deep Sense how scandalously the Christian Religion was injured hereby she not only severely censures such Offenders but also clogs their Restoration with great Difficulties and makes it a reserved Case I am not ignorant that the Bishop of Rome who grasps at and claims no less than all has made Reservations till he has reserved away in a manner the whole Authority of all the Bishops in his Communion but the best things may be abused or usurped upon For in the first Ages of the Church we find Cases reserved but then it was by Canons made in Council where it was thought necessary for the benefit of the Church to restrain the exercise of Jurisdiction of single Bishops in some special Case hence it was decreed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nothing of moment should be done without the Bishop of the Prime See whom we now call a Metropolitan or Arch-bishop and herein our Church hath trod in the Steps of the Primitive Fathers For she leaves the Bishops their just Authority and yet reserves some matters of more universal Influence and concern to the Metropolitan and that she hath done it in this and some other cases perhaps there are weighty Reasons As 1st To preserve and secure the Discipline of the Church in matters of great importance and publick concern Favour Affection Interest or Importunity of Friends might perhaps be apt to sway sometimes with the particular Bishop either to overlook the thing or too easily to reconcile the Persons whereas the Metropolitan is less obnoxious to such Motives Besides if he should neglect to do his part the Suffragan Bishop would have just cause to complain and desire the exercise of his Jurisdiction in that particular to be restored if the other answer not the end of the Reservation and thus they are made a mutual Spur to and Watch upon each other 2dly For more publick Satisfaction the Crime may be notorious and the Offence given to a whole Nation or more and if the Person should be reconciled by his Ordinary it might be known to few and consequently the Scandal remain but being done by the Metropolitan it must necessarily be more notorious the Party's Repentance will be more publick and a more ample Satisfaction made for the Dishonour done to the Laws of God and his Church 3dly For a particular Brand upon the Crime and to testifie the Judgment of the Church as to her high detestation of it For every one must think that she hath a singular Abhorrence of that Crime which she declares she will not forgive but upon such severe conditions 4thly For the more effectual punishing and reclaiming the Offender he is by this means more surely held and his Trouble and Pains much greater to get out of the Snare he hath run into He must be more thoroughly mortified before he will submit to such open Penance and Recantation and when it is over it s very being so well known will in all probability be a means to prevent his relapsing Lastly The more powerfully to deter others that they may not dare to run in that Wickedness which intangles Men with such great Difficulties and brings them to such open Shame Now as big and scornfully as our Adversaries look upon us I think I have proved that these are the Circumstances they are under and having done my endeavour to convince them of their Sin and Danger I know not what I can now do more or better for them than to pray to God to give them Repentance they have not only brought a Flourishing Church into a most miserable condition but have razed the very Foundations and set her on no Bottom she is not only lest at the discretion of the Secular Power but prostituted to the frantick Will and Humour of every Usurper which is little better than putting God's Church under the Devil's Protection The Breach of Promises and Oaths the renouncing our natural Allegiance and Canonical Obedience are made no Sins if the adhering to them should chance to bring us under any Inconvenience And thus the Doctrine of the Cross so particularly entailed on Christianity is huff'd and scoff'd out of Doors Men may join with the Devil to delude themselves and others but certainly God will visit for such Sins as these and sooner or later make such Sinners know themselves May God in Mercy give them a sight and sense of their Sins that they may repent and return and God's Judgments averted and our Breaches healed tho' I abominate the Crimes yet I have no ill-will to their Persons and wish them reconciled but as for the methodus reconciliandi I leave it to my Superiors the proper Judges who doubtless will faithfully assist and advise their Metropolitan how the Canon may be satisfied And provided that some sort of Reparation were made for the Dishonour done to God and his Church and the Wrongs done to the Lawful King I should very readily acquiesce in almost any Terms and rejoice to see an end oâ— the sad Thoughts of Heart caused by the Divisions of Reuben I had here concluded but that as I was penning these few Considerations News was brought me that after so long consulting and caballing Stillingfleet-Hody was come abroad laying about him like Goliah knocking down no less than 6 or 7 at once and making bolder Challenges than ever did that mighty Philistine I did think my self as to my present Subject out of his reach but not knowing what a Mad-man who lays about him at all Adventures might hit upon I procured the Book Now tho' his Principles well improved will vindicate any Villany or destroy any thing honest or true yet not finding my present Subject particularly affected I shall dismiss him and his Book with only some few Observations which may serve a little to stay honest Men's Stomachs till they can have a full Meal The Jackdaw in the Fable set out with the Peacock's Plumes did never strut and bristle at half the rate as doth this Vain-glorious Fellow and if every Bird should seize his own Feather he might be left as naked and ridiculous as was his Emblem The very Title is insolent and amazing For what honest or modest Man would discourse and set up for Sâ—es Vacant by an unjust or uncanonical Deprivation For if the Deprivation be uncanonical the Persons are not by Canon deprived if it be unjust the Law and I hope there may be some Law left tho' we have so little benefit of it affords every Man a Remedy against Injustice and will help him to recover his right against it and the very Plea which the Law assigns in this case is Ecclesia plena just opposite to his Vacancy But right or wrong if it be done by a Power irresistible there must be a Submission Now I would know what he means by irresistible for properly speaking perhaps only God is so but if by it he means a Power by any wicked means and in any wicked courses become Superior to us
CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE Second CANON In the BOOK Entituled Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical c. LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCâ—… CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE Second Canon c. SO various and sickle are the Circumstances of Life and so short and full of Incumbrances is it at the best that it were not worth while to be Man had he not a God to serve who could reward him with future Happiness and God having made this Life a state of Probationership wherein Man is upon his good Behaviour and according to his Demeanour here shall either be recompenced with Eternal Bliss after this painful Life ended oâ— fall into endless Misery Upon this account Religion becomes more dear to him than all the things of this World put together For what shall it profit a Man to gain the whole World and lose his Soul But then Religion being the Worship of God according to his Will that it may be our Guide to Heaven it must not be sought for in our Fancies but from his Revelations and Discoveries we shall deceive our selves and cheat our selves out of our precious Souls if we will make a Religion by starting new Notions and setting up Novelties ouâ— Business is to find out the good Old way and walk in it deny our selves and to dread and abominate the running a whoring after our own Inventions and firmly to adhere to the Religion our Blessed Saviour hath left us in which alone Salvation is to be obtained And therefore though not only the smoothest Deceivers but an Angel from Heaven should teach us any other way we ought not only to turn the deaf Ear upon their Perswasions but account them accursed Now the Substance of what our Saviour taught his Apostles and Evangelists wrote but by reason of the distance of Time the different Customs of Countries the ignorance of the Occasions whereupon many things were wrote or spoken and divers like Matters in cafe of difficulty it seems to be the surest way to have recourse to those Apostolical Persons and their Successors treading in their Steps and to those first planted Churches who by reason of their nearness to the Apostles times had the best opportunity to understand their meaning and also bâ—ing continuâ—lly under such severe Persecutions or Expectations of them that they had no other hopes or comfort but Heaven could not with any reason be thought to have any temptation or itch either to be insincere in themselves or unfaithful to others And in the great Degeneraâ—y of the present Christian World I think I may be bold to say that relation being had to her Constitutions no Church in the Universe came nearer to the Primitive Pattern than the Church of England which hath made her both the Envy and the Mark of all sorts of Sects and Parties but this though it might and did cause her much trouble yet by rendring her more wary and industrious more careful of her Constitutions and more watchful over her Members perhaps did rather contribute to her Preservation than Destruction in all likelihood not all their Malice could have prevailed against her had not Vipers within her eat out her Bowels or â—he by turning her Hand against her self become a Felo de se and to this the present fatal Schism hath well near brought it The proud swelling Swearers have carried away the greatest part of her Members and whilst they hug themselves in their 〈◊〉 and Wickedness are become the Scorn and Derision of the meanest Sectaries and wildest Fanaticks And as for those who have retained their Integrity and with whom the true Authority remains the haughty Schismaticks insolently reproach them as too few to bear the weight of so great a Cause and indeed in the Eye of Humane Reason it could not be thought that they could long hold out against so many who thirst for their Bloud were not their Cause God's Cause who can support them not withstanding the violence of any Arm of Flesh and doubtless will if they be not wanting to their own part But after all perhaps the boasting Apostates may deceive themselves in the fewness of their number For though the Clergy to the Eternal Shame of the Deserters be not exceeding numerous yet they are pious learned and stout and their Adherents as they are more than their Adversaries could wish or are aware of so are they steady devout and sober and Men now begin so generally to see through the Mask that they daily more incline to the one and become more averse to the other Neither are there wanting multitudes of sober Men abroad who are highly concerned for their Case as may in part appear by a Letter out of another Kingdom which hath occasioned the ensuing Discourse the Contents whereof so far as concerns this Matter are Verbatim as followeth SIR I Confess my self very much a Stranger to the Constitution and Policy of the Church of England I humbly crave Pardon therefore if this Line is useless if it proves useful I have my Reward I have seen some of those excellent Books which have been lately written in defence of the present Separation from the complying Church of England I am fully satisfied that it is defended on very firm Grounds Yet one Topick there is which I have not observed made use of it is this The second of those which are commonly called the Canons of the Church of England declares all those excommunicated ipso facto who do not own the King's Authority c. By King That Person is to be understood according to the undoâ—bâ—â—d Pâ—inciples of the Church of England who is possest of the â—hrone according to the Civiâ— Constitution of the English Hereditary Monarchy Whosoever disowns his Authority c. by the Canon incurs the Sentence of Excommunication ipso facto Excommunication ipso facto or latae sentâ—ntiae as they call it must neâ—â—s import at least That the Church of England declares those to be none of her Communion who publickly notoriously and obst mately disown such a King's Authority Such ought to be deemed and treated as Excommunicates without farther judicial Process or Sentence The Nature of ipso facto Excommunication cannot bear less as is evident to all who know any thing of the Canon Law by which that is made the proper difference betwixt Excommunicatio latae and ferendae Sententiae From these Grounds it seems to me to follow pretty naturally That King James has either quite lost his Right or the Compliers the Jurors the Revolutionists if I may so call them are not cannot be the Church of England so that the main of the Controversie hangs much on this Dilemma Either King James has lost his Right or he has not if he has and King William 's Right is good the Non Jurors or Anti Revolutionists are excommunicated ipso facto by the Canon and may be charged with the horrid Guilt of Schism But if he has not lost his Right then the Jurors the Revolutionists are
a one cannot be accepted or if it be his Institution is void They may chew the Cud upon this who have accepted any Preferments under these Schismatical Bishops for the obtaining of which they have taken Oaths whereby they denied their lawful King and consequently then incurred an Excommunication ipso facto 3. It makes the whole Administration of his Ministerial Office ineffectual You can expect no Return of Prayers made with him with whom you ought not to communicate the B. Sacrament consers no Benesit received from his Hands he cannot authoritatively bless the People of God who is himself under a Curse and excluded from being a part of them And here I think all those who have joined themselves to such Persons to be highly concerned to lay their Hands on their Hearts and consider well what they have done in communicating with them hitherto and whether they can think it safe to continue therein for in communicating with them as they are Schismaticks they make themselves Schismaticks and in communicating with them as they are Excommunicates not only all their Labour is lost but they get a Curse instead of a Blessing The matter were not altogether so bad if this Censure extended only to Clergy-men but that a thorough Provision might be made to secure the Subject in Obedience it spares none and therefore I shall consider how Excommunication affects Persons in general whether Lay-men or Clergy-men 1st Then no excommunicated Person ought to be sussered to be present at the Service of the Church and if the