Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	edward_n	king_n	year_n	23,738	5	5.6713	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B01770	The humble advice and earnest desires of certain well-affected ministers, lecturers of Banbury in the county of Oxon, and of Brackly in the county of Northampton, to his Excellency Thomas Lord Fairfax, General of the forces raised by the authority of Parliament; and to the General Councell of Warre: / Presented Januray 25. 1649, by two of the subscribers. Also, a letter to the reverend ministers of the Gospel within the province of London, dated the 21 of this instant January.	Breedon, Zachariah.; Hodges, Thomas, d. 1688.	1649 (1649)	Wing B4341AA; ESTC R175578	5,583	12

The Humble Advice AND EARNEST DESIRES Of certain well-affected MINISTERS LECTURERS of BANBVRY in the County of Oxen and of BRACKLY in the County of Northampton To his Excellency THOMAS Lord FAIRFAX General of the Forces raised by the Authority of PARLIAMENT and to the General Councell of WARRE Presented January 25. 1649 by two of the Subscribers ALSO A LETTER to the Reverend Ministers of the Gospel wi●hin the Province of London Dated the 21 of this instant January Imprimatur James Crauford Jan. 25. 1649. LONDON Printed for James Boler at the Mary-gold in Fleet-street 1649. To his Excellency the Lord Generall FAIRFAX and his General Councel of WARRE The humble Advice and earnest Desires of certain wel-affected Ministers Lecturers of Banbury and Brackley MAy it please your Excellency and You Honoured Gentlemen Whereas by the blessing of God upon your unwearied endeavours subduing the common enemy more then once we were in a fair way of being restored to a long desired enjoyment of our Religion in purity our Persons and Estates in freedom we accept at all times and this day acknowledg it with great thankfulnesse Neverthelesse when we compare the sacred and solemn Oaths of Allegeance and Supremacy by Statute Law the Protestation and Nationall Covenant by authority of both Houses of Parliament obliging us to the Reformation of Religion preservation of his Majesties Person and just Power the defence of the Priviledges of Parliament and Liberties of the Subject tendered unto prest upon and all or most taken by us and so considerable a part of this Kingdom Together with some late Petitions Declarations and Representations to your Excellency and the Generall Councel of War and your late Remonstrance to the Commons of England assembled in Parliament and some proceedings thereupon both in relation to his Majestie and severall Members of Parliament And withall our own Station and Commission from God to be Watchmen and Seers to his people to stand upon our Watch-tower and give warning either of approaching sin or ruine to the Nation We cannot without wounding our own consciences and betraying the trust reposed in us sit down in silence but are constrained with all due respects to your Excellency and your Councell and we hope without the least offence to represent and desire as followeth First In reference to his Majestie That although we are not ignorant of nor can in the least approve the profanation and abuse of our solemn Covenant by the late unlawfull Ingagement from Scotland yet we cannot but represent to you and manifest to the world our utter dissent from all proceedings against his Majesties Crown and Life and that upon these ensuing grounds of Conscience and Prudence 1. The sacred Scripture the onely unerring rule for all undertakings neither by precept or precedent or other way doth warrant or countenance such actings of Subjects against their lawfull Soveraign But this remaineth upon divine Record That when the ten Tribes forsook their King they also forsook their God and had neither a good King nor scarce a good day afterwards And our own Chronicles do sadly tell us of a Deluge of bloud and calamities overflowing our Ancestours upon the Deposition of Edward the Second and Richard the Second both Kings of England 2. Our Law-books as we are informed by Parliament Declarations and as hath been lately acknowledged by your Remonstrance suppose the King can do no wrong If so then as wee conceive hee cannot by any written Law forfeit his Crown and Life to his people 3. We have solemnly bound our selves by Oaths and Covenant from which no Authority on earth can absolve us not to prejudice the Person nor diminish the just Authority of the King and therefore without manifest perjury as we conceive we cannot consent either to the Deposition of his Majesty or the deprivation of his life And here we humbly present to your most serious consideration Gods remarkable avenge upon the House of Saul of the breach of Covenant made by Joshuah with the Gibeonites some hundreds of yeers before and that although the Scriptures tell us hee did it out of his zeal to the House of Israel and Judah Fourthly The way of proceeding against his Majestie will be so far from speeding a Settlement that we beleeve it will unvaoydably tend to the scandal and hazard of Religion and losse of Liberty 1. In the judgement of our enemies This will be thought to verifie those foul aspersions so often abjured by the Parliament us and other their friends that the designe in our late just Defence was the ruine of his Majesty and the subversion of Regal Government 2. It will hazard Religion by rendring the Professors of it odious to the Common Enemy without by shaking the foundation of our Union with Scotland and by making an irreparable breach amongst men of the same pious and honest interest at Home 3. As for Liberty so much contended for it cannot