Provision is made for the Right Administration of Justice that so the Innocent may be acquitted and none but the Guilty may be punished unless the King extend Mercy in Pardonable Cases in hope of the Offenders Amendment V. And this further must be considered that one part of the Law-makers are the House of Commons who are Chosen by the People and have power to prepare Bills for the Consent of the House of Lords and also to Accept or Reject Bills from the House of Lords before they are Presented to his Majesty for his Royal Assent and therefore if any Laws be made that are not for the peoples profit the Electors of such Members of Parliament must Reflect upon themselves for making such a Choice and look better to their Choice for the time to come VI. And sometimes His Majesties Leige People may Receive and Sustain Damages and Wrongs not because the Laws are bad but because it is badly managed by such as do not well understand the Laws or else because they may have some Antipathy in their minds against those that are Prosecuted and so that they may Accomplish their own wills against some particular persons do sometimes venture to swerve from the true meaning of the Law VII And for the good of the King and Kingdom the Wisdom of the Nation Assembled in Parliament doth sometimes upon mature consideration prepare Bills for Acts of Parliament in which some former Laws are Confirmed and Explained and some Laws are Repealed and some New Laws are made VIII Now therefore that Justice may be Rightly Administred unto all the Kings Subjects it doth highly concern all Mayors of Cities and of other Corporations as also all Justices of the Peace in the several Counties of this Realm together with all other-Peace-Officers concerned in the Executing of the Laws To make sure of a Right Understanding of their several Offices according to Law that as they may not come short so they may not go beyond that power the Law hath committed unto them and so become needless Prosecuters and Troublers of the Kings Subjects to their shurt and dammage though after great Charge and Expence such may be Releived by the Kings Honourable Judges and it may be those that were their Troublers may pay for it afterwards to their Cost and shame when Justice shineth in the Kings Courts of Justice being displayed impartially between the King and his Subjects and also between Subject and Subject IX In the Right Administration of Justice it doth highly concern the Executors of the Laws to consider the Nature of the Offences punishable by the Law whether they be great or small whether they be such as are any way a hurt to the person of the King or to the Publick Peace of the Kingdom or whether they be such things as tho' the Law doth count Offences yet in themselves are not maters at all Criminal viz. matters of Conscience by reason of mens Differing Opinions in matters of Religion which in themselves are no way hurtful to any mans Person Name or Estate X. It is also to be soberly considered what kind of persons the Deemed and Reputed Offenders are whether they do at all own and adhere to any Forreign Jurisdiction or whether they do own and approve of the Kings Majesty as the Supream Governour of this Realm and all other his Dominions and Countries in opposition to the Pope and all foreign Jurisdiction who though they may in some things of Religion differ from some matters of Worship as Established by Law are yet known to be such as fear God and Honour the King and profess practice and promote the Protestant Religion and are ready to assist and maintain the Government in the Peace and Tranquility of it both with Person and Purse as hath been demonstrated by the Protestant Dissenters in general and that in a time and times of great Distress when they have been severely Prosecuted in City and Country to the very great dammage of many good Families who desire to live and dye his Majesties Peaceable Subject But it may be some will object and say That the Dissenters have been Troublers and Disturbers of the Government and so call to Remembrance the Insurrection that was made by Venner and his Party in the City of London Unto which a satisfactory answer may be returned and therefore pray let these following things be considered in the behalf of the generality of the Protestant Dissenters 1. That the Insurrection of Venners Party was condemned by the Dissenters throughout the Kingdom as an Act of great violence and wickedness 2. That Conspiracy was but by a few viz. 29. who were known to be men of fiery Spirits and swimming Brains and would fain have been at the same work in the time of Oliver Cromwell if he had not very timely prevented it 3. Though they were Dissenters yet it is well known that they were fierce-spirited men against all other Dissenters that were not of their desperate minds 4. The Law hath taken hold of them and their persons have been punished severely for that desperate practice and the Dissenters in general throughout