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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	bishop_n	king_n	law_n	6,341	5	4.8840	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53091	The Character of a rebellion, and what England may expect from one, or, The designs of dissenters examined by reason, experience, and the laws and statutes of the realm	Nalson, John, 1638?-1686.	1681 (1681)	Wing N91; ESTC R4252	19,653	22

of King Charles the first turned this into a Prophesie which they fulfilled 13 Car. 2. c. 1. charges the Growth and Encrease of the late Troubles upon their score and we know it was they that preached us into Rebellion and fought us into slavery and the 13 Car. 2. c. 1. tells us All His Majesties Endeavours and unparallel'd Indulgence in pardoning all that is past has not been able to oblige them but that nevertheless many evil Spirits are still working and therefore for prevention of mischief for the time to come and for Preservation of the publick Peace both in Church and State be it Enacted c. This we have found true ever since 16 Car. 2. c. 4. tells us of growing and dangerous Practises of Seditious Sectaries and other disloyal Persons who under pretence of tender Consciences do at their Meetings contrive Insurrections as late Experience hath shewed 17 Car. 2. c. 2. informs that they distil the poisonous Principles of Schism and Rebellion into the Hearts of His Majesties Subjects to the great danger of the Church and Kingdom so that the Testimony of the Laws and Statutes of the Realm are clear against them and declare them dangerous Enemies and if there were nothing else their strict Confederacy in the Common Cause and the sudden Reconciliation that is among so many differing Sects who are mortal Enemies in perswasion and damn one another as deep as Hell only to get the Penal Laws against them repealed is a sufficient acknowledgement from themselves both what our Laws esteem them and what they esteem our Government and truly one of them speaks plain Plotters Doom Pag. 10. where he tells you That if Martin Luther were alive he would call those who put the Penal Laws in Execution against Protestant Dissenters the Devils Magistrates and the Devils Ministers and not Gods and a little after Of these therefore beware as of the Devil whose first begotten Children they are And lest the single Testimony of the Laws should not be sufficient Experience makes good the Charge have they not been infamous for Sedition Conspiracies Rebellion Have they not actually once before overthrown the Monarchy set up Arbitrary Power trampled under foot our Magna Charta Liberty Property Lives and Religion Murdered their Lawful Prince Banished his Son and had not Providence miraculously interposed nothing could have secured us from utter Ruin and Destruction Nor will it at all avail them now to pretend that they abhor and detest all such Designs or Intentions the saving their Necks and Estates oblige them to that Declaration and the Design they have to impose upon the People keeps that concealed from them but yet they are not so cautious at all times nor so full of abhorring all the Art of Man cannot perswade them to abhor their Dagon of the Solemn League and Covenant or to abhor the Traiterous Position of taking up Arms by His Majesties Authority against His Person which if they did not think Rebellion Lawful or did not intend to Rebel upon a fair occasion they would voluntarily and ex animo declare to be their Sense and Judgment But that you may see through these thin Pretences to Loyalty Duty and Affection to His Majesty pray observe first that the Late Rebels did the very same who so Dutiful and Loyal such faithful Subjects as the Dissenting Protestants till they had grasped the Power and when Victory which they argued was a Declaration of Gods Favour had Elevated their Arms then the Note was changed and he who before was treated with the Stile of Sovereign and Majesty could get no better Language from them than plain Charles Stuart Tyrant and Usurper and after the loss of His Crown and Life to have His Reputation murdered with an Epitaph in Capital Letters written under the Pedestal from whence they had pulled His Statue in the Old Exchange Exit Tyrannus Regum Ultimus that there might be as many Nations Witnesses of their Infamous Villany as Curiosity or Commerce draws to that Publick Place which for my Particular I cannot but look upon as an infatuation in them that forced them to proclaim their own Infamy and Guilt to the whole World and that there should scarcely be a Nation under Heaven that is not able to produce a Testimony against them Secondly Observe That the Survivors of that Black Tragedy have not given one single Symptom of Repentance for their former Guilt but as a most Infallible Demonstration that they are given up to the utmost Impenitence and a seared Conscience notwithstanding all their Pretences to Tenderness they do not only continue obstinately in their Errors but compass Sea and Land to proselyte others to their Opinions and it is evident it is not Religion but Design that is the chief Motive that gives fire to their Zeal that they are for the Drag-Net of a Toleration and all are Fish that come to the Net if they do but center in the main Point which unites all these true Protestants which is to oppose the Government How do they upon all occasions either extenuate or endeavour to evade the Horrid Crimes of which they were the Actors do they not as before was instanced notwithstanding the Premunire they incur still adhere to