Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	better_a	clergy_n	great_a	39	3	2.1295	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51160	The spirit of calumny and slander, examin'd, chastis'd, and expos'd, in a letter to a malicious libeller more particularly address'd to Mr. George Ridpath, newsmonger, near St. Martins in the Fields : containing some animadversions on his scurrilous pamphlets, published by him against the kings, Parliaments, laws, nobility and clergy of Scotland : together with a short account of Presbyterian principles and consequential practices.	Monro, Alexander, d. 1715?; S. W.	1693 (1693)	Wing M2446; ESTC R4040	71,379	106

charging the Archbishop of Glasgow with so many unheard of Crimes p. 5 His Vanity in thinking that his Books do greater Feats than the other Scriblings of his Party p. 6 His Civilities to the Clergy of the Church of England and his particular Forgeries against the Author of the Apology Ibid. His Critical Skill examin'd And his officious interposal in the Defence of Mr. Rule further Chastis'd Ibid. Train of many impertinent Lies together against Dr. Monro expos'd p. 7 His stupid ignorance in the History of the first Reformation of Scotland and in the Doctrine of the first Reformers p. 8 His Feeble attempts to prove the Divine Right of Presbytery Ibid. His abominable Lies in charging the Government with unheard of Cruelties p. 9 The Cameronians prov'd to be the most zealous Presbyterians And Mr. Radpath 's Argument against their Authority prov'd from Presbyterian Principles to be no Argument at all Ibid. His Argumentum ad hominem from the Viscount of Dundee 's Practices proves no more than that he is ignorant in the first Elements of Logick p. 10 His comparison between the Practices of the Church of England and those of the Scotch Presbyterians scandalous and impertinent Ibid. Presbyterians more cruel and barbarous than any other People This prov'd by a memorable instance in the year 1645. p. 11 The Covenanters less skilful than the Inquisitors but equally Cruel p. 11 His ignorance further expos'd p. 12 The Dr. us'd no Equivocation when he said that the Covenant was rigorously impos'd upon Children Ibid. This prov'd by an Act of the Gen. Ass 1648. p. 13 The Charge of Equivocation disprov'd and retorted p. 14 15 The Practice of the Episcopal Clergy in exposing the Presbyterians vindicated from Levity and Profanity Ibid. The Cameronians the most active and the most consequential Presbyterians p. 16 His derivation of the Word Enthusiasm compar'd with such another Critical Essay of a Bedlamite Ibid. The Acts of the General Assembly especially those of 48 and 49 do sufficiently Vindicate K. Ch. 2. from all imputations of rigor and cruelty p. 17 Sir George Mackenzie gave a true Narrative of the first Rise and Occasion of those Laws that the Presbyterians complain of p. 18 One of the Pedling Scribles in favours of Presbytery his weakness silliness and ignorance fairly expos'd in some Particulars p. 18 19 Mr. Ridpath 's Lies viz. that Sir Geo. Mackenzie persecuted Hamilton of Hallside refuted by Hallside himself Ibid. No Laws made against Presbyterians as such but against Seditions Tumults and Insurrections Ibid. His method of answering Arguments by suppressing such Words upon which their strength depends p. 19 20 The Presbyterians in general charg'd with Rebellious Principles and Practices This made good against the whiffling exceptions and evasions of Mr. Ridpath p. 21 The King and Parliament did not consider them as Presbyterians but as stubborn and incorrigible Rebels Ibid. The Majority of the People for the Episcopal Clergy Ibid. His rude and inconsiderable Lies against the Earl of Airly and the Laird of Meldrum p. 22 The Doctrine of Passive Obedience fairly stated and defended p. 23 24 The Presbyterian Exceptions disprov'd and retorted Ibid. Mr. Ridpath 's incurable infelicity in mistaking true Sense for Contradictions Ibid. The Writings of Mr. Rutherford prov'd obscure and Mr. Ridpath invited to defend them p. 25 26 Mr. Ridpath 's impudence in denying the Blasphemies that are to be seen in Mr. Rule 's Books p. 26 27 His blustering ignorance further expos'd p. 28 The Presbyterians prov'd to be the first aggressors in the Trade of Libelling and the only experienc'd Practitioners p. 28 29 30 The additional accusations against Dr. Monro proves no more than Mr. Ridpath 's wickedness and malice p. 30 31 The Murder of Archbishop Sharp prov'd to be the result of Presbyterian Principles p. 32 The Presbyterians by their Principles not oblig'd to Forms p. 33 The Charge of Pedantry brought against the Doctor disprov'd and retorted p. 33 34 35 Our Ecclesiastical Superiors did not connive at the Faults of the Subordinate Clergy tho they proceeded against such as were complain'd of by the Orderly and tedious Methods of the Law p. 35 Mr. Ridpath further chastis'd for his ignorance in the History and Principles of the Presbyterians p. 35 36 His ungovernable Malice against Dr. Canaties in many rude and impertinent efforts canvass'd aad examin'd p. 37 His willful and affected mistake of the Author of the Postscripts meaning p. 38 His ignorance of a formal Contradiction p. 39 The Presbyterians accuse all Men of plotting against