Selected quad for the lemma: prince_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prince_n	act_n	king_n	law_n	2,524	5	4.6885	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A61245	An assize sermon preached August 3, 1685, in the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in York before the Right Honourable Sir Edward Atkins and Sir Thomas Walcot, His Majesty's judges of assize for the northern circuit / by William Stainforth ...	Stainforth, William, d. 1713.	1685 (1685)	Wing S5170; ESTC R34591	17,755	42

Princes It is their Conduct and Government which secures unto us our Lives our Possessions our Rights and Liberties It is that which preserves us from being devour'd by others from being destroy'd by our selves It is that which prevents and repells Hostile Invasions and descents from Abroad It is that which hinders Confusions and quells Insurrections at Home So that all our Temporal Happiness is bound up in that of the Kings we prosper and flourish with him and we all in common partake of his Felicity or his Misfortunes And therefore as it is our Interest that Kings should enjoy a long and uninterrupted Health that they should improve in Wisdom and Knowledge that they should grow in Goodness and Justice and all manner of Vertue that they should increase in Honour and Reputation and Power both at Home and Abroad so it is our Interest to Pray for all these things for them For in all this we exercise a Charity towards our selves we are but our own Benefactors and all the while are providing for our own Peace and Safety 2. Consider That we are bound in Gratitude to Pray for Kings The Benefits which we receive from their Government ought to affect us with a suitable Esteem and Value for their Persons and oblige us to all the Returns of Love and Kindness which we are capable of making The very Heathens styl'd their Governours Benefactors and look'd upon them with a Reverence and pay'd them Honours answerable to such an endearing and obliging Character And the Holy Scriptures describe describe and represent Kings under such forms of Expression as if all the good things we enjoy were the issues of their Providence the effects of their Wisdom Care and Bounty Thus David is styl'd 2 Sam 21. 17. the Light of Israel As if what the Sun is to the Material World David was the same to the Jewish State dispensing Life and Motion and Vigour to all within the Orbit of his Soveraign Authority by the quickening Rays the cherishing Influences of his Wisdom Power and Goodness And tho' this was said of David who was a good King and a man after Gods own heart yet no less is said of Zedekiah who was an Enemy to Goodness and good Men. For even he is called by the Prophet Jeremy the breath of our Nostrils Which plainly intimates that Lam. 4. 20. Kings are as necessary to the Being and Preservation of the Body Politick as Air is to that of the Body Natural And tho' bad Kings are like bad Air which Vitiates the Blood and Spirits weakens the Faculties and impaires the Strength and Firmness of the Natural Constitution yet as the Mischiefs of a bad Air are not so great and destructive as a total deprivation of it so the Miseries and Plagues of Tyranny are not so intollerably calamitous as those of Anarchy and Confusion For where there is confusion there is every evil work and when Government is once broke up then men are let loose upon one another and are at liberty to act all the Villanies and Oppressions and Barbarous Inhumanities which their Brutish Lusts and Passions can tempt them to And it is an Obvious and common Observation that more Rapin and Oppression and cruel Outrages have been Committed and more Blood has been spilt in our Late Civil Wars than ever was done in the Reign of the most Inhuman and Merciless Tyrant which sway'd a Scepter in any Place whatsoever So that Tyranny is better than no Government at all and tho' particular Persons suffer by it yet the far greater part of the Community is Oblig'd and receive such Benefits even under such an harsh and severe Administration as they could not enjoy in a state of Licentiousness and Confusion And therefore the whole Body of the People is bound in Gratitude to Pray for the safety and Preservation of the worst Kings because there are none so bad but do good to the Nation in general over which they exercise their Authority And if Subjects are Indebted to the worst of Kings how much more then to the good and Gentle to those who have an universal Good-will for their People who exercise a tender and paternal Care over them and study to preserve them in Wealth Peace and Godliness Such Princes are the greatest Blessings which Heaven can bestow upon us for they pursue the natural and proper Ends of their Authority and imploy their Power for all those useful and beneficial Purposes for which it is given them They do not Rule so much for themselves as for us and are indeed eventually as well as designedly the Ministers of God to us for good And can we ever be too much affected with the sense of their Favours and Benefits Can we ever be sufficiently Grateful for them Or can we express our Gratitude in too many hearty and affectionate Prayers to God for them Surely we cannot but look upon our selves Oblig'd to do them all the good we can who are the Authors of so much good the Dispensers of so many Blessings to us And therefore if by our Prayers we can contribute to their Interests and advantage We must needs think our selves bound in Gratitude to assist them with such a cheap such an easie way of expressing our Good-will and charity towards them 3. Consider That as Prayer is the best means we can use to make Kings wise and just and merciful and prosperous in their Government so also Prayer is the only means allow'd us by God for Redressing those Grievances and Mischiefs which at any time we may suffer from the violent abuse of their Power and the irregular Administration of their Authority For if Princes are bad Men and Oppress their Subjects against Reason and against Law we have no remedy left us but Prayers to God in whose hands are the Hearts of Kings and who can turn and dispose them as seemeth best to his Godly Wisdom They are God's Ministers and act by his Authority and therefore for his sake we must be subject to them Whatsoever Injuries they heap upon us whatsoever Violences and Persecutions we suffer under them we must not permit our Passions to rise and swell against them nor vent themselves in undutifull Language in indecent Reflections in scandalous Reproaches in Factious Complaints or Seditious Murmurings much less must we take up Arms and by Force Resist their Persons or Authority For the Apostle hath told us in express terms That we must be Subject not only for wrath but conscience Rom. 13. But all Resistance is inconsistent with Subjection for it sets us above our Prince and makes him accountable at our Tribunal Nay the same Apostle to discourage us for ever from any Rebellious Attempts and forcible Resistance has assur'd us that we cannot Resist but at the certain Peril of our immortal Souls for they that resist saith he shall receive to themselves damnation So that how distressed how afflicted soever our Condition may prove through the Arbitrary and

