An enquiry into the occasional conformity of dissenters in cases of preferment with a preface to the lord mayor, occasioned by his carrying the sword to a conventicle. Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. 1698 Approx. 40 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A37428 Wing D835 ESTC R36086 15601621 ocm 15601621 104057 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A37428) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 104057) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1590:13) An enquiry into the occasional conformity of dissenters in cases of preferment with a preface to the lord mayor, occasioned by his carrying the sword to a conventicle. Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. 15 p. Reprinted by J.B. and S.P. ... for Jacob Milner ..., Dublin : MDCXCVIII [1698] Attributed to Daniel Defoe. Cf. Halkett & Laing (2nd ed.) A different work from the author's An enquiry into occasional conformity. 1702. Cf. BM. Preface signed: One, Two, Three, Four. Imperfect: pages faded and stained with slight loss of print. Reproduction of original in the Cambridge University Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Dissenters, Religious -- England. 2002-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-08 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-09 Olivia Bottum Sampled and proofread 2002-09 Olivia Bottum Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ENQUIRY INTO THE Occasional Conformity OF DISSENTERS , IN Cases of Preferment , WITH A Preface to the Lord Mayor , Occasioned by his carrying the Sword to a Conventicle . If the Lord be God , follow him : but if Baal , then follow him . 1 Kings 18. 21. DUBLIN : Reprinted by J. B. and S. P. at the Back of Dick's Coffee-House in Skinner Row , for Jacob Milner , Bookseller in Essex-street , M DC XC VIII . THE PREFACE . My LORD , I Know not that the following Sheets will at all affect Your Lordship , for I cannot say , That Your Lordship did Communicate with the Dissenters before , or does with the Church now ; nor does it Import much whether you did either . The Discourse is not meant for a Satyr on , Your Lordship , nor upon any Man else ; neither has it any Double Aspect , but directly Points at the Fact , which whether it be a Crime or not , let their Consciences judge , who know themselves Guilty . My Lord , the Step Your Lordship made into the Chair , had something in it of Surprize , and Your Management of it has more . The Figure Your Lordship made , when You were the Man whom the King delighted to Honour , was very Magnificent ; and we find , that since that , Your Lordship does not bear the Sword in vain . I bear Your Lordship Testimony , That I never heard any Man reflect , either on Your Lordship's Morals or Management , ( since Your being Lord Mayor ) save only in the Matter of Pinners-Hall : And since no body has opened their Mouths on Your Lordship 's Behalf , I humbly crave leave to be Your Lordship 's Advocate in one Point . One Principal Allegation against Your Lordship , is , That you forced the Pious Conscientious Mr. M — to the Meeting-house , and there enclos'd him , nolens volens , contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of an Act of Parliament , in that Case made and Provided ; Entituled , An Act for Liberty of Conscience , &c. And that at the same time , Your Lordship caused the Sword ( that very Individual Sword , that had the Honour to be carried so far before the King ) even the City Sword of State , to be carried to a Conventicle or Meeting-house , call'd Pinners-Hall . My Lord , I own the Fact in Your Lordship 's behalf , that Your Lordship 's Sword and Sword-Bearer was there ; and I can find out but two Clauses in which Your Lordship can be charg'd with a Mistake . One is in forcing that Good Man against his Conscience . Liberty of Conscience is a thing , that Gentleman , I confess , never was fond of . But since 't is now become every Subjects right , 't is hard Your Lordship should refuse it Mr. M — . But now , My Lord , I must crave the freedom to inform Your Lordship , That Mr. M — , and Your Lordship , are exactly under the same Predicaments as to Liberty ; for if Your Lordship has , against his Will , oblig'd him to go to Pinners-Hall ; Your Lordship seems in as large a measure to be impos'd upon , in being oblig'd to go to the Cathedral Worship of St. Paul's . Till Your Lordship arriv'd at the Magnitude You now sit in , You never suffer'd Your self to be abridg'd of Your Liberty ; and shall Your Power be Great in every thing , but in the Management of Your self . My Lord , either Your Profession before was Bad or Good : If it was Bad , Your Lordship does well to alter it , and would do better to do so wholly . If 't was Good , why does Your Lordship alter it at all ? But I beg leave of Your Lordship to consider how 't was possible to be both Good and Bad too ? That Your Lordship should Worship God one way in the Morning , and another in