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	king_n	law_n	5,822	5	4.7877	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89544	The reformed gentleman, or, The old English morals rescued from the immoralities of the present age shewing how inconsistent those pretended genteel accomplishments of [brace] swearing, drinking, [brace] whoring and Sabbath-breaking are with the true generosity of an English man : being vices not only contrary to the law of God and the constitutions of our government both ecclesiastical and civil, but such as cry loud for vengeance without a speedy reformation : to which is added a modest advice to ministers and civil magistrates, with an abridgement of the laws relating thereto, the King's proclamation and Queens letter to the justices of Middlesex, with their several orders thereupon / by A.M. of the Church of England.	A. M., of the Church of England.; Bouche, Peter Paul, b. ca. 1646.	1693 (1693)	Wing M6; ESTC R20084	100,071	189

Pleasure or Profit of a Good Conscience resulting from an Honest discharge of Duty means However this their Neglect excuses not the Justice but rather reflects upon his Conduct who will not when 't is in his Power make those Instruments of Justice more Careful and Diligent in their Respective Offices For there are Laws whereby he may correct their Negligence as well as any other Crime whatsoever That these Inferiour Officers may not pretend Ignorance I have hereunto subjoyned an Abridgment of those Statutes which are now in force against the daring Wickedness of these times which may not only be of some use to them to inform them of part of their Duty but also may be serviceable to others who either have not mony enough to buy or not time enough to run over the Voluminous Statute Book I have likewise added the Queens Letter to the Justices of Middlesex their Order thereupon and their Majesties Proclamation since to shew what Encouragement we have from them to set about a Speedy Reformation Against Prophane Swearing and Cursing 21 Jac. 1. Cap. 20. FOrasmuch as all Prophane Swearing and Cursing is forbidden by the Word of God Be it Enacted c. That no Person shall prophanely Swear or Curse and that it any person shall be convicted of the said Offence in the hearing of any Iustice of the ●eace Mayor Bayliff or Head-Officer of any City or Town Corporate or by the Oaths of two Witnesses or by the Confession of the Offender before any Iustice of Peace Mayor c. Then the Party for every such Offence of which he is Lawfully Convicted as aforesaid shall forfeit the sum of twelve pence to the use of the Poor of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed which sum the Constable Church-Wardens and Overseers of the Poor of that Parish shall Levy by Distress and Sale of Goods rendring the Overplus to the Offender And in Default of such Distress the Offender if above the Age of twelve years shall stand in the Stocks for every such Offence the space of three hours if under the age of twelve years then the Party shall be whipped by the Constable or by the Parent or Master in his Presence That if any Officer be sued for Levying the Penalty or for Whipping or setting in the Stocks then the said Officer shall plead the General Issue and if it is found against the Plaintiff then the Officer as Defendant shall be allowed Costs Provided That the Offence be Complain'd of within twenty days after it be Committed Be it further enacted That this Statute be read twice every year in every Parish Church by the Minister after Evening Prayer 3. Car. 1. Cap. 4. this Statute was continued And 17. Car. 1. Cap. 4. Made perpetual Against Perjury 2 Eliz. Cap. 9. BE it Enacted that whosoever shall suborn or procure any Witnesses by any sinister and vnlawful means to give any Evidence or to Testifie In perpetuam rei memoriam before any Court of Record shall for the said offence upon Lawful Conviction thereof forfeit the Sum of Forty Pounds and in Defect of such Forfeiture shall suffer Imprisonment for the space of six Months without Bail or Mainprise and stand in the Pillory for the space of one whole Hour That no such Offender be thenceforward Received as a Witness before any Court of Iustice till such Iudgment given against him be reversed That whoever shall Commit any Wilful Perjury by his Depositions in any Court of Record aforesaid being examined Ad perpetuam Rei Memoriam shall being Lawfully Convicted of such Offence forfeit the Sum of twenty Pounds and suffer Imprisonment for six Months without Bail or Mainprise and be disabled for ever after from being a Witness till the Iudgment against him be Reversed That in defect of suth Forfeiture of twenty Pounds every such Offender shall stand in the Pillory and have both his Ears nailed That the one Moiety of the Forfeiture aforesaid