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
A58923	A seasonable discourse against comprehension. Occasioned by a late pamphlet intituled The peaceable design, being a modest account of the non-conformists meetings, with some of their reasons for non-conformity: and the way of accomodation in the matter of religion. Humbly proposed to publick consideration by some ministers of London, against the sitting of Parliament, in the year, 1675.	Hickes, George, 1642-1715. Letter sent from beyond the seas to one of the chief ministers of the Non-conforming party. aut	1676 (1676)	Wing S2227; ESTC R214757	10,075	36

one consisting of a Composition with those whose Principles are fit and capable of it And the other consisting of Forbearance towards those whose Principles will allow them no more The Papist in our account is but one sort of Recusants and the conscientious and peaceable among than must be hold in the same Predicament with those among our selves that likewise refuse to come to Common Prayer And a little after But as for the Common Papist who lives innocently in his way he is to us as other Separatists and so comes under the like Toleration From whence I thus Argue Those who affirm Popery to be consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Goverment of the Nation these are no faithful Friends to the Protestant Cause But these Presbyterians who desire this Comprehension they affirm Popery to be consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation Therefore these Presbyterians who desire this Comprehension they are no faithful Friends to the Protestant Cause The Major I think cannot be deny'd For the Articles of our Faith being designedly Establish'd by our first Reformers in opposition to Popery most of the Popish Tenets being condemn'd therein those who affirm Popery to be consistent with them are Betrayers of the Reformation The Minor is thus proved Those who admit a Toleration of Popery and yet at the same time-profess That such a Toleration only is desir'd as is consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation those affirm Popery to be consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation But these Presbyterians who desire this Comprehension they admit a Toleration of Popery And yet at the same time profess that such a Toleration only is desir'd as is consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nations Therefore these Presbyterians who desire this Comprehension they affirm Popery to be consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation The Major is clear and imquestionable as likewise the Minor which is thus prov'd from their own words That they admit of a Toleration of Popery is plain from the fore-cited Expressions viz. Peaceable Design pag. 72. * As for the common Papist who lives innocently in his way he is to us as other Separatists and so comes under the like Toleration That such a Toleration only is desired as is consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation the latter part of the Minor these are the very words of the Pamphlet This acknowledg'd agreement betwixt Popery and Presbytery doth deservedly require some further Reflexions which I shall give my Reader in the words of a most Learned and if I am not misinform'd Right Honourable Person by transcribing part of his Letter the Title of which is as followeth A LETTER Sent from beyond the SEAS To one of the CHIEF MINISTERS OF THE Non-Conforming PARTY By way of Reply to many Particulars which he sent to the Author in a Letter of News Useful for these Distempered Times By a Lover of the Establish'd Government both of Church and State Anno. Dom. M.DC.LXXIV a Toleration as that was knowing that it must needs tend to the ruine of the Church of England which is the principal Butt of all their Envy and Malice as being the main Support and Credit of the Reformed Religion every where and the only Hedg against Popery it self in our unfortunate British Isles We meet with not a few Priests of several Orders that have the confidence in our most familiar Conferences to tell us that by the just Judgment of God upon our Church the time of her Ruine is at hand The Nation it self being over-spread with Schism and Atheism and the Hearts of the Faithful being disposed by the Spirit and Providence of God to reembrace the holy Catholick Truth And therefore they freely confess that this time of Distraction is their Harvest and withal express their Intentions and Zeal to transport themselves into England at the Critical time of Toleration that they may be Fellow-Labourers with your selves in that Harvest They seem to Lament as much and Complain as fast of the prodigious increase of Schism and Atheism among us as you are wont to do of the daily growth of Atheism and Popery And whilst you both complain alike and in the formality of your complaints both alike reflect upon the Church of England it is She only that is the Sufferer and She only that truly laments the Growth and at the same time sets up Banks to hinder the perfect Inundation of all the three among us As for Schism among Protestants you were the first Fathers and continue the chief Fautors thereof all the inferior Sects having sprung from you and dividing both from you and one another under pretence of the same Reasons for which you profess to divide from the Church And 't is from you that even the Quakering Sect it self the Dregs of Schism have learn'd to talk of Illumination and the Spirit And therefore if you be not Schismaticks then