Primitive times Besides the Holy Scriptures or written word of God as I remarked before call upon us to search and study and meditate in them nay to believe and obey or Live according to them and Promise Eternal Happiness and Salvation to all that do these things but they make no mention of the word of God not written do not Command any to enquire or search after or trouble their Heads about any such thing as the Unwritten word of God 'T is true indeed St. Paul praises the Obedient Members of the Church of Corinth that kept 1 Cor. 11. 2. the Traditions or Ordinances which he deliver'd to them But these were no part of the word of God either written or not written but things in their own nature Indifferent That the Men should Pray in publick with their Heads uncover'd and the Women with their Heads cover'd Verses 4th and 5th He gives this charge also to Timothy hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of 2 Tim. 1. 13. me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Which form of sound words was either the Creed which the Apostles agreed upon as a summary of the Chief things that were to be believed and profess'd by all Christians or else the whole Doctrine of Christ containing all things to be done as well as believed to Salvation which if not then were before the Apostles left the World intirely written for the Instruction of all that should Imbrace the Christian Religion But doth not Christ tell his Apostles I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now By which saith the St. John 16. 12. Church of Rome it appears That Christ spoke many things that were not written and it is not credible that the Apostles would not deliver these by word of mouth to the Church To which a Reverend Bishop of ours gives this Satisfactory Answer that Christ doth not say Bishop Davenane de judice norma fidei page 18. Multa habeo quae non potestis in posterum scribere I have many things to say unto you which you cannot hereafter write but which you cannot now bear Postea autem Spiritu sancto illuminati portare ea potuerunt praedicare mundo ac demum scriptis toti Ecclesiae Commendare but afterwards being inlightned by the Holy Ghost they could both bear them themselves and Preach them to the World and at last in their writings Commend and Transmit them to the whole Church But let us grant saith he that these things were such as are not written yet who is so impudent and rash as to dare to specifie or assign what those things were This is such Transcendent Presumption that none but the Church of Rome dares venture on which takes the boldness to Father all her Dreams Fables and Errours upon God calling them his Traditional or Unwritten word As for those words of St. John which they insist so much upon There are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be Chap. 21. 25. written every one I suppose that even the World it self could not contain the Books that should be written These neither prove the necessity nor Authority of their Traditional or Unwritten word of God Fatemue enim multa esse quae fecit Jesus quae tamen ab Evangelistis scripta non fuerunt for we Page 18. confess saith that Learned Authour that there were many things which Jesus did that are not written by the Evangelists but these many things were not Doctrines necessary to Salvation but Miracles or sayings which we may be ignorant of without any detriment to Religion or Salvation so St. John himself tells us And many other Signs truly did Jesus in the Chap. 20. 30. 31. presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have Life through his Name Which utterly destroys the necessity of their Unwritten word of God for if what is written be enough to perswade Men to believe in Christ and that believing be sufficient to save or bring them to Eternal life that do it then no more can be necessary but St. John affirms both these therefore the Romish Traditional or Unwritten word of God is at best a needless or superfluous thing Besides it is and must be with all thinking Men a mighty Objection against this Unwritten word of God as they call it that the Church of Rome hath the sole Custody or keeping of it the Primitive Church after the Canon of the Scriptures was compleated says nothing at all of it for all the Fathers cry up and maintain the Perfection and Sufficiency of the written word of God and all the Reformed Churches adhere to this in Opposition to that Unwritten Word How then came Rome by it Is God so partial such a Respecter of Persons as to Communicate it to that Church and not to others Or is it a Cheat or Artifice of the nequam ingeniosi the witty or Crafty Deceivers to help at a dead lift This is the very Truth Many of their Doctrines and Practices they plainly perceiv'd did openly clash with and contradict the Holy Scriptures or written word of God and therefore there was no way to defend them to acquit their Church from Errour and Impiety but to cry up Tradition and make it of equal Authority with the Scriptures But this will not do it for doth God use to contradict himself There are that say he hath two Wills the one secret the other reveal'd and that the one is contrary to the other which is neither better nor worse than downright Blasphemy the Church of Rome with equal Blasphemy affirms that God hath two Laws or Words the one contained in the Scriptures the other transmitted by Oral Tradition and they plead this in Defence of those Doctrines which are contrary to that being beaten from the Scriptures and having no shelter or protection for their Errours there they Fly for refuge to Tradition as if that could bear them out or support their Cause and so they make the infinitely Wise and Righteous God contradict himself which he must needs do if he hath declared his will to Mankind two several ways that is by Scritpure and Oral Tradition and this affirms things which that deny's and gainsays They had rather if they could do it prove the points in controversy by the Scriptures as the most satisfactory and convincing proof but not being able to do that they are constrained either to confess their Errours or to pretend Tradition to vouch and countenance them That they will not do because it is against their Worldly Interest inconsistent with their Honour and Profit This they had better not do because the Cheat is so Evident that none but weak Persons will be gull'd and deluded by it for we know that must
