The character of a trimmer his opinion of I. The laws and government, II. Protestant religion, III. The papists, IV. Foreign affairs / by ... Sir W.C. Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695. 1688 Approx. 123 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 24 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A44619 Wing H296 ESTC R38783 18112233 ocm 18112233 106830 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. A44619) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106830) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1124:18) The character of a trimmer his opinion of I. The laws and government, II. Protestant religion, III. The papists, IV. Foreign affairs / by ... Sir W.C. Halifax, George Savile, Marquis of, 1633-1695. Coventry, William, Sir, 1628?-1686. [4], 43 p. [s.n.], London printed : MDCLXXXVIII [1688] Although pub. under Coventry's name, the authorship of the work was acknowledged by Lord Halifax to whom it is generally ascribed. Cf. DNB and BM. Imperfect: page bd. out of order; preface bd. between pp. 2 and 3. Reproduction of original in the Cambridge University Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. 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Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor. The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines. 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 Great Britain -- History -- Restoration, 1660-1688. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1660-1688. 2000-00 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2001-08 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2001-12 TCP Staff (Michigan) Sampled and proofread 2001-12 TCP Staff (Michigan) Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE CHARACTER OF A TRIMMER . HIS OPINION OF I. The Laws and Government . II. Protestant Religion . III. The Papists . IV. Foreign Affairs . By the Honourable Sir W. C. LONDON , Printed in the Year , M DC LXXXVIII The PREFACE . IT must be more than an ordinary provocation that can tempt a Man to Write in an Age over-run with Scriblers , as Egypt was with Flyes and Locusts : That worst Vermin of swall Authours hath given the World such a Surfeit , that instead of desiring to Write , a Man would be more inclin'd to wish , for his own ease , that he could not Read ; but there are some things which do so raise our Passions , that our Reason can make no Resistance ; and when Madmen , in the two Extreams , shall agree to make common sense Treason , and joyn to fix an ill Character upon the only Men in the Nation who deserve a good one ; I am no longer Master of my better Resolution to let the World alone , and must break loose from my more reasonalble Thoughts , to expose these false Coyners , who would make their Copper Wares pass upon us for good Payment . Amongst all the Engines of Dissention , there hath been none more powerful in all Times , than the fixing Names upon one another of Contumely and Reproach , and the reason is plain , in respect of the People , who are generally uncapable of making a Syllogism or forming an Argument , yet they can pronounce a word ; and that serves their turn to throw it with their due malice at the head of those they do not like ; such things ever begin in just , and end in Blood , and the same word that maketh the Company merry , grows in time to a Military Signal to cut one anothers Throats . These Mistakes are to be lamented , tho' not easily cured , being suitable enough to the corrupted Nature of Mankind ; but 't is hard that Men will not only invent ill Names , but they will wrest and misinterpret good ones , so afraid some are even of a reconciling sound , that they raise another noise to keep it from being heard , lest it should set up and encourage a dangerous sorts of Men , who prefer Peace and Agreement , before Violence and Confusion . Were it not for this , why , after we have play'd the Fool with throwing Whig and Tory at one another , as Boys do Snow Balls , do we grow angry at a new Name , which by its true signification might do as much to put us into our Wits , as the other hath done to put us out of them ? This innocent word Trimmer signifies no more than this , That if Men are together in a Boat , and one part of the Company would weigh it down on one side , another would make it lean as much to the contrary , it happens there is a third Opinion of those who conceive it would do as well , if the Boat went even , without endangering the Passengers ; now 't is hard to imagine by what Figure in Language , or by what Rule in Sense this cometh to be a fault , and it is much more a wonder it should become a Heresy . But so it happens , that the poor Trimmer hath all the Powder spent upon him alone , while the Whig is forgotten , or at least a neglected Enemy ; there is no danger now to the State ( if some Men be believ'd ) but from the Beast called a Trimmer , take heed of him , he is the Instrument that must destory Church and State ; a strong kind of Monster , whose deformity is so expos'd , that , were it a true Picture that is made of him , it would be enough to fright Children , and make Women miscarry at the sight of it . But it may be worth the examining , whether he is such a Beast as he is Painted . I am not of that Opinion , and am so far from thinking him an Infidel either in Church or State , that I am neither afraid to expose the Articles of his Faith in Relation to Government , nor to say I prefer them before any other Political Creed , that either our angry Dons , or our refined States-men would impose upon us . I have therefore in the following Discourse endeavour'd to explain the Trimmer's Principles and Opinions , and