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A48108
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A letter in answer to a city friend, shewing how agreeable liberty of conscience is to the Church of England
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1687
(1687)
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Wing L1553; ESTC R10171
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5,981
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12
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Free Judging and Determining and giving Direction to every Man to erect within himself this Tribunal of Private Discretion can She be in reason thought to be Angry when the Civil Power concurring with Her Establishes and Confirms to every Man that Right which She holds forth as a Thing belonging to them as they are Rational Creatures This is an Absurdity not to be charg'd on any Society of Men To give Directions and then to be Angry when they are follow'd But to pass to your next Point You know the Christians who have the Benefit of this Indulgence are chiefly such as are call'd Nonconformists and Dissenters or else the Papists Now I am perswaded it can be no Aggrievance to the Church of England that Both these Sorts be allow'd the Enjoyment of this Liberty of Conscience For as to the Former it is the Opinion of many Eminent Divines and other Sober Men that most Nonconformists differ not from the Church of England in any Essential or Material Point but chiefly in Ceremonies Circumstantials and Vnnecessaries Now if you peruse the Writings of the Church of England of her Prelates and Doctors you 'll find that many of them have freely inclin'd of themselves to a Condescention to these Weaker Brethren and have been willing to abate many of these Circumstantials in consideration of a better Union and stricter Peace Do we value says Dr. Stilling fleet in his Preface to the Vnreasonableness of Separation a few indifferent Ceremonies and some late Declarations and doubtful Expressions beyond the Satisfaction of Mens Consciences and the Peace and Tranquillity of the Church I do think it would be a part of Christian Wisdom and Condescention in the Governors of our Church to remove those Bars from a freedom in joyning in full Communion with us Such a Review may be so far from being a Dishonor to this Church that it may add to the Glory of it I think we have no cause to doubt says Dr. Tillotson in his Sermon on John 13. Ver. 34 35. but the Governors of our Church are Persons of that Piety and Prudence that for Peace sake and in order to a firm Vnion among Protestants they would be content if that would do it not to insist on little Things but to yield them up whether to the Infirmity or Imporiunity or perhaps in some very few Things to the plausible Exceptions of those who differ from us Necessary Points says Dr. Barrow Treat of the Pop. Supr pag. 219. may and will by all Honest People be known and determin'd by the clear Testimony of Scripture and other Points need not to be determin'd And again A more ready way to determine Controversies is for every one Not to Prescribe to others or to Persecute for then Men would more clearly see the Truth and Consent With these concur several others of the First Rank which I could quote at large but these are sufficient to undeceive you and let you see that 't is not at all likely that the Church of England which has been and is at present if I am rightly inform'd willing to abate in her Worship a great part of these Ceremonies should be at all concern'd to see the Dissenters have the Free Exercise of their Religion and Worship without the Obligation of observing those Ceremonies which She her self by her Free Offer of Condescention seems not unwilling at least for Peace sake to leave out of Her Public Service As long as Her chief Concern is the Peace and Tranquillity of the Church and the Satisfaction of Mens Consciences 't is not to be imagin'd She 'll ever be inclin'd to disturb this Peace or molest Her Neighbor upon the Score of a Few Indifferent Ceremonies Late Declarations or Doubtful Expressions She 's satisfi'd that for all Necessary Points every Honest Man will know them by Scripture and for such as are not Necessary She thinks it better not to Determine them nor Prescribe them to others nor to Persecute any on this Score What Disquiet therefore can it possibly cause in the Church of England to see a Liberty granted to the Nonconformists of performing their Service without these Ceremonies And as for the Papists 't is generally granted that They agree with all other Christians in Fundamentals holding all things that are of Necessity to be Believ'd and upon this Consideration I cannot but think that the Church of England will be willing to allow them the Freedom of their Religion it being the Generally receiv'd Opinion of Protestants that the True way to make a Lasting Union amongst Christians is to distinguish betwixt Tenets necessary to be Believ'd and Tenets not necessary to be Believ'd and Necessaries being once agreed on to use a Forbearance in things Vnnecessary Why then for the greater Extension of