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 law_n matter_n 2,980 5 5.2921 4 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A40936 The liberty of the subject by Magna Charta, or, Several weighty things to be considered of by the jurors and judges, seeing the law of England is said to be a law of mercy and doth take care jurors be of the next neighbourhood ... R. F. (Richard Farnworth), d. 1666. 1664 (1664) Wing F489; ESTC R14907 12,991 26

There are 2 snippets containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

THE Liberty of the Subject BY Magna Charta OR Several weighty things to be considered of by the Jurors and Judges seeing the Law of ENGLAND is said to be a Law of Mercy and doth take care that Jurors be of the next Neighbourhood most sufficient Men and Persons that are least suspicious And that Judges and Ministers of Justice are to do even Law and Execution of Right to all Men rich and poor without respect of persons And That MAGNA CHARTA and the Charter of the Forrest are to be allowed in all their points and that if any Judgement be given contrary to the Points of the Charters by any of the Kings Ministers of Justice it is to be undone and holden for naught 25. Ed. 1. c. 1.2 Likewise No man is to be put to answer without presentment before Justices or matter of Record by due process or by Writ Original according to the old Law of the Land and if any thing be done to the contrary it shall be void in Law and holden for errour 42 Ed. 3. cap. 3. Written in the 6th Month 1664. THE Liberty of the Subject BY Magna Charta OR Several serious and weighty confiderations as hereafter followeth 1. Because the Innocent shall not be worn and wasted by long Imprisonment 2. That Prisoners for criminal causes when they are brought to their Tryal be humanely dealt withal 3. The Judge ought to exhort him to answer without fear and that Justice shall be duly administred unto him c. FOrasmuch as the Law of England is said to be a Law of Mercy and that three things are favoured in Law 1. Life 2dly Liberty And 3dly Dowre And That there are two things which the Law delights in First To have things openly and solemnly done Secondly Certainty Cook 2. part Institut fol. 315.316 for Truth is said to be the Mother of Justice and Certainty the Mother of quietness and repose Cook 1. part Institut fol. 224.39 What care therefore ought the Jurors and Judges to have in executing the late Act made for preventing and suppressing seditious Conventicles that they may not do things uncertainly nor unjustly and without mercy nor that they may not seek to suppress the Truth and People of God instead of suppressing Sedition and preventing Insurrection nor that they may not punish the Innocent instead of the Guilty Ought they not in order to the Executing of the said Act to take these things hereafter following into due and serious consideration First That religious and godly Meetings which are only for the Service and Worship of God are neither accounted unlawful Assemblies nor prohibited or punishable by the said Act. But seditious and ungodly Meetings are prohibited and punishable thereby For it is sedition and contriving Insurrection at Meetings under colour of Religious Worship that makes Meetings to be unlawful Assemblies and seditious Conventicles punishable by the said Act and not such godly religious Meetings as are far off and free from Sedition in word or action and also from designing or contriving any Insurrection Secondly That such Meetings upon the account of Religion and Worship of God as are not contrary to the manner allowed by the Liturgy or practice of the Church of England are not prohibited nor punishable by the said Act but ought to be freed from the force of the penalties in that case provided Thirdly That for people to assemble and meet together without any intent either to sowe Sedition or to contrive Insurrection but onely to wait upon the Lord in the way of his Worship and to preach and pray and to perform duty and service to God at any time or in any place according to the gift and requirings or teachings of the Word and Spirit of God is not contrary to what is allowed by the Liturgy of the Church because the Liturgy alloweth the same Fourthly That for persons and people to assemble and meet together under colour of religious Worship with an intent to contrive Insurrection is to meet in other manner then is allowed by the Liturgy or practise of the Church because neither the Liturgy nor practise of the Church alloweth of any such things Fifthly Otherwise ought not the Jurors and Judges to consider whether according to Law and in order to a certain legal determination of the matter in a legal manner it ought not first to be determined by the Spiritual Judges viz. What Meetings upon the account of Religion and Worship of God are allowed by the Liturgy of the Church or contrary to the manner allowed by the Liturgy or practise of the Church before the Jurors or temporal Judges ought to finde a verdict and passe Judgement accordingly to punish the persons and people for such matters and causes seeing it is a spiritual matter and cause being about the Service and Worship of God Sixthly Ought they not to consider whether it belongs unto them to judge and condemn persons for spiritual causes and matters of Conscience in things