Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	day_n	parliament_n	session_n	3,425	5	10.6408	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65084	Proposals humbly presented to His Highness Oliver, Lord Protector of England, &c. and to the High Court of Parliament now assembled for the calling to a true and just accompt all committee-men, sequestrators, treasures, excize and custom-commissioners, collectors of monthly assessments and all other persons that have been entrusted with the publick revenue or have in their custody any thing of value appertaining to the Commonwealth ... / by Tho. Violet.	Violet, Thomas, fl. 1634-1662.	1656 (1656)	Wing V585; ESTC R23589	138,237	248

Personages and will give your HIGHNESS the Parlament and Counsel just satisfaction The like I most humbly say for those honorable and worthie Gentlemen that are gone down into their Countries no doubt many upon their private occasions to settle their Business and return to do the Parlament and Nation Service May it pleas your HIGHNESS there is a saying Hee is more mercifull that prevents a man from falling then hee that takes him up after hee is fallen and could have staid his falling it shews an aboundance of bowels of mercie that your Highness would not let some men run their desperate course that they when they were entangled in the net of their own inventions might have enriched your Coffers by their Confiscations and ruined their families God hath put it into your heart to save them as a brand out of the fire for had they been let alone they had some of them burnt their wings If they reade the Historie of former Kings Craft as King James used to call it they constantly made Risings and Tumults an advantage unto them by Confiscations and Forfeitures to augment the Revenues of the Crown And no doubt many a man for the very covetousness to get his Estate some Kings have hatched and revived old Treasons themselvs to get and ensnare sometimes Innocents and sometimes heedless Traitors Histories both divine and profane have such examples God send some men never to forget your Highness goodness for when they had runn their course as some Gentlemen in the North and West have done some would have com to untimely deaths others to banishment and all to ruine and infamie to the break-heart of their Wives Children and relations and some others with sorrow teares and unfeigned repentance to have begged for their lives and peradventure not obteined it being cut off in their prime strength before half their daies are runn out Their Wives Children and Relations of some Families in this Nation are bound to bless God for ever that put it into your Highness heart to prevent some men in this Nation that they should not forfeit their lives nor estates a great mercie with reverence bee it spoken in imitation of the great God of Heaven that hath said I will not the death of a sinner and with long suffering and patience beareth with sinfull man whose breath is in his nostrils and lighter then the dust in the balance What are the private male-contents of this Nation in your Highness hands so long as you make God your Shield and Buckler Vnder Gods safegard and tuition mighty Kings and Common-wealths have not been able to resist the force of your Armies and Navies witness Holland Denmark Portugal c. that God that hath delivered you from the Bear and the Lyon will deliver you from these uncircumcised Philistins if you put your trust in him The Blessing of him that spake out of the burning Bush bless your Highness and your High Court of Parlament and direct all your Counsels that this Parlament may prove a Blessing to this Nation And that your Highness and the Parlament may bee as Moses and Aaron to the Children of Israel the Deliverers of these Nations out of the Land of Egypt And that God would send the spirit of Courage Love Concord upon all your Persons bless the Counsels and Acts of this Session of Parlament That your Highness may bee a Nursing-father and with compassion ease the Griefs and Oppressions of your People many of your good and loial Subjects at this day suffering much wrong and oppression amongst whom your humble Supplicant is not the least beeing oppressed contrary to Gods Law and the Laws of the Nation Your Supplicants daily praier is That God of his mercie will blast and scatter all inventions plots that are or shall be hatching against your Highness and the high Court of Parlament either of forain Foes or native Rebells And that God would turn the Counsels of some of the malicious Achitophels of this Nation that are sequestred and laid aside and some others that have maliciously deserted their Trusts into Foolishness And if they do maliciously wilfully and foolishly persist still to seek the disturbance of these Nations over which God by his divine Providence hath made your Highness Governour and PROTECTOR that then your sword of Justice may fall on some of them to terrifie others or which is worse that some of them may if they do not repent of this malicious sin to God and your Highness for what they had maliciously designed they may serve themselvs as Achitophel did 2 Sam. 17. 