NONCONFORMITY Not Inconsistent WITH LOYALTY OR Protestant-Dissenters NO SEDITIOUS OR DISLOYAL SECTARIES EVIDENC'D IN A SOBER DISCOURSE upon those STATUTES by which the Protestant-Dissenters are Prosecuted at this Day Humbly offered to the Candid Consideration of all Protestants whether Conformists or Nonconformists By JAMES JONES a Protestant-Dissenter and now a Prisoner in Wood-Street-Compter for Nonconformity Esther 3.8 9. And Haman said unto King Ahasuerus There is a Certain People Scattered abroad and Dispersed among the People in all the Provinces of thy Kingdom and their Laws are divers from all the People neither keep they the Kings Laws Therefore it is not for the Kings profit to suffer them If it please the King let it be written That they may be Destroyed Isa 42.22 But this is a People robbed and spoiled they are all of them snared in holes and they are hid in Prison-Houses They are for a Prey and none delivereth and for a Spoil and none saith Restore LONDON Printed for the Author and are to be Sold by William Bateman and most Booksellers 1684. To all Sincere Protestants whether they be Conformists or Nonconformists Fellow Protestants I Do humbly present to your sober consideration a Brief Discourse concerning several Statutes by which they Protestant Dissenters are Prosecuted to the very great dammage of multitudes of Families who are his Majesties Faithful Subjects and can Appeal to God and the King that they are persons of Loyalty notwithstanding their Nonconformity And as it is Recorded concerning Holy Daniel who was the great Nonconformist of that day Dan. 6.5 That he could not be fairly accused of any matters to make him a criminal except it were concerning the Law of his God Even so it may be truly said of the Nonconformists in England however they may be Reproached and be spattered as a Seditious and Rebellious People But it is well known that it is no new thing for such as fear God and are greatly favoured by God to be miscalled Jerusalem which was the City of the Great King viz. God the King of Kings Mat. 5.35 was called the Rebellious and Bad City Ezra 4.12 and in verse 19. A City of Insurrection Rebellion and Sedition And Jesus Christ was charged with Blasphemy Mat. 26.56 and called a Deceiver Mat. 27.63 And the Apostle Paul was called a Postilent Fellow a Mover of Sedition and a Ring-leader of the Sect of the Nazareens Acts 24.5 and his way of Worship was called Heresie verse 14. And no marvel if it be so in those our days But now it will be Replyed by some that the Protestant Dissenters are in a Conspiracy and Bloody Plot against the Kings Person and Government Vnto which let this answer be Considered That although some particular persons that have been counted Dissenters may be so wickedly concerned yet that is no proof that this is the Dissenters Plot no more then because some of the Church of England may be proved to have been in such a Conspiracy it can be called the Church of England's Plot which to affirm would be very wicked and abominable for it would render the Church-Protestants no better than Traytors However if either any of the Dissenters or of the Church-men should be so wicked as to be really guilty let them suffer the Justice of the Law that others may bear and fear and do no more so wickedly But God forbid that a whole Party of any sort of People should be charged with the wickedness of some of the same Party Simeon and Levi were guilty of a horrid and Bloody Fact in cutting off Hamor and Shechem which was the Prince of that Land and his Son and they also cut off the Inhabitants of that City where they Ruled because that Shechem the Son of Hamor had defiled Jacobs Daughter See the whole Story in Gen. 34. But it would be a very unrighteous thing to charge good old Jacob with this Bloody Crime because he it as their Father or to charge the rest of his Sons because they were Simeon and Levi's Brethren It is enough that they who be really guilty of any Crimes be charged with them and be Prosecuted so as to suffer justly for them And besides this it must be considered that such as have been innocent persons have been Accused of high Crimes and have suffered death as for instance Naboth was accused that he had Blasphemed God and the King and was stoned to death for it when indeed it was a Plot invented by Jezebel and managed by the Elders of the City where Naboth dwelt See 1 Kings 21. v. 9 10 11. And thus we find it concerning our Blessed Saviour he was Accused that he said he would destroy the Temple which was made with hands and within three days build another without hands Mark 14.58 Now Christ had spoke of Destroying and Raising of a Temple in three days see John 2. v. 19. Jesus answered and said unto them Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up v. 21. But he spoke of the Temple of his Body Thus we have two famous Instances of false Accusations concerning words Naboth was Accused of words that he never spoke Christ was Accused of some words he had spoke but the Accusation was not just as the words were spoken for though he spoke of a Temple and destroying of it and raising of it he did not say the Temple that was made with hands neither did he say that he himself would destroy any Temple but he spoke to the Jews who he knew would destroy his Body and said to them Destroy this Temple and as for Raising of it up that he said should be his own work And I will