An answer to a letter to a dissenter upon occasion of His Majesties late gracious declaration of indulgence / by Sir Roger L'Estrange. L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704. 1687 Approx. 175 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 27 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A47798 Wing L1195 ESTC R24430 08181450 ocm 08181450 41026 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. A47798) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 41026) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1234:1) An answer to a letter to a dissenter upon occasion of His Majesties late gracious declaration of indulgence / by Sir Roger L'Estrange. L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704. 50 p. Printed for R. Sare, London : 1687. Reproduction of original in the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). 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. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Halifax, George Savile, -- Marquis of, 1633-1695. -- Letter to a dissenter. Dissenters, Religious -- England. Great Britain -- History -- James II, 1685-1688. 2003-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-02 Andrew Kuster Sampled and proofread 2005-02 Andrew Kuster Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ANSWER TO A LETTER TO A DISSENTER , Upon Occasion of His Majesties Late Gracious DECLARATION OF INDULGENCE . By Sir ROGER L' ESTRANGE , Knight . LONDON , Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborn , 1687. AN ANSWER TO A LETTER to a Dissenter , &c. AFter many a Thought upon a Late Paper , Entitled [ A Letter to a Dissenter , &c. ] I am come to This Resolution within my self : First , That it both Requires , and Deserves a Thorough-Answer . 2ly . That No man can so Properly Speak to 't , as a True Son of the Church of England ; for I take it to be his Province , and Duty , in so Peculiar a manner , that such a Person , if Competently Qualify'd for That Office , can hardly Expect his Mothers Blessing , without saying somewhat upon This Subject , in her Vindication . By a Thorough-Answer , I mean , the Taking of the Letter Paragraph by Paragraph , and speaking to the Whole , and to Every Part of it , all under one . My Course , I know , lyes betwixt Two Rocks ; where 't is Odds , that a man either dashes Vpon One of them , or is Crush'd to pieces Betwixt them . But He that is in his Duty , is never out of his Way . So that being Fully Satisfy'd already in the Main , my Next Care must be , not to Transgress in the Manner of my Proceeding : Wherein I Propose to Deliver my Thoughts , Plainly , and without Disguise ; And not to Depart , in the Least Scruple , from the Rules of Charity , Moderation , Truth , and Candor ; Nor ( so far as my Understanding will serve me ) from the Dignity and Character of my Profession . I will not go behind the Door neither , to Conceal my Name ; for I have liv'd Open and Barefac'd a Long Time , and , by the Grace of God , I will not Dye in a Disguise . Briefly , I shall take the Freedom to Speak what I Think , without either Vanity , or Insolence ; and make as Modest an Use of a Common Liberty , ( with leave for the Comparison ) as any Other of His Majesties Subjects whatsoever . And when I shall have done with the Publique Part of This Discourse , I shall bestow a Few Pages upon a Postscript for my self . The Letter it self is Address'd to a Dissenter ; and why may not My Answer be Address'd to a Dissenter too ? For there 's a Parity of Reason , Indifferently , in Both Cases , where the Two Parties Respectively Concerned , are not Both of a Mind . Beside , that by This Means , I have an Introduction , ready to my hand here over and above : for the First Paragraph will serve the Answerers Purpose , as well as it did the Authors ; And since I cannot Greet him in Better Words , I shall do it so far in his Own. A Letter to a Dissenter , &c. SIR , Since Addresses are in fashion , give me leave to make one to you . This is neither the Effect of Fear , Interest , or Resentment ; therefore you may be sure it is sincere : and for that reason it may expect to be kindly received . Whether it will have power enough to Convince , dependeth upon the Reasons , of which you are to judge ; and upon your preparation of Mind , to be perswaded by Truth , whenever it appeareth to you . It ought not to be the less welcom , for coming from a friendly hand , one whose kindness to you is not lessened by difference of Opinion , and who will not let his thoughts for the Publick be so tyed or confined to this or that Sub-division of Protestants , as to stifle the Charity , which besides all other Arguments , is at this time become necessary to preserve us . I Can with a very Good Conscience put my hand to This Preface ; for I have really All Those Peaceable and Compassionate Dispositions about me , at This Instant , that the very Author of the Letter would be thought to have ; so that we may proceed , I think , without any more Ceremony . I am neither surprized nor provoked , to see that in the condition you were put into by the Laws , and the ill circumstances you lay under , by having the Exclusion and Rebellion laid to your Charge , you were desirous to make your selves less uneasie and obnoxious to Authority . Men who are sore , run to the nearest Remedy with too much haste , to consider all the consequences : Grains of allowance are to be given , where Nature giveth such strong Influences . When to Men under Sufferings it offereth Ease , the present Pain will hardly allow time to examine the Remedies ; and the strongest Reason can hardly gain a fair Audience from our Mind , whilst so possessed , till the smart is a little allayed . THere 's a Plain , and a Short Proverb , that may serve for a Paraphrase upon This Clause . [ Out of the Frying-Pan into the Fire . ] The Dissenters , it seems , were Vneasie under the Penal Laws ; Vnsafe under Certain Criminal Imputations ; And , in This Distress , like Drowning Men , they laid hold of Any thing that came next to Hand ; Mistook their Way and their Measures , for want of Time to Look before they Leapt . The Author of the Letter fancies them in a Streight ; And then to Deliver them from a Calamity of his Own Creating , Charitably puts in , and Pities them ; Supposes some very Dangerous Miscarriage ; Assigns the Reason of it , and at the Same Time Furnishes the Excuse . The Innuendo of the Whole is Briefly This , that Matters are in an Evil State , and that the Severities of the Government have been the Cause on 't ; which are Two Dangerous Points to be Injected into Peoples heads at This Time of the day : But , This is only an Artificial Preparatory to make way for somewhat more Considerable that is to follow . He speaks of the Dissenters running to the Nearest Remedy ; which , Under favour , is a Mistake , if he Means the King's Declaration of Indulgence ; for That Remedy came to Them. And so in his Following Allegory . If it holds in State , as it does in Physick , the Patient is not to Examine the Remedy , but to Observe the Prescription . And now to the Next Paragraph . I do not know whether the Warmth that naturally belongeth to New Friendships may not make it a Harder Task for me to perswade you . It is like telling Lovers , in the Beginning of their Joys , that they will in a Little Time have an End. Such an unwelcome Style doth not easily find Credit : But I will suppose you are not so far gone in your New Passion , but that you will Hear still ; and therefore I am under the Less Discouragement , when I offer to your Consideration Two Things . The First is , the Cause you have to suspect your New Friends . The Second , the Duty incumbent upon you , in Christianity and Prudence , not to Hazard the Publick Safety , neither by Desire of Ease , nor of Revenge . WE are here Past Insensibly , and in the Course of Six Lines from the Present Compliances of the Dissenters , Purely for the Sake of Ease and Security , to the Warmth of a New Friendship , and of a New Passion ; which is such a kind of Leap , as if a Cripple , for being delivered from the Lash , should fall in love with the Beadle . I must needs take Notice now , in This Place , by Anticipation , of a Passage in the Next Clause , where the Gentleman tells the Dissenters , that [ These New Friends did not make them their Choice but their Refuge ; ] Which Implies , that the Roman Catholiques have not half the Kindness for the Dissenters , that the Dissenters have for the Roman Catholiques : For at the rate of [ the Warmth of This New Friendship ] and This [ New Passion , ] the Dissenters must be understood to make the Roman Catholiques rather their Choice , than their Refuge . So that according to this Proportion of Reasoning , the Dissenters must Relinquish , both their Interest and Inclination , or there 's No Good to be done upon them . But however , If they be not either too Sturdy , or too Stately , to Hearken to Reason , Here are Two Proposals laid before them : The One , of Caution , Founded upon [ the Cause they have to suspect their New Friends : ] The Other , of Duty , both in Christianity and Prudence , not to Sacrifice the Publick Peace , either to their Ease , or Revenge . Here is , in these Two Propositions , not only Subject-Matter for the kindling of Jealousies , and for the Irritating of Fears , and Apprehensions in the Consequences of Things ; But Misunderstandings Dictated , and Inculcated in Express Terms , which cannot possibly fail of moving Vnquiet Thoughts , and of Dissolving the Common Tyes of Faith , Friendship , and Allegeance , by making Parties and Factions ; and stirring Animosities among the Kings Good Subjects . To speak One Word now to the Duty of Consulting the Publique Safety , the Question will be shortly this , Whether the Blessed end of Peace , with a Respect to Civil Matters , ( for here 's no talk of Religion ) be not more likely to be Compass'd and Preserv'd , by Vniting His Majesties Liege People , than by Dividing them ? It is time now to go forward to the Animadversions , and Reasonings that the Ingenious Author shall be pleased to Pass upon his Two Last Heads . To the First : Consider , that notwithstanding the Smooth Language which is now put on to Engage you , These new Friends did not make you their Choice , but their Refuge : They have ever made their First Courtships to the Church of England ; and when they were rejected there , they made their Application to you in the Second Place . The Instances of This might be given in All Times . I do not Repeat them , because whatsoever is Vnnecessary , must be Tedious ; the Truth of this Assertion being so Plain , as not to admit a Dispute . You cannot therefore reasonably Flatter your selves , that there is any Inclination to You. They never pretended to Allow You any Quarter , but to Vsher in Liberty for Themselves , under That Shelter . I refer you to Mr. Coleman's Letters , and the Journals of Parliament , where you may be Convinced , if you can be so Mistaken , as to Doubt . Nay , at this very Hour , they can hardly forbear , in the height of their Courtship , to let fall Hard Words of you . So little is Nature to be restrained : It will start out some times , disdaining to submit to the Vsurpation of Art and Interest . WE are left mightily in the Dark here , how to understand his [ Smooth Language ] and his [ New Friends ; ] Where we are to Look for the One , and How we are to Distinguish the Other . If his Meaning be , that the Roman Catholiques are making Fair Weather with the Dissenters , and withal , that the Dissenters are to Blame to Close with them , he should do well to have a Care of his Characters ; for a Man can very hardly Reflect a Scandal upon the Whole Party , without wounding their Head and Master . I would fain know , if the King Himself does not fall within the Compass of One of Those New Friends ; or rather how it is possible it should be Otherwise , without a Particular Saving and Exception out of That Number . He speaks of Those New Friends that have ever made their First Courtships to the Church of England . I would he had but told us Where , When , and How ; Or what Commission they had for the making of These Overtures from One Community to Another : But whether they Did , or whether they did Not , comes all to a Case , tho for the sake of Truth and Justice , I must needs say that [ EVER ] goes a little too far : For in That Great Revolution of the Long Rebellion , the Members of the Church of England Joyned in a Common Act of Prudence , Interest , and Conscience , to Meet them Half Way : Or if there were any Priority of Respect in the Matter , it was on the Church of England's Side . I speak of the Old Rebellion , when the Members of Both Churches fell by the Sides One of Another in the Common Defence of their Prince , and their Country ; their Honour and their Allegeance . But when the Roman Catholiques were rejected there , they made their Application to the Dissenters in the Second Place , he says ; and made them not their Choice , but their Refuge , without any Inclination for them at all . Well! And whether the Church of England-Men Reject the Roman Catholiques , or the Roman Catholiques Reject the Church of England-Men , 't is Just as Broad as it is Long ; for Whethersoever of the Two stands in need of a Third Interest ; 'T is not the Orthodoxy of the Perswasion , but the Strength of the Allye that He considers : And what matters it for an Inclination of Kindness , where Necessity Creates an Inclination that does the Office of an Inclination by Nature ? What 's more Ordinary , than for Two Mortal Enemies to Joyn in a Common Defence , for the Mutual Preservation One of Another ? And I never met with any Man yet since I was born , that made it a Casuistical Moot-Point , Whether a Man might Lawfully submit , to have his Life , Liberty , and Fortune , Preserved by a Man of Another Opinion . This Gentleman tells the Dissenters that the Papists have No Kindness for them , and that they are not their Choice , but their Refuge . Now if This be Our Author 's Own Case , ( as by the Ayre of his Paper it appears to be ) the Argument that he has Advanc'd against the New Friends , as he Calls them , holds Every Jot as good against Himself : And the Dissenters , with whom he has to do , have All-out as good Reason to Suspect the One , as the Other . He is pleased to Appeal to Coleman's Letters , and the Parliament Journals , though the One makes not at all for him , and the Other seems in some Respects to be Point-Blank Against him . Coleman's Business was a Common Liberty , without Meditating any Act of Violence or Subversion . And then if the Journals be set One against Another , and a Design of Vniting Protestants in a General License , opposed to the Vniting of Protestants , in a strict Conformity to the Rubriek and Canons , they will do the Cause that This Gentleman has a-foot , at least as much Hurt as Good. What signifies the following Objection , that [ the Papists can hardly forbear in the height of their Courtships to let fall Hard Words of the Dissenters , ] If this Gentleman , even in the Height of his Courtship , finds himself apt to Speak , or to Think Hardly of them too ? He says Extremely Well at last , in Contemplation of the Difficulty of Restraining Nature , [ She Disdains ( he says ) to submit to the Vsurpation of Art and Interest . ] This he Says , and This he Proves , in the same Breath , and Paper ; for in despight of All the Art , and Interest of This Discourse , his Inclination shews it self , and his Nature breaks through the Disguise . This Allyance between Liberty and Infallibility , is bringing together the Two most contrary things that are in the World. The Church of Rome doth not only dislike the allowing Liberty , but by its Principles it cannot do it . Wine is not more expresly forbidden to the Mahometans , than giving Hereticks , Liberty , is to Papists : They are no more able to make good their Vows to you , than Men Married before , and their Wife alive , can confirm their Contract with another . The Continuance of their Kindness would be a Habit of Sin , of which they are to Repent , and their Absolution is to be had upon no other Terms , than their Promise to destroy you . You are therefore to be Hugged now , only that you may be the better Squeezed at another time . There must be something Extraordinary , when the Church of Rome setteth up Bills , and offereth Plaisters , for Tender Consciences : By all that hath hitherto appeared , her Skill in Chirurgery lyeth chiefly in a Quick Hand , to cut off Limbs ; but she is the worst at Healing , of any that ever pretended to it . HEre 's a Splendid , and a Fallacious Amusement , in the First Line ; and it is Plausibly enough Pursued too ; but Inevitably attended with the Fate of All Things that are Built upon a False Bottom . Supposing [ LIBERTY , ] and [ INFALLIBILITY , ] as the Matter is here set forth , and Assum'd , to be the Present Point before us , upon a Question of Competition , or Consistence . Upon this Supposal , I say , All the Following Cost , and Figure , for the Dazling of Weak Eyes , and the Transporting of Impotent Affections , is very well Bestowed upon it : But if Liberty and Infallibility shall fall out in This Case , to be Nothing a-kin ; The One , to be a Civil Point ; The Other , a Religious ; And the One , in short , to Differ as much from the Other , as Doctrine does from Practice , or the Exercise of a Secular Power , from a Theological Perswasion ; Why then This Liberty , and Infallibility , Truly Vnderstood , and Rightly Distinguished , may very well stand together , and the Holding of the One Opinion , does not at all Clash with Permitting the Exercise of the Other . This Specious Sparkling Way of Reasoning will have little more in 't at last , than what we see Every Day in