sure it must needs be sinful and unlawful for him to do it To Execute Thieves and Murderers and yet be Unjust and Cruel himself 'T is true if he be so his People may not must not revenge the wrongs nor resist the Violence he offers to them because the Apostle tells them what the dreadful Punishment of that resistance will be They that resist shall recieve to themselves Damnation And because God is the only Judg of Kings and he so Righteous a Judg that he will be sure to Punish them if they abuse their Power When David was unjustly pursued Injuriously dealt with by King Saul he did not study Revenge but abhor'd it saying God forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lords Anoynted 1 Sam. 26. 11. He remitted or left him to his proper Judg. David said furthermore As the Lord Liveth the Lord shall smite him or his Day shall come to Vers 10. Dye or he shall descend into Battel and Perish But as for me I have no Commission nor Authority to cut him off and therefore God Almighty keep me from committing so Audacious and Execrable a Crime or Wickedness But the Peoples having no Power from God to Revenge the wrongs done them by their Prince is no encouragement for him to do them because as they are contrary to his Duty and the abusing his Authority he is answerable and accountable to God for them and must expect from him a Punishment equal to them And that they may Faithfully perform this Duty consult and provide for the good and welfare of their People the Apostle requires that Supplications and Prayers and Intercessions be made for them for Kings and all that are in Authority that we may lead quiet and Peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty This as it is the Princes Duty so his Honour and Glory when according to the Ancient Title of Kings he is a Common Father to his People hath a Paternal care of and Affection for them Loves them and is tender of their Lives and Properties is so far from Destroying the Innocent that he is unwilling to Condemn and Execute the Guilty and would not do it but that those cannot be safe unless these be cut off had rather save one Subject than Destroy a Thousand Enemies and thinks himself Rich enough if his Loyal Subjects be so and instead of Impoverishing them by needless Wars encourages Trade and Studies to keep them in Peace and Plenty 'T is as impossible for wise and good People not to Love such a Prince as it is for them to hate themselves or not to be concern'd for their own Interest They look upon him as their chief Patron and Benefactor upon Earth and the Sun it self is not dearer to them than he is They Love and hate as he doth they that are his Friends they account theirs and those that are his Enemies they abhor as if they were their own They have the highest esteem and Admiration for him in their Hearts which they express in their words and Actions In their words by filling all Places with his Praises and speaking nothing but Panegyricks and Encomiums of him In their Actions by treating him with the greatest reverence and respect receiving him in Triumph and with all possible expressions of Joy whereever he comes as if some Glorious Angel was descended from the Heavenly Regions and come to Bless them with his presence By obeying his Laws and observing all his Royal Injunctions doing every thing he Commands with a ready cheerful and willing Mind Such a Prince as he is admir'd and belov'd in his Life so he is truly Lamented at his Death and his Subjects pay their Tributary Tears at his Royal Sepulchre weep over him and say as Elisha did at the departure of Elijah my Father my Father the Chariot of Israel and Horsemen thereof And though he be gone to take possession of a better Kingdom and to receive a brighter Crown yet amongst all his Glorys above they cannot forget to Praise and Honour him upon Earth not only think but call him Blessed raise the fairest Monuments to his Memory inscribe his Royal Vertues and Glorious Actions in never Dying Records that his Fame and Renown descend to after Ages and all Generations may admire and call him Blessed So that the providing or taking care for the welfare of his People is a considerable part of the Princes happiness Let us enquire then if this be not also lost by the Dukes being a Papist if the Crown should descend to him If he come to be King and be of the Romish Religion he must set up that or not if he do it not he Frustrates their Expectation disobliges that Party and thereby incurs their Rage and Displeasure which must needs be very Fierce and Cruel because ever since Queen Mary left the World it hath been their study and endeavour to get a Catholick into the Throne This hath cost them so much Labour put them upon so many Conspiracies for this so many of their Zealots have been Executed found a worse Purgatory here than that they talk so much of after this Life And having gain'd their point as they thought got a King of their Religion for him to be content with Mass in his own Chappel and let his People openly profess and enjoy the Reformed Religion which they call Heresy and hate worse than they do the Devil What an unpardonable Injury Affront and Disappointment is this This is to rouse and irritate the Angry Lyons to deny the hungry Wolfes the Prey they have been so long hunting after his Holiness though he be Indulgent enough to other Sinners and sells them Pardons at as Cheap and Reasonable Rates as they can well desire hath no Mercy in store for such a Transgressor Sons will sooner pardon those that Kill their Fathers Fathers those that Murder their Innocent Children inraged Husbands them that Ravish their beloved Wives than he will forgive such a crime as this A crime that robs him of his so much admired Soveraignty of his dear and most desired Profit of his first Fruits Tenths Peter-pence Fees for Investing Bishops Indulgence Mony and all his other ways of getting Wealth by which as our Histories relate he drain'd a mighty Treasure out of this Kingdome and which if the Prince deny him his Reign will be short and his days few for if the Traiterous Priests and Jesuits that are about him do not Poyson or Stab him before their great Master hath declared him Unprofitable Consequently unworthy of the Royal Throne to be sure he having first for Fashion sake Admonished and Exhorted him to be Zealous of and mind the good of the Catholick Cause will proceed to Sentence Declare him Uncapable of faln from all Dominion and Rule then every one that Kills him thinks he doth God the most acceptable Service such as Merits from him the bigest reward and the brightest Crown provided inthe
made up of such excellent and desireable Ingredients as these First I say he would injoy his full Authority Subsect 1. all the Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to his Royal Place and Dignity all the Rights that God hath annex'd to it he would be a King not an Image of one exercise his Regal Power in the full latitude or extent of it not have it restrain'd or limited to a few things and those the meanest and most inglorious parts of his sacred Office This he cannot have in the Church of Rome for there the Mitre Perks up above the Crown the Pope I mean is Lord over the Prince claims a Superiority pretends to a Power and Jurisdiction over all Kings or Soveraign Princes by Divine Right a Power to Excommunicate and depose them to declare them fallen from all Dominion and Rule to dispose of their Kingdoms and give them to whom he pleaseth to unty the bonds of Obedience or absolve and discharge their Subjects from their Allegiance The first that is the Popes pretended Superiority over him impairs and lessens the Princes Honour makes him a Subject instead of a Soveraign Prince degrades him from the high Station thrusts him lower than Heaven hath placed him renders him not Gods but the Popes Vicegerent or Deputy makes him a Servant to him who is but a Fellow Servant with all the Bishops of Christ and is as strictly and indispensably bound as they are by the express Command of St. Paul to be Subject to the higher Powers that is Kings and Soveraign Princes Let every Soul be Subject to the higher Powers every Man that is whether he be of the Clergy or Laity if of the Clergy tho' a Prophet an Apostle an Evangelist a Patriarch a Metropolitan