matters of Law than for his strictness of Life in those of Religion From the Conquerors time downwards there have bin attempts of this kind almost in every Kings Reign But the Wars and Divisions and consequently Dissolutions that often happend between the Kings their Parliaments somtimes Lords somtimes Commons about the Liberty of the Subject or Prerogative of the Crown not without good reason concluded to have bin set on foot by the crafty Lawyers by this time grown considerable prevented bringing to pass the intended Reformation of the Law I wil not insist upon al the Kings Reigns where this was desin'd nor go farther back than Henry the Eight's time when ingenious Sir Thomas More was by him set on work to fram a Model But the succeeding accidents frustrated that attempt the Troubles and Revolutions that continued during the Reigns of Edward the sixth Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth hindred this work which at wise Burleigh's advise was resolved on by the later Queen The learned King Iames determined to finish it and the knowing Sir Francis Bacon was pitched upon to fram a Schem of new Laws or model the old But the discontents about Religion with the greater artifice of the Lawyers then more numerous diverted that glorious Enterprize Some living were Actors others Spectators of the Troubles that have since happen'd which gave way not to a Reformation but Confusion of the Laws and yet the Long Parliament or rather Conventicle knowing their great and good Master purpos'd it resolv'd upon a new Method of Laws But the Idol themselves had set up as a just reward of their Treason prevented this by turning them out of doors with their beloved Magna Charta calling it in Contempt Magna f Too many in other Countries no less than this have wholly lost their Freedom by endeavoring to enlarge it beyond Law and Reason as it has also somtimes befallen ambitious Princes who striving to augment their Power and Dominions beyond the boundaries of Iustice have instead of new Acquists forfeited their antient and lawful possessions The Gardiners Ass in the Apologue desining to mend himself by changing Masters found at a dear-bought experience none so kind as the first The Observation of the Evil of those days has given us reason to believe That wisdom best which is learnt at the cost of others and to remember the Wise mans advice Meddle not with those who are given to change This I speak as to the Fundamental of the Government which can never be alter'd by the Wit of Man but for the worse But the Superstructures of Hay and Stubble are grown so cumbersom and rotten that they are fit for nothing but the Fire Though I am far from giving credit to any prediction or Prophecy but those of Holy Writ yet I can't but remember you of that old Latin one Rex albus c. on which you know our wishes taught us to fix a pleasing interpretation This hint wil bring to your mind what perhaps has not been there almost these thirty Years That both for his Innocence and the accidental Snow that fel on his Herse the late King Charles was that white King who for some time was to be the last in England That afterwards his Son shoud from beyond the Seas return to the possession of his Crown and that in his dayes Religion and Laws shoud be reform'd and setl'd upon the eternal Foundations of Truth and Iustice. The fulfilling of this Prophesie now wil seem as miraculous an Effect of Providence as that of our Soverain's Restauration and wil as much eternize the Wisdom of the Parliament as the other their Loyalty What remains of this undon we might hope to see finisht as old as we are if they woud be pleas'd to espouse it heartily and defend themselves against the noyse wranglings and opposition of the Lawyers and Clergy who are no more to be consulted in this Case than Merchants concerning Exchange c. because as the Wise Syracides observ'd their Interest woud byass them There is saith he that counselleth for himself beware therefore of a Counsellor and know before what need he hath for he wil counsel for himself There was Law before Lawyers there was a time when the Common Customs of the Land were sufficient to secure Meum and Tuum What has made it since so difficult nothing but the Comments of Lawyers confounding the Text and writhing the Laws like a Nose of Wax to what Figure best serves their purpose Thus the great Cook bribed perhaps by Interest or Ambition pronounced that in the Interpretation of Laws the Iudges are to be believed before the Parliament But others and with better Reason affirm That 't is one of the great Ends of the Parliaments Assembling To determin such causes as ordinary Courts of Iustice coud not decide The Laws of England are divided into Common and Sâ—â—ate Law the Common are antient Customes which by the unanimous and continued usage of this Kingdom have worn themselves into Law Statutes are the positive Laws of the Land founded on particular accidents and conveniences not provided for by the Common Law Civil and Canon Law are of no force but as they are incorporated into the body of one or other of these Laws if either may be call'd a body which has neither head nor foot For they lye scatter'd in som few books Bracton Littleton Glanvil Fleta Cook Plouden Dier Crook c. their Commentaries or Reports or rather in the arbitrary Opinion of the Iudges or som celebrated Lawyers For nothing is in this Trade certain or regular what one gives under his hand for Law another gives the direct contrary Iudgments and Decrees reverst as if that coud be just one day that is unjust another and why in England must Law and Equity be two things Since Reason Conscience in all other parts of the World are one and the same and why cannot Laws be so plainly worded as that men of common sence may without an interpreter discover the meaning if they be not so order'd speedy and exact justice wil at best be retarded But you 'l tel me there woud be no need to complain if men woud follow Christ's advice If any man wil sue thee at the Law and take away thy Coat let him have thy Cloak also the Reason was so plain that it was needless to express it viz. least the Lawyer shoud com between and strip you naked even of your shirt This you see is prudence as wel as Religion as indeed al Christs precepts are in the very affairs of this World Whatsoever was true of the Iewish Lawyers the present practise of some of ours renders them Obnoxious to the censures of the sober the curses of the passionate most men agreeing that to go to Law is like a Lottery or playing at Dice where if the game be obstinatly pursu'd the Box-keeper is commonly the greatest Winner But since som men wil be fools or knaves why shoud not the
it Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Iews and are not for they lye I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and know that I have loved thee Well Sir I am sorry my Tender of peace is so scornfully rejected upon the misapplication of such Texts of Scripture as equally and indifferently serve all Parties or are nothing to the present purpose You must not be angry if I strike the first blow rather than suffer you to take your own opportunity to knock me o th head When the cause comes to be tryed before equal Umpires you will be judg'd out of your own mouth that challeng'd Liberty which you wou'd not grant For you have transgrest the great Rule of Righteousness not to do to others what you wou'd have done unto your self Upon these terms the pretences to Liberty are destroy'd But if the Wisdom of any State shall confine their Indulgencies to Pious Obedient and Charitable Dissenters I cannot perceive the prejudice which difference in speculations and disputable Points can do in Religion or the Power of the Magistrate But at the same time I cannot but admire the admirable Temper and Moderation which is shew'n in the Church and Goverment of England That requires nothing necessary to Salvation but the acknowlegement of the Ancient Creeds That teaches nothing but what is Pious and Charitable Whose Lyturgy is Grave Wise and Holy whose Rites are few and material Whose Laws are full of Candor and Compliance allowing freedom to any Five Dissenters together to worship God in their own way Whose true Sons and Subjects are the greatest Favorers of Christian Liberty which are in the World And I pray God to give all people that disown it Wisdom to understand it THE Publisher to the Reader HAving I must own not without Pleasure read the following Papers and believing they might in several Instances I do not say all give som satisfaction to others and contribute to the Public Good for which I perswade my self even those Notions that seem most od and impracticable were intended I resolved to make them public But was check't again by calling to mind That he from whom I in some sort extorted them oblig'd me not to discover him Nevertheless considering I might do the One without the Other I pursued my former Resolutions yet taking this further care That even the Printer should not know from whence they came And now let me tell you whatever you shall think of this Discourse 'T is the Issu of a sober Brain tho perhaps a little too much inclin'd to Humor and rigid Vertu and not so agreeable or smooth as you would have had it if my Friend had dressed it for the eyes of any other besides my self to whom he sent it Sheet by Sheet and having writ it in less than eight of the last Holy-dayes you may believe had I allowed more time it would have come even to me reviewed As it is I make it yours and assure you what ever Censure you pass upon Him or Me we shall both be unconcern'd As Complesance made it mine so a good Intention of serving my Country makes it yours For my self I do not aim at being Richer or Greater The Patrimony left me satisfyed and invited my unambitious Mind to the Retirements of a privat Life which I have made easie by innocent Recreations Company and Books It was not my own seeking that I am now plac'd in a more public Station wherein tho perhaps I have done no Good yet I am pleas'd I never did any Hurt having alwayes pursu'd without Passion or Interest what ever my Conscience the best Rule and severest Iudge of Men's Actions convinced me was best As to my Friend he is one has read some Books and more Men thanks God he is that which the World calls a Fool a Good-natur'd Man one that heartily loves all Mankind and has so particular a Zeal for the good of his Country that I believe he would sacrifice his Life to serve it But almost despairing That ever Things will be better than they are and finding by what he has seen abroad That a Man may live more happily in England than in any part of Europe and now grown old by Temper more than Years he has resolv'd chiefly to mind himself whom to enjoy more fully he has bid adieu to all Thoughts of Business to which having never been bred by any Calling he has had the more Opportunities of considering all of improving himself and observing most sorts of Men and as a speculative Philosopher to the Entertainment of Himself and Friends he passes very free Remarks on all Actions and Things he judges amiss and being byass'd by no manner of Interest I am perswaded he speaks his Conscience And he has the good Fortune to make others often conclude He do's not only speak a great deal of Truth but also further satisfies them That it is much easier to find Faults than mend them That there ever were and ever will be Disorders in all Human Societies That there are fewer in that of England than in any other and that they are there more curable Thus much I thought fit to tell you to prevent any Misapprehensions concerning the Persons who are the occasion of this Trouble or Diversion call it what you please The CONTENTS 1. STate Affairs not fit to be discoursed by privat men Page 7 2. Of the Rise of Parliaments 11 3. Origin of Government with a brief account of Laws Revenues Trade and Natural Religion 12 4. A new Method of Electing Members Objections against this Present Parliament and their Answers 29 5. Of Lawes c. 37 6. Of better restraint of Offences than Punishment by death 48 7. Of Courts of Iudicature 60 8. Of Liberty Property and Religion 73 9. Differences in the last nor hurtful nor restrainable 81 10. How Toleration may be safely granted 92 11. How to prevent Divisions among Christians and to make all really not nominaly such 99 12. To Regulate and Reform the abuses of the Press the inconveniencies of Printing as now managed 104 13. The Intrest of England in Reference to France 116 14. Reasons why the King did not declare War against that Crown 119 15. The King's Care of Ireland to prevent French Designs 140 16. Of an Union between England and Ireland or the Repealing Poynings Act. 143 17. Of Taxes to make them great and perpetual most for the Peoples ease and common good 148 18. That 100 l. formerly was in Real value equivalent to 300 l. now and in use to 3000 l. With the reasons of the disparity 161 19. The dangers of not perpetuating apportioning and applying the Revenue to the particular charge and uses of the Crown or State and the advantage of doing so 166 20. The Objections against perpetuating the Revenue considered and removed 167 21. That French or any other Commodities are better Restrained by height of Duty than absolute
A DISCOURSE OF THE RISE POWER OF Parliaments OF Law 's of Courts of Iudicature of Liberty Property and Religion of the Interest of England in reference to the Desines of France of Taxes and of Trade In a Letter from a Gentleman in the Country to a Member â—n Parliament Salus Populi Suprema lex esto Printed in the Year 1677. The following PREFACE newly writ by the Book-seller's Friend WHoever buyes this Tract will do a small Kindness to the Bookseller but he that reads it will do a greater to himself The Title alone is a temptation to invite one to look into it in this time of Disorder But if Wit and Learning Reason and Piety the knowlege of Men and deep consideration of Goverment signifie any thing the Discourse is a perfect snare to captivate the Reader And it hath one advantage peculiar to it self to detain him That he will meet with many things there which no man ever writ or perhaps thought on before The Novelty alone will gratifie the men of Pleasure and Curiosity And as for the Grave and the Wise that Chain of Reason and good Nature which runs through it will make them scratch and think twice before they condemn it It was written to a Member of the last Parliament about Christmas last was Twelve-month and since that time has crept abroad into the World and is now made more Publick as well for the General as the Book-seller's particular good But a great Chang of Affairs happning in this Interval 't is fit to acquaint you That the Author never dream't of the Horrid Plot which has bin lately discover'd when he pleaded for Toleration to honest and peaceable Dissenters He measur'd other persons by his own Candid Temper and did not think there cou'd be found a Sect of men who wou'd endevor the advancement of their Religion by shedding the Blood of their Prince in an Age when Rebellious Principles and their Abettors have receiv'd such Confutations as they have in this both by God and Man But Truth doth not vary with Time how much soever some persons may abuse it I cannot persuade my self but that Liberty of Conscience is a Natural Right which all men bring with them into the World For we must all give an account of our selves to God and stand or fall by our own Faith and Practice