Man's Law and not prohibited by God's Law for to interpose themselves for the Safeguard of Equity and Innocency Much more I could transcribe if it were necessary Only this he further saith That he never denied that the People might preserve the Foundation Freedom and Form of their Commonwealth which they fore-prized when they first consented to have a King This Book was Printed 1585. perused and allowed by publick Authority But such have been the Spirits and Tempers of some Men that if a Prince would suffer his Power and Authority to be used by them to work their own Wills and impose what they think fit to injoin upon their fellow Brethren they 'll give him more than ever he could expect or dream of And no wonder whilst they take it for granted that what they give him is as good as their own and to be managed by them to make themselves arbitrary and great Was it not an hard case for those Earls and Noblemen abovesaid to be accounted guilty of a capital Crime for presenting their Petition for a redress of Grievances Nor was it much better with us when the late Abhorrences were in fashion by which they had so far decried that reasonable and undoubted liberty of the Subject which the late King believing and that the Sauce for a Goose might serve for a Gander too took the advantage of imprisoning and impeaching the Seven Bishops for a modest and humble Representation of their Grievances which by the Law of the Land they were sufficiently vouched to do But Laws it seems are Fetters which no Princes must be intangled with if our Hyperconformists Divinity be good What Spirit leads you saith Heylin that you are grieved with illimited Power Moder Answ p. 28 32. which Men of better Vnderstanding than you have given to Princes Princes are God's Deputies of whom should they be limited If you say by the Laws of the Land those themselves have made A Prince in abstract is above the Laws though in Concreto a just Prince will not break the Laws which himself hath promised to observe otherwise we say of Princes Principi lex non est posita That they do not only govern by the Law but are above it that he is sure and hath an absolute Authority Which the late King in his Declarations sent into Scotland so frequently mentions The same * Heylin Author avers that as its a kind of Atheism to dispute Pro and Con what God can do and what he cannot so 't is a kind of Disobedience and Disloyalty to determine what a King can and what he cannot (o) Supposed to be Dr. Lesly Bishop of Doâ—n and Conor Lysimmachus p. 3. saith That Princes being God's Legislators are (a) Thomas de Corsellis was of another mind in his Argument against the Supremacy of the Pope in the Council of Basil Neque hic inquit ille â—os audis qui tam latam regibus attribuunt potestatem ut eos teneri legibus nulâ—a tenus velint Aeneas Sylv. de gest Con. Basil above their Laws and dispense with them as they think expedient A Prince is not bound to his own Laws because no Man can impose a Law upon himself Out of which kind of State Divinity our late Dispensing Power did arise and spring Wemius de primatu regis p. 39. is of the same Mind Audemus dicere reges supra leges esse iisque solutos nemo enim sibi legislator And the better to justifie this they exclude Parliaments from having any decisive Voice or legislative Power though they may have a deliberative when the King thinks fit to call them Legum latio saith the same Author praecipuum est supremae dominationis Majestatis caput legum Ecclesiasticarum Principes latores sunt nec differant à civilibus Ecclesiastica ratione causae efficientis p. 59. That is Princes are makers of Ecclesiastical Laws which are the same with civil Sanctions in respect of the efficient Cause Potestatem in Ecclesiasticis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 posse à Principibus jure suo extra concilia exerceri But when they are called he allows them only a consultive Voice Consultivam habent vocem tanquam juris divini consulti definitivam Princeps p. 89. Nor are Parliaments more necessary to the making Laws in the State than Synods in Matters of the Church according to the same Author's Opinion who account the Prince's calling them only a piece of Modesty to advise with them and hear their Opinions not that their Consent or Authority were necessary to the making Laws Neque vero putandum est quia sâ—let rex ex modestâ prudenti virium suacum diffidentiâ non nisi de ordinum consensu leges ferre absolutam ei impâ—ni ejusque successoribus necessitatem illorum obtinendi consensus ac si nullo modo its liceret per se sine eorundem suffragiis bonas edere constitutiones De jure in omnes leges feren â—o sine omnium consensu stature potest p. 17. Heylin's Antid p. 6. In Heylin's Antid we read to the same purpose p. 66. Quodcunque imperator per Epistolam constituit vel Cognoscens decrevit legem esse constat That whatever the King by Proclamation or Letters shall appoint that 's Law Cum Imperatore Justiniano dicendum videtur explosis ridiculosis ambiguitatibus verum conditorem interpretem legum esse solum Principem Et legem Legislatoris non consiliarii esse non ex vi consensus consilii habiti sed ex regià legislatoris vi obligantem Wemius pag. 19. That is the obliging Power of the Law is not from any Counsel or Consent given viz. by his Parliament but by the Royal Power or Virtue of the Law giver Whence he concludes that the King is the only Maker and Interpreter of Laws and that the Obligation ariseth from the Legislative Authority of the Prince and not the Consultive Power of his Parliament In * In an absolute Monarchy this Proposition may be true but in a Monarchical Government viz. in England where the Constitution and Contract is otherwise 't is very false Monarchiâ regis sola voluntas de substantiâ legis est Praevia populi consultatio est utilis immo utilissima necessaria tamen non est To consult the People in making Laws may be useful but 't is not necessary But supposing the Parliament had any Legislative Power or that to the enacting of Laws the Consent of Lords and Commons were requisite the same King's Man doth declare him to have Power to nominate whom the People shall choose and by a Congio d' Elire name whom they shall send and appoint whom he shall judge most fit for the Members of that great Assembly p. 23. Baronum civiam ad Comitia delegatos non ita absolute à Baronum civium delectu pendere volumus ut non possit rex quos ille maxime Idoneos censuerit delegendos nominare presertim cum pro
Nation satisfied in the Belief of the Truth all future Claims and Pretences to the Crown annulled and quasht which their own Interest if no other Argument might have prevailed with the Court to have condescended to And when this be answered I 'll believe as the then Rampant Roman Faction would have me believe But things of so great concern being every where questioned and disputed one would have thought that if the P. of O. had askt a greater thing then to have a Parliament freely called to have sit upon and considered these weighty Affairs it would not have been denied by the late King as a thing unreasonable who at last condescending Writs were issued some Members chosen (a) Vbi judicia deficiunt ibi incipit bellum Grot. de jure Bell. pac Lib. 2. Cap. 1. But all of a suddain those which were not yet issued were supprest those sent abroad superseded and the Parliament in its birth annulled and stifled the Broad-Seal of England he vilely cast away into the Thames and at last betaking himself to (b) Si rex aut alius quis imperium abdicavit ant ma ifeste habet pro derelicto in â—um post id tempus omnia licent que in privatum Idâ—m Lib. 1. Cap. 4. flight turned his Back upon the Nation leaving it without any Provision for its Government to shift as well as it could for it self Obj. But is it not very unjust to drive him away by force and then charge his flight as a Crime upon him when he durst stay no longer Res This is the common Objection which those who are back Friends to their Country Men who are satisfied neither full nor fasting frequently make use of to banter and if it could be bafle those who assert the Legality of our present Setlement But ' â—will be no hard matter to evade the dint of it for as to his Fear it was but rational there being none that was not more stupid than a Stoick but in so great a Convulsion of State must exceedingly fear and tremble as to the Force pretended to be up on him we utterly deny it for when the Posture of Affairs had made it necessary for the P. of O. to come to London and the King himself had invited him to St. James's it could not be thought safe for the King to continue at Whitehall lest any justle betwixt the Guards might occasion Bloodshed and hazard his Person wherefore he was desired to withdraw to Ham-house or any other place he should choose But finding the Fire he had kindled had made the Nation too hot for him he deserted and fled into France But he that hath raised a Storm cut off the chief * The Parliament Anchor which should secure the Vessel hath as little reason to alledge his hazard in defence of his sliting the Vessel and abdicating his trust to the Mercy of the Sea as to blame the Ship 's Crue for electing a new Pilot in the absence of the former to manage it in it's danger and steer it into the Harbour In this great and eminent Conjuncture and Emergency the States of the Realm assemble to consult Methods and concert Measures for the publick Safety which High-Court beyond which we have no appeal did upon mature deliberation great Debate and weighty Arguments declare resolve and decree (a) For this reason the Crown was setled upon the Prince and Princess of Orange The Words mentioned in the Instrument of Setlement are these viz. And whereas the late King James II. having abdicated the Government and the Throne being thereby vacant c. Act. 1st William and Mary That the King 's leaving of the Realm in such a manner was an Abdication of the Kingdom whereby the Throne was vacated and consequently the Government was dissolved Which Resolution and Judgment was by this present Parliament confirm'd ratified and recognized in these Words viz. We do recognize and acknowledge your Majesties were are and of right ought to be by the Laws of this Realm our Sovereign liege Lord and Lady King and Queen of England c. By Virtue of which repeated Judgment and Decree he is King not only de facto but de jure according to the Laws of our own Country which Judgment is either according to Truth or mistaken if the first by all Mens Opinions it ought to be obey'd but if mistaken yet we are bound to observe it and I think may do it with a good Conscience because we are no Judges of Law especially in so intricate and