Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	die_v	law_n	life_n	5,300	5	4.5499	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A65418	Reasons why the Parliament of Scotland cannot comply with the late K. James's proclamation sent lately to that kingdom, and prosecuted by the late Viscount Dundee : containing an answer to every paragraph of the said proclamation, and vindicating the said Parliament their present proceedings against him : published by authority.	Welwood, James, 1652-1727.; Graham, John, Viscount Dundee, 1648-1689.	1689 (1689)	Wing W1309; ESTC R2126	15,716	35

doth not at the same time destroy and forfeit his own share in it I come to the second member of the second general Head viz. To inquire whether or not the Late King Iames did subvert that other main hinge of the Government of Scotland which I have explain'd to be an obligation to govern by the Laws made by the King and Parliament and thereupon if the Estates of the Kingdom did justly lay him aside This Inquiry is indeed no difficult though an ungrateful and meloncholly task For what man that loves his Countrey can look back upon its ruines without emotions of tenderness To enumerate all the dismal Instances of the subversion of this hinge of our Government for the space of many years requires such a Pen as sung the Fall of Troy or the Destruction of Thebes And as the Subject merits to be set beyond the power of Oblivion I cannot but hope that this fertile Age will produce some one that shall dare to imitate Sueton's Character by writing the Lives of some of the Great tanquam ipsi vixerint and handle down to Posterity the fatal Methods us'd for enslaving a free-born People And rather than the memory of these Transactions should perish for want of a better Historian to perpetuate them I may perhaps be induc'd to venture my own Reputation in doing it short of what the Tragick Theme may bear than that it shoud not be done at all But to confine this Head to as few words as possible It 's equally evident that the Late King Iames did subvert this Fundamental of the Government as well as the former For so far was he from governing according to the Laws made by King and Parliament that his whole Government especially since the time of his assuming a dispencing and annulling Power was a continned downright opposition to Laws Here I need do no more but refer the Reader to the Printed Instrument of Government for setling the Crown of Scotland upon their present Majesties in which we have contain'd a Summary of the Late King 's more palpable and gross breaches of this Fundamental of the Constitution and which I shall only explain a little for the benefit of those that are Strangers to our Countrey King Iames did not only lay aside a great many Laws and Acts of Parliament made against saying of Mass and against Iesuits and Seminary Priests but would needs in the greatest and most publick Cities of the Kingdom erect publick Schools and Societies for Iesuits and Seminary Priests and did apply no inconsiderable part of the Publick Revenue to that use And farther He was pleas'd frankly to invade the Property of the Subjects by inverting summarly without any previous Sentence several Protestant Churches and Chappels into publick Mass-houses and particularly the great Church of Hollyroodhouse within the Capital City of the Kingdom the ancient Burying-place of our Kings that had been a Paroch Church ever since the Reformation In spite of Law He not only caus'd to be erected Popish Printing-houses for printing Popish Books but refus'd to allow the Printing of Protestant ones merely because they were against the King's Religion He not only did Invade the Laws of the Land but the most Tender part of the Law of Nature in taking Protestant Noblemen and Gentlemens Children from their Parents and Friends to be Educated in Foreign Popish Universities As particularly the Earl of Wigton and his only Brother two of the most hopeful Gentlemen and one of the Noblest and Ancientest Families of Scotland were Ravish'd from the Arms of their Mother the Countess of Crawford where neither the Prayers nor Tears of the young Noblemen themselves nor the Generous Offer of the Earl of Crawford to Educate them upon his own Charges were able to prevent so hard a Fate Lundie one of the most Antient Families of the Gentry of the Kingdom and who had the honour to be among the first Reformers from Popery tho of an Age that made him Master of himself was searched for in order to be sent the same Errand and that in a manner only becoming the Action In open Defiance of a great many Laws to the contrary the Late King Iames was pleased to fill up some of the most Important Places of the Government with Roman Catholicks such as Chancellor Secretaries of State Commissioners of the Thesaury Lords of Privy-Council Session and Exchequer He was pleased to commit the Great Magazine of the Kingdom the Government of the Castle of Edinburgh and the Custody of the Regalia to one of that Religion and to fill up a great many Important Places of the Army with the same Men that the Laws had render'd Incapable Our Laws have wisely adapted the measure of Punishment to the Nature of the Crime some infering the loss of Chattels and others the loss of Life and whole Estate whether in Lands or Chattels and this last our Law calls a Forfaulture and is only inflicted upon the most Attrocious Criminals King Iames did so far Subvert this Reasonable part of our Constitution that some of his Ministers did impose upon some Thousands of People Fines that far exceeded their whole Estates and consequently amounted to a Forfeiture and all this upon such Imaginary Crimes as this Because the Wife went not to Church once in three Weeks tho the Husband did it and I am able to instance above 400 thus Fin'd or rather