Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	king_n	lord_n	people_n	4,953	5	4.9858	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

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

by Hosea not the Prophet Hosea to be sure but another that got himself to be make King about 10 years afterward There follow'd in the mean time for those 10 years a State of perfect Anarchy these was no Government at all but a liberty for the factious and bold to make a prey of the more quiet and peaceable In this miserable state and condition which was a sad presage of their approaching ruin the Israelites were at last made sensible what mercies they had thrown away and what Calamities they had drawn down upon themselves by their Rebellion They were brought to confess their guilt and to acknowledge the Justice of God in their punishment for as now they were found faulty stood convict and received their sentence in the verse before my Text so they own'd the Righteousness of God in it in the words of my Text We have no King And there is great reason for it because we fear'd not the Lord and having not the fear of God What then should a King do to us that is what cou'd a King signify to us Out of which words I shall take occasion to shew these three things 1. That then a People are most sensible of the blessing of Living under Kingly Government when they are depriv'd of it Now that they have lost their King they confess and lament their loss and say we have no King 2. That the cause of a Peoples being depriv'd of their King is commonly the irreligion and wickedness of such a People we have no King because we fear'd not the Lord. 3. I shall shew how insignificant and ineffectual all Government is without Religion We fear'd not the Lord What then should a King do to us 1. Tho I do not intend at present to enter into the Controversy about the several forms of Government yet both the words of my Text and the happy Government we live under will sufficiently justify me to give Monarchy the preference of all others And sure I am that for three thousand years from the Creation we read of no other sort of Government in the world it was this that God set up a mong his own people And this hath been Universally receiv'd approv'd and continu'd in most other Nations to this day But as I do not design to prejudg the other forms where they are the National and Legal constitutions so it cannot be deny'd that for a Nation that hath been always under Kingly Government and for Ages together hath thriven and prosper'd with it where it suits with the genius of the people as well as with their Laws and Constitution it is an invaluable blessing still to continue under the Protection and Conduct of Kings And it is the saddest condition that can befall such a Nation to have no King at all But tho this be so and every man knows it to be true yet it must be confess'd that very few consider it while they enjoy the blessing of living under Government and do not actually feel the misery of Anarchy and Confusion and therefore altho Government is certainly the most Beneficial it is often seen to be the most thankless office in the world And tho Kings were anciently stil'd * Luk. 22.5 Benefactors and good Kings are sertainly the truest and greatest Benefactors to Mankind * Rom. 13. the Ministers of God for the good of men yet they are too often the most slenderly and ungratefully requited of all others Men are generally full of thankfulness to other Benefactors while they are actually receiving their favours however they may often forget them But to good Kings they are most ungrateful when most oblig'd and slight the obligation while they are receiving it For when they fully possess the blessing of living under good Government and may repose themselves in peace and safety under its protection while they have all they can desire in this world in the full and entire Enjoyment of their liberty and property and may if it be not their own fault fecure to themselves all they can hope for in another world by the undisturb'd profession and practice of true Religion in short while men are most easy and most happy and owe that ease and happiness next to the providence of God to the conduct and vigilance of the Government they live under even then a great many men are most uneasy and discontented and most given to murmur and mutiny against it Tho their Governors make it their whole business to promote the interest and secure the peace and happiness of their people tho they sacrifice all the ease and comfort of their own lives to preserve them tho they wholly spend themselves in cares and labours for their good and freely expose their own lives to interpose between them and danger yet people are generally not only insensible of all this but also requite it with murmuring and misconstruing every thing they do Of all the Heathen Emperors Marcus-Antoninus Dion cas His Rom. lib. XXXI was I think the best Governour I am sure he was the most learned and virtuous man and yet living in a time of great publick Calamities such as no man could help his Reign was full of troubles and discontents which gave occasion to several conspiracies and to one open rebellion against him Mauricius was one of the best of Christian Emperors yet his people being generally discontented by reason of those taxes which his great Wars made necessary a bold Rebel took the advantage against him and murdered Him and all his Family But there is no need to search History for instances of this kind the holy Scripture gives us some very remarkable ones For we read that there were very great murmurings among the people of Israel against Moses himself tho he acted in every thing he did by particular direction from God tho he had rescu'd them from the last degree of misery and bondage tho he had obtain'd several signal victories for them against their Enemies tho he conducted and sed them with perpetual miracles and was just leading them into a firm and lasting settlement and into the possession of a Land flowing with Milk and Hony yet they could not abstain from frequent murmuring against this great and excellent Prince while he was present with them and doing these great things for them K. David was us'd in like manner by his people tho he had saved them from their Enemies and had deliver'd them out of the Hands of the Philistines as they themselves could not but confess 2 Sam. 9. v. 9. And tho he had been one while so popular that whatsoever he did pleas'd all the people 2 Sam. 3. v. 26. Yet by the cunning and artifices of one or two designing men we see the whole Nation was turn'd against him they cryed out What have we to do with the Son of Jesse to your tents O Israel To sum up all in one word the Israelites grew weary and murmur'd under the immediate Government

