THE Support and Security of the Government, as now by Law eſtabliſh'd, both in Church and State, is ſo publick a good, that all good Chriſtians and Subjects, within theſe Kingdoms, are oblig'd to open their Veins and Purſes for it; and, à fortiori, to open their Mouths, and put their Pens to Paper for it, in a time of Trial. And ſince you are pleas'd to condeſcend ſo far, as to ask my poor private Judgment, as if you meant to rely upon it, in a Caſe of ſuch publick Importance, I will ſave you and my ſelf the trouble of any Apology, and truſt to your Candor, and my own good Intentions, in ſetting down what I judge to be your's, and my duty in all ſincerity, (which God knows I have done;) and leave to him and you the pardoning of my Errors; which I hope you will at leaſt cover from being any common Nuiſance to others, or any private Damage to my ſelf. You are alwaies pleas'd to allow me as much freedom in Writing as in Thinking; and therefore I do the more freely pour my indigeſted Thoughts into your Boſom, as well to eaſe my own Mind, as to underſtand what your's will be of the whole matter; for I am ſenſible, That the Commands you have laid upon me, are rather directed to try my Obedience, than to ſupply want of Information in any Point, which concerns your Duty to God or the King: And therefore I muſt rather expoſe my own real Deſects, than not endeavour to ſupply your imaginary ones; who will be alwaies, as much as I can, though not ſo much as I ought to be, your Servant.

They, who leaſt conſider hazzard in the doing of their duty fare beſt ſtill: Mens Tongues are their own; nor is it in your power or mine, to preſcribe what ſhall be ſpoken for or againſt us, by them who make all Men Papiſts, who are not Schiſmaticks; nor will they ever believe us far enough from Rome, unleſs we will bear them Company to Geneva. But we have not ſo learned Chriſt: We have been taught how to govern our ſelves, both towards Papal and Popular Supremacy, and to give unto Caeſar the things which are Caeſar's,1 Cor. 1.15. and to God the things that are Gods. What I now ſpeak, in this Paper, is, I am ſure, to a wiſe Man; Judge you what I ſay.

Now, firſt, Sir, give me leave to premiſe, That a Caſe of Conſcience, and a Caſe of Prudence, are not alwaies the ſame Caſe; and therefore would require more than one Reſolution; they ſeem to differ juſt as much, as what is Lawful and what is Expedient. Terms that often meet together, may eidem competere, but are not convertible, and very often cannot de eodem affirmari. Some things that are lawful may not be expedient; and ſome things have of late years (as you well remember) been thought expedient (as the Black-Bill of Excluſion) which you, and I knew to be unlawful; and tho the calling it Chriſtian Prudence do diſtinguiſh it from that, and ſuch-like Ʋnchriſtian Projects of ſome State-Politicians, and ſuppoſe it only converſant about things lawful; yet ſtill there is a difference between what I ought, and muſt, as bound in Conſcience to do, that I may approve my ſelf an honeſt Man, and a good Subject; and what I may or ſhould do at this juncture, to prove my ſelf a diſcreet and prudent Man: If I do not the former, I Sin both againſt God and the King; if not the latter, I do not Sin mortally, though I act fooliſhly; which will prove the Caſe of very many, whom it will be hard for you or me to make ſo Wiſe as they ſhould be, becauſe they conceit themſelves to be Wiſe enough already.

Prudence is not only a Moral but a Chriſtian Vertue, and ſuch as is neceſſary to the conſtituting of all others,La • ant. • 10. Nec Religio ulla ſine ſapientia ſuſcipienda eſt, nec ulla ſine Religione probanda ſapientia: Without Prudence our very Zeal for the Church of England, would prove but a kind of pious Phreneſy: For though our Intentions to preſerve it, were never ſo juſtifiable, or commendable; yet if we did not prudently chooſe appropriate means for the attainment of that Good End, we ſhould undermine the thing, which we would have eſtabliſhed, and defeat our own Aims; for a good Intention will never alter the Nature of an ill Action: We muſt therefore have our Eyes in our Heads, that we be not practis'd upon, to our own, or the Churches Ruine; and be ſure to judge of the things in queſtion, according to Truth and Charity: Non ex eo quod eſt fallimur, ſed ex eo quod non eſt; we are not cheated with Realities, but with Diſguiſes and Appearances of things; with thoſe counterfeit Shapes which our ſelves or others have given them: Sapiens eſt, cui res ſapiunt, ut ſunt, He is a Prudent Man to whom things ſavour, and reliſh as they are. Who can abſtract the Ill that may be, from the Good that appears to be, and ſever the Colour from the Thing. Wiſe Men cannot be content to be abus'd with Ʋmbrages; they will conſider firſt, what is juſt and honeſt, and then what is ſit, decent and advantageous; they will firſt argue the matter, in point of Conſcience, what is lawful; both for the Church's Intereſt and their own; and then in point of Prudence, what is Adviſable; that ſo in the Concluſion they may pleaſe both God and the King.

And accordingly, I ſuppoſe the meaning of your inquiry to be, What Reſpect the True Sons of the Church of England may, ſalvâ Conſcientiâ, (and therefore, as things now ſtand, muſt, and ought) in Prudence to bear to the Religion, of that Church, whereof the King is a Member?

Towards the ſtating and reſolving of which Queſtion, 'twill, perhaps, not be impertinent to mention what is meant by the King's Religion, and who, by the True Sons of the Church of England, and what ſort of Reſpect or Honour it may juſtly challenge from them, at this time eſpecially. For when there is any, though but little Difficulty or Ambiguity in the Terms, it is ſit they ſhould be explained; nor may one preſume, that they are generally understood aright, becauſe they are, by ſome.

The Roman Catholick Religion is capable of magis and minus; has Degrees of Better and Worſe: There is a Court, as well as Churh of Rome; and 'twill not be impertinent to ask, Of which it is we ſpeak in this Caſe? becauſe the determining that, will very much influence the reſpect here inquir'd of; and we ſee that the Moſt, the Beſt, and the Trueſt Sons of the Church of England, have more kindness and reſpect for one ſort than another.

'Tis fit, likewiſe, That the meaning of the True Sons of the Church of England ſhould be adjuſted; and that the rather, becauſe the World was very lately ſo ſhamefully impos'd on by the equivocal Signification of True Proteſtants; and we know not, but there may be ſtill ſome of that illegitimate and ſpurious Off-ſpring maintain'd under the diſguiſe of the True Sons of the Church of England; of whom both the Father of our Country, and our Mother-Church have reaſon to be aſhamed. By a True Son of the Church of England, I mean one, who gives his Aſſent and Conſent unfeignedly to the Doctrines of the Church, contained in the Thirty nine Articles and Homilies, as they were received and expounded in the time of King Charles the Martyr, and in the Book of Common-Prayer; and who is truly conformable to the Worſhip and Diſcipline of the ſame, (as far as he is or may be concern'd,) contained in her Injunctions, Canons and Rubricks; one who as ſtrictly obſerves the Faſts and Feſtivals of the Church, as they are ſolemnly bid, and the lawful Commands of the Ordinary.

Which Sons of the Church, may be alſo conſider'd as Clergy or Lay-men; and theſe again as Private-men, or Magiſtrates, and Members of Parliament, (as you your ſelf are;) whom though I am not ſit to adviſe or inſtruct when you ſit on that Bench; yet whilſt you are yet at your Country Houſe, you have given me no Reaſon to queſtion, but that my Counſel, as mean as it is, will challenge its Welcome.Tertul. ad Ment. Non tantus Ego ſum ut vos alloquar; veruntamen & gladiatores perſectiſſimos, non tantum magiſtri, ſed etiam idiotae adhortantur de longinquo, ut ſaepe de ipſo populo dictata ſuggeſto profuerint;) For according to theſe differences of Orders and Degrees, a different Reſpect will be expected from them, in the preſent caſe of our debate.

Laſtly, We muſt conſider what it is, to Reſpect and Honour the King and his Religion, and in what this Honour conſiſts. And this is either internal or external; the former conſiſts in a due eſteem of the Perſon and Thing ſo Honoured and Reſpected; and the latter in a ſuitable external Behaviour towards them; and both the one and the other are to be paid to the King; both the internal, by maintaining an high eſteem of him in our Hearts; and the external, by behaving our ſelves ſo, as may beſt expreſſ that i • ward eſteem we have of him, and propagate it in others, with whom we converſe: For our Moſt Gracious Prince may juſtly require of us, as Saul did of Samuel, 1 Sam. 15 30. That we ſhould Honour him before the People; for as Kings are Gods by deputation, ſo are they in ſome ſenſe to be honoured as God; and accordingly, as we are to Honour God, 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether we Eat or Drink or whatſoever we do, by doing all to his Glory; that is, ſo as to beget in others the higheſt eſteem of him, and ſuch as becomes his tranſcendent Glory; ſo muſt we Honour his Vicegerent, by doing all things, which we lawfully may, without intrenching upon God's Honour, for the King's Glory, whereby we may beget and propagate in others, ſuch an high eſteem of him, both as a Chriſtian and Prince; ſuch a due Veneration of his Royalty and Religion, as becomes his ſupreme Dignity and his Chriſtian Vertues.

The Terms of the Queſtion being thus diſtinguiſh'd and explain'd, I proceed to give a diſtinct Anſwer to the ſame, in theſe following Concluſions. 1 ſt. Every Man,1. of what Rank or Order ſoever, is bound in Conſcience to keep cloſe to the Religion which he verily believes to be True, which the Queſtion it ſelf ſuppoſes. There always have been, there are, and there ever will be differences in our Judgments, till there be none in the Faces of Men; only let them be Sincere, Innocent and Inoffenſive; which they will then be, when our Converſations are all of a piece, and we delight to ſerve the Will of God entirely and ſincerely, and to attend upon his Providence without any Reluctancy or Diſturbance, ſo as to bring our Wills and all our Actions, Ends and Deſigns into a compliance with it, duly conſidering that we came into this World by God's appointment, not to do our own Wills, but the Will of him that ſent us. When we devote our ſelves to the Will of God, as far as he has reveal'd it to us, to ſerve it faithfully and entirely, and reſt well ſatisfied with the Wiſdom of his Proceedings, Smith's Select diſc. 437. who determines all things by an eternal Rule of Goodneſs, we enroll our ſelves in Eternity: For as Gods Kingdom is ſet up, Ibid. 473. ſo may the Devil's Kingdom be pull'd down, without the noiſe of Axe and Hammers. We may then attain to the greateſt Atchievements againſt the Gates of Death and Hell, when we moſt of all poſſeſſ our own Souls in Patience, and collect our Minds into the moſt peaceable compos'd and united Temper. The motions of true practical Religion are like that of the Heavens, as ſilent as they are ſwift: Though the motions of Grace are perpetual, yet are they ſoft and gentle, and it acts moſt powerfully in them, in whom it acts moſt peaceably. Every Perſon who owns any, pretends it to be the true Religion, like Brutus and Caſſius, Ʋbicunque ipſi eſſent, praetexebant eſſe Rempublicam; they will allow none to be the True Church, but that of which they are Members; and they will have the Gates of Heaven to be open'd to none but themſelves; and allow no Wedding Garment, but ſuch as is of their own Spinning: Ma • unt nullam habere quam non ſuam, They had rather there ſhould be no Religion profeſſed in the World, than that their own ſhould not take place; and therefore a Man had need count Doctrines and Opinions as well as Money after his Father; and if he do ſo, he will find many of theſe (though never ſo fair without) to be counterfeit within: And that whilſt one is of Paul, and another of Apollo, and a third of Cephas, there are but few of Chriſt: That theſe Diſtractions in Religion are the Deſtruction of it, and that the conſcionable part, which is the Life of all True Religion, is loſt in the Controverſies of it. When there is no mind of yielding on either ſide, there will be no end of Diſputes, but galling one another, of which the Apoſtle juſtly complains, Epheſ.4.2. and perſwades us rather to forbear, and forgive one another, as becomes the Diſciples of the Prince of Peace. Why ſhould we ſhew ſo much Violence in theſe Points, of which we can have no certain Evidence? They are not Chriſtians of a ſound Conſtitution, who labour under ſuch Fits of unnatural Zeal; nor have they their Converſation in Heaven: For this is not to Follow Peace with all Men, Heb. 12.14. and Holineſſ; without which none ſhall ſee God; who ſearches the Secrets of the Hearts, and loves weak Sincerity better than ſtrong Hypocriſy; which is the Original of all ſuch Ʋnchriſtian Heats.

Every Man, as well the Prince as the Subject, is bound to ſtand up in his own way, for the defence of that Religion, which he verily believes to be True. And when the Foundations of Faith are ſhaken, either by Superſtition or Proſaneneſſ, he who puts not out his Hand, as firmly as he can (with Juſtice and Charity) to ſupport it, is too wary, and may come to be condemn'd at the laſt Day, for his Neutrality, and for having more care of himſelf than of the Cauſe of Chriſt; and it may prove a warineſſ, which, in the end, will bring more danger than it ſhuns. We think our ſelves therefore oblig'd to lay aſide the Rule of a late Philoſopher of our own Country; That every Prince is God's Interpreter, (and ſo conſequently, That His Religion ought to be Ours:) For except Contradictions could at the ſame time be true, it would make God the Author of all the Religions in the World, of which there are many ſo called, which are neither Pure nor Ʋndeſiled: But the Enquiry is, ſaving our own Integrity, and walking Humbly and Ʋprightly with God, who hates Juggling, and playing Faſt and Looſe, concerning a ſort of Brotherly Forbearance and good Manners; (to which Chriſt was never thought to be an Enemy.) Let us ſeriouſly conſider, what ſhall be done to that Religion, which the King deſires to honour, and which He embraces, as the beſt in his Judgment. To which I anſwer,

2dly. That the True Sons of the Church of England, of what Quality or Degree ſoever, ought not to have a leſſ Reſpect for the King, for being of another Church or Religion; becauſe, as Dominion is not founded in Grace, ſo neither is our Duty grounded upon having a Religion common, both to the King and his Subjects. Neither will it ſuffice to ſay, That though we cannot pay him the ſame high Reſpect that we would, if he were of our Church and Faith; yet we will ſtill be Loyal: For this High Reſpect is a main part of the Thing; and as faſt as this leſſens and cools, the remainder of Loyalty will proportionably grow fainter, as to its outward Exerciſe. And if Religion be once ſet up againſt Loyalty, they will both be ſpoil'd.

