Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	bishop_n	pope_n	power_n	1,636	5	5.0155	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A77975	The vvofull cry of unjust persecutions, and grevious oppressions of the people of God in England, through the injustice of some of her rulers, and wikednesse of teachers and people, who hasten to fulfil the measure of their forefathers cruelty. With a lamentation over them all who rewards the Lord evill for good, and is a warning to them all for repentance; shewing that the coming of the Lord is nigh. And this may serve for an answer in full, to all such who have persecuted by violence, by word or writing the innocent people in scorn called Quakers. With a short addition, which shewes unto all, the ground of persecution; in its first cause, and the enmity which is betwixt the two seeds, is clearly discovered, by a friend to the suffering seed of God, E.B.	Burrough, Edward, 1634-1662.	1657 (1657)	Wing B6058; Thomason E927_1; ESTC R207590	26,005	39

because they could not swear respect persons with hat or knee and so were witnesses for the Lord and his Kingdome which stands in righteousnesse and against the power and kingdom of the Beast which stands in iniquity in fainednesse and flattering titles and disobedience to the Son of God and many hundreds are wofull unjust and oppressed sufferers at this day by false imprisonment and spoiling of goods because they cannot pay Tithes that abominable and crying oppression by which the Beast chiefly maintains his false Prophets and because the unchangable Priesthood is witnesed and the changable denied and Christ the light of the World followed therefore is this suffering laid upon the just and many are sufferers under hard tasks because they cannot maintain the Idol temples and Idol worships and Idol Priests which the power of Antichrist upholds against the power of the Son of God and against the new Covenant of life where God in spirit and in truth is worshipped without respect of places dayes or men or things and the true worshippers they worship God in the spirit and in the truth and cannot be subject to dayes places or things appointed and ordained by the power of men and false prophets and how many unjust fines and false inditements have been most illegally charged upon the innocent in many Courts and Judicatories through this Nation and all in the defence of the kingdom of the man of sin lest his authority should be abated and the authority of Christ Jesus exalted many cruelties have been done and injustice acted both by Rulers and People against such which no evil could justly be charged against nor yet the transgression of any just law by any one of them O! horrid grievances and cruel oppressions hath been brought forth in this Nation by such who should have eased the oppressed and set at liberty the captives such who should have judged justly the cause of the poor and heard the call of the oppressed have turned judgment backward from the poor and equity have found no place to enter but truth hath fallen in the streets and justice and mercy have perished from among men and the poor hath been oppressed and they that have departed from iniquity have been made a prey to the mouthes of devouring Lions for some of the Judges have been as ravening Wolves and as greedy devouring Foxes the Lambs of Christ have been chased by the wicked and his power for their life O how have the oppressed groaned in this Nation under false judgment to ages and generations for ever may it be recorded for a witnesse against this generation of cruel hearted men whom the beast and false prophet hath raised in his defence and against the Kingdom of Christ Jesus and them that follow him how full have the most part of the prisons in all this land been with guiltlesse sufferers under cruel bondage with unjust dealings and false judgments have gone forth from some of your mouthes you that have been set to judge over the people who should have been a terror to the wicked but have rather strengthened the hands of evil doers and been a terror to righteousnesse so much as is possible the great whore which sits upon the beast hath made your Rulers drunk and stagger with envy and hatred and persecution and works of wickednesse against the upright Wo is me for you what have you brought forth even iniquity by Decrees and injustice by Ordinances and false judgment by Lawes alas alas your destruction cometh as an armed man upon you Was ever the like heard or any president in any generation before you for imprisoning just men for declaring against sin and the abominations of the times as you have done many and for imprisoning men because they cannot put off their hat to you and respect your persons and so transgresse the law of God and because they cannot swear and so break Christs command For this you have imprisoned many and caused them to suffer because of this may not you fear and tremble before the Lord God and your faces gather blacknesse at this when you consider it Did ever any that were set to judge in the earth among men so abuse their power and subvert it so quite to another end than wherefore it was committed to them May not shame cover you all to commit men to prison for the exercise of pure conscience towards God because they cannot swear or respect mens persons or maintain Idol-shepherds and Idol-temples and worships which is abomination to the Lord and for taking peaceable men out of peaceable meetings and out of their travel on the High-wayes and first whipping them and sending them to prison the example of this