Minister who officiates can no other ways get rid of him he ought rather to break off and desist than to susser such a Person to join in Communion with his Flock 'T is indeed true that he may be allowed to be present when the Sermon is made as supposed to make for his Information or Conviction but even then he ought not to be intermingled with others but to stand alone and plainly distinguished from the rest of the Congregation But to the Prayers such Persons never were nor ought to be admitted 2dly Every excommunicated Person is especially debarred from being a Partaker of the Lord's Supper and antiently if any Priest did administer the Sacrament to such an one bâ—â—ore he was Canonically reconciled to the Church which originally was done by the Bishop or by Authority deputed from him he himself became liable to be deposed and no longer intrusted in the Ministry 3dly Whosoâ—ver stands excommunicated non â—rrante clave he is dismembred and cut off from the Church and consequently deprived of those Supplies and Succours which the Mâ—â—bers receive by being united together in one Body and by means thereof to Christ their Head they are like Branches cut off from the Vine there is no way or means left whereby any gratious Succours can be conveyed unto them unless there be a Reinsition and they be received and grafted in again 4ly Every excommunicate Person is under a heavy Curse the Devil has a peculiar Power over him so that his Condition is very deplorable and desperate whilsâ— he remains under that Sentence Hence the Scripture styles it a delivering unto Satan 1 Cor. 5. 5. and 1 Tim. 1. 20. and Tertullian calls it summum futuri Judicii Praejudicium the highest Presumption of what shall be his Sentence in the day of Judgment God will ratiâ—ie in Heaven the Sentence of his Church on Earth when she proceeds against Offenders in vindication of his Laws and Ordinances That Saying of our Saviour to his Apostles is enough to strike any Man with Horrour who justly incurrs the Censure of the Officers of the Church Verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven Mat. 18. 18. 5ly An excommunicated Person is or ought to be debarred from most of the Benesits and Comforts of civil Conversation he is like a blown Dear every one in the Herd even for his own Safety will push him from him or like a Man that has the Plague every one that would escape the Infection avoids him But of this more presently in its due place The State and Condition of a Person under the Sentence of Excommunication being thus briefly explain'd I think it may be sufficiently dreadful to any who have any sense of Christianity or apprehensions of the Wrath of God and if this be the state of the Revolutionists they have no great cause to brag of their Bargain and if others did carry themselves towards them as they ought to do towards Men in such a State I am apt to think they would quickly hang their Heads and if their Hearts were not as hardened as Pharaoh's very Shame would work in them remorse and bring them to Repentance But tho' I have little hopes of this both Priests and People being so generally infected yet to discharge my own part I shall proceed in my Method before propounded and shall now examine what ought to be the Behaviour and Carriage of other persons towards a person that is under Excommunication and 1. All persons ought to stand upon their Guard against him and not onely keep him from the publick Service and drive him out of their Churches as a Profaner of their Communion and one who has no Right to it and as one who is infectious and injurious to them and makes their Communion ineffectual but farther they ought to take care that they join not in any private Devotions with him nor admit him to Prayers with them tho' in their own Houses I do not say but they may pray for instruct admonish and endeavour what they can to reclaim such a one but they must not pray with him nor join in any other Act of Christian Communion with him Procul ite profani was proclaimed at the Celebration of the Heathen Mysteries and do not the Christian Mysteries deserve much more Reverence and Awâ— Ought we not as nigh as we can to have a care that we admit none of his Enemies none that have notoriously provoked him and not attoned their Crime when we perform those Acts and Offices wherein we have Access to and Communion with the great God of Heaven and Earth I confess that particular Persons ought not to take upon them by their own Authority to exclude any from Communion but iâ— they know any person to be guilty of a notorious Crime or live in a scandalous Way they ought to complain to proper Judges but when the Church has pass'd her Consure upon them they have a kind of Cain's Brand and are marked out for all Men to avoid it is our B. Saviour's own Direction to us concerning every such person that he be unto us as a Heathen Man and a Publican Mat. 18. 17. and such tho' they had been Emperours the primitive Christians were so far from admitting to their Communion that they would not so much as allow them to be bare Spectators not
excommunicated ipso facto by the Canon by consequence they cannot be the Church of England they have incurred her Censures are cut off from her Communion her sound Members ought not to communicate with them And the Anti-Revolutionists how few soever are the only Church of England I have stated this Reasoning but very briefly you may easily examine it more fully and if it holds I have my purpose For when it is enquired into and found solid it may deserve its proper place in some Book or other that may after this be written on the Controversie Besides it may be useful for obviaâ—ing that popular Plea against the Separation That the Original Question is only of Civil Coâ—cern and ought not to affect the Interests of the Church For from these Grounds it appears that in the Opinion of the Church of England which made the Canons it was of such concern as to have the highest Censures of the Church interested in it and to be made a fundamental term of her Communion If after it is examined by Men of better Judgment and better skill'd in the concerns of the Church of England it shall c. The Canon to which the Author of the Letter resers WHosoever shall hereafter affirm that the King's Majesty hath not the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical that the Godly Kings had amongst the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church or impeach in any part his Regal Supremacy in the said Causes restored to the Crown and by the Laws of the Realm therein established Let him be excommunicated ipso facto and not restored but only by the Arch-Bishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of those his wicked Errors Before I come to explain the intent and force of this Canon I think it convenient to set down a Position in the first Canon which all Persons having â—ure of Souls and all other Preachers and Readers of Divinity are obliged to the uttermost of their Wit Knowledg and Learning purely and sincerely without any Colour or Dissimulation to teach manifest open and declare four times every Year at the least And whether this hath been done or if done with what Sincerity by the greatest part let the World judge by their present and late Actings And it may be farther observed that this Position is levelled as well against all Civil as Ecclesiastical Foreign Powers as may appear not only from the Words in it but from our Laws and Statutes which shall hereafter be produced which this was designed to