Though the Prince be of one Religion, and the People of another, yet he will be Gracious if they are Loyal; and they may live very quietly together, if they do their Duty to God and Him. The Elector of Brandenburgh is himſelf a ſtrict Calviniſt, and moſt of his Subjects Lutherans; and a late Duke of Zell was a Papiſt, and his Subjects of the Reform'd Religion; and yet liv'd in all Love and Concord, as we may do, I am ſure, in this Kingdom, better than any People in the World, if we are not wanting to our ſelves. And therefore he is neither a Good Chriſtian nor Subject; who does not do all things that are Lawful and Honeſt, which his Sovereign expects or requires, with all Alacrity and Reſpect, without Murmuring, Diſputing or Repining: Or who would limit his Prince's Pleaſure where God hath not done it? 'Tis no good Religion, whoſe Principles deſtroy any Duty of Religion, or give any Diſturbance to the Government, or alienate the Hearts of his Subjects from the Supreme Governor. Ours, I am ſure, will not ſuffer it; nor matters it, what Religion any Man is of, that is a Rebel. The Opinion of his Sect will neither ſatisfie the State, nor ſave his Soul. Whatſoever is Peeviſh, Diſreſpectful, Ʋnthankful, or Diſpiſing of Dignities, is againſt the Form of Sound Doctrine, which Chriſt and his Apoſtles have taught us.Sedulius Hymn Lex Chriſtiana neminem ſuo jure aut dominio privat, non eripit mortalia, qui regna dat coeleſtia. And our Law is as clear as God's in this Point;Bract. de Leg & Conſ. l. • .8. n. 5. Nemo de factis ſuis praeſumat diſquirere, multò minus contra ſactum ſuum venire, ſaith the Learned Bracton, who was Lord-Chief-Juſtice Twenty Years under Henry III. And therefore 'tis no new Law of new Judges, of a Popiſh Prince's putting in, but the old Law of England. Nullus eſt qui ab eo factorum aut rationes exigere poſſit,Ibid. aut poenas. 'Tis not Tyranny, Infidelity, Hereſy, or Apoſtacy, that can diſcharge the Subject's Duty to his Prince; as we are truly inſtructed in that Excellent Book, which was formerly, and ought ſtill to be read in our publick Schools, p. • . v. 49, 50. & 65. ad 78. called Deus & Rex. Neither Prieſt nor People muſt leſſen their Reſpects to the king, upon theſe, or any other Pretences whatſoever. The deportment of the Saints of God towards the perſons of Princes, was always Humble, and their Behaviour Reſpectful.1 Kings 1.23. Nathan the Prophet bow'd his Face to the Ground before David; the Mitre always ſtoop'd to the Crown: And when the Prince ſits on his Throne, the Prophet himſelf muſt lie at his Footſtool: Nay when Princes were themſelves Ʋnholy, the Saints of God ſhew'd them all Reſpects imaginable; not as Sinners, but as Sovereigns. Saul was none of the beſt of Princes to any, eſpecially to David, (to whom he could never afford a good Word) and yet David calls him My Lord the King: and that not out of Flattery and Courtſhip, 1 Sam. 24.8. but of Loyalty and Duty: Nor had he behav'd himſelf like a Saint, nor a Man after God's own Heart, if not like a Subject, and been afraid to ſpeak evil of Dignities; the worſt of which, even Pharaoh himſelf, was of God's raiſing up, and ought to be to his Subjects as an Angel of God, in Mephiboſheth's Judgment: Nay the Immortal King calls them Mortal Gods. 2 Sam. 19.27 I have ſaid ye are Gods (tho Devils in Practice;) they are Fountains and Objects of Honour;Pſ. 82.6. Nero as well as Auguſtus, Julian as well as Conſtantine; not as Holy (for Dominion is not founded in Grace) but as Supreme; not for their Goodneſſ, but for their Greatneſſ; for they are at worſt more worth than Ten thouſand of us: They are the Lord-Treaſurers of Heaven, 2 Sam. 18.3. put in Places of more Truſt and Honour than other Men; they arc intruſted with our Eſtates, liberties and Lives, with our Religion and Souls; they are the Churches Nurſing-Fathers, and God's Vicegerents, his Prime Miniſters: And who may ſay to them,Eccl. 8.4. What do'ſt thou? 'Tis not who dares ſay, but who may lawfully or ought to do it, with Impunity? For ſo Elihu Interprets it.Job 34.18. Is it ſit to ſay to a King, Thou art Wicked, and to Princes, Ye are Ʋngodly? It is not only unſafe, in reſpect of the danger, but it is an unſanctified and ſinful Saying; it is damnable and next to Blaſphemy; 'tis a Wickedneſs againſt God, and a Wound to our own Souls. Let the Powers ſet over us be what they will, we muſt ſuffer them, and not attempt to right our ſelves. And therefore Tertullian boaſts with Confidence, that when Peſcenius Niger in Syria, and Clodius Albinus in France and Brittany, rebell'd againſt Septimius Severus (a Bloody and Cruel Emperor,) and pretended Piety and Publick Good, yet none of the Chriſtians joyn'd with either. The Thebaean Legion, in the Eighteenth Year of Diocleſian, ſuffered themſelves to be cut in Pieces every Man, 6666. in number, by Maximianus the Emperor: No Man in that great advantage of Number, Order and provocation, liſting up their Hands except it were in Prayers: And the Chriſtians under Julian (tho an Apoſtate from his Religion) had Arms for him, but none againſt him; though he brought the Commonwealth it ſelf, as Well as the Church in danger. The only diverſion they gave to his damnable Counſels, and Deligns, was their Prayers and Tears; which as it was St. Paul's, Faith, is ſtill an Article of the Chriſtian Religion, to which great Truth and Duty none hath born, or ever will bear, g •••••• •• ſt • mony than the Church of England. No Man of any Learning or Religion, in her Communion, will ever ſay or do any thing againſt the Honour or Intereſt of his Prince; for it is God's Power in the Supreme Magiſtrate, be it good or bad: And therefore whoſoever rebels againſt him, rebels againſt the Power and Diſpenſation of God; if he uſe the Power for Deſtruction, which was given him for Edification, I have nothing to do, but ſomething to ſuffer; let God take care, if he pleaſe: We had better ſuffer Inconveniencies from one, than from every one. Religion without mixaures of Ambition and Intereſt, works no violent effects on the State; and therefore, when the Jewiſh Empire was deſtroyed, and they were carried captive into Babylon, God commanded them to ſeek the Peace of the City, whither he had cauſed them to be carried Captives, and to pray unto the Lord forit,J • r. 29.7. for in the Peace thereof ſhall ye have Peace; i. e. they Were to miniſter to the publick, peace as Subjects and Servants, by paying a chearful Obedience to the Commands of the king of Babylon, and obſerving his Laws, though Contrary to their own. There was no Law of the Romans by which Chriſt could have been put to Death, and yet He ſuffered patiently and threatned not,1 Pet. 2.19, 20, 21. leaving us an Example that we ſhould follow his ſteps: And accordingly the Primitive Chriſtians took their Lives in their Hands, to Fight the battles of Pagan and Tyrannical Emperors, and patiently laid them down at laſt, rather than make or countenance any Reſiſtance againſt them; and if ever we learn Purity of Doctrine or Innocency of Life, it muſt be from them, and from the Councils of the Church, who for Twelve hundred Years, taught no other Doctrine.

Tertullian prayed for Domitian, as great a Tyrant as he was, That God would give him a long Life, ſecure Empire, ſtout Armies, faithful Senators, and all that his Heart could wiſh. They were ſubject to their Temporal Lords, and honoured them for his ſake, who was their Eternal. And he who hath read Cardamus's Encomium Neronis will find, that the worſt of Princes do much more good than harm; and that none of them ever endeavoured the Deſtruction of their own Subjects; and yet if they did, and the People ſhould be vex'd into the Sin of Rebellion, by ſuch a temptation bigger than their ſtrength, it may be, God would cut him off, and yet puniſh the People for their Rebellion too. As the Prince does not get his Authority over us by his vertue, ſo neither can he loſe it by his Vice; he does not Rule precariouſly over us, but by the Gift und Grace of God. God alone is the Supreme Lord and Governor of our Conſciences, in all caſes; Sherlock of Relig. aſſerts p. 144 and to pretend his Authority for diſobeying our Governors, when we have it not, is like counterfeiting the King's broad Seal to juſtifie a Rebellion: Nor is it any ſign of a good Conſcience to cenſure others, eſpecially our Superiors, for a bad one. But alas we have too much reaſon to complain, that Chriſtian Religion is fallen from this its Primitive Purity, and made to favour that, which it formerly look'd upon as Capital, and to deſerve no better Wages, than Death; its Sacred Name is now applyed to every Humour, iſ not to every Sin, which will be a Crime more unpardonable in us, than in any People under the Sun; for God hath given our King an Imperial Crown, and a Head ſit to wear it; a Sword and Scepter, and an Hand ſit to manage them; and which is the greateſt Bleſſing of all, a gracious Heart, inclinable to do his Subjects all the Good they will ſuffer him to do; his Piety and Pity are equal to his Power, and his Throne is eſtabliſhed in Righteonſueſſ: He hath been long Afflicted himſelf, Prov. 25.13. and is not now to learn how to pity his Afflicted Subjects; he know what it was to bear the Croſſ before ever he came to wear the Crown; he hath ſelt the ſmart of the Rod upon his own back, and the more he hath been injured and oppreſſed himſelf, the readier is he to pardon others, and the more unwilling to puniſh them with Severities, whom he judges to be of truly tender Conſciences; and why ſhould we like his Throne the worſe, for being the Seat of Mercy? God, to his own Glory, and our Comfort hath miraculouſly preſerv'd him from his and our Enemies; let him not complain, that he is wounded in his Honour, even in the Houſe of his Friends. It will not legitimate an ill Word or Action, though it ſhould happen to be ſpoken or committed in defence of the Truth, Chriſt would not ſuffer St. Peter to violate the Magiſtrate's Authority, in wounding one of his Officers, no not to guard him, who was Truth it ſelf; he applauds not his Zeal, but reprehends his Raſhneſſ. God needs not our Sins to ſerve his Concerns. I wiſh thoſe who profeſs themſelves the Churches greateſt Votaries, would frequent her Prayers daily, and ſtudy her Articles and Doctrines, as much as ſome of your Fellow Members do the Journals of their Houſe, and then they would ſoon be ſatisfied, That though the King ſhould invade our Rights (of which he hath given us no Jealouſie) yet would it be no ground for us to invade his, in whom the Publick Happineſs of theſe his Kingdoms does conſiſt; let us therefore never diſpenſe with our Loyalty to ſerve our worldly Ends; for if Honeſty and Integrity be the beſt Policy, (as all good Men believe it) our beſt and moſt Chriſtian Courſe will be, to prefer our Duty and Conſcience before any Earthly advantage what ſoever, in Proſpect or Poſſeſſion.

Let the Roman Catholick Religion be repreſented to you under any frightful Circumſtances whatſoever; let me requeſt you to conſider nevertheleſs, that it is not impoſſible for a good, conſcienious and well-meaning Man to turn Papiſt. Men of good Underſtanding and of great Integrity, may as well be deceived as Mr. Chilling worth was, who once thought that our Religion, of the Church of England, was not a ſafe way to Salvation, though he died of another and better Judgment: And why may not others, as Prudent, Pious and Conſciencious Men as he, be deceived and miſled into Popery, by Men better skill'd and inſtructed in the Controverſies than they are? They are Chriſtians ſtill, though crring ones, and Members of the Catholick Church as well as we; and can their errors in Judgment, which are injurious to none but themſelves, forfeit their Civil Rights? Or thoſe in Practice, except they be ſuch as are deſtructive of humane Society? Would not the Primitive Chriſtians, do you think, have been well contented that their Emperors (if they had been of the ſame Communion of Rome) ſhould, with all of the ſame Communion, have injoyed an uncenſur'd uſe of their Religion, and been ready to make Addreſſes of Thanks for the peaceable Enjoyment of their own? Let the ſame mind be in you as was in them, and that will adorn your Chriſtian Profeſſion. We cannot but bewail it as our great Calamity, and a juſt Puniſhment of the laſt Age's Diſloyalty, which moſt horridly Murder'd the beſt of Kings, at Noon-day, before the Gates of his own Royal Palace, and baniſh'd his Royal Progeny, and drove them into Foreign Parts, to ſeek for that ſafety from others, which their own Unnatural and Blood-thirſty Subjects would not afford them. That our Gracious King was then tempted above meaſure, and hath ſince joyn'd himſelf to the Roman Church, and lives in the Practice of a different Worſhip from us. But ſince God, in his infinite Wiſdom, hath permitted it to be ſo, it is our Duty to acquieſce therein, and behave our ſelves towards him ſo, as may be moſt conſiſtent with his Honour and our Duty, in the preſent Circumſtances; and that the rather, becauſe we may be well aſſured, that our Gracious Sovereign had no Deſign nor Intereſt to ſerve in the changing of his Religion, but an eternal one in the ſaving of his Soul. To embrace a Religion, when it was decry'd, and kept down by Penal Laws, is, in the Judgment of Charity, a great Argument of Sincerity and Chriſtian Reſolution; when it was ſ • culi reatus, the greateſt National Crime of which he could have been guilty: To embrace a Religion when it was every where ſpoken againſt, out of Faſhion, and decry'd: When a Man follows Chriſt to Hieruſalem in Triumph, he may be an Hypocrite; but certainly if he follow him to Golgotha, as he is going to the Croſs, you have reaſon to believe him a Sincere Diſciple. Our Gracious Sovereign's joyning himſelf at ſuch a time to the Church of Rome, when it brought his very Tule to the Crown in queſtion, and made his Life inſecure and uneaſie, was an inſtance of his, Gallant and Great Soul, and much reſembled on the part of the Perſon, the courage of the First Chriſtians, who were well aware, that in the very Proſeſſion thereof, they bid adieu to worldly intereſt and Tranquillity. This be • ing apparently done out of no lower Principle, than the Glory of God, and the Salvation of his own Soul; though not the Deed, yet inſlead of it, the Sincere Will is favourably accepted with God, and ſhould be ſo with all good Men. Seeing it is an Obſervation of Lactantius and St. Auguſtin concerning a Religion Infinitely worſe, that Almighty God was pleaſed to take kind notice of the honeſt Meanings of thoſe groſly miſtaken Worſhippers; for though an Erroneous Conſcience could not bind to the Act, yet if after all poſſible due Enquiry, it act Erroneouſly, it doth not certainly bind to Puniſhment, God winked at the days of Ignorance, eſpecially when accompanied with that Integrity of Heart, of which God gives ſuch an acquitting Character in the Caſe of King Abimelech; and if this were not ſo, it would go ill with the Men of the higheſt Intellectual and Moral Vertues, who confeſs themſelves to be as truly ſhort of being perfectly free from all Sins of Ignorance, as they are from thoſe of Frailty. When thus much hath been ſaid, concerning his Majeſty's Religion, it may be added, That his Change proceeded, not meerly from an eaſie Well-meaning, but from Arguments, however they be leſs weighty to us, which had prevail'd with many Wiſe and Good Men, and had an advantage, perhaps, in his Caſe, from ſome Early Doubts, hardly to be avoided in that Converſation, into which the Rebels (who had impudence enough to call themſelves Engliſh Proteſtants) had driven him, as I before told you, againſt whom, and not againſt our Gracious Sovereign, ſhould the diſreſpects of all the True Sons of the Church of England be turn'd. The King thinks us in the wrong and ſo pities and prays for us, That God would bring us into the right Way; and 'tis a groundleſs and uncharitable Jealouſie, that he will ever hurt us, becauſe it would neither be for his Honour nor Happineſs, to make them miſerable who have always been his beſt Fric • ds; ſuch miſchiefs may be fear'd by ſome, but will never be felt by any. Let us rather depend upon God's wiſe and gracious Providence, in the uſe of Lawful Means, and put our Truſt and Confidence in his Power and Goodneſs, not doubting but: he • areth for us, rather than be jealous of our King without Cauſe; and ſo far as God ſees it conduce to his Glory and our Good, he will deliver us from all our Fears: Let us commit the care of our Religion, Lives and Eſtates to him. And, indeed, Where is our Faith, if we will not truſt him, with the defence of it, but ſeek to prop it up, and ſupport it by baſe and unwarrantable Arts, as if every thing were lawful that tends to keep out Popery? This will caſt ſuch a Reproach and Inſamy upon our Religion, as can never be wip'd off; it will open the Mouths and ſharpen the Pens of our Enemies, ſhall we take more Liberty to our ſelves than we will allow the King? What ſafety can our Sovereign expect, if he cannot be allow'd the free Exerciſe of his own Religion without his Subjects repining? What Reputation can he have abroad, or what Reverence at home? Is this to provide things honest in the ſight of all Men? Will this put to Silence the Ignorance of Fooliſh Men, to turn our Religion into a Cloak of Maliciouſneſs, to prove our ſelves Wolves in Sheeps Clothing? Cannot we abhor Idols, without flying into his Face, who is the Image of God upon Earth? Is this to keep Innocence, and to take heed to the thing that that is Right? Is not this rather the ready courſe to create in him, and all the World beſides, an ill Opinion of us and our Religion? We may be juſt and dutiful to the King, without being unfaithful to God; and if we be ſo, our Religion will not only keep its Ground, but make new Conquest, and ſpread it ſelf further in the World; nor ſhall any Policy of Men or Devils be able to root it out; Num. 23.23. there will then be no Tnchantment againſt Jacob, nor Divination againſt Iſrael. The King thinks his own to be the True Religion, and that God requires him indiſpenſibly to believe and profeſs it, and to indeavour the Propagation of it too, by all Lawful means among his Subjects, but not to make Sacrifices of them that refuſe it; becauſe the uſing of ſuch cruel and unlawful Means to that purpoſe, were apparently deſtructive of that Salvation, which he hopes to obtain by embracing the Roman Catholick Religion; to which, if he can win Men by Arguments and Perſwaſions, or any other Allurements of his own Promotions, he does that Religion all the Right and Service he can, without wronging ours, (to which his Prieſts may modeſtly tempt him) without any the leaſt violation of his own Sacred Ingagements to us, which his innate Clemency and Goodneſs abhors in ſo high a degree, that he is found to be Temptation Proof againſt it: To conclude this Point therefore, I ſay,