and not by the Religion of the State or Countrey where we happen to be dropt 'T is impossible for men to believe what they list or what others wou'd have them tho it shou'd be beaten into their heads with Beetles Persecution makes some men obstinate and some men Hypocrites but Evidence only governs our Under standings and that has the prerogative to govern our Actions The design of Christianity is to make men happy in the other World and in order thereunto it teaches them to regulate their Passions and behave themselves with all sobriety righteousness and piety in this The Doctrines whereby this is enforc'd are so few and so plainly deliver'd that they are at this day acknowledg'd by all the several sorts of Christians that make a number or are fit to be consider'd under a name in the World For how many are there who do not profess the Apostles Creed which was the Old Rule and Measure of Christian Faith unalterable unreformable from which nothing ought to be taken to which nothing need to be added as Irenoeus and Tertullian declare And if men wou'd be persuaded to preserve these Ancient Boundaries of Christianity inviolate and suffer the Primitive Simplicity to be restor'd the great occasion of Squabble and Contention wou'd be cut off and they wou'd not dispute for ever about a lock of wooll or the knots of a bulrush but instead of being extremely learned in trisles and extremely zealous for Moonshine they wou'd grow kind and charitable and lay aside their unreasonable Censures of one another Aquinas and Bellarmine and the Synopsis purioris Theologiae wou'd not be studied so much but the Sermon on the Mount a great deal more and upon casting up the Account it wou'd be found that what we lost in subtilty thereby we shou'd gain in Religion St. Hilary the Famous Bishop of Poictiers has an Excellent saying to this purpose Non per difficiles nos Deus ad beatam vitam quaestiones vocat nec multiplici eloquentis facundiae genere solicitat in absoluto nobis facili est aeternitas Iesum suscitanum à mortuis per Deum credere et ipsum esse Dominum confiteri God doth not call us to Heaven by understanding abstruse and difficult Questions nor invite us by the power of Eloquence and Rhetorical Discourses but the way to Eternal Happiness is plain easy and unintricate To believe that God rais'd up Iesus from the dead and to confess him to be the Lord of all The sense of this will soften the Minds of men and dispose them to mutual Compliances and Forbearances and then we shall not think it needful by severities and penalties to compel others to go to Heaven in our way with great uneasiness when we are resolv'd they may with safety and pleasure get thither in their own Upon these grounds the Wisest Emperors in Christendom have allow'd Liberty to Dissenters as Theodosius did to the Novatians who had separate Churches at Constantinople and Bishops of their own persuasion to Govern them and enjoy'd all the Priviledges of Catholic Christians And the Opinion of King Iames sent to Cardinal Perron in the words of Isaac Casaubon will be remembred to his honor whilst his name shall be known in the World as the best rosolution which was ever given of this Question Rex arbitratur rerum ad salutem necessariarum non magnum esse Numerum quare existimet ejus Mojestas nullam ad ineundam concordiam breviorem viam fore quà m si diligenter separentur necessaria à non necessariis ut de necessariis conveniat omnis opera insumatur in non necessariis libertati Christianae locus detur The King is persuaded that there is no great number of things necessary to salvation wherefore his Majesty believes there will not be met with a shorter way to peace than that distinction be carefully made between necessary things and those that are not so and that all pains be taken for agreement in necessaries but that allowance be granted for Christian Liberty in those things that are not necessary This is not a demand which has been only made of late since the Christian name has been so scandalously divided as it is at this day but 't is that which the Primitive Christians pleaded for as their right and due that they ought to be tolerated though they were mistaken so long as they were peaceable To this end Tertullian made an Address to Scapula the Governor of Africa and tells him humani juris naturalis est potestatis unicuique quod putaverit colere nec alii obest aut
somtimes finding these things com to pass are not only deluded themselves but incourage others to be so by such Nonsensical Impostors But since al Men have not Understanding you 'l ask How the Evil shal be cur'd The Remedies are only two First a right Education and next a removal of al Interest For since the Foundations of Religion are Eternal Truths were Men rightly instructed of which al are capable because al desin'd for Happiness and Men got nothing by lying we shoud have as much Truth and as little Disputing in matters of Christianity as in the Mathematical sciences Or at least if men defin'd nothing really but the tru Ends of it Eternal Happiness it might be lawful for every Man even in the way which another cals Heresie to worship the God of his Fathers for tho one thinks his a clearer or a shorter way than that of another so long as he stil goes on that is treads in the Paths of a sober and virtuous Life tho he may be more dabbl'd or longer on the Road what 's that to him He that finds fault may miss his own way by looking towards his Brother his particular Duty requires al his care Besides Every Man stands or fals to his own Master But you wil say 'T is Charity to teach my Brother and not to suffer sin upon him 'T is very tru but first 't is not prov'd that difference in Opinion is a sin but the contrary next Charity is not express'd in Thunder and Lightning sending him head-long to the Devil because he wil not be presently whether he can or no of your Opinion which perhaps is not truer than his own tho your greater Confidence assert it But Charity is express'd by Meekness Gentleness and Love by Instruction and Pity not by Hatred and Revilings nay not by Death the too often Consequence of Differences in Opinions From which Considerations 't is plain that 't is not Reason nor Charity that divides us but Interest and Policy How far it wil consist with the safety of the Public to suffer such dangerous Causes of fatal Effects as are brought in by these Clashes of Religionists not Religion I leave to the Wisdom of the Parliament Only to satisfy that part of your Question I wil give you som short Account how these Tares have so sprung up as to choak almost wholly al the good Seed sown afterwards you may judg if they may not now the Harvest is com be cut down gather'd a-part and thrown into the Fire And surely if these Quarrels were only design'd for the Good of the Soul which yet if they were the Promoters must be Men of wrong Understanding or Notions forgetting that Faith is the Gift of God they would not hate and dam one another for different tho false Opinions Nothing can have that Effect but the Committal of Sins of which holy Scripture pronounces Death the Wages or necessary Consequence but these we see past over silently few Excommunicated for Whoredom Adulteries Atheism and Profaness many other Crimes are openly committed without Punishment which perhaps was the end of instituting Ecclesiastical Courts The great desine of Christianity was in a higher and more refin'd way the same with that which Hierocles tels us of Philosophy The Perfection of human Life Therfore the Primitive Christians knowing the end of their Doctrin was to make men good to fil their Hearts with purity of intention productive of good Works not to make them Wife if stuffing their Heads with empty and idle Notions may be call'd