have answered the Objections that are usually made against their being taken away I have also shewed you how Popery may be kept out of this Kingdom and it may be love may say I have said too little and envy may say I have said too much and who can please all My design in all this is the glory of God the honour of the King and the good of all his subjects Love the brother-hood Fear God. Honour the King 1 Peter 2.17 Postscript IT is often alledged That if the Test should be taken away then the Papists will come and sit in Parliament But how can the Papists sit in the House of Commons unless the Protestants chuse them How can they enter within them Walls unless the Protestants open the Door being in number more than two hundred to one Papist throughout the whole Land. Is it not very unlikely at this time that Protestants will chuse Papists for their Representatives in Parliament Will they not rather chuse Men of their own Persuasions that are most agreeable to their own Sentiments from whom they may expect to reap the greatest benefits especially in a matter so great and weighty as this is You therefore that are for the continuing the Penal Laws and Tests let me then ask you these following Questions I. Whether the many Tests that have been made in this Kingdom these many years past did ever support and preserve the Makers of them II. Whether these Tests be not Penal Laws III. Whether the present Tests be not against Religion and Liberty which are so dear to all Men IV. How was Religion preserved and kept up in this Kingdom before these two late Tests were made V. Whether the Penal Laws and Tests have preserv'd Religion in this Nation since they were made or destroyed it VI. Whether the Penal Laws and Tests be then the Bulwark of the Protestant Religion against Popery VII Whether you can find any Men that have been Persecutors and Spoilers of others for their Consciences towards God that are for the taking away Penal Laws and Tests VIII Whether that be a True Church that supports her self by Persecuting Laws and enricheth her self by the Ruin of others IX Whether Liberty of Conscience be not the Interest of this Nation X. Whether a Parliament may not be capable of finding out a better way and a better security for our Liberty and Religion than these Tests are XI Whether the Church of God hath not a better Refuge and a stronger Tower to flie unto at all times than Humane Laws or an Arm of Flesh The Lord also will be a Refuge for the oppressed a Refuge in time of trouble Psal 9.9 The Lord is my strength and my shield my heart trusted in him and I am helped Psal 28.7 Our Soul waiteth for the Lord he is our help and our shield Psal 33.20 For thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong Tower from the Enemy Psal 61.3 In God is my salvation and my glory The Rock of my strength and my Refuge is in God Psal 62.7 My Goodness and my Fortress my high Tower and my Deliverer my Shield and he in whom I trust who subdueth my People under me Psal 144.2 Ye that fear the Lord trust in the Lord he is their Help and their Shield Psal 115.11 For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield the Lord will give grace and glory No good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Isa 26.4 FINIS
THE Present Interest OF ENGLAND IN Matters of Religion Stated Wherein is clearly demonstrated that the Protestant Religion may be fully secured from Popery though the Penal Laws be taken away By W. D. a Lover of Liberty for Conscience sake Rev. 2.7 He that hath an ear to hear let him hear With Allowance LONDON Printed by T.S. and sold by most Booksellers 1688. The Present Interest of England in matters of Religion stated c. BOoks are now written to instruct the present Age and to inform the future that this may know what ought to be done and that may see what has been done and in this lies the great skill and wisdom of good men to know and understand the work of God in their day that they may be labourers together with God and workers together with him 1 Cor. 3.9 and serve their generation by the will of God. 2 Cor. 6.1 Sometimes men do not know nor understand the work of God in their day Jacob staid so long in Canaan till he wanted bread God sent a Famine upon that Land that Jacob and his Family might go down to Egypt and to eat bread to the full God remembred him in his low estate but he remembred not the mighty works of God that he had seen nor that experience he had of his love and grace his mercies and goodness that had followed him all along he looked upon the providences of God and they seem'd to run cross to the promises he looked upon the work of God and that seem'd to be so dark that he could see no beauty nor glory in it He looked upon the things that then befel him and they seem'd to work together for his hurt And Jacob said All these things are against me Gen 42.36 He look't upon Simeon that was left behind in Egypt to be a dead man Joseph is not and Simeon is not and the going down of Benjamin with the rest of his Brethren to be nothing but a trick and a design of the Egyptians to get all his Sons into their hands that they might be Bondmen and Slaves at the least And he said Me have ye bereaved of my Children When Jacob saw the glory of God's work appear then he rejoyced but the way to that glory he did not understand Now that which God intended and designed by all this was the fulfilling of his word the glory of his holy name the increase of his Church that he might make of them a great Nation as he had promised And the Lord said unto Abraham Know of a