Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	good_a	king_n	prince_n	3,500	5	5.4628	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41295	A letter writ by Mijn Heer Fagel, pensioner of Holland, to Mr. James Stewart, advocate giving an account of the Prince and Princess of Orange's thoughts concerning the repeal of the Test, and penal laws.	Fagel, Gaspar, 1634-1688.; Stewart, James, Sir, 1635-1713.	1688 (1688)	Wing F89; ESTC R17342	6,473	8

them to take these Tests and they are not suffered to do any thing that is to the prejudice of the Reformed Religion Since as I have already told you Their Highnesses are ready to concur whith his Majesty for the Repeal of those Penal Laws by which Men are made liable to fines or other Punishments So I see there Remains no difficulty concerning the Repealing the Penal Laws but only this that some would have the Roman Catholicks render'd capable of all publick Trusts and Employments and that by consequence all those should be repealed that have secured the Protestant Religion against the designs of the Roman Catholicks where others at the same time are not less earnest to have those Laws maintained in their full and due vigour and think that the chief Security of the established Religion consists in the preserving of them Sacred and unshaken It is certain that there is no Kingdom Common-wealth or any constituted Body or Assembly whatsoever in which there are not Laws made for the Safety thereof and that provide against all Attempts whatsoever that disturb their peace and that prescribe the Conditions and Qualities that they judg necessary for all that shall bear Employments in that Kingdom State or Corporation and no man can pretend that there is any Injury done him that he is not admitted to Imployments when he doth not satisfie the Conditions and Qualities required Nor can it be denied that there is a great difference to be observed in the conduct of those of the Reformed Religion and of the Roman Catholicks towards one another The Roman Catholicks not being satisfied to exclude the Reformed from all places of profit or of Trust they do absolutely suppress the whole Exercise of that Religion and severely persecute all that profess it and this they do in all those places where it is safe and without danger to carry on that rigour And I am sorry that we have at this present so many deplorable Instances of this severity before our eyes that is at the same time put in practice in so many different places I would therefore gladly see one single good reason to move a Protestant that fears God and that is concerned for his Religion to consent to the Repealing of those Laws that have been enacted by the Authority of King Parliament which have no other tendency but to the security of the Reformed Religion and to the restraining of the Roman Catholicks from a capacity of overturning it these Laws inflict neither Fines nor Punishments and do only exclude the R. Catholicks from a share in the Government who by being in Employments must needs study to increase their Party and to gain to it more Credit and Power which by what we see every day we must conclude will be extreamly dangerous to the Reformed Religion and must turn to its great prejudice since in all places those that are in publick Employments do naturally Favour that Religion of which they are either more or less And who would go about to perswade me or any man else to endeavour to move Their Highnesses whom God hath honoured so far as to make them the Protectors of his Church to approve of or to consent to things so hurtful both to the Reformed Religion and to the publick Safety Nor can I Sir with your good leave in any way grant what you apprehend That no prejudice will thereby redound to the Reformed Religion I know it is commonly said that the number of the Roman Catholicks in England and Scotland is very inconsiderable and that they are possessed only of a very small number of the places of Trust tho even as to this the case is quite different in Ireland yet this you must of necessity grant me that if their numbers are small then it is not reasonable that the publick Peace should be disturbed on the account of so few persons especially when so great a favour may be offer'd to them such as the free Exercise of their Religion would be and if their numbers are greater then there is so much the more reason to be affraid of them I do indeed believe that Roman Catholicks as things at present stand will not be very desirous to be in publick Offices and Imployments nor that they will make any attempts upon the Reformed Religion both because this is contrary to Law and because of the great Inconveniencies that this may bring at some other time both on their Persons and their Estates yet if the Restraints of the Law were once taken off you would see them brought into the Government and the chief Offices and Places of Trust would be put in their hands nor will it be easy to his Majesty to resist them in this how stedfast soever he may be for they will certainly press him hard in it and they will represent this to the King as a matter in which his Conscience will be concerned and when they are possessed of the Publick Offices what will be left for the Protestants to do who will find no more the support of the Law and can expect little Encouragement from such Magistrates and on the other hand the Advantages that the Roman Catholicks would find in being thus set loose from all Restraints are so plain that it were a loss of time to go about the proving it I neither can nor will doubt of the sincerity of his Majesties intentions and that he has no other design before him in this matter but that all his Subjects may enjoy in all things the same Rights and Freedoms But plain Reason as well as the Experience of all Ages the present as well as the past shews that it will be impossible for R. Catholicks Protestants when they are mixed together in places of Trust and publick Employments to live together peaceably or to maintain a good Correspondence together They will be certainly always jealous of one another For the Principles and the Maxims of both Religions are so opposite to one another that in my opinion I do not see how it will be in the power of any Prince or King whatsoever to keep down those Suspitions and Animosities which will be apt to arise upon all occasions As for that which you apprehend that the Dissenters shall not be delivered from the Penal Laws that are made against them unless at the same time the Test be likewise repealed This will be indeed a great unhappiness to them but the Roman Catholicks are only to blame for it who will rather be content that they and their Posterity should lie still under the weight of the Penal Laws and exposed to the hatred of the whole Nation than he still restrained from a capacity of attempting any thing against the Peace and the Security of the Protestant Religion And be deprived of that small advantage if it is at all to be reckoned one of having a share in the Government and publick Enjoyments since in all places of the World this has been