Christian Charity may not this Forbearance be extended to Papists since in all Necessaries they agree with other Christians Besides if I mistake not the Church of England has so much Charity as to think that Papists may be Sav'd This allows the Papists to be Sons of God and Members of Christ and if They and the Church of England have One Common Head in Heaven ought not they to have an Affection for them on Earth Can it be allowable in them to hate Those whom as they own Christ will receive Or can They say to Them Go ye Cursed to whom our Lord will say Come ye Blessed If God owns them as Sons I believe the Church of England may easily love them as Brethren For if God admits them to the Participation of his Kingdom it becomes not any to be averse from them on Earth with whom they shall converse in Heaven And if the Papists are not so good Christians as to be the Members of Christ and capable of Salvation but as others seem to take them Idolaters Superstitious Prophane without Sense or Reason or any Ground of Scripture for what they teach or do it ought still to be the Concern of the Church of England to let them partake of this Liberty that so They being in Public their Follies and Superstitions might be more expos'd that the People might hear those Absurd and Vnchristian Doctrins from their own Pulpits and Catechisms and bear Witness of them and so see whether all be not True that has been charg'd against them This would better end all the Controversie of Misrepresenting than many Volumes and save the Church of England any farther trouble of Laying the Papists open which if it could be excus'd would be no small Advantage to Her this thing of mixing Invectives and Satyrs against Neighbors with the Gospel in Pulpits being no small Reflection upon Her with several sorts of People Some taking it to be Railing others to be Vngentile and Vnmannerly others to be Vncharitable others to be an Effect of Sloth and Idleness whilst they think it much easier to Ridicule anothers Opinion than to Prove their own or find out a more serious Matter for Exhortation In fine if the Papists are thus Wicked and Abominable the surest way to weaken them is to make them Public for Wickedness and Abomination seeks for Corners and thrives most when 't is conceal'd when if 't were expos'd to the Public 't would be detested by the Beholders and be soon hiss'd out of the World. I have only One thing now more to Consider and 't is that you apprehend that this Indulgence will be too favourable to many Disaffected Parties and Persons that 't will give them occasion to encrease and thrive and grow up so many Enemies to the King and Government which cannot be acceptable to the Church of England which on all Occasions has been so truly Loyal and Faithful to their Monarch To this I need say no more than that I find our present Sovereign who in this is chiefly concern'd has Consider'd this Point and he is of Opinion that on the contrary this Liberty will remove Animosities break Factions and make Friends of Enemies the Constraint and Rigor that has been us'd to Mens Consciences for the maintaining Uniformity in Worship having created ill Blood and been the Occasion of those Unnatural Rebellions that have disturb'd this Nation for many Years Now you know our Prince whom God preserve besides his Great Wisdom has had so long Experience of the Temper of his People and is so careful for the Good and Peace of the Kingdom that no Loyal or Good Subject can think he do's not provide for the Welfare and Tranquillity of it in the Best and Safest way possible And since the Church of England is so Eminent for its Loyalty I cannot imagine She can be troubled at what the King do's for the Safety of his Royal Person and Good of his People or be for the persisting in such a Method which his Majesty conceives has made the Government Uneasie to his Royal Predecessors and in some manner occasion'd the most barbarous Effusion of Royal Blood. This is sufficient to satisfie you in the chief Difficulties you propos'd and to remove out of your Mind that Diffidence you seem'd to have of the Church of England in this Juncture of Affairs Consider what Loyalty is and for the future take thence a Measure of their Behaviour Never question but where this admirable Quality of a Good Subject is 't will labor to unite the Peoples Hearts with the Prince 't will cause an Approbation of what he do's in the Administration of his Government and never permit any by shewing a Dislike to his Orders by being Sowr and Peevish to alienate the Peoples Hearts from their Sovereign No never think this of Good and Loyal Subjects this is only for Malecontents and such as are Disaffected to the Government for such as are for keeping up a Party or maintaining a Faction And if you find any do thus Disloyally never take them for Members of the Church of England Every Good Christian and Loyal Subject will be for removing ANIMOSITIES and JEALOUSIES and Laying these two Devils of this Nation Let You and I contribute to it with the best of our Endeavours and as much as in us lies follow St. Paul's Advice of Living peaceably with all men Farewel SIR Your Servant