this Realm were not concerned in that Business 5. It is not at all fair that any Party of men should be charged with and condemned for the foolish rash Proceedings of some that may be called by the same distinguishing name for suppose some Presbyterians some Independants some Anabaptists and some Quakers should Conspire against the Government it will not be fair dealing to deem that all of those names are all alike in such bad things For by this Rule all French-men Scotch-men Irish-men and other Countries must be deemed Enemies to the Government because some have been proved to be so yea according to the aforesaid Rule all sorts of Tradesmen Gentlemen Clergy-men Knights Lords Earls Dukes though good Members of the Church of England must be censured and feared to be Traytors because some of such degrees and qualities have been proved to be such Criminals but as this is far from Christianity so it is very far from good humanity it is enough that those and only those who are the Criminals be punished according to their Crimes and as for all others who are not concerned in such Crimes tho they be under the same Denomination Respecting Degrees in the World or in matters of Religion yet they ought to be esteemed and favoured as Loyal Subjects to the King although there may be some matters of Religion that the Law doth account Offences XI That Justice may be Rightly Administred and Oppression may be avoided the nature and weight of the punishments inflicted by Law ought to be well considered and compared with the Offences especially if there be several ways of punishment for one and the same Offence and if the Executors of the Law be left at liberty to take which way they please of the greater or smaller punishments For as much as it savoreth too much or Severity if not
live a Holy Life and Conversation suitable to such a Holy Profession and therefore ought to be deemed good Protestants though in some things they differ from the Church-Protestants especially considering that those things in the Protestant Religion wherein both Parties do agree are greater than those things wherein they do differ and yet those things wherein they differ are such as each Party cannot Conform to without wronging of their Consciences and doubtless the Church-Protestants would think it hard measure if they should be forced to Conform to the Dissenters even as the Dissenters think it hard measure to be forced to Conform to the Church-Protestants And therefore each Party should labour to walk by that Golden Rule that Christ hath given in Mat. 7.12 Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you do you even to them for this is the Law and the Prophets 2. The Protestant Dissenters cannot fairly be deemed Disloyal Persons forasmuch as they do acknowledg the King to be Supream Governour of this Realm and all other His Majesties Dominions and Countries in opposition to the Pope and all Forreign Jurisdiction and are ready with their Purse and Persons to maintain the Kings Person and Crown against all Murdering Conspiracies among any sort of persons whatsoever And though it may be objected that some under the name of Protestant-Dissenters have been charged with and have been found guilty of the aforesaid Wickedness God forbid that this should be charged upon the whole Party for as much as it is well known that the generality of the Protestant Dissenters do abhor such Principles and Practices and do as heartily desire that the King may injoy his Crown and Kingdom free from all violence as they desire to injoy their own Habitarions and other their Lawful Concernments What though some Gentlemen some Knights some Peers of the Realm be charged and found guilty of Disloyalty yet it would be very unrighteous to charge or deem all of such Degrees or Titles to be so guilty of the like Disloyalty However Non-Conformity barely of it self cannot be fairly accounted Disloyalty they that will say so may well be counted such as condemn the Generation of the Righteous in all Ages even the Apostles and Disciples of our Lord Jesus they were the Non-Conformists of that day and yet they were Loyal Subjects under all those Governments where the Providence of God did cast them and the Apostle Paul tho' he did Preach up Subjection to Authority yet he did maintain his Non-Conformity in matters of Religion and the Christians in queen Maries days did maintain their Non-Conformity in not submitting to the Religion as it was Established by Law and yet they were Loyal Subjects and so it may be truly said of the French Protestants their Non-Conformity doth not destroy their Loyalty Thus it is evident that Nonconformity is consistent with true Loyalty Yet it may be further Demonstrated that Non-Conformity may be attended with the greatest Loyalty when Conformity may be attended with the greatest Disloyalty as doth appear in that famous instance of Mordeâ—ai who was a Notorious Non-Conformist in not submitting to the Established Worship