Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	answer_v	good_a	great_a	1,118	5	2.5597	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85941	The down-fall of Anti-Christ: or, The povver of preaching, to pull down popery. In a briefe treatise on 2. Thessal. 28. By John Geree, Pastour of Tewkesbury, in Glocester-Shire.	Geree, John, 1601?-1649.	1641 (1641)	Wing G595; Thomason E157_17	18,755	26

that the same hand should heale which hath beene made accessary to the wound least this sin●ly tho not on the particular members yet on the house of Parliament and hinder Gods blessing from it This then requires consideration and in some part redresse lest this Sacriledge by hindering preaching foster Popery that begat it till they together consume the Land that harbours them Nehemiah any be in this a worthy Precedent who finding the effect of want of maintenance neglect of the worke of the Lord Nehemi 13.10 He did not onely gather the Levites together for the worke but contended with the Nobles and made the Tithes be brought for incouragement And Hezekiah tooke the same course before him 2. Chro. 31.4 He commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the Priests and the Levites that they might be incouraged in the Law of the Lord. Secondly neere of kin to the former which I therefore ranck next is the dissolving of that good worke of buying in Impropriations by certaine Feoffes in London for the service of Christ By the care paines and fidelity of which Feoffes many Churches were endowed with maintenance and furnished with godly faithfull able and laborious Pastours to the conversion and consolation of many Christian Soules But now those Feoffes being disabled well-affected people are utterly discouraged from imploying their liberality that way But if by Parliament those Feoffes were restored to their former power and right and if there were in every County Feosees enabled to receive the pious charity of well-disposed people for that purpose it would no doubt much encourage and advance the devotion of godly men and women that way and in time draw in the greatest part of impropriations in this Land and very much encrease the number of faithfull Preachers Let. 3 Thirdly Symoniacall contracts for the obtaining of livings and cure of soules this is done either by money or reservation of Tithes or otherwayes and this as it is a thing base and finfull in it selfe so is it a great let to the preaching of the Gospell For hereby good men are discouraged from inclining to that calling or being in it are kept out of imployment for as preferment was showed before to be rare so by this it appeares it can hardly be attained without corruption and upon hard termes So those that are poore being not able and those that are conscientious being not willing to buy tho never so able are permitted to stand idle because they cannot or will not buy a place to worke in This also is a let to learning and industry because learning or dexterity in preaching conduceth little to helpe a man in obtaining a cure mony must do the matter so that is sought after learning slighted Lawes are already strict against this corruption yea so strict that one would thinke stricter superfluous yet either vox populifallax or few enter into Church-livings gratis T is reported the Parliament was once about stricter Lawes against this corruption which motion deserves applause and renewing For if our Saviour Christ whipt out buyers and sellers in the Temple much more should Christians indued with power make sharpest scourges for buyers and sellers of the Temple else I shall never say of them That the zeale of Gods bouse hath eaten them up If then Patrons should abjure the taking as well as Incumbents the giving of money for any presentation or some other such like course which the wisdome of Parliament may invent to cure this corruption it might be a great helpe to exclude immeritors and further the well deserving But yet all the care that may be cannot effect in this a perfect cure for if Lawes be so strait and wisely framed that wit cannot elude them an evill conscience will swallow Camels and frustrate them while elections are lest wholly in the power of one therefore that as the nurse of Symony and other disorders must be confest to bee the next let of good Preachers in many places Fourthly corruption in the election of Ministers to beset over congregations power being left commonly to one man and that none of the congregation many times and many times no friend but an enemy to holy preaching or a Gallio that cares for none of these things yea many times this power resides in Papists themselves till they be convicted which of late in great ones is very rare Now this as it is the maine occasion of Symony a bargaine being easily made with one which with many were more difficult if not impossible So also when one is to present and that to a place where he himselfe shall neither have benefit nor inconvenience by the abilities or defects of the Minister presented here is a more easie way to be drawne aside by friends or other by respects lightly to regard the good of the place by providing an able preacher Nay many times it falling out that that one party is either an enemy to preaching or godlinesse it cannot be expected that such an one should provide a preacher or at least not a godly preacher and as good never a whit as never the better An excellent furtherance therefore it were like to be of supply of good preachers to places vacant if the people were restored to that interest in elections which primitively they possessed and still seeme to have right to Or if this seeme in our Law an intrenching on some mens rights and inheritance yet might the people have granted them an approving or negative voice The Patron proposing diverse that the people may chuse whom they best approve and reject whom they dislike yea all if they have just exceptions against their life or gifts till a man be proposed unto them so neere Saint Pauls description that they may see God hath fitted him to be a Minister somewhere and they may with good conscience chuse him to be theirs And this me thinkes no godly or ingenuous Patron should resist For Patronage is matter of trust which is to be answerd with care of the Church without regard of selfe-profit pleasuring friends or any such meane respect He that intends thus to answer a trust need not nor will not think much to have an helpe to prevent temptations to betray it by gifts solicitation of friends or such like avocations If the people had a power negative on just reason alledged this were a sufficient answer to all promotors of immerito's and yet no great inconvenience to the Patron for if he would commend one worthy no people would be so ungratefull but would let the Patrons desire be over-weight to one worthy against all others whatsoever And if any have so little grace or ingenuity that they would reteine their absolute power to have better opprotunity to make their markets tho they have lesse will they have more need of this restraint and their corrupt desire should not be the death of this motion but the birth of a good Law to cure them for it is