which you have done never went before in any age and therefore have you exceeded in oppression in injustice in cruelty and false judgment all your fore-fathers the Pope nor Bishops hardly ever brought forth such things but the Lord will reckon with you and plead the cause of the oppressed against all you oppressors yea and will give unto you a recompence of reward according to your works ye that have exalted your selves against the innocent shall be brought down to the dust of misery and the Saints shall reign and rejoyce over you when the Kingdom of Christ Jesus the Lamb shall be set up over you all and your beastly power dashed to pieces as a Potters vessel when he whom you have persecuted and his followers shall rule with a rod of iron and break you asunder and this shall shurely come to passe therefore consider it ye that thus deal in your anger against the Lord and his chosen for the Lamb shall get the victory over the Beast and over you all that seek to defend him and that strive under his power for they that are with the Lamb are Called and Faithful and Chosen O! therefore be awakened be awakened ye heads and Judges and Rulers of the people remember and repent the Lords hand is stretched forth against all oppression and oppressors and his wrath is kindled against the wicked ones and his power to overthrow his dominon which long hath reigned in the Nations and now though he seeks to defend himself against the Lamb and his followers by injust dealing yet the out-stretched arme of the Lord shall bring deliverance to his chosen who hath been made havock upon in their liberties and in their estates some cruelly suffering in prison and others by spoiling of their goods and none of these for evil doing but upon false suspitions and envious jelousies and secret surmisings without any ground of occasion given but by wickednesse have many of you sought occasion to make offenders by laying snares for the feet of the harmlesse and innocent you have made men offenders for a word and perverted innocent words and actions that you might make to your self a ground to persecute and have sought a cloake to cover your cruelty in the sight of men but naked and bare are

your hearts made manifest in the sight of the lord who hath looked down from heaven and considered these things and hath regarded the unjust sufferings of his people whose liberties and estates and good names have been spoiled through injustice by grievous burthens laid upon some because they could not pay Tythes that hainous oppression to satisfie the unmercifullnesse of cruel men and many suffers at this day unjustly in the sight of God and illegally also in the sight of men and some suffer the spoiling of their goods rather by way of robery and theft than by just execution of judgment in proceeding of just law this can largely be witnessed and this is brought forth by subservant Officers to you that are set to judge and you to them are evil examples and strengtheners of their malitious hands some of them are not ashamed to take sixtimes the value of what is unjustly claimed for the use of a false teacher and deceitful hireling who rides upon the beast and make you their servants to oppresse the poor to uphold them and maintain them in their pride and vanities but the Lord hath considered these things and he hath numbred the oppressions against you wherewith the just have been grieved and oppressed under you he hath counted this cruelty and recorded all your unjust dealing which you have or suffered to be brought forth yea the day of account hasters and the tearm draws near upon you wherein the just and righteous Judge of heaven and earth will call you to account who will plead the cause of the poor and of the unjust sufferer and oppressed against you all who are oppressors the innocent prosecute against you and the begging of the poor is heard which calls for vengeance upon you In the Record of justice what account will you give to the highest-Highest-power who rules over heaven and earth for imprisoning just men for crying against sin and declaring against the wickednesse of this age this shall be proved against you in the day of the Lord Is your answer ready or will not your mouthes be stopped and you speechlesse when righteousnesse it self pleads against you And what can you plead for fining men and imprisoning them for not respecting your persons and bowing with hat and knee and because they could not swear this hath some of you done will you have any thing to say in the cause of these things when Christ Jesus comes to reign and his Saints with him unto whom the government and the authority and rule shall be given though now they are persecuted and as the refuse of men accounted by you unto whom they are become a prey to act your oppression and cruelty upon and because they render not evil for evil therefore is the impudencie of some men the more encreased and their hardnesse of heart enlarged and because judgment is not speedily executed therefore are the hearts of some men set in them to do evil O! what a sad reckoning in that day and what large indictments and verdicts for your oppression will be read against you and proved to be just in the sight of God and men a sad thing will it be upon you when laid to your charge by the Lord for causing men to suffer because they could not swear nor respect persons nor uphold the deceits of false worships and teachers nor cease to cry aga●nst sin in your Townes and Steeple-houses O! be stirred up out of your security you Heads and Rulers and Judges and Officers even all you be awakened