difficult a Case Suppose an Estate be decreed in Chancery to A. when perhaps according to right it belongs to B. as afterwards may appear by a Reverse of that Judgment given in Parliament upon an Appeal made thither yet A. may lawfully hold the Possession of the Estate against B. till the Decree be reversed for though the Decree was not made according to Law yet according to Law it binds till it be corrected by another Judge or annulled by a Superior Court Now this Judgment of Parliament concerning the Abdication of the Realm and Vacancy of the Throne though we should suppose it mistaken yet that Court being Judge of the Law we are bound by the Judgment they give because they and not we are Judges of such Matters Now the Author of the Case of Allegiance doth grant Pag. 54. That what Prince we must obey and to what particular Person we must pay our Allegiance the Law of God doth not tell us but this we learn from the Laws of the Land Now the Law of our Land saith we must pay our Allegiance to King William So that according to this Rule he is King of right as well as of fact Now his Question is whether if a King de jure be dispossessed of his Throne and a King de facto be possessed of it without a legal Right to which of these two the Subjects are bound to pay their Allegiance But I take this not to be our present case for according to the Judgment and Decree of the highest Court of Judicature the late King (a) Obj. But King James was King de jure Res So was Charles II. but both their Rights are extinct one being naturally the other dead in Law as is decreed by the highest Court in England And he that sits upon the Throne declared by the same to have as good right to the Crown he wears as his Predecessor before he gave up the Ghost I mean his Kingdom to provide for it self is not the King de jure for this Act of Abdication is declared by our Law not to be a bare Dispossession of the Throne but a total Extinguishment of his Right And that if he should be ever restored to these Kingdoms again he must receive a new Investiture or else he cannot be King And whereas he seems to suppose our King William only to be King de facto and without legal right possessed of the Throne
which he hath no great reason to thank him for nor we to admit when the Court of Parliament have declared That the Three Kingdoms and all the Dominions thereunto belonging that the Royal State Crown and Dignity of the said Realms with all Honours Stiles Titles Regalities Prerogatives c. to the same belonging are most fully rightfully and intirely invested incorporated united and annexed in and to his Princely Person So that according to our Laws he is rightful King of England as well as de facto and by Virtue of his Possession and providential Promotion to the Crown nay they See the Act of Recognition viz. The Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament did recognize and acknowledge that their Majesties were are and of right ought to be by the Laws of this Realm our Sovereign liege Lord and Lady King and Queen of England c. Now W. S. p. 54. Case of Allegiance makes this demand viz Is it not saith he most reasonable to think that to be the Sense of the Law which learned Judges and Lawyers have agreed to be the Sense of it Is it not reasonable to take that to be the Sense of the Law which hath been the Sense of Westminsâ—â—â—-Hall Let him give me also leave to aâ—k one Quâ—stion and that is Whether that be not the Sense of the Law which the Judges and Lawyers learned in the Law have declared in Parliament nay which in that High Court of Parliament have been declared to be * The Law of Man that is not contrary to the Law of Reason nor the Law of God but that is super-added unto them for better ordering the Commonwealth shall rule the Conscience and he that despiseth this Law of Man despiseth the Law of God See Dr. and Stud. Cap. 4. Cap. 19. Cap. 26. To fill up a vacant Throne is not contrary to the Law of God or Reason that our Throne was vacated is declared to be Law by our highest Court that we have in England That a King may abdicate the Realm Grotius saith is not to be doubted and Barclay saith cited by Grotius that if a King shall aliene his Kingdom and subject it to a Foreigner or leave it or act as an Enemy to the Destruction of the Community he looseth his Kingdom di jure Bell. Lib. 1. Cap. 4. Law And that I am sure it was as we have already heard viz. That King William is King de jure and according to the Laws of this Realm whose Declaration and Decree will bind the Subject in fâ—ro Conscientiae where it is not contrary to any moral Precept though they should be mistaken in their Judgment which is not to be supposed till a Court of equal Authority for there 's none Superior repeal their Act or reverse their Decree Obj. But perhaps it may be said that the Title of the Prince is a Matter above and no way cognizable in any â—â—mane Court it being said of Kings that they judge all things but are judged of none especially as to Matters criminal for which they are only accountable to him who is the Judge of all the Earth for when Courts do sit and act by the King's Commission and Authority it can be scarce thought that any Prince should be so Trayterous to himself as to grant a Power to censure his Person or his Actions So that whatever the Parliament may have delared or enacted with respect to the late King's Actions however they may affect the Ministers of State who were the Advisers or Transactors of them yet all must be void with regard to the Person or Title of K. J. because they have interposed in that which is no way within the compass or purview of their Jurisdiction Res The House of Lords I take to be the Supreme Court of Judicature in England which though it be convened by the King 's Writ yet needs no special Commission to empower them to act that being a Right inherent in them and by the original Compact or Custom immemorial inseparable from them But suppose there be no King in our Israel the Master of the Ship fled the Waves run high must the Vessel sink all that are on board perish lest they should intrench upon the Prerogative of their Master Must they not consult their own safety for fear they should meddle with or consider the Actions of their Governour as being above their Cognizance Must the Community perish and Nation sink in Compliment to him that hath fled from them and left none to exercise his Authority over them Is not the universal Safety the Supreme Law But my last Reply to this Objection is that the Parliament of England hath not adjudged the Royal Succession or Title of the Crown a Matter above their Authority nor is it beyond the Sphere of their activity Let us hear what my Lord Cooke saith in the 4th Part of his Institutes Cap. 1. Of the Powers and Jurisdiction of Parliament for making Laws in proceeding by Bill it is so transcendant and absolute as it cannot be confined either for Causes or Persons within any bounds Of this Court it is truly said Si antiquitatem spectes est vetusatissima si dignitatem est honoratissima si jurisdictionem est capacissima Huic ego nec metas rerum nec tempora pono Virg. of which we have divers eminent Instances to induce In the 8th of Hen. 4. as my Lord Cooke hath it Instit Part. 4. Cap. 1. But I find it rather in the 7th of Hen. 4. Cap. 2. the Succession of the Crown was intailed to Hen. 4. Was not the Crown settled upon Hen. 7. by Act of Parliament and upon his Heirs before his Marriage with Elizabeth eldest Daughter and Heir of Edw. 4. of the House of York notwithstanding the Judgment formerly given in Parliament as we are about to take notice of for establishing the Title of the Crown in that Family Cook 's Institutes Part 4. Cap. 1. Many more Examples may be given to prove that the Title and Succession of the Crown is not a thing beyond the Notice and Authority of Parliament to intermeddle with But he who desires a more particular Information let him consult these Statutes 25 Hen. 8.22 28 Hen. 8.7 35 Hen. 8.1 1 Eliz. 3. 1 Jac. 1. Yet give me leave to mention one Case which happened in the Reign of Hen. 6. whose Crown whilst it was upon his Head was challenged by Richard Duke of York whose Claim was received and Plea heard in Parliament The Council alledged many and great Arguments in defence of the King's Title too many here to be inserted but that high Court upon a full Hearing on both sides gave Judgment for the Duke of York against the King though in actual Possession of the Government in these Words That Hen. 6. should reign during his Life the remainder to rest in Richard Duke of York and the lawful Heirs of his Body in general Tail King Henry 's Heirs to be excluded
legibus ferendis iisque quae administrationis sunt publicae statuendis Comitia indicia sunt That is when the King hath new Laws to enact and Matters of publick concern to be treated on he may that is the King name the Persons whom he shall judge most fit to sit in Parliament But when they are convened the King hath no need of their Consent according to these State Divines to levy Taxes or raise Subsidies seeing the King hath a sufficient Right and Power in himself to dispose of the Subjects Goods as he shall judge fit so Weems affirms Omnia saith he quae in regno sunt fatemur regis esse id est qua paternus regni dominus adeoque quae postulat ipsius qua rex est aut publica regni conditio posse regem de singulorum bonis disponere p. 19. Bishop Montague also was of the same Mind as we observe Orig. p. 320. O. lg p. 320. Omni lege divinâ naturali vel Politicâ licitè semper reges Principes suis subditis tributa imposuerunt licite Coegerunt tum ad Patriae reipublicae defensionem tum ad ipsorum bonestam familiae prâ—curationem hanc doctrinam accurate tuetur Ecclesia Anglicana c. But that the King could levy Money of the Subjects without the consent of Lord's and Commons and Authority of the same is not the Judgment of the present Church of England Although though this hath been the cry of some former high Church-men who to tickle the King's Ear and fawn themselves into Preferment have preacht up the same Doctrine upon the strickest Penalties Thus Dr. Manwarring out of the Pulpit for the Edification of the Court I suppose more than the People L'Estrang's Annals p. 84. did declare That the King without common consent in Parliament could by his Command so far bind the Subject in Conscience to pay Taxes and Loans that they cannot refuse payment of them without peril of eternal Damnation And that the Authority of Parliament was not necessary to raise Aids and Subsidies But how mischievous such extravagant Insinuations and Councels proved both to Church and State the ensuing Miseries were too evident and undeniable