of that Kingdom and yet such was his Loyalty that he discovered the Treason of two of the Kings Chamberlains who may well be concluded to be the Conformists in Religious matters and yet designed to deprive the King of his Life but Mordecai the Non-Conformist did save the Kings life though he went some considerable time Unrewarded for that his Loyal Service 3. Consider that the Punishment of this Statute is too great for the Offences viz. of not coming to Church to hear Common-Prayer of frequenting Conventicles if by Conventicles are meant only such Meetings where there is the Exercise of Religion as it is now among the Protestant Dissenters the Punishments provided by this Act being of several sorts 1. Imprisonment 2. Abjuration 3. Death if Abjuration be Refused 4. Loss of all Goods for ever 5. Loss of all Lands Tenements and Hereditaments during the Life of the Offender and all this for not coming to hear Common-prayer and frequenting of such Religious Meetings as are called Conventicles Now it seemeth very strange that so severe a Law should be made by a Protestant Queen and by a Protestant Parliament against any Persons that could not in Conscience Submit to that form of Religion Established by Law who notwithstanding were Protestants and did own approve and promote the Protestant Religion in the main and Substantial parts of it Especially considering how the said queen and those Assembled in the aforesaid Parliament did groan under the Government of Queen Mary because their Consciences were imposed upon by Reason of the Popish Religion which then was Established by Law and then the Poor Protestants were deemed no better then Sectaries Schismaticks and Hereticks and their Religious Meetings where-ever they could get together were accounted Seditious Conventicles and Rebellious Meetings and they were Prosecuted both by the Ecclesiastical and the Temporal Power even unto Death 4. Consider that though queen Elizabeth did give the Royal Assent unto this Act of Parliament she was greatly troubled when Mr. Henry Barrow Mr. John Greenwood and Mr. John Penry were put to Death for their Non-Conformity she being informed by some of whom she demanded an Account of their Death they being at that time present That they were very Eminent Christians and that if they had lived they might have been as worthy Instruments for the Church of God as hath been raised in this Age at which her Majesty sighed 5. Consider that though this Act hath been continued from time to time yet there hath been a cessation of the Executing of it from the latter end of Queen Elizabeths Reign to the Reign of this present Majesty 6. Consider that though some Justices of the Peace have attempted to put this Act in Execution since his Majesties Restauration whereby a considerable Number of Protestant-Dissenters were Convicted at Aylesbury and all their Goods in their shops and houses were seized and they were in great danger of being quickly hanged but thanks be to God his Majesty had Compassion Judging it too hard dealings for his Protestant Subjects and so he not only saved their Lives but Restored them all their Goods which Gracious Proceedings of the King was agreeable to his Royal Promise in his Royal Declaration from Breda in these words We do Declare a Liberty to tender Consciences and that no man shall be disquieted or called in Question for differences in opinion in matters of Religion which do not disturb the Peace of the Kingdom and that We shall be ready to consent to such an Act of Parliament as upon Mature Deliberation shall be offered to Vs for the full granting such Indulgence 7. Consider that the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament even of late years did take into their wise and serious Consideration this very Statute and by joynt agreement had prepared a Bill for the
Cruelty for such as profess Christianity to proceed violently one against another when they may be more gentle and friendly to each other especially in matters of Conscience but it is to be lamented that too many persons partly for want of Understanding in the Law and partly by reason of violent spirits instead of being Legal and Merciful Prosecutors are dreadful Oppressors Persecutors of such as are their Fellow Protestants XII Now for as much as the poor Protestant Dissenters are Prosecuted and so are distressed by divers Laws that are put in Execution against them let those Laws be soberly considered together with the persons and things for which they are Prosecuted that so neither the Laws nor the Kings Subjects may be abused by reason of the inconsiderate Proceedings of those that have not such a good Understanding of the Laws as they ought to have for the well managing of that Office or Authority they have arrived unto And besides such ignorance in the Law men in Authority are sometimes attended with such displeasure of mind as may be called ill-will against some persons that they may be concerned with in the