Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	church_n	england_n	reform_a	4,212	5	9.5265	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44641	The character of a trimmer concerning religion, laws and liberties by a person of honour, Mss. H.	Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695.; Coventry, William, Sir, 1628?-1686.	1689 (1689)	Wing H299; ESTC R40539	43,903	47

our living happily in this World as it is to our being saved in the next Without it man is an abandoned Creature one of the worst beasts nature hath produced and fit only for the Society of Wolves and Bears Therefore in all Ages it hath been the foundation of Government and tho False Gods have been imposed upon the Credulity of the World yet they were God's still in their opinion And the aw deference Men had to them and their Oracles kept them within bounds towards one another which the Laws alone with all their Authority could never have affected without the help of Religion the Laws would not be able to subdue the perversness of Mens wills which are wild Beasts that require a double chain to keep them down For this Reason it is said that it is not a sufficient ground to make War on a neighbouring State because they are of an other Religion let it be never so differing yet if they worship and acknowlege no Deity at all they may be invaded as publick Enemies of Mankind because they reject the only thing that can bind men to live well with an other The consideration of Religion is so tuisted with the Government that it is never to be separated and tho the Foundations of it are to be unchangable and eternal yet the forms and Circumstances of Discipline are to be suited to the several Climates and Constitutions so as they may keep men in a willing acquiescence to them without discomposing the World by Nice Disputes which can never be of equal Moment with the publick Peace Our Religion here in England seemeth to be distinguished by a peculiar Effect of God Almighties goodness in permitting it to be introduced or more properly restored by a more Regular method Then the circumstances of most other Reformed Churches would allow them to do in Relation to the Government and the Dignity with which it hath supported it self and the great men our Church hath produced ought to recommend it to the esteem of all Protestants At least our Trimmer is very partial to it for these Reasons and many more and desirous that it may preserve its due Jurisdiction and Authority so far he is from wishing it opprest by the malicious or unreasonable Cavils of those who take pains to raise Objections to it The Question then will be how and by what methods this Church shall best support it self the present Circumstances considered in relation to Dissenters of all Sorts I will first lay it for a ground that as there can be no true Religion without Charity so there can be no humane prudence without bearing and Condescention This principal doth not extend to oblige the Church alwayes to yield to those who are disposted to contest with it the expediencie of doing it is to be considered and determined according to the occasion And this leadeth me to lay open the thoughts of our Trimmer in reference first to the Protestant and then to the Popish Recusants What heat lately happned amongst us makes an Apology necessary for saying any thing that looketh like favour towards any sort of men who have brought themselves under such a disadvantage The late conspiracy hath such broad Symptoms of the disaffection of the whole party that upon the first Reflection whilst our Thoughts are warm it would almost perswade us to put them out of the Protection of our good nature and to think that the Christian indulgence which our compassion for other Mens sufferings cannot easily deny seemeth against and even becometh a Crime when it is so misapplyed Yet for all this upon second and colder thoughts moderate men will not be so ready to involve a whole party in the guilt of a few or to admite inferences and presumptions to be evidences in a case where the Sentence must be so heavy as it ought to be against all those who have a fixed Resolution against the Government established Besides men who act by a principle grounded upon a Moral Vertue can never let it be intirely extinguished by the most repeated Provocations I● a right thing agreeable to nature and good sense taketh root in the heart of a Man that is impartial and unbyassed no outward Circumstances can ever destroy it 'T is true the degree of Mans zeal for the Prosecution of it may be differing the faults of other Men the consideration of the Publick and the reasonable Prudence by which wise Men will ever be directed may give great Allays they may lessen and perhaps for a time suppress the exercise of that which in a general Proposition may be reasonable but what ever is so will inevitable grow and spring up again having a Foundation in nature which is not to be destroyed Our Trimmer therefore endeavours to separate the detestation he hath of those who had either a hand or a thought in the late Plot from the principle of