fright â—hem into his Net with a Venient Romani The French the Irish and Popish Tyranny will be upon you if you do not take the Oath The Bishop in his Pastoral Letter page the 3 d and 4 th informs his Clergy That by refâ—sing the Oath they might do a considerable Prejudice to the Publick Peace and shake as far as in them lay the present Settlement of the Nation and therefore they ought to consider well the Grounds of their Non-Compliance before they adventur'd against a Woâ—k which in the whole Progress of it has had so many signal Characters of a Favourable Providence and then he adds the Advantages we have reap'd by it and the mischievous Consequences that might ensue in case they did not take the Oaths which were Popish Tyranny An Irish Conquest and Massacre and French Barbarity and Cruelty To which he subjoyns A Man that adventures on so dangerous a Thing as refusing the Oaths had need be very sure that he is in all this matter in the Right Otherwise he runs a Risque of sighting against God if he should happen to be in the wrong Upon the whole matter the Bishop makes use of the Topick of Divine Providence to perswade their Compliance and the great Miseries we might bring on our own Heads after so great a Deliverance if there were not an Unanimous agreement amongst us Gamaliel I presume must be acknowledg'd as Wise a Doctor as Mr. Iohnson can be thought by any of our great Council and as a Proof of it the whole body of the People oâ— Israel were concluded by his Advice in the great Sanhedrim purposely conveened to determine that Important Affair in Relation to those Doctrines and Miracles which were wrought and preach'd by the Apostles and which they were so zealous to oppose You may at your leisure read the whole Transaction in the 5 th of the Acts of the Apostles but because 't is pertinent to my present purpose I will recite Gamaliel's Advice in the great Council contained in the 38 th and 39 th Verses And now I say unto you Refrain from these men and let them alone for if this Counsel or this Work be of Men it will come to nought But if it be of God ye cannot overthrow it lest haply ye be found even to fight against God So that as that great Revolution in Religion and the New Face of Affairs in the World was brought to pass by the powerful Hand of God and could not be resisted So also there are many Instances to be given of the Visible Providences which attended and procur'd our happy Settlement and preserv'd that Faith of Christ which we profess in its Pâ—imitive Purity and against which the utmost Efâ—orts and Artifiâ—es of a Resolv'd and Attempted Power could not prevail We might still have enjoy'd an uninterrupted continuance of its kind Influences had not our Ingratitude Divisions as well as Treachery and Malice to each other those most provoking sins loudly call'd for Judgments to fall on us Now I am the Fairest Adversary in the World tho I say it my self You have leâ—t out Who should not ay it But I will no more believe you than if you should say you were a Saint or that your Gall did not lye in your Scull because you have almost in every Particular throughout your Notes vented your ungovern'd Passion more than Reason One of the things he says we ought to fear and tremble at is Popish Tyranny I would fain know whether the word Popish added to Tyranny makes it better or worse In this Note Mr. Iohnson thinks himself safe but I 'le inform him that the Word Tyranny may be made Blacker that there 's no false Heraldry in it That Popish and Protestant Tyranny are not alike and that their Effects are not the same Popish Tyranny is the worst of Tyrannies it attempts to enslave mens Consciences their Religion as well as Liberties and Properties And because I will be before-hand with him in Instances French Tyranny is Popish Tyranny and a late Author tells us that Danish is Protestant I have nothing to say against your Story of Sir Ellis Leighton and that the late King's Design was to subvert the Government The Papists do not deny it And as for those Imprudent Discourses if there were any such let the guilty answer for themselves He may please himself with his several Descants on the Word King Our King makes the Laws of the Kingdom his Rule to govern by and desires no more Power than to be able to do all the good he can to his People I go therefore in the next place to set before you those Reasons that seem convincing to me even tho there were no more to be said for the presenâ— Settlement but that we have a Throne filled and a King and Queen in Possession After Mr. Iohnson hath made a Flourish he tells us I shall take the pains of examining them One by One and find out if I can their power of Conviction which I am afraid is like an Estate left in Diego's Will He is so merry a Gentleman and hath such an Overflowing of frothy Conceits that I am afraid he won't live long But to the Reasons The Bishop never design'd nor ever hopes to convince you with his Reasons Instead of being as good as your Word in examining the Bishop's Reasons a fancy comes in to your Head that the Throne is widened and then you tell us for whaâ— Reason I know not That you believe that a King and Queen in possession alone or a King and Queen de Facto together in Opposition to de Jure would have