exercise of such Authority and so are apt to go beyond the Law and beyond the Right Execution of that Authority that the King and the Law hath invested them with And therefore a particular Account of those Statutes by which the Protestant Dissenters are Prosecuted to their great dammage for such things as they do humbly conclude to be the matters of their God with some sober Considerations upon the said Laws take as followeth The Protestant Dissenters are in some places Prosecuted by the Statute Anno primo Reginae Elizabethae Chapter 2. paragraph 14. where it is Ordained That all and every Person and Persons inhabiting within this Realm or any other the Queens Dominions shall Resort to their Parish Church or Chappel or to some usual place where Common-Prayer and such Service of God shall be sued upon every Sunday and other days ordained and sued to be kept as Holy-days and then and there to abide orderly and soberly during the time of the Common-Prayer Preaching or other Service of God there to be used and ministred upon pain of punishment by the Censures of the Church and also upon pain that every person so offending shall forfeit for every such Offence Twelve-pence to be Levied by the Church Wardens of the Parish where such Offence shall be done to the use of the Poor of the same Parish of the Goods Lands and Tenements of such Offendor by way of Distress And in Paragraph 20. It is Enacted That no person or persons shall be Impeached or otherwise Molested for any of the Offences in the said Act unless he or they so offending be thereof Indicted at the next General Sessions to be holden before any such Justices of Oyer and Terminer or Justices of Assize next after any Offence committed or done contrary to the Tenor of this Act. Now for the better understanding of the aforesaid Act let the whole of it be perused as it is in the Statute-Book however a brief account you shall have as followeth I. A confirmation of the Book of Common-prayer and Administration of the Sacraments as it was in the fifth and sixth years of Edward the sixth see Paragraph 1 2 3. II. That if any Parson Vicar or Minister shall Refuse to use the said Book of Common-Prayer or to Minister the Sacraments in such Order and Form as is mentioned in the said Book in any Cathedral or Parish-Church or other places or that shall use any other Form or Order of Celebrating the Sacraments or that shall use any Mattens or Even Songs or other publick Prayers then is mentioned in the said Book or that shall Preach Declare or Speak anything in the Derogation or Depraving of the said Book or any part thereof And shall be Lawfully Convict thereof by the Verdict of Twelve men shall for his first Offence forfeit all his Spiritual Benefices or Promotions for one whole year next after his Conviction and shall suffer Imprisonment for the Space of six Months and for such Offence a second time being Convict shall suffer Imprisonment a whole year and shall be Deprived Ipso Facto of all his Spiritual Promotions and for the third Offence being Convict thereof shall be Deprived of all his Spiritual Promotions and suffer imprisonment during his Life And if the Person that shall offend shall ot be beneficed nor have any Spiritual Promotion and be thereof Convicted shall suffer Imprisonment one whole year for the first Offence without Bail or Mainprise And if any such Person not having any Spiritual Promotion shall be Convict of such second Offence shall suffer Imprisonment during his Life See Paragraph 4 5 6 7 8. III. It is further Enacted That if any Person or Persons whatsoever shall in any Interludes Playes or Songs Rhimes or other Words Declare or Speak any thing in the Derogation Depraving or Despising of the same Book or shall Compel or Procure or Maintain any Parson Vicar or other Minister to sing or say any Common or open Prayer or to Minister any Sacrament otherwise or in any other manner and Form then is mentioned in the said Book or shall by any of the said meanes Interrupt of Let any Parson Vicar or other Minister to sing or say Common or open Prayer in any Cathedral or Church or Chappel or any other place shall for the first Offence being Lawfully Convict thereof Forfeit an hundred Marks and for the second such like Offence forfeit four hundred Marks and for the third Offence being Lawfully Convict shall forfeit all his Goods and Chattles and suffer Imprisonment during Life See Paragraph 9 10 11. IV. That it is further Enacted That whosoever of the Inhabitants of this Realm c. that shall not come to their Parish-Church or Chappel or other place of Common-Prayer where it usually said shall forfeit Twelve-pence for every Sunday and Holy-day See Paragraph 14. Now from this Statute let these following Particulars be Soberly Considered 1. That this Statute was made in the first year of Queen Elizabeths Reign presently upon the Casting out and throwing down of Popery 2. That by this Statute the Protestant Religion was Revived and Confirmed and so the Reformation was further carried on as it was in the Reign of that happy Prince Edward the Sixth 3. Consider that at the time of making this Statute the whole Realm did Consist of Protestants and Papists Considered as Clergy and Layity The Realm was not then acquainted with such a thing as Protestant-Dissenters and therefore it cannot be fairly supposed that this Act was intended for such barely as such but the Design of this Act was First To settle a Protestant-Ministry to manage the Protestant Religion according to the Light of that day Secondly To Remove all such as were Popishly affected from Ministerial Office that so they might not keep the Queens Subjects in Popish Blindness