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

Lusts to be meek and peaceable Nothing can make such Men peaceable but what can mortifie their Lusts and cure their Passions and nothing can do that but the Spirit of God that Dove-like Spirit which dwells in those Temples which are dedicated to him by Religion The result of all that I have said upon these two last general Heads in brief is this that as no Government can subsist without Religion nor continue long if the Subjects of it have not the fear of God so on the other hand no Government can obtain its end either in promoting Virtue maintaining Justice or preserving the Peace and Prosperity of a Nation without the assistance of Religion And the Conclusion which naturally follows from these two things is this That therefore it is the interest as well as the Duty of Kings and Princes and of all the Ministers of Government as they desire their own pres ervation and the continuance of their Authority and Hope to do any good in their Stations to make it their chief care and business to suppress all Irreligion and Vice and to promote Religion and the Fear of God among their Subjects without which in a word they themselves can never be safe nor their People happy And now to apply what hath been said with respect to the present occasion all that has been said of the Blessings a Nation enjoyeth in having a Government over it especially such a Government in the Person of a King that makes it his business to do God's work in the World in restraining men from sin and promoting Religion and Virtue All this these Kingdoms had in the most eminent Degrees in the Person and Governmentof King Charles I. of glorious Memory He was a shining Example of Religion and Virtue there were all the Motives to it in his Government both in punishing of Vice and Encouraging of Virtue And tho 't is true there were Complaints of Grievances and Oppressions in his time as perhaps there will be in all Governments yet whatsoever ground there was for them it is certain there were such Riches and Wealth in his Reign as never were known in England before The Wealth and Plenty and Prosperity of England was then the wonder and Envy of all our Neighbours And for Arts and Learning the attendants of Peace and Plenty we then surpass'd all other Nations in the World And yet from the beginning to the end of his Reign still there were those Complaints which I less wonder at since there were as I have shewn the like among God's chosen People and that even under Moses's Government and in the time of David's Reign But as this insensibleness of God's Blessings could not hinder his People from feeling the want of them when by the loss of those Excellent Governours they could better judge what a Blessing they enjoyed in their continuance with them Even so it happened among us when our King was taken away Then there was a general lamentation not only his Friends but some that had bin his Enemies joined in it There was indeed such a general lamentation in this Kingdom at first when the matter was fresh that the like has been never known nor heard upon any occasion It was much aggravated and heighten'd by a Sense of the manner of his being taken from us If the Lord had smitten him or his day had come that he should die or if he had descended into Battle and perished in all this there had been nothing extraordinary or singular but that it was the loss of an excellent King And that was no more than what Judah suffer'd in the death of their good King Josiah And yet we see what a sad lamentation they made upon that occasion 2 Chron. 35.25 But there was this extraordinary in our Case it was that which would astonish one to think of it that such a blessing should be thrown away with our own hands that such an excellent King should be murdered by his own Subjects and that with such unparallel'd Circumstances at the Door of his own Royal Palace with the Pageantry and Forms of Law a scornful Mockery of all Earthly Justice and the boldest Defiance of the Justice of Heaven This was horrour to all good Men that saw or heard of it it broke the Hearts of not a few at that time and even now all good Men have that sense of it which they want words to express Indeed it is hard to get over this Subject it is hard to speak of this blessed King's Murder without a just detestation of them that were the Authors of it But that is not my business at this time I am now to consider this matter as it stands between God and this whole Nation It was certainly a dreadful and almost an unexampled Judgment of God a Judgment that went very near being fatal to us it was the great Mercy of God it had not ended in our Ruine We may therefore be sure there were great National Sins sins as great and extraordinary as the Judgment by which we drew it upon our selves I do not mean only those particular sins which immediately produc'd this doleful effect and which were personal to the Actors in it but I mean those publick and National sins in which all had their share and which first set the other on Work They were these that depriv'd us first of the Protection of our God and then made him pour down his Judgment upon us and deprive us of our King To name nothing more at present but that which was the Fountain of all our Misery it is certain if we may believe them that liv'd in those days there was a very great neglect of Religion at that time in this Nation I do not mean of the outward Form and Profession of Religion perhaps that was never more in request on both sides among them that were Contending about it but the great defect was in the Life and Power of Religion This appear'd too much on both sides On one side we must confess among them who adher'd to the Principles of Loyalty and true Religion there appear'd too great a neglect of the Life and Power of it in them which gave occasion for some to say that their looseness and Irreligion was the Ruine of the King 's most Righteous Cause But on the other hand this appear'd most manifestly in them who notwithstanding all their great and specious Profession of Religion and all their Pretences to tender Consciences yet had no sense and made no Conscience of their sin in running out into that Rebellion and into all those Rapines Sacrileges and Murders which they committed in the Profecution of it This great want of the true Power and Spirit of Religion was the unhappy Fountain from whence all those other sins issued forth that made up the measure of our Iniquity and drew down that dismal Judgment upon us which we lament on this day What then remains but that we still humble our selves under