who have turned your sword against the peaceable and been a terror to righteousnesse as much as you could which you ought not to have been and so your power you have abused and subverted it to another end than wherefore it was committed to you instead of defending the upright you have offended him and instead of being a terror to the wicked his hand hath been strengthened through your wicked presidents this is the truth as the light in all your consciences shall witnesse in the day of the Lord O! how hath justice and true judgment been neglected and oppression and cruelty abounded the like in generations past hath not been know●… 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord is now arisen and hath said I will ease 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 enemies and take vengeance upon my adversaries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 done wickedly against him and his people till the patience of the Lord is near an end and his longe suffering finished and his judgments will he make known upon his enemies in this generation that ages to come forever may be warned not to oppresse the innocent as these have done by false accusations and unjust judgment and wicked proceedings and because of it the wrath of the Lord is kindled and his viols of indignation shall be poured upon the beast and upon the false Prophet and all their power shall be smitten in one day And O what wickednesse hath abounded in the people also to help up the measure of the Rulers sins that may receive the recompence together how have the people of all sorts abused the innocent lambs of Christ whom he hath called What beatings and stonings and bruisings and other abuses in Townes and High-waies and Steeple-houses its hard to be expressed and large to be declared some have been wounded night unto death others bruised till blood have gushed out and others cast down in the dirt and punched with feet and troden upon and many have been in danger of their lives some have been knocked down with staves and thir cloaths rent and their hair torne off their heads and some have been pursued after with throwing stones and dirt at them and many halled and tumulted and lugged and hurried up and down in cruel manner to the danger of life and oppression of the creature and others have been whipped and lashed and put into cruel torment of their bodies by engins framed of purpose to torment the bodies of the harmlesse as Chester and Carlile may witnesse and others have been halled before rulers and falsly slandered to the taking away of life if the Lord had not prevented more than mercy of men and having been unmercifully and unjustly sent to prison there have they suffered cruelties from the Goalers or their servants by beatings or punnishings or threatnings or cruel words and casting into dungeons and great abuses shamefully acted upon them and other prisoners have made a prey upon them by t●king away their cloaths and meat and beating of them and abusing them divers waies and murtherers have had more priviledge of freedom in prisons and in tryals than these who are innocent and these things thus acted contrary to their own law hath passed without reproofe from many in Authority though it have been brought to their door and in this manner have the children of God the Lamb and his followers been persecuted without cause or any evil works brought forth by them and legally proved against them but for well doing and not for evil hath

the wicked vented their malice against them that the more the Beast and his power hath fullfilled wickednesse the sooner may be his destruction And O what scorning and reviling and lying and slandering and evil speeches with mockings and cruel words of envy and tearms of cruelty against the innocent hath this generation brought forth in this day wherein the dragon with his Angells hath joyned battel against the Prince of righteousnesse and they that follow him and whole Gog and Magog is gathered together to compasse the Camp of the Saints about and to fight against the beloved City the Judges and Rulers with their train of subservant officers as Bayliffs Clarks Goalers Constables with all that to those belonged have with a high hand persecuted and laid oppressions by hard-heartednesse upon the backs of the poor and distressed and the scorners and liers and prophane wretches have bent their tongue against the just in uttering lies slanders reproaches back-biting nick-namings and false-accusing and all manner of evil speehes and false reproaches and the just have been burthened by all this and thus they that have been departed from iniquity have been a prey to Rulers to act their injustice upon and to the people to utter their slanders and to do cruelty against and the teeth of evil doers have been set on edge to bite and devoure and to satisfie their maliciousnesse upon the sufferings of the upright people and from the Judge upon his throne to the begger upon the high-way all have had their hand dipped in this cause of cruel and unjust persecution and the Lord hath considered and harkened from his holy habitation and numbered up the summe of all your iniquities that he may repay and recompence upon your heads wo unto you unjust Judges and corrupt men who have abused your power And wo unto all that do oppresse by hard dealing who have offended the just and defended the unjust Wo unto all you scorners liers back biters and reproachfull tongues the Lord is coming to take an account Your sins cry for vengeance against you and though your hands and tongues have been