the Afternoon . My Lord , Your Elevated Station places You above the Fear of Man , and he that is above Fear , is above Shame . If Your former Profession was Good , Your Lordship need never be asham'd of it : If 't was Bad , You need not be asham'd to mend it , for no wise Man is asham'd of growing wiser . Humane Politicks seldom agree with Nice Consciences ; and if I could entertain such base Thoughts , as to believe Your Lordship designs by this to gain Parties , and make both Your Friends ; I would think it also needful to assure Your Lordship , that by it You will most effectually lose both Parties ; but Your Lordship is wiser than to need that Admonition . Your Lordship never was a Trimmer in Your Life , and certainly You won't Trim it with Your Maker . I neither press Your Lordship to go to Church or Meeting , but to use the Authority Man has given you to procure Your self the freedom of using the Judgment God has given You ; That honest Mr. Sword-bearer may have his Liberty , and Your Lordship Your own . We were in hopes when Your Lordship first appear'd in the Quire at Paul's , that you were effectually convinced of your former Error , as a Dissenter ; and that Noble Quire should have been grac'd at its first Opening with so Noble a Convert , as Your Lordship ; but since we find Your Lordship is pleased to practice such Latitudinarian Principles , as to be a Conformist in the Morning , and a Nonconformist before Night ; it puts us upon considering what this new sort of a Religion that looks two ways at once , means . The following Sheets , if Your Lordship should give Your self the trouble of reading them , will directly point out to Your Lordship what is meant by this blunt Preface . In short , That the Church or the Meeting-house , is the Placewhere Your Lordship may Worship , but that both Church and Meeting-house , at the same time , is preposterous , Derogatory to the Character of Your Lordship 's Wisdom , a Scandal upon the Grandeur of the Principal Magistrate of the City ; and a slight put upon God himself , as if Your Lordship were very indifferent which way You did it , and consequently , whether you did it at all , or not . Your Lordship sits in a Chair of Great Authority , and the Respect due to You is Great , and your Example is very significant . Wherefore 't is the Author's humble Request to Your Lordship , That you will be pleas'd to consider , whether the Example Your Lordship now sets us , is such as You would really advise any body to follow , and if not , I have no more to say to the Matter ; But that I am , Your Lordship 's Most Humble Servant , One , Two , Three , Four. A DISCOURSE UPON Occasional Conformity . WHEN I review the Past Times , and look back upon the various Scenes , which they present us , as to Ecclesiastical Transactions within this Kingdom , there seems nothing more strange than the Turns we have had from Popish to Regal Supremacy , from the Romish Religion to Reform'd , from Reform'd back again to Romish , and then to Reform'd again , and so on through several Degrees of Reformation , and back again from those Degrees to the first Steps of Reformation , and then forward again . King Henry the 8th , a Prince of a haughty Spirit , disdaining the Insolence with which his Predecessors were treated by the Popes , gave the first shock to the Roman Power in these Kingdoms . I won't say he acted from any Principles of Conscience , whatever his Ambition and Interest led him to pretend , but that , as it is in most Cases of Publick Revolutions , was the Gloss ; however it was , having satisfy'd his Pride by subduing the Supremacy of the Pop and Establishing his own ; his Interest next guided him to the Suppression Abbies and Monasteries ; the horrible Vices which were protected , as were as practised in those Nests of Superstition , giving his pretence of Piety a larger Scope ; and I 'll for once be so free with the Character of that Prince as to suppose what to me seems plain , that neither This Religion , or That , 〈◊〉 of much moment in his thoughts , but his Interest , as the Sequel made plain , by Seizure he made of the Revenues of the Church . And yet the Justice Providence seem'd very conspicuous in that point , That those Houses who 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the specious pretences of Religion and extraordinary Devotion , have massed to themselves vast Revenues to the Impoverishing many 〈◊〉 and in the mean time practised secretly most unheard-of Wickedness , 〈◊〉 under the same pretence of Zeal and Piety be suppressed and impoverished by a Person , who meerly to serve his own Glory , triumph'd over them , tending , Jehu like , to shew his Zeal for the Lord. Some do assure us , That the Eyes of this Prince were really open'd as to the Point of Religion ; and that had he liv'd longer , he wou'd most effectually have establish'd the Reformation in his time ; but God , who gave him that light , if he had it , however he might accept his Intention , as he did that of David's building his House , yet he reserv'd the Glory of the Performance to his Son. King Edward the 6th , of whom wondrous things are spoken in all our English Writers , and more than we need suppose should be literally true ; yet was , without doubt , a Prince of the strictest Piety , not only that ever reign'd , but that ever liv'd , perhaps , since the Days of Josiah , whose Parallel our Writers say he was . The Reformation began in his hand ; not but that the Protestant Religion had been receiv'd in England many years before , by the preaching of John Wickliff , William Tindall , and others , and had many Professors , and those such , who gailantly offered their Lives in defence of the Truth . But it got but little ground ; for Religion has but few Votaries , while all its Professors must also be Confessors , and while Exile or Martyrdom is all the present prospect of Advantage to be got by it . None will dare to be Dissenters in times of Danger , but such whose Consciences are so awaken'd that they dare not be otherwise . But in the Hands of this young Prince , the great work was begun , and in a shorter time than could be imagin'd , was finish'd and establish'd ; the Romanists fled or conform'd ; for we find but very few had any Inclination to Martyrdom if it had been put upon them . Some indeed to show the Nature of their Religion , Pleaded for Baal , and rebell'd , stirring up the Ignorant People to Murther their Gideon for throwing down the Altars of Baal ; but like the Ephramites of old , their Shiboleth was their undoing . God , who thought fit to discover the Levity of those who had only Conform'd , and not Reform'd , who , in exemplum Regis , had took up this as they wou'd have done any Religion , and also for the Tryal and Glory of his Church , suffer'd all this great Fabrick , however of his own Working , to be overthrown at the Death of this good King and a Deluge of Cruelty and Popery overwheim'd the People in the Reign of the Queen , his Sister . But Popery found more Dissenters than the Reformation had done , and the Impression Religion had made on the Minds of those who had sincerely Embrac'd it , was not so easily Defac'd as the pretended Reformation of Others ; for the Glosses Men had put on their Actions , only as a Cover from common Observation , was soon discover'd , when the Safety of owning their Old Principles render'd those Outsides no longer needful ; but where the True Religion had got footing in the Mind , it was still the same , whatever Alterations of Times might make it Dangerous ; and yet all People did not burn ; but some being persecuted in one City , fled to another ; and Germany especially was a Sanctuary for the Distressed English Protestants , that Country having been before-hand with us in the Reformation . 'T was here that our Exil'd Clergy having Convers'd with the Learned Reformers abroad , and particularly with John Calvin , found , that tho' they were Reform'd indeed from the Gross Errors of Popery and Superstition , there was yet several things which might be further and further Reform'd ; and being willing to arrive to the greatest Perfection they were capable of in Religion , ( that as near as possible they might pursue the Great Example of Christ Jesus , whose Name they profess'd , and for whom they cou'd most gloriously die ) , they corrected in themselves those things which they saw needful , and by Letters to their Brethren in England communicated their Opinions , with their Reasons , exhorting them to go on unto perfection as they had begun . Some of the most Zealous for Piety and Holiness of Life , rejected this Motion ; and Others as Zealous and Pious , clos'd with it ; and the Disputes were carried so far sometimes , as to invade the Charity of one another ; an humble Acknowledgment of which you have in a most Christian Reconciling Letter from Bishop Ridley to Bishop Hooper , two of the most Glorious Triumphant Martyrs that ever confest the Truth of Christ at the Stake . For the present , the Fire of the Persecution , ( as the Greater Light obscures the Less ) , extinguish'd that of Dissention . But when Queen Elizabeth rescu'd the Protestant Religion , and the Church enjoy'd its Peace again , the Debate reviv'd : But the first Establishment of King Edward obtain'd so on the Minds of Men , that the further Reformation was rejected ; the other Party being not at all convinc'd , tho' over-rul'd , submitted their Persons to the Laws , but not their Opinion ; affirming , That 't was the Duty of every Christian , to endeavour to serve God with the greatest Purity of Worship that was possible ; and that this was the Purest Worship which came nearest to the Divine Institution , which they believ'd the Establish'd Liturgy did not , and therefore in Conscience they must be Dissenters . It must be own'd , That the Original Authors of these Disputes were Learned , Devout , and singularly Pious , strict in Conversation to excess , if that be