Raise it up in three days But he was Prosecuted for saying he would destroy the Temple of Solomon and build it in three days when it was no such thing And in our English Chronicle it is stoired of a good House-keeper or in the Reign of King Edward the Fourth that told his Son who was a Child saying Thou art Heir to the Crown meaning his house which was the sign of the Crown in Cheap-side But the Honest Citizen was Accused of Treason and suffered Death as a Traytor See bakers Chron. However it must be confest that Trayterous Designs have been too many times managed against the Kings of several Kingdoms and against the King of England in particular and whosoever can be proved really guilty thereof ought to suffer according to their Crimes But as for my own part who do profess my self a Protestant Dissenter I do solemnly profess before Almighty God that I do with my Soul abhor all acts of violence to the meanest of the Kings Subjects and do deem it ten thousand times worse to offer any violence to the Person of the Kings Majesty 1. Because of the Greatness of his Person he being by the Providence of God the Head of the Nation 2. Because the shedding of his Blood and taking away of his Life is the
Leaving the third part only of the same Lands Tenements and Hereditaments Leases and Farms to and for the Maintenance and Relief of the same Offender his Wife Children and Family And for a further demonstration of this Matter that these forementioned Act viz 23. and 29. Eliz. were made and designed for the Popish Party is further evident by the Statute of Primo Jacobi Regis Chap. 4. the Title of which Act is thus An Act for the due Execution of the Statutes against Jesuites Seminary Priests Recusants c. And the first part of this Act is to confirm and to put in Execution all those Statutes in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth against Jesuites Seminary Priests and other such-like Priests and also against all manner of Recusants Now by those words Jesuites Seminary Priests and other such-like Priests are to be understood all the several Orders of Ecclesiastical Persons belonging to and owning of the Authority of Rome as doth appear by some words in the first Paragraph of the said Statute viz. Ecclesiastical Persons whatsoever made ordained or professed or to be made ordained or professed by any Authority or Jurisdiction derived challenged or pretended from the See of Rome And by these words all manner of Recusants are to be understood all manner and sorts of Persons Respecting their Degrees Considered of the Layity belonging to the Church of Rome For in as much as Recusants are joyned with Popish Priests it must be understood of Popish Recusants And this is further Evident by and from the Statute of Anno Tertio Jacobi Regis Chap 4. The Title of which Act is thus An Act for the better discovering and Repressing of Popish Recusants 1. Now from the Title of this Statute Consider that Popish Recusants are the only Persons mentioned and therefore the Statute it self ought so to be understood as being provided for the better Discovery and Repressing of them and no others Except that any particular Passage in the said Statute doth mention any others as distinguished from Popish Recusants 2. And therefore let the Statute it self be Considered in all the Paragraphs whether any others of the Kings Subjects not being Papists are at all concerned in the Penalties of the said Statutes viz 23 Eliz. and 29 Eliz. which are particularly mentioned in this Statute provided to punish Persons for not coming to Common-Prayer or the Sacrament Take a brief Account of the said Statute Respecting not coming to Church and Sacrament 1. In the first Paragraph of the said Statute the Authority of the Realm took notice that divers Persons Popishly Affected did sometimes Repare to Church to escape the Penalty of the Laws in that behalf provided who notwithstanding did adhere in their Hearts to the Popish Religion and so by the Infection drawn from thence were ready to Entertain and Execute any Treasonable Conspiracies as did Evidently appear by that more then barbarous and horrible Attempt to have blown up with Gunpowder the King Queen Prince Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament 2. In paragraph the Second and Third It is Enacted for the better discovery of such Evil Persons viz. Every Popish Recusant Convicted or that should be Convicted and that should afterward Conform to come to Church and Common Prayer should also take and Receive the Sacrament once in every year following and if they did not then they should forfeit for the first year Twenty Pounds and for the second year Forty Pounds And for every year after Threescore Pounds 3. In the Fourth Paragraph it is Enacted That the Church-Wardens and Constables of their Respective Towns or Parishes and Chief Constables of the Hundred shall present the Monthly Absence from Church of all manner of POPISH RECUSANTS within such Towns and Parishes Mark those plain words of the said Statute it is not said they shall Present Protestants but Popish Recusants 4. In Paragraph the fifth it is Enacted That such Church Wardens Constables and High-Constables for every Default in not Presenting such Recusants shall forfeit Twenty Shillings and if they do make such Presentments they shall be Recorded by the Clerk of the Sessions without any Fee on Forty Shillings Forfeit 5. In Paragraph