Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	act_n	great_a	parliament_n	3,586	5	6.2777	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A50646	Some remarques upon a late popular piece of nonsence called Julian the apostate, &c. together, with a particular vindication of His Royal Highness the Duke of York, by some bold truths in answer to a great many impudent calumnies raised against him, by the foolish arguments, false reasonings and suppositions, imposed upon the publick from several scandalous and seditious pamphlets especially from one more notorious and generally virulent than the rest, sometime since published under the title of A Tory Plot, &c. / by a lover of truth, vertue, and justice.	Meredith, Edward, 1648-1689?	1682 (1682)	Wing M1784; ESTC R23540	71,436	69

is no better than perjur'd But now all the Question is says our Scribler whether such a particular man has so unalterable right to such a ones Heir that no crime Can forfeit that Right nor no Power annul it To which I answer as he himself hath taught me Force and Violence and the longest Sword may annul any thing but the Business he would bring in here is the forfeiting Crime which what it is in our present case we should better have known He says If the hasty Dissolution of so many Parliaments and a Noli Prosequi had not hindered and so he proceeds to make a Fiction of Case and indeed it is a Substantial Fiction by his old way of supposing Now let us once more see what he supposes for by this suppose he pretends to resolve the Query what the forfeiting Crime is in our present Case Very good Suppose says he him that expects to be Heir perverted from the Protestant to the Popish Religion Now out of this Suppose we are if we think fit to suppose agen that he means the Duke of York and then we are to let him know 't is but a malicious at best and no charitable Supposition and till there are better grounds than any the Publick have been inform'd of yet to six it upon I shall grant no such Supposition at all In the next place says he Suppose his Principal Servant and greatest Confident bragging of the apparent likelihood of rooting out this ●estilent Northern Heresie and of the Zeal of his Master in the Cause c. Now we are sure and need not suppose that by this Servant and Confident is signify'd Coleman and therefore I must tell he is pleased to suppose what I believe himself and almost every body else knows to be a false thing for Coleman was none of his Principal Servant or Confident but Cashier'd the Service of his Highness's Family many years since and I have been told the reason why he was discharged the Office of Secretary to the Dutchess was for that he stood suspected even then of being too busie with Matters of an ill kind though they were not particulariz'd or prov'd against him and if so good Mr. Pamphletteer what becomes of your Suppose But to proceed Supposing all this says he We can hardly imagine a Crime to be blacker Then what Then a suspition of designing the Subversion of the Established Religion and in it of the Government A very pretty point our Author has brought his Bus'ness to He has proved the Lawfulness of the Bill of Exclusion because he is pleased to suppose and suspect that the Duke may design the Subversion of the Religion and Government is any man to suffer by the Law of England for Suspition Surely no Then certainly the Excluding the Duke from his Inheritance upon bare Suspition is not altogether so legal as our Author would have the World think it is But the man is a little reasonable for all that for about four Lines afterwards says he Now let us consider introth and I think it is time of all Conscience well but what shall we consider Let us consider says he whether a Parliament have not Power to inflict such a Punishment on such Offences with all my heart It is says he from the Laws Enacted by Parliament that such an Act has such a Punishment awarded to it This as he has express'd it is Nonsense and as he means it is false for no Laws are Enacted by Parliament all Laws are Enacted by the King in Parliament and though he go on to tell us that Felonies are by the Law Punished by Death as well as Murder yet till he show us a Law that any man shall be Hanged for Suspition of Felony or Murder he seems to have considered to very little purpose and his Suppose is in as bad a condition as e'r it was 'T is very well worth any man's observation how the Champions for this Cause manage Matters they write incessantly but such crude and indigested stuff comes daily from as visibly discovers what an unhealthful condition it is in Now is our Author vomiting up a lump of confus'd Notions for the Mobile to lap at and that is forsooth what a Parliament can do and first indeed he is a little civil and will vouchsafe to joyn the King with them and pray let us see to what purpose They says he can Attaint any man or take off the Attainder as they see good I hope though good Mr. Author it must be for sufficient cause shown that they shall proceed to Attaint any Man or else by your leave they violate the Great Charter of England and whatsoever does so is