Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	great_a	way_n	2,889	4	4.3202	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A47603	The present great interest both of king and people in a letter written to one of the Lords of the Privy-Council / by a lover of his king and country.	F. K.	1679 (1679)	Wing K8; ESTC R20181	5,430	4

THE Present Great Interest Both of KING AND PEOPLE IN A LETTER Written To one of the Lords of the Privy-Council By a Lover of his King and Country My LORD I Have so often resolved to wait on your Lordship and as often been disappointed of those Resolutions by such publick concerns as did intervene that I now resolve what should then have been the subject of my discourse with your Lordship had my occasions permitted me to come to London shall be now comprised in this short Epistle and I hope your Lordship will not despise the well meant Offering of your Lordships old Acquaintance My Lord Among the rest of other matters during twenty Years last past I have particularly taken notice of the most remarkable publick Occurrences that have been in this Nation and when I review them to me they seem strange I will only observe with your Lordships leave these things First My Lord You cannot but remember with what an universal Joy did all Parties amongst us even as one man receive the King at his Return England lookt like the most peaceable Paradise in the world We began to entertain the old English Spirit again of Love and Loyalty But behold How soon was our growing Hopes blasted all hands at work to hinder any Settlement either in Church or State First The old Enemy of our Religion the Papist attempts the greatest Personages with their Nicknacks of Religion and had an excellent Harvest especially among a sort of Religious Women who when they had thrown off all sense of Modesty and Honesty shelter'd themselves under the Priests shroud of Confession and Absolution a rare way to finde out the Intrigues of Protestant Princes 2. The Sectarian he immediately stept in too with Disputes about the Garments of Religion and must needs have long Conferences at the Savoy Whether it were more Apostolical a short Cloak or a Holland Surplice c. And yet these Zealots pretend the Articles of Religion in the Church of England are sound But King James I remember told us He knew that sort of men very well that they would be always demanding alterations in Religious Establishments but could never agree among themselves what 't was they would have and be quiet 3. A sort of wild fantastick men called Fifth-Monarchy arose to disturb our Peace which would have neither Church nor Monarchy as establish'd but overturn all to bring down Our Saviour to reign personally amongst them and no doubt he would have had admirable Subjects 4. With these in comes a Torrent of Atheism and Debauchery as if all sense of Good and Evil were quite obliterated out of their mindes What Cursing Swearing Whoring Blaspheming even in the face of the Sun all manner of filthiness even to a Prodigy And he was no Gentleman nor Person of any Honour that had not in two hours sitting at Wine invented some new modish Oath or found out the late Intrigue between the L. B. and the L. P. laught at the fopperies of Priests and made Lampoons and Droll on the sacred Scriptures themselves This was and is the practice of our young Nobility and Gentry to the great Scandal and Reproach of their Families 5. The old Cunning Statesman observing this steps forth and appears vigorous too on behalf of the Discontented sets up Green-Ribbond-Clubs and le ts fall doubtful Intelligence at each Coffee-house that it may look two ways and neither true nor understood has his Emissaries every where to whisper Treason and Sedition smite the King through the Dukes side Libel and Lampoon him make him the Author of the present miseries Cry out daily of Property and Liberty that it 's like to be invaded when quite contrary their designs are absolutely bent to invade the Prerogative of their Prince and render him onely the bare Complement of a King and no more Yea they have of late made our Citizens Statesmen too whose business lies quite another way one would think every little Ale-draper now can tell what the Privy-Councel intend to do a Month hence and what the King ought to do c. Very fine by my troth Well but the Statesman goes farther yet for in the Countrey he appears for all the Discontented at Elections for Parliament-men there he recommends Godliness in such a man Courage in another against Popish and Episcopal Plotters when a man might have heard of some of them thirty years ago violent against King-Plotters that is those Loyal persons that endeavoured the Kings Restoration Now My Lord we have brought our selves to a very fine pass let me but a little Animadvert on what I have observed and then propose some Remedies for the Cure of our present Misery My Lord methinks it should have been impossible that these things should come to pass in our days as we now see when we had groaned twenty years under the several Tyrannies of Mechanick Princes Reformation Workmen Sanctified Covenanters Preaching Coblers and what not that our great ones should so far forget themselves as to hearken to the secret whispers of those Anti-Christian Traders to endeavour a return to that Slavery under which most of the Princes of Europe have lain many years to countenance a Religion so full of wickedness of all sorts to Plot contrive the death of Princes in order to their design Surely Protestant Religion was never well grounded in these persons or if it had they have sinn'd away all sence of it that teaches other things in Christianity Indeed as for the Female sort that have departed from our Church to that of Rome of late years they were a dishonour to our Church and no protection or allowance in it to those Adulteries and Fornications which are their daily practice so that no wonder they are departed since into that Church where they can sin and repent c. and yet be as innocent as the late Saints departed at Tyburn And again methinks the ill success our discontented Brethren had in their former Enterprizes for Reformation the Miseries Murders Ruine both to Church and State loss of one of the best of Kings by the hands of their Leaders should deter them from attempting the like again But my Lord I have observed among those sort of Men a spirit full of trouble and discontent let the times be good or bad for they are and must be even as they fancy Truly if Laws wisely contrived to keep us all quiet be put in execution against them oh then the beloved Doctrine of Persecution is held forth powerfully to untye the purse-strings of the good Women of the Congregation and to say truth they have then the best harvest Well but if no Law be put in-execution against them and they are permitted to say and do what they please truly then one or other of the Bishops is suspected Popishly inclined and sometimes they are all so but two Then again if a sound able Preacher of the Church of England or two appear against their foppish way of Preaching