Insecuring that it preserv'd the Tranquility of the Empire Nor till the time of Celestine Bishop of Rome were the Novations disturbed And the Persecution of them and the Assumption of the secular Power began much at the same time But the Novations at Constantinople were not so dealt withal for the Greek Bishops continued to permit them the quiet enjoyment of their dissenting Assemblies as Socrates tells us in his fifth and seventh Book of Ecclesiastical Story I shall descend nearer our own times for notwithstanding no Age has been more furiously moved then that which Jovianus found and therefore the Experiment of Indulgence was never better made yet to speak more in view of this time of day we find our Contemporaries of remoter Judgments in Religion under no manner of difficulty in this point The Grand Signior great Mogul Zars of Mnscovia King of Persia the great Monarchs of the East have long allow'd and prosper'd with a Toleration And who does not know that this gave Great Tamerlan his mighty Victories In these Western Countries we see the same thing Cardinal d'Ossat in his 92d Letter to Villroy Secretary to Hâ—nry the fourth of France gives us Doctrine and Example for the Subject in hand Besides says he that Necessity has no Law be it in what case it will our Lord Jesus Christ instructs us by his Gospel To let the Tares alone lest removing them may endanger the Wheat That other Catholick Princes have allow'd it without Rebuke That particularly the Dake of Savoy who as great a Zâ—â—â—ot as he would be thought for the Catholick Religion Tolerates the Hereticks in three of his Provinces namely Aâ—groyne Luerne and Perose That the King of Poland does as much not only in Sweedland but in Poland itself That all the Princes of the Austrian Family that are celebrated as Pillars of the Catholick Church do the like not only in the Town of the Empire but in their proper Territories as in Austria it self from whence they take the Name of their Honour In Hungary Bohemia Moravia Lusatia Stirria Camiolia and Croatia the like That Charles ' the fifth Father of the King of Spain was the Person that taught the King of France and other Princes how to yield to such Emergencies That his Son the present King of Spain who is esteemed Arch Catholick and that is as the Atlas of the Catholick Church Tolerates notwithstanding at this day in his Kingdomes of Valentia and Granada the Moors themselves in their Mâ—humatisme and has offer'd to those of Zealand Holland and other Hereticks of the Low-Countries the free Exercise of their pretended Religion so that they will but acknowledge and Obey him in Civil Matters It was of those Letters of this extraordinary Man for so he was whether we regard him in his Ecclesiastical Dignity or his greater Christian and Civil Prudence that the great Lord Fulkland said A Minister of State should no more be without Cardinal d' Ossat's Letters than a Parson without his Bible And indeed if we look into France we shall find the Indulgence of those Protestants hath been a flourishing to that Kingdom as their Arms a Succour to their King 'T is true that since they help't the Ministers of his Greatness to Success that haughty Monarch has changed his Measures and resolves their Conformity to his own Religion or their Ruin but no man can give another Reason for it than that he thinks it for his turn to please that part of his own Church which are the present necessary and unwearied Instruments of his absolute Glory But let us see the end of this Conduct it will require more time to approve the Experiment As it was the Royal Saying of Stephen King of Poland That he was a King of Men and not of Conscience a Commander of Bodies and not of Souls So we see a Toleration has been practised in that Country of a long time with no ill Success to the State the Cities of Cracovia Racovia and many other Towns of Note almost wholly dissenting from the common Religion of the Kingdom which is Roman Catholick as the others are Socinian and Calvanist the most opposite to that as well as to themselves The King of Denmark in his large Town of Altona but about a Mile from Hambrough and therefore called so that is All to near is a pregnant proof of our point For though his Seat be so remote from that place and another strong and insinuating State so near yet under his Indulgence of divers Perswasions they enjoy that Peace and he that Security that he is not upon better Terms in any of his more Immediate and Vniform Dominions I leave it to the thinking Reader if it be not much owing to this Freedom and that a contrary course were not the way for him to furnish his Neighbours with means to Depopulate that place or make it uneasie and chargeable to him to keep If we look into other parts of Germany where we find a Stout and War-like People fierce for the thing they opine or believe we shall find the Prince Palatine of the Rhine safe and more potent by his Indulgence 〈◊〉 his Improvements at Mâ—nhine And as believe me 〈◊〉 the Prince to his People in other things so in this to the Empire for he has made bold with the Constitution of it in the Latitude he gives his Subjects in this Affair The Duke of Bradenburg is himself a Calvanist his People mostly Lutherain yet in part of his Dominions the Roman-Catholicks enjoy their Churches quietly The Duke of Newburg and a strict Roman Catholick Brother-in-Law to the present Emperor in his Province of Juliers has not only at Dewsburg Mulheim and other places but in Deuseldorp it self where the Court resides Lutherain and Calvanist as well as Roman Catholick Assemblies The Duke of Saxony by Religion a Lutherain in his City of Budissin has both Lutherains and Roman Catholicks in the same Church parted only by a Grate In Ausburg they have two chief Magistrates as their Duumvirat one must alwayes be a Roman Catholick and the other a Lutherain The Bishop of Osnabrug is himself a Lutherain and in the Town of his Title the Roman Catholicks as well as Lutherains have their Churches and which is more the next Bishop must be a Catholick too for like the Buckets in the Well they take turns one way to be sure so that one be but in the Right From hence we will go to Sultzbach a small Territory but has a great Prince I mean in his own extraordinary Qualities for among other things we shall find him act the Moderator among his People By profession he is a Roman Catholick but has Simultaneum Religionis Exercitium not only Lutherains and Roman Catholicks enjoy their different Worships but alternatively in one and the same place the same day so ballancing his Affection by his Wisdom that there appears neither Partiality in him nor Envy in them though of such opposite Perswasions I