so avoided al such with great care pressing only upon men the Reformation of their Lives by the plainess of their Practise and their agreeableness to Reason being wel assur'd the contrary Precepts coud bring forth nothing but endless Ianglings and frivolous Disputes which woud at last not only loosen but destroy Religion by taking away Charity the Bond and Cement of that and al Perfections But when the Piety of succeeding Ages had endowed the Church with Temporalities and with rich Possessions the Church-men altered their Doctrin with their way of living For now kicking like the Calfs of Iesseron grown fat the former practised severity was turn'd into Wantonness The plainess of the Precepts into intricat Niceties This they judged necessary For if according to the Promise the Gospel was to be so plain i. e. so agreeable to Nature and Reason that a Man might running see to Read i. e. a Man that made never so little use of his Reason that did but keep his Eyes open against the false Alurements of sense coud not but perceive the Lines of his Duty written in very larg and plain Characters perceiving every Man thus enabled to Teach his Brother and that Miracles were ceas'd they found themselves under a necessity to make Godliness a Mystery that it might becom gain to 'um in an il sense and that they might secure to themselves that Veneration and Respect which otherwise were now like to fail Religion by this means degenerating from its innocence and simplicity into a Trade of Policy and Subtilty an Art to live by Tent-makers and Fisher-men became too dul and ignorant The preaching of Christ Crucified was fit only for the Witty and the Learned No wonder then that being now so much taken up in refining the Cobweb inventions of their Heads they wanted leisure to look to their Feet to order their steps aright and therfore went astray not only from the Precepts of the Gospel but the Imitation of the Life of the Holy Iesus which was the greater Duty of the two as the End for which his Doctrin the Means was given And to make themselves the more admired they mix'd That with the vain Philosophy of the Greeks especially Platonism with an Addition of many absur'd Heathenish and obsolete Iewish Rites and Ceremonies When the Bishops became Princes the number of Candidats increascing faster than Preferments coud fal the Ambitious were induc'd to Court them by indirect ways The Pretence of an extraordinary Knowledg or Piety to gain the Interest and the Favor of great men and by those steps to mount the Spiritual Throne of Carnal Pride Thus when Arius faild of a Bishopric enraged that a less learned man shoud deprive him of the Miter he resolv'd upon a malicious Revenge and to make himself more famous then the Crosier coud under pretence of discovering the falsities crept into Religion he alleagd one of the great Mysteries to have more of Platoes Fancy than of Christs Truth in it This Mother-Heresie by him introduc'd brought forth many others and which was the greater Evil has been the parent of uncharitable Disputes The certain occasions of much confusion in Life and Doctrin of Assassinations and Massacres of Wars and Desolations The Christians now contrary to Christs positive Command Cal no man on Earth Master i. e. If an Angel from Heaven much less a man shoud Preach any other Doctrin to you than what I your only Lord and
Name than that of Christians for indeed as such they al agree that is in the Fundamentals of Religion as for the disputed things they are already shewn not certain therfore not necessary consequently to us impertinent which of the assertions be true and only differ by the considerations of Pride or interest as they are Trinitarians or Antitrinitarians Arians Socinians Papists or Protestants Remonstrants or Antiremonstrants Iansenists or Molinists Franciscans or Dominicans Lutherans or Calvinists Presbyterians or Independants c. But for my own part I am of opinion That we shal never arrive at the tru state of Christianity either by Disputing without Toleration or by Toleration with Disputing i. e. we shal not come to live Righteously Soberly and Godly in this present World For disputing destroys al and Toleration alone wil not take away those wrong Notions with which the present Age is prepossess'd tho some of the prejudices may be lessen'd by softness and gentleness by Love and Perswasions this Iconfess wil not do in al because al have not understanding and such as want it must inevitably run into Error For whatever the Philsophers Dispute whether the Wil and the Understanding be distinct Faculties or distinct Operations of the same Soul it plainly appears in al our actions that we wil or nil things according to our Understandings which as wel or il inform'd make us do things good or evil so that til our Notions are rectifi'd we are to be pityed and instructed not hated or condemned When by an excellent Education and a good Example we are taught not only to know but to practise our Duty it wil then be almost morally impossible for us to offend wheras on the contrary while both are now neglected 't is a wonder we are not worse Pursuant to this Salomon gives a wise Direction Train up a Child in the way thou woud'st have him to go and when he is old he wil not depart from it The great Business then not only to asswage the pain which in the present Circumstances cannot be don without Toleration but wholly to remove the Distemper is to introduce such a fixt Method of Education as may imprint on our Minds tru and early Notions of Virtu and Religion The Parliament have lately begun to look into the Practice of Piety and to prevent or lessen Prophanation and Debaucheries have enacted That Hackney-Coaches it had bin more equal if al had bin under the Penalty shal after the Iewish manner of Sabbath rest from Labor I wish they woud now be pleased to take care the People keep the Christian-Sabbath as they ought Not so much in a Rest from bodily Labor as from Sin the greater toyl of the Soul to which they are oblig'd by every days Duty The use of the Seventh above the rest seeming to be set apart for returning Thanks for Blessings and for Exhortations effective of Holiness and a good Life The Duty of that day is not fulfilâ—d by hearing a quaint-Man preach himself not Christ Policy not Morality confute the Pope the Calvinist or the Arminian the Presbyterian or the Episcopal Such Discourses engender nothing but Strife and tend not to Edification they are the vain Traditions of Men in which we shoud quicly find did we but seriously consider that there was nothing of that Faith without which we cannot please nor of that Holyness without which no man shal see God And since the Parliament by that last mention'd Act have begun to tythe Mint and Commin t is to be hoped they wil go on and not leave the weightier things of the Law undon that their Wisdoms and their Zeal wil be more imploy'd about the Power than the form of Godliness which may for ever be establisht by the following Method or such other as they shal think more agreeable viz. To make new Divisions of Parishes which may with more convenience to the People be don than as at present they stand by limiting every Parish to the compass of about three Miles Square and building a Church in the central place to hold about a thousand and to apportion the Parishes in Cities at least to the like number of People This wil reduce the Parishes from about ten to a little more than four Thousand To erect Schools in every Parish where al the Children shal be instructed in Reading Writing and the first Elements of Arithmetic and Geometry without charge to the Parents Whence to the greater Schools to be erected in the Dioceses Counties or Hundreds after the manner of Westminster Eaton or