the Government because plotting is their only Element p. 40 Mr. Ridpath 's Hypocrisie wishing that both Parties may be tender of one another when his Practice in the next Line confutes all his pretences of Piety Ibid. His common Topick to justifie his Calumnies viz. That he does not know what he writes to be false further expos'd and ridicul'd Ibid. His Ignorance in opposing the knowledge of Arms to the Liberal Arts and Sciences p. 41 42 The charge against the Clergy of Stealing their Sermons retorted upon an Impudent Presbyterian Plagiary p. 42 43 His Vanity and Ignorance further Chastis'd p. 43 44 His affectation of Theology Logick and Wit expos'd by plain and palpable instances p. 45 46 His Catalogue of Cruelties and Treacheries paralell'd p. 47 48 49. Another Objection against the Bishops of Scotland consider'd p. 51 52 53 Several Certificates and Letters in favours of the Calumniated Clergy p. 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 Several Propositions extracted out of the Presbyterian Books p. 68 69 70 c. Mr. James Mitchel the famous Assassin his Letter Justifying from Scripture his Villanous attempt to Murder the Archbishop of St. Andrews Mr. Ridpath I Have good information from several Persons of known integrity here at London that you are the Author of two abusive Pamphlets by which you endeavour to defame our Kings Parliaments and Nobles such as we had in Scotland before the Revolution Our Kings were perjured Tyrants and K. Charles II. knew that he himself had forfeited his Title to the Crown Our Parliaments were but pack'd Clubs a company of slavish Parasites that contributed all they could to the ruin of our Liberties Civil and Religious and consequently our Nobility can deserve no better Character who made so great a Figure in all our Parliaments As for the Episcopal Clergy whether Bishops or Presbyters you give them so many names that it is a wonder you did not think such a despicable company of men below your Notice The Book which you call your Continuation most of it is levelled against one particular man and when I undertake his Defence if that be necessary I find that the reading over your book and transcribing so many parts of it was all the toil I was likely to undergo and tho you call him whom you fancy to be your Adversary a man of ungovernable passion yet I must tell you that

he spoke with Mr Shields in St. Jame's Park he 'll acknowledg all the Libels against him to be true and the only method to save your Reputation in this particular is to put it to a fair Trial. But I perceive that you are as unfortunate in the informations that you receive against the Clergy as you are hasty and unadvised in publishing of them Whether the error in Scotch Grammar with which you charge the Dr. be an omission of the Printer or his inadvertence is not material to enquire he had rather commit a thousand such than one Latin Solecism in a publick Harangue ex Cathedra It is uneasie to live next door to a Grammarian Read over again the 2d page of your Continuation l. 21. or the 5th p. of your Preface l. 30. and tell me if it be exact Grammar It is impudence beyond comparison to say that the Dr. charged Mr. Rule falsly with speaking wrong Latin 't is a wonder to me why he himself or any of his Friends should be so zealous to defend him upon that Head and if you would be so wise as to let those stories alone I know none would be so idle as to revive them and because you will not suffer us to forget his Latine I will give you one instance more of the purity of his Stile Asking one of the Students what was his Name the Youth told him so and so but not adding his Sirname He asked again quid est totum nomen At another time missing the Key of a certain Box which is kept in the Library when he would have opened it he told them that were about him Nescio quid factum est de iis habui mox Now the Affirmative is mine I am obliged to prove it when ever you put me to it You are all of you so tender upon the point of Honour that you let nothing pass without present Revenge and Mr. Rule himself may know the Witnesses when he pleases tho it be not decent to print their Names The next accusation against the Dr. is that he cannot forbear Swearing Mr Ridpath I hope it is otherwise and this is but an Article of the original Libel answered already in the Presbyterian Inquisition You was advised by the Author of the Postscript rather to insist on the old Libel than to trust to your own invention Moreover you say that it can be proved that he said to a certain Minister that if the Episcopal party had not the Government he cared not if the Devil had it By other accusers this Calumny is otherwise represented viz. that if the Episcopal party had not the Government he cared not if the Papists had it but both are beat out upon the same Anvil I wish you had named the Minister to whom this was said the Devil has but too much of the Government of the World already and I am affraid that they who publish such malicious and indefinite reports are more governed by him than they are aware of You charge him again that he hindered the printing of Mr. Jameson's Book against Quakerism he had no authority to do so nor was it possible for him to treat Mr. Jameson with greater