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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	army_n	king_n	time_n	955	5	3.4241	3	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A88815	The Antichristian Presbyter: or, Antichrist transformed; Assuming the nevv shape of a Reformed Presbyter, as his last and subtlest disguise to deceive the nations. / By Richard Laurence, Marshal-Generall.	Lawrence, Richard, d. 1684.	1647 (1647)	Wing L674; Thomason E370_22; ESTC R201297	13,810	23

perswaded the King to raise an Army to force it upon them and had not our God which never was a friend to imposers of formes stood for them and us by them we had been all enslaved at that time After further enquiry they found he had been in the likenesse of a learned Judge and had rode most of the circuits in England and had sold the poore for a peece of bread And where ever you finde him you may observe hee loves money well for hee did not use the Law to judge by but judged for men as they were able to pay him And from thence it was you had so little protection by the Law He could perswade the Judges and most of the Lawyers in the Kingdome that it were lawfull for the King to raise money of the free-born people of England whether they were willing or no and bids them call it Ship-money He could make it lawful for the great men in the kingdom to take away all the poore Countre-ymens Commons though they had never so strong Charters to shew for them onely tell them it was the Kings pleasure If any well-minded Countrey-man which thought his own Birthwright and his Countries priviledge worth the standing for did but stand up in his Countries behalf he presently must be made an example and was befriended if he escapt with his life though he lost all he had besides for fear some others should play such tricks Nay he had almost perswaded the Lords of the Copy●hold-M●●●●r that their ●●nes which were never known to be but set sums to be at their wills And thereby would haue dispossest many thousands of the Commons of England of their Inheritance their Fathers left them Thus my honest Country-men what ever you were born too ye may see what you were neer brought to If I should instance in all particulars of this nature I should fill a Volume as bigge as your Church Bible If you be forgetfull or have a bad memory I shall commend the Star-Chamber to you for a study which is a very convenient place for that purpose After they had discovered what work he had made in the State they began to enquire whether he was not crept into the Church or no and when the truth came to be known he was Archbishop of Canterbury And after further enquiry it appeared there was not a Diocesse in the Kingdome but he was the Bishop of it and not a Living worth a hundred pounds a year but he had the disposing of it Nay because he understood the people would not restore him all those great Livings which Henry the 8. took from him under the same tearmes and names he then held them rather then he would be without he new christened them too And some he calls Church-livings or Spiritual means or the Churches Inheritance And I believe it is all the Inheritance he desire his Churches should have for hee can make a whole County of Temporall meanes all Spirituall in half an houre and make you believe its Blasphemy to say to the contrary and Sacriledge to take it away again There are two other little stipends which like a Carefull Father he hath procured for his youngest Sons and those hee calls Globe-land and Tythes So rather then any of his Tribe should not have an office in the Priesthood he will have them Leviticall Priests But if they were not fit for Priests he had other employments for them for he was nor only a Courtier himself but he kept a Court too And this he called a Spirituall Court it had other names as somtimes the Chancellours Court or the Commissaries Court but they that gave it the right name called it the Bawdy Court What the Revenue of this Court was yearly I cannot informe you but I am sure they maintained a great and ungodly company And set but a-part the Crown-Land and the Inheritance of the Nobility in the Kingdom and though his Tribe did not amount to the five hundred part of the people yet he had engrosed into his hands the fourth part of the Commons Inheritance And if you please to mind what work he made in the State and how well he throve in the Church if he had not bin discovered stopt by the Parliament he would have made as many goe bare-foot and bare-leg in England as doth in Scotland in a very short time After they found how rich and mighty hee was grown in the Kingdom they began to inquire into his actions and there they found he had been doing the very same things in this shape he used to do in the other There were all the godly Ministers in the Kingdom either banished or silenced except some few which were able to make good friends or could dispense with most of his Popish Ceremonies with many thousands of godly people scattered all over the world as they were at Jerusalem witnesse New-England Virginia with many of the remote Islands Holland is not exempted If you would have further satisfaction I shall referre you to the foure Champions of these times viz. Mr. Prynne Dr. Bastwick Mr. Burton and Lieu. Col. Lilburn I wish them to remember the losse of their eares their branding in the face their pillory their whipping-Cart their exile and imprisonment Ask them if Antichrist cannot persecute as well in the shape of a Protestant as a Papist Know of them whether the enjoyment of this Parliament be not the greatest outward mercy that ever God gave England and themselves in particular Ask them again if Antichrist be not a persecuter in all the shapes he assumes and whether the spirit of persecution be not the spirit of Antichrist or no. Thus my honest and soon-deceived Countrey-men you may see by these few hints among the many thousands you may remember of the same nature what condition you were in when God raised you up this Parlement to be your deliverers and what a work they had to undertake in your behalfe They had only of these two things to chuse one either to give you and your posterity up to slavery or run the hazard of the utter ruining themselves and families I need not tell you which it was they chose but where they begun will be worth your observation They did not begin to lop off the branches but to hew downe the main body of the tree the first men they call'd in question being the two greatest Subjects in the Kingdom viz. the Lord Deputy of Ireland and the Bishop of Canterbury if they had questioned more of them then we had been quietter since But as soon as this wise Observer of Times saw what would befall him he presently would change his shape again and would be in the likenesse of a blessed Reformation as he called it in the dayes of Queen Elizabeth When that trick would not serve he knew there was no other meanes left now but his last shift which was to see if he could stirre up the people to rise with the King