vicious propensions and inclinations and susceptible of the same sinful impressions with other men so they are in greater danger than other men of being overcome by their evil Passions and led Captive by their exorbitant Lusts and Appetites For whatsoever is peculiar to them as Kings and distinguisheth them from the Common Condition of their Subjects is a direct Temptation to Vice and Ministers both Power and Occasion for the satisfaction of their unreasonable Lusts and Passions The greatness of their Authority and the Incoercibleness of their Persons the Vastness of their Power and the Affluence of their Wealth and Riches are quick and powerful Incentives to Vice strong and vigorous Provocations to evil For all these Minister Matter and Fewel to Ambition and Pride to Malice and Revenge to Covetousness and Worldly-mindedness to all the Sins of Sensuality softness and Luxury And we may be sure that the Devil will be watching all Opportunities to press these Temptations upon them with all the force and advantage imaginable For the Devil very well knows that the Interest of his Hellish Kingdom and the success of his Malicious Designs do in an extraordinary manner depend upon the Power which he gets over Kings and Princes For Vice is never so infectious as in their Examples This gives Reputation and Authority to it This renders it bold and insolent This procures it avowed Patrons and shameless Assertors of its Cause and Interests and makes it spread and diffuse it self in every part of a Nation with a boundless and uncontrollable Licence To this I may add That it is not the least part of the Misfortune and Danger which Kings labour under that they have few Friends and many Flatterers Few that will deal plainly with them that will tell them of their Faults admonish them of their Errors or put them in mind of their Duty but many that will sooth them in their Mistakes applaud their very Vices commend their very Deformities put the brightest Colours upon their foulest Actions and turn their shame and reproach to their Glory So that these things confider'd we have great reason to say God help Poor Kings we have great reason to pity them for the Eminency of their Station and the uncontrollableness of their Power which indeed is so Necessary for us but so dangerous to themselves wh●ch derives so many daily Blessings upon us but exposeth them to so many continual Temptations We have great reason to Pray to God for such extraordinary measures and supplies of his Grace for them as may defend them against their extraordinary Temptations and secure their Innocency and Vertue from being overcome by the Violence of their assaults and the importunity of their Sollicitations 3. Consider That Kings have more Enemies and are in more danger than other men Tho' Kings Administer their Government and manage Publick Affairs with never such an equal hand and prudent a Conduct yet it is impossible to please and content the minds of all their Subjects but still there will be some Sons of Belial some factious and seditious Spirits who either out of Envy or Ambition out of Covetousness or Revenge out of Enthusiastick Principles or false Maxims in Religion will be Plotting against their Government and Conspiring against their Persons Nay the justest the best Princes have oftentimes the most Enemies and are in greatest danger of being destroy'd by close and Treacherous Arts or by open and publick Insurrections For bad men are uneasie and restless under a just Government and impatient of those Restraints which wholsome Laws and equitable Constitutions put upon them Good Laws are against their evil Designs and therefore they are against good Kings who are the Fountains and Guardians of good Laws and out of their Princely Goodness take care to have them strictly Observ'd and Executed We have had in our Nation too great a demonstration of this sad Truth in the Accidents which befel our two last Kings of blessed Memory the first of which dyed by the hands of a bloody Violence because he would not offer Violence to the publick Laws of the Land and the Religious Dictates of his own Conscience And the other had infallibly succeeded him in the calamity of his Fate as he did in the Justice and Mercy of his Government if God by an extraordinary and Miraculous Providence had not prevented it So that Kings by the Height and Eminence of their Station are so far from being Plac'd above the reach of Mischief that they are thereby the more exposed to it and are only fairer marks for evil men to take Aim at to level and direct their Rage and Fury against them Kings in this respect are like Tall Oakes which are the most obnoxious to the Blasts of Storms and Tempests to the Strokes of Thunder and Lightning And certain it is that it would be impossible for Kings to sit safely and peaceably upon their Thrones for any considerable time if they were not in a peculiar manner the Care of Heaven and the Charge of the Divine Providence No Guards could secure no Force could protect them if God did not in a particular manner Watch over them keep them under the shadow of his Wings blast the Designs and restrain the Cruelty of their Enemies It is only God who doth and can give Salvation to Kings and delivereth David Psalm 144. 10. his servant from the peril of the Sword And how should this Consideration make us fall down upon our Knees and lift up our hearts in Prayer to God for the safety and preservation of Kings for their defence and Protection from all the evil Designs and bloody Machinations from the secret Plots and open Violence of their cruel and implacable Enemies 2. There are particular Reasons which concern our selves and which oblige us especially to Pray for Kings For 1. Consider That it is all our Interests to Pray for Kings For our Happiness and Prosperity is bound up and included in theirs and whatsoever good we do them by our Prayers or any other means we all share in the Advantage of it and the Blessing which falls upon them like the Sacred Oyle which was powr'd upon Aaron's head runs down to the very Skirts of their Garments descends upon the meanest of their Subjects who all enjoy it in some kind and in some measure or other in the excellent Effects and Fruits of their Government Civil Peace is one of the greatest Blessings of this World It is that which makes our Lives a comfort and gives rellish and sweetness to all our other injoyments But there can be no Peace without Government nor Government without Laws nor Laws without an Authority to Enact and Execute them Now this Authority is Vested in Kings tho' as to the Exercise of it it may be variously Modify'd Bounded and Limited according to the Fundamental Constitutions of several Kingdoms So that we owe all our Peace and all the Blessings which are derivable from it to Kings and