possible , and from thence , in a sort of happy Derision , were call'd Puritans ; of whom I shall say nothing , but leave for a Record the last Speech of a Famous Foreigner , who had seen the way of living among those Dissenters , and speaking of the Words of Balaam , Let me dye the death of the Righteous , and let my latter end be like his , cry'd Out , Sit Anima Mea cum Puritanis Anglicanis . I shall not take upon me to observe the Difference between these Primitive Dissenters and Our Present , which is too plain ; nor to dispute the Substance of the Point in Debate between them and the Establisht National Church . I shall only observe , That the Reasons for the present Dissenters Separation from the Establisht Church , are said to be exactly the same they were then ; and the present Dissenters are the Successors of those first , as the present Conformists are the Successors of the first Reformers under King Edward the 6th , and Queen Elizabeth . I must acknowledge , that it fares with the Church of England , and with the Dissenters both , as it has always far'd with Christ's Church in the whole World ; That while Supprest and Persecuted , their Professors were few , and their Profession more severe ; but when a Religion comes to be the Mode of the Country , so many painted Hypocrites get into the Church , who are not by their Voices to be distinguish'd , that Guile is not to be seen , till it arrive to Apostacy . The whole Ecclesiastical History , from the first Century of the Christian Church , is full of Instances to confirm this , That the Prosperity of the Church of Christ has been more fatal to it , than all the Persecution of its Enemies . I am now brought down to the present Time , when the Dissenting Protestant is sheltered by the laws , and protected from the Violence which he suffered in the Late Reigns , under the Arbitrary Commands of such State-Ministers who strove to dash the whole Protestant Interest to pieces by its own weight : and nothing is more apparent to those who are any thing acquainted with the late Management of Affairs in this Land , than that the Court used both Parties alternately , as Policy and occasion directed , to Suppress and Destroy one another ; that the whole House , which being so divided , cou'd not stand , might at last fall of it self . But our Eyes are at last open'd , and the Name of Protestant is now the common Title of an Englishman , and the Church of England extends her Protection to the Tender Consciences of her Weaker Brethren , knowing that all may be Christians , tho' not alike inform'd ; and the Dissenter extends his Charity to the Church of England , believing that in his due time God shall reveal even this unto them . If this is not , I wish this were the Temper of both Parties ; and I am sure it is already the Temper of some of each Side , and those few are of the Wisest , most Pious , and most Judicious . But while Frailty and Infirmity is an Essential to Humanity , and Pride and Hypocrisy are the two regnant Vices of the Church , this Good Spirit cannot be Universal , and we do not expect it . But there is a sort of Truth which all men owe to the Principles they profess ; and generally speaking , all men pay it ; a Turk is a Turk zealously and entirely ; an Idolater is an Idolater , and will serve the Devil to a tittle : None but Protestants halt between God and Baal ; Christians of an Amphibious Nature , that have such Preposterous Consciences , that can believe one Way of Worship to be right , and yet serve God another way themselves ; This is a strange thing in Israel . The whole History of Religions in the World do not shew such a Case : 'T is like a Ship with her Sails hal'd some back , and some full : 'T is like a Workman , that builds with one Hand , and pulls down with t'other : 'T is like a Fisherman , that catches Fish with one hand and throws them into the Sea with another : 'T is like every thing that signifies nothing . To say a man can be of two Religions , is a Contradiction , unless there be two Gods to worship , or he has two Souls to save . Religion is the Sacred Profession of the Name of God ; serving him , believing in him , expecting from him ; and like the God it refers to , 't is in one and the same Object , one and the same thing perfectly indivisible and inseparable ; there is in it no Neuter Gender , no Ambigous Article , God or Baal ; Mediums are impossible . As to the different Modes and Ways , which are the Circumstantials of this sacred thing I Call Religion ; I won't say , but that as Ships take different Courses at Sea , yet to the best of their Skill , keeping to the direct Rules of Navigating by the Compass , they may arrive at the same Port ; so Christians taking different Methods in the serving this God , yet going to the best of their Judgments by the direct Rules of the Scripture , may arrive at the same Heaven ; but this is nothing at all to the Case ; for no Ship would arrive at any Port , that sailed two ways