THE Antichristian Presbyter OR ANTICHRIST TRANSFORMED ASSUMING THE NEVV SHAPE OF A Reformed Presbyter as his last and subtlest Disguise to deceive the NATIONS REVEL 13.11 13. And he had two hornes like a Lambe and he spake as a Dragon and he doth great wonders so that he maketh fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of men And he deceiveth them that dwell upon the Earth by reason of those miracles By RICHARD LAURENCE Marshal-Generall Printed for the Timly information of the People 1647. The Epistle to the READER CHRISTIAN READER I Would not have thee flatter thy expectation by thinking to meet with something in this Discourse that should tend to the setting up or casting down any one practice or opinion now received or held forth by the Believers of severall judgments in this Kingdom which are but as so many Bubles risen upon the water And when a strong gale of that Spirit which bloweth where it listeth shall breath upon them they shall all break and fall and shall become a pure River of living water clear as Chrystall proceeding out of the Throne of GOD and of the Lambe But that which J do heer endeavour to hold forth to thee is only a discovery of that Mystery of Iniquity which assumes shapes and formes of Religion for no other end but to destroy both Moral and Divine Rights and Priviledges And having had occasion by reason of my employments in the Army to ride through most parts of this Kingdome very lately I have observed these things which I here represent to thee hoping that not only Thou but those whom England hath chosen to be their Overseers and God hath used to be their Deliverers will observe what Vipers they have in their Bosome such as hold forth an Apple in their mouth but have stings in their hearts such as only kissed with an intent to betray That which moved me to pen it was out of conscience to that Covenant which many of these Deceivers have swallowed down it would be well for the Kingdome if there were more Covenant-Keepers though fewer Covenant-takers J shall direct thee to what followeth rest thine in that everlasting Covenant which doth not only bind us but affect us in truth and faithfulnesse one to each other R. L. A briefe Discovery of old Antichrist in the new shape of Presbytery EXperience teacheth us that it hath ever been the way and practice of that man of Sin that mystery of Iniquity that enemy to all peace and righteousnesse commonly called by us Antichrist and known to us onely by the names of Pope Jesuite and Papist c. to transform himselfe into that shape or likenesse which he conceived would he most advantagious to his designes For before the time of this Parliament we thought he had onely dwelt at Rome and Spain c. among the Papists and that the hanging of those halfe-score men for the Gun-powder Plot had frighted him cleare out of England But while we cried Peace Peace behold trouble And when he thought the time of our desolation d●ew nigh then the time of our deliverance was at hand For when he saw there was no remedy he was very forward to have a Parliament thinking they would have done as some had done before them to have given all the peoples rights and priviledges to the King to purchase to themselves great estates in Court But God gave us men of publick spirits which resolved to offer up themselves and a●l that was deare to them to maintain the peoples rights and priviledges so much invaded by the great-Ones of this Kingdome and their Ha●…ers And before they were well warmed in their seats there came petition after petition and complaint after complaint they could not tell which to heare first many of them wondring the pe●ple should lie under such heavie oppressions and yet be so silent And when they began to enquire into the businesse they found the people were like a Horse in a quagmire the more they strove the deeper they sunk For though they had appealed from Court to Court the higher they went the worse they were This seemed strange to them that in such a place as England was where there were so many grave and learned Divines such a powerfull Ministery the whole Kingdome being lookt at as a Church of Jesus Christ there should be such unheard of oppression and tyranny And enquiring into the cause of these things they began first to enquire whether that old enemy of mankind which was alwayes a deceiver of the people Antichrist was not crept in among us again Which made Henry the eighth spill so much innocent blood in this kingdome hanging to day a Papist for his Religion and the next day a Protestant for his Religion Having his reigne in burning and destroying religious people in this Kingdome untill the end of Queen Mary and was wholly cast out of Church and State as we thought by the Parliament in the reigne of Queen Elizabeth After which we grew secure we thought Antichrist had been but of one religion Then they began to enquire what Papists were about the King thinking they might be the cause of all this mischiefe for they had not heard that this deceiver had been any thing but a Pope or Jesuit or Papist at least But when they had found out the truth of the businesse this cunning Sophister had turned Protestant a zealous Common-prayer-book man and would goe to Church twice a day at least And after they found it was Antichrist indeed onely changed his shape they began to search further to see how large his dominion was And well knowing he doth not use to trouble poore folk much they began first at the Court and going with the King to the Church there they found him as busie as could be bowing to the Altar and reading Common-prayer and singing the Letany with a great deale more such stuffe And when he had done that up start he into the Pulpit in the likenesse of the Kings Chaplain and there he tells them the King was accountable to none but God for his actions and that all his subjects enjoy'd was wholly at his disposing whether liberties priviledges or estates c. and those that would not say so were traytors And after further enquiry they found him in all the chief Offices about the Court and for feare he should not be neere enough to the King he was crept into bed to him A little after they found he was not onely about the Kings person but was gotten into most of the chiefe places of Judicature in the kingdome They found he had been a great Privy-Counsellor for many yeares and had been acting many wicked designes tending to the inslaving of the people and destroying Religion He had been the onely means of procuring Ceremonies and a Book of Common-prayer to be imposed upon the Church of Scotland And because they would not submit they being imposed by the Kings authority he