Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	church_n	doctrine_n	reform_a	3,865	5	10.2412	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34948	A serious expostulation with that party in Scotland, commonly known by the name of Whigs wherein is modestly and plainly laid open the inconsistency of their practices I. With the safety of humane society, II. With the nature of the Christian religion, III. Their two covenants are historically related, and prov'd to be no sufficient warrant for what they do, IV. Their new doctrine of a pretended forfeiture, is prov'd to be groundless.	Craufurd, James, 17th cent.	1682 (1682)	Wing C6865; ESTC R4965	39,666	64

upon every slight Occasion Princes were laid aside Subjects absolv'd from their Allegiance and Crowns and Scepters freely dispos'd of when and to whom they pleased so that under Colour of maintaining Christ's Prerogative they refus'd to give unto Caesar what was Caesar's far from paying Tribute as Christ had done Kings were forced to turn their Tributaries and by setting up a new Power in every Kingdom they made Princes contrary to the Intention of Christ and the Gospel great Losers by the Christian Religion Under these heavy Pressures had the Christian World for several Ages groan'd when God raised up a Spirit of Reformation in our Fathers who among the manifold Corruptions of Rome observ'd the ill Treatment Princes had there met with and resolv'd that in restoring to Christianity its ancient Lustre Princes should again be possest of the Prerogatives entail'd upon them by the Gospel This made the first Reformers inveigh so bitterly against the Usurpations of that See and enforce upon Subjects Allegiance and Submission as Duties from which none upon Earth could absolve them and we have Reason to believe that the Justice then done to Princes prov'd under God an effectual Means to rescue many Nations from the Roman Yoke Nor was Duty to Princes only preacht up at first but it has ever since continued as a fixt Principle in the best reformed Churches where next to the Purity of their Doctrine and Worship relating immediately to God they have all along gloried most in the Loyalty of their Religion for laying indispensible Ties of Obedience upon Men towards his Vicegerent So that as it passes with many for a Maxime that Papists acting according to the Principles of their Church can hardly be good Subjects 't is most certain that Protestants who are not conscientiously dutiful and loyal swerve from the Principles of the Reformed Religion and tho there are alas too many Instances of such both at home and abroad yet their corrupt Practices must not stain the Purity of the Doctrine by which they stand condemned But while I ascribe to the Reformed Religion the Honour of reestablishing Princes in their Rights I am sorry any of my Countreymen should renounce their share in it by pretending that our Soveraign has forfeited his Crown and that we are freed from our Allegiance These alas are Words not hitherto known amongst Orthodox Protestants but as they meet with them in impious and condemned Writers Let us consult the Confessions of all the Reformed Churches in the World and see if any of them teach this Doctrine Let us send an impartial Account of our Case with the Nature of our Monarchy to all the Protestant Universities abroad whether in England France Germany Holland Switzerland or Geneva and try if we can have the Testimony of any one Society to confirm us in this Tenet Let us see if we can meet with one eminent Protestant Divine one single Person of Credit and Learning that will own himself of this Persuasion If we look back to the Doctrine or Practice of the Church in the Primitive Times we can find nothing there that makes for our Purpose Neither Heresy nor Idolatry in those Days did make void Princes Right to govern Constantius an Arrian and Julian a Renegade were own'd for Emperours by those who detested their Impieties as much as Jovianus or Theodosius who were Orthodox The more degenerate Ages and the most corrupt part of the Church first taught us the Principles upon which some of us now go We must look no higher than Hildebrand and apply our selves only to prostitute Canonists and Jesuits for Testimonies and Arguments to prove that Princes can so easily forfeit their Crowns for I know there are many well-meaning Papists if not whole National Churches that will utterly reject this monstrous Doctrine And truly then 't is hard that we who look upon our selves as the most thorowly Reform'd should contemn the Pattern set us by the Ancients diffent from all our Brethren and side with the greatest Enemies of our Religion in a Point for which they have been so much expos'd Now no wonder if we run into strange Absurdities when the whole Matter is granted upon false Suppositions First we will have the King 's Right to commence only from the Time of his Coronation then we will have the Coronation a Compact or Agreement with the People by which the Prince forfeits his Right if he do not duly perform his Part and lastly we seem to make the late Covenant pass for the Coronation Oath all which are inexcusable Mistakes First our Laws admit of no Interregnum but date the Beginning of one King's Reign from the very Instant that another expir'd it being an Axiom with us and in all other Hereditary