Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	conscience_n	good_a	life_n	4,272	5	4.6749	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A96342	The copies of severall letters contrary to the opinion of the present powers, presented to the Lord Gen. Fairfax, and Lieut. Gen. Cromwell. By Francis White, Maior of his Excellencies regiment of foot.	White, Francis, d. 1657.; Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671.; Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658.	1649 (1649)	Wing W1764; Thomason E548_6; ESTC R204063	14,284	20

erected as is offered in the Agreement to which it may submit And seeing God hath in righteousnesse for the sins of the people and their King brought us into this unhappie condition I therefore plead with your Excellency to use the sword with as much tendernesse as may be to preserve the lives of men and especially the life of the King And for my second reason Because we have made generall profession of preserving his person and whensoever any accused us of seeking the life of the King we alwayes denyed it untill this late Remonstrance Now Sir it is as reall a manifestation of a Christian a honourable and noble spirit as can be discovered to the world to be true to what it doth professe and to be the same in adversitie as in prosperity and in prosperity as it was in adversitie and it is more honourable to save the life of a conquered enemie then to destroy him For if he hath prosecuted his designes according to his judgement and conscience and were in the wrong way it was because God suffered the Devill to blind his understanding that he did not know the truth and it is better to let him live and learne to repent then to make hast to send him to destruction so that his remaining alive be not any generall prejudice or more mischievous then his death would be which would well be considered under the third reason I doe not understand any essentiall good can acrew to the people by the taking away his life For it is not so much the person that can hurt us as the power that is made up in the Kingly office by this corrupt constitution for if the person be taken away presently another layeth claime to the Kingly Office and for any thing I know hath as much right to the Dominion as his Predicessor had and will questionlesse have all the assistance that this person can procure for the attaining thereof and will be able to doe more mischiefe because he is at liberty and this under your power Againe This King being the King of Scotland and Ireland according to the Lawes in being they have an interest in his person as well as England notwithstanding he is under our power Now if you will iudge the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland in that which concernes their interest where you can claime no right it is a evident wrong and may give them iust offence and ground of quarrell against this Nation and by this may be of more preiudice to the whole then can be good to the particular I desire my Lord that we may issue a Christian spirit not rendring evill for evill but rather good for evill Although wicked men will deale wickedly with us yet let us deale mercifully with them and pardon and forgive as wee desire God should pardon and forgive us Jn this way J doe verily beleeve we shall be greater Conquerers then yet we have been if we can conquer ourselves and the affection of our enemies which this doth lead unto My Lord in all that I have written J am not against the judging of the King but J say it is by no legall Authority but only what the Sword exalteth although it be not an exact Marshal Court yet it is little different and not a Legitimate Authority to the King yet it may as iustly iudge him as ever he iudged the people and may dethrone him and divest him of all power and authority in the English Nation And I thinke it is necessary so far to proceed and to detaine him as a prisoner at war till hee may be delivered with safety to yourselves and the Nation I desire your Excellencies favourable Construction of what I have written and if it be not your Excellencies iudgement all that I desire for my satisfaction is That your Excellency will appoint such a Generall Councel as the Army in these parts shall be included by the Maior voice thereof if it be not concluded according to my Judgement yet therein shall I have my desire because J consent to be included by the Maior part to avoid division If this may not be granted then must I declare my discent and that it is an action done by vertue of the Disciplinary power of the Army by which J am not in this case willingly included and so I hope I shall preserve my self in innocency and peace and not be an instrument of the mischiefs and evils that may be brought upon this Nation by the taking away the blood of their King Having taken this Freedom to write to your Excellency I shall now take my leave and remain Your Lordships most humble Servant Francis White January the 22. 1648. To the Right Honourable His Excellency the Lord Fairfax Generall My Lord I Have for these six yeers been a servant to the publick in the affairs of the late Warce and for the most part under Your Excellencies conduct and I can speak it with confidence that no man hath been more faithfull to the people or to your Lordship in the prosecution of their interest then my self If I have erred in this work it hath been chiefly in too forward actings for the publick good and I would rather erre in the prosecution of my principles with zeal then in the abusing patience with sloath wherein I am convinced of offence from which no man is free I shall submit but rather then betray innocencie with cowardice I would perish My Lord I must needs inform you that my principles leads me to a concurrence with those people which joyned in the late Petition of the many thousands in the City of London and parts adjacent and must upon all lawfull occasions as I will vindicate my integrity use means for the accomplishing of the most essentiall parts of that Petition and if the prosecution of such principles be offensive to your self as to produce your Lordships prejudice for to remain under your Excellencies displeasure in my imployment as I am informed from some in neer relation to your Excellencie I do and that it hath been the reason of your Honors depriving me of a further trust by putting another over me to command your Excellencies Regiment which I had sought and conducted through the greatest difficult with successe and free from imputation or proving false to my trust in the least If it be true that your Honor bears prejudice to me for my principles then must I in faithfulnesse speak it I would rather quit my imployment then remain under your Lordships disaffection and jealousie in my command my Lord I am very sensible of my discouragement and intreat your Excellency to give me the manifestation of your affection and acceptance for the future or to let me know if it may not be that I may remove my self from being a burden to your Honors proceedings However I shall prove my self to be Your Lordships most humble Servant Francis White Knausburgh Septem 23. 1648. To the Right Honourable Lievt Gen. Cromwell