Arguments Nor did the Authors and contrivers of them succeed any thing better than others who fell under the dint of them Malum enim Consilium consultori pessimum For whilst they thought to oblige and espouse the Sovereign Power to their Interest viz. To press and push on those Innovations in Religion which they had advised his Majesty were orderly and decent in the Church and to urge the establisht Conformity very offensive to tender Consciences with the utmost Rigor nay in two several Reigns they Councelled and procured Edicts to legitimate the Violation of the Sabbath-day by Sports and Pastimes several of them fell under the Dint and Censures of the Civil Power feeling the Effects and unhappy Influence of those Convulsions they had occasioned in the Bodies Ecclesiastick and Politick by regrating too far upon the Humors I mean the Liberties of the Subject both as Christians and Men. Have we not reason then to plead for an allay and temper of such Matters as are apt to occasion so dangerous a Ferment both in Church and State But I can't conclude here seeing by these wild and extravagant Notions concerning Royal Power I have been led aside and my Pen dipt in this Argument especially considering those vile and virulent Reflections made upon our late Revolution counting all no better than Rebels and Traytors who willingly offered themselves to rescue our Liberties and Religion from Popery and Arbitrary Government Nay the most that can be allowed our King by such as pretend upon second thoughts to be proselyted to his Service is that he must be acknowledged so rather of fact than right But if what hath been already said be not sufficient to vouch the Endeavours of the People in preserving the Fundamental Constitutions of the Commonwealth their Lives and Religion when they are in eminent and apparent hazard I shall fetch an Argument from a Royal Topick which I think may serve much to vindicate our late Transactions Had Queen Elizabeth King James King Charles judged the Defence which the Protestants made in France Flanders Germany c. of their Lives Religion and Liberties against the Kings of France Spain and Emperor an unjustifiable Rebellion they would never have assisted them with Men and Money Arms and Ammunition for their redress and rescue from those who by their Sovereign but ill managed Power had so far rent and ravisht them out of their Hands By which Assistances and Supports they though Princes themselves did not only approve their Undertakings in particular but allow and vindicate the like Practices in parallel Cases in general But if the Doctrine of Non-Resistance be true in the Sence it hath been preacht Neither Peers nor People Lords nor Commons must wag an Hand move a Foot but stand still and see the Salvation of God Let the Pillars of the Church be rifled the Foundations of Civil and Ecclesiastical Polity raced and destroy'd the original Contract of Government dissolved nothing is to be done but to depend upon Providence expecting a Miracle to be wrought for our deliverance Every act of our own in order to that end being adjudged Rebellion Were the Knife at our Throat according to the Rules of Passive-Obedience we must not put it by if an Angel from Heaven appears not to our rescue But never did Men make worse use of a Doctrine they had so stifly maintained when it came to their own turn to practice it They proved indeed Passive in their Obedience to the Commands of the late King few or none of them being very active to obey him in the time of his distress or to make use of the Doctrine of Non-Resistance but with respect to the Design of the P. of O. so that if we may be guided by what they did and not what they said we have enough to justifie not only our present Constitution but late Revolution also But I think we have much better Authority than this to alledge * Quarto ait idem Barclaius amitti regnum si rex verè hostili animo in totius populi exitium feratur quo concedo saith Grotius Lib. 2. Cass 4to do jure belli poc Hear what Barclay saith to which Grotius assents Scharphius Symph Prophet Apâ—â—â— tells us Vel is de quo agitur talis est qui Monarchiam â—â—idem Supremam habet sed certis Conditionibus limitatam in quas jurârit Est penes status ordines aut primores regni tyrannidem grassantem coercere sunt enim subditorum officia duplicia alia ordinaria pro ratione loci temporis vocationis in republ Alia extra-ordinaria secundum circumstantias varias quae nullâ certá lege possunt definiri Hâc exceptâ quod saluti reipub semper studendum sit Quaest 45. Cicero saith it
being reviled we bless 1 Cor. 4.13 being persecuted we suffer it being defamed we intreat But how wonderful must the retaliating Providence of God be that no small number of those who have bantred and bespattred us for our pretence of Conscience are now driven to the same Plea for their dissent from our present Constitution and Government This is the Lord 's doing and 't is marvellous in our eyes Which justifies the Truth and Reason of our Argument which a late Reverend (a) Dr. Taylor Bishop urged in the like case It is saith he such a doctrine that if there be variety in Human Affairs if the event of things be not setled in a durable consistence but is changeable every one of us all may have need of it Behold this day are these words fulfilled in our Ears Those whose Nest seemed to be built upon a Rock yea placed among the Stars too high to be reached too strong like Mount Sion ever to be removed have lived to see their honour levelled with the dust How are they fallen from heaven how are they cast down to the ground that did weaken the nations Nor is the wisdom and love of God less conspicuous in that part of our Revolution which gave so happy a reverse of Fortune to our Dissenting and not long since Afflicted Brethren turning all their sorrow into joy and mourning into a good day In which the conduct and method of Divine Providence is very admirable by breaking off the Yoke with those * Vnaeademque manus vulnus opâ—â—â— tulit hands which imposed it The Act of Liberty or Indemnity from the penalty of the Laws for Uniformity c. being passed by the same Authority viz. King and Parliament by Persons whose addictions and practices as to the same Form of worship no way differed from theirs who so strictly obliged us to one general and uniform but scrupled Scheme of Religion Yet have been so kind and considerate of those who are weak in the Faith as not to tye them to matters of doubtful Disputation but have given a yieldance and pardon'd them in those things whereof their Consciences were afraid Should they who had been so long trampled under foot have got into the Saddle wither would they have rode How would they have triumphed over those that oppressed them Root and Branch Branch and Rush ere this might have been the word and nothing to have given satisfaction but an utter extirpation or excision of those that troubled them But the Judge of all the Earth took a better course of doing right than to put the injured Parties into a capacity of revenging the wrongs they had suffered Such was the wisdom of him who is a Physician of the greatest value and knew best how to work the Cure not by shedding the Patients Blood but by alteration allaying the Acrimony of the Humours changing the disposition and temper of our Superiours into a more kind and compassionate regard of an harassed and afflicted people These wisely considering that force was no proper Topick for perswasive Arguments that their raking Medicines did but torment the Patient and inrage the Distemper contrived a more gentle method and have learnt suaviter curare I mean to care the hurt of the Daughter of our People more softly and substantially binding up the broken-hearted and proclaiming liberty to the Captive Compulsion is a Quiver which affords many a sharp Arrow but such as seldom hits the mark Arguments which prove very little of the Question whilst they too plainly demonstrate the Zeal and Passion of the Disputant These worthy Patriots standing upon the Shoulders of their Predecâ—ssors learnt better and saw further into the nature of Religion That 't is a Plant which never thrives in an hot Bed A thing which must be profest (a) Si princeps subditos opinionâ—m varietate multitudine â—ectarum distractos in suam soil Religionem pertrabere volet vim amovere opportet nam quo graviora supplicia irrogabis to minus proficies câ—m ea sit in hominibus vis ac natura ut ad aliquid assentiendum sponte duci velit coginolit freely and without force Religio sponte non vi debet suscipi saith Tertullian For indeed how can the (b) La volonte est nec pour suivre â— entendement comme son guide son flambeau Chorr de Sagess 'T is the nature of the Will to follow the Understanding as its guide and direction 'T is a Light to its Feet and Lanthorn to its Paths 'T is a thing no way pleasing to God to put a force upon the Consciences of Men. Services or Sacrifices which are offered by constraint and not of a willing mind are never acceptable to God seldom if ever serviceable to Men. Emanuel King of Portugal was condemned by the 4th Council of Tollet for taking the Children of the Jews by force from their Parents and Baptizing them will embrace any thing as good which the understanding does not represent as Truths And for a Man to assent to what he knows not is to invert the order of Nature and to act contrary to the Rules of his Constitution which is as hard to do as for Water to ascend high than the Fountain or original from whence it flows If a Person doubts of the Truth of a Proposition constraint or threatning can never clear the scruples or resolve the doubts he labours under And tho' he may be frighted into a compliance yet his assent is the effâ—ct of Force not Faith Such a Proselyte is a direct Hypocrite who like a broken bow is ready upon all occasions to start aside and will stand bent no longer than the Cord holds which strains it or the force lasts which is upon it So that it seems no way conducive to the Interest of Ecclesiastical Polities to use Engines to screw Members into their Communion who will prove no better than false Brethren that will be apt to undermine their Liberties and turn Renegades so soon as they have opportunity to desert the Tents of the Church Carnal Weapons are an improper Artillery for a Spiritual Warfare fiery Darts belong to the wicked one and like the Author of them are false yea inconclusive Arguments of the truth and no way sufficient to decide any questionable part of it Had the Jacobine and Franciscan Friers been burnt who proffered themselves to the Stake to prove pro and con The Protestants of France pleaded with their Ring for Indulgence because it was not the Will of God that the Consciences of Men should be forced Parce cause demande des hommes une Sacrifice voluntaire qu'il neveut pas qu'on force les consciences Dr. Burn. Collect. Letters P. 218. that Savanarola was an Heretick their fiery Zeal might have argued much heat but would have afforded no light to their Cause Besides the Victory we gain'd over our Dissenting Brethren in causing some of them to conform could never