provoking God to cast us off In former Ages they that were so unreasonable as to deny the Author of their being and the great Creator of the World were yet so cautious as to conceal their impious unbelief of his Existence with their mouths they did not durst not though in their hearts they said with the fool There is no God but now such an one is laugh'd at as a timerous and sneaking Atheist as a modest ungentile Infidel that dares not set his mouth against Heaven and tell all the wise and religious part of Mankind they ly if they say there is a God This is such brazen and impudent wickedness that the very Heathens abhor'd and severely punish'd it What a shame is it then that such monsters of men should dare in a Christian State openly to deny the God it Worships of whose Existence there is so much rational Evidence so many mighty Arguments and convincing Proofs as hath been shew'd by many learned Writers of our Church that can permit no man to be an Atheist but he whose horrid contempt of Him and violation of his Laws cause to despair of finding mercy from him and to think his crimes so great that he will not forgive them 'T is certain that all wicked men wish with all their hearts there were no God to call them to account for their lewd and filthy living but their wishing of it will not make him cease to be who is as certainly as they deny him he whom they now renounce and scoff at will one day recken with them for all the affronts they have put upon him who will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh and we might leave them to be punish'd by his vengeance and their own debaucheries but that they are so mischievous to the state For setting the provocation it gives to God aside this open Atheism ought not to be suffer'd because it is most pernicious to the Government For is not this the Foundation of all that Honour and Obedience which men pay to Soveraign Princes that they are Gods Vicegerents derive their Power and Authority from him and Govern the World in his stead are his Representatives and Commissioners but they that say there is no God deny all this make Empire or Dominion a meer humane creature and so free men from the strongest and most effectual obligations to obedience which Religion lays upon them and put those weak ones which are easily broaken in their stead Interest want of Oppertunity fear of temporal Punishment For such men will obey the Prince no longer than he heaps his Royal favours and benefits upon them than he advances and inriches them when he turns the streams of his bounty from them they are disobliged and watch for an Opportunity to depose him and when ever they think it safe to make head against him or can find a Powerful Faction to lead they will be sure to Rebel because then they fear nothing from the Prince in this and believe nothing that Religion speaks of the Punishments of the other World But he that believes there is a God and Princes to Reign by Him by his Order and Appointment that he requires all their Subjects to Reverence and obey them and that he will inflict Eternal Punishments upon all that for any cause whatsoever Rebel or take Arms against them this Man cannot dares not so long as he believes these things refuse to pay them all due honour and obedience And therefore for their own Sakes as well as for the honour of their Glorious Founder it is the great Interest and Concern of Princes to punish open and profess'd Atheists as his and their most dangerous Enemies especially those that make it their Common practice to expose and render every thing ridiculous that is believed by others to bear his Name and Inscription laugh at his Laws which he hath given us to direct our Lives and Actions as injurious and unreasonable impositions that require Men to deny themselves the Pleasures and Delights of the World to part with every thing that is dear to them to endure Poverty and Death and all the miseries of the World and all this to obtain Rewards and avoid Punishments which are to commence after this Life These and all their other Blasphemies against God and his Son Christ Jesus and his most Wise Holy and Excellent Religion would be severely and exemplarily punish'd and one such Decree as King Nebuchadnezzar made in honour of God would effectually stop the mouths of these bold Sinners and Mischievous as well as Impudent Blasphemers Therefore I make a decree that every People Dan. 3. 29. Nation and Language which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be cut in peces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort Such a Bill of Exclusion as this to shut Atheism Blasphemy and Prophaneness out of the Nation and the strict Execution of the good Laws already in being upon all the Reigning Sins that are amongst us would conduce mightily to the security and preservation of our Religion both as it would prevail with God to continue it amongst us and discourage our Enemies from attempting the subversion and destruction of it First prevail with God to continue it amongst us for when he sees a Nation or People have that high honour and esteem for his Laws as to obey them heartily make it their chief study and endeavour to live up to them prise them above all Earthly Injoyments and admire them as the most precious Treasure his goodness will not permit him to take them from such a People because they answer all the ends he proposed to himself in the donation of them which are his Honour and their Salvation His honour that he might be glorify'd by their Piety and Holyness by all those vertuous Actions and good Works which they perform in obedience to them Their Salvation that his bounty and goodness in rewarding them with the Immortal Felicities of his Heavenly Kingdom might appear great and illustrious and be the Subject of their eternal Praises and Thanksgivings And if these be the ends of his giving of them as no doubt they are 't is reasonable to believe that by obeying the Laws of Christ by leading the pure and holy Lives his Religion requires of us we oblige and invite the Divine Goodness to preserve or continue it amongst us because we put it to the excellent use he intended it for But if we prophane and dishonour it by lewd and impure living if we call our selves Christians and live like Heathens the worst and most brutish sort of Heathens as we deserve so sad a punishment so it is most just for God to take his Gospel from us it being as our Saviour speaks Casting pearls before swine to continue a divine and holy Law to People lapsed into all Impurity and Sensual living for
Distracted about it I perceiv'd it to be a bone of Contention because there was so much snarling about it and was very apprehensive of the dreadful consequences of it and therefore I thought my self obliged to contribute my endeavours to undeceive the People by shewing them the Evil and Injustice of it it being the duty of every good Subject to bring Water to quench the Flames of Sedition and Contention which this Device had kindled And I had as I apprehended great encouragement and weighty reasons to prompt me to undertake this Subject The first because The Right Honourable the House of Lords cast out the Bill as an abominable thing and all the Loyal Gentry had publickly protested against and declared their abhorrence of it and indeed all of the Church of England that I converse with though they heartily abhor and pray against Popery did freely own their great dislike and hatred of it which satisfi'd me that it was not my singular Opinion that it is unjust but that I had therein the suffrages and consent of all good men The reasons too that moved me to it were weighty which are these To vindicate the Justice of my Soveraign by shewing he had the highest reason to reject this Bill and consequently to stop the mouths of those that are so prophane as to blame his Sacred Majesty for refusing it To assert and defend the Right of an Injured Prince to shew them that were so unjust and unchristian as to Treat him so despitefully and to offer him such hard measure the evil of their doings that they may repent and humbly beg pardon both of God and Him To do honour to the Church of England both by protesting in its name against this Project and by proving it teacheth the right way to Heaven which will certainly lead all that follow it to the Immortal Joys and Felicities of that blessed place to reprove the