strengthen and confirm That the Spiritual Sword might afford what assistance it could to the Secular and both Powers concur to secure the Lawful Supream Governour upon whose Safety and Welfare the Well-being of both so much depended The Position in the first Canon That all Usurped and Foreign Power forasmuch as the same hath no establishment nor ground by the Law of God is for most just Causes taken away and abolished and that therefore no manner of Obedience or Subjâ—ction within his Majesty's Realms and Dominions is due unto any such Foreign Power But that the King's Power within his Realms of England Scotland and Ireland and all other his Dominions and Countries is the highest Power under God to whom all Men as well Inhabitants as born within the same do by God's Laws owe most Loyalty and Obedience afore and above all other Powers and Potentates in Earth I do not deny but that the Usurpations of the Court of Rome were the â—ccasion of laying down this Position but then though the occasions of Laws or Canons are particular yet the Law or Canon it self is general â—gainst all Mischiefs whatsoever of the like kind If the occasion of the first Law against Murder had been the cutting a Man's Throat no State whatâ—oeâ—â—â— would be so weak as to make a Law only against cutting of Throats â—nd leave bloudy Men free to use all other ways but their Law would be â—ade general to prevent the killing any Man either with Knife Sword Pistol 〈◊〉 or any other way or means whatsoever otherwise at this rate we must have a particular Law for every particular Fact It were a ridiculous â—hing to make a Fence against the Encroachments and Usurpations of the â—oman Court and to leave open a wide Gap for all others to enter in at pleasure For though we may justly have particular Apprehensions of the Alâ—-assuming Man at Rome yet we have the same reason against all Usurpatâ—â—ns as being equally pernicious to us from what Quarter soever they â—â—me But that we may come nearer to the Business both this Position and 〈◊〉 fore-cited Canon are equally acknowledged by both Parties engaged in 〈◊〉 present Controversie both Non-Jurors and Jurors assert themselves to 〈◊〉 the Church of England and lay claim to the Canon as a Canon of theiâ— Church if therefore the Canon be violated there can be no Cotroversie betwixt either Party but that the Penalty mentioned in the Canon belongs to the Violators so that if either Party appear guilty the Penalty must be fixed by consent Now for both Parties to get quit of it is impossible this Thunderbolt must unavoidably fall upon the one or the other For iâ— King James be our true and lawful Sovereign then the Regal Authority is his and consequently the Supremacy which is the choicest and top Branch of that Authority and if so then the Jurors who not only deny King James's Supremacy but have to their Power divested him of all Authority must inevitably stand excommunicated ipso facto by vertue of this Canon the force of which themselves acknowledg On the other hand it is not to be doubted but the Jurors will not be wanting to themselves in charging the Non-Jurors with the same Guilt for not worshipping the Idol which they have set up and which hath been more chargeable than ever was Nebuchadnezzar's Golden Image Now the Mighty Dr. Sherlock tells us That we cannot have two Kings at once and though I am not satisfied that the Doctor 's Proposition is universally true for David caused Solomon to be anointed and proclaimed King in his Life-time without divesting himself and the like did our King Henry II. to his no small Trouble yet in this Case where the two Titles clash and mutually destroy each other so that if the former be Rightful King the latter must be an Usurper if the latter have acquired a Right the former must have lost his there it is most certain that we cannot have two Kings at once Now for their New-fashion'd King they may take the best care of him they can that which lies on us is to prove the Right in King James which even Dr. Sherlock acknowledgeth and that very thing makes his de facto King to be but another Name for an Usurper For a bare de facto King is no more a King than a Possessor malae sidei is the true Proprietor of an Estate which he hath unlawfully and unjustly thrust himself into
Goodness more able to protect and govern us your Loving Subjects in all Peace and Plenty than any of your noble Progenitors and thereunto we most humbly and faithfully do submit and oblige our Selves our Heirs and Posterities for ever until the last drop of our Bloud be spent And do beseech your Majesty to accept the same as the First-Fruits in this High Court of Parliament of our Loyalty and Faith to your Majesty and your Royal Progeny and Posterity for ever Which if your Majesty shall be pleased as an Argument of your gracious Acceptation to adorn with your Majesty's Royal Assent without which it can neither be compleat and perfect nor remain to all Posterity according to our most humble Desires as a Memorial of your Princely and tender Affection towards us we shall add this also to the rest of your Majesty's unspeakable and inestimable Benefits Here they plainly acknowledg these two things 1st That the Crown descends by Proximity of Bloud and that immediately even before any Ceremony of Coronation or otherwise so that there can be no Inter-regnum or Vacancy of the Throne And accordingly it is a Maxim in Law that Rex non moritur 2dly That the assent of the King is that which gives the Life Being and Vigour to Laws without which they are of no force Now how the late Proceedings which were directly against both these can be valid ought to be made very clear at least it ought to be better proved than by the capricious Opinion of one single private Person against a full and lawful Parliament In the Third Year of the same King James was Enacted the Oath commonly called the Oath of Allegiance not but that the same thing was practised before though not in the same Words which may be tendered to any above the Age of eighteen which restraining the Subject not only from deposing but from offering the least violence or harm to the King and obliging all Subjects so faithfully to assist their King against both Domestick Traitors and Foreign Usurpers and being so directly contrary to and utterly inconsistent with Mr. Johnson's Doctrine I think fit to insert it here at large I A B do truly and sincerely acknowledg profess testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the World That our Sovereign Lord King James is lawful and rightful King of this Realm and of all other His Majesty's Dominions and Countries and that the Pope neither of himself nor by any Authority of the Church or See of Rome or by any other means with any other hath any Power or Authority to depose the King or to dispose of any of his Majesty's Kingdoms and Dominions or to authorise any Foreign Prince to invade or annoy him or his Countries or to discharge any of his Subjects of their Allegiance and Obedience to his Majesty or to give licence or leave to any of them to bear Arms raise Tumults or to offer any Violence or Hurt to his Majesty's Royal Person State or Government or to any of his Majesty's Subjects within his Majesty's Dominions Also I do swear from my Heart That notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation made or granted or to be made or granted by the â—ope or hiâ— Successors or by any Authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his See against the said King his Heirs or Successors