Prudential as well as Christian Charity towards Mankind And for that reason would fain use the means of Reconciling such of the Dissenters as are not incurable and of even off bearing to a degree those that are as far as may consist with the publick interest and security He is far from justifying an affected separation from the Communion of the Church and even in those who mean well and are misled he looketh upon it as a disease that hath sea●ed upon their minds very troublesome to themselves as well as dangerous by the Consequences it may produce He do●h not go about to excu●e their making it an indispensable duty to meet in numbers to say their Prayers such meetings may prove mischievous to the State at least the Laws which are the best Judges have determined that there is danger in them He hath good nature enough to Lament that the perversness of a part should have drawn Rigorous Laws upon the Body of Dissenters but when they are once made no Private Opinion must stand in opposition to them If they are in themselves reasonable they are in that respect to be observed even without being enjoyned if by the change of times and circumstances they should become less reasonable than when they were first made even then the● are to be obeyed too because they are Laws till they are mended or repeled by the same Authority that enacted them He hath too much deference to the constitution of our Government to wish any more Prerogative Declarations in favours of Scrupulous men or to Dispense with Penal Laws in such a manner or to such an end That suspecting men might with some reason apprehend that so hated a thing as a Persecution could never make way for it self with any hope of Success otherwayes then by preparing the deluded World with a false prospect of Liberty and Indulgence The inward Springs and Wheels by which that Engine moved are not so fully laid open and exposed that it is not supposable such a baffled Experiment should ever b●tryed again The effect it had at that time and

less enquity And therefore tho in some well chosen and dearly beloved Auditories good resolute Non-sense backed with Authority may prevail yet generally Men are become so good Judges of what they hear that the Clergy ought to be very warry before they go about to impose upon their understandings which are grown less humble than they were in former times when the Men in Black had made Learning such a Sin for the Laity that for fear of offending they made a Conscience of being able to read But now the World is grown so wise and expecteth Reasons and good ones too before they give up their own Opinions to other Men's Dictates tho' never so Magisterially delivered to them And our Trimmer is farr from approving they Hypocrisie which seemeth to be the Reigning Vice among some of the Dissenting Clergy He thinketh it the most provoking Sin men can be guilty of in Relation to Heaven and yet which may seem strange that very sin which shall destroy the Soul of the man who preacheth may help to ●ave those of the Company that hear him and even those that are cheated by the false Ostentation of the strictness of his Life may by that pattern be encouraged to the real practice of these Christian Vertues which he doth so deceitfully pro●ess So that the Detestation of his ●ault may possibly be carried too farr by our more Orthodox Divines and a wor●e extreme for men of that Character who by going to the outmost Line of Christian Libetry will certainly encourage others to go beyond it No Man doth less approve the ill-bred Method of some of the Dissenters in Rebuking Authority who behave themselves as if they thought ill manners necessary to Salvation yet he cannot but distinguish and desire a mean between the of some of the Scotish Apostles and the indecent Courtship of some silken Divines who one would think did practice to bow at the Altar only to learn to make the better legs at Court. Our Trimmer approveth the principle of our Church That Dominion is not founded in Grace And that our obedience is to be given to a Popish King in other things at the same time that our compl●ance with him in Religion is to be denyed Yet he cannot but think it a very extraordinary thing if a Protestant Church should by a voluntary Election choose a Papist for their Guardain and receive Directions for supporting our Religion from one who must believe it a mortal sin not to endeavour to destroy it Such a refined peece of breeding would not seem to be very well placed in the Clergy who will hardly be able to find precedents to justifie such an extravagant kind of Courtship And which is so unlike the primitive Methods that ought to be our pattern He hath no such unreasonable tenderness for any sort of Men as to expect their Faults should not be impartially laid open as they give occasion for it And yet he cannot but smile to see that the same Man who setteth up all his sailes of Rhetorick to fall upon the Dissenters when Popery is ●o be handled he doth it so gingerly that he looketh like an Ass mumbling of a Thristle so affraid he is of letting himself loose upon a Subject when