folly wickedness of those fugitives that run from the Communion of it either into Popery or Fanaticism To caution or warn all that love the Establsh'd Religion not only to have no hand in but to abhor and oppose the Bill of Exclusion as that which will be an indelible stain or blemish to it make it if it should expire at any time goe out in a snuff leave an ill savour behind it and hinder its happy Resurrection To allay the heats and calm the passions it hath put men into and to let them see if they please to open their eyes what an evil and wicked thing it is they admire so much and therefore unworthy of the value they put upon it These are the reasons that moved me to undertake this Subject and are sufficient in my apprehension to justifie the doing of it so that if any blame me for it I shall answer them in the words of David to his peevish Brethren VVhat have I now done Is there not a cause wherein have I transgress'd or offended VVhat have I done unbecoming a Christian or a Protestant in writing upon this Subject Had I not great cause just and cogent Reasons for it But I hope I have given no offence thereby to any honest Man I am sure I did not intend it And as for the censures of all that are otherwise I scorn and think them below my notice or observation let them censure me as they please I shall never trouble my self about them All that can require an Apology is that which I am very apprehensive of that I have wrong'd this great Argument by my low and unskilful manage of it I wish with all my heart I could have done it better it being in my apprehension a Case of very great moment and concern though I must say it was my endeavour to speak reason in the case and I hope what I have done will find acceptance with all good men and conduce to the great ends I design'd it for And seeing we all call our selves Christs Servants and Disciples I thought it the fairest and most equal way to compare this so much admired Expedient with some of the prime Laws of Christianity by which we shall all be judged at the last day and have made it appear I think to be an open defiance and contradiction to them and therefore not to be done by a Nation professing his most just and merciful Religion which commands us to do good to all men and injury to none That which may be thought by some a great omission is that I have not consider'd that which is alledg'd in the beginning of the Bill as the prime Reason ef their Resolve to Exclude his Royal Highness That by his turning Papist great encouragement hath been given to the Popish Party to conspire the Destruction of the King and Government and the Extirpation of the True Protestant Religion This indeed I said nothing to not because it is unanswerable but in truth because I thought it deserv'd no Answer for unless they can prove he turned Papist with that intention their taking encouragement from it to conspire against the King doth not involve the Duke in their guilt nor make him justly punishable because Wicked and Trayterous People are glad of any occasion to do mischief and encourage themselves to attempt it when no motive or inducement is offer'd them and it is most unreasonable as well as uncharitable to believe he had any such intention unreasonable because no Prince will be a Proselite to that which he believes to be a Trayterous Church This being to put himself into the hands of his Enemies and to run wilfully upon his own Destruction If his Royal Highness be of the Romish Communion which I do not believe to be sure he thinks it an holy and a loyal Church and upon that perswasion joyn'd himself to it If so he could not possibly intend to encourage that Faction to attempt the Kings Life because he believed them honest and loyal People that heartily abhor'd such wicked and cruel practices but if he was deceiv'd in his Opinion of them and those whom he thought to be Sheep be Wolves ravening and blood-thirsty People and those whom he took to be Saints be really Devils this is their crime not his and therefore he is not answerable for it and to punish him with the severity the Excluders design'd upon this supposal is the most execrable Injustice because it is to punish him for other mens Crimes to deprive him of his Birth-right because the Zealots of the Church he is of are though he neither knew nor believed them so to be Trayterous and Cruel This will appear more plainly and convincingly to some if we put the case thus suppose the next Heir to the Crown thinking theirs to be the best and purest Religion and such as would conduct him most safely to eternal Glory and Happiness should turn Fanatick and that Faction Encouraged by his being their Proselyte should Conspire the Death of the King and the Destruction of the Church
as the Scriptures give no testimony of it so neither reason nor any thing else can prove his Holiness to be Infallible because he is not and there is no need that either he or any other Bishop should be so because God hath fully and clearly propounded to us in the Scriptures all things necessary to Salvation as I have already Prov'd and for that part of them that is obscure we are certain we may be Saved without the knowledg of it otherwise the Merciful God that loves us and desires our Salvation would have made it plain to us Now to bring this Discourse home to the great Point in hand if Eternal Happiness and Salvation be the kind offer or Proposal of God and this cannot be had but upon certain Terms or Conditions which must be determin'd and reveal'd by him determin'd because that is his Right and none but he hath Authority to do it reveal'd because unless he declare upon what Terms he will save them Mankind can never know them nor consequently obtain the proposed happiness and those Terms or Conditions be fully and intirely plainly and intelligibly deliver'd in the Scriptures then that and none but that is the true Church in which Salvation may certainly be had that adheres or cleaves to the Scriptures and follows them as the great and only Rule of Faith and Manners of all things that is necessary to Salvation This is the only sure Mark of the true Church that may be rely'd upon without this all other Signs are false Fires and deceitful Lights that mislead their unwary followers but he that chuses his Church by its Profession of the Christian Faith and Doctrine contained in the Scriptures is safe and in such a Society where nothing is wanting to Salvation but if he leaves that he may wander up and down the World in vain seeking Rest but finding none All then that will be necessary to make good my Assertion in both the parts of it that there is a certainty of Salvation in the Church of England and at most but a Possibility of it in the Church of Rome is briefly to shew the agreement of ours and the Repugnancy of theirs to the Scriptures That Church which affirms that the Holy Scriptures Comprehend all things necessary to Salvation and that nothing but what is contained in them is to be press'd or requir'd as such and receives them as its sole or intire Rule agrees fully and perfectly with them but our Church affirms those and doth this therefore it adheres or keeps close to the Scriptures Holy Scripture it saith containeth all things necessary Article the 6. to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation Unto a Christian it declares there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledg of Holy Scripture forasmuch as in it is Homily the 1. contained Gods true word setting forth his Glory and also Mans Duty and there is no Truth nor Doctrine necessary for our Justification and Everlasting Salvation but what is or may be drawn out of that Fountain and Well of Truth In Holy Scripture is fully contained what we ought to do and what to eschew what to believe what to Love and what to look for at Gods hands at length This is as full a Declaration of the perfection sufficiency of the Scriptures as can be made and that our Church receives them as the sole or intire Rule of Faith is so Evident that the Church of Rome confesseth it by making it an Accusation or Objection against it though this be to upbraid it with that which is its Glory I mean its strict adherence to the Scriptures and if they did not confess it it might be unanswerably proved by comparing the Doctrine of our Church with those Sacred Writings which whosoever doth will find a most perfect Union or agreement between them that it observes and follows and adheres to them in all things as if the same good Spirit that Inspir'd the Holy Prophets and Apostles to Pen them did in a more than ordinary manner guide and direct our Reformers to the same Faith or Sum of things to be believed the same Rule of Life or Paths of Piety and Holiness the same Object and way of Worship the same Sacraments and all other things which they propound to Mankind either as the Terms and Conditions upon which God will save them or Dr. Potter Answer to Charity mistaken pa. 13. Page 14. as helps and means to inable them to perform those Conditions So that no Church as a Learned and excellent Person speaks doth afford more Plentifully the means of Grace nor more abound with all helps and advantages of Piety than this of ours The word of God is diligently Preach'd amongst us the Sacraments of Christ Reverently Administred Abuses in both are removed the two Extremes of Religion Superstition and Prophaneness are avoided The Ignorant are Instructed the Disorderly admonish'd Comforts are applyed to the Afflicted Terrours to the Impenitent Censures and Punishments to the Obstinate In our Liturgy Policy and Ceremonies in the Government of our Prelates in the Diligence of Inferiour Pastours in the whole Face of our Doctrine and Discipline we have a most near and fair Resemblance of Reverend Antiquity All tending to the gaining of Souls to Christ and to guide them in the way of Peace As great Assurance Assurance then as any Christian hath that the Scriptures are true so full and absolute a certainty is there of Salvation in our Church because it teaches and requires all those things and no other that the Scriptures teach and require as necessary to Salvation and to the Performers of which they promise Eternal Life and Happiness and therefore if the Scriptures say true as all Christians acknowledg they do there can be no doubt or question at all of being saved in the Church of England unless Men will either not believe and Live as it teacheth and Commands them or if they do it will not persevere or continue in so believing and Living to the end of their Lives And therefore that none who are Members of this most Holy and Excellent Church may deprive themselves of so great a good as that Immortal Happiness is by their Evil and Unsuitable Living I shall conclude this Discourse with that admirable Exhortation which their Mother the Church gives them to obey or keep the Commandments of God their Father which is this Wherefore as ye have any Zeal to the Right and Pure Honouring of God as you have any Regard to Homily of Good Works Part. 3. p. 35. your own Souls and to the Life that is to come which is both without Pain and without End apply your selves chiefly above all things to Read and hear Gods word mark diligently therein what his
Will is you should do and with all your endeavour apply your selves to follow the same First you must have an assured Faith in God and give your selves wholy unto him Love him in Prosperity and Adversity and dread to offend him evermore Then for his Sake Love all Men Friends and Foes because they be his Creation and Image and Redeemed as you are Cast in your Minds how you may do good unto all Men unto your Powers and hurt no Man Obey all your Superiours and Governours Serve your Masters Faithfully and Diligently as well in their absence as in their presence not for dread of Punishment only but for Conscience Sake knowing that you are bound so to do by Gods Commandments Disobey not your Fathers and Mothers but honour them help them and please them to your Power Oppress not Kill not Beat not neither Slander nor Hate any Man but Love all Men speak well of all Men help and Succour every Man as you may yea even your Enemies that hate you that speak Evil of you and that do hurt you Take no Mans Goods nor Covet your Neighbours Goods wrongfully but content your selves with that which ye get truly and also bestow your own Goods Charitably as Need and Case requireth Fly all Idolatry Witchcraft and Perjury Commit no Adultery Fornication or other Unchastness in Will nor Deed And Travelling continually during this Life thus in keeping the Commandments of God wherein standeth the Right Trade and Pathway unto Heaven you shall not fail as Christ hath promised to come to that Blessed and Everlasting Life where you shall Live in Glory and Joy with God for ever 'T is as impossible as any thing can be that they who do these things and continue in them to the end of their Lives should miss of Eternal Glory and Happiness To say that such a Faith such Obedience such a Life as our Church propounds and Teacheth persisted in till they pass out of this World cannot through the Merits of Christ Save Men is to Damn the Blessed Apostles and all the Primitive Saints and Martyrs who if they went to Heaven at all went thither by believing and Living according to the Scriptures and call upon us to follow their Faith their pure or unspotted Lives considering the end of their Conversation the Glories in which they shine in the Blessed mansions above This is the Rock upon which we of the Church of England Build our hopes of a Crown of Glory this is a Guide that cannot deceive but will lead us safely to the Blessed place we aspire after they that walk by this Rule the Rule of the Holy Scripture are in a sure way to Salvation and if they persevere cannot miss of it But if we remove our Thoughts now to the Church of Rome it will be Evident that there is at most but a Possibility of Salvation in the Communion of it because of its disagreement with and repugnancy to the Holy Scriptures So far is this Church from doing them the Right and the Honour as to confess that they comprehend all things necessary to Salvation that it affirms the contrary that they do it not without the help of Traditions which they of that Communion receive and Honour with an equal Devotion and Reverence So saith the Council of Trent expresly Sacrosancta oecumenica generalis Tridentina Synodus in spiritu sancto Session the 4th page 19 Legitimè congregata c. This Holy Oecumenical and general Council of Trent being Lawfully called together in the Holy Ghost having this ever before their Eyes that all Errours being destroyed or taken away the very purity of the Gospel might be preserved in the Church which being promised before by the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God