The Common Lay-man, whoſe Education, Aſſection and Practice may denominate him a True Son of the Church of England, as he hath learn'd in his Catechiſm, to Honour and Obey the King, and all that are put in Authority under him; ſo he has been taught by the Miniſters of this Church, that this is his Duty, what ſoever Religion the King be of: And though he hears his preſent Majeſty be of another Communion, he thanks God and the King, for the liberty he hath to Communicate with the Church of England. He takes care of himſelf and his Family, that they may ſerve God after this way, which ſome call Hereſie: But he is, it ſeems, well aſſured and ſatisfied of the Truth and Safety of it: He pities and prays for them that are in Error, but will not revile, affront or abuſe them; nor will he aſſiſt in Riots or Tumults, to diſturb even the Publick Exerciſe of any Religion, where-ever his Majeſty things ſit to appoint it. Where the King's Religion is publickly exercis'd, he has neither Wit nor Religion, who does not abſtain from all rude and ind • cent Diſturbance or Aſſronts. I am no Apologiſt for the Roman Worſhip. But ſince the King is pleas'd, in ſome places, to protect thoſe of his Communion, in the Publick Excerciſe of it (as he juſtly may) for any Private Perſons to diſturb them, is a piece of Rudeneſs to him, inconſiſtent with that Honour, which upon ſo many accompts we are to pay him. Beſides that, it is a piece of Prophaneneſs, for any, without Authority, to interrupt Men, whilſt they are Worſhiping God, after that manner which they think the beſt: Nor can his Zeal againſt a falſe Worſhip, juſtifie him in any ſuch unwarrantable Attempts, whilſt he hath no Authority to reform or correct them; that being the work of Publick Power and not of Private Spirits. Whilſt therefore the King is ſo Gracious as to protect us in our Churches and Offices of Worſhip, let us not be ſo rude and ungrateful, as to aſſault or diſturb thoſe of his Communion, in their Private Oratories, leaſt we provoke him to deprive us of our greater Privileges, for envying him and thoſe of his Communion. Alaſs, no True Son of the Church of England will be guilty of this; he will neither be ſo unthankful nor ſo unholy; nor will he go about with Lyes and frightful Stories, and falſe News, to diſquiet his Neighbours or diſturb the Government, nor make Scandalous Reflections upon thoſe that are in Authority. He will leave the Government of the World to God and the King, and be careful to do his Duty to both, in that State of Life to which he is call'd.

And if more Reſpect than this be requir'd of them, that: have more and better Breeding, and are of an higher Quality. I do not think that the Roman Catholicks themſelves, will complain for want of it; but will rather gratefully acknowledge the Reſpect and Kindness ſhew'd them in worſe Times than theſe, by the Gentlemen of the Church of England, even in the late Bloody days of Trial; which has been ſo viſible and obſervable, that another ſort of Men (if it be not a Scandal of Humanity to give them the Name of Men) have objected it to them as a Crime; and, for that Reaſon, reckon'd them Papiſts (at leaſt) in Maſquerade (as they were then wont to ſpeak.) This Reſpect, indeed, has been, and is ſhew'd, rather to their Perſons and Conditions, &c. than to their Religion; and It is a Reſpect much becoming thoſe, who would ſhew themſelves True Sons of the Church of England: For their Religion, as well as their Breeding, teaches them, To maintain a civil and amicable Converſation with thoſe of the King's Religion. I know no Reaſon to be angry with any Man, becauſe he ſees not with my Eyes, or determines not with my Judgment, and ſo conſequently cannot be altogether of my Opinion; eſpecially, ſince as they differ from us, ſo we differ as much from them. Sure I am, our Religion obliges us to a Catholick Charity as well as Faith, and an Ʋniverſal Civility to diſtinguiſh between the Perſon and his Errors or Vices; ſo as to love and behave our ſelves Civilly towards him, where we cannot affectionately embrace his Opinion. Chriſtianity is, doubtleſs, the beſt natur'd Inſtitution in the World. At its firſt appearance it taught the moſt barbarous Nations to depoſe their Fe • ity, and become tractable and courteous; and where it was once heartily entertain'd, the World admir'd to ſee how civil and obliging thoſe Men were become, who before their Converſion were moroſe and inhoſpitable Pagans or Jews. It was a great fault of tho Jews, for which they are ſeverely branded by Juvenal and Tacitus, That they were peeviſh and inhoſpitable to all that were not of their own Religion, ſo as to refuſe them the moſt common Courteſies of telling them their Way, or directing them to the Refreſhment of a common Spring. Nec monſtare vias, • adem niſi ſacra colenti: We ought then to make it appear to the World, Juvenal. that ours is a better Religion, by being better natur'd our ſelves; and that we are the beſt Catholicks, by expreſſing and practiſing a Catholick Charity, Joh. 13.35. which of all other is the ſureſt Note of a True Church. We ought to ſhew our ſelves quiet and obliging Neighbours to thoſe Romaniſts, who dwell among us; eſpecially ſince both the Honour of our Religion and of our King requires it from us: Incivility, upon the account of their differing from us in Religion, being inconſiſtent with the Obligations of Chriſtianity or Gentility, and a Rudeness to the King's Majeſty, of whoſe Communion they are, and whom we are ſo far to Honour, as to pay all the Respects him, and to all ſuch as he eſteems, that our Religion will indeed permit; much more all that it ſo ſtrictly injoyns.

To ſpeak next of the Cergy-men, as concerned in this Caſe, to whom indeed it is ſo much a Caſe of Conſcience, that it leaves them less Room than other Men, for the Exerciſe even of their Chriſtian Prudence: For, they, who are Prieſts, promis'd at their Ordination, all faithful Diligence to baniſh and drive away all erroneous and ſtrange Doctrines, contrary to God's Word; and the Biſhops at their Conſecration in like manner: And farther, that they will call upon and encourage others to do the ſame; among which our Articles have reckon'd many Doctrines, now taught in the Roman Church, and every Clergy-man licens'd to Preach, has (as the 36th. Canon requires) acknowledged, by Subſcription, under his own Hand, that every thing contained in the 39. Articles is agreeable to the Word of God; and conſequently, he muſt acknowledge, that many Romiſh Doctrines are erroneous and ſtrange Doctrines, repugnant to the Word of God, as being ſo declar'd in thoſe Articles; thoſe therefore are evidently ſuch Doctrines, as he promiſed at his Ordination, to be ready with all faithful Diligence, to baniſh and drive away: And is he not then bound in Conſcience to do this, in his Publick Sermons and Private Diſcourſes, as he has a good Occaſion and Opportunity? Is he not bound in Conſcience, at convenient Seaſons, to ſhew the Error and Danger of ſuch Doctrines, without ſo much as naming thoſe who think more favourably of them, ſaving all Respect due to the King, when he has not only Liberty granted him, but is required and directed by his Majeſty himſelf ſo to do? For in his Majeſty's Directions for Preachers (which was ſent us by his Command,) and we accept with all Thankfulneſs, Dir. 3. He bids us aſſert the Doctrine and Diſcipline of the Church of England, from the Cavils and Objections of ſuch as are Adverſaries to either. This reſolves the Caſe of Conſcience; and as to Chriſtian Prudence, his Majeſty hath been graciouſly pleaſed to give excellent Directions as to that Caſe too, bidding Preachers thus to vindicate the Church of England, when they arc occaſion'd by Invitation from the Text they Preach upon; or that in regard of the Auditory they Preach to, it may ſeem requiſite and expedient ſo to do. Thus to Preach, That the Pope or Church of Rome is not infallible, and that the Pope has no Authority or Juriſdiction within theſe Realms, is expreſly determined by the Church of England, Art. 19.—37. And our Parliaments have in all Ages, as well before the Reformation as ſince, expreſſed their juſt deteſtation of the Pope's Pretenſions to it, as appears by the Stat. of Carliſle, and by that of Proviſoes made 25. Edv. III. and by many more in King Henry VIII's Reign, who was both Parliamentarily and Synodically inveſted with the Supremacy, in all Canſes, Spiritual as well as Temporal, (not that he had Power of Miſſion or Ordination, but of Permiſſion and Ordering Men, ſo ſent by the Church, to Preach the Goſpel in his Dominions,) which was legally and eſſentially Inherent in the Crown before, the Kings of England being Supreme Ordinaries, by the ancient common Law of this Land, of which thoſe Statutes were not Introductory but Declarative. And the very Firſt Canon of our Church does require, That all Eccleſiaſtical Perſons, Preachers, &c. ſhall ſeveral times every Year, to the utmoſt of their Wit, Knowledge and Learning, ſincerely, without any Colour or Diſſimulation, teach in their Sermons, &c. that no manner of Obedience and Subjection, within his Majeſty's Realms and Dominions, is due to any Ʋſurp'd or Foreign Power; but that the King's Power, within his Realms, is the higheſt under God, to whom all his Subjects do, by God's Laws, owe moſt Loyalty and Obedience, before and above all other Powers and Potentates on Earth. Now, if a Preacher, whilſt he is doing the duty of this Canon, ſhall call the Pope Ʋſurper, for claiming or exerciſing that Juriſdiction here, which belongs not to him; and ſhould be thought for that Reaſon, not to bear Reſpect enough to the King's Religion, he would indeed but ſhew ſo much the more Reſpect to his Royal Perſon, and Regal juſt Power (as he is obliged to do by the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy,) and could be cenſur'd only for his Fidelity and Loyalty to the King, ſuch as becomes a True Son of the Church of England.

But in Points wherein we are not determined by Authority, or other Obligations, but at perfect liberty to declare, or not to declare our Opinions; in theſe we have the ſaireſt, if not the only Opportunities for the Exerciſe of our Chriſtian Prudence: And therefore, for a Preacher of the Church of England to affirm poſitively, or go about to prove in a Publick Auditory or Aſſembly, That St. Peter was never at Rome; or that the Pope is Antichriſt; or that no Man, in his Right Wit, can turn Papiſt; muſt neceſſarily, under our Circumſtances, be reckon'd Imprudent, if not Impudent.

Theſe and ſuch like Matters of Private Opinion, which when Publiſhed, are like to give Offence to our Superiors, and if forborn could give no Scandal to any; Chriſtian Prudence will unquestionably direct, ſuch ſhould now be forborn out of Reſpect to the King, and the Roman Catholick Religion, becauſe 'tis His: The daily decay of ſolid and ſubſtantial Piety, is the moſt unhappy effect of Chriſtians fooliſhly Fighting in a Miſt, and Scuffling in the Dark among themſelves, againſt the Intereſt of Peace and Charity; and ſcrambling ſo eagerly and ſo childiſhly as they do, for Nuts and Cherry Stones; or things fit to be put into the ſame Bag with them, as being of no value with Men of Judgment: And therefore a Prudent Man will always take care to avoid, as much as is poſſible, unneceſſary Controverſies; and in handling ſuch as he thinks neceſſary, I know not how he can give better proof of his Prudence, as well as Obedience, than by obſerving his Majeſty's Directions to Preachers, which give a full Reſolution to the Caſe in hand; viz. by doing it with all Modeſty, Gravity and Candor, without Bitterneſs, Railing, J • ering, or other unneceſſary and unſeemly Provocation; and he who ſhall tranſgreſs theſe his Royal and Religious Directions, will thoſe of the New Teſtament too. He that ſhsll uſe the Liberty granted him by his Majeſty, for a Cloak of Maliciouſneſſ, and upon ſuch Occaſions, or indeed any other, act the Merry Andrew in the Pulpit, deſerves not only the Fools Coat, but the Rod too upon his Back: From whence I inſer in the next place;