Thirdly To bring the People from Popery to the Protestant Religion and therefore a gentle way of Punishment was Provided viz. Twelve-pence forfeit for every Sunday and Holy-Day for not coming to the place of Common-Prayer so as to hear it and attend it Now if the poor Protestant-Dissenters must be punished by Law for their Non-Conformity let such as are in Authority consider that this Law will not do their Fellow Protestants so much harm as some other Laws and yet this Punishment of Twelve-pence a day is a heavy Punishment for such Poor People as are not worth Twelve-pence and more especially if five or ten or twenty days Forfeits be laid upon such Poor People 4. Consider that though this be a gentle way of Punishment yet there is no Word of God will Justifie it for God hath not appointed any kind of Fines or Forfeitures great or small as a Punishment for not Conforming to his Worship and if either Papist or Protestant should Conform only to avoid this or any other Punishment they would be but Hypocrites the Conformity being only to save their Purses and not the Act of their Spirits 5. Consider that in the Strictness of this Statute if Protestants may be Prosecuted great Numbers of those that are Church-Protestants are a kind of Non-Conformists because they do not go to Common-Prayer upon every Holy-day and surely they would be loth to be so Prosecuted themselves as they Prosecute their Fellow Protestants II. The next Statute by which the Protestant Dissenters are Prosecuted and Distressed which now shall be Discoursed is Anno Vicessimo Tertio Reginae Elizabethae Chap. 1. Paragraph 5. Where it is Enacted That every Person above the Age of Sixteen years which shall not Repair to some Church Chappel or usual place of Common-Prayer but forbear the same contrary to the Tenor of a Statute made in the first year of her Majesties Reign for Vniformity of Common-Prayer and being Lawfully Convicted shall forfeit to the Queens Majesty for every Month Twenty Pounds of English Lawful Money Now for the better Understanding of the aforesaid Statute it will be best to peruse the whole of it as it is in the Statute Book of the Realm in which it will evidently appear that it was Designed directly against those of the Romish Religion See Paragraph 1. where there is mention made of divers ill Affected Persons who used divers ways and means to withdraw her Majesties Subjects from their due Obedience to obey the Vsurped Authority of Rome See Paragraph 2. where it is Enacted That all Persons whatsoever that shall absolve or by any Ways or Meanes perswade the Queens Subjects from their Natural Obedience to any Obedience to the Pretended Authority of the See of Rome or of any other Prince State or Potentate to be had or used within her Dâ—minions shall be Judged as Traytors and shall suffer as Traytors See Paragraph 3. And it is likewise Enacted That every Person and Persons that shall be willingly Aiders or Maintainers of such Persons or shall conceal and not Disclose such Offences shall be Tryed and Judged and suffer as Offenders in Misprision of Treason See Paragraph 4. It is likewise Enacted That every Person which shall say or sing Mass being Lawfully Convicted shall forfeit the Sum of two hundred Marks and be Committed to the next Goal there to Remain for the space of one year and that every Person which shall willingly hear Mass shall forfeit one Hundred Marks and Suffer Imprisonment a year And in Paragraph 5. It is Enacted That every Person above the Age of Sixteen years which shall not Repair to some Church or Chappel or usual place of Common-Prayer shall Forfeit for every Month the Sum of Twenty Pounds From which Particulars of the aforesaid Statute let these following things be Considered 1. A further Confirmation of the Protestant Religion and the Authority of the Queen as a Protestant Monarch in her own Realm in Opposition to any Pretended Authority by the See of Rome is plainly Asserted 2. A further Proceed in providing Punishments for those that shall maintain the Authority of Rome in this Realm and any manner of ways endeavour to withdraw the Subjects of England to obey the Authority of Rome in Opposition to the Authority of the English Monarch 3. It seems by this Statute that after Twenty three years Reign of this Protestant Queen the Popish Party were still busy in maintaining the Authority of Rome and were not brought to submit to the Protestant Religion and therefore further Provision is made by a greater Penalty to Reduce them viz. from Twelve-pence a day unto Twenty pounds a Month. 