Selected quad for the lemma: england_n

Word A Word B Word C Word D Occurrence Frequency Band MI MI Band Prominent
england_n james_n king_n scot_n 3,888 5 9.6692 5 false
View all documents for the selected quad

Text snippets containing the quad

ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A46960 Reflections on the History of passive obedience by Samuel Johnson. Johnson, Samuel, 1649-1703. 1689 (1689) Wing J838; ESTC R2473 7,933 12

There is 1 snippet containing the selected quad. | View lemmatised text

REFLECTIONS ON THE History of PASSIVE OBEDIENCE By SAMUEL JOHNSON IN turning over the late History of Passive Obedience I quickly found out the Author to be a King James's Man and no King William's Man for so it is that by means of some who pretend to be mightly Church-of England Men we have Two Kings on foot and when a Man in common Conversation names the King he is asked to explain himself and to say which King he means And when I had discovered of what stamp the Historian was I needed no great sagacity to understand the Design and Drift of the History It is this plainly to thrust out the present Government by leaving no Room for it and by telling us that the late Tyranny was Sacred and Irresistible it is to keep up that Indefeisible Title which no Religion no Law no Fault nor Forfeiture can Alter or Diminish It is to blacken all the Glorious Instruments of our Deliverance who invited over and joined the Prince of Orange with the multiplied Titles of Rebels and Traitors and to leave them all in a State of Damnation which they must get out of as well as they can it is in short to Damn the whole Nation both the Defenders of our Country and the Passive-men too the former for Resisting and the latter for not Assisting the late King the former as Giants that fought against God and the latter as Disloyal and Perjured Wretches in not fighting for him So that it calls them All to Repentance and Reparation and is in effect a great many Sermons together upon one of their late Texts Why are ye the last in bringing back the King He when he went away left it under his Hand That the Nation was Poisoned and therefore out again comes this Historian with the old Orvetan having a great number of Probatum's annexed to it to try if it will prove a better Restorative than it did a Preservative against that venomous Doctrine of a Nation 's Defending their Rights and Liberties and rescuing themselves from Slavery But the Truth and Goodness of any Doctrine is not to be tried by the telling of Noses and therefore this History signifies as little to the Merits of the Cause as if it had been the History of Tom Thumb and somewhat less if it be a False History as I shall in few words plainly shew it to be For whereas the commendable Diligence of this Historian has made several Chapters concerning the Publick and Established Doctrine of the Church of England which have not one Syllable to his purpose At the same time he has made no mention nor taken any notice at all of three Acts of Convocation which are likewise Acts of Parliament in Queen Elizabeth's Reign which are the Standard of the Church of England Doctrine in this Case And these are back'd with three other Contemporary Acts of Parliament to the same purpose which are full in Point to justify the late Dutch Expedition by celebrating the Religion Justice and Merit of three several Expeditions in those Days which were exactly the same with this Last I have Printed the very words of these Six Acts of Parliament four times over once in my Answer to Constantius and thrice in the Opinion of Resistance which is extant p. 130 131. of my Collection And therefore the total omission of them in this History and the passing them over in so profound a Silence is not reconcileable with the Faithfulness required in an Historian If he passed them over as being no fit Materials for his Passive History but contrary to it then I wonder very much that he should advance a Doctrine under the Name of the Church of England which he knew to be opposite to Six Acts of Parliament and to three solemn and binding Declarations of the whole Church of England when he has not so much as any one Authority of the same Nature to stand in competition with any one of those Declarations I am perfectly weary with transcribing those Passages as they there stand and as they are the highest Acknowledgments and Applauses of Queen Elizabeth for her assisting the Scots Dutch and French in their several Defences of themselves against Tyranny and Oppression and therefore I shall here only apply some of those Authentick and Act-of-Parliament Expressions to the present Case If those brave Men were now alive they would certainly be very forward in paying their own Deliverance-Mony when they paid six Shillings in the Pound Deliverance-Mony for their Neighbours and would have been very thankful to his present Majesty for using Godly and Prudent Means namely a Fleet and Army to abate the Hostility and Persecution practised against them and for his Princely and Upright preservation of the Liberty of the Realms and Nations of England Scotland and Ireland from imminent Captivity and Desolation They would have gratefully acknowledged the great and perpetual Honour which it hath pleased God to give his Majesty in making him the principal Support of all just and religious Causes against Usurpers They would have said The States of Holland are now become in their turn since your Majesty's happy Days both a Port and Haven of Refuge for Distressed States and Kingdoms and a Rock and Bulwark of Opposition against the Tyrannies and Ambitious Attempts of Mighty and Usurping Potentates Now let us search this Historian's whole Pack and see what he has got to oppose to this publick Doctrine of the Church of England wherein she allowed and abetted the Subjects of three several Soveraign Princes in fighting against them and was successful in helping two of those Countries to throw off the Yoke of their Oppressors Mary Queen of Scots and Philip the 2d of Spain And upon examination I cannot find in this whole History one Publick Act contrary to this Established Doctrine of the Church of England There is not a word against this in the 39 Articles nor in the Homilies for as I have heretofore shewn the up-shot of the Homily of Obedience is obeying Common Authority And Rebellion is there defined to be resisting or withstanding Common Authority and therefore I heartily subscribe the Homilies over again For the difference betwixt Authority and No Authority Law and No Law though it be thought a little and a puzzling distinction by this Historian yet I am sure is both a very clear one and goes a great way with me There is not a word against this in the Liturgy and therefore this Historian catches at a Straw when he says that God is stiled in it the only Ruler of Princes For may I defend my self against no Man's Violence till I can prove that I am his Ruler There is not a word against this in the Injunctions and Canons till you come to the Canons of Forty which instead of being established by Act of Parliament do stand condemn'd and reprobated by two Parliaments No nor in the Bishops Orders neither as I can see though I have valued them the less