frighted Cook Littleton c. I will repeat no more of what 's nothing to the purpose and I thought you had lov'd the great Dead Lawyers better than to contrive any Scare-crows to fright them The Bishop in his Pastoral Letter page 21 st Declares the King and Queens Right to the Crown from the Determinaâ—ion and Declaration of the Peers and People of England chosen and Assembled together with all possible Freedom So that he hath nothing to do with the Distinction of de Facto and de Iure Possession is a very good Title till a better appears and the Bishop tells us the King and Queen have a Lawful Title and a Right to our Allegiance for several Reasons And there is no need of the Bishop's naming the Cause or how they came into the Throne because this Reason is press'd only on Supposition of their bare Possession of it But to the following part of the Paragraph The bringing the State of the Question so low may seem at first View not to be of so much Advantage to Their Majesties Title but since I intend to carry the matter further before I leave it I hope it may be no incongruous method to begin at that which will take in the greatest Numbers since there is no dispute in this that they are actually in possession of the
Salisbury which appears from the Quotation I made out of his Measures of Submission to the Supream Authority And 't is a base Imputation to say That he would have any body retain the mistaken Notion of Passive Obedience or shews how it should not hurt them when at the same time he so plainly and positively declares the contrary But 't is enough for Mr. Iohnson to make the Bishop enter a Salvo for or to be an high Asserter of the mistaken Doctrine when he only mentions the word Obedience as in this place and much more when he repeats the Highest Principles of Passive Obedience in the 20 th page Tho at the same time 't is impossible if a Man be but honest or hath but a mean Judgment to apprehend them any bodies as the Bishop supposes but the Non-Iurors which will evidently appear if you will take the trouble to read part of the 19 th and 20 th pages of the Pastoral Lettter where 't is as apparent also that the Bishop argues from other Principles That the Non-Iurors ought to swear to the present Government even though they should retain or according to their Highest Principles of Passive Obedience I will only repeat a Line or two in the beginning of that Paragraph to inform you of the Bishop's design But I will in the last place carry this matter further to justify the present Settlement as a thing Right and Lawful in it self Should I have said that I was the Fairest Adversary in the World and should have had so many plain Instances of misrepresenting plainly prov'd upon me I should have expected but little Credit to be given to me But I 'le warrant you Face and Feathers will stare it out And now I 'le leave our Noter to roul and tumble in his own wit and divert himself with his story of the Welchman his Bow-string and Black-Box his Thebaean Legion his Mine-take-it and Your-take-it And because I will be sure to win his Favour I do own that I have and always had as great an Aversion to the mistaken Notion of Passive Obedience as he hath to Maxims But by the way he must let me be convinc'd by my own following Reasons though he will not let the Bishop by his To which I will only premise That 't is the Nature of Mankind to be easier perswaded and convinc'd by modest and plain Reasonings from their Errors and Mistakes than banter'd and hector'd and that 't is more Christian and Generous rather to lend an helping Hand to a Blind Man who hath mistaken his way than rail at his Imperfection I wonder how this Doctrine of the Cross came to be call'd the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and I much more wonder how it should obtain so much Credit in a Country where the Christian Religion is the Establish'd Religion and the Laws are the Rule and Standard of all Obedience I think moreover that Passive Obedience is as great a Bull in Terms as Roman Catholick Vniversal Particular for all Obedience is Active and to Obey is to do the thing commanded and Passive Non-obedience would have sounded much better because the Design of the Doctrine is to suffer rather than obey or when I will not obey and the Primitive Christians were under an Obligation to suffer even to Death rather than deny the Faith they had confess'd and so become Apostates What I apprehend to be the proper and true meaning of the Doctrine is to suffer rather than Apostatize But to reflect on the practice of it amongst us As where the Grand Seignior's Horse once sets his Foot no Grass grows so where this mistaken Notion of the Doctrine takes place all Laws must be trod under Foot The Doctrine of the Cross was and is a true Doctrine but not calculated for the Year 1688. in a Christian legally establish'd Government and is altogether impracticable amongst us because if any man upon what account soever or from whomsoever commission'd shall attempt to take away my Goods or Life by force or in an illegal manner I may lawfully resist them by the Laws of God Nature and my Country Otherwise that which should be my Rule would be my Snare So that it can be no sin in me to do what the Laws of God Nature and my