a Bishop all are included in it and must be Subject to the higher Powers so was St. Paul nay St. Peter himself from whom his Holiness claims Superiority over Kings unto that Cruel Emperour Nero both of them suffering Martyrdom under him and so far was St. Peter from claiming that Supremacy which his pretended Successors have so proudly challeng'd so unjustly usurped since that he gives it to Kings Commanding the Christians to whom he writ to submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake to the King as Supream as the chief or highest Minister of God upon Earth And if every Soveraign Prince be Supream or the highest Minister of God within his own Dominions as St. Peter calls him how can he have any Superiour To make two such as they of the Church of Rome do in every Kingdom one to superintend the Affairs of Religion the other Civil Rights or Matters of State besides that it is impudently and faucily to divide and separate the Powers that God hath joyn'd together Kings and inferiour Magistrates as the Apostle exhorts being to be pray'd for That we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty but how absurd is it that we should pray to God they may do that which according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church they have no Commission nor Authority from him to meddle in that is to provide that their Subjects may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness as well as Honesty to take care that their People not only deal Justly one with another but also Worship God aright profess the true Faith and the Holy Religion of Christ and be taught to lead their Lives according to it Besides I say the guilt of dividing the Powers that God hath conjoyn'd or united it is the very dregs of contradiction to make two Supreams in one Kingdom for how can one be Summus or Supremus the chief or highest if the other be equal to him 't is as evident as the Sun when it shines brightest that these are inconsistent one cannot be the greatest if the other be as great nor one the highest if the other be as high and therefore to give the Pope a Supream Power in all the concerns of Religion is however it may be colour'd or guilded over to make the Prince his Slave to give him not an equal but a subordinate and dependent Authority for he that Rules Religion must needs Rule all and therefore the Assertors of the Popes Supremacy as they give him a direct and absolute Power in Spirituals so they give him an indirect and relative Power in Temporals in order to Spiritual and Religious concerns when the Interest of Religion requires it he may Exercise a Temporal Power or Jurisdiction over Princes Excommunicate or Depose them give their Kingdoms to others absolve their Subjects from their Allegiance give them Commission or Warrant to take Arms against them nay to Murder or Destroy them So that the Pope where he hath the Supremacy is really the Kings Master and absolute Lord over him his Dominion is but precarious during the pleasure of his Holiness for so long as he behaves himself humbly and dutifully towards his Holy or Spiritual Father Executes all his orders observes all his injunctions though never so barbarous bloudy and inhumane so long he shall have his Blessing and injoy his Favour and being so dependent he must needs have a tottering Throne and an uncertain Authority the Crown sits loosly on his Royal Head ready at every turn to drop or fall off If he dispute the Commands of his great Master the Pope complain of his Exactions remonstrate against any of his proceedings though never so modestly if he express any sorrow for the intolerable oppressions of his People if he be unwilling to Butcher and Cut their Throats like Sacrificed Beasts or to make Bonefires of Innocent and harmless Men meerly for professing the True Faith and obeying the Holy Religion of Christ If the Divine Goodness be pleas'd to inlighten his Royal Soul with the knowledg of the Truth and by the splendour of that Light he see and condemn the errours and corruptions of the Romish Church then he is an Heretick and they say of him as the Jewish Zealots did concerning St. Paul Away with such a Prince from the Earth for it is not fit that he should Live Excommunicate curse him with Bell Book and Candle then it is meritorious to kill him and his Holiness hath a Ravilliack or a Jaques Clement or some such Villain to assassinate or murder him wholf he effect the execrable Parricide shall be well rewarded upon Earth or if he Perish in the attempt be made as far as the Pope can do it a Saint in Heaven Consider then what Charms or Allurements such a Church can have to invite a Prince into its Communion These certainly are so far from being attractives that they are the strongest disswasives imaginable and instead of drawing him to must needs deter and drive him from it A Prince that knows and hath had Communion with a better must first run out of his Wits before he can joyn himself to such a Church A Church in which he cannot ascend his
the most Moderate Pious and Conscientious Men but despise censure and withdraw from the strict Conformists as violent and Superstitious Persons Popishly Affected but when they all agree or joyn in the Observation of them not only speak the same thing preach the same doctrine profess the same Faith Worship God with the same Prayers the Holy Prayers of our Incomparable Liturgy use the same Rites Gestures Vestments in the Administration of the Blessed Sacraments all their Holy Offices walk all of them by the same Rule This will satisfie the People of their Unity or Agreement and convince them of the Innocency and Lawfulness of the things which so many Learned Grave and Pious Men concur in the Practice of But then all Wise or Intelligent Persons will readily apprehend that this general Conformity will very difficulty if at all be effected unless the Clergy be put into such a Condition as to have no Dependance upon the People for their Maintenance and Support Many of the Clergy by reason of the poorness of their Benefices are greatly tempted if not constrain'd to humour and comply with the People to Preach such things as they Love to hear and to omit such as they dislike that they may not loose their Benevolence and Contributions without which they cannot Live nor is this the Condition of some Country Villages only but also of great and Populous Towns in which there are Swarms of People that Dissent from and are Enemies to the Church of England and such a poor Stipend for the Clergy the Tyths being impropriare and in Lay Hands that they are forced in a manner to turn the Church Assemblies into Conventicles and the poor Vicar or Curate dares not for his Ears Read all the Prayers nor wear the Surplice nor which is abundantly worse reprove the Irreverence and Rude Behaviour they are guilty of in the House and Service of the great God nor shew them the Sinfulness of their Schism nor the Wickedness of their Murmurs Complaints and Tumults against the Government nor Preach up Loyalty put them in mind fully and effectually to be Subject or Obedient to the King and all that are in Authority under him all that the most Couragious Person under such unhappy Circumstances dares venture to do in these great and for the present Age most necessary points is but to touch at them in transitu as he passes to other things as I have heard some do in London it self or as the Dogs at the River Nilus only lap and away for fear of being snap'd by the Crocodiles for if these things be press'd and insisted on the Preacher disobliges the Fanatick party and drys up all the Streams and Emanations of their Bounty they will not receive him into their Houses nor bid him God Speed and 't is well if he scape so do not feel the weight of their Protestant Flayls This is a great Injury both to the Church and State abates the Honour and Esteem of the Clergy and renders them less Serviceable to the Government than they must would be if they had a Liberal and Honourable maintenance and such as depends not upon the pleasure and Benevolence of the People but such as they may demand of them as their Right not receive as their Almes which they may give them if they please and deny them if they think fit These things in my Judgment which I humbly submit