with his own Mouth first publish'd and afterwards Commanded it to be Preach'd to every Creature by his Apostles as the Fountain of all saving Truth and Discipline or Instruction of manners and knowing this Discipline and Truth to be contained in the written Books and in Traditions not written which being received by the Apostles from Christs own Mouth or by the Apostles themselves the Holy Ghost prompting them to it as it were handed down are come to us This Council following the Examples of the Orthodox Fathers doth with equal Devotion and Reverence receive and honour all the Books of the Old and New Testament because the same God is the Authour of them both and the Traditions themselves belonging both to Faith and Manners as deliver'd by Christ by word of mouth or dictated by the Holy Spirit and kept by continual Succession in the Catholick Church So that their Rule of Faith consists of two distinct parts the Scriptures and Traditions the word of God written and the word of God not written but transmitted by word of Mouth from Age to Age from Generation to Genertion Now though it be certain that the word of God be equally true and equally obligatory to all Persons whether it be written or not written which way soever it be propounded or convey'd to them yet how shall it appear or be proved that what they call the Unwritten word of God is really so not a wicked cheat imposture They say it is his word we say it is not the Primitive Church saith nothing at all of it but asserts and maintains the sufficiency or fullness of the Scriptures or written word of God that is that it contains all things necessary to be believed and done to the obtaining Eternal Life and Happiness as is fully proved by many Protestant Writers And when the Ancient and Orthodox Fathers speak of Traditions and call upon any to observe and obey them they either mean by those Traditions the Doctrine of Christ deliver'd to the Christian Church in the Writings of the Apostles or the Ordinances made either by the Apostles themselves or the Bishops that succeeded them in their Apostolical Office for the decent and orderly performance of Gods Worship The first is indeed the Word of God but then it is his written word the other are not the word of God at all but humane Constitutions and no farther Obligatory than they are agreeable to the General Rules the Scriptures give for Conducting the Circumstances of Religion the Church having Power as Ours truly affirms to Decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority Article the 20. in Controversies of Faith though it be not Lawful for the Church to Ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods word written This is all the Ancient Fathers mean by Traditions when they speak of or require the Observation of them but they make no such Distinction as this of the written and unwritten word of God neither do they say that the first is imperfect or doth not sufficiently instruct Mankind to Salvation unless it be supply'd with the other This is a Blasphemy which the Apostate Church only is guilty of but was never heard of in the
of their Instruction and for Direction of their Conscience to such Casuists as their own Men say have Dishonour'd Christian Religion with their Abominable Lessons She feeds them with a dry Communion and bids them obey Jesus Christ and the Pope if they will be Saved She hath also her Bishops Priests Masses Monks Monasteries but such as have nothing almost common with those of the Primitive times save only their Names In brief with all possible Artifices she labours to keep her poor Laity Hoodwinckt in Ignorance for Blind Men are more Tractable and Obedient unto their Leaders She tells them it is Creed enough for them to believe only the Catholick Church that is to Resign up to her self their Understanding but if any of them be farther Curious to know more Especially if they will be Prying into that Dangerous Book the Bible she sends them into the Inquisition to be there better Catechised Thus she deals with her own But for all Us that are in her Opinion Hereticks if her power were answerable to the Malignity of her desires no Remedy we should all pass through the Inquisition into Hell To go from a safe Church as Ours is wherein there is a Certainty of Salvation to such a Dangerous Church as the Roman is wherein there is but a meer Possibility of it is a wilder and more unaccountable Errour or oversight than if a Man that was to Sail in a Rough Dangerous and Tempestuous Sea full of Rocks and Sands should refuse a stout and well built Ship that had Skilful Careful and Honest Pilates and chuse one that is Crasy and full of Leaks or Breaches to let in the angry and devouring Billows and is steered by such Pilates as are either Treacherous or Careless Ignorant or Knavish His Royal Highness then had no reason to change his Religion upon this account his Eternal Happiness and Salvation being certain and undoubted by his stay in our Church that is by believeing and living as it teaches and requires all its Members to believe and lead their lives But exceeding doubtful and hazardous no more than possible in the Romish Communion And being neither for his Interest in this nor his Happiness in the other World to turn Papist his Royall Highness could have no just Motive or Inducement to do it These Arguments as they prove the Duke ought not so they will Oblige all that consider them to question whether he hath changed his Religion for being a wise Prince how can he be Guilty of so Deplorable an Errour as to do that which is against his interest now and his Happiness for ever that will make him Inglorious whilst he lives and Miserable when he is Dead and gone But the Excluders will say this is to doubt whether the Sun Shines when he appears in Subsect 5. his highest or noon day Glory to question matter of Fact for did not his Royal Highness refuse the Oaths and Subscription against Popery and do not Colemans Letters speak of his Zeal for the Romish Church and Religion and if he be not a Papist why doth he not declare himself and satisfy the Nation that he is of the Establish'd Religion these things they say make it Evident to all that will not shut their Eyes that the Duke is a Papist As for the first his Refusing the Oaths and Subscription against Popery That is no evidence of his being a Papist because he might have reasons for that Refusall He might think it a dishonour to him being a Prince of the Blood and next Heir to the Crown to take the Oaths and make the Subscription which every Justice of the Peace and every Captain in the Militia and persons inferiour to these were by that Law Obliged to do Is there any thing that a brave generous Prince such as his Royal Highness is Is more tender of than his Honour And would it not have been a lessening and impairing of that a descending from his greatness a stooping much below himself to take those Oaths and Subscribe as every person that hath any Office Civil or Military is by that Law required to do Sure there is some difference to be put and some distinction to be made between a Prince and Men of lower degree between a Son of the late and a Brother the only Brother of this present King and other Subjects 'T is true indeed the Duke whilst the King lives is but a Subject but then he is the highest the greatest Subject next to the King both in Blood and Dignity and hath such