surety that thy Seed shall be a stranger in a Land that is not theirs and shall serve them and they shall afflict them four hundred years and also that Nation whom they shall serve will I judge and afterwards shall they come out with great substance Gen. 15.13 14. When men do not understand the work of God in their day then they censure and arraign and condemn that wisdom and power that love and grace that goodness and mercy that is moving towards them and breaking in upon them God can do whatsoever he pleaseth and he will do whatsoever he hath promised Sometimes men leave the work of God and forsake it and turn their backs upon it after they have been ingaged in it Numb 13.26 So did the Children of Israel when they were in the Wilderness of Paran God had taken them out of the Iron Furnace and had brought them up from the House of Bondage and saved them from the Swords of the Egyptians and seal'd his truth to them by Miracles and Wonders in the Wilderness as they past along And now they being come near Canaan the Lord commanded them by Moses to go in and possess that good Land Ezek. 20.6 a Land that flowed with Milk and Honey the glorious Land and the glory of all Lands And this was the work of God in that day but they rebelled against the Lord and would not hearken unto his voice And all the Children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and the whole Congregation said unto them Would God that we had died in the Land of Egypt or would God we had died in this Wilderness and wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this Land to fall by the Sword that our Wives and our Children should be a prey Were it not better for us to return into Egypt And they said one to another Let us make a Captain and let us return into Egypt Numb 14.2 3 4. You see here they were for Egypt and not Canaan For a new Captain to lead them and not Moses For Bondage and Slavery and not Liberty and Freedom And God Almighty took them at their word As truly as I live saith the Lord as ye have spoken in mine Ears so will I do to you Your Carcases shall fall in this Wilderness and all that were numbred of you according to your whole number from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me verse 28 29. Their Egypt was the Wilderness their Captain was their punishment and forty years was the time of their misery But with many of them God was not well-pleased for they were overthrown in the Wilderness 1 Cor. 10.5 They that will not hear the word of God that is spoken to them shall feel the wrath of God that is spoken of them There is a way of flying to God but there is no way of flying from God. Sometimes men despise the work of God and look upon it as a very small thing not worthy of their acceptance this did the Jews that were in Captivity which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from the land of Judea to Babylon And after they had been there threescore and ten years 2 Chron. 36.21 the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia that he made a Proclamation thoughout all his Kingdom and put it also in Writing saying Who is there among you of all his people His God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and Build the House of the Lord God of Israel he is the God which is in Jerusalem And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth let the men of his place help him with Silver and with Gold and with Goods and with Beasts besides the Free-will Offering for the House of God that is in Jerusalem Ezra 1.1 3 4. Now what did these Jews do after they had seen the Kings Proclamation which was so full of Love and Goodness Did they go up to Jerusalem and Build the House of God Their Yokes were now broken their Bands were loosed their heavy Burdens were removed Liberty was proclaimed a Door was opened of Mercy and Grace the Call of God was clear the Work of God was great and glorious Ezra 7.7 Ezra 1 5â— Some of them did go up They were only them whose spirits God had rais'd to go up but the most of them did not as
the King offers is Liberty Liberty of Conscience the free exercise of every mans Conscience towards God a thing that hath been so much desired a thing that is so highly valued a thing so well pleasing to God and so acceptable with Men a thing that hath made Nations great and happy that this Liberty of Conscience which we all enjoy may be so secured to all by such a Law that it may not be in the power of any that shall come after to alter that settlement nor destroy that security Now the way the King offers this is in your own way in a Parliamentary way and can there be any thing more Just than this that by them these Penal Laws and Tests may be taken away and that by them such a Law may be made as may secure Liberty of Conscience to every Man that it may not be in the power of any one party to hurt the rest for the exercising of their Consciences towards God in his worship Did ever Liberty of Conscience hurt any Nation or did ever Liberty of Conscience destroy Religion Have not the benefits blessings been ever great that have flowed from it as I have fully proved before Notwithstanding all this some oppose this good work others do discourage it and some do not understand it under these many difficulties doth Liberty of Conscience struggle at this day and wants strength to be brought forth The King hath put his Royal Hand to this good work and he expects that his Subjects should put their Hands to it also that when a Parliament shall be called and come together they may compleat it and perfect it John 3.9 If any shall say