to all those great and wise Persons that are in Authority added to the Just Correction which the Laws inflict upon them would in a short time awaken and reduce those of our People that are gone out from us effect such a Blessed change in them that they would return to their Loyalty to the King and to the Communion of the Church And seeing all the true Members of the Church of England are Eminently Loyal already and those of our People that are otherwise at present may in time by these means be made so 't is against the Dukes Interest and Happiness if the Crown devolve upon him to be a Papist because this would be to exchange good Subjects for bad a Loyal People that own no Prince but him for such as have been guilty of frequent Treasons and are profess'd Subjects to a Forreign Power And next to his own honour safety and happiness Subsect 3. all that a Prince can desire in this World is the Welfare and Felicity of his People And then it is well with any People and they are happy when they Live in Piety and Peace and Safety are encouraged and required to profess and practice the true Religion and to Worship God Aright that is according to the the Scriptures When they are protected in their Estates from Rapine and Oppression and in their Persons from Violence and Cruelty Blessed are the People that are in such a Case And it is both the Duty and Glory of the Prince to provide or take Care that this be the Condition of his People or Subjects His Duty because this is the great end of Government and the prime Reason of Gods Investing him with the Royal Authority When David was Psalm 78 71. chosen by God to be King of Israel it is said That he took him to feed Jacob his People and Israel his Inheritance To seed that is protect and preserve them from mischief and Injury not to Worry or Devour to Destroy or Hurt but to Defend them from harm and violence And because he had been so to them and they hoped he would have Lived long to be so to them still they bitterly lamented the Death of good King Josiah saying The Breath of our Nostrils the Anoynted of the Lord was Lamen 4. 20. taken in their Pits of whom we said under his shadow we shall Live among the Heathen he was a shadow and defence to us under his protection we were safe and guarded from all our Enemies This is also asserted by St. Paul Rulers are not a Terrour to good works but to the Rom 13. 3 4. Evil They are not so in the purpose or intention of God were not instituted or ordain'd by him for such an evil unjust and unworthy end to Injure Punish and Destroy good Men they have no such Power from him and if they do it they abuse their Authority and go beyond their Commission A Terrour they may and must be but it is not to the good but to the Evil-doers Wilt thou then not be affraid of the Power Do that which is good and thou shalt have Praise of the same for he is the Minister of God to thee for good The Prince or Ruler is imploy'd by God to protect and defend the good and this is or ought to be the great Design or Intention of all his Laws that they be a safeguard and security to such and a terrour or restraint to the Evil and Injurious And if the Prince must not suffer others to wrong his People to be
and Authority if they pervert Justice and oppress the Innocent invade the Rights of those that should be guarded and defended by them shall be mightily punish'd for Greatness or Eminency of Authority whatever some may think of it is so far from lessening that it aggravates or heightens the guilt of the oppression which they that are possess'd of it commit and they should consider that Magistracy places them near to God that they are his prime Ministers receiv'd their Power and Commission from and judg for him and therefore are obliged by the honour he hath conferr'd upon by the trust he hath reposed in them as they expect his blessing and protection and would decline his anger and displeasure to judg righteous judgment Be wise therefore oh ye Princes and Rulers be Learned ye Senators and Magistrates and Judges of the Earth Learn that which God requires of and hath ordain'd you for and which the dignity of your office exacts at your hands Learn I mean to do justly to preserve not violate the Rights of any that have not forfeited them by great and wilful crimes for this is not only the Personal Glory of them that Govern but the Honour and Reputation of the Government it self the Integrity or Uprightness of them that perside brings the Kingdom or Nation into Credit and Esteem with other States and Nations for the Fame of their Justice invites Forreigners to desire their Friendship to enter into Leagues and Compacts with them they fear no injury from a just Government are confident it will never be drawn to any base or dishonest enterprise will never be induced to violate the Faith to break the Peace to renounce the Amity it hath contracted with any of its Allies or Confederates unprovoked They have the same Opinion of it that Pyrrhus had of that brave Roman Fabritius who said that a Man might as soon turn the Sun out of his course as turn him from the truth and honesty And they that enquire into the causes of the greatness and prosperity of the Roman Empire will find that nothing made it flourish more or help'd so much to raise it to its admirable Grandeur as the generous Justice and Honesty of its Government the Fame and Renown of this invited many small States and Principalities to incorporate themselves into it as being sure they should be safe under the shadow of its Protection from the violence and rapines of the unjust and injurious and that the Roman Eagles would be ready to revenge the wrongs that were done to any of their Friends and Allys This made Rome the Queen and Mistress of the World and gain'd her more and better Subjects then all her great Generals and valiant Legions This perswaded dying Princes to commit their Royal Off-spring to her Care and Protection This rendred her People so safe and happy was so sure a guard and defence to their Persons and Estates that they who were not free of her by birth were hugely ambitious to be so by donation But when that Justice which rais'd her to and supported her greatness declined her glory was soon obscured and she fell by degrees into reproach and ruin so certain is that of Solomon Righteousness Justice that is exalteth a Nation raiseth it to honour Pro. 14. 34. and greatness but Sin that especially of Oppression and Injustice is a reproach to any People Those Magistrates that banish Justice out of their Cities and Dominions bring them in a little time to Ruin and Destruction drive away that which is both their Ornament and Safety their Glory and Defence 'T is that great thing Justice that makes any Government beloved at home and revered abroad that secures it of the Esteem and Obedience of its own People and procures it the honour and Admiration of other Nations but where Injustice Reigns and Mens Rights are Violated there Ruin and Desolation abound hinc civitatum gemitus ploratus hence come the complaints and tears of Cities the murmurs out-cries curses and frequent insurrections of the People or if not open attempts to cast off the Government yet secret flights and escapes from it and removes into other Nations where they tell sad stories make doleful Narratives of the Injuries and Oppressions they suffer'd at home that forced them to seek for Safety and Protection abroad which easily obtain credit with those to whom they flie it being reasonable to believe that such numbers of People would not exchange their native Country for a Forreign Land but that the intolerable wrongs they endured constrained them to it So that their being there is a continual Libel and Invective against their own Nation and the Government that receives and protects them can have no Invitation or Inducement to desire the Friendship make Leagues have any Commerce with such a State for being Treacherous to its own People how can they expect it should keep Faith with them or hope it will be honest to Strangers that was so unjust to the Natives But I think it needless to argue this any farther because they are so Evident that all Men who have any use of their reason will readily grant me these two things That it is unjust to deprive any Innocent Person