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
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
at least in this our day see the things that concern the Peace and Welfare of our Church and State 'T is not possible for any who is a true living Member or either Body to be so past feeling as to find no regret or simpathy when he sees either of them reel and stagger to and fro like a drunken Man What Member of the Bâ—dy can be in health when the whole Head is sick and Heart faint But thanks be to God we have made one step in order to a Cure that we can see the Rock of Offence from whence these Distempers are hewen and the Hole of the Pit from whence they are digged We can tell what those Bryars and Thorns are and who hath planted them which have not only rent our Garments but rolled them in Blood too And that for no other cause than that they were not all of a colâ—ur But is there no Balm in our Gilead Is there no Physician of that value there that can bind up our Wounds and mollifie them with Ointment 22 Rev. 2. Undoubtedly we have viz. a Prince who hath made Propositions like to the Leaves of the Tree of Life which are for the healing of the Nations Who that he might compleat our deliverance having saved us from the Hand of our Enemies that we might serve God without fear is designing to reconcile us to our selves that having abolisht the Enmity 2 Eph. 15. even the Law of Commandments contained in Ecclesiastical Ordinances we might have Peace We have Bishops now not like those Egyptian Task-masters that when the People cryed to them for ease were sent back with a Reproach viz. Te are idle ye are idle away to your Burthens But such as are kind and compassionate Fathers and Pastors of the Flock who considering its weakness will not over drive it Yea like the wisdom from above they are gentle and easie to be intreated to lose every Burthen and to let the oppressed go free Binding up the broken-hearted knocking off those Shackles which have so long gauled the Consciences Declaration from Breda Declaration concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs Another in the 1 Year 1672. c. and hold Captive the Souls of Men. For which purposes how often have Promises been made Tempers found Projects offered and proposed which by the prevailing Interest of Men highly addicted to the Form of our Worship have been stifled and supprest And who are always in so high a stickle and stifle to disappoint and cassate all the fairest Purposes and Propositions whenever they are made in order to a firm Settlement and lasting Peace Nor will consent to part with one Hair though the whole Head be sick c. and though we should admit it to be true that nothing hath been injoined in the Worship of God but what might be lawfully submitted to yet it hath been a very unruly Truth and which we have found so hard to manage that like a restiffe Jade it hath cast the Riders and dangerously struck them when they were out of the Saddle It was a Reverend Bishop's Opinion in this case That better is a quiet Error Bishop Hall's Peace-maker than an unruly Truth And Erasmus was so great a Lover of Peace that he could not fancy a troublesome and tumultuous Truth Mihi saith he adeo invisa est discordia ut veritas etiam displiceat seditiosa Which may admit a more favourable Construction when it respects only the Outworks of Religion Our Controversies saith Dr. Potter are none of them in the Substance of Faith but only in disputable opinions not clearly defined in Scripture Charity mistaken p 185. Why then should such things be made Terms of Communion and mere Circumstances of Divine Worship which may or may not be observed and yet the Ordinances of God duly administred For instance in the case of Private Baptism the Child may be I think I may say according to the Rubrick ought to be baptized without Sponsors and not to be signed with the sign of the Cross and yet the Child is declared by the Rubrick to be sufficiently baptized without either and requires none to make any doubt of it And therefore King James's Project which he sent to Cardinal Perroon might highly conduce to an accommodation were we but so happy as to apply it viz. That we should sever (a) Istam distinctionem serenissimus Rex tanti putat esse momenti adminuendas Controversiâ—is que hodie Ecclesiam dei tantopere Exercent necessary from unnecessary things That as to the first which he saith are not many we should agree and leave the rest to liberty In non necessariis libertati Christianae detur locus This he thought was the shortest (b) Nullam breviorem ad incundam concordiam viam fore c. cut to Peace as may be seen more at large in the Epistle wrote by Causabon to the Cardinal at the King's Command upon this Subject Yet so great and mistaken too hath the Zeal of Men been concerning the Rites of Religion that we have herd that whole Churches have bandied at and censured one and other for things of no great moment such were the Saturday-Fast and Celebration of Easter Erasmus in his Epistle before Irenaeus his works commends that Father for his earnest Desire and Love of Peace and for blaming the Bishop of Rome for his (c) Non de catholico dogmate sid de ritu vel ritus potius tempore Not for any Catholick Doctrine but for Ceremony c. So Petavius cutting off many Churches from his Communion because they did not agree with the Western Church in the Celebration of Easter and Observation