he may be in danger of letting his Duty get the better of his Discretion Our Trimmer is so far from relishing the impertinent wanderings of these who pour out long prayers upon the Congregation and all from their own flock which GOD knoweth for the most part is a barren soil that produceth weeds in stead of flowers And by this means they expose Religion it self rather than promote Mens Devotions On the other side there may be too great Restraint put upon Men whom GOD Nature hath distinguished from their Fellow Labourers by blessing them with a happier Talent And by giving them not only good sense but a powerful utterance too hath enabled them to gush out upon the attentive Authority with a mighty stream of Devout and Unaffected Eloquence When a Man is qualified and endued with Learning and above all adorned with a good Life breaking out into a warm and well delivered prayer before his Sermon it hath appearance of a Divine Rapture he raiseth and leadeth the hearts of an Assembly in another manner than most studied best composed form of set Words can attain to the Pray ●●●e's who serve up all their Sermons with the same garnishing would look like so many Statues or Men of straw in the Pulpit compared with those who speak with such a powerful Zeal that Men are tempted at the moment to believe Heaven it self had dictated their words to them Our Trimmer is not so unreasonably indulgent to the Dissenters as to excuse the irregularities of their complaints or to approve their Threatning stile which is so ill suted to their Circumstances as well as to their Duty He would have them shew their grief and not their Anger to the Government and by such a submission to Authority as becometh them if they cannot inwardly acquiesce in what is imposed let them desire a Legislative Remedy to their sufferings There being no other way to give them perfect Redress then either to seek it or pretend to give it would not only be vain but criminal too in those that go about it Yet for all this there may be in the mean time a Prudential Latitude left as to the manner of prosecuting the Laws now in force against them the Government is in some Degree answerable for such an Administration as may be free from the censure of Impartial Judges And in order to that it will be necessary that one of these Methods be pursued either to let loose the Laws to their outmo●t extent without any Moderation or Restraint In which at the least the Equality of the Government would be without Objection the penalties being exacted without Remission from the Dissenters in all kinds or if that will no● be done as indeed there is no Reason it should there is a necessity of some connivance to the Protestant Dissenters to excuse that which must in Humanity be allowed the Papists even without any leaning to them which might be supposed in those who are or shall be in the Administration of publick business and it will follow that according to our circumstances the Distribution of such Connivances must be made in such a manner that the greater part of it may fall on the Protestant side or else the Objections will be so strong and the Inference so clear that the Friends as well as the Enemies of the Crown will be sure to take hold of them It will not be sufficient to say the Papists may be connived at because they are good Subjects But that the Protestant Dissenters must suffer because they are ill ones These general Maxims will not convince discerning Men neither will any late instances make them forget what hath passed at other times in the World Both Sides have had their

her zeal And since by the Roman Dispensatory a Soul converted to the Church is a soveraign Remedy and layeth up a mighty stock of Merit She was also solicitous to secure her self in all events and therefore first ●et upon the Duke of Glocester who depended so much upon her good will That she might for that Reason be induced to believe that the Conquest would not be difficult But it so fell out that he either from his own constancie or that he had those near him by whom he was otherwise advised choosed rather to run away from her importunity than by staving to bear the continual weight of it 'T is believed she had better success with another of her Sons who if he was not quite brought off from our Religion at least such beginnings were made as made them very easie to be finished his being of a Generous and Aspiring Nature and in that respect less patient the Drugery of Arguing might propably help to recommend a Church to him that exempteth the Laytie from the vexation of enquiring Perhaps he might tho' by mistake look upon that Religion as more Favourable to the enlarged power of a King a consideration that might have its weight with a young Prince in his warm blood and that was brought up in Armies I cannot hinder my self from a small Digression to consider with Admiration That this old Lady of Rome with all her wrinkles should yet have Charms able to subdue great Princes so far from handsome and yet so Imperious so painted and yet so pretending after having Abused Destroyed and Murdered so many