that the Scarcity of Corn which is their every day necessary Food proceeds from Gods displeasure against Bishops and other Clergy-men for keeping Christ out of his Government and Kingdome and that those several Fires which tear down their Houses and give so great affrightments are purely kindled upon the score that Gods people by whom they mean themselves are punished for not yielding to Romish and Superstitions Impositions Certainly such suggestions as these to people who are hugely governed by Sense and take their measures of things by Success and Prosperity must needs stir up all the Passions that are within them and confirm in them the greatest prejudice and displeasure against a Government from which so much evil hath been derived both to mens Persons and Estates And further their impatient longing after a full enjoyment of all those things that contribute to their worldly Happiness must needs put them upon all violent means to throw down that Interest which destroyes so much at present and set up the other whereby they are invited to believe all happiness and outward welfare would attend them especially if you do but add to those things a Description of a glorious State of spiritual things wherein they shall have a share of Government and not be at this rate always under Guardianship and Subjection ridden by Priests and other Antichristian Officers Oh! such an Expectation makes their Bloud boyl within them and to promote these excellent things they care not what wrong they do either to Church-mens Reputation or Revenues nor what Method they make use of to weaken the Forces of such a Babylonish Crew who would stand betwixt them and the splendid Manifestation of Christ's Power and Kingdom And if any man object and say I am uncharitable in fixing such an Imputation upon the Adversaries of the Church I answer again 't is no breach of charity to charge men with Truth and to let the World know by what base and sinister means they lessen the deserved Honour of our Church nay 't is a piece of Charity and Justice to our selves And that I have not charged them falsely I refer any man to those Interpretations they made of the last great Plague and never-to-be-forgotten Fire in which though many of these men wanted not their share as to loss and damage yet Good men such was their Innocency they had no hand in the provocation though one would have thought had the Fire been purely to vindicate their cause the Angel of the Lord should have marked their Houses as he did the Israelites in Egypt and commanded those furious Flames to have passed them over and spent their rage upon theirs alone who were professed Sons of the Church of England And let them say what they please by way of excuse for themselves yet this is their course still and though Judgments are sent as tokens of Divine displeasure against all those breaches of Gods righteous Laws all those open and bold-faced Impieties all those Enormities that are usual amongst any Party or Division of Men whatsoever though we all come short of the Glory of God and every man from the highest to the lowest by some miscarriage or other helps to kindle the fire in the Divine Breast yet this Church of England this cruel Stepmother who tears out of Gods Childrens hands the pure Bread that falls down from Heaven and would put them off with empty Husks these proud and domineering Clergy-men who live in ease and idleness why for the sake of these does God suffer the Air to be infected the Earth to be dry and barren and the Heavens to be as Brass over our heads Oh! were but Antichrist once destroyed and all the appendant Limbs thereof and Christs own Ordinances and pure Institutions set up in the World what a new face of things would be presently then would our Floors be full of wheat and our Fat 's should overflow with Wine and Oil then the Saints should meet with joy and sing their songs upon Sigiâ—nâ—th yea then would Gods people execute vengeance upon the Heathen and punishment upon the People and bind their Kings in chains and their Nobles in fetters of iron And oh how does this good news tickle the vulgar sort of people and how pleased are they in their fanciful Reflections upon what brave Times will be and what brave things they will do when they come to have a share in the Powers of the Earth and put hooks into the Nostrils of the great Leviathans the Temporal and the Spiritual Tyrants that have eaten up Gods people as they eat Bread And that these good things may be accomplished and they may leave the blessing of them to their Posterity why good men many of them care not by what Spoils and Rapines by what Untruths and Falsehoods they slurr the Credit and ruine the Reputation of such a Church as is the great bar to these happy Enjoyments And because this is so common a thing among all Sectaries whatever and they have so partial a kindness for themselves as to sweep their own doors and lay the loads upon other mens shoulders give me leave to make an useful Digression and show the Vanity and Irreligion of such doings by proposing to these men a few Questions 1. Whether they do not by particularizing the Reason of Gods Judgments pretend to a Knowledge which they cannot according to Gods ordinary Methods of proceeding with the World at this time attain unto For that Miracles since the Settlement of the Gospel-Dispensation in those places where its Profession