or any Absolution of the said Subjectâ— from their Obedience I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors and him and them will defend to â—he uttermost of my Power against all Conspiracies and Contempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity by reason or colour of any such Sentence or Declaration or otherwise and will do my best endeavour to disclose and make known unto his Majesty his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them I do farther swear That I do from my Heart abhor detest and abjure as Impious and Heretical this damnable Doctrine and Position That Princes which be excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murdered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever And I do believe and in Conscience am resolved that neither the Pope nor any Person whatsoever hath Power to absolve me of thiâ— Oath or any part thereof which I acknowledg by good and full Authority to be lawfully ministred unto me And do renounce all Pardons and Dispensations to the contrary And all these things I do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and swear according to these express Words by me spoken and according to the plain and common Sense and Vnderstanding of the same Words without any Equivocation or Mental Evasion or Secret Reservation whatsoever And I do make this recognition and acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the true Faith of a Christian So help me God If foolish wicked Men did not make their Reservations and endeavour to put Tricks even upon God whom they call to be a Witness of the Truth of what they swear and an Avenger if they swear falsly there would need nothing more to coâ—â—in Subjects in their Loyalty But still to improve this matter farther 7 Jac. 1. cap. 6. an Act tells us That this Oath tends only to the Declaration â—f such Duty as every true and well-affected Subject not only by Bond of Allegiance but also by the Commandment of Almighty God ought to bear to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors So that though this Act obliges all Persons of the Age of eighteen Years upon pain of incurring a Praemunâ—â—â— to take this Oath if tendered yet it gives us to understand that it is only a super added Obligation to secure our lawâ—ul Prince and keep the Subject to his Duty and that though the Oath be not taken yet the natural Allegiance of every Subject binds him to the same thing And though it was principally yet not only made with relation to the Bishop of Rome but to all others as expressing that Allegiance which obliges Subjects to stand by their Prince against all his Opposers Enemies and Underminers whatsoever I do not know that any Foreign Powers the Pope excepted so much as pretend to a Right to depose lawful Princes nor did even the Prince of Orange when he came over pretend to any such Power by his Declaration and it seems to me to be no better than an impudent Contradiction when Men acknowledg that no Foreign Power can depose a lawful Prince to say that his own Subjects who by the Laws of God and Man owe him Allegiance and are bound with the utmost hazard of their Lives to defend him may do it And it see us to me worth Observation that Dr. Stillingfleet in his Preface to the Jesuit's Loyalty proves that the Pope deposes Princes upon Common-wealth Principâ—es Now I would willingly know upon what Principle the Doctor hath
joined with the Revolutionists in deposing his Prince If he joins with Mr. Johnson in his Argument it is Common-wealth all over if he take up with the other Arguments of his Brethren Julian hath fairly â—iss'd them out of Doors I did once think that Men who raved against the Evasions Equivocations Mental Reservations Dispensations and other deceitful Arts and Tricks of the Jesuits had been Men of Plain dealing Simplicity and Integrity But since I have discovered that those very Men who made the deposing Power their Bell-wether Argument against the Papists were at that same time busie in contriving how to depose their own lawful Prince I have been prone to think that if you should take a Latitudinarian Protestant and a Jesuit and put them both in a Bag and shake them well together it would be hard to determine whether he that came out â—irst or last was the greatest Knave After the deplorable Consusions Divisions Wars Devastations and Oppressions they are the Words of the Act wherewith these Kingdoms were harassed in the former Rebellion the Wickedness of which no Man would have thought could have been exceeded had he not seen this the People jâ—ded with their own Folly and Villany and seeing no â—nd of the Rapine Madness and Cruelty of their Oppressors call Home their Lawful Sovereign King Charles the Second And in the 12th Year of his Reign but of his actual governing the first an Act passed wherein his undoubted Hereditary Sovereign and Regal Authority was acknowledged a perpetual Thanksgiving for his Restoration ordered to be annually and publickly kept All Ministers are thereby bound to celebrate it and to give God Thanks and publickly declare the extraordinary Mercies Blessings and Deliverances received all People are bound on that Day to repair to some Church or Chappel where the Service appointed may be had all Ministers to give notice of it the Lord's Day before and upon the Day to read the Act pablickly and distinctly to the People And this is again confirmed the 13th Car. 2. cap. 11. Certainly no Man that had a Grain of Honesty could think that any People could be guilty of such fulsome Hypocrisie and such downright mocking of God as to keep a publick Thanksgiving for the restoring one Brother to his Right and at the same time to plead the lawfulness of driving away and keeping out the other Brother by force of Arms when the Right and Title of both Brothers was exactly the same By what Authority do they call the other Rebels when they do the same thing Or is it a wicked thing in Presbyterians and Independents to depose Kings but lawful and commendable in Latitudinarians But if forty Parliaments had laid their Heads together to secure their Sovereign from any Violence or Harm against any Man Men or body of Men whatsoever of his own Subjects or most effectually to confute Mr. Johnson's Argument I cannot imagine how they could do it in more apt proper and full terms than is done by the Act 12 Car. 2. cap. 30. wherein it is declared That by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom neither the Peers of this Realm nor the Commons nor both together in Parliament nor the People collectively or representatively nor any other Persons whatsoever ever had have hath or ought to have any Coercive Power over the Persons of the Kings of this Realm Here plainly by a full and free Parliament and by universal consent all sorts and all bodies of Men are restrained from using any Violence to their King and this not only at present enacted but declared to be so by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom If this be true Bracton must be mistaken Or shall we esteem his Authority above that of the High Court of Parliament Or what shall become of his respectuetur ad Magnam Curiam when that very Court in this case denies it And that too upon this very account that the undoubted and fundamental Laws are against it There are many other Statutes which seem to be pursuant of this as 13 Car. 2. cap. 1. where that Opinion is condemned That both Houses of Parliament or either of them have a Legislative Power without the King by which alone all the