that parliament to unhing very Protestanism it self by framing a Test such as no Protestant how corrupt so ever can take and so ridiculous as that it is made the Laughing stock even of Enemies themselves is it then any wonder considering such dealings and many Thousand● moe That true Scots Men tho we have been alwayes even to the extremity sometimes loyal to our Kings should after Twentie years Tyrranny break out at last as we have done and put in practise that power that God and Nature has given us and we having reserved to our selves all our Engagments with our Princes having been alwise conditional as all other Kingdoms are implicitly but ours explicitly Let none therefore object against the legality either of what we have done or are doing for observe how inconsiderable so ever we are said to be to prove our selves to have done nothing against our Ancient Laws Civil or Ecclesiastick against any Laws or Divine● whatsoever our Ancient Laws beinp Judges and we having safety to pass and repass if the publick Faith after so many Breaches can be trusted for that effect So then let no Foraign Kingdom or Churches throw misinformation or false copies as they are many of what we Act or do because we have not access to the Press as they we say let them not take up a wrong opinion of us or our Proceedings For we are only endeavouring to extricat our selves from under a Tyrrannical Yoak and to reduce our Church and state to what they were in the Year 1648. 1649. Therefore we here conveened in our Name and Authority ratifies and approves what has been done by the Rutherglen and Sanquhar Declarations And by their presents rescinds and annnles and makes void whatsoever has been done by Charles Stuart and his Accomplices in prejudice to our Ancient Laws and Liberties in all the prelimited Parliaments and Conventions since the Year 1660 and particularly the late Parliament holden at Elinburgh the 28 day of July 1681 by a Com●issioner professedly Popish and for Villany exilled his native Land with all the Acts and Laws there Statued and Enacted as that Abominable Riduculous and Unparalel●ed Soul Perjuring Test and the rest We therefore Command and Charges you to pass to the Mercat Cross of Lanerk and in Our Name and Authority to Publish this Our Act and Declaration as ye will be answerable Dated the 23 of December 1681. Let King JESUS Reign and all his Enemies be scattered NOW considering the Miseries the Land was in at that time by reason of that cruel and intolerable Bondage which was exercised over the subjects by their Laws which was That none should have their Lives or Lioerties But these who would sell Soul and Conscience and either comply or connive at their Abominations or else suffer Death Now in such a case I think no Man of reason but will acknowledge that we have done nothing but what we are bound to do from the Word of God and our Covenants which is to preserve and defend King and Rulers in the Defence and Preservation of the true Religion But no furder as is abundantly proven in our Declarations Now if any shall raise Objection against the manner of our Proceedings As. First that the Representative powr of rejecting Tyrannie belongeth not to privat Persons but only to the OPTIMATES REGNI that is to say to the Peers of the Land such as Nobles Barons Burgesies And therefore they are Custodes legis the keepers of the law who are to see to the Laws and saftie of the Kingdom in defending the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects Answer Indeed it would become them best but they failing in this by their defection and complyance silence and connivance at the Tyrannie commited in this case it becomes the subjects altho' privat persons to assume to themselves that power of defending the Laws and Kingdom which they have Forefaulted As for Example if a City were Besieged by an Enemie and the Magistrats and these who had the power would conspire in one with the Enemy to destroy the Citizens were it not their duty to take the power which they have abused and defend themselves their Lives and Liberties Now this being our case then no reasonable man I think will condemn what we have done considering the grounds and reasons abovementioned Now this Representative power was firmly owned and avowed by all the Nonconformists in the Year 1680. 1681 and 1682. But in the Year 1633 they began to faint the eminent godly in whom the Life and substance of this dut●e was were in a great part taken away by suffering in Fields and Scaffolds and the remaing partie who were Faithful protested against these failings but were not heard So that at length they denyed that they acted Authoritatively in these Declarations above mentioned where the judicious Reader may discern the contrair by such congruous expressions as is used for expressing the nature of the Action But now this hopeless party of Nonconformists has turned their Testimonies to Protestations That when Kings and Queens comes to the Throne they enter a Protestation against them But what is that to the purpose What if all the Shires in Scotland would send a Thousand Arm'd Men to the chief City of every Shire to declare against them And there rest on their Protestations would thus effectuat any thing Certainly no the only duty is to call a Representative and put on Authority and take to them that power which they have Forfaulted and by vertue of that power they may proceed against them with the Sword of Justice