Forfeited for the like Minute Crimes within the Bounds of one single County It 's an uncontroverted Principle of our Law That no man can be condemn'd to die but upon his being found guilty of the Crime by a Iury of Fifteen Men. Notwithstanding of this great Security of our Lives and Fortunes King Iames was pleased to grant Commissions to Military Officers impowering them to put to Death without either Iury Tryal or Record and which Commissions were as boldly put in Execution Nothing seems more directly founded on the Law of Nature than that a Man should not be depriv'd of his Liberty without showing him a Cause for it yet how many hundreds have been in a manner buried alive in a sort of Dungeons for several years without being told to this very day what was their Crime The Burroughs of Scotland were always reputed as one of the Estates of the Kingdom and by their Charters ratified in Parliament were Vested with a Power to Elect their own Magistrats yet King Iames did so far trample upon the Liberties of this Third Estate that without the pretence of either Surrender Consent or Sentence he was pleased to Impose upon them for Magistrates those that were Strangers and not Free of their Corporations and a great many of them Roman Catholicks It were in vain to endeavour to confine to this Paper all the Instances of King Iames his Subverting this Hinge of our Constitution viz. The obligation to Govern according to Law I shall conclude with one Paramount Instance that entails an Eternal Blot upon the Government of the

Late King and upon the late Iustice of our Nation I mean the Indictment of high Treason against that Noble Person the late Earl of Argyle of whom to say too much were impossible and to say too little were a Crime It 's true this Affair was Transacted in the Late King Charles his Reign but it justly merits the glory of being accounted one of King Iames's Managements since he was his Brother's Commissioner and upon the place at the time and the source and promoter of that great Person 's Ruine One would think that it needs must have been some horrid Crime that could obliterate all the eminent Services done by this Nobleman to the Crown even in its lowest figure that could provoke Iustice to convict him of no less than High Treason to taint his Blood and declare his Family Ignoble to forfeit his Estate to extinguish his Honour the first of its Rank in the Kingdom and to sentence Himself to die the death of a Traytor and all this to happen within a few weeks after that he had been seen to move in the highest Orb of favour and to entertain the then Duke of York with the greatest magnificence at his House in Stirling King Charles had reason to call this Crime of the Earl of Argyle's a Metaphysick kind of Treason and a thing he could never make sense of But that those who are strangers to our Kingdom may have a short hint of this unintelligible Affair I beg leave to inform them That in the Parliament where the Late King Iames represented his Brother as High Commissioner there was an Oath or Test enacted to be taken by all Persons in publick Offices in which Test there were some things contained so hard of digestion and of apparent contradiction in it self that a great many Persons of all Ranks scrupled it upon that score Yea the universal dislike of it at first was such as oblig'd the Bishop of Edinburgh and afterward the Privy Council it self to emit a publick explanation of this Test and therein to piece up in the best manner possible the seeming Contradictions contained in it Notwithstanding of all this and that most of the Clergy especially of the North did take this Test and Oath with and under express Explanations and were by Authority allowed them yet the Earl of Argyle had his Life Honour and Fortune sacrific'd for venturing on that which the meanest Countrey Minister was permitted But that the Ages to come may know the very words wherein this Chymereal Treason lay and thereby be the better capacitate to have a true value of the Learning and Integrity of those Gentlemen that had the honour of finding it out I shall repeat the very Expressions which were declared by the plurality of his judges to be in themselves High-Treason which are these according as they are set down in the Indictment upon which he was found guilty I have considered the Test and am very desirous to give obedience as far as I can I am confident the Parliament never intended to impose contradictory Oaths and therefore I think no man can explain it but for himself and reconcile it as it is genuine and agrees in its own sense and I take it in so far as it is consistent with the Protestant Religion and it self And I do declare I mean not to bind up my self in my Station and in a lawful way to wish and endeavour any alteration I think to the advantage of Church or State and not repugnant to the Protestant Religion and my Loyalty And this I understand as a part of my Oath Behold the transcendent Crime that brought one of the Greatest and Ancientest Families of our Nation to ruine and at last one of the greatest and best of its Subjects to the Block and therein an unexampled Instance of an Arbitrary Power that scorn'd to be bounded by the mean and weak Bonds of Iustice and Law but could boldly venture upon all that uses to be sacred among men when it was found needful to sacrifice to Revenge any that might have the honour to oppose the Design of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Power It 's to be regretted that Death has exempted from a Temporal Bar the rest of this Nobleman's Iudges that gave their vote against him and has left us behind but one of them B. of F. a Person Iustice must stoop to before she can meet him and whom Heaven has denied any Qualities that might render him a suitable Victim for the atonement of so