Winchester so many of the ripest and best Capacitated as shal suffice for the supply of al Callings that make Learning a Trade as Divinity Physic and Law may be yearly elected to be train'd up in the further necessary Parts of Learning and from thence yearly sent to the Universities from the Universities upon al vacancies Schoolmasters and Ministers to be chosen the first not under five and twenty years the later not under Thirty the age allow'd among the Iews for Doctors or Teachers and at which our Savior began to Preach and both to be Masters of Art before the one be Licensed or the other Ordain'd by the Bishop and none to be Ordain'd before they are secur'd of being Noble Mens Chaplains or elected to Parishes That the Bishoprics be also divided according to Convenience and the number of Parishes That the Ministers and School-masters be Celibats not under a vow as in the Church of Rome but on condition of quitting their Benefices upon Marriage and returning to a Lay-life For that of the priests being jure Divino being disputed is therefore to say no more to our Salvation not necessary to be believed For unless they demonstrat the contrary by Scripture the sufficient Rule of Faith or by Miracles men wil be apt to believe the Story of an indelible Character to be a Relic of Popery invented to aggrandize the Honor and Power of the Church turn'd into a Court of Rome But be it what it wil 't is plain they can't be greater than St Paul who did not only for Convenience of the Church avoid leading about a Wife or a Sister but wrought at his Trade after he had Received the Holy-Ghost of which it were to be wisht al Divines shew'd themselves possest by a Life conformable to that of the Holy Iesus But without doubt there wil be enuff found to undertake this calling on these terms tho seemingly difficult By this course there is a provision made for the Incontinency of such of the Priests as find themselves Flesh and Blood which if don in the Church of Rome woud free it from great Scandal That a book of Homilies be compil'd for varietie four for every Sunday and two for each festival or holy day That nothing be inserted but Dehortations from Vice and Exhortations to Virtu neither Controversies nor State Affairs so much as oblicly glanc'd upon That a Catechism adapted to the meanest Capacity be
vicissitudes of human affairs to make him afterwards appear more glorious vail'd him in Clouds of misfortunes What can be hop'd from him who contriv'd that never to be forgotten affront of burning our ships at Chattam and who is said to have had no smal hand in the firing of London Who tho stil'd the most Christian declares as an unalterable Maxim no Treaty binding longer than it consists with his Interest not founded on Religion or Reason but on Glory The very Heathens were anciently and the Turks at this day are more punctual to their Oaths and Promises The falsifying of any thing confirm'd by the Adiuration of their Gods or Mahomet was and is accounted infamous But what Treaties or Capitulations can be reckon'd which the French Ministers have not violated Have they not broken the famous Pyrenean Treaty confirmd by Oaths and Sacraments And contrary to a solemn Renunciation and the double Ties of Blood and Marriage before a breach complain'd of or a War declar'd invaded the Territoryes of an Infant King Have not they by address and Cunning by Bribes and Rewards endeavored to corrupt most of the Ministers of Europe Such practises amongst privat Christians woud be abominable and much more so between any Kings not stil'd the most Christian. Do they not publicly abet the proceedings of the Rebels in Hungary against their lawful Prince And whatever the Pope may be induc'd to beleive not for the Propagation of the Romish Religion for they are Protestants but to serve his own ambitious purposes of enslaving the World of which rather than fail he has decreed to bring in the Turk in whose Courts also he has found Arts to make his Coyn current Nor is the Infallible Man whom he has already Pillard to scape him at least as to the Temporal part of his Power for not thinking that affront great enuff and concluding he has not as he ought imploy'd it for the French Interest he is said to have privatly vow'd not only the lessening but the abrogating of that great Authority in which his Predecessors Pepin and Charlemain's Charity had vested him Nor is his Countenanceing the Iansenists a Sect more dangerous to the See of Rome than that of Luther or Calvin a smal Argument that he intends to pul down his spiritual Grandeur by fixing it in a Gallican Patriarch But to com nearer home have not the French had a main hand in our Civil Wars and were they not since the secret Instruments of spilling the Blood of many thousands of our fellow Subjects To som of whom tho now they pretend civility 't is not to give them a share in their Glory so much as to hazard their Lives making them steps to the Throne of an unjust Empire in order to which they have expos'd them on all occasions in hopes by weakning us to remove out of their way the greatest block which has already given them check and wil now I hope stop their Carreir and mate them And is it not time think you that all the Princes in Christendom for their common safety shoud unite not only to Chase the French King out of his new Conquests but confine him to his ancient Dominion and manner of Government If this be not speedily put in Execution I may without the spirit of Prophecy foretel som of the Princes of Germany and Italy who now seem unconcern'd wil when 't is too late repent the oversight The fire is already kindled in their Neighborhood and if they do not help to quench the flame they wil quicly see their own dwellings laid in Dust and Ashes Every new acquist and accession of Power inlarges our desires and makes the ambitious man think that which before seem'd not only difficult but impossible to be very plain and feasible The success of the French has already made them think no enterprise too hard and and stil prompts them to push on their good Fortune which nothing can withstand but a general opposition of other Princes You see then 't is not so much honor nor friendship nor a desire of succorring the injur'd and oppressed that invites the rest of Europe to the assistance of the Netherlands but the care and preservation of their Laws and Liberties their Glory and their Fortunes And tho I am apt to believe on Englands entring into the League the French King woud gladly conclude a Peace Yet I can't but think the doing so woud be against the common interest on any other Terms than quitting all his new Acquisitions and even then the Confederats wil be out in Policy if they do not stil continue in a posture of defence both by Sea and Land The Dutch paid dear for the contrary practise and their sufferings in 1672 wil convince them and others that so long as Lewis the fourteenth lives his Neighbors must not expect to sleep in quiet they cannot prudently hope his future Practises wil be more just than his former he that has already broke thro so many Obligations of Oaths and Treatyes is likely to do so agen whoever cannot be kept within bounds by the sense of Reason and Iustice wil despise the weaker tyes of forced Oaths For he that avows Power to be the Rule and strength the Law of Iustice wil not stick to say This Peace was an imposition an unjust restraint of the lawful pursuit of his Greatness And therefore as soon as he gives his wearyed Armies a breathing time and sees the Confederates dispers'd and their Troops disbanded he wil like an unexpected Torrent break-in upon som of his Neighbors The Common Inscription of his Cannons Ratio ultima Regum is by him inverted to a contrary sense and made a public Warning