World and you will find that of the Philosopher to be a great truth That Tyrants seldome live to be Old the Saints pray their Blood and Sufferings cry to Heaven against them and God Abhors and the Earth Groans under the burthen of their Crimes and Hell is ready for them How then can it be for the Dukes Honour or Felicity to be one of them to live and that but for a little time Abhor'd by God dreaded and forsaken by all good Men to die Unpityed and Unlamented to depart this World not with the Tears and Praises but with the Joy and Thanksgivings of his Subjects that by his Death they are deliver'd from the Miseries and Oppressions his Reign was attended with to have the story of his Life there being some that delight to Record the Actions of Princes transmitted to future Ages stain'd with so many Executions Cruelties and Oppressions which his setting up the Romish Religion will occasion and to be remembred no otherwise when he is Dead and gone than Plagues and Wars and the most dreadful Calamities are that is with Horrour and Amazment How unreasonable is it then to believe his Royal Highness if he come to the Crown will thus ruin and undo himself for no Reason or Inducement at all Common Prudence will not suffer him to be so much his own Enemy And therefore they that upon idle Rumours or meer Suspicions entertain such unbecoming thoughts of him do great Injury to and extremely wrong so brave a Prince who is confessed by his very Enemies to be Highly just and hath ventured his Life in defence of his Country and therefore in reason and justice ought neither to be accounted nor treated as its Enemy that hath any intention to Ruin if it be the will of Heaven that he Reign over it 'T is certain then that it is not for the Duke Interest in this World to turn Papist and therefore if he be so that cannot be the Reason of it The only Motive therefore he could have to Subsect 4. perswade him to such a change must be his Happiness and Salvation in that which is to come This indeed is the great End the Highest reason any Person can propose to himself in the Choyce of his Religion that it be such as will conduct him safely to Eternal Happiness Now if I can prove that there is no danger of missing this in the Communion of the Church of England and that there is great and apparent Hazard of losing it in the Communion of the Church of Rome then this can be no Reason for nor Inducement to such a change it being most Absur'd and Imprudent to Exchange a safe for a dangerous Church a Church wherein there is a certainty for one wherein there is at most but a bare possibility of Salvation The enquiry then must be if the case be not thus between ours and the Church of Rome whether in that there be not a Certainty in this at most but a meer Possibility of Salvation God the Supream Lord of Men as he made them to Serve and Glorify him here and to injoy or live with him in Immortal Glory and Happiness hereafter so it must needs belong to him alone to appoint what Service they shall Perform to him to declare how and in what instances he will be Honour'd and Glorifi'd by them to prescribe measures of Obedience and the terms or conditions upon which he will admit them to the Participation of that Supream and Soveraign Happiness for being the greatest good that God can give or they desire 't is most unreasonable to believe it Inconditional promised absolutely either to all or a select part of Mankind so that they shall be sure to have it though they do nothing towards the Obtaining of it And if it be proposed upon certain Terms or Conditions as it evidently is God alone must determine and propose these determine them because that transcendent Felicity being his Kind and Bountiful offer none hath any Right but he to appoint the things that must be done by Men for the acquiring of it Propose them because 'till he hath Revealed them none can know what they are To leave Mankind to their own Fancies and Conjectures in a matter of such Moment and Concern to offer them Eternal Happiness and not tell them how to Obtain it would have been a disparagement to the Divine Goodness because it would have been to Mock and Delude them with the discovery of a Treasure more precious then all the World whch they knew not how to possess themselves of if they guess'd at the way of doing of it it would be great odds but they would mistake and guess wrong leave the true Pathes or means leading to so lovely and desireable a good and follow false ones as we see all the Heathen World did in that prime part of Religion the Worship of God So that one of these two things must necessarily follow either that God had no Purpose or Intention to save or make Mankind Eternally Happy or if that be Inconsistent with his Mercy and the Benignity of his Nature that he did reveal or declare not only that he would do it but also upon what Terms or Conditions he would be pleased to do it which Revelation of his Royal Pleasure in both the parts of it being of the greatest Moment or Concern both that Men might know and admire the Transcendent kindness of the Gracious Author of their being towards them and be sufficiently Instructed how to Express or Declare their Gratitude for it in fit and acceptable returns of Obedience and Duty to him ought in Reason to be kept as the most precious Treasure and carefully preserv'd from all Change and Injury that it might descend safe and Intire to all Ages and Generations of Men and so afford them full and Perfect Instruction what they must believe and do how they must live or behave themselves in this that they may obtain the Eternal Felicity of the other World To transmit or hand down this Revelation from Age to Age from Generation to Generation through all Succeeding time from the first Publishing of it to the end of the World by Oral Tradition or word of Mouth was not possible without continual Miracles both to Preserve it intire in the Minds and Memories of the Relators and to aslure those that receiv'd it from them that they had neither by fraud nor forgetfulness Corrupted or changed it any way added nothing to it nor kept back any part of it and seeing this might be secured another way by his common Providence why should God multiply Miracles continually to no purpose for without these such a Treasure could not be safely committed to such a way of Conveyance Oral Tradition being a very hazardous and uncertain way of delivering things to others especially at any great distance of time and therefore the greater Moment the things are of the more dangerous is it to trust them to
by denying the Ring such Supplies as are necessary for his and yours and all our preservation Let it be your care also to cover the Pit which the Excluders have dug I mean to make his Royal Highness reparation for the injurious and unworthy Treatment he hath received from them You have abhorr'd it without doors therefore do it within cast out the Bill as a wicked abominable thing shut the door after it that it may never return any more Be pleased to do that which your great Wisdom and Justice cannot but prompt you to Go to the Duke and let him know your deep resentments of the wrongs that have been offer'd him and beseech him not to think the worse either of you or the Establish'd Religion for them because this hath taught you and all the true Members of the Church of England to abominate the Project of Exclusion as a peice of high and execrable Injustice Shew him the difference between the true and the seeming Protestants that those have so much Religion and fear of God that they dare do injury to no man much less to their Princes and had rather suffer themselves than they should whereas these have more Zeal than Honesty and care not whom they injure and oppress so they can but secure and preserve their own dear selves Treat him with all the honour and respect due to his Royall Birth Vertues omit nothing that may testifie your high esteem and veneration for him use all the fair and prudent means you can to gain his favour and good opinion of you and to convince him of the justness and honesty of your intentions towards him Such methods as these are Christian and Noble and fit to be practis'd towards a Prince and may by the Blessing of God work very much upon his great and generous Soul brave Spirits being sometimes courted to that which they will never be hector'd into and if he be a Papist be instrumental to his Conversion which will not only be grateful or pleasing to God his Angels and Saints in Heaven but fill this our English Earth with Joy revive our languishing Happiness restore our Nation to its ancient Glory put a blessed period to all our Distractions and Confusions then we shall live in Peace and Unity amongst our selves and unless we be the most ungrateful People in the World in true Piety Obedience to our God who hath done so great things for us then it will be well with us and happy shall we be Forreigners will call these Kingdoms as they did of old The Fortunate Islands All which the great and Gracious Governour of the World God Almighty in whose hands the Hearts of Princes are Grant for the Merits of our dear Redeemor Amen FINIS Some Books Printed for and sold by W. 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which horrid Conspiracy being by the goodness of God discover'd the Church party to preserve the King their Religion their Lives and Estates from the Rapine Oppression and Cruelty of that Faction slighting all other means of safety should resolve upon this as the only sure Expedient for that end to Exclude the Fanatick Successor In this Case he by becoming their Convert intended only to save his Soul or go the right way to Heaven but the wicked Faction thinking they should never have such an opportunity again to set up their Discipline and way of Worship took encouragement though he meant to give them none from his joyning himself to them to Plot the Death of the King and the Destruction of the Church I demand then if it would be just for this reason to Exclude this Prince How would the Faction take it Would not their mouthes be Open'd and their pens Sharpen'd against the Authors and Promoters of such a Bill of Exclusion Would they not Fill Heaven and Earth with complaints and cries against such Injustice and Injury done to a Prince of their Perswasion no doubt they would why then do they offer that hard measure to a Prince of another that they would not have done to one of their own Church For if it be unjust to Exclude the Fanatick it must be equally so to Disinherit the Popish Successor because he no more intended by turning Papist to encourage his Party to Conspire against the King than the other by turning Fanatick design'd to animate his Party to the like wicked attempt So that to Exclude his Royal Highness for this reason because his being as they suppose a Papist hath encouraged the Papists to conspire the destruction of our King and Church is most unjust because as I observ'd before it is to punish and that most severely the Innocent for the Guilty to ruin one man for the Sins of others For that he intended by turning Papist if he be so to encourage that Faction to attempt such execrable things as it cannot be proved because 't is known to none but the great searcher of Hearts so it is the highest and most horrid uncharitableness to suppose that the Duke in defiance to God common Honesty natural Affection every thing that is Great Good and Just should turn Papist on purpose to prompt and exite that Faction to murder his Royal Brother that he might Fill his Throne They that harbour such black thoughts of a Prince so Just in all his other actions and so great a lover of the King as he is known to be must needs be odious to God his Angels and Saints in Heaven and to all good Men upon Earth and without such a purpose or intention their taking Encouragement from his being a