the Skill and Address of Bird-catching , where the Twinkling of the Glass brings the Lark Dancing down into the Net. A Man that would put his Thoughts , and his Wits upon the Stretch , might Enlarge till Doomsday , upon the Text of LIBERTY and INFALLIBILITY . But I am for speaking Plain , Home , and in Few Words , to the Stress of the Subject in hand , rather than squandring away more Time and Paper than needs , in Talking it out at Length . The Roman-Catholique-INFALLIBILITY , and the Dissenters LIBERTY are the Two Hinges of the Controversie here in Debate . Put them On , Right , and the Door Opens , or Shuts , with All the Ease in the World ; But if This Gentleman will needs set them on a-Cross , and then Exclayme against them as [ the most Contrary Things in the World ] when it is the Fault of the Workman , not of the Hinges , that the One Hinders the Other , from doing its Proper Office. What help for 't ! This is an Error in the Speculation of the Thing , that we see Dayly Disprov'd , and Contradicted , in Fact ; And it must be a very Gross Partiality , that shall take upon it self to support Fancy against Experiment . Now if the Liberty , and Infallibility here Represented , Intended , and Designed , be quite Another Thing than the Liberty , and Infallibility that lies Naturally within the Compass of This Question , all the Flowers that are here Employed for the Recommending , and the Garnishing of This Topique , how Artificially soever , must not be Allowed to come up yet to the Least Colour of a Conclusion , or an Argument , for any thing that hitherto appears . The First Query toward the Discussing of This Question , will , in One Word , be This. What does This Gentleman mean by [ LIBERTY ? ] Why does he not give some Standard of it ? Is it a Determinate , or an Vnlimited Liberty ? Why is it not Ascertain'd , that a Body may see Thorough it ? For how shall any Man take upon him to make a Reasonable Discourse , upon an Vnknown Meaning ? If he Means Liberty of CONSCIENCE , with a Respect to the Present Circumstances of the Dissenters ; His Majesties Gracious Declaration of April the 4th . Last Past , will most Explicity Adjust That Point , in These Following Words : We have thought fit , by Vertue of our ROYAL PREROGATIVE , to Issue forth This our Declaration of Indulgence . So that it is a Liberty , Granted by Vertue , and in the Right of His Majesties ROYAL RREROGATIVE : A Civil Liberty to Meet for a Religious Worship ; Or in the Words of the Declaration it self , For [ the Free Exercise of their Religion . ] The Plain English of the Case is This ; The Dissenters find themselves Aggriev'd for want of Liberty of Conscience : And why ? But because they cannot Meet to Worship God in their Assemblies , as they say , they reckon themselves Bound to do . This Restraint makes them Vneasie ; The Law lies Heavy upon them ; and they have no Means of Relief but by the Kings Suspending the Execution of the Penalties in That Case Provided , and Exerting His Sovereign Authority in Their Favour . Now Every Body knows it for a Principle that is Rooted in the very Foundations of Government it self , That All Publique Assemblies ; That is to say , the Indicting , the Inhibiting , the Adjourning , Proroguing , Continuing , or Dissolving of them , are Entirely , and Incommunicably , at the Will , and Pleasure of the Supreme Magistrate . The King , in the Right of This Power , Allows his People to Meet , to the End that they may Worship . The Dispensation respects the Freedom of Assembling , not the Articles of every Particular Congregation's Faith , or Creed . His Majesty Grants so much , as by His Prerogative he May , and not One Jot more ; for All Humane Acts whatsoever , are , to All Purposes Void , when they come to break in once upon the Laws of God , and Nature : So that here 's neither Ground , Place , nor Pretence , for an Immoral , or an Vnrighteous Liberty : And if the Gentleman , in This Paragraph , speaks of a Boundles , and of an Indefinite Licence , it neither IS , neither CAN it be , neither can it be SVPPOSED to be , the Case that is here in Agitation . It Involves a Nullity , to Imagine it so ; and it Imports a Tacit Censure of Authority , even so much as to Insinuate that it was ever Intended so : For No power upon Earth Can either Discharge , or so much as Suspend , the Over-ruling Dictates , and Sentences , of Equity , and of Right Reason Now 't is no Wonder , if the Church of Rome will never Endure a Liberty of This Latitude ; for neither will any Christian Church that ever was upon the Face of the Earth , Endure it ; for it would be All one with the Over-ruling both of Law , and Gospel ; and the Destroying of Religion it self , as well as Christianity at a Blow . Now if a Liberty , in This Extent cannot so much as be Imagin'd , without a most Vncharitable , and a Dangerous Scandal ; it must , in Common Honesty , be taken for Granted , that the Author of This Letter speaks only of a Liberty , within a Reasonable , and a Christian Compass : So that to Acquit him of the Calumny , I find my self Obliged to Mind him of a Seeming Contradiction . There is a Liberty , that is Evil in it self , with a Respect to the Matter that it is Conversant about : And there is a Liberty , that is Evil , because it is Prohibited . The Former is Indispensable ; and All the Powers under the Sun can never make it Warrantable . The Latter was left Indifferent , till Authority Restrained it ; and the same Authority may set it at Liberty Again . So that the Liberty here spoken of , is an Allowable Liberty ; That is to say , a Liberty totally Depending upon the Political Judgment of the Sovereign Magistrate ; Whether to Grant it or Not ; How Far ; In What Cases ; To what Parties ; Under What Limitations of Time , or Conditions : But whether Allowable , or Not Allowable ; Protestants , it seems , may set up their Rest upon 't , that Hereticks are to expect No Quarter ; No Liberty , from Papists : Nay our Author is of Opinion , that they esteem Themselves under a most Conscientious Obligation to Destroy Vs. The Late Havock that has been made among the Protestants in France , Concludes Nothing against the Judgment of the Church of Rome , concerning the Liberties and Privileges that they Enjoyed there in Former Times . To say nothing of the Freedom they are Allowed in Divers Other Places , where they live Intermixt . There will be No Great Difficulty , I hope , to bring the Gentleman to Yield , that the Fact is clearly Against him ; but if upon the Penning , and the Couching of This Clause , he had not so Totally Indulg'd his Inclination , as not to Look Forward into the Tendency of his Discourse : If , I say , he had not so eagerly Press'd and Pursued the Point he had in his Eye , without Considering Whither he was a-going , or the Precipices that he had before him , he might have seen more Hazards than One , that were likely to Ensue upon his taking of This Biass . And God Grant , that the Author of This Paper , may not be found to have been One of the Number that has formerly fall'n upon Mee , without Mercy , for a Doctrine , Injuriously laid to My Charge , and which he himself does Manifestly Enforce , and Suggest , in this very Paragraph . It made a Heavy Noise for One While , since the Coming of His Sacred Majesty to the Crown , that I should hold forth in an Observator , That [ All Subjects were Bound to be of their Princes Religion ] which I never Wrote , Said , or Thought , since I was Born : But I have been , and am still , and I doubt not but that I shall ever be , fully Perswaded , that the Conscience of Obedience is the same upon All Subjects , let the Religion of their Lawful Sovereign be what it will : And I say further , that there is a Religion of Allegeance , as well as of Faith. But to what I was about to say . Here is a Point Agitated betwixt the Church of Rome , and the Dissenters , with an Eye to the Liberty that the Latter , at This Time pretend to , and Enjoy . Now This Liberty is an Act of State ; And the Church of Rome can have Nothing to do with it , any further , than by the Influence , which our Author possibly Supposes they may have upon His Majesty : So that there can be No Vnfair Dealing in the Matter ; but in such a Manner , that , some way or other , Our Master must be made a Party to 't . The Dissenters have a Common Right to the Equity of His Majesties Gracious Promises , and Assurances , Exhibited in the Aforesaid Declaration : So that they are All as safe , as the Word of a King in a Royal Act of Grace , Sign'd , Seal'd , and Deliver'd in the Presence of God , Angels , and Men , can Make 'em . If This be the very State of the Bus'ness , how Vain , how Vngrateful , and how Vnprofitable , is it , for Any Subject but to Grumble , as if he Doubted the Performance ! Nay , and how Foolish , Over and Above ; for One Medling Protestant , to Provoke the Ruine , and the Inconvenience of All the Rest ! I will hope after All , that a Good Part of This Matter dropt from the Author in his Sleep : For if That which he Delivers in This Place , for the Conscientious Doctrine of the Church of Rome , he , in Truth , so as he Affirms it to be , the Inference Undenyable that Results from it , is This ; That His Majesty thinks himself Bound in Conscience , to Destroy All Religions but his Own ; Which would be certainly One of the most Pernicious Impressions , if it should once take Root among the Common People , that was ever thrown into the Mouths of the Multitude ; and the most Destructive of All Communities . But we have ( God be praised for it ) for our Infallible Security , not only the Solemnity of Assurances , and Declarations , but the Immoveable Character of a Great , a Just , and a Wise Prince , whose Internal Honour , Generosity , and Prudence are Ten Thousand Guards upon him : Beside , a Merciful , a Powerful , and a Protecting Providence Above , to Watch over , both King , and People . There lay a Great Stress upon This Section ; and I had rather be Tedious , than speak to 't by Halves . As for Hugging and Squeezing , 't is no more than a Common Trick of Policy , and State : A Man helps his Friend up the Ladder ; And has his Teeth Dash'd out for his Pains . [ There must be something Extraordinary ( he says ) when the Church of Rome setteth up Bills , and offereth Plaisters for Tender Consciences . ] And truly I am content to Agree with the Metaphorical Author , that there Is something in 't , that is very Extraordinary ; And I 'le speak Freely to 't , when I come to 't : But a Word by the Way ; If this Gentleman be a True Son of the Church of England ( as by the Ayre and Humour of his Discourse he would appear to be ) there is something Extraordinary in the Church-of-England-Man's-Case , as well as in the Papists ; And it is No Ordinary Thing for Him , to be Billing of it Neither : Beside that it is not Fair , for One Man to find Fault with what Another does , and yet do the Same Thing Himself . As to the Church of Rome's Skill , or No Skill , either in Cutting or in Healing , I can say little more , than that some of Our Good People have shewed themselves Master-Operators , within the Memory of Man , in the very way of Amputation too ; whereever they learnt the Trade : though the PRETENDED Murder of a IVSTICE , by the Papists , has put the ACTVAL Murder of a PRINCE , quite out of Countenance . What shall I do now ? for This Chapter hangs yet upon my Fingers ; and I cannot get off , without another Touch upon the Subject of Liberty ; By which LIBERTY , I mean TOLERATION . No man perhaps , has Spoil'd more Paper upon This Argument , than my self ; No man has been more for the Upholding of the Rubrick , and Canons ; No man more for the keeping of People up to the Stated Articles , and Conditions of our Communion ; And I am the same Man in my Principles at This Day , that ever I was ; Though upon a Change of Circumstances , I have likewise Vary'd my Judgment , with a respect to Hic , & Nunc , as to That Particular : For I take it to be Mightily Another Case , under a Prince of the Communion of the Church of Rome , from what it was under a Prince of the English Communion . My Religion is in every Point the Same ; But That which Was the Interest of That Religion , in Former Times , is in some Innocent Respects , no Longer so . The Strictness , and Rigour , that was Laudable , and Meritorious , in the One Case , would be Vnmannerly , and Provoking , in the Other . If I had had my Option , upon the late Mighty Change , the Church-of-England-Men , as an Acknowledgment , as a Respect , and for Twenty Reasons Beside , should have Presented His Majesty with All Honourable Assurances of Freedom for his Own People , even without so much as Capitulating for Themselves . First , as an Act of Necessary Prudence ; For Authority had the Better End of the Staff ; And there was Nothing to be Gotten , by Contesting and Strugling ; but much to be Lost by 't . 2ly . As a Testimonial of Reverence , and of Thankfulness ; for it would have been no more than what was Due , from a Subject to a Prince , upon the Matter of Deference , and Resignation . There would have been No Point of Religion Yielded ; Not the Least Scruple of any Nicety of Conscience Departed from ; but it would have made the King , and the King's Friends of the same Communion , Easie , and Happy . It would also have been a Retribution of Gratitude ; and a Verification of the Kings Opinion of the Church of England , by their Practice . The Words ought , not only to be Recorded in the Journals , both of the Parliament , and of the Council ; but likewise in the Hearts of all his Majesties Subjects . I know the Principles of the Church of England are for Monarchy ; and the Members of it have shewed themselves Good , and Loyal Subjects ; Therefore I shall always take Care to Defend and Support it . These were his Present Majesties Words at his First Sitting in the Privy Council , after the Death of the Late Blessed King : And These Words are to be made Good , in Honour , Duty , and Acknowledgment , without Deliberating , or Starting , by Every Man that Professes himself a Member of That Church . 3ly We could not better have Consulted our own Peace , Freedom , and Security ; for it is the Natural Reason , and Condition of the Thing , to Allow , as we would be Allowed ; and not to Do Any thing to Others , that we should be Unwilling to see Turn'd upon our selves . There is likewise a Fourth Reason , over and above All Those before mentioned , to Oblige us as Christians , and as men of Tenderness , Humanity , and Common Justice . It is now a Long Time since , that we have found the Pretended Popish Conspiracy to be an Imposture , and a Subornation ; And I would put it to the Conscience of Every man , that has either by the Press , the Barr , the Pulpit , ( or I could go Higher if I pleased ) Contributed to the Credit of the Villany , Whether he be not Bound to make his Repentance , and his Retractation , as Publique , as ever his Seduction was ? If he has Caused Many People to Believe a Lye ; a Sanguinary Lye ; a Lye that has drawn Innocent Bloud after it ; He is No True Church-of-England-Man , if he does not Openly Confess it ; Declare it ; and make All the Publique Satisfaction for it that the Matter will bear ; If he does not Endeavour the Setting of as many People Right again , as his Example , Authority and Doctrine had led out of the Way ; He 's No True Penitent ; No Right Honest Man ; and I might add to 't , that he 's no True-Christian ; An Hypocrite of Bloud is the Worst of Hypocrites ; and the Guilt of it Sticks to his Conscience , as well as the Gore of it to his Chops , 'till he has Wash'd his Mouth . And it is not enough neither , where Men have been Falsly Sworn out of their Lives , for the Believers of those Perjuries , and Consequently the Promoters of the Credit of them ; and Consequently yet once again , the Accessoryes ( with leave of the Lawyers ) to the Murders that Ensu'd ; ( for Murders they Were , to the False Witnesses . ) It is not enough , I say , for a Man under These Circumstances , Barely to Clap his Hand upon his Breast , and say The Lord Forgive me ; for I have Innocent Bloud to Answer for . No , not if he should make Proclamation of it in Gath , and tell it in the Streets of Askalon ; without doing a Right to All Persons concern'd , in some Proportion , to the Injury ; In fine , without Atoning , in some Degree , for Past Indignities , by Future Kindnesses , and Respects : As who should say , [ Gentlemen , we have been Impos'd upon by Perjur'd Villains , to the Loss of many of your Lives and Liberties , and the Ruine of your Reputations , Families , and Estates : We have Made you , and we have Vs'd ye like Traytors ; For the Love of God let us Live hereafter , like Loyal Subjects , Friends and Christians . ] In a Word , After One so Criminal , and so Mortal a Mistake allready , Men should be very Wary , how They Hazzard the Following of it with Another of the same kind . Prepossessions and Jealousies can never Warrant us in the Violation of Christian Charity : And so at the Long Last , I 'le go a Step Further now . To come so quick from another extream , is such an unnatural motion , that you ought to be upon your Guard ; the other day you were Sons of Belial , Now , you are Angels of Light. This is a violent change , and it will be fit for you to pause upon it , before you believe it : If your features are not altered , neither is their opinion of you , whatever may be pretended . Do you believe less than you did , that there is Idolatry in the Church of Rome ? sure you do not . See then , how they treat both in Words and Writing , those who entertain that Opinion . Conclude from hence , how inconsistent their favour is with this single Article , except they give you a Dispensation for this too , and by a Non Obstante , secure you that they