Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	church_n	king_n	time_n	2,805	5	3.3508	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60805	Some modest reflections upon Mr. Stephens's late book, entituled, A plain relation of the late action at sea, between the English, Dutch, and French fleets, from June 22 to July 5 last with reflections thereupon, and upon the present state of the nation, &c. : with a vindication of the Church of England from what he has therein advanc'd against her / by a hearty lover of King William and Queen Mary.	Hearty lover of King William and Queen Mary.	1691 (1691)	Wing S4523; ESTC R17992	20,922	32

SOME Modest Reflections UPON Mr. STEPHENS's late BOOK ENTITULED A Plain Relation of the late Action at SEA between the English Dutch and French FLEETS from June 22. to July 5. last With Reflections thereupon and upon the Present State of the NATION c. WITH A VINDICATION OF THE CHURCH of ENGLAND FROM What He has therein Advanc'd against Her By a Hearty Lover of King William and Queen Mary LONDON Printed and Sold by Randall Taylor near Stationers-Hall And by most Booksellers 1691. To the Reader HAving accidentally some time since met with a Book Entituled A plain Relation of the late Action at Sea c. I read it with some greediness being tempted with a lawfull curiosity to satisfie my self in matter of Fact relating to so great an Action In the perusing of which Account as I must acknowledge I found satisfaction in some things so others seem'd very disagreeable both to those Notions which I had entertain'd and indeed to Experience and Common Reason especially in what he writes relating to the Church of England whereof he seems to imply he is and I profess my self to be a Member I acknowledge as I proceeded I cou'd hardly without some Indignation pass by many things which I there met with and after I had gone through the same have ever since in vain expected an Answer especially to 〈◊〉 part which contains I hope many groundless Reflections on the Establish'd Protestant Church of this Nation On this at last I took Pen in hand and bestow'd a few Hours in Examining and Confuting such things as I thought deserv'd it which having communicated to a Friend at his desire I now publish tho' upon the Character he gives me of the Author and my Observations on his Writings believing him to be really an honest Man and one who means well to the Publick and may in some Instances do it service I have review'd what was written and given several things a less severe turn than I at first intended Which is all I have to let you know before you come to the Book Some Modest REFLECTIONS c. THE Reason why this so much talk'd-of Book ought to be Answer'd is palpable and obvious because 't is full of Reflections on the present State of Affairs or rather a kind of a Compendium of what is objected by mistaken Friends or bitter Enemies The reason why that Person who has now undertaken to Answer it thought not fit to do it before was that he expected some better Hands would attempt it especially when it contain'd Reflections sharp enough on such as were well able to hold the Cudgels against him that made ' em But those from whom it was expected neglecting to take him to task lest what he advances should have deeper or larger Influence because unanswer'd should be thought unanswerable these few Sheets are at last sent abroad into the World on purpose to disabuse it and place some things in a better Light which he and others have render'd more dark and obscure by pretending to explain ' em Nor can I expect but to be rank'd by the Zealous Author for this undertaking among those whom he styles a Faction perhaps too he 'll say I 'm of the Court-party and consequently that I am guided by Guilt or Interest in this attempt But the best is one who shoots his Bolt so nimbly as he is in no great probability of hitting what he aims at and if he should bestow the Character of a Favourer of Debauchery upon me as he 's very liberal that way I have yet the Comfort of very good Company as he has order'd it all the Bishops in England being if you 'll believe him in little better Circumstances This all that reade him or know him will grant He tells the Reader he 's a Hearty Friend to King William and Queen Mary but after all he is certainly Notion-struck and believes he has an extraordinary Call to the great Work of Reforming Kingdoms A Privy-Counsellor at once to the Kings of Earth and Heaven and knows as well why Providence did not give us leave to beat the French as how to make King William the most Glorious Prince in Christendom if he would but follow his advice that is Gargil his Council Fleets and Armies turn out every Man that would Swear Drink and Whore Encounter the King of France with the remainder and obtain a miraculous Victory by the virtue of Venner's promise that One should chase a Thousand And this indeed if look'd into is the summ drift and upshot of all his Writings He concludes his Epistle with a Politick Complement to his Reader a Cause placed there 's in terrorem I have seen something like it hang up in a Corn-field to scare any one from disliking or answering him Know therefore also says he with a huge deal of Grandeur and Authority if thou canst be offended with him who wishes so well to his Country and no Ill to thy self thou canst be no good Man Very well your Argument is He that can be offended with any one who wishes well to their Country and to those who are offended can be no good Man This is the sense of this Complaint or it has none at all And if 't is fair Arguing you also ought to have a care how you are offended with your Answer who protest as deeply as you can that he wishes well to his Country and no Ill to you Nay as you do that you may be better and wiser a very Charitable wish for otherwise you have given away that Character you have so deservedly prov'd of a good Man according to your own Arguing To leave the Preface and fall upon the Book it self In considering of which we 'd willingly observe some Method though 't is very difficult to keep any in treating of what has none However the best way will be to throw the Contents thereof into these following different heaps in one or other of which 't will go hard but we shall meet with and clear all the seeming Arguments there laid together The unfortunate business of the Fleet the general Mismanagement of Affairs the Debauchery of the Nation and those in publick Employments the Behaviour of Church-men towards Dissenters and others his own Bill at the end For the first of these The Affair of the Fleet. Here the Author of the Reflections needed not to have hedged in his Bett so carefully and to fright any one from Answering what he writes on that Head Enter his Protestation as he does Page 10. That it requires a Person of rare Invention of equal Impudence and void of all Sense of Honour and Love to his Country to compose a Vindication of that Transaction and People of no less stupidity and easiness to be impos'd upon by such pretences and lower such a Miscarriage as none will offer to excuse who are not either Partners in the Crime or no good Friends to the Cause I say he 's safe enough in that Lock