as Nicodemus How can these things be I answer that which hath been done may be done now this hath been done by Heathens themselves Now O King establish the decree and sign the writing that it may not be changed according to the Law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not Dan. 6.8 Then they came near and spake before the King concerning the Kings Decree Hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or Man within Thirty days save of thee O King shall be cast into the Den of Lyons The King answered and said the thing is true according to the Law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not verse 12. Then the King when he heard these words was sore displeased with himself and set his Heart on Daniel to deliver him and he laboured till the going down of the Sun to deliver him verse 14. Here was a Law made that could not be changed nor altered they that made it would not do it and the King that signed it could not do it though he laboured till the going down of the Sun. This was done by Heathens surely Christians can do much more And was there not a Law made in England heretofore that you call Magna Charta and notwithstanding the many Changes and Alterations that have been in this Kingdom since that is that Law changed or altered The People of this Kingdom heretofore have been in great confusions and in great distraction under many Calamities and Judgments in War and Blood in Flames and Persecutions yet Magna Charta hath remained and doth still why then may there not be a Magna Charta for Liberty as well as there is for Property Fourthly If you will keep out Popery then you must keep out slavish fear and groundless Jealousys and unbelief out of your hearts and minds Fear God and keep his commandments trust in the Lord for ever For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Isaiah 26.4 The Lord God is a Wall of Fire round about his People and the glory in the midst of them Zachary chap. 2. v. 5. And if there were as many Enemies as there be Sands in the Sea they could not break through this Wall to hurt you What shall one then answer the Messengers of the Nation That the Lord hath founded Zion and the poor of his People shall trust in it Isa 14.32 God hath builded his church upon a Rock Mat. 16.18 and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Can men measure the Flames can men bundle up the Air can men turn the earth into a lump of Gold They may as soon do this as prevail against Gods Church Look into the Days of the Apostles the Church of God in that day had no Emperours nor Kings to protect it nor humane Laws to support it nor Carnal Weapons to defend it they had no Armies to guard them nor to fight their Battles but both Jews and Gentiles were against them But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil affected against the Brethren and there was an assault made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their Rulers to use them despitefully and to stone them Acts 7.52 Acts. 14.2 5. yet in all this they were more than Conquerours Acts 19.28 The great Diana of the Gentiles fell down before them and the Temple worship of the Jews came to nought By the Shield of Faith they subdued Kingdoms Heb. 11.33 and by the Sword of the Spirit they conquered Nations For the Weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God. 2 Cor. 10.4 5. I need not tell you what men have done I cannot tell you what men will do but I can tell you what men cannot do Behold I have set before thee an open door and no man can shut it Rev. 3.8 No man can shut the door of Faith the door of hope the door of Gospel grace Acts 5.39 that God hath set open no man can overthrow that work which God hath begun and hath been carrying on in these Nations The Pharisees therefore said among themselves Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing Behold the World is gone after him Acts 12.19 No man can bring any evil upon you that God cannot prevent nor hinder that good from you that God hath promised to you No man can take from you that Joy that God gives to you Joy unspeakable and full of Glory and your Joy no man taketh from you John 16.22 No man can hinder the fulfilling of Gods word the accomplishment of the prophecies and the finishing of the mystery of God as he hath declared to his Servants the Prophets Rev. 10.7 No man can hinder the working of Providences which God doth exercise in the Government of the World for the good of his People No man can hinder the increase of grace here nor the reward of glory hereafter I have here shewed you what that work of God was in the days of old and I have shewed you what that work of God is in our day I have also shewed you the evil of these Penal Laws and
6.16 Now if the Penal Laws be so hurtful who then can plead for their continuance 2. Secondly these Penal Laws have given great encouragement to the Informers Good men will not labour for nothing and bad men will stick at nothing All is Fish that comes to their Net and they will Fiâ—h though they catch the Devil and their own damnation together These Laws allowing the Informer a third part of the money that is got from the people Matth. 