is become National are ceased I think is passed all doubt and that God now deals with mens Reason and Understanding and offers them the Evidence of former Miracles in conjunction with other Arguments in order to their Conviction of the Truth of what he hath delivered is past all scruple and further that no Man that pretends to have a further Revelation than what is made in Scripture is to be believed unless either I have a Revelation signifying that his Revelation is true or else he bring his Letters credential along with him and by Workings above the power of Nature such as Christ and his Apostles and their Successors for some continuance of time had prove his Mission I think is beyond all controversie So that then these men who that they may the better heat the Common People against us pretend themselves Gods Familiars and privy Counsellors and by vertue of their Intimacy with him boldly lay Judgments at the doors of other men by what way shall we know they are right in their Interpretation and that God grew very angry with this Nation as soon as Episcopacy was restored and the Lands of the Church returned into the possession of the right owners again and that the Plague and the Fire were sent purely to vindicate their cause and to express Gods indignation against that cruel and hard usage they met withal Can they satisfie us in the truth of this
a Deportment whilest they are there significative of that Veneration they have for the Ordinance did they all in general lay restraints upon themselves and afterwards punish others for their usual and yet horrid Oaths and Curses were their Houses Schools of Discipline and good order did they speak of Religion as persons having a sense of it upon their Minds and as persons abhorring the new odious way of drolling upon it Oh! methinks then I see Faction and Sedition dread the Common Streets and Publick Houses and with shame creeping into holes and corners methinks I see this Church so fitted to all the Purposes of Religion lifting up its head above the Waters and no more heard complaining of her coarse and homely usage from those Children that were brought up under her Wings and Government And that this may prevail with the Gentry of the Kingdom to leave off any course of Life whereby this Church is prejudiced I will end this Head with this bold Assertion That so far as they have any hand either by their vitious Examples or any other way to the pulling down of this Church so far they lend their assistance to the ruine of their Posterity especially if their children prove but honest and conscientiously obedient to the established Laws And if any man will offer to gainsay me in this Particular I will only refer him to the account of the Compositions and Sequestrations which the Loyal Gentry of the Kingdom were forced to submit unto and the irrecoverable Entanglements of their Estates thereby after the sinking of the Royal Cause by the late Wars and if that will not convince him I will trouble myself with no other Methods of satisfaction but leave him as a Person pertinaciously resolved against the clearest Evidence 2. These men that are entrusted with Places of Authority are false Friends to the Church by neglecting the just Execution of those Laws that by the Wisdom of the Nation are framed on purpose to keep up the Honour and preserve the Safety of the Church For if there was a Reason for enacting those Laws and they were designed to fence the Church and to keep it from the rude assaults of every pragmatical and conceited Person who will be pleased with nothing but what is shaped and fashioned according to some raw Fancy of his own why then I think they ought not to be laid aside as Almanacks out of Date And if there be no such thing as a Reason for them why then in Gods Name let them be repealed though I think 't is a sign of a very bold and busie Spirit to declare them so before the wise Sages who upon great advice did make them adjudge them so and signifie their Opinion to us by as solemn and plain a Declaration as the Act it self was by which these things were commanded For if Laws and Constitutions which were made for the Good of the Body Politick must submit to every private Man's shallow Understanding and the Obligation of them cease or take place according to their Opinion of them Government will quickly lose its force and Princes will be in a worse Condition and have less Authority than Masters of the smallest Families And from disputes and Questions about the Rights of Princes in ordering Church affairs they will proceed to judge of those Laws that are made either for the Preservation of their Persons or supplying their necessary Charges with Revenues suitable to that state such a Trust does call for And though that the Execution of these Laws seems very grievous and full of cruelty to many men especially to those who are settled in their Commands over the Separating Bands yet when I consider that either it must be so provided the Laws continue as they are or else that a whole order and Body of men must be destroyed and brought under the Power of those whose Mercies we know by sad experience are Cruelties and who by a misguided Zeal fancy they do God good service in stripping us of all the Laws give us a Right unto I would appeal to any man whether the whole should suffer out of a womanish pity to a few and solid Constitutions truckle to