Acts of the Convention are overthrown and all the pretended Authorities thereupon founded Hence in the same Act they proceed to condemn the Proceedings in the former Rebellion declaring That the Oath usually called the Solemn League and Covenant was in it self an unlawful Oath and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom and that all Orders and Ordinances and pretended Orders and Ordinances of both or either Houses of Parliament for imposing of Oaths Covenants or Engagements levying of Taxes or raising of Forces and Arms to which the Royal Assent either in Person or by Commission was not expresly had or given were in their first creation and making and still are and so shall be taken to be null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever Now as if they had had a Spirit of Prophesie this Act seems to be more strongly levelled against the Convention than the long Parliament for the long Parliament were called by the King 's Writ and by his assent to a Bill were continued till they should dissolve themselves but the Convention was a Mushroom sprung up of it self and remaining without root or foundation They were so far from having any colour of Law to warrant them that when they had traiterously driven away their King with Lies Noise and Threats they met contrary to all Law at the invitation of a Stranger their King's Enemy against whom they ought to have defended him and therefore were Traitors in that very Act The long Parliament indeed boldly assumed the whole Authority to themselves but withal they seemed not before hand to be destitute of a very considerable Legal Authority but the Convention as they had no manner of Authority in that case so they pretend to give the Supream Authority to one who as a Stranger had less Authority than themselves But neither could they give what they never had nor he receive from them what they had not to give and therefore this Act as strongly makes null and void all the Oaths Acts Orders Ordinances and Proceedings whatsoever of the present Government as they call themselves as it did the Solemn League and Covenant and other the proceedings of the Rump Parliament and Olivâ—r the First 13 Car. 2. cap. 6. There is an Act wherein it is declared That within all his Majesty's Realms and Dominions the sole Supream Government Command and Disposition of the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land and of all Forts and places of Strength is and by the Laws of England ever was the undoubted Right of his Majesty and his Royal Predecessors Kings and Queens of England and that both or either of the Houses of Parliament cannot nor ought to
13. 1. Let every Soul be subject unto the Higher Powers To Titus 3. 1. Put them in mind to be subject to Principalities and Powers to obey Magistrates And St. Peter as if he had a mind to confirm the very terms of our Canon and contradict his pretended Successor the Pope gives this Charge Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as Supream c. 1 Pet. 2. 13. The loose Answers which have been devised to take off the force of these Scriptures and encourage eternal Confusions have been of late so shamefully bassled by many learned Pens that I need not concern my self farther with them only I think it fit they should know what Penalty God's Word hath assigned to Offenders in this kind which being no less than Damnation I cannot but as a Christian wish them Repentance that if possible they may escape it though I cannot without deploring their Condition think of the Observation That Rebellion in this is as the Sin of Witchcraft that both Sins do so bewitch Men and carry away their very Hearts and Souls that they rarely if ever think on Repentaâ—ce on this side Hell and then I fear it will stand them in little stead notwithstanding the comfortable Doctrine which their new High-Priest hath broach'd for the benefit of the damned and to encourage the Living to run the hazard of Damnation If I should examine how the Church in succeeding Times trod in these steps of our Saviour and his Apostles it would be a tedious work and therefore I shall only subjoin some few Citations as a Specimen And I hope I shall be pardoned if I take the liberty to translate since I write only for the Instruction of the Ignorant not for the Information of those who are wiser than my self And in that early Collection of Canons commonly known by the name of the Apostle's Canons we find this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Man against Right do Wrong to the King or Governour let him be severely punished if he be a Clergy man let him be deposed if a Lay man let him be excommunicated Can. 84. In the Fourth Council of Toledo we find both a neat Preamble and smart Canon to this purpose thus Multarum quippe gentium tanta extat perfidia c. So false say they and perfidious are the Minds of many Men that they will not keep that Faith which by Oath they have promised to their King but whilst with their Mouths they profess to swear in their Hearts retain Treachery for they swear Fidelity to their Kings but break their Oaths not regarding the Judgment of God denounced Jer. 7. 8 c. against those who swear by the Name of the Lord falsly What hope can such have in War with their Enemies What other Nations will trust such in Peace What League at this rate can hold them What Pledg or Assurance can they give that they will keep their Faith with their Enemies when they break that Faith which they have sworn to their own Kings Then follows the Canon Whosoever henceforth either of us any of the Spanish People by any Machination or Contrivance shall violate that Oath of Fidelity which he hath sworn for the Safety of his Countrey the State of the Gothick Nation or the Security of his Prince or shall murder his King or divest him of his Authority or by Tyrannical Presumption shall usurp the Throne let him be Anathema in the sight of the Holy Ghost and the Martyrs of Christ and let him be ejected out of the Catholick Church which he hath profaned by his Perjury and let him be debarr'd from all Christian Communion nor let him have any share with the Righteous but let him be condemned to eternal Punishment with the Devil and his Angels And then the whole Clergy and People give their Consent in these Words Whosoever shall go contrary to this Decree let him be Anathema Maranatha i. e. let him receive Sentence of Damnation at the Coming of our Lord Jesus and both he and his Associates have their Portion with Judas Iscariot Amen Certainly Christians had no light Opinion of the Sins of Rebellion and Usurpation when they denounce such a dreadful Sentence against it and I think Christianity is still the same it ever was however the Professors of it may be altered In the Seventh Council of Toledo cap. 1. we have a Constitution to our purpose in these Words Sed quia plerosque Clericos tantae levitatis interdum pravitatis praesumptive ita elevat c. But because many Clergy-men are so pussed up with Vanity and Wickedness that unmindful of the gravity of their Order and their Faith promised by Oath they through a rash Levity consent to the setting up another King their lawful King being living it is sit that such licentiousness should be altogether taken away and utterly extirpated out of our Communion So that if any Lay-man within the bounds of the Countrey of the Goths shall ambiâ—iously attempt the Crown and shall receive any favour or assistance from Clergy-mâ—n and by successâ—ul Wickedness shall prevail in his ambitious Attempt from the time