go to the Crown the other Moyety to the Person or Persons that shall be wronged by such Offence and who will sue for the same That the Iudge of such Courts where the Offence is committed the Iustices of Assize and Goal Delivery in their several Circuits and the Iustices of Peace in every County shall have Authority to determine the Offences aforesaid That the Iustices of Assize of every Circuit shall make open Proclamation of this Statute twice a year viz. in the time of their Sittings so that none may plead Ignorance of the same Provided that this Statute extend not to any Court Ecclesiastical nor to the Restraining the Power given by Act of Parliament made in the time of King Henry the seventh to the Lord Chancellor of England and others of the Kings Council 29 Eliz. 5. made perpetual 1 Jac. 1. Cap. 5. Continued And 21 Jac. 1. 28. Against Drunkenness and Tipling 4 Jac. 1. Cap. 5. FOrasmuch as Drunkenness is the Root and Foundation of all other Enormous Sins as Murder Fornication Adul●●ry and the like Be it Enacted that whosoever shall be Convicted thereof by the Oath of one or more Lawful Witnesses shall for the said Offence forfeit the sum of five shillings within one week next after the Offence to the use of the Poor of the same parish which penalty if the Offender re●use or neglect to pay then Distress to be made upon his Goods and in Default of such Distress he shall stand in the Stocks the space of six hours That if any Constable or other Inferior Officer of the Parish where the Offence is committed shall negl●ct the due correction of such Offender then every Officer so offending shall forfeit the sum of ten shillings to the use of the Poor aforesaid to be levied by Distress by any other person having a Iustices or any other Head-Officers Warrant That every one who shall be convicted of Tipling in any Inn Victualing House or Ale-House being in the same City Town Village or Hamlet of which they are Inhabitants saving in the cases provided and limited by one Act of Parliament made in the first Session of this present Parliament shall for every such Offence forfeit the sum of three shillings and four pence to the use of the Poor of that parish where the Offence shall be committed and in Default of such Forfeiture the Offender shall stand in the Stocks the spacr of four hours That all such Offences be diligently enquired into and presented before the Iustices in their several Circuits the Iustices of Peace in their Quarter or Petty-Sessions the Mayors Bayliffs and other Head-Officers by all Constables Church Wardens Headborroughs Tithingmen Ale-Conners and Sidesmen according to their Charge in their Oaths That for their second Offence of Drunkenness the party be bound over to his Good Behaviour Provided that this Statute extend not to restrain the Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction nor to prejudice the Liberties of the two Vniversities Prov●ded also that no man be punished twice for the same Offence and

Religion bearing so great a Love to Sin and the Author of it as tho' they were willing to live their Votaries and to dye their Martyrs This is the sad lamentable and too true account of the present State of Apostatizing Mankind And how great a sh●re this our Island contributes to the Vniversal Deluge of Debauchery is too evident to need any further Demonstration than that of Ocular Inspection We are all of us too apt upon the Commission of a Sin Adam-like to lay the blame far enough from our own Doors to charge it upon the strength of the Temptation upon the weakness of our Constitution upon the Custom of the Place wh●rein we live upon our own Ignorance upon Surprize and the like But alass none of all these Salvoes will serve the Turn but for all these things GOD will bring us into Judgment 9. And who can chuse but grieve to observe that most I may say All the open Debauchées of the Age are of impudent as to profess themselves Church of England men The little reason wicked Men have to pretend themselves of any much less of the Church of England whose Canon as well as Civil Laws are against them hoping that under that pretence for I can call it no otherwise to escape the Censures of Man here and the Sentence of God hereafter They cry as loud as any The Temple of the Lord The Temple of the Lord But all the while remain in the outward Court and will lose the priviledge of being saved with th●se which are within the inner Rail For how unreasonable as well as unchristian is it to think or expect so pure and undefiled a Church should indulge any of her Members in those horrid Debaucheries which a sober Heathen would Blush to committ No for certain she does not for all her Canons and Constitutions as well as Doctrines tend to the Establishing of a Holy and Vnblameable Life in the World and the