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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	king_n	people_n	prince_n	3,388	5	5.5555	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A64134	Toleration tolerated: or, A late learned bishops opinion concerning toleration of religion With some brief observations thereon.	Taylor, Jeremy, 1613-1667.	1688 (1688)	Wing T402; ESTC R218869	5,671	4

they only think this Doctrine Unreasonable and they are the Men that first disturb the Churches Peace and then think there is no appeasing the Tumult but by getting the Victory but they that consider things wisely understand that since Salvation and Damnation depends not upon Impertinencies and yet that Peace and Publick Tranquility may the Prince in this case is to seek how to secure the Government and the Issues and Intentions of that while there is in these cases directly no Insecurity to Religion unless by the accidental Uncharitableness of them that Dispute Which Uncharitableness is also much prevented when the Publick Peace is secured and no Person is on either side ingaged upon Revenge or troubled with Disgrace or vexed with Punishments by any Decretory Sentence against him It was a Wise saying of a Statesman Thuanus I mean Here●iei qui p●●ce data sa●tionibus S●●●duntur Persecuti●●e uni●… centra Rempublicam If you Persecute Hereticks or Discrepants they Unite themselves as to a Common Defence If you permit them they divide themselves upon Private I●tre●l and the rather if this Interest was the Ingredient of the Opinion Fifthly The sum is this It concerns the Duty of a Prince because it concerns the Honour of God that all Vices and every part of ●●-life be Discountenanced and Restrained and therefore in Relation to that Opinions are to be dealt with for the Understanding being to direct the Will and Opinions to guide our Practices they are Considerable only as they teach Impiety and Vice as they either Dishonour God or Disobey Him. Now all such Doctrines are to be condemned but for the Persons Preaching such Doctrine if they neither justifie nor approve the pretended Consequences which are certainly Impious they are to be separated from th●e Consideration but if they know such Consequences and allow them or if they do not stay till the Doctrines produce Impiety but take Sin before hand and manage them Impiously in any sence or if either themselves or their Doctrine do Really and without Colour or feigned Pretence dusturb the Publick Peace and Just Intrests they are not to be suffered In all other Cases 't is not only Lawful to permit them but it is also necessary that Princes and all in Authority should Persecute Discrepant Opinions And in such Cases wherein Persons not otherwise incompetent are bound to reprove an Error as they are in many In all these if the Prince make restraint he hinders men from doing their Duty and from Obeying the the Laws of Jesus Christ so for that Learned Bishop HEre this Learned and great Man whom I think I may safely pronounce one of the greatest Ornaments which the English Church or N●t●on ever had does not in the least Scruple or Object against His Majesty's Dispensing Power in Tolerating differing Opinions in Religion and s●ith that Religion is not properly concerned in the question so as in any degree to be ind●●gered and that it may be safe in diversity of Perswasions and that it is rather a question of Policy then Religion Nay he is so ●●r from saying the Prince may Tolerate that he ●●ith he 〈◊〉 and leaves it not in his choice or power to Choose and very fairly and ●●ndidly seems rightly to state and determine the present Controversies in giving to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are God's He sets the Prince on his Throne and makes it his Province to look after Peace and to take such Measures which may ●●cure the Government and puts it out of his Power to be concern'd with Men's Consciences This he very justly leaves to the Managery and Conduct of the Great God And how far His Majesty's Judgment does quadrate with this Great Man's I shall here briefly set down For Coming to the Crown of his Ancestors he presently found himself to be the Head of a divided Body and that all his Subjects were a Disturbed and Contending People divided into many differing Sects and Factions and that having had several Educations they had several Consciencess he found also every Sect and Party fiercely carrying on their own little particular Intrests and like Sea-men every one praying for a Wind to carry their own Vessel out of the Heaven though the same Wind kept their Neighbours Vessel in the Port or it nay be sunk or overturn'd it These things he wisely considered and thought th●● he had as good be a Soveraign Shepherd a●… Soveraign King over such a People therefore ●ade it his business to look into the Causes of such great Disorder and found that their Feuds and Animosities were about the things of another World about Truth and Falshood Heaven and Hell And should a People believing in such things be disturbed in their Methods which they thought most suitable and proper to obtain the one or avoid the other He thought and that with great reason His Kingdom here would be very Troublesome and Uneasie therefore seeing them all Fierce