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
A93507	Some observations upon the posture of our affairs on the death of our late most gracious Queen.		1695 (1695)	Wing S4541A; ESTC R233450	3,693	14

carreer The continuance of this Happy Union is what every good Man prays for and they only lament 't is so publick now that they cannot deny it yet they surmise that it cannot last long and you may know them by their feigned Doubts whenever the fair Correspondence between the King and Princess is spoke of but blessed by God it is gone so far that it has forc'd them to be quiet in that matter The next thing they turn'd their thoughts upon is to promote an Act of Abjuration in relation to the late King this is a Master-piece and only fit for the scrutore of a Secretary of State this is intended to render all the Church of England-men uncapable of serving our King and will reduce his Majesty contrary to all Maxims of State and Reason to be the Head of their Party instead of being undoubted King of all England 'T is Wisdom in every Government to make its Foundation as wide as may be and shall we now in time of danger make the Foundation of ours narrower The Laws of our Land know no such term as the word Abjuration in the sense they wou'd impose it upon the Subject no Oath can be impos'd upon the Subjects of this Realm other than what is impos'd and enjoyn'd by Act of Parliament and that only concerning lawful and indifferent things but this new Oath they would introduce is in the opinion of many of the King 's true and faithful Subjects contrary to the Law and Word of God and Nature and there was nothing like it ever heard of in the Practice or Laws of our Kingdom till these Gentlemen two Years ago promoted it in the House of Commons where it was thrown out In a word it is against Reason Conscience Honour or Policy either to require it or take it 't was in such Practices as these that the Tyranny of the late Civil Wars consisted but they never proceeded to impose such an Oath Subscriptions were once requir'd but that was when the Army enslav'd and a Committee of it govern'd the whole Kingdom Let these Gentlemen flatter themselves in their own vain Imaginations as long as they please let them contrive the building their own Fortunes upon the ruin of the Publick every true Englishman knows that we have a good Government setled in the Person of our King that the Monarchy is secur'd by the Act of Settlement and that the Church of England as establish'd by Law is suited for the preservation of the present King as well as of all other in their due Prerogatives that the Hereditary Monarchy is part of the Constitution of our Government and that the Church of England has been long made so too that the Church and State as they are fram'd and supported by our Laws are so adapted the one for the other that their Welfare is reciprocal and their Interests are so interwoven each with the other that to pull down the Monarchy the Church must be undermin'd And this is the Source of that Rage that these Gentlemen shew upon all occasions against it The Doctrins and Principles of the Church cannot offend their Consciences who pretend to no Religion why do they then oppose it but because they apprehend it obstructs their other Designs While we chearfully and vigorously carry on the War against our Enemies abroad under a Prince that is Vertuous Wise and Brave let every honest Heart joyn in their Prayers against these Enemies to our Peace as Home That God Almighty would abate their Pride asswage their Malice and confound their Devices FINIS

SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE Posture of our Affairs ON THE DEATH OF OUR LATE Most Gracious QUEEN SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE POSTURE OF Our Affairs ON THE DEATH Of our late most Gracious Queen LONDON Printed in the Year 1695. SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE Posture of our Affairs ON THE DEATH OF OUR LATE Most Gracious QUEEN 'T IS not intended that this Paper shou'd make any new Discoveries neither my Business nor Inclination leads me among the Men of Intrigue in our State-Affairs but the Conduct of our Rose-Tavern Club our W ns our G ys and the rest of 'em in a late Juncture carries so many Marks of their dangerous Designs in it that no private Person in his idle Hours can pass it over without some Reflection They will pretend if it comes in their way and they can by that means serve a Turn That there is not such a Creature as a Republican now in England that like Wolves they had once a footing here but their whole Race is now extinct Yet upon the occasion of the least change in our Government they cannot contain themselves Had we not an Instance of their Good-will in Monmouth's Rebellion Did not the same Temper and Inclinations appear plainly in the Convention upon the settlement of our present Government Nor have they been wanting to put in their Claim upon the loss of the late most excellent Queen the Thoughts of the Princess Anne so near as Heir Apparent of the Crown they cannot hear she is the support to the Succession of our Hereditary Monarchy for tho' one