3ly. That thoſe of our Communion, eſpecially the Clergy, ought neither to rail nor rally upon the Religion which the King owns. Religion with a Man of Senſe and Affections, is a tender Point, and the Affronts done it, do as doily touch him, and wound him more feelingly, than any offer'd to his deareſt Relations, or to his own Honour, as a Gentleman; and howſoever the one part reſents, and the other takes it, 'tis a diſeas'd heat of the Mind, and not Chriſtian Zeal, to make any fort of Religion the ſport of our Wits, and the triumph of our Drollery: They who are guilty of it, may have eſpous'd the Fortune, but have not the Faith of the Church of England. In a good Cauſe, the faireſt Language is moſt advantageous; a modeſt and friendly Stile ſuits beſt with the Truth; which like its Author uſually reſides, not in the bluſtering Wind, the ſhaking Earthquake, or the rangeing Fire, but in a ſoft and ſtill Voice. 1 Kings 19.11, 12. III Language is doubtleſs a very prepoſterous Method of Perſwaſion, being likely to raiſe ſuch Clouds of Paſſion, as will obſ • ure the cleareſt Arguments, and render their force unperceptible to the provoked Reader or Hearer; on which account I cannot but appland that ſaying of the Jews, Joſephus Aniq. 1.4. That we ought not to blaſpheme any thing, which others venerate for a God. Railing therefore againſt Popery cannot produce any good Effect, and at this time it may eaſily produce many bad ones; among which none can be worſe, than the Contempt which it will throw upon the King himſelf, on whom all III Language againſt his Religion, does ultimately redound to the debaſing of him in the eſteem of his Subjects. When the Powers of the World were Heathen, the Chriſtians in their Apologies, do not preſume to cxpoſe the Religion of their Emperors to Contempt; but only with great Modeſty and Deference, to vindicate their own from the unjuſt Criminations of their Adverſaries, as may be ſeen in both the Apologies of Juſtin Martyr, and of Tertullian. And, as I think, it would be a Comandly deſerting of a very good Cauſe, if the Learned Men of our Church ſhould ſuffer the buſie Romaniſts to charge her with Schiſm, Hereſie, or other Miſrepreſentation, without appearing in her juſt and neceſſary Vindication, and cannot but applaud ſome of the late modeſt and ſtrenuous Apologies, which their Provocations have extorted from the Preſs: So I muſt confeſs, that I cannot ſee any preſent Neceſſity of troubling our Pulpits with theſe Controverſies, the Myſteries of our Faith would be beſt held in a pure Conſeience, which is peaceable; 1 T • n 3. • and by Practical Diſcourſes we may beſt preſerve our People from thoſe Vices, which only can provoke God to give them up to ſtrong Deluſions. And if we perceive any of them warping towards Popery, there will be more hopes of reducing and confirming than by perſonal Conferences, applyed to their particular Scruples, than by ſhooting at random at ſo great a diſtance in general Harangues, which tends not ſo much to arm the Hearers againſt Popery, as to poſſeſs them with an hatred of their Sovereign for profeſſing it. Since then we are bound in Duty to ab •• ain from every thing (which without a Sin may be omitted) that tends to the Diſhonour and Contempt of him, whom God and our Religion oblige us to honour, I doubt not to conclude, That as Railing againſt Popery was never lawful; ſo Preaching againſt it farther than by the Canons, and his Majeſty's own Gracious Directions, we are obliged to do, is at this time unſeaſonable; and ſo far as it is prejudical to the Government, utterly unlawful too: We leaſt of all fear the Seduction of thoſe Members of our Church, who practiſe ſtrictly that excellent Religion, which they and we profeſs: The beſt Service then we can do to prevent the Growth of Popery, will be to perſwade Men all we. can to become better Livers and better Subjects; upon which account, Practical Preachers will do the Church more Service than Polemical, and the Government no Diſſervice, nor the King no Diſhonour. 'Tis below them, who think themſelves in the higheſt form of Chriſtians, to ſit down in the ſeat of the ſcornful; they are of their Father the Devil, whereſoever ſuch Changelings are found. 'Pray' tell me, and tell me no more nor no leſs, than your own Conſciences will tell you; Is this Fooling the effect of that Faith which was once deliver'd to the Saints? Or is it not rather a wounding of Chriſtianity it ſelf to the very Heart? Who of this Rank, if he were at Conſtantinople, would make it his Buſineſs to tell the Great Turk, that his Prophet Mahomet were an Impoſtor; or, as ſome Oppreſſed Greeks think him, Antichriſt; or to ridicule the Alcoran? And why will they make more bold with a Chriſtian Prince, and their Lawful Sovereign, than with an Inſided? This certainly is a foul Offence, and as much againſt a good Conſcience, as Chriſtian Prudence. Why are Men more inrag'd againſt thoſe who agree with them in most things, than with them who different from them in all? Chriſt will not give his Spouſe a Bill of Divorce upon every Error and Miſtake, much leſs ſhould we deny her to be our Mother, becauſe ſhe is not of our Mind, this will juſtly bring our Chriſtianity as well as our Prudence in Queſtion. Theſe are not the Sons of the Church of England, but the Standard-Bearers of Sedition, who take no care to govern their Tongues nor Pens, who have no regard to the King or his Miniſters, to Truth or Charity, Juſtice or Honeſty; which whether they intend it or not, hath a derect tendency to the defaming of our yet untainted Religion. They who will not offer up a Peace-Offering to the Magiſtrate, are none of our Communion; and 'tis to be hoped, That the Fathers of our Church will correct thoſe Ill nurtur'd Children, who are of ſuch ſurly, peeviſh and inſolent Tempers, that others may not grow immodeſt by their uncontrol'd Extravagancies. Authority muſt at any rate be redeemed from Contempt, ſince the very Life of Government is Reputation; and if you teach the Rabble to ſcorn the Religion of the Supreme Magiſtrate, they will not continue long to reverence his Perſon or Authority. If you will prove him to be an Idolater, they will ſoon reply, that St. John reckons ſuch with Murderers, Dogs, Sorcerers and Whoremongers, which love and make Lyes, Rev. 22.15. And St. Paul ranks them with Sodomites and Thieves, 1 Cor. 6, 9, 10. That they hate God, Exod. 20.5. Deſile the Sanctuary, Ezekiel 5.11. Commit Adultery with Stocks and Stones, Jer. 3.9. Iſa. 16.17. Worſhip Devils, Rev. 9.20. and that as they ſhall not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, 1 Cor 6.10. ſo we are not to come among them, Joſh. 23.7. but they are to be utterly deſtroy'd by Commiſſion from God, Exod. 22, 20. that they are Sons of Belial whom we are to ſmite with the Edge of the Sword till they be utterly deſtroy'd, Deut. 13.13, 14, 15. What is all this, but Sedition under diſguiſe of Zeal? Let the Men look never ſo honeſtly, they drive on an Intereſt againſt Peace and Charity, and though Truth may be juſtified of her Children; ſo it be done with Moderation and Judgment, when Neceſſity compels us, or Authority calls us to it; yet they who can find no better treatment for their Auditors, than to prove all Papiſts to be Idolaters, (as if they had no ſaving Truths to Preach them, but ſuch as are full of diſgraceful, ſawcy and inſolent Reflections upon their Prince (which hath already coſt this Nation ſo many Millions of Money, and ſuch Rivers of Blood, to the ſhame of Chriſtianity it ſelf) would be as ready (if they durſt) to joyn with ſome of their own Spirit in the Prayers, which were juſtly made Treaſon, 1.& 2. Q. Mar. cap 9. Anno 1. & 2. Q. Mar. cap. 9. That God would turn her Heart from Idolatry to the True Faith, or elſe ſhorten her days, and take her quickly out of the way. And the Act ſays, That never ſuch a Prayer was heard, or read to have been uſed by any good Chriſtian, againſt any Prince, though he were a Pagan: And therefore in abhorrence of the Crime, it condemns the Authors of ſuch libellous and malicious Prayers, together with the Procurators and Abetters of them, to be guilty of High-Treaſon: And ſo they are before God, who takes every Injury done to his Vicegerents as done to himſelf; Satyrs are bad every where, but worſt in the Pulpit, be it in Prayers or Sermons; where Men are to ſpeak the words of Truth and Soberneſſ, as becomes the Embaſſadors of Chriſt, and not to uſe any petulant Girding or Reflections upon any, much leſs upon the Father of their Country; nor to dreſs up any of his perſwaſion in ſuch indecent Forms, or to make them appear far worſe than they are; for this is as great a Sin as to make Widows more deſolate: We are in Conſcience and Prudence oblig'd calmly and modeſtly to inlighten the Minds of our Hearers, though they count us heavy Men for our pains, rather than by expreſſing more heat than light, to thunder in their Ears ſuch dreadful Apprehenſions of the Religion of our Prince, as may claw their itching Ears, and raiſe their Humours and Paſſions into ſuch a violent Ferment, as to tranſport them into the pangs of ſome furious Zeal againſt him, and all of the ſame Perſwaſion with him. Our Religion obliges us to be jealous of every Thing or Motion which tends to the Diſunion, either of Subjects from their Sovereign, or of the People among themſelves; which that it may be permanent. and cordial, which is the only thing that can diſappoint the Deſigns and Counſels of our Enemies, nothing can conduce more to our preſent or future Safety, than the depoſing of all Animoſities, Rancor, and Ill Will againſt one another; upon the account of Differences in Religion, and the going on chearfully in the narrow Path that leads to eternal Life, without fighting with every one that does not keep the ſame way, though he be alſo travelling to the ſame place; which has ſuch a ſpirit of Oppoſition, Contradiction, and Pertinacy in it, as ſpeaks Men to be of diſtemper'd Brains, turbulent Paſſions, and corrupt Hearts, rather than of Tender Conſeiences. That there ſhould be ſo many pretended Admirers and profeſt lovers of Peace, and ſo few Followers of it in this Kingdom; ſo much noiſe of Religion, and ſo little Charity; and eſpecially that Chriſtianity which is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a quiet and gentle Inſtitution, intended to ſoften Mens natural Aſperities, ſhould ſpend it ſelf in thoſe Quarrels, which are the greateſt diminution to its intereſt imaginable: That the Holy Spirit ſhould bring the Goſpel down from Heaven in the ſhape of a Dove; and that yet there ſhould be no more ſtinging Serpents than the Profeſſors of it one to another; and that after more than Sixteen hundred Years Preaching the glad Tidings of Peace, there ſhould ſtill be ſuch diſtractions and wranglings in the Church, ſuch ſeditions and convulſions in the body Politick, ſuch ſidings and diviſions in every Town, and ſuch jarring and diſſention as we ſee and lament in private Families; and that the warmeſt Zealots ſhould, by Enormities of this kind, run farther on the ſcore of divine Vengeance, than Turks and Infidels do, upon the bare ſingle Security of being Chriſtians, are ſuch prodigies in Manners as may juſtly ſtartle the wiſeſt of Men, and force them to conclude, That the beſt Religion has the worſt Profeſſors of it, and Pretenders to it in the World. Might not the Pagan, Turk and Atheiſt, upon the ſight of our manifold Heats, Violences and Intemperances, which are too viſible in Chriſtendom, reaſonably cry out, Where is now their God? and where is their Religion? Are theſe the Men that pray for Peace, or do they ever mean to purchaſe it? Are not their Practices the great ſhame and confutation of their Profeſſions? and is not the Name of God blaſphem'd through their Miſcarriages? Is Chriſtianity become an Enemy to Humanity, and turn'd Incendiary? Is Zeal grown ſuch a Cormorant as to eat up Charity? And are the Elect of God, who ſhould put on Bowels of Kindneſſ, Humbleneſſ of Mind,Col 3.12, 14. and above all, Charity, which is the Bond of Perfectneſſ, grown ſo fierce, as to fly upon every thing which Cuſtom and Education hath not rendred familiar to them? Are they impatient with all who do not ſee with their Eyes? and will they ſet themſelves in battle array againſt all who are not Wiſe enough to be of their Judgments, and damn all who are not of their Opinions? Could there be ſuch needleſſ and endleſſ Contentions among them, if they were not carnal? Is this to ſight under Chriſt's Banner, who was the Prince of Peace? Does not this incontinency of Diſputing make Rents in the ſeamleſſ Garment, rather than Reformation? If they were as ſollicitous to ſave their own and their Peoples Souls, as they are to propagate their Opinions; they would not trifle away and laviſh that time and pains in needleſſ Controverſies, in which they might make their Peace with God and Men; nor take more pains to prove the Pope to be Antichriſt, than they do to prove themſelves to be Chriſtians, or make others ſo; nor tread true Piety under Foot in ſcrambling for that which hath nothing of it, nor like it, but the Name. Would not their Congregations be more edified by the Church-Catechiſm than a Controverſie? Or how many have you ſeen heal'd by being lead into theſe troubled Waters, though mov'd by the beſt Angels of the Church? No doubt but it is a Truth which the Mufti told his Grand Seignior, That where the publick Exerciſe of Religion is allow'd, 'tis judg'd that a liberty is granted to defend all the diſtinguiſhing Points of it, without reflecting on that of the Prince, (which would be more unpardonable in us than in any Men in the World, becauſe he is graciouſly pleaſed to act with us upon the Square, and forbids his own Preachers to make any tart reflections on ours.) Now the fault too common is the intemperance of moſt warm Diſputers for Religion; who if once they begin to declaim or write againſt any thing, think they can never make it odious enough; and that they may defame it the more effectually, they will hale and force Conſequences as on a Rack, to confeſs what the Principle never meant, and to catch greedily at ſome violent Mans over-ſhooting both the Cauſe and the Communion, and to lay this to the Charge of the whole Church, though it profeſſes never ſo ſolemnly againſt that private Doctor's Opinion; whereas as great Champions as they would be thought to be for the Church of England, they ought not, in Point of Honour, to take every advantage againſt her Enemies, nor to put every thruſt ſo home as they do, but reſtore them in the Spirit of Meekneſs, nor to throw dirt in their Faces to diſgrace them; (which as the Purity of our Church abhors) ſo the more they handle, the more it will defile them. This is not to walk in Wiſdom to them that are without, nor to keep the Ʋnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace.

There is yet another thing worſe than barely calumniating the King's Religion, and that is diſturbing of the ſolemn Exerciſe of it, by Routs and Riots; which would be ſo high an indecency, and ſo oppoſite to the gentleneſs of Chriſtian Religion, that about the time of the firſt general Council of Nice, under Conſtantine the Great, it was made a Canon in the Council of Illiberis, Can. 60 That if any one ſhould, out of any immoderate tranſports of Zeal, deface, demoliſh or break down Idols or Images, and be thereupon ſlain (becauſe it is not commanded in the Goſpel nor practis'd by the Apoſtles) that they ſhould not be reckon'd in the number of Martyrs: Nor need I remind you, that the Idols were of the Heathens, and that Chriſtian Religion was not only the private Religion of the Emperor, but publickly eſtabliſhed by him throughout the Empire; and yet while the other had but a bare Toleration from the Emperor, and Chriſtianity had the Law of the Land on its ſide, yet the Holy Church diſcouraged her Sons from injuring it by violence. The prevention of railing againſt the Emperor's Religion by the Lutherans, was the wiſe care of the Diet of Ratiſbone, Anno Dom. 1532. which was in part made up of Proteſtants, Electors, Free-Princes and Hans-Towns; 'twas their final Accord, That the Ausburg Confeſſion ſhould be allow'd, ſo that nothing was taught or written but what was contained in that Confeſſion. As to raillery upon the Religion profeſſed by our Prince; as it is bad Manners and worſe Religion, ſo it can never be good Wit; which though it be allowed its Seaſons, yet this is none of them, 'tis as much as a Man can well bear, to ſee it practis'd upon Virgil the Prince of Poets.