Convert to their Church to conspire the Destruction of the King and our Religion doth not cannot make him justly punishable Their other Pleas and Arguments for this Project of Exclusion I have Consider'd in the Discourse it self and given I suppose full and rational answers to them If any where my pen hath slipt I hope Reader thou wilt be either so ingenious as to pass it by or so charitable as to shew me my mistake that I may reform it for I am none of those stiff and obstinate people that resolve to adhere pertinaciously to their own Sentiments or Opinions be they right or wrong but shall ever account it a greater glory to amend an Errour than to be able to defend it One favour more I beg of all my Readers which they cannot well deny me that they will please to read the whole Discourse before they pass Sentence upon it because that which may look like an Objection in one place may be answer'd or taken off in another I have no more to add but my hearty Prayers to Allmighty God that he will graciously please to lead us all into the Pathes of Peace Piety and Loyalty that we may be happy now and blessed for ever Amen The Grand Expedient FOR Suppressing POPERY Examined OR The PROJECT of EXCLUSION Proved to be contrary to Reason and Religion WHen great and extraordinary dangers steal upon People and give them no notice or warning at all of their approach they produce in them strange Disorder and Confusion of Mind a mighty Tumult or Hurry of Thoughts then as the Psalmist speaks of men tossed in an angry and tempestuous Sea they are at their Wits ends and know not what to do fain they would according to the dictate and inclination of nature preserve themselves decline the impending evil and the danger which approacheth them with an Aspect so menacing or full of terrour and thâ— first Act of their mind upon the apprehension of it is to decree and determine that it must be avoided this is so great an evil that we cannot bear it if it comes we are undone it doth certainly bring ruine and destruction along with it therefore we must and will if it be possible prevent or stay its approach block up all the avenues and ways by which it may make its passage to us Whilst they thus resolve every thing that offers it self as a means of safety and comes with fair pretences of security is welcome and receiv'd with all expressions of love and joy they applaud and hug it as their Friend and Deliverer and their minds are so pleased transported with it that they are not at leisure to consider whether it be just and lawful whether God and his law allow them to preserve themselves by such means to enquire whether the safety it offers them at present be not attended with more and greater dangers hereafter Whether that which they resolve upon as a means to save them now be not inconsistent with their eternal happiness and such as will ruine or destroy them for ever For if either Reason or Religion might be heard they would satisfie and convince men what a wild attempt it is to decline temporal dangers by such ways as lead to eternal miseries to make use of such Arts to save them from suffering here as will expose them to the wrath and vengeance of God hereafter that no evil unjust or wicked thing is to be done though according to the rules of humane policy it might preserve and secure us at present because it is of infinite hazard to our Souls and will be their eternal undoing When we can by fair and innocent ways provide for our safety we are unjust to our selves if we do it not but when these fail and we are reduced to a sad necessity either to Sin or Suffer if we chuse rather to sin then suffer we are prophane and wicked have no Religion nor Fear of God But in great dangers there is no room for such thoughts or considerations as these but every thing by some People is accounted good and lawful or however excusable that promiseth safety and security and when their Religion their Lives and Estates either are or are
but that they suffer in their Posterity too those that descend from them not being permitted to enjoy their Estates but that they be Vagabonds and Miserable in the Earth thar others may see and fear and not dare to do so Wickedly as to Rebel or Conspire against their Prince There are in all Ages all Places of the World some desperate Villains that can be content to venture their own Lives if they can but Imbroyl Kingdoms and Assassinate or Murder Princes and therefore it is Just that not only Death but Forfeiture of Estates and all their Possessions be the Punishment of Traitors because this will many times Restrain those from such Detestable Practices which that cannot deter them from for they that are so mad as not to care for their own Lives will yet be tender of their Innocent Children take heed how they Ruin them Thefts then and Murders and Treasons are such Errours in Practice as Forfeit both the Lives and Properties of those that commit them because these Crimes are so pernicious that if they be not Punish'd with such Severity they will Ruine or Destroy any State or Society for no Man could enjoy his Life or Estate there would be no Peace nor Government but continual Oppressions Wars Murders Tumults Seditions which must needs Ruin or lay any Kingdom Waste And if these be all the Crimes that Forfeit Mens Rights and Properties his Royal Highness cannot have Forfeited his Right of Succession because he is so Innocent from all these that his greatest Enemies the Excluders themselves have not laid any of them to his Charge Supposing then the Duke to be a Papist that is an Erring Christian yet that making no Forfeiture of his Right To take it from him is to Oppress and Ruin an Innocent Prince and therefore the highest and most execrable Injustice To Rob a mean Person of his Right is Theft and Knavery to Deprive a Prince in Defiance of all the Laws of Heaven and Earth of God and Men of such a Treasure as a Crown of such an Inheritance as a Kingdom nay as three Kingdoms is so great an Injury or Oppression that I want words to express it To say the Bill of Exclusion is Cautionary or Preventive design'd to Disable a Popish Prince from doing the Mischiefs which as such he may do if he gets into the Throne instead of mending the matter makes it worse this being to Punish a Prince with great if not the highest Severity not for doing things meriting such a Punishment but for fear he should do them which is a new sort of Justice and such as was never before heard of in the Christian World and can be no where match'd unless it be amongst the Turks where the Custom is for the new Sultan to strangle his Brothers for fear if they were suffer'd to Live they should Conspire against and Attempt to take the Empire from him This sort of Justice if it was pursued to all the purposes to which it equally serves would make mad work in the World fill it full of Violence and Cruel Practices for by the same Reason they may deprive Honest Men of their Rights their Estates and Possessions not because they have already but because they may hereafter put them to Ill and Dangerous uses The old Justice is a dull and slow thing in Compare with this That stays till Men have Offended or Committed things worthy of Punishment and then it Strikes but This is so Quick and Expeditious that it Punishes before they have Transgress'd Draws out the Destroying Sword not only before a Man be Convicted but before he be Guilty than which way of Proceeding nothing can be more Impious and Unrighteous and consequently more to be Abhor'd Execrated Avoided by every one that pretends either to Common Honesty or Christian Piety For to say as the Men of the New Morals do That a bare Suspicion of Injury from another makes it Just or Lawful to disable the Person so suspected to do it is to expose the Lives and Estates of the most Innocent Persons to the Avarice and Cruelty of every Suspitious Villain that hath Power or Opportunity to invade them For the more Wicked any Man is the more Suspicious he must needs be That being the inseperable Companion of Guilt And if this Maxime be admited it will Animate him that receives it to the most Savage Practises Encourage him with Solomons Mad-man to cast Fire-Brands Arrows and Death to Murder this Rob that Man and Undo a third and to repeat such Outrages as often as he can and all this because he is such a Rogue as to Suspect without any Ground or Reason at all that the first will kill the second rifle the third ruin him Upon this Principle a Prince may seize the Estates and cut the Throats of all his Subjects whom he suspects to be Disaffected to him and the People Beggar and Butcher one another as often as they please And then 't is in vain to talk of Government or Laws or humane Society This being a perfect state of War to lay aside that Mercy and Justice which are both the Ornament and Happiness of Men and to put on the Fierceness and Barbarity of the most Savage Beasts 'T is not then injury Suspected but Acted the having Done wrong to another not his Fear or Apprehension that it will be done that makes a Man justly Punishable And I cannot more Effectually shame and Subsect the 3d. reprove this new Justice than by Comparing it with some of the Principles of the Christian Religion of which we all make Profession deliver'd to us by our Lord and his Apostles With that great Precept of Justice All things whatsoever ye would that Men should do St. Mat. 7. 12. unto you do ye even so to them This is so excellent and equal a Rule for us to act by in all our Intercourse and Dealings with others that it was admir'd and applauded by the very Heathens the Emperour Severus was so pleased with it that he had it often in his Mouth Reverenc'd the Christian Religion and the Glorious Author of it for the sake of this Precept Had our Lord said do all things that are Just he had given indeed a General Rule Comprehending all the Special Precepts of the Law of Nature but he had said nothing by which we Espiscopius in locum might have certainly known what in all Affairs and Transactions is Just but when he said All things whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye even so to them he gave us such a Rule by which in every Case and Circumstance we may be sure what is Just for as we cannot doubt what we would have others do to us so neither can we doubt what we our selves ought to do to others Every Man in his Wits would receive no Injury or Wrong from others but Injoy his Life and Estate all his Rights and Properties without Dammage
