Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	bishop_n	church_n	succession_n	2,569	5	10.4652	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66600	God, the King, and the countrey, united in the justification of this present revolution containing also animadversions on Dr. William Sherlock's book intituled, The case of allegiance due to soveraign powers, stated and resolved, according to scripture and reason, and the principles of the Church and England / by Tim. Wilson ...	Wilson, Timothy, 1642-1705.	1691 (1691)	Wing W2950; ESTC R8407	46,572	49

they believe that a King who hath no Right to the Throne is not set up by God and invested with his Authority they will find That it must ultimately resolve it self into the Authority of the People to make Kings which it is unjust for God himself to over-rule and alter pace tanti viri by the Dr's leave I should say it is not Gods usual Method and ordinary Providence to over-rule and alter for a Legal Entail is nothing more than the Authority of the People And if the People have such an uncontroulable Authority in making Kings hold a little the People cannot do this when they have Covenanted ordinarily but in extream necessity I doubt they will challenge as much Authority to unmake them to But perhaps the Dr. will say This is Argumentum ad homines and I would not willingly misrepresent him As for his Answer to the Objection which I find p. 26. I know not what to make of it it is pure Enthusiasm I think I cannot measure it by any Rules of Reason 3. He grants very honestly p. 27. That when ever a People have a good King as surely say I King William and Queen Mary are a good King and Queen it is both their Duty and Interest to defend Him And if they be not misled by the Cunning and Artifice of ill Men they will certainly do so But if they have a very bad one that notoriously violates their Rights and breaks the Constitution upon which Himself stands and strikes at the dearest things they have their Religion Established by Law and their Properties I doubt the Case may be altered And tho' every Body will not speak it out yet most may say in their Hearts Let him go if he cannot defend Himself It is enough in Conscience patiently to bear so bad a Prince but a little too much to venture their Lives and Fortunes to keep him in the Throne to oppress them This is against Reason and Nature and I know no Law of God which requires it c. I wish with all my heart that this Consideration and other Arguments of the Dr's may prevail with the most Reverend Father in God the late Arch-Bishop and the Right Reverend the Bishops who have not taken the Oaths to their present Majesties I believe out of pure Conscience tho' erroneous and full of prejudice And I have often wondered that so many of the Clergy who but a little before did so violently oppose the Prince of Orange's proceedings out of the like conscientious prejudice as I believe did on a sudden take the Oaths This seems to me to shew that our Case wanted but a little consideration and men might easily lay aside their prejudices in so blessed and desirable a Change 4. The Dr. grants p. 28. That the Laws of God and Nature must take place of all Humane Positive Laws and Oaths Hence I infer that the Dr. cannot deny Self-preservation 5. He grants p. 29. That it is unreasonable to expound the Oath to such a sense as no man would have taken it in had it been expressed No no man in his wits would take it for the best Prince that ever swayed the Scepter Then such an Oath or Promise or Declaration could not intend to dedestroy Self-preservation Liberty and Property 6. The Dr. grants p. 30. We are not bound to defend the King against Law or when he subverts the Laws und Liberties and the Legal Established Religion of the Kingdom by Illegal Methods Or as he saith presently after by the exercise of an Illegal and Arbitrary Power 7. He saith p. 32. Certainly this was not the Intention of the Oath to fight for their King against their Countrey For an Oath to fight for the King doth not oblige us to fight against our Countrey which is as unnatural as to fight against our King 8. He owns the preservation of the whole Kingdom is before the Prince p. 33. in these words Tho' I have as great a Reverence for Princes as any man I do not think the Right and Interest of any Prince so considerable as the Safety and Preservation of the Nation and the Lives and Fortunes of all his Subjects I am sure we who are for Defensive Arms cannot say more than this 9. I leave the Teachers of Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance to answer his Arguments p. 36. or else I hope they will take the Oaths I have spoken my thoughts of this matter As for Bishop Overals Convocation-Book I do not love many words I have spoken my mind 10. This seems very hard that when God hath actually delivered us we must refuse our deliverance p. 38. And I add it seems very hard that the Clergy who receive most benefit by this deliverance if in heart they love the Protestant Religion should not honour the Deliverers 11. The Dr. agrees to what Bishop Sanderson tells us That the End of Civil Government and of that Obedience which is due to it is the Safety and Tranquillity of Humane Societies and therefore whatever is necessary and useful to this End becomes our Duty for the End prescribes the Means Hence I infer the lawfulness of Defensive Arms in some case