Selected quad for the lemma: war_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
war_n	high_a	king_n	treason_n	3,672	5	9.5249	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A89086	A pious and learned speech delivered in the High Court of Parliament, 1. H. 4. by Thomas Mercks then Bishop of Carlile. Wherein hee gravely and judiciously declares his opinion concerning the question, what should be done with the deposed King Richard the Second.	Merke, Thomas, d. 1409.	1642 (1642)	Wing M1826; Thomason E200_51; ESTC R13379	5,336	8

the Prophet David forbiddeth both by precept and practice to touch the Lords anointed Thou shall not saith the Lord Raile upon the Iudges neither speake evill of the Ruler of the people And the Apostles doe demand further that even our thoughts and soules be obedient to higher powers And lest any should imagine that they meant of good Princ●s onely they speake generally of all And further to take away all doubt they make expresse mention of the evill For the power and Authority of wicked Princes is the ordnance of God And therefore Christ told Pilate That the power which he had was given him from above And the Prophet Esay called Cyrus being a prophane and Heathen Prince the Lords anointed For God turneth the hearts even of wicked Princes to doe his will And as Iehosaphat said to his Rulers They execute not the judgement of man but of the Lord. In regard whereof David calleth them Gods because they have the rule and authority even from God which if they doe abuse they are not to be adjudged by their Subjects for no power within their Dominion is superiour to theirs But God reservcth them to their sorest tryall Horribly and suddenly saith the Wiseman will the Lord appeare to them and a hard judgement shall they have The Law of God commandeth that the childe should be put to death for any contumely done unto the parents but what if the Father bee a Robber if a murtherer if sor excesse of villanies odious and execrable both to God and man surely he deserveth the greatest degree of punishment and yet must not the sonne lift up his hand against him for no man can be so great an offender as to be punished by parricide But our Country is or ought to bee more deare to us than our Parents And the Prince is the Father of the Countrey and therefore more sacred and deare to us then our Parents by nature and must not be violated how imperious how impious soever he be Doth he command or demand our purses or persons we must not shun the one nor shrink from the other for as Nehemiah saith Kings have dominion over the Cattell of their Subjects at their pleasure Doth hee injoyne those actions which are contrary to the Lawes of God we must neither wholly obey nor violently resist but with a constant courage submit our selves to all manner of punishment and shew our subjection by suffering and not performing yea the Church hath declared it to be an Heresie to hold that a Prince may be slaine or deposed by his Subjects for any default or disorder of life or default in Government There will be defaults so long as long as there be men and as we endure with patience a barren yeare if it happen and unseasonable weather so must we tollerate the imperfections of Rulers and quietly expect either reformation or alteration But alas what such cruelty what such impiety hath King Richard committed examine the imputations objected with the false circumstance of aggravation and you shall finde but little of truth or of great moment it may be many oversights have escaped as who lives without offending yet none so grievous to be termed tyranny as proceeding rather from unexperienced ignorance or corrupt counsell than from any naturall or wilfull malice Oh! how should the world be pestered with tyrants if Subjects might be permitted to rebell upon pretence of tyranny how many good Princes should often be suppressed by those by whom they ought to be supported if they but levie a Subsidie or any other taxation it shall be judged oppression if they put any to death for traiterous attempts against their persons it shall be exclaimed at for cruelty if they shall doe any thing against the good liking of their people it shall bee proclaimed Tyrannie But let it be that without desert in him or authority in us King Richard must be deposed yet what right hath the Duke of Lancaster to the Crowne or what reason have we without right to give it him If he make Title as Heire to King Richard then must he stay King Richards death for no man can succeed as heire to the living But 't is well knowne to all men who are not wilfully blind or grosly ignorant that there are some yet alive lineally descended from Lionel Duke of Clarence whose issue by the judgement of the high Court of Parliament in the 8. yeare of K. Richards Reigne was declared heire apparant to the Crowne in case King Richard should dye without issue The claime from Edmund Crouchbacke I passe over the Authors thereof themselves being ashamed of so absurd an abuse And therefore all the pretence now on foot is by right of Conquest and the Kings resignation and grant and the consent of the many it is bad stuffe that will take no colour what conquest can a Subject make against a Soveraigne where the warre is insurrection and the victory high Treason King Richards resignation being in prison is an act of exaction by force and therefore of no force to bind him And by the Lawes of this Realme the King by himselfe cannot alienate the ancient Jewels and ornaments of the Crowne much lesse give away his Crowne and Kingdome And custome wee have none for the vulgar to elect their King but they are alwayes tyde to accept of him whom the right of succession enables to the Crowne much lesse can they make good that Title which is by violence usurped For nothing can be said to be freely done when liberty is restrained by feare As for the deposing of Edward the Second it is no more to be urged than the poysoning of King Iohn or the murthering of a lawfull Prince we must live according to Lawes not Examples yet the Kingdome then was not taken from lawfull Successours But if we looke backe to times past we shall finde that these Titles were more strong in King Stephen than they are now in the Duke of Lancaster for King Henry the 1. being at liberty neither restrained nor constrained the people assented to this designement and thereupon without feare or force he was anointed and crowned King Yet Henry Fitzempresse having a neerer right to the Crowne by his Mother notwithstanding his Father was a stranger and he borne beyond the Seas never ceased the prosecution of bloody warres to the great effusion of blood and spoyling the Countrey untill his lawfull inheritance was assured him It terrifieth me but to thinke how many flourishing Kingdomes have been by such contentions either rent by intestine division or subdued to forraigne Princes under pretence of assistance and aide This Kingdome hath had too wofull experience of these severall mischiefes and yet neither examples of other Countreys or miseries of our owne are sufficient to make us be wary Certainely I feare it will betide us as it did to Esops Frogges who being desirous to have a King had a beame given them the first fall affrighted them but when they saw it lye still they contemptuously insulted thereon and desired a King of more active spirit Then a Storke was sent them which stalking amongst them daily devoured them King Richards mildnesse hath bred in us this scorne interpreting it to be cowardise and dulnesse of nature I dare not say yet give me leave to suspect with greater courage we may finde greater cruelty And thus have I declared my opinion with more words you may perhaps conjecture than wisdome yet fewer then the waight of the cause did require And I doe resolutely conclude that we have neither power nor policie either to depose King Richard or in his place to Elect Duke Henry That King Richard remaineth still our Soveraigne Lord and therefore it is not lawfull for us to give judgement against him That the Duke whom you are pleased to stile King hath more transgressed the King and Realme than Richard hath done either against him or us For he being banished the Realme for ten yeares by the King and Councell amongst whom his owne father was chiefe and given oath not to returne without speciall license Hee hath not only broken his oath but disturbed the peace of the Land dispossessed the King of his Royall estate and now demandeth judgement against his person without offence proved or defence heard if this injury move not yet let both our private and publike dangers somewhat withdraw us from these violent proceedings FINIS