Restraining of most of those reigning Vices of our Corrupted Age. Nor is the Civil Magistrate less armed against them having severeal Penal Statutes to empower him to put a stop to their Exorbitancies so that whoever will continue in those open sins is so far from being a Son of the Church of England or a Friend to any much less to this Government that he is the greatest disturber of the One and the most professed Enemy of the Other 10. And what an Aggravation is it of the guilt of this Nation in general that it bates to be Reform'd The Guilt of this Land in general aggravated in that neither the Mercies nor the Judgements of God have had any influence over it to work a Reformation Which neither Judgments can terrifie nor Mercies allure to Repentance For what People have tasted more of the Divine displeasure What Land has received greater Favour from Heaven than this our Island within the short compass of this last Century has Was not the Reformation form Popish Errors and Superstitious Tenets matter of great Joy to this our Israel Did not that wonderful Deliverance from the Invincible Armada in Eighty Eight make glad the City of God Did not God's Goodness Triumphantly manifest it self in the discovery of the Horrid Powder-Plot Were not the Restauration of the Royal Family after 12 years Banishment and the re-establishing Monarchy after so long an Anarchy marks of Divine Love And not to speak of the frustration of many Plots in the late Reigns Was not the late Revolution and the Deliverance we received from those dismal Apprehensions and Fears we lay under matter of great Comfort and Satisfaction to all that were well-wishers to our Sion But what Returns have we made to God for all his Benefits How have we imbraced those Invitations to be Good and Happy Base Ungrateful Wretches that we are We have turned the Grace of GOD into wantonness frustrated the very designs of Gods Blessings and turned them by our Abuses into Cursings Our Debaucheries are as many as ever and our Animosities and Divisions as high on all sides as if there had been no opportunities for a Reconcilement 11. And now let us look back upon the Judgments God has inflicted upon the Land and observe whether they have prevailed any more than his Mercies Did not a long abused Peace at last involve Three Kingdoms in Civil War Fill the Nation with Devastations and Ruins Turn our Waters into Blood Cover every place with the dead Bodies of the slain Expose the best Religion in the World naked to the Affronts and Contumelies of Sects and Parties And provoke the fury and madness of the People so far as at last ignominiously to Arraign unaccountably to Condemn and barbarously to Murder the Noblest of Kings tho' the most unfortunate of Princes And to come a little lower how smartly has this one * London Metropolitan City suffered by Plague and Fire How did the Pestilence triumph within these Walls killing her Thousands and Ten Thousands in our Streets How did the insulting Flames like the sweeeping Rain carry all down before it As the Plague made no distinction between Sexes and Degrees so neither did the devouring Fire take any notice of Sacred or Prophane Structures but levelled all alike to the ground and buried them in one common beap of Ashes To sum up all and come nigher home What Dangers did our Fears suggest unto us from the Insolency of the Romish Tyranny in the last Reign How was the Liberty and Property of the Subject the Rights and Priviledges of the Church ready to be Sacrificed to the Will and Pleasure of an Arbitrary Power And if we look abroad How has God visited in his Wrath most of the Europ●an Churches and put a Cup of Trembling and A●tonishment into their hands How deeply for three years together has our Neighbouring Island tasted of it And how do we know but the next Draught may be ours One would think these ●fflictions we have felt and those we have just reason to fear are hanging over us were enough in all Reason to bring us nearer unto God and to startle us into our Duty But alass we are never the better and have great reason to apply the Psalmist Words to our selves That tho' all these things Sword Pestilence and Fire Fears Dangers and Calamities have befallen us yet are we still the same we do still forget God 12. But shall not God visit for these things shall be not be avenged on such a Nation as this Yes doubtless he will For tho' he seems to Wink and Connive at these Enormities for the present and may spare the Publick a while for the Righteous Man's sake yet God's Spirit will not always strive with Man but taking the Good from the Wrath to come he will rain down his Plagues of Fire and Sword of War and Pestilence and root out the Wicked Doers from the Face of the Earth In this World the Vnrighteous Communities shall suffer there being no