civility than he did As for the Oath imposed on the Scholars in King James his time that is sufficiently accounted for in another Treatise and whether you are satisfied or not it matters not much The Objejections started against it were but the Whimsies of a malicious Pedant who knew not well what he said It must be confessed that He preferred the French Refugies to the Scotch Presbyterians when both petitioned the Town-Council for the use of the publick Hall to preach in upon the Sundays I am not obliged to believe upon your authority that he had any undecent expressions upon that occasion I incline to think that if the Presbyterians had the publick Hall of the College very many naughty persons would resort unto it though the Presbyterian Ministers should endeaviour to hinder it Now I would gladly ask you one Question whether ever you had a Scholar that answered you with greater submission and obedience than I do You name a Person at the foot of the 15 pag. whom you say the Dr. was careful to vindicate that he never so much as mentioned his Name but Newsmongers have a greater priviledge than their Neighbours 'T is certain that the Scheme of the Presbyterian Religion as far as they differ from the Episcopalians is nothing else but ungovernable Humour and Rebellion Now is it necessary to strike off the Doctor 's Head for this one Expression The Presbyterian Opinions as such are new and lately started and peculiar to themselves nor is there any of the Reformed Churches that ever asserted Presbyterian government to be founded upon such Divine Right as is exclusive of all other Ecclesiastical Polities The Church of Scotland which you say was Presbyterian from the beginning of the Reformation declares positively in her Confession of Faith that Church Polity is variable and the Order of Bishops was never condemned by our Reformers and Buchanan tells us expresly that our first Reformers were so far from being Presbyterians that Scoti ante aliquot annos Anglorum auxiliis è servitute Gallica liberati Religionis cultui ritibus cum Anglis communibus subscripserunt To say that the Church of Scotland should be governed by Presbytery because Presbyters were most active in the first Reformation is an unpardonable Impertinence If all the Bishops in the Church of Scotland had been as zealous to promote the Reformation as the Bishops of Galloway and Argyle would it therefore follow that if the Bishops had reformed the Church without the assistance of Presbyters there ought to be no Presbyters in the Church when it was fully reformed No I think this could not follow and therefore when the Bishops own the Doctrine of the Reformed Churches they must be obeyed and our Reformers never declaimed against their Order and if they would adhere to the Doctrine of the Reformed Churches Calvin determines positively in that Case that nullo non anathemate digni sunt who stubbornly oppose their Authority but we had no such thing as Presbytery in Scotland settled by Authority in all its Pretences until the Rebellion brake out in the Year 1638. Presbyterians we had Tumults Combinations and Factions in abundance and Interruptions of the legal Government and Parliamentary Concessions to pacify the Faction but a total abolishing of the Order of Bishops before the Rebellion in King Charles I. his time was never heard and to say otherwise contradicts the Series of all our Records If the places of Scripture that you cite prove that the names of those Clergy-men that were above Deacons were not distinguished yet this cannot infer an Equality among them for the Apostles themselves were called sometimes Presbyters and the Church was never governed by a perfect Equality of Presbyters The Ecclesiastical Senate

vindicated from any suspicion of lessening the Royal Authority But Mr. Ridpath did you never hear of a Merchant throwing overboard his Goods in a Storm his Principle is no doubt to preserve and improve his Stock yet when Life and Ship and all is in hazard Silver and Gold and the best Cargo that he is Master of must be flung over Men sometimes in the Simplicity of their Hearts may yield to some publick Acts in a time of Danger and Confusion which in their own Nature and Tendency are inconsistent with their Principles the wisest Men may sometimes mistake their measures and the presence of ones Mind does not perpetually attend him A great many of the Presbyterians of Scotland took the Covenant as it was enjoin'd by King Charles I. in the sense intended by King and Parliament in the Reign of King James VI. yet this act of their duty and obedience was by the Leading-Covenanters thought inconsistent with their principles and practices and therefore they were forced to disown it afterwards and to adhere to the Covenant it its true and genuine sense of Sedition and Rebellion All the Presbyterians of Scotland after the Restoration of King Charles II. both Ministers and People came to Church without scruple or hesitation yet afterwards they began to think that this practice could not be reconciled to their mutinous Associations and Covenants and therefore for the most part all of them left the Church and publick Worship of the Episcopalians There is a Protestation upon record in the Year 1641. in the journal