Selected quad for the lemma: church_n
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A33738
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Animadversions on a late paper entituled, A letter to a dissenter upon occasion of His Majesties late gracious declaration of indulgence by H.C.
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Care, Henry, 1646-1688.
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1687
(1687)
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Wing C505; ESTC R224285
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24,327
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42
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persuade them not to thank Him for 't But if we must always mistrust new Friendships then we must not credit the very late Pretensions on behalf of the Church of England that she is sorry for her past Rigours or will be more kind for the future With what Forehead does this Gentleman urge us to suspect the solemn repeated Promises of our SOVERAIGN and yet at the same time expect we should take his bare Word who neither gives us his own Name nor produces any Commission from that Church for what he undertakes in Hers But why must we needs suspect our King Is it because amongst the many Royal Qualities he is invested with a punctual Veracity and generous Disdain of all little tricking dissembling Arts has been signally remarkable No it is because the Church of Rome cannot by her Principles allow Liberty to Hereticks and because the Men of Taunton and Tiverton are on a sudden grown eminent for Loyalty and because the Quakers give the King Thanks with a boon Grace Worthy Reasons But let 's examine them apart As for the first our Author exaggerates it with his usual Floridness thus p. 3. This Alliance between Liberty and Infallibility is bringing together the two most contrary things that are in the World The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the allowing Liberty but by its Principles it cannot do it Wine is not more expresly forbidden to the Mahumetans than giving Hereticks Liberty to the Papists They are no more able to make good their Vows to you than Men married before and their Wife alive can confirm their Contract with another The continuance of their Kindness would be a Habit of Sin of which they are to repent and their Absolution is to be had upon no other Terms than their Promise to destroy you Thus He. And because 't is a popular Argument frequently made use of I shall endeavour to give it a full Answer 1. What the Church of Rome's Principles are or what by them she can or cannot do I shall not here take upon me to determine for many of her Principles are very abstruse even this of Infallibility she has not been pleased to determine where and in whom particularly it resides and she can do great things as for example if I am not misinformed she offered once to allow of our Common-Prayer-Book and that I hope you 'l say was kindly done of her Nor do I see any such necessary Contrariety between Infallibility and Liberty for though a Man should think himself Infallible if any can in good earnest think so it does not follow that he must beat spoil or kill all that will not own such his assumed Infallibility at least Liberty and Infallibility may agree as well as we find by woful Experience Conformity hath done with Nonconformity and if Dissenters must be persecuted 't is much alike to them whether it be by a Fellow-Protestant or a Papist's Hand only the former Act somewhat the more absurdly in Imposing on others since they confess they may perhaps be in the wrong themselves 2. But however these things may happen to be 't is plain the Gentleman does not here argue a Propos for we have nothing to do with the Church of Rome she is no Party to the Transaction The Dissenters have never that I know of entred into any Treaty about Reconciliation with her in Principles whatever others have been nibbling at Our Concern lies with a Prince our natural Soveraign who altho he be of that Communion has solemnly avowed to all the World That it has been and is his constant Sense and Opinion that Conscience ought not to be constrained nor People forced in Matters of meer Religion In pursuance of which Principle his Majesty has at present restrained the Execution of the Penal Laws and assured the Dissenters that they shall enjoy the same Ease during his Reign and that he would be ready to contribute His Part toward rendring the same perpetual both by repealing those Laws and confirming the Right of free Exercise of Religious Worship and securing by Law such a settled and permanent Freedom of Conscience from being invaded by any Party whatsoever for the future The Question is whether the Dissenters ought not thankfully to embrace his Majesties most Gracious Offer herein and not be wanting on their part towards bringing it to effect To which I should answer affirmatively and take it to be their true Interest and only Preservative For 3. How far soever the Church of Rome's Pretensions to Infallibility or her Aversion to those she calls Hereticks