to Mankind that he desines as God did of old to give Law to the World in Thunder and Lightening to scatter by the Flames of his Artillery al those Clouds of the Confederat Forces that intercept and eclipse the Rayes of his Glory He makes the Power of his Arms his first and last Reason He do's not only pursu but commonly wounds his Adversary before he declares him such or gives him leisure to draw First invades a Prince's Territories and after sets up his Title and Cause of the War is not concern'd that all the World observes the Pretence is false and trifling vain and unjust warranted by no other Reason than that of absolute and unbounded Wil That he wil do so because he wil which is the Foundation and Conclusion of all his Actions and Wars abroad as wel as of his Laws and Edicts at Home express'd in these imperious Words Tel est nostre plaisir He do's not only tread in the Steps but out-go one of his Predecessors who in a Quarrel with his Holiness sent him word That what he coud not justify by Cannon-Law he woud by the Law of the Cannon His Device the Sun in its Meridian with his Motto Non pluribus impar sufficiently shews his Intentions for the Universal Monarchy and the
what further we shal desire for the better security of our Liberties Properties and Religion why then shoud any think He woud not esteem it his own as wel as People's Interest to consult often and upon all suddain occasions with his Parliament For my own part I shoud rather believe by continuing this so long that he woud not be against their Assembling thrice a Year as by the Grace of former Kings was accustom'd for many Years before and after the Conquest But to put all Iealousies to silence The Parliament in settling and appropriating the Revenu to particular Uses may as they have already begun to do in the Act for building thirty Ships Grant it under a kind of Condition or Proviso viz. That the respective Officers give a ful Account of the Employment thereof unto the Parliament at least once in every three Years Otherwise all farther Leavies of the same to cease c. Having said thus much in general of Taxes I com now to the particâ—lar Branches I have already shew'd the Inconvenience of the Customs c. determining with the King's Life I wil further add That the Book of Rates ought to be Reviewed and in the new one a greater Consideration had of the Usefulness and Necessity of the Commodities in placing the Imposition on them viz. rating all the allow'd Commodities of France much higher than they are raising the Duty of their Wines to be at least equal with that on those of Spain I never yet coud be satisfy'd what induc'd the Compilers of that Book to rate Spanish Wines higher than those of France since the height of Duty is a sort of Prohibition which ought to be more taken care of in the Trade with France by which we are vast Loosers than in that with Spain which is a gainful one The best Reason I could find is That they did it inconsideratly taking it as they found it left by the long Parliament who by the sense of Revenge for the War were induced so to treat the Spaniard One might have thought the last Impost on French Wines woud have lessen'd their Importation which Colbert the Financer observing it had not don I was assur'd at my Return in August by Fontainbleau that in his Measures for the next Years Charge he valued his Master 100000 on that Account not doubting but the Parliament woud take off that Duty of Wine which woud give him opportunity to put so much on That at this the French King smil'd and said For such a kindnâ—ss he shoud be oblig'd and woud no more cal them Petite maison But I hope notwithstanding his scornful quibble he wil find such sober resolutions in that house as wil set him a madding and that instead of taking off that duty he may perceive more put on which is indeed the only effectual way to prohibit the importation of these vast quantities of French goods by which England is greatly Impoverisht To lessen the Trafic of his People is the first step to lower him which I am perswaded is best don by imposing an excessive high duty upon all the commodities and contriving the Act so that nothing shoud pass duty free this course woud be a better restraint than absolute prohibition And 't is the method he himself has taken in the trade with us which he had long since wholly forbid but that upon examination he found it was driven to above 1600000 l. Advantage to his subjects and loss to those of England this rather yearly increasing than decreasing wil at length quite ruin us if not prevented and yet notwithstanding he imposes upon our cloaths four shillings an Ell as a sumptuary law to oblige his Subjects to the use of their own manufactures The next is the Excise which if equaly imposed were the best and easiest of all taxes To make it so after the manner of Holland it ought to be laid upon all things ready to be consum'd This puts it into the Power of every Man to pay more or less as he resolves to live loosely or thriftily by this course no Man pays but according to his Enjoyment or actual Riches of which none can be said to have more than what he spends tru Riches consisting only in the use But the present Excise is grievous because heavyer on the poor Laborers and meaner sort of People than on the Rich and Great who do not pay above a Tenth of what the others do and considering that most of the Noble and Privat Families out of London Brew their own Drink it falls yet heavier on the Poorer sort and wil at last on the State for the common Brewers do already complain that they dayly lose their Trade many of their Customers even in London Brewing for themselves to save the Imposition To speak the Truth In good Conscience this Branch ought to have been imposed on the Nobles and Estated-Men rather than on the Artificer and Laborers who were very slenderly concern'd in the Grounds of it viz. the taking away the Wardships and Purveyance which was so great an Advantage to the Public especially the Richer That that Act of Grace and Condescension in his Majesty which freed us and our Posterity from great Inconveniences and greater sines of Subjection ought never to be forgotten This Act gave us a greater Propriety and Liberty than ever we had before and must the Poor chiefly pay for the benefit of the Rich Let it not be told to the Generations to com that an Act so unequal was contriv'd by those who study only the public Interest let it then be review'd and either made general on all public and privat Brewers by which the Rich wil stil have advantage of the Poor according to the difference between strong and smal Beer For to allow Public Brewers and prohibit all privat ones as is practis'd in the low Countries woud never be endur'd in England Or rather let it be plac'd on Malt or taken quite off and laid on the Land as a perpetual Crown Rent Or let there be a general Excise the most equal Tax that possibly can be devis'd on all consum'd Commodities of our own growth or imported which ought to be managed by proper Officers the Farming of any part of the Revenu being of evil Consequence as I coud shew at large both to the State and People The Hearth Mony is a sort of Excise but a very unequal one too the smoak on 't has offended the eyes of many and it were to be wisht that it were quite taken away and somthing in lieu thereof given to the Crown less offensive to the peoples senses I have heard many say That an imposition on Licenses for selling of Ale Strong Waters Coffee Syder Mum and all other Liquors and for Victualling-Houses might be as beneficial to the Crown and so order'd as might prevent or discover High-way-Men c. I have read among the Irish Statutes one to this purpose obliging among other things the Inn-keepers c.