of the House of Commons May 3. which in its nature was but a Prologue to the Solemn League and Covenant and very derogatory to the King's prerogative and the ancient settlement of the Nation and yet I find that several of the Loyal Nobility and six Bishops signed this Protestation Things may appear very plausible in the beginning that are introductiory to the saddest consequences The Nobility and Bishops that signed the Protestation that I just now named had reason to repent of their precipitancy when the Faction owned above board that no Reformation woul satisfie but the extirpation of Root and Branch according to the phrase that then was in vogue We are to take an estimate of mens principles not from their indeliberate and casual stumblings in time of darkness uncertainty and danger but rather from their constant Doctrine their habitual Byass their more calm and sedate reasonings their Books Homilies and Sermons I could name later instances than any that I have touched which might reasonably be presum'd to be inconsistent with their Principles who were actors and yet I am so far from thinking them disingenuous or treacherous that I know them to be men of the greatest Candor upon Earth All this I have said upon the supposition that the Bishops who concurred with that Vote of the Convention intended it in its full extent and latitude but I know that they intended no more by the words free and lawful meeting than what they are capable of in the lowest sense that they can be taken in and as Privy Councellours some of the Bishops might suspend the execution of the King's Orders contained in his Letters until he should be better informed of the state of affairs and until he should reiterate his Commands in that case I am apt to think that all who own his authority would leave the Convention Mr. Ridpath I would gladly know whether you think that a Libel against Dr. Monro was a Book worthy to be dedicated to the Parliament of Scotland and whether your returning to Scotland was such an extraordinary advantage to the Nation that you thought they would upon this consideration go forward to the through settlement of Presbytery for no doubt you are among the first of those Students who promise to return if your Model be established in its height The Books that you have written against our Kings Dukes and Parliaments may make atonement for the former Gallantries of your Life I despise the knowledge of your particular History and unless you are as stupid as you are petulant you may guess by some dark hints in this Letter which I took care that no other should understand but your self that I am not altogether a stranger to your Adventures I had your Life sent me written by one of your Acquaintances but though I may have many faults yet I never loved personal Reproaches and altercations When you are in the heighth of your humour and passion I think you still below Revenge It may be that the Lay-Gentleman who is next to take you to task may handle you more briskly notwithstanding that Presbytery is now triumphant and setled by an Act of Exclusion of the Episcopal Clergy Mr. Ridpath I sincerely wish you more sense and modesty and I enter my Protestation before all reasonable men that I am not obliged to answer indefinite Libels If you think that you are so extraordinarily qualified to manage the Debates that are on foot chuse one of the Questions that are toss'd between both the parties eithe the divine Right of Presbytery or the unlawfulness of Anniversary Days or significant Ceremonies in the worship of God I name these because you offer to vindicate your own Opinions concerning them in your Books and since you cite the Epistles of S. Augustine to S. Jerome from which you say the antiquity of Presbytery may be demonstrated pray do not forget to name that Epistle but I am affraid you will be forced to go to the Booksellers in the World of the Moon before you can meet with it and to make you amends I offer to prove positively that there is not one of your party in Scotland that truly and sincerely represents the Opinions of St. Jerom nay more expresly I offer to make evident from the writings of St. Jerome that Eiscopacy was established by the Apostles and that he never dream'd of any such period of the Church wherein the parity of Presbyters prevailed after the death of the Apostles And if you must write Books you ought to come out from behind the Curtains and let us know where your Bookseller may be found and by whom they are Licensed and take the assistance of all your Fraternity read all the Books that you think defend your Cause to the best advantage and let us plainly hear what grounds you have to assert that your new and upstart Discipline is founded upon devine Right and why the Ministers of the Episcopal persuasion are turned out if they do not solemnly promise never directly nor indirectly to alter an Ecclesiastical Government which can no more be reconciled to the former constitution of Presbytery than to the Word of God the Canons of the Universal Church and the practice of the first Ages of Christianity And let us know if ever Clergymen were turned out of their Livings upon their denying to make any such promise since the name of Christian was heard in the World