a property and capacity as no other Subject hath and therefore what may be Honourable enough for other Subjects to do may look meanly in him and be in his own Apprehension if not in the Opinion of others a lessening his Esteem and impairing his Honour The Dukes Refusal too might proceed from a just dislike and aversion to the great Contriver and Promoter of that Law which requir'd the taking those Oaths and the making that Subscription a Man Popular Ambitious Busy and Designing and as since appears most Trayterous and Disloyal who had misbehaved himself towards his Royal Highness and without any Provocation was become his Enemy and openly profess'd or declared himself so to be the Duke I say might justly hate the Child for the Fathers sake refuse to observe a Law Contriv'd and Promoted by his open Enemy to comply with and do those things at the Motion of Such an One being both dishonourable in it self and that which would encourage the Man to more and greater rudeness and sauciness towards him and set his invention a work to frame new Impositions and lay greater Burthens upon him there being no end of some mens Projects and Impertinencies and if they be humour'd in one thing they will demand an hundred and grudg if they be not satisfied and if you do not let them lead you by the Nose as long and as far as they please your first complyance is Slighted or Contemn'd as a thing of no worth nor merit and therefore the best way to be freed from such Troublesome and Imposing persons is to withstand or give them a repulse at the first for if they find a Man resolute and not to be wrought upon they will be discouraged and in time give over their Impertinent and Saucy attempts Besides the Dukes taking the Oaths and Subscribing could not have acquitted him from the Suspition of Popery with them that were desirous he should be reputed that they might treat him as a Papist for so long as his Holiness pretends a power to grant Dispensations and is willing to exercise or put that power into practice which he will do as long as he hath any Zeal for the Catholick cause or any Concern for his own gain and profit so long they that love to brand others with the hatefull name of Papists will think or call them so notwithstanding all the Oaths they can take and the Subscriptions they can make
go about to satisfie Men that will never be satisfied A time may come and I hope it is approaching when such a Declaration will not only be believ'd but receiv'd with the joyful Acclamations and grateful Acknowledgments of both Houses and if it be thy Blessed will Oh God let such a time a time so much desired by all good Men come and that quickly But for my part I do not think it civil or decent for those that are unacquainted with the greatest affairs of State to take upon them to prescribe to his Royal Highness or to tell him when or in what manner he should declare himself because this would Savour of Rudeness and Presumption and therefore they must leave it to his own Prudence and the Wise Determinations of those Great and Honourable Personages that understand and conduct the weighty concerns of the Government it being for Them to know the times and seasons of so important an Action and not for Men of privacy and low degree Stay a while then and consider what you are doing be not too confident Oh ye Excluders make not so much hast nor such a stir to shut the door upon a Prince that you are not sure is gone from you believe it possible for you to Err or be Mistaken in your Opinions of him you see he hath no Reason to be a Papist and the Arguments for it are insufficient do not prove it therefore be not too confident he is so SECT IV. So far I have consider'd the first Question Whether his Royal Highness be a Papist The next and great Enquiry is Whether if he be so that Forfeits his Right That it doth not I assert and am now to prove In order to which I affirm That it is possible for a Good Conscientious and well meaning Man one that desires to go the Right way to Heaven to turn Papist Errour may look so like Truth and Superstition be so adorn'd with the paint and fair colours of true Piety that Men of good understanding and great integrity may be deceived and deluded by it Thus the excellent Chillingworth a Pious and Learned Man was seduced to the Romish Church though by the Grace of God he saw his errour return'd to our Church and lived and died in the Holy and Apostolical Faith which it professeth and not long after his return to it mindful of that sacred precept of our Lord to St. Peter when thou art converted strengthen by Brethren writ his excellent Book St. Luke 22. 32. in which he fully and unanswerably proves that which is the Subject or Title of it That the Religion of Protestants is a safe way to Salvation a Book highly meriting the perusal of all that either need or desire satisfaction in that Great and most weighty point In the Preface to it he tells his Readers the Motives that perswaded him to turn Papist which though they were as he truly calls them and to which he there gives full and satisfactory answers silly Sophisms and false Suppositions yet they so abused that good Man as to Proselyte him to the Church of Rome And why may not others as Pious Prudent and Conscientious as he be deceiv'd and misled into Popery by these or such fallacious Arguments or Reasons 'T is very well known that the Jesuits and Missionaries of the Roman Church are Persons Learned and Subtile trained up by the most expert Masters and not suffer'd to go abroad till they are thoroughly skil'd and instructed in the controversies between them and us and furnish'd with all manner of Arts and Abilities to seduce and deceive People And cannot Persons so prepared and fitted for it make gross errours and the foulest practices look fair and plausible varnish them over so with Apologies or Excuses extenuate their guilt pare off the Absurdities adhereing to them with Distinctions and set them out to such advantage that an honest Man shall not only think them Innocent things such as have no harm nor venome in them but be very much enamour'd of or taken with them They that read their Books must acknowledg if they will speak the truth that nothing is wanting in them that either Wit or Zeal can invent to defend or put a fair gloss upon the errours of their Church though what they plead in Justification of them be false or deceitful Argumentations poor idle Sophisms meer Paint Varnish no better than Gilding a Rotten Post or Cloathing Errour in the dress and vestments of Truth yet they seem so plausible look so fair and inviting that a Good Conscientious and well meaning Man as I said before may be so abus'd and deluded by them as to become a Proselyte to the Roman Church And being so is he not a Christian A Papist I suppose cannot truly be deny'd to be a Christian because the Church of which he is a Member is a Christian Church though lapsed into great Errours and Impieties a Christian Church it must needs be because it makes Profession of the Faith and Religion of Christ ascribes enough to him to secure to it self the Glorious Title and Denomination of Christian for the Council of Trent in the Explication of the Article of Justification gives this account of it Hujus Justificationis causae sunt c. Session 6. cap. 7. page 35. The Causes of this Justification are these The Final Cause is the Glory of God and of Christ and