of his Right and that every Man is to be so accounted till he hath committed such a Crime or Offence as Forfeits his Right SECT III. The next thing to be considered is the Dukes Right which is so plain and so certain that it needs neither Explication nor Proof to Explicate it is to tell my Readers what they know already for none of them can be ignorant that he is next Heir to the Crown What may be hereafter I dispute not it being possible that our present most Gracious Soveraign whom God Almighty Crown with a long and happy Reign may have Issue if not by this yet by another Queen But setting that aside His Royal Highness is at present Heir apparent to these Kingdoms there being no other that now appears so but he and he hath the greatest Right or Property of any Subject in these Kingdoms With us the Crown is Hereditary nay Immortal for the Law says The King never dies but when he quits his Earthly for an higher that is an Heavenly Throne the next of the Bloud Royal ascends and fills the Chair of State It is so certain too as to need no Proof if it did the Excluders afford Plenty of it by attempting to take it from him for if the Duke hath no Right to succeed the King what need is there of a Bill of Exclusion to put him by it The want of that Right is of it self a sufficient Exclusion What madness is it to attempt to take that from him which he hath not to disinherit him to whom the Inheritance doth not belong What need they trouble either the King or themselves to bar his Claim or Title if he have none To make a Law that he shall not Reign is a plain
upon it then they call his Piety in question say he is not Orthodox in Religion but a friend or favourer of the corrupt Church and Popishly affected because they know this will open the Mouths and inrage the minds of all the Zealots against him and consequently expose him to the greatest Dangers So that the transcendent worth value and greatness of this Right appears from the mighty esteem and admiration that Men have for it that which all the ambitious envy the owners for vehemently desire themselves will run all Hazards expose themselves to all Dangers for venture their Lives nay their Souls to obtain must needs be a great thing such is a Crown on Earth which evil Men prefer before one in Heaven and good men think hath nothing which exceeds it but that Consider also the peculiarity and separation of this Right how few there are amongst all Mankind that have any just Claim or Title to the Royal Dignity it is not like the lower honours dispens'd to any great number of Men but impropriate or reserved to a few Persons and Families the commonness of other things abates their value and lessens our esteem of them but a Crown is so great a rarity that it is justly accounted the most Glorious thing upon Earth and therefore it is the highest Injustice to to rob a Prince of such a Jewel It would be remembred also who is the Donour of this Right and we may say of it as our Lord did of St. John's Baptism Is it from Heaven or of Men doth God give Crown 's or the People If they be not in his Donation Daniel was much mistaken who affirms That the most high ruleth in the Kingdom of Men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and all the holy Writers Chap. 4. 25. Err strangely who call all Kings Gods Anoynted and Ministers the Sons of God and the Children of the most high and say he sets them on the Throne and that they Reign by him receive their Power and Authority that is Immediately from him that he removeth and setteth up Kings and is wonderful amongst them they tell us also that Saul and David and Solomon were chosen by him to be Kings over and Govern his People and that the Prophets had Commission from him to go and Anoynt such an one King and Ahija spake in the name of God when he said to Jeroboam I will give the Kingdom unto thee Nor doth the Gospel make any change in this great affair for our Lord himself own'd Pilat's power to be from above and St. Paul affirms not only Government it self to be Gods Ordinance but that the Powers that be the Kings and Princes that then Governed the World to be ordained of God that is as the Learned Grotius observes Authoritatem suam a Deo accipere In Rom. 3. 13. 〈◊〉 non minus quam si Reges illi per prophetas Uncti essent to receive their Authority from God no less then if those Kings had been Anoynted by Prophets were equally that is Constituted or Ordained by him as if God had bid a Prophet go and Anoynt them And if they were so then they are and must be so now Nor doth St. Peter contradict his fellow Apostle when he calls upon the Christians to whom he writ To submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man for by submitting to every humane Creature or Ordinance he means saith Grotius the being Subject Ordinationi isti quae inter homines in terris agentes locum habet habere debet to In 1 Pet. 2. 13. that ordinance of God which hath and ought to have place amongst Men that live upon the Earth not which Men have set up but which God hath placed amongst them and the sense of the Apostle is plainly this Submit your selves my Bretheren to every Prince or Ruler whom God hath set over that Kingdom or Province wherein you live you are not and therefore do not think your selves excused from paying all Loyalty and Subjection to such a Prince because he is an Heathen and you are Christians for that God whom you serve hath given him his Authority his Power is from him and therefore you must Submit to him for his sake If this be not the Apostles meaning his argument doth not inforce the Submission he requires for what sense is it to say Submit your selves to every Ruler that Men have set up whether he be Supream or Inferiour a King or a Vice-roy for the Lords sake it should be rather for the Peoples sake that you may please and gratifie them that they may not be angry or offended at you as despisers of that form of Government which they have Ordained or set up but his urging them to Submit for the Lords sake must infer as a Dr. Faulkner Christian Loyalty page 412. learned person observes that those Men who Govern the World do not act only by an humane Right since if Government were not by Gods Authority and Constitution obedience to it could not bear a respect to God himself And as the Holy Scriptures affirm Kingly Government to be Instituted by God so this is the sense of Antiquity as is proved by that Author to whom I refer the Reader and shall only transcribe Christian Loyalty chap. 2d Sect. 5. page 419. out of him those words of Paulus Orosius That all Power and Government is of God is that which they who have not read the Scriptures do think and they who have read them do know And if God be the Donour of Crowns if he gives the Royal Dignity to and takes it from whom he pleaseth we ought to submit to his wise disposal and be content that he should order this great Affair as he thinks fit For when he will have a Prince to Reign it is not in the Power of Men to hinder it though the People struggle and oppose it all they can and come to that Resolution We will not have this Man Rule over us though they make Laws enter into Leagues and Associations bind themselves by Oaths and Ingagements to oppose and keep him from it yet when they have done all they can he shall Ascend the Royal Throne and Injoy the Crown which Heaven hath design'd for him And on the other side when God will not have a Prince Reign all his Friends Counsels Endeavours how numerous Powerful Politick diligent soever shall not profit or avail him any thing the great Disposer of Crowns and Kingdoms opposeth his Exaltation and therefore he must be content with a lower Station In this Case there needs no Bill of Exclusion upon Earth to bar his claim because there is one passed in Heaven that cannot be repeal'd The Duke then hath an undoubted Right to succeed the King and being so great a Right a Right to that which is admir'd and accounted by all Mankind the Richest Jewel and most Glorious thing upon Earth and hath the God of Heaven for the Donour of it