strengthened to speak and act ungodlinesse by the evil example of your rulers yet your own iniquity shall you bear in the day of the Lord and though your rulers and judges have been strengthened in their unjustnesse and mercilessenesse by the false lying teachers and diviners of false visions which have seen vanity yet their own iniquity shall they bear every man shall die for his own sin Wo unto your teachers they have eaten up the sin of rulers and people and covered iniquity and transgression by flattering and lying words they have daubed with untempered morter and healed up the wound deceitfully and cryed peace peace to the wicked that have walked in the imaginations of their own hearts when unto such the Lord never spake peace And now whereas the Rulers and people have stretched forth their hands to vex the Lords people and have through unjust judgment and grievous oppressions and unmercifull dealings troden the innocent under foot and made them a prey to their mouth and divers waies have persecuted in cruel manner the followers of the Lamb yet also have the wise men of this world even the Priests and Teachers who have led the people and have caused them to erre and have set themselves as in battle array against the Lord and his way and people How have you hardened your hearts and made your forehead as brasse against the Word of the Lord and you have been as the fountain of all this wickednesse acted against the just and strengtheners of the hands of ungodly men the Heads and Ruler you have strengthened in their cruelty of false judgments by your arguments of strife in subtiltly you have been as nursers of all this persecution and wickednesse and have interceded for oppression to cause the just to groan whom the Lord hath raised to testifie against you the judges they have given regard unto you and the people they have taken you for examples who have been cursed presidents to the Rulers and people who have followed your cruel steps of malice and envy and from the head to the tail they have drunk in your poisonus doctrines and made themselves drunk therewith and out of reason in their furious zeal of madnesse and all have taken council together to slay the harmlesse from off the face of the earth some by false judgment and oppression and others by cruel abusings as beatings and stonings unheard of or unequalized in generations of late O ye Priests and Teachers and wise men and Scribes how many of you in this Nation joyned hand in hand to betray the innocent by your false doctrines and lying divinations and have filled and sought to do so the mind of the people with slanders and false reproaches and lying imaginations and many conceptions and jealousies against the people of God many of you have made it your study work to bring forth evil by cunning arguments to suggest into the hearts of people that they might not enter the kingdom and even so have you been shutters of the kingdom of heaven against men and would not enter your selves nor suffer others that would Wo unto you you have taken away the key of knowledge and lost it and multitudes of false aspersions and lying assertions have you brought forth without fear by wicked consequence and lying productions that you might take away the key of knowledge thereby and hide it from men and lay stumbling blocks of iniquity before the people to stop the way of the upright and you have travelled to seek occasions of evil against the just and watched for the halting of the innocent that you might glory and rejoyce in their fall and without any occasion by words or actions you have taken offence and made offences by evil surmisings to blind the eyes of people that your Idolatry might not be discovered nor the way of righteousnesse shine forth O be ashamed and repent for to account must you Come and the sin of Rulers and people whom you have blindly led will be charged against you who have given them wicked examples of cruelty in your pulpits you have spent time in rayling and slandering and lying to infuse evil into the minds of men against the truth and many books have you given forth and sent abroad from your lying pens out of your vain studies of false prophesie and mens hearts have been filled with your damnable doctrines of Devils wherewith the simple have been poysoned and the innocent betrayed even great numbers of books and lying scroules have gone through the nation from some of you filled with false divination and intents of evil against the way of the Lord and his people and worse than Balaam and far exceeding him have you been you have sought enchantments to curse the people whom God hath blessed altogether and some of you have done it to your evill reward of your

against the people of God and called the holy City a rebellious and bad City and that it was hurtfull unto Kings and danger to endammage the revenue of Kings Here was a conspiracie by the Scribes and such as handled the Law with the King against the people of God and thus it is now he that hath an eye to see may see how many petitions have they put to the Rulers against the people of God What grieveous and false accusations have they laid to the charge of the innocent saying they be Popishly affected and disobedient to Government so that the seed of the Serpent ever doth hatch evil against the seed of God to destroy it from off the face of the earth and it was the wise and the learned and the Rulers whom the Devil made use of to persecute the righteous it was such as Rhehum the Chancellor and Shimshai the Scribe and Pashur the chief Governor in the house of the Lord