Eternal Life The Efficient Cause is the Merciful God who freely washeth aod sanctifieth signing and anoynting with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the the earnest of our Inheritance The Meritorious cause is the most beloved and only begotten Son of God who when we were Enemies for his great Love wherewith he Loved us did by his most holy passion upon the Cross Merit Justification and give Satisfaction to God his Father for us By which it is Evident that the Church of Rome holds That the Merits of Christ are the moving or procuring Cause of our Justification so absolutely necessary to it that as that Council speaks a little after Nemo possit esse justus nisi cui page 36. merita Passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi Communicantur no Man can be Just or Righteous but He to whom the Merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are Communicated Now they that acknowledg or own this Great and Fundamental Truth that we are justified by the Merits of Christ and consequently that he is our only Saviour and do adore him as the Christ or Son of God which they cannot be deny'd to do though that Acknowledgment this Worship of theirs be mixt and accompany'd with many and those very dangerous Errours must be acknowledg'd to be a Christian Church And if the collective Body be such the particular Members must be so too I suppose then it will be easily granted me by the greatest Zealots against Popery it being but a reasonable concession and such as I shall not
Murderers from entring their Dominions who came upon the most Bloudy and Mischievous designs either to Assassinate their sacred Persons or to Seduce their People from their Allegiance and Animate them to Rebell or take Arms against them And therefore if the Romish Priests and Jesuites who have nothing to do here will venture to come they can blame none but them-themselves if they suffer for it they receive the Reward of their Sin and Folly but have no Injustice done them If they stay away they are safe but if they will Run into Danger when they need not they Destroy themselves fall into the Pit are taken in the Snare which they came to dig and lay for their Prince whose Natural Subjects they are though they become Voluntary Vassals to a Forreign Power that imploys them against their own Prince for whose Safety and Preservation they ought by all Laws both Divine and Humane to expose themselves to the greatest Dangers freely Venture their own Lives to save his And seeing the Excluders attempt and would do that to his Royal Highness which our Laws do to no Ordinary Subject meerly for his Religion and which they would not have done to themselves that attempt must needs be a manifest Affront to and Violation of this Law of Christ and therefore most Wicked and Unjust To say they are of the true and the Duke as a Papist of the false Religion makes no difference in the Case because Christ excepts no Man but Commands us to do to Men Indefinitely that is to all Men whether they be Orthodox or otherwise believe Aright or Err from the Truth Christians or Heathens All things whatsoever we would that they should do unto us And also because no Man that owns the Principles of Natural Religion that believes there is a God Eternal Rewards Punishments after this Life will be a Disciple of that which he is perswaded is a false Religion and Renders the Salvation of them that are of it hazardous and doubtful and seeing he thinks the Church and Religion he is of to be true and the best though he be deceiv'd and thinks amiss 't is to lay aside both the Justice and Mercy our Lord Requires of us to Treat such a Person with the Rigour and Severity which the Excluders offer to his Royal Highness because he follows the best Light he hath his Conscience duly instructed by Scripture explain'd and apply'd as he apprehends by Right Reason for 't is certain a Man can use but his best care in the choice of his Religion that is he can but Pray and Read and Meditate and Obey as far as he understands and Consult the Learned or Advise with those he thinks best able to direct him but because all the Learned of the World are not of one Opinion he must imploy his Reason to Judg which of them is in the Right and if he do it sincerely though he chuses amiss mistakes his way yet he is to be Pitied not Ruin'd to be Restored in the Spirit of Meekness not Degraded nor Undone for following his Conscience God t is certain will be Merciful to a Christian so Erring and therefore if Men be extreme to Mark what such an one doth amiss they Treat him as they would not be used themselves and so bid Defiance to this great Law of Christ all things whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye even so unto them Compare it Secondly with that Noble Precept of our Lord which requires all Christians to Love their Enemies and you will soon see the Impiety of it I say unto you Love your Enemies St. Mat. 5. 44. Bless them that Curse you do Good to them that Hate you and Pray for them which Despitefully use you Persecute you this is my Will and Pleasure this I enjoyn you that you Love not only your Friends or those that Love you as the practice of the Jews and Heathens is but your Enemies what are our Enemies is fully declared in this Law even they that Curse and Hate that Despitefully use and Persecute us Every Man thinks him his Enemy that offers any of these things to him but he that doth them all is the worst most Cruel and bitter Enemy any Man can have and yet how bravely every Christian is to behave himself towards such an Enemy our Lord tells us he must Love or bear him good Will desire his Welfare or Happiness do him all the Good and Charitable Offices he can Pray to God to give or bestow all manner of Blessings upon him and to Forgive all the Wrongs he hath done him This because it is a Duty that hath some Difficulty in it he presseth us to the Performance of with the most weighty and perswasive Arguments Love your Enemies That ye may be the Children Vers 45. of your Father which is in Heaven for he maketh his Sun to Rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth Rain on the Just and on the Unjust hereby you will prove your selves be the Children of God shew that you resemble or are like that most excellent Being who is kind and bountiful to all Men even the most Prophane and Wicked that are his Enemies and Discover themselves so to be by their wilful and open contempt of his Laws who though they received their Being and all their Injoyments from his Bounty will hardly give him a good Word or pay him any Respect at all but Blaspheme oftner than they Praise him Curse him more than they Pray unto him Affront him oftner than they Adore him and yet so admirable is his Goodness that he not only lets such Vile and Ungrateful Wretches as these Live and Injoy the Light though they are Unworthy of it but showers down his Blessings upon them gives them an equal share at least if not greater Plenty of these outward Injoyments than he Communicates to the Good and Righteous Propose therefore his great example to your selves think it your Glory to Love and do Good to your Enemies because the God you Worship is pleased to Treat his so and cannot but take great Delight in those brave and generous Souls that Imitate him therein own them for his Children and give them a Blessed Portion in his Heavenly Kingdom but if you refuse to do this saith Christ you Dishonour me and Degrade your selves For if ye Love them which Love you what Reward have ye Do not even the Publicans the same If you confine all your Love and Kindness to your Friends to them that bear you good Will and do you good Offices you can expect but a small Reward from my Father Me for such Love as this it being that to which Nature it self inclines and Common Gratitude prompts you Besides this Low and Abject Charity which is produced and preserved by Mutual Offices of Friendship and Respect Ranks you amongst the Worst and most Impious Men the very Publicans whom all the Pious Men of your