be denied but it must be an invitation to forraign Princes to invade us their interest being the same And the rather considering the German-Peace so lately concluded by means whereof they cannot but be supplyed with Armies of Mercinaries that gape after such an opportunity But principally we fear this may give Life to the present design now on foot in Ireland which your and our Souls abhor for the utter ruine of our Friends there and speedy invading of this Kingdom And finally that this may tend to a perpetual engagement of the three Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland in blood all being so deeply interessed in the person of the King and that inevitably because the Prince of Wales the Heir apparent to the Crowns of all the three Kingdoms is now at liberty and may probably be proclaimed and crowned in Scotland and Ireland and so not likely to want power to seat him on his Fathers Throne here in England yea and that possibly without Conditions to the utter ruine of all that have adhered to the Parliament Fifthly whereas it is said That by his Majesties departing from his Parliament setting up his Standard and levying War against his People they are absolved from their allegiance to him notwithstanding the Oaths before mentioned We well remember that those Oaths together with the Covenant have been Constantly prest upon several Members of the Parliament and other Subjects in this Kingdom to the Time of the Late Treaty if not since and that notwithstrnding the aforesaid particulars now charged against his Majesty and therefore must needs be either vain and so a High prophanation of the dreadfull name of God or else obligatory And were they not so judged we know no convincing reason why they should be now suspended or abolished As to the execution of Justice upon Delinquents covenanted for we protest that the Dethroning or death of his Majesty in prosecution of Justice never entered into our hearts The same Covenant making speciall provision for the preservation of his Majesties Person Honor and Authority Sixthly

and lastly His Majesty was not taken in Battail but having a Military power and strong Garisons in England besides forces in Scotland and Ireland did being invited and encouraged as we think by severall joint Declarations and Protestations of the Parliament of both Kingdoms promising security to his Royall person surrender himself to the Army of our Brethren of Scotland and by them was delivered to the Commissioners of the Parliament of England upon express promise as we are in formed that no violence should be offered to his Person and farther when His Majesty went from Hampton Court we suppose him at Liberty to have gone for Scotland or Ireland but in the forementioned confidence in Parliamentary Declarations and the reallity of the Armies intentions towards him for we are ignorant of other sufficient cause he voluntarily betook himself to the Isle of Wight then in your power Secondly we declare in reference to the Parliament and Priviledges thereof That calling to minde his Majesties attempt to seiz upon the five Members which was declared by the Parliament and acknowledged by the King himself a breach of Priviledg and withall the Ordinance of Parliament of the 20 of August 1647. declaring the accessitated absence of divers Members of both Houses by reason of the horrid force upon them to be a ground sufficient for the making nul● and void all votes passed in both or either House of Parliament from the 26 of July to their return August 6 we cannot but conceive the seizing and secluding of divers Members many of them being well known to us to be faithfull Patriots and we are confident have not apostatized to the contrary party to be a breach of Priviledge of Parliament which in our Covenant we are sworn in our places to defend and do therefore crave leave to dissent Thirdly We declare in reference to Religion That although our soules abhorr that grand designe of the Devill and his Agents to decry all religious and zealous professors under the name of Sectaries and Independents and although we do willingly grant and heartily desire that the interest of all Godly and honest men may be carefully provided for and secured as far as is consistent with the word of God our Covenant and publique Peace and that men of different apprehensions in matters of less importance may not therefore be rendred utterly uncapable of all Offices of power and trust yet considering of what dangerous consequence an universal Toleration in matter of Religion so much laboured after in the beginning of Reformation by the Jesuitical party must needs prove to Church and State we presume timously to declare That such a Toleration is no way consonant to the Word of God and is repugnant to our National Covenant And now having herein according to our consciences so fully and freely discharged our duties to God and the Kingdom and as much as in us lyeth freed our selves from the guilt of the blood misery and ruine that threaten us and the whole Kingdom if not timely prevented We most humbly desire as followeth First that your Excellency will be pleased for the more speedy settlement of the true Protestant Religion and publique peace of the Kingdom to improve your utmost That the imprisoned and secluded Members that cannot justly be charged for betraying their Trust may be forthwith restored and such as shall be charged to be tryed by Parliament according to their Priviledg Secondly that weighing in a just balance the reasons before alledged with many more that may be added in relation to his Majesty we humbly desire your Excellency will be pleased by all lawfull means to endevour the suspending of all proceedings against his Majesties Crown and Life untill advice had in point of Conscience with the Reverend Assembly of Divines and the Church of Scotland touching the severall Oaths that lye both upon us and them and in point of prudence with the Kingdom of Scotland who are jointly concerned with us in his Majesty Thirdly and lastly that you will endeavour a right understanding a good correspondence and mutuall confidence between King Parliament City Army and all the well-affected persons of the Kingdom as also between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland thereby to frustrate the great expectations of the Popipsh arty who are high in their hopes by reason of our present sad divisions and distractions promising to themselves and doe not stick to declare it a greater advantage to them and their Religion now then if the King had prevailed by an absolute Conquest As also to hasten relief to our poor Brethren in bleeding and gasping Ireland for whom England hath kept the solemn monethly Fast near seven years together But to draw towards a conclusion we do here solemnly profess That it is not the least receding from our first sound principles upon which either with our persons prayers purses or al we engaged with the Parliament in the first and second war nor our own interest in Church patrimony or power God will provide or indeed any other byass of self-ends or respects whatsoever did move us thus to declare our selves but the meer Conscience of the many Oaths of God in which the Parliament You We and the generality of the wel-affected in the Kingdom indispensably stand bound before God Angels and Men That we desire to wash our hands as from the blood of all men so especially of our dread Soveraign and to approve our selves innocent of all that blood and misery the deposing and taking away his Majesties life will in our apprehension involve us our posterity and all men professing godliness in the three Kingdoms in We doe therefore from our soul beseech and importune you and every one of you as Men Gentlemen and Christian Souldiers by all that is or can be dear to good men as you desire to render a good account of your actions at the great Day to the righteous Judg of heaven earth That you will forbear doing ought in the premises which may wound the conscience or peirce the hearts of any of Gods people who are all alike with you or any of you precious to him as the apple of his eye which may rend and tear the bowels of this your and our native Country and occasion the common Enemy to blaspheme the Majesty Truth and Cause of our God and your God And further to contribute the utmost skil study and endeavours of you and every of you in your proper places and the great Counsellour and mighty God direct you all to remove ours and the Kingdoms fears to remedie the present abounding distempers and present and universall destruction That we and the generations to come may rise up and call you blessed and so eminent a Preservation of the Kingdom in such an extremity may be had in everlasting remembrance Zach. Breedon Minister of Croton William Palmer Minister of Rowsam Josias Bunn Minister of Turry-Weston John Hoffman Minister of Wotton Thomas Harris Minister of Brackley Robert Harris Minister of Shalston Edward Whirley Minister of Steeple-Aston John Cave Minister of Middleton-Chynie Samuel Welles Minister of Banbury Edward Archer Minister of Sommerton Robert Wilde Minister of Ayenho Tho. Hodges Minister of Souldern Richard White Minister of Wigginton Stephen Sedgwick Minister of Tinswick Creswell Whately Minister of Tad-Marton John Eyre Minister of Laurence-Marston John Bayly Minister of Frenhford Timothy Perkins Minister of Evenly Samson Smart Minister of Gritworth Reverend and Worthy in the Lord THe great breaches which now for some time have and still are made upon those publick Endearments to us viz. Religion our King and Parliament do sorely presse us and wound us deeply What shall we do We cannot keep silence we dare not if we should our Consciences would not Great are our fears but greater are our duties for the performance of which we have trampled down all our fears and through Gods mercy have met together and resolved with one heart and voice to own the Vows of God upon us and according to their obligation if we can do no more yet at least to deliver our own souls In order whereunto we and some others of our Brethren have chosen and sent up our Brethren Mr. Samuel Welles Minister of Banbury and Mr. John Bayly Minister of Frenckford to wait upon you at London whose Labours in this very thing also according to the wisdom and zeal given you we hear of and rejoyce in praying for you that they may not be in vain in the Lord They will acquaint you with our Humble Advice to the Lord Generall and his General Councel which though of it self it be a poor nail hammered by us inferiour Workmen yet being fastened by the hands of such Masters of the Assemblies as your selves may enter the deeper and stick the faster We beseech you to peruse it and to direct them in all things conducing to the right mannaging of it and to admit our few mites into the Treasury of your Religion and Loyalty And the God and Father of lights direct and assist you and us to shine as lights in the midst of a froward generation To his Mercies we commend you and rest Your Brethren and fellow-labourers in the Gospel of Christ Thomas Hodges John Eyre Timothy Perkins Robert Harris Zach. Breedon John Cave Josias Bunn Thomas Harris Samson Smart Edw. Archer Rob. Wilde FINIS