then leave it to all Discerning and Impartial Judges , whether he can with Justice be so Arraign'd , and whether those who deliberately pervert a good Name , do not very justly deserve the worst that can be put upon themselves . THE Trimmer's Opinion OF THE LAWS and GOVERNMENT . OUR Trimmer hath a great Veneration for Laws in general , as he hath more particularly for his own , he looketh upon them as the Chains that tye up our unruly Passions , which else , like Wild Beasts let loose , would reduce the World into its first State of Barbarism and Hostility ; all the good things we enjoy , we owe to them ; and all the ill things we are freed from by their Protection . God himself thought it not enough to be a Creator , without being a Law-giver , and his goodness had been defective towards Mankind in making them , if he had not prescrib'd Rules to make them happy . All Laws flow from that of Nature , and where that is not the Foundation , they may be legally impos'd , but they will be lamely obey'd : By this Nature is not meant that which Fools and Madmen would misquote to justify their Excesses ; it is innocent and uncorrupted Nature , that which disposeth Men to chuse Vertue , without its being prescrib'd , and which is so far from inspiring ill thoughts into us , that we take pains to suppress the good ones it infuseth . The Civil World has ever paid a willing subjection to Laws , even Conquerours have done homage to them ; as the Romans who took Patterns of good Laws , even from those they had subdued ; and at the same time they Triumph'd over an enssav'd People , the same Laws of that Place did not only remain safe , but became Victorious ; their new Masters , instead of suppressing them , paid them more respect than they had from those who first made them : and by this wise method they arriv'd to such an admirable Constitution of Laws , that to this day they Reign by them ; the Excellency of them Triumpheth still , and the World payeth now an acknowledgment of their obedience to that Mighty Empire , tho' so many Ages after it is dissolved ; and by a better instance , the Kings of France , who , in practice use their Laws pretty familiarly , yet think their Picture is drawn with most advantage upon their Seals , when they are plac'd upon the Seat of Justice ; and tho' the Hieroglyphick is not there of so much use to the People as they would wish , yet it shews that no Prince is so Great , as to think fit , for his own Credit at least , to givean outward , when he refuseth a real worship to the Laws . They are to Mankind that which the Sun is to the Plants , as it cherisheth and preserveth them , so where they have their force , and are not clouded , every thing smileth and slourisheth ; but where they are darkned , and are not suffered to shine out , it maketh every thing to wither and decay . They serve Men not only against one another , but against themselves too ; they are a Sanct●●ry to which the Crown hath occasion to resort as often as the People , ●o that it hath an Interest as well as a Duty to preserve them . There would be no end of making a Panegyrick of Laws ; let it be enough to add , that without Laws the World would become a Wilderness and Men little less than Beasts ; but with all this , the best things may come to be the worst , if they are not in good hands ; and if it be true that the wisest Men generally make the Laws , it is as true , that the strongest do often misinterpret them : and as River belong as much to the Chanel where they run , as to the Spring from whence they first rise , so the Laws depend as much upon the Pipes , thro' which they are to pass , as upon the Fountain from whence they flow . The Authority of a King who is Head of the Law , as well as the Dignity of Publick Justice , is debased , when the clear stream of the Law is puddled and distrub'd by Bunglers , or convey'd by unclean Instruments to the People . Our Trimmer would have them appear in their full lustre , and would be grieved to see the day , when , instead of speaking with Authority from the Seats of Justice , they should speak out of a Grate , with a lamenting voice , like Prisoners that desire to be rescu'd . He wisheth that the Bench may have a Natural as well as a Legal Superiority to the Bar ; he thinketh Mens abilities much misplac'd , when the Reasons of those that Plead is visibly too strong for those who Judge and give Sentence . When those from the Bar seem to dictate to their Superious upon the Bench , their Furrs will look scurvily about them , and the respect of the World will leave the bare Character of a Judge , to follow the Essential knowledge of a Lawyer , who may be greater in himself , than others can be with all their Trappings . An uncontested Superiority in any Calling , will have the better of any distinct Name that Authority can put upon it , and therefore if ever such an unnatural Method should be produc'd , it is then that Westminster-Hall might be said to stand upon its Head , and though Justice it self can never be so , yet the Administration of it would be rendered Ridiculous . A Judge hath such a Power lodg'd in him , that the King will never be thought to have chosen well , where the Voice of Mankind hath not before-hand recommended the Man to his Election ; when Men are made Judges of what they do not understand , the World censures such a Choice , not out of ill-will to the Men , but fear to themselves . If the King had sole Power of chusing Physicians , Men would tremble to see Bunglers preferred , yet the necessity of taking Physick from a Doctor , is generally not so great as that of receiving Justice from a Judge ; the Inferences will be very severe in such cases , for either it will