answer our ends or refund for those Breaches we have made of Charity in prosecuting them for their dissent we did magno conatu nibil agere The distance was as great and Schism as inveterate as ever 'T is true the Scourges which we made of no small Cords drove some of them into the Temple or publick Assemblies but could never drive out the Spirit of Inconformity when the Curb was in their Mouths they bit the Bridle and kick'd at those who held the Whip over them but never became more flexible to the Reign The French King hath Dragoon'd several of his Protestant Subjects into an outward compliance with the Popish Religion but is so insecure of the reality of the effect that he thinks himself obliged to keep a strict band over them and watchful Eye upon them (c) Lib. de republ 4 to p. 75 7 â— Bodin observes That tho' Princes exercised great Cruelties towards their Subjects yet till the days of Antiochus there was no Tyrannizing over the Minds and Consciences of Men. Nunquam tamen bominum mentibus ante regem Antiochum imperandum sibi fas esse putaverunt Nay so favourable was he himself in the Case of Religion whatever he was afterwards that in the Siege of Jerusalem he granted Eight days Truce to the Jews to Celebrate the Feast of the Passeover Theodorick thought it impracticable to put a force upon the will of Man in the Matters of Religion and therefore wrote to the Senate to leave it at liberty and for a good reason too viz. Because none could be compelled to believe against his will pag. 758. Religionem inquit imperare non possumus quia nemo cogitur ut credat invitus (d) Cujus rei cum multa sunt argunenta tum vero nullum ad hanc rem iccommodatius quam de Theodosio majore qui ineunte imperio provincias Arrianorum plenas reperit c. Voluit imperator Arrianos quos tamen capitaliter oderat ullis suppliciis coerceri sed utrisque Arrianis in â—uam Catholicis sua templa concessit in singulis oppidis duos utriusque religionis pontifices permissit Ac tam etsi Caâ—â—â—licorum Pontisicum rogationibus edicta quad am adversus Arrianos promulgari jussisit facis tamen irrita esse passus est ut ipsius ad Ambrosium literae demonstrant Lib. 4 de repub Theodosius Major tho' an utter Enemy to the Arrians yet allowed them the free exercise of their Religion permitting them to have their publick Temples and Ministers to officiate in every City And tho' by the earnest sollicitations of some Churchmen he was prevailed upon to publish some Edicts against them yet he easily permitted them to be superseded for in his Letter to St. Ambrose he commanded him to deliver the principal Church to the Arrians for saith he All are at my dispose Trade inquit Arrianis basilicam mei namque sunt omnia juris But suppose he had been exceedingly mad upon his Subjects and had vexed them out of their Religion or at least the profession of it yet he could not vex them out of their understanding also for tho force be a powerful Argument yet it hath always been too weak to beget Faith or any true Sons of the Church Which in all her accounts hath but a small reckoning to make of any considerable perquisite gained by the strictest exercise of her Discipline and authority over the Consciences of scrupulous but good Men. Nay the very Civil Interests of States and Princes have shrunk and shrivelled yea dried up from the very Roots which have been planted in those hot and scorching Climates I mean where Persecution for Religion and Conscience sake hath prevailed How Bloody a War did the cruel and despiteful dealing with the Hugonots upon these accounts produce in France until the very Spirit of the Nation failed in the midst of it So Zealous was the Duke d'Alva to maintain the Romish Faith in the Netherlands that he cruelly opprest the people and mightily convinc'd them by the pressing Arguments of Fire and Faggot Yea where-ever Scripture and Reason proved scant the Inquisition was urged as the strongest perswasive they had for their Religion which caused those Flames that not only made the Daughter of Sion to fit in Ashes but fired their Religion and Prince too out of the Countrey I am not willing to Sacrifice to this Net for the Commotions and Troubles in Scotland The Civil Wars of England in the days of King Charles which not only overthrew the Government of the Church but rased the very Foundation of our Politick Constitution Yet after a long and Bloody War which for the space of Seven Years had turn'd our Land into an Aceldama broaching that Bloody Issue which the best Physicians of the State knew not how to Cure till it had wasted the very Vitals of our Land After a Twelve Years Inter-regnum when Men did that which was right in their own Eyes it pleased God to restore our Judges as at the first and Councellors as in the beginning The wild Asses to be sure which had so long snuft up the Wind kick'd up the Heel injoying a free and unbounded shock a liberty to feed where and what they pleased thought nothing more grievous than a confinement The untamed Heifers having been so long unaccustomed to the Yoke knew not how to submit to it or suffer it to pass over their fair Necks especially those who as they had been instrumental in restoring the King so desired an indulgence only upon terms easie to be granted and some small Abatements of Conformity Instead of which the burthen was made heavier and bound with Ropâ—s that were never before occupied I mean new Laws and stricter Ties to oblige them to obedience which could not but be entertained with a regret not only proportionable to their late and long possessed freedom but to the many specious Promises they had obtained and great hopes they had thence conceived of some kind and favourable Dispensations in some controverted and scrupled Parts or Ceremonies of Religion But notwithstanding all they were more narrowly watched more nicely observed and more strictly punished than ever before All Tears of Complaint were but like Waters spilt upon the ground the returns which were made being often rough and unkind By the life of Pharaoh ye are no true men but to spy out our Liberty are ye come and to betray the Church our Fathers made your Yoke heavy but we will add to it But may we not apply the words of the Psalmist in this case This their way was their folly but their posterity hath not approved their saying Psalm 49.13 Such have been the Wisdom and Compassion of our Superiours as to speak kindly and deal gently with our Dissenting Brethren who in two succeeding Parliaments have setled and recognized their Liberties or indemnified them from the penalties of those Laws to which they stood obnoxious raising up a Gourd which have
latter it being propounded to consider how the Partition-wall might be broken down the Bones of Contention which have made us so often snarle at one and other thrown out of the way every thing became so Sacred and Apostolical that they can part with nothing The Forks and the Shovels the Snuffers and the Snuffing-Dishes were all of pure Gold 'T is true in the height of the Storm they promised a Candle as tall as their Main-mast but that being allay'd one burnt into the Socket is too costly a Sacrifice to offer up for the Peace and Unity of the Church Oh! If they would not joyn issue with their Enemies against them how deliciously should they fare every day But now they can't spare a Crum for those scabby Lazarus's under the Table When they were in trouble and the Hand of god was upon them when they were spoken roughly to and no Apology or Plea they could alledge in their defence would be heard or admitted then like Joseph 's Brethren methinks we hard them complain to each other and say verily we are guilty concerning our Brethren In that we saw the Anguish of their Souls when they besought us but we would not bear them therefore is this distress come upon us Did we not speak unto you saying Sin ot against them for they are our Brethren but ye would not bear therefore is their Blood required as our Hands But no sooner did our Moses deliver them from their Task-Masters and brought them again into their Kingdom but like Pharaoh's chief-Butler they did not remember them but (a) Gen. 40.23 Obj. forgot them But to this it will be replied Are not those Promises fulfilled Hath not the last and this present Parliament setled that Liberty by a Law which the two last Princes straining their Prerogative gave by Proclamation Res 'T is very great Truth and for which Act the present yea the Generations to come will rise up and bless God the King and Parliament for that Justice Prudence and Pity which they have shown to a poor harassed and ravaged People who else would have been as certainly though not so sudden ruined as our poor distressed Brethren in France Tho' the departure of the greatest part of Dissenting Protestants here was far less from the Church of England than theirs from the Church of Rome But why might not things be so tempered that this Partition-wall might become less needful And the Church of England by hearkning to some Terms of Accommodation and making a Rebatement of disputable Things and all along offensive Rites and Ceremonies become more enlarged and setled upon a firmer Basis and more tried Foundation For though the late Indulgence hath prevented Ephraim from vexing Judah yet 't is scarce provided for that Judah should not envy Ephraim Although I have some good reason to know and believe and therefore do I speak that many of our Dissenting Brethren be of Mephibosheth's Mind that if the Protestant Religion may be secured against our restless and implacable Enemies of Rome the King and Kingdom setled in Peace poor Ireland saved out of the Hands of those whose tender Mercies are Cruelty they are contented the Ziba's should take all they grudge not at their Preferments and Dignities being satisfied with a slender Fare and Provision And of the Mind with that contented Man described by the Poet Vivitur parvo bene cui paternum Splendet in mensâ tenui Salinum Nec leves Somnos timor aut Cupido Sordidus aufert Esteeming the Liberty of Conscience and mean Diet a continual Feast But why should we envy our Brethrens sitting at the same Table when we have all the same Faith the same Father the same Baptism the same Hope of our Calling Obj. But suppose we should propound a Temper it will