together , if that were possible ; nor no Man can serve One God , and at the same time hold two Opinions . There is but one Best , and he that gives God two Bests , gives him the Best and the Worst , and one spoils t'other , till both are good for nothing . I have said already , that both the Church of England , and the Dissenter , suffer in their Reputation for the mixt Multitude of their Members , which is occasion'd by their present Prosperity : If a Third Party were to Tyrannize over them both , we should see then who were Professors , and who were Confessors ; but now it cannot be : Wherefore , I think 't were well to put both Sides in mind of one thing , which they are bound mutually to observe ; and that is , That the Personal Miscarriages of any particular Person or Member , is not really any Reflection upon the Religion they prosess , nor ought not to be so accounted , unless it be where such Miscarriages are the direct Dictates of the Doctrines they Teach ; and thus I would be understood in the present Case . Wherefore I shall give my Essay as to what I understand a Real Dissenting Protestant is , or ought to be . He who Dissents from an Establish'd Church on any account , but from a real Principle of Conscience , is a Politick , not a Religious Dissenter . To explain my self ; He who Dissents from any other Reasons , but such as these , That he sirmly believes the said Established Church is not of the purest Institution , but that he can really serve God more agreeable to his Will , and that accordingly 't is his Duty to do it so , and no otherwise . Nay , he that cannot Dye , or at least desire to do so , rather than Conform , ought to Conform . Schism from the Church of Christ is , doubtless , a great Sin , and if I can avoid it , I ought to avoid it , but if not , the Cause of that Sin carries the Guilt with it . But if I shall thus Dissent , and yet at the same time Conform ; by Conforming I deny my Dissent being lawful , or by my Dissenting I damn my Conforming as sinful . Nothing can be lawful and unlawful at the same time ; if it be not lawful for me to Dissent , I ought to Conform ; but if it be unlawful for me to Conform , I must Dissent ; several Opinions may at the same time consist in a Country , in a City , in a Family , but not in one entire Person , that is impossible . To come to the point ; there are Dissenters who have separated from the Church of England , and join'd in Communion with Dissenting Churches or Congregations . They have appear'd Zealous , Conscientious , and Constant ; have born the Reproaches and Inconveniencies of their Party , nay , suffer'd Persecution , and Loss of Estates and Liberty or the Cause : And who could have so little Charity as to doubt the Sincerity of their Profession ? And yet these Persecuted , Suffering Dissenters , to make themselves room in the Publick Advancements , and Glittering Gawdy Honours of the Age , shall Conform to that which they refus'd under all those Disadvantages to do before . And which is worse than all this ; hear O Heavens ! as soon as the present Honour is attain'd , the present Advantage made , they return to the former Circumstance again , and are freely receiv'd , a double Crime , as having done no Evil. I know not , I profess , what these Persons can say for themselves , and therefore cannot pretend to Answer their Objections ; but I cannot omit one Answer which some People give for them , viz. That this is no Conformity in Point of Religion , but done as a Civil Action , in Obedience to the Laws of the Land , which have made it a necessary Characteristick Quality , for admittance into Publick Employments , which they think it their Duty to accept , in order to serve their Country , which they doubly perform by executing those Offices to the Publick Interest , and by Excluding those who would otherwise get into those Places , and betray their Country and their Liberties . I have never met with any considerable Excuse made for this fast and loose Game of Religion , but this , and this I desire to consider a little particularly . 1. That this is no Conformity in Point of Religion , but done as a Civil Action . How this can be possible , remains to be determined . 'T is true , the Morality of an Action consists in its End ; but I cannot conceive that an Action purely and originally Religious , such as the Solemn Ordinances of God's Worship , can be made Civil Actions by any End , Design , Will , or Intention of Man whatsoever . 