be thought that such Men bought what they were not able to deserve , or which is as bad , that Obedience shall be look'd upon as a better Qualification in a Judge , than Skill or Integrity , when such sacred things as the Laws are not only touch'd , but guided by prophane hands ; Men will fear that out of the Tree of the Law , from whence we expect Shade and Shelter , such Workmen will make us Cudgels to beat us with , or rather that they will turn the Canon upon our Properties , that were intrusted with them for their Defence . To see the Laws Mangled , Disguised , Speak quite another Language than their own , to see them thrown from the Dignity of protecting Mankind , to the disgraceful Office of destroying them ; and , notwithstanding their Innocence in themselves , to be made the worst Instruments that the most refined Villany can make use of , will raise Mens Anger above the power of laying it down again , and tempt them to follow the Evil Examples given them of Judging without Hearing , when so provoked by their desire of Revenge . Our Trimmer therefore as he thinketh the Laws are Jewels , so he believeth they are no better set , than in the Constitution of our English Government , if rightly understood , and carefully preserved . It would be too great Partiality to say it is perfect or liable to no Objection ; such things are not of the World ; but if it hath more Excellencies and sewer Faults than any other we know , it is enough to recommend it to our Esteem . The Dispute , which is a greater Beauty , a Monarchy or a Common-wealth , hath lasted long between their contending Lovers , and ( they have behav'd themselves so like , who in good Manners must be out of their Wits , ) who used such Figures to exalt their own Idols on either side , and such angry Aggravations , to reproach one another in the Contest , that moderate Men have at all times smil'd upon this eagerness , and thonght it differ'd very little from a downright Frenzy : we in England , by a happy use of the Controversie , conclude them both in the wrong , and reject them from being our Pattern , taking the words in the utmost extent , which is a thing that Monarchy leaveth them no Liberty , and a Common-Wealth such a one , as allows them no Quiet . We think that a wise Mean , between these two barbarous Extreams , is that which self-Preservation ought to dictate to our Wishes ; and we may say we have attained this Mean in a greater measure , than any Nation now in being , or perhaps any we have read of ; tho' never so much Celebrated for the wisdom or plenty of their Constitutions ; we take from one the too great power of doing hurt , and yet leave enough to govern and protect us ; we take from the other , the Corfusion , the Parity , the Animosities , and the License , and yet reserve a due care of such Liberty , as may consist with Mens Allegiance ; but it being hard , if not impossible , to be exactly even , our Government has much the stronger Biass towards Monarchy , which by the more general Consent and practice of Mankind , seemeth to have the Advantage in dispute against a Commonwealth : The Rules of a Commonwealth are too hard for the Bulk of Mankind to come up to , that Form of Government requireth such a spirit to carry it on , as doth not dwel in great Numbers , but is restrain'd to so very few , especially in this Age , that let the Methods appear never so much reasonable in Paper , they must fail in Practice , which will ever be suited more to Mens Nature , as it is , than as it should be . Monarchy is lik'd by the People , for the Bells and the Tinsel , the outward Pomp and the Gilding , and there must be milk for Babes , since the greatest part of Mankind are , and ever will be included in that List ; and it is approv'd by wise and thinking Men , ( Circumstances and Objections impartially consider'd ) that it hath so great an advantage above all other Forms , when the Administration of that Power fal eth in good hands , that all other Governments look out of Countenance , when they are set in Competition with it . Lycurgus might have sav'd himself the trouble of making Laws , if either he had been lmmortal , or that he could have secur'd to Posterity , a succeeding Care of Princes like himself ; his own Example was a better Law , than he could with all his skill tell how to make ; such a Prince is a Living Law , that dictates to his Subjects , whose thoughts in that case never rise above their Obedience , the Confidence they have in the Vertue and Knowledge of the Master , preventing the Scruples and Apprehensions to which Men are naturally inclin'd , in relation to those that govern them ; such a Magistrate is the Life and Soul of Justice , whereas the Law is but a Body , and a dead one too , without his influence to give it warmth and vigour , and by the irresistible Power of his Vertue , he doth so reconcile Dominion and Allegiance , that all disputes between them are silenced and subdued , and indeed no Monarchy can be Perfect and Absolute without exception , but when the Prince is Superiour by his Vertue , as well as by his Character and his Power , so that to serve out Presidents of unlimited Power , is a plain diminution to a Prince that Nature hath made Great , and who had better make himself a glorious Example to Posterity , than borrow an Authority from Dark Records , raised out of the Grave , which besides their Non-usage have always in them matter of Controversie and Debate , and it may be affirm'd , that the Instances are very rare of Princes having the worst in dispute with their People ; if they were Eminent for Justice in time of Peace , and Conduct in time of War , such advantage the Crown giveth to those who adorn and