Diminution and therefore he must offer no Injury to any Man nor attempt to Dispossess or Deprive him of any thing that belongs to him Every Man would have others deal fairly and sincerely keep their word and promise with him not Circumvent nor deceive him with Id. Instit Theol lib. 4 pa. 249. lies fraud or falsehood pay him what is due to him or if he owe another any thing he would not have him be rigorous or severe with him but forbear or allow him some time till he be able to pay him if he be in any Want or Misery he would be Relieved and Assisted by the Counsel Help Comfort and Prayers of others and therefore is obliged to do all these things to others And this Rule extends to all Orders and Degrees of Men Superiours Equals and Inferiours They that have any Superiority over others expect from them the Honour and Obedience due to them and therefore must pay the same Respect and Submission to those that are possess'd of an higher Station Every Man looks for Friendship and Fidelity from his Equals and consequently must be Kind and Faithful to them They that are Inferiour to and have any Dependence upon others would Injoy their Favour Clemency and good Will and Receive from them Help Relief and Counsel in their need and therefore must afford the same to those that are Below and Depend upon them He that is a Magistrate if he were a a Private Person would be protected both in his Life and Estate have no Man suffer'd to do him Wrong or Violence with Impunity and therefore must so discharge his Office and behave himself to all Men that come to him for Justice So that this one Rule gives us full and sufficient Direction how to Order all our Intercourse and Dealings with Men that they may be Just and Equal And if the greatest Zealots for and Admirers of it will please to Compare their Project of Exclusion with this Excellent Rule or Law of Christ they will soon perceive the High and Horrid Injustice of it Do they Treat or do to his Royal Highness as they themselves would be done to Would any one of them be content to be depriv'd of his Birth-right meerly upon the Account of his Religion No so far are they from being willing to be so used themselves that to prevent or take away all possibility of it they would deprive the Duke of his Inheritance They Love themselves so well that they would not Suffer at all have no Harm nor Danger happen to them their Hatred to his Royal Highness is so Cruel and Implacable that they would make Him Suffer the greatest Wrong and Dammage To make a true Judgment in the Case Mutanda est Persona the Person must be changed Let then the Fiercest and most Zealous of the Excluders suppose himself in the Dukes Place that he was Heir to such a Jewel as a Crown to so Rich and Valuable an Inheritance as three Kingdoms are and that he had done nothing which either by any Divine or Humane Law yet extant made a Forfeiture of that Right and Inheritance and that those whom he had never Injured or offer'd any Just Offence to were Confederate against him and contended with all their Zeal and Industry to have a Law made to Bar his Claim and Deprive him of the Possession of it if it should by course of Nature descend to him how would he take such usage What would he think of them that Treated him so would he not fill Heaven and Earth with his Complaints Cry out that Justice and Honesty had left the World and Appeal to Heaven for Succour saying with the Royal Prophet Help me Lord for there is not one Godly Man left for Ps 12. 1 the Faithful the Just and Honest are minished from among the Children of Men Surely thou hast seen it for thou beholdest Ungodliness and Wrong That thou mayest take the matter into thy Ps 10. 15 16 Hand the Poor committeth himself unto thee for thou art the helper of the Friendless Wilt thou have any thing to do with the stool of Wickedness Ps 94. 20. which imagineth mischief as a Law Suffer me not Oh Lord to be Oppress'd and Ruin'd by the Counsels and Combinations of Wicked Men and Unjust but stir up thy strength and come and help me And if these would be his Thoughts and Resentments of such usage when offer'd to himself how abominably Wicked and Unjust is it for him and his Brethren to offer it to the Duke This is apparently to Contemn and Violate this most equal and therefore excellent Law of Christ to do that to another which they would be most impatient of if done to themselves Our Laws indeed Punish all sorts of Recusants but then the Punishments they Inflict are Moderate intended to Reform not Ruin them they deprive none of them of their Birth-right and all their Possessions but only of some part of them and those Punishments are Just and agreeable to this Rule because they offer that Contempt and Disturbance to the Government which if they were in Authority they would not have others do to them 'T is certain that neither Popery nor Presbytery where they are Establish'd will give Toleration to any that Dissent from them and if they will grant none to others with what Face can they expect it themselves Besides t is Evident that both these Factions both formerly and of late have practis'd against the State been guilty of horrid Treasons and Seditions Murder'd the Glorious Father to go no higher Plotted the Death and Destruction of the most Excellent Son our present most Gracious Soveraign which is the highest Violation of this Sacred Law of Christ for would any of them if he was King of these Nations be content to be so used as they Treat their Prince would he be willing to have his Subjects take Arms against and Conspire his Death when he had given them all manner of Demonstrations of his Love and Care of them sought to Oblige Indear them by a Just Merciful Peaceable Government would he take it well to see them requite his high Affection with deadly Hatred his tender care with contempt his Royal Mercy Justice with Barbarous Cruelty Villany yet these things this hard measure have both the Papists Fanaticks offer'd to their Prince and therefore the Punishments which our Laws inflict upon them are Just they have no Cause of complaint against the Government because it Corrects them with Mercy and Moderation Punishes them less than their Crimes Deserve 't is Death indeed by our Law for any of the Romish Priests and Jesuits to be found in England but that Punishment is not inflicted on them for their Religion but for their Irreligion and Wickedness their frequent and execrable Treasons their restless attempts against their Lives and Government awaken'd and made it necessary for our Kings by Capital Punishments to deter such Traytors
before by the Dignity of the Person against whom it is committed and by the Transcendent Worth or Value of the Right or Property you would so Unjustly Rob or spoyl him of This great evil you do that good may come therefore if you will believe the Apostle without Repentance your Doom is Damnation the Dreadful but yet as he calls it Just Sentence which you are to expect from the Righteous Judg who is no respecter of Persons but perfectly hates and will severely Punish all Wilful and Presumptuous Sin in all the Actors of it be they Publick or Private Persons in Authority or not whatever they be if they do Unjustly the Vengeance of God will be sure to pursue and overtake them The Distinction of Papist and Protestant make no difference in the Case if a Papist do any Wicked or Unjust thing invade the Estate Assasinate or take away the Life of any Protestant as an Heretick though it be done with an Intention that good may come or accrue to the Catholick cause by it still he is a Thief and a Murderer and therefore the Just God will Inflict the most Dreadful Punishment or Damnation upon him And if on the other side any Protestant or Company of Protestants for the preventing of Popery do Injury to or Unjustly deprive any Papist of his Right and Property as an Idolater that or those Protestants notwithstanding the good end they propound to themselves in it are Injurious and Oppressors and must look that the Vengeance of God will come upon them here and that without Repentance their Portion will be amongst the Unjust hereafter And if there be any odds in the guilt it is on the Protestants side such an one thus offending being more inexcusable than a Papist because he hath better means of Instruction for he hath the Holy Scriptures in a Language he understands to shew him the Right Pathes the ways of Justice and Honesty and he acknowledges them to be the sole Rule by which he is to order and conduct his Life and Actions and therefore if he do any Unjust thing he hath no Apology nor Excuse for it But most Papists are deprived of this advantage they have not the Scriptures in a Language they understand and therefore are not so well Instructed in the Duty that God requires of them neither do they own them to be their Rule without Traditions or the Unwritten Word of God which their Guides have both the Keeping and Expounding of and therefore they may easily be Impos'd upon told that is Just or a Part of their Duty which is quite contrary to it and so offend Ignorantly which doth something extenuate or lessen their Guilt Supposing then what you take for granted that your Bill to set aside the Duke would be for the good of the Nation yet it being absolutely Unjust and Sinful it is to do evil that good may come and therefore if St. Paul say true justly Damnable But what if you be mistaken What if it be not for the good but the injury and hurt the mischief and Ruin of the Nation If thus then you do Evil no good comes of it commit a great Sin to your own Eternal and the Peoples Temporal Ruin and Destruction so that instead of Blessing Praising they will have Just Cause to Revile and Curse you for it For let us suppose your Bill of Exclusion passed into a Law and his Royal Highness thereby deprived as far as that can do it of his Right Will he sit down patiently under so great an Injury I believe him so Brave and Just a Prince that such a Wrong though it would be a mighty Temptation could not provoke him to cast off either his Affection or Allegiance to the King but yet if the Duke be as you suppose him a Papist it would exasperate all the Roman Catholicks against the King excite their Rage prompt them to Revenge the Injury done to a Prince of their Religion make them Desperate watch all Opportunities try all ways to Assasinate and Destroy him We see to our Horrour and Amazement how the Kings most Just Refusal to consent to that Impious Project of Exclusion hath Irritated the Zealous Faction blown up their Rage and Malice to that Damnable height that they had design'd a more Dreadful Exclusion to send the King himself and his Royal Brother out of the World by a most Cruel and Barbarous Death that what their Wicked Votes could not their Murdering Bullets should Effect had not the Watchful Providence and the Adorable Goodness of our God Preserved the Royal Victims appointed for the Slaughter and by a mighty hand Rescued them from the Snare and the Ruin laid for them and I take his Majesties Deliverance from this Hellish Conspiracy as a Remarkable Token of Gods Approbation and Reward of his Royal Justice and Integrity in Refusing the Bill And if the Kings just denying his assent to it could so provoke and inrage the admirers of it against him how would the passing of it have Irritated and Rows'd the Romish Faction Would they not have fill'd Heaven and Earth with Complaints of and Outcries against it Have Publish'd Invectives and Proclaim'd the Wickedness of it to all the Christian World to the perpetual Reproach and Dishonour of our Nation nay have meditated Revenge enter'd into the most Dangerous Confederacies and took Counsel together to Destroy the King for to such Black and Cursed attempts as these they are God knows too Prone and Inclin'd when they have no Just Provocation given them to Instigate or Prompt them thereunto But this in their Apprehension would have Justifi'd all manner of Treasons and Conspiracies made them not only Lawful but in the highest Degree Meritorious they would have thought they did God the best and most acceptable Service when they cut off so Unjust a Prince who was so Cruel and Injurious as to deprive his own nay his only Brother of so great and undoubted a Right 'T is certain this would have put them upon frequent Treasons and Attempts against the King and who knows but it might have provoked that God who Loveth Righteousness and hateth Iniquity or Unjust Dealing if not more yet at least as much in Princes as other Men to withdraw his Watchful Providence and Gracious Protection from him to dismiss that Guard of Angells which have hitherto Defended his Sacred Person and most Precious Life from all those Bloudy Villains of what Sect or Profession soever that have Ventured to Attempt any thing against it So that your Bill of Exclusion instead of Preserving would have Indangered the King instead of being a Safe-guard and Defence to him would have exposed his most Sacred Majesty to Popish Rage and Cruelty nay which is Infinitely more Dreadful to the Divine Anger or Displeasure And being not for the Safety of the King it cannot be for the good of the People Besides as it would be the Mother of Secret Conspiracies so in all Probability