the Covenant Are not all the Conventicles shut up on the 30th of Jan. lest they should shew any remorse for their having shed the Blood of the Just and call themselves Villains by deploring the Tragedy wherein they were principal Actors Abetters and open Justifiers Have they not constantly opposed the Government both in Church and State broken the Laws disturbed the Peace and do they not avow and justifie their doing it with pretence of Conscience and if they be the same Persons as they shew plainly they are if ever they were dangerous they are so still and their pleading Not Guilty is no more Justification against the Testimony of the Laws and Experience than it is in any other Criminals and Malefactors Thirdly Observe They do exactly trace the same Method and Footsteps of the late Rebellion they begin with Popery but they presently change the Scent and fall upon Prelacy the Church of England and the Loyal Party These must be hunted down for Papists Tories Tantivies Pensioners Evil Counsellors and Enemies to the King and Kingdom and those must have the Title of the only true Protestants who are the most fierce and violent Schismaticks and such as favour them must be reputed the only fit Persons to represent the Nation whilst such Loyal Gentlemen or their Sons who hazarded their Lives and Fortunes in defence of the King and Government are contemned affronted punished and treated with all the ignominious and reproachful Terms and Marks of Infamy that spite and artful Malice can invent to render them odious or suspitious to the People They traduce the Government and endeavour to make it contemptible revile the Bishops malign the Loyal Peers vilifie the King and have much to do to keep from down-right Treason and if these be not sufficient Arguments to prove that they are Enemies still dangerous Enemies to the Monarchy our Ancient Laws Government Established Religion and to the true Interest and Happiness of England I think if an Angel came from Heaven he would not find credit for sure I am he might manage it with greater skill but he could not produce more demonstrative Truth This my Generous Countrymen is the true state of your Interest and our present Affairs This is what you must expect should these Zealots come to give you Laws If therefore you have any value for your selves your Posterity your Liberties Property Laws the true Protestant Religion the Trade Peace or Honour of the English Nation it is both your Interest and your Duty to assert and stand up for the Monarchy to support the Laws and Government to the uttermost of your power and by all Lawful Ways and Means to convince perswade and reclaim the Credulous and Mistaken to suppress oppose and defeat the Designs of these Factious dangerous Sectaries and Schismaticks for so our Laws call them who with fair Speeches and flattering Pretences steal the Hearts of the People like Absalom only to exalt themselves into Sovereign Power and reduce you to the desperate Condition of slavery which is always the Reward and Issue of Rebellion FINIS

THE CHARACTER OF A REBELLION And what ENGLAND May expect from one OR The Designs of Dissenters Examined by REASON EXPERIENCE And the LAWS and STATUTES OF THE REALM LONDON Printed for Benj. Tooke 1681. The CHARACTER of a REBELLION AND What England may expect from one c. HE does not deserve the name of an Englishman who in a time of Common and Imminent Danger dare not stand up for his King his Religion his Country Laws Liberty and the most Excellent Constitution of Government in the whole World And that all these are in the most apparent hazard even from those People who pretend to be the great Opposers of Popery and Arbitrary Government I appeal not only to the Swarms of Insolent Scandalous Seditious and Malitious Pamphlets which of late have made the Press and the whole Nation groan and are one of the greatest Grievances and Pests of the Commonwealth but to that general fear which the Insolence of Factious Dissenters hath raised and thereby given too just ground for apprehensions of their breaking out into Rebellion and Insurrections I am satisfied that they lay a great stress upon the Policy of this Invention to incourage their Party and frighten their Opposers by the frequent boasts of their Strength Numbers and what may follow if they be not gratified how dangerous it is to disoblige them and I believe they had much rather compass their Designs by these artifices than run the Chance and Risque of a Decision by the Sword and I know also that many of the principal Engineers have more of the Fox than of the Lion and are better at the Encounters of the Tongue and Pen than of the glittering Steel but yet I think no Enemy ought to be Esteemed contemptible and the very first Essayes towards Rebellion ought to be encountered it being not impossible but Law and Reason may baffle and subdue them before they take the Field and it will be a very happy Combat where nothing is spilt but Ink. It cannot discourage me that of late some Mercenary Pens and Designing Persons have countenanced the notorious Enemies of the Establisht Government with the Character of the only true Protestants and that Libelling has been esteemed a Virtue if not a part of their Religion Lying and Defamation the scandals of good Moral Heathens have been adopted into Christianity while such as durst adventure to assert or appear in defence of the Government and known Laws were loaded with all the invidious Reproaches of Billingsgate Invention and most certainly with the name of Papist I have a Veneration for men