of Fasts Ecclesiasticae Concordiae tam fuit studiosus ut cum Victor Romanus Pontifex multas Ecclesias amputasset à Communione quod in Celebratione diei Paschalis in Observatione jejuniorum morem obtinerent à Romanâ consuetudine diversum Magna libertate Victorem reprehenderit Now that things of this nature are the Scene in which our present Disputes lie there 's no Man ignorant To moderate which his Majesty hath interposed his Wisdom and Authority But though he hath charmed wisely yet our Adders have too much Sting and too little Ear to listen to those things which concern the Peace and Welfare of our Church From whence have sprung our great Zeal and Stickle in Parliamentary Elections to pick up Men of those tenacious Principles that would sooner part with an Article out of their Creed Eras Epiâ— od â—ernbard Trid. Episâ— than the least Rite or Ceremony out of the Rubrick The Answer which the Arch-bishop with the rest of the Bishops presented to the late King was That it was no want of Tenderness to Dissenters that they could not comply with the Declaration for Liberty but that they only waited till it should be considered in Parliament and Convocation The first hath very kindly and with Justice to former Promises granted them their Liberty To the
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
and Factions as to proceed with the greatest Censures and Severities one against another For which St. Irenaeus went up to Rome and sharply rebuked Victor for the Rigor of his Proceedings against the Eastern Churches as is already observed And how sharp a Thorn this retained Ceremony hath been among the rest the Tears and Complaints of our Brethren which have been poured out as a Flood have been sufficient Proofs And tho' t is true the Mercy and compassion of the King and two succeeding Parliaments have wip'd those Eyes dry which for many Years together scarce ever ceased Yet it cannot but press hard upon the Hearts and Consciences of many faithful Ministers of the Church upon the highest Pains and Penalties it can inflict to be forc'd to deny Children their Bread to expel and drive them away from the Lord's Table be their Conversations never so much agreeable to the Gospel merely for their Non-conformity to a Rite which Imposers themselves abstracted from their Authority allow to be indifferent Besides is there no regard to be had to many Conscientious Members in its Communion who being loath to make a rent in it have submitted to an uneasie Yoak And will you not gratifie your obedient Children who have lived uneasie to themselves rather than disoblige or disobey you whom God hath set over them Hark how a Beam out of our Timber and Stone out of our own Wall Councel us Have Patience with your weak Brother require no more of him than Christ required of his Disciples surely Christ would not have allowed any unfitting Posture condemned not that which Christ allowed Admit we be weak Naked Truth pâ—g 19. yet we are not wilful when you command us to go we go But why should our way be paved any longer with Thorns which is in your Power to strew with Roses Suppose we be weak yet you that are strong ought to bear the Infirmities of the Weak and not to offend those by your Authoritative Power for whom Christ died Was it not truly alledged in the second Paper presented to King Charles II. by the Divines then authorized to review and amend the Liturgy that kneeling in any Adoration at all in any Worship on any Lord's Day in the Year or on any Week-day between Easter and Penticost was not only disused but forbidden by General Councils Con. Nicen. 1. Can. 20. Con. Trull c. Why should you our Fathers provoke your willing Children to wrath Violating the Rules of Charity by your Decrees for Conformity We are weak 't is true but many strong I mean wise and learned Men are of the same Mind and Meaning with us Nay several of the Reformed Churches have abolish'd this Rite for that they thought it did Olere Papismum smelling too rank of their Idolatrous Worship And least this Flye should affect or infect their whole Box of Ointment have cast it out Besides though in process of time this Ceremony hath been admitted yet from the beginning it was not so Christ and his Apostles used not this Posture but that which was usual at their common Meals and yet no doubt he gave this Holy Sacrament and they received it in a most reverend and decent way 'T is not probable that the Church of Corinth and other * Socrates observes that the Egyptians adjoyning to Alexandria and Inhabitants of Thebais after they had banqueted and filled themselves with sundry Delicacies in the Evening after Service did use to Communicate Primitive Christians who celebrated this Sacrament together with their Love-Feasts did alter their Posture no more than our Saviour and his Apostles who while they did eat took Bread Didoclavius in his Altare Damascenum Pag. 784. maintains that no Testimony can be produced to prove that Kneeling was before the time of Honorius 3d. And some others have observed that bowing the Knees before the Host came not into the Church before Transubstantation (a) Bish Hall tells us of a dispute he had with a Sorbonist who took occasion by our kneeling at the Receipt of the Eucharist to perswade the Company that we owned Transubstantiation Mr. Hopper (b) I may be allowed to say of Mr. Hooker as Mr. Chillingworth speaks of him viz. Though he was an excellent