23. And when Achitophel saw that his counsel was not followed hee sadled his ass and arose and gat him home to his own house to his Citie and put his houshold in order and HANGED himself and was buried in the Sepulchre of his Fathers Let this bee the end of your Highness's malicious and implacable Enemies others that erre through mis-information or difference in Judgment I pray God to shew them a sight of their sins and give your Highness a mercifull heart so freely to pardon them as your Self would expect Gods pardon that so through the great mercie and protection of our God these three Nations after so manie Earth-quakes Overturnings and most famous and memorable Revolutions may bee firmly grounded and setled on the foundations of Libertie and Freedom Truth Mercy and Peace to the astonishment and amazement horror and confusion of home-bred Traitors and forain Nations your Highnesses and our Nations Enemies VVhen they shall see their hopes disappointed many of them promised to themselvs viz Uproars Tumults and Commotions Fire and Blood every man ready to sheathe his sword in his Neighbors bowels the rocks to rend and the Starrs of our Firmament to fall our Sun to bee darkned and Moon to bee turned to blood through the divisions and private discontents amongst us in Parlament But BEHOLD by the good guidance of God this glorious Parlament running its course as the Sun in his strength to the joy and comfort of our Friends both at home and abroad and confusion of our Foes in all parts that see this Parlament sit in Glorie and Peace in Love Union Order and Concord in that form as was wont to bee in Glorious Queen ELIZABETH's daies every Member making it his studie to get good Laws Liberties and Priviledges for the Counties Cities and Burroughs they served for and for these Nations of England Scotland and Ireland in general for the individual Safetie Prosperitie VVelfare and Honor of Protector and People all their Interest to goe hand in hand together And your Highness acting Queen Elizabeth's part studying alwaies to enlarge your Self to give these Nations all just and due Satisfaction and large Immunities Your Highness and the Parlament building up this Common-wealth as Nehemiah did the walls of Jerusalem Nehem. 4. every Builder to have his sword girded by his side and so they builded there are several other remarkable

out of the general Pardon in Anno 1651. and all the Offenders are at this day liable to bee severely punished There is the draught of an Act of Parlament against all these Offences and Offenders twice read in the House and amended and appointed by the House to bee reported by Mr Augustine Garland in the month of April 1●53 VVhich Act if once finished as it is now drawn doth appoint Commissioners to examine and finde out both the Offences and Offenders according to former Presidents in Parlament And upon the effectual prosecution I humbly say the Offenders may finde the old Proverb true that Sweet meat must have sowr sawce Their exemplary punishment will terrifie others for the future from practising such mischiefs against the Common-wealth I have humbly presented to your Highness a further Narrative of my prosecution against the Silver ships Sampson Salvador and George in the Court of Admiraltie The several witnesses beeing many of them Passengers in these ships confess the Silver and Lading was consigned for Amsterdam And many other remarkable Proceedings for to vindicate the Honor and just Proceedings of the then Counsell of State and Parlament who stayed those Ships and Silver as Hollanders Silver and merchandize ships and goods only upon your Supplicants information and prosecution against them The Hamburgers Spaniards and Lubeckers had their ships and goods restored by the Judges of the Court of Admiraltie May it pleas Your HIGHNESS I had more trouble to intitle the State to this Silver in these ships and to disprove the Spanish Ambassadors Claim to this Silver then I shall have to finde out the frauds of the Accomptants of this Nation And if I bee impowered to bee your Highness's Remembrancer and to have an inspection into the Accompts of this Nation by the assistance of God if your Highness and the Parlament will strictly and effectually proceed in this Business it will bring your Highness in millions of money for the ease of the good People of the Nation in general God defend the Commons of this Nation should pay their Taxes and Assessments to particular persons who shall not give a just accompt to the Common-wealth according to the Lawes and Statutes of this Nation All good people I most humbly say ought to part with some part of their Fleece for the Safety of the Nation when it is legally assessed and justly and truly accompted for but not to pay their monies to private Treasurers and Committee-men that by these Imploiments many of them have gotten vast possessions from the bottom of beggerie and baseness by fraud dissimulation and Cozenage May it pleas Your HIGHNESS These men have not moderately shorn the Sheep of these Nations but they have rent and torn their pelts and skins from them and they ought I most humbly say to pay for the mending of them and to serve some of these men as Dudley and Emson were served in King Henry the Eighth's time would bee a pleasing sight and acceptable to the good People of the Nation My most humble Suit to your Highness is That none of the Accomptants