groundless Passions and resolute discontents I am sure according to those Observations I have made I have always found that wise Governours in all Ages have made private Conveniencies or Advantages submit and lye prostrate before a publick good And accordingly we find the Late King that incomparable Person in his Letter of Advice to his present Majesty gives his sense of this in these words That he could not yet learn that Lesson nor he hoped ever would his Son That it is safe for a King to gratifie any Faction with the perturbation of the Laws in which is wrapt up the publick Interest and the Good of the Community And therefore it being so I would desire the Subordinate Magistrates of the Kingdom for to these only I make this Address with whom his Majesty hath entrusted the Execution of his Laws to consider whether they do not give away the Safety as well as the Reputation of the Church by suffering men before their doors as it were openly and with all the seeming Circumstances of a defying Confidence to break the Laws and violate these sacred Constitutions And though I know what some men put in by way of answer to all this yet when men can find out a Plea for Perjury I will return upon them and not till then only I dare assure them that it would be better for such men to decline the Publick Service than to take an Oath to do it and yet neglect it And though I have said more now upon this Head than I know many will con me thanks for yet let me conclude with this Protestation That I have not argued this out of any desire of other mens suffering either in their Liberties or Estates for I thank God my Natural Temper as well as my Religion obliges me to greater Moderation and it is not particular men I advise this against but mad Factions and embodyed Numbers whose Principles stand in a direct opposition to the present Settlement of the Church and the grand Reason why I conceive Laws ought to be executed is from a full satisfaction I have That no Kingdom can live in Peace and Honour where solemn Acts made for the regulating mens Lives and restraining their violent passions give way to private and more particular Interests And if all our several Adversaries would not say the same were any of the Governments and Disciplines they are so fond of as well established as ours is I will be their Bonds-man And therefore I hope no man will impeach me upon this account of a bitter and persecuting Spirit 2. As this our Church loses its Reputation and Esteem by false Friends consider'd in a Civil and Political sence so it loses very much and I wish there were no cause to say it by false Friends considered as
ungodly men are so ready to punish them for their defence and propagation of it And upon this very account they clap one the other upon the back and resolve unanimously to go on with what they have begun notwithstanding all the opposition they shall meet withal for who would not suffer the loss of Estate Liberty or Life itself in a cause against which such ungodly men are severe and bitter and who would not expect Heaven for a reward hereafter who meet with such harsh and cruel dealings from men who do too much by their oaths and curses betray themselves to be the Agents and Instruments of Hell And though this is but a popular plea and will not hold water when it comes to be thoroughly searched and tryed though laws are never the worse for the wickedness of those to whom the execution of them is committed and though Justice is the same thing when done by a wicked as a Godly Magistrate yet for our Sions sake I could wish with all mine Heart that our Magistrates when such Malefactors are brought before them would execute publick Justice like men who do not appear to sacrifice to their own revenge but who design a publick good to wit the reducing people to those Principles of subjection and obedience without which we must needs be exposed to continual dangers and hazards It is not to be imagined how these refractory persons are silenced when they appear before Magistrates of Prudence and Discretion such as treat them with all tenderness and pity representing to them the evil of their doing and gravely admonishing them against such doings for the time to come executing the Laws upon them with all the symptomes of grief and trouble with all the demonstrations of a Spirit that carries in it true compassion for those who ignorantly err and a readiness heartily to pray for those who are obstinate and wilful this is to follow the Apostles advice to restore our sain Brethren with the spirit of meekness and this is the only way to beget in them a belief that as truly pious tender and gracious spirits may lodge in the Breasts of men every ways obedient to those Laws they by their wily Preachers are made to believe are destructive of the Rights of the Lord Jesus as in any men of any other yea of their own particular perswasion Nay for ought I know this prudent and compassionate carriage may be the occasion of their recovery from their present separation For certainly nothing more pacifies Wrath and Anger from which we all know Nonconformity receives no inconsiderable strength and addition than a word in season a soit word a wise carriage even to Delinquents themselves especially when all this is done by men of Authority and Reputation in their Neighbourhood And therefore I do here put up my hearty Prayers to Almighty God