Man yet he was but a Man p. 309. The Religion of Botest in his Ecclesiastical Polity speaks little upon this Argument and yet that little is by some thought too much as too much reflecting upon our Saviour's Administration of the Holy Sacrament to his Disciples not in a kneeling Posture This Bellarmine acknowledges in his Answer to Calvin's Objection Lib. de Eucharist 4to Cap. 30. Non poterant semper prostraticum Christo agere praesertim in Caenâ domini quando recumbere cum illis necesse erat Stella saith also Distribuit panem discumbentibus mundi Salvator If I mistake the Author of the Ecclesiastical Polity let the Reader judge His Word are these If we did there present our selves to make some shew or dumb resemblance of a Spiritual Feast it may be that sitting were the better Ceremony Our Saviour did not nor his Apostles present themselves only to make some shew or dumb resemblance of a Spiritual Feast yet undoubtedly they adjudged the Posture they used at Meals the fittest and not kneeling for sure they chose that they judged to be most decent and fit Our Lord saith the same Author did that which custom and long usage had made fit We that which fitness and great decency had made usual I should have thought our Saviour's Practice might have as well prescribed to fitness and great decency as to custom and long usage especially considering it was an Ordinance not so old as yesterday but at that very time instituted But to let all this pass kneeling was a Rite dispensed with by the Interim of Charles II. who for the Establishing of the Churches Peace and composing the Minds of Men gave a Determination of several Matters in difference this Ceremony being one among the rest Which Dispensation though stiled an Interim might have continued for ever had me King pleased that is till such a time as he in his Declaration mentions viz. Vntil such a Synod be called as might without Passion or Prejudice give a further Assistance towards a perfect Union of Affections as well as Submission to Authority Providing that none be denied the Sacrament for not using the Posture of Kneeling To desire then what hath been so largely promised by the Supreme Magistrate with great Advice and for wise Ends argues us neither sturdy Beggars nor unreasonable in our Requests And though I have and do without scruple submit to the Order of our Church in this respect yet for the sake of those that cannot I heartily wish an Indulgence might be granted or Temper found to extinguish those Flames which so small a Spark hath enkindled causing the Daughter of our Sion so often to be clad in Sack-cloth and to sit in Ashes In
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
Weather Mountains want too much That being past a Mole-hill now they grutch Witness that great regret some of them have express against that Kindness and Favour which they King and two succeeding Parliaments have beyond denial evideneed to our Dissenting Protestant Brethren who with Fury bite the Chain which restrains them from falling foul upon their former Prey Besides their unreasonable stickle to prevent the least Abatement in Matters which respect the Ceremonial part of our Worship A Conformity to which goes with them for the whole Duty of a Minister Obedience to Government a very good and Gospel Doctrine was the constant Theme of the Pulpit but our high men have done with it as the Priest did with the Sword of Goliah wound it up in the Ephod and laid it behind the Altar Though when time was our whole Duty was placed in a wild Notion and extravagant Pretence to Loyalty No Man being esteemed Loyal or a Lover of his Prince who did not so far doat as to follow the Measures and promote the Designs of turning the best tempered Government in the World into a Despotick and Arbitrary Rule These wife Master-builders had raised the Fabrick of Sovereign Power to that â—mmense Height and extravagant Projecture as no way agreed with the just Methods of any civil Architecture putting in the mean time the Mischief of the Project far from themselves Supposing that if it did fall it might perhaps grind their Enemies to Powder but never dreamt of its tipping upon their own Heads as we have before observed Insomuch that whatever they heard which might awaken them to prevent their impending Ruine went for nothing but the ever-jealous Notions and muâ—â—nous Suggestions of disloyal and dissaffected Men. But when they began to feel the Massy weight of an overgrown Monarch with what Zeal did they stickle to put a Bridle into the Mouth and Hook into the Nostrils of that Leviathan whose Tusks had ript up the Belly of our Laws and Liberties upon whose Neck they had so lately thrown the Reigns of Government which the Prince whom God now hath blest us with hath delivered back again to the People Esteeming the Prerogative never better asserted than when the Rights and Properties of the Subject the great end of Government are kept inviolate and that Caesar can never have his due if the People be denied what 's theirs Being so great an Artist in governing as to carry a steddy Hand and keep the Ballance even for if too much weight be put into one Scale the other will kick up as our late King by a costly Experiment found true But as it pleased the Almighty to raise up a Moses to deliver us from the Brick-kilns and to break the Yoak from off the neck of our civil Liberties so we trust he will rescue us from