'T is true , an Oath , which is a calling God to witness , is an Action both Civil and Religious , but still that was appointed and instituted to that end , as is expresly noted , Heb. Naaman's bowing in the House of Rimmon ; to which the Prophet answered , Go in peace , which is understood as a permission , is a thing still different ; for Naaman only bowed for the Conveniency or State of the King , at the same time publickly disowning the Worship , as Interpreters are of Opinion ; besides , bowing the Head , though it may be a customary Act of Worship at that place , yet is no Act confin'd to Worship only , and instituted and directed so by the God who is Worshipped , but is an Act us'd in Common Salutations . Thus we kneel to God , and to the King ; but Sacraments are things appropriated by the Divine Institution of God himself , as things which have no other Signification or Import but what is Divine : Had Naaman desir'd to be excused in offering Sacrifices to the Idol Rimmon , the Prophet would hardly have bid him go in peace . Some Actions are not Civil or Religious , as they are Civilly or Religiously perform'd , but as they are Civil or Religious in themselves ; for some Religious Actions are so entirely such , that they cannot without a horrid Invasion of the Sovereignty of the Institutor be appropriated to any other use , and such are in especial manner , the Two Sacraments instituted by Christ ; such was , before Christ , the Sacrifices by Fire ; And the Judgments of God on Nadab and Abihu , for attempting to offer Sacrifice with strange Fire , stands as a terrible Instance of what we ought to think is the Will of God in this matter . Further , speaking directly of the Sacraments , Are they not the same thing , though differently Administred in the Establish'd Church , or in a Dissenting Church ; and how can you take it as a Civil Act in one place , and a Religious Act in another ? This is playing Bopeep with God Almighty , and no Man can tell of them when they are about a Civil Action , and when about a Religious . But to answer this pretence at once , Sacraments as Sacraments are Religious Acts , and can be no other ; if you do not take it as a Sacrament , the Case differs ; but how can you say you do not take it as a Sacrament ; an Oath is to be taken in the Sense of the Imposer ; and a Sacrament , which is a Recognition of the most Sacred of Oaths , must be also taken in the Sense of the Imposer ; if the Person Administring declar'd at the Administration , He did not give it as a Sacrament , but only gave you a bit of Bread , and a draught of Wine as a Friend , or the like , this was something ; but can a Minister deliver the Bread to you , and say , The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ , &c. and you kneeling with Reverence take it as such , and repeat the Responses at the Communion , and say Amen to the Prayer , and say 't is a Civil Action . This is such Bantering with Religion , as no Modest Christian can think of without Horror . 2. Another Part of the Apology is , That without it they cannot be admitted into Publick Places of Trust ; and if they are not admitted , such will get in as will betray their Country and Liberties , and they do it purely to secure their Country , which they think their Duty . These are Patriots that will damn their Souls to save their Country ; a sort of a Publick Spirit hardly to be found in the World , and indeed a Non-entity in it self ; for 't is a Mistake ; the Gentlemen who make this Answer , put the Case wrong . For I would desire such to Answer a few Questions . If the Service of their Country be so dear to them , pray why should they not chuse to expose their Bodies and Estates for that Service , rather than their Souls ; the Penalty of the Law in accepting the Publick Employments is wholly Pecuniary ; the difference lies here , they chuse the Trespassing on their Consciences , before the hazard of their Estates , as the least Evil ; for 't is plain , any Man who will suffer the Penalty , or run the Risque of it , which is all one , may excuse the Conformity : For the Law does not say you shall so and so Conform , but if you do not Conform , you shall incur such and such Penalties ; any Man that will incur the Penalty , may commit the Trespass . So that all this Compliance is not , to be admitted to Places , that they may be able to serve their Country , but to save the Five hundred pounds , and other Penalties of that Act. 2. Why , if we believe the Power of God to be Omnipotent , should we imagine that he is not able to protect our Country and Liberties , without our perpetrating so wicked an Act to secure them , as doing Evil that Good may come , which is expresly forbidden ? But we are told again , This is in it self no Sinful Act , and therefore it is not doing Evil. This is tacitly answered before ; tho 't is not a Sinful Act in it self , yet 't is either a Sinful Act in a Dissenter , or else his Dissenting before was a Sinful Act. For if he is satisfied he does well in Conforming now , why did he not before ? There is but one Answer for that , which is , He is otherwise convinced ; to which I reply , if that were true , he would then as a Convert continue in this New Communion ; but 't is evident the same Persons return immediately to the former Profession as Dissenters , and they can have no such Excuse , unless it be , that they were convinc'd , and reconvinc'd , and then convinc'd again . Some have the Folly to argue against the