Country direct Were I in Turkey and the Grand Seignior should send an Express to acquaint me That I must either turn Mahometan or kiss the Bow string 't is my Duty and I hope God would enable me rather to suffer Death than deny and renounce the true Faith of Christ. But there is a great difference between a Turkish Arbitrary and Mahometan and an English Limited and Christian Government Theory and Practice are two different things and the latter many times discovers the Absurdity of the former and I am sure though I should have preachâ—d my Lungs out in the Neighbourhood where I liv'd not one thickâ—skull'd Miner or Collier would have been perswaded that 't was his Duty to sit tamely with his Hands in his Pockets whilst an Irish Dragoon trimm'd his Ears and Nose off Nature Humane Nature will struggle Thus having stated this Point I think it will not be improper in this place to offer my Sentiments to those who do not take the Oaths in relation to the Oath of Allegiance which they have already taken and by which they account themselves bound up 'T is allow'd that a Law is to be obey'd and an Oath to be taken according to the sense and intention of the Legislators In the late times there was a distinction between the Kings Person and his Authority upon which account there was an Oath fram'd to obviate and take away any such Mischeivous Distinction And tho it extended to secure the King as to his person and legal rights yet it was never design'd as a foundation of an arbitrary and irresistible power or that the subject might not resist any violent and illegal proceedings and more especially when the whole rights of the Community were struct at and a subversion of the Government undeniably put in practice 'T is Rebellion to invade the Kings right but not so to preserve and defend what the Laws and constitution of the Government have given me a just and legal right and title to There is a latitude imply'd in this Oath Unless when we take it we swear to be slaves from that day forward for if taken in a strict sense it cancels all our natural and positive rights and Laws at once we are bound hand and foot and only left at the mercy of an Absolute King and contrary to all reason and justice the Impostumated and unnaturall Power and will of one is superiour and preferrable to the good and preservation of all the rest of the body Politick the Original Government was by the consent of the people as also the form and kind and the good and welfare of Mankind is the undoubted end of it Salus Populi Suprema Lex To which purpose I
Throne that they protect us and that we by living under their Protection and enjoying the benefit of it are therefore bound to make some returns for it Our Noâ—er in the page and 〈◊〉 following answers not to the Point in debate but â—â—â—ly insinuates as if the Bishop were starting new Titles and then talks of Chymical Drops for which we â—anâ— a Comment Well but now he comes to mind the Process Possession of the Throne infers Protection and the benefit of Protection infers a Reciprocal Duty To which he answers I will wait for better Arguments for as for this it will never convince It is no Dispute indeed amongst the Non-Swearers but is their great grievance that there is an actual possession of Kingship where there is not a legal Right first proved and made out The Bishop is convincing the Non-Iurors and we know you are already convinc'd There are Babes in Politicks as well as Religion who cannot digest strong Meats Prithee Dear Mr. Iohnson if thou hast not bestow'd all thy good Nature on Sir Roger suffer the Bishop to be so charitable as to feed them with Milk The Bishop hath prov'd their Legal Right as I have already observ'd But though they will not own them to have any Right yet the Bishop urges them to pay their Allegiance to the King in Possession because they are protected by him and in that they have virtually given their Consent by their Representatives that he should be King Besides their Allegiance is due and must be paid to the King in Possession because the Late King not being here it is impossible to be paid to him Protection supposes and implies a Right to Allegiance for which Reason the Bishop argues in his next Paragraph A Man may Lawfully promise to do every thing that he may Lawfully do So that if it is Lawful to Obey the King it is also Lawful to promise to do it And therefore since it does not appear that any persons do doubt of the Lawfulness of Obeying it cannot without any colour of Reason be said to be Unlawful to promise it And if it is Lawful to promise it it is also Lawful to Swear it for an Oath being only the sacred Confirmation of a Promise we may Lawfully Swear Every Thing that we may Lawfully Promise After he hath diverted himself with his Mouse-Trap Iest he tells us That he will allow the Axiom or Postuâ—atum in the first Sentence at the present and talk with it anon But what he subsumes in the next Sentence is begging the Question and Absolutely False in these words And therefore since it does not appear that any persons do doubt of the Lawâ—ulness of Obeying â— it cannot with any Colour of Reâ—son be said to be Vnlawful to promise it For I will demonstrate on the contrary that it does appear That all that refâ—se the Oath