Selected quad for the lemma: prince_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prince_n	france_n	king_n	lewis_n	4,345	5	10.0612	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93137	A a [sic] letter to a friend, concerning a French invasion, to restore the late King James to his throne And what may be expected from him, should he be successful in it. Published by authority.	Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707.	1692 (1692)	Wing S3296; ESTC R232295	16,807	14

unless for the worse And yet if ever then he was upon his good Behaviour when he wanted their Assistance to secure his Possession of that Kingdom and to Recover his other Dominions And when in Reason it might have been expected that whatever Resentments he had he would have thought it his Interest to have treated Protestants with greater Tendernesse and Respects But if the Necessity of his own Affairs could not obtain this from him what must Protestants expect if he return with Power And though some Protestants here in England seem not to be at all affected with this Experiment yet 〈◊〉 hath made such an impression upon the Protestants in Ireland that they are for ever cu●ed of their Fondnesse and have not the least Curiosity left to make any further Tryals It is pretended indeed in Excuse of this that he was then under the Government of French Ministers and Counsels under the Power of Irish Priests and Papists and so was ●ot at Liberty to follow his own Inclinations I should be very glad of a good Argument to prove that he had better Inclinations But however what Comfort is this to Protestants that be has better Inclinations but is not his own Master For if he must never shew any Kindnesse to Protestants it is no matter what his Inclinations are And can any Man imagine That if the French King by Force and Power place him on the Throne he will be lesse under his Government than he was in Ireland The French King among many other wise Maxims has this I am sure for one Never to make a King without making him his own vassal and the Power that can make him a King can make him his Slave So that it is to no purpose to enquire what King James will do but what King Lewis will do if King James returns Secondly As for the great Merites of the Non-swearing Clergy and Laity I greatly suspect that neither the Late King James nor King Lewis will think them so great as they themselves do Their Merit must consist either in their Principles or in their Practices And we wil briefly confider both Their meritorious Principle is this That the Rights of Princes especially of Hereditary Princes to their Thrones are so Sacred and Inviolable that as they cannot forfeit them to their own Subjects by any Male-administration so neither can they by any Provocations or by any success of War forfeit them to any other Princes That while such a Prince or any Legal Heir is living no other Prince can have any Right to his Throne nor must his Subjects owne and submit to any other Prince as their Soveraign Lord. Now as much as this Principle seems to Flatter Princes and to make their Thrones Eternal I am apt to suspect that no Prince who considers the just Consequence of Things can think it so very meritorious for it is a very dangerous Principle to Week and Unfortunat Princes and an intolerable Restraint upon the Aspiring and Ambitious It is Dangerous to the Unfortunate because it lays a Necessity upon the Conquerour to take away his Life if he can as well as his Throne since he cannot lose his Throne without losing his Life though most Princes would rather chuse to have them parted than lose both together And how do they think King Lewis will like this Principle which stands in the way of his Glory and preaches Restitution to him of all those Dominions whose legal Heirs are living which teaches the Subjects of other Princes to deny him Fealty and Obedience and to Conspire with their Legal Princes against him I doubt not but he likes the Principle as little a● he would like the Practice and that our Non-swearers would quickly understand were they the Subjects of his New Conquests which God grant England may never be Indeed how great a Complement soever this Principle may be thought to Princes it can have no Merit because though it may in some junctures do them hurt it never did and never can do them any service It never yet hindred a Revolution and never can make one and the Reason is plain because no Princes and very few Subjects do believe it and practice upon it If a Prince have a just Cause of War against another Prince he makes no Scruple if he Conquers to take his Crown and the Subjects of such a conquered Prince make no Scruple of Conscience to submit to the Conquerour though sometimes a personal Kindness for a just and Indulgent Prince and a Concernment for their own Liberties and Fortunes may make them uneasie under it and glad of the first Opportunity to do themselves and their Prince Right The Truth is Princes have no Reason to like this Principle for were it true they could have no Remedies against the Injuries of Nighbour Princes they might indeed Fight and Conquer but they had better let it alone if they must not take the Throne which their Sword has won for it is only the Fear of Conquest and losing their Crowns when they are Conquered that can keep Princes in Awe and bring them to Just and Equal Terms and if no Prince must lose his Crown because no Prince must take it it will be impossible to beat an Injurious and Obstinate Prince into good Terms and I believe Princes will as soon be perswaded That it is Unlawful to make War as that it is Unlawful to seize a conquered Crown and will think one as meritorious a Principle as the other And it is certain Subjects have less Reason to like this Principle because it makes them Slaves and Sacrifices even to the Misfortunes of their Prince A Prince when he is Conquer'd or sees that he must be Conquer'd may escape by Flight but a whole Nation cannot run away and if they could have no Reason to leave their Country and their Fortunes behind them And yet according to this Principle they must not submit nor swear Allegiance to the Conquerour while the Prince who has forsaken them lives though they cannot Secure their Lives and Fortunes without it But Nature and Common Sense is too powerful for the Sophistry of such Principles and those who cannot Reason can feel what they are to do in such Cases The Loyalest Subjects when no personal Obligations or secret Interests determine them otherwise will save themselves by Submission when they cannot defend their Prince by their Arms and do not think they do ill in it And I suppose Princes do not think so neither because they expect the same from the Subjects of other Princes in the like Circumstances and such an Universal Consent both of Princes and Subjects when there is no Law of God or Nature against it makes it a standing Law in all Revolutions which both Princes and Subjects must submit to So that this Principle were it never so true can do no Service and therefore can have no Merit in this World because there are so few tha● believe it that they are not hands