will not think the worse of you , p. 2. VVHere there is Reason for a Change for the Better ; Where there is Manifest Interest to Induce That Change ; a Profession , that such a Change is Wrought ; and a Charitable Place left to hope the Best of things ; Where 's the Crime , or the Folly of Inclining to the Belief of such a Conversion ? If it be the Dissenters Interest , 't is a Great Weakness , in That Respect , not to come about . If they Declare , and Promise more then they Intend to Perform , they Cut their Own Throats , by Playing the Knaves , to their Ruine ; and by Acting against Common Honesty , as well as against Common Sense . Their Interest it is , most Undenyably ; for they get Remission , Ease and Favour by 't . If the Papists think Better of the Dissenters then they deserve , 't is an Error on the Right Hand : But the Dissenters , it seems , that but T'other day were Sons of Belial , are now , all of a sudden , in the Opinion of the Papists , become Angels of Light. And is it not just the very same Thing , ( at least if the Author of This Letter Judges Aright ) from the Dissenters to the Papists , that it is from the Papists to the Dissenters ? And where 's the Hurt on 't , if they are Both Agreed to think Better One of Another , then they were used to do ? Or , according to our Author's Opinion , then Effectually they have Cause to do ? Well! But he gives to Understand , that though the Papists have Changed their Style , they have not yet Changed their Thoughts of them : And Then , in comes a Philosophical Caution , not to give Credit to Vnnatural Motions that pass from One Extreme to Another at a Stride . If he had look'd Both ways , he would have found as great a Leap of State , on the One Side , as he does of Inclination on the Other : For let a Man's Thoughts , and Purposes , be never so Sound , and Reasonable , 't is No Vnreasonable Thing yet , to Change Those Thoughts , and Purposes upon Change of Accidents , and Occasion . He says that the Dissenters Features are not Altered ; but I shall take leave to say , that the very Cause it self is Alter'd ; and that During his Majesties Suspension of the Penal Laws , they are , in a Fair Equity of Construction , no longer Dissenters . But whether this Gentleman hits the Papists Thoughts , or Not , is the teast Part of the Care of This Paragraph : For the Author seems much more sollicitous , for fear the Papists , and the Dissenters should agree upon 't to think Well of One Another , then for fear that the Crafty , Jugling Papists should put a Trick upon the Poor Innocent Lambs on the Other side . And I would , in One Word more , now put it to the Authors Conscience , Whether the Papists , and his Own , with a respect to the Dissenters , be not the very same Case , and the very same Trick . He would have them stand upon their Guard , he says ; but against What ? And what to do ? As if Good Discretion , and Good Nature could not stand together : As if People could not be Prudent , without being Inhumane . It was such Hints , and Touches as These , that turn'd the Hearts , and the Brains of the Common People into Wax , to stamp Forgeries upon : But God forbid , that the same Scene should Open Once again , and that the Epilogue to One Sham , should prove the Prologue to Another . It is Worthy of Observation , that in All Officious Discourses of This Quality , there are Certain Words of Common-Place , Interspers'd up and down , that when the Pen grows Dull , are made use of , as a Butcher does of his Steel when his Knife is Blunted , to give it a New Edge : As here 's [ IDOLATRY ] brought in , p. 2. of the Sheet-and-Half-Edition . And then p. 9. he he is pleased to give it Another Whet , upon the Word [ TRANSVBSTANTIATION . ] Now I do Previously Declare my self to be Perfectly a Church of England Man , upon These Two Points : And yet , saving all Possible Veneration to my Mother , and Reverence to my Profession , I cannot Imagine any other End , or Reason , for the very Mention of [ IDOLATRY ] in This Place , then to stir the Bloud of the Protestant Reader , and to Brand the Romanists , with a Mark of Odium , and Reproche . Here 's a Civil Question started ; Not so much betwixt Roman Catholiques , and Dissenters , with regard to their Differing Perswasions in Religion , as with a Respect to the Interest of the Common Peace , and Safety , in the Agreement , or Disagreement of These Two Bodies of His Majesties Subjects . And what 's This to the Polemicks betwixt the Two Churches ? The Roman Catholiques Believe as they Did ; And the Dissenters Believe as they Did ; So that [ the Papists Favour , he says , is Inconsistent with this Single Article : ] And is not the Dissenters Favour , on the other side , as Inconsistent with the same Article ? So that there 's no more hope of favour on the One side , then there is on the Other . Now if they are Resolv'd , on Both Sides , not to Yield , what are All These Elaborate Disswasives , but only so many Fine Words thrown into the Air ? Think a little , how dangerous it is to build upon a Foundation of Paradoxes . Popery now is the only Friend to Liberty , and the known Enemy to Persecution : The Men of Taunton and Tiverton , are above all other eminent for Loyalty . The Quakers from being declared by the Papists not to be Christians , are now made Favourites , and taken into their Particular Protection ; they are on a sudden grown the most accomplished men of the Kingdom in Good Breeding , and give Thanks with the best Grace , in double Refined Language . So that I should not wonder , though a Man of that Perswasion , in spight of his Hat , should be Master of the Ceremonies . Not to say Harsher Words , these are such very New Things , that it is impossible not to suspend our Belief , till by a little more Experience we may be informed whether they are Realities , or Apparitions : We have been under shameful Mistakes , if these Opinions are true ; but for the present we are apt to be incredulous ; Except we should be convinced , that the Priests Words in this Case too , are able to make such a sudden and effectual Change ; and that their Power is not limited to the Sacrament , but that it extendeth to Alter the Nature of all other things , as often as they are so disposed , p. 3. IT would be Good Advice to the Author , as well as to the Dissenter , to Consider the Danger of Building upon Paradoxes : For it is to My Thinking , Extremely Paradoxal , to draw Arguments of Inclination from Results of Necessity ; and to make it an Act of Friendship , for Two Bodies , or Divisions of Men , that have Need , One of Another , to shake Hands upon Certain Terms and Articles of Composition . The Papists would be at Liberty ; and so would the Dissenters ; And I think they should deserve to be Chronicled for Idiots , and Mad-Men , not to Unite in any Common Medium , with Justice , Honour , and a Good Conscience , toward their Joint-Ease , and Relief . And what 's the Papists Friendship now , to Liberty ; but that they would fain be out of their Shackles , Themselves ? And what 's their Enmity to Persecution , but a Desire to stand upon Even Ground , with the rest of the Kings Subjects ? Especially , as they are Entitled to it by the Kings Late Indulgence . God forbid , that any Honest English Man should Envy any of his Fellow Subjects the Benefit of the Kings Mercy ; because ( in Effect ) a man can hardly do it , without some sort of Reflexion upon his Sacred Wisdom and Goodness . To proceed now from the Irony upon Popery , to the Men of Taunton , and Tiverton ; and so to the Quakers . It is not Good to Discourage men that do but so much as look towards Loyalty ; and though Every body Cannot come up to the Good Breeding that This Gentleman is pleased to make himself so merry withal ; we might Yet Methinks Arrive at such a Degree of Moral Civility , as to give his Majesty leave to Dispose of his Own , without calling him to Account for 't . The Quakers , ( he says ) are the Papists Favourites . And are not the Dissenters , ( at least as This Letter would have it Thought to be ) the Favourites of the Author ? And so he goes on still , sporting himself with these People , as [ the Men that give Thanks with the Best Grace . ] Well! And when his Hand was In , Why did he not take Notice , of Those too , that with a very Ill Grace , give No Thanks at all ? He Cautions the Dissenters , to suspend their Belief till they know whether the Papists are in Jest , or Earnest : And why not Suspend , as well , 'till they can have the same Security for the Good Faith of the Author too ? [ We have been under shameful Mistakes ( he says ) if These Opinions are True. ] And I say , that we have Seen , Felt , Heard , and Vnderstood Mistakes much more shameful then any of These . Nay , and we have had True-Protestant Oaths for them too , in the same Case , and about the same People ; And All yet found to be a Cheat at last . To go Thorough with him , he calls in the Sacrament once again to his Aid , at the End of This Clause . I wish the Period had been handled with a little more Solemnity ; for I never lov'd the Hocus-Pocussing of Hoc est Corpus Meum . Let me now speak of the Instruments of your Friendship , and then leave you to judge , whether they do not afford matter of Suspicion . No Sharpness is to be mingled where Healing only is intended ; so nothing will be said to Expose particular men , how strong soever the Temptation may be , or how clear the Proofs to make it out . A word or two in general , for your better caution , shall suffice : Suppose then , for Argument's sake , that the Mediators of this new Alliance , should be such as have been formerly imployed in Treaties of the same kind , and there detected to have Acted by Order , and to have been Impowered to give Encouragements and Rewards . Would not this be an Argument to suspect them ? P. 3. WE have had Suspicious FRIENDSHIPS ; Suspicious COVRTSHIPS ; Suspicious BILLS , and PLAISTERS ; Suspicious CHANGES ; Suspicious PARADOXES ; ( with Caution upon Caution over and above ) and we are now a coming to Suspicious INSTRVMENTS : But [ Where Healing is only intended , there must be no Sharpness ] he says ; And so he goes forward Supposing and Supposing , in General , without Exposing Particular Men. I am sorry with all my Heart that this Healing Humour ; Or at least This Healing Intention did not take our Author sooner ; for so far hitherto , as the Publique has been the Question , we have had Sharpness beyond Measure : But he is Resolv'd , from Henceforward , to Illustrate , by John-a-Nokes , and John-a-Styles ; and so to Proceed putting of Cases and Cases allmost to the End of the Chapter . Suppose ( says he ) that the Present Mediators , &c. should be found to have been Factors of Old , and Commission'd to give Encouragements , and Rewards , in Treaties of the same Kind . I Answer , First , that Supposing is not Proving . 2ly . That the Supposed CASE on the One-side , till it be made out , is as Suspicious as the Supposed PRACTICE on the Other . For the Supposition of such a Practice may be a Fiction ; or it may be Enflam'd , and render'd Bigger then the Truth . 3ly . The Supposition , Thus Represented , Works Equally , whether it be True or False , without Farther Evidence . 4ly . What if it were True , so long as it Is not the Character of the Instrument , but the Reason of the Proposition , that is to Govern ? 5ly . 'T is the Authority that must bear out the Instrument ; and not a Prejudice to the Instrument , that shall Disparage the Authority : And if we cannot pay a Respect to the Man , it is yet Due to his Commission . 6ly . If the Suspecting of Any man , shall Extend to the Taking away , or to the Lessening of his Credit . 'T is in the Power of any One Man , to suspect any Other , and No man can be Safe in his Innocence : Beside that , the Stress of this Insinuation will put All men out of Capacity for Publique Trust , if it shall but be Prov'd , nay , or so much as Suggested , that ever they made a False Step , in their Lives . The Next , and Last Point , Expounds the Letters soft way of Proceeding , to have had more in it of Prudential Caution , then of Tenderness for Particular Persons : For they must be Detected , to have Acted by ORDER ; and [ ORDER ] runs up Stairs the Lord knows whither . If they should plainly be under Engagements to one side , their Arguments to the other , ought to be received accordingly ; their fair Pretences are to be looked upon as part of their Commission , which may not improbably give them a Dispensation in the case of Truth , when it may bring a prejudice upon the Service of those by whom they are imployed . p. 3. THE Short of This Supposition , is , that their Arguments are to be Judg'd by their Dependences ; and that they are Commission'd to Lye , and Juggle for the Service of their Masters . These [ IF 's ] are Deliver'd with the Ayre of a Patriote , and with the Spirit of a Free-born-English-man ; Like a Censor Morum in fine . If the Gentleman has an Ambition to be a Devote , for the Saving , or the Redeeming of his Country , he will Vnriddle the Mystery ; Lay Open the Confederacy ; and bring All These Monsters out of Their Holes , into Open Day-light : Without which , we are so far from being the Better ; that in Truth , we are much the Worse for his Suppositions : And without This , the Whole Pretended End of his Letter to a Dissenter , is Entirely Disappointed . If there should be men who having formerly , had Means and Authority to perswade by Secular Arguments , have in pursuance of that Power , sprinkled Money amongst the Dissenting Ministers ; and if those very men should now have the same Authority , practice the same Methods , and Disburse , where they cannot otherwise perswade : It seemeth to me , to be rather an Evidence then a Presumption of the Deceit . P. 3. If there should be Ministers amongst you , who by having fallen under Temptations of this kind , are in some sort engaged to continue their Frailty , by the awe they are in lest it should be exposed : The perswasions of these unfortunate men must sure have the less force , and their Arguments , though never so specious , are to be suspected , when they come from men who have Mortgaged themselves to severe Creditors that expect a rigorous observation of the Contract , let it be never so unwarrantable . P. 3. If these , or any others , should at this time Preach up Anger and Vengeance against the Church of England ; may it not without Injustice be suspected , that a thing so plainly out of season , springeth rather from Corruption than Mistake ; and that those who act this Cholerick part , do not believe themselves , but only pursue higher Directions , and endeavour to make good that part of their Contract which obligeth them , upon a Forfeiture , to make use of their inflaming Eloquence ? They might apprehend their Wages would be retrenched if they should be Moderate : And therefore whilst Violence is their Interest , those who have not the same Arguments , have no reason to follow such a Partial Example . P. 4. HEre 's Supposition upon Supposition , More , and More sill . What if there should be Mony in the Case , among the Dissenting Ministers , as there has been formerly ? And what if the Agents of Former Times should be now at their Old Trade again ? Why truly , for My Part , it shall be either So , or Not so , as the Author pleases ; and e'en let him take his Choice . If there has been No Mony given , the Author is out in his History ; And if there Has been Mony given , the Single Question is , Whether the Thing was Honest , or Dishonest ; Warrantable , or Vnwarrantable ; that was to be done for That Mony. I do not find that there were any Bravo's , or Church-Robbers employ'd in This most Important Commission . I do not hear of any Murder or Sacrilege , in the Question : But when it shall be Prov'd , that a Wicked Thing was ORDER'D , and a Wicked Thing DONE , Then , ( and not till Then ) will be the Time for This Supposition to take Place . Now if it was a Lawfull , or a Righteous Bus'ness , I have very Good Authority for 't , that the Labourer is Worthy of his Hire ; And it is the Wisdom , and the Justice of All Well-Ordered States , to Reward Publique Services , without Suffering Good Subjects to be Call'd Mercenaries , for Touching the King's Mony ; and likewise for the Credit , and the Vindication of the Honour of the Government , not to suffer the Bountyes of the Prince to be Scandalously Represented to the People , under the Odious Names of Corruption , Bribery , or Subornation : Insomuch , that the Presumption of Fraud , seems to lye much stronger on the Supposers side , then it does on the Other . The Letter is [ IFFING ] of it now again too ; with a [ What if the Mercenary Ministers Before supposed , should be kept in Awe , for fear of telling of Tales ? ] They are gotten into Hucksters Hands , and there 's No coming off without a Scratch'd Face . Now am I , the very Same Indifferent Man , to This Supposition , that I was to the Former ; and believe it , upon the Whole Matter , to be a Fiction : But I do not yet , either Pretend to Know , or to Pronounce upon 't ; and whether it be a Truth , or a Figment , 't is to Mee All of a Price : So that for Quietness sake , I am content to Reason with the Gentleman upon his Own Askings ; His Own Presumptions ; Nay , and I care not if I say , upon his Own Affirmations too ; For This way of Casing a Matter , has the Force of Asserting it . If , in Good Earnest , such a Thing has been ; and that they dare not come off for fear of being Layd Open ; 't is the Case ( that I have had somewhere before ) of a Gentleman that lay given over by his Physician , in a Desperate Fit of Sickness . A Friend and Companion of His , made him a Visit ; layd his Condition before him , and Advis'd him , by All means , while he had Life yet , to Call