4. And though this Statute doth mention every person above the Age of Sixteen years as being Required to come to Church there is good Ground to conclude That by every Person was intended every such person as absented by Reason of their being of the Popish Religion and Adhering unto the Authority of Rome or any Forreign Jurisdiction and thereby declared themselves to be implacable and Irreconcilable Enemies to the Government both in Church and State 5. Consider that if the Law-makers had intended such as are now called Protestant-Dissenters such would have been Distinguished from the Popish Party by some other Name as it is in the Statute of the 35th of Elizabeth which shall be next Discoursed of and therefore to Prosecute the Protestant Dissenters by this Law which undoubtedly was made against the Papists and is doubtful whether it was made against any Protestants seemeth to be hard dealing especially considering that there are other Laws by which the Protestant Dissenters have been and still are greatly Distressed 6. Consider the greatness of this Punishment viz. of the Forfeiture of Twenty pound a Month for not Reparing to some Church of Chappel or usual place of Common-Prayer for though a Person may be Indicted but for one Month and be Convicted thereof he shall forfeit Twenty pounds a Month all the time after such Conviction until he shall make such Submission in a way of Conformity as the Law doth Require without any more Indictments or Convictions See this in the Statute Anno Vicessimo nono Reginae Elizabethae Chap. 3. Paragraph 3 4. Where it is Enacted That such Offendor shall also for every Month after such Conviction without any other Indictment or Conviction pay into the Receipt of the Exchequer after the Rate or Twenty pounds for every Month after such Conviction So that after this Rate such Offender will forfeit Two Hundred and Three-score pounds a year there being according to Law thirteen Months in the year And it is further Provided by this last-mentioned Statute That if default shall be made in any part of any Payment aforesaid that then and so often the Queens Majesty shall and may by Process out of the said Exchequer Take Seize and injoy all the Goods and Two Parts as well of all the Lands Tenements and Hereditaments Lyable to such Seizures
Authorities and do promise that from henceforth I shall bear Faith and True Allegiance to the Queens Highness her Heirs and Lawful Successors and to my power shall assist and defend all Jurisdictions Priviledges Pre-eminences and Authorities granted or belonging to the Queens Highness her Heirs or Successors or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm So help me God and by the contents of this Book Now in the aforesaid Oath some of the words are such as many Godly Persons cannot heartily speak and therefore Refuse to speak them at all in a way of Swearing viz. That the King as Supream Governour of this Realm is Supream Governour in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as well as in all Temporal Things and Causes Which words are Expounded or Explained by Queen Elizabeth in an Admonition Annexed to the Queens Injunctions Published in the first year of her Raign which take as followeth And further Her Majesty forbiddeth all manner of Subjects to give Ear or Credit to such perverse and malitious persons which most sinisterly and malitiously labour to notify to her loving Subjects how by the words of the said Oath it may be Collected the Kings or Queens of this Realm Possessors of the Crown may challenge Authority and Power of Ministry of Divine Offices in the Church wherein her said Subjects be much Abused by such evil disposed persons For certainly Her Majesty neither doth nor ever will challenge any other Authority then that was Challenged and lately used by the said Noble Kings of Famous Memory King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the sixth which is and was of ancient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm That is under God to have Soveraignty and Rule over all manner of persons Born within these her Realms Dominions and Countries of what Estate either Ecclesiastical or Temporal soever they be so as no other Forreign Power shall or ought to have any Superiority over them and if any person that hath conceived any other sense of the Form of the said Oath shall accept the same Oath with this interpretation her Majesty is well pleased to accept every such in that behalf as her good obedient Subjects shall acquit them of all manner of Penalties contained in the said Act against such as shall peremtorily or obstinately Refuse to take the said Oath And in the fifth year of her