the sixth it is Enacted That every Church-Warden Constable and High-Constable as shall make such Presentment so as the Party shall be Indicted and Convicted shall have for Reward Forty Shillings to be Levied out of the Recusants Goods 6. In Paragraph 10. A Repetition is made of that part of the Statute of the Twenty Third of Elizabeth concerning the Forfeiture of Twenty Pound a Month for not comeing to Church 7. In Paragraph 11. There is a Recitation of that part of the Statute of the 29th of Elizabeth concerning the Queens having power by the said Statute to seiz upon all the Goods and two parts of the Lands and Tenements Leases and Farms of such Offender upon Default of the Non Payment of the aforesaid Twenty Pounds a Month and let the Offender injoy the third part of his Lands and Tenements Leases and Farms for the maintenance of his Family And then this Statute viz. The Third of King James doth further provided That the King shall have power to Refuse the Twenty Pound a Month though the Offender be ready to pay it according to the Statute of 29th of Elizabeth and if he please may Take Seiz and injoy the two parts of the Offenders Estate and the reason for so doing was because the Popish Party who were men of great Estates could bear the payment of Twenty Pounds a Month and so Retain the Residue of their Livings and inheritance in their own hands which as the said Statute saith was for the most part imployed to the Maintenance of Superstition and Popish Religion and to the Relief of Jesuits Seminary Priests and other dangerons persons to the State Now from these things soberly considered in comparing one Statute with another it seemeth evident that the aforesaid Statutes were designed and intended for the Papists they being so often mentioned in plain words viz. Jesuits Seminary Priests and other Priests and Deacons belonging to the See of Rome and all manner of Popish Recusants and no mention of any other persons distinguished from the Papists And therefore it seemeth hard measure that such as are known and sufficiently owned to be Protestants by the several Neighbourhoods where they dwell throughout this Kingdom should be Prosecuted by such Laws in which they are not at all mentioned especially seeing there are other Laws by which they are sufficiently distressed III. Another Law by which the Protestant Dissenters have been and still are Lyable to be Prosecuted is the Statute of Anno Tricessimo quinto Reginae Elizabethae Chap. 1. In which Statute these things are Enacted and Provided 1. That if any Person or Persons above the Age of Sixteen years shall obstinately Refuse to Repair to some Church Chappel or usual place of Common-Prayer by the Space of a Month to hear Divine Service Established by her
and Resolved to defend the Kings Person and maintain the welfare of the Kingdom against the Pope and all Forreign Power and have given great demonstration of their own peaceable subjection to His Majesties Government it seemeth to be a Proceedings of great severity to punish such persons who fear swearing this Oath only least they should Sin against God in swearing that which they know they cannot perform viz. A thorow Conformity to the Church Matters which if that were the meaning of the Oath those Nonconformists that have taken the said Oath would not have taken it Now therefore that each Party may be helped in this matter here followeth a Copy of the Oath of Allegiance and King James his Exposition or Paraphrase upon it The Oath of Allegiance I A. B. Do truly and sincerely acknowledg Profess Testifie and declare in my Conscience before God and the World that our Sovereign Lord King James is Lawful and Rightful King of this Realm and of all other his Majesties Dominions and Countries and that that the Pope neither of himself nor by any Authority of the Church or See of Rome or by any other means with any other hath any power or authority to depose the King or to dispose any of his Majesties Kingdoms or Dominions or to Authorize any Forreign Prince to invade or Annoy him or his Countries or to discharge any of his Subjects of their Allegiance or Obedience to his Majesty or to give Licence or leave to any of them to bear Arms to Raise Tumults to offer any violence or hurt to His Majesties Royal Person State or Government or to any of His Majesties Subjects within his Majesties Dominions Also I do swear from my Heart that notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation made or granted or to be made and granted by the Pope or his Successors or by any Authority derived or pretended to be derived from him or his See against the said King his Heirs or Successors or any Absolution of the said Subjects from their Obedience I will bear Faith and true Allegiance to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors and him and them will defend to the utmost of my power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity by reason or colour of any such Sentence or Declaration or otherwise And I will do my best endeavour to disclose and make known unto his Majesty his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and Traiterous Conspiracies which I shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them And I further swear That I do from my heart abhor detest and abjure as impious and heretical this Damnable Doctrine and Position that Princes which be Excommunicated or Deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever and I do believe and in my Conscience am Resolved that neither the Pope nor any other person whatsoever hath power to absolve me of this Oath nor any part thereof which I acknowledg by good and full Authority to be lawfully Ministred unto me and do Renounce all Pardons and Dispensations to the contrary And all these things I do plainly and sincerely Acknowledge and Swear according to these Express Words by me spoken and according to the plain and common sense and understanding of the same words without any Equivocation or mental Evasion or secret Reservation whatsoever and I do make this Recognition and Acknowledgment heartily willingly and truly upon the True Faith of a Christian So help me God And now for a further and better help to understand the Oath of Allegiance let King James his answer to Cardinal Bellarmine be well considered concerning this Oath in his Apologie for the Oath of Allegiance page 46. where he saith It may appear what unreasonable and rebellious points he would drive my Subjects unto by Refusing the whole Body of that Oath as it is conceived for he that shall Refuse tâ— take this Oath must of necessity hold all or some of these Proposition following viz. 1. That I King James am not the Lawful King of this Kingdom and all other my Dominions 2. That the Pope by his own Authority may depose me if not by his own Authority yet by some other Authority of the Church or of the See of Rome if not by some other Authority of the Church of See of Rome yet by other means with others help he may depose me 3. That the Pope may dispose of my Kingdoms and Dominions 4. That the Pope may give Authority to some Forreign Prince to invade my Dominions 5. That the Pope may discharge my Subjects from their Obedience and Allegiance to me 6. That the Pope may give Licence to one or more of my Subjects to bear Arms against me 7. That the Pope may give leave to my Subjects to offer violence to my Person or to my government or to some of my Subjects 8. That if the Pope shall by Sentence Excommnnicate or Depose me my Subjects are not to bear Faith and Allegiance to me 9. If the Pope shall by Sentence Excommunicate or Depose me my Subjects are not bound to defend with all their power my Person and Crown 10. If the Pope shall give out any Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation against me my Subjects by reason of that Sentence are not bound to Reveal all Conspiracies and Treasons against me which shall come to their hearing or knowledge 11. That it is not Heretical or detestable to hold that Princes being Excommunicated by the Pope may either deposed or killed by their Subjects or any other 12. That the Pope hath power to absolve my Subjects from this Oath or from some part thereof 13. That this Oath is not Administred to my Subjects by a full and lawful Authority 14. That this Oath is to be taken with Equivocation Mental Evasion or secret Reservation and not with the Heart and good-will Sincerely in the Faith of a Christian Man These are the true and natural Branches of the Body of this Oath And now forasmuch as there is another Oath called the Oath of Supremacy about which many good Protestants have differing Apprehensions some being very free to take the said Oath some do Conscienciously scruple it and so dare not take it for fear they should Sin against God in so doing The same Oath shall be here Presented to Consideration The Oath of Supremacy I A. B. Do utterly Testifie and Declare in my conscience That the Queens Highness is the only Supream Governour of this Realm and of all other Her highness Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as Temporal And that no Forreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Jurisdiction Power Superiority Pre-eminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within this Realm and therefore I do utterly Renounce and Forsake all Forreign Jurisdictions Powers Superiorities and
Authorities and do promise that from henceforth I shall bear Faith and True Allegiance to the Queens Highness her Heirs and Lawful Successors and to my power shall assist and defend all Jurisdictions Priviledges Pre-eminences and Authorities granted or belonging to the Queens Highness her Heirs or Successors or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm So help me God and by the contents of this Book Now in the aforesaid Oath some of the words are such as many Godly Persons cannot heartily speak and therefore Refuse to speak them at all in a way of Swearing viz. That the King as Supream Governour of this Realm is Supream Governour in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as well as in all Temporal Things and Causes Which words are Expounded or Explained by Queen Elizabeth in an Admonition Annexed to the Queens Injunctions Published in the first year of her Raign which take as followeth And further Her Majesty forbiddeth all manner of Subjects to give Ear or Credit to such perverse and malitious persons which most sinisterly and malitiously labour to notify to her loving Subjects how by the words of the said Oath it may be Collected the Kings or Queens of this Realm Possessors of the Crown may challenge Authority and Power of Ministry of Divine Offices in the Church wherein her said Subjects be much Abused by such evil disposed persons For certainly Her Majesty neither doth nor ever will challenge any