Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	king_n	write_v	year_n	5,160	5	4.8919	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81500	A dirge for the directory. Written by one of King Iames ancient Protestants	One of King James ancient Protestants.	1645 (1645)	Wing D1555; Thomason E293_10; ESTC R200162	3,982	8

A DIRGE FOR THE Directory Written By one of King IAMES ancient PROTESTANTS OXFORD Printed by Leonard Lichfield Printer to the Vniversity of Oxford 1645. A DIRGE FOR THE DIRECTORIE I Cannot but admire to see so many learned Divines so much of late metamorphosed that have so many yeares professed the Protestant Religion in the purity of it and now had their eye sight more cleere then any in queene Elizabeth and King Iames his reigne and sixteene yeares of King Charles and never writ against it till now and I am perswaded there are very few that are good Protestants that gave their consent for the utter abolishing the Service Book till they had made some good provision for the weaker sort of Protestants for in many hundred of Churches in England that have not meanes to maintaine a Preacher to instruct the people in the knowledge of Gods lawes there is not a Sermon in halfe a yeare and this Idoll as many call it being taken away what grosse ignorance will these poore soules fall into For if you tell them of praying by the spirit you may as well tell them a tale of the man in the Moone I am perswaded in my heart that many of the ancient Fathers that had a hand in the composing and contriving of that worthy Booke were indued with Gods Spirit witnesse their godly and learned Bookes they writ their holy lives they led in godly conversation and doctrine nay and have they not laid downe their lives and rid in chariots of fire to maintaine that very same Booke that now many giddie-headed fellowes which have scarce any religion at all in them but meere time-servers blowne about with every blast of light doctrine that will be Anabaptist to day a Brownist to morrow and in a word any thing the next day O lamentable what times doe we live in when the Church is without true discipline Gods Lawes quite taken from us no Lords Prayer no Greed no Common Prayer allowed but Master Presbyter to doe as his fickle braine serves him the Sacrament of the Lords Supper not administred once in halfe a yeare and when it is delivered wonderfull out of order it is the Sacrament of Baptisme celebrated as any would have it that is in fee with Master Parson the dead body buried with five or six words at the most no decency in the Churches no manners no ●●der forgeting that God is the God of order I doe not speak against praying by the Spirit for I know that Gods peoplle prayes prayed as they felt their wants but for poore ignorant people who have not the spirit of prayer what provision have you made for them the answer is lust none What shall become of them Your answer must bee you must leave them to Gods mercy But I and many more would have thought you had some charity in you but in leaving poore ignorant people quite without any way to know God or his will I thinke you have done worse then the superstitious Papist ever did to the Heathen where they conquered Was there ever any Kingdome in the Christian world that flourished more for a most fourscore yeares then this Kingdome did all the reigne of queene Elizabeth King Iames and sixteene yeares of King Charles his reigne surely God hath great plagues for this ungratefull Nation You of the Synod sle●pe not upon this thing called 4. shillings a day ●ill you have done some service for the poore ignorant people of this distressed Nation that Gods name may be known on earth and his saving health to all Israel Wee are not ignorant that when any came to be buried with decency and the Minister shewed that man was mortall it did the party deceased neither good nor harme but the slanders by might know what a flourishing estate man was to day and in a moment cut off by the hand of death For the receiving the Sacraments which are the seales and pledges of Gods love to his Church til he doth come and to receive him often till hee comes now how often is it wonderfully neglected So for the Sacrament of Baptisme the reading of Gods Commandements and in a word Gods whole maner of decency in his true service wholly neglected Nay it is spoken openly that a stable is as good as any church whatsoever forgetting that the Iewes which were the chosen people of God had their Synagogues to heare the Laws of God read and expounded to them and the Temple where the Priests did offer sacrifice to God for appeasing of his anger against his people I doe not intend to make two or three yeares worke to give direction by way of a Directory and wrangle and braule with my 〈◊〉 for it but I had rather spend my life in instructing the poore people in the true knowledge of Gods Lawes and command-ments then to take part of any thing whatsoever to hinder Gods people from his known will For in hath been an ancient thing which the church of Rome used to keepe the common people ignorant that the better they might work their ends by their simplicity and if you take these courses the further you goe from Popery the higher you come to them When the Christians in the Primitive church had their private meetings the church was hidden and it was death for any to professe Christ openly then cellars garrets and woods were their places of assembly