Destructive of the Being of the Government Destructive of Publick Safety Destructive of the general Liberty either let the great Charter be the Rule and Standard our Parliaments are to govern their Votes Acts by or let us burn and cancel it for ever Our Law says It is unalterable and whoever Votes or Consents to any thing against the tenure and holding of that Charter I may presume to say is little better than a betrayer of the Publick Good and an Enemy to the Kingdom The People of England hold their Liberties and Properties by virtue of Magna Charta nothing can alter it and whatsoever does so call it an Act of Parliament or what you please may be impos'd upon our Obedience by Power but it is Void of it self Tyrannical and against the great and Sacred Right delivered us down through so many Ages by our Fathers from one Generation to another It would argue as much impertinence as he is guilty of himself to recount the many absurdities he has urged on this occasion as the instances of Legitimation and Illegitimation of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth both which were made in their turns Illegitimate and yet both were Legitimate when they came to succeed and would not any Body that reads this judge our Author deserved a blew Coat and a Muckinder for urging their Cases as Instances what the Parliament can do in such Cases when neither of the Acts pass'd against those Princesses stood good But what he says afterwards deserves Sugar Plumbs or nothing now we are beholden to him or never for he comes to the Point and says in a word That the two Houses have an absolute Dominion over the Lives Liberties and Estates of any Subject in the Kingdom why now we see what the Gentleman would be at here he speaks home The two Houses abstractedly have an Absolute Dominion c. Tush no matter for the King he is no body God knows when our Author would shew his Law We have had instances sayes he of Queens being Beheaded and who is nearlier related to the King than she that is one with him Oh brave Boys who nearer allied to the Privileges of the Crown than she that has had it set upon her head Why this is hearty now And if such a one says he

a stalking Horse for the Faction to poach by The Arbitrary Proceedings of the House of Commons over the Liberties of their Fellow Subjects grew Intolerable unreasonable illegal and burdensom Immediately the Mischiefs hatched in 41 began to be reviv'd in the Mouths and Memories of a great many People who to this day felt the smart of them and dreaded the like Tyranny and Oppression again till every day the credit of the Popish began more and more to break away and the Workings of the Faction seen through it something plainly This too as they are a wary Generation they themselves perceived and therefore thought it high time to new vamp up the decaying Plot and the Meal Tub Stratagem which brought in Dangerfield having succeeded so well Since a new Evidence was wanting nothing so plausible as a design of the like Nature to introduce Mr. Fitz-Harris Thus then they lay their Heads together and this is agreed upon The King must be Libel'd right or wrong why because it is Ad Populum for the vilest Natures are always best taken with Slander and Scandal and apt to believe the worst things of those which are above them so the Foundation of the Bus'ness is laid viz. the Libel but now to build upon this Foundation that is to six this Libel upon the Loyal Party for by this time the Guelphs and the Gibelines began to be distinguished there lay the difficulty and a difficult Point indeed it prov'd for when it was brought to that that Mr. Fitz-Harris who was to be the Discoverer asked his Pardon His Majesty was better advis'd than to give it him except he would desire it by telling honest Truths which was not in the Gentleman's Instructions at that time so he went to Newgate and the Design was all intangled But when the hopes of the Godly Party was got into Limbo Bless us how they busled how was he visited by Sir R. C. and Sir G. T. to take his Examination as they call'd it but whether they came to inform themselves or him that 's yet a Question for Matters were carry'd very privately This worthy Gentleman or Captain being brought to Westminster towards his Tryal for you know all our Discoverers are or should be Doctors or Captains as Dr. Oates Dr. Tongue Dr. Lower Capt. Bedlow Capt. Dangerfield Capt. Wilkinson and so forth this Captain then as I said being brought to Westminster in order to his Tryal it was just like the roasting of a Cat alive for as upon that occasion all the Cats in the Neighborhood will come and squale bristle and scratch for the rescue of their Companion so all the Evidences were alarm'd here The Dr. of Salamancha like a great Boar Puss came in the Van and roar'd most hideously the rest ran about the place whether with their tails an end I know not sputtering wawing and spitting too abominably Then and by these his Brethren was put into his hand his Plea of standing Impeach'd by the House of Commons and ought not therefore to be try'd by any Inferior Jurisdiction which Impeachment by this appears in all