its desired rest and satisfaction he is neither ashamed in publick nor affraid in private but finds his actions so fair and just and agreeable to the dictates of right reason that he is highly pleased every time he reflects upon them And as his obedience to the Law of Christ secures his inward so it provides for his outward happiness for every Man that Lives as Christ requires him hath his promise to assure him of all those Enjoyments that are necessary to his well being upon Earth his Piety towards the great Governour of the World invites his Bounty and calls down his Blessings upon him and he that is so liberal to all the other Creatures as to open his hand and fill them with plenteousness will not let those Nobler Beings that Love Adore and Reverence him want any thing that is good for them Besides the several branches of the Law of Christ the Vertues it commands us to practice have a direct tendency this way thus Temperance preserves our Health and Estates makes our Lives both long and provided for and Justice is not only an Honour or Reputation but a great Safeguard and Advantage to us the Labour or Diligence Christianity enjoyns every Man to imploy in his calling hath an apparent tendency both to obtain these outward conveniencies of Life and to improve or increase them and the being Contented with the possessions that either descended to him by Inheritance or which he acquired by the Blessing of God upon his labour and industry affords him great Comfort and Delight as it frees him from the vexations of Covetousness the tediousness of Expectation and Attendance the grief and torment of Disappointment and obliges him to an acquiescence and satisfaction in his present Enjoyments he that is continually desiring and pursuing things which he apprehends to be necessary ingredients in his happiness or the materials of which it is composed must needs be miserable because he hath not attained to but is in pursuit of that which he calls his happiness and is uncertain whether he shall ever be able to possess himself of it but the contented Person is actually happy because he hath reduced his desires to a complacency or delight in that which he is possess'd of And as these so all the other parts of the Christian Law are a present Blessing and Advantage to the Observers of them as well as the Conditions of that Eternal Felicity which is to commence at the period of this life there being such a necessary connexion between the Precepts of Christ and the Rewards of his Kingdom that they who obey the one shall certainly enjoy the other and they must needs be Blessed to eternal Ages that perform those noble things to which our Lord hath promised that blessedness both because he is faithful that hath promis'd and that is the certain consequence or result of those So that consider'd single or a part Christianity makes every Man happy that obeys or lives according to it It promotes the felicity of mankind also as conjoyn'd or united in Societies which are either private or publick Families or Kingdoms The happiness of Families by obliging Husbands to love treat their Wives with due tenderness and respect and them to reverence obey and be faithful to their Husbands and to live together in peace and concord by injoyning Parents as nature prompts them to take care of their Off-Spring to Provide for and Educate them in Piety and the Fear of God and these to Honour Obey and if by any of the misfortunes of the World they fall into want as gratitude obliges them to relieve their Parents by requiring Servants to be faithful and obedient to their Masters and these to be just merciful compassionate to them knowing they have a Master in Heaven God Almighty to whom they are answerable for all their Actions for in the performance of these mutual Offices the felicity or welfare of Families consists The happiness of Kingdoms by obliging Princes to Govern with Mercy and Justice to take care that their People lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty that they neither wrong one another nor be injured by other Princes or States but that they be protected both in their Persons and Estates from Violence and Oppression by requiring the People to honour and obey their Princes and all that are in Authority under them to pray for their prosperity to pay them Tribute to Defend them with their Persons and Estates that no harm nor violence may happen to them by Commanding all the People to Love and deal Justly one with another not to hurt or injure but to Help and Succour or as they have Oppertunity to do good unto all Men to put on Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any Man have a quarrel against any which are excellent Preservatives of that Peace and Unity which they are Commanded to follow with all Men and without which they cannot be happy And is not that an happy Kingdom where the Prince Governs with Justice and Mercy Preserves his People in Piety Peace and Safety they Honour Obey and Serve him faithfully deal Justly with and Love one another where there are no Cruelties nor Oppressions no Treasons nor Seditions no Hatred nor Contentions but Justice Loyalty Peace and Charity Reign or Flourish this must needs be an happy Kingdom and the People Blessed that are in such a Case and if Christianity was heartily and universally received and obey'd it would make all the Kingdoms and Nations of the World so exceeding happy and blessed not only conduct Men to Heaven when they Dye but turn this Earth into a kind of Heaven to them whilst they Live And seeing Christianity prosecutes that which is the great design or tendency of the Law of Nature the Common good of all Rational Beings the Glory of God and the Felicity of Mankind 't is reasonable to believe that this is contained in that That the Law of Christ is a perfect Digest or Body of the Law of Nature This might be farther confirm'd by comparing things contained in both these great Laws but this I need not do because every Mans Reason will tell him that these Laws having the same Author and the same end must be the same in Substance and agree in the Means ministring to that which is equally the Design of both for neither can God be Glorifi'd nor Mankind made happy any other way than that which Christianity directs and the Glorious Author of it reduces to these two Heads the Love of God and our Neighbour the first containing all those Expressions of Honour which the Transcendent Excellencies and Perfections of the Divine Nature challenge from us and all those grateful Returns which as obliged Persons we owe to our great Benefactor the other comprehending all that Justice Mercy Charity Temperance and those other Vertues which conduce to our own and
they use the best and most pious methods to that purpose Princes and Magistrates 't is certain may ought to do every thing that is just and innocent for the safety of the true Religion but if they use any wicked or forbidden means to protect and defend it these by the just Judgments of God increase the danger both hasten and render the fall of it more ruinous and shameful it dies certainly because God hath determin'd it shall and that with reproach and consequently leaves an ill name behind it not by its own Demerit but by the Errours and evil Practices of its lovers and admirers Now whatever Errours either of Judgement or Practice this Device of yours leads any of the People into and whatever Ruin or Miseries they thereby bring upon themselves either in this World or in the other all these you are answerable and will be called to a sad reckoning for if not before yet in that great day when the Righteous God shall bring every work into Judgement with every secret thing whether it be good or evil if you do not prevent it in time by rectifying their mistakes and changing their opinions of it which you may easily do by representing to them faithfully and plainly the great Jnjustice and Impiety of it that Religion Condemns Right Reason and common Honesty Forbids it that it is Evil in it self Dangerous to the King and Mischievous to the People and therefore to be abhor'd not admired rejected not chosen Such a Declaration as this from you will recover the People out of the Errour and Snare into which you have drawn them and reclaim them from doting on it but if you do it not so long as they have your Persons in Admiration and cry up your Opinions as Orracles they will be very difficultly if at all convinced of the Injustice of it and you omit that which is necessary to compleat your Repentance and consequently to obtain your Pardon from all whom you have thereby injured and offended If you do the other God will be merciful his Anoynted forgive and his Royal Highness be reconcil'd to you then it will be well with you and happy shall you be Well but you will say if we lay aside Subsect 6. this Expedient will not the Romans come and take away our Place and Nation must our Religion our King and all that is Dear to us be endanger'd by the Papists and shall we do nothing for our Defence and Security This is an hard saying who can bear it As for the Romans there is no doubt but they will recover their lost Soveraignty and set up their Religion here if they can though it be a great question whether they can do it and we should be very much to blame and perish cheaply if we do not use all fair and lawful means to preserve our selves But as for those that are unjust and sinful as I have proved this Project of yours to be as they will do us no good so we have no need to use them For first Is there no God nor Providence doth not he that made Govern the World Hath he no care of nor concern for them that profess his Truth and reverence or obey his Laws That he is you do not Question and you have no Reason to doubt the other because St. Peter expresly affirms it calling upon us to cast our care upon him because he careth for us Hath 1 Epist 5. 7. our Lord who when he was upon Earth did with so much Labour and so many Sufferings purchase to himself a Church and People who loved and gave himself to Death the cruel and reproachful Death of the Cross for it hath he I say no kindness for his Church no care at all of it now he is in Heaven Doth the Glory in which he shines on the right hand of his Father the Rapturous Joys and unconceivable Felicities he is there possess'd of divert his thoughts or render him unmindful of his faithful Servants and devout Worshippers upon Earth so that he cares not what becomes of them or if he bears them good will loves and is kindly affected to them is he so poor so impotent a Prince that he is not able to protect them What Shame and Folly and Impiety is it to think so meanly and unworthily of him He that when he was upon Earth healed the Sick raised the Dead and did so many wonderful works must needs now all Power is given him both in Heaven and Earth be a most mighty Saviour and Deliverer of his abillity then to help and defend us there can be no question or doubt at all all the dispute is whether he will do it And to my apprehension those words which St. Mathew relates as the last he speaks upon Earth have a favourable aspect this way Loe I am with you alway even to the end of the Chap. 28 20. world I am going from you returning to the glorious place from whence I came to take possession of the Throne prepared for me in Heaven but assure your selves that when I am there I will be careful of you though you have not my Bodily presence yet I will afford you my Protection and Assistance for those words I will be with you signifie commonly will deliver you as in that promise to the Prophet Jeremy be not affraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the Lord and Chap 1. 8. St. Stephen speaking of Joseph saith God was with him that is as he explains it in the following Acts 7. 9 10. words deliver'd him out of all his afflictions 'T is true indeed this as all other temporal promises are must be understood cum exceptione crucis that Christ will be with protect and deliver his Church and People from all dangers and sufferings so far as is consistent with his Honour and Glory and the Interest of his Religion when their Sufferings are necessary to do him Honour in the world to recommend his Religion to others and gain Converts to it then he is With those he makes choice of to be his Martyrs and Confessors to strengthen and comfort or inable them to bear their Sufferings with Joy and Patience with a thankful and quiet Submission to his good will and pleasure And when his Sufferings can either do honour to Christ or Service to his Religion he is unworthy of the name of a Christian and can expect no portion in his Kingdom that repines at or seeks to decline them by Sinful means This was the case of the Apostles Christ was with them in the first sense to deliver them from many Dangers and all their Enemies till they had accomplish'd their Ministry preach'd the Gospel to the World appointed others to succeed them in their great holy Office left his Religion in such a condition that by his blessing and protection it was able not only to keep its ground but to make new conquests and