Royal Throne without a Rival a Rival did I say nay a most imperious Master that is very hard to please and yet if he be not pleased and humour'd in all things 't is a thousand to one but he will jostle him out of it and lay his Honour in the dust A Church in which he can Exercise but a part and that the meanest and most ignoble part of his Authority that only which concerns the Civil Polity and Rights for he may not meddle with Religion nor the Ministers of it who are exempt from his Jurisdiction and Sworn Vassals to his Superiour and as such ready to revenge the Injuries and Affronts the Prince offers to their great Masters if he dares be so rash and unadvised as to be guilty of any but of that afterwards A Church in which he that is Gods Image and Representative less only then God must sneak and truckle Meanly to an Upstart and Usurper a meteor drawn from the Earth and raised on high by Pride Avarice and Cruelty What Temptation then could his Royal Highness who is a wise Prince of a brave and generous Spirit and so exceeding tender of his Honour that he must needs in the highest manner resent the least Violation of his Right all diminution or lessening of his Power all invasion and usurpation of the Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to it both by Divine and Humane Right if the Crown should descend to him What Temptation I say could such a Prince have to joyn himself to a Church in which he shall be so degraded and dishonour'd be a Vassal Underling to one that unjustly insolently and prophanely exalts himself above all that is called God that is all the Kings of the Earth Especially if we consider that the Church he forsakes or goes from Courts his stay by giving her Kings their full Authority all the Priviledges Prerogatives and Preheminences belonging to them in this that is the Church of England the King is declared Supream not only in Temporal but in all Causes Ecclesiastical superintends Religion as well as Civil Rights governs the Clergy chuses the Bishops convenes them when he sees cause to make Canons Constitutions Authorises Impowers them to consult debate to order conduct the Circumstances of Religion the Essentials of it being determined by God in Scripture what they agree upon he doth at their humble Petition if he approve of them by his Royal Edict confirm or pass into Laws Ecclesiastical and when they have effected what he called them together for he dismisses or dissolves the assembly Here the Kings Power within his Realms and Dominions is affirm'd and declared to be the Highest Power under God Canon 1 of the Canons Anno 1603. to whom all Men as well Inhabitants as born within the same do by Gods Laws owe most Loyalty and Obedience And whosoever shall deny or oppose the Royal Supremacy is to be Excommunicated Canon 2. ipso facto and not to be restored but only by the Arch-Bishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of those his Wicked Errours So that they must be blind or wilfully shut their Eyes that do not see a vast difference in this great affair between ours and the Church of Rome in this the Pope is Supream Governour in all causes and over all Persons Ecclesiastical nay in Temporal too so far as they concern Religion in that our Church I mean she Supremacy is given intirely to our Kings whose Power is expresly declared to be the highest under God and their Authority extended to all Persons as well Clergy as People and to all causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal In the Church of Rome if the Prince claim the Supremacy which belongs to him by Divine Right he is Reputed and Treated as an Heretick that is Excommunicated and Deposed and if any of his Subjects dare to assert and openly maintain his Supremacy as in Duty and Conscience they are bound to do because it is their Princes undoubted Right they are Condemn'd to Dye and Adjudg'd Guilty of such a Crime as cannot be purged but by casting them into the Fire In our Church all the Clergy are requir'd to the uttermost of Canon 1. their Wit Knowledg and Learning purely and sincerely without any colour or dissimulation to teach manifest open and declare four times at least every Year That all Usurped and Forreign Power forasmuch as the same hath no Establishment nor Ground by the Law of God is for most just Causes taken away and abolish'd and that therefore no manner of Obedience and Subjection within His Majesties Realms and Dominions is due unto any such Forreign Power but that the King is Supream Governour Canon 55. in all his Realms and Dominions in all causes and over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal Or as it is express'd in the excellent Canons of the Year 1640 A Supream Power is Canon 1. given to this most excellent Order that is of Kings by God himself in Scripture which is that Kings should Rule and Command in their several Dominions all Persons of what Ranks or Estates soever whether Ecclesiastical or Civil and that they should restrain and punish with the Temporal Sword all stubborn and wicked doers The Care of Gods Church is so committed to Kings in Scripture that they are commended when the Church keeps the right way and taxed when it runs amiss and therefore her Government belongs in chief unto Kings for otherwise one Man would be commended for anothers Care and taxed for anothers Negligence which is not Gods way And if any of our Clergy or Laity dare to impugn or oppose the Royal Supremacy they are Anathematiz'd or decreed to be Excommunicated which is the greatest Punishment the Church can inflict and the most dreadful one any Man can suffer in this World 'T is most apparent then that our Church gives and secures to the Crown that great and most precious Jewel the Supremacy which is the chief Glory and Ornament of it which the Church of Rome so unjustly steals from and Robs it of Here the Prince hath no Rival nor Competitor none to insult or Domineer over him as in the Romish Communion no Lord at all over him but the great Governour of all the World God Almighty to whom it is his Glory as well as Duty to be Subject and submit himself in all things And as our Church doth not diminish or lessen the Power of her Kings so it is so far from pretending any Jurisdiction or coercive Authority over them that it abhors and detests it declares it to be Treason both against God and the King for any to claim or challenge such Authority over them For any Person or Persons to set up maintain or a vow in any their said Realms or Territories Canons of 1640. Canon 1. respectively under any pretence whatsoever any Independent Coactive Power either Papal or Popular whether directly or indirectly is to
undermine their great Royal Office and cunningly to overthrow that most sacred Ordinance which God himself hath Established and so is Treasonable against God as well as against the King In the Oath of Allegiance which all our Clergy take the Superiour at their Consecration the Inferiour at their Ordination and Institution they do profess testifie and declare that the King is Lawful and Rightful King of this Kingdom and of all other his Dominions and Countrys That the Pope neither by his own nor any other Authority can depose him dispose of his Kingdoms nor give Authority to any Forreign Prince to invade his Dominions That he cannot discharge his Subjects from their Allegiance nor give Licence to any of them to bear Arms against or to offer any Violence to his Person State or Government By this Oath they bind themselves notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation or Absolution that they will bear Faith and true Allegiance to the King His Heirs and Successors and defend him and them to the uttermost of their Power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity and will do their best endeavour to disclose and make known to the King his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and Trayterous Conspiracies they shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them That they do abhor detest and abjure as Impious and Heretical this Damnable Doctrine or Position that Princes which be Excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murder'd by their Subjects or any other whatsoever Lastly they declare also that they believe and are in Conscience resolv'd that neither the Pope nor any Person whatsoever hath Power to absolve them of this Oath or any part of it So that our Princes have all the Honour and security they can desire What Motives or Inducements then could his Royal Highness have to forsake such a Church as this A Church that is so tender of the Honour of her Princes so zealously asserts maintains and defends their Royal Authority all their Rights Priviledges and Prerogatives gives them no offence at all is in nothing injurious to them but next to the great Giver of Crowns the Glorious Founder of their Order Honours Reveres and Obeys them 'T is apparently the Dukes Interest to stay in this Holy and Loyal Church to lend his helping hand to preserve support and defend it from all its Enemies as his Renowned Grand-Father his Immortal and most Glorious Father did so carefully in their Days and his brave and Royal Brother doth with such admirable Courage Wisdom Watchfulness and Diligence in this Stubborn Factious and Schismatical Age. 