Moral probability hastened as it was by the Leading Men to have been made much rather to obstruct the safety of the King in not permitting a Traitor to be brought to Justice than any thing else a Vote having pass'd the Lower House upon the Lords refusing to receive the said Impeachment That to try Mr. Fitz-Harris in any Inferior Court was a Violation of their Privilege and against the Constitution of Parliaments and this too was Prosecuting of the Popish Plot this was bringing Traytors to Justice upon which let us reason a little If Mr. Fitz-Harris were Guilty of the highest Treason in the World as certainly he was and by such apparent Proofs that it was impossible he could escape Justice in any Court in England what need was there at that time for his being Impeached in Parliament who had so much bus'ness already of a higher Nature before them as the farther Enquiry into the Popish Plot as to which the greatest part of the Kingdom are yet in the dark the bringing of those Lords Impeached already to their Tryals who had lay'd so long under a close and burdensom Imprisonment that it is a shame to the English Liberty we so much boast of all over the World What Necessity was there for the House of Commons to engage themselves in such a Tedious Bus'ness as a Parliamentary Process must be against so inconsiderable a Creature as Fitz-Harris who was already a Prisoner by Warrant from the Council and lookt for every day to be brought to Trial by the ordinary course of Justice There must be something in this bus'ness more than ordinary and what this something was easily appears by the many Tricks and Circumventions us'd at his Tryal to Impede the Proceedings as first his own Plea upon the Vote above-mentioned try'd and in Law over-ruled so as it is apparent from thence that Vote was Illegal and against Justice Secondly the endeavouring to save him by setting him up even at the time that he stood Arraigned for the basest Traitor for a new Evidence For this we may thank that worthy Grand-Jury who immediately upon his single Deposition in those shameful Circumstances thought fit at a venture to find a Bill of Murder against the Earl of Danby and yet upon the hearing of several unquestionable Witnesses one of the same stamp resum'd Ignoramus upon Colledge's Indictment From this I say it is apparent whatever the meaning of the bus'ness was that the Impeaching this Fellow in Parliament tended naturally rather to obstruct the Safety of the King in not permitting such a Traitor to be brought to the speediest Justice than any thing else and by what Hands what Party the Treason he Dy'd for was set on foot is sufficiently evident from his last dying Confession written by his own Hand and deliver'd to Dr. Hawkins the worthy Minister of the Tower and to the said Doctor 's farther Relation of it deliver'd to the World in Print I refer the Reader Next as to His Majestie 's Declaration after Dissolving of the Parliament which sticks so much in our Gentleman's Stomack Wherein he gave assurance that he would call frequent Parliaments c. by our Author 's good leave according to a late distinction of a Brother Block-head of his they are not the many but the few that long for the performance of the first promise The many and best part of the People rest well assured of the performance do not long nor are clamorous for it They are satisfy'd the King may keep his word of using frequent Parliaments without the calling a New one once a Quarter 't is convenient as matters go that the King so time his Affairs as to get a Parliament that will mind his and his Peoples Interest and not be carry'd away by the Factious Designs and Intrigues of Leading Men any more I am ashamed so Great and Honorable Assembly

sayes the Page Ib. Gentleman farther if he does not persecute Hereticks with fire and sword he lyes at the Popes Mercy to have his Kingdom taken away from him Indeed Mr. Author and that 's a very weighty Consideration But do you think in your Conscience that he will part with it so Truly a deep foresight into politick Consequences is a great blessing to one that is to write much upon Supposes Though if a man might be so bold as to put in a word with you really it seems unto me Noble Sir Poll. that you do please to speak of more then need be done for if you dare to Engage this Popish Successor after you have established your Interest by your project from bringing in his Religion to let us poor Protestants live in Peace and Quietness as I believe you may I 'l Engage the Pope shall be very favourable to him and for a very small Quit-Rent let him keep the Copyhold of his Kingdom Bless us how things will be managed when the Reader of Covent Garden comes to be a primiere Minister and I Ambassadour Extraordinary to his Holiness but till that time comes I can foresee no fear of a Popish Persecution nor very great danger of the Popes disposing of these Three Kingdoms Well but what are we to think now if as our Author sayes into the Page Ib. bargain that besides the danger of being dethroned by the Pope if he does not persecute Protestants he runs also the hazard of being served as the