spread it self farther in the World but when this was done and the time come for them to confirm or seal the truth of that and to glorifie him by their Death then he was with them in the other manner to strengthen and support them in their Sufferings to give them courage patience and resolution to lay down their Lives to give Testimony to his Truth And I see no reason why this promise should be restrain'd only to the Apostles because all true Christians have great need of this presence of Christ that he should be with them hoth to protect and defend them from their Enemies and to help or support them in their Sufferings and also because the time mentioned in it reaches farther than the Age the Apostles Lived in Loe saith he I am with you alway to the end of the world which if it be understood in the narrowest sense those words the end of the World are capable of which is the destruction of the Jewish Nation by the Roman Army yet none of the Apostles but St. John lived to see that dreadful period and therefore it is most reasonably to understand it of the Apostles and the then Christians whilst they lived and of all true Christians in all Ages of the World till time shall be no more And if we of this Nation will but call to mind the former mercies and kindness of our Lord in what an eminent manner he hath been with us ever since the Reformation how graciously and wonderfully he hath guarded us from our cruel Enemies of the Romish Church we can have no cause at all to distrust him for the future How were the Romish Faction enraged at our Ancestours because renouncing their Errours Superstitions and Innovations they returned to the Pure and Primitive Christianity and yet notwithstanding all their rage fury and restless endeavours to destroy it it still continues and I hope will do to the last period of the World 'T is true indeed Queen Mary's coming to the Crown which she obtain'd notwithstanding all the Arts and Methods that were used to Exclude her obscured and removed it for a time so that it was publickly own'd only by the Martyrs and Confessors but that as was said of the Julian Persecution was but a cloud and soon vanished away for her Reign was short and Popery in England died with her For Queen Elizabeth succeeding her Restored Establish'd or most firmly Setled the Reformed Religion to the great Joy of the Nation and the indignation of Rome for that Faction were so incens'd and provoked as to try all ways to destroy that glorious Princess and with her our Religion hence proceeded frequent Treasons and Conspiracies to Poyson and Assassinate her several Bulls from Rome to forbid the Catholicks to come to our Churches to Excommunicate the Queen declare her fallen from all Dominion to Absolve her Subjects from their Allegiance and Excite them to take Arms against and depose her And such was the rage of Pope Pius Quintus against her that he declared he would be ready to aid in person to spend all St. Peters Patrimony all the Chalices and Crosses of the Church nay his very Cloaths to promote so good a work as he thought her destruction to be And when no clandestine or secret means succeeded the King of Spain sent his Invincible Armado as it was arrogantly and as appeared by the event falsly called to invade and take her Kingdom from her but all in vain for the gracious and watchful providence of God preserv'd her discover'd all the Treasons defeated all the Attempts that were made against her so that she died in peace and full of years The same good providence did also protect her most excellent Successor King James and the Parliament from the Destruction intended for them they being all by Romish Treachery and Cruelty appointed as sheep for the slaughter and the Conspirators took all possible care to prevent discovery so that it was little less than a Miracle that it was detected and thereby disappointed But I need not look so far back our present most gracious Soveraign being an Illustrious Instance or Proof of the certainty of those words of the Royal Prophet Great deliverance Psal 18. 50. giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his Anoynted For hath not a tender providence shrowded him under its Wings and confer'd the most Eminent blessings and deliverances upon him How many dangers hath he been in was he safe in Scotland when in the hands of those Men that Rebelled against and ruin'd his glorious Father Was it not possible for him to have fell at Worcester by a murdering Bullet or to be taken as he went off from that unfortunate Battell Were there no searchings for no rewards offer'd to them that could give information where the Royal Wanderer was Was the Oake such an Invincible fortress such a sure defence so safe an hiding place as to afford him protection if the power and providence of the most high had not guarded and overshadowed him And hath not the same providence that protected him then placed him upon the Throne of his Fathers and preserv'd him from those two horrid Conspiracies that of the Romish and this of the Fanatick or Common-wealth Faction By all which you may know and see if you do not wilfully shut your Eyes that the Lord helpeth or saveth his Anoynted that the Kings life is most dear and precious to him That besides those you see and so unjustly murmur at he hath an invisible guard the Angels of God to be a Security and Defence to him How then can the King be safer than under the Protection of the Almighty and why should you doubt of his Future care of him having such experience of the past deliverances he hath blessed him with That God who hath been with and so miraculously preserv'd him all his life will not withdraw his defence from him unless the sins of his People provoke him to it And your pressing His Majesty to so unjust an Act as the passing your Bill gives the World just cause to suspect that you do not really desire his safety for that cannot be had without the protection of God which is to be obtain'd only by the use of just and lawful means And therefore if you sincerely desire it as in duty and gratitude you are obliged be not faithless but trust in God and depend upon his Providence you see he hath saved his Anoynted and therefore have reason to believe he will do it still especially if you and all his People make it their frequent and earnest petition to him For Secondly is there no Efficacy in Prayer Do the pious and devout Supplications of holy and good men Prevail nothing with God Do they Call down no blessings from Heaven Conduce nothing to the safety and welfare of those that use them upon Earth If not mankind have been sadly deceiv'd for in all Ages and Places of the World the
confession that he hath a Right to do it if he survive his Royal Brother otherwise the Law is needless and fights with a meer Chimera or Shadow Besides the Bill of Exclusion is in its own Nature and the Intention of the Authors of it either a Cautionary and Preventive or a Penal Bill or both a Cautionary and Preventive Bill to keep a Papist whether real or supposed I here dispute not from the Crown if so it strongly asserts the Dukes Right because without such a Prevention if he be the longer Liver the Crown will regularly and de jure devolve upon him or else a Penal Bill design'd to punish his revolt from ours to the Roman Church but what sense is it to punish him with the loss of that to which he hath no Right This is as wise as if the Venetians upon some Offence committed by their Duke should make a Law that he should never be King of France 't is brutum fulmen an empty noise and insignificant sound 't is a Law Penal and yet inflicts no Punishment a Diminution and yet the Person is no way lessen'd nor degraded by it His Royal Highness then the Excluders themselves being Judges hath a Right to succeed the King and that the Injustice of their attempt to take it from him may the better appear I shall briefly consider the greatness of this Right or the value of the thing they would deprive him of 'T is an old saying de minimis non curat Lex the Law takes no care about trifles and petty things but overlooks them as below its notice and concern But a Crown sure deserves to be reckon'd inter maxima amongst them that are greatest and most precious and that Law that takes no care to secure it to the Right owner much more that would Rob or deprive him of it ought to be abhorr'd and branded as summa injuria the highest Injury 't is not properly a Law but Impudent Tyranny and Oppression a Conspiracy or Combination of unjust Men to degrade a Prince and devest him of the greatest Right for such the Royal Dignity hath ever been Esteemed by Mankind and their high Value and Admiration of it appear from their Envy at them that have it and their bold attempts to Invade and Usurp it The greatest Enemies of Kings have been are and will be such as are desirous to be so themselves The Rich Orient Jewels that adorn a Crown cast such a tempting Lustre and look so Lovely in the Eyes of Corah and all his Sons that their murmurs and complaints against those that own it do commonly proceed from a Vehement desire to wear it themselves who being misled by their Ambition think it a Glorious Theft to Steal a Crown A prize so Rich and Valuable in their Opinion that they will seize it if they can upon any terms run the greatest hazards expose themselves to the most dreadful Dangers to obtain it attempt it as Jason did the Golden Fleece though watch'd by Dragons and guarded with all the Artillery of Heaven and Earth Bewitch'd and dazled with the splendour of a Royal Throne mad Corah will venture to invade it till oppress'd with the burthen of his Pride and Folly the Earth grows weary of and swallows him up Flatter'd with the delusive hopes of ascending this Foolish Absalon forgetting the Piety and Duty of a Son seduced the mutinous Tribes from their Allegiance to His Royal Father and by their Arms endeavour'd to Depose him whom Heaven it self had invested with the Government and nothing could reclaim the Traytor till he and his Ambition were buried together Search all Histories look out the best the bravest Prince that ever wore a Diadem a Prince adornd with the noblest and most lovely Vertues inrich'd with all those admirable perfections that can endear him to God and men yet these cannot secure him from the Tongues and Conspiracies of Traytors but with Impudent Calumny they will slander him to his People endeavour with cursed Lies to stain his Innocence blemish his vertues and to blast his Glories that they may rob him of the love and esteem of his People bring them by degrees to a dislike both of his Person and Government and