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	sit_v	3,978	5	7.3782	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A87930	A letter from a Member of the House of Commons, to a gentleman now at London, touching the new Solemne League and Covenant.	Member of the House of Commons.	1644 (1644)	Wing L1411; Thomason E45_8; ESTC R2550	7,624	16

with what ingenuity the defence of the Kings Person is professed the words are defend the Kings Majesties Person and authority in the preservation and defence of the true religion c. I pray observe the evasions of this profession they will defend the Kings Person in defence c. that is the defence of Religion is the defence of his Person and Authority so as if they defend religion c. in heir owne senses they defend him though they destroy him Or if that evasion be not subtile enough they have another they will defend him c. whiles he preserves and defends religion both which equivocations these words admit no plaine meaning at all I assure my selfe it was fitted purposely to avoyd the profession of loyalty without condition or ambiguity and by these cautelous shiftes it 's evident they intend no subjection to any Christian Prince who is not of their owne opinions For the discovery of such as have divided the King and his people or one of the Kingdomes from another all the world hath discovered these Covenanters to be the men who have made so many Declarations against the King divided him and his people denying his just authority and forbidding his Subjects bounden duty to him and if any man hath beene a cause that the King hath denyed any justice or right to his people I shall admit that part of this covenant into my private practice to discover him but I shall never thinke him Incendiary Malignant or evill Instrument that shall assist him for preservation of his person and rights and defend him against any that shall demand his consent to any thing by Armes as is now done by this Covenant For the Kingdomes they are in themselves naturally and legally divided what divisions of affections have beene wrought among the people hath proceeded from the wayward passions of these men that against all order nature and duty make an independent Kingdome their native Country subject to the Subjects of another Kingdome nay two Kingdomes to one in whose laws they have no interest destroy their owne lawes to receive anothers and cut asunder the band of all union the power of the Prince in all his Kingdomes And herein I would gladly know what the fault is of doing contrary to this Covenant for certainely the crime as well as the punishment is a stranger to law and what conscience is left in these men that punish without law God will one day reveale in the meane time I see that law is no longer practiced by them then it serves private purposes 4 It was lately our happinesse that we enjoyed the blessing of peace betweene these Kingdomes which our progenitors wanted and posterity may we may referre that peace by Gods blessing to our union under one King but when we take away that band and place the Soveraignty in divided bodies we may not long rest secure of that former happinesse and the alteration of this first article from the first edition is an evill omen which leaves out the observance of the late treaty and of justice to be done upon the opposers which makes me thinke they allready lay plots for retaining these unhappy divisions which were formerly so hereditary to these Nations 5. The resolution of constancy in this evill cause as it makes the cure of the present miseries of this nation so these men they were desperate who bind themselves against their King and nation and disavow all repentance and remorse of conscience for the evill they have done Sir Having thus expressed my sense of your Covenant I shall on occasion of it digresse to give you the state of the present businesse accounted a controversie so great as nothing but the sword is likely to decide which I thinke a mind free from prejudice and passion would soone resolve I am confident your selfe never doubted that there was a necessity of the Kings personall consent called the royall assent to every act of Parliament And that it could not binde without such assent that the King had the same power over his Townes Castles Ships and Subjects sitting a Parliament as when it sate not that it is high treason in any Members of Parliament to make warre upon the King or his Subjects or to take his Townes or any part of his Dominions aswell sitting a Parliament as not If any of this be denied the evidence of time as farre as practice hath proofe besides the testimony of law as farre as it 's knowne makes it unquestionable From hence I proceed that if the two Houses of Parliament declare a thing necessary for the Kingdome being a fact and therefore onely probable and wherein they are subject to errour the Kings dissent shall not give a power unto the Houses to make any ordinance without him to binde the people This is a truth so undoubted that he holds his Crowne but ad placitum of the Houses if they have such a power These premises I pray take into your thoughts satisfy your friends what you have against any of them and if nothing then I am sure the taking fortifying and keeping Townes against the King commanding the Militia without him and raising Armes to defend the Ordinances made for it are illegall and high treason without contradiction That Armes were raised for defence of these Ordinances before they were invaded I cannot thinke any man doubts and therefore some will justify these Armes for taking Delinquents that is such as assisted the King upon his command I never yet heard any deny that these Delinquents were pardonable if faulty and to be prosecuted for the King only that no Court in which capacity is the Lords House or House of Commons sends for any can use any other power for their apprehension or suppressing opposition but the ordinary officers of law and justice and in case of their want or weakenesse they have recourse onely to the royall power resident in the person of the King And I never knew yet a deniall of this truth and it is as apparent that the Members of Parliament sitting at Westminster having thus raised these Armies and expelled all from their counsells that concurre not with them that admit forraigne counsells instead of the royall assent that require a Covenant from their Members to repeale established lawes and in case of refusall expell them that awe their Members with Armies Tumults and Threats that have called in strangers to invade the Kingdome are thereby no longer a Parliament having taken away all freedome from it and the King to come to it but on their conditions and hence you see where to referre the effusion of so much Christian bloud and all other miseries of this nation Sir Though your confidence be great in the pretended Houses yet weigh impartially their proceedings you will see the condition they have put themselves in is not of Subjects and consequently are not their Kings Parliament which they must be or none at all I conclude with your Covenant that our great and crying sinnes have brought this evill upon us that our present calamity is a scourge from Heaven and yet these wicked hands by whom God afflictes a people escape not his revenge of their treachery cruelty and injustice We have enjoyed the free use of our religion the land was covered with knowledge as the waters covered the sea forraigne Churches rejoyced in beholding our order constancy and increase and all eminent gifts yet we despise our Church cast off the guides thereof as Antichristian heape to our selves multitudes of Ignorant Teachers please our selves best with these that take pleasure in despising dominion and speaking evill of dignities calumnies disgraces and libells against those that were set over us are cheifely affected by us these were the seedes of the present rebellion by which God visits these and our other sinnes upon us for aversion of whose wrath we must all confesse our owne and the sinnes of our nation and by timely repentance and sincere reformation of life turne and cry mightily unto the Lord that he will heare and forgive and heale the land FINIS