Illustrious Blood. Here it is but reasonable that I should mention with honour a great many noble and generous Persons who merit to have their Names affixt on the Temple of Fame to After-ages for the glory of daring to make what opposition they could to the enslaving their Countrey Some of whom neither Places of Preferment nor the honour of sitting at the Council-board and on the Bench could tempt to betray the Liberties of the Nation and of whom others were proof against the Frowns of Princes and could not be frighted by the loss of Imployments and Disgraces from their Duty But this fertile Subject I leave to a better Pen. Thus I hope I have made it appear That the two great Hinges of the Government of Scotland are that the Laws the People are governed by be made by King and Parliament And that the Government be administred according to these Laws I have also prov'd That the Late King Iames has subverted both these two Hinges of the Government and thence that our Constitution was dissolv'd and our Obligations of Obedience and Oaths of Allegiance to that King are extinguish'd and at an end From all which it must follow by a necessary Consequence without necessity of proving it That the Estates of the Kingdom did justly fill up the Throne vacant by the dissolution of the Government and thereby the above-mentioned Narrative of King Iames's Proclamation has now no more force than a Bull of Excommunication in Countreys where the Thunders of the Vatican have lost their force There is but one Objection that can be made with any shadow of reason against King Iames his obligation to govern by Law and it is so trivial that it scarce requires an Answer and it 's this That he never took the Coronation-Oath and therefore cannot be charged with unhinging that part of our Constitution To govern according to Law. To this all I shall say is first He was obliged to take it as being an Oath enacted to be taken by all the Kings of Scotland and it were most unreasonable that his Fault in not taking it should put him in a better Condition or us in a worse than if he had taken it Secondly Whoever accepts the Regal Dignity in right of Succession is thereby understood to assume the Government with and under the same Conditions and Limitations that his Predecessors were under So that King Iames by accepting the Crown of Scotland in Right of Succession to his Brother That very Right that entail'd upon him the Crown which was once his Brother's does at the same time entail also upon him the necessary and Essential Conditions of the Government as they were stated in his Brother's time The rest of the Proclamation runs thus By all which they have incurr'd the guilt and pains of High-Treason meaning the Parliament as mentioned in the former part and Rebellion against Us and Our Authority Therefore We hereby declare the saids wicked Persons assembled as aforesaid consenting to such Proceedings Rebels and Traytors Willing and requiring you and all our Good Subjects to take notice hereof that you give them no obedience concourse or assistance But that to the utmost of your power you rise in Arms against assault attach and destroy them their Assistants and Abettors and to take and apprehend them and bring them to condign punishment according to the Laws and Acts of Parliament of that Kingdom their Estates and Goods to seize and imploy for Our use or your own subsistence in Our Service And for whatever shall happen in prosecution of this Our Will and Pleasure This shall be to you and all others concern'd a sufficient Warrand and Command And for all blood-shed slaughter mutilation fire-raising or other damage done to these Rebels their Accomplices Assisters Abettors their Lands and Inheritances Goods or Possessions a sufficient Indemnity Pardon Warrand and Approbation for now and ever The which all our Iudges are to explain in the most favourable and extensive sense the words can bear in favours of Our saids Subjects obeying Our said Order as aforesaid Declaring We will make good to Our Subjects whatever We promis'd them in Our Declarations in favours of the Protestant Religion and Liberty of Conscience to all who will live peaceably and Rights and Properties of our People Given at Dublin c. I would not have been at the pains to transcribe these Expressions if I did not think that the very reading of these unexampled Invitations to Slaughter Fire-raising c. should excite a just horror in the minds of all men of what we are to expect if ever Heaven for the punishment of our Ingratitude should suffer us to fall under the Power of the Prince that uses them And I have chose rather to pass them over with a bare repeating of them than by such an Answer as perhaps they require add Reflections upon a Prince who has his Fortune too much sunk already and whom a great many Considerations obliges me always to treat with all possible Respect FINIS ADVERTISEMENTS A Seasonable Discourse wherein is Examined what is Lawful during the Confusions and Revolutions of Government Especially in the Case of a King deserting his Kingdoms And how far a Man may lawfully conform to the Powers and Commands of those who with Various Successes hold Kingdoms Whether it be Lawful I. In Paying Taxes II. In Personal Service III. In Taking Oaths IV. In giving himself up to a final Allegiance As also Whether the Nature of War be Inconsistent with the Nature of the Christian Religion Sold by Rich. Ianeway in Queen's-Head Court in Pater-Noster-Row Ioannis Georgii Graevii Oratio de Auspicatissima Expeditione Britannica Cum Potentissimus Invictissimus Guilielmus Arausionensis Princeps Angliae Galliae Hiberniae Rex inauguraretur Die xi Aprilis Auctoritate Praepotentium Illustrium Ordinum Trajectinae Dioeceseos Habita 1689. Impensis D. Newman ad Insignia Regalia in Vico vulgo vocato the Poultry