upon God , and Repent . Why Ay , ( says he ) If I were sure to Dye , I 'de Repent with all my Heart ; But then , if I should happen to Live , the Rogues would so Laugh at me . Here 's the Perfect Image of the Author's Thoughts , upon the Supposed Dissenter in the Second Period , Body and Soul. He 's Affraid to Repent , for fear the Rogues should Laugh at him . I do not know how far This Bashfull Argument may Work upon the World ; but I am persuaded that the Plea will hardly be admitted at the Day of Judgment . And then he lays the Stress of the Case , upon a Point that 's Never to be Clear'd ; 'till we have All of us Windows in our Breasts , and Eyes , to See and Read the Thoughts of one Another in our very Hearts . And where 's the Result at last , but that we are to Draw Conclusions from the Bare Possibility of Things , to the Infallibility of a Demonstration ! Let This be Granted , and the Supposition stands Firm ; but Nothing Less then This , will be ever able to Support it . And the Case-putting-Humour goes on still too ; though the Author succeeds no Beeter in his Third Supposition , then he did in the Two Former . By [ These , or Any Others Preaching up Anger , and Vengeance against the Church of England ] He can mean Nothing in the World , but Popish Priests , or Dissenters ; unless he should Imagine , that the Church-of-England Ministers will lay Violent Hands upon Themselves . Such Preaching , he says , is [ plainly out of Season ] with a regard , he means , to the Timing of it : Which seems to Imply , that at some other time , it might do well enough . Now if it be an Ill Thing to do at Any time , it will be ALLWAYS out of Season ; for 't is not with Sermons , as 't is with Mackrel , to be IN , and OVT : But if Such Preaching may be Now Out of Season ; Why may not some Ways of Writing be out of Season too ? And why may it not be a Thing of as Dangerous Consequence , to set the Dissenters and the Papists , as to set the Dissenters , and the Church-of-England-men together by the Ears ? Not but that This Way of Conduct , Wounds the True , and the Genuine Church of England under the Bare Denomination of a Church-of-England-Cause , more then it does Either of the Other Two Parties , as I shall shew when it comes before me . But the Corruption goes on still . The Cholerick Part ( he says ) is but Acted ; Higher Directions msut be Pursu'd , or the Contract is Void . Nay , the Dissenters are in Pay too , and they have Wages . The Design is to Work Violence , and There he Pins the Basket. If the Cholerick Part be ( as he says ) but Acted , the Dissenters and the Church-of-England-Men Understand One Another , before hand it seems , and the Whole Story of the Letter is but a Banter : That same Expression of [ Higher Directions ] is a Bugg Word or Two ; and from Higher to Higher , there will be No Resting Place found for this Oraculous Innuendo , till we come to the Highest of all . Now I am not Lawyer enough , to know , What such a Charge of CONTRACT , CHEAT , and VIOLENCE , in such a Train of Connexion may amount to . This is [ a Partial Example ] he says ; And truly Mythinks , This Letter has a very Partial way of Proceeding ; for it makes War , and Peace , in the same Breath ; Rips up Old Wounds under the Colour of Healing them : And I appeal to the indifferent World , whether a Cholerick Writer may not be as Dangerous , as a Cholerick Preacher ; and if the One Example be not as much to be Avoided as the Other . Wherefore I think it would not do Amiss , if the Dissenter should Counter-Advise his Remembrancer upon Two or Three of these Last Points : For the Letter deals altogether by Secular Arguments too ; and there may be Mony Walking on the One Side , as well as on the Other . And then again , the Disuniting of the Kings Subjects , of what Religion soever they are , is a Point as Suspicious , As any that we have yet Before us : And it is a Thing , every jot as much out of Season certainly , to Endeavour the making the Romanists Odious ( As Romanists ) under a Prince of That Communion , as it is to Endeavour the Conciliation of a Friendship betwixt the Roman Catholiques , and any other sort whatsoever of the Kings Liege People . 'T is a Rash , an Irreverent , a False , and a Seditious Insinuation , to Possess Subjects with an Opinion , that there is No Faith , Truth , Honour , or Justice , to be Expected from the Religion of That Church , whereof their Sovereign is a Member . And so to the Next Supposal . If there should be Men , who by the Load of their Crimes , against the Government , have been bowed down to comply with it against their Conscience ; who by incurring the want of a Pardon , have drawn upon themselves the necessity of an intire Resignation : Such Men are to be Lamented , but not to be Believed : Nay , they themselves , when they have discharged their Vnwelcom Task , will be inwardly glad that their forced Endeavours do not succeed ; and are pleased when Men resist their Insinuations ; which are far from being voluntary or sincere , but are squeezed out of them by the Weight of their being so Obnoxious . P. 4. BEfore I speak to the Case , I cannot but do a Gentleman 's Right to the Author , and say ; that [ If Troy could have been Defended , This was the Hand to have done it . ] In one Word more , It is Cleanly , and Artificial ; but still it makes his own Saying Good , at last ; that [ It is a Dangerous Thing to Build upon a Foundation of Paradoxes . ] What Credit ( says he ) is to be given to Criminals , that are forced to Compound for their Necks , against their Consciences ? Nay , they 'l be Inwardly Glad , not to be Able to Succeed in their Endeavours ; for 't is All Force without the least Pulse , or Stroke , of Nature , or Inclination . If these Men will Act AGAINST their Consciences , for a Pardon , will they not much more Act ACCORDING to their Consciences for the Continuance of that Security ? That is to say , upon Conviction that they were in an Error : But if the Dutiful Conscience of Preserving the Publique Peace , Works One way ; And if the Letter will Suppose a Conscientious Obligation ( either so in Truth , or so Vnderstood ) for the Destroying of a Lawful Government , on the Other , it is a kind of a Scandal upon the very Rebellion , to call it a Crime ; In Opposition to the Text here that Implies it to be a Matter of Conscience . Here 's the Present Case , in short , Stated , and Read upon ; And so we 'le Proceed . If in the Height of this great Dearness by comparing Things , it should happen , that at this Instant , there is much a surer Friendship , with those who are so far from allowing Liberty , that they allow no LIVING , to a Protestant under them . Let the Scene lie in what part of the World it will , the Argument will come home , and sure it will afford sufficient Ground to suspect . Apparent Contradictions must strike us : Neither Nature nor Reason can digest them : Self-Flattery , and the desire to deceive our selves , to gratifie a present Appetite , with all their Power , which is great , cannot get the better of such broad Conviction , as some things carry along with them . Will you call these vain and empty Suspicions ? Have you been at all times so void of Fears and Jealousies as to justifie your being so unreasonably valiant in having none upon this Occasion ? Such an extraordinary Courage at this unseasonable Time , to say no more , is too dangerous a Virtue to be commended . P. 4. THere may be Time , Place , and Occasion , for the Private Entertaining , and the Secret Apprehending of Fears and Jealousies ; And there may be Just Ground , Powerful Inducements , and Necessary Prudence , so to do : But for the Propagating , the Publishing , the Spreading , and the Irritating of Those Jealousies , where the Honour of the Prince , The Dignity of the Government , and the Peace of the State , are All wrapt up in the Consequences of Moving That Distemper , there can be No Time , Place , or Occasion , to Warrant such a Practice . I could Wish , that This Letter had been kept Clearer of the very Word [ SVSPECT ; ] Or , that where the Author has thought sit to make Vse of it , the Suspicion had not been Carried further , then I am willing to understand it was Intended . For Jealousie , Naturally runs into the most Implacable Hatred ; and to tell Protestants that there 's No LIVING , under Papists ; is to tell them at the same Time , that there 's no Suffering of Papists to Live under Them ; and so to set All the Believers of This Doctrine Immediately upon the Cutting of One Anothers Throats . He puts the Case , of a Possibility of a Surer Friendship , at This Instant ; but then Cloggs it with such After-Claps , that Nothing but Future Damnation for a Present Disobedience , can be more Dreadful , then the Course of the Impendent Calamities that he has set before us . Apparent Contradictions must strike us , ( he says : ) And is it not an Apparent Contradiction , to Vest Subjects with the Authority of Governours ? To Invert the Order of Reason and Nature ? and to take the Office of Rule , out of the Grown , and cry Hail King to the Multitude ? Neither Nature , nor Reason , can Digest the turning of the Ordinance of Power , Topsy-Turvy : And the Case is not Appetite , ( as he says ) but Duty . Let Convictions be never so Broad , the Proper Judge of 'em is the Person that God has appointed to Judge of 'em ; and the Slandering of Gods Annointed , on the One hand , is Worse then the very Supposed Male-Administration , on the Other . The People are Happy where a Prince Governs Well : But still in Case , even of a Mis-Government , there 's No Remedy , but what 's Worse then the Disease . Toward the Close of This Paragraph , he draws an Inference from the Dissenters Behaviour under Past Fears and Jealousies , to their Behaviour under Fears and Jealousies , at Present . Now if he had taken into This Calculation , an Account of the Artifices that Rais'd Those Fears and Jealousies ; an Account of the Design ; and the Application of them ; the Misery and Desolation , that they brought upon the King , and Three Kingdoms ; he would not have Advised them , I hope , to the saying of the Same Lesson , and to the doing of the Same Things over again . And whereas he calls Courage , a Dangerous Virtue , at This Vnseasonable Time ; It is the most Daring , and the most Dangerous of All Courages , that he Himself now Practices ; That is to say ; the Courage of Reading such a Lecture to the Common People , as , if they were not Thoroughly Possessed with a Confidence , and Assurance of their Own Safety , in the Hands where the Mercy and Providence of God hath Placed them , might Endanger the Springing of a Mine , that would , most Infallibly , Bury the Engineer Himself in the Common Ruine . If then for these , and a thousand other Reasons , there is cause to suspect , sure your new Friends are not to Dictate to you , or Advise you . For instance , &c. p. 4. THE Author is so Intent upon the Matter of his Discourse , that I am affraid he has almost forgotten the Title of it . He calls it [ A Letter to a Dissenter , &c. ] and He Himself Personates a Church-of-England-man , in the Manage of it : Now if there be ( according to his own reck'ning ) a Thousand Reasons and Odd , for the Dissenters Suspecting their New Friends ; and against the Entertaining of these New Friends , for Dictators , and Advisers ; Never any Mortal had a Clearer Cause on 't ; and These New Friends are not , upon any Terms , to take upon them to Dictate , and to Advise . Upon This Joynt-Concession , I have a Civil Question or Two to put to the Magisterial , and Fore-casting Author of this Letter . First ; Is he , in Very Very Deed , a True Church-of-England-man , according to the Standard of That Communion ? If Not , Why does he tell the Dissenters that he is one ? Nay , and I 'll Abate him somewhat of the Heights , and Pontificalibus'es too , into the Bargain . Secondly : Admitting him to be the Man that he Professes to be , we shall see presently what comes on 't That way too : And so let him e'en stick to which of the Two He pleases , either the Church , or the Separation . If he be a Dissenter , Himself , he should have call'd his Papers A Letter from a Dissenter to a Dissenter : And in that Case , 'T is Ten to One , he has some Part to Play ; Or some such ORDER , I Warrant ye , as ( he was a saying ) the Dissenting Ministers have ; How to Tread the Stage , How to Govern themselves ; and who knows but he may have [ HIGHER DIRECTIONS too ] as well as some Others of his Brethren ? Warrants , Commissions , and Instructions for the Composing of his Words , Countenances , and Designs : Nay , and Dispensations too , for Dissembling , and Equivocating , according to the Supposed Case Again , of his Fellow Brethren ? If , ( as he suggests ) All These Things have been Done , and Acted , in Mans Memory , and may be likewise Supposed to be Done , and Acted over again ; 't is the World to a Nut-shell , if he be One of That Party , that he is likewise One of Those Managers , Himself ; And 't is not Fair , to Garry Two Faces under One Hood : For , at this Rate , the whole Bus'ness is Nothing but Person , and Disguise . However , for the Author's Reputation , I would rather find a Failing in his Argument , then in his Integrity ; for if he should chance to be found a Dissenter , or as a body may say , but a Dissenters Fellow , it would be enough to bring the Credit of his very History , Matter , Cause , and Design , in Question , to be taken Halting under a Borron'd Character . But Allowing him now to be Aliqualiter , ( with leave of the Criticks ) a man of the Church of England , ( though not so Consummated , and Canonical , as a Body would Wish ) he is Manifestly Hamper'd in his Own Net. For the Church-of-England-Men are to the Dissenters , upon the Strictness of a Civil Point , to All Purposes , as New Friends , as the Papists are : That is to say , according to the Authors Notion , and Intent of This New Friendship . I speak This ad Hominem . He professes a Good Will , and a Friendship to the Dissenters ; The Papists do the Li●● ▪ and their Friendships bear much the same date . Now ( says he ) Your New Friends are to be Suspected ; He Himself is in the same Classis , and as Lyable to be suspected , in the Quality of a New Friend , as the Other . Nay , and a man might yet lay a little more weight upon 't ; It is a Separation in Discipline that makes our Dissenter , and it is the Dissent , so Distinguish'd and Restrain'd , that is here the Question : So that the Papist has no Quarrel to the Dissenter , but as a Member of the Reformation ; for in the Matter of Country , and Allegeance , they do Both fall under the Common CASE of All the King's Subjects . The Addresses that fly abroad every Week , and Murder us with Another to the same ; the first Draughts are made by those who are not very proper to be Secretaries to the Protestant Religion ; and it is your part only to Write them out fairer again . Strange ! that you who have been formerly so much against Set Forms , should now be content the Priests should Indite for you . p. 4. THE Murdering Addresses that are here Complain'd of , in a much more Murdering Letter ; are a Certain sort of Murder , that the Law neither of God , nor of Man , takes any Notice of ; and a Murder , that perhaps was never Heard of , 'till it came to be set up for a Figure , in This Rhetorical Paper . They fly abroad , 't is True ; We Read them in the Gazettes ; and the Letter takes upon it self , to set forth by Mysterious Hints , and Intimations , from what Hands they come too . Now This is Matter of Fact ; and where there 's No Evidence Offer'd , there 's No Place for a Disproof . He gives to Understand , as a Thing of Practice , and Reproche , that the Addressers only Write after the Dictates , and Copies of Other People ; and pleasantly Reproves them for Admitting Set Forms in These Addresses , ( and Set-Forms drawn by Priests too ; ) though they will have None in their Publique Devotions . Now here 's not One Syllable of the Fact in sight ; and the Stress of All , he says , comes to no more then This ; The People do not draw up their Own Addresses ; To which I Answer ; that there was never any Body of Addressers , upon the Face of the Earth , that did not Stand Lyable to the same Exception , in having their Addresses Drawn up for Them : Neither is it so properly the Form of Words ; but the Assent , and the Subscription , that makes the Address : And it is enough for the People to O●…n , and Sign the Matter of the Address ; without any Pretence to a Hand in the Wording of it . I do insist a little the more upon the Privelege of a Commoner of England , to have him Excused from writing his own Addresses , because it may so fall out , that very Honest Man's Skill in Letters , may go no further , perhaps , then the Bare Writing of his Name , or the making of his Mark : Beside , that a Body does not know the Danger of such a President , if our Author should Carry this Point : For the very same Exception will hold against him upon a Suit in Chancery , because , forsooth , his Bill , or Answer , was not of his Own Drawing . The nature of Thanks is an unavoidable consequence of being Pleased or Obliged ; they grow in the Heart , and from thence shew themselves either in Looks , Speech , Writing , or Action : No man wa●●ever Thankful because he was bid to be so , but because he had , or thought he had some Reason for it . If then there is cause in this Case to pay such extravagant Acknowledgments , they will flow naturally , without taking such pains to procure them ; and it is unkindly done , to tire all the Post-Horses with carrying Circular Letters to sollicit that which would be done without any trouble or constraint : If it is really in it self such a Favour , what needeth so much pressing men to be Thankful , and with such eager circumstances , that where Perswasions cannot delude , Threatnings are employed to fright them into a Compliance ? Thanks must be voluntary , not only unconstrained , but unsollicited , else they are either Trifles or Snares , they either signifie nothing , or a great deal more then is intended by those that give them . p. 5. THe Author comes now to Enlarge himself upon the Text of Thanksgiving ; but he forgets , I fear , that there are Thanks of Good-Manners , and Respect , as well as of Passion ; Thanks for Protection in the Enjoyment , and Possession of Benefits , as well as for Actual Bounties in the Collation of them . Many stand in need to be Taught to be Thankful , which he calls [ Bidding ] to be so , and they had never Thought on 't perhaps , if they had not been Admonished so to be . As to the [ Such Extravagant Acknowledgments ] which he speaks of ; I do neither Vnderstand , the [ Such ] nor the [ Extravagant ; ] Unless he Means , that in the Testimonials of the Peoples Loyalty and Affections to his Majesty , as they are set forth in so many Addresses , [ the Play is not worth the Candle . ] His Conceit of Tiring Post-Horses , is an Allegation , without any Proof , or so much as Probability to Back it : But I hope , if it were True , he would have the Charity to Allow the Government ( for That 's the Innuendo of it ) a Liberty to do the same Thing which he Practices Himself . For ( to his Honour be it spoken ) never any Man , perhaps , made more Work for Post-Horses , with Two or Three Sheets of Paper , then the Author has done with This Letter ; And never any Letter perhaps , was more Vniversally Circular , then This has been . And to What End , but to Sollicite , to Perswade , to Threaten , to Fright People ( These are his own Words ) into a Complyance with his Dictates . He is against Pressing Men to be Thankful . Nhw Gratitude is a Duty , both toward God , and our Neighbour : And certainly , a Duty , that may be Pressed , and Inculcated in the Moral Offices of a Civil Life , as well as in the Chair , or the Pulpit . To make an End of This Clause , Either he is gone off from his Text of Thankful Addresses , or else he does a Worse Thing in making either Trifles , or Snares of Those Applications ; which , in Common Justice , and Modesty ought to receive a Fairer Construction . If an Inference should be made , That whosoever Thanketh the King for his Declaration , is by that engaged to Justifie it in point of Law ; it is a greater Stride than , I presume , all those care to make who are perswaded to Address , &c. p. 5. IT must not be Forgotten , that though the Author of the Letter has Chang'd his Battery , from Invention to Rhetorique , from Rhetorique to Calumny ; and , now at last , from Calumny to Law ; That he is still Constant to his First Design , and to the Two Main Topiques , viz. of the King's Declaration of Indulgence , and of the Addresses that have follow'd upon it : But Whether for Decency , Affection , or Good Company , it Matters not to Our Present Bus'ness . He enters upon his Subject , with a kind of an Exposition , Ex post facto , of the Addressers Meaning ; After the Addresses were Presented ; and without much Regard to What they thought , either Before , or upon the Spot , at the very Presenting of them . This is much after the President of the Protestation of Forty . First they made the People Take it ; and when they had once gotten it down , the Imposers Publish'd a Comment upon the Meaning of it . The First Step that he Advances toward his Law-Point , comes within a Hair's Breadth of Pronouncing the King's Declaration to be a Nullity . But he brings it In , with an [ IF , ] and an [ I PRESUME ] And What does he Presume ? but that All the Addressers , are either Fools or Knaves , in either Taking , or in Addressing Thanks , for that which they think in their Consciences , the King has No Power to Give . If he can sink the Reputation of the King's Power , and Prerogative , the Whole work is done at a Stroke . But he is Resolved , to have , at least , Two Strings to his Bow , and to Try what 's to be done upon the Passions of the People , if he Cannot Captivate their Vnderstandings . And so he sets himself to the Driving of Another Naile . If it shall be supposed , that all the Thankers will be Repealers of the Test , whenever a Parliament shall meet ; such an Expectation is better prevented before , then disappointed afterwards ; and the surest way to avoid the lying under such a Scandal , is , not to do any thing that may give a Colour to the Mistake . P. 5. HIs First Attempt is to Invalidate the Kings Declaration it self ; and if he cannot Carry the Law-Point , he is now a Trying what he can do upon the Poll , toward the Frustrating and Poysoning of it in the Operation and Effect , upon the Meeting of Another Parliament . If it shall be supposed ( says he ) that all the Thankers will be Repealers , &c. 'T is Better Prevented , then Disappointed : As who should say , Let the Next Choice be made according to our Authors Measures , and the Members must be neither Church-of-England-Men , nor Papists , nor Dissenters , but a sort of Amphibious Republicans , according to This Letter-Model , and the Government will be , then , most blessedly brought to Bed of a Representative Wisdom . These Bespoken Thanks are little less improper then Love-Letters that were sollicited by the Lady to whom they are to be directed : so that besides the little Ground there is to give them , the manner of getting them , doth extremely lessen their Valne . P. 5. HE will not allow [ Bespoken Thanks ] in This Case , or in This Manner , to have either Ground or Value . If there be such a Fatality in the Matter , that there is No keeping the Author of the Letter out of Harms-way , I had much rather that he should fall upon his Own Weapon , then by Any Malicious Practice , or Address of Mine : So that for a Dish of Coffee , These Thanks shall be BESPOKEN , or NOT Bespoken , whether of the Two He pleases : For they are never the More , or the Less due , for Being , or Not Being , either the One , or the Other : And if they be Due , with a respect to the Person , to the Occasion , to the Prudence , Good Manners , or to Twenty other Circumstances that Enter into Offices of This Quality , 't is Enough , to give them both Ground and Value . The King speaks to All his People , in This Declaration , and are they too Stout to make him a Leg for 't ? He speaks Kindly to them too ; and shall That Gracious Goodness not receive so much as an Acknowledgment ? He does it at a Time too , when Peoples Hearts , and Heads , are Tamper'd with Jealousies , for fear of Popery , and Arbitrary Power ; when the very Season Elevates the Character of the Mercy ; And is All This to pass for Nothing now , in Our Authors Opinion ? [ Set your Souls at rest , Every Man , and Every Sort of You ; for your Freedoms , your Lives , and your Religions Are , and shall be secure , Vnder My Government , and Protection . ] If His Majesty had done any Particular Person , apart , the Honour to Single him out for such an Instance , or Declaration of his Tenderness , and Bounty , what a Brutality would it have been Accounted , to have failed of a Return of Submission , and Acknowledgment , suitable to the Dignity of the Descension . And are not All the Kings Subjects under the Same Tye of Gratitude , when His Majesty speaks to them All Together , as Every Man of them would have been , Severally , and One by One ? Neither is it , in Truth , Only the [ BESPOKEN Thanks , ] at last , that lyes so Hard in our Author's Stomach ; for This Letter of His will not Brook Any Thanks at all ; And his Aversion lyes to the very Duty of Thanksgiving : But however , our Late Tumults , Insurrections , and Rebellions , well Weighed , and Considered , are , Themselves , a sufficient Ground for BESPOKEN Thanks ; Not only in Wisdom , and in Justice , but in Mercy too : 'T is Worth the Experiment to Try an Obstinate , and a Preverse Age , whether Liberty will Quiet it or no : How far it will be Sensible of a Royal Clemency . A Prince that is wholly made up of Generosity , and Goodness ; Let him have never so Great a Mind to Exercise it , cannot , in some Instances , find an Honourable Place for 't : And in Those Cases , 't is no Departure from the Glory of his Sacred Function , not only to Bespeak , but to Sollicit Thanks , and Dutiful Applications ; which sounds no more , upon a Candid Interpretation , then if he should have made Interest , and Friends , to Prevail upon his Own Subjects , that they would but Qualifie themselves as Fit Objects of their Princes Care and Protection , and put their Sovereign into a Capacity of making them Happy . And so forth . It might be wished that you would have suppressed your Impatience , and have been content for the sake of Religion to enjoy it within your selves , without the Liberty of a Publick Exercise , 'till a Parliament had allowed it ; but since that could not be , and that the Artifices of some amongst you have made use of the Well-meant-Zeal of the Generality to draw them into this Mistake ; I am so far from blaming you with that Sharpness , which , perhaps , the Matter in Strictness would bear , that I am ready to Err on the side of the more Gentle Construction . P. 5. VVE have been upon the Subject of Mercy , and in the Turning of a Hand , our Author has here , of his own Proper Motion , Issued out a General Act of Indemnity to the Dissenters . They have been Fool'd , he says , [ by the Artifices of some amongst them ] but for [ Well-meant Zeal ] sake he is Content to Pass it Over . He seems a little Troubled at their Acceptance of Liberty , upon the Terms of the Kings Declaration ; for they might have kept on their Conventicles [ within Themselves ] he says , till the Parliament should have Eas'd ' em . From whence , I Gather This Doctrine ; that the Gentleman is Heart and Hand for the Dissenters Breaking of the Laws , though he is against the Kings Dispensing with them . There is a great Difference between enjoying quietly the Advantages of an Act , irregularly done by others , and the going about to support it against the Laws in Being : the Law is so Sacred , that no Trespass against it is to be defended : Yet Frailties may in some Measure be excused when they cannot be justified . p. 5. HEre is an Admirable Title set a-foot , to the Lawful Enjoyment of Crown , and Church-Lands , under Oliver . But if he speaks of the Declaration of Test ; the Laws in Being would be of no Force at all , if that Law of Test should Prove Repugnant to the Law of God. I do not say that it Is so ; but if it should be found to Bee so , our Author 's Positive Judgment for the Obligation of the Laws in Being , would be one of Those General Rules that in Tract of Time , Practice , and Experiment , would meet with a Thousand Exceptions . The Law of the Land is Sacred , and so is the Law of the Prerogative , which is the Law of the Land as well as the Other , and nothing ought to be Call'd a Trespass against a Humane Law , that is Authoriz'd by the Indispensable Equity of a Law Divine . There are several Snatches in This Paper , that are either Founded , or Pretend to be Founded upon the Resolution , and Obligation of Laws . I shall spend my Thoughts too much upon Fractions , to take them One by One , as they fall in my way ; but I shall ee'n do as a Country Gentleman did at an Ordinary . The Company was set round the Table , Wayting for Dinner ; and in the Interim , some Particular Acquaintances Entertain'd the Time with Toying , and Throwing Crumbs of Bread One at Another : My Country Gentleman , that knew not so much as One Face at the Table , Pick'd his Man , and fell to the same Sport too : The Other took it up still , and Threw it over his Shoulder : But at last very civilly told him , Sir , ( says he ) I beseech you , will you keep your Account , and when it comes to a Loaf , you shall have it All together . I must Now desire My Author to give me Credit too , 'till it comes to a Loaf , and I shall Then give him what I have to say upon This Subject All at Once . The Desire of enjoying a Liberty from which Men have been so long restrained , may be a Temptation that their Reason is not at all times able to resist . If in such a Case some Objections are leap't over , indifferent Men will be more inclin'd to lament the Occasion , then to fall too hard upon the Fault , whilst it is cover'd with the Apology of a good Intention . But , &c. P. 5. HEre is a very Friendly Apology for an Allmost-Irresistible Temptation . The Author is of Counsel for the Defendent ; and makes a Case of Equity on 't , to set the Fault against the Occasion . The Desire of Liberty might have been a Plea for the Forbidden Fruit too . And now for Leaping over Objections , our Author has shew'd himself as Good at it as any Dissenter of 'em All ; For he has been pleased to Exercise a Liberty in These Sheets , not only without any Visible Temptation , but Against Any Visible Reason for so doing : But he is his own Confessor , and Absolves Himself upon This Vnaccountable Doctrine , that [ The Apology of a Good Intention Covers the Fault ; ] Which makes Every Man a Judge in his Own Cause . Where , to Rescue your selves from the Severity of One Law , you give a Blow to All the Laws , by which your Religion and Liberty are to be protected , and instead of silently receiving the Benefit of this Indulgence , you set up for Advocates to support it . You become Voluntary Aggressors , and look like Counsel retained by the Prerogative against your Old Friend Magna Charta , who hath done nothing to deserve her falling thus under your Displeasure . P. 5. IF the Supporting of this Indulgence be the setting of the Prerogative , and Magna Charta together by the Ears ; and that His Majesty has , in This Act , Vsurpt upon the Laws of the Land , and the Liberties of the People ; What Court of Judicature will the Author of This Calumny fly to with his Appeal ? Or what is This Suggestion Less then an Arrow shot at the Heart of the Supreme Magistrate ; how speciously soever drawn by the Arm of a Pretended Patriot ? 'T is well enough , ad Populum , to talk of the Dissenters giving a Blow to All the Laws that Protect them , by Endeavouring a Rescue from One Law that Offends them : But in Substance , and Effect , there 's no more in 't then the Cadence of a Well-Turn'd Period . To take the Matter Aright ; 't is not the Law that Protects Us ( for Laws have neither Hands , nor Feet ) but an Over-ruling Power that Manages , Protects , and Actuates That Law. The Law is a Rule , 't is True , to such or such a Form , or Frame , of This or That Government : But it is yet No Further a Rule , then as it Squares with the Divine , and Fundamental Rules of Government it self ; of which Rules and Measures , tho Supreme Magistrate is the Only Moderator , and Judge . If the Case then should be that the Price expected from you for this Liberty , is giving up your Right in the Laws , sure you will think Twice before you go any further in such a Losing Bargain . P. 6. IT will not be Denyed that the Subject has a Right in the Benefit of the Laws ; but he has none at all Undoubtedly in the Interpretation , or the Administration of them : So that our Authors Case , in This Expostulation is ( Right or Wrong ) an Vsurpation upon the Province of his Superiors ; for there 's no longer any Order , or Reason , in the Works and Offices of Providence , and Nature , when Authority and Subjection shall come to be Inverted , or Confounded . He seems extremely Tender on the Behalf of the Dissenters , for fear they should give up their Birth-rights in a Composition for their Liberty . This is it which he calls [ their Right in the Laws ; ] but he hopes they will be Better Advis'd first . Here is an Imperial Prerogative over-ruled by a Pamphlet ; A Cause given against the King by John-a-Styles ; and First or Last , a whole Systeme of Republican Consequences , Built upon it ; and it is upon a Point too , that perhaps was never Controverted till now , in any Setled State , and upon This Bottom . It is a Right of the Crown Common to All Governments in the World , and so Essential to the Maintaining of a Civil Polity , in Peace and Security , that No State can Subsist without it : And Consequently , No Act of State can take it away . In one Word , I speak of the Power of Calling , Forbidding , Continuing , or Dissolving Publique Assemblies . And the Exercise of That Power is the Point in Question upon This Declaration : And without This Power he can neither Defend Himself , nor Protect his People ; neither Punish the Guilty , not secure the Innocent ; Nor finally , Discharge the most Necessary Duties of State and Justice . After giving Thanks for the Breach of One Law , you lose the Right of Complaining of the Breach of all the rest ; You will not very well know how to defend your selves when pressed ; and having given up the Question when it was for your Advantage , you cannot recall it when it shall be to your Prejudice . P. 6. HE takes the Case all the way for Granted , and so Proceeds upon the Presupposal of an Imaginary Breach , and Right . He makes a Mighty Bus'ness of the Peoples giving up That which they never Had , and of their Losing Certain Priviledges in the Future , that they have No Pretence to : And , after All , not one Colour of a Reason offered , why Sentence should not be given against him . If it be Clear , that the People have Not This Right , truly , to My Thinking , he Ventures his Person , and his Reputation upon a Dangerous Position : Or what if a Man , for Arguments sake , should Yield , that the People Have such a Right , the Authors Hand is yet in the Wrong Box , to Commence a Suit against His Majesty in No Bodies Name ; In a CIRCULAR LETTER thus , and No Day , or Place set for a Hearing . Briefly , If there were no More in 't , the very Manner of the Proceeding would be enough to turn Justice it self , Thus Communicated , into a Libel . To come now to the Merits of the Question : There 's First , a Claim set a-foot without Any Foundation . 