and E●ger and that they would all be Judges in their own Cause He undertook to decide their Differences and to judge for them not as to matter of Truth but as to matter of Peace and like a Wise Chymist seeing their Differences principally rose from the Mixture and Confusion of things of a Heterogenial Nature he separated the one from the other the Spiritual things from the Temporal left the Spiritual to God and themselves to whom they most properly belong and took the Temporal as his just Right and due to Himself The Case stands thus His Majesty having in a manner wronght a Miracle to Appease his People viz. To make the Winds blow from all Corners at once that all their Respective Vessels may Sail together and none may ever wax● a Wind to Lanch out at his pleasure One would think they should all be satisfied but we find they are not And indeed if we consider things more narrowly we cannot in Reason expect they should for things being but in their Formation and growing if we pull the Fruit before it be ripe we shall find it have but a Crude and Unsavoury Taste The Truth is there has been a Disease a a long time in the Government and now it comes to be Canvass'd into and searched the pain in Curing makes some men love the Disease better than the Remedy and rather than to be troubled with Dust and Rubish and to have a little Noise about their Ears they had rather have an old rotten House which daily threatens to fall on their Heads ●hen to have a New One founded on a Rock ●t●ich the Rains and the Winds the Wit of ●i●n or Malice of the Devil shall be never ●e to pull down POSTSCRIPT READER COnscience which has been long last by some Gentlemen being lately found in a Paper of Reasons I have just now Read which may be call'd Conscientia Rediviva I dare now let thee know that the real cause of my Publishing this Paper was my Conscience I think really in my Conscience that His Majesty is hearty and sincere in what he proposes and designs nothing but the Good of all His Subjects in general and that it is the Duty of every Man to Contribute something towards making such a Settlement as he desires And I think I have very good Reason for this my Conscience and so I think might all others would they but consider things impartially And since I am got upon the business of Conscience I find there are several Consciences in the Nation There is His Majesties Conscience the Bishops Conscience and the Consciences of all the several Sects and Divisions of Christians amongst us Now I shall not Examine how Unconscionable some of these Consciences may be nor how they came by such their differing Consciences but how if possible they may all be satisfied Then in the first place 'T is but a point of good Manners to let His Majesty's Conscience be first satisfied nay 't is a point of Prudence too And if men would but be wise and consider things as they ought and had really a mind that their Consciences should be satisfied they would begin here first and so reconcile their Duty and Intrest for in letting His Majesty to have His Conscience they really secure their own for 't is His Majesty's Conscience that all Consciences should be satisfied and that none shall be disturbed in any Way or Method they shall choose to obtain Eternal Life or secure a Mansion in another Would But then it is not His Conscience that any should have the power to Disturb or Ruine their Innocent Neighbours or be Indulged in a Liberty to choose what Irregular Methods they please in obtaining a Possession in this and this some Unconscionable Men know and are very much afraid of and 't is His Majesty's Justice they dread more then his Perswasion and they could willingly Tolerate the one so they might be Exempted from the other FINIS London Printed by G. L. at the Two Swans without Bishopsgate WITH ALLOWANCE

TOLERATION Tolerated OR A late Learned Bishops Opinion concerning Toleration of Religion With some brief Observations thereon READER I Here present thee with the Opinion of a Dead * Bishop Taylor in 〈◊〉 Prop●… p. 213 Sect. 16. 〈◊〉 ●ue●ion ● Whether it be 〈◊〉 w●… a Prince to give Toleration to several Religions Bishop since the ●iving are Untoward and will not Speak and indeed should all M●n be silent not only the Dead but the very Stones would speak in such a just and Righteous Cause as is that of His Majesty's But I will not 〈◊〉 detain thee only desire thee to observe with me the great Difference 〈◊〉 One who had no other I was to serve but these of Truth and Christianity and these whom 〈◊〉 justly suspected to have a great many little private and particular ends of their Own. First 'T IS a great Fault that Men do call the several Sects of Christians by the Names of several Religions The Religion of JESUS CHRIST is the Form of sound Doctrine and wholesome Words which is set down in Scripture indefinitely actually conveyed to us by plain Places and separated as for the Question of Necessary or not Necessary by the Symbol of the Apostles Those Impertinencies which the W●… and V●●●ty of some Men the Pevishness and M●r●seness of others have Commenced which their Interest have promoted which serve not Truth so much as their own Ends are far from being distinct Religions for matters of Opinions are no part of the Worship of God