the iron Furnaces too loosing every Burthen and letting our Consciences go free which have not been so much gauled with Points of Doctrine and Articles of Faith and Religion as with the rites and Ceremonies of it We so generally agree as to Matters of Faith that Dissenters in respect of that are so few as to their Number and as to their Quality so inconsiderable that they are not able to make any Schism or cause any disturbance amongst us Could we but find a Temper to accommodate these lesser things which by a Spirit of Meekness and Moderation Christian Charity and Forbearance might easily be effected we should have an end of Controversie Heats would cool Animosities would cease they 'd want Fuel to feed them and Matter to work upon The making Sides and Parties to elect Members for Parliament would be at an end which have so frequently fermented the Humours of the Body politick into lasting and dangerous Factions and Distempers Were but our Contests about the Form and Rites of Religion by some wise and prudent Concordate framed by our Governours determined and moderated we need not fear we should fall out about Matters of State being all agreed to bear out share in the Charge necessary for its Grandeur and Defence We should all sit under our Vines and Fig-tress leading a peaceable and quiet Life when once these Bones of Contention were taken out of the way and Apples of Strife which they say grow upon a Tree that 's neither good nor evil become forbidden Fruit. Besides we are not sturdy Beggars we ask not Talents but Shekels we only desire to wash and be clean from those additions to Divine Worship which we are afraid may defile our Consciences and not be so well pleasing to God Things which the Imposers tell us are Matters indifferent when abstracted from their Authority But suppose it should be an inconvenience to take them away yet sure so great a good as an universal Quiet would be sufficient to commute for no greater Nuisance But we are perswaded of the contrary from the Reasons we have alledged besides the Authorities of some of the greatest Prelates and Members of the Church of England viz. Hooper Bishop of Worcester Jewel Bishop of Salisbury Sands Arch-bishop of York Horne Bishop of Winchester Why should I again name Cranmer Ridley Grindal upon this subject who endeavoured to have the Habits of the Clergy as a Popish Relique cast out The Arch-bishop of St. Andrews speaking in his Sermon at the Assembly of Perth did acknowledge That the Conveniency of them was doubted by many but not without Cause c. Novations in a Church even in the smallest things are dangerous had it been in our Power to have disswaded or declined them most certainly we would c. Mr. Sprint also though a Conformist yet saith It may be granted that offence and hinderance to Edification do arise from these our Ceremonies He confesseth also That the best Divines wisht them to be abolished Which by her own Confession is in the Power of the Church to grant Which speaking in the Preface of the Common Prayer See 34. Art of Religion saith that the Ceremonies which remain may be for just Causes taken away altered or changed and gives good reason for it because they are in their own nature indifferent and so alterable The Words be these The particular Forms of Divine Worship and the Rites and Ceremonies appointed to be used therein being things in their own nature indifferent and alterable and so acknowledged It is but reasonable upon weighty and important Considerations according to the various Exigency of times and occasions such Changes and Alterations should be made therein as to those that are in place of Authority should from time to time seem either necessary or expedient accordingly we find that in the Reigns of several Princes of Blessed Memory since the Reformation the Church upon just and weighty Considerations her thereunto moving hath yielded to make such alterations in such Particulars as in their respective times were thought convenient c. As for weighty Causes sure we never had any more ponderous to incline the
the Flames which have been so industriously blown up may now be blown out and for ever extinguished that virulent and peevish Men may never be intrusted either in Church or State But that a Spirit of Meekness and Moderation may act our Wheels yea the Wheels within the Wheels viz. The Privy-Councils and most secret Transactions that a Spirit of Peace and Love may preside in all our Civil Assemblies And as the Philosophers fancied the Angels were to the Heavens be the great Intelligence to move them As for him whom the King of Heaven and Earth hath by his miraculous Providence set over us and raised up to rescue us from all those Miseries that were come and coming upon us May all the Blessings which ever made Princes good Hic vir non invidet mihi gratiam and great light upon him and as for the ease which his Protestant Subjects injoy in the free Exercise of their Religion we are so far from envying it that we bless God the King and Parliament for it Might but an act of Comprehension be joined to that of Indulgence might the Church Doors be set so wide that all True and Orthodox Ministers and People too might go in and out and find rest to their Souls might but that Project and Platform of Accommodation which his Predecessor Charles II. in his Declaration concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs formerly published