because Humane Societies under a Tyrannical Prince who Rules Arbitrarily cannot be safe I beseech the Dr. seriously to consider this and examine throughly whether it doth not necessarily follow And before I end this Section I must desire the Dr. to reconcile some of his Assertions He saith p. 4. The Church of England hath been very careful to instruct her Children in their duty to Princes to obey their Laws and submit to their Power and not to resist tho' very injuriously oppressed and those who renounce these Principles renounce the Doctrine of the Church of England But she hath withal taught That all Sovereign Princes receive their Power and Authority from God and therefore every Prince who is setled in the Throne is to be obeyed and reverenced as Gods Minister and not to be resisted c. And here I observe that the Dr. chargeth the Non-swearing Bishops as well as those who joyned with the Prince of Orange as rejecting the Doctrine of the Church of England Well let the Dr. and his Party be the only true Church of England-men if he can disprove what I have now and elsewhere said He grants That whosoever is setled in the Throne hath Gods Authority and must not be resisted But p. 25 26. in answering an Objection That this makes the Prince lose his Right by being notoriously injured c. he tells us The Providence of God removes Kings and sets up Kings but alters no Legal Rights nor forbids those who are dispossessed of them to recover their Right when they can c. and doth not divest the dispossessed Prince of his Legal Right and Claim nor forbid him to endeavour to recover his Throne nor forbid those who are under no Obligation to the Prince in Possession to assist the dispossessed Prince to recover his

which concern the Duty of Subjects and the Publick Good And as for the Instances in Scripture out of the Books of the Kings and Chronicles it is plain that there was a Covenant between the King and People And after the Deposing of Athaliah all the Congregation made a Covenant with the King in the House of God 2 Chron 23.3 And what doth a Covenant signifie if it may not be defended and justified If such a dead Dog as I am were worthy to admonish an English Monarch I would advise him to make Law the Rule of his Reign and shew his Prerogative in Acts of Bounty Mercy and Mitigation of the Rigour of some severe Laws And I would not tell him that it is Rebellion for an Innocent Subject to defend himself And yet I imagine that I am as great a Friend to Monarchy and to the Church of England as the greatest Passive-Obedience-Doctor is 4. We have the End of Government For the good of the whole Sodiety Power and Authority is ordained of God for the Happiness of Mankind By this we are legally secured against wicked Men in our Houses Possessions Lands and Estates in our Liberties and Properties and in whatsoever belongs to us as Members of a Civil Society Political Order is a just Disposition between King and Subject as well as between Subject and Subject God is the Author and Lover of Order and an Enemy of Disorder and Confusion And Government was constituted by the singular Wisdom and Providence of God for the good of his Creatures From hence I may deduce these Inferences 1. Hence the Power and Authority of Kings and Governours is clearly Divine They are constituted Rulers by God and are his Ministers And therefore Honour and Obedience is due to them for the Lords sake 1 Pet. 2.13 2. Hence it follows evidently That Princes and Governours ought to Rule in Gods fear and so perform their Office as Gods Vicegerents administring Justice impartially knowing whose Authority they have Hence Princes are called Pastors of the People and Fathers of the Countrey And should bear the Name of Gods and Children of the most High not only in Power but in Goodness 3. Hence it necessarily follows that all Subjects ought to reverence and honour their King and Governours with most humble Service Homage and Obedience in all things But of this more anon 2. I shall consider the several kinds The most common Distribution is into Monarchy Aristocracy and Democracy The first kind or Form of Government is Monarchy I approve of this as best according to the saying of the most Famous Poet The Rule of many is not good Let there be one Ruler one King to whom God gives the Scepter He is King who hath Supream Power subject to none And a Monarch is either Absolute or Conditional And again either Elective or Successive Elective when in a Kingdom a Person of a new Family or of the same Family is chosen Successive when the next Heir Male and in some Kingdoms the Female is owned and proclaimed Thus the Kingdom of England is by Inheritance and Succession And our King never dies as we say But the King of England is not Absolute but Limited And hath Lords and Commons without whom he cannot make nor repeal Laws And we have Magna Charta unviolable And the Subjects great Felicity and no less the Kings Honour who Rules not over Slaves but Freemen 3. I shall shew the Latitude of Subjection It is a Civil Filial Fear of the King And excludes all things that tend to his Dishonour and includes all things that tend to his Honour It contains all Duties and Services required of Subjects to their Prince There is an universal Obedience next under and after God in all things Legal due to the King who Reigns by the Ordinance and Appointment of God Native Religion and true