THE COPIES of Severall LETTERS Contrary to the opinion of the present powers Presented to the Lord Gen. Fairfax AND LIEVT GEN. CROMWELL By Francis White Maior of his Excellencies Regiment of Foot London Printed by T. Paine for Tho. Slater and Stephen Bowtell 1649. To the Reader HAving for some yeares been an Actor in the Affaires of the late warres and likewise an observer of the proceedings of State in which I have been concerned more then every private person I have therefore offered my Judgement and declared my opinion in matters of highest concernment to my Lord Generall and Lievt Gen. Cromwell and had no great desire to have published what I have written But hearing by many of my friends that it is generally reported by most that have heard of me that I have now declined my principles and am turned Cavalier The reason of this Conception is because J declared my Discent to the taking away the life of the King But to manifest to the world the truth and innocency of my heart J have published these following Letters to shew that J was of the same Judgement formerly as J now continue as may appear in my Letter sent to Lievt Gen. Cromwell almost a yeare agoe and what J have written to my Lord Generall although contrary to the opinion of the present powers J thought my self bound in Conscience to performe to preserve my own inward peace For although some men make no conscience of their Ingagements Vowes and Oaths yet J hope God will give me power rather to suffer death then destroy my life J know that my Judgement is not infallible yet notwithstanding J must keep close to my Principles untill J am convinced of Error J have here declared my Principles and purpose to stand in the prosecution of the publique service with faithfulnesse whiles God by his grace doth inable me Francis White March the 20. 1648. The Copie of a Letter presented to his Excellency the Lord Fairfax Generall My Lord I Am a Member of your Army and included in all actions done by the Disciplinary power whiles I silently consent thereto and I would never appear a Discenter to any thing that tends to publick good although never so prejudiciall to my particular interest but rather then I would submit to any thing of essentiall publick prejudice to the people or to destroy my inward peace I would expose my self to a temporall destruction For God is my witnesse I do not so much fear them that can kil the body onely as I do him that is able to cast both bodie and soul into hell so farre as I have been imployed in the common work I have chearfully acted or born my publick testimonies and I hope for ever shall My Lord I have taken notice of many Petitions from almost all the Forces in England and from divers people of the Countreys which supplicate for many good things which they desire your Excellency to procure In all which good things I do heartily concur with their Petitions but I have observed this as one thing generally desired that they may have execution of Justice upon the King and as far as I can perceive it is generally intended by the Officers of the Army and the Members of the present House of Commons to take away the life of the King But with submission to your Excellency I desire leave to declare my discent and upon grounds conscientious for these Reasons following First Because there are no clear grounds by any Legall Authority to take away the life of the King Secondly It is contrary to our first Ingagement and our generall Professions Vows and Covenants to God and the world Thirdly I do not discern it will produce any generall good to the Nation but rather the contrary Having declared my opinion and the chief Reasons for the same I desire your Lordship to read these following Lines for the clearing of those Reasons and the justifying my integritie and innocency in former actings At the first taking up of Arms I was sensible of the oppression and injustice which was exercised by the King and his Ministers upon the people he exalting himself to act beyond all Laws which his Predecessors and himself had bound themselves by consent to observe He raising Arms to inforce the exercise of his power to the maintaining an absolute tyranny over the Nation was the chief ground of my opposing him and I have freely acted in the affairs of War to the subduing of his power and the vindicating of the peoples just Rights and claim to the disposall of the Military power without his consent In the prosecution of this service I have been as free from seeking revenge upon the Person of the King as to violate my own life The chief end I seek is the preservation of the righteous people with the safetie and well being of the whole and if possible without taking away the life of Charles Steward King of England First I say I do not understand how it may be done by any Legall Authority according to the Kingly Government though it may be a just thing yet I know not how it may justly be done I never heard of any Throne erected in the earth either by God or men for the judging of a King untill the erecting of this late tribunall at Westminster All the Judgement Seats that are legally erected in this Nation were made by King Lords and Commons but the King ever did exempt himself from personall judgement by vertue of the Military Regall and Legislative power which he retained in himself which was gotten by the Sword of his Predecessors and kept by Traditionall dissent although the people since the Conquest have had the libertie of choosing Laws so that he did not set up Laws and Judicatures legally at his will yet there was no Law made nor Judicatures erected but by his will although he agreed the people should have the power of choosing Laws yet he determined that he would keep the power of confirming Laws so that no Law was ever made without his will And if it be throughly examined we may finde that the King hath no other right to the Military Regall and Legislative power then the Sword did constitute and invest him with by divine permission the people submitting thereto for fear and to avoid greatest mischief But now the King and his partie being conquered by the Sword I beleeve the Sword may justly remove the power from him and settle it in its originall fountain next under God the people But to judge or execute his person I do not understand any Legall Authority in being can justly do it I doubt not but the Sword may do it but how righteous judgement that may be that God and future generations will judge It is clear that the Military power is exalted above the Regall and Legislative power and is now come to the throne of God and under no other Legall Judgement untill there be a Legall Authority