for all our Chiefs and Worthies in whose hands the defence and safety of our excellent and yet despised Church is lodged that as Judgment may run down like water and Righteousness like a mighty stream so That Righteousness may meet with Peace and love and they may kiss each other and as I do not wish the suspension of any Laws wherein the welfare of Societies is wrapt so I do wish that whensoever they are put in execution it may be in such a way as may convince gainsayers and stop the mouths of all those who lye at catch to take advantage from the haltings either of Magistrates or Ministers Lastly This Church loses very much of its deserved reputation by those mean and seamy provisions and supplies that are made for many of her Children whose educations and improvements entitle them to greater encouragements than most of the Vicaridges in England are endowed withal and till this be remedied as I hinted somewhat before we must never have things so prosperous and successful on the Churches side as she does indeed deserve For 't is impossible considering how things go and are apprehended by the major part of the World for Clergy-Men to conciliate a just respect to themselves and thereby to recommend the Government to the love and liking of the Vulgar without such Incomes as are agreeable to their Function and will enable them to be of the giving as well as receiving hand And truly when I have sate down sometimes and considered with my self the several reasons and occasions of the late cruel and blondy War I could not but resolve both it and the dreadful consequences of it amongst some other things into this of which I am now complaining and I have often thought that it had not been possible for the people of England to have been drawn into such a combination and confederacy against so excellent a Prince had they not been strangely perverted and abused by some discontented and self-seeking knaves And who they were 't is no hard matter to conjecture for if you had gone before the War into Cities and incorporated Towns where usually the spiritual Livings are made up of few and petty Tythes there you should have found a Male-contented Gentleman had fixt his habitation making some tolerable snow of Hospitality especially to the Mayor or Aldermen and their Brethren and by his advice and means a factious Preacher brought in depending upon voluntary subscriptions for his livelihood who by tones and gestures by shrugs and winks by all popular artifices was continually suggesting suspicions of the Government to the people the Dames especially who they say in those places and in those times governed the Right Worshipful themselves and the great Themes of their Discourses were the Wickedness of the times the encroachments of the Bishops upon the Rights of the Lord Jesus the stinting of the spirit by Forms of Prayer the severe dealing with the people of God that was themselves but withal which was a great cordial to their oppressed spirits the great Reasons of the Saints joyful expectation of better times fetched out of Daniel or Revelations places admirably fitted to the Dames apprehensions and understandings with an hundred such like popular insinuations as these and by this means the people were taught to suspect their Governours as Enemies to the cause of God and from thence brought to an hatred of them and so by degrees fitted for any undertaking these cunning Leaders should in the name of God and the Lord Jesus animate them unto And by these ways were the people of England seduced into the most unnatural rebellion which ended in the most horrid Murther that History can parallel Whereas had these Great Towns been furnished with such Encouragements as might have invited men of integrity and learning to have sate down amongst them the People had been better taught and consequently disposed to nothing but what was expressive of Loyalty and Obedience of their hearty affection and esteem for him to whose care and Government the providence of God had committed them For let but the common people hear nothing but what is
they grow vext and impatient and straightways their thoughts are fixt upon revenge and from a quarrel with those who sit at the Helm they fall out with the Government it self and all their parts are bent upon finding out plausible Arguments and pretences to sink its reputation amongst the people and no stone is left unturned to carry on this wicked purpose and resolution It is an easie matter to make this assertion out from the accounts of every age of Christianity Heresies Schisms seditions and publick disturbances have most of them crept in at this back door and whosoever will give himself the leave to take a just account of the Apostasie of many from our Church some few years after the Reformation and ever since he will not be long before he find this its original and spring which thing though not altogether yet very much had been prevented if all the Spiritual allotments for Ministers had been comfortable and such as would have afforded wise men for I undertake not to be an advocate for Fools and Prodigals a convenient and creditable maintenance AND now having said thus much in the vindication of this excellent Church and withal given the Reasons of those many disparagements she hath in these late years met withal I cannot draw off my pen from paper till by it I have made my humble address