of Sense but cannot but despise those little writing Things who are but one degree advanced above Apes and Monkeys that chatter and bite as they are set on And certainly a more contemptible piece of Senceless Detraction was hardly ever invented on this side Bedlam than to affirm that the Papists are contriving to subvert the Government and pretend to be Zealous against them as all honest men are against whoever shall attempt that and at the same time to brand all such as vigorously appear for it against both Papists and Phanatiques with the title of Papists But Polititians move great Wheels by little ones and the King and Government must be disarmed by this Popular Odium of all their true Friends under the Notion of Papists that so they may come under the Guardianship and Protection of these true Protestant Dissenters and is it possible to Conjecture they would not then be in good hands I may be mistaken but I believe I am not single in my Opinion that they would be in Salva Custodia according to the English of Jaylors And after all the repeated Affronts both to his Sacred Majesty and Persons of the most Eminent Characters and Loyalty in the Nation they must not be reproved or censured for fear of dis-uniting Protestants or forcing them to Rebel But truly if they proceed in these Methods as they seem incorrigible they must excuse us if we cannot contribute our assistance to such an Union as must terminate in our Ruin The Laws have ever Esteemed them as well as the Papists Enemies to the Peace of the Nation and we know their Principles are inconsistent with the Ancient Constitution of the Monarchy and both their past and late Actions have proved them true to their dangerous Principles and the Character which Learned Grotius gives of them That they subvert St. Paul's Rule of Subjection and therefore that no Crowned head can be longer secure from their practices than while they want Power and if Sedition Rebellion Murther Rapine Sacriledge Usurpation Injustice Oppression Tyranny Cruelty Persecution exercised by Dissenters during their Empire as is attested and avowed by their own Records and justified in Print be recommendatory Qualifications to trust them again with our Lives Liberties Laws Estates and Religion judg all ye People Nay had they no other Crime besides Ingratitude I think that such a Compendium of all that is ill that they need not be painted more black than that has made them and for that let his Majesties Gracious and Generous Act of Oblivion witness both their former Guilt and present Ingratitude If they had not offended the Laws and were not obnoxious to Justice why did they stand trembling after his Majesties wondrous Restauration till they got the Security of that Act for which yet the King out of the Abundant Excellency of his Nature and Unexampled Clemency seemed no less solicitous than the Criminals and how they have requited his Royal Bounty in all their late Actions is an Ingratitude that not only England but all Europe is with Astonishment a witness of The King like a Just and Excellent Prince who like Heavens Monarch delights in Mercy suspends the Rigors and Severities of the Penal Laws against them this they construe to be Fear and not Favour and improve it to a confidence to demand their abolition not without menacing insinuations upon refusal he assures them he will Govern according to Laws to obviate a notorious Calumny spread abroad by them among his People of a Design of introducing Arbitrary Rule and that he will neither act Arbitrarily nor permit others to do is this is so far from giving satisfaction that it is highly displeasing the Laws themselves are Uneasie and to Govern by them burthensom and unsupportable and indeed it is impossible to please those with any thing who are resolute to receive no satisfaction unless they may have all Whither these Procedures must lead us we need not to consult the Oracle When the Quicksilver rises so high in the Weather-glass of State it is not difficult to conjecture some blustring may follow And indeed the methods which these People have made use of are too well known to leave us in suspense if Providence does not interpose what will be the End They have so far Exceeded the Limits of their Duty and have so accustomed themselves to affront the Government by the repeated

of the dangerous Precedent and Example such a Revolution gives their Subjects be declared Enemies and for Republicks the Emulation that is between them can never permit them to be Friends Sixthly Nor will the Dismal Effects of changing the present Established Government only affect the Nobility and the Merchant the Gentleman must have his share too for whereas there are about 10000 Mannors in England and Wales whereof the Lords are as it were little Kings among their Tenants and have the Liberties of Sake Soke c. and many Jurisdictions as Court-Barons Court-Leets to order and do Justice to their Tenants from whence arise Fines Amerciaments Estreats Forfeitures Deodands Waifs Strayes Fines certain and incertain Quit-rents Heriots Freewarren Swanning c. all these being Grants of several Kings have their dependancy upon and must run the same Fate with Monarchy if that stands they stand if that falls they must fall also to the no small loss and detriment of all those Noblemen Gentlemen Bodies-Corporate and others who are at the present possessed of them Seventhly And lest there should be any Persons to whom the mischiefs of Rebellion will not extend its Consequences will affect the Body of the Commons the Free-holders Copy-holders