Selected quad for the lemma: act_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
act_n	king_n	law_n	prerogative_n	3,673	5	10.4433	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59824	A letter to a friend concerning a French invasion to restore the late King James to his throne and what may be expected from him should he be successful in it.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1692 (1692)	Wing S3295; ESTC R37546	16,796	33

the Bill of Exclusion and how he also rewarded them we all lately saw and felt And shall Protestants after this think of obliging such Princes by their Merits They understand better that Merit is no Protestant Doctrine and that there can be none out of the Church of Rome And why should any body expect that which cannot be Nay should the late King return again and be as much at the Devotion of his Nonswearing Friends as they promise themselves he will be I very much doubt what the Church of England will gain by this If we may guess at the Spirit of the Party by the bitter Zeal which inspires all their Writings I can expect nothing from them but as fierce a Persecution of the Church of England as ever it suffered from Papists or Fanaticks excepting Smithfield Fires which possibly may be exchanged for Tyburn All who live in the Communion of the Church of England as now Established are in their account and constant Language no better than Hereticks and Schismaticks and Perjured Apostates much greater Crimes than the Traditores were guilty of which was the only pretence for the Donatist Schism and Persecution They seem to comfort themselves under their present Sufferings more with the sweet hopes of Revenge than any great expectations of future Rewards that they shall live to see the Swearing Bishops and Priests the contempt of Princes and People for if the A. B. of York who is particularly named cannot escape them I doubt they will make but very few exceptions And is not this a great encouragement to any who have complyed with the present Government to help these Men to Power again Must not the Nobility and Gentry expect their share of Vengeance as well as the Clergie And is not the Church of England then in a hopeful state which must be purged and reformed into Jacobite Principles and by a Jacobite Spirit These are all very sensible Proofs as far as we can reason about such matters how little good is to be expected from the return of the late King with a French Power He must return the same Man he went and then Popery and Arbitrary Power must return with him nay he must return much worse than he went because he must return more a Vassal to France which I suppose will not mend the Condition of English Subjects during his Reign These things ought to be well considered for if his Government was so uneasie before and gave us such a frightful prospect as made the Nation very willing to part with him when he thought fit to leave them it would seem very strange to by-standers should they now grow fond of his return when it is certain if he does return and returns by the Methods now intended Popery and Arbitrary Power must be more Triumphant then ever He wanted nothing but Power to make himself Absolute and to make us all Papists or Martyrs or Refugees and that he will ●ow have For if a French Power can Conquer us it will make him as Absolute as the Fr●nch King will ●et him be or to speak properly it will make him though not an Absolute Prince yet an Absolute Viceroy and Minister of Fr●nc● He will Administer an Absolute Power and ●overn●ent under the influence and direction of French Councels and then we know what will become of the Liberties and Religion of England And have we so long disdained the thoughts of ●ubjection to France Has a French League been thought such a N●tional ●rievance Has the pretence of a War with France been found such an excellent expedient to get Money of English Parliaments Has the ex●e●tation o● it fired English spirits and upon occasion filled our Armies and Navies without need of Pressing or beat of Drum Have we so detested the French Cruelties to Protestants And shall we now so willingly stoop to the yoke ●nd think it a great favour that they will vouchsafe to Conquer us Let us never complain hereafter that our Chains pinch and gall us when we our selves are ready with so much joy and thankfulness to put them on And whatever some fancy they will find it a very easy and natural thing for the late King if he return by Force and Power to make himself Absolute by ●aw Princes always gain new Powers by the ineffectual opposition of Subjects If they lose their Crowns and recover them again they receive them with an addition of some brighter Jew●ls and turn dispu●ed Prerogatives into Legal and undoubted Rights ●hus we know it was when King Ch. 2 d. Returned from a long Exile all the New Acts and D●clarations were made in favour of the Crown and Subjects bound to their good Behaviour as fast as Laws could bind them for in all such Revolutions those who suffered with or for their Prince return with zeal and resentment and take care in the first place to establish all such Prerogatives of the Crown as were disputed before and to grant such new Powers as they think are wanting And others there are always forward to make their fortunes by Complementing the returning Prince and to expiate t●eir ●ormer crimes by a forward and flaming Loyalty and the rest are over-awed and frighted into a compliance th●s it is commonly seen that between zeal and and fl●ttery and fear the King increases in Power and the People forfeit their Liberties and we must not expect that it should be otherwise now should the late King return The first Complement that must be made to him is a Jacobite Parliament and God knows what such a Parliament will do Will they deny him a Toleration for Papists the repeal of the Test the forfeitures or surrenders of Charters and a new Regulation of Corporations Will they dispute nay will they not declare his Dispensing Power and approve his Eccl●siastical Commissions Will they make any scruple to declare the Legitimacy of the Prince of Wales or to leave the manner of his Education to those who will certainly Breed him up in Popery Will they not take care for new Jacobite Tests to renounce and abhor all the several Hypotheses and Principles of Government which have been urged to justify our Submission and Allegiance to their present Majesties And when they have done this How easy will it be for a downright Popish Parliament which will be the next step that will be made to do all the rest It is very evident what advantages the Priests and Jesuits will have in such a juncture to make Proselytes while the People are in a fright and grown giddy with such frequent Revolutions and those who in the late Reign were the great Advocate● of the Protestant Cause are disgra●'d at Court threatned into silence their Authority weakned and their Persons reproach'd both by Papists and Jacobites Numbers of Conv●rts was their great want before and the Press and the Pulpit their great hindrance but Jacobites will by natural instin●t learn more Loyalty and others will be taught it as Gid●on