Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	according_a	great_a	king_n	2,694	5	3.5990	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A59875	A sermon preached at St. Margarets VVestminster, May 29. 1685. before the Honourable House of Commons By William Sherlock, D.D. Master of the Temple, and chaplain in ordinary to His Majesty.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1685 (1685)	Wing S3346; ESTC R220262	10,236	16

advantages of an Hereditary Monarchy For the Royal Family is certainly the most Noble a King who is the Son of Kings to be sure is the Son of Nobles And it is the highest and greatest Nobility of which Solomon speaks to be sure what he says must be eminently true of the most Noble Blood A King's Son especially if he descend from an Ancient race of Kings has as much the advantage of Inferiour Nobles as they have of the Gentry or the Gentry of meaner People It is Royal Blood which inspires a Princely Mind which is more Noble still the further it is removed from its Original I cannot now discourse to you concerning the Right of Succession it seems most Natural for a Son to be Heir to his Father and therefore to succeed to the Crown of which he dyed possessed for Power descends as well as an Estate as the Government of the Family was the Birth-right of the Eldest Son as his Fathers Heir But however that be if it be so great a Happiness to a Nation to have a King the Son of Nobles there is no such way to secure this as by a Succession of Kings of the same Royal Stock and Family whose Glory and Nobility increases with every Succession and gives a new Greatness and Authority to its Government But to hasten to a conclusion the proper use of this discourse consists of two parts 1. To bless God for the Mercy of this day 2. To be Loyal to our King 1. To bless God for the Mercy of this Day It would be too melancholy a Thought at this time to reflect on the sad face of things in these Kingdoms when an Excellent Prince was murdered by his own Subjects the Natural Heir of the Crown and the whole Royal Family forced into Banishment the Ancient and Loyal Nobility and Gentry under Imprisonments and Sequestrations the Church of England robbed of its Bishops and Clergy its Worship and Revenues while some mean and ignoble persons trampled upon Crowns and Mitres enriched themselves with the spoils of Church and State usurped the Royal Power but governed like Slaves But this blessed Day put and end to all these Miseries and confusions God by a wonderful Providence restored to us our King and Royal Family in Peace and Triumph without the noise and alarms of War without drawing the Sword or shedding English Blood He was driven out by Victorious Rebels at the expence of a vast Treasure and more Blood but was invited home again by a wearied and distracted People who now felt the difference between the Government of mean Usurpers and of a natural and High-born Prince And thus the Nation recovered its ancient Glory and every Subject their Just Rights and which is more valuable than all Civil Rights the free Profession and Exercise of their Religion according to the Doctrine and Worship of the Apostolick Church of England though some possibly may think its too late to glory in this now and it would be too late indeed and would lessen the Glory of this day were the most Holy Religion of the Church of England in any danger But next to having our King of the Communion of the Church of England we can desire no more than to have a King who will defend it which I am sure the Primitive Christians would have thought a great Blessing and therefore this is a joyful day still which brought back one Prince to restore the Church of England and another to protect it for far be it from me and from all Loyal Subjects to distrust those solemn and repeated assurances which our King has given us of this Matter A Prince whose Mind is as Great and Noble as his Birth who abhors all mean Arts and Equivocal Reserves and scorns either to dissemble what he believes himself or to speak what he does not think 2. As for Loyalty were it decent to conclude a discourse of Kingly Government without an Exhortation to Loyalty and Obedience it might be very well spared at this time in such a presence whose Example preaches Loyalty to the whole Nation And therefore I shall not run over all the Topicks of Obedience but only urge some few things which are proper to this argument and to this present solemnity It is a great Happiness to a Nation to have a King who is the Son of Nobles This Happiness we at this day enjoy we live under the Government of a King who has Royal Blood in his Veins and discovers a Great ●nd Princely Mind in all his Actions and this secures us of as much hap●iness as we can expect under any Government but it is not meerly the ●ise Conduct of a Prince but the governable temper of Subjects too ●hich is necessary to make a Nation happy No Government neither of ●od nor Men can make those happy who will not be governed Discon●●nts and Jealousies and Seditions turn the Court into a Camp and ex●hange the Civil Government for Military Force and Power and the ●est Prince in the VVorld can never Govern to so great advantage who is ●●rced to govern by the Sword But when Subjects love and reverence ●●eir King and always believe well of him when they obey his Laws and ●●mply with all reasonable Intimations of his will that is when they ●ay be governed like Subjects not like Slaves then a King has a fair oc●●sion to exercise all the Princely Vertues and peaceful arts of govern●ent to make his Reign prosperous and his Subjects happy I know no Prince in any age under whom an Obedient and Govern●●le People might have lived more happily than our late Martyred So●●reign and yet what miseries and confusions did a Factious and Tur●●lent Zeal create which ended in as doleful a Tragedy as ever the Sun ●●w and when we remember th●se times consider how little a Nation ●ins by Seditions Rebellions unless men love P●●●ession for Rebellions ●●ke there can be no great temptaion in it tho●●●● it were no sin Nay we may observe that as an ungovernable temper will disturb ●●e best and Wisest Governments so Loyalty and Obedience is a powerful Obligation on Princes to rule well for Princes must value Obedience and Subjection as they do their Crowns To this we owe the present security and Protection of the Church of England for if there were nothing else to be liked in it yet a generous Prince cannot but like and reward its Loyalty and it would seem very harsh for any Prince to desire that Religion should be turned out of the Church which secures him in a quiet possession of his Throne And therefore to conclude I would desire you to observe that it is a Church of England Loyalty I perswade you to This our King approves commends relies on as a tried and experienced Loyalty which has suffered with its Prince but never yet rebelled against him a Loyalty upon firm and steady Principles and without reserve And therefore to keep us true to our Prince we must be true to our Church and to our Religion It is no Act of Loyalty to accomodate or complement away our Religion and its legal Securities for if we change our Religion we must change the Principles of our Loyalty too and I am sure the King and the Crown will gain nothing by that for there is no such lasting and immoveable Loyalty as that of the Church of England I deny not but some who are Papists in some Junctures of Affairs may and have been very Loyal but I am sure the Popish Religion is not the English man may be Loyal but not the Papist and yet there can be no security of those mens Loyalty whose Religion in any case teaches them to rebel God grant the whole Nation may follow the Example of his Honourable Senate to be Loyal to their Prince Zealous for the Service of the Crown and true to the Religion of the Church of England as dearer i● them than their Lives To God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost three Persons and one Eternal God be Honour Glory and Power now and ever Amen FINIS