confirm it by their own Personal Vertues . But since for the greater Honour of Good and Wise Princes , and the better to set off their Character by the Comparison , Heaven hath decreed there must be a mixture , and that such as are perverse and insufficient , or both , are perhaps to have their equal turns in the Government of the World , and besides that the Will of a Man is so various , and so unbounded a thing , and so fatal too when joined with power unsupply'd ; it is no wonder if those who are to be govern'd , are unwilling to have so dangerous as well as so uncertain a Standard of their Obedience . There must be therefore Rules and Laws , for want of which , or at least the Observation of them , it was as Capital for a Man to say that Nero did not play well upon the Lute , as to commit Treason , or Blaspheme the Gods. And even Vespasian himself had like to have lost himself , for sleeping whilst he should have attended and admir'd that Emperours Impertinence upon the Stage ; There is a wantonness in the too great Power that Men are generally too apt to be corrupted with , and for that Reason , a wise Prince , to prevent the temptation arising from common frailty , would choose to Govern by Rules for his own Sake , as well as for the Peoples , since it only seoureth him from Errors , and doth not lessen the real Authority that a good Magistrate would come to be possess'd of ; for if the Will of a Prince is contrary either to Reason it self , or to the universal Opinion of his Subjects , the Law by a kind restraint rescues him from a disease that would undo him ; if his will on the other side is reasonable and well directed , that will immediately becomes a Law , and he is arbitrary by an easie and natural Consequence , without taking pains , or overturning the World for it . If Princes consider Laws as things impos'd on them , they have the appearance of Fetters of Iron , but to such as would make them their choice as well as their practice , they are Chains of Gold ; and in that respect are Ornaments , as in others they are a defence to them , and by a Comparison , not improper for God's Vicegerents upon Earth ; as our Maker never commandeth our obedience to any thing , that as unreasonable Creatures we ought not to make our own Election ; so a good and wise Governour , tho' all Laws were abolish'd , would by the voluntary direction of his own Reason , do without restraint the very same things that they would have enjoyned . Our Trimmer thinketh that the King and Kingdom ought to be one Creature , not to be separated in their Political Capacity ; and when any of them undertake to act a-part , it is like the crawling of Worms after they are cut in pieces , which cannot be a lasting Nation , the whole Creature not stirring at a time ; if the Body have a dead Palsie , the Head cannot make it move ; and God hath not yet delegated such a healing power to Princes , as that they can in moment say to a Languishing People oppress'd in despair , take up your beds and walk . The Figure of a King , is so comprehensive and exalted a thing , that it is a kind of degrading of him to lodge that power separately in his own Natural Person , which can never be truly or naturally great , but where the People are so united to him as to be Flesh of his Flesh , and Bone of his Bone ; for when he is reduc'd to the single definition of a man , he sinketh into so low a Character , that he is a temptation under Mens Allegiance , and an impairing that veneration which is necessary to preserve their duty to him ; whereas a Prince that is so joyned to his People that they seem to be his Limbs , rather than his Subjects , Cloathed with Mercy and Justice rightly apply'd in their several places , his Throne supported by Love as well as by Power , and the warm wishes of his devoted Subjects , like never-failing Incense still ascending towards him , looks so like the best Image we can frame to our selves of God Almighty , that Men would have much ado not to fall down and worship him , and would be much more tempted to the Sin of Idolatry , than that of Disobedience . Our Trimmer is of Opinion , that there must be so much Dignity inseparably annex'd to the Royal Function , as may be sufficient to secure it from violence and contempt ; and contempt ; and there must be Condescensions from the Throne , like showers from Heaven , that the Prince may look so much the more like God Almighty'd Deputy upon Earth ; for power without love hath a terrifying aspect , and the Worship which is paid to it is like that which the Indians give out of fear to Wild Beasts and Devils : he that feareth God only because there is an Hell , must wish there were no God ; and he who feareth the King , only because he can punish , must wish there were no King ; So that without a Principle of Love , there can be no true Allegiance , and there must remain perpetual Seeds of Resistance against a Power that is built upon such an unnatural Foundation , as that of fear and terrour . All force is a kind of foul play , and whosoever aimeth at it himself , doth by implication allow it to those he plays with ; so that there will be ever Matter prepared in the minds of People when they are provok'd , and the Prince , to secure himself , must live in the midst of his own Subjects , as if he were in a Conquer'd Country , raise Arms as if he were immediately to meet or resist an Invasion , and all this while sleep as unquietly from the fear of Remedies , as he did before from that of the Disease ; it being hard for him to forget , that more Princes have been destroy'd by their Guards than by their People ; and that even at the time when the Rule was Quod Principi placuit Lex esto : The Armies and Praