Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
england_n	france_n	great_a	king_n	26,882	5	4.1773	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46900	Three sermons preached the first in Richmond Church, August 17. 1690. on the most happy accession of Their Majesties, King William and Queen Mary to the Crown. The second in Mortlake Chuch in Surrey March 3. 1694. on the death of our late most gracious soveraign lady the Queen, of blessed memory. The third in Mortlake Church, April 16. 1696. being the day of Thanksgiving unto Almighty God, for discovering and disappointing the horrid and barbarous conspiracy to assassinate His most gracious Majesty's royal person: and for delivering this kingdom from an invasion, intended by the French. By Christopher Johnson, M.A. and school-master of Richmond in Surrey. Printed to prevent mistakes concerning the author.	Johnson, Christopher, b. 1657 or 8.	1696 (1696)	Wing J770BA; ESTC R216574	43,561	66

on the good and sendeth Rain on the just and on the unjust After such Charity 't is impossible for us to doubt of her Faith and Hope but we may rest assured that both were very great And in short that she might finish her Course with Joy she left not the great Work of Repentance to the last Call but with the Wise Virgins had her Lamp ready trimmed with Oyl in it when the Bridegroom came requiring her to come away So did she watch that when her Lord came expecting immediate Attendance she was not found Sleeping nor Trifling or wasting away her precious time but in the Exercise of all those Christian Graces which with her humble Submission and Resignation to God's Will through Christ translated her from the Corruptible Crowns here below to an Eternal and Glorious Diadem above when being Faithful to her Death God gave her a Crown of Life O to her most Happy and Glorious Second Coronation in the highest Heavens while we Mortals here below lament our Loss which is her Gain Thus have I Coasted upon the Sea-shore of those Graces and Virtues which did shine on Earth in God's Anointed and the Nursing-Mother of our Church And to launch out farther into the unfathomable Ocean of them would require more time with a stronger and larger Vessel than my poor Talent can equip and send out into so vast a Deep An Ocean of them I mention because her Brook became a River and her River became a Sea a main Sea Ecclus 24.31 encompassing that whole Globe of Goodness which was inherent in Her Majesty while she acted in that great Sphere of Glory and Honour here to save our Church and these Nations and the sinking Parts of Europe out of the Hands of their Potent and Common Enemy which was purely Her Majesty's Design and is the Intent of the Mighty NASSAU our Most Gracious King And so to prevent a Rushing Destruction at Hand and be the Deliverers of many Nations and People from Ruin by the Power put into their Hands through God's Merciful Providence when the Nobles and Patriots of this Nation made their Requests to Their Majesties and the Peoples Cries and humble Prayers and Solicitations by their Representatives wrought upon them to fill the Empty Throne therefore This did not I hope infrinnge or trespass against the Fifth Commandment when the People of the Land took them and made them KING and QUEEN their Crowns were even forced upon their Heads for the Salvation of our Church and an Universal Deliverance from the approaching Thraldom of a Foreign but yet too Near and too Potent an Enemy I Challenge the World then to find out any Blemish or Spot in that Bright and most Clear Luminary which now the Curtain being drawn by the interposition of the great Vail and Canopy of the Heavens between her and us suffers an Eclipse in respect of our selves but not of her who enjoys a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory And yet Her Just Title here was Glorious too MARY the Second by the Grace of God QUEEN of Great Britain France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. But she added thereto the Choicest Ornaments and most precious Rubies in her Crowns the Transcendent Virtues of her most Comely and Graceful Person with great Majesty outwardly and all Mercy within So that as our Loss is more than we can express so are her due Praises beyond all the Flowers of Rhetorick and Art of Elocution To Enumerate whose Virtues as the Honourable House of Commons said were to aggravate our Sorrow Address to the King Dec. 31.1694 Wherefore a mighty Glory is departed from us from the Christian World from all true Protestants chiefly whose great Hope and Joy and Comfort she was And France it self tho' different in Religion from us is not free from that Cloud of Darkness whether sensible of it or no that covers us by the Decease of Her Most Excellent Majesty That such an Unparallel'd Good Princess had so Just a Title to that Crown from Her Royal Ancestors For not to insist upon all that we might we will only mention that our Valiant King Edward the Third but for the unjust Salique Law was Heir to France after the Death of Philip the Fair * Philip Duke De Valois the other See Sir R. Baker's Chron. Life of Edw. 3. being then according to some Histories the nearer in Blood of the Two Competitors but drawing his Pedigree by a Female Our Victorious King Henry the Fifth was Proclaim'd in France as well as in England to be the only Regent of that Realm and Heir Apparent to that Crown Whose Son the Devout King Henry the Sixth was not only Proclaim'd but with all usual Ceremonies Crown'd in Paris King of France And now consider we what profound Veneration and Love had this our Great Princess gain'd in the Minds and Affections of those beyond the Sea What Universal Affliction is in those Countries she lived in What huge Expressions of Sorrow for her Death do they give Blessed be they of the Lord for the great Honour and Kindness they bare to her when she was in a strange Country But O the unexcuseable Ingratitude of those who did not the like to Her Majesty in the Land of her Nativity When in other Parts of the World she so drew the Eyes and Hearts of all People after her that she was Beloved to Admiration and was their great Desire But now she is taken from us as well as from them Of whom the World was not worthy she being too Good and Virtuous for this Wicked and Adulterous Generation And so like another Astraea she is fled to Heaven for a Resting-place And what Vows would we make What Prayers would we offer up to Enjoy her again What Returns of Praises and Thanksgivings would we present to God in imitation of David and all Israel when they brought home the Ark But alas she is gone and shall not return to us Which sad Affliction is enough to damp and weigh down the greatest Spirits and to strike us all Dumb that we open not our Mouths only by the way of Mourning and Humiliation because it is God's doing who in the Flower of her Days as well as of our Hopes sent forth his Decree to call her hence To reverse which if it had been the Blessed Will of the Lord what Prayers what Sighs and Tears were poured forth and Means used that the Distemper might not prevail over her nor the King of Terrors Conquer by to us such a bitter Destiny cutting so early the Thread of so Precious a Life so universally desired long to remain But Oh! the Hand of the Lord hath been very heavy upon us for our Sins and to the utmost period of her Race here she hath suddenly and unexpectedly run So that with Job we may now say Our Harp is turned to Mourning Job 30.31 and our Organ into the Voice of them that weep

hath done great things for us whereof we rejoice And this affirm we in defiance of all who deny Him or his Providence whether in Thought or in Act or be it by both And for all this may we fear Him may we love Him above all things in Heaven and in Earth May all our Hearts all our Souls our Minds and our Strength have a full share in this Affection towards God and so by the Operation of every Faculty and Power in us proper thereto may we take our fill in loving Him that as He hath loved us so the love of Him may dwell plenteously in us To excite us the more to our Duty of Love and Praise Adoration and Thanksgiving it is requisite that we consider what and how great the Blessing is wherein consists the Salvation wrought so lately in our Land And of the Blessing of God now upon us and His Salvation vouchsafed unto us none can be ignorant forasmuch as all know that God Almighty has manifested his Providence his Power and Mercy towards His Most Excellent Majesty and His People by laying open the Depths of Satan and the secret Intentions of wicked Men that He has Discovered and Delivered the King from an Horrid and Barbarous Conspiracy of Papists and other Trayterous Persons to Assassinate and Murder His Royal Person and the Kingdom from an Intended Invasion by the greatest Enemies to its and all Europe's Repose the French By which great Deliverance the King 's Royal Person is saved from Destruction His Government Secured and this Realm Freed from that Total Subversion of its Religion Laws and Liberties which if God had not thus mercifully interposed would have been the Fate of it Lo this is the Blessing and it is very great this is the Salvation we now give thanks for and it is wonderful Here is repeated Mercy and Goodness to an unwise and foolish People who have ill requited God with Ingratitude for His former Loving-kindnesses But as we now meditate on His Mercy so may we with Rivers of Tears in our Eyes think of the other Method God so lately used to reduce us unto a right Sense of our selves by the Deplorable Loss of that most Virtuous and Pious Princess the Queen of Blessed Memory who fell by a heavy stroke alas To us it was God punishing us for our many Provocations our Incorrigible and Undutiful Behaviour to Him that He might melt us thereby into Sorrow and Repentance that He might force us to humble our selves with Weeping and Fasting and to cloath our Souls with Mourning Attire when the thick Cloud of his Anger overspread these Nations by Her Death And now again He invites us to Him in love for lo the Bright Beams of His Mercy shining every where He hath called us this Day out of the Houses of Mourning into those of Joy He hath put a new Song into our Mouths even a Thanksgiving unto our God for the Safety of our Most Serene and Illustrious Monarch KING WILLIAM the Father of our Country the Great Joy and Hope and Support of many Nations the most Heroick and Noble Patron and Assertor of ours and all Europe's Liberties by whose Crown falling from His Head and so the Glory departing again from us God might have laid us with Bleeding Hearts in Dust and Ashes have heaped upon us all the Mischiefs that the Rage and Madness of our Incensed Enemies could bring who would have number'd their Merits by the quantities of our Blood they should have caused to run in our Streets when the more of us they had killed the more Service to God they would have boasted that they had done like that Duke D'Alva who assumed much Glory and Honour to himself for the Slaughter he made of many Thousand Protestants or Hereticks by such Men of Blood falsly so called But O that Men would praise the Lord for his Goodness and declare the Wonders he doeth for us the Children of Men when by a Miracle of Mercy we are saved from that Wo and Destruction which otherwise would at this time have been raging by Fire and Sword in these Islands with Apparent Danger of Ruin and Desolation upon all the Confederate Countries by that Ambitious Prince who has hunted after the Precious Life of our KING that he might Subdue the Nations to the Rod of his Power and tread them under his Feet But behold the Justice of the Lord as well as his Mercy in the King's Salvation For what had Men to do to take God's Prerogative out of His Hands and to number the King's Moments of Life by the time they should set a Fatal period thereto So long as God hath bound up his Soul in the Bundle of Life and may it be I pray God for many Years even to a good Old Age those who have to do with the Stool of Wickedness may sit thereon long enough Plotting and Contriving his Death thus imagining or framing Mischief by their own Wicked Counsels as a Law or Decree written like but more Cruel than those of Draco said to be in Blood and yet shall not be able to prevail with all the Powers of Hell on their side For no Sorcery no Divination no Inchantment no Conspiracy or Weapon form'd against this Mighty Defender of our Faith and of the Liberties of Europe can prosper so long as the Lord is on our side so long as He is the Rock of our Salvation and He will not leave us nor forsake us if we do not leave Him first O therefore draw we near unto Him in Faith and full Assurance of His continual Favour and keep we from every wicked thing from Atheism of the Mind from Atheism of the Will and the Act From Profaneness in our Hearts in our Words and in our Deeds Let us Religiously observe this Day with an holy Joy that it may be acceptable unto the Lord. Let no vain Oaths cause the Land to mourn nor any other Sin of our Souls or Bodies pollute this Day And let us observe every Lord's Day with greater distinction from other Days than we have hitherto done And so may we now turn unto the Lord and prosper May we wash off all Stains and Blemishes of past Ingratitude and be thankful for evermore hereafter And then will we say unto the Grand Enemy of Europe The Virgin Isa 37.22 the Daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn the Daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her Head at thee Then the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church of England for her Faith is Built on a Rock and He who is truly the Defender thereof shall stand by Her with Power from God to preserve Her as He hath promised to do to His utmost To our Consolation then be it spoken That Great Deliverance giveth God unto His King that he is a Tower of Salvation unto him and sheweth Mercy unto His Anointed Wherefore will we rejoice and sing triumphantly The Lord liveth and blessed be

pleasant an Echo as is enough to refresh a Devout and Pious Soul meditating upon the Mercies of God So that an Excellent Pattern of a great Solemnity in this kind we have here and many more there are in the holy Records of the Jewish Church Exod 15. Such is the Song of Moses and the Children of Israel after the Overthrow of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea and their own safe passage through the same from their hard Servitude and Bondage in Egypt Such is the Song of Deborah and Barak Jude 5. for their great Victory over Sisera Captain or General of the Host of Jabin King of Canaan and Israel's Deliverance from his Master's Oppression Such is the Celebration of King Jehoshaphat's and his People's Praise 2 Chro. 20. and Joy and Triumph for a mighty Victory over and Salvation from a numerous Heathenish Host besides many others which deserve our Observation When Godly Princes and Rulers have excited themselves and their People to be thankful as our Most Gracious King has commanded us now to be as His Royal Ancestors and many other Kings and Potentates have upon the like Occasions sent out their Mandates and Decrees requiring their People to give Glory and Praise unto the God of their Salvation And a good Principle it is of the Church of England readily to obey from time to time the Defenders of Her Faith in commanding that which she owns an Indispensible Duty and Tribute to the King of Kings from which may not any of her Members swerve at this time But