Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	blasphemy_n	contrary_a	great_a	27	3	2.0640	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A60933	The political mischiefs of popery, or, Arguments demonstrating I. that the romish religion ruines all those countries where 'tis establish'd II. that it occasions the loss of above 200 millions of livres ... to France in particular, III. that if popery were abolished in France, that kingdom would become incomparably more rich and populous ..., IV. that it is impossible that France should ever be re-established whilst popery is their national religion / by a person of quality.	Souligné, de.; Ridpath, George, d. 1726.	1698 (1698)	Wing S4719; ESTC R25778	81,776	162

Christ for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies that as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fignifies a Viceroy and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Proconsul The Pope I say and all his Court take it to be a Religious Worship and an acknowledgment of his Almighty Power both in Heaven and Earth as being the Vicar of Christ or the Antichrist not as Enemy of Christ which the word fignifies also by the special Providence of God tho' he be such a one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I know Travellers commonly have but a mean Idea of Religion and do this meerly out of a base Covetousness to get the Popes Golden Medal and fancy that 't is only a civil aspect which they pay to him as to a Temporal Prince and not a Religious one But it s a horrid mistake For the Pope pretends it is due to him by Vertue of a Prophecy in the Old Testament by which it 's said of the Messias That all Nations shall bow down and submit to him and lick the dust of his Feet Otherwise the Pope has no ground to pretend to that excessive and shameful Submission above so many Princes in the World who have a greater Temporal Power and Revenue are of a far nobler Pedegree and are infinitely better in all respects than he is So that all those Travellers who are guilty of that commit besides the sin against God a horrid baseness against ' emselves and Christianity and in truth I should think that those who will be so base hereafter as to stoop to that Villany for the Golden Medal would make no great scruple to prostitute themselves also for Money to the other Roman Prelates at Rome Muliebria pati There is nothing in my Opinion more capable of inspiring one with low and abased Thoughts of Mankind than to see Kings and Princes and their Counsels who ought to be the most clear-sighted and prudent of all Men as to what concerns the Welfare of their Dominions and People to suffer themselves to be led by the Nose by the most Vile and Abject Rascals in the World who have imposed such a Foolish and Shameful Religion upon them under pretext of which they pillage ruine and lay waste their Countries without their perceiving it or at least endeavouring to deliver themselves from that Yoke of Slavery The Church of Rome is not contented thus to treat those that she hath already brought under but would also swallow up all others and yet if you 'l believe her she is as I have said Infallible and there 's no Salvation to be hop'd for but in her Communion and by submitting to her Yoke which is all one as if the most dissolute Prostitute in a City should alledge that all the honest Women are debauched and cannot learn how to behave themselves except they come to her School Or just as if a multitude of Profligate Impious Debauchees Thiefs False Coiners and Murderers pretended to impose a new Religion upon Men to Administer Justice to all the World under pretence that some of their Ancestors from whom they claim a Direct and Legal Succession were honest Men and acted in those Stations a thousand years ago For it is just the same the Popes pretend to be Successors to the Bishops of Rome who were as they pretend the Successors of Saint Peter but what consequence can they draw from it if it were true seeing they are now all Idolaters Hereticks and the greatest Tyra●…s in the World and have been such for several Ages Is it not certain that Judas tho he was an Apostle himself forfeited his Right to his Office by betraying his Master how much more have the Popes and the Popish Church forfeited it who out-do him as much as the Prototype use●… to out-do it's Type Let 's suppose that the Mahometan 〈◊〉 who are a kind of Christians as well as the Popes since they acknowledge Christ for a great Prophet did pretend that they are the Successors of those Bishops of Asia to whom St. Iohn in his Revelation directs some Admonitions who had at least as much Right to pretend to be the Successors of the Apostles as the now Bishops of Rome Let us suppose I say that those muphtis did pretend now not only to have their Mission from Christ but to be the Center of Unity amongst Christians and under that pretence oblige us to 〈◊〉 Mahometans would the Popish Church think their Arguments good and yet they have as much Right to such Pretensions as the Pope and his Clergy who are more Antichristian than they The Pope then and his Clergy being without Controversy as I have demonstrated the greatest Enemies to Jesus Christ and to the Christian Church is it not a horrid piece of Impudence and Folly to pretend that they are or may still be the Fountain of the Ecclesiastical Mission and Ministry It is against God's Holiness Truth and Wisdom to think so and Blasphemy to speak so For did ever any wise Prince trust his Authority