make themselves Popular and Powerful that they may afterwards act with good Colour whatsoever their Interest shall suggest And furthermore to consider That the great pretenders of the Spirit and power of the Christian Religion which with respect to Magistrates teacheth nothing but to Obey or Suffer should notwithstanding Preach up Rebellion against their Lawful Prince Fight him from Field to Field remove him from Prison to Prison and at last most Barbarously put him to Death is such an absurdity against the Principles of right Reason so repugnant to the Laws of our own Nation and so inconsistent with the Peaceable Doctrine of the Gospel that besides the Atheists it hath made it hath and ever will constrain Men of honest Principles and just Resentments to Persecute you with Satyrs and Exclamations to the end of the World I am consident I do not unjustly charge you in any particular especially with the Murther of the King For there were no Accessaries in the Marther of that sacred Person neither was it the last stroke only that fell'd the Royal Oak but you and the Independants like the two Sacrilegious Priests of Jupiter are equally g●ilty of the Crime the one for binding the direful Victim and the other for putting the Knife to his Throat But to be short where I am so unacceptable I 'le conclude my Argument with a Fable A principal Ship which for many years had been Sovereign of the Seas was at last Attaqued by a Tempestuous Wind which the Devil raised and notwithstanding all the help that could be made to save her was driven by the force of that malignant Wind and split upon a Rock The very same instant she dashed upon the Rock the Wind ceased and being afterwards cursed by the Sea-Men for the Wrack of the Royal

first Declaration he hath given his unfeigned Assent and Consent to the use of all and every thing in the said Book contained and prescribed I say unfeigned Hypocrisie being hateful both to God and Man and destructive to humane Society As to the other Declaration in brief thus It being notoriously known with what design the Covenant was first Imposed even the ruine of that Covernment which the Kings of England in their Goronation-Oath do swear to Maintain And the sad Effects being as Obvious to which that League was in a great measure Instrumental Authority could do no less without being wanting to its own Preservation than to require an assurance from all Persons to be admitted into the Ministry that there lies no Obligation from this Oath to endeavour any Alteration of Government either in Church or State In which words whoever refuseth to declare doth in effect assure us That though at present restrained yet he is still obliged when occasion shall offer it self in his Place and Calling to root out Popery Prelacy i. c. Government by Arch Bishops Bishops Deans Chapters c. If it be replied That there is no Alteration of Government intended by these moderate Dissenters whose Comprehension is desir'd but that it is another Clause in the Declaration which justisieth their refusal viz. There lies no Obligation on me or any other Person c. Which say they cannot safely be declar'd because though they do not approve the whole Oath yet there are several indispensable Duties contained in it which can never be renounced To this I Answer The Alcoran Romish Breviary or Missal may by any one that hath subscrib'd them be lawfully renounced and yet doubtless there are in them several Duties of Morality whereto he was obliged before and to which he was further obliged by his own Personal act in subscribing as being a part thereof Yet may he renounce In hac forma And so it is with the Covenant which may in like manner be renounc'd notwithstanding those good things that are contained in it The reason is Because Subscription was to the Totum complexum i. c. to the whole Frame of the Covenant as such and therefore the Abrenunciation of it must be to the whole as such The Obligation whereof being renounc'd must reach to every Branch and Clause therein so as no Man standeth obliged to the performance of any one Branch thereof though otherwise not only lawful but even necessary upon some other account as it is a Branch of the Covenant As to that trifling Scruple That though they themselves are not obliged by it yet it is too much considence to declare There lies no Obligation on any other This I say scarce deserves Confutation For since Nemo t●netur ad impossibile and Juramentum non est vinculum iniquitatis if it be in it self an unlawsul Oath as hath upon occasion been sufficiently prov'd it can neither oblige them nor any other whatsoever to any thing but Repentance But the most plausible Pretence in behalf of these Dissenters and which it seems hath influene'd some loyal Noble Breasts is this The Union of Protestants in his Majesties Kingdom 's is a very bleassed and desirable Work and accordingly it is the Duty of every good Subject in his Place and Calling faithfully to promote it This being the most effectual Method to suppress the common Enemy the Papists who are doubtless more encourag'd by our Divisions than any other Motives or Endeavours of their own Party And therefore were there but some little Relaxation granted whereby the most eminent Presbyterians might be receiv'd into the Church What a consternation would this strike into the Papal Faction What signal Service might the Church of England receive from these famous Champions whose Zeal and Learning are so notorious to the World This is their Plea The weakness of which may