that any Bishop or Clergyman of what Order soever shall have involved himself in such Crime it 〈◊〉 him to remain excommunicate for ever I think here is ipso facto Excommunication with a Witness But if by the prevailing Wickedness of that Prince with whom â—e unjustly agreed the Bishop shall not be able actually to suspend him from Communion yet if he over live the said Prince whosoever shall admit him to Communion unless at the very Hour of Death and upon sufficient proof of his true Repentance let that Person be liable to the aforesaid Sentence Here you may see that the Church would not suffer even prosperous Villany to rescue Offenders out of her Hands but obliged her Members upon the sâ—verâ—st Penalty upon all Opportunities to make them know themselves What Leâ—iâ—y may for several reasons be used sometimes in such cases belongs not to me to determine only if any think they may be concerned herein I wish they may so think as seriously to repent that they may find both God's and his Church's Mercy From the Concilium Calcuthense I shall cite only part of a Canon though the whole is pertinent enough Let no Man dare to be privy to the murder of a King because he iâ— the Lord 's Anointâ—d and if any Man join in such Wickedness if he be a Bishop or any of the Sacerdâ—tal Order let him be degraded and removed from the Clergy as Judas was from the Apostolick Order and whoever else shall be consenting to such a Sacrilegious Fact he shall perish under the â—ternal bond of an Anathema and coupled with the Traitor Judas shall be burnt in everlasting Fire as it is written not only they who doe but those who consent to the doing such Things shall not escape the Judgment of God It
is not long since that a wise and pious Prince was barbarously murdered amongst us by his own Subjects and though his Son by the Mercy of God made his escape yet there are many who thiâ—st for his Bloud which in the estimation of God is the same thing To this I will here add part of a Canon of another of our own Councils Vid. Lind. l. 5. sol 248. b. Auctoritate Dei Patris c. By the Authority of God the Father c. we excommunicate all those who injuriousâ—y disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of our Lord the King and those who labour unjustly to detain the Rights of our Lord the King This is a Canon made amongst our selves and the Book is the great Director of our Ecclesiastiâ—â—l Coâ—â—ts at this Day and if the Rights of a King be not only detained but wholly swallowâ—d up by some at this time we must never believe matter of Fact more and as for the Curâ—e let them take it to whom it belongs Indeed while the Authority of God was reverenced in the Censures of the Church Kings were very desirous that the Churches protected by them should contribute to the Security of the Royal Authority by a dâ—nunciation of Spiritual Judgments on such as should any ways be injurious to it Thus at the Request of K. Edward a Constitution was made to this purpose by John Straâ—ford Arch-bishop of Canterbury as is to be seen Lind. fol. 254 b. But a very â—emarkaâ—le Instance in this kind the Concilium Engilhelmense under Lewis the 4th affords us Câ—n. 1. De hinc ex Sessionis suae loco sâ— subâ—â—gens c. Then the Glorious King Lewis rising from his Seat made a most 〈◊〉 Complaint viz. That â—e was strip'd of his Royal Power by a certain Prince called Hugo whose just Grief and Complaint we Holy Fathers i. e. the Bishops there assembled condâ—â—ing being joined together in the Vnity of Spirit have made thereupon this Decree Let no Man henceforth in â—ade the Kingly Power nor deal treacherously therewith for we have decreed by putting in execution the Council of Toledo That Hâ—go the Invader and Ravisher of the Kingdom of K. Lewiâ— shall be smitten with the Sword of Excommunication unless by an appointed Time he comâ— to the Council and repent of so soul a Fact and make satisfaction Had this Complaint been made to St. Asaph or Dr. Burnet They would have told poor Lewis that Hugo had conquered him that he had lost all his Right and so long as he lived must only be called the late King Lewis that for their parts they were bound to swear Allegiâ—nâ—â— to Hugo and to assist him to the uttermost against Lewis But contrary-wise these Bishops own the Cause of the distressed Prince and decree the Usurper excommunicate if he restore not his ill-gotten Goods Now whom shall we believe For either this Council or some Bishops now living must be in the wrong The Case of Ludoviâ—us Plus has too much Assinity with ours for his own Children rose up against him and a parcel of St. Asaphs Burnâ—ts â—owlers and such other Godly and Loyal Prelates met together and made up that which is called Synodus Compendiensis and by the Learned Baluzius justly stiled Synodus Praedatoria these join with the Rebellious Children against the Father and formally strip him of his Authority in order to his being imprisoned by his Son Lotharius But against these Rabanus Maurus Arch-bishop of Mogunce then living a Man of greater Reputation and Authority than a thousand such false Loonâ— stoutly opposeth himself and with the Courage and Fidelity of a Christian Bishop condemns the Fact and writes a Tract on purpose De reverentia Filiorum erga Patres subdiâ—â—rum erga Reges which I think may be worth any honest Man's reading Much such another Case was that of the Emperor Henry the 4th but the more abominable for this that that whole Scene of Wickedness was managed by Gregory the 7th otherwise called Pope Hildebrand but more deservedly Pope Firebrand who the better to colour over the matter excommunicates the Emperor and absolves his Subjects from their Allegiance but the Bishop of Leige being too Honest and Loyal to think himself so discharged of his Oath of Fealty continued faithful to the Emperor for which the Pope darts his Thunderbolts against both him and his Adherents notwithstanding which his Clergy continue firm to him justifie their Proceedings from the Obligation of their Oaths and the Commandments of God and look upon his Excommunication as meerly brutum ful-men and of no Force It would be too tedious to heap up what might be brought of this kind from Examples Canons and declared Judgment of Holy Fathers From all which it is plain that the pious consciâ—ntious Clergy ever thought themselves in Duty bound not only to adhere to their lawful Prince against all Usurpers and Rebels but to censure those that did otherwise which was sufficient to induce our Church to compose this Canon and justifie her in so doing and ought to strike a terroâ—â— in all those who incurr the Censure of it which that they may be the more aware of I shall now proceed further to explain it in the other Particulars The next Thing we have to do is to enquire after the meaning of an Excommunication ipso facto where by the way take notice that this sort of Excommunication is never denounced but against Crimes of more than an ordinary Size either against such as are of themselves of so very ill Name that being once known there needs not the canvassing of a Judge to induce any Persons to condemn them or else of such pernicious and fatal Consequence that they ought not to be allowed the least encouragement or so much as any sorbearance by which you may easily perceive how heinous a Fault it is adjudged in the sense of the Ch. of England for any Person to mâ—im the Authority of his King or dismantle him of it she having denounced no less than an Excommunication ipso facto against it And indeed what Laws or what Authority shall be able to restrain those Men who shall dare to make an Attempt upon the Sovereign Authority which is the Guardian of the Laws and Security of the State Before Wickedness can grow rank enough for such a desperate Experiment it must have broke thro' and shook off the dread of all Laws and become not only regardless of the Duties of Civility and common Honesty but to be not so much as moved with the sense of the Publick Good and Safety Now what hopes can any Man cherish of such Men And how miserable must that Government be which is ravisht into such hands But to return to our Business Excommunication ipso facto is where the Discussion and definitive Sentence of the Judge is neither requisite or necessary as to the Offender but the Fact being committed the Excommunication immediately takes place and the Law in a great
