Selected quad for the lemma: mercy_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
mercy_n	father_n	gentleman_n	great_a	15	3	2.0890	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A52614	The life of Mr. Thomas Firmin, late citizen of London written by one of his most intimate acquaintance ; with a sermon on Luke X. 36, 37 preach'd on the occasion of his death ; together with An account of his religion, and of the present state of the Unitarian controversy.	One of his most intimate acquaintance.; Nye, Stephen, 1648?-1719.	1698 (1698)	Wing N1508; ESTC R4561	35,362	90

concur with the other Polanders in rebelling against him they consiered the Swedish King as a fair Conqueror and a Protestant Prince and themselves as tied to him by Oath therefore they even opposed in some places the revolt from him This was interpreted a desertion of their natural Prince and native Country and tho all the Part-takers with the Swedish King were included in the Peace made with him was avenged in the very next Diet after the Peace by a Decree and Edict the sum of which was as follows The Toleration granted by the Laws and Coronation-Oaths of the Kings to Dissenters from the Church does not legally extend to the Vnitarians whom they called Arians or Anabaptists this being a new Heresie since the granting that Indulgence or Toleration therefore all Vnitarians who within such a limited time will not embrace the Roman-Catholic Religion shall be banisht out of Poland allowing however two years in effect but one to sell their Estates whether real or personal Hereupon the Vnitarians left Poland and setled some in Transilvania where divers Provinces and Cities are Vnitarian some in Ducal Prussia and Brandenburg where they enjoy like Privileges with his Electoral Highnesses other Subjects some few in Holland These Vnitarians were in my opinion unhappy that they had not a man among them who could discern it and shew 'em that neither in the Article of the Trinity nor of the Divinity of our Saviour they had any real difference with the Catholic Church and that the Terms used by the Church imply nothing that is contrary to the Unity of God as 't is held by the learned men Their Confession which they publisht upon their Banishment ascribes as much to our Saviour as is intended by the Catholic-terms Incarnation God-man God the Son Hypostatical or personal Union and the rest therefore seeing the Church will not dismiss those unscriptural Terms but for certain reasons contents her self to interpret them to a sound sense it had been well if the Polish Vnitarians had been so dextrous as to distinguish between an unsound Sense and improper Terms disclaiming only the former and submitting to the latter The Vnitarian Congregations in Poland had many poor persons therefore the Nobility and Gentry prayed a Contribution for them from all Vnitarian Churches of foreign parts and tho they knew there were but few Vnitarian Families in England they sent a Letter to us to entreat our help Mr. Firmin procured for 'em some assistances from private persons and tho without a Brief some collections in Churches both these in the Year 1662. But I mention this for the sake of what hapned Anno 1681. for then King Charles granted a Brief for another sort of Polonian Sufferers Protestants also these were they who had suffered the Vnitarians to be banisht about twenty years before when it was in their power to have prevented it if so much as one of their Deputies had protested against it in the Diet. They willingly permitted nay they promoted the Violation of the Liberty of Dissenters not twenty years before and now weakned by the loss of the whole Vnitarian Interest it came to their own turns to be the Sufferers they had never lost either Country or Liberty if they had not voted themselves out of both by their former Votes against the Vnitarians A Toleration or Liberty of Religion once tapped will soon run all out for break it but in one Instance or Party and you have disannulled the whole Reason of it and all the Pleas for it The malice of any whomsoever against the English Vnitarians comes now too late they less dissent from the Church if they are at all Dissenters than any other denomination of Dissenters therefore let those Dissenters look to it who have promoted a Bill in name and pretext against Immorality and Blasphemy in truth and real design against the Vnitarians I said King Charles granted a Brief for the Polonian Protestants who had assisted in banishing the Polonian Vnitarians this Brief Mr. Firmin promoted as much as in him lay I find he received of Nine Dissenting Congregations 110 l. 16 s. 10 d. And in another Book I find the sum of 568 l. 16 s. o ¾ collected on the same account We are now come to another part of Mr. Firmin's Life his second Marriage in the Year 1664. he married to a Daughter of a Justice of Peace in the County of Essex and had with her besides all the qualifications of a good Wife a considerable Portion God was pleased to lend to 'em several Children but one Son Giles Firmin lived to man's estate He was like to be an eminent Merchant his Father giving him the whole Portion he had received with his Mother and the young Gentleman going into Portugal to manage there his own business he was called by the Heavenly Father to Eternal Mercies In the Year 1665. was a great Plague of which there died in that one year in London only near One hundred thousand persons most of the wealthier Citizens removed themselves and Children into the Country so did Mr. Firmin but left a Kinsman in his House with order to relieve some Poor weekly and to give out Stuff to employ them in making such Commodities as they were wont He foresaw that he should be hard put to it to dispose of such an abundance of Commodities as these poor people would work off in so long time for him only but when he returned to London a wealthy Chapman who was greatly pleased with his adventurous Charity bought an extraordinary quantity of those Goods so that he incurred no loss at that time by employing the Poor The year after the Sickness came the Fire by which the City of London sustained the damage of Ten millions of Pounds sterling Mr. Firmin with his Neighbours suffered the loss of his House in Lombard-street and took thereupon a House and Warehouse in Leaden-hall-street But now his fine Spirit and generous way of Trading were so well known that in a few years he so improved his Stock that he rebuilt his House and built also the whole Court excepting two or three Houses in which he lived And having now provided sufficiently for himself and Family he began to consider the Poor His first service to them or rather to God in their persons was the building a Warehouse by the Water-side for the laying up Corn and Coals to be sold to the Poor in scarce and dear times at moderate and reasonable rates at the rates they had been purchased allowing only for loss if any should happen by damage of the Goods while kept He went on with his Trade in Lombard-street till the Year 1676. at which time I estimate he was worth about Nine thousand Pounds If we consider that this Estate was raised from a beginning of about One hundred Pounds in an ordinary way of Trade and in about twenty years time to what a mighty wealth would it have grown in the hands of such a Manager