his Person and Family to Rebels and his greatest Enemies does not he on the contrary deprive them of all their Offices and of all his Favours for otherwise he should countenance their Rebellion and Crimes but when they have submitted and sworn Fidelity afresh then if he thinks fit to pardon them and give them their Offices again there must be new Patents and a new Commission on else he would be guilty of Folly against his own Crown and Dignity just the same as if our Lawful Sovereign King William did trust his Authority Person and People to the Irish who are in the late Kings Service in France and his own greatest Enemies and that they should exercise that Authority without renouncing Popery Idolatry and the late King This might justly be called a trusting the Sheep to the Wolves Unless Peter after the abjuring of his Master had repeated of that great sin and been also restor'd by his Master to the Apostleship by a thrice repeated Commission to feed his Sheep as he had three times abjured him Unless I say Christ had so sealed his Pardon and renew'd his Commission he had forfeited his Apostleship How much more then hath the Popish Church forfeited all her pretended Priviledges by the multitude of her Idolatries Heresies Execrable Morals and by her Tyranny over Princes and Nations It 's a Folly in Protestants to dispute seriously with the Roman Clergy and quote Scripture or bring Reason against them for they know very well that the Scripture is against them otherwise they would not prohibit the Reading of it nor speak with that disrespect of the same as they do it is just the same as if you would endeavour to dispute Highway-men or Prostitutes out of their way of Living which they have chosen before all others with a Resolution never to abandon the same It 's a Maxim in Logick that one ought not to dispute with those who deny Principles nor with those who impudently Controvert certain Truths

Subjects that they I say should be no otherwise united to a State but so as to ruine it and enrich themselves by its Spoils Let us suppose the Estates that are in Mainmort among the Ecclesiasticks possessed by Merchants or Tradesmen the Commerce would have been much greater in FRANCE and by Consequence the Kingdom should have been more rich and potent Let us suppose that they had been in the hands of the Generals of Armies Collonels and other Military Officers who like the Turkish Timariots should entertain upon those Estates so many thousands of Married Men as might Cultivate them What an incredible ease would that give to the poor people who should thereby be reliev'd from the Burden of Maintaining so many Troops what increases of People and w●…at Riches would not that produce Or let us suppose that those Estates were in possession of people of Quality or others who either had serv'd or might serve the King in his Camp tho' not in the manner of Timariots they would spend those Estates in the service of the King by doing him Honour at Court or Generously in fine Buildings Sculptures Paintings Gravings or other Magnificent Curiosities and Ornaments which would Embellish and Set off the Provinces and Towns make Arts to flourish imploy a vast number of people and cause Money to circulate incessantly from one hand to another Or suppose they were possess'd by Laicks of all ranks indifferently as the other half of the Estates of the Kingdom are at present and that as to other things the Government should remain on the same footing as it is at present which however is not much to be desired The King in that case should mightily increase his Revenue the Officers of Justice of the Police or Discipline of Cities and those of the Treasury as also those of the Imposts and all their Train would get twice as much Riches as they do except their number should be Augmented in proportion In which case the King would be enrich'd by the sale of great number of Places It 's true the people should always continue miserable if they were as much Tax'd in proportion but the King's Revenues would be doubled Nay the very name of Mainmort imports that those Estates in such hands are unprofitable to the Society I have enlarg'd a little upon this Article beyond what I intended because it is of the highest concern in Politicks and that I have met with several Men of Parts who did not ●…ightly apprehend the Mischief of having so much wealth in Mainmort Article VI. relates to the great Quantity of Plate which they have in their Churches and Convents and in those places they call their Treasuries as St. Denis near Paris Notre Dame de Liesse and des Ardillieres and other places of that nature This one Superstitious and Foolish Custom must needs have robb'd the Publick Commerce of divers Millions at such time as the Clergy had amass'd a great quanti●…y of it as before this War which was the true cause that a great part of it was melted down by the King's Order Suppose that in the whole it had not exceeded 20 Millions that would have at least amounted to several Millions amongst the people per Annum However I will not take upon me to determine how far this loss extended because I dont know what quantity of Plate they had for the Popish Clergy never tell the truth in these cases and very seldom in any others Article VII Relates to the constant practice of their Clergy in hoarding up Money which is of more importance than the preceding Article for seeing many of them possesses great Revenues and are neither allowed to Trade nor to Marry and by consequence have no