26.14 15. that go to quiet and peaceable Meetings there to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth Judas for the love of thirty pieces of silver sold his Lord and Master into the hands of Betrayers and Murderers Esth 3.9 13. Ahasuerus to gain ten thousand Talents of silver consented and commanded that the best people in all his Kingdom should be destroy'd by cruel and bloody hands Achan to purchase a Wedge of Gold and some silver brought upon himself and Family destruction and troubled and disquieted all Israel By this you may see what men will do when there is money in the case These Penal Laws did set a great many hands at work but none were so industrious as the Informers for that sort of Vermine crawl'd up and down every where and were a plague to all people wherever they came hunting and searching up and down to find out Meetings that they might prey upon the people and get what money they could from them And this was their Trade to set up a work-house for Hell. Now when the Penal Statutes are taken away this Trade will be for ever destroy'd Who will plead for these Penal Laws that they may be kept up surely none but they that had a hand in robbing and spoiling their poor Neighbours 1. Joh. 5.15 In the sense of the Apostle John Whosoever hateth his Brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him You may see by this Text who are the Murderers And if men shall be sent away with a Curse into Everlasting Fire for not relieving and comforting the People of God when they were in distress and sought unto them that were full and rich but they had no bowels of compassion in them What do you think will become of them at that day that have robb'd and spoil'd the People of God in this day Oh that such men would give glory to God by Repentance and satisfaction to their poor Neighbours by an acknowledgment to them of the wrong they have done them 3. The third Reason why these Penal Laws ought to be taken away is this because they have destroy'd Religion and open'd a door to let in Debauchery and Prophaneness upon the People of these Lands the sad effects of which we see at this day Religion is the glory of a People the interest of a Kingdom and that which exalts a Nation Prov. 14.34 Now that which destroys religious men destroys Religion but that these Penal Laws have destroyed great numbers of religious People since they were made is evident and plain to all that know any thing These Penal Statutes have been the Fiery Serpents that have slung and bit the People of God as they past on their way through this Wilderness to the heavenly Canaan Numb 21.6 These have been the Thorns in their sides that have prick'd and scratch'd many These have been a Yoke which neither us nor our Fore-fathers were able to bear Because that Amalek fell upon God's Israel as they past along in the way God commanded Moses to write this for a memorial in a Book and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven Exod 17.14 King Saul had a commission from God to do this work Go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both Man and Woman Infant and Suckling Ox and Sheep Camel and Ass But Saul did not do this work so fully as God had commanded him and therefore he lost two Kingdoms an earthly Kingdom and an heavenly Kingdom first his Life and then his Soul 1 Sam. 15.3 23 26 28. Persecutors are but one people in all Ages they rise up in the Spirit of Cain and allow of the deeds of their Fore-fathers and are the Children of them which have killed the Prophets and are guilty of all the righteous bloodshed upon the Earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of the last murdered Saint This blood hath cryed long and loud for vengeance on Persecutors and God Almighty will give a full and speedy answer to it this will be but a bad plea for Men when they shall appear before Almighty God nor but little comfort to them in this world when they are on a sick Bed that they had Laws for what they did For if a Law be sinful and bad as these Penal Laws are this will not bear a man out The Jews were under Righteous Laws and yet wicked But these men have destroy'd the Righteous by Wicked Laws Destroy'd them in their Estates destroy'd them in their Liberties destroy'd them in their Relations and destroy'd many in their Lives By this you may see what these Penal Laws are O let all good Men say of these Penal Laws as Samuel said to Agag And Samuel said As thy Sword hath made Women childless so shall thy Mother be childless among Women 1 Sam. 15.33 4. Fourthly These Laws which are called Penal Laws have destroyed Liberty and Property that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel concerning the Caterpillers and Locusts and Palmer-Worms and Canker-Worms the same may be said of these Penal Laws That which the Palmer-Worm hath left hath the Locust eaten and that which the Locust hath left hath the Canker-Worm eaten and that which the Canker-Worm hath left hath the Caterpiller eaten Joel 1.4 Now this was a Judgment that was upon the Land and a Plague upon the People of Israel all this may be truly apply'd to the case in hand for what one Law left the other took and amongst them swept away all that the people had that of twenty pound a month took away their Property and for not coming to the Sacrament they lost their Liberty by another Law and a third shut them up in Prison during Life and a fourth if they would not abjure and leave the Land then they were to be hang'd up as Felons These were your Penal Statutes that were then put in force and execution against you are these Statutes fit to be kept up now think you Where is the man that would be impo'd upon himself and forc'd and compell'd where is the man that would be persecuted and oppress'd and robb'd of his Liberty and Property Every man values that at a high rate and all partys are for Liberty every man is for Liberty for himself and his own party though he will not allow it to others now if all men