of the Nation may escape in the croud from giving up a just true and perfect accompt and that Commissioners and Auditors of approved integritie and trust to your Highness may bee impowered to view and inspect into all Orders and Warrants that have or shall bee produced by any Treasurer or Accomptant for all summs of money they pretend for their discharge and where any VVarrant hath been pretendedly or really paid and not legally impowered for the payment of any summ of money all such VVarrants may bee suspended for the view and inspection of your Highness's Commissioners of the Revenue or such other honorable persons your Highness shall appoint for that service And every Treasurer and Accomptant of this Nation his Body Goods and Lands his Heirs and Executors to bee liable till they have duly accompted according to the Lawes of the Nation or obteined your Highness gratious Pardon and Discharge May it pleas Your HIGHNESS Thus farr I proceeded in this my most humble Epistle at the first day this Parlament fate being Sept. 17. and your Supplicant beeing resolved to wait some time to see how God would dispose of the Counsels of your Highness Supream Court I did for some daies acquiess in this Business May it pleas Your HIGHNESS It is a reverent Tradition and Priviledg granted to the Members of the high Court of Parlament that many things may bee spoken by the Members of the high Court of Parlament within the House which are not communicable abroad and punishable for themselvs to speak out of that Place There are some things which God doth many times put into a mans heart which is no Member of Parlament but an humble loial Subject which are for the good and benefit of the Nation which one man knoweth and peradventure another man that is farr wiser and more learned than hee doth not know May it pleas Your Highness In a ship an ordinary Boy thereof is asmuch bound to discover a Leak or a Conspiracie in the said ship as the Boson or Pilat and hath as good interest to do it because his life is endangered in the concealing of it and a poor mans life may bee as precious to himself as a rich mans the same thing ought every man to doe that is a faithfull Subject on Land in any Nation where hee hath protection and much more his Countrey for preventing all Conspiracies to his power and if hee make a Discovery of what the Supreme Magistrate knows before hee may therein shew want of Judgment but not want of dutie or affection to the Supreme Magistrate or Government where hee liveth I humbly say That man sinneth against God and his Conscience if it bee for the honor of God the good of the Nation and the safetie of the Supreme Magistrate if hee do not discover it and all men formerly were bound by their Oaths of Aliegiance and Supremacie to bee true to the King For hee that hides and conceals that which God would have revealed puts Gods light under a Bushel most especially if it bee incumbent upon a mans spirits and such notions dictated unto him by the spirit of God which hee never had before for the doing it and upon resisting that spirit may never have hereafter This beeing my present condition upon my knees I beseech your Highness to be graciously pleased to grant your favorable perusal of this Epistle and Book beeing far larger then at first I intended proceeding from a most humble dutifull and loial heart for your Highness Securitie Peace Honor and Safety Had Caesar perused what was writ to him before hee went into the Capitol hee had not died as hee did The Duke of Guyse in France and many others in all ages that have sleighted information and intelligence have had the same sad fate Great SIR I most humbly say your Highness having by Gods gracious and favorable

to ashes and dispersed by the four Winds the hellishness of that Treason is beyond the expression of vvords That many Treasons have been plotted in other Countries and on other Princes as vvell as ours to Catholicks as well as to Protestants and have taken effect They were but plotted with us but by God's providence prevented beyond Sea really acted witness the two great Kings of France Henry the Third and Henry the Fourth one stabbed before Paris in the face of his Army and the other King by a rascally Votary a fellow conjured into the spirit of a Quaker by such a base hand died Henry the great King of France in the streets of Paris and the Prince of Orange murthered in Holland being a Protestant Prince by the same kinde of villanous hands These perils are common in all ages to good Princes and bad Princes Protestants and Catholicks And seeing these daily practices are and have been by God's permission suffered to bee done what manner of men ought all Princes and supream Magistrates to bee considering more than other men they may have their glory extinguished in a moment and that by base and unworthy hands Som men in all ages being possessed and instigated by the power of the Divel who possesseth them and put 's into their mindes that a private man may by a dagger or pistol judg and execute a Prince if they conceiv him a Tyrant And these delusions many times prevail vvith these incarnate Divels whereby they act Tragedies and shake vvhole Nations and thus do supream Magistrates too frequently becom by these ill-principl'd Miscreants upon