Selected quad for the lemma: power_n
Text snippets containing the quad
|
ID |
Title |
Author |
Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) |
STC |
Words |
Pages |
|
A52823
|
Old popery as good as new, or, The unreasonableness of the Church of England in some of her doctrines and practices and the reasonableness of liberty of conscience : in a letter from a private gentleman in the country to his friend a clergy-man in the city.
|
N. N.
|
1688
(1688)
|
Wing N47; ESTC R42186
|
9,235
|
20
|
OLD POPERY As GOOD as NEW OR The Unreasonableness of the CHVRCH of ENGLAND in some of Her Doctrines and Practices And the Reasonableness of Liberty of Conscience In a Letter from a Private Gentleman in the Country to his Friend a Clergy-Man in the City Magnam Chartam dedit Henricus Majorem dabit Chartam Iacobus Printed in the Year MDCLXXXVIII Worthy SIR THough I am a Friend to the Church of England and Conformable to her Establishments as the Law obligeth me yet I have a greater Friendship for true Religion in the general in what Habit or Dress soever I find it and amongst whatsoever different Opinions and Perswasions I do not think any one sort of Men do ingross all true Religion to themselves Apolles and Cephas had I doubt not as good Christians amongst their Followers as Paul himself had Their fault was want of Good-will one towards another though of different Sects The Sincere Consciencious Man that is Pious to his God and Honest and Just to his Neighbour the Israelite indeed in whom there is no Guile where-ever I find him whether at the Altar with his Beads or in the Publick Church or in the Private Conventicle this is the Man I take to be a good Christian and a Member of that Catholick Church in which I believe And being thus perswaded I have often with a melancholy Heart observed and reflected upon the troubled state of Religion in this Nation for several Years past and the dire Consequences that have been amongst us of our severe Penal Laws in matters of Religion made to Gratifie one party of Men only and to Suppress and Ruin all the rest I could not without Compaâ—â—â—onate and Bleeding Thoughts see and hear of so many Persons of Sober and Vertuous Lives and as I cannot but believe very good Christians to be stript of their Goods and Estates their Persons Imprisoned or at least forc'd to Quit and Fly from their Habitations and their Wives and Children Undone and brought to Want and all because they could not Conform to the Impositions of this one Patty of Men. And these Thoughts have sometimes led me further to consider how consistent Laws of this Nature are with Christianity and Policy If the things Imposed be in their own nature indifferent to be done or not done then methinks it can hardly be good Christianity to Impose them and seems to be quite contrary to the sence of St Paul in his Epistle to the Romans chap. 14. If necessary that Legislation ought to be Infallible that will impose any thing as such Nay even then they ought not to be Imposed for to force me to change my Opinion is out of the Power of a Law and even out of my own Power to do and to act contrary to my Opinion and Conscience is not fit sure for a Christian Legislation to Impose And for the Policy of it most certainly it can't be good All Laws ought to be levell'd at the common good of the People and as comprehensive as may be for all Interests this renders a Government Safe and Steddy But when Laws are made with regard only to a particular party of Men and against the Interest and Inclination of as great or a greater Number this improbability must render a Government Hazardous and Unstable And this we find by woful Experience does continue and highten our Divisions and makes our Breaches wider It puts a Difficulty upon the Prince too that he must necessarily Govern with the Disgust and Discontent of a great part of his People Nay and perhaps to his own Discontent and Dissatifaction also For a Mild and Merciful Prince cannot de light in Executing Severity and a Prince of tender Conscience may perhaps doubt whether Laws of this Nature be not void in foro Consienciae and therefore not to be put in Execution But before I can think these thoughts though I fancy my self interrupted by a Zealous Church of England-Man who comes full Mouth to tell the necessity of these Penal Laws for that some of the Dissenters from the establish'd Religion own a Foreign Power and the rest are Factious and Seditious and of Rebellious Principles but the Church of England is Loyal and a ways was A great thing this to be said for the Church of England that when they have had the Prince and the Laws on their side they have always been extraordinary Loyal But turn the Tables and see what they are then The late King did but set out a Declaration for Indulging tender Consciences and how did they Rant and Rave against it both in their Pulpit Private Discourses How did they animate the Parliament to oppose the King in it and were not quiet till that good King did recal his Declaration And how do they now upon occasion of the present Liberty of Conscience question even those Powers and Prerogatives in the Prince that they themselves whâ—n it serv'd for their purpose did so vigorously Preâ—ch up And all this Bussle and Stir when their Living and Perfeâ—menâ—s are in no danger but only their Power of Afflicting their Brethren restrained What woâ—ld these Men do iâ— their Lives Estates and Liberties were in danger by Laws made against them as are now against others Then they would without doubt be as great Male contents to the Government and endeavour as much to evade such Laws and avoid their Passive Obedience to them and consequently deserve as much the Epithets of Factious and Seditious and Dis-affected to the Government as ever their Dissenting Brethren did 'T is is against Humane Nature willingly to be Miserable And no Man can be easie under those Laws that would undo him And is it my fault that I am thus Uneasie Or is it not rather the mistake of the Legislators to impose Laws that I cannot obey and therefore must unwillingly suffer under Upon the whole matter I could not