Majesties Raign there was an Act of Parliament to confirm this Sense of the said Oath in these following words Provided also That the Oath expressed in the said Act made in the said first year shall be taken and expounded in such Form as is set forth in an Admonition Annexed to the Queens Majesties Injunctions published in the first year of her Majesties Raign That is to say to confess and acknowledg in her Majesty her Heirs and Successors none other Authority then that was challenged and lately used by the Noble King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the Sixth as in the said Admonition more plainly may appear Now from the aforesaid Oath together with the aforesaid Exposition Confirmed by Act of Parliament Let these things be Considered 1. A Solemn Assertion of the Queens Power and Authority in her own Kingdom and Dominions in opposition to any Forreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate 2. That the Power and Authority of the Queen in her own Realms and other her Dominions was over all Ecclesiastical Persons as well as over all Temporal Persons so as to be tryed by her Laws in all Matters and Causes they may be concerned in that if innocent they may be acquitted but if guilty they may be punished by her Power and Authority according to her Laws in her Courts of Justice without Appealing to or hoping for Relief from Forreign Jurisdiction 3. And therefore let all those who do Conscienciously scruple to take either of the aforesaid Oaths Consider whether they have not entertained such notions and apprehensions of them as the plain words and comon sense of such words will not fairly bear and thereby expose themselves to such trouble as they might lawfully escape if their Judgments were better informed 4. Let such as have power to tender and impose the said Oaths upon persons Consider whether the Tender of such Oaths is not sometimes done out of spite to the persons before them they knowing that they are of Scrupulons Consciences and so are sure that they have an opportunity to afflict them and yet know in their own Consciences that such persons are good Protestants and have long lived in all peaceable manner under the Government and so desire to abide that they may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all Godliness and Honesty under Authority as they are taught by the Good Word of God V. Another Law by which the Protestant Dissenters have been and still are Prosecuted and Distressed is the 17. of Car. 2. Chap. 2. viz. An Act for Restraining Nonconformists from Inhabiting Incorporations Now the Persons punishable by this Act are such as are Nonconformist Preachers who live in a Corporation or within five Miles of a Corporation and that Preach in Conventicles and thereby under pretence of Religion do distill Poysonous Principles of Schism and Rebellion into the Hearts of his Majesties Subjects to the great danger of the Church and Kingdom See the first Paragraph of the said Statute And the punishment provided by the said Statute for such persons is the forfeiture of Forty Pounds to be sued for in any Court of Record at Westminster or before the Judges of Assize and also six Months Imprisonment if such persons shall Refuse to take the Oath Provided by this Act A Copy whereof is as followeth I A. B. Do Swear that it is not lawful upon any pretence whatsoever to take Arms against the King and that I do abhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person or against those that are Commissioned by him in pursuance of such Commissions and that I will not at any time endeavour any Alteration of Government either in Church or State Now from the aforesaid Statute Let these things be Considered 1. That the Main Design of the said Act was to rid Cities and Corporations of such Nonconformist Ministers as under pretence of Religion do distill Poysonous Principles of Schism and Rebellion into the Hearts of his Majesties Subjects to the danger of Church and State Now if there be any such Criminal Persons under the name of Nonconformist Ministers let them suffer according to their Crimes when proved by sufficient Evidence 2. Consider that all sorts of Nonconformist Ministers do abhor to be such Persons and to promote Rebellion but they do generally make it their business to Preach Eternal Salvation by the Blessed Merits of Jesus Christ and a Holy Conversation according to the Blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ following the things which make for Peace here and hoping to injoy a Better Peace when this