may extend we find in fact that it does not render all her Members so extravagant as to venture on Impossibilities and act contrary to their own apparent Interest Quia desunt vires is allowed by their hottest Casuists a sufficient Ground for tolerating Hereticks else every one of her Sons should be obliged under Pain of Damnation to run a muck against all Mankind that differ from her whereas we see many places where both Papists and Protestants live very quietly together and that there have been and are Princes of the Roman Creed that have and do tolerate different Religions without esteeming themselves ever the worse Catholicks nor does the Pope venture to excommunicate them on that account I doubt not but those of the Protestant Cantons in Switzerland believe as much as any of our Dissenters that there is Idolatry in the Church of Rome and there is no Question but those of the Popish Cantons believe the other to be rank Hereticks yet they both in a friendly manner coalesce into one and the same Republick and live quietly together for their mutual Preservation neither the miscall'd Heretick thinking himself bound to invade the Civil Rights of the supposed Idolater nor the imagined Idolater once dreaming that he can never go to Heaven without a Promise to destroy his Neighbour because he fancies him to be an Heretick Nor do the Roman Catholicks of the Vnited Provinces whose Numbers are not inconsiderable esteem themselves bound to cut their Compatriots Throats but on the contrary have as vigorously as any drawn their Swords even though against the most Catholick King in defence of their common Liberties By all these and many other like instances that might be given it appears that Roman-Catholicks notwithstanding their Principles can sometimes live very sociably with Protestants where their common Safety and Interest requires it And that this is their case in England shall presently be shewn But in the mean time this may serve in some measure to answer and take off that vulgar reproach now commonly thrown at Dissenters that they joyn with Papists to set up Popery by destroying the Church of England Of which Charge neither Branch is true they joyn not with Papists to set up but rather to keep down Popery and not to destroy the Ch. of England but rather to establish it upon firm and lasting Grounds To give every Party their Right in
Interest stands in prospect of Futurity I cannot but remind you that no body that I have met with supposes the removal of the Tests without some equipollent Provision in the very same Act that may obviate these Fears And 't is inconceivable that the Wisdom of the Nation so refined should yet be so barren as not to be able to contrive some Civil Security as strong and safe without Hampering of Conscience For Why may there not be a Civil Test form'd altogether as effectual and yet not so obnoxious to Exceptions as these Religious Ones 2. If we can secure due Elections and Regular Returns we are safe for undoubtedly the Free-holders Citizens and Burghers of England are not very fond of chusing Roman Catholicks for their Representatives 3. As to any Apprehensions that by taking away these Laws the Roman should pretend a Right to be the National establish'd Religion by vertue of any Antiquated Statutes that may easily be dash't by an Establishment or Confirmation of the present Church of England as to all its Priviledges but such as are Compulsory by Temporal Penalties altogether unadequate means to secure Religion and unnecessary to the Well-being of a Gospel-Church 4. What if in the same Bill that vacates all the Old Penal Laws it be by the King in Parliament asserted and declared that Liberty of Conscience is part of the Constitution of this Kingdom The natural Birth-right of every English Man And that all Persons endeavouring to undermine of subvert such Settlement shall be adjudg'd Criminal and liable to such Penalties as shall be thought fit all Acts tending thereunto in themselves ab initio and for ever void And every Member of either House of Parliament obliged before he sits or acts solemnly to make some such Declaration 5. Or what if all the Penal Laws together with the Test debarring from Offices and Imployments be abrogated and only that relating to Members of Parliament be kept on foot Will none of these Expedients or such better ones as may be contriv'd allay your Fears That which alone must conclude any honest Man's Judgment is the Resolution of this single Question Whether Persecution in it self be lawful That is whether for meer Opinions or Exercise of Religious Worship tho different from the national Form yet no ways disturbing the Publick Peace injuring Civil Society or violating Morality any Persons whatsoever ought according to the Law of God or Nature be punish'd by Death Banishment Mulcts Fines or Imprisonments or be rendred liable unto any Forfeitures of or Preclusions from those Advantages and Priviledges which otherwise they might justly pretend to or ought to enjoy They and They only that will undertake to justify the Affirmative may reasonably appear for the