Monarchies that the King never dies The fatal Blow that depriv'd us of our late Soveraign put the Crown immediately upon his Son's Head From that Minute we were obliged to pay the same Duty to our present Soveraign which till then we ow'd to his Father and they who resisted him before his Coronation were Rebels as well as these who have done it since Whatever therefore a Coronation might have been anciently 't is now only look'd upon in the Nature of an Instalment upon which our Prince's Title to reign doth no ways depend else it would be the first Thing they would go about whereas it is ordinarily put off till such Time as it can be performed with the most Solemnity In the second place it appears by this that the Coronation is no such Compact as destroys the Prince's Title if he fail in his part for where he has his Crown by Inheritance his Coronation is the Effect of his Title but not his Title of his Coronation which can never make him lose what it did not give him nor yet weaken the Right which he had upon his Predecessor's Death As our King ows his Crown to his Birth and not to any Suffrage or mutual Agreement with his People so 't is ridiculous to imagine that his Coronation alters his Right and makes that conditional and capable of being lost which was before absolute and hereditary In a word if the Reign of our Princes commenced only from the Time of their being crown'd they would be in uneasy and dangerous Circumstances till that were over but on the other hand if their Coronation limited their Birth-right or made their Title more precarious they would contrive to have this Solemnity among the last Performances of their Lives Lastly in the Business of the Covenant there is a double Fallacy first in making it pass for the Coronation Oath and secondly in inferring a Forfeiture of the Crown where the Coronation Oath is broken When we complain of the King 's not making good the Covenant we affirm that he has thereby cancell'd his Right to govern which yet according to our own Supposition is not true unless we allow the Covenant to be the Coronation Oath But this is absurd seeing the

at so dear a rate might justly have challeng'd their entire Obedience upon the Principles of Gratitude as well as Duty but upon the woful Rupture which soon after followed betwixt him and his English Parliament the Spirit and Temper of our Covenanters did discover it self more than ever Far from being satisfied with the great Trouble they had occasion'd at home or with the Settlement procur'd to their Hearts Desire they cherish the two Houses in their unreasonable Demands about Religion and as it is most ingenuously observed by a late Writer of our Nation shew themselves now as violent in pressing England's Uniformity with Scotland as they were formerly in condemning the Design of bringing Scotland to an Uniformity with England 'T is not my Task to meddle with the Differences betwixt the King and his English Parliament which I leave to the excellent Pens of that Nation but sure I am there was not the least Reason for Scotland's espousing the Parliaments Quarrel or for fomenting their Jealousies of a Prince who had so lately given us such undoubted Marks of his transcendent Bounty in yielding to all that our Covenanters demanded besides by the Explication of the Covenant we obliged our selves to assist his Majesty in every Cause that concern'd his Honour and so ought to have been thankful for his Majesty's Condescension in suffering us to continue neutral yet notwithstanding these Obligations The Parliament's Interest was so dear to our Commissioners then at London that forgetting the Quality of Mediators in which they first appear'd they sided openly with the Houses against the King Nor were our Ministers at home less partial our Pulpits did ring with Curses against some who were for a Neutrality as Enemies to the Cause of Christ and the Reformation of England all were invited to join in so meritorious a Work and at length all Sense of Duty was so entirely cast off that the chief Promoters of those Designs adventur'd to assume to themselves a most undoubted Prerogative of the Crown in summoning a Convention of Estates without the King's Leave From a Convention call'd without Authority there was no reason to expect any legal Proceedings or Complyance to the King who yet vouchsafed to approve of their Meeting upon Condition they would observe such Limitations as were prescrib'd in his Letter But the Business of England and the raising an Army being the only Things which he forbid them to meddle with were the first which fell under their Consideration and Commissioners being sent from the Parliament of England to treat about an Army our Convention of Estates notwithstanding the King 's special Command to the contrary received them with open Arms agreed readily to their Demands and exprest such an hearty Desire of a strict Union betwixt the two Kingdoms that their warm Consultations did in a few Days hatch the solemn League and Covenant It was strange to see a League which so highly concern'd a King two Kingdoms differing much in Laws and Constitutions and two Churches differing no less in Worship and Discipline so easily and suddenly concluded It was first seen afterwards approved and lastly sworn in the General Assembly all within the short Period