and Ten Thousand Men more do doubt of the Lawfulness of Obeying But by the way Mr Iohnson to call Ten Thousand Men Knaves at once is something too reflecting for as sharp sighted as you are I am sure you cannot see their Hearts Now follows our Demonstration If the Non Swearers could give thiir Assent and Consent to Obey they would certainly give their Oath likewise and all that is within them But by their doubting the Lawfulness of an Oath of Obedience they plainly doubt the Lawfulness of simple Obedience and not the Lawfulness of an Oath for unless they be Quakers they cannot do that To which I answer 'T is Matter of Fact That the Non-Swearers do actually obey and only doubt the Lawfulness of taking the Oaths They do Visibly acquiesce and do not openly oppose the Government They pay their Taxes according as the Law directs nor do they think it a sin so to do Upon which account the Bishop argues they may promise to do so and tharefore if promise then swear and so let their Hearts be where they will the Law is against them their Persons and Estates are protected by the Government and they are wiser than to go and starve at St. Germans I am of Opinion if Mr. Iohnson is over and above Officious on this Point and with Humble Submission I presume if they or any others pay their Taxes Honestly the King will not be concern'd on what Principles they pay their Obedience and double Taxes are as a Mark on those who disown him as King that both He and We may be the better aware of them Because Mr. Iohnson hath such ill Fortune in Demonstrations I 'le try mine and endeavour from the two Pages following Sillogistically to demonstrate him neither better nor worse than a Beast He hath Liberty to undemonstrate it in his Second Part. If Mr. Iohnson did not voluntarily submit to his hard Usage then his Submission was an involuntary Act. But Mr. Iohnson did not voluntarily submit to his hard Usage Ergo this is evident from his 16 th Page where he tells us that he sent the Marshal word that he had rather be shot than so used Now Secundum te page the 15 th All the World knows that an involuntary Act is not an Humane Act and so consequently must be the Act of a Beast I know no way he hath to evade this Argument unless he owns himself a Fish or a Fowl If he says he is Fish I 'le call him the great Leviathan if a Fowl an Owl because being all Face and Feathers he nearly resembles the Bird of Pallas But I verily believe by its description he is that very Ass he mentions in his 34 th page who looks like Wisdom and Gravity and is not I always thought Vnvoluntary Acts as well as Voluntary were Humane and the Acts of Men but Mr. Iohnson tells us in his 48 th page If it were not lawful to advance Paradoxes and Contradictions to common Sense how could Men shew their Learning Or wherein would they differ from other Men Ex Ore tuo Iudico And now I am at leiâ—ure to reflect on his Instances with which he pretends to destroy the Bishop's Axiom A Man may lawfully promise to do every thing which he may lawfully do Observe our Noter I will give him an Instance to the contrary It is certainly lawful for me because our Saviour commands it If any man compel me to go a mile with him to carry his burthen go with him twain But by the way when he misrepresents our Saviour's Words 't is no wâ—nder he serves the Bishop so for the Text doth not speak of carrying any burthen But not to interrupt his Instance I will admit of it for once though all such Precepts are to be taken with a Grain of Salt But is it therefore lawful for me to promise this man to be his Pack horse all my Life and so starve my Wife and Children in not providing for them and in so doing to be worse than an Infidel I trow not 'T is a mighty thing to destroy a Bishop's Axiom and
about it but that I am perswaded it was designed with a good intention and that the publishing of it at this timâ— is insignificant and can serve to no other end than to discover your own inveterate spleen If it be an Honour and Reputation to a man of Learning as certainly it is to own and retract an Errour and to embrace the truth by what Motives or at what time soever he Apprehends it Why then should the Learned Dean of St. Pauls lye under an Imputation for owning his mistakes The greatest men sometimes err misconceive and are easily carry'd away with a current tho mistaken Opinion Some indeed are so obstinate and proud that they rather persist to eat sowr grapes than discover a weakness in their choice but it shews a man hath a true relish for truth when being convinc'd of his former Errour He readily embraces her The same Principles and reasons which convince me have not perhaps the same force with another man occasion'd by our different conceptions and Judgments therefore we must bear with and believe the best of each other Could we suppose an equal capacity to Judge we might conclude that most men would have the same sentiments of things presuming they were alike Impartial But there are weak Judgments Prejudices Prepossessions Interests and Passions which like so many strong Biasses draw and incline us from truth 'T is a Censorious and uncharitable opinion positively to affirm that Interest without any conviction hath changed a mans sentiments And the Deans Works express