Law it self , as a most Notorious Imposition upon the Consciences of Men , by making the Sacred Institutions of Christ a Drudge to Secular Interest , and a Cause of Mens Sins , by leading them into Temptation . I could say enough to vindicate that part , tho I am no more reconcil'd to that Law , than other Men , but 't is remote to our Argument : 'T is an Act of Parliament , and what is so , is of every Man 's own doing , and therefore 't is just every one shou'd comply with the Terms , or suffer the Penalty ; but here is no Penalty , if no Crime ; if no Preferments are sought , no Honours accepted , there is no Crime ; if Self-denial was as practicable as Self-advancement , here is no need of the Crime . So that they who do this , seek the Crime , that is the first Sin ; then Mortgage their Consciences to avoid the Penalty , and so add one Sin to another . But we are told by some , 't is not against their Consciences , they hope both Parties are Good Christians ; there are Differences between them which they don't understand nor meddle with , and their Consciences are very well satisfied to Communicate with either . I would ask such , if their Consciences would serve to Communicate with the Church , why did they Separate ? For Communicating with the Dissenter , is not an Occasional or Casual Thing , but an open declar'd breaking off from the Church Establisht . Now no Man can be said to separate from , and join to a thing at the same time ; if your Conscience is satisfied in Joyning , it cannot be satisfied in Separating , unless you can suppose your Conscience to be satisfied and dissatisfied both together . If you have a Conscience of any Religion at all , it must be of some Religion or other ; if of this , it cannot be of that ; if of that , it cannot be of this : To Dissent and Approve , are different Acts , and can never be fixt upon the same Object at the same time ; as for a Man , Passively Religious , that can Communicate any where that Man may from the same Principle , and with far less guilt , Communicate no where , for such a Man , in down-right English , has prostituted the little Religion he had , if ever he had any , to his Interest , and may be Turk , Jew , Papist , or any thing . The latter part of the Charge leads me to consider another Point , which relates to the Assemblies of the Dissenters , who admit , and by consequence approve this way of proceeding . I do not pretend to examine by what Methods such particular Churches do proceed . And I would be as tender as possible in making Reflections . I wish they would be as Charitable in censuring this Reproof . I do think , with Submission , 't is impossible to prove that any Person , whose Case the foregoing Paragraph reaches , can be receiv'd again into Church-Communion in a Dissenting Assembly upon any other Terms , than as a Penitent . I have heard of some , who have been said to have leave from their Ministers for this Matter ; if so , they have assum'd some Dispensing Authority , which I believe does not appertain to the Ministerial Function , nor is not contain'd in the Mission of our Saviour . But I do not affirm , That any such thing has been really allow'd . As to the Relation of Churches , and the Members thereof , one to another , as the Dissenters now Establish them ; I am sure , the allowance of any Member in a Promiscuous Communion with the Church of England and the Dissenter at the same time , is not pretended to be allow'd , nor is it consistent with it self . 'T is Preposterous , and Excentrick , and is Destructive of the very Foundation of the Dissenters Principles , as is already noted , concerning Schisms in the Church . In this Case , Charity can heal nothing , nor help nothing ; 't is of absolute necessity that one Man be but of one side , at one and the same time . Either the Conformist will marr the Dissenter , or the Dissenter will marr the Conformist . For if I shall be admitted into the Communion of the Dissenter , and of the Church together ; then the Dissenter must have some other Reason for being a Dissenter , than Purity of Worship . Methinks Men should seem what they are ; if a Man Dissent from the Church , let him do so ; and his Principle being well-grounded for such Dissent , let him hold it ; if not well-grounded , let him leave it ; if he cannot suffer one way , let him suffer another ; and why should we not be as honest to God as our Country . The Motives to serve our Country are strong , but there are ways to do it without such a Violation of all our Principles and Profession ; if not , trust God's Providence with the Issue , who never wants Agents to preserve and deliver his People when his time is at hand ; and you can have small hope to expect that the Office and Trust you shall Execute , shall receive any Assistance from his Providence , when the first Step into it , is made by offering the greatest Affront to his Honour , and committing the vilest Act of Perfidy in the World. But if the gay Prospect of a Great Place , tempt any Person beyond the Power that God's Grace is pleas'd to Assist him with , in that way let him abide , and not be re-admitted , because of his Gold Ring and Fine Apparel , without a Penitent Acknowledgment . The Dissenters in England , can never pretend to be Dissenters upon the mere Principle of Purity of Worship , as I have related in the beginning of this Discourse , if such shall be receiv'd as blameless into their Communion , who have deserted them upon the occasion of Preferment , and have made the Sacred Institutions of Christ Jesus , become Pimps to their Secular Interest , and then wipe their Mouths , and sit down in the Church and say , They have done no Evil. 