but who reigned then Nero. But blessed be the name of God for evermore we have the Word of God preached among us plentifully we need not goe in corners and holes to heare Christ taught I doe wonder that so many learned able Divines doe not gain some order against this New-England b●ood but I am perswaded in my heart that many are partakers with them and will not or dare not write or once open the mouthes against then Blame me not though I urge this againe and againe for I verily beleeve Ananias the Button maker Flash the cobler Nondependants doe more harme to poore soules specially to poore women by one of their tongue Sermons then many of your Presbyterian Sermons doe good in halfe a year for come into the Church who preaches there non-decency all without order or forme For your Prelaticall government goe to all the Churches in Europe you shall bee sure to come short of this that was in these latter times Goe to all the Reformed Churches in the Christian world they did stand amazed at the government of the Church of England But now what is become of it truly the height of our glory is laid in the dust and we made a mocke and a wonder at The Lord in his mercy open the hearts of those who are in authority to reforme these things that these civill combustions in Ch●rch and Kingdomes may cease that God may have his Word setled in peace and quiet and his people may come to his Temple with ioy and gladnesse that God may be praised here in peace among his people for

evermore I verily beleeve that if every Presbyterian Priest or Independant be left to doe what they will we shall have more domineering and disturbance in the Church then ever there was since the Church was first built up in England What would you have then would you have Bishop which have bred all this broile among us ye● provided that their Lordly dignities may be eclipsed and preaching Bishops put in their rooms not to have a High Commissiō court little inferiour to the inquisition of Spaine nor meddle with temporall affaires but to preach the Word of God soundly plainly and powerfully to root out heresie and errour out of the Church of God like a man of knowledge who shall chuse these good men nor their rich kindred nor the King nor his money but their learning godly lives and conversation c. For prayer and confession we have them in the Book of common Prayer excellently set downe and also humiliation with some amendments but to take them quite away I am humbly of opinion you greatly sin against God and this poore Island of England and I thinke as long as you keepe the Arke of God from us I meane the Service Booke you will ever have swellings and Emrods among you I am no Prophet nor the sonne of a Prophet but I pray God in his mercy keep you from these plagues which hang over your heads for leaving so many poore distressed soules in want not having the known will of God taught among them who lye and languish for his knowne Lawes and are kept short of them by force For the Letany I should have reioyced greatly if I could have seene but half such good matter proceeded from you of the Synod though I am not ignorant that there are some things that might have beene amended in some passages of them but not utterly to have them rooted out for those that give their voices to put them quite out of the church I pray God of his mercy that he one day put them nor quite out of the Kingdome of his mercy As for the order of reading the Old and New Testament once a yeare what a comfort must it needs be to those who can not read What an excellent order is that of reading Davids Psalmes once a moneth indue place and order which is not to be parallel'd by any Reformed church in the Christian world with many other excellent passages of great note and worth Bu● now that a company of shuttle-brain'd fellowes who for their understanding and knowledge can scarce hold argument with a Schoole-boy that these I say must have that godly Book quite taken away as a great Idoll in the church what a kinde of madnesse is it let all wise men iudge I doe not write so much in the applause of the Booke of common Prayer so to magnifie it as to put downe preaching and to ease your lazie Priests of their paines in studying no my earnest desire is that there may be praying with the whole congregation together and preaching too that the Word may be taught plentifully among the poore people and that wee which are the inhabitants of England may goe hand in hand that God may have his due praise and glorie among us and then we with you and you with us may give God his due praise and honour both together which God in his mercy grant and that we may sit together every man under his owne Vine and Figtree And to you the Brethren of the Separation which have the spirit so much at command and know Gods Word so well that you need no teacher take from you the exposition of the ancient Fathers and other good mens workes which you so much despise and then take the bare Bible and fall to expounding the Scriptures and I dare pawne my life for six pence you shall have as good non-sense as you would desire to heare Goe backe goe back thou foolish man or woman whatsoever thou art and returne to thy mother the church of England who first brought thee up to know God in Christ and come out of these puddles and light-headed fooleries and know hee that takes hold of the Plough and lookes backe is unmeet for the Kingdome of God FINIS