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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	day_n	great_a	time_n	4,794	5	3.3956	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45168	A sermon preach'd before the House of Lords, at the abbey-church of St. Peter's Westminster, on Thursday, the 30th of January, 1695/6 being the martyrdom of K. Charles I / by the right reverend Father in God, Humphrey, Lord Bishop of Bangor.	Humphreys, Humphrey, 1648-1712.	1696 (1696)	Wing H3721; ESTC R43273	16,128	29

of God himself 2 Sam. 12. So impossible is it for any Earthly Government to please all and so insensible are men of the blessings of it while they enjoy them But when men are once depriv'd of those blessings then at least they will begin to value them in good earnest when the Crown is fallen and they are sunk into a state of Anarchy when every man doth that which is right in his own eyes and mens lusts and passions are their only Law when according to Hobb's Law of Nature every man may claim every thing and there is no common Umpire between them a short experiment of this Kind will soon convince Men how great a Happiness it is to live under Government and especially under a well temper'd Monarchy and how great a misery it is to be depriv'd of it Then they will effectually feel that there is no Tyranny like that of their fellow Subjects nothing more Despotick and Arbitrary more Insolent and Tyrannical than the Madness of People without Government In such a state all true Liberty is lost by being turn'd into Licentiousness and all Property is thrown into Common where there is no Law to distinguish no Magistrate to stand by and Protect it The safety of mens Persons the good order of their Families the duty to Parents and Relations the modesty of Virgins the chastity of Matrons the reverence of Holy Things and Persons the sacredness of Religion the Majesty of God himself are all laid open and expos'd and subject to every man's Lust and Pleasure In such a state nothing is safe When a People is fall'n into this condition or find themselves in great danger of it and see nothing between them and Destruction then to compare things past and present together to Reflect upon the Peace and Safety they once Enjoy'd and the continual disorders and dangers they are expos'd to by this change this will make men sensible of their folly and of their contempt of Government while they liv'd under it and were unthankful to God and Man for that inestimable Blessing Thus the Israelites that Murmur'd so often against Moses while he liv'd with them heartily mourn'd for him when he was taken out of their sight and by their Lamentations in the plains of Moab made some kind of Honourable Amends to his Memory for their Mutining against him in the Wilderness It were easy to shew the like in many other instances but I shall reserve so much of your time as will be necessary to speak of that great instance we are to remember this day II. I now proceed to the Second thing that of this great and deplorable Calamity to a Nation in being depriv'd of their Government the common and usual cause is the Wickedness and Irreligion of such a People this will plainly appear if we consider these two things 1. That morally speaking no Government can subsist without Religion 2. If it could subsist God will not suffer it because Irreligion and Wickedness provokes God to deprive Men of that Blessing 1. What notions soever we frame to our selves of Government and upon what bottom soever we build it Religion must be the principal foundation otherwise it cannot stand long and steady For as the obligation of an Oath is the great band of all civil Society and chief support of all Governent so that obligation ariseth wholly from the perswasions of Religion Nothing else maketh an Oath strong and effectual but a firm perswasion that God Almighty is witness to the making of it and will avenge the breaking of it and such a perswasion is properly Religion all the other obligations which men commonly speak of are altogether vain and ineffectual whether they be those of Honour or Gratitude or Interest or Promises and Contracts without Religion they signify nothing at all For the Honour of men that have no Religion and therefore make no Conscience of what they say or do it is but anempty word as they will find that rely upon it Humane gratitude in this corrupt and degenerate Age is alas a very short and feeble obligation Men soon forget benefits and too oft requite them with injuries Men's Interests are various and changeable and he that is a good subject one day for his Interest may the next day be a Rebel for the same reason For the Covenants and Contracts of Men of no Principles they are no more to be relyed on then their words which are justly to be compared to the wind for their instability and tho their words are confirmed with their Oaths which all men acknowledge to be the highest and most sacred obligation that can be laid upon Man yet all must acknowledge also that without Religion their Oath is no obligation at all For what can the Oath of men that have no Religion no fear of God signify What signifieth their attesting and calling God to Witness who believe there is no God at all or what are the contents of the holy Book to those who believe nothing of it but look upon it all as fable and imposture Such mens Oaths are the highest abuse and profanation of that sacred Action a solemn mockery both of God and Man Such Mens oaths even where they seem to be in earnest ought no more to be regarded then those vain Oaths and Imprecations with which they fill up their common discourse And therefore such men can give no sufficient security to any Government So that wherever the subjects are Irreligious and Atheistical there the Government must be very feeble and precarious the foundation of it is weak and tottering and those wicked men are always ready to undermine and blow it up and will certainly do it whenever their Interest or even their humor tempts them to do it and they have strength and opportunity to effect it They may seem indeed to Act like the most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects for a time while they are enrich'd and honour'd by the bounty and favour of their Prince while they enjoy their own desires and pleasures under his Government and every thing goeth as they would have it But if ever they are disoblig'd or disappointed if any thing cometh cross to them then they are full of discontent and clamor and the most forward to mutiny and rebel against him So that those Princes who have any number of such for their subjects are not only in an unsafe but in a very dangerous condition they hold their Crowns and Lives at the courtesy of those who however they are otherwise obliged will be ready to deprive them of both whenever they can gain by doing it We have Examples of this in three of those Kings of Israel which I mentioned to have been cut off in the time of this Prophecy They were as Josephus tells us Joseph Antiq. Jud. lib. ix c. xi xiii murderd by such as had been trusted and preferr'd by them Zachariah by his Favourite Shallum Pekaiah by a Captain of his own Army and