Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	england_n	king_n	lord_n	4,602	5	4.1139	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61435	Old English loyalty & policy agreeable to primitive Christianity. The first part by the author of The beginning and progress of a needfull and hopefull reformation.	Stephens, Edward, d. 1706.	1695 (1695)	Wing S5433; ESTC R32555	31,683	49

the Divine Majesty They hold the Place of Prophets and the Duty of Prophets is incumbent upon them and if they have not the Light and Discerning of Prophets it is their own Fault who encumber themselves so much with the Pomps and Vanities and the unnecessary Superfluities of the World If they know not in this their Day the things which belong to their Duty and their Peace but suffer this Prince also to miscarry through Evil Counsels which have been the Bain of so many of his Predecessors in this Nation what can they expect but to be spewed out as unprofitable Servents to be thrown out with Scorn that Gospel Angels may our Church Adorn But I hope better things from such as are now in Place This unhappy Error in the Service of God hath I doubt exposed him to the Mischief of Unfaithfulness in such as he hath imployed and intrusted in his Service the Divine Providence permitting him to feel the Inconveniences of such Polices for Conviction of this Error The Effects of our Management are visible to the World the Persons imployed are likewise known and the Management it self is much complained of too much perhaps when and as it should not and as much too little if there be just Cause when and as it should If the Management be ill and the Persons imployed unskilful and unable the Fault is in the Choice principally and the Remedy is to put them out and choose better but if the Persons be able and the Management ill the Fault then is in the Persons imployed and intrusted and they are not only to be turned out but farther punished as their Misdemeanors deserve and the Damage requires And if this be not done as it ought the Fault rests upon them who ought to do it and yet neglect their Duty And because for Misdemeanors of all great Officers the House of Commons are the general Inquisitors for the whole Kingdom if there be any such ill Management as is believed and talked on it must be a great Fault of Unfaithfulness to God to the King and to the Kingdom if they should not impartially inquire into it and faithfully use the most proper Parliamentary Means to have it effectually and speedily redressed And this is the Duty not only of the whole House but of every particular Member of it They are Inquisitors for the whole Kingdom as the Grand-Jury of each County are for their respective Counties And as every Grand Jury-man who knows any thing Presentable and doth not Present it doth violate his Oath and Duty to his Country so doth every Member of Parliament who knoweth any thing necessary to be considered there and doth not honestly acquaint the House with it and earnestly move to have it considered no less violate his Trust and Duty of Fidelity both to his King and Country Was it certain that the whole House would oppose him an Honest and a Wise Man would notwithstanding be careful to discharge his Duty faithfully nay so much the more careful to do it to clear himself that he might not be guilty so much as by Silence of any defect in Duty to his Prince or to his Country And was this weighty Duty well considered as it deserves we should have less Scuffling to get into the House and more honest and honorable Behaviour there than we too often have had But that which for many Ages hath been the Root of Remedy for all our Maladies hath in this been so corrupted that it hath most of all needed Remedy and yet hath most obstinately resisted it But of all I have most admired at those whom I took to be the best Men of Sobriety Religion Conscience Fidelity to their Prince and Affection to their Country to see such frighted nay even laughed and shamed out of all these I wish such may receive this Admonion and better consider their Duty in time and do works meet for Repentance that is give Glory to God by so much greater Acts of Fidelity by how much they have at any time failed therein For otherwise they will be called to a strict Account wherein their little Prudentials will little avail them And for this purpose to such as desire to discharge their Conscience well I shall recommend the Account of the Good Steward in Sir Mat. Hale as a good Pattern how to treat it But in the mean time there is another Account that such Publick Trustees are to be imminded of and that is an Account of their Actions if ill or not faithful according to the Trust reposed in them which the Commons of England who intrust them or any one of them may call any of them to The meanest Commoner in England may maintain a Suit against the King himself if he have just Cause and the ordinary Judges ought to give Judgment for him and do him Right He may likewise complain in Parliament if he have Cause proper for that of any Grievance by the King or his Ministers or of any Misdemeanor by any Member or Members of Parliament or if it be the Speaker himself And what one may do more may do the Marriners may do it the Merchants may do it the Judges Serjeants and other Lawyers may do it the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council of London and the other Cities may do it the Counties may do it and all may do it there is no Limitation of the Numbers but only of those who present the Petition and that only by a late Act of Parliament It is an Ancient and a Fundamental Right of the Commons of England and whoever should dare to speak against it as some base Abhorrors did some Years since though it were in Parliament ought to be questioned for it as a Betrayer of the Rights of his Country For though Freedom of Debate be a necessary Privilege of Parliament yet are there certain Bounds to it that may not be transgressed Nor is the Power of the House of Commons or of the whole Parliament so boundless or unlimited as some may imagine This as it is an Ancient and a Fudamental Right so is it a Right as needful to be understood and put in Practice now as ever This if any thing that I can see under God must save both King and Kingdom For the Lords I can say nothing to them But for the Representatives of the Commons I find many of them so affraid of Great Men if not otherwise corrupted that they avoid the Motion of a Petition against their Speaker or a Lord-Commissioner of the Great Seal though for the Honor of the Royal Authority and the Execution of the Laws the Care of which is their special Duty nay for the Honor of their own House and seek Evasions as from some dangerous Matter So that I see not whence we can expect Effectual Remedy for the Mischiefs and Dangers so much complained of but next under God from the Virtue of their Majesties and the Great Body of the People comprehending I hope