already many Discourses publishtâ— som of them woud be worth their view and did they Sit constantly many would bring their Remarks and I my self shoud be able to give som Notions on this Subject which for want of time I cannot now give you The two great Principles of Riches are Land and Labor as the later increases the other grows dear which is no otherwise don than by a greater Confluence of industrious People For where many are coop'd into a narrow Spot of Ground they are under a necessity of Laboring because in such Circumstances they cannot live upon the Products of Nature and having so many Eyes upon them they are not suffer'd to steal Whatever they save of the Effects of their Labor over and above their Consumption is call'd Riches and the bartering or commuting those Products with others is call'd Trade Whence it follows that not only the greatness of Trade or Riches depends upon the Numbers of People but also the Deerness or Cheapness of Land upon their Labor and Thrift Now if Trade be driven so that the Imports exceed in valu the Exports the People must of necessity grow poor i. e. consume the Fundamental Stock viz. Land and Labor both falling in their price The contrary Course makes a Kingdom Rich. The Consequence is That to better the Trade of England the People which wil force Labor must be increas'd and Thrift incouraged For to hope for a vast Trade where People are wanting is not only to expect Bric can be made without Straw but without Hands The great Advantage a Country gains by being fully peopled you may find by the following Observation viz. That the valu of the Labor is more than the Rent of the Land and the Profit of all the Personal Estates of the Kingdom which thus appears Suppose the People of England to be six Millions their annual Expence at twenty Nobles or six Pound thirteen and four Pence a Head at a Medium for Rich and Poor Young and Old wil amount to forty Millions and if wel consider'd cannot be estimated much less The Land of England and Wales contain about twenty four Millions of Acres worth one with another about six and eight Pence per Acre or third part of a Pound consequently the Rent of the Land is eight Millions per annum The yearly Profit of all the Peoples personal Estate is not computed above eight Millions more both together make sixteen Millions per annum this taken out of the forty Millions yearly Expence there wil remain twenty-four Millions to be supply'd by the Labor of the People Whence follows that each Person Man Woman and Child must Earn four Pound a Year and an Adult laboring Person double that Sum because a third part or 2 Millions are Children and Earn nothing and a sixth part or one Million by reason of their Estates Qualities Callings or Idleness Earn little so that not above half the People working must gain one with another eight Pound per annum a peece and at twenty Years Purchase wil be worth Eighty Ponnd per Head For tho an Individuum of Mankind be recon'd but about eight Years Purchase the Species is as valuable as Land being in its own nature perhaps as durable and as improveable too if not more increasing stil faster by Generation than decaying by Death it being very evident that there are much more yearly Born than Dye Whence you may plainly perceive how much it is the Interest of the State and therefore ought to be their care and study to fil the Country with People the Profit woud not be greater in point of Riches than in Strength and Power for 't is too obvious to be insisted on that a City of one Miles circumference and ten Thousand Men is four times stronger and easier defended than one of four Miles with double the Number Now there are but two ordinary wayes of increasing the People that of Generation and that of drawing them from other Countries The first is a Work of Time and tho it wil not presently do our Business yet is not to be neglected I have shewn how it may be hasten'd by obliging to Marriage and more might be added by erecting Hospitals for Foundlings after the manner now used in other Countries and practised with great Advantage in Paris by the Name of L'hostel pour les enfants trouves where there are now reckon'd no less than Four Thousand This in all parts of England especially London woud prevent the many Murders and contrived Abortions now used not only to the prejudice of their Souls Health but that of their Bodies also and to the general Dammage of the Public This woud likewise be an Encouragment to the poorer sort to Marry who now abstain to prevent the Charge of Children Strangers are no otherwise to be invited than by allowing greater advantages than they have at home and this they may with more ease receive in England than in any part of Europe where natural Riches do much abound viz. Corn Flesh Fish Wool Mines c. and which Nature has bless'd with a temporature of heathful Air exceeding al Northern and not inferior to most Southern Countries has given it commodious Ports fair Rivers and safe Channels with possibilities of more for water carriage these with what follows woud soon make England the Richest and most powerful Country of the World Naturalization without Charge plain Laws and speedy Iustice Freedom in all Corporations Immunities from Taxes and Tols for seven Years and lastly Liberty of Conscience the Restraint of which has been the greatest Cause at first of unpeopling England and of it s not being since repeopled This drove Shoals away in Queen Maries King Iames and King Charles the First 's Dayes it has lost the Wealth of England many Millions and bin the occasion of spilling the Blood of many Thousands of its People 'T is a sad Consideration that Christians shoud be thus fool'd by obstinat Religionists in whom too much Stiffness on one side and Folly and Perversness on the other shoud have bin equally Condem'd being indeed the Effects of Pride Passion or privat Interest and altogether Forrein to the Bus'ness of Religion which as I have already told you consists not in a Belief of disputable things of which if either part be tru neither are to us necessary but in the plain Practice of Piety which is not incompatible with Errors in Iudgment I see not therefore why the Clergy shoud be wholly heark'nd to in this Affair since 't is really impertinent to the Truth of Religion and I dare appeal to all the sober understanding and considerative Men of the Church of England Whether the Opposition of this be not wholy founded upon Interest which being but of particular Men ought not nor wil not I hope weigh more with the Parliament than that of the Public which is so highly concern'd in this matter And tho it may be objected That as Affairs of Religion now stand