appertaining to the Worship of God or whether they ought not to disclaim it as not belonging to their jurisdiction because they do not sit and act as Judges in a spiritual capacity but in a temporal for is not the body politick divided into two parts the one part called by the name of spirituality and the other called the temporality and are not their powers distinct the one to hear and determine spiritual matters and causes and the other to hear and determine temporal causes and matters and hath not the body spiritual power when any cause of the Law Divine happens to come in question or of spiritual learning to declare and determine all such doubts and to administer all such offices and duties as to their room spiritual doth appertain and are not the Laws Temporal for tryal of property of Lands and Goods and for the conservation of the people of this Realm in unity and peace without ravine or spoil by the Temporal Judges and the other by the Spiritual Judges 24. H. 8. c. 12. or as by the Statute appeareth see the Statute 24. Hen. 8. cap. 12. Seventhly Ought they not to consider that people are not to be punished by the late Act for the Service and Worship of God but for meeting together to sowe Sedition or to contrive Insurrection under pretence of Religious Worship and must it not be made apparent and evident that they do so viz. sowe Sedition or contrive Insurrection before they can or ought truly according to Law be found guilty or condemned by the late Act so as to suffer the penalties thereof Eighthly ought not they to consider 1. Against what persons and practises the remedies by the said Act are provided 2. Who they are that come within the reason of the Act. 3. For what end the penalties are to be executed And 4. What Meetings are accounted and declared by the said Act to be unlawful Assemblies and punishable thereby that those may not be punished
company of Heaven and from all the Sacraments of holy Church do sequester and exclude And as concerning liberty of Conscience about matters of Religion The King hath been pleased to promise and declare a liberty to tender Consciences viz. That no man shall be disquieted and called in question for differences of opinion in matters of Religion so long as they do not disturb the Peace of the Kingdom Now forasmuch as the innocent people called Quakers have never disturbed the Peace of the Kingdom by designing or contriving any Insurrection c. They never yet forfeited their interest in the Kings promises and the Act entituled An Act to prevent and suppress seditious Conventicles provides remedies against the growing and dangerous practices of Seditious Sectaries and disloyal persons who under pretence of tender Consciences do at their Meetings contrive Insurrections as late experience hath shewed so that the remedies are provided by the said Act against the growing and dangerous practices of such persons as have forfeited their interest in the Kings promises by disturbing the Peace of the Kingdom in contriving Insurrection and not against the Innocent Meetings of the people of God reproachfully called Quakers or such as never yet forfeited their liberty therein because neither former nor present experience hath shewed that they ever contrived any Insurrection who are utterly and absolutely against designing or contriving any such thing Of the Assemblies and Congregations of the faithful St. Hillary against Auxentius saith I pray you O ye Bishops which do think your selves to be so what suffrages have the Apostles used for to preach the Gospel Act. 5. Act. 16. with what power were they aided for to preach Christ and as if it were to change all Gentiles from Images to God have they taken any dignity of the Pallace in singing of Hymnes and Psalms unto God in prison being in Irons and Chains and afterward to be whipped and scourged Did Paul assemble the Church of Christ by the Kings Edict when he was as a spectacle in the Theatre they nourishing and keeping themselves with their own handy labour in assembling themselves together within Chambers and secret places and by the Streets and Villages did environ and compass about almost all people by land and by water against the Decrees and Ordinances or the Senators and Edicts of the Kings Tertullian in his Apology against he Gentiles chapter 29. saith This Assembly of the Christians should be very unlawful if it were like or equal unto the unlawfull things it should be worthily condemned if it were complained of as of a Faction or Sect but whom have we endamaged or hurt by our assembling and meeting together we are the very same as when we were all dispersed asunder every one by himself not hurting any man When wise men and good and faithful people do assemble themselves together we must not call that a Faction or Sect but rather a Court and on the contrary we must apply the name of Faction unto those which hate good men that cry against the blood of the innocent under colour of their unity and for defence of their hatred Forasmuch as they do esteem and judge that the Christians are the causes of all losses and common mishaps If the River Tiber mounteth or swelleth above the walls if the River N●las do not descend upon the fields if the heaven do stand still if the earth tremble if there be Famine or Pestilence by and by they cry after the Christians for to cast