made a Reform among 'em before he Embark'd turning out whoever wou'd Swear or Drink or Whore Had he taken this method his Army ten to one had been less than Gideon's and he must have expected as great a Miracle to have made him Conqueror If Wars are necessary to purge the World and throw off some ill humours contracted by long Peace and Luxury as generally granted ill Men may in this case be more usefull than good at least I 'm sure they are better spared and less mist afterwards than the other It do's not belong to him he acknowledges to inquire what has been done in pursuance of the King's Letter to the Bishop of London and the other Bishops for that belongs to them to do If no Man meddled with what did not belong to him the State as well as Church wou'd be quieter than t is But to let that pass I cou d wish he had spoken more upon this point tho' less on some that go before and follow after Ought not a Writer who studies the good and prosperity of the Government he lives under to acknowledge and commend whatever is handsomely done rather than make it his business to find fault with every thing How fair an occasion had he here for a just Panegyrick But I 'm unwilling to suspect the true reason why he wou'd not inquire into what had been here done was because he sound something well done but I can't imagine how a Man that either comes near the Church or but the High-ways cou'd be ignorant of the extraordinary methods us'd in this matter Of the remarkable care of my Lord of London in Publishing the Letter it self with his own and sending it to all the Ministers in his Jurisdiction to which some time after the Acts of Parliament were also added and what Obedience was given thereto all the Pulpits in London can witness If the Ministers were not heeded I hope neither They nor the Government shall have that charg d upon 'em nor will the Author blame 'em as for want of other Apostolical Usages mentioned a few Pages after so for not converting of Thousands as they did by their Sermons as miraculous in their Effects as the Inspiration that Dictated 'em to the Speaker And what if we shou'd say so far were those in Office either Sacred or Secular from neglecting their duty in this case that some visibly over-did it and strain'd the Laws as in stopping Gentlemen on the Sabbath-day farther than ever it was intended After this and all other means which can be us'd 't is not the work of a day or year to heal those Wounds and repair those Ruins which have been industriously made in the Manners of the English for perhaps above this Age last past We have good Laws we have an excellent Example one wou'd think enough to shame us into Virtue but if in the mean time some of the inferior Officers won't do their Duty I can't imagine what the King can do more unless they 'd have him preach as well as fight or Himself turn Informer or Constable and with Harry the 8. run to the Cobler's Stall to hear him swear or the Miller's House to find him out in his cheating This I think is sufficient to wipe off all the Aspersions thrown Page 39 40. and other places upon some of the greatest and best in the Kingdom We wou'd now follow him in the same method he leads to the History of his abortive Bill and that unfortunate success it met with but referring that to the end of his Book where we shall meet with the Bill it self it may be here necessary to enquire into the great and loud Complaints he makes against the Establish'd Protestant Church of the Nation Under this Head it must be own'd that never was any particular Church since our Saviour's time tho' we take in that of the Apostles themselves without what might be amended both in Discipline and Doctrine And those who pretend to Infallibility in either or what is next kin to it and perhaps the same in other words an extraordinary Purity and Gospel-perfection above their Sister Churches both these have been not rarely confuted by easie and vulgar Experience That the Church of England as well as all other Christian Churches has a great number who pretend to be her Members in the same circumstances with those who said they were Jews and were not but were of the Synagogue of Satan too sad experience daily tells us and she her self had rather bewail than deny But that the visible Church will always consist of Hypocrites and ill Men as well as true Christians that there will be tares as well as good seed in the Field till the Angels reap the Harvest of all Mankind that great Shepherd himself has foretold us who can't be deceiv'd because his knowledge is infinite That the Discipline of our Church is not so exact as in the first Ages and as she her self desires is by her acknowledg'd in her Rubrick That it has not been taken care of since the Reformation is partly to be imputed to the almost continual hurry and struggle she has been in from one side or the other partly to the Civil Government a great many of our Law-makers being so far from giving her more power that they think she has too much already Besides all this 't will be as readily granted that we have Bigots amongst us as have ever had all the Churches in the World That we have others under the Mask of Religion who drive on a Secular Interest as there have also been the same in all Ages That moreover the Croud of Debauchees and leud persons will for the most part call themselves of the same side that 's uppermost and that all these Cases are things so common and unavoidable that they seem not to weigh so heavy in the accusation of the National Church as this good Man believes After all she is able to make it appear and I think I may modestly add has already done it unanswerably That whatever accidental defects there may be in her Model She is yet in the Essentials of her Doctrine and Discipline the most conform'd to the Primitive pattern of any in the World This in general To be now more particular and answer the severe heavy Charge in the 31 and ensuing Pages laid against her In what has been related he says we may see here That which may correct and humble us for our vain magnifying our Church above all others and despising vilifying and disturbing our Brethren who are in many respects better than our selves Speaking the truth of our Church and proving it is not vainly magnifying it Despising and vilifying our Brethren had been more proper in Heylin s time when he and the rest of his temper unchurch'd all the World beside themselves If he means our Dissenting Brethren at home it seems no such scandalous vilifying 'em as he insinuates to think there are not so many Men