but conclude these Impositions in matters of Religion to be Unchristian the Penal Laws that enforce them to be Impolitick and the extraordinary Loyalty of the Church of England by colour whereof she procur'd them to be a meer Sham and Pretence I proceed then to consider and reflect upon some of the Doctrines and Practices of this Loyal Church of England with relation to those that differ from her wherein I found her as I thought liable to many Objections which occasioned this Letter to my Friend And therein I thought it not Impertinent to take notice of our extraordinary Happiness in a Prince of that great and noble Principle of Liberty of Conscience the reasonableness of that Principle and the unreasonableness and mistake of our Penal Laws which were design'd to Unite but do in truth more Divide us and therefore are very fitly Suspended by the King till they may be Repealed by Act of Parliament Sir Having lately read some most Ingenious Papers supposed to be yours upon this Subject of Liberty of Conscience and perswading my self that in many of
Preaching on that Day How many Ministers have been upbraided with it even at Visitations It is the Opinion or many Learned Men that the Observation of this Day is of Divine Institution which makes it at least probable and therefore how unseemly is it in us who are a Reformed Church so much to discountenance the Observation of this Day as if we were afraid of being too Religious when at the same time we exact the strict Observation of some other Days acknowledged on all hands to be purely of Humane Institution These and many other things in practice with us are so like the Church of Rome that it seems meer Obstinacy in us that we are not the same with them And certainly all Standers by that have observed for these twenty six Years past vvhat vve have Preach't and Practiced have thought us that vvay bent But they vvere quite mistaken I perceive We are for a Popery of our ovvn a Yoke of our own making that we would have the slavish Laity to vvear And ' t vvas for this that vve have procured to be made and excecuted those Penal Laws which novv the World too early for our purpose does see through And to this end we have Preach'd up and taught that wholsome Doctrine of Prayers and Tears by others to be Practic'd not our selves 'T is strange to me I must confess why we should retain such semblances of Popery and those so unaccountable and yet so eagerly oppose Popery it self The Apes the Uglier Creature much because most like the Noblest Creature Man. And for my part I think our Apish Ceremonies and Superstitions are so like those of Rome that they 're the worse again And truly if we must have so many Ceremonies in our Religion give me Old Popery rather then New Those Ceremonies of the Roman Church Approv'd and Practiced by so much the greater part of the Christian World for many Ages past rather then those trivial upstart Mimmickries of them practiced only within the narrow Limits of the Church of England But thanks to Heaven and our great Prince our Choice is not so straightned A Nobler Principle far is by his Great Example taught us Be we but Virtuous and Religious and we may be so in our own way Modes in Religion ought not shall not be Compell'd Those severe Penal Laws that at the first were parhaps well intended being made upon mistaken Grounds prove Ineffectual and serve now only to assist the Haughty Clergy-Man in his Insolence the Angry Lay-Man in his Revenge and the Ravenous Informer in persuit of his Prey And when a Law out lives the reason of it and becomes inconvenient in the general Opinion of People as these have been allready Voted by a Parliament why should it not be in the Princes Power nay is it not his Duty to interpose and preserve his People from Destroying one another by bidding such fatal Laws to cease at least till a Parliament may actually Repeal them Sure else he bears the Sword in Vain When he in his great Wisdom sees and observes that Humane Laws can't reach the Minds of Men but that that must and will be Free And to compel the Body without the Soul is but to force Hypocrisie from which no Glory can redound to the Prince nor Safety to his Government When his Wisdom approves as Necessary what his Piety inclines him to as Just and for the good of his People Shall he not then declare My People shall be Free their Consciences no longer shall be forc'd in matters of Religion O Great and Gracious KING This is to make us Free indeed A Glorious and Divine Principle A Principle of Universal Right and Justice and doubtless most agreeable to the Mind and Will of God who seems on purpose to have plac'd the Soul out of the reach of Humane Power and Compulsion and not otherwise to be moved then by the Dictates of right Reason and the gracious Influences of his Holy Spirit A Principle that carries in it the sum of all Religion Impartial Charity that carries in it the sum of all Wisdom and Policy it being the only Principle that can Unite divided Mankind heartily together A Principle for which our Glorious Prince will ever be Renown'd in after Ages when it shall be said King JAMES the Frst Vnited the Kingdoms but 't was Great JAMES the Second that did Vnite the People And now I am upon this mighty Theme so great a Prince and of so noble a Principle as Liberty of Conscience I should not know when to have done did not my Sheet of Paper grow too neer the end I will therefore only add this one thing That Prince that Governs by this generous and noble Principle his Government does most resemble that of the Deity in Governing the World. God Almighty the great Author of all our various intellectual as well as outward Complections accepts the variegated Services of his different Creatures and is pleased with the Harmony that ariseth from that Discord since all agree in the Praise and Glory of their great Creator But no more I would be glad to have your thoughts of these things in which though I conceit my self somewhat in the right I am sure you will conclude me much in the wrong I am Your humble Servant N. N. September 12. 1687. Primus Jacobus Regna Conjunxit Secundus Corda FINIS