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A60834 Some reasons why a learned and reverend divine hath lately taken the oaths to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary, in a letter to a friend 1690 (1690) Wing S4581; ESTC R17991 4,876 5

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Some Reasons why a Learned and Reverend Divine hath lately taken the Oaths to their Majesties King William and Queen Mary In a Letter to a Friend SIR I Thank you for the favour of Communicating the grateful tho I cannot say unexpected News of an eminent Divine of our Church who has a long time scrupled the Oaths to their present Majesties has now at last answered all his Doubts and reconciled his Judgment to the Interest of the Protestant Religion by affording his Talent to the support of their present Majesties who under God are now the Defenders of it not only here but all Europe over I wish your next Letter might bring me the much to be wished for Account of all our Worthy Prelates and Divines who have laboured long under that Difficulty obtaining the like Victory And whereas you at the same time give me to know the Discourses of several Men who are no great Lovers of our Church about it as if this great Man seemed to be ruled by Interest in this Affair because he has stood out so long and now as they think all of a sudden taken it I shall beg the Liberty of briefly giving you my Sentiments about it And first All own that an Oath is a Sacred thing and therefore requires the greatest Deliberation in the World before it be taken An inconsiderate Man may rashly venture upon an Oath but a thinking and an honest constant Man will be loath to engage himself by any Oath till he has fully considered all that may follow upon it which must needs cost a Man some time But especially when Scruples arise that the Oath imposed upon interferes with another Oath formerly taken then it must needs cause great Wrestlings in the Mind of a truly honest Man which cannot be easily appeased which was the Case of this Famous Divine It 's to be fear'd there are too many who have taken the Oath with little or no Deliberation who are more to be Censured than he who rather than he would take it with the minutest scruple would run the hazzard of Temporal Inconveniencies And in the next place when the Oath imposed seems to contradict former Opinions it must needs render a person very averse from taking of it and take up a great deal of time before he can divest himself of those Principles You and all Men know sufficiently that it has been the Opinion of many of the Clergy of England that an Oath taken to a Prince obliges the Subject to him for his Life-time if he were the greatest Oppressor that ever lived And therefore it must needs be supposed That this Reverend Person could not easily and in a short time get free of this difficulty Those Persons ought rather to rejoyce that those Tenets that have been foisted into our Church no less prejudicial to the King than the Subjects as late Experience demonstrates beyond all contradiction are now justly repudiated as the principal Causes of all the Miseries we have met with than to vent their Spleen against a Learned Gentleman for not having his Conscience at their Beck I may likewise add That such is the Nature of Man that even in the best of Men there is a Vanity of retaining their former Opinions lest by changing them however prejudicial otherwise they may be they should undergo the Imputation of Changlings I do not say this is the Case of any but even a good Man may even be Byast with this and it may be a long time before this may be overcome I shall here add some few of those many weighty Reasons or Considerations which I humbly conceive have prevailed with this Reverend Person to take the Oaths Reason I. Because it is evident That no Rule or Form of Government is prescribed by the Law of God and Nature for that then they would be both immutable and the self-same in all Countries but Almighty God concurreth or permitteth such particular Forms which the Common-wealth appoints Can any Man say That God did not concur as well with Italy when it had but one Prince as now when it hath so many and the like with Germany and also with Switzerland which was once one Common-wealth under the Dukes of Austria England also was first a Monarchy under the Brittains and then a Province under the Romans and after that divided into Seven Kingdoms at once under the Saxons and after them of the Danes and then the Normans and then the French and now a Monarchy again under the English and all this by God's Providence and Permission who suffered his own peculiar People the Jews to be under divers manner of Governments at divers times as first under the Patriarchs Abraham Isaac and Jacob then under Captains as Moses Ioshua and the like then under Judges as Othoniel c. then under High-Priests as Eli and Samuel then under Kings as Saul David and so on until the Government was lastly taken from them and they brought under the Power of the Romans And last of all That God does concur with what Magistrate or Magistrates the Community thinks fit to appoint is plain by the Testimony of Holy Scripture as when God said to Solomon By me Kings Rule and Nobles even all the Judges of the Earth Prov. 8.16 that is by His Permission they Govern tho' Chosen by the People And St. Paul to the Romans avoucheth that Authority is not but of God and therefore he that resisteth Authority resisteth God Rom. 13. which is to be understood of Authority Power and Jurisdiction in it self according to the Laws of every Country Reason II. Because Allegiance is nothing but Obedience according to Law which when the Prince violates he has no right to Obedience there being a mutual Obligation between the King and People which whether it be only Civil or Natural tacit or in express Words can be taken away by no Agreements violated by no Law rescinded by no Force for a Kingdom is nothing else but the mutual Stipulation between the People and their Kings The Supream Authority of a Nation belonging to those who have the Legislative Authority reserved to them but not to those who have only the Executive which is plainly a Trust when it is separated from the Legislative Power and all Trusts by their nature import That those to whom they are given are accountable tho' no such condition is specified If the Subject may in no case Resist then there can be no Law but the Will and Pleasure of the Prince for whosoever must be opposed in nothing may do every thing If the King Sue by pretence of Law and endeavour to take away my Money my House or my Land I may defend them by the Law but if he comes Armed to take away my Liberty Life and Religion which are mine by the Laws of God and Man may I not secure them with a good Conscience for most certain every Man has a right to preserve himself his Rights and Priviledges against him who