so deep and Noble a sence of Religion that I should think it a â—in in me to harbour the least thought that he should make ship-wrack of his conscience for any advantage whatsoever If the Dean hath been mistaken in his case of Râ—sistance I am sure Mr. Iohnson hath misrepresented his sense â—â—cording to custome in his case of Allegiance for the Dean hath not Authoriz'd Tyranny in Title or Vsurpation but only endeavour'd to prove how far our Allegiance is due upon supposition or even tho we were under a Tyrant oâ— uâ—urper which misapprehension he obviates in the preface to his case of Allegiance and deâ—lares ouâ— prâ—sent King to have a different title from that of Usuâ—pation I will not trouble my self to repeat or râ—flâ—ct on his confus'd medly of stories and transactions in the late Reâ—gâ—s we all very well remember the Illegal and Arbitrary proceedingsâ— from which we have had a happy deliverance and for which an act oâ— Oblivion is past And I see no Reason why any man should peevishly vâ—x himself for what is past and cannot be recall'd If men had been Honest and for the publick good of the Nation things would not have been manag'd as they were but at present we have no fullâ—om Addresses with false names no Oxford Plot Irish Court Witnesses Noli Prosequi's No dispensing power Nor are New Câ—â—rters sent into the Country to establish a nâ—w kiâ—â— of Government but all things go on in thâ—ir proper Câ—annels the Laws take place and the seatâ— of Jâ—dicature are fill'd with Men of Integriâ—y and Aâ—ilitiesâ— who will not be made State tools nor briâ—'d or fâ—ightâ—d from what is Law If Mâ— Iohnson had looked behind the Curtain too He might have seen several new actors who were thought too Honest to have any part in the administration of Affairs in the late Governments therefore he might have omitted his foolish and impudent suggestions as if arbitrary power were forgeing on the Court Anvil He might have spar'd his insolenâ— and uncharitable reflections as iâ— those who have been advanc'd and employ'd at Court were for exposing the Kings Person in Flanders whilst they Domineer at home Mr. Iohnson because he looks on himself as the House of Commons Champion takes a great deal of Liberty to bespatter whom he pleases But wise Men always despise the Aspersions of a Craz'd Understanding and an evil tongue and a Certain Philosopher assures us that if an Ass should Kick a Man He would be the greater Beast of the two if he should Kâ—ck him again But who could have Imagin'd that Mr. Iohnson who conceits himself qualifi'd to Govern a Kingdom to direct King Lords and Commons should be out in his politicks and because Aristotle in his politicks is severe upon Guards therefore He would have no standing Army There is a great deal of difference between having Guards and an Army to protect and secure our liberty and Properties and on the contrary to be employ'd to destroy them besides times and seasons Change and vary And Kingdoms now must Arm to deâ—end themselves against a Popish Tyrant who wiâ—h a Saracen-like Head Sawcer Eyes a wide throat and insatiable stomach attempts to devour and swallow up his neighbours Cities and Territories Mr. Iohnson thinks we have no business in Flanders but I presume he may be mistaken for the preservation of Flanders was always esteem'd the Interest of England and 't is but Common Prudence that when our neighbours House is on fire to help to quench it before it comes to our own who can foresee the ill consequences of Flanders being intirely in the French Hands The Dutch will be oblig'd to make peace and pâ—rhaps Joyn with the French who make a great figure at Sea and then we may want Crutches to support us and keep the seat of the war out of our own Country The rest of the Confederates will soon be overpower'd and forc'd to any terms But so long as we unite our forces to protect and defend each other upon which the â—afeâ—y of the whole Confederacy depends we shall be safe and secure because in all probabiliâ—y the force and weight of Confederated Nations is not long to be resisted and like a bundle of Arrows when taken singly are easily snap'd asunder but when bound up together resist the strongest Power We know the Sea is our Element and the cheifest strength of our Island is shipping Nor hath our Naval force been so much neglected as Mr. Iohnson Insinuates 'T is the opinion of some that Our maritine affairs have not been so well manag'd in some particular cases as they might have been But I hope our bought experience will make us wiser for the future and that the force of our Fleets may be so employ'd as to retreive our losâ—eâ— and give more security to our trade But a great many ships miscarry because our Merchants for their private advantage trade without Convoys but in time they will be sensible that 't is better to come to a late Market at Cales than an Early one at St. Maloes The Refin'd polities and the other prevailing Methods of France had so far obtain'd as to blind the Eyes or lull asleep their impolitick neighbours insomuch that they have been so far from opposing that they have raised them to their present Grandeur and 't is well if their laâ—e discover'd mistakes and united forces have power to secuâ—e themselves and reduce