the matter but meer Tennants at will of their Lives and Dignities May it pleas Your HIGHNESS there is a Pestilent Plague that reigns amongst us which I humbly say ought by the pruning-knife of the Law to bee lopped off from the vvholsom Tree of this flourishing Common-vvealth and that is the Treasonable Libeller vvhich of late hath increased openly every week producing daily monstrous births of Villany against the State Great SIR I humbly say That these things ought not to bee despised but rather lookt into for every Libel is a knock at a carefull Magistrate's door to awaken and caus him to stand upon his Guard especially in such Times as these when many men's brains are apt being like Touchvvood to take fire with the least spark of Sedition And therefore even as the Plague and sundry other filthy diseases are obnoxious and troublesom to both the minde and body so are all scurrilous Verses and libellous Pamphlets with their divellish Authors in a higher degree more infectious and hurtfull to both Church and Common-vvealth Now all diligence should bee used to bring the Offenders to Justice and by that means to terrifie others I have seen som questioned but I did never see exemplary Justice done upon the Offenders for these many years by-past Som Juries in this Nation will not believ the ill Consequence of this fire till without God's great mercie all will bee in a flame for one Villain may bring a Plague into a City as well as an Army and one Conspirator or one Libeller one Naples Massanello against a Prince or State may bee like a Thunderbolt that strike's upon the sudden and can hardly bee discerned there is no defence nor preparation against them one Felton in a moment extinguished the Greatness of a Duke of Buckingham May it pleas Your HIGHNESS amongst just Princes in the deadliest warr assassinators and poisoners of Princes have ever been accounted execrable and the Actors and Plotters to bee taken off from the face of the earth And for all these new Doctrines abroad within this Nation all true Subjects without distinction or degree I most humbly conceiv owe faith and service to the supream Magistrate which give 's them protection And it is Treason for any Subject in this Nation of what degree soever I humbly conceiv to bee privy to any forain Invasion Rebellion or Sedition or any private Practices to alienate and estrange men's hearts against the State and so prepare them to burst out into Tumults and Commotions in these dangerous Times Most humbly I shall conclude That as Your HIGHNESS by Divine Providence hath gotten the Supremacy of Power and to bee Protector of these Nations so it is ballanced with the supremacy of Cares You must watch when others sleep for Your ascent to Greatness hath brought on You a great proportion of cares and troubles And those men whomsoever they bee that look to gather their fruits and live under the shadow of Your Protection and would bee partakers of the beneficial Advantages which daily must descend from Your HIGHNESS beeing the Supream Magistrate if they will not in requital of Your Protection bee true and faithfull to Your HIGHNESS and the Common-wealth Such men I humbly say let them pretend what Religion they pleas without God's infinite mercy may bring both upon themselvs and the Nation in general great mischiefs to the destruction both of themselvs and many other particular persons May it pleas Your HIGHNESS Queen Elizabeth and her prudent Counsel would never stay to bee first strucken either by a Forain Prince or home Rebel when shee saw there was just occasion shee would alwaies bee before-hand with them by which her Vigilancy shee kept her Self and People in safety being much feared by her Enemies and honored and admired both at home and abroad by all her Friends May it pleas Your HIGHNESS I most humbly desire Your gracious perusal of these my humble following Proposals for calling the Accomptants of this Nation in general to accompt and of Your Princely Benignitie to vouchsafe to pardon what You in Your great Wisedom shall see in this Book amiss if it bee my error it is an error of the right hand and flow's from a Loial heart out of my humble zeal and affection of your Highness Safety Honor Peace and Wealth and for the good and ease of the Nation in general of some of their Taxes by calling some unjust Stewards Committee-men and Treasurers to accompt according to the Lawes of the Nation and that your Highness and the Parlament would be pleased to make such Orders Ordinances and Rules for the due and just making of Gold and Silver Thread VVyer Purle Spangles c. that the former Deceipts and Frauds daily practised and put upon the Nation may bee prevented And that an Act may bee made against all persons that have or shall hereafter cull and melt down the currant Coynes of the Nation for the making of any of the aforesaid Manufactures or for any use whatsoever And that an Act against Transporters of Gold and Silver out of this Nation may bee forthwith passed to prevent these great mischiefs to the Common-wealth which daily arise through the Covetousness of particular persons to the great dammage weakning and impoverishing of the Nation in general The long Parlament hath particularly excepted all these offences concerning the Coyn and Bullion