Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	according_a	king_n	lord_n	2,695	5	3.8549	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A46343	The judgment and doctrine of the Church of England concerning one special branch of the King's prerogative, viz. in dispencing with the penall laws / asserted by the most reverend father in God, the lords Arch-Bishops Bancroft, Laud and Usher, the right reverend fathers in God, the lords Bishops Sanderson and Cartwright, the reverend doctors, Sir Thomas Ridley L.L.D., Dr. Hevlin, Dr. Barrow, Dr. Sherlock master of the temple, Dr. Hicks, Dr. Nalson and Dr. Puller ; and by the anonymus, author of The harmony of divinity and law : together with the concurring resolutions of our reverend judges, as most consonant and agreeable thereunto ; in a letter from a gentleman of Oxford, to his friend at London.	Gentleman of Oxford.	1687 (1687)	Wing J1172; ESTC R1415	16,661	48

with a Non-obstante yet the Queen may grant a Patent with a Non-obstante to cross this Non-obstante I have done Sir now with our Reverend Prelates and Doctors of the Church of England as to this Particular and hope I have sufficiently proved to you that their Judgment and Doctrine doth clearly warrant this Great Prerogative of dispencing with Penal Laws to be in the King. Let us see in the next place what were the Reasons that induced the Reverend Judges in Westminster Hall who the Law sayes are the Expositors of Acts of Parliament and are likewise Custodes jurati ss Praerogativae Regiae so openly and solemnly after mature deliberation to declare their Resolutions in this Point for the King. The Reasons that perswaded them were These that follow viz. I. That the Kings of England are Soveraign Princes II. That the Laws of England are the King's Laws III. That therefore it is an Incident Inseparable Prerogative in the Kings of England as in all other Soveraign Princes to dispence with Penal Laws in particular cases and upon particular necessary Reasons IV. That of these Reasons and these Necessities the King himself is the sole Judge And then which is Consequent upon all V. That this is not a Trust invested in or granted to the King by the People but is the antient Remain of the Soveraign Power and Prerogative of the Kings of England which never yet was taken from them nor can be Now Sir if such hath been the Doctrine of our most Eminent Clergy of the Church of England and in it they have delivered to us nothing but the words of Truth in Righteousness that the King by his Imperial Soveraignty when he shall see the Necessity of the State to require it of which he is the only Judge may dispence with Penal Laws How can you or any man who is a sincere lover of the Church of England be dissatisfied with the Resolution of our Reverend Judges in this matter seeing the Reasons they went upon were only such as were exactly correspondent with the avowed Doctrines before recited and that by this Declaration of theirs the Law of the Kingdom of England concerning this soveraign Power in the Crown is no more than what was before publickly asserted to be the Divinity of the Kingdom Besides Lex vigilat pro Rege saith the Law and the Judges are sworn to maintain all the Kings Prerogatives which are part of the Law of England and comprehended within the same therefore it is said that Imperij Majestas est Tutelae Salus the Dignity of the Prince is the Peoples Security The Kings Prerogative and Priviledges are incident to his Crown and He need not prescribe in any Prerogative for it is as ancient as his Crown is and is not only the Law of the Exchequer but the Law of the Land as that which is his by the ancient Laws of the Land. Wherefore the Judges of the Courts of Westminster are to judge in matters of Prerogative by this Rule that whatsoever may be for the Benefit and Profit of the King shall be taken most largely for him whatever may be against him and for his disprofit shall be taken strictly and it is the Duty of every Judge of all Courts High and Low to take great care to preserve the Kings Right and for that purpose to take every thing at the best for him And Sir unto the Judges the People are bound lastly and finally to submit themselves for matter of Law according to the opinion of the Learned Author of the Royallists Defence But I remember likewise you seemed to startle at the thoughts of this Power and were afraid if at any time the King should think it necessary and convenient to exert it and to grant a general Liberty of Conscience that the Church of England would be extreamly shaken in her security What strange Jealousies and Suspitions some weak men may have I suppose it will not be here worth while to consider