of three Days The Ministers made this wonderful Unanimity pass with the People for an undeniable Testimony of the Divine Approbation tho others who could never be convinced that the former Covenant received its Seal from Heaven entertain'd no better Opinion of this but did attribute their Agreement only to the dexterous Management of the Leaders who had such a powerful Influence and Authority over the rest that they seldom fail'd in any Thing they proposed The whole Negotiation ended without any Debates Yet there was apparent jugling on both Hands for the English Commissioners had a great mind to carry with them a Scotish Army but had no liking at all to our Presbytery and therefore consenting to a Reformation according to the Word of God told one another that they understood well enough what to make of that at home the Scotish on the other Hand designing to get Presbytery establish'd in England cast in the Words of Reforming according to the Practice of the best reformed Churches hoping this made sure for theirs as the most perfect Model that could any where be found our Ministers were likewise for abjuring Episcopacy as simply unlawful but neither the English Commissioners then in Scotland nor the Parliament or Assembly of Divines at Westminster thought fit afterwards to declare that Institution unlawful whereupon the Article was conceived to import only an abolishing of Episcopacy as it was then in England without condemning what the Primitive Church had allow'd in all its Purity To describe all the subtile Arts which were used the manifest Elusions and Breaches wherewith we charged England and England us together with the fatal Consequences of this Covenant in both Nations would require much pains and leisure It will suffice at present to make some brief Reflections which may serve to cool our too great Fondness of it All that could be alledg'd against the National Covenant was of force against this besides many Material Circumstances to render it yet more inexcusable for if we never find Subjects lawfully united among themselves without the Prince's leave much less could the Subjects of one Nation take upon them to make a League with those of another contrary to the King's Command and in Prejudice of his Authority Ought we not to have been contented with the Enjoyment of all we could desire at home without medling in the Concerns of another Nation who generally did not appear fond of an Alteration and never were fitted for our Church-discipline Was there no more regard due to a Soveraign who had deserv'd so well at our hands than even to pursue him out of his native Countrey and grudge him that Liberty of Conscience in England which he had graciously yielded to us in Scotland We read of many Nations that engag'd in Wars for the Enlargement of their Soveraign's Empire or Authority over Strangers we alone shall be known to Posterity as guilty of helping Strangers to shake off the Allegiance due to a Prince born among our selves But besides these general Reflexions every one of the six Articles whereof this Covenant consisted lay open to several Exceptions As I. It seem'd hard that every ignorant Person in Scotland should be obliged by Oath to endeavour the Reformation of England according the Word of God and the Practice of the best reformed Churches What knowledg alas could Persons of so mean Capacity or Education be presumed to have of Differences among reformed Churches of which they were to judge upon Oath how could they weigh the Advantages of Holland above Geneva of France above Holland or of Scotland above France and accordingly endeavour the Reformation of England truly 't is to be doubted that more was here required of the meanest and weakest of the People than many of our ablest Ministers could well have

terrible Manner that King Ahaziah's did which were sent against the Prophet But hitherto those that have appear'd in Arms against the King have been so far from giving any evidence of God's Fighting for them or authorizing their Proceedings by Miracles that he rather has seem'd to disown them by casting a Damp upon their Spirits when they stood most in need of some extraordinary Assistance I appeal to those who were at any of those unhappy Engagements against their Prince whether they did not find that Heat and Flame which upon other Occasions they were able to express suddenly quencht when they were just about to act have not some of their Teachers upbraided them in the Psalmist's Words that like the Children of Ephraim Psal 78. v. 9. Being armed and carrying Bows they turn'd back in the Day of Battel Have not the Troops that were sent against them confess'd they could not much glory in their Victories because they were so easily obtain'd To be plain I am afraid we are become equally the Object of the World's Contempt and of its Hatred our late Behaviour having brought upon us the Imputation of Cowardise as well as Disloyalty Third Consideration If the Persons for whom I undertook this Argument think fit to reade what has been said upon the first two Points I hope they will not give over here but will vouchsafe to consider with me in the third place whether any Obligation lying upon us from the late Covenants be a sufficient Warrant for what we do Now the best Method I can propose in this is to give a brief Account of