4ly. The Church of England Men ought not to grudge the Privileges allowed by the King to thoſe of his own Communion; he does not deſire that they ſhould ſtand upon equal Terms of publick Privileges and Advantages of the taſting of the Sweet of the Church Revenues, but only that they ſhould lift up their Heads above the danger of the Laws, and he be able to make life of their Services in the State. He neither takes away our Rights, nor with-holds his Favours from any Men of our Perſwaſion, who cannot pretend to deſerve them without bluſhing. None ever found diſcouragement from our Gracious Sovereign upon the ſcore of their Religion, but have been advanc'd and eſteem'd according to their ſeveral Capacities and Qualifications, ſo long as he found Charity and Ʋnity maintain'd amongſt them; and why then ſhould our Eye be evil, becauſe he is alſo good to ſome of his own? A Chriſtian Magiſtrate owes ſomething more than Protection to the Religion which he ſincerely profeſſes, and to them that profeſſ it with him; they may reaſonably expect his Countenance and fair quarter, if not hope to enjoy ſome Proviſion under him; for certainly he may and ought to do all that he is able and hath opportunity to do, on this ſide of force and injuſtice to help them; a Nurſing-Father he is to them as well as us, and oblig'd to the Protection and Tuition of all his Children, and not to ſuffer them to fare the worſe for their Zeal, either toward God or himſelf: And methinks we ſhould have more Wit, Honeſty and Charity, more Modeſty, Equity, Honour and Juſtice, more good Breeding and ingenuous Education, if not more Religion than to repine at it; for this implies ſuch a want of them all, as any ingenuous Man muſt needs be aſhamed of. Is it not as fit the King ſhould chooſe his Miniſters, as we our Servants? Whatſoever a Prince does, he is to be preſum'd to do it with great Reaſon; his Actions are manifeſt, but his Thoughts ſecret; and 'tis our Duty to tolerate the one, and not murmur againſt the other. The Reſults of his Councils are like the current of a great River, we ſee their Streams but not the Fountain from whence they flow; Reaſon of State is Reaſon of Law, though we ſee but the plain ſide of that great Watch, within which all the Springs and Wheels are inclos'd and hid, yet we find their Motions regular. The King is our Law-giver, and his Conſcience is his; and if it dictate theſe things to be neceſſary, though he be deceiv'd, they are become ſo to him, and by no means to be declin'd by him, but he muſt follow his own Conſcience; and if he mean it for good, he has no reaſon to doubt but God will take it ſo, and all good Subjects will pay him an Obedience of Acquteſcence, if not of Conformity; we have reaſon to believe he will do nothing beneath his own Honour, and the juſt Intereſt of his People. And therefore St. Auguſtine in his Book againſt Fauſtus the Manichee ſays, That a Chriſtian Souldier, C.75. fighting under an Heathen Prince, may lawfully purſue the War, or execute the Commands of his immediate or ſuperior Officers, in the courſe of his Service, though he be not abſolutely • aſſured of the Juſtice of the one, or the the Expediency of the other. And in the caſe in queſtion 'tis no leſs evident, for Sovereign Princes have Power to change the external Regiment of the Church. A Chriſtian Magiſtrate as ſuch, is a Governor in the Church. Bramhall Repl. 229. The Prerogatives and Preheminencies of Power and Greatneſs, which are involv'd in the fundamental conception of Sovereignty, are the eſſential Rights, and inſeparably annexed to the Sovereign, Jer. 20.1 for which he is accountable to God alone; and all Biſhops are ſubject to the Imperial Power, Ductor dub. 190, 250;. who is to determine what Doctrines are to be Preached and what not, leaſt any ſhould be licens'd to barangue to the People in Seditious Libels. His Power is by the Law of God, and ſo can have no Inferior Power to limit it. The Father of the Family governs, not by the Law and Will of his Sons or Servants, but by God's and his own; nor were the beſt Kings of Judah or Iſrael tyed to any Laws; nor is it the municipal Law of the Land, but the natural Law of a Father, which binds him to preſerve the Lives and Fortunes of his Sons or Subjects. The Church is always a Minor and Ʋnder-age, and the King its Guardian; how then can ſhe expect to be back'd or countenanc'd any longer (as ſhe has hitherto been, thanks be to God and the King) by his civil Authority, or enjoy the Revenues and Privileges ſhe has any longer, if the King's Courteſie be ſo ſoon forgotten, to deny him or his the free Exerciſe of their own Religion, whilſt we are ſo warm in ours, under his Gracious Protection and Royal Bounty and Proviſions, is beyond all Shame and Reaſon? Princes have an happy time of it, to ſerve ſuch Humours, as if he reign'd over us by Courteſie, and had no more but the Name of a King. Does this expreſs our Duty or Gratitude to God or Him? We need not debauch the preſent Generation, who are too bad already, by teaching them to make ſpightful and peeviſh Reflections on our Prince's Actions. Shall the Privileges which he and his Royal Predeceſſors have granted us, be us'd as Weapons to fight and rebel againſt him? Shall we deprive him of his Prerogative, which the Law of God, as well as of the Land, has given him? Is not the Church of Rome a true Church, both in it ſelf and in our Judgment too? And why ſhould you deny your own Prince, who is a Member of it, the ſame Liberty which you daily ſee, without murmuring, granted to the Embaſſadors of Foreign Princes and their Followers? Is it not by his Piety and Juftice that we have the free Exerciſe of our own Religion, as by Law eſtabliſh'd, and the advantages of publick Aſſemblies, and the encouragement of ſuch liberal Maintenance? And have not the Miniſters of Religion always obey'd the Imperial Laws, even when they liked them not, not upon prudential Conſiderations and Neceſſity, but by divine Appointment, declaring with the Sixth Council of Toledo, That it was impiety to call in queſtion his Power, Can. 14 to whom the Government of all things was certainly deputed by the divine Judgment, and that, as well Biſhops as Curates, and Eccleſiaſticks as Laicks, muſt be ſubject to them; and that the ſupreme Power may determine whatſoever is left undetermined by God: Nay,Bp. Taylor's Caſe of Conf. 1.3.192. that he can derogate by his Power from an ordinary Right, by changing his Will, and making, the contrary Law, that he has the judgment of Diſcretion and knows beſt, when 'tis fitteſt for him, to govern himſelf by Zeal, and when by gentler Counſels. Is he not Head of the Church? and muſt his Members teach him how to govern it? It is by the Tyes of Religion, and not of Power, that he is bound to keep the Churches Laws,; and the very Con •• ſſions and Privileges made to them by him and his Royal Predeceſſors, are as revocable as their Duty is alterable; for Princes are ſo far from being oblig'd to perpetuate ſuch Rights that themſelves have indulg'd, that 'tis a rul'd Caſe among the Greek Fathers, That a King may recal his Gift, Ductor dub. 1.3. p. 238 in caſe the Beneficiary prove ungrateful. I wiſh our Brethren, who are now ſo ſtubbornly reſolv'd not to join with their reſpective Biſhops, in an Addreſſ of Thanks to his Majeſty, for his Morgaging of his Honour under the Broad-Seal of England, in his late Royal Declaration, in the firſt place, To protect and maintain them, in the free Exerciſe of their Religion, as by Law eſtabliſhed; and in the quiet and full enjoyment of all their Poſſeſſions, without any moleſtation or diſturbance whatſoever, would ſtudy this Caſe a little better, than they ſeem to have done; and then they would highly approve it, as ſome of our Fathers have done, as prudently penn'd; and ſuch an acknowledgment of his Majeſty's ſignal Favours to the Church of England, and all her Members, as our Gratitude and Duty indiſpenſibly oblige us to pay. Can you have any better Precedents than thoſe of the Kings of Judah? Look throughout the ſacred Hiſtory of the Old Teſtament, and you will every where find, that the King's Religion, though often Heatheniſh, had the privilege to be publickly us'd; and though the High-Prieſt and Sanhedrim had a Power, which Moſes called The Judgment of God; yet theſe did not think it either their Duty or Right to ſuppreſs the Exerciſe of Idolatry, whilſt the King was contented with it, though it was ſo manifeſtly contrary to God's own Law given them by Moſes; and when a King, who Worſhipped according to Moſes's Preſcriptions, ſucceeded, neither the Great Council nor People deſired the falſe Worſhip to be ſuppreſſed, till the King himſelf ſelf commanded it; which is an Argument, that it proceeded from his High Prerogative, which the Kings of Judah laid equal claim to with the Eaſtern Monarchs, as the Iſraelues deſired a King, according to the Nations round about them; upon which Samuel recites a large rightful Power, which would belong to their Sovereign. Did not Solomon put Ab • a • her from the Prieſthood and put Zadock in his room; and though the High-Prieſthood came to be put out of its due Channel of Primogeniture, eſtabliſh'd by Moſes, and was ſold in our Saviour's time; (ſo that ſometimes the High-Prieſt was but annual) yet Chriſt acknowledged Caiphas to be High-Prieſt; Joh. 11.51. 1 Cron. 28.3. and for the inferior Prieſts, David divided them into Twenty four Orders; ſo that the applying of the prieſtly Power to ſuch a time, was wholly the Act of the civil Government. Jehoſophat named a Preſident for the Sanhedrim, as well for matters of the Lord as for thoſe of the King; and both Ezra, though not the High-Prieſt, 2 Cron. 19.11. Ezra 7 25. Neh. 13.8. and Nehemiah, though not at all a Prieſt, acted by a Commiſſion from Artaxerxes, to execute the Laws' of God and the King; by which Authority Nehemiah turned out one of the Prieſts: ſo that though the prieſtly Office was a divine Inſtitution, yet the applying and ſuſpending that Authority was a part of the civil Power. Chriſtian Emperors made alſo penal Laws with relation to Church-men, the pains of which were Suſpenſion or Deprivation, of which there are ſo many inſtances, both in the Old Roman Laws and in the Capitulars, that it is needleſs to inſiſt on the proof of it, to juſtifie his Majeſty's late Proceedings by his High Commiſſioners for Eccleſiaſtical Affairs, againſt an eminent Prelate of our Church, which proves them Lawful without committing Sacrilege, or incroaching on the ſpiritual Power of the Church. I need not tell you that it was declared in the Convocation of the Prelates and Clergy of this Kingdom (which make the repreſentative Body of the Church of England) Art. 37. Anno Dom. 1562. That whereas they have attributed to the Queen's Majeſty, the chief Government of all the Estates of this Realm, whether Eccleſiaſtical or Civil; in all Caſes, they did not give unto their Princes the miniſtring of either God's Word or Sacraments, but that only Prerogative, which was known to have been given always to all Godly Princes, in Holy Scripture, by God himſelf; that is to ſay, That they ſhould rule all Eſtates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God, whether they be Eccleſiaſtical or Temporal, and reſtrain with the civil Sword the Stubborn and Evildoers. Leſſ Power than this as good Subjects could not give unto their Kings, ſo more than this there has not been exercis'd; nor, I believe, ever will be by our Gracious Sovereign. Such Power as was vouchſafed by God to the Godly Kings and Princes in Holy Scripture, may ſerve abundantly to ſatisfie the unlimited Deſires of the greateſt Monarch in Chriſtendom; and therefore how unpardonable are we to deny our King that Power which is inſeparably annext to his Royal Diadem, and without which he would be no King, but a Royal Slave in Golden Chains; for the King's, the Church's, and our own, if not for the Cauſe's ſake, let us not grudge Men of his own Perſwaſion in Religion, the free enjoyment of any Favours which he is graciouſly pleaſed to afford them; and that eſpecially conſidering that the occaſion upon which ſuch Privileges were formerly denied them, viz. the Jealouſie the Government had of their Sincerity and Obedience, now ceaſes; and this brings me to ſay ſomething more particularly,