'T is no wonder if a Prince that knows no better truckles to the Church of Rome bears all the burthens injuries and oppressions it lays upon him is content the Pope should Domineer or Lord it over him sneaks and behaves himself as submisly to him as if he was the meanest of his Domestick Servants his Groom or Stirrup-holder as some Princes have been his ignorance is the Mother of this Spanish slavish Obedience and Devotion but there is no place for this in his Royal Highness he hath heard enough of the Insolencies Incroachments and Misdemeanours the Treasons Cruelties and Outrages which the Pope and those of his Faction have committed against Kings he was Born and Educated in a Church that abominates detests and declaims against such Impious and Unchristian Practices that Teaches all its Members and People to Fear God and the King and not meddle with them that are given to change and therefore cannot be so unmindful of his Honour and Interest as to make so unreasonable a change to quit the Brave and Glorious Freedom of ours for the base and reproachful Vassalage or Slavery of the Church of Rome This is the first part of a Princes happiness in this World to injoy all the Authority Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to his Royal Dignity which I have proved he may do in this but cannot do in the Church of Rome and therefore can have no Reason nor Temptation upon this account to run from ours to joyn himself to that The next great branch of a Princes Happiness upon Earth is a Loyal and Obedient People Subsect 2. The Crown sits easie on his Head the Government is a Pleasure rather then a burthen to him when his Subjects have an high Esteem and Veneration for him in their Hearts Love and Reverence his Person Rejoyce in and are pleased with his Government Pray for his Life willingly Obey his Laws cheerfully Pay him the Subsidies and Tribute due unto him Afford him such supplies as will support his Royal State and Dignity inable him to defend himself and them from all the attempts of his and their Enemies and are ready to guard his Sacred Person with their Lives as well as Estates Such a People are the chief Jewels of the Crown the Treasure of the Prince and the prime part of his Happiness without such a People he is broken with Cares distracted with Fears disturbed with frequent Tumults Seditions indanger'd by Conspiracies doth not sit safe nor sure upon his Throne and therefore must needs be miserable Such a Loyal and Obedient People are all the true Members of the Church of England all those Christians I mean of this Nation both Clergy and People agreeing in that Faith Government and Dean of St. Pauls Vnreas Separ pa. 299. Worship which are Establish'd by the Laws of this Realm There is not in all the World such a Society of Loyal Souls of Brave Faithful Subjects to be found that do so highly Honour so Heartily Love so Chearfully Obey and Serve their Prince They have got such an habit of Loyalty 't is so endear'd to and so deeply rooted in their Hearts that it cannot without great difficulty be pluck'd up 't is built upon a Rock the sure Foundation of Christs most Just and Holy Religion they therefore Love Honour Obey and are Faithful to their Prince because God requires all this of them and Commands them so to be and because he is Gods Minister Governs for and receives his Royal Power and Authority immediately from him And till they have unlearnt these Grounds and Reasons of it they cannot be other then Loyal and Faithful to their Prince which they can never do so long as they continue in the Church of England because they are a prime part of the Doctrine of it which is constantly press'd inculcated and urg'd upon them no Church in all the Christian World doth so strictly and carefully and sincerely observe that great and weighty Charge of St. Paul in both the parts of it Put them in Titus 3. 〈◊〉 Church Catechism Mind to be Subject to Principalities and Powers to Obey Magistrates to be ready unto every good work They are put in Mind of it in their Childhood in the explication of the
fifth Commandment taught that it is their Duty to Honour and Obey the King and all that are in Authority under him Every time they come to Prayers the Loyal Supplications Intercessions and upon special occasions Thanksgivings of our excellent Liturgy for the King and the Royal Family and the Inferiour Magistrates remind the People of the true Obedience and Subjection they owe and must pay to them and humbly beseech Almighty God to give them Grace to do it If they read the Pious and Venerable Homilies of our Church there theâ— Divine Original and Institution of Kings is fully proved the necessity of Obedience demonstrated the horrid guilt the dreadful mischiefs the woful Calamities of Rebellion explicated and detected the heavy Wrath and Vengeance of God upon Rebels and Traytors in this World and the horrible Damnation that attends them when they pass from hence Faithfully represented and described in a most Lively manner that all who Read them may Heartily abhor and carefully avoid so execrable a wickedness Nor doth the Loyalty of our Church lye Dead in the Books and Writings of it but Lives and Reigns in the Hearts of all the true Members of it and exerts or shews its Life and Vigour in their undaunted Courage Resolution and readiness to stand by and defend the Sacred Person Honour and Authority of their Prince against all that dare be so impudent and wicked as to assault the first to impair the second or to infringe the third I challenge all the World to shew me one true Member of our Church that so long as he continued so was found guilty of any Disloyal Practices No so far are they from that that the numbers cannot soon nor easily be told that have Sacrifiz'd their Lives Estates every thing that was dear to them in the Cause and Service of their Prince His and their Enemies could and did in the late times Deprive them of their Liberty Plunder them of their Goods Sequester their Estates strip them of all things else but their Loyalty they could not take from them this they preserv'd pure and untainted in the midst of all the Oppressions Cruelties and ill Usage they endured and when they were permitted to Live no longer to give any farther Testimonies of it bequeath'd it as the Choicest and Richest Legacy to their Off-spring Descendents nay by their true Christian Patience and Undaunted Courage at their Death a Glorious Death to them to which they were Condemn'd for serving their Prince did Recommend it to many that came to see them Dye A Loyalty not Limited or Conditional that Dyes if it be not cherish'd and kept alive by the Princes peculiar Favour and Bounty and continues no longer then he Pleases and Humours them but absolute and inconditional that cannot be shaken nor removed by any wrongs or ill usage but is the same when he Frowns upon as when he Favours them If he Oppress them in their Estates they Submit if he cause the Sentence of Death to be unjustly pass'd upon them they refuse not to Dye nay do it with the Meekness Patience and Charity of the Primitive Martyrs they will not lift up their Hands nor open their Mouths against him let him use them as he pleaseth The Fires of Queen Mary could not consume nor burn up their Loyalty nor scare them from their Allegiance she had never gain'd the Crown if the Loyal Protestants had not assisted her and the great Opposer of her Advancement to the Royal throne was the Duke of Northumberland who though he pretended