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<DATE>2014-05-06</DATE>
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<NAME>TCP Staff (Michigan)</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140316.apex.</ITEM>
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<IDG S="marc" R="UM" ID="B25209">
<STC T="W">J421aA</STC>
<STC T="G">C.121.g.9[85]</STC>
<STC T="C">R229231</STC>
<BIBNO T="umi">99888256</BIBNO>
<VID>201061</VID>
</IDG><!-- alt.stc GC.121.g.9[85] --><!-- alt.stc CR229231 -->
<TEXT LANG="eng">
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P> THis being Your Maje&s;ty's <HI>Birth-Day,</HI> I thought no time more proper than this, to return you Thanks for Your Maje&s;ty's Speech, and more e&s;pecially for declaring, <HI>That the Church of</HI> England <HI>is one of the greate&s;t Supports of the</HI> Prote&s;tant Religion, <HI>and for the Defence whereof Your Maje&s;ty was ready again to venture your Life.</HI> Which was graciou&s;ly &s;aid of Your Maje&s;ty, and for which I return Your Maje&s;ty Thanks; and indeed &s;o She is, for She was, and is (and I hope ever will be) the only Bulwark again&s;t <HI>Popery;</HI> and that is the only cau&s;e that makes <HI>Roman Catholicks</HI> not to love her; and ill Men, and Men that cannot under|&s;tand her, are always Plotting again&s;t her to do her Mi&s;chief, in incen&s;ing her Children again&s;t her, and perverting her Members; thinking to weaken her, that they may the better over-power her: But the Mo&s;t High GOD doth Pre&s;erve her, therefore Men nor Devils &s;hall not de&s;troy her, neither &s;hall the Gates of Hell prevail again&s;t her. It was the Unhappine&s;s of my late So|veraign to be per&s;waded to alter her Government, which was the &s;ole Cau&s;e of bringing Your Maje&s;ties hither to Vindicate her; and therefore I humbly be&s;eech Your Maje&s;ties not to thru&s;t out her Members, nor put the Woolfs to keep the Sheep; for I count tho&s;e Men which have always di&s;turbed the Peace of the Church, are not fit to come into her Government: For hath God done &s;uch great Things for any Congregation, as he hath done for this di&s;tre&s;&s;ed and de&s;pi&s;ed Church of <HI>England?</HI> For when the <HI>Presbyterians</HI> got Power, they got it by Deceit and Blood, and by De&s;troying the be&s;t of Kings, Your Maje&s;ties Grandfather, and then they thought the Church &s;hould die with him, and never ri&s;e again; but yet &s;ee the Miraculous Pro|vidence of God, in bringing in my Precious Soveraign King <HI>Charles</HI> the Second, and your Fa|ther and Uncle, without the &s;hedding of Blood, tho' in humane Rea&s;on it &s;eemed impo&s;&s;ible, when the Godly &s;ober Party had gotten it all into their own hands. I love Godline&s;s, but hate when Men make it a Cloak, that makes me I cannot love <HI>Di&s;&s;enters,</HI> till they repent of the Faults, and acknowledge the Sins of their Fathers; tho&s;e that hated the name of a Bi&s;hop, and cried it was Popi&s;h (tho' Chri&s;t's Di&s;ciples In&s;tituted them) yet they could di&s;pence with their Lands: They did not own Kingly Authority, but they could have the Power of Kings, and de&s;troy the Dignities of Kings and Princes; they did not make long Prayers to de&s;troy Widows Hou&s;es only, but to de&s;troy Three Kingdoms at once; and yet for all that, tho' they had Bi&s;hops Lands, and Lords Livings, yet God re-e&s;tabli&s;hed his Church again, and for this Church I have been always very Zealous, and for its Government, for it's God's Government; therefore I often made Application to my late Soveraign, who is your Father and Uncle, and told him, <HI>That he &s;hould never be able to do what he de&s;igned, and that every &s;tep he trod towards</HI> Rome, <HI>mu&s;t be untrod again;</HI> and thro' the Providence of God, my words was made true, by Your Highne&s;s's coming, and the whole Nation rejoyced at your coming, as a Reconciler, but not half the Nation thought You would have accepted of the Crown, as long as the King your Father was alive, but E&s;tabli&s;hed all according to your <HI>Declaration,</HI> by a Free Parliament, then Your Maje&s;ties would not have wanted Money, nor there would have been no War nor &s;hed|ding of Blood; but &s;ince it's &s;o, I be&s;eech Your Maje&s;ty to forget your own Countrey and Fathers Hou&s;e, and &s;tudy the Good and Welfare of this Nation, and Pray for the King Your Father, <HI>That God would Convert and Convince him, and e&s;tabli&s;h him in his Truth, that he may be qualified for his Kingdom;</HI> and when he is &s;o qualified to re&s;ign them freely. This will make you &s;o Great and &s;o Glorious, that Your latter end will be more Glorious than your beginning; <HI>Then all will Admire You for Your Piety and Vertue. And &s;ince Providence hath &s;ent Your Ma|je&s;ty hither to keep the Church of</HI> England <HI>from being impo&s;ed upon by Popery, I humbly be&s;eech Your Maje&s;ty, That &s;he &s;hould not be impo&s;ed on by any other: For methinks it is unkind that the Bi&s;hops &s;hould &s;uffer for not Swearing, when Chri&s;t &s;aith,</HI> Swear not at all; <HI>and tho&s;e Pious Men who were Impri&s;oned for their Con&s;cience, to lay down all for Your Sake who came to be their De|fender; &s;urely Your Maje&s;ties needs not mi&s;tru&s;t their Fidelity, for they who make Con&s;cience of an Oath, they will make Con&s;cience of their Word; they will engage for their good Behaviour, and I dare believe them: Therefore I be&s;eech Your Maje&s;ties to be kind to the Arch-bi&s;hop and all the re&s;t of the Bi&s;hops, if Your Maje&s;ties intend God &s;hould Ble&s;s You; for as Your Maje&s;ties doth by tho&s;e Pious Men, &s;o God will do by Your Maje&s;ties. The Lord Guide Your Maje&s;ties to Act here that you may be Eternally Happy, is the Prayer of</HI></P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>Your Maje&s;ties Subject and Souls Well-Wi&s;her, <HI>ELINOR JAMES.</HI></SIGNED></CLOSER>
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