and Common People there being none who have any thing to lose but must hazard and lose all and many Thousands their Lives in to the Bargain it will strip the Copy-holders which are above a fourth part of the Lands of England and Wales of all their Ancient and Beneficial Customs the Common People of their Rights Apportionments and Admeasurement of Common of Pasture Common of Estover Agistments in Forests and Purlieus which in many Places of England are the greatest part of the Livelihood of the Inhabitants all which they possess by vertue of the Grants and Charters of several Kings and for the Free-holders when their Interest in Magna Charta and Election of Representatives are gone they will have little left to boast of Eighthly Nor will it only wrong the Living but the Dead for not to mention the Impropriations and Advowsons to Rectories which depend upon Grants from the Crown what will become of the Foundations of Colledges in the Universities Free-schools Hospitals Alms-houses all which possess their Revenues by Charters and Grants from the Kings of England and depend upon the Monarchy and should that fall which God forbid their Titles are gone and they must be at the Will of the New Lords who according to the Proverb will be for new Laws And how near the Brink of Ruine and being swallowed by the devouring Avarice of Pretended Religion all these Foundations and Supports of Learning were in the late Rebellion need not be remembred since it is impossible it should be forgotten and since among our Protestant Dissenters the Compter the Cart and the Plough can afford such plenty of Learned Apostles Evangelists Elders and Teachers there will not want a Judas to cry out against Universities and Tithes Quorsum perditis haec Why all this loss let them be sold to maintain the Charges of the Common-wealth Thus it was and thus it would be again if they had Power which I confess gives me some admiration to see Persons who pretend to be learned and favourers of Learning herd with such illiterate and ignorant Impostors How were the poor People cajoled with taking away the burden of Tithes as they called them in the late times whereas had they been taken from the Clergy whom they would render poor and mercenary that they may not have courage to oppose Rebellion yet the poor Laicks would have had no more benefit than the Asse whose wise Master to ease him took off the Load which before he rid upon and laid it upon his own shoulders which though it loaded him did not at all lighten his Brother Animal Ninthly Neither will it stop here but pass the Seas and discharter all the Forreign Plantations of Virginia Maryland Carolina c. which are holden by the Proprietors by vertue of Royal Grants Tenthly To conclude it will render the whole Nation Slaves for I pray once divest us of the before recited Charters Freedoms Immunities and Liberties either by the prevailing of Usurping Rebels or by the forfeiture of Rebellion and what are we but the most despicable and abject Slaves and of all slavery that is certainly the most insupportable where we must submit to the Yoak of our Equals and Inferiors Thus have I given you Generous Countrymen a short but true Character of that Monster Rebellion which though she puts on the Face and Voice of an Angel always hath the Hands of a Devil If you have any remainders of true English Courage and Gallantry for which your Ancestors have been so renowned if you think Liberty and Property worth the preserving either to your selves or to be transmitted to your Posterity it imports you to use your utmost indeavours to crush the Cockatrice of a Common-wealth in the Egge and by all lawful ways and means to support maintain and defend the Monarchy with the last drop of your Blood and the last Penny of your Estate It is your indispensable Duty the Laws of God and the Statutes of the Realm require it your own safety preservation and indeed your whole Interest challenges it from you it is a Justice to your Posterity to whom you were better leave no Name than the infamous Intail of slavery to their Fellow-Subjects Manacles and Chains instead of Charters and Royal Franchises which as they have descended to you you ought to take care to transmit them to Posterity whole and entire I know the greatest Criminals will make the first and loudest Protestations of Innocence and Loyalty Who so brisk as Hazael to repartee to the weeping Prophet who charged him with the Barbarous Mischiefs he would do when he should get into Power what am I a Dog that I should do this Who so quick as Judas to put the Question Is it I But we have learnt to read Men by their Actions not their Words and that I may not criminate without Proof which is Calumny and Detraction I refer you to the Testimony of two Evidences that will not deceive and can neither be accused of detracting Malice or biassed Partiality the one is Law the other is Old Experience By these you shall know who are the Enemies of the Monarchy and established Government Now the Law expresly charges Papists and Sectaries or Dissenting Protestants with the Accusation of being dangerous Enemies to the Government That the Papists are so is allowed of all hands and that the other are no more innocent in the Eye of the Law is evident in that there is not one Title of Law the least shreds of Records which can give them a favourable word but on the contrary 35 Eliz. c. 1. charges them with the danger of great inconveniences and perils which may happen and grow by the wicked and dangerous Practises of Seditious Sectaries and the Reign