not satisfie nor will they comply unless all the Rules of Decency and Order be rescinded and totally destroyed Res 1st We hope better things of them and such as accompany the Peace and Union of the Church 2dly Suppose it should gain but a few yet that 's Ground enough for our Argument an Enforcement of our Plea Would our Governours please to imitate St. Paul they would become all things to all Men that they might gain some though not all Dissenters 1 Cor. 9.19 For though I be free from all Men yet have I made my self a Servant c. 20. To the Jews I became a Jew that I might the gain the Jews c. 22. To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak I am made all things to all Men that I might gain some That St. Paul might not offend the Jews he condescended and circumcised Timothy The Pharisees were very strict for Circumcision 16 Acts 3. and though it needful to observe the Law 15 Acts 5. But the Apostles assembled at Jerusalem thought not fit to trouble the Conversed Gentiles which were turned to God with those Rites which the Converted Jews were zealous for Why might not the same Rule be observed among us He that is ambitious to have his Child signed with the Sign of the Cross in Baptism let him have the Liberty to procure his Child to be so baptized He that desires to be excused the Ceremony of the Surplice in his publick Ministration may he be left to his own freedom and so on the contrary being obliged oâ—ly to those things which are necessary especially where such Indulgence may gain some Pious and Conscientious Ministers into the Communion of our church and give ease to such who are actually engaged in its Ministry and pressed down with such Burthens Which is the second Reply to the Objection and Plea for Abatement 3dly Suppose our Concessions should not call many over into our Tents at present yet it might prevent those who are not yet admitted into our Communion from fleeing to separate Congregations for ease and refuge as to their Consciences who if some rough places were made plain would never think of departing from our Assemblies Would we Cedere à jure and rebate those things which are Goads in the Sides and Thorns in the Eyes of many good and Tender-conscienced Men whose Necks have been gauled with the Ceremonial Yoak It would happen to the Church from so benevolent an Aspect as it doth to the Earth from the happy Conjunctions and Configurations of the Stars whose effects though they be not immediately felt yet cast a future kind and benign influence upon it And is it not more than probable that Persons who hereafter shall be at liberty of their choice of two several Communions will choose that which they judge safest and in which their Consciences may be most at ease If in one of these the Word is soundly preacht as it is in the Assemblies of many of the Dissenters for they have owned and subscribed the Articles of our Religion so far as they respect the Doctrine of the Church where also the Sacraments according to Divine
proportioned to their Strength and their Work to their Wages But our hope is that our Task-masters are neither of the Egyptian Race nor Temper but will either lessen our tale of Brick or allow so much Straw such additional Augmentations to those Churches which lack that assistants may be procured and paid for the Support and Aid of such as labour in the Word and Doctrine or else that such liberty may be granted them on whom necessity is laid to Preach the Gospel that they may not like Issachar be prest above measure and be forced to sink down under two heavy Burthens of the Desk and Pulpit Such Indulgence will make the Yoak of the Church like that of the Gospel easie and its burthen light The Commands of God are not grievous shall not the Churches be so too If not we may be a willing but scarce in all points can we be an obedient People in the day of our Humane weakness This would tend to stop those Mouths which have been opened wide with Reflections upon the Imposers charging them with a Design by this means to supersede and discharge the other part of Divine Worship if it will be allowed to be a part viz. Preaching the Gospel Spinning the Thread of the Common Prayer to that length as must necessitate the cutting very short or wholly cutting off the Thread of their other Discourses which they conceive as due to the Command of God and just expectation of the People Enlarging the Desk to such dimensions as either wholly to justle the Pulpit out of doors or else croud it up into so narrow a corner as if it were a needless Utensil in the House of God and piece of Lumber that might very well be spared as the warm Discourses of some hot-headed Men have too plainly intimated which hath caused many to flee from our Tents and do desert our Communion as too much resembling the Church of Rome who would possess the People that a great deal of Mass is too little and a little Preaching too much for Edification Such unhappy Wedges have some high-flown Men been to split and divide us though we have been always apt to Sacrifice to other Nets for our Schisms being very quick to discover the Motes in our Brethrens Eyes but very slow of Heart to believe or discern the Beam in our own Common Prudence and ordinary Kindness are sufficient Arguments to induce and oblige our Rulers to proportion the Work to the Ability and Strength of the Workman otherwise he must sink under the Weight and languish under the Fatigue of his Imployment A good Man is merciful to his Beast he will not set too long Stages nor over drive his Flock lest it dies And whether the Metaphor be proper in the Case I 'll appeal no further than the Wisdom and Consideration of our Superiors Let them judge whether the first and second Service in the Morning the Evening Office and Catechising besides twice Preaching and Praying in the Pulpit for he that hath a double cure can't do less though we should not insist upon the frequent Additionals of one or sometimes several other Offices viz. the Administration of both the Sacraments Burial of the Dead Thanksgiving after Child-bearing Letters directed from the King Orders from the Bishops several Canons and statute-Statute-Laws c. appointed and which must be read Whether all these considered as they be enumerated be a reasonable Task for a single and meer Man whose Strength is not the strength of Stones nor Flesh of Brass If any part of the Liturgy as the case stands be omitted the Law is violated the Penalty incurred our Superiors offended and the Person rendred obnoxious to the Malice or Mercy that is cruelty of every Informer But we hope better things of you our most Reverend Fathers and Brethren and such as do accompany a Spirit of Moderation and Compassion towards those who have hitherto laboured as in an Iron Furnace prest down out of measure and sinking under an intollerable Burthen Our humble and earnest address therefore is that though our Forefathers made our Yoak grievous yet now you will make the grievous Service of our Fathers and their Yoak which they put upon us lighter If you will answer us 1 Kings 12.4 7. and speak good Words to us we will be your Servants for ever Of the Lord's Prayer and Doxology BUT if whilst we are pleading to have the Common Prayers shortned we do not Wyar-draw our own beyond the Staple and spin them to too great a length I would in the next place descend to Particulars The first thing which I would In the fourth Council of Tolet Can. 9. It is but once a day that the Lord's Prayer is injoined against them that used it on the Lord's Day only and by the 17th Can. It appears it was used but once that day Grand debate p. 121. if I might not give offence instance in is the Lord's Prayer to which I may join the Doxology which are so often at the same time repeated as if we thought to be accepted for our much speaking and that the Effect and Vertue of those parts of our Liturgy like the Papists Rosary do depend upon the tale and number of our Repetitions The Doxology in the constant Office every Sunday Morning as the Psalms happen to be read is according to the Rubrick to be repeated eight or ten times The Gloria Patri is appointed to be said six times ordinarily in every Morning and Evening Services frequently eight times in a Morning sometimes ten Grand debate p. 13. besides the use of it in Additional Offices And the Lord's Prayer in the Forenoon four times in the Desk and once in the Pulpit besides the additional use of it in other Officers which frequently occur So that whilst Titius blames Sempronius for his Tautologies Sempronius reflects upon Titius for his Pharisaical and Vain Repetitions 'T is true our Service in this respect is of the same shape into which our first Reformers lickt it Obj. so that to find fault with our Liturgy upon these accounts is to cast the blemish upon them and to trample upon the Ashes of many holy Martyrs who Sealed the Reformation with their Blood Res Pudet haec opprobia I know no wise Man that can pretend to blame them for doing no more but rather rise up and bless them or rather God for them who enabled them to do so much They stopt the Ferment of Popery in the highest Ebullition of it but by reason of the short Reign of King Edward they wanted time not will to perfect the Cure as may appear by the ingenuous Confessions of Cranmer Arch-bishop of Canterbury and divers other Doctors and Fathers of the Church that many superfluous things remained yet to be taken away which they earnestly desired and long'd for Multi graves viri inter alios Cranmerus fatebantur ingenue multa detracta oportere superflua ardentibus votu cupiebant ea in