the Rise and Progress of both Covenants with some impartial Reflexions upon them in which if my Reader will not rest satisfied he shall have no occasion at least given him to think me tedious Our late Soveraign being fully persuaded that no Church did approach so near the Primitive Purity in Worship and Discipline as that of England was resolved to make his Native-Countrey share in what he judg'd so great a Blessing and in order to it had a Liturgy and a Book of Canons published for the use of Scotland where he was unhappily made believe he should meet with Approbation from the better sort and with Complyance from all But the Peoples insolent and mutinous Behaviour in affronting and disturbing the Persons who were ordered to read the Service in the Churches of Edenburgh did shew how ill they were disposed to receive it This Popular Tumult the first Sunday was soon after back'd with Petitions and other Marks of their Dislike which obliged the Council to advance slowly until they gave the Court advice of what had past And before the King could come to a Resolution in a Business of so great Importance such as were no Friends to the Government not only ventur'd to publish their Dissatisfaction and to enflame the Kingdom with strange Jealousies of Popery and Arbitrary Power but likewise formed themselves into several Tables as they called them of Noblemen Gentlemen Ministers and Citizens and by a new Authority took upon them to sum up all the Grievances which they intended should be redressed and tho his Majesties not urging the Liturgy upon that Kingdom when he saw it could not be done in a peaceable way might have quieted all their Minds yet finding their Party strong beyond Expectation they were loth to let slip so favourable a Juncture but boldly resolved to secure themselves against all Attempts of this kind by entering into a National Covenant in which they pretended only to renew that which had been sworn in the Reign of King James Those who adhered to the King's interest could by no means allow of this manner of proceeding which appeared equally disingenuous and undutiful The discontented Party alledged in their own behalf the President given them in the late Reign which the others thought did no ways favour their Cause seeing the Covenant then taken was stampt with Royal Authority whereas theirs now seem'd directly opposite to it for there could not be the least Pretence to the King's consent which they never so much as desired 'T is true it was upon the humble Motion of a general Assembly that the former King's Council had order'd the National Covenant to be taken the last time with a Bond to maintain the true Religion and the King's Person But this instance of the General Assemblies Motion which they laid hold on was so far from justifying that it rather condemned their Proceedings in regard that the General Assemblies not enjoyning the Covenant till they had first obtained his Majesties Consent made it evident that in the Assemblies Judgment the Oath could not be renewed without that Authority which first imposed it Nor could they expect any Sanctuary from the Acts of Parliament for it had been declared by more than one that all who leagu'd themselves together without the knowledg of their Soveraign were to be punished as Movers of Sedition and Disturbers of the Publick Peace Besides their want of Authority they laid themselves open to another most dangerous Censure while under colour of copying a Covenant and Bond allowed of in the late Reign it plainly appear'd they had not taken their measures by that Standard but had explain'd many things rather according to their own than King James's Mind and had also added several new Articles of most pernicious consequence both to the King's Person and the establish'd Government The King's Person was endanger'd in so far as by their new Bond they enter'd into a mutual Defence of one another against all Persons whatsoever without excepting his Majesty This the Royal Party said was in Effect to declare that if he offer'd to thwart them they must then oppose him by adhering to their Covenant Nor were they more favourable to the established Government in which they made a wide Breach by taking upon them to cancel all the Acts of Parliament and of General Assemblies that authorized the high Commission the five Articles of Perth or the sitting of Bishops in Judicatures Now by these and several other Instances of this kind it seem'd strange with what face they could make their Covenant and Bond pass for the same with the former Kings seeing it was not to be presum'd that the Father design'd to lessen either his own or his Son's Authority Nor to teach his Subjects how to combine without being Rebels nor yet to favour the extirpating the Articles of Perth and other Things after his Death which in his Life he had so industriously promoted Whatever Influence these Pretences might have upon undiscerning People or such as gave an implicite Credit to whatever their Pastors taught them the World abroad had much different Thoughts Nor could all the Endeavours that were used to win many of the Reformed Religion in France to a good Opinion of such Courses for they having long inveighed against that wicked Association at home call'd the Holy League found their Mouths now stop'd when the Protestants contrary