or no. 7. If the said Person do not obey the said Admonition then the Ecclesiastical Court does Decre him Excommunicated and so send an Excommunication to the Minister requiring him to publish the same upon such Sunday or Holy-day as they appoint 8. If the said person stand Excommunicated forty days then the Bishop of the Diocess doth Certify this matter in the High-Court of Chancery by a certain thing called a Significavit 9. Then the High-Court of Chancery in the Term-time doth award forth or grant a Writ called De Excommunicato Capiendo which is directed to the Sheriffs of the City or County where the Excommunicate Person is an Inhabitant that the said Person may be Apprehended and Committed to Prison and there to remain without Bail or Mainprize until he shall satisfy the Church-Party so as 〈◊〉 Absolution which may be obtained several wayes as it is allowed and practised by the Ecclesiastical 〈…〉 First by swearing the Ecclesiastical Oath which is to swear to obey all the Kings Ecclesiastical Laws 〈◊〉 the Lawful Commands of his Ordinary Secondly giving a Bond to Conform upon the Penalty of so much money as shall be agreed upon between the Excommunicated Person and the aforesaid Court which formerly used to be ten pounds but now of late years the Ecclesiastical Market is risen and twenty pounds Bond is required Thirdly such as are not willing to take the aforesaid Oath nor give the aforesaid Bond may be absolved and so allowed some time to Conform if they will pay a Pledge which usually is ten pounds present payment and he that will not comply with any of these ways must abide in Goal whatever becometh of his poor Family and besides all this the said person must pay the Charges of the Ecclesiastical Court which is sometimes ordinary and sometimes extraordinary the ordinary charges is about Forty Shillings And now that it may be demonstrated that the Protestant Dissenters are not obstinate but Consciencious in their Nonconformity to the Church of England let these Causes and Reasons of their Nonconformity be soberly considerd in the particulars following The Protestant Dissenters cannot Conform to the Church of England 1. Because they cannot find a National Church in the New Testament But the Churches they find there are Congregational Churches which consisted of such Persons as God by his Word and Spirit had converted from a State of Nature to a State of Grace Such were the Churches of Jerusalem Samaria Antioch Corinth and Ephesus c. who being persons separated from the people amongst whom they were Inhabitants did by a mutual Consent and Agreement one with another maintain a Holy Communion together in the Worship of God as it was sounded upon the Word of God And so they were the Nonconformists of that day and underwent great Sufferings for not Conforming to that Worship which was Established in the places where they inhabited 2. Because they cannot find any such Officers belonging to a Church of Christ in the New-Testament as Arch-bishops Lord Bishops Deans Arch-Deacons Prebends Commissaries Officials c. But they find such Offiers in the Church of Christ as are called Pastors Eldery a 〈◊〉 d Overseers and the word Bishop doth belong to the same persons under the former Title considered as â—eeders of and Rulers over the true Church of Christ and the Apostle Peter doth forbid the Bishops of Christs Church to be Lords over Gods Heritage 1 Pet. 5.3 3. The Protestant Dissenters cannot Conform to the Church of England in the Holy Sacrament called in Scripture the Lords Supper because that Holy Ordinance is not Administred unto the Communicants as Converted Persons but as those who by Tradition are brought up to Acknowledge and Confess Christ although in works too many deny him by living Prophane Lives being greatly guilty of Swearing Cursing and Drunkenness and divers other scandalous matters which is a Reproach to the Protestant Religion for although the Protestant Religion be the Reformed Religion yet thousands of those that profess it are not Reformed Persons and besides this too many of those who are Ministers of the said Church and so are Administrators of this Holy Ordinance are known to be very unholy in their Conversations notwithstanding all which the Protestant Dissenters have a great veneration and high esteem of many both of the Nobility Gentry Clergy and Common People of the Church of England who live sober lives and walk Conscienciously in Civil and Religious Matters Several other Reasons might be added but these shall suffice for the present Conclusion Now forasmuch as the Protestant Religion is Profess'd by his Majesties Subjects in general considered as Conformists and Nonconformists and both Parties are agreed in the main and substantial parts thereof and also both Parties are in a like danger of the Papists If ever the Government of this Realm should fall into their hands which God of his Infinite Mercy prevent for then the Church-Protestants as well as the Dissenting Protestants would be deemed Fanaticks Schismaticks Hereticks yea Rebelis and would be Prosecuted as such Therefore it highly concerns all sorts of Protestants to say to one another as Abraham to Lot Gen. 13.7 8. Let there be no strife between us for we are Brethren Especially considering the Popish Canaanite and Perizite are now too much in our Land Mat. 7.12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets FINIS