5ly. To your ſelf and your fellow Members of this Loyal Parliament (whom I find to be concern'd in this Caſe alſo.) 'Twould be preſumption in me to offer to direct your Votes, otherwiſe than as a Divine, by reciting the advice of our Bleſſed Saviour, Whatſoever ye would that Men ſhould do to you, do ye even ſo to them, and be ye wiſe as Serpents, but harmleſſ as Doves; and ſuch like general Sentences, the particular application of which, I muſt in good Manners leave to your own Chriſtian Diſcretion; nor can they fail of making a good application of them, who conſider that our Bleſſed Saviour by theſe Hicroglyphicks taught his Diſciples Innocence as well as Prudence, in times of greateſt danger, that they may be able to ſay with St. Paul, That they are pure from the Blood of all Men; and that the Church of England, by appointing the former Sentence to be read at the Offertory, on the 5th. of November and 30th. of January, does thereby teach us, whether we have eſcaped a Danger or ſuffered Affliction, not to be revengeful, but be rather ready to return Good for Evil. That ſome ſevere Laws, which might have Reaſon when they were made, ſhould by common conſent of all any ways intereſted, ceaſe, when the Reaſon does univerſally ceaſe, was, I think, never denied by good Caſuiſts or good Statesmen. Now the chief Reaſon alledged, and the only juſtifiable one for theſe ſevere Laws againſt Romaniſts, was the Jealouſie the Government conceived of their Affections, and the Apprehenſions that their private Zeal for their Catholick Religion would make them cool in their ſervices to the Publick, which their imployments would oft require ſhould be againſt their Principles; and that they, relying on an external Power, were incapable of Duty and true Allegiance to their natural Sovereign, and rightful Monarchs: Kings Proclamation 12th. of Fevruary, 1686/7 . But who now can plauſibly ſuspect their Faithfulneſſ to the preſent King, or that they will be backward in his Service? And whilſt the Caſe ſtands thus, what need will there be of ſanguinary Laws for Impriſonment during Life, or Conſiſcation of Goods? Or for thoſe Teſts which exclude the Peers of the Romiſh Religion from ſitting in the Houſe of Lords according to their Birth-right? Eſpecially ſeeing theſe Latter were made upon a miſtake of Matur of Fact, whereas it has ſince appeared to all diſcreet Men of the moſt unqueſtionable Loyalty, That the Popiſh Plot was of that perjur'd Villain Oates and other ſubtiler Heads making, to ſerve their Faction and Revenge againſt the Government: And as it is the nobleſt Ingenuity to own any ſort of miſtake, ſo methinks it touches a Man's Reputation but ſoftly, to retract what he had formerly believed and acted, upon a charitable Perſwaſion that Men would not be Perjur'd, who after were legally convicted for being notoriouſly ſuch; and beſides this, 'tis no ſafe matter to alter the Foundations of Government, and deface the Original of a Right, which in the caſe of all Privileges of Peerage hath been taken to be either Writt or Patent; for if theſe muſt give place in any one inſtance, no man knows where it will end, or whoſe courſe to turn, or be turned out of that Highest Court of National Juſtice, may next come. In the Parliament of 41. when the old Loyal Aſſurances were laid aſide, and inſtead of the former, the Preſbyterians Teſted Men, with their Covenant, they were not aware, that they made a Preſident againſt themſelves for an Ingagement; and the Ingag • rs did not longè proſpicere neither; they little thought that they furniſhed their Maſters of the Army with a countenancing Example to break them all in pieces, and to vote them all Ʋſeleſſ. And therefore 'tis a rule of Wiſdom as well as of Juſtice, a point of Prudence as well as Conſience, not to remove the ancient Land-marks; and 'tis, as uſeful to the State as to the Church, what the firſt general Council decreed, Let the old Ʋſages prevail; ſuitable to which was the eſtabliſhing Saying of the Peers long ago, Nolumnus matare Leges Angliae, We will not that the Laws of England be changed: and certainly, purſuant to this Reſolution, if by any croſs chance or accident a change have ſurpriz'd the Government, a Reſtitution to the former fettlement ſhould ſoon be made, and that the rather, becauſe we may ſay of thoſe ſanguinary Laws, as his Majeſty in his Royal Proclamation in Scotland does 12th. February 1686/7 of the like made in the Minority of his Royal Grandfather, That they have been continued of courſe without any deſign of executing them or any of them, ad terrorem only; and ſure we are, that our ſevereſt Laws did not proceed from Ill-nature, any otherwiſe than the beſt do ex malis moribus: And 'tis obvious to remark, that the True Sons of the Church of England, have always been better natur'd, than to preſs or countenance the execution of them in caſes of meer Religion; and they have accordingly (bleſſed be God) been very ſparingly executed, unleſs when the byt-blows of a powerful Faction, and no True Sons of the Church of England, or ſome violent attempt of the Enemies thereof, have forc'd it; ſo ſparingly have they been executed, that 'tis an old Proverb of Reproach upon the Legiſlators, that their Laws were only made in Terrorem, for Mormoes and Scarecrows: And if they will ſerve for that purpoſe, and to preſerve the good Seed, or hinder the Enemies of our Church and State from ſowing rebellious and treaſonable Tares among us whilſt we are aſleep, we deſire no more. The Holy Church, which ſo paſſionately deſires the ſaving of Mens Souls, never thirſts after the deſtruction of their Bodies. Some Laws indeed there are, made ſince our Reformation from Popery, which threaten death to the Romiſh Clergy, who are Natives of it, if they be found in this Kingdom. But though the Wiſdom of the Nation thought fit to enact them at that time, for the ſecurity of thoſe Proteſtant Princes, to whom the Romiſh depoſing Doctrine is not Propitious, yet was it Treaſon and not Hereſie which thoſe Laws made Capital. And ſince there is no queſtion but that a Prince of their Communion, dare truſt himſelf in their Hands, and neither deſires nor needs ſuch Security from them; there ſeems now no need at all of their continuance. And as it would ſhew a great Reſpect to the King to repeal them, ſo it would be a ſeaſonable Vindication of us from that cruelty, which the Romaniſts have charg'd us with upon the account of them. It hath been, I am perſwaded, a real Grief to all tender hearted Proteſtants, whenever the exigency of State Affairs hath occaſioned the execution of thoſe ſanguinary Laws; and it would be the beſt Evidence we could bring to convince the World, that it was not the Religion but Treaſon of Romiſh Prieſts that we deteſted, if we take ſpeedy care that their Religion be no longer Capital, now that it may ſo eaſily be ſeparated from Treaſon. Perhaps ſome Inciters to Rebellion, do buz in your Ears, That the King has no more buſiness for Parliaments, and intends to govern by a ſtanding Army of his own Perſwaſion; but you and I know the King loves and honours Parliaments, as the beſt means for the Kingdoms ſafety, and his own ſatisfaction: And I know this, of which you are a Member, hath ſo many active and loyal Subjects in it, as will oblige him by all that can be deſired, for acknowledging and the eſtabliſhing of his juſt Prerogative, and for his own Eaſe and Satisfaction, and the quiet of his Friends, of his Religion; and that his Majeſty will be as ready to ſecure our national Religion, Liberties and Properties. The preſent Parliament Men, who are moſt of them True Sons of the Church of England, are ſo far from envying the RomanCatholicks, the advantages they now receive as rewards of their Loyalty, that they would with a moſt reſpectful, humble and dutiful Emulation, even ſtrive with his Majeſty who ſhould reward them moſt: He having publiſhed it to the World in his late Scotch Proclamation, That of his own certain Knowledge and long Experience, he knows the Catholicks, that as it is their Principle to be good Chriſtians, ſo it is to be dutiful Subjects, hazzarding, and many of them actually loſing their Lives in the defence of a Prince, though of another Religion, (ours he means) and maintenance of the King's Authority, againſt all Violences and Treaſons. It were the higheſt Impudence to deny but that there were a great many noble, brave, loyal Spirits of the Romiſh Perſwaſion, who did with the greateſt Integrity, and without any other deſign than ſatisfying their Conſciences, adventure their Lives in the War, and leave their Bodies in the Field for the King's Service. There were a great many generous Souls among them, whom the greateſt Temptations in the World could not have perverted, or made to deſert their King in the height of all his and their Miſeries. Among the reſt, Sr. Arthur Aſhion, a Romaniſt, being turned out of the King's Army, with moſt, if not all, of that Communion, to pleaſe the Rebellious Parliament, who charged him for having ſo many Papiſts about him. This noble Royaliſt as well as Romaniſt, was ſollicited by the Parliament to take a Commiſſion for a Colonel of Horſe, and to put in what Officers he pleas'd of his own Perſwaſion; he accepted their Commiſſion: But to mapifeſt their villainous Hypocriſie, as well as his own intire Loyalty, he immediately went upon his Knees, and delivered it up to the King; upon which he and the reſt of that Religion were readmitted into the Royal Army. Whence it is evident, that they wanted not an Opportunity of joining with the Rebels, to their own Advantage, had not their innate principle of Loyalty kept them ſteady in their Allegiance; ſo that they can have nothing laid to their Charge worthy of Death or Bonds. Why then ſhould they not have room in his Kingdoms? Security for their Perſons and Eſtates, and Rewards wards for their Services? Why ſhould we grudge his Majeſty's Mercy to others, which we reckon ſo great a Bleſſing to our ſelves? Were they not our fellow Souldiers and Sufferers too? And what have they done ſince to incenſe the King or the Government, or their fellow Subjects againſt them? You wiſh they were of our Religion, and ſo do I too; but Men cannot eaſily wear off the prejudices of their Education, and moſt of them have ſuck'd in their Religion with their Milk. It were very unjust and unnatural to attempt by force to reduce them to our way of ſerving God, who are in a co-ordination to us; this being to aſſume the Prerogative of the civil Power; and againſt Juſtice, which muſt be an Ingredient even into the beſt Religion, becauſe it would be a contradiction to build Religion upon the ruins of that which founds all Religion, Samar. revis'd 54, 55. as Tertullian Argues. It were unjuſt for us, who are co-ordinate, to impoſe upon others their Faith or Worſhip. Our Prince is not to be reduced to the Rule of our Conſciences. Into what ſhameleſſ Straits will this immodeſty of ours reduce us? Can we have ſo little Wit and Loyalty who pretend to ſo much of both? It is worſe than Barbarous, to attack any People meerly upon the account of Religion, not repugnant to the light of Nature; for otherwiſe, Religion, whoſe chief end is to preſerve Mankind in Peace and Juſtice, would turn the World upſide down, and fill it with inceſſant Combuſtions and Maſſacres; for it will be as reaſonable that the Inſidels and Indians ſhould invade the Chriſtians upon that ſcore as the Chriſtians them,P. 58. and then where will Depredations end? To enforce and drag others to the True Religion, who are abſolutely at their own difpoſal, neither is, nor can ſeem decent nor expedient: You will find, Lactant. 1.5. C.19. St. Ambroſe in Luc. 1.7. and St. Hillary and all the ancient Fathers of that Judgment, againſt Compulſion in point of Religion; 1 Cor. 5.12. and what have we to do to judge them that are without, ſays St. Paul? Julian would not ſuffer Chriſtians to be forc'd to his gentile Altars, Epiſt. 52. What if they are diſpleaſed for not enjoying as much of the benefit of the King's Reſtauration as we do? The liberty of Repining, is a charitable allowance to be indulged them of courſe, whom Providence hath denied what we enjoy. 'Tis an unmerciful thing not to give Lofers leave to ſpeak, and the World will talk of them and us too at their own rate. What if ſome few of them ſhew more heat than becomes them, and graſp at things not ſit for their Enjoyment? Is it not the ſame caſe with us too? Why ſhould the indiſcretion of a few incenſe us againſt the reſt? If they do not all of them, at all times, carry th • ſelves prudently, let not their Allegiance be buried in Oblivion. If we either love the King or the Peace of the Kingdom, we muſt behave our ſelves as becomes Men of Conſcience and Prudence in this tender Point. Biſhop Bramhall in his Replication to the Biſhop of Chalcedon, ſays, That in Eight Tearstime, in which he had the Government of Ireland, committed to him by the Earl of Strafford, there was not one Roman Catholick who ſuffered Death or Impriſonment, or ſo much as a pecuniary Mulct of Twelve Pence, for his Religion, upon any penal Statute; and yet he was as True a Son of the Church of England and as Wiſe; and the Lord Lieutenant as great a Martyr for his Religion and Loyalty; and both of them as ſit to be our Guides, in this Point, as the beſt Men now living. Stay till they have offended and done things worthy of Puniſhment, and then ſpare them not. Men as wiſe and as good as we, thought we might be ſafe without their king in danger; and it ſeems highly reaſonable that their having done amiſs, and not our Fears and Jealouſus of it, that they will do ſo, ſhould make them puniſhable. The Laws made againſt Roman Catholicks, are either as Rebels or Papiſts: If as Rebels, what need of particular Laws for them more than others? Why not the ſame Law to puniſh them and others guilty of the ſame Treaſon? If any Papiſt be found guilty, let that Law act againſt him which is thought ſufficient, not only to Puniſh but to prevent Treaſon in all Men of Antimonarchical Principles; and therefore they cannot be made againſt them in that ſence, viz. as Rebels: Nor as Papiſts; for then it will follow, That he is liable to moſt ſeverer Puniſhments, who acts according to his Conſcience, which is the Rule and internal Law which God obliges us to follow and obſerve, under pain of Sin, right or wrong; if our Conſcience, after a ſerious Examination, dictates ſo; therefore all hu • ane Laws, which puniſh a ſincere Obedience to this internal Law, viz. Conference, are hard, in caſe (that is) of an Invincible Error. Beſides, we muſt acknowledge them to be a True Church, though Infected with ſome Errors, and to have things neceſſary to Salvation; why then ſuch a ſevere Animadverſion upon them? Do not Turks and Jews and ſome Sectaries, who are worſe than either, live quietly among us; and why then muſt our Brethren of Rome be moleſted? And why may not either Church or State alter many things concerning their own Conſtitutions, upon prudent conſideration, as the Reaſon and Circumſtance of thing • very, upon new and better Reaſons? No Law, purely Humane, can be made perpetual; and when it is made, it muſt be interpreted according to the mind of the Lawgiver; and when he interprets his own Law he does not take off but ſuſpends the Obligation;Ductor dub. p 143. • .3.4 • 8. and he may intervene between the Equity and Strictneſſ; for the Intention more than the Letter of the Law,R. 400. is to be ragarded: And certainly, Mens ſtiffneſſ in keeping what they have got (though not upon ſuch Grounds as themſelves now approve of) is rather a Point of miſtaken Honour than of Conſcience; a Contention of Spirit rather than a Debate of Truth and Equity. And if this be the Caſe, I am ſure all wiſe and good Men will cenſure your Obſtinacy and Frowardneſſ if you perſiſt; though the Mobile, perhaps, may reproach you with Levity and Cowardice, if you retreat. To change our Minds upon mature Deliberation and better Experience, and the evidence of new and better Reaſon, is a great piece of Chriſtian Generoſity and ſuch as will ſpeak you honeſt, though not crafty Men. And if the honour of your Religion be of equal value to you with that of your perſonal Reputation, 'twere well you ſtudied, how much that were concern'd, in the peaceable and obedient Temper of ſuch as pretend to have eſpous'd it, as becomes the True Sons of the Church of England. Nothing can ſtain the Reputation of the glorious Religion we profeſs, more than your turbulent, ſtiff and ungovernable Tempers, who are the chief Patriots and Profeſſors of it. Shall we, who have hitherto endeavoured to ſtrengthen the hands of the Magiſtrate, now ſtrive to weaken them? Shall we, who pretend to inact his Laws in the very Conſciences of his Subjects, now endeavour to put other Limitations and Conditions upon them than God has done; or pretend the Revocation of the Broad-Seal of the King's civil Authority, by the Privy-Signet of Religion? Where-ever this is done, that Prince or Magiſtrate had need be a very devout Man indeed, who caſts a benign aſpect upon the profeſſion of that Religion, which has ſo malignant an influence upon his Government: And all conſidering Men will with great Reaſon doubt, whether that Religion be of God which gives ſuch diſturbance and trouble to his Vicegerent; and whether that will carry Men to Heaven hereafter, which makes ſuch Tumults and Confuſions as will be an Hell upon Earth. I hope 'tis no 13th. Article of your Creed or mine, That whatſoever a Parliament does is rightly done for that were to bring Rome home to our own doors, by giving them that Infallibility which they give the Pope: Men are not bound to build their Conſciences upon Acts of Parliament. I have heard, That to diſſolve a Parliament in diſcontent, is to pick a quarrel with the whole Nation; and I am of Opinion, That for them to fly in the Face of the King's Religion, would be the ready way to pick a quarrel with him; and whether it be a conſcientious or prudent thing ſo to do; or that a deſign to prevent a remote and contingent Inconvenience can atone for a Diſobedience at preſent, which may poſſibly diſſolve the frame of Government, I leave to you to j • dge of There may ariſe a Pharaoh who knew not Joſeph, and then you may come to be whip'd with your own Rods. Theſe violent Oppoſers of the regal Prerogative, know not what Spirit they are of: Do they meet the ſame Meaſure they would have meeted to themſelves again? Is this their brotherly Kindneſſ, Meekneſs, or good Manners? Does not the Prince of Peace oblige his Diſciples, If it be poſſible, and as much as in them lies, Jam. 1.7. to live peaceably with all Men? The Wiſdom which is from above, is pure and peaceable; it conſults the publick good; and 'tis a true Teſtimony of a religious and generous Mind, in his moſt retired thoughts, to look out of himſelf, and be mindful of the Publick Welfare of the whole in all his private Meditations; 'twas this made the Fabii and Fabricii and other Roman Worthies, ſo renown'd in thoſe times, that they were content to expoſe themſelves to the greateſt dangers, and to venture the loſing of the good Opinion of the Mobile, for the Proſperity and Safety of the Commonwealth. Lord, how rare a thing is it, in out age, to find a private Man, who cordially devotes himſelf to the good of the Community, which is of ſo much the nearer concernment than the privete, as it is of larger Extenſion? Conſider before it be too late, that the Religion you are ſo juſtly inamoured with, will rather be prejudic'd than promoted by this peeviſhneſs of her Profeſſors: Haſt thou the Faith of the Chruch of England, have it to thy ſelf, and take the Kingdome of Heaven by an Holy violence, but do not attempt by any wicked violence to impoſe it upon other? will you neither be obedient for Wrath nor yet for conſcience ſake? Did ever Chriſt and his Apoſtles, who were arm'd and inſtructed with a greater Power, for the vinidicating of the Truth, than ever any Perſons ſince, either Civil or Eccleſiaſtical, were, behave themſelves ſo unſeemly? Did not St. Paul become all thing to all Men, that he might by all means gain ſome? And ſhall not we interchangably uſe the duties of common Humanity to them of the Roman Religion? Not ſhew them the way (but out of the Land of the Living) who are going towards the Land of Promiſe, as well as we, and yet think we do God and the King good Service Does not St. Paul command every Soul to be ſubject to the higher Powers, upon pain of Damnation? If they are in Errors, you may warn them of their danger, as he did, Acts 20.31. Night and Day with Tears; but you muſt by no means draw Blood of them, not tempt other to diſpiſe them: Luke 9.26. Let your moderation be known unto all Men; Chriſt came not to deſtroy but ſave alive; we had better be perſecuted our ſelves than become Perſecutors of other; nothing that in violent or injurious can have any thing Religion in it; and why ſhould we tempt the Romaniſts to combine togather (as they will do, if they have not more Religion than we ſhew in this Stubborneſs) to revenge the Injuries that have been offer'd them, the Wounds that have been given them in the Houſe of their Friends? Of which we are as guilty, by being the unconcern'd and ſilent Spectators, as if we were the principal Aſſaſſins; and whoſoever is afraid of being reproach'd for a Papiſt by Pleading their Cauſe as far as Juſtice and Charity favours it; or conſults his Eaſe and Reputation more than his Religion at this juncture; when ſuch aſſaults are made upon the Principles of the Church of England, even by them who pretend moſt kindneſs to it, deſerves the Puniſhment either of a Coward in his Religion, or a Traytor to it. No Man, who loves his king or Country, can wiſh for more Liberty or Encouragement than the Church of England Men enjoy; and for any of them to grudge the King immunity for them of his own Religion, is ſuch a compoſition of Indiſcretion, Popularity, Ingratitude and Inſolence, as is little deſerv'd by ſo Good and Gracious a Prince. Peace is not the thing we purſue, but Popularity, which may be the Fool's Paradiſe, but it is the Wiſe Man's Scorn: He never attempts to keep up a Party againſt Authority with a Spirit of Contradiction; not to make differences more or wider than they are to pleaſe the People, who love to hear Well of themſelves and Ill of their Princes, as you cannot but have heard ſome degraded Courtiers do, who being outed of their Employments, or diſappointed and defeated of their ſecular Aims, never ceaſe to Harangue againſt what they have loſt or miſſ'd, to ſatisfie, not their Reaſon, but their Revenge. Theſe are the great Champions for the church, whom the Populacy admires. Popularity makes theſe Hectors bold as Lyons now, who would fly as faſt from danger as any hunted Stag, if a Blood-bound were at their Heels, according to Tertullian's Obſervation, Novi & Paſtores eorum in pace leones, in praelio cervos: He was a Wiſe Man that told us, That to ſawn on the People, is the loweſt degree of Flattery, and I think he might have added, and the higheſt degree of Folly; for nothing can be more fooliſh than to eſteem their Good Opinion, whoſe Judgments we approve not; for a Man to ſtand in the king's Light, on purpoſe to draw the rowling Eyes of the Crowd upon himſelf; to be look'd at, and to be talk'd of, as a Man that would ſain be thought conſiderable by being trouble • ome; this is indeed the Poiſon of Hypocriſie, which deſtroys many Souls as well as diſturbs many States; and therefore when you hear Men, ſo zealous in ſtanding up for Goa's Glory; take heed that they prove not Chapmen for their own. Popularis aurae, vilia mancipia; That they may be Town talk for oppoſing the King, and attempting to eat them without Salt whom the King honours; to which I am ſure it is not the Spirit of chriſti •• ity that provokes them, but a much worſe Principle. I hope there are but a few of theſe amongſt your fellow Members, and that moſt of you are ſincerely reſolv'd to go on in the peaceable way which you know to be right, as counting it your Glory to have the Teſtimony of your own Conſciences, bearing witneſs with you of your Ingegrity. If the reſt of your Brethren will bear you company, in gratifying his Maj • ſty in his juſt and reaſonable Expectation, I know you will be the better Pleas'd; if not I doubt not, but you have courage enough to act Vertuouſly by your ſelf, rather than to do Ill for Company; and that you will rather be ſingular in a Loyal Vote, than So • iable in the contrary. I am better acquainted with your Courage and Conſience, than to be jealous of this; not is it to hearten you, but other Men upon this occaſion, that I ſay ſo much on this Subject, as becomes every Man in my Station, who am one of them that watch for your Souls, and therefore dare not betray them by my ſilence, and coolneſs in God's or the King's Cauſe: My Crime would be as deep as my silence; and my not proclaiming, next to my procuring, the danger you run your ſelves into, for want of a timely foreſight; the not diſcovering any Net in which you may be unhappily enſnared, and not breaking it too, if we can, would be next to the ſpreding of it if we could. And I know full well, That cowardice in a Miniſter is worſe than in a Souldier, by how much our warſare is more hono •• able than theirs; and I reckon them the moſt proſtigate con •• ards in the World, who are aſraid of opening their Mo • ths for the King, for fear the People ſould open their Mouths againſt them. The fear of offending a private Brother is a thing not conſiderable in compariſon of the Duty we owe to the publick Magiſtrate; for this would cut the Sin • ws of all Authority, and bring the King and his Laws into Contempt, by gratifying ſome Mens cauſeleſs Scruples, and others groundleſs. Jealouſies: Do not therefore ſo conſider Roman Catholicks, as to forget they are Engliſhmen and good Chriſtians; let Anabaptiſts or Proſbyterians act. this part, rather than any True Son of the Church of England: Her's in which you are embarqued is not a Fire-ſhip deſigned for Deſtruction, but for Edification; ſhe is for winning Men over to her ſelf, with Mildneſs and the Spirit of Me • kneſ • , and not for inraging them with Violen • e and Bitternej • ; and therefore never ſeck for a loop-hole to creep out of, but ſtand to her Principles; trouble not your ſelf to enquire whether the thing, which the King expcts, be expedi • nt or not, being well ſatisfied of its Legality; let the King anſwer for that • ; God will never lay it to your Charge. God guides all Princes Actions to his own juſt and wiſe Ends, who can cauſe the Wrath of Man to turn to his Praiſe; his Providence and Protection, and our Prince's Conſcience and Honour, are as good Security to our Church, as any we can deſire; and ſhe has taught us to reft ſatisfied with it; and told us, That Religion never proſper'd by any undue Practices to advance it. Meekneſs, Patience anti Humility are thoſe Graces of the Spirit which convince and convert. I hope Time, and a right Ʋnderſtanding of our Princes exemplary Juſtice, the ſcredneſs of his Royal Word, and the moſt obliging Temper of his Perſon, will allay thoſe dangerous Democratical Furies, which whereſoever they prevail or enter, poſſeſs Men with Principles of Ʋſurpation, upon the fundamental Prerogatives of their Sovereign, and deſign to diveſ him of the loyal and ſincere Affections of his Peoples Hearts: He has done all that any Prince can poſſibly do, to convince the World of his merciful Inclinations, to make his Moderation known unto all Men, whom he can ſafely truſt, as well as to his Roman Catholick Subjects; and how far he is from incroaching upon any Man's Conſcience himſelf, or ſuffering others to do it; he has made it his Buſineſs Night and Day, ever ſince he ſate upon the Throne, to allay all Heats and Animoſities, ariſing from different Perſwaſions in Religion, and to unite the Hearts and Affections of all his Subjects to God in Religion, to his Vicegerent in Loyalty, and to their Neighbours in Charity; he longs to ſee us • t Peace with our ſelves and all the World; beſides he hates to ſee us forward to do ſuch Bloody Offices one to another, as Turks and Jews would be aſhamed of; nothing is ſo diſpleaſing to him, as to ſee fellow Chriſtians and fellow Subjects reviling and libeiling one another, as once Conſtantine did, in the Council of Nice, killing and treading one another under Foot, as in the Council of Epheſus, and as in the Schiſm of Damaſus and Ʋrſicinus; as if Chriſt, the Prince of P •• ce, were not yet come into the World, or at leaſt not reveal'd in this part of it. if there be any Incendiaries amongſt us, Religion does not inflame them; if there be any ſuch Feuds Religion does not kindle them; ſhe cannot do that upon Earth which ſhe damns to the Pit of Hell: That which makes grievous to our ſelves or others cannot be Religion; ſhe teaches us to love our Brethren as our ſelves, and to dwell together in Ʋnity; and if our Practices be accordingly, our Principles will eaſily defend themſelves. Now is the time for us of the Church of England, to remember our Doctrine of ſincere Obedience to the ſupreme Power, a Doctrine pleaſing to Almighty God, and of good report among all Princes; and let us not ſhew now, when we think our ſelves touch'd that we were only Political and Mercenary in our Loyalty; and that as the Devil ſaid of Job's ſerving God, It was not for nought; it may be ſaid of our ſerving the King too, becauſc we had all along the chief Countenance and Protection of the Laws which he made; and as the Phraſe there is, had a Hedge, made about us, and about all that we had on every ſide; but in the caſe under debate, if any of our Communion provoke the King to Anger (who is not, nor will not be angry with us for cleaving to our Religion) let him be his own Caſuiſt, whether he pays an intire Chriſtian Obedience, ſeeing he would conclude in leſſr Inſtances, that the firſt Provocation begins a Quarrel; 'twould now be but bantring, to endeavour to commend the King out of reſentment of a repulſe; when as indeed, ſetting aſide home Reaſons, he would appear leſs conſiderable in Foreign Negotiations for the publick Good; when Foreign Princes ſhall hear by their Miniſters, how ſmall Influence he can have upon his own Subjects at Home. 'Tis too well known, that in the Reign of our late Gracious Sovereign, the like exceptions have been made abroad, upon ſome ••• dutiful Carriages of his People to him at Home, to the Diſhonour and Damage of theſe Three Kingdoms. I wiſ •• w • did all well conſider that all penal Laws imply a Power of Relaxation in the Legiſlator, and that the King's Government con • ſts in Imperial as well as Political Laws; and therefore is not to be reſtrain'd upon any Pretence whatſoever. Conſtantius ſetled the Arrian, and after him, Julian the Pagan Religion, by their own Imperial Power and Edicts, yet the Chriſtians did not controll them ; nor have we any more Power to riſe up againſt our King, or to diſobey him becauſe he is a Catholick, than the Romaniſts had to rebel againſt Queen Elizabeth (beſides the Queſtion of her Right of Succeſſion:) For it is not the Law that makes the King, but the King that makes the Law; and though both for his own and the publick Intereſt, which are inſeparable, he ought to act according to thoſe Laws, which do the more powerfully oblige him, by being his voluntary Eſtabliſhment and the Effects of his Royal Will; yet Juſtice is not againſt Charity; and both the Interpretation and Execution of thoſe Laws are in him. In him is acknowledg'd the ſole Power of raiſing Forces, of granting Commiſſions both by Land and Sea; of calling, adjourning, proroguing ana diſſolving Parliaments, when and where he judges it moſt expedient; and in his Power it is to remit the Severities of penal Laws, whereby he may manifeſt his Goodneſs and Clemency, as well as his Greatneſs and Juſtice; by graciouſly Pardoning both the ſmaller Breaches of his Laws, and the more capital Offences which he might moſt juſtly puniſh. From him all Places of higheſt Truſt derive their Authority. It is his Commiſſion they act by, when they put his Commands and Laws in Execution; and without, or againſt his Will and Conſent nothing can be legally acted or done. His Parliaments Concurrence with his deſires is always kind and convenient, though not always abſolutely neceſſary. And I do, with •• hmiſſion offer to thoſe of your Illuſtrious and Loyal Aſſemby, Whether in this Affair, of which I am ſeaking, it be not conſiſtent with your Wiſdoms, to follow a courſe uſed in many caſes, by a Court as politick as any in the World, that of R • me, who when they are advertis'd of ſomething paſſing by a Prince, which formerly came from them, do immediately dispatch away the Grant to the ſame effect, to ſave their pretenſions of Right to do it. Before King James the Firſt's time, you will hardly find, that the Sovereign's Propoſa • were ever rejected by Parliaments, and yet their Petitions have oft, with good Reaſon, been denied in Queen Elizabeth's time the publick Bills were drawn by the Privy-Council, and underwent afterwards very calm, gentle and ſhort Debates in Parliament. But that which may ſtick ſtill with ſome of you, in the preſent caſe, is, Your anſwering the King's expectation, will look like a giving away your Religion: It may look ſo to ſome Pur-blind People, Who ſee but little before them, and then the Reaſon is no better than Popularity, which is now adays grown amongſt Perſons of Quality as common and great a fault as Oppreſſion was formerly. But how is our Religion given away by your conſent to that, which your diſſent cannot hinder? It is our Intereſt as well as Our Duty, not to be wanting to them whom the King eſteems and honours in any acts of Friendſhip which are conſiſtent with a good Conſcience; and to ſuſſer our City Gates to ſtand wide open for them, that they may go in and out at pleaſure, and partake of all the Benefits and Privileges which we enjoy. No Man ever did a good turn of Friendſhip to another, but at one time or other he himſelf eat the Fruits of it. Let it be remembred, in what good condition the Proteſtant Religion is in many Government within the German Empire, by allowing Privileges to thoſe of the Church of Rome: How well aſſured the Governments are of their containing entirely Faithful, when theſe People have equal aſſurances with other Subjects of their remaining ſafe. Waving, many Inſtances which that Empire affords, let us look into that of Brandenburg the Religion of which Country is Lutheraniſm, and is ſo preſerv'd by the Elector, though he many years ago became a Calviniſt; nor will this Change ſeem ſmall to thoſe who are acquainted with the mutual ſlender Amities of thoſe two Perſwaſions the Men of Ink and Gall, on both ſides, blackning one another, and interchangably repreſenting the oppoſite Opinions to be ſowler than Popery it ſelf in their Eyes: But yet in this Electorate, ſuch was the Wiſdom of his Highneſſ, that he freely gave in aſſurance to keep the publick Rel • gion as he found it; and ſuch has been his Faith and Honour, that he has been ſacred to his Ingagements. On the other part, theſe Graces have been ſuitably received by his Subjects, that as he makes them happy, ſo they, and his own Prince-like Vertues, have rendred him the moſt glorious Prince that ever Brandenburgh enjoyed; and, if we do our part like them, ve have no occſion to queſtion his Majeſty's doing His. Though he keeps many Calviniſt Miniſters about him, and make uſe of the Laity who Worſhip in his way; yet the others do not repine at it; much leſs ought we to grudge them he Fruits of the King's Favour, who were as Loyal Actors, in the late Times of Rebellion, and g • eater Sufferes than we; they who ſuffer'd with and for him, might modeſtly have expected to have been reſtored to their Privilegs of True Engliſh Subjects before now, and to have been rais'd above Contempt and Danger. I ſpeak not this to teach our Senators Wiſdom but ſhall pray to God who ſtands in the congregation of Princes, and obſerves, not only all their Ways, Acting and Proceedings, but even the moſt ſecret Deſigns and Intentions of the Hearts of every one of them from whom alone cometh all Council, Wiſdom and Ʋnderſtanding; that when by the Authority of our Sovereign Lord the King, you ſhall be lawfully gather'd in his Name, to Conſder, Debate and Determine this, and other weighty Matters, both of Church and State, he would ſend down his Heavenly Wiſdom from above, to direct and guide you in all your Conſultations: That having his Fear always before your Eyes, and endeavouring to lay aſide, ſo far as humane Frailty will permit, all private Intereſts, Prejudices and partial Affections, the reſult of your councils, may tend to the glory of his bleſſed name, the maintenance of True Religion and Juſtice, the Sa • ety, Honour and Happineſſ of the King, the publick Wealth, Peace and Tran • uillity of this Realm, and the uniting and knitting together of the Hearts of all Eſtates and Perſons, within the ſame, in true Chriſtian Love and Charity one towards another: which will be your greateſt Honour here, and the way to eternal Glory hereafter.