but certainly our Great Supporters of the Ark of God can never allow themselves in so feminine a passion They know they have an infinitely wise God and a most Gracious King to trust to this hath been their Doctrine and ought we not to practice it They say 1. They have the Care and Providence of God for their Security who is King of Kings Lord of Lords and the only Ruler of Princes and that the Hearts of Kings are in his Rule and Governance and He doth dispose and turn them as seemeth best to his godly Wisdom according to what Solomon said and perhaps upon his own experience That the Kings Heart is in the hand of the Lord as the Rivers of Water he turneth it whithersoever he will. SO THAT THEY HAVE ALL THE SECURITY THAT ANY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD EVER HAD HAVE OR OUGHT TO HAVE Besides 2. They have a most Gracious King to trust to For 1. They have his Royal Word that he will protect and maintain the Church of England in the free exercise of her Religion as by Law established and can she ever be trusted in safer Hands than his He hath done more than ever any of us durst ever venture to look for to give us Confidence in him enough to puzzle our Understandings as well as our Gratitude And how can he give us better security than he has done Shall we suspect him without cause or remain dissatisfied when he hath given us the best security that our Cause admits of To suspect our Prince where we cannot help our selves is of all fears the most unreasonable 2. Again We have the Conscience of the Prince for our security who hath all the moral Obligations and the fear of God to keep him from oppressing us so long as we keep our selves within the Conscience of the Duty which we owe unto him The Common Principles of Humanity Justice and Equity are engraven by the Finger of God upon the Minds of Kings as well as upon other Mens and they cannot do wrong upon any particular Person much less to great numbers of their Subjects without undergoing the same uneasie remorse that other men do when they injure one another This hath been found by sad experience in Pagan Princes And if Conscience be a restraining Principle in Heathen Princes if they cannot without such Soul torments pervert Justice and violate their Oathes and the Laws it must needs much more be a powerful Principle of Restraint to Christian Kings who are taught to know that they are Gods Ministers and that he will call them to a severe Account for oppressing his People over whom he set them And shall not the fear of God's Anger and Judgments keep the Soveraign from injuring of them 3. But further still As the Church of England hath the Prince's Conscience for her Security so she hath his honour too For Princes like other men are tender of their Honour and good Name and

are powerfully restrained by shame from doing Evil to their Subjects Though they may be desirous for their honour to have the Times computed from their Conquests yet the same Principle of Honour will ordinarily make them ashamed to have them computed from their Massacres and Persecutions which will but get them the Surname of the Bloudy or the Tyrant unto the end of the World. Honour as Moralists observe is a Secondary or Civil Conscience And as for our Prince who was ever so exceeding tender of his Honour as He so just to all and hath He not promised to uphold and maintain this Church and her Legitimate Children He knows that ours is a Religion that hath alwayes asserted the Rights of the Crown with life and fortune and how chearfully the Members of it have spent their Blood and Treasure in his Own his late Majestie 's and his Father's Service and how they stand affected to his Prerogative And He is very well content we should be as faithful to God as we are to him as true to our Religion as to our King God preserve and prosper him for it Now since our own Religion as to the free exercise of it is thus Secured to us and seeing that by his Majesties Gracious Declaration he is willing that no man should be forced to his Religion or drove against his Conscience from the Religion he professeth and seeing it is manifestly necessary that as Sails so Laws are to be turned and as Occasion time and circumstance and reason of state shall direct either to be altered or revoked And if Acts of Parliament formerly made to try what good effects they could work in the state do apparently prove mischievous and ineffectual by their too great rigour and violence and by the Great Numbers of those that are of dissenting Judgments What dishonour can it be for the King to lay them asleep for a while to stay those passionate heats and fierce oppositions of such as seem adversaries to his Grace or for any