Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	arm_n	great_a	king_n	885	5	3.4421	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A58944	A seasonable remonstrance by way of address from the Church of England, to both Houses of Parliament.		1685 (1685)	Wing S2243; ESTC R216918	5,401	4

and to forwarn Us of our approaching Ruine In which certainly they were our best Friends if we could have been Friends to our selves and hark'ned to their Advice which we found too true though it had like to have been too late Let us consider likewise how they behave themselves at present now they enjoy the greatest Advantages they have had this many years and we shall find it to be with unexpected moderation We who were formerly almost frighted into Bedlam for fear of a Popish Successor find under JAMES the Just our Liberties our Properties our Rights and our Religion secured and may expect to see our Kingdom become Glorious and the old English Bravery once more flourish under such a King We see My dearest Children that our Fears were vain and our Jealousies without ground This very stone which was once rejected by the Architects is now become the chief stone in the Corner We may truly see in It the Hand of God and look upon it with Admiration and may expect if our accustomed Fears and Jealousies hinder not the greatest Blessings we can wish for an Vnion betwixt those two Walls thus long seperated but now in a fair way to be linked together by this Corner-stone after which how Glorious a Building may we hope for upon such Foundations Shall we then my Lords and Gentlemen still wage a War against these our Brethren who would live Peaceably amongst us and seek by all means to Endear us Shall we Exasperate two Enemies when one alone gives us sufficent imployment Shall we continue to put the rigour of the Laws equally in Execution against these our Generous Adversaries and those our Implacable Enemies Let it not be said we delight in Blood or that our Cause is not to be sustain'd but by Rigorous Penalties as if we had neither Truth nor Justice on our side I cannot think those to be good Foundations which must be cemented with Blood Neither can I think those who are reduced to my Embraces or retained in them by Rigour will be Faithful to me in the On-set Such are rather Slaves than Children Hypocrites not Sons who will forsake me upon any occasion Let Truth sustain me not Rigour Truth is of such a nature it will shine in the midst of Darkness It cannot suffer Shipwrack in the greatest Tempests No Persecutions could ever hinder the growth of it 'T is like a Diamond that casts its Luster in the dark resists the File the Hammer and the Fire but yet may be softned with the Blood of Goats The Gospel flourished in the greatest Persecutions Truth prevailed when the Professors suffered all sorts of Torments And their Blood which was shed made the Church more Fruitful But should the Church once begin to propagate her Truth by Bloodshed that Blood would Tarnish all its Luster and being bathed with it it would loose its Solidity its Splendour and its Value all at once Let Truth then be my Solid Foundation and let Us leave the Sanguinary and Penal Laws to those who are not built upon it If we cannot expect a perfect Peace and Vnion with Rome yet we may hope for a Truce a Cessation of Arms a Happy Correspondance and Mutual Commerce Some Overtures of Peace have been frequently made from the Romanists and I may truly say if it had not been for some Hot-headed Zealots and other ignorant Polemicks our breaches had never been so wide but on the contrary long since heal'd Our Zealots cry perpetually against the Idolatry of the Church of Rome and yet the Romanists cry as much against Idolatry as we If they would paint a Papist they besmear him with the ugly colour of Equivocations Mental Reservations Dispensations to Lye Forswear and Massacre their Neighbours When on the contrary the Roman Catholick recommends Simplicity and Godly Sincerity as truly Christian Virtues necessary to the conservation of Justice Truth and Common Society And tell us that all Pardons and Dispensations granted or pretended to be granted in order to any such ends or Designs have no other Validity or Effect then to add Sacriledge and Blasphemy to the above-named Crimes And as for our common Controvertists how often are we told by the Papists that they mistake their Tenents mis-represent their Doctrines fight against Chymera's of their own Brains and most commonly either spend whole Volumes in refuting Errors they condemn as well as we or establishing Truths which they affirm How often have they told us we must seperate their Articles of Faith from their Theological Questions and take their Doctrines from their Councils not their Schools And yet how little have our Polemicks profited by this Admonition How often have they urged us in former Times either to an Oral or Pen Combat upon condition freedom and security might be given them and the common Laws of Disputation observ'd but still either the Interest of State or some other accident hindred it Insomuch that in their publick Writings they have told us we behave our selves like persons Diffident of our Cause who decline a Dispute on equal Terms and either Mis-represent their Tenents as appears manifestly in their Doctrines of Justification and Merit Satisfaction and Indulgences or else play the Buffoons in Joaking Scoffing or relating Stories which if true would not touch Religion I must confess many of our Pen-feather'd Divines are too blame in this who after a year or two's time spent in the Vniversity many times step into the Pulpit where for want it may be of matter they confute Bellarmine with thou Lyest and rail at Rome and Hell the Pope and the Devil as if link'd together in one Chain for which being cryed up by their Zealous and Ignorant Auditors and moved with an Itch of being in Print they publish these their Conceptions to the World and flatter themselves as if from thence the Down-fall of Popery and the Destruction of the Whore of Babylon would ensue Vpon these Considerations My Lords and Gentlemen MY humble request to you in this Assembly is that You would appoint some means for our Quiet Concord and Agreement and that whatever may widen our Breaches may be laid aside and what may close them embraced The best way to effect which in my thoughts are these I. That a cessation of Arms be proclaimed That is that the Penal Law 's and especially the Sanguinary may be if not quite taken off at least suspended and those who are known to be Friends to the King and Kingdoms good may with Vs enjoy part of those Blessings which we may hope for under so Great and so Just a King and a Kingdom so Vnited II. That for the healing our Animosities both sides be strictly prohibittd in their Sermons to touch upon matters of Controversy or to use Animating Reflections But that those Discourses may tend wholly to Peace and Piety Religion and sound Morality And that in all publick Catechisms the Grounds and Principles of Religion be clearly and solely explicated without Reflecting Animosities III. That some Learned Devout and Sober persons may be made choice of on both sides who may truly state matters of Controversy betwixt us to the end each one may know the others Pretentions and the Tenents they cannot abandon without breaking the Chain of Apostolick Faith And if we find notwithstanding we are told by them that the difference betwixt Them and Vs is not so great nor their Tenents so ' Pernicious but if we saw them Naked we should if not embrace them as Truths at least not condemn them If I say notwithstanding all this we cannot come to an Agreement in some Nice points let us endeavour to agree to live together in the Bonds of Love and Charity as becomes good Christians and Loyal Subjects and joyn together to oppugne those known Maxims and Errors which destroy the Essence of Religion and good Government This is My Dearest Children the Remonstrance I thought good to make you and I doubt not but your Wisdoms will so order it that if not by this Method at least by some Efficacious Means all our Differences may be soothed and when heats about Religion cease we may hope for a future stable quiet in the Nation This is what I shall daily Pray for and that God would by his Grace so guide this great Assembly that all their Acts Votes and Councils may tend to his Honour and Glory the good of his Church and the Prosperity and lasting Peace of the Kingdom Amen God Save King JAMES the Second