Christianity is the greatest Interest of Princes A good Conscience and pious Heart abhors Obmurmurations Factions Seditions Rebellions or whatsoever can be conceived to disturb the Souls subjection to the Higher Powers It is gross Hypocrisie to pretend to follow the Holy Jesus and not render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's I am sure that Christ and his Apostles taught Subjection to the Roman Emperor as the Ornament and Honour of their Religion This Subjection first forbids light and vain thoughts of the Kings Authority and Person 2. Uttering Wicked and Trayterous words speaking evil of him Thou shalt not revile the Gods nor curse the Ruler of thy People Exod. 22.28 And curse not the King no not in thy Thought Eccles 10.20 And the Holy Ghost brands them with the odious name of filthy Dreamers who despise Dominion and speak evil of Dignities St. Jude ver 8. In brief It excludes all retaining of his Dues Tribute Custom c. all Cheating him of his Revenue all Disobedience to his wholsom Laws all Contempt or Violation offered to his Sacred Person 2. Subjection includes or comprehends all Duties of a Christian Subject to his King For that which is in one place Let every Soul be subject to the Higher Powers is in another Fear the King and Honour the King And in the Fifth Commandment Honour thy Father and Mother Here as by Father and Mother all Superiors are meant not only our Natural Parents but also our Political Father our Governours especially the Supream Magistrate the King As it is well explained in our Church-Catechism To Honour and Obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him Which also is the Interpretation of all sober Divines So by this word Honour all kinds of Duty and Services from all Inseriors to their Superiors respectively are comprised So to Honour as to Fear Love and Obey them c. This is expressed also by St. Peter Submit your selves unto every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake whether it be to the King as Supream or unto Governours as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of them that do well This is yet more fully and largely set down by St. Paul Rom. 13. Where this Doctrine is not only declared but pressed and confirmed by many strong and solid Reasons We must needs be subject not only for Wrath but also for Conscience sake v. 5. If you make Conscience of your ways give the King his Due There is nothing more plain than this Chapter for Subjection to the King and Submission and respect to his Officers without murmuring and repining when according to Law they demand their Dues The humble Christian and obedient Subject who willingly submits to the Kings Laws may be assured that in that particular he pleaseth God and he always hath the Testimony and Satisfaction of a good Conscience But the stubborn and disobedient who will not render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's assuredly displeaseth God and can never quiet his Conscience but runs the hazard of a most ignominious esteem in

words of the Reverend Dr. Fern Monarchy however we cannot say it is Jure Divino by Divine Precept commanding all Nations to be so governed or Jure Naturae by Nature's Law inforcing it is plainly ductu Naturae by Nature leading men from Paternal to Legal Government and exemplo Divino as I may say by Divine example and insinuation We suppose as the Sacred Historian tells us that Adam and so Noah after the Flood by Gods blessing begat Sons and Daughters These spread over the face of the Earth some in Asia some in Africa some in Europe c. And these God indued with Reason and they lived or should have lived by the Light of Nature Gods own Law written in their hearts And as face answereth to face in a glass so the heart of man to man And when they encreased greatly for orders sake or because some were lawless and living without the fear of God oppressed the weak Natural Prudence which is the Light of God in Man taught them to Covenant with one Ruler and to have common society and mutual help and some Rules Laws and Customs to determine Controversies between Family and Family Man or Man for the publick good To this first Constitution all were bound both Rulers and Ruled and this could not be changed ordinarily but by the Heads of such Societies or Families If any man can disprove this by Reason or Scripture we would gladly see it As for our own Countrey it is manifest in the most antient Histories and Chronicles that ever I read that we have been governed by Kings all along But we have had an Heptarchy and not always Lineal Succession And when England was one Monarchy under Egbert in the year of Christ 818. or thereabouts we shall find the Succession altered for the publick good as the late Author of the Vnreasonableness of Separation upon the account of the Oaths hath largely shewed out of Mat. Westminster and Mat. Paris and others But still all this supposeth an Agreement between the King and People originally And no doubt Monarchy and all Government will stand best upon its own Foundation And what men agree to all conscientious men will observe according to the mutual Oath of King and People And it is so far from being an inconvenience that it is the only true and just Title of all Royal Families And it is a prejudice to the King to say otherwise For the best and wisest men submit only upon Condition and Covenant We know that