Person may rest in the Bosom or external Communion of the Church yet too too often we have little or rather no hope that when he is departed hence he rests in Christ And therefore in our solemn Applications unto God to tell him we have a sure and certain hope of his rest in him and that he shall be raised unto eternal Life when we have no such hope or any tolerable Ground or probable Argument to believe it is to cause our Faith to act contrary to its own nature and to ascend higher than the Fountain of Scripture or Reason from whence it originally flows putting our Charity upon the rack and Conscience upon too great a stretch Besides Incouragement to the bad how many from hence flatter themselves into a Fool 's Paradice where they expect to eat of the Tree of Life though they have sed never so foul upon forbidden Fruit Crying Peace Peace though they have walkt according to the imagination of their own Hearts adding drunkenness to thirst For let a Person live in the Communion of the Church though he be as bad as ever was Caesar Borgia yet he shall have the same Charity extended towards him as if he had walkt before God in Truth and with a perfect Heart giving God thanks for his deliverance out of the Miseries of this Life as if he went immediately to Paradice to make an addition to the Spirits of just Men made perfect begging that God would accomplish the number of his Elect and hasten his Kingdom All which pro subjectâ materiâ are applicable to the Person of the defunct May it not be a just discouragement to Holiness of Life whilst the same Expectancies and Hopes by the publick Judgment of the church are declared concerning the worst Discouragement to the good as well as the best of Men Who from hence might infer and say What is the Almighty that we should serve him or what profit should we have if we pray unto him 21 Job 15. For the same end is to them both to the Good and to the Sinner so that I have cleansed my self in vain and washt mine Hands in Innocency when he that wallows in the Mire and that hath defiled his Garments shall yet sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven which is but consequential or the same to a rest in Christ and a Resurrection to eternal Life seeing then the same Office is to be applied to Persons of all sorts and circumstances we earnestly desire it may be so far reformed and modelled that the bad be not flattered the good offended nor the Consciences of such as minister justly scandalized And seeing that Mercy is a most acceptable Sacrifice to the Almighty why might not this whole Office excepting some decent Expression upon committing the Body to the Ground be performed within the Church where the Minister and People are secured from the Wind and Wet and other extremities of Weather to which they especially who are to attend bare headed are exposed whilst they continue sub Dio and remain in the Open Air. Obj. But the sight of the Grave for the Eye affects the Heart is apt to stamp deeper Impresses and produce an higher Sense of Mortality in the Minds of Men and therefore an alteration upon this account would be for the worse Res 1st And is not the dead Corps a Spectacle within doors as powerful and convincing as that without 2dly If the Priest's Lips will not preserve the Knowledge and maintain the Sense of our Estate and Circumstances 't will be in vain to seek it at the Grave's Mouth We have Moses and the Prophets if we will not hear them neither will we be convinced though one should arise out of the Grave from the Dead so that the reason of our request yet remains unshaken Of the Collects for the King the those in Authority NOR is our flattering of the living in the next place any whit a less Stone of stumbling or rock of offence than our fawning upon the Dead To prevent which how necessary is it for the Reverend Father of our Church into whose Hands the King hath now put a Fan throughly to purge our Floor I mean those Prayers and Collects appointed to be used for the King and those in Authority by the which be a Prince never so debaucht and profligate prophane and dissolute abandoning himself to all the Vices of the Age sublimating Evil to the highest pitch violating all the Laws of God and casting those Cords behind him yet as if the Majesty of his Person were an Elixir which turns all into God changing the nature of Vice into Vertue we are bound to acknowledge him that is greatest to be the best too nay as if the most idolatrous and false Religion could by the touch of a Scepter be legitimated or changed into an Evangelical Worship and reasonable Service We are bound as the Case stands whatever Religion the Prince professes be it roman or Mahometan yet to pray that God would keep and strengthen him in the true way of worshipping him when at that very time we believe and are perswaded it is false A Staff which â—n the late Reign was made use of to bastinado those that prayed by the Liturgy Our Enemies urging that either their way of worship was true or else our Service false and hypocritical If Princes were like Miâ—as changing the Nature of every thing they touch or had the same Power which Bellarmine avers to be in the Pope viz. of making Vertue to be Vice and Vice Vertue Evil to be Good and Darkness to be Light than we might account Slavery to be Liberty and that tender Mercy which is Cruelty We need not scruple to call him Gracious and most Religious Sovereign though he hath abandoned the Sense and Practice of Religion and Vertue nor scruple to call him Rex Christianissimus who is vix Christianus But till these Paradoxes can be proved and justified it is desired by such as be true Sons of the Church that the Liturgy may in this respect be altered and such of its Collects as oblige us to give flattering Titles unto Man may be so revised and amended that if we lived under a Julian or Domitian they might not upon the least account be scrupled nor can we ever expect a fitter Juncture to work this Reformation in than when we are under the Conduct of such Sovereign Princes who are not only willing to condescend to all things which can with any colour of Reason and Conscience be desired of them but also no pretence or conciousness of guilt that is upon them or scruple in us do in the least enforce or influence our request of having such Expressions taken out of our Liturgy as should hinder us in lifting up our Hands without wrath or doubting such as should render us Sychophants towards Men or Hypocrites towards God in our most divine and solemn Approaches unto the Throne of
have all Preferments when time was turned For could the Church and State but lay their Foundation here they concluded their Nest to be built upon a Rock But if Grace be not writ upon the Walls of it the Beam out of its own Timber the Stone out of its own Wall will cry down with it down with it even to the Ground without this we shall but daub with untempered Mortar and may cry Peace Peace when Destruction is at hand St. Austine observed that the Romans built their Temple of Concord where the Seditions of the Gracchi had been acted Tiberius and Caius Which Temple afterwards was so far from restraining Decivitate deâ— lib. 3. cap. 25. that it became a Promoter of the highest and most bloody Outrages For Formality-sake we may carry the Ark into the Camp of our Church but the Glory will depart from us so long as the Sins of the young Men be great but their Reproofs small so that hitherto we have mistaken our Enemies and like the Andabaâ—ae have fought with our Eyes shut contending de lanâ Caprinâ we scarce know what we have fallen out for or with whom Alas it hath been our Brethren of the same Faith and Religion whereas our Contests should have been with Spiritual wickednesses in high places yea such have been the Policy and Envy of those who rejoiced in our Divisions hoping to make their own Market of them as first to perswade that they were no Friends to Caesar and then to engage the Civil Magistrate to treat them as Enemies making them â—riples and then beating them with their Crutches who to get the Staff into their Hand would frequently suggest to the Prince whose Ear they could command that there was a People whose Laws were contrary to the King's Laws and therefore desired him to write that they might be destroyed which contrary to often and open Promises of an undisturbed and free Exercise of their Religion he was frequently prevailed with to do Signing divers Acts for their Prosecution Which by a ravenous sort of Informers were so managed as by Bonds and imprisonments Confiscations and Banishments the protestant Dissenters were ravaged and ruined But such have been the Wisdom of our late Senates to see and discover by whom and for what ends they were thus pusht on and acted The Tide of our Councils seems very much turned SERMON preacht at â—ublin before the Lord's Justices of Ireland by the Dean of St. Patricks Printed 1691. since we have with more chearfulness levied such considerable Sums of Money to reimburse our Neighbours the Charge of our deliverance than what was unaccountably raised and expendedâ— Vt delenda esset Carthago It certainly argued saith the Deaâ— of St. Patricks a very passive and submissive Temper in them to give Money so liberally and to fight so fiercely as they did to destroy themselves and their fellow Protestants to make sport for their common Adversaries and to serve the Interest of their most dangerous Enemies This was saith he part of the Project laid down at large in a Paper found in the Earl of Tyrâ—onnel's House then Colonel Talboâ—â— dated July 1671. supposed to be drawn up by his Brother then Titular Arch-bishop of Dublin viz. in these Words That the Toleration of the Roman Catholick Religion in England be granted and the Insolency of the Hollanders be taken down a Confederacy with France Dean of St. Patrick's Sermon c. the Ashes of Amboina must be raked for Embers to put us in a Flame against them and the Affront urged that was given us when their Fleet refused to make Obeysance and strike Sail to the King 's Yatcht sent among them The first of which some thought was not always to be remembred nor the latter a sufficient Ansa for a National Quarrel or which might have been attoned at a far less rate than it stood this unhappy Nation in both of Blood and Treasure But how then should the great design of extirpating the Northern Heresie which was then the Catholick Project have been managed which many Protestants were inconsiderately easily and with too much Zeal engaged in being great Enemies to their Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Constitutions taking all Suggestions of the fear of Popery to be nothing but the old Puritanical Cant revived and ungrounded Scandal cast upon the King as if he had other designs than to maintain the Honour and Grandeur of the Nation which made many of our own Religion very zealous and valourous in carrying on the War against them But the Parliament taking Scent of this deep-laid Project addrest the King to proceed to a Treaty of a speedy Peace as I remember the Words were esteeming a further Prosecution of the War nothing less than a pulling down those Banks and Barriers which were erected against the See of Rome though too many were too great Infidels to believe it till they felt themselves wet-shod in Holy-water and that Tiber so powerfully brake in upon us that the whole Land lookt bright with Popery When alas all the Remedy the Non-resistance Men could afford us was Who a Devil could have thought it but we hope such care will be taken that there shall be no occasion for them to make us such a second amends or be so far heeded that they should again involve us in the same Circumstances and once more give us another flap with their Tails Non licet his peccare Indeed 't is believed they 'll never boil Prerogative to its former height the all Charters must be arbitrary Officers of State but Judges especially ad placitum the only way to sell Justice and to buy the needy for a Pair of Shooes Then Non-Resistance and Passive-Obedience very true and wholesome Doctrines if rightly stated were the universal Cry and squeezed till the Blood came But the Mischief was when they had nurst the Prerogative till it had stung some of them and hill as all the rest they presently let the World see they never brewed this Doctrine for their own drinking Let a coâ—â—â—â—ed Child be but once sâ—ibbed and it flâ—es in the Face of the most indulgent Parent They ne'er expected that non-Resistance would ever have fallen to their share unless when Preferments and Dignities were offered to their acceptance But when they came to experiment with Perillus the Bull they had framed for others What Out-cries did they make Then they acknowledged we indeed suffer justly But what have our Brethren done whom we pursued with such Revenge and Rage Then they confest that they sacrificed the Interest of the Church to their Malice But if the Dissenters would forbear to comply with the common Enemy they would do great things for them whenever they came again into their Kingdom But alas there 's too too much reason as to such kind of promises to apply that of the poet viz. Ægrotat daemon monaobus tune esse volebaâ— Convaluit daemon daemon ut ante suit In stress of