lawful Off-spring they do ordinarily betake themselves to the amassing of vast sums of Money under the pretext of providing for their Nephews and Neeces as the Popes do and they don't provide for them neither for the most part till after their death which is doubly prejudicial to Commerce It hath moreover been the constant Observation of such persons that they are very Covetous and don't love to give Alms to the Poor altho' they be thereunto obliged by the intention of their Founders so that taking of their Avarice for granted which is in●…eparably annex'd and natural to that sort of people together with their sordid Principles of Parsimony at least in all their Communities where they spend little in comparison of their vast Incomes tho' at the same time they eat and drink a great deal These things I say being taken for granted as they are certainly true there 's ground to believe that all their Clergy together Secular and Regular of both Sexes might have constantly before this War at least 50 Millions of useless Money to the Publick in their Coffers or the hands of the Publick Notaries Whence 't is easie ●…o perceive that the Publick lost considerably by this Money which in Commerce would have brought abundance of profit to the Kingdom helped to pay Taxes imployed abundance of people and contributed to Propagation This Article must certainly amount to sev●…ral Millions I will not determine how many but without doubt this and the preceding Article are to be reckoned at 8 or 10 Millions loss per Annum at least Article VIII relates to the Ridiculous Festivals that they observe wherein the poor Idolatrous People lose their time besides the Debaucheries which this abuse occasions indispensibly in Popish Countries which together can't be reckoned at less than ●…50 Millions of Livr●…s loss per An. For supposing that the Industry of the Nation might have been formerly valued at above 600 Millions per Annum as I have made it appear elsewhere if it were not for the abuses of Popery whereof this is one of the most prejudicial Supposing I say there are above 50 working days lost in a Year by Festivals in general without reckoning Sundays and some remarkable Festivals that would be the 6th part of the peoples Industry lost which amounts to 100 Millions per Annum We must also take notice that besides those general Festivals and Holy days there are many particular Festivals viz. those of every Parish who have their particular Saint whose Image they adore according to the Doctrine of their Councils the Festivals of Saints for every Profession Trade and Distemper when they practise the like the Festivals of Beasts or Saints that are Patrons of Beasts so that there 's much above the 6th part of the peoples time lost I confess that the time of those Holy-days is not absolutely lost for then they mind House-keeping dress Victuals and take care of their Cattle on Sunday c. and some other profitable things are done as Travelling by Land and Sea and Mariners are imployed on those days as well as others which to observe by the by is still a great advantage that Protestants and Trading Nations have above others who have not so much Trade by Sea But then if

Flambeaus and Torches burning all at once whereas they don't so much see the Consumption of the Oil. But on the contrary the Papists will Judge that the Expence of the Oil is much greater because they see in many Churches 10 15 or 20 Lamps burning all at once night and day and in truth I am of opinion that the expence of the Oil is the greater To convince any Man that it was great let 's suppose there were only 200000 Lamps burning continually in the Churches Monasteries Convents and Chappels of the Kingdom before their pretended Sacrament their Images and Statues in the middle of the Churches to enlighten the Night whether they be fed with Oil of Oli●…e Oil of Rape or other Fat yet it 's known that for the most part they spend the best Oil which in many places is brought a great way by Land is very dear and oftentimes the principal Trade of the Grocers and Wax-Chandlers in Cities is to furnish Oil and Wax for the Churches Funerals and Processions I am of the mind that the least we can reckon for every Lamp in 24 hours is 2 d. which at the rate of 200000 Lamps amounts to 20000 Livres per day which is almost 7 Millions per Annum for Oil alone There are many Lamps which spend above 6 d. per day in Oil where it is dear or the Lamps great and have a large wick and cast a great light It is to be considered that there are 27000 Parishes in the Kingdom besides what is in the new Conquests and that there are few Churches nay even in the Country but what have two Lamps and that in Cities there are Churches that have 10 15 20 or above continually burning besides what are in Monasteries Convents and Chappels both in Town and Country There are many places in France as well as in Spain Portugal Italy and other Countries where those that light the Lamps in the Churches maintain their Families perfectly by robbing the Lamps of their Oil and giving out that it is drunk by Night-Owls As to the Wax after having considered it well I believe that formerly it amounted to no less ●…han 3 Millions of Livres per Annum which would in whole amount to 10 Millions but this I submit to the Judgment of such who are more throughly acquainted with those things than I but if it should not amount to above 5 Millions it is still a considerable loss to the Kingdom Article XII concerns their Lent Ember-weeks and other