thus easily appear The Union of Protestants Reformation of abuses of Religion with such like specious Names being the usual Vizards wherewith Men of insatiable Avarice or Ambition disguise their base unworthy Intentions that the ugliness thereof may not appear to vulgar Eyes It concerns Authority to be very deliberate in their Councels and not be too forward upon every slight pretence to innovate good Laws for the sad consequents of which Change they can never be answerable to Church and State Few are of so weak Capacity but publick evils they easily espie fewer so patient as not to complain when the grievous inconveniences thereof work sensible Smart saith judicious Mr. Hooker Hence it is that the very name of Reformation carrieth with it a great deal of outward Glory and Lustre silling the Hearts of Men with expectation of much Happiness to ensue and in that Hope is evermore entertain'd with general Applause especially of the Vulgar sort And therefore Covetous Ambitious Disconted Persons have always improv'd this Inclination to their own advantage So that seldome hath any Sacrilegious or Seditious attempt appear'd abroad in the World and been countenanced either by the Great ones or the Many which hath not been uther'd in by this piece of Hypocrisie although upon the Post-fact we have sadly experienc'd that the pretence of a thorough Reformation serveth as a Foil to set off the blackest Crimes that ever the Christian World was guilty of This general Consideration first premised and 't is no unseasonable Reslection to the present Proposal I thus Answer That the Union of Protestants is indeed a very blessed and destreable Work as being the most effectual Method to suppress the common Enemy the Papist and accordingly that it is the Duty of every good Subject in his Place and Calling faithfully to promote it Thus far is easily granted But then whether this Comprehension be so suitable a method to promote that blessed Work or wether these Presbyterians would be so considerable a support to the Protestant Cause were the Walls of the Church like those of Troy pull'd down to receive them may best be judg'd by their own Confession For now they begin to speak plain The Mask of Hypocrisie by long wearing is grown so thin and useless that it is fit for nothing but to be thrown by That which so falsly and invidiously hath been objected against the Prelates is too sadly true of these Presbyterians They have a Pope in Their Belly This you 'll say is a very harsh and uncharitable Reslection And I do acknowledg the Charge were I not able thus to prove it In this very Pamphlet call'd the The Peaceable Design p. 71 I sind these words Such a Toleration only is desir'd as is consistent with the Articles of Faith a good Life and the Government of the Nation But what shall we say then to the Papists which is the Objection hit still in their Teeth that plead for Moderation Why we will not baulk the delivery of our Opinion There are two part we profess of that favour or condescention we seek from the higher Powers The

Charles for so the Capital Vessel was called answered You charge me most unjustly my Friends it was not I but the Rock as you saw that split your Ship The Moral of this Parable is very obvious and if the Application thereof or any thing else that I have written may conduce to awaken your Conscience and reclaim you from Schism I shall think my pains well bestowed But if you and your Seditious Brethren will still persevere to assault the Church on one hand as fast as the Romish Priests do undermine Her on the other Her day's are like to be but few and evil and except God incline the Heart of our Magistrates to put the Laws in Execution against them and find some effectual means to reduce you you may live to see her Ruine accomplished which you both alike desire and expect How numerous you are the World can gess and if the Accounts which we receive from the Fathers of Intelligence of several Orders be credible there are at least three Thousand of them which find entertainment and success in our Nation But in the mean time till her hour is come she strugleth against both like her Saviour against the Pharisees whose true Disciples in part you both are They representing those sworn Enemies of the Gospel by the Gabala of their ridiculous and impious Traditions and you representing them in their Hypocrisie Pride Envy Evil-speaking moross and censorious Dispositions c. which are sins scarce consistent with Humanity much less with Grace as likewise in observing many Fasts and making long Prayers with design not to serve God but to delude the People And therefore I wonder not that you are such malignant Enemies to the Church of England since that Pharisaical spirit which reigneth so much amongst you is a wicked Pusillanimous spirit that affects to be seen in the Head of Parties and Dictate amongst the Ignorant and loves as much to Rule as it hates to Obey But would you once be so sincere as to subdue your Pride lay aside your Prejudice inform your Ignorance and forsake your dearly beloved Interest for the Truth It would not be long ere we should see you joyn with the Church of England without troubling our Senators to bring you in with an Act of Comprehension Your Pride appeareth in Heading of Parties and in the Pleasure you are seen to take in the Multitudes that run after you and in your Boasting that without you the Souls of People would starve for want of Knowledg Your Prejudice is an effect of your Pride and discovers it self together with