so prepare them to take Arms against and depose him What Prince was ever more Merciful and Compassionate then King David as being fashioned and framed wholly according to his Heart who is the God of Mercy and Compassion Yet wicked Sheba the Son of Bichri lifted up his Hand against him and blew the Trumpet of Schism and Sedition to rent his Kingdom from him That peaceful and moderate Emperour Augustus honour'd by his Enemies for his God and the King Pa. 3d. Princely Vertues was assayled ten several times by Conspirators Vespasian even composed of Mildness and Clemency had daily Treasons against him and his Son Titus for his Pleasing and Amiable vertues termed by Suetonius the Love and Delight of Mankind wanted not a Trayterous Caecina Our Martyr'd Soveraign King Charles the Blessed that Mirrour of all Vertues in whom all the Glory and Perfections of his Illustrious Ancestors met and were United how was he Blasphem'd Dishonour'd Ruin'd by them that envied and aspir'd after his Royal Dignity and said with those Wicked men in the Gospel This is the Heir come let us kill him and seize his Inheritance Were Tyrants only subject to the Clamours and Mutinies of the People their misgovernment might justly be accounted the Sole cause of them but seeing the best the most just and mercyful Princes are equally assaulted by them it can be nothing but Envey or Ambition that prompts the chief Rebels and leading Mutineers to enterprise against them They think the Royal Dignity so Superlative a Glory such a transcendent Felicity that they repine and are grieved any should enjoy it but themselves and do what they can to jostle him that is by wright possessed of it out of the Throne that they may Seat themselves in it For though all Rebels pretend the common good yet they all intend their private Profit Honour and Advancement this is the mark they aim at that is only the Colour or Pretence with which they wheedle the People and draw them to their assistance The People 't is certain cannot be better nor happyer then under the Protection of a wise and good Prince under his Wings they are safe and free from Violence and Oppression Here then all Rebels begin their Base and Wicked attempts against their Prince this is their first work to perswade the People who are not so wise as to know when they are well that their Prince is not the Person they take him for neither Loves nor cares for them seems to be tender of their Rights only to make them secure that when opportunity serves he may seize them into his own Hands and spoyl them of all they have Or if the Princes Justice be so great that it cannot be blasted and no aspersions will stick
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
Regions above for his most faithful Servants So that a Popish King cannot be safe unless he sets up that Religion he must be a Zealous Assertor Promoter and Maintainer of it or else his own Party will depose and lay his Honour in the Dust down he must come unless a special Providence Guard him descend into his Grave by a violent and untimely Fate if he do not Imploy all his Power and skill to advance or set up that if he refuse to do this he Ruins and undoes himself for being of that Religion he must have some of its Priests to perform the Sacred Offices of it which gives them access to his Person and consequently Oppertunity to Dispatch him And therefore if his Royal Highness be a Papist and as such comes to the Crown by refusing to set up that Religion he will expose himself to the fiercest Rage of that party and Consequently to the greatest Danger though that rage of theirs will be most unreasonable because unprofitable to them all the rest of the Royal Family being known and professed Protestants so that no advantage can accrue to them by his Deposition or Death Besides 't is very probable that he may have no fear or Apprehension at all of it for if he be a Convert to that Church to be sure he hath a good Oppinion of it and thinks them honest Men or else he would never have joyn'd himself to them and being so Perswaded how can he apprehend any danger from them if he do not set up that Religion which he agrees with them in their Profession of He may think he doth the Romish Faith Honour enough by the open owning of it and sufficient Service as his Example is a great allurement to invite others to imbrace it and he may Consider that to set it up by force will produce such Cruelty and Oppressions let in so many Miseries that his Clemency and Goodness may oblige him to abhor the thoughts of doing it If it be said that every Man desires to Propagate and Advance his own Religion and therefore the Duke if he be King will have the same desire to Promote his I grant it but then I say every Man will not make use of unjust and cruel Methods for that purpose but endeavour to win Men to it by Arguments and Perswasions he will do the Religion he is of all the Right and Service he can without wronging others he will by fair and lawful ways gain all the Converts he can to it but he will not make Sacrifices of those that refuse it and no Man knows but this may be the Dukes Resolution if he come to be King and be a Papist To say he will think that God requires him to set it up and that he cannot be Saved unless he do it is to say that he will think God requires him to make three Kingdoms Miserable to commit many Oppressions Cruelties and Murders and that such Horrid things as these which God forbids and declares to be Damnable are necessary to his Salvation which are most Unreasonable for any man that is truly Religious to think If the Duke think the Roman to be the true Religion he will think God requires him to beleive and profess it and to Endeavour by all Lawful means to Convert his People to it but if those do not Prevail he must in reason think himself Obliged no farther because the using cruel and unlawful means to that Purpose is Apparently Destructive of that Salvation which he designs to obtain by Imbracing that Religion And being assured God will not be Displeased with him if he do not set it up because it cannot be done without doing those things against which his Wrath is revealed from Heaven he may either Apprehend no danger from the Professors of it or if he do despise it relying upon the Divine Protection which his Consulting the safety and welfare of the People is a great Endearment of For if he set up the Romish Religion the People must either become its Proselytes or not If they do they lose Heaven If they do not they are sure to be Miserable upon Earth For Men to profess known Errours and to Practise Gross and known Sins must needs be Damnable but all Protestants know and are Convinced in their Consciences that the Romish Church is guilty of many and great Errours Sins and Impietys Errours in Doctrine Impieties Hainous Impieties in Worship such are the Images they make of God and the Divine Honour or Worship they give unto them as also their Praying to Saints Adoring their Images and Reliques and the Elements in the Eucharist with divers other Abominations which they are Guilty of and therefore for them that are convinced of the Sinfulness of these things to turn to that Church must needs be to shut themselves out of the Kingdome of Heaven But if that be too great a good to be so parted with then to secure it they must resolve to undergo all the Miseries and Cruelties and Sad things which upon their refusing the Romish Religion will break in upon them for either they must fly from the Storm become voluntary Exiles leave their Native Country their dearest Friends and Enjoyments go seek their safety and some of them their Maintainance in other Nations which is a great and sad Calamity or else stay and be Executed as Hereticks at home And seeing these will be the Lamentable consequences of his setting up the Romish Religion I desire those that are so forward to believe he will do it to consider what advantages can accrue to his Royal Highness by such violent and Tragical actions can it be any Pleasure to him to hear the Groans of Dying Men or to see the Funeral Piles of them that are Sacrifiz'd for the Faith of Christ Blaze before him Or can it be for his safety to destroy many of his best and most Loyal Subjects and by the Terrour and Severity of their Sufferings to force others to turn Papists this is to drive them from a Loyal to a Trayterous Church and how can he expect they should be true to him whom he Compells to be Unfaithful to their God Is it for his Honour to Execute the Bloody and Inhumane Sentences of Rome upon his good Subjects to be the Popes Instrument to commit what Cruelties he pleaseth in these our Brittish Islands Is not Murder an Hainous Sin and will not Innocent Blood the Blood of those that will be Slain if Popery be set up for professing the true Faith and Holy Religion of Christ cry aloud to the Righteous God for Vengeance and Provoke him to punish him here with a short Reign with the Terrours of a guilty Conscience with one Plague and Judgment after another till he pass from Hence to the other World and instead of the Glorious Crown the Pope and his Priests flatterd him with the hopes of he find an Horrid and Intolerable Ruin Search all Histories Examine all the Annals of the
take for a favour to have yeilded to me That a Papist is a Christian though an Erring one and then all the dispute between the Excluders and me in the great Case before us comes to this Whether an Erring Christian doth by being so Forfeit his Birth-right To say he doth is an hard saying and such as can never be Justified or Defended for a Christian as all other Men may do may Err either in Judgment or Practice or Both. Errour in Judgment if it rests there can forfeit no Mans Right because it is injurious to none but the Erring Person himself and cannot be known to any but the great Searcher of Hearts and therefore no humane Laws can Punish it If any Errour then forfeits a Mans Right it must be Errour in Practice because this is both open or manifest and may be mischievous or hurtful to others but every Errour in practice every Sin that is cannot forfeit a Common or Ordinary Right much less so Great Transcendent and Extraordinary a Right as this to a Crown To say it can or doth is a sure way to deter all Men from being Christians for who will be so if by doing any Evil Action he forfeits all his Happiness in Heaven and all his Injoyments and Expectations upon Earth That indeed is recoverable by Repentance but it is uncertain whether any Repentance can restore a Man to these being once forfeited and as such alienated or taken from him because 't is doubtful whether he that hath them in possession will ever restore them to the first Owner And therefore no Man that considers the Frailty of his nature the great and manifold Temptations to which he is exposed and the necessity and usefulness of that Estate or Property to his comfortable subsistence in this World which he hath either acquir'd by his Labour and Industry or descends to him by Inheritance will ever be a Christian if by being so every Sin he commits doth forfeit that Estate or Property So Injurious to the most Holy and Excellent Religion of Christ and that which tends to the utter Ruin and Destruction of it is that Originally Popish and since by Adoption Presbyterian Principle That all Dominion is founded in Grace that no private Person hath any Right to his Estate or Property nor any Prince or Monarch to bear Rule or Authority over others any longer than he is an Holy and Gracious Person and in the favour of God Upon this Principle the Pope proceeds when he Excommunicates and Deposeth Princes that profess the Reformed Religion that Profession in his Opinion makes them Hereticks and their Persisting in it declares them Obstinate or such as will not be Reformed which are he thinks two great Sins to deny that which he calls the