Vertues they are fitter for our silent Admiration than our imperfect and unequal Praises never any Mortal approach'd nearer to Him who was more than Man even God manifest in the Flesh whilst he Lived he was a Saint upon Earth and dying was number'd amongst the prime Saints in Heaven His Enemies were such as are always Enemies to God and all goodness that is the Devil and his Agents and they that deposed and took away his precious Life would have done the same execrable Violence and Injury to the Son of God himself if he had fallen into their Barbarous and Bloody Hands And our present most Gracious Soveraign is equal to any of his Renowned Ancestors in the Princely Vertues of Wisdom Fortitude Justice Mercy Peacefulness and the admirable sweetness and goodness of his Temper So that I may Challenge all the World to shew me four such Princes one after another in any Elective Monarchy so Zealous Defenders of the true Religion so Tender of their Subjects Welfare such Bountiful Patrons and Benefactors to them that they did what they could to preserve them in Peace Piety and Plenty And if in any of their Reigns any of the People Suffer'd and were Miserable it was not the Princes Injustice that made them so but either their own or their fellow Subjects Stubbornness Disobedience and Turbulent or Ungovernable Temper that brought Calamity and Ruin upon them And seeing Elective Princes have more and greater Temptations to Oppress and Injure their Subjects than those that are Successive the Elective must needs be the worst sort of Monarchy And it is so Secondly because exposed to manifold Factions Discontents Quarrels and Dangers We see to what Heats Factions and Disorders far inferiour Elections are subject that they who are to chuse a Parliament Man for a County or a Burgess for a Corporation cannot all Agtee or Fix upon a Person but Run into Parties and Factions one side being fierce and eager for one Man and the other for another till they grow angry and inraged hate and revile one another proceed from words to blows and would break out into open Hostility were there not a Superiour Authority to which they are accountable for such disorders and therefore stand in awe of How much more apt to Feuds and Quarrels to Factions and Discontents may they be reasonably supposed to be that have the Disposal of such a Jewel as a Crown and whose Votes are of that moment and concern as to confer so precious and by all admired a Treasure as a Kingdom and have none to awe or pacifie them the Electors during the Interregnum being the chief and most courted Persons of the Kingdom and may unless limited by Law Protract or Spin out the Election as long as they please and accordingly as they are Byassed by Affection or Interest which may be of Dangerous Consequence to the Kingdom For if any Neighbouring Prince prompted either by his Ambition or provoked by Injuries formerly receiv'd take that Opportunity to Invade them whilst they are debating and quarrelling amongst themselves who shall be King they are in all probability surpris'd and ruin'd for either they must agree and finish the Election presently which the Prince that invades may easily prevent by bribing some of the Electors or else they must imploy some great Person to defend the Kingdom till they have done it He if he succeeds in his Expedition and beats the Invader out if he be not Elected King calls them Ungrateful thinks himself affronted his good Service slighted or contemned having the Army under his Command may easily work upon them by gifts at present and promises of doing great things for them afterwards to afford him their Assistance to make him King by which means the Kingdom is imbroyl'd stain'd with the Blood made miserable by the Slaughter and Destruction of the Inhabitants by the Ruin of Cities and Vastation or Spoyl of Provinces But if on the other side the Electors chuse him King then the other Grandees are discontented and think they have the greatest injury done them every one of them in his own Opinion esteeming himself at least as deserving or worthy of a Crown as the Prince Elected and therefore to revenge the contempt put upon them either break out into Rebellion or invite the Invader to return with offer of their assistance to possess him of the Kingdom So that between Forreign Force and Domestick Ambition and Discontent the poor People endure all the Calamities of War and linger out a tedious Life made so by frequent Oppressions Terrours and Discontents And as the People are miserable in Elective Monarchies so the Prince is unsafe for there is nothing that great Spirits are more Ambitious of than a Crown and the Cardinals cannot possibly be more weary of a long Lived Pope than most of the Grandees in an Elective Kingdom hate a long lived Prince the reason is plain because the Crown not being peculiar or appropriate to any one Family the more frequent Vacancies there are the greater hopes they have of being Elected which is a mighty Temptation to Ambitious and Designing Men to use all the Villanous and Accursed Arts they can by Poyson and other secret ways to Destroy or Take off the Prince that they may fill his Throne whom they have by the basest and most perfidious cruelty deprived of his Life and Kingdom The last King of Poland lay under great Fears and Apprehensions that he should be Poyson'd and his Suspitions of it were so strong and vehement that all the Arguments his Friends could use could not put them out of his Thoughts what reason he had for those fears I know not nor can I tell whether his Death was procured by such detestable means or no but sure I am that many think such execrable things lawful Regnandi causa to possess themselves of Empire and Soveraignty and there is the greatest temptation to practice them in Elective Monarchies because upon the decease of the Prince Reigning every great Person in the Kingdom flatters himself with hopes of Succeeding him But the Successive Monarchies are freer from all these Evils and Dangers for upon the Death of the Royal Father his Son if he have any or else the next of the Family is King which makes our Law say the King never Dies because upon the Decease of one the next Heir is immediately King the Ceremonies of Crowning and Anoynting do not confer the Royal Dignity upon him but only declare him to be what he was as soon as his Predecessor was dead that is King are no more but signs expressing to the People that he is the person ordain'd by God to Govern or Rule over them and to whom he requires them to pay all due Honour Loyalty and Obedience By this immediate Succession all those Factions are avoided which often prove mischievous and Ruinous to the People so are all the Dangers Miseries which attend an Interregnum that may happen in the