your Ignorance in not submitting to those Invincible Reasons which you cannot answer And as for your Interest the greatest Paradox of all that is evident enough to me who have so often heard many of you glorifie your selves in the Number and Riches of your Followers boast of their Affection to your sacred Persons and brag of the great Sums you have Collected in your Congregations which makes the King's Chappels as you Arrogantly call your Conventicles better Places than most of the Churches of which he is Patron And therefore never complain that you live either worse or at greater uncertainties than you did before For by your pretensions to Poverty and Sufferings and by other unworthy Arts you have so wrought your selves into the esteem of your Disciples that few of them are either so Covetous or so Poor but they will Pinch at Home to supply you There are several Orders of Franciscans here who have renounc'd not only Parsonages but all Temporal Estates and Possessions whatsoever and by their Vain-glorious Sanctity and Austerities they have got like you such fast hold on the Souls of the People which is the fastest hold of all that they can easily make most of them dispose of their Children Cashier their Servants and settle their Estates as they please and by these Tricks do more effectually promote the Interest of Rome than all the Parish-Priests within the Pale of that Church And really when I consider what Influence these Sanctimonious and Self-denying Zealots have o're all Families in all Places where they live how they steal away the Hearts of the People from their Parish Priests and Drain their Congregations and how the deluded People had rather give them the worth of a Shilling than the Dues of Two pence to their own Cures it makes me often run the Parallel between you and them and think what a Politick and gainful Pretence you have got to renounce your Livings for to secure your Consciences and to Preach the Word like the Primitive Apostles when God knows 't is not out of Love to the People but to your selves And I protest to you were I a Man to be Maintain'd by the Pulpit and consulted my Prosit more than the Goodness of my Cause I should take the same Courses that you do I should rather be Mr. M. than Dr. A. of Plymouth and should chuse the plentiful Income of that dull Zealot Dr. Manton before that of his most Learned and Religious Successor of Covent-Garden But though you Live very well and better indeed than most of the Ministers of the Church yet the Mischief of it is you are uncapable of Dignities which makes you such Acrians and upon all occasions openeth your Throats as wide as Sepulchres against the Bishops and the Church You know what an History of Bishops Mr. Prin hath wrote and what a fair Collection the Learned Smec hath taken out of him as if when a Bishop is defective either in Piety Learning or the Skill of Government it were not the deplorable Unhappiness but the fault of the Church of England Should an Heathen or Mahumetan make such an Historical Collection of scandalous Christians either in this or former Ages you would not be perswaded for all that to prefer the Alcoran before the Gospel or the most exalted Paganism whatsoever before the Christian Religion Therefore Wise and Sober Men will make no Inference but this from such a malicious enumeration of Particulars That Corruptions will creep into Government notwithstanding all the care that can be used to the contrary and that by the favour of Princes who hear with other Mens Ears and often receive undeserved Characters of Men sometimes Ambitions sometimes Ignorant and sometimes Slothful Imprudent or Debauched Persons will be prefer'd to the most Honourable Dignities in the Church But this as often as it happens is the Misery of the Church of England which all true Church Men lament though the Men of the short Cloak take all such occasions to expose her to the Scorn of the Common People who judg by Sense and not by Reason and who are taught by you to make no distinction between the Bishops and the Church But were all her Bishops the best Ghristians the best Scholars and the best Governours in the World and should the Royal hand place her Miters on the Heads of none but Jewels Whitgift's Andrew's Hall's Usher's Morton's Taylor 's and Sanderson's yet that Unchristian spirit of Envy and Discontent which informs the Non-Conformists would still slie upon her with open Mouth like Beasts upon the Saints of old condemn'd to the Amphitheater and make her as she hath already been for almost Forty years a Spectacle to God to Angels and to Men. The wicked Lives of scandalous Bishops and Priests if there be any such are her sad Misfortune but cannot justifie the Schism you are guilty of who are bound to hear even them as much as the Jew 's were bound to hear the Scribes and Pharises those Hypocrites that sate in Moses's Chair If either this or any thing else a thousand times better than I am able to Write may prove effectual to reclaim you from Schism I shall be as glad as to see some other of our Friends reformed from Drunkenness Swearing and Uncleanness Which are very grievous and dreadful Sins but yet not more damnable in their Nature nor more destructive to the Christian Religion nor more deeply rooted in the Soul of Man than that of Schism From which I pray God by the Power of his Grace to Preserve me and Reform you through Jesus Christ our Lord to whose Protection I commit you and rest Your most Affectionate Cosin and Humble Servant Saumur May 7. 1674. FINIS