Link by the Act of Settlement is taken out the Chain is not broken and besides she is a visible Security to the Church of England and therefore if possible they are to step between her and the Throne all they can do at present is to endeavour to make her odious to the People To this purpose they industriously spread their Rumours in the City and elsewhere That she was not reconcil'd to our good Queen before she dy'd but carry'd herself unhandsomely and barbarously to her in her sickness And at the same time they were never more enrag'd than when they knew how far the Native Goodness of her Royal Highness led her upon that Sad Occasion and with what a Tenderness all Messages from Berkley-House were receiv'd by the late Queen and with what a kind Regard from his Majesty in the Condition that both were under it was safe neither for the Queen nor Princess to come together but these Gentlemen while with False Reports they Asperse the Princess in Publick for her Ill Carriage to the Queen in their Private Conversations they Curse her for the Messages she sent and one of 'em cry'd at that time God Damn Her who put that into her Head 'T is not observed that the Jacobites themselves show any Dependance upon the Princess they know they have no Ground for any Expectation there and yet these Gentlemen report That the Princess Treats underhand with the late King James to bring him in and it has been whisper'd by them in the House of Commons That it is necessary to have an Act of Parliament to secure the Kingdom from this Pretended Danger which their own Wicked Designs creates and spreads abroad they would have a Law upon a bare Suggestion of their own fomenting in a Case that would be High Treason in the Princess if prov'd as well as in any other But we know what they mean 't is the Act of Settlement that they wou'd defeat and because they dare not yet directly set themselves against it they desire by these Arts to weaken it tho' 't is notoriously known they have felt the Pulse of several in the House of Commons about it in Plain Terms and not under the Colour of other Pretences Strange Weakness of Human Nature that there shou'd be some Cheats which tho' never so long practis'd and tho' never so often exploded shou'd still obtain among Men. Has not the Name of Liberty when made use of to undermine a Setled Government ended in Universal Slavery and the Specious Pretences of Religion when oppos'd to that Establsh'd by Law introduc'd a General Corruption of all the Common Principles of Justice and Vertue and whatever is esteem'd most sacred among Men Once within the memory of several of us we have experimented what a Common-wealth wou'd do in England and then some at the Helm were sober just and brave Religion and Justice they pretended to make the Foundation upon which to build their Government yet this soon fell into confusion And shall we now see the same thing attempted again but with greater Disadvantages 'T is now attempted by a Sett of Men who are so far from any sense of Religion in themselves that they will not allow of so much as the Form of it in Publick Men that are either Bankrupts in their Fortunes or Cowards in their Persons Men that have spent their Estates in the most scandalous open Debaucheries and now turn Patriots to repair them that were never known to be at any Divine Service whatsoever except when they receive the Sacrament in the Church of England to qualifie them to take a Place that they may destroy it Men that Vapour and give Ill Language in the House of Commons where no Man ought to give an Affront because it must not there be resented But tho' some of these Strut in the House they Speak as tamely when they are out of it What such Men as these can expect from a Common-wealth I cannot imagine for were it come to that Power would fall to the bravest and best amongst us and then their Qualifications of Cowardize and Knavery will render them contemptible as they deserve to be 'T is our Misfortune in England and his Majesty feels the greatest share of it That the Party that these Gentlemen manage is so great that they can obstruct Business if they are not imploy'd in it Many Instances in the House of Commons we have had of this but the King knows they cannot be sincerely for him who are open Enemies to all Kings that they cannot be for the good of the Government setled by Law who are restless in their indeavours to bring all things into confusion But the Exigence of our Affairs during this great War necessitates his Majesty to make use of some of them were their Characters as well known by the generality of the People as they are by those that have the opportunity to observe their Actions more nearly they would not have interest enough to call themselves a Party but the greatest part of Mankind are guided by the appearance of things and consequently easily liable to be deceiv'd But it is hop'd that the bold Measures they were taking in the late Juncture of which I have given some hints has a little expos'd 'em to the World they wou'd not have stopp'd so soon but the happy Reconciliation between the King and Princess for the present ended their