that it will certainly turn to Ten times a greater Disadvantage to him than the Advantage he expected by it And he must study to know himself well that he is a dependent Creature hath no Power of himself is so easily overpowered by other Creatures that he hath not the Command of his own Faculties or Thoughts for a moment without the Favour of his Master upon whom he depends and therefore be very careful to walk humbly before him that his Heart be not at any time lifted up above himself or above his Fellow Creatures unless in the Case of his great Master but in his Cause he must be as cautious not to fail of the greatest Generosity and Magnanimity possible without Fear of Men or Devils And these things he must endeavour to know not by a superficial speculative Knowledg but by so effectual a Practical Knowledge as may equal an Experimental lest he be sent to the common Mistress to learn in better as I have been for a more effectual Knowledge of what I studied and desired to have acquired at a cheaper rate But now I know indeed from whence my Strength cometh and how little I am able to do even at home if destitute of that Aid These things being well known it is farther to be consider'd that the Service of God in relation to the present business is two-fold the principal the Good of his Creatures but by accident it may be the destruction of some And for these he hath his different proper Instruments For the latter ordinarily Devils and Wicked Men but his Glorious Instruments are principally employed for the Good of Men their Real Good whereby they are made better And this is the proper Service and Business of a King And in this is his Fidelity Generosity and Virtue principally to be exercised If it fail or flag in this it must needs degenerate in all the rest and make him more like a Butcher Executioner or Serjeant than a Pastor Governor or Tutor And if he neglect this though he may notwithstanding be an Instrument of some Drudgery yet a Glorious Instrument he cannot be This therefore is the first and principal thing to be intended and most vigorously prosecuted and that not only as a Common Duty upon all occasions but in this Nation at this time by K. William upon very considerable special Occasions and Obligations The great Corruption of the Manners of the Nation and the Impudence of Impiety are such as make it a special Obligation and a special Provocation to a Generous Mind to check and subdue it And the extraordinary Providence which hath raised him to the Throne for this very purpose undoubtedly as much as for any is another special Obligation And the Providential Admonitions and Corrections of his Neglect hitherto which he hath since met with a farther The Judgments denounced in the Gospel against Fear Shame Negligence Unprofitableness in the Cause of Christ and Work of the Lord are very severe and these being aggravated by such special Obligations must needs make the Case very dangerous indeed And here by the way it is very fit that all those who are called to the Office of Watchmen whether Ordinary or Extraordinary or upon any special Occasion should be minded of their own Danger in case of neglect of their Duty in that respect This great and fundamental Service is to be perfomed by earnest recommending the enacting of such new Laws as are necessary for supply of those that are wanting or defective by commanding and strictly requiring and inforcing the Execution of such as we have already and by notable Examples of good Discipline Of all which I have said so much already more than once that I shall need to say no more here As the Foundation and Stability of Regal Power depends upon the Favour of God and the Affections of the Subjects so each doth require continual Demonstration of Vertue in them who are invested with it God who is the Searcher of Hearts doth not withstanding require it and frequently leads them to occasions of Tryal and much more may Men who cannot otherwise judge of the Heart expect it God doth require it not only in matters of Religion for his Honour but also in matters of Justice to Men wherein the Honour of his Supreme Authority also is concerned And Men expect it not only in matters of Justice and Benefit to themselves but also in matters of Religion and Honour to God So that what I have hitherto said concerning the Means of acquiring and securing the Favour of God hath a farther consideration also in respect of Men which even Aristotle hath taken notice of whose Politicks have more of that Right Reason which Christianity recommends than most of the Politicks of our Modern Statists And that this was a principal part of our old English Policy as is very manifest in our old Laws and Historians But to come to our Civil Politicks It hath been observed by Wise Men that there is a certain Natural Disposition in most Nations and in many very apparent to some certain Form of Government peculior to their own Genius by which they are more easily to be governed than by any other And if the Governors act sutable to that disposition of the People it usually makes all very happy We have now a Prince very agreeable to the Natural English Genius but he may easily be mistaken by reason of the Corruptions of the last Reigns which as they began at the Court so have they most infected those who most resort thither So that I know nothing of greater importance to him than good information and due consideration of the Natural Genius of the Body of this People and how to distinguish that from the Degenerate Dispositions of those who have most access to him Their Natural Genius is Honest Plain-dealing yet considerate and very Provident as manifestly appears in our Constitution of Government and Common Law if rightly considered Industrious Couragious Constant and Faithful and which I will mention as the great commendation of all addicted to sincere and substantial Religion but abhorring Dishonest despising Tricks and Craft and disdaining Violence and Oppression and accordingly in matters of Religion equally abhoring Hypocricy and Formality and despising Superstition This might many ways be proved but would require a particular Tract to do it as it should be And though it might seem otherwise to such as converse most with the most degenerate part of the Nation yet even in them may be discerned the Natural Principles of these Dispositions not totally extirpated which makes them in many things more easie to be cured And these Natural Dispositions are so agreeable to uncorrupted Reason and to Genuine Primitive Christianity that it is not only Civil Prudence but an indispensible Duty to God to treat such a People accordingly and to endeavour not only the Restitution but Exaltation of this natural Temper according to the most excellent Means of our most Holy and