2ly . A Right Supposed , and the Cause utterly Spoil'd by Ill Management : But what if a Body should give him his Vttermost Demands now ; and take the Matter De bone esse , as He Himself has set it forth : That is to say , Suppose his Challenge to be Good ; The Proceeding , Regular , and Modest ; and the Subjects Right ; in Strictness of Law , as Clear , and as Vndubitable as He Affirms it to be ; He will find himself in a Worse Condition perchance This way , then he was Before : For if Subjects will be standing upon their Terms ; and by Vying Privileges against Privileges with their Sovereign , Provoke him to Return Strictnesses for Strictnesses upon them , by way of Reprizal ; Our Author , I fear , is not Aware of the Certain Consequences of such a Contest ; If the KING shall come to take All Advantages against the Subject , on the other hand , that the Rigour , and the Letter of the Law will Allow him . If you will set up at one time a Power to help you , which at another time by parity of Reason shall be made use of to destroy you , you will neither be pitied , nor relieved against a Mischief you draw upon your selves , by being so UNREASONABLY Thankful . It is like calling in Auxiliaries to help , who are strong enough to subdue you : In such a case your Complaints will come too late to be heard , and your Sufferings will raise Mirth instead of Compassion . p. 6. HEre 's the Supposition of a Power set up , to Help the Dissenters , that shall be made use of to their Destruction : Now say I on the Other Hand , that the Power here pretended to be set up , is a Power over and over Recogniz'd allready ; A Power Inherent in the Crown , and a Power Inseparable from it : The English of his Caution , that they should not set it up , Imports , the bidding of them to Disown it ; and more then Insinuates the Antimonarchical Doctrine of making the King's Power to be Radically in the People : But here 's a Bugbear started , and all long of themselves , it seems , for being so [ UNREASONABLY Thank full . ] The King Grants them an Indulgence ; They Thank him for 't ; and That Vnreasonable Thankfullness ( says our Author ) will be their Ruine . I hope he does not mean the King , by that Destroying Power , though I do not see any way in the World to keep his Majesty Clear of That Innuendo : And Briefly ; the Edge Strikes the Same Way thorough the Whole Course of the Paper . If you think , for your excuse , to expound your Thanks so as to restrain them to this particular case , others , for their ends , will extend them further ; and in these differing Interpretations , that which is back'd by Authority will be the most likely to prevail ; especially when by the advantage you have given them , they have in truth the better of the Argument ; and that the Inferences from your own Concessions are very strong , and express against you . This is so far from being a groundless Supposition , that there was a late instance of it , in the last Session of Parliament , in the House of Lords , where the first Thanks , though things of course , were interpreted to be the Approbation of the King 's whole Speech , and a Restraint from the further examination of any part of it , though never so much disliked ; and it was with difficulty obtained , not to be excluded from the liberty of objecting to this mighty Prerogative of Dispensing , meerly by this innocent and usual piece of good Manners , by which no such thing could possibly be intended . p. 6. I Find little more in This Paragraph , ( or in This Page , I might have said ) then a Rhetorical Reading upon the Virtue of INGRATITUDE ; ] and how Mortal a Sin it is , under the Highest Obligations to a Prince , for Subjects to be THANKFULL . The Great Danger , and Inconvenience , that appears in This Section , is the hazzard of Misconstruction , for fear a man that gives Thanks for Chalk , should be thought to give Thanks for Cheese . Now it was my Opinion , that a man might be as Explicit in his Thanks , as upon Any Other Subject ; and if This Banter passes , I am Absolutely for keeping my Hands in my Pocket , and my Tongue betwixt my Teeth , in my Own Defence : for if a body either Speaks , or Writes , and Authority should make Treason on 't , it might be as much as a man's Life's Worth. His Instance of a Case last Session of Parliament , in the House of Lords , is a Point too Hot for Mee to Meddle with . But I may venture yet without the Risque , I hope , of a Scandalum Magnatum , to take Notice , of the Author's saying that the King's Speech was DISLIK'D ; A Term , that I presume , he had no Commission for : And then for his Irony upon the [ MIGHTY Prerogative of Dispensing ] 't is a Flower not to be Pass'd over without an Emphasis . In One Word more ; it is a Wonderful Thing , that our Author's Head should run so much upon the Differing Interpretations that would be Pass'd upon his UNREASONABLE Thankfullness , in such a Case as This ; and never so much as Dream of the Constructions that would be made on the Other Hand , ●or ( certainly ) a more Vnreasonable Vnthankfullness . This sheweth , that some bounds are to be put to your good Breeding , and that the Constitution of England is too valuable a thing to be ventured upon a Complement . Now that for some time you have enjoyed the benefit of the End , it is time for you to look into the Danger of the Means : The same Reason that made you desirous to get Liberty , must make you solicitous to preserve it : so that the next thought will naturally be , not to engage your self beyond Retreat , and to agree so far with the Principles of all Religions , as not to rely upon a Death bed Repentance . p. 6. THis Paragraph , does in some Measure make good the Suggestion of the Next before , concerning the Danger of [ Differing Interpretations ; ] for I cannot fully make out the Secret of the Author 's Meaning about [ the Principles of All Religions , ] and [ a Death-bed Repentance ; ] unless he intends by it , so Comprehensional a Charity , that All Christians , in what Latitude soever , may go to Heaven , Hand in Hand , in the way of a Holy Common-Wealth . He would not have the Constitution of England ( according to his Popular Vnderstanding of it ) Complemented away , out of Good Breeding ; Neither would I have That Constitution , according to the Legal , and Monarchical Frame of it , Coursly dealt withall , Calumniated , and Disparag'd , out of Ill-Breeding . He gives Advice about the Benefit of the End , and the Danger of the Means ; and so Conveys a Title over to the People , of Entring into a kind of Joynt Commission with his Majesty , for the Managing of Publique Affairs , and for Obviating the Political Consequences of Things . Take him , in short , quite thorough , and he shews himself Directly an Advocate for a Popular Liberty , without so much as One Salvo for the Rights of the Crown . There are certain Periods of time , which being once past , make all Cautions ineffectual , and all Remedies desperate . Our Vnderstandings are apt to be hurried on by the first heats ; which if not restrained in time , do not give us leave to look back , till it is too late . Consider this in the Case of your Anger against the Church of England , and take warning by their Mistake in the same kind , when after the late King's Restoration , they preserved so long the bitter taste of your rough usage to them in other times , that it made them forget their Interest , and sacrifice it to their Revenge . p. 6. & 7. HEre 's a kind of a Predestinarian Foundation , with Certain Philosophical , Political , and Historical Meditations , and Reflexions upon it . The Time Presses , and when 't is too Late , 't is too Late ; which is a Pithy way of Speaking a Great deal in a Little. His Councell to the Dissenters , of Moderation toward the Church of England , is Good and Seasonable ; but least the Church of England should grow Proud of being so much in our Author 's Good Graces , he gives her a Box o' th' Ear at the very Next Word , that makes her Stagger again ; and in the Same Period , makes as Arrant a Jilt of his Beloved Clyent , as ever he did of the Whore of Babylon . Take Warning , says he , by the Church-of-England's Mistake ; And what was that Mistake ( in his Opinion , at last ) but an Impotent Folly , and a Diabolical Revenge ? So that , to the Scandal of our Author's Profession ; he has set up Two Churches of England ; The One of them a Desperate , Hair-Brain'd , Vindictive Wretch , as He would Represent Her ; The Other , a Good , Peace-making Gentlewoman ; Whereof He Himself takes upon him to be a Son , and a Member . And now to shew that he is all of a piece ; and as Faithful an Historian , as a Canonical Church-of-England-Man ; Nothing can ever so Effectually Terminate THis Dispute , as the Issue of the Conference at the Savoy , ( soon after his Majesties late Return ) toward a General Accommodation . I forget Names ; But they Brake , upon This Point : Because the King's Commissioners would not agree [ That the Enjoying of Things Lawful , by Lawful Authority , if they may by Accident , be the Occasion of Sin , is Sinful . ] His Majesty , for the Purpose , bids the Asserter of that Doctrine , Light him a Candle : No ; ( says he ) if it should happen to be Blown out , and give Offence , some bodies Throat may come to be Cut upon 't . This is it now , that our Author calls The Church of England's Sacrificing their Interest , to their Revenge ; because they would not Agree to a Principle , Absolutely Destructive of Human Society . Either you will blame this Proceeding in them , and for that Reason not follow it ; or if you allow it , you have no reason to be offended with them : So that you must either dismiss your Anger , or lose your Excuse , except you should argue more partially , then will be supposed of Men of your Morality , and Vnderstanding . p. 7. This Method of Reasoning is just as if a Man should Raise a Building upon a Foundation of Blown Bladders ; where there 's nothing but Wind , and Blast , to Support the Fabrick . He runs away with the Fact , for Granted ; Dilemma's upon it , and so leaves the Matter in the Hands of Men of Morality , and Vnderstanding . If you had now to do with those Rigid Prelates , who made it a matter of Conscience to give you the least Indulgence , and even to your more reasonable Scruples continued stiff and inexorable , the Argument might be fairer on your side ; but since the common Danger hath so land open that Mistake , that all the former Haughtiness towards you is for ever extinguished ; and that it hath turned the Spirit of Persecution , into a Spirit of Peace , Charity , and Condescension ; shall this happy Change only affect the Church of England ? And are you so in love with separation , as not to be moved by this Example ? It ought to be followed , were there no other Reason then that it is a Virtue ; but when besides that , it is become necessary to your Preservation , it is impossible to fail the having its Effect upon you . This Party-per-Pale-Humour , runs to the Tune of the Old Song : [ And no body else shall Plunder but I ; ] For the Quarrel does not lye to the Dissenters so much for any Animosity of Theirs toward the Church of England , but for breaking in upon our Author's Patent of Sole Privilege for the Abusing of them Himself . There was a Time , 't is True , when Prelates , ( says he ) were Rigid , Vncharitable , Vnreasonable , Stiff , and Inexorable , Haughty , and under the Power of the Spirit of Persecution , &c. But All is turn'd now it seems [ into a Spirit of Peace , Charity , and Condescension ] ( Quere if it should not have been , Comprehension ) As witness the Pacifick Genius , and Tenderness of the Author here , and his Paper . Is the Church of England so Reform'd , ( the Letter's Church of England , that is ) and will none of You , my Masters , come in , to take your Parts in the Blessing ? Are you so in love with Separation , that when Wee come down to You , you 'l be running away from Vs ? ( For That 's the Meaning on 't . ) 'T is your Interest as well as your Virtue , to Associate : And what 's All This now , but the Down-right Project of Uniting into a Republique ? If it should be said , that the Church of England is never Humble , but when she is out of Power , and therefore loseth the Right of being believed when she pretendeth to it : The Answer is , First , it would be an Vncharitable Objection , and very much miss-timed : An Vnseasonable Triumph , not only Vngenerous , but Vnsafe : So that in These Respects , it cannot be Vrged without Scandal , even though it could be said with Truth . Secondly , This is not so in Fact , and the Argument must fall , being built upon a false foundation ; for whatever may be told you , at this very Hour , and in the Heat , and Glare of your present Sunshine , the Church of England can in a Moment bring Clouds again , and turn the Royal Thunder upon your Heads ; Blow you off the Stage with a Breath , if she would give but a Smile , or a kind Word ; the least Glimpse of her Compliance , would throw you back into the State of Suffering , and draw upon you all the Arrears of Severity , which have accrued during the time of this Kindness to you ; and yet the Church of England , with all her Faults , will not allow her self to be rescued by such unjustifiable means , but chooseth to bear the Weight of Power , rather then lye under the Burden of being Criminal . p. 7 , 8. VVE have here as Lewd a Charactor given ( betwixt Hawk and Buzzard ) of the True Church of England from the Pen of a Pretended Church-of-England-Man , as the Concurring Wit , and Spite of the Greatest Enemy she has upon the Face of the Earth , could put together . Her Humility is made the Effect of her Impotence ; and therefore there 's No Believing of her , ( says the Comment . ) But then ( says the Author Handy Dandy ) That 's a little Vncharitable , and Miss-timed ; and it is neither Generous , nor Safe : So that at This Season it could hardly be said without Scandal , tho among Friends , no more perhaps then Truth ; But then he Rubs up the Dissenters again , with a Politick Flint , that the Church of England ( Meaning ●his Church of England still ) is not so Low , yet neither , as People Imagine ; and that she Could in the next Moment , Command Clouds and Thunder ; Turn Heaven and Earth Topsy-Turvj with [ but a Smile , or a Kind Word : ] But Our Author's Church of England scorns to be Rescued by such Vnjustifiable Means ; ( as giving the King Thanks ; ) and will rather beare the Weight of Power , then the Burthen of being Criminal ; which is all one , as to say , Let the King do what he will , he shall never make us Crouch , either to his Authority , or his Power ; like a Company of Sneaking , Sniveling , Loyal , Thankful Rogues . But have His Church-of-England-Men a Power to do All This ? ( as he says ) Why then they have the Power to make the King Break his Word , and to Stop the Sun in his Course . In fine , his Majesties Faith , Honour , and Government , at the rate of these Hussing Challenges , lye all at Mercy . It cannot be said that she is Vnprovoked ; Books and Letters come out every Day to call for Answers , yet she will not be stirred . From the supposed Authors and the Style , one would swear they were Vndertakers , and had made a Contract to fall at with the Church of England . There are ●●…shes in every Address ; Challenges to 〈◊〉 the Pen , in every Pamphlet : In short , the fairest Occasions in the W●●ld 〈…〉 Quarrel ; but she wisely distinguisheth between the Body of Dissenters , 〈…〉 will suppose to Act , as they do , with no ill Intent ; and these small 〈…〉 and sent out to Picqueer , and to begin a Fray amongst the Protestants for the Entortainment as well as the Advantage of the Church of Rome . p. 8. THat there are Provoking Books , and Letters , that Call for , and that Answer ▪ is a Point readilly agreed upon on My Part ; and our Author will , I hope , upon Second Thoughts admit This letter of his to be One of the Number : Nay , and the Writers , and the Managers of some of those Pamphlets look like 〈◊〉 , or Sharpers , that make it their Trade to start Quarrels , and then Scoure away with a Hat , or a Cloak in the Interim . I have seen several Addresses too , that seem to Extend Liberty of Worship to Liberty of Reproche ; and that think they Cann●● Bless God sufficiently on the One hand , without Treading upon their Neighbours 〈◊〉 , on the Other , There 's no Denying of This ▪ and what 's the Issue at last , but that the True Church of England Suffers for the Faults of our Authors Church of England , Falsly so Called ? This Conduct is so good , that it will be scandalous not to applaud it . It is not equal dealing , to blame our Adversaries for doing Ill , and not commend them when they do Well . p. 8. SVbmission , Patience , and Resignation , are Virtues , Undoubtedly , that Deserve Applause , and the Impartial Distribution of Reward or Punishment , for Well , or Evil-doing , is but Writing after the Copy of the Divine Justice : But then we must not call Evil , Good ; nor Good , Evil. Let us have no Stealing of Crowns in Canorica Habits ; No doing of Ill Things under False Names ; No Writing of Letters to Disturb Government ; to Dishonour a Nation , as well as to Reproche any Religions Profession ; And after All These Contradictions to the Doctrine and Practices of the Apostolical Church of England , let 's have No Casting a Canonical Role over the Shoulders of an Impostor , and leave the Taylor to Answer for the Character . To hate them because they persecuted , and not to be reconciled to them when they are ready to suffer , rather then receive all the Advantages that can be gained by a Criminal Compliance , is a Principle no sort of Christians can Own , since it would give an Objection to them not to be Answered . p. 8. THe Author sets up here for a Sufferer ▪ What would the World think of him now , if his Name should come to be found among the Persecutors ! Not among the Persecutors of the Dissenters ; which he ( most Vn son-like ) Reflects upon in This Clause ; but among the Persecutors , even of Those pretended Persecutors Themselves ! I Charge him with Nothing ; for I do not know him ; but he takes a kind of a Wrigling Biass in this Letter , as if he were Creeping into his Mother's Bells again . The Criminal Compliance , is only the Conscientious Duty of Acknowledging His Majesties Authority ; which is a Characteristical Diserimination , betwixt the Ligitimate , and the Illegitimate Sons of the Church of England . Think a little , who they were that promoted your former Perseuetions , and then consider how it will look to be angry with the Instruments , and at the same time to make a League with the Authors of your Sufferings . TO put this into English now ; the Papists were the Promoters , and the Protestants the Instruments of the Dissenters Former Persecutions : And will you now make a League , says he , with the Authors of your Sufferings ? This is only a Paraphrase upon Otes's Epistle before his Narrative ; and a Story , so quite out of date , that a Man would as soon put Pen to Paper , in Answer to a Canterbury Tale. 1. Have you enough considered what will be expected from you ? Are you ready to stand in every Borough by Vertue of a Conge d'essire , and instead of Election , be satisfy'd , if you are returned ? p. 8. 