But if any in your high Station ſhould ſay, ſuch I mean who ſit upon the ſame Bench with you, we are ſo far from grudging Papiſts the Power into which his Majeſty has been pleas'd to put them, that we will leave all to them, and we will be ever Loyal, but we will not act in the ſame Commiſſion with them, either Civil or Military. Theſe Men, who are ſuch Ne • er-paſſive Loyaliſts, may do well to conſider, That this their peeviſh Reſolution is diſagreeable to their Allegiance at large, to their Duty by Law, and to the Intereſt they eſpouſe. Their Principle is wholly deſtructive of Loyalty; for to be Loyal and not to ſerve the King when requir'd, is a plain Contradiction; ſince Loyalty is not like a civil Ceremony, but, an Obligation laid upon us by the higheſt Law, to obey thoſe placed over us; againſt whom he does paſſively rebel, who is unactive in their Service. And therefore the Primitive Chriſtians obey'd their Emperors, though Heathens, with the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes; and ſhall We, that are the Sons of the Charch of England, reſuſe the lawful Services of a moſt Chriſtian and Gracious King? whom we are obliged to ſerve without Ifs and Ands, as well when he Frowns upon us as when he Favours us, for this is the only way to be God's Favourites as well as his, and to prove our ſelves Members of Chriſt as well as of the Commonwealth. 'Tis a known Maxim in the civil Law, That Subjects ought not only to obey the Government, but to be Inſtruments of it too; without which the Government could not be carried on, and the greateſt Princes would have leſs effectual Authority than a Centuriom has, who ſays to one Go and he goes, to another, come and he comes, and to a third, Souldier do this, and he does it: And our common Law has therefore eſtabliſh'd this Sudalternacy of obeying and bearing part in the Government, of which Sr. Thoma • Overbury's Caſe and Impriſonment is a pregnant Inſtance 〈…〉 n it be juſtly ſaid, That it was an over-ſtretching of 〈◊〉 Prerogative, for the like was after practi • 'd upon Sr Peter H •••• n, who for behaving himſelf •• ke ſome other muti •••• 〈◊〉 • ons, in one of the laſt Parliaments of King Cha ••• 〈…〉 , was ſent, againſt his • iking, on • r E 〈…〉 tinate; and though the w 〈…〉 ce in the Parliament of F • ay 〈…〉 at that or any other t 〈…〉 him an illegal. No Prince could 〈◊〉 a K 〈…〉 ou • this Right of compel • ing his Subjects to m 〈…〉 reſpective Offices under him And as to acting in the Commiſſion of Peace, the Great Chancellor, in the late King's time, in the Caſe of an Iriſh Noble Man ſeated in England, and refuſing to take the Oath of a Juſtice of Peace, declared, That he ought to do it, and every Man elſe nam'd in the King's Commiſſion: and therefore they are unpardonable to diſpute it now, who have already taken their Oaths and acted many years accordingly.

Nor is it leſs againſt your Intereſt than your Duty, to withdraw your Services; for if you quick-ſighted Men, who ſit higher than your Neighbours, ſpy more Damages and Miſchiefs coming on the Country, than we can ſee, from thoſe who are newly put into Commiſſion, you have the more Reaſon not to deſert your Station.

There were many Gentlemen in the Rebellious Age before the King's Reſtauration, who, acting under the Uſurper's Commiſſion, told their confiding Friends, they indur'd it only in order to the ſerving the King and the Loyal Party; how much rather ſhould Men now ſerve the King, and ſubalternately thoſe that ſerve him, when they are called to do it by a lawful Authority? Let them alſo conſult their Honour as Gentlemen, and ſhew a Courage beſitting their Quality, like that brave Roman, who did not, like other mean Spirits, ſneak out and quit his Poſt, but generouſly profeſt he did not deſpair of the Commonwealth, nor would he deſert its Service: If they to whom this is urg'd, ſay, No more do we; we acquieſce in the Kin'gs Pleaſure, but we care not for Acting; their laying down thus, is an Impeachment of their loyalty; for hereby do they raiſe or increaſe the groundleſs Fears and Jealouſies of the People, who will be over-apt to conclude, That if thoſe leading Men in the Country, upon whoſe Conduct they ſafely relyed, Withdraw themſelves, all is loſt; Religion and Property are vaniſh'd; whereas you are the only Men who can and ſhould take them off theſe miſtakes, by giving them to underſtand, That the current of the Law is as clear as ever, and that the King does no more for his own Religion, than every Prince in the World does for his; nor leſſ for ours, than will ſuffice to make us Happy, if we had but Wit enough, to know when we were ſo. That, as to the mixture of Popiſh and Proteſtant Juſtices, Ireland has been long ſo Govern'd and with good Succeſſ; and as the greateſt number of our preſent Statute Laws were made by their Anceſtors Council and Conſent, then of the ſame Religion they now are of; ſo we have no reaſon to queſtion but they will be as forward to execute, as the others were to get them inacted. And if, after all, they confeſs, as all Ingenuous and Conſidering Men muſt, That they could conſent to the repealing and taking off the capital, penal, and diſabling Laws againſt the Roman Catholicks, but they could not anſwer it to their Counties for which they ſerve; they need not be told (who were ſuch apt Scholars in the tender Point of Privileges. of Parliament) that their Power is more than that of the States General of the United Provinces, for they may not only conſult but conſent without thoſe who ſent them; and if they dare deny it, ſend a Serjeant at Arms for them (as you know they lately did, how legally I Diſpute not.) And ſince thoſe States, in the late King's Time, concluded with him a Point of mutual Benefit, without ever ſending to their Principals, and were afterward thanked by them for it; with more Right and with as good Succeſſ, may they concur with the King's Motion, if it be conſider'd, That they were not choſen by Men of that Antimonarchical Spirit, who generally prevail'd in the Three Elections before this. And as to thoſe of the oppoſite Party, who can think their Thoughts are likely to be like Lycurgus his defence of his Laws, That though they were not the best, they were as good as then could be made; and ſeeing they ſurmize that ſome Men endeavour to bring Parliaments into Diſeſteem, as ſtulborn and intractable, and therefore uſeleſs; in proſpect of this and what may probably enſue, it will undoubtedly be Prudent, to give up many Points formerly contended for, with too much Eagerneſs and too little Juſtice; by which Compli •• ces with the Royal Power and Goodneſs, they may have freſh and larger Aſſurances of ſaving the main Sta •• Thus have I honeſtly eſiay'd to give you the beſt Reſol • uic • I can of the Caſe in Q • j • ion, whether the Thoughts which were to my ſatisfaction, will prove ſo to your's or others more fearful and jealous in the Commun ••• , of our Church, I know not; but I hope they will, and wiſh they 〈◊〉 not only for the King's Service and Satisfaction, but for their own and Peace ſake. He was a ſound Politicia • , who told us, That for the maintenance of a Religion long in being, it is neceſſary oft times to reduce it to its firſt Grounds; Ma • hia. vel p 33 • nor do I think it would argue want of Policy or Piety in the Sons of the Church of England, to ſtudy the Primitive Conſtitutions of the ſame, and to re • ect upon the peaceable Temper of the firſt Reformers, and to con •• der what one of our beſt Caſuiſts, our Church ever bred, teſts us, in the Caſe of One of our Church Marrying with a Recuſant, That in Points, wherein the Subſtance of Chriſtianity conſiſts, Bp. Sanderson's 5. Caſ. p 18. the fundamental Articles of the Chriſtian Religion, we both agree. And that he who rightly underſtands thoſe Catholick Truths, taught in the Catechiſms of both Churches; and concerning which all Chriſtendom, in a manner, are at a preſent accord; and will alſo ſuffer himſelf farther to conſider, That the Church of England does not impoſe upon the Judgments and Conſciences of her Members, any thing to be believ'd or receiv'd as of neceſſity to Salvation, but what is truly Catholick, and confeſſed by her Adverſaries ſo to be; and conſequently, that the Differences between her and the Romiſh Party, is wholly about thoſe Additionals or Superſtructures, may eaſily reſt; ſatisfied in his Judgment and Conſcience, That the thing deſir'd is not ſimply evil, and • o • ogenere, unlawful, but expedient; and as the exigencies and the conjunction of our preſent Circumſtances, and the probability of the good and evil Conſequences of it, prudently laid together and weigh'd one againſt another require, are little leſs than neceſſary.