other Authority then that was Challenged and lately used by the said Noble Kings of Famous Memory King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the sixth which is and was of ancient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm That is under God to have Soveraignty and Rule over all manner of persons Born within these her Realms Dominions and Countries of what Estate either Ecclesiastical or Temporal soever they be so as no other Forreign Power shall or ought to have any Superiority over them and if any person that hath conceived any other sense of the Form of the said Oath shall accept the same Oath with this interpretation her Majesty is well pleased to accept every such in that behalf as her good obedient Subjects shall acquit them of all manner of Penalties contained in the said Act against such as shall peremtorily or obstinately Refuse to take the said Oath And in the fifth year of her Majesties Raign there was an Act of Parliament to confirm this Sense of the said Oath in these following words Provided also That the Oath expressed in the said Act made in the said first year shall be taken and expounded in such Form as is set forth in an Admonition Annexed to the Queens Majesties Injunctions published in the first year of her Majesties Raign That is to say to confess and acknowledg in her Majesty her Heirs and Successors none other Authority then that was challenged and lately used by the Noble King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the Sixth as in the said Admonition more plainly may appear Now from the aforesaid Oath together with the aforesaid Exposition Confirmed by Act of Parliament Let these things be Considered 1. A Solemn Assertion of the Queens Power and Authority in her own Kingdom and Dominions in opposition to any Forreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate 2. That the Power and Authority of the Queen in her own Realms and other her Dominions was over all Ecclesiastical Persons as well as over all Temporal Persons so as to be tryed by her Laws in all Matters and Causes they may be concerned in that if innocent they may be acquitted but if guilty they may be punished by her Power and Authority according to her Laws in her Courts of Justice without Appealing to or hoping for Relief from Forreign Jurisdiction 3. And therefore let all those who do Conscienciously scruple to take either of the aforesaid Oaths Consider whether they have not entertained such notions and apprehensions of them as the plain words and comon sense of such words will not fairly bear and thereby expose themselves to such trouble as they might lawfully escape if their Judgments were better informed 4. Let such as have power to tender and impose the said Oaths upon persons Consider whether the Tender of such Oaths is not sometimes done out of spite to the persons before them they knowing that they are of Scrupulons Consciences and so are sure that they have an opportunity to afflict them and yet know in their own Consciences that such persons are good Protestants and have long lived in all peaceable manner under the Government and so desire to abide that they may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty under Authority as they are taught by the Good Word of God V. Another Law by which the Protestant Dissenters have been and still are Prosecuted and Distressed is the 17. of Car. 2. Chap. 2. viz. An Act for Restraining Nonconformists from Inhabiting Incorporations Now the Persons punishable by this Act are such as are Nonconformist Preachers who live in a Corporation or within five Miles of a Corporation and that Preach in Conventicles and thereby under pretence of Religion do distill Poysonous Principles of Schism and Rebellion into the Hearts of his Majesties Subjects to the great danger of the Church and Kingdom See the first Paragraph of the said Statute And the punishment provided by the said Statute for such persons is the forfeiture of Forty Pounds to be sued for in any Court of Record at Westminster or before the Judges of Assize and also six Months Imprisonment if such persons shall Refuse to take the Oath Provided by this Act A Copy whereof is as followeth I A. B. Do Swear that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that I do abhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person or against those that are Commissioned by him in pursuance of such Commissions and that I will not at any time endeavour any Alteration of Government either in Church or State Now from the aforesaid Statute Let these things be Considered 1. That the Main Design of the said Act was to rid Cities and Corporations of such Nonconformist Ministers as under pretence of Religion do distill Poysonous Principles of Schism and Rebellion into the Hearts of his Majesties Subjects to the danger of Church and State Now if there be any such Criminal Persons under the name of Nonconformist Ministers let them suffer according to their Crimes when proved by sufficient Evidence 2. Consider that all sorts of Nonconformist Ministers do abhor to be such Persons and to promote Rebellion but they do generally make it their business to Preach Eternal Salvation by the Blessed Merits of Jesus Christ and a Holy Conversation according to the Blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ following the things which make for Peace here and hoping to injoy a Better Peace when this