these scrupled Rites should be omitted unless we condemn all our Brethren of the Reformed Churches who have thought fit to lay aside the Practice of those Ceremonies which among us have ever since the Reformation been a Stone of stumbling and Rock of offence and that not only to some of our weaker Brethren but also to many of the greatest Bishops and Prelates of the Church as I have already hinted Insomuch that Zanchy in his aforesaid Epistle told the Queen that most part of the Bishops Men greatly renouned for all kind of Learning and Godliness had rather leave their Office and place in the Church than against their own Consciences admit of such Garments which are at the least signs of Idolatry and Popish Superstition and so defile themselves with them and give offence to the Weak by their Example 5thly An Abolition of these Rites does not oblige the Church to be subject to every querulous and teachy Complainant suppose a Prince grants the Petition of a Criminal and gives him his Life for a Prey will it therefore follow that he shall never know when he hath done and that Justice shall never be executed because it hath upon some earnest Applications given place to Mercy and yielded to Clemency The King hath thought fit to annul the Act for Chimney-money will it therefore follow no branch of his Revenue must stand unrepealed Suppose the Church should repeal and cassate the Laws for the Ceremonies for the Reasons that have been alledged will it therefore follow that nothing must ever be setled for the maintaining of Order and Decency For though it may grant some things with Reason will it follow therefore it must yield up every thing without Reason 6thly If nothing must be granted by way of Relaxation in point of Conformity upon the Reason objected then the Church's Peace can never be secured For more than an hundred Years viz. over since the Reformation the Church hath had and suffered many a bitter Pang for the sake of these offensive Rites and Ceremonies she hath had a constant struggle in her Womb by reason of them They once fretted out her Bowels and they are again and have been ever since their Restoration with Charles II. as Moths fretting her Garments They have been the constant Troublers of our Israel And I am afraid if with Jonas they be not cast overboard they will at one time or another sink our Ship Though I earnestly wish whatever be the event of this Essay there may never be any occasion to lament the fulfilling of this Prophesie among us as with bitter cries we have lived to bewail the Fate of Zanchy's And shall we ever retain that Leven that is so apt to sowre the whole lump shall it never be purged out Oh that it might once be Augustus Caesar caused all the Glasses to be broken lest the use of them should occasion Blame and Terror to the Servants and create Strife in the Family the thing applies it self c. 'T is true we are Brethren we have the same Father the same Faith the same Baptism the same Religion as to all the Substantial parts of it Why should we have a Partition-wall built betwixt us Whilst we are two Flocks differences will be apt to arise and cause the Herds-men to fall out and what Flames such Sparks may kindle among us our former Ashes and Experience are sufficient to make us dread the Incendiaries and Boutefeus Let us then no longer shut our Eyes that we should not see the things which concern our Peace Let us now be one Sheepfold under one Shepherd An Act of Comprehension would effect this Were the Declaration of Charles II. concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs cast into the Form of a Law I believe our Schism would in a great measure presently in process of time be totally extinguished And the hurt of the Daughter of our People by the Balm which distils from it effectually cured Which was formerly the Opinion of an excellent and reverend Divine of our Church I shall give it you in his own Words If ever saith he a Divine Sentence was in the Mouth of a King and his Mouth erred not in judgment I verily believe it was thus with our present Majesty when he composed that admirable Declaration which next to Holy Scripture I adore and think that the united Judgment of the whole Nation cannot frame a better or a more unexceptionable Expedient for a firm and lasting Concord of these distracted Churches Solomon saith a Man of Understanding is of an excellent Spirit and the worst wish I have for our Mother the Church is that all her Sons were of no worse Temper Then we should have our wish viz. one Sheepfold nay what 's better the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace Sir Matthew Hale Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Sir Matthew Hale was of Opinion That the only means to heal us was a new Act of Uniformity which should neither leave all at liberty not impose any thing but necessary In the mean time it were to be wisht that publick Authority for Peace and Union sake would strictly prohibit and restrain the Pulpit from uttering Invectives against our Dissenting Brethren and that the Mouths of such as speak high-swelling Words against them may be stopt This would be a very good Preludium to Union and Peace if this Rallery might be curbed and such as cause Divisions in the Church might be markt Obj. 2. Is it reasonable to indulge those who dissent from the Orders and Constitutions of the Church granting to them a Liberty of Conscience when our reverend Fathers and Brethren cannot be dispensed with viz. The deprived Bishops and Clergy who for Conscience sake dare not submit to swear Allegiance to our present Sovereigns And are not their Consciences as tender to them as other Or do not they who when time was stood against the pressing Inundations of Popery and extravagant Exercise of Royal Power as much deserve Indulgence as those that on this account desire it Res 1st To put a Curb into the Chap of Tyranny or Hook into the Nostrils of Popery are Actions becoming true English Men and Protestants Nor is the Defence which was made against both by the censured Prelates ever to be forgot and how they Jeoparded themselves in the high Places in the Defence of our Christian and Civil Liberties â— Ezek. 20. But if a righteous Man shall forsake his Righteousness and do that which is evil all the Righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembred 2dly Supposing their refusal to comply is Matter of Conscience I most heartily wish and in my Place and Station would so far as I am able make it my endeavour as I desire Liberty for my self and others that they may be treated with all the Indulgence and Compassion which the Powers in being can extend towards them and that they may never meet with such measure as have been meeted out to
an hot Iron As appears by the Epistle to the King from the Arch bishop of Cant. on whom all their Severities were fathered I shall rather saith he magnifie your Clemency that proceeded with those Offenders Burton Bastwick and Prin in a Court of Mercy as well as Justice It being the Opinion of some of their Judges that their Lives might have been exacted for their Offences And the Reason the Arch-bishop gave was because their malignant Principles were introductive of a Parity in the Church and State Heylin also would be thought to make it appear that they deserved Death Moderat Answ p. 187. which is agreeable to a Passage I have met with in a nameless Author or Tract though revised and published by publick Authority in Scotland Sundry of our prime Lords and Earls did present a Supplication to our King after his Coronation in Scotland I suppose wherein the Matter of the greatest Complaint was so far as ever we heard their challenging the Bishops with what they had done or were likely to do The Copy of this privy Supplication being privily conveyed by an unfriend some two or three Years after out of my Lord of Balmarinoch's Study or Chamber was a Ditty for which he was condemned to die for an Example to all other Noblemen to beware of the like rashness especially his fellow Supplicants who are all declared to have deserved by that fault the same Sentence of Death And the Sense the King had of it is expressed in the King 's large Declarat p. 13. viz. We were graciously pleased that the Fear and Example might teach all by the Punishment only of one of them to pass by many who undoubtedly had been included and involved by our Laws in the same Sentence if we had proceeded against them Large Declarat p. 13. Such was the Power and Influence they had with a Prince who was so great a Votary to the Innovators in Religion as to venture his Crown yea and lose it too in their quarrel But Death had been a favour to some of those Punishments which were inflicted upon this score as may be seen in the Relation of one single Instance among others of which Mr. Huntly in his Breviat gives us an account if true viz. Of a poor Devonshire Minister Mr. John Heyden who in a Sermon preacht at Norwich let fall some Passages against setting up of Images and bowing at the Name of Jesus was apprehended like a Traytor with the Constables Bills and Halberts and brought before Dr. Harsnet then Bishop manacled like a Felon and committed by him close Prisoner to the common Goal above thirteen Weeks where he was like to