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	religion_n	true_a	2,563	5	4.8200	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A48206	A Letter to a noble lord at London from a friend at Oxford upon occasion of the late covenant taken by both Houses.	Friend at Oxford.	1643 (1643)	Wing L1691; ESTC R36362	10,224	15

Lordship and many more of your good friends who for quietnesse sake have done much mischiefe would have prevented these troubles But why are you lesse ashamed to be couzened still then to confesse you have bin so you expressed well in your own honest Speech how much you have been deceived trust them no more that deceived you much of that is fallen out you then foresaw the rest will follow ' is a misery to foresee and not to prevent at least bearing a part in doing the mischiefe which you foresee must destroy the Doers Remember you were told there was no Designe against Bishops to alter the Government of the Church you see they are now inconsistent with the Protestant Reformed Religion and a new way must be found out of Government and then as M. Martin and M. Morly use you now M. Case and M. Calamy will use you then between both you will be a great Lord Remember you were promised when this Army was first raised there should be no fighting no Resistance and in truth when you saw Votes could enable you to raise Armies who had no power 't is no wonder you believed they could keep the King from raising any who had Power that the King should be brought gently up to you and you should have what Places you pleased There hath been fighting and resistance the King is not yet broughtup to you I do not find the Places are like to be disposed as you desire You were assured all possible regard was to the safety of the King you were your self required by your Protestation to promise to defend His Person you have since been assured in what danger His Person hath been by the assault of your Army and you are now compelled to sweare you will assist that Army against Him When will you think your selfe conzened enough to abhorre these men do you not yet apprehend that these men every day whilest they perswade you they intend a Peace doe somewhat to make Peace impossible Is the imprisoning the Kings Messengers who come to move you to Peace the accusing the Queen of high Treason for loving Her Husband and for doing that for which the present Age must reverence and posterity will envy Her the Murthering the two good men of Bristoll in cold Blood a Murther that will call for Vengeance from God and Iustice from the King till a full expiation and this new sacred Vow excellent ingredients towards a Peace Are you awake and doe not see those things throwne in only to make Peace impossible but content your selfe with a Vote that yout Armes are defensive when all the distractions and all the Violence throughout the Kingdome are the effects of those Armes The next Article of your Creed is that these godly Forces of yours are for the defense of the true Protestant reformed Religion This indeed hath alwayes been your care and your Reputation but give me leave to tell your Lordship I much feare you rather hate that which is not the Protestant Religion then love that which is I will not grieve your memory by representing to you the happy flourishing State of the Protestant Religion in this Kingdome till your Counsells disturbed and endeavoured to deface it Let Vs only consider what you have acted and what you have designed towards this defence and to use your owne phrase of your Covenant in order to the Security and preservation of this Religion There is not a Godly Learned Orthodox Divine in England whom you have not traduced imprisoned or eminently reproached and discountenanced even those whose Learning and Integrity first gave credit and reputation to your great Reformers you have not only disused and suppressed that Excellent Book of Common-Prayer the first and glorious instance in this Kingdome of the true Reformed Protestant Religion but scurrilously and prophanely reviled and scoffed at it to the scandall of Christianity you have carried your selves with such impious and debosh behaviour in Churches and Consecrated places committing such horrid and Beastly outrages that the Heathen themselves would tremble at the mention of them and all this out of pure zeale to the true Reformed Protestant Religion This you will say is done without your consents by the disorderly Souldiers whom you cannot restrain By your Lordships favour you have very pretty Votes of one or both Houses which directly encourage those Souldiers to most of this What Remedy have you provided for these disorders if the King concurred with you in all you propose to your selves you have presented Him a Bill to pull downe the whole Fabrick of Church Government to leave Heresie Incest Blasphemy and Adultery as unpunishable as any other Acts of good fellowship to take away His Supremacy and so cancell the Oath you have all taken to Him and to take away Bishops and so cancell the Oath He hath taken at His Coronation to defend and protect them and have not yet so much as fancyed amongst your selves into what shape you will lick that monstrous Chaos you would produce this you leave to your Synod of such men as most of them no Schooles or Nurseries of Learning ever knew men never knowne or heard of but by their Faction Treason and Rebellion such who never had title or subsistance in the Church of England till your Votes as Patron and Ordinary imposed them upon Parishes and over Cures in the places of those whose Religion was not Rebellion Oh my Lord can you forget the excellent times in which you were borne and the happy times in which you have since lived the flourishing State of Religion here in Doctrine and Discipline in the Lives and Learning of so many Reverend Divines famous throughout Christendome can you so much forget this to beleeve these courses the way to defend the true Reformed Protestant Religion If you were a Protestant two yeares since I am sure they are none whose directions you now follow Is the countenancing and joyning with Anabaptists and Brownists names as odious to you and so mentioned by you even in your last Letter as the Papists to advance the Protestant Religion But 't is no wonder when you take your Rules of Allegiance and Fidelity from Traitors and Rebells that you should take your directions of Religion from Hypocrites and Schismatiques I doe not know your face better then your heart in this point you are no more of my Lord Sayes mind in Religion then Bishop Wren is when you have recovered the Courage to love Truth againe this Clause if there were nothing else in your Covenant will take your Sleep from you and leave you no comfort but in the Charity of those you have endeavoured to destroy A word now of the Liberty of the Subject the last pretence of your Army and I have done In so sad an Argument I should not be merry with you and say that by this Liberty of the Subject you meane Liberty in every Subject to doe what he list which indeed seemes to be