2. Will you in Parliament , justifie the Dispensing Power , with all its Consequences , and repeal the Test , by which you will make way for the Repeal of All the Laws that were made to perserve your Religion , and to Enact others that shall Destroy it ? 3. Are you disposed to change the Liberty of Debate , into the Merit of Obedience , and to be made Instruments to Repeal or Enact Laws , when the Roman Consistory are Lords of the Articles ? 4. Are you so linked with your New Friends , as to reject any Indulgence a Parliament shall offer you , if it shall not be so Comprehensive as to include the Papists in it ? p. 8. TO take these Four Heads as they lye : The First Implies a Direct Practice , and Confederacy , both In , and With the Sheriffs . The Second Anticipates the Question , and Precludes the Freedom of a Parliamentary Debate : It makes the Common People , Judges of State-Consequences , and subjects the Wisdom , and Justice of the Government to the Censure of the Multitude : Neither is the Test , so Sacred , as not to be lyable to the Common Conditions , and Limitations , that are Annexed to All Other Laws . 3ly . What is This Contemptuous Insinuation , but an Enflaming Bitterness , Mockery , and Scorn , to the Highest Degree ; while the Kings Declaration is made the Ground of the Calumny , and the Incentive to 't ? 4ly . This is , as who should say , [ Leave it to the Parliament to set you at Liberty , but be sure you have nothing to do with the Kings Declaration ; nor with Any Indulgence , that shall include the Papists for Company . ] Consider that the implyed Conditions of your new Treaty are no less , then that you are to do every thing you are desired , without examining , and that for this pretended Liberty of Conscience , your real Freedom is to be Sacrificed : Your former Faults hang like Chains still about you , you are let loose only upon Bayl ; the first Act of Non Compliance , sendeth you to Jayl again . p. 8 , 9. HEre 's an Extravagance of Figure , and Hyperbole , without the force of any Image of Reason , or Truth ; but the Author Bethinks himself what would be the most Provoking Thing in Nature , to be Said , or Done , under our Circumstances , and then Throws it out to the Mobile , as the Resolution and Design , of the King and his Ministers . You may see that the Papists themselves , do not rely upon the Legality of this Power , which you are to Justifie , since they being so very earnest to get it established by a Law , and the doing such very hard things in order , as they think to obtain it , is a clear Evidence , that they do not think , that the single Power of the Crown is in this Case a good Foundation ; especially when this is done under a Prince , so very tender of all the Rights of Sovereignty , that he would think it a diminution to his Prerogative , where he conceiveth it strong enough to go alone , to call in the Legislative help to strengthen and support it . THis Section is a piece of Art , that only Differs from the Former Strokes of the same Pen , in that it Lashes the Government with somewhat a Better Grace . The Pretext is Popular , but bring it to the Touch , and it vanishes like a Mist before the Sun. The King Suspends , by his Prerogative ; but a Total Repeal , must be the Work of his Majesty in Parliament ; which does not yet hinder the Temporary Virtue of a Temporary Suspension : But to give the Author his due , he has some sort of Justice , as well as Wit in his Anger : For after the Crippling of the Prerogative , he Furnishes a Crutch ; and calls in the LEGISLATIVE Help to Support it ; and so drops the Government into a kind of Partnership betwixt King , Lords , and Commons . You have formerly blamed the Church of England , and not without reason , for going so far as they did in their Compliance ; and yet as soon as they stopped , you see they are not only Deserted , but Prosecuted : Conclude then from this Example , that you must either break off your Friendship , or resolve to have no Bounds in it . If they do not succeed in their Design , they will leave you first ; if they do , you must either leave them , when it will be too late for your Safety , or else after the squeaziness of starting at a Surplice , you must be forced to swallow Transubstantiation . p. 9. EIther This is the Fiction of a Case , to serve a Present Turn , or it is True in Matter of Fact ; but it is Clear , that the Dissenters mean One Church of England , and that our Author speaks of Another . But be it as it will , here 's no Light of Evidence that I can see ; nor any Stress of Argument . The Charge that was Flat Popery formerly , is now Dwindled down into a Bare Complyance : But how is This Church Deserted all this while ? How Prosecuted ? In the Declaration that 's made the Foundation of the Controversie , it is Expresly Provided for , and Secur'd ; and the Liberty that is Given to the One side , is not Taken from the Other . But the Author's Church is Teachy , and Froward ; and the Answerer's Church is to bear the Blame on 't ▪ I am at a loss too , at the supposed Stop here ; How far did we Go ? What was it we Stuck at ? A Body would take it to be some Article of Faith , at least , by the Weight that 's layd upon 't ; and that we were Half-way to Smithfield allready , to Burn at Stake for 't . And what 's the Whole Bus'ness at last ; but Live , and let Live : Give My People the Exercise of Their Religion , ( says the King ) and do You Enjoy your Own : which , in our Case , is certainly a very Charitable , and a Reasonable Medium . The Rest runs alltogether upon State-Calculations ; which is the Worst way of Tampering Peoples Minds , and Spiriting away their Hearts from their Sovereign , under the Countenance of Political Judgments . These Fore-boders , are Undoubtedly the most Pernicious of Wizzards , and Fortune-Tellers . Remember that the other day those of the Church of England were Trimmers for enduring you , and now by a sudden Turn you are become the Favourites : Do not deceive your selves , it is not the Nature of Lasting Plants thus to shoot up in a Night : You may look Gay and Green for a little Time , but you want a Root to give you a Continuance . It is not so long since , as to be forgotten , that the Maxim was , It is impossible for a Dissenter not to be a REBEL . p. 9. There 's a Nest of Boxes in This Clause : The Author's Church of England , has a Comprehension in the Belly of it , and That Comprehension is Big again , with a Commonwealth . He makes Trimmer here , to be a Name of Reproche , cast upon the Church of England , for Enduring the Dissenters ; whereas , the Temporizing Neutrality-Men Took up This Name to Themselves , upon a Point of Vanity ; as who should say ; We are the Men that keep the Beat ( or the Government ) Even : And , in This very Place , with the Scandal of a Trimmer in his Mouth , he does the Office of a Trimmer . The Man seems to be Dreadfully affraid of the Papists ; and yet not Half so much , nor in half so Good Earnest , as I am affraid of the Commonwealths-Men ; and there is No way for the doing of That Jobb , like the Binding up of a Hundred several Religions in One Comprehension . There may be Good Faith , Conscience , and Moral Honesty , ( and I doubt not , but that in a Considerable Measure , there is so too ) in the Exercise of Every several Perswasion , Apart ; but the Vniting of Things Inconciliable , in One and the same Mass , can be nothing else then a Club of Confederacy , to do Mischief : Beside , that the Gathering of Bodies , and Societies together , after This manner , is one of the Peculiars of Sovereign Power . 'T is a strange Thing , how much a Greater Priviledge This Vnknown Person Assumes to Himself here upon This Matter , then he will allow the King : And that it should be so much a Greater Crime , to make the Papists and the Dissenters Friends , then to Reconcile the Comprehension-Men , and the Dissenters : Nay , with the Exclusion of a Third Party of his Majesties Subjects , out of All Terms of Agreement . He 's a little Dark in this Paragraph ; but the Change of One Word will make him as Clear as Chrystal . Instead of [ Tou want a ROOT to give you a Continuance ] read it , [ You want a HEAD to give you a Continuance : ] And That 's the Natural Exposition of This Text. Consider at this time in France , even the New Converts are so far from being employed , that they are disarmed : Their sudden Change maketh them still to be distrusted , notwithstanding that they are reconciled : What are you to expect then from your dear Friends , to whom , whenever they shall think fit to throw you off again , you have in other times given such Arguments for their Excuse ? p. 9. THe Sense of this Period would have run every Jot as well in These Words . You see how the Protestants , nay , and the very Converts too are used in France , and you must e'en Expect to be serv'd with the same Sauce here . What Colour can be Pretended now for This Calumny , after so many Declarations , Professions , and Instances , Every Day Fresh and Fresh , to the Contrary ? But This is the Fruit of a Restless , and an Insatiable Comprehension-Principle , that Never in This World thought Any Thing enough , short of All. Besides all this , You act very unskilfully against your visible Interest , if you throw away the Advantages , of which you can hardly fail in the next probable Revolution . Things tend naturally to what you would have , if you would let them alone , and not by an unr●asonable Activity lose the Influences of your good Star which promiseth you every thing that is prosperous . p. 9 , 10. WHy This is directly a Calculating of the Kings Nativity , and an Allmost-Vnheard of way of raising a Use of Consolation , to the People , from the King's Mortality , if not the very Hope of his Majesties Death . The Church of England , convinced of its Error in being severe to you ; the Parliament , whenever it meeteth , sure to be gentle to you ; the next Heir bred in the Country which you have so often quoted for a Pattern of Indulgence ; a general Agreement of All Thinking Men , that we must no more cut our selves off from the Protestants abroad , but rather enlarge the Foundations upon which we are to build our Defences against the common Enemy ; so that in Truth , all things seem to conspire to give you Ease and Satisfaction , if by too much hast , to anticipate your good Fortune , you do not destroy it . p. 10. IF the Poor King ( God Bless us All ) should take Absolute Will and Pleasure upon him , at the rate of the Vnacountable Author of This Letter ; and talk of Parliaments , as if he had their Necks under his Girdle , there would be no Living , for Popular Appeals and Letters to Dissenters . Why 't is made little less then Treason against the Majesty of the Multitude for an Imperial Prince , only to Recommend the Easing of his Subjects of his Own Communion , from the Legal Scandal , and Imputation of being made Criminals by the Statute ; and to Exempt them from the Civil Snares of Tests , and Penalities , before any Immoral Crime is committed . Mythinks his Majesty might be Allowed one short Word , For the Defendent , as well as any Private Letter-Writer a Thousand Against him ; and to Feel the Pulse of a Parliament before hand , what they Intend to do , as well as the Other , to Direct Pronounce , and Appoint Before-hand , what they Are , and Ought to do : But Who , o● What can be Innocent , when it shall be a Crime to be Thankful ? And for a Sovereign Prince , even in a Protestant Cause , to Grant Liberty to a Protestant Party ? But to take him together now , Here 's the Church , crying Peccavi ; Security given for the Good Behaviour of the Next Parliament : And so away for Holland ; [ That Pattern of Indulgence ; ] ( Witness their Taxes and Oppressions Innumerable , as well as Intolerable : ) And what 's his Bus'ness at last , but Treating of Allyances , ( b● what Authority I know not ) and Enlarging the Protestant Foundations , upon which ( he says ) we are to Build our Defences against the COMMON ENEMY . ] His Majesty ( God Preserve him ) being one of the Number , against whom , These Defences are to be Built . His Conclusion is ( in Truth ) Pithy , and Pathetical ; [ Not too fast , my Masters , and your Work will do it self . ] The Protestants have but one Article of Humane Strength , to oppose the Power which is now against them , and that is , not to lose the Advantage of their Numbers , by being so unwary as to let themselves be divided . HE is All , Poltiques here , up to the Hilts : He has Erected a Scheme ; Found out a Propitious Star ; Ensur'd upon a Parliament ; Propos'd an Allyance ; Enlarg'd Foundations , and he is now come to Muster up his Troops . He finds , upon his Books , that the Protestants have the Advantage of Numbers : Well! And what are Those Numbers to do ? They are to Oppose the Power which is now Against them : So ! And what is the Power that is Against them ? Why the Power of the Papists , Every Mother's Son of ' em . One and All is the Word ; That is to say , You must not suffer your selves to be divided . We all agree in our Duty to our Prince ; Our Objections to his Belief , do not hinder us from seeing his Virtues ; and our not complying with his Religion , hath no effect upon our Allegiance ; We are not to be Laug'ed out of our Passive Obedience , and the Doctrine of Non Resistance , though even those who perhaps owe the best part of their security to That Principle are apt to make a jest of it . p. 10. THis is one of the Trimmest Periods we have had yet : Men may Agree in their Duty to their Prince , and yet mistake That Duty ; And neither Judge of it , nor Practice it Aright . If by This Duty , he means a Duty so Qualified , as that is which runs thorough This Paper , the Lord Deliver his Majesty from his Subjects Agreement in a Duty of That Complexion . A Man may see his Princes Virtue , without loving him ever the Better for 't . And what is it to say , that the Kings Religion does not Operate upon My Allegeance , when my Allegeance may be Rotten , as well without it , as with it . A Man may be Debauched , and Corrupted out of his Passive Obedience , without being Laugh'd out of it ; And the Practice of Non-Resistance is Deaf to the Doctrine of it . So that this is All , Fast , or Loose , as he pleases Himself . So that if we give no Advantage by the fatal mistake of mis-applying our Anger , by the natural Course of Things , this Danger will pass away like a showre of Hail ; Fair Weather will succeed , as lowring as the Sky now looketh , and all by this plain and easie Receipt ; Let us be still , quiet , and undivided , firm at the same time to our Religion , our Loyalty , and our Laws ; and so long as we continue this method , it is next to impossible , that the Odds of Two Hundred to One should lose the Bett ; Except the Church of Rome which hath been so long barren of Miracles , should now in her Declining Age , be brought to Bed of one that ●●ould out do the best she can brag of in her Legend . p. 10. IF he had but Preach'd This Doctrine by his Example , and Practic'd the Counsel that he Gives , he should never have Hamper'd Himself in the Difficulties , and Non-Sequiturs of This Discourse . Arger misapply'd , is a Fatal Mistake , he says , and he has given us a Long Letter here , in Proof on 't : But why does he bid us be [ Still ] and lye Wrangling himself ? Why does he Advise [ Quiet ] and Create Disquiet ? How comes he to Press Vnity , and at the Same Time to raise [ Divisions ? ] Religion , Loyalty , and Laws , are Gay Words ; but they have been Apply'd , we know , to the License of the most Atheistical , Rebellious , and Dissolute Times . If his Counsel be General , the Advice of This Clause Overthrows the Drift , and Contradicts the Design of All that Went before ; for the Papists are excepted out of the Conditions . If he Restrains it only to the Protestants , What Colour of Right can any One Part of his Majesties Subjects Pretend to , for the Excluding of any Other ? He closes the Section with an Allegory upon Midwifry , which I have No Skill in . To conclude , the short Question will be , Whether you will joyn with those who must in the end run the same Fate with you . If Protestants of all sorts , in their Behaviour to one another , have been to blame , they are upon the more equal terms , and for that very reason it is fitter for them now to be reconciled . Our Dis-union is not only a Reproche , but a Danger to us ; those who believe in modern Miracles , have more Right , or at least more Excuse , to neglect all Secular Cautions ; but for us , it is as justifiable to have no Religion , as wilfully to throw away the Human Means of preserving it . p. 10. HEre is indeed , as Short , and as Wild a Question , as a body would Wish , without Any Qualification , either Express'd , or Imply'd , for the putting of a man in the way toward a Reasonable Solution . If he had but Confin'd the General Expression of the [ Same Fate , ] to Matter of Religion , Life , Limb , Liberty , or Estate ; or to any other Determinate Point , that a body might have known what to speak to , One might have made a Bolt or a Shaft on 't ; but to talk of the [ Same Fate ] at Large : why who knows , but he may Carry it to Election , Reprobation , or What not ? And , under favour , it was a Great Oversight in him , to lay the Stress of the Persuasive upon the Train of the Company , that goes the same Way , rather then upon the Reason of the Thing : Especially Considering , that the Same Argument holds stronger for the Broad Way , then it does for the Narrow . 