And in Truth, did we live up to the Rules and Canons of the Church, the Differences between them and us would not appear ſo many and ſo great, but that we might hope under ſo Gracious a Prince, who has a kindneſs for both, to become at laſt, if not Men of one Judgment, yet at leaſt of one Heart. Ferguſ. Inter. of Reaſ. 593. I will allow ſuch a Caſuiſt as Ferguſon to repute the Terms of Union with Rome, impoſſible and abſurd, for ſo they muſt needs be, to ſuch an Arch-ſchiſmatick and Traytor as he is: But if we conſider, that there are a great many Truths of ſo little value, that a wiſe and good Man would part with them all for a Grain of Charity; and how dangerous it is and damnable, to rend the Peace of the Catholick C •••• h, we ſhall not be ſo ſtiff and inflexible, ſo tenacious and unyielding, even in Matters of ſo ſmall moment, as we too familiarly are to ſo ſhameful a degree of Obſtinacy, that we will not ſtir an hairs breadth to win a Brother, no not to gratifie a Prince: Intreat, perſwade or convince them (Non perſuadebis, etiamſi perſuaſeris) ſtill they hold their Principle, which is none of the beſt; obtain all, yield nothing; ſo far are they from being arm'd with Epaminondas his brave heroick Reſolution, Totius orbis ••• itias deſpicere prae patriae charitate; to deſpiſe private Intereſts for Love of the publick Peace of Church and State. This were ſuch a Self-dental, as would adorn a Chriſtian, and ſpeak him truly Catholick; and if Diſtempers in the Body Natural and Political are reduc'd by Phyſicians and Politicians, not to what they ſhould be, but what they can be; then let us not ſtrive to advance our Chriſtian Liberty, above the Laws of Sobriety, Charity and Government, nor endeavour to ſerue any Peg ſo high in the Church as to make a diſcord in the State, but endeavour calmly to perſwade and convince Men by the Scriptures and Reaſon; for though the Miniſtry and Service be ours, yet the Dominion is his who bears the Sword, and whoſe Friends muſt be ours, or elſe we are not Chrict's nor our own. We may keep our Conſciences Tender, but not ſo raw as to kick and wince at all which touches us, or which we underſtand not. Remember that of Lactantius, P. 487. Quae, ubi, aut qualis eſt Pietas? n • mirum apud eos qui bella neſciunt, qui concordiam cum omnibus ſervant, qui omnes homines pro ſratribus diligunt, qui • ohibere iram ſciunt, omnemque animi furorem tranquillâ moderatione lenire: Such an Evangelium armatum as ſome warm Diſputants would make our Religion favour, would better become John Goodwin to publiſh, who was better skill'd in the methods of embroiling Three Kingdoms, than any True Sons of the Church of England, whoſe Laws are not like Draco's the Athenian, written in Blood: Her Heart is not ſo petreſied as to rejoyce in Evil; ſhe abhors all living Bonefires; ſhe prays for the Converſion of her's and God's Enemies, and delights in their Reformation, but not in their Ruine; her Commands are like her Saviour's with the Sceptre and not with the Sword, unleſs it be of the Spirit, which ſhe never ſuffers to make way to Mens Conſciences by cutting through their Fleſh. Let my Soul never come into ſuch Bloody Councils at theſe. Ifa. 29.4. The Greek Church approves not to this day, the putting Hereticks to Death; and we have great Reaſon to Bleſs God and the King, that our Writt, de Haeretico comburendo, is taken away by Act of Parliament; and may all other Sanguinary Laws periſh and be aboliſh'd as well as that, made in this or any Chriſtian State, againſt Men upon the ſcore of Chriſtian Religion, if the moſt notorious Offenders againſt it be puniſhed with a civil Death here, and an eternal hereafter, 'tis ſufficient: Defendenda eſt Religio non occidendo ſed moriendo. Aut hoc non eſt Evangelium, aut nos non ſumus evangelici; fraterna neceſſitudine cohaeremus, quam qui non agnoſcit injuſtus eſt: Chriſtianity binds us to purchaſe Peace at Intereſt, rather than keep up a Party againſt it; for there is ſuch variety of Education, Intereſt, and Cuſtom in the World, that he who reſolves to yield to no Body can agree with no Body. Chriſt comply'd with the Rites and Cuſtoms he found in the World, and condeſeended to the very Humours of Stubborn People, to ingratiate himſelf and his Doctrine: And Eraſmus hated diſcord ſo much, that he lov'd not any Truth that might occaſion it, Mihi ſane adeo inviſa eſt diſcordia, ut veritas e • iam diſpliceat ſeditioſa: Nor can any deſire to keep the Wounds of the Church or Kingdom open, but ſuch as would he better pleas'd to ſuck the blood of both; and peaceable Princes have a happy time of it, to ſerve the Humours of ſuch Men, and receive ſuch Encouragements as they daily give them. There was to be no deſtructive Beaſt in all God's Holy Mountain; the Beaſts of prey came down from Mount Seir, •• 11 9. and not from Mount Sion. If the Counſels of any of the Enemies of our Church be of Men or Devils, it will come to nought; but if it be of God, we cannot overthrow if, leaſt happily we be ſound Fighters againſt God; and if ever we hope upon good Grounds to ride on and proſper, it muſt be becauſe of our Truth, and Right • ouſneſſ, and Meekneſſ, not of Humour and Petulancy; for this is a time of healing, and not of troubling the Waters. There is nothing wanting to make us live quietly one by another, though of ſeveral Judgments, whilſt we agree in the Fundamentals of Religion and loyalty, but the ſubduing of our own inordinate Affections. Did we take up the Croſſ to lay it upon other Mens Shoulders? or do we fellow Chriſt:, as the Jews did, to Cruciſie him? This is to love Chriſt and the King as Men do one another, till they be brought to the Tryal: Goodneſſ is the beſt Note of the True Church, and I hope will prove the inſeparable Character of Ours; for, I am ſure, none are ſo affable to their Brethren on Earth, as they that have their Converſation in Heaven. If we will ſuffer it, our Religion is ready to tye the Gordian-knot of Kindneſs between us, and all who deſerve the Name of Chriſtians; it will breed an harmony in the Affections of all the King's Subjects who receive it; it will ſublimate and ſpiritualize their Humanity, and draw it off from all the Dreggs of Malice and Uncharitableneſs, and teaches us to love the King for his Goodneſs, as well as others to fear him for his Reſolution. The Samaritans held it an Abomination to come near a Man of a different Religion or Perſwaſion from them, but we have not ſo learned Chriſt; may there never any ſ •• i • e be heard amongſt us, but who ſhall ſtrive firſt and moſt to ſerve God and the King; Unleſs you loath your preſent Manna, and long for your old AEgyptian Leeks and Garlicks, you will not make others look like Devils, that you may look the more like Saints, but you will join with the Church and the meaneſt of her Children, and ſay a hearty Amen to this Prayer, Domine da pacem in diebus noſtris; and ſpend your time in Prayers to the God of Peace, that you may prevail to ſtiſle and put out thoſe Diſſentions which the Divel has kindled among us; and in Tears if you cannot, ſo ſhall ye be ſound in Peace by the Prince of Peace at his coming, without ſpot and blameleſs, and our Hieruſalem be built up as a City at Unity in it ſelf.

Sir, I have not martial'd my Thoughts into ſuch a method as I ſhould and would have done, if my time and other Accompliſhments had born any proportion to your Expectations, and the duty of ſuch an undertaking; but I hope I have ſaid enough to make it plain to all the True and Well-meaning Sons of the Church of England; that what I have preſs'd you and them to do, and reſolve, by God's Aſſiſtance, to practiſe my ſelf, Is

1ſt. A Duty we owe to Almighty God, P • 8.15. by whom all Kings Reign (who are not the Peoples Creatures but his Vicegerents) not intruſted with theirs, but inveſted with his Authority.

The Powers that be are ordain'd of God, and as he that reſiſts them, reſiſts the Ordinance of God; ſo he that diſhonours them, diſhonours God's Ordinance, and by conſequence God himſelf. And as respect for the King's ſake, is to be paid to all ſuch Perſons as he deputes to ſuſtain his Authority and repreſent his Perſon; ſo much more for God's ſake, is honour to be paid to the King, whom God hath commiſſion'd to be his Deputy on Earth, and inveſted with the largeſt ſhare of his Authority. Beſides, God hath expreſly commanded us to honour the King, Prov. 24 21. and twice joyn'd it with a Precept to Fear Him, to denote that none can deny the King Honour,1 Pet. • .13. but ſuch as have no fear of God before their Eyes; and that without Diſobedience to God we cannot refuſe to honour the King, both as a Chriſtian and a King: And here, once for all, let it be obſerv'd, That when St. Peter wrote his firſt Epiſtle, and therein gave Chriſtians that Precept of Honouring the King; he, who then govern'd them, was none of the beſt, but perhaps one of the worſt in the World who ever wore an Imperial Grown; a profeſt Enemy, not to Chriſtianity alone, but to Morality too. Nero was at that time the Roman Emperor, who was not only an Heathen, and of a different Religion from them; but alſo as Tertullian ſtiles him, Dictator Damnationis • noſtrae, the firſt Perſecutor of the Chriſtian Religion, which ſhews him to be of none at all. And yet ſuch a King they are commanded to honour, which may aſſure us, That 'tis the King's Authority, abſtracted from his perſonal Qualifications, which we are to honour; be his Religion what it will, be it any or none at all; if he be our King, God requires us to conſult his Honour in all things; and without Diſobedience to God, I hope I have ſufficiently prov'd that we cannot do otherwiſe. Every True Son, therefore, of the Church of England, who acknowledges his Majeſty's Title to the Imperial Crown of theſe Kingdoms to be unqueſtionable, muſt conclude it to be an indiſpenſible Duty, which he owes to Almighty God, to ſay and do all that he lawfully may for the King's Honour.

2dly. 'Tis a Duty which we owe to the King, and that not only becauſe God hath by the divine Law given him a Right thereunto, but alſo becauſe the Benefits which we enjoy under his Government deſerve if. Do we not enjoy publick Peace and Preferments, and the free and publick Exerciſe of our Religion, which is a bleſſing infinitely more valuable than any of which we can be ambitious, on this ſide Heaven? He hath not only indulg'd that to us, but by many moſt gracious, ſolemn and reiterated Promiſes, engaged his Honour and Fidelity to protect us in it; which we muſt honour for the Church's Magnâ Chartâ, the more tranſcendent act of Grace, becauſe not extorted by Rebellion, and a ſecurity more firm than any Law, which cannot tye a King (who is declared the ſupreme Judge of the Law and above it) ſo faſt as the Obligations of his own Royal Word and Honour do it. And is there nothing due for ſo high a Favour? Are not we to be extreamly • ender of his Honour, who is ſo under of our Happiness, as that he may juſtly be ſtiled the Defender of our Faith, as well by Deſert as by Inheritance; as not only to protect it from real Dangers, but alſo to protect the Profeſſors of it from their own fears? If a Nero be to be honoured, much more a Titus or Veſpaſian: If a Tyrant (who was a diſgrace to Humanity,) much more an indulgent Father of our Church and Country; one whoſe Clemency makes him the delight of Mankind, and one whole Royal Word gives his Subjects the belt Security of which they are capable.

3dly. 'Tis a Duty we owe to our Country: The King is the Light of our Iſrael, as David is ſtil'd;2 Sam. 21.7. and the more bright and reſplendant this Light, the more bright, powerful and benign Rays and Influences will it diffuſe among us. He is the breath of our Noſtrils; and if our undutiful and indecent Behaviour towards him do eclipſe his Honour, Jer. 32.3 by interpoſing any thick Body between him and his Peoples Hearts, or taint the Nations Breath with an ill Savour, it would be a ſad Symptom of the decay of its Vitals. Who knows not, that the uſual Methods of Treaſon and Rebellion have been firſt to blacken the Prince, and make him ſeem vile to the People, and then to tempt them to oppoſe and reſiſt him? Firſt to repreſent him in ſome ſoul ſhape (as the Heathen Perſecutors did the Primitive Chriſtians, when they cloathed them in Beaſts Skins) and then expoſe them firſt to be derided, and at laſt to be devoure'd? And what did any Nation ever get by Rebellion, but expence of Treaſure and Blood, Rapine, Miſery and Ruine? In which Point, if we are yet unſatisfied, let us lit down and caſt up the Accounts of ours from Forty to Sixty, the ſumma totalis of which will be found to be nothing on the Balance, but the loſs of our Liberties, Properties and Religion, with the additional Intereſt of Slavery, intailed upon us and ours for ſo many Years. Can we then better conſult the Kingdoms good at this time, than by maintaining the Kings Honour, or take a better courſe to keep it in Peace and Plenty, than by keeping up a good Opinion of our moſt Gracious Prince among his Subjects; or ſhew our ſelves greater Patriots, or better Friends of our Country, than by being zealous for our Prince's Honour, and jealo • of all thoſe Words or Actions, which may ſecretly undermine it?

4thly. Laſtly, This is a Duty we owe to our Dear Mother the Church of England, from whoſe Breaſts we have ſuck'd an untainted Loyalty, and by whom we have been trained up to a moſt tender Zeal for the Honour and Service of our King, without any relation had to his Religion. It is well known, That no Church under Heaven ever taught her Children more Loyal Principles, or more conſtantly than ſhe has done; and therefore no Children on this ſide Hell, would be more unpardonable for acting Diſtoyally than hers. She never allow'd any pretence whatſoever to diſing age us from our Loyalty; nor did ſhe ever abſolve us when we appear'd to want it, but upon ſound and ſincere Repentance. The more inexcuſable then were we, if we ſhould diſgrace our Breeding and Education under her moſt excellent Inſtructions with any contrary Practices: And the more indiſpenſibly are we oblig'd to lay hold of thoſe Opportunities, which the Providence of God does now offer us, to give the World ſuch a convincing Teſtimony of our Loyalty, as unleſs the True genuine Sons of the Church of England ſhew, I queſtion whether it will ever ſee. Catholick Loyalty I mean, not only bearing patiently, but dearly loving, and devoutly honouring our Prince, though of a different Religion, and not ſpeaking ill of any thing, of which he hath himſelf entertain'd a ſacred, or would have us have a good Opinion.

And thus far have I, in Obedience to your commands, expreſſed as plainly as I could, the judgment of my own Mind, about this important and ſeaſonable Duty. I am ſo ſenſible of my own unfitness for an undertaking of this Nature, that nothing but Your's or a greater command, could have drawn me to make ſuch an eſſay; leaſt ſo good a Cauſe ſhould ſuffer more by my Weakness than gain by my Zeal: However, ſuch as it is, I humbly ſubmit it to your better Judgment; not doubting but that whatever you judge to be ſaid amiſs, will be, by your Charity, as if it had never been ſaid by me, and corrected by your Chriſtian Prudence: And if any thing be ſaid that may be capable of doing his Majeſty any Service, you will conceal the Author, leaſt his obſcurity prove an Obſtacle to the efficacy of his Arguments. Who will live and die a True Son of the Church of England, a Loyal Subject to his Majeſty, and