them into the Lions Den. And as Tertullian in his Apology against the Gentiles saith on the behalf of the Christians so may I say on the behalf of the people of God reproachfully called Quakers This assembling of theirs should be very unlawful if it were like or equal unto the unlawful things of Sedition or contriving Insurrection or if they did meet with any intent to do some unlawful act with force or violence either against the peace or persons of another in a seditious and tumultuous manner But whom have the Quakers so called endamaged or hurt by their assembling and meeting together they are the very same when they are met as when they were all dispersed asunder every one by himself not hurting any man Ensebius Bishop of Cesaria in his Ecclesiastical History lib. 6. chap. 11. Alledging the Epistle of Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem against Demetrius and rebuking him thus saith That which thou hast added in thy Letters thou sayest That it was never seen that the lay and secular people should dispute of the Faith in the presence of the Bishops I marvel what moved thee to affirm a lye so evident insomuch that as often as there is found any man that is sufficient and apt for to give good counsel and to instruct the people the Bishops have accustomed to desire him to do it as our Brother the Bishop Neon did unto Evelpius in the City of Laranda and the Bishop Celsus unto Paulinus in the City of Icomum and the Bishop Atticus unto Theodosius in the City Sin●as And there is no doubt but the other Bishops may do the like in their Diocesses when they finde any one which is a man for to profit the people And Chrisostome upon the first Chapter of Genesis Hom. 8. saith I desire most earnestly and do pray that ye be all in the order of Doctors and not onely to be hearers of our words but also that ye would report and declare unto others our doctrine and that ye would correct those that do erre or go astray to the end they may return into the way of truth as St. Paul saith Exhort one another and edifie one another c. And a little after he saith God would not that the Christian should be onely content with himself but that he do also edifie others and not onely with Doctrine but also with good life and conversation And when he was come into the Temple the chief Priests and the Elders of the people came upon him as he was teaching and said By what authority doest thou these things and who gave thee this authority They declared saith Chrisostome That there was some which did give power unto men be it corporal or spiritual as if they had said thus thou art not engendered of the sacerdotal family the Senate hath not permitted thee to do this Caesar hath not given it thee But if they had believed that all power is from God they would never have asked who hath given thee this power knowing that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights 39. Hom. and that a man can receive nothing at all except it be given him from above see Chrysostome upon the 21. chap. of Matthew 39. Hom. Antoninus Pius was a great defender of the Christians for Speed in the History of Great Brittain speaking of the care that this Emperour generally had for the distressed and persecuted Christians in whose defence he wrote to his deputies in Asia and published an Edict against their Accusers the effect whereof saith he from Eusebius is this An Edict of Antoninus for protection of the Christians THe Emperour Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus Armenicus Euseb Eccles Hist l. 4. c. 13. Pontifex Maximus fifteen times Tribune thrice Consul unto the Commons of Asia sendeth greeting I doubt not but the gods themselves have a care that wicked persons shall be brought to light for it much more doth appertain unto them then it doth unto you to punish such as refuse to yield them worship but this course which you take doth confirm them whom you persecute in this their opinion of you that you are impious men and meer Atheists whereby it cometh to pass that they desire in the quarrel of their God rather to dye then to yield to the wills of such as you are and to embrace the form of Religion c. In the behalf of these men viz. the Christians that were banished and persecuted to death for the service of the Immortal God many of the principal Presidents have written before unto our Father of famous memory to whom he answered That they should not be molested unless they were proved to have practiced Treason against the Emperial State and touching the same matter some have given notice unto me to whom I have answered with the like moderation as my Father did before And by this our Edict do we ordain That if any hereafter be found thus busie in molesting these kinde of men without any their offence We command that the hat is accused upon this point be absolved albeit he be proved to be such a man as he is charged to be that is a Christian and he that is his accuser shall suffer the same punishment which he sought to procure upon the other This Edict was promulged at Ephesus in the general Councel of all 〈◊〉 So favourable was this good Emperour saith he to the true professors and indeed to all sorts of men having that Apothegm of Sc●cio As●rcanus rife in his mouth That he had rather save one Subjects life then kill a thousand Enemies Speeds History fol. 100.