to be a Protestant yet was really a Papist for so he declared himself to be upon the Scaffold at his Death Such a People make a Prince happy are his greatest Safety and Security and nothing but a guard of Angels from Heaven can be a better defence to him which by their Pious and Holy Prayers they are careful to call down to Protect him that no harm nor danger may happen to him And being sure by continuing in our Church to have such a Loyal Obedient People if the Crown should descend to him what Reason Motive or Inducement could his Royal Highness have to forsake it and joyn himself to the Papists People that are Infamous all the World over for Killing Kings Plotting Treasons Raising Seditions and Rebellions against them That are Obedient to their Prince no longer then he is a Slave to the Pope for how often did they Mutiny make Insurrections and Rebellions against King Henry the Eighth for renouncing and casting off the Popes Usurped Authority and resuming the Supremacy which belong'd to him by Divine Right as a Soveraign Prince Though he was a Zealous Professor and maintainer of the Romish Religion yet he was Alarum'd by frequent Tumults and Seditions and his owning that could not keep the Catholicks so they call themselves in Obedience to him unless he would be altogether a Slave to him that pretended to be the prime Minister of it And though a Prince Study to Please and Humour them all he can yet their Loyalty must needs be very fickle and precarious because the People of the Romish Communion have a mighty Dependence upon and are wholly at the Devotion of the Clergy and the Clergy are exempted from the Princes Jurisdiction and Sworn Subjects to the Pope The People are wholly at the Devotion of the Clergy who manage and govern them at their Pleasure and they must needs be so because they believe they can forgive their Sins absolutely whilst they Live and pray them out of Purgatory when they are Dead by forcing them to come to Confession they have Opportunity to know all their Errours Sins and Follies nay all their Thoughts Purposes and Intentions which renders them very Subject and Dependent Their Power also of Inflicting Penances and denying them Absolution if they do not please humour them keeps the People in great Slavery to their Priests because they think God will not if they do not forgive them so that the People are absolute Slaves to them and do every thing they require of them And the Clergy that thus Govern the People are wholly at the Popes Devotion they own him for their Lord and Master Swear Obedience to and depend upon him as their great Patron and Benefactor all their Preferments being if not in his Donation yet such as depend upon his Approbation and Confirmation so that if they do not receive them from his Bounty yet they Injoy them by his Favour which is Tantamount This makes them flatter and adore him as the chief if not sole Monarch and despise their Prince as an underling or meer Cypher that signifies nothing And at every little quarrel or disgust between his Holiness and him the Prince is sure to feel the sad effects of their Power with the People either in the Disturbance they cause in the State or the attempts they make upon his Person for if they cannot run him down with the pretence and
that he cannot Err in the doing of it is to say that which all the World can never Prove for how doth it appear that God hath Constituted or Commission'd him to be the Sole Expounder of Scripture more than any other Bishop or Doctor of the Church Doth not our Lord say to all the Apostles nay to the seventy Disciples He that heareth you heareth me Did not he speak to them all when he said Go ye into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature How then came his Holyness to have the Monopoly or Sole power of Interpreting Scripture Did it descend to him from St. Peter that cannot be because he never claim'd never pretended to it never had it Solely himself and the Successor cannot without Usurpation chalenge a greater Power nor plead a larger Commission than he had whom he pretends to Succeed 'T is certain that all the Apostles received an equal Authority and the same Commission from Christ and therefore all Bishops now being the undoubted Successors of the Apostles have an equal Power and Right to Interpret Scripture and there is by Divine Right no difference at all between them what is is either by Humane Constitution or by Usurpation and Incroachment And if he connot shew a Patent from God to prove him to be the only Authoritative Interpreter of his Laws how will he make good the other proud Word which he prefixes before it That he is the only and Infallible Expounder of Scripture He knows very well that a great and the wisest part of the World deny his Infallibility and Laugh at him for pretending to it How then will he convince them that he hath it by Reason no no! that gives no Testimony to such a gross and palpable Absurdity Reason says to be a Man and to be Exempt from all Possibility of Errour are Inconsistent Will he prove it by Scripture some Texts are brought from thence for fashion sake to colour the business as those that contain the promise of our Lord to his Apostles to send them the Holy Ghost to guide or St. John 16. 13. lead them into all Truth but this promise either proves too little or too much to do the feat for either it is a Peculiar promise belonging to the Apostles only who needed an Extraordinary Assistance from Christ that they might Transmit his Doctrine full and intire to Succeeding Ages and then was Personal and Expired with them and so doth not concern his Holyness for though the Holy Ghost guided them into all Truth yet he either not having the Holy Ghost or Refusing to follow his guidances may run into all Errour Or if it was not a Personal or Peculiar promise belonging to the Apostles only but Equally to their Successors then it proves more than he would have it That all the Bishops in the World are Infallible for the promise was made not to St. Peter only but to all the Apostles and therefore what nonsense and Ridiculous Partiallity is it to Restrain a general promise made to the whole Colledg of Apostles to the Successours of one of them for if they that Succeed St. Peter be Fully and Perfectly lead into all Truth then the Successors of all the Apostles are so and consequently all the Bishops in the World are Infallible and then his Holiness will have but a bad Market for his Expositions of Scripture for few People will be at the trouble to go to Rome for them because they may have them from their own Bishops Well but doth not our Lord say to St. Peter Thou art Peter and upon this Rock I will Build my Church and the Gates St. Mat. 16. 18. of Hell shall not Prevail against it These are certainly the Words of Christ but they confer no peculiar Priviledg or Prerogative upon St. Peter nothing but what was equally given to all the Apostles for the Rock Signifies either his Confession Thou art Christ the Son of the living God which is the Rock the great and Vers 16. Fundamental Article of the Christian Faith upon which the Church is Built or if it concern his Person that he should be an Excellent Instrument as the other Apostles were and therefore are also called Foundation Stones to bring in Converts and Disciples unto Christ and to raise or Build him up a Church in the World which the Gates of Hell all the Power and Policy of the Devil should never be able Totally to ruin or destroy These Words then speak nothing for the pretended Infallibility And indeed the greatest Champions for it are so far from thinking it fully proved in Scripture that they are not agreed about it To fix it in the Popes Person they dare not because the many and gross Errours of his Life would confute and shame them and therefore as a Man they confess he can and may and doth Err To ascribe it to his Chair either to his Office or Dignity as Bishop or to him as Bishop of Rome and Successor to St. Peter in that Patriarchal See is silly for if he could Err before he can do so still because his being made Bishop doth not change his Nature but his Office and being the same Man why may he not be the same falliable or erring Man he was before The place he is Bishop of can make no Difference in the case