and it was such as the chief Priests and Elders of the people and the wise men of this world such as these it was that persecuted the righteous and so it is now Orthodox men so called Justices of Peace c. whom the Devil makes use of to persecute the innocent against which no occasion can be found but concerning the Law of God as it was with Daniel as you may read Daniel 6 and 5 6. against him they could find no occasion that they might presecute him but concerning the Law of his God and it was the President and Princes and Counsellors and the Governors which consulted together against Daniel who was the servant of God And as it was then so it is now in this generation they can find no occasion against us the people of God either by doctrin or conversation but onely concerning the law and worship of our God for there is a law against the law of Christ and all that will not swear contrary to the law of Christ must be counted evil doers and Popish recusants and punished and this is not for any evil in us but because we cannot transgresse the law of our God and also another decree which takes hold upon them that travell to worship God on the first day of the week whereby the innocent doth suffer and are like to suffer and not for evil doing is any occasion against us but because we will not stay from the worship of our God but are made to travel that we may meet together to worship him with such other decree which sheweth unto all men that they seek occasion against us concerning the law of our God not having occasion by doctrine or conversation or any other thing so for righteousnesse sake are we persecuted and not for evil doing some are persecuted because for conscience sake they cannot stay at their own houses but are moved by the Lord to declare the Name of the Lord abroad in the Nation many by a decree are taken and punished as for vagabonds and this is an occasion concerning the law of our God and Christ was persecuted and put to death by an unrighteous decree for they had an unrighteous law as they said aad by it he ought to dye and unrighteous laws and decrees were made against the Apostles whereby they were commanded to depart out of their townes and to preach no more in the Name of Jesus and by such decrees were the Apostles persecuted So that this may shew unto all that our fore-fathers who were of the seed of God some were persecuted unto death by unrighteous decrees and statutes and as it was then so it is now he that hath an eye to see may see the same as ever was is come to passe in the earth the seed of the Serpent striving against the seed of God and persecuting it where it is brought forth by unrighteous decrees how did the late Bishops of England persecute the harmlesse What Lawes and Ordinances were then brought forth whereby violence was done against such as feared the Lord and then was the seed of the Serpent striving against the seed of God And this is given forth to shew unto all the World the cause of persecution in its first ground to wit the irrecoverable enmity which is betwixt the two seeds the one continually hating and persecuting the other and seeking the overthrow each of other and the enmity betwixt the two seeds is the cause of strife the one being innocent and the other unrighteous so it is not for the persons sake or any other thing that the just are persecuted but it is because of the seed of God which cannot bow nor worship the seed of the Serpent that is the first cause of persecution Again all may see what unrighteous lawes and decrees were and are brought forth to persecute the innocent whereby they have suffered in all generations for righteousnesse sake and not for evil doing also it may be seen that it was the wise the learned the Presidents and Chancellors and chief Priests and Scribes who were and are the very active persons by whom the seed of God is persecuted and even such as were and are zealous in their observances and Sabboth-keeping and such like it was not the poor nor the foolish only which the Devil made use of to do his work but it was the wise and the learned and the chief in Authority and such like it was such in whom the seed of the Serpent ruled who were the active men against the servants of God Also it was through the evil counsel of such as were Teachers and Scribes and handlers of the law and it was through the false accusations of the chief Priests unto the Governors and Elders of the people and so it is now at this day as I have proved and also the righteous was persecuted upon the false judgment of others and they were falsly adjudged to be deceivers and blasphemers and evil doers and upon this account were they persecuted and as being falsly reputed to be destructive to Government and revenue of Kings and upon such like and that they made void the Law of God and were movers of sedition and upon such accounts as these was the seed of God persecuted as it is at this day and all men that read this with moderation may come to the good understanding upon what account and by what instruments and by what means the seed of the serpent hath persecuted the seed of God even from Cain unto this day And this is to go abroad into this Nation and into the World and it is given forth from the suffering seed of God to clear it self in the sight of all men that not for evil but for good are these sufferings laid upon it But behold the Lord regardeth the cry of the poor and of the unjust sufferer and he will remember his mercy and his covenant with his own seed and when it passes through the fire he is with it and though it be afflicted