Continuance of the Penal Laws and Tests But then if they assert any kind of Persecution to be lawful they ought also to tell us the Bounds and Limits of it why the Penalties may not be sanguinary as well as pecuniary positive as well as privative why we may not burn a Man for his supposed Error in Religion as well as take away his Goods or his Birth-right On the other side all Those who cannot but acknowledg such Statutes and all Prosecutions thereupon to be unwarrantable as being against the main Tendency of the Gospel contrary to our Lord's Rule of doing as we would be done by and opposite to the Maxims of Reason and Civil Policy are bound in Conscience as well as Interest to declare and use their utmost Endeavours for the Abolition of all these burthensom destructive Laws Nor will they be affrighted with any imagined bad Consequences or a Noise of what Advantages ill Men may design to make by such a Repeal for as we are not to do Evil that Good may come on 't so we must not omit doing Right whatever may be the Sequel Let us perform our Duty and then we may rest assured that Divine Providence which superintends all the Affairs of this fading World will dissipate the Councils of any Architophels and either preserve us from or support us under the worst they can contrive But if the Dissenters wilfully lose this Opportunity which God and the King have graciously vouchsafed And shall in Distrust of Providence as well as his Majesties Word multiply to themselves groundless Fears and for certain supposed Politick Ends quit both their Duty and Interest to rely on Egyptian Reeds and future improbable Expectancies the Courtesy of a sort of People whose tenderest Mercies they have found to be cruel and will assist to continue those very Statutes which their own Consciences cannot but tell them are Irreligious and unjust and under the Lash of which they have so lately and so severely smarted and by reason of this resolute Error against their own Convictions and Experience shall happen hereafter to fall under a more dreadful Persecution than ever heretofore 't is no matter by whose Hand Must they not with Confusion of Face acknowledg they have justly deserved it And that themselves have chiefly contributed to their own Miseries and entail'd a Plague on all their Posterity He who is convinced that Persecution for Religion is unlawful and yet refuses to contribute all he can towards removing those Laws which either positively or privatively for they both depend on the same Bottom injoin such Persecution let him pretend what Fears and Jealousies he will of ensuing Dangers from the doing of it I know not how to excuse him from the just Imputation of being either a Fool or an Atheist 'T is true our Orator asserts That 't is as justifiable to have NO RELIGION as wilfully to throw away the humane Means of preserving it But because I always thought Religion was best to be preserved by Religious Methods and that a Church built upon the Rock needs not the feeble Suports of Civil Force I would gladly learn what Humane Means are necessary or Expedient or indeed adequate to preserve true Religion Sure I am the Christian Religion held up its Head not only without but against such Means for the first Centuries And yet then it was that it most flourish'd in purity and spread it self throughout the World but as soon as Politicians would be adding their Humane Means to preserve it and interwove it with Interest of State from thence we commonly date its Declension In a word if it be the Interest both of the Papists of this Nation and of all Protestant Dissenters to have a General Liberty of Conscience firmly setled If this be no real Disadvantage to the Church of England but only keeps her from engrossing all Offices and Employments which caused her to be envied and from ruining her innocent Neighbours which made her hated and is both her Guilt and her Shame If by the Gospel no Man is to be abridged of any of his Civil-Rights for his different Opinion in Religion Since we may have as good Security for the Enjoyment of this Liberty for ever as we our selves can reasonably contrive since we have felt and found so many Evils attending Persecution and never any Good It seems to me Unaccountable why we should not all readily and harmoniously agree to the Total Extirpation of all Tests and Penal Laws for Religion and heartily endeavour the Establishment of that Vniversal Liberty which only can render the Nation lastingly Quiet and Happy I am not so unacquainted with the ill-natur'd World as not to foresee that for this free Publication of my Thoughts I must expect to encountre a thousand Scandals and Calumnies But Hic Murus ahaenus esto Nil conscire sibi Being conscious of nothing but an unbiass'd honest Intention I can smile at and pitty the impotent Malice of false Reports Having taken up that resolution of Quinctius Cincinnatus Vellem equidem vobis placere Quirites Sed multo malo vos salvos esse qualicunque erga me animo sitis futuri THE END * See my Lord Coke's Charge given at Norwich Assizes 4 Aug. 1606 4th page of the sheet F. for 't is not paged