Fast-days as they call them viz. the Fryday and Saturday of every Week with the Orders of Monks and Nuns who are never allowed to eat Flesh Eggs nor Butter All those things occasion abundance of Mischiefs which I shall here present to view that we may be better able to Judge of the great prejudice done to the State by this one Head which is of the greatest consequence 1. By this means great Summs of Money are exported out of the Kingdom for dry a●…d fresh Cod Stock-fish White and Red-hering Salmon Pilchards Sardines c. It 's certain that formerly there were several Millions above 6 at least went out of the Kingdom every year for Fish It it be said that the French for a considerable time have Fish'd Cod enough in New-●…ound-Land It is however certain that 't is not many years since they bought that sor●… of Fish from Foreigners and as for the other sorts of Salt-fish they buy them almost wholly still from Foreigners and Protestants 2. These Superstitions prevent the breeding of many Cattel of all sorts and likewise of Fowl in the Kingdom as there would be otherwise because for almost one half of the year they dare not eat any Flesh which by necessary consequence diminishes the Revenues of Land 3. For this very reason of the want of Flesh it is impossible that a Country can maintain and breed up so many people because next to Bread there 's nothing does so much Nourish a Man as Flesh nor any thing that renders him so proper for Labour and Generation They must not pretend to tell me that that Land which is fi●… for Feeding Cattle is fit for other things and that what they lose on the on●… hand they gain it on the other for 't is very well known that there are many Grounds proper for Cattle Pasturage and Hay that are fit for nothing else and on the other hand suppose that those Grounds were equally fit for Corn Wine or Wood as for breeding of Cattle 't is known that the profit of Cattle is the greatest I have known several Quarters of France that abounded with Meadows along the Rivers where a Load of Hay weighing 2000l weight and drawn by six great Oxen and sometimes two or three Horses join'd to them besides was not worth above three Livres and sometimes not above two and an half which would not have been so but for their Lent and other Fast-days 4. It is known that the profit of Cattel comes with less Expence and Labour for the Cattel go of themselves to the places where one would have them and so save Carriage 5. It is also known that Cattle when they feed are at Work for their Owner without any need of his being present with them so that he may apply himself to some other thing 6. A little Meat with B●…ead nourishes better than three times as much B●…ead alone 7. Cattel give rise to abundance of important Manufactures that imploy and afford Subsistance to great numbers of people such as Wools Hides Horns Suet Butter Cheese c. 8. This want of Cattel makes Meat dear to those imployed in Manufactures and other Handicrafts as also to Merchants whom i●… costs a great deal dearer to Victual their Ships 9 It likewise occasions the dearness of Candle Butter Cheese Hides and Wool c. in a Country which is an hindrance to Mechanicks Trade and Propagation and makes other Provisions dearer in general than in those Countries where that Superstition is unknown It particularly occasions the dearness of Bread because the people for want of Flesh-meat are obliged to eat abundance of Bread This want of Cattel occasions also the laying out of great sums in Foreign Rice Hide●… Suet Butter Cheese and Fat or Grease for Coaches and other Carriages 10. Those Extravagant Superstitions are the cause of Maladies and Distempers Languishings and of the death of an infinite number of poor people and of Infirm Aged and Scrupulous persons to whom Meat would be more proper than any thing else and yet they cannot have that Relief because ●…hey either cannot or will not give it them or that they dare not eat it because of the Scruples that the Idolatrous Priests have form'd in their Minds so that they suffer extreamly during that time and abundance more people die in that season than in others This Superstitious Lent falls likewise precisely out at a time when the Husbandman and other Country people labour very hard about digging their

and therefore ought to be accounted Sacred by all Men for that very reason It does as much as can be to frustrate the End which God propos'd by the Formation and distinction of two Sexes viz. the Propagation and Multiplication of Mankind by means of Marriage and therefore he did not give two Wives to Adam nor two Husbands to Eve Those who are addicted to this Vice have no regard for one another but only with respect to their impure Inclinations and if they don't think them as bad as themselves they do all they can to make them so and to corrupt them by all Methods either directly by themselves or indirectly by others hence it comes to pass that we see every day so many handsom Women of good natural parts and many times of good Families thus seduced and drawn away which is a horrid Mischief for which those who have any remainder of Conscience left cannot but grieve In the esteem of those Debauchees I say who assoon as they immerse ' emselves in those Villanies lose all Sense of Religion and of the Excellency of Man and the Nobility of his Extraction Mankind is valued but little above Dogs and Swine which they see Engender much in the same manner as they do themselves that is to say indifferently with all of their