this guilt nor yet be innocent from Perjurie seing that the King according to the Faith and Practise of the present professing Generation is a lawful King and nourishing Father to the Church and so by consequence is a Member of the Church and therefore Subject to the Laws thereof which I think the Assembly will not deny considering that his Mercies comes under their inspection as is to be seen by their praying for prosperity and a Blessing to his undertakings And why should not his sin and miserie llikewayes be marked and testified against or else we shall never reform our selves But some will object and say that the King has owned and countinanced Presbytrie in Scotland and declared Enmity against Prelacy Answer This he hath done by way of an Erastian Toleration and that from Self Interest as is to be seen Because they Tolerat his sin and beco●es obedi●nt to his corrupt unlawful Commands by keeping of sinful Fast dayes and Thansgiving days and the like And that both contrair to Scripture and the principals of Presbytrie which the Prelatick party out of wilfulness will not do So that from this his Faithfulness doth not appear unless that his Zeal were universal against all the Prelatick party I say in other places as well as here For certainly it is to be followed with Zeal and hatred in the other Kingdoms as well as here it being evil in it self and according to that true Axiom quod Malum est per se non mutatur a Circumstantjis that 's to say That which is evil in it se●f cannot be changed from circumstances of place So I say unless that this Zeal be universal it can noways be sound and reall But it may be furder objected that there was good reforming Kings in Judah who did not take away the high places And why may n●t our King be owned as a Lawful Reforming King although Prelacy be not altogether abolished Answer The difference is very great As 1 The Reforming Kings of Judah were never Anointted or brought to the Throne by the Priests of the High places But your king was brought to the Throne of Britan principaly by the English Prelats the Lords spritwall as they were called 2 the priests of the high places were never in court or near to the Th●one with the Reforming king of Judah But the English Prelats are 3 the kings of Judah never bult the high places in the time of their Reformation but your king hes set up Prelats in England since his coming to the Throne I instance Mr Gilbert Burnet 4 we never read that the kings of Judab Sacrificed in the high places in the time of their Reformation But your king heares and communicats with the prelatick party in worship 5 the Reforming kings of Judah did never swear to defend the high places in the time of their Reformation by opposing and hindering these that would have destroyed them But your King has Defended the high places for the past and present time from these that would have destroyed them So that from this you see that your Kings practise doth nowayes quadrat with the practise of the Reforming Kings of Judah And that because in them it was a sin of deadness and infirmity But in him a willful deliberat contented sin as is to be seen by the laying aside the endeavour of the duty and much more the Perfection thereof in its sincerity Furder you say do we not think him our lawful King and is he not a blessed Instrument in Gods Hand to work so great Deliverance for you and us Answer This we have clearly denyed from the forementioned grounds and objections and we think any single eye that is not by assed and prejudged will assent to what we have said And if any be of that judgment which I am not viz That it might please the Lord for a time to continue Kingly Government in this Land and to raise up a King to rule in Righteousness for the good of his Church and People I say then it might be expected that he should be set upon the Throne with cleaner hands than Blood shedors Test-takers and Eras●●an Indulged Proffessors who hath never yet acknowledged their sin Nor yet prepared themselves for Mercy And whatever you may think of this Revolution in calling it a Deliverance Yet far be it from us to think so as to let such Dreams or Delusions enter into our Heads or Hearts seing there is no promise from the word to believe so Now from what is said above I think it shall appear that the Oath of Allegiance cannot not be given to the present Person on the Throne nor yet to any Successor who shall walk in his steps For what is applicable to the one shall still be applicable to any other of the same practise Now I shall in the next place proceed to the Grievance given against you which is ●hat there is corruption in the Constitution as it is now established being under the bondage of an Erastian Yoak submitted to Which charge you deny as false And then interrogates if we know what Erastianism is It is likely you say few of us do Ans Some of us knows as much of Erastianism as can be said by some of the most famous Learned Divines in Europe And I think our Faithful Ancestors hath not le●t this contraversie in the dark as is to be seen by Learned Mr. Gilhespie in his Aarons Rod where he penteth out Erastianism so full as that the capacities of the Vulgar may understand Furder you say do we no● consider how sinful and highly uncharitable it is to Accuse Judge and Censure the Godly Ministers of this Church who formerly wrestled against Erastianism as so contradictorie to themselves and Treacherous to their Master as to betray his Interest and the Church Priviledges to an Erastian Yoak Ans This is no argument to prove that they are now Faithful because that they once were so Are not the best of Men subject to sin and fallings And can do nothing of our selves without the Lords Assistance and the help of his holy Spirit And hath not some of the Godlie Kings of Judah Built again that which formerly they Destroyed as Solomon Asa Joash and hath not many Professors in our days walked contrair to their Profession They who once were Remonstrators formerly against Erastianism were seen publiklie to appear in the Street of Edinburgh in the Parliament Closs to the derision o● many hundreds puting up an Address and Supplication to a Po●ish King for an Erastian Toleration and Lioertie as they called it Now this was the sin of a great many which sin hath been Benjamin like Espoussed by the whole Assembly First in their complying with the Benefite as they called it and then being passed over with silence connivance which should have been confessed Yea and in a well constitute Church should have been Censured and Punished with the Sword of Ecclesiastical Discipline But with you there is