sure this Course hath succeeded well elsewhere even in Monarchiacal States And therefore in it self not inconsistent with Monarachy And Lastly Because this Freedom will be best kept and improv'd to the publick Benefit by maintaining a good Understanding between the divers Orders of Christians within themselves 'T were farther requisit That first No Nick-Names were continued and all Terms of Reproach on all hands punishable Secondly That Controversial Points were carefully avoided and Vice declin'd and Holiness prest Without which St. Paul tells us no-man shall see the Lord. God Almighty inspire the KING's Heart and those of his Great Council to be the Instruments of this Blessing to the Kingdom I shall conclude this Perswasive with the Judgment of some Pious Fathers and Renowned Princes QUadratus and Aristides wrote two Apologies to Adrian for the Christian Faith and against the Persecution of it Iustin Martyr an excellent Philosopher and Christian writ two learned Disswasives against Persecution which he dedicated as I take it to Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Melito Bishop of Sardis a good and learned man 〈◊〉 smart Defence for the Christian Religion and a Toleration dedicated to Verus Tertullian in his most sharp and excellent Apology for the Christians fastens Persecution upon the Gentiles as an inseperable Mark of Superstition and Error as he makes the Christian Patience a Sign of Truth In his Discourse to Scapula he sayes 'T is not the property of Religion to Persecute for Religion she should be received for her self not Force Hilliary an early and learned Father against Auxentius saith The Christian Church does not persecute but is persecuted Atticus Bishop of Constantinople would by no means have the Minister of Nice to respect any Opinion or Sect whatsoever in the Distribution of the Money sent by him for the Relief of Christians and by no means to prejudice those that practise a contrary Doctrine and Faith to theirs That he should be sure to relieve those that hunger thirst and have not wherewith to help themselves and make that the rule of his consideration In short he made the Hereticks to have his Wisdom in Admiration in that he would by no means trouble or molest them Proclus another Bishop of Constantinople was of this Opinion That it was far easier by fair means to allure unto the Church than by force to compell He determined to vex no Sect whatever but restored to the Church the renowned Virtue of Meekness required in Christian Ministers If we will next hear the Historians own Judgment upon a Toleration I am of opinion says he that he is a Persecutor that in any kind of way molesteth such men as lead a quiet and peaceable Life Thus Socrates in his third Book In his seventh he tells us That the Bishop of Sinada indeed did banish the Hereticks but neither did he this says he according to the Rule of the Catholick Church which is not 〈◊〉 to persecute l. 7. Lactantius tells the angry men of his time thus If you will with Blood Evil and Torments defend your Worship it shall not thereby be defended but polluted Chrysastom saith expresly That it is nâ—â— the manner of the Children of God to persecute about their Religion but an evident Token of Antichrist Thus the Fathers and Doctors of the first Ages That Emperors and Princes have thus believed let us hear some of greatest note and most pressing to us Ierom a good and learned Father saith That Heresie must be cut off with the Sword of the Spirit Constantinus the Father of Constantine the great laid this down for a Principle That those that were Disloyal to God would never be trusty to their Prince And which is more he liv'd thus and so dy'd as his great Speech to his great Son on his Death-bed amply evidences Constantine the Great in his Speech to the Roman Senate tells them There is this difference between Humane and Divine Homage and Service that the one is compell'd and the other ought to be free Eusebius Pamphili in the Life of Constantine tells us that in his Prayer to God he said Let thy People I beseech thee desire and maintain Peace living free from Sedition to the common good and benefit of all the World and those that are
will end these forregin Instances with a Prince and Bishop all in one and he a Roman Catholick too and that is the Bishop of Mentz who admits with a very Peaceable success such Lutherains with his Catholicks to enjoy their Churches as live in his Town of Erford Thus does Practice tells us that neither Monarchy nor Hierarchy are in danger from a Toleration On the contrary the Laws of the Empire which are the Acts of the Emperor and the Soveraign Princes of it have tolerated these three Religious Perswasions viz. the Roman-Catholick Lutherain and Calvanist and they may as well tolerate three more for the same Reasons and with the same Success For it is not their greater nearerness or consistency in Doctrine or in Worship On the contrary they differ much and by that and other Circumstances are sometimes engaged in great Controversies yet is a Toleration practicable the way of Peace with them