Nature teacheth all men to prevent Ruine and this is the Law of God But let us come to the Dr's great Principle the disposal of Providence p. 12. God governs the rest of the World removes Kings and sets up Kings only by his Providence that is then God sets up a King when by his Providence he advanceth him to the Throne that is I think God sets up a King when he sets up a King a self-evident Principle and puts the Sovereign Authority into his hands Then he removeth a King when by his Providence he thrusts him from his Throne and takes the Government out of his hands c. I can make no other sense of this but that God doth it when he doth it But how shall it appear to us that it is Gods Providence either to remove or set up a King The Dr. answereth There are but three ways whereby God gives this Power and Authority to any person either by Nature or by express Nomination or by the Disposal of Providence p. 11. If this be not Trifling I know not what is If any man should ask the Dr. Who made him Master of the Temple and he should answer God made him so or it was the disposal of Providence would he not smile tho' this is true But the Question asked is about the Humane Principal Efficient subordinate to God and his Providence But the former never comes into question among Christians It is confessed it was Gods Providence that exalted Joseph and all Kings I can hardly forbear but I have always reverenced the Dr. and therefore will say no more but Lord have mercy upon us the sinful Sons of Adam O the power of Prejudice As for Gods Providence in this Revolution I have published my thoughts in a Discourse entituled Conscience satisfied in a Cordial and Loyal Submission to the present Government of King William and Queen Mary and I must refer the inquisitive Reader to that Treatise p. 11 c. But here farther that we may consider what the Doctor saith we must distinguish of Gods Providence It is either 1. Immediate and extraordinary Or 2. Mediate and ordinary 1. The immediate and extraordinary Providence of God is when God works what he will besides or against the means and order appointed by himself in Nature And this is done in all Miracles which are effected to this end that we may know that the Omnipotent Creator and Governour of all things acts most freely by means or without means And this is manifest either 1. In punishing his Enemies Or 2. In preserving his Servants Thus God immediately by a Deluge from Heaven drowned the Old World confounded the Language of the Rebels at Babel rained Fire and Brimstone out of Heaven upon Sodom drowned Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea after all those former Plagues and Judgments upon him Thus God commanded the Earth to open and swallow up those proud and hypocritical Rebels Corah and his company By this the Sun stood still and the Moon stayed till the people had avenged themselves on their Enemies Josh 10.13 By this to deliver good Hezekiah and his people Israel the Angel of the Lord smote in the Camp of the Assyrians one hundred fourscore and five thousand 2 King 19.35 On the other side God by his extraordinary Providence gave Abraham a Son in his old age commanded the Ravens to feed his zealous Servant Elijah multiplied the Widdows Oil and preserved the three Children in the Fiery Furnace and the like Hence the Psalmist concludes The Lord alone doth great wonders Psal 136.4 But I suppose the Dr. doth not mean that God makes any King or Queen thus by Miracle He did not send an Angel to set the Crown on their Majesties Heads on the days of their Arrival in London or on the day of their Election by the Convention of Estates or on the day of their Coronation 2. Therefore there is a mediate and ordinary Providence of God And that is when God by Creatures or second Causes produceth those Effects to which those Creatures or Causes by the constant accustomed Order of Nature are appointed and made by God Thus by food and nourishment he sustains us by Physick and Medicines he removes diseases and heals the sick by his Word Read and Preached he declares his will to sinners and perswades them to believe and obey Thus we read Man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of

Legal Right c. nor hinder him from Claiming it when he finds his opportunity I would here know of the Dr. who they are that are under no Obligation to the Prince in Possession and so may assist the dispossessed Prince Are they Domestick Subjects or Forreign Enemies What may the late King with a good Conscience invade England with an Army of French-men to recover that which the Dr. calls his Legal Right I believe the Dr. to be an honest man and that he hath no Plot or Design but let him see the tendency of his Argument I should answer the Objection thus The dispossessed Prince is either good or evil If he is a good Prince and hath not oppressed his Subjects his case is hard and very calamitous and much to be pitied but he must submit to Divine Providence and Gods Fatherly Correction or Probation And this is a difficulty in Providence as the Dr's phrase is according to the account of all Philosphers Cur bonis malè But if his Subjects have stood by him with their Lives and Fortunes and are conquered and have setled the Government of the Conqueror either by a General Assembly or by Universal Submission Promise Oath c. they are excusable and the King so forced into Banishment in Conscience