may every one with joint consent heartily say Amen this Day to these words blessed be my Rock and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation and that upon the account of our present Grounds for Thanksgiving Which Metaphor of a Rock is of frequent use in Holy Writ and hath divers significations So that this thankful Expression blessed be my Rock carries the sence and authority of Blessed be my sure and immoveable Foundation Blessed be my Help and mighty Defence Blessed be my Refuge and Salvation And so Blessed be my God Himself who is all these to His Faithful Servants As to illustrate this by other Examples he is also an Horn and Tower or Fortress of Salvation unto them For a Horn denotes Glory and Strength great Power and Might all which are Infinite in Him And a Tower is the Emblem of Succour and Safeguard and as such well applied unto God Prov. 18.10 The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower the Righteous runneth into it and is safe Wherefore holy David aptly resembles God to a Rock For what in Nature is stronger than a Rock And therefore what could be a more proper Hieroglyphick than it to express God in His Attribute of Omnipotency by which He is able to deliver His Servants when void of all Hope and who is not only above Nature but infinitely transcends all other Supernatural Beings whether they be Thrones Principalities Powers or any other Order and Degree of the whole Celestial Hierarchy it self And whereas it follows in the Text exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation The meaning is obvious and easie with this Comment or Gloss unto it naturally drawn from the aforesaid Interpretation of the Trope by which the Lord is likened to a Rock for by it this Clause doth ascribe Exaltation and Praise to the God strong and able to save As if the Royal Prophet had magnified him thus exalted or praised be the God of the Strength or of the Power of my Salvation by whose irresistible Might I was preserved from the Violence of my Cruel Enemies Not that Man can add any thing to God in all this whereby to make Him greater in any respect than He is in Himself but it is by way of an humble and thankful Declaration of His Glory His Greatness His Immense Power and Goodness It is a telling out of His Praise and Wondrous Acts a shewing forth the Mercy and Loving-kindness of the Lord with Gratitude and Joy When Men are not hardned against Mercy but are sensible that they have seen and tasted the abundant Goodness of the Lord after His Countenance hath of His Free Grace shined with unspeakable Favour upon them And now Deut. 32.1 Give ear O ye Heavens and I will speak and hear O Earth the words of my Mouth For I will publish mighty things that the Lord hath done for us And I will ascribe the Glory and Greatness of all unto our God For many and great are the wondrous Works which the Lord our God hath done like as be also his Thoughts which are to us-ward O how great is the Sum of them Who can reckon them up in order to Him If I should declare them and speak of them they should be more than I am able to express Wherefore I shall not pretend to enumerate and publish the whole Series and Catalogue of His Mercies from time to time conferred upon us for if I could bring them all within the reach of my Discourse which is next to impossibility yet my present Task does not oblige me to run through so large a Province but more especially binds me to the Business of this Day of the Great and Auspicious Deliverance for which we Celebrate the Solemnity of a Publick Thanksgiving for God's late unspeakable Mercies to the King and these Realms And therefore we will in silence admire His Marvellous Preservations that are past and employ our Thoughts on his present Salvation We will only think how Famous the Two last Eighty Eights are The former by a Successful Deliverance of this Nation from the threatned Destruction when her Enemies sent against it their Invincible Armada as they then in the height of Pride and Ostentation named it and which perished with Shame and Confusion And the last Eighty Eight is Glorious for our Memorable and Blessed Preservation from Apparent Dangers at Home from Evil and Destruction growing up in the midst of us the Flames of which were quenched and the Rage and Fury stopt by the most Happy Coming of our Good and Gracious KING WILLIAM to our Relief making thereby another Fifth Day of November as great an Ensign of God's special Providence to us as that Fifth of November still is by the Discovery of that Horrid that most Trayterous and Bloody-intended Massacre by Gunpowder These things let us think on with the Praises of God in our Mouths and with all Humility Devotion and Gratitude in our Hearts And for His unspeakable Goodness for which we Solemnize this Day set apart by Royal Authority for the Holy Exercise of Praise and Adoration unto the Supreme Governour of the Universe from whom cometh Salvation at all times let us believe in the Lord with Joy and Thanksgiving and Triumphantly say That the Lord liveth that He seeth and ordereth all things that his Presence fills all places and his Providence is busie and active every where that He