Faith and to continue stubbornly in that denial by which in his Judgment they forfeit their Royal Dignity which being lapsed to him the Supreme Minister of Christ upon Earth is absolutely at his disposal so that he may give it to whom he pleaseth Upon this Principle also the prosperous Rebells in the late times seiz'd the Government and the Revenues of it plunder'd sequester'd deprived the Loyal party of their Estates call'd them Malignants say'd they were great Sinners Persons either void of or fallen from all Grace and being so their Estates were forfeited which they being the Saints and People of God might justly take possession of and convert to their own use So glad are men Knavishly inclin'd of any Religious pretence or colour for their Rapines and Injustice but I shall endeavour to strip them of this covering that it may never more be a Cloak for their Avarice and Oppressions That this is a false as well as wicked and mischievous Principle may be proved divers Subsect 1 ways For first if now under the Christian Religion Dominion be founded in Grace it must be so founded by the Decree and Declaration of Christ himself contained in the new Testament but that gives us no notice nor information at all of any such decree or appointment of his therefore there is there can be no such thing Search all the four Gospels and all the Sacred Writings of the Apostles and there will be nothing found in them to countenance or favour so wild a Principle 'T is true indeed our Lord hath intermix'd some few Temporal promises with his great and noble offers of Eternal rewards and injoyments that our obedience to his excellent Laws might be excited and encouraged with the expectation both of present and future advantages such is that when charging his Disciples not to be too thoughtful or solicitous for the things of the Earth he said seek ye first the Kingdom of God St. Math. 6. 33. and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you never afflict nor trouble your selves about these mean and despicable things let it be your constant study and endeavour to obey my Laws and to lead the pure and vertuous lives they injoyn you and then you may be confident you shall want nothing either necessary or convenient for you in this World he that cloaths the Lillies in such brave and splendid Vestments and feeds the young Ravens that cry unto him will take care of and extend his Royal Bounty to you his devout Worshippers and faithful Servants And to this great promise I suppose the Apostle refers when he saith That Godliness is profitable unto all things having promise of the Life that now is as well as of that which is to come but by this promise no man hath any new Right to any Temporal possessions which he had not before but it only assures him of Gods Blessing that he will by his gracious providence and bounty supply him with all things necessary for his present support which may be done by prospering his labour and diligence in an honest Calling or by exciting others to extend their Bounty and Charity to him but Christ doth not say obey my Laws live up exactly to the Rules of my Religion and I will inrich you with the Wealth and Estates of those men that either oppose my Doctrine or if they profess do not observe or act according to it assure your selves that notwithstanding all I have done to convert them many will not believe in me nor all of them that do obey me and the want of Faith in the one and of Obedience exact and intire Obedience in the other will forfeit all their temporal properties and possessions which I bequeath as my Royal Donative to you and to my Saints for ever Such a Declaration as this would have made it clear that Dominion is founded in Grace but he hath said nothing that in the least measure looks like any such thing unless that promise to the meek may seem to some to have an aspect that way Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth The meek are opposed to those that are angry and passionate and they are the mild
the Kingdom of Heaven which must in Reason signifie something more than other Christians have otherwise they that are not would be as Blessed as they that are Persecuted nay more Happy because they would without being Miserable in this obtain Crowns as Glorious and Rewards as great as they in the other World the Apostle also Affirms It is a Faithful saying if we be 2 Tim. 2. 11 12. Dead with him we shall also Live with him if we Suffer we shall also Reign with him if we Deny him he also will Deny us And if they that Suffer with or for shall Reign with him and they that deny him to escape Suffering shall be disown'd or deny'd by him every Man that believes he Reigns in Heaven and considers what a Blessed Desirable thing it is to Reign be Glorifi'd there with him instead of being Affrighted at it will think it most Prudent and Reasonable to deny himself take up his Cross and follow him to part with every thing that is Dear to Suffer every thing that is Dreadful to him here when he cannot keep the one nor avoid the other without Sin that he may obtain such a transcendent Reward and so admirable or illustrious an Exaltation This will Teach him to Reckon with St. Paul That the Sufferings of this present time are not Worthy to be compared Rom. 6. 18. with the Glory that shall be Revealed in him the present Suffering or Affliction as he tells us elsewhere being Light and but for a Moment but the Glory Great and Durable a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory And as the Holy Scriptures make such High and Noble Offers to all that Suffer for Christ so 't is certain the Primitive Church which was the best Expounder of Scripture thought the Martyrs had a greater Reward than other Pious Christians an Additional Coronet over and above the great Crown of Righteousness and accordingly St. Cyprian speaks of two Epist Martyribus Confes Christ ad finem Crowns the one white as the Gracious Recompence of good Works of their pure and unspotted Lives the other purple as the Glorious Reward of their Dying for the Faith of Christ But however that is the Apostle puts it out of doubt that there are Degrees of Glory and Different Rewards in Heaven There is one Glory of 1 Cor 15 41. 42. the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory so also is the Resurrection of the Dead And if there be different Rewards after this Life it is Reasonable to believe the Blessed Martyrs have the most sparkling Crowns and the biggest Recompence in the Glorious Regions above because they gave the highest Testimony of their Love and Zeal for Christ by Dying for him 'T is not then so Miserable and Despicable a thing as the Excluders think it to take up the Cross and follow Jesus to suffer all manner of Injuries Oppressions Miseries nay Death it self for his Sake because he hath Promis'd great Rewards to them that do it and having all Power both in Heaven and Earth he must needs be able to accomplish or make good that Promise 'T is true indeed no Man ought to part with his Life or Estate when he can keep them Innocently He Suffers as a Fool that doth it when there is no Danger of Sinning if he Suffer not But to use any Unjust or Sinful Arts to free our selves from Suffering such as the Project of Exclusion is must needs be highly Impious and Unchristian For Gods Sake let us keep to the same Laws of Christ do the thing that is Right and leave the rest to his Watchful and Gracious Providence then if we Suffer our Innocence will be our Comfort and Support and we shall have the Blessed hope of passing by Death to the Rich and most Happy Inheritance provided for us in Heaven Let us Labour to be good to lead the Pure and Pious Lives our Religion requires of us and then we can have no Just Cause to Tremble or be Affraid to Dye The Living saith Solomon know that they must Dye and that they can by no Art or Means avoid it And seeing we must do it can we ever Dye more Honourably Bravely and Christianly than for owning the Holy Faith and Religion of our Dear Redeemer who gave himself to Death the most bitter and shameful Death of the Cross for us So that we have his Example to invite the Noble Army of Martyrs to animate or encourage and the great Rewards they are possess'd of to ingage us patiently to bear the Cross when our Lord is pleased to send it 'T is certain that as the Laws now are no Man can be deprived either of his Life or Estate meerly for professing the Reform'd Religion therefore whilst they continue we are as safe and secure as we can desire to be So that till they are changed no Man can Suffer for that and it will be a very difficult undertaking to change them because the Laws in Favour of our Religion cannot be Abolish'd or taken Off but by consent of Parliament and it will be no easie thing for a Popish Prince if at any time such an one comes to the Crown to get a Parliament that will do it because the Knights and Burgesses that serve in Parliament without whose consent according to our present Constitution no Laws can be either Made or Abolish'd are not chose by the Prince but by the People who are so far from Electing Papists that they are too prone to Chuse Men of the other Dangerous extreme and so Ruin us that way But if either the Prince should by his writ Summon or the People so forget themselves as to Elect any Papists yet when they are so Call'd and Elected they cannot Sit as the Laws now are till they have openly and in the most solemn manner Renounced their Religion which no Men of any Honour or Conscience will do If it be said they may have Dispensations from his Holiness to take any Oaths and make any Declarations to Capacitate them to Sit in Parliament I Demand of them that say so why the Popish Lords who left the House upon that Act did not make use of that Expedient to evade the Law there is no question but they might have had Dispensations to do it and therefore their leaving the House satisfies me that they thought no Dispensations could Warrant or make it Lawful for them so to Renounce and Abjure their Religion We are as safe then already as Laws can make us and they that are so busie to get new ones trouble themselves to no purpose for if those we have at present cannot secure our Religion no other can do it Whilst the Laws then continue as they are and for my part I do not apprehend how they can be changed we cannot Suffer but if these that are a Safe-guard and Defence to