Species that they meet according to their brutal Appetites without reason or consideration without any regard to God the Good of Society or the Honour and Dignity of Man so that they corrupt themselves in what they know naturally as Bruit Beasts as the Holy Scriptures express it Hence it is that in Society there is so little Charity Friendship and Respect for one another a debauch'd Man looks upon all Women to be tained with this Vice Women commonly shew less disrespect for debauched Men than Men shew for Lewd Women yet at the same time they would have more esteem for those that they believe to be free from that Vice which renders those that are tainted with it Contemptible even to persons that are most Vicious themselves tho' they make use of them for asswaging their brutish Lust and hence it comes that they do readily call all Women Whores and Bitches and Children Sons of Whores or Young Dogs which occasions many Quarrels Law-Suits and Insolences yea sometimes Murthers It is not to be expressed what prejudice this Vice does to Commerce in those Countries which lye Commodiously for Traffick by Sea and therefore are oblig'd to take more care therein than others because Plenty produces nourishes and entertains this Vice if the Magistrates be not persons of Honour love the Publick Welfare and keep good Discipline and the Consequences of it are more mischievous in such Countries than elsewhere from this it was that Plato said Mare improbitatis Magister the Sea teaches Wickedness and hence also it was that the Poets feign'd that Venus was bred of the Froth of the Sea and that a Latine Poet express'd it thus Hispanae Navis Magister dedecorum pretiosus Empt●…r implying that Masters of Ships spare no cost to debauch Women There is nothing more contrary to the growth of a State either in number of Men or Riches than to suffer Whordom to go unpunished It troubles me to think that amongst so many able Men who have treated of Commerce and of what is contrary to it none of them have observ'd that this Vice is one of the chief Obstacles to the Prosperity of a Nation I know a State to which I wish well from the bottom of my heart to which it occasions the loss of diverse Millions per Annum which I could ea●…ily demonstrate and am very certain that if they would give necessary Orders in good earnest for preventing it which would not be so difficult to do neither as is generally believed at least for the greatest part there would be abundance of more people than there are and Trade Arts Manufacture and Agriculture would thrive there a great deal better than they do Men Women and Children would be abundantly more healthsul and fewer of them would in comparison die of Consumptions This Vice must be abundantly greater in Popish than Protestant Countries because the Popish Clergy favour it by their Principles Auricular Confession their own Example and that of the Court of Rom●… as also by the easiness of Absolution in Confessing themselves to a Priest who is himself immers'd in such Impurities or by giving him Money a good Dinner or hireing him to say Masses c. The Unchastity of all their Clergy Male and Female caused by their Celibacy and Execrable Morals as well as by the Example of the chiefest Prelates at Rome is a very great prejudice to Popish Kingdoms which it fills with Adulteries Fornication Incests and Crimes yet more Execrable yea with Millions of open and hidden Crimes as Abortions Murthers and such like for the Clergy who are guilty of those Vices make no scruple so they can but conceal them to murther both the Mothers and Children As to Protestant States it 's well enough known that they are infected with this Vice by the Neighbourhood of the Popish ones and it 's confidently asserted not without ground that in the two last Reigns all those sorts of Disorders were favoured in England for the better and more easie Establishment of Popery Article XVIII relates to the Drunkenness of the Popish Clergy which as well as their Incontinence is chargeable upon the Morals of their Church for the greatest part of the Clergy-men except some Bishops and Curates in the biggest Towns and some particular Men in Monastries are Drunkards and by their Example the Common People do mostly become so This Vice does likewise occasion abundance of Mischief tho' much less than the other as I could here demonstrate contrary to the opinion of some Men if it were proper The truth of this appears by this one thing viz. that the Popish Clergy are unchaste by Principle and in a manner of necessity because Marriage is forbid to them that so they may have less dependance upon the State and may be more profitable and apply themselves with the greater Application to the Interests of the Pope which they call the Church And besides this Libertinage which pleases them infinitely makes them love the Pope and his Religion which grants them so great Priviledges whereof others are depriv'd viz. that they may enjoy Women without any trouble as it 's said to be practis'd by the Republick of Venice who to assure themselves of the Fidelity of their Clergy grant them a greater Liberty in this matter than is allowed in other parts of Italy Now one may easily Judge what disorders this Example of the Libertinage of the Clergy must necessarily produce in Society and what Ravage they make of the Womens Chastity by their Auricular Confession and Absolution and what influence those things have upon the Women and Maids who are by this means delivered into their hands as a prey