'T is also an Intolerable Affront to the Church of England , reflecting upon its Doctrine as well as Practice ; To make use of the Church for a Cover to sence them against the Laws , at the same time continuing to disown its Communion , as a thing not fit to be continued in . And yet the Church of England is in the right to receive such of the Dissenters as shall come to them , without the Ceremony of Recognition , because it is agreeable to the Notion of a National Church , which they profess to be . But Dissenters are bound to justify their Separation from them , or else their whole Constitution falls to the Ground . Now , how a Separation and a Conformity are Consistent , is to me an Inexplicable Riddle . I question not here the Lawfulness of the Dissenters Separation ; it is not the business of this Discourse to define it ; and I am as careful as I can in making Reflections upon either ; but I am bold to affirm , That no Dissenting Church can with lawful Cause Separate from the Church of England , Establish Private Churches or Communions , and at the same times allow the Members to Conform to the Establish't Church too : This is incongruous , and one must destroy the other . From whence I think it becomes the Dissenters , if they would maintain the Doctrine they teach ; if they would have us believe they Dissent purely on the honest Principles of Conscience , and Purity of Worship , with such a one , No , not to Eat . And it is not sufficient that the Offender be a Lord Mayor , or any Greater Person ; unless he would be Lord Mayor without a Breach of the Sacred Relation he had entred into , he should be dealt with in that Case , as the meanest Member of such a Society . On the other hand , if a Man be call'd upon to be a Magistrate , and has Courage enough to follow the Impartial Dictates of his Conscience , a Query lies before him , What shall he do ? The Case is plain ; Either refuse the Honour , or run the Risque ; the first indeed is the plainest and easiest Way , and the Ground of it is good , for he whose Conscience Dictates to him that the Terms are Sinful , may refuse the Call ; for Preferments and Honours are a Bait that some have refus'd on meer Points of Speculative Philosophy ; and 't is hard , Christianity shou'd not carry a Man as far . Well , but perhaps a Man has a mind to be a Sheriff and Lord Mayor , and is a Dissenter ; or perhaps he really thinks 't is his indispensible Duty to serve his Country , if he is call'd to that , or the like Office ; or perhaps he thinks 't is a Duty he owes his Family , to advance his Children , and the like , and he is a Profest Dissenter ; What shall he do ? Let him boldly run the Risque , or openly and honestly Conform to the Church , and neither be asham'd of his Honour , nor of his Profession ; such a Man all Men will value , and God will own : He need not fear carrying the Sword to a Conventicle , or bringing the Conventicle to his own House : But to make the matter a Game , to dodge Religions , and go in the Morning to Church , and in the Afternoon to the Meeting , to Communicate in private with the Church of England , to save a Penalty , and then go back to the Dissenters and Communicate again there : This is such a Retrograde Devotion , that I can see no Colour of pretence for in all the Sacred Book . I have heard , indeed , that some , who are Ministers of Dissenting Churches do , or did at the same time Communicate with the Church of England . I do not dispute how far a Minister may Conform as a Lay-man , tho' he cannot as a Clergy-man ; but how any Dissenting Minister can Conform as a Lay-man , and at the same time execute a Pastoral Charge over a Congregation , whom he teaches to separate from the Church in a Lay-Communion , I cannot imagine . 'T is not as I have already noted , Conformity or Non-conformity , that I am discoursing ; but 't is Conformity and Nonconformity at the same time , in one and the same Person , that is the Point ; and doing this for a Secular End , to save a Penalty , and Privately ; and then , as being asham'd of it to go back and sit down as not having done it at all ; and a Church Society admitting this without taking notice of it . These are the Contradictions insist upon , and rather wish , than expect to see rectified . FINIS .