And which is closest to our point at home it self we see that a Toleration of the Iews French and Dutch Churches in England both Dissenters from the National Way And the Connivance that has been in Ireland And the down-right Toleration in most of his Majesties Plantations abroad proves the Assertion That Toleration is not dangerous to Monarchy For Experience tells us where it is in any degree admitted the King's Affairs prosper most People Wealth and Strength being sure to follow such Indulgence But after all that I have said in Reason and Fact why Toleration is safe to Monarchy Story tells us that worse things have befallen Princes in Countries under Ecclesiastical Vnion than in places under divided forms of Worship and so tolerating Countries stand to the Prince more than upon equal terms with conforming ones And where Princes have been exposed to hardship in tolerating Countries they have as often come from the Conforming as Non-conforming party and so the Dissenter is upon equal terms to the Prince or State with the Conformist The first is evident in the Iews under the conduct of Moses their Dissention came from the men of their own Tribes such as Corah Dathan and Abiram with their pertakers To say nothing of the Gentiles The Miseries and Slaughters of Mauritius the Emperor proves my point who by the greatest Church-men of his time was withstood and his Servant that perpetrated the Wickedness by them substituted in his room because more officious to their Grandure What power but that of the Church dethron'd Childrek King of France and set Pippin in his place The miseries of the Emperors Henry the fourth and fifth Father and Son from their rebellious Subjects raised and animated by the power of Conformists dethroning both as much as they could are notorious 'T is as plain that Sigismond King of Sweedland was rejected by that Lutherain Country because he was a Roman-Catholick If we come nearer home which is most suitable to the Reasons of the discourse we find the Church-men take part with William Rufus and Henry the first against Robert their elder Brother and after that we see some of the greatest of them make Head against their King namely Anselm Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and his party as did his Successor Thomas of Becket to the second Henry Stephen Usurpt the Crown when there was a Church Vnion And King John lived miserable for all that and at last dyed by one of his own Religion too The Dissentions that agitated the Reign of his Son Henry the third and the Barrons War with Bishop Grosteeds Blessing to Mumford their General The Deposition and Murther of the second Edward Richard sixth Henry and his Son the Prince The Vsurpation of Richard the third and the Murther of the Sons of Edward the fourth in the Tower of London The civil War that followed between him and the Earl of Richmond afterwards our wise Henry the seventh were all perpetrated in a Country of one Religion and by the Hands of Conformists In short if we will but look upon the civil War that so long raged in this Kingdom between the Houses of York and Laneaster and consider that they professed but one and the same Religion and both back't with numbers of Church-men too to say nothing of the Miserable end of many of our Kings princely Ancestors in Scotland especially the first and third James will find cause to say That Church-Vniformity is not a Security for Princes to depend upon If we will look next into Countries where Dissenters from the National Church are tolerated we shall find the Conformist not less Culpable than the Dissenter The Disorders among the Iews after they were settled in the Land that God had given them came not from those they tolerated but themselves They cast off Samuel and the Government of the Judges 'T was the Children of the National Church that fell in with the Ambition of Absolom and animated the Rebellion against his Father David They were the same that revolted from Solomon's Son and cryed in behalf of Jeroboam To your Tents O Israel Not two Ages ago the Church of France too generally fell in with the Family of Guise against their lawful Soveraign Henry the fourth Nor were they without Countenance of the greatest of their Belief who stiled it an holy War at that time fearing not without cause the Defection of that Kingdom from the Roman See In this conjuncture the Dissenters made up the best part of that King's Armies and by their Loyalty and Blood preserved the Blood Royal of France and set the Crown on the Head of that Prince That King was twice assinated and the last time murdered as was Henry the third his Predecessor but they fell one by the hand of a Church-man the other at least by a Conformist 'T is true that the next civil War was between the Catholicks and the Hugenots under the conduct of Cardinal Richlien and the Duke of Roan But as I will not justifie the Action so their Liberties and Cautions so solemnly settled by Henry the fourth as the reward of their singular Merit being by the Ministry of that Cardinal invaded they say they did but defend their own and that rather against the Cardinal than the King whose softness suffered him to become a property to the great Wit and Ambition of that Person And there is this Reason to believe them that if it had been otherwise we are sure that King Charles the first would not in the least have countenanced their Quarrel However the Cardinal like himself wisely knew when to stop For though he thought it the Interest of the Crown to moderate their greatness and check their growth yet having fresh in Memory the Story of the fore-going Age he saw ' twaswise to have a Ballance upon occasion But this was more then recompenc'd in their first Adhesion to the Crown of France under the Ministry and Direction of the succeeding Cardinal when their Perswasion had not only Number and many good Officers to value it self upon but