Parliament to repeal them for the same Reasons non coercet sed provocat violentia For too heavy a hand upon those whom the Law casts down shews the will rather to oppress the Offender then to cure the offence 'T is the greatest honour to Kings that their mercy like that of the Almighty is more eminent than their Justice and that their Benches and Courts can witness more compassion than severity for He that sets open the Prison doors in so wise and gracious a manner meaneth not to conquer the Hearts and Consciences of his People by Torment but to winn them by mercy and sweetness Clemency is a virtue sometimes of as great policy as Piety because it begets Love and Love breeds Loyalty commands the very Soul and lays the Body at the Feet of the obliger Mercy kindles Fire and Zeal in the Hearts of Subjects Liberty of Conscience is a Natural Right and therefore our Saviour compelled none to receive his Doctrine but est Dominus non Cogens he is not a constraining Lord but committing his Liberty to the will said publickly to all if any man will come after me and to his Apostles Will ye also go away and his Disciples were not Commanders but Instructors and Teachers which was their Commission Compulsion and terrene Penalties are out of his Jurisdiction whose Kingdom was not of this World which he acknowledgeth not only in speech but in practise For when the Disciples would have commanded Fire from Heaven to have consumed the Samaritans he rebuked them and when he was apprehended by the Chief Priests and Elders he could have commanded Legions of Angels but would not It is Irreligion to take away the Liberty of Religion so Tertullian ad Irreligiosiatis Elogium concurrit this concurreth to the commendation of Irreligion to take away the liberty of Religion c. and therefore saith the Apostle we have not Dominion over Your Faith. Sir I cannot tell how well to shut up this Discourse without the words of that Learned and most Reverend Dr. Gerard Langbaine who was Provost of Queen's Colledge in Oxford so well known to all not only at home but abroad that the Famous Rhetorician Longinus could scarce speak any thing beyond the merit of so excellent a Person This Doctor in his Judicious Refutation of the Damnable League Covenant which was then so furiously contended for to be imposed upon the Consciences of those who expressed their Zeal to his Majesties righteous cause in which without all peradventure he spoke the inward Sentiments of all the Loyal Suffering Clergy of England doth there most admirably instruct us what a sandy Foundation that is which supports Persecution for Conscience sake His words follow Persecution in matters of meer Religion is a Course against the Nature of Religion it self for Faith the Soul of Religion is an inward Act of the Soul which all the Tyranny in the World that the malice of the Devil can invent or the wit of man can exercise can neither plant where it is not nor extirpate where it is It is the gift of God freely begotten in the Hearts of Men not by threats and Terrors not by Tortures and Massacres but by the quiet still voice of the word preached Suadenda non cogenda And therefore St. Paul though a Lawful Governour in the Church flatly disclaims any domineering Power over the Conscience As for the outward profession of Religion neither is that Subject to force and violence A man may confefs Christ and his Faith in him as freely in bonds as at Liberty as gloriously upon the Cross as upon the Throne Fear indeed may incline a weak Conscience to dissemble his Opinion but cannot constrain him to alter it Fire and Faggot are strong Arguments of a weak Cause undeniable Evidences of Cruelty in Those that use them but slender motives of Credibility to beget faith in those that suffer by them Lastly for the external free and publick practise of Religious Duties that I grant may be restrained by the outward violence of man but when it is so it is not required by God who never expects to reap what he did not fow In another place he says the most Antient Apologists for the Christian Faith use this as an Argument to prove the Religion of their Persecutors to be false and their own true That stood in need of humane force to maintain it but theirs stood by the sole Power of God. It is against sayes he a little further the Innate Principle of the Law of Nature Quod tibi fieri non vis alteri ne feceris Those who plead most for extirpation of Hereticks when it comes to be their own Turn to be under the Cross stand for Liberty of Conscience and declaim against Persecution for Religion as a thing utterly unlawful and surely if we will not suffer it from others we may not use it our selves Therefore as Dr Puller rightly sayes if