and propounded be once enacted and setled as a Law we might live to see Schism baned Truth and Peace setled It hath pleased God to deliver us out of the Hands of our Enemies to serve him without fear might there but be a Temper to appease our angry Friends and why should we fall out for we are Brethren we might sing our Conclamatum est the Work of God would be finisht But when all is said we recommend this great Work to the Providence of God and Wisdom of our Prince Pleading as the Estates of Germany did with Ferdinand in much the same case Te quidem summum à deo nobis datum Magistrum agnoscimus libentissime quidem ac nihil est omnium rerum quod non possis aut debeas à nobis expectare sed in hâc unâ re propitium te nobis esse flagitemus That is we freely acknowledge you to be our Supreme Lord and given to us by God himself nor is there any thing of what we possess which you cannot or may not justly expect from us In this thing only which was Liberty in Matters of Religion we most earnestly intreat your Majesty to be kind and propitious to us Obj. 1st But if this be admitted the Church can never appoint any thing but upon pretence of Scandal to tender Consciences it must be presently cassated and rescinded so that there can be no Establishments of the Church made or Order maintain'd Res 1st These Establishments and Orders have cost the Church dear it once sunk in the Defence of them and with it one of the best of Kings that ever ascended the Throne since the Reformation This was foretold long since by a true Prophet I mean the Learned Zanchy in a Letter to Queen Elizabeth 1571. Your Majesty saith he being perswaded by some otherwise great Men and carried with a Zeal but not according to Knowledge to retain Unity in Religion hath now more than ever resolved and decreed yea doth Will and Command that all Bishops and Ministers of Churches shall in Divine Service put on the white Linnen Garments which the Popish Priests use now in Popery yea it is to be feared that the Fire is so kindled and cast its Flames so far and wide that all the Churches of that most large and mighty Kingdom to the perpetual Disgrace of your most renowned Majesty will be set on a flaming Fire And are there not many yet alive to justifie the fulfilling of that fatal Prophesie Had it not been better then if the Church had not been so tenacious of these Rites to have dispensed with some of its pretended Beauty and Uniformity to have cast something of its Ceremonial Cargo overboard and to have somewhat lightned the Vessel than to have endangered the bottom and suffered as it did Shipwrack of the whole When the Disease grew inveterate and Humors of the Populacy into an extreme ferment our Physicians could have been content to have applied the Remedy but it was too late Sero Medicina paratur Cum mala sinceras penetrat gangrena medullas Time was when the loping off some Luxuriances might have saved the whole but no Temper could be found nor Expedient listned to to prevent a Rupture till at last nothing but Root and Branch Branch and Rush as in one day could satisfie the Victors 2dly If this Objection be admitted are not all the Designs of indulging tender Consciences superseded St. Paul the Apostle directs those which are strong to bear the Infirmities of the Weak To become all things to all Men that we might gain some not to cause our Brother to offend That there be some who prefer one day before another others esteem every day alike some believe they may eat all things another who is weak eateth Herbs What 's to be done in this case We must not despise one and other but forbear one and other in Love not giving any Scandal to our Brethren for he that offends his Brother sins against Christ Which Rules of forbearance are as obliging to the Church in general as to private Christians in particular But if this Objection carry any force with it it might be replied how can this yieldance be for then no sooner shall the Church have appointed by its Decree any thing to be observed but upon the pretence that some nice and scrupulous Conscience is offended all must be given up 3dly Notwithstanding this Objection wise and worthy Men have judged a Latitude and Liberty fit to be used and practiced in these things The Reply of King James to Cardinal Perroon returned him by Causabon was to this purpose That the Church should do well to sever necessary things which are not many from unnecessary and that the latter be left to Christian Liberty This was that which the Council of Jerusalem had regard to when they declared that it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to them to lay nothing upon them but what was necessary viz. to abstain from Fornication from things strangled and from Blood Doctor Potter observes that as the ancient Worthies and Fathers of the Church were most zealous to defend even with their Blood to the least Jot or Title the Rule of Faith or Creed of Christians or as the Scripture calls it the form of sound Words the Principles of the Oracles of God so again they were most charitable to allow in other things a great Latitude and Liberty Would to God the Fathers and Worthies of our Church would do so and our Work were done 4thly Decency and Order may be had and maintained though
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
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
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