cannot require their Allegiance If the Prince be evil and hath oppressed his Subjects in a high measure then he forfeiteth his Legal Right and it is transferred on another King for the publick good But I pray God this may never befal the Royal Family again while the Sun and Moon endureth But furely the Nobility Gentry Clergy and Commons had Reason and Conscience to defend themselves against the Tyranny of Jesuits and other evil Counsellors who tempted the King to be ungrateful and seek the Ruine of their Religion and Properties Again p. 14. The Dr. saith He who hath Possession of the Crown without a Legal Right that is as he means a Successive Right is a King de facto that is is King but not by Law And yet p. 63. he saith The Law requires us to own him for our Sovereign Let the Dr. reconcile this Animadversions on Section 4. I have before answered the Dr's Observation That the Scripture hath given us no Direction in this case but to submit and pay all Obedience of Subjects unto the present Powers It makes no distinction that ever I could find between a Rightful King and an Usurper between a King whom we must and whom we must not obey See Animadversions on Sect. 2. And now I come to that famous Text of Rom. 13. And here the Reverend Dr. still owns Passive Obedience and Non-Resistance And he tells us in his Preface That he hath renounced no Principle that ever he taught except one in the case of Resistance p. 128 c. which is the only material passage he knows any reason to retract in that Book to wit that when St. Paul saith All Power is of God he meaneth only Legal Powers Now I think the Dr. hath had the ill Fortune to adhere to one of the worst Principles and renounce one of the best Principles that ever he taught in Government And that I may prove this it must come to my Turn to suppose And here I shall premise the Dr's Words in the end of his Preface They who understand what belongs to Disputes of this nature know very well that the shortest way to bring the matter to an Issue is to put the Case at the worst that can be supposed because this gives so much greater force and advantage to the Argument when it is suited to those who are most strongly prejudiced against the Lawfulness of Defensive Arms in any Case In managing this Argument as the Dr. goes on it is necessary to reason upon supposition of the most Illegal and greatest Oppressions And it may be I may meet with some Readers as may charge me for so doing with unchristian Behaviour and clownish Irreverence towards a calamitous Prince which I am very sure I am far from intending to do I say as I said at first Sacred Majesty laid in the dust requires our Tears Our Religion and our Laws revived require our Joy This premised I offer a Supposition Suppose the Late King was resolved to Rule by a Standing Army Suppose he had Suspended all the Bishops as well as the Bishop of London Suppose he had turned all the Nobility out of their Freeholds as well as the President and Fellows of Magdalen Colledge Suppose he had set up an Illegal High Commission Court Suppose he had Tryed all the Ministers in England for their Lives as well as the Seven Innocent Bishops Suppose he had Closeted all the Nobility as well as he did many to over-awe their Votes in Parliament Suppose he had given Power to all the Dissenters and Sectaries to preach in our Pulpits as well as in private Meetings Suppose all the Members of his Privy Council had been Jesuits and Bigotted Papists as well as Father Petre Tyrconnel c. Suppose he had Suspended all the Clergy in England for not Reading the Illegal Declaration in Churches Suppose he had commanded the Officers of his Standing Army to Plunder our Houses and cut our Throats And now I think that I have almost supposed the worst that I can suppose And verily I tremble to suppose this I will make but one Supposition more Suppose that by teaching this Doctrine of Non-resistance the Late King might be tempted to bring in his Religion by these Illegal and Horrid means And thereby not only lose his Crown and Dignity but hazard the Damnation of his Soul without Repentance yet the Authors Doctrine is Subjects must not resist And he saith Christ and his Apostles especially St. Paul in Rom. 13. taught this Doctrine when he saith Whosoever therefore resisteth the Power resisteth the Ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation No doubt but this is very edifying Doctrine This was most irresistible Rhetorick to the Senate and People of Rome the freest People of the World to turn Christians For then tho' their Philosophers taught them that they might defend themselves against Tyrants by the Law of Nature yet they must not defend the Liberties of their Countrey If they do they must never be happy hereafter This is an invincible Argument to any Jealous Roman or Wise Grecian to imbrace Christianity Is not this Doctrine against all Gods Attributes his Goodness his Justice his Mercy as well as the Predestinarian Doctrine is said to be What! hath God left his poor innocent Creatures I mean Legally innocent to be a prey to Lions Credat Judaeus Apella non ego And here I may use the Dr's words for I confess my stile is not so Elegant p. 40. According to these Principles Humane Societies in such Revolutions I must say Male-Administrations cannot be preserved without sin For if all Men did their Duty they must all be destroyed Now I believe