starve the Bishop having taken from him his Horse Papers c. from whence by a Pursuivant he was convey'd to London and kept two full Terms At last by the high Commission he was deprived of his Orders Thereafter the high Commissioners imprisoned him in the Gate-house common Dungeon and Canterbury sent him to be whipt in the common Bridewel and then kept him all the long extream cold Winter in a dark cold Dungeon without Fire or Candle chained to a Post in the midst of the Room with heavy Irons on his Hands and Feet allowing him only Bread and Water with a Pad of Straw to lie upon and since on his relief hath caused him to take an Oath and give Bond to Preach no more and to depart the Kingdom in three Weeks without returning which latter part of his Punishment being for Preaching after his first deprivation though no exception was taken at his Doctrine If these things be true as they stand related in a Book Revised and Published by an Ordinance of a general Assembly in Scotland It is high time to break off our past Sins by a speedy Repentance and to redeem our former Severities by acts of Kindness and Compassion towards our opprest and complaining Brethren By whom the Seeds of Arbitrary Government have been sown NOR hath the Zeal and Bigottry for the controverted Ceremonies been only a Nuisance in the Church and pestred the Consciences of Men but have also occasioned very great Mischiefs and Distractions in the State For when Men of this Stamp had once gained the Prince on their side and to espouse their Interest they have endeavoured to requite him by ascribing to him an absolute Power and illimited Authority over the Subject Though in the late Reign none winched sooner nor kickt higher at it when they themselves began to feel the dint of it overthrowing our Politick Constitution and best tempered Government under Heaven that they might erect the Throne to an immensurable height Hence it was that the Original of Sovereign Dominion was taught not to be ex Pacto but jure Divino That Non Resistance and Passive-Obedience were the only Orthodox and Catholick Doctrines so long as they imagined it would never come to their own turn to practice them Singâ—lis adempta est adversus principem quae naturalis dicitur juris defensio seu injuriae dipulsio Johan Wemius p. 21. That the very Law of Nature and of Self-preservation is a Crime in that case (a) Dr. Sherlock in his Case of Resistance of the Supreme Powers c. Determines thus That as well Inferior Magistrates as others imploy'd by a Popish or Tyrannical Prince in the most illegal and outragious Acts of Violence such as cutting Throats or the like are as irresistable as the Prince himself supposing they act by his Authority and must be submitted to under pain of eternal Damnation c. But perhaps as one lately was convinc'd by the sight of Bishop Overal's Book so they might be by Bilson's of subjection p. 520. His Words are these Neither will I rashly pronounce all that resist to be Rebels Cases may fall out even in Christian Kingdoms where People may plead their Right against the Prince and not be charged with Rebellion As for Example If a Prince should go about to subject his Kingdom to a Foreign Realm or change the Form of the Commonwealth from Impery to Tyranny or neglect the Laws establisht by common Consent of Prince and People to execute his own Pleasure in those and other Cases which might be named if the Nobles and Commons joyn together to defend their ancient and accustomed Liberty Regiment and Laws they may not well be accounted Rebels Ibid. By Supreme Powers ordained of God we do not mean the Prince's private Will against his Laws but his Precepts derived from his Laws and agreeing with his Laws which though it be wicked yet may not be resisted by any Subject with Violence armed But when Princes offer no Justice to their Subjects but violence and despise all Laws to practice their Lusts not any private Man may take the Sword to redress the Prince but if the Laws of the Land appoint the Nobles as next to the King to assist him in doing right and with-hold him from doing wrong then be they Licensed by
is certain that there was a time when the People had no Kings but afterwards when Lands Possessions came to be divided there were Kings ordained for no other case but only to exercise Justice c. Not only the People but also the King to be subject to the Laws c. If a King contemn and despise the Laws violently rob and spoil his Subjects deflower Virgins dishonest Matrons and do all things licentiously and temerariously do not the Nobles of the Kingdom assemble together deposing him from his Kingdom set up another in his place which shall swear to govern uprightly and be obedient to the Laws Fox Acts and Monuments p. 762. Ed. 1684. The Substance of which is that he who hath Sovereign Power or Authority but limited by certain Rules or Conditions which he hath sworn to observe If such an one shall become a Tyrant it is in the Power of the States and Peers of the Realm to restrain him for saith he the Office of the Subject is twofold ordinary in respect to Time Place and Imployment they have in the Common-wealth the other extraordinary which is to be exercised according to the Circumstances of Affairs which can be bound by no certain Rule except that of the publick Safety which must ever be consulted for and which * Lib. de repub Quo fit ut leges non solum populum sed reges etiam obligare sciamus at si regem contemnere leges Raperebona subditorum violare Virgines stuprare matronas omniaque suae libidini temeritati committere vidiamus numquid Congregatis regni proceribus illo summot◠alius sublimabitur qui bene gubernare juret legibus obtemperare Aen. Sylv. de gestis Con. Basili Bodin calls Suprema lex But if Monarchy be absolute and under no Restrictions we must then patiently suffer the most unjust Exercise of Power there being no other appeal but only to the Divine Tribunal Thus Daniel paid Allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar and our Saviour to the Roman Emperor Pareus de potestate civili Propos Primâ saith Episcopi pastores magistratibus suis impiis aut injustis possunt ac debent resistere non vi ant gladio sed verbo dei That is Bishops and Pastors must not resist evil Magistrates by force or by the Sword but by the Word in which he speaks honestly for the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but spiritual In his second Proposition he saith Subditi non privati sed in magistratu inferiori constituti adversus Superiorem magistratum se rempub Ecclesiam seu veram Religionem etiam armis defendere jure possunt c. That is not private Subjects but such as are placed in an inferior Order of Magistracy may by force of Arms defend themselves and the Common-wealth the Church or the true Religion without the Breach of any Law Supposing the Supreme Magistrate be degenerated into a Tyrant an Idolater and is become highly oppressing of the People provided they act sincerely and for the publick good because he saith Princes are bound by their own Laws Imperator testatur incodice se contra jus nolle ut sua decreta injudiciis locum habeant sed debere Irrita fieri si fortasse cognoscantur à justitiâ discedere c. Lib. 4. Cod. de leg Prin. Adeo digna est vox Majestate regnantis legibus alligatum se Principem profiteri That all his Commands contrary to Law were void and that it was a Saying becoming the Majesty of a Governour that a Prince is bound by Law Trajan was commended by Dion who giving the Sword to the Praetor used these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is take this Sword if I rule well use it for me if ill against me But as to private Persons he saith Moriendum potius quam resistendum Yet for several Reasons I cannot take his Words in the Sence which that excellent and learned Person D. Fabritius would put upon them restraining his Meaning to the Princes of the Empire who are Sovereign Princes and invested with Royal Power It never being a question whether such had Authority for the Preservation of their Rights and redress of Injuries to levy War against another Prince though in some respects greater than themselves But if in no case the Nobility and Commonalty of a Nation may interpose to prevent the imminent Ruine of the Church and State it would be very difficult to vindicate the late Revolution as is already hinted from those severe Imputations by such as have very little good will to our Sion cast upon it I shall not in so great a case interpose mine own Judgment it being easie to prick our Fingers in such a Thorny question Yet I may say if any for the breaking of their Yoak have ascribed too much to the (b) Though the Bishop of Burgen to prove the Church above the Pope argued from an unexpected Topick endeavouring to prove the Body of the Kingdom to be above the King To which Tho. Corsellis agreed Adductoque intestem summo omnium Philosophorum Aristotele dicebat in omni regno bene instituto illud in primis desiderari ut plus regnum posset quam rex Si contra reperiretur id non regnum sed tyrannidem dici debere Aen. Sylv. degest Con. Basil People granting them too great a Liberty of contesting their Rights with their Sovereigns others in hopes to espouse Princes to their Interest in grieving and oppressing their Dissenting Brethren have beyond measure fawned upon and flattered them till they nurst up the best tempered Monarchy upon Earth into an intollerable and tyrannick Exercise of Regal Power But this is a digression which by pursuing the Extravagancies of some Mens Opinions I have been led In which if I proceed a little further being once out of the way I must beg the Readers Patience and Pardon For having perused the Case of Allegiance due to Sovereign Princes by W. S. I could not but with very much regret observe that in the whole drift of that Discourse we can find little or none other Argument to enforce our Allegiance to King William c. than what would bespeak it for the greatest Usurper and Intruder who hath had the good Fortune to gain an actual Possession of the Crown which looks to say no worse very ungratefully upon him whom the Lords Spiritual and Temporal invited over and who by the universal Consent and applause of the People declared by their Representatives in Parliament was invested with the Royal Government and to whom we owe next to the Divine Providence all that is dear to us To reflect then so unworthily upon him as if he were no better than one who usurps the Government and that hath no further Right to the Kingdom then what Power Possession and Success can convey to him seems no way reconcilable to Duty or good Manners This Author in his Preface tells us that he never did any thing to cause the World