to the Nobility and Gentry and all others who are concerned by vertue either of their Principles or Estates in the preservation of the Kingdoms peace and Nations welfare and are very unwilling to be sad spectators of those ruines and desolations that not many years ago many of them to their own as well as the Nations sorrow were too sadly acquainted withal till I say I have made my humble address to them and implored them by all that is near and dear to them to use that power God and the King hath entrusted them withal in stifling those Opinions in suppressing those dangerous Principles and Maxims in preventing those practises which have had so bad an influence upon the Body Politick and in using all methods by which they may be kept from the Common People whom we find by sad experience easily leavened and as easily afterwards wrought upon to enter into any Evil action whereby the peace and happiness of the Kingdom may be endangered And though it may be this address may be looked upon as the product of a malicions and revengeful spirit yet God that knows the hearts of men knows it flows from no such bitter Fountain but so far as I am in a capacity to serve any of these persons against whom I now complain in their personal capacity no man can I am sure be more ready and more forward Let them but live agreeable to the Laws under which they live and that but as far as their own avowed Principles will give them leave which I think is a very reasonable request and they shall not want that just esteem from my self and so I am sure from all men of my Principles that they do deserve Which if they will not do but continue resolute in widening our differences making our breaches greater forming men into parties and numbers in opposition to the injunction of all those prudent Laws that are enacted by the great Authority of the Nation and thereby strengthning and encouraging that deplorable Schism that is amongst us why truly I think he wants the Spirit and Courage of a Man who holds his tongue and by his silence gives the least spirit to such undertakings For alas what can we imagine all this will centre and bottom in and who will be the chief gainers by these divisions That certainly is no hard matter to determine And truly in my apprehension 't is very sad that the revenge of our Nonconforming Brethren should be so great against the Church of England that rather than she shall continue in any glory and be vested with any Authority they will use their utmost endeavours to pull her down though it be to the destruction of the Protestant Cause both at home and abroad and to the Introduction of Popery it self A good sign indeed of a Gospel Spirit and of that tenderness of Conscience these men profess upon all occasions when pressed to any necessary complyance with the Laws of the Kingdom And therefore seeing it is so that these men will play any game rather than that in which the safety of the Church as well as State is concerned truly I think all the true Patriots of the Countrey ought to look upon them accordingly and give them such fare as by those Oaths they take when they are admitted to their office they are obliged to And seeing they are resolved we shall fall though they know it must needs be accompanied with so great a ruine to that Cause and Interest which was purchased with the bloud of the Martyrs which hath been a Sanctuary to distressed and banished Foreigners and which indeed as it is here maintained by so many prudent Laws is the only stay and support of all the Protestant Churches abroad seeing I say they are resolved to have their wills of this Church notwithstanding these sad and too much to be feared effects and consequences of it I do declare I think all true hearted Magistrates in whose hands the execution of the Laws does lie ought to let them know that they owe more Regard to the present Government of the Kingdom and that if they will continue fixt in their Resolves to bear down all that stands in their way to the undermining the Churches safety and reputation so on the other hand they the Magistrates are as well resolved to hinder by all legal and worthy means so great and so unseasonable a violence to those Laws wherein mens Estates and Liberties mens Religion and consequently their Souls are so much concerned And I am certain nothing is a greater argument among the present Magistrates either of Cowardize or else of Ignorance and Non-observation than to suffer such assaults upon Government without a suitable resentment of them and to connive at such practises as are apparently tending to shuffle in a Religion once again amongst us by which the Prince loses half his Government and the people all their Reason and Sense together And therefore Worthy Sirs I beg of you to consider what is incumbent upon you at present do not you let Justice sleep while covetousness and ambition while Faction and discontent is devouring and eating up all those sober principles whereby your Estates as well as any thing else is secured to you and your Posterity after you Let not a Church that teaches all her Members to live contentedly in all those subordinations the Providence of God hath placed them and up to all those Duties which belong to those several places I say let not this Church be scorned and trampled under feet by rude and revengeful persons And if you think them people of meek and peaceable