least for all the Con●●derates while he has found other employment for the Imperial English Forces but ●anks be to God the K. of Engl. the English Forces are novv at leisure to attend his Motions those Forces which beat him at the Boyn at Athlone at Agrim at Lymerick in a word which beat him out of Ireland and have now got a habit of beating the French And it is no wonder that he is not fond of such company in Flanders but endeavours to find some new work for them at home And if he can but send them home again and embroil us in a Civil War that is one great point gained but if he proves successeful in his Attempt he makes England his own and will turn their Arms upon the Confederats and what can them stand in the way What should hinder him from being the sole and absolute Monarch of the West And then it is easie to read the Fate Protestants Thus Sir I have freely told you what I apprehend will be the necessary and unavoidable effects of a French Conquest I pretend not to prophesie nor to demonstration in such cases but what I have said has all the appearances of probability all the degrees of moral certainty that any thing of this nature can have and this is the only Rule in the matters by which wise men are to judge and act And this has appeared a plain and easie Answer to your Second Question what English Subjects are bound in Conscience to do in case the late King should Land in England with French Forces to demand his Crown Now there are two sorts of persons concerned in this question 1. Those who have not sworn Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary but account the late King James as much their King as he was when he sat upon the Throne and that their obligations to him are the same now that ever they were 2. Those who have sworn Allegiance to King William and Queen Mary And there are two parts of this Question 1. Whether they are bound in conscience to assist the late King if he return 2. Whether it be lawful for them to oppose him and fight against him As for the first part of this Question and as far as it concerns the Non-swearers I shal ask them two or three Questions and leave them to answer them themselves 1. The first question is Whether they can think themselves bound in Conscience upon any pretence whatever to fight for Popery against the Protestant Faith and Worship that is as they must confesse if they are Protestants to fight for Heresie and Idolatry against the true Faith and Worship of Christ or to fight for Antichrist and against Christ Can any consideration make this lawful If nothing can as I wil● venture to take it for granted that nothing can then whatever duty they may fancy they still owe to their Abdicated Prince it cannot be their Duty to fight for him whe● they cannot fight for him without fighting against Christ and his Religion though they must not fight against their Prince for Christ because Christ in such cases require his Disciples to suffer not to fight for him yet it does not follow that they must fight for their Prince against Christ to bring a Persecution upon his faithful Disciples and to contribute what they can to extirpate the Name and the Religion of Protestants out o● Europe Do they think themselves bound in Conscience to fight for their Prince against th● Laws and Liberties of their Countrey as well as against the Faith and Worship o● Christ Let the Rights of Princes be never so Sacred have the rest of mankind no Rights but only Princes Is there no such thing as Justice due to our selves ●or to our Fellow● Subjects have the Free-born Subjects of England no Natural no Legal Rights And is there any Law of God or man to fight for our Prince against the Laws and Liberties of our Countrey which are the Measures and boundaries of ●hat Duty which we ow● to Princes that is to fight for our Prince against the rule of our duty and obedience to Princes when our Prince and the Laws and Liberties of our Countrey are on contrary sides tho we should grant them according to their own Principles that we must not fight against our Prince for our Laws and Liberties yet no more must we fight for our Prince against our Laws and Liberties It is abundantly enough to be Passive in such cases but a Nation which fights against its own Laws and Liberties is Felo de se guilty of the worst kind of Self-Murder Can any English man whatever opinion he has of the late King 's Right think himself bound in conscience to maintain his Right by giving up his Countrey to France To make him King and all his Subjects French Slaves For can any Prince have more Right to be King of England than the Kingdom of England has to be England Is it not an unaccountable tendernesse scrupulosity of Conscience to be so concerned for any one Prince's Right as to sacrifice the Rights and Liberties of all the Princes in Europe to his To set him upon the Throne to drive all other Princes from theirs We are Citizens of the World as well as Subjects of England have our Obligations to Mankind to other Princes as well as to our own though our obligation to no one other Prince is so great as to our own yet the publick good of mankind or of a great part of the world is a more sacred obligation than the particular Interest of our own Prince or Countrey much lesse then can the Right of any particular Prince be it what it will stand in competition with the Rights and Liberties of our own Countrey and of all Europe besides It is no more purpose to dispute with men who do not feel the Force of this Argument at the first hearing than to reason with blind men about Colours they have no sense left nothing but a stupid and slavish Loyalty all things tho never so sacred must give place to this the care of Religion the love of the Countrey their Justice and Charity to all mankind must vail to their senselesse mistake of the true meaning of this word Loyalty by which they will needs understand an Absolute Obedience without Limitation or Reserve when most certainly it signifies no more than Obedience according to Law 2. I would ask them What they would think themselves bound to do in such cases were the late K. upon the Throne again Unlesse they have chang'd their minds then they are not so steady to Principles as they pretend to be we may very reasonably guesse what they would do by what they did while he was upon the Throne It is certain they so much dislik'd his open designs of Popery Arbitrary Power that they opposed him as far as they durst would not Fight for him to keep him on the Throne