head But this is right Fanatick Practise for that savage and barbarous Faction is both most cruel and base it thirsts after and delights in Blood the Blood of Princes and attempts to shed it by Surprise and Treachery And if enquiry be made what moved them to this execrable Conspiracy what irritated or inraged them thus against the King it will be found to be nothing but pure Malice that they had no ill usage offer'd no provocation given to tempt them to such a wickedness for the King is Inferiour to none of his Renowned Ancestors in Justice Mercy Kindness to and Care of his People the Laws are the measures of his Government he neither exhausts his Subjects by Arbitrary Exactions nor consumes them by Needless Wars but is pleas'd to make it his constant Care and Study to Preserve them in Piety Peace and Plenty What detestable Villany and Ingratitude is it then for any of his People to requite his Love with Hatred the most Cruel and Deadly Hatred to Conspire together not to let him Live under whose Peaceful Mild and Equal Government they are blessed above all the People of the World and happy to the admiration of all their Neighbour Nations 'T is true indeed no Injuries Oppressions or Cruelties from their Prince can ever Warrant or make it Lawful for Subjects to Conspire his Death or to take Arms against him for if they resist much more if they invade or assault him St. Paul tells them they shall receive to themselves Damnation But yet when their Treasons are causless and unprovoked as this was they must needs be most Wicked and Damnable because they have nothing but the Devil and meer Malice to instigate the Impious Wretches to them And if this execrable Treason had succeeded what a deplorable Condition had the People been in Instead of a most just and merciful Prince who Loves and is a Father to them they had been Slaves to and groan'd under the Cruelties and Oppressions of God knows how many merciless Tyrants The City in which Justice used to Reign would have been full of Bloud and Violence The Country where the happy People injoy'd their Estates in peace and safety would have been turned into a Den of Thieves and Murderers When this doleful Tragedy had been noysed abroad all the Loyal and Good People of the Nation would have been seiz'd with Horrour and Amazement drown'd in Tears expres'd their deep and vehement Sorrow with hideous Outcries and Lamentations have filled Heaven and Earth with Complaints and doleful Exclamations Their Ruin too would have been great and inevitable their Lives exposed to the armed Violence their Estates to the insatiable Rapine and Avarice of those bloody Villains that kill'd the King For they that could have the heart to smite the Shepherd would they have took any Pity of or have Spared the Flock No no! The Loyal Party would have tasted the same bitter fate with their Prince their bloudy Swords would have made havock of all that stood in their way Death and Slaughter would have Reign'd every where the whole Nation would have been an Aceldama a great burying place The French and Irish Massacres and all the Cruelties of Ancient and Modern times had been petty things in compare with this black Tragedy a Conspiracy so execrable and villanous that it will exceed the Faith of the next as much as it doth the Expression of the present Age. And if you will according to our Saviours Rule which is the surest way of Judging judg of the Tree by the Fruit it bears you cannot but see how impious your Project of Exclusion is that hath brought forth such fruit prompted some of the Zealots for it with other Wicked Wretches to such a damnable Conspiracy as this which would if not prevented by the Infinite goodness of God have cut off the King and his Royal Highness undone all his good Subjects and ruin'd Three flourishing Kingdoms that would have Excluded or Banish'd all Peace Piety and Happiness and let in Prophaneness Oppression and Misery So that if you will speak the Truth you must acknowledg your crime to be exceeding great in making choice of such a sinful Expedient and if you desire to be forgiven your Repentance must be equal to your Crime that is you must confess and forsake it Confess it to God and beseech him to forgive the great Offence you have committed against him Go to the King and humbly beg his Pardon that you should cause him so much danger bring his most precious Life into so great Peril that you should advise or propose any thing that minister'd occasion or temptation to violent and blood thirsty men to attempt any thing either against his Person or Government or that you should do any thing to create trouble and vexation to his Royal Soul or destroy his quiet and tranquillity Let him know how much you are grieved for these your Errours and Offences and that you should be ashamed to live but that you hope his Royal Clemency will forgive and your unfeigned Loyalty for the future make reparation for what you have done amiss Go to his Royal Highness and confess the horrid injuries the high and shameful injustice you have offer'd him that forgetting the Honour due to him as a Prince you have treated him most rudely and despitefully so that by the Law of Retaliation he might return the same severe measure to you that you have tender'd to him that as you have proudly and disdainfully said of him as the stubborn Jews did of Christ We will not have this Man Rule over us so he if he ever come to be King may say concerning you with the Prince in the Gospel But those mine enemies which would not that I St. Luke 19. 27. should Reign over them bring them hither and slay them before me 'T is certain that by your unjust and unworthy behaviour towards him you have given the Duke great provocation which nothing but Repentance can appease for when nothing else can do it Submission and Sorrowful Acknowledgment of the errour or offence committed will pacifie a brave and generous person as his Royal Highness is Let this then be your method go to him and acknowledg the injuries you have done him and humbly beg his pardon beseech him as Shimei did King David not to impute iniquity to you neither to remember what you did perversly in the days of fear and danger when the rumours of Popery and the discovery of the horrid Conspiracy of the Papists frighted you almost out of your wits tell him that men in a great fright are apt to run into extravagancies neither know nor consider what they do but say and do such things which at other times they would be ashamed of humbly represent to him that some allowances are to be made you upon that account and though nothing can excuse yet his generosity can and you hope will forgive the high offences you have committed against
so many and great expressions of his Goodness proved himself a Father and a Friend to or Lover of mankind takes no notice or care of them is to say the falsest and most unreasonable of all things because it is either to deny Wisdom Power and Goodness or to make them Superfluous or of no use at all And if he protect or take care of any 't is most reasonable to suppose the just and pious persons are those he extends that favour to because they do in some measure resemble him and are the only Persons he delights in for The Eyes of the Lord saith the Prophet are over the Righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers that is he loves and favours them highly hears them graciously and therefore guards or defends them carefully This is so certain that it is a very hard if not impossible thing to find any Nation or People professing his Truth and obeying his Laws whilst they continue in that profession and obedience so forsaken by God as to be given up to the will of their Enemies to be Ruin'd that is and destroy'd by them Their Zeal for his Glory their Reverence for his Laws their Piety and Holiness must decline and degenerate before he will cast them off particular persons though of great Innocence and Vertues may and do frequently suffer in this World but then their Crowns are brighter and their Reward greater for it in that which is to come but as for Societies of pious and good People if they be not rewarded upon Earth they cannot be rewarded at all their present Peace Safety and Prosperity being all the recompence they can receive from God as a Nation And it is a truth attested by the observation and experience of all the World that Judgments seldom if ever come Calamity and Ruin rarely fall upon a People till their great and general contempt of his Laws provokes the Almighty to inflict them Let it be our earnest care and endeavour therefore to become a righteous Nation and an holy People make it appear that we truly love our Religion by leading the pure and blameless Lives it requires of us then we shall be as safe and happy as we can possibly be in this World for the tender Providence of God will watch over and preserve our King and Us either make our Enemies to be at Peace with or deprive them of all Power to hurt us then the Truth shall flourish in this our Earth and our excellent Religion take such deep root in the Nation that no power nor policy either of Devils or Men shall be able to hurt or destroy it These as they are innocent so they are sure preservatives which every Man may and ought to make use of And besides these we have excellent Laws which are a mighty safe-guard and defence both to the King and the Establish'd Religion so that we want nothing for our security having the gracious Providence of God to guard and protect us if we commend our selves to it by devout Prayer and holy Living and such Laws to be a preservative to us that it is a vain thing to attempt either to mend or multiply them because if these cannot secure us none can All that can be done more is to remove the Subsect 7. Scandals or whatever may give his Royal Highness supposing him to be a Papist any cause to be offended at our Church for though it be not just to blame that for the Errours and Misdemeanours of them that either are or pretend to be of it because it gives no countenance nor encouragement to them yet seeing our adversaries take every occasion to asperse it 't is both prudent and necessary to take out of the way whatever may have any colour or appearance of a just objection against it create in him an ill Opinion either of Us or the Religion we profess These may be reduced to Three Heads The lamentable Schisms or Divisions that are amongst us The open Prophaneness and Wickedness into which the Nation is lapsed The great Injustice and Indignities that have been offer'd to the Duke himself First The lamentable Schisms or Divisions amongst us there being no where more sharp and bitter contentions more implacable feuds and quarrels such numerous and peevish Sects as amongst us that profess the most Pure and Primitive Christianity for by the just judgment of God our Adversaries say ever since we departed from the Catholick Church so they call the Roman like the Dove that went out of the Ark we can find no rest for the Soles of our Feet cannot agree amongst our selves nor follow that Peace without which and holiness the Apostle affirms no Man shall see the Lord but divide and subdivide separate or run from one another and are become a very Babel or Confusion This they object against and think a mighty reproach to us nay take it for a sure Prognostick of the approaching fall and ruin of our Church because our Lord affirms that an House or Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand which they use as an Artifice to draw People from us To this I answer that it is true indeed our Schisms or Divisions are great and deplorable that we are broken into Sects and Factions are a distracted and divided Nation But then the Question is how we came to be so and what the causes are from which they spring That the guilt of them doth not ly upon our Church is certain because it gives no just provocation to any to Separate from the Communion of it it teaches no False nor Erroneous Doctrines makes no new Articles of Faith nor any other Conditions of Salvation but those propounded and requir'd as such in Scripture It sets up no forbidden Way of Worship presumes not to inlarge the Essentials of it or to make any thing a part of Gods Worship which he hath not injoyn'd as such 'T is true indeed our Church determins the modes and circumstances of it because all Churches do it and they are not determin'd in Scripture and are so necessary to be determin'd that unless it be done the Essentials or Moral part of Gods Worship cannot be perform'd and because the leaving them Arbitrary would produce endless disorders and confusions But then these Ceremonies are not culpable as to their number unlawful in themselves as contrary to the word of God sinful in their use as being made means of grace or having any holiness ascribed to them or so highly esteemed as to be thought necessary to recommend or render the worship it self acceptable or pleasing to God nor made of perpetual obligation but are declared to be mutable Constitutions or such as may be changed or varyed as occasion serves nay quite abolish'd or taken away upon just causes by the same Authority that Instituted or Ordained them The Government also of our Church by the Right Reverend Bishops is that which is Commended in Scripture was Instituted by Christ Setled by his Apostles