'T is true , he Proposes an Vnion here , which is neither Better , nor Worse , then an Association . There remains yet One very Extraordinary Point behind , that is not , upon Any Terms , to be Pass'd over without some Animadversion . That is to say , A Resolution upon the Case , betwixt the Comprehensional-Church-of-England-Men , and the Dissenters , as it is Determin'd by the Author of This Letter . Resolved , That it is as Justifiable to have No Religion , as Willfully to throw away the HUMANE MEANS of Preserving it . In the First Place , What is That Man's Religion , that is of a Hundred and Fifty Religions , according to the Case here in Hand ? Or has That Man Any Religion , or No , that Compounds All These into One ? 2ly . Had not a man better be Careless , or Improvident , then Atheistical ? and better be Guilty of a Failing in his Duty toward God , in This or That Particular , then of a Blasphemous Defyance of him in the Habit of an Impious Life ? 3ly . What does the Author intend by [ HUMANE MEANS ? ] For Conspiracies , Force of Arms , Seditious Practices , and All the Methods of Overturning Governments , fall properly enough under the Classis of [ Humane Means . ] Now if a man may take the Liberty with This Paper , that the Fathers of the Church do with the Holy Bible , i. e. of Expounding One Text by Another : Here is Anti-Monarchical Doctrine in 't ; Project of Confederacy ; Force of Numbers , and Dint of Calumny ; which do all fall Naturally under the Topique of [ Humane Means . ] The Word [ Willfully ] ( even if the Other Law words , Advisedly , and Maliciously , had been added to 't , ) amounts to no more then what is Necessarily Involv'd , and Imply'd in the Rest. Now to Conclude ; Humane Means for Preserving a Religion , can Operate no further then in Cases where Religion may be Taken away ; And I never heard of a Religion yet , that was taken away by Actual Violence . I have now done with the Letter it self ; and the Authors Last Words , shall be the Answerers too . I am , Dear Sir , Your most Affectionate Humble Servant . IN the Course of This Letter and Answer I have dealt Faithfully in every Particular both of Text and Comment ; but I have somewhat yet more to add upon the Whole Matter , touching the Judgment , Candor , and Design of the Author , together with the Conduct , and Argument of the Paper it self . The Author Writes himself a Church-of-England-Man , but it must be by a Second Venter then ; for he gives his Orthodox Mother most Bloudy hard Words , even in his Pretended Zeale for the Interest of That Communion . A Papist is his Aversion : And Then he is No Dissenter neither ; for 't is the Main Drift of his Discourse , to Cluck the Dissenters over to him , and Gather them under his Wing : Only by shewing what he is Not , he gives in some measure to understand what he Is. If one may Judge of his Perswasion , by his Letter , it is an Hundred and Fifty Diversities , of Opinion , Kneaded together according to the Amsterdam Dispensatory , into one Sovereign Composition , under the Nick Name of [ PROTESTANT : ] So that a Body may say of the Religion of This Pamphlet , as the Wench in the Comedy said of her Bastard , 'T is the TROVP'S Religion , 't is the TROVP'S Child ; and there went a great many People to the Making of it . In one Word ; it is a Coalition of so many Nominal Religions into One State-Faction ; for though there may be Conscience in the Particular Opinions , Severally , and Apart ; it is yet Impossible for the Agreement to be any thing but a Confederacy , in the Conjunction ; Tha being the Only Medium wherein they can Vnite . As to the Candor of the Writer , and his Design ; It is as Clear as Day , that he has taken up a False Pretence , as well as a False Person ; and that he neither is a Genuine Son of the Church of England , nor a True Friend to 't ; for Light and Darkness are not more Contrary One to Another , then his Practice is to his Profession : Insomuch , that his own Words and Works are a Thousand Witnesses against him . The Church of England , he says , upon the Late Kings Restauration , Sacrificed their Interest to their REVENGE . RIGID PRELATES that kept People at an UNCHARITABLE Distance : STIFF and INEXORABLE to Reasonable Scruples : HAUGHTY , and Govern'd by the Spirit of PERSECUTION . Letter to a Dissenter , p. 7. Is not This a Gracious Church-of-England-Child now , to talk at This Rate of his own Mother ? And then to shew that he has every Jot as little Reverence for his Civil Parent , as he has for his Ecclesiastical ; take his Papers from End to End , and he has not so much as One Line in 'em that looks kindly upon the Government ; for what 's the Drift of them , but to Debauch the Dissenters from their Duty ; to Possess the Multitude with Desperate Positions against the King's Power ; Calumnies against his Administration , and Down-right Slanders upon his Honour and Justice ! To Hair Them out of their Wits , with Croking , and Ill-boding Presages ; Fill their Heads with Enflaming , and Implacable Jealousies , Alarm them with Visionary Dangers ; Stir them up to Outrages , by an Ostentation of their Numbers ; Flatter them into a False Opinion of their Right and Privileges ! And who but the Mobile , all this while , for the Judges of the Controversie ! What 's the Whole Discourse , in fine , but a Lecture of Civil Power betwixt King and People , upon the Text of PROTESTANT and PAPIST ! And in One Word ; A Paradox of Conscience Dodg'd into a Popular Scheme of Government ! But All , under the Pretext still , of a Church of England Letter too ; though Bloud was as much a Church of England Doctor , when he Stole the Crown ; And I would the Resemblance of This Pamphlet did not look like the same Character Assum'd again , for the same End. This Letter , they say , has made some Proselytes . ( as they call them : ) but Secret Friends , and Abetters it has , in Abundance , though , most Infallibly , whoever is a Friend to the Intent , and Matter of it , is an Enemy to the True Church of England , as well as to that of Rome : to the Honour of his Majesty , and to the Peace of his Dominions : And therefore People should do well to Consider the Doctrine and the Biass of This Letter , before they take upon them to Judge of the Merits of it . I reckon it My Duty however , not to let the Scandal of so Vndutiful a Practice rest at the Door of the Church of England , if I know how to remove it . I have one Word more to say yet , upon a Fancy , that has taken People in the Head upon this Occasion : First , That no Church of England man will Answer This Letter . 2ly . L'Estrange , of All Others , that has ever been so Bitter , and so Violent against Liberty of Conscience , is the Unfittest Man in Nature , to take upon him to Defend it : In Contradiction to his Toleration Discuss'd , his Observators , and Twenty Pamphlets more upon This Subject . Generals prove Nothing ; Beside that they are commonly the Refuge of Shufflers , and Cheats . But I am content however , to put the Matter to This Issue : Let but any man that Charges Mee with such Contradictions , submit to pass for a Fool , if he does not particularly Prove them ; and let me Wear the Reputation of a Knave , if ( in a Fair and Reasonable Equity of Construction ) he makes his Accusation Good. I have now but One Point more to speak to ; And That 's the Subject of the King's Power ; 'T is no more then what the Letter Requires , and what I have Promised to do ; And in Conclusion , a Right that I Owe , both to the Cause , and to my Word . The Author of the Letter to a Dissenter has several Dangerous Doctrines and Passages , p 5 , 6 , 8 , a. upon the Argument of the King's Prerogative , and the Duty of a Subject . He Questions the Kings Late Declaration , in point of Law , p. 5. And lays down for a Maxim , that No Trespass against the Laws in Being , is to be Defended : Though Vniversal Practice , and Opinion are agreed upon 't , that the Obligation of All Humane Laws , is in some sort , Conditional . He makes Addressing of Thanks , upon That Declaration , to be the Giving up of a Right in the Law , p. 6. He supposes the King himself , Doubtful of his own Power , p. 9. He Reasons all he can against the Dispensing Power , and Repealing the Test , p. 8. And he calls Submission to That Declaration , the Setting up of a Power to HELP the People , that will DESTROY them , p. 6. These Positions are Communicated ; in at Least Twenty Thousand Copies perhaps , to his Majesties Subjects , in All Quarters of the Kingdom ; and the Doctrine , For t'd with the most Artificial Colours that the Matter will bear . Upon the whole Business , there 's Nothing to be done in such a Case as This , but by Encountring Industry with Industry and Opposing Truth to Error . There will be No Need of a Distinct , and a Particular Answer to This and That Clause , or Period , but rather to speak to the Whole Question , at Once , in a Clear , and an Effectual Reply . TO begin at the Root of the Controversie ; The King puts out a Declaration of Indulgence : The Author of the Letter to a Dissenter , Denyes his Dispensing Power ; makes the very Acceptance of it Criminal in the Subject ; and a Giving up of their Rights ; and Positively Pronounces the Law to be so Sacred , that No Trespass against it is to be Defended . It rests now to Prove , that This Doctrine , and Practice is not only Erroneous , and Pernicious , with a Respect to our Present Case , and Constitution , but Utterly Destructive of Humane Society , and of the very Foundations of Government it self . To say nothing how Artificially the Writer of That Letter has shamm'd upon the People his Maiesties Act of Grace in favour of the Dissenters , for a Matter Concerted betwixt Them , and the Papists , without which Pretence , the Incidians Part of the Pamphlet falls to the Ground . Now for the Clearing of This Question , He that would take the Just Measures of the Prerogatives of Power , should properly look back into the Original of Government ; and from thence Trace the Wisdom , and the Providence of Almighty God , through the Means to the End ; and through the Causes to their Effects ; There are , 't is true , Certain Prerogatives Peculiar to This , or That Frame of State and Differing in One Place , from what they are in Another : But These are of a Humane Make , and may be Laid down , as they were Taken up , at pleasure . They are Local , Temporary , Personal , Conditional , Occasional Privileges perhaps , and not of the Number of Those Sacred , Vnchangeable , and Incommunicable Essentials , that we are here speking of . It was the Work of an Omnipotent Power , to make the World out of Nothing ; As Order was the Work of the Divine Wisdom , and Government consequently , of a Divine Institution ▪ and Appointment . This Government was Ordained for the Regulation of Men in Society ; And That Ordinance would have been utterly Vain , and of No Effect , without a Competency of Powers , and Faculties , for securing of All the Ends of it . Now if Government it self was immediately from God Those Eminences of Privilege and Authority without which That Primary Power Cannot Work , must needs be of Divine Right too ; And Kings are so less Answerable to their Principal , for the Maintenance of the Power , with which they are Entrusted , then they are for the Exercise of it : So that if Rulers cannot Depart from These Fundamentals of Government without Breach of Faith ; If Humane Laws shall be found Insufficient to Answer all the Emergencies , and Variations of Humane Affairs ; And if the Reserve of a Power to Dispense with those Humane Laws , in case of such and such Exigencies , shall be likewise found of Absolute Necessity for the Support of Government ; the Sum of the Question will be brought into a Narrow Compass ; and no more then This : Shall a Prince , in favour of an Imperfect , Humane Law , Dispense with an Vndispensable Duty to a Law Divine ? And in so doing , Dispense with God's Law , rather then Dispense with his Own ? It is a Thing past Dispute , that many Laws have been Nullities in the very Creation of them : And it is Impossible to make Any Positive Law of Man so Extensive , as to Answer All Circumstances of Time , Place . Condition , Change , or Occasion : The Force and the Frequency of Over-ruling Necessities , is Granted on All Hands , and that where-ever the Government is , there is the Judgment . If the People may Judge , they may Censure ; If Censure , Punish , If Punish , they Govern : And the Yielding of One Point to a Popular Vsurpation , does in Effect , Tacitly Entitle them to the Rest. Neither is there Any other Limit set to this Power , then the Honour , the Conscience , and the Justice of the Governer ; For the Bare Admittance , of a Check , or Controll , Implies a Superiour Power : Men are Corrupt , Frail , Short-sighted , and their Works , Imperfect . Bills may be Carry'd by Passion , Interest , Power ; and there may be likewise Inadvertency , or Sinister Consideration in the Passing of them ; but the Laws of Nature , and of Equity , are Sacred , and Certain ; for That which Nature does , God does . This is Chiefly intended of Laws that were Well enough , or perhaps , Excellent Provisions , at the First making of them ; but in Tract of Time , upon some Vnexpected Revolution ; or in such or such a Case perchance , may be found Inconvenient . These , I say , may be Suspended ; but then there are Laws of Another Sort , that are Void , ab Initio , and upon No Terms to be either Defended , or Executed ; As I have Instanced formerly somewhat to this Purpose in the Case of the Proceedings , under Charles the First against the Papists . That Excellent Prince according to all Reasonable , and Humane Presumption , lost his Crown , and his Life , in Complement to a Void Act of his Own , in pretending to Bar himself the Vse , and Service of his Subjects : As if an Act of State could Supersede a Fundamental of God and Nature . I have the Authority of Great Man ( Bishop Sanderson ) to Back me in the Casuistical Stress of This Instance : [ God ( says he ) hath given to his Vicegerents here on Earth , a RIGHT In , and a POWER Over the Persons of ALL their Subjects , within their several Respective Dominions , even to the spending of their Lives in their Countries Service ; WHENSOEVER they shall be by Their Authority called thereunto . Five Cases , p. 71. ] Now if they have These Privileges of RIGHT , and POWER , from GOD ; and Extending to ALL , and WHENSOEVER , without Exception , either to Time , Number , or Distinction of Persons : What Earthly Power shall dare to Controll This Commission ? And I have One Word more to Offer now ( that I have formerly spoken to ) which comes a little Closer yet to the Point . The Precept of [ Honour thy Father and thy Mother ] is undoubtedly of Divine Authority ; and a Command , of an Immutable , and Indispensable Obligation : And it has Catholique Assent to 't , that it Extends , as well to our Civil , and Political , as to our Natural Parents . By This Law , All Subjects are Bound in Conscience to Attend the Call , and the Service of their Prince ; for the Precept is Positive ; without Any Qualification , Limitation , or Condition whatsoever . The Question will be Shortly This now ; Whether Any King , can by any Act of Civil Authority , Divest himself of This Right , over the Persons of his Subjects ? I do not say but he may Chuse whether he will Command them , or Not ; but he Cannot Discharge his People of their Duty of Obedience , in case he Requires their Service ; That is to say ; In any case , which is not Contrary to the Will , and Word of God. No Humane Law Can Absolve them from That Office of Allegeance : So that in the Conclusion , either Those Subjects are Clear before God , that serve their Prince , when by him thereunto required , notwithstanding any Law of Man to the Contrary ; Or the Ten Commandments may be turn'd to Waste Paper ; If the Law of the Land shall Forbid upon a Penalty , That which the Law of God , Commands upon a Penalty . This is enough for my Present Purpose ; and if it be not so for Common Satisfaction , My Third Volume of Observators , has Fifty Times as much upon this Subject . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A47798-e620 Letter . Answer . Letter . Answer . Letter . Answer . Letter . Answer . Letter . Answer . 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