Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
little reason to hope that in his practice the ferocity of its principles would be mitigated , or the happiness of his protestant subjects consulted to the detriment of the holy faith , The power he assigned to the ecclesiastical courts , his conduct towards the universities , his declaration for liberty of conscience , ( to which the refractory bishops would have fallen- a sacrifice but for that last refuge of violated freedom—a jury of their country ) the severity with which he prosecuted
those , who disputed the orthodoxy of his religious tenets , the implicit obedience he paid to his evil genius , the Jesuit Peters , all prove the persecuting spirit he had imbibed from his religion . And yet , in the outset of his reign , so submissive was the Parliament , so servile the people , that not even the cruelties of a Kirk and a Jefferies , not the power assumed by the monarch of dispensing with the laws , could
rouse the nation from its lethargy . Confiding in his faithless promises , the people hoped for blessings , which his preceding conduct did not warrant them to expect . His professions were liberal—the confidence of his subjects unbounded . —The credulous multitude , fond of novelty and gratified by change , were even ready to give ample credit to a succeeding sovereignand to hope for a display of
, unwonted generosity . Attentive only to the security of their spiritual , they forgot the defence of their civil interests . And had not James invaded the altar of reli gion , he might with impunity have sapped the foundations of the temple of freedom . But the plan of his attack was as injudicious , as its execution was incomplete . Pie ventured
too early to assail those rights which were deemed sacred and inviolable . And though the groans of expiring liberty had been unheard , or unattended to , the tears of religion moved her votaries to pity , and roused them to vengeance ., Happily for his ' deluded subjects his precipitation defeated the attempt : for his very virtues ( and some he certainly possessed ) rendered him the more dangerous to the liberties of his country . Entertaining designs hostile to its
religion and constitution , his resolution , bravery , and obstinate perseverance , made them but the more to be dreaded ; and his conscience would have revolted at nothing , which might accomplish the objects of his bigotry . Remember Tiis application to the soldiery . It was an execrable attempt to revive in England those horrors which Rome experienced , from the hour when the unbridled insolence of her
¦ army first assumed the disposal of her sceptre . The danger of a standing army , entertaining sentiments different from the people , and into whose minds are inculcated principles of absolute submission , is visible to every eye ; and had our warlike countrymen been as abandoned as the degenerate sons of Rome , our religion and our liberty would have perished together .. None but the most profligate
of mankind would have attempted to succeed in his views , however honourable they might seem , by so despicable an instrument . But , thank heaven ! l he had now brought the merits of his conduct to an issue , on which the meanest capacity might judge for itself . It was not an alarm to the passions , but a calm appeal to the judgment of his subjects , upon their most essential interests . ' * , It availed him
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essays On Subjects Connected With History And Classical Learning.
little reason to hope that in his practice the ferocity of its principles would be mitigated , or the happiness of his protestant subjects consulted to the detriment of the holy faith , The power he assigned to the ecclesiastical courts , his conduct towards the universities , his declaration for liberty of conscience , ( to which the refractory bishops would have fallen- a sacrifice but for that last refuge of violated freedom—a jury of their country ) the severity with which he prosecuted
those , who disputed the orthodoxy of his religious tenets , the implicit obedience he paid to his evil genius , the Jesuit Peters , all prove the persecuting spirit he had imbibed from his religion . And yet , in the outset of his reign , so submissive was the Parliament , so servile the people , that not even the cruelties of a Kirk and a Jefferies , not the power assumed by the monarch of dispensing with the laws , could
rouse the nation from its lethargy . Confiding in his faithless promises , the people hoped for blessings , which his preceding conduct did not warrant them to expect . His professions were liberal—the confidence of his subjects unbounded . —The credulous multitude , fond of novelty and gratified by change , were even ready to give ample credit to a succeeding sovereignand to hope for a display of
, unwonted generosity . Attentive only to the security of their spiritual , they forgot the defence of their civil interests . And had not James invaded the altar of reli gion , he might with impunity have sapped the foundations of the temple of freedom . But the plan of his attack was as injudicious , as its execution was incomplete . Pie ventured
too early to assail those rights which were deemed sacred and inviolable . And though the groans of expiring liberty had been unheard , or unattended to , the tears of religion moved her votaries to pity , and roused them to vengeance ., Happily for his ' deluded subjects his precipitation defeated the attempt : for his very virtues ( and some he certainly possessed ) rendered him the more dangerous to the liberties of his country . Entertaining designs hostile to its
religion and constitution , his resolution , bravery , and obstinate perseverance , made them but the more to be dreaded ; and his conscience would have revolted at nothing , which might accomplish the objects of his bigotry . Remember Tiis application to the soldiery . It was an execrable attempt to revive in England those horrors which Rome experienced , from the hour when the unbridled insolence of her
¦ army first assumed the disposal of her sceptre . The danger of a standing army , entertaining sentiments different from the people , and into whose minds are inculcated principles of absolute submission , is visible to every eye ; and had our warlike countrymen been as abandoned as the degenerate sons of Rome , our religion and our liberty would have perished together .. None but the most profligate
of mankind would have attempted to succeed in his views , however honourable they might seem , by so despicable an instrument . But , thank heaven ! l he had now brought the merits of his conduct to an issue , on which the meanest capacity might judge for itself . It was not an alarm to the passions , but a calm appeal to the judgment of his subjects , upon their most essential interests . ' * , It availed him