of her Lovers she still findeth others glad of her new Charms A thing so strange to indifferent Judges that those who will allow no other Miracles in the Church of Rome must needs grant that this is one not to be contested She sitteth in her shop and selleth at dare Rates her Rattles and her Hoby-Horses whilst the deluded World still continueth to furnish her with Customers But whether am I carried with this Contemplation It is high time to return to my Text and to consider the wonderful manner of the King 's coming home again led by the hand of Heaven and called by the voice of his People who received him with a joy equall to the blessings which his Restoration brought along with it By this there was an end put to the Hopes some might have abroad of makeing use of his less happy circumstances to throw him into Forreign Interests or opinions which had been wholly inconsistent with our Religion our Laws and all other things that are dear to us yet with all this something of those Tinctures and Impressions might so far Remain as tho' they were very Innocent in him yet they might have ill Effect here by softning the Animosity which seemeth necessary to the Defender of the Protestant Faith in opposition to such a powerfull and irreconcilable Enemy You may be sure that among all other sort of Men who applyed themselves to the King at his first coming for his protection the Papists were not the last nor as they fain would have flattered themselves the least welcome having their past sufferings a swell as their present professions to Recommend them Since so it happened That the Indulgence promised to Dissenters at Breda was carried on in such a manner that the Papists were to divide with them And though the Parliament notwithstanding its Resignation to the Crown in all other things rejected with Scorn and Anger a Declaration formed for this purpose yet the Birth and Steps of it gave such an Alarm that Mens Suspicions once raised were not easily laid a sleep again To omit other things the breach of the Triple League and the Dutch Warr with its appertinences raised Jealousies to the highest pitch imaginable and fed the hopes of one partie and the Fears of the other to such a Degree that some very Critical Resolutions were generally expected when the ill Success of that Warr and the sacrifice France thought fit to make of the Papists here to their own Interest abroad gave another checkt and the Act of enjoining the Test to all in Office was thought no ill Bargan to the Nation tho bought at the price of 1200000 lib. and the Mony applyed to the continuance of the Warr against the Dutch then which nothing could be more unpopular or less approved Notwithstanding these Discouragements Popery is a plant which may be mowed down but the root will still remain and in spight of the Laws it will sprout up and grow again especially if it should happen that there will ever be Men in power who in stead of Weeding it out of our Garden will take cae to cherish it and keep it alive And tho the Law of Excluding them from places was to tolerably kept as to the outward form yet there were many Circumstances which being improved by the quick sighted Malice of ill affected Men did keep up the World in their suspicions and blow up Jealousies to such a hight both in and out of Parliament that the remembrance of them is very unpleasant and the Examples so Extravagant that it is hoped in our age nothing like it will be attempted But to come closer to the Case in Question in this condition we stand with the Papists what shall now be done according to our Trimmers opinion in Order to the Better bearing this Grievance since as I have said before there is no hope of being intirely freed from it Papists we must have among us and if their Religion keepeth them from bringing Honey to the Hyve let the Government try at lea●t by Gentle and not by Violent Means to take away the sting from them The first Foundation to be laid is that a Distinct consideration is to be had of the Popish Clergy who have such an eternal Interest against all accommodation that it is a hopless thing to propose any thing to them less then all their stomachs having been set for it since the Reformation They have pined themselves to a principle that will admit no Mean they believe Protestants must be damned and therefore by an extraordinary Effect of Christian Charity they would destroy one half of England that the other might be saved Then for this World they must be in possession for GOD Almighty and receive his Rents for him not to accompt till the day of Iudgement which is a good kind of Tenure and you cannot well blame the good Men that they stir up the Laity to run any hazard in order to the getting them restored What is it to the Priest if the deluded Zelot undoeth himself in the attempt he singeth Mass as Jollily and with as good a voice at Rome or St. Omers as ever he did he is a single man and can have no wants but such as may be easily supplied Yet that he may not seem altogether in●ensi●le or ungrateful to those who are his Martyrs He is ready to assure th●ir executors