nor in Order to it but as they promote Obedience to his Commandments and when they contribute towards it are in that Proportion as they contribute Parts and Actions and minute particulars of that Religion they do or pretend to serve And such are all the Sects and Pretences of Christians but Pieces and Min●tes of Christianity if they do serve the Great End as every Man for his own Sect and Interest believes for his share it doth Secondly TOLERATION hath a double Sence or Purpose for sometimes by it Men understand a publick Licence and Exercise of a Sect sometimes it is only an Indempnity of the Persons privately to Convene and to Opine as they see Cause and as they mean to answer to God. Both these are very much to the same Purpose unless some Persons we are bound to Satisfie be scandalized and then the Prince is bound to do as he is bound to Satisfie To God it is all one for Abstracting from the Offence of Persons which is to be considered just as our Obligation is to content the Persons it is all one whether we indulge to them to meet publickly or privately to do Actions of Religion concerning which we are not perswaded that they are truly Holy. To God it is just one to be in the Dark and in the Light the thing is the same only the Circumstance of publick and private which cannot be concerned in any thing nor can it concern any thing but Matter of Scandal and Relation to the Minds and Fantasies of certain Persons Thirdly So that to Tolerate is not to Persecute And the Question Whether the Prince may Tolerate divers Perswasions is no more than Whether he may lawfully Persecute any Man for not being of his Opinion Now in this Case He is just so to Tolerate Diversity of Perswasions as he is to Tolerate publick Actions for no Opinion is Ju●… nor no Person Punishable but for a Sin and if his Opinion by reason of its Managing or its Effects be a Sin in it self or becomes a Sin to the Person then as he is to do towards other Sins so to that Opinion or Man so Opining But to believe so or not so when there is no more but meer believing is not in his Power to enjoyn therefore not to punish And it is not only lawful to Tolerate disagreeing Perswasions but the Authority of God only is competent to take Notice of it and i●falli●le to Determinate it and fit to Judge and therefore no H●n no Authority is sufficient to do all those things which can justifie the Inflicting Temporal Punishments upon such as do not Conform in their Perswasions to a Rule or Authority which is not only fallible but supposed by the disagreeing Persons to be actually deceived Fourthly But I consider in the Toleration of a differing Opinion Religion is not properly and immediately concerned so as in any Degree to be indangered For it may be safe in Diversity of Perswasions and it 's also a part of Christian Religions that the Liberty of mens Consciences should be preserved in all things where God hath not set a Limit and made a Restraint that the Soul of Man should be free and acknowledge no Master but Jesus Christ that Matters Spiritual should not be restrained by Punishments Corporal that the same Meekness and Charity should be preserved in the Promotion of Christianity that gave it Foundation and Increment and Firmness in its first Publication that Conclusions should not be more Dogmatical than the vertual Resolution and Efficacy of the Premises and that the Persons should not be more certainly Condemned than their Opinions Confuted and lastly that the Infirmities of Men and Difficulties of Things should be both put in Ballance to make Abatement in the Definitive Sentence against Mens Persons But then because Toleration of Opinions is not properly a Question of Religion it may be a Question of Policy And although a Man may be a good Christian though he believe an Error not Fundamental and not directly or evidently Impious yet his Opinion may accidentally disturb the publick Peace through the Over-activeness of the Person and Confidence of their Belief and the Opinion of its Appendent Necessity and therefore Toleration of differing Perswasions in these Cases is to be considered upon Political Grounds and is just so to be permitted or denied as the Opinions or Tolerations of them may conflit with the publick and necessary Ends of Government Only this As Christian Princes must look to the Interest of their Government so especially must they look to the Interests of Christianity and not call every Redargation or modest Discovery of an Established Error by the Name of the Disturbance of the Peace For it is very like that the Peevishness and Impatience of Contradiction in the Governours may break the Peace Let them remember the Gentleness of Christianity and the Liberty of Consciences which ought to be preserved and let them do Justice to the Persons whoever they are that are peevish provided no Man's Person be over-●orn by Prejudice For if it be necessary for all Men to subscribe to the present Established Religion by the same Reason at another time a man may be bound to subscribe to the Contradictory and so to all the Religions in the World And they only who by their too much Confidence intitle God to all their Fancies and make them to be Questions of Religion and Evidences for Heaven or Consignations to Hell