has no Authority to Invade them And this was the Case of Moses who seeing an Egyptian Smiting an Hebrew he Slew him And Sampson made War upon the Philistines for burning his Wife and her Father who were both but private Persons who knew they could have no other kind of Justice against them but what the Law of Nature gives every Man When once the Christian Religion is become a part of the Subjects Property by the Laws and Constitutions of the Country then it is to be considered as one of their Principal Rights and so may be defended as well as any other Civil Right Since that these different Forms of Government that the Iews were under is no Rule for the Government of any Nation or People whatsoever That Cause is Just which defends the Laws which protects the Common Good which shall preserve the Realm And that Cause is unjust which violates the Laws defends the Breakers of the Laws protects the Subverters of the Country That is Just which will destroy Tyrannical Government That Unjust which would Abolish just Government That Lawful which tends to the Publick Good That Unlawful which tends to the Private Reason III. The Children of Israel slew Amasiah their lawful King for his Idolatry without any appointment in Scripture or Prophesie of his Downfal and yet that this is no where called Rebellion neither were they Punished by his Son whom they had made King in his Father's Stead Mattathias slew the King's Commissioner for compelling Men to Idolatry The Edom●●…s Revolted from Jehoram and made themselves a King And Lib●ah did also Revolt because of his Evil Government 2 Chron. 21. without any appointment or foretelling of their Revolt by God in Scripture or being called Rebels Saul's Subjects Swore that Saul should not kill Ionathan and they rescued him that he died not 1 Sam. 14.45 David tho' a private Man Armed himself with Six hundred Men no doubt but he designed to have Fought Saul and his Army if the Men of Keliah would have assisted him and been true to him when he enquired of the Lord Whether the Men of Keliah would deliver him and his Men into the hands of Saul upon the Lords answering They would deliver them up he and his Men departed the City 1 Sam. 23.23 can any Man imagine their meaning was to run up and down the Country together and fly before Saul and his Army if they had been able to cope with any number he could bring or send against them If Resistance at all times was Unlawful and a Sin surely David a Man after God's own Heart would have known it and then he would not have Involved the Six hundred Men that came to his Assistance in the Sin of Rebellion but have told them that the Prince was not to be Resisted though never so great a Tyrant Canstantine the Great aided the Oppressed Christians and Romans against the Tyranny and Persecution of the Emperors Maxentius and Maximinius with force of Arms with which he Conquered those Persecutors in several Battles Fought against them at the Christians earnest Importunity The Primitive Christians resisted Lucinius their Emperor for Persecuting them contrary to Law and Constantine the Great joyned with them who held it his Duty saith Eusebius to deliver an infinite multitude of Men by cutting off a few Wicked ones as the Pest and Plagues of the Time The Primitive Christians of Constantinople opposed Aspers being made Emperor but Leo being named they consented thereto The Primitive Christians under the King of Persia resisted him for Persecuting them and was assisted by Theodotius the Roman Emperor who told the King of Persia He was ready to defend them and no way to see them suffer for Religion The Christians of Armenia the Greater made a League with the Romans for the securing their Persons and their Religion against the Persians under whom they lived The Novations assisted by the Orthodox resisted and beat the Macedonians though they were assisted by Constantinus the Emperor with Four Thousand Men to drive them from Paplelogonia The Primitive Christians likewise destroyed Julians Idolatrous Temple in his Reign Reason IV. It is not our business to enquire into the Justice of all that contributed to this late Revolution in England that being nothing to our Case who had no hand in it and so have nothing to answer for it to God nor Man supposing it were an ill thing in it self or that the Managers of it acted upon evil Principles took ill Methods or had bad Ends we may and ought to leave this to be justified by those whom it doth concern who have already done it beyond all contradiction we have performed our Oath to the late King so long as he was in a Capacity to receive it and many of us have had no hand in putting him out of that Capacity But whether his own deserting us or the present Kings Conquest did Devest him this is certain that he is now Devested of all Power to Protect or Govern us here as much as if he were actually Dead And truly unless there be some Cases besides Natural Death in which our Oath ceaseth to Bind us the case of Subjects may be extreamly Intollerable Particularly in Portugal all the Subjects must be said to be Perjur'd when they Sware to a new King while Alphonso was living It must therefore be granted that Madness Conquest may so far take off the Obligation of a People to their living King that they may innocently Swear to another And it is clear that both these concurred in our Case We are Private Subjects and must pay our Allegiance to him that administers us Law and Justice and doth Protect us in all Capacities If any wrong us in our Estates or hurt our Persons we fly to their present Majesties Laws for Redress and that seems the same thing as owning them or Swearing Allegiance unless we think we may make use of this Government to serve our own Ends and do nothing to serve and secure it It is heartily to be wished for by all Good Men that those Reverend Persons who still stand out would lay aside all Prejudice and for the Church's sake in which they seem to make a Schism for their Native Countries sake which they seem to expose by this Division for their complying Brethrens sake who Pity and Pray for them and for their own and Families sake they would not let a Notion in Politicks keep them at this distance and bring so many Calamities on them The Oath is short and modest nothing but what is very necessary and required in all Governments therefore why should they for a nicety and scruple which may be fully satisfied and solved endanger their Religion and the whole Nation and give such advantages to Papists by countenancing them and to the Fanaticks by opposing the present Government who do not fail to represent it even to the Church's prejudice London Printed in the Year 1690.