only the Honour but the very Being of the Church cannot be long upheld if People will admit a mingle of such pâ—rsons in divine Offices and therefore heretofore if the Church Censures were not taken notice of she excommunicated those who received her Excommunicates and till her Discipline can be revived her Doctrine cannot be secured I desire all those seriously to consider this who slock to the Parish Churches where they not only joyn in Communion with Excommunicateâ— but the very persons who perform all the Ministerial Offices lie under the censure of Excommunication by virtue of the forecited Canon what mad Men would turn their very Prayers their Sacraments and all their Christian Offices into sin For thus they do who take this course noâ— do I value their upbraiding me with thâ—ir numbers for certainly we had never been forewarned not to run with a multitude to do evil if numbers could excuse us Christ calls his Flock little and I had rather be of it when at the least than of the Devil 's monstrous Herd even then when he boasted of a power to dispose of all the Kingdoms of the World The very nature of Christian Religion requires that the excommunicated Party be excluded from Christian Communion but then farther that they might make such weary of their sin and shame them out of it they would not afford them the benefit of civil conversation Charity advising them by that means if possible to pull them out of the fire Hence St. Paul bids us Note such a Man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed 2 Thess 3 14. Upon this account Christians were wont as far as possible to avoid all conversation with such they would not willingly live with them under the same Roof they would not eat with them at the same Table and indeed the Scripture requires no less charging us with such an one no not to eat 1 Cor. 5 11. they would not promiscuously use with them even those things which made for Health as St. John would not wash with Cerinthus in the same Bath They would not give them the common Complement or Salutation in the street they would have no Traffick or Commerce with them and many other things which both for memory and warning sake are briefly comprehended in this odd â—erse Os Orare Vale Communio Mensa negato And as their behaviour was thus towards them living so if they persevered in their sin they refased to allow them Christian Burial when dead And indeed he that will obstinâ—tely persist in his evil course and regard neither the Admonition nor the Censures of the Church to his very death deserves no better than the Burial of an Ass But that I may not seem to encourage Christians to outrun their Duty I must not only acquaint them with what they may withold from such but also what they may or ought to allow them Excommâ—â—catiion doth by no means dissolve relative Duties as that between Parentâ— and Children Husband and Wife King and Subjects but these Duties ought to be paid if possible more careâ—ully than ever that no offence be given to the excommunicate person nor aâ—y encouregement to continue in his sin but rather all lawfull means used to win and draw him off from it if Contracts or Bargains have been made with him they must be performed if Debts be owing to him they must be paid if either his or others Spiritual or even Temporal good may be signally advanced by a cautious temporary converse with him it ought not to be neglected for no Man's lying under Excommunication can warrant another to be either unjust or uncharitable So likewise necessities of life as Meat Drink Raiment and the like either for himself or his Family ought to be sold him for his Money or otherwise ministred to him if through extreme poverty he be not able to buy nor can I see reason to condemn him who hath any commerce with an excommunicate person if he be ignorant of his Crime or the Law that condemns it under that penalty The Duties and Allowances in this case have been generally comprized in much such a Verse as the former Vtile lex Humilis Res ignorata necesse In short whatsoever Duties we owe them must be duly paid and in case of necessity so far as the necessity constrains civil Conâ—ersation or Traffick may be allowed but then even these things must be done with mourning over them letting them see that you do not countenance their sin and using all honest and sitting mean to convince and reclaim them but then no pretended necessity can excuse you in such a compliance as to joyn with them in the Acts oâ— Christian Worship and Communion â—or let the case be never so hard there can be no necessity of sinning and such commuâ—icating will be a very great sin on many accouâ—ts as admitting them to those Office and Ordinances whereâ—n they ought to have no share as entitling them to those Benefits and Blessing to which they have no right as being a downright contempt of the Authority of God's Church and consequently the ready means to destroy all Order and Discipline and thereby to introduce Confusion and in the end to oveâ—throw and utterly root out the Church it self As the Sentence is dreadful and heavy in this case upon the guilty Persons so their Condition is still the worse upon the score of the difficulty they lie under of being reconciled For the Canon saith peremptorily that no such Person shall be restored but only by the Archâ—bishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of those his wicked Errours Here are a gradation of Difficulties all which they must pass through and even those Men who love the Sin commonly hate the Shame and will use all the shuffling Tricks imaginable to shift it off tho' it naturally follow them but here they are obliged to give God the Glory and take the Shame to themselves they must not only repent but recant and this must be done openly and solemnly that the World may see and take warning to avoid the same Wickedness This is no small piece of Mortification to proud rebeâ—lious Spirits who for the most part as we see by sad Experience will rather chuse to run the hazâ—rd of their eternal Damnation than to seem to lessen their Esteem and Râ—putation by acknowledging their Errors or Crimes and yet when all this is done there is a Difficulty stiâ—l remaining For they cannot be restored but only by the Arch-bishop So great a care hath our Church taken that Christians might be good Subjects and so highly did she think her self concerned what in her lay to make them so she did not think it her Business only to stand still and look on and cry it was a matter meerly of Civil Concern whilst Subjects rose up in Rebellion and dethroned or so much as opposed or denied the true Rights and Authority of their lawful King but to shew her