because no reason can be given why the Bishop of Rome should be more Exempt from Errour than the Bishop of Munster To place the Infallibility in the Pope and a general Council is as unreasonable because if they can Err apart they may united and they confess that a general Council may Err if it be not Confirmed by the Pope and t is plain they think the Pope without it may Err or else t is idle to add a general Council to him but the uniting or putting two Erring parties together cannot make them Infallible To say that a General Council Confirm'd by the Pope cannot Err is unanswerably confuted by this argument of a great and excellent person The Pope never Confirms a Council till it be finish'd Arch-Bishop Laud against Fisher pa. 274. when it is finish'd before the Popes Confirmation be put to it either it hath Erred or not Erred if it hath Erred he ought not to confirm it or if he do it is a voyd Act because no power can make Errour or falsehood to be Truth if it hath not Erred then it was True before he Confirmed it and so his Confirmation signifies nothing And not withstanding all the stir they make about the Popes Infallibility they do not believe it themselves for the School-Men and Writers of Controversies as that Author observes put the case whether the Pope coming to be an Heritick Pa. 269. may not be Deposed and the Common Law as he adds says expresly That he may be Deposed for Heresie now if he can fall into Heresie and may be Deposed for it then he cannot be Infallible And
There are many bickerings amongst them about those points in which they differ from us They are not agreed where to place the Infallibility whether in the Pope alone or a General Council alone or in both of them together They differ about his Supremacy for some of them affirm that he hath no Authority over Princes to give take away or alienate their Kingdoms and that he unjustly assumes to himself such Authority others as stifly assert or maintain that extravagant usurped Power cry it up as high as they can hoping thereby to advance themselves Some affirm others deny him to be Universal Bishop They are not agreed about the Latine Service for some of them hold it would be more for the Edification of the People if it were in the Vulgar Tongue They clash about the Worship that is to be given to Images and what the due honour is which the Council of Trent decrees to be given to them They differ about the Power of Priests to remit sin about the necessity and institution of Auricular Confession They do not agree in the Doctrine of Justification nor of Merit nor concerning the Sacrifize of the Mass nor the Communion under one kind nor in divers other things and how is it possible they should for having chosen Opinions that do not cohere or hang together they must needs disagree about them and if their Tyrannical Discipline did not awe and suppress them their differences would be as great and irreconcileable as any are in the World for when they wrangle loudest if his Holyness do but threaten them with the Inquisition they are as quiet as Lambs and dare not mutter at all And if any desire farther satisfaction in the Case they may consult the excellent Dean of St. Pauls in his Learned Discourse of the Divisions of the Church of Rome where their differences and dislentions are fully proved and stated and their false pretences to peace shamed and confuted So that the unity they brag so much of is that of slaves who are forc'd to be quiet for fear of the whip let the holy Inquisitors scourge them not with Rods as peevish Children are corrected but with Scorpions as incorrigible offendors are punish'd And if their Church was not upheld by force and cruelty and the People kept in it like Beasts in a Pound it would soon fall to peices and be the veryest Babel in the World And till they have better peace and agreement amongst themselves they may be ashamed to upbraid us with those divisions they are the mischievous Authors and Promoters of 'T is certain too that our Divisions had never grown so great nor continued so long if the Laws had been duly Executed upon the Schismaticks for the just corrections they decree against the troublers of this our Israel and the disturbers of our Peace if inflicted would have obliged them to give over their wicked and dangerous practices Such disorders and dissentions as I remark'd before by the Instigation of the Romish Emissaries broak out with great Violence in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth but by the just severity of her Laws duly and impartially Executed she soon master'd and subdued them and her Successour King James by the watchful and diligent use of the same means might have suppress'd them and setled the Nation in firm and lasting Peace if he had pleased but the favour that was shew'd them the mild and gentle usage they found in the latter part of his Reign did so multiply and encourage that dangerous and stubborn Faction that they were strong enough to bid Defiance to and Ruin that glorious Prince King Charles the First So lamentable an Errour is it for the Government to shew favour and clemency to these People who when they have power make it appear by their barbarous Actions that they have no mercy and no honesty If they be let alone there is no end of Peoples whimsies and extravagancies in Religion their Ignorance betrays them into the wildest Errours they have such odd notions and apprehensions of it as instead of Civilizing make them Savage and Brutish instead of being Just Merciful Humble Peaceable and Obedient to their Prince prompt them to be Sawcy and Stubborn Traytors Heady High-minded Unjust and Cruel Turbulent and Seditious They have such a mighty admiration for every Factious Fellow that will but Cant and Whine talke Impudently and Sillily and look Demurely that he may govern them as he pleases they are his obsequious Slaves and will venture upon any thing how base execrable and damnable soever that he prompts them to and therefore it is the interest of the Government to keep such Seducers from them to provide that they be duly instructed in their duty as to God so to their Prince and if at any time they dare to transgress the Laws and grow freakish through Religious Zeal that they be punish'd for such dangerous Misdemeanours This is absolutely necessary both for the Safety of the Prince and the Peace of the Kingdom 't is not only doing Justice upon great and wilful Offendors but Charity too as it Keeps them from doing themselves and others the greatest harm and mischief Curbs or Restrains the madness of the People This is the wise and just method the Government now uses to Remedy these Evils to bring the wild Schismaticks to their Wits again to reduce them to better Manners and a more Quiet or Submissive Temper and it will if duly and diligently followed put an end to our Divisions then we shall live as Christians ought to do in Love Peace and Unity with one mind and one mouth glorifie the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ then our united Prayers will call down the choicest Blessings upon us and none can make our discords a pretence to run from our Church because that scandal will be removed then our Differences will be composed our Breaches repaired and the Divisions we have so long labour'd under will be no more an Objection against us then our Ruin will be prevented our Enemies put to silence and we shall be an happy People which that God who is the Author and Lover of Peace mercifully grant for his Sons Sake The next Scandal or Offence that would be taken away is the open Prophaneness or Impiety into which the Nation is lapsed for all that do not wilfully shut their eyes may see how our Ancient Piety and Holiness are decay'd that though we profess the best and purest Religion yet a great part of the Nation are sadly debauched lead very impure and vitious lives which is the more to be admired and lamented because both our Religion and Laws condemn and forbid such vile and unchristian practise The profess'd Atheism and the open Scorning or Deriding all Religion how intolerable are they in a Christian Kingdome and such horrid crimes as are sufficient of themselves if we had no other guilts to ruin the Nation by calling down the most dreadful judgments upon us and