were kept out of their Rights he must have contracted vast debts for the support of himself his Army and his followers That the great Revenu of the Crown was in a manner gon That other Kings had squees'd vast sums from their Subjects by Loanes Monopolies c. of which no mention was made in the computation That the building of ships and above four years of such War at Sea consum'd more than any one hundred years War at Land since the Conquest That the consideration of the vast Charge Dunkirk put the Crown to at least three times more than it yeilded occasiond the Advise of its Sale That Tangier has stood the King in very great sums That til of late the supporting the Charge of Irelana helped to drein the Exchequer of England That the intrinsic Valu of one Million formerly was equal to that of three Millions now and in real use to thirty millions For the tru intrinsic Valu or worth of Mony is no otherwise to be computed than according to what it wil purchase for our present Consumptions which I have reckond to exceed those of old but by ten tho I have heard others say much more But that which has made these Complaints so loud has not bin only inconsideration or perhaps malice but the inequallity of imposeing the Taxes Those great inconveniencies may be easily obviated for the future by makiâ—g and applying to particular Uses such sufficient and equal Fonds as are necessary to be setled I wil only instance in one That of the Customes which seems originally to have had its Rise for that End therefore ought to be appropriated to the Use of the Navy I wish it were great enuff for such as our safety requires And if this Course be taken in apportioning the Revenu the Public and Privat Expences are to be generously computed the doing so wil remove Iealousies and Distrusts on all sides the King wil be under no necessity of straining his Prerogative by hearkning to the devices of Projectors the People wil be quiet and at ease and then every Man may safely sit under his own Vine and his own Fig-tree and enjoy with pleasure the Fruits of his Labor If you look into the Histories of past Ages you wil find the Disputes of the Prerogative on one hand and of Liberty on the other were alwayes founded on the want of Mony and he that considers the Evils that have ensued wil soon believe it very necessary to prevent the like for the future by applying to every use of the Crown or State I do not say to the Person of the King whose greatest Share is the Trouble while the Subjects is Security and Ease a sufficient and perpetual Revenu This Act wil beget an intire Confidence and Love and so unite us to one another as wil make it impossible for any Storms without or Commotions within to shake this Kingdom so founded on a Rock against which all who make any attempts must needs split themselves and Fortunes I have according to my wonted Freedom given you my Thoughts why I think it more convenient both for Public and Privat That the Revenu were sufficient and perpetual against which I never met but with one Objection to wit That if that were don the King woud not so frequently if at all call his Parliament As if there were no use for this great Council but raising of Mony The altering or repealing the old and making new Laws the reforming of Errors and Abuses in Inferior Courts of Iustice the deciding the Controversies those Courts coud not and many other things woud make their Meeting necessary The King woud see 't were his Advantage to cal them often since besides that there is safety in the multitude of Counsellors all that happens to be severe and harsh woud light on them and yet none coud be offended because the Act of the whole Nor coud His Majesty but be sensible that all Innovations are dangerous in a State for it is like a Watch out of which any one peece lost woud disorder the whole That the Parliament is the great Spring or Heart without which the Body of the Common-wealth coud enjoy neither Health nor Vigor Life nor Motion That while they mind their Duty in proposeing and advising what is best for King and People without privat Respect leaving him the undoubted Prerogative of Kings of Nature and Reason of Assenting or Dissenting as he is convinc'd in his Conscience is best for the Common Good which is to be his measure in all Actions as the Laws are to be the Subjects Rule I see not why it shoud not be his interest to cal them frequently That none can be suppos'd to advise the contrary unless som few great Men to avoid not so much perhaps the Iustice as the Passion Envy and Prejudice of som in that Iudicature to whom they may think themselves obnoxious But granting this 't is unreasonable to think so wise and so good a Prince wil prefer the Privat Interest of any single Man tho never so Great before the general Good and Satisfaction of his People I shoud rather think He wil in the Words of his Royal Father in a Speech to his Parliament give in this a ful Assurance I must conclude that I seek my Peoples Happiness for their slourishing is my greatest Glory and their Affection my greatest Strength His Majesty wel knows with what tenderness and Love his Subjects are to be treated that 't is more safe more pleasing and more easy to erect his Throne over their Hearts than their Heads to be obey'd for Love rather than Fear the Dominion founded on the later often meets the same Fate with a House built upon the Sands while that establish'd on the former continues firm and immovable as a Rock He is not ignorant That as the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world so does the Being and Wel-Being of the English Nation consist in the frequent Counsels Deliberations and Acts of King and Parliament in which Providence has so blended the King and People's Interests that like Husband and wife they can never be sunder'd without mutual inconvenience and unhappiness The sense and observation of this makes our King's Reign prosperous and gives Him a more Glorious Title than that of King viz. The Father of the Country and the great God-like Preserver of his Children's Rights and Liberties who out of a deep sense of Duty and Gratitude must own and remember who tels them That a wise King is the upholding of his People and therefore cannot but pay him even for their own Interest all imaginable Loyalty Deference and Respect giving up their Lives and Fortunes for His or which is all one their own Safety who studies nothing so much as their Good and wel-fare Besides the King has already past an Act that a Parliament shal sit at least once in three Years and in several Speeches he has declar'd himself ready to do