Two Henry 's of France were Why truly nothing is Impossible but we hope it is not altogether so probable that a King should be stabb'd in a Protestant Country for not persecuting its Religion let him keep the Enemies of the Church from hurting the Protestants and certainly the Protestants will be able to keep their Enemies from hurting of him or the Pope from taking away his Kingdom either 100000 Protestants will be too hard for all the Pope's Bulls in Christendom This Policy I believe Any Successor let his private Perswasion be what it will may find very necessary in England and Twenty to One be wise enough to practise it too for Henry the Fourth of France it is very observable was not Kill'd by Ravillac till he left the Protestant Religion and encouraged Popery had he kept it under still and Establish'd the Reformed above it it is an even wager but he might have dy'd in his Bed and been gather'd to his Fathers in Peace Besides it is not absurd to imagine that it was not so much an Ecclesiastical as a Temporal Policy which sent the Villanous Dagger to that Brave Prince's Heart But our Author has indeed a most extraordinary Rule of Policy of his own and we may perceive it plainly enough by that which follows For says he Let things fall as they will though some persons may be so happy as to think he will not persecute yet every body must grant that he may persecute that the thing is Possible Now from this hour Thou most Confounded Author do I declare Immortal enmity with thee nor will ever be Ambassadour to the Pope nor shalt thou be ever a Minister of State It is possible in the Devil's name that a Popish Successor may persecute And is this the Mouse that thy Mountain of a Book has brought forth at last and ought a Bill of Exclusion to pass for this because Thou say'st it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute hadst Thou stuck to thy first Argument That our Religion can never be in a condition of Persecution but by our own Treachery to it in parting with those good Laws which protect it and in agreeing to such as shall destroy it hadst Thou kept to that Foundation thou mightest indeed have raised some discourse of Reason but that the possibility that an evil may happen is sufficient for any reasonable men to raise their fears of it upon or a lawful cause to use unnatural and unequal means to prevent it is an opinion I would gladly see thee put in practice It is not impossible but that thou mayest come to be a Slave in the Turkish Galleys one day and compelled to live a wretched painful life for several miserable years together why dost thou not generously hang thy self for a remedy against it for such an accident may happen to thee the thing is possible Or if since it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute that it would be therefore just and reasonable to exclude him why thou vile blunderer it is possible too if that be all that a Protestant Successor may persecute as well as a Popish one that a Protestant Successor may turn Papist it is possible that the best Prince may change his Nature and turn a Tyrant neither of these accidents but are possible in Nature so by thy Argument all Heirs to the Crown ought to be therefore Excluded and no more Kings reign over us because 't is possible they may one way or other prove persecutors I am very much afraid indeed that 's the vile false consequence thou wouldest dispute for But to come closer to thee in thy rule of possibility it is not impossible but that such a Parliament may come as to Vote a Bill for the rooting out of our Religion and Establishing Popery or a Worse in its place were it therefore reasonable to pass a Law that never any more Parliaments should Sit in England nay as thou hast stated it it really carries the more specious pretence of danger of the two for it being impossible that our Religion in its lawful Establishment can be peaceably altered if any way by any other means then an Act of Parliament the King too being but one man and the Parliament many it is more reasonable that the opinions of the many should sway the will or inclination of one then that the will of one should over-rule the opinions and inclinations of the many since therefore it is impossible that any Successor can lawfully violate the Protestant Religion but by the concurrence and consent of a Parliament All thy Argument amounts to is Take away Parliaments and our Religion in law is safe For ever the Nation is beholding to thee for thy parts and by the service thou art fit to do the State by thy Policy we may guess what the Church may hope from thy Divinity Well but after all sayes our Author Since it is possible that a Popish Successor may persecute it is even high time that we look about us and see what we have to trust to The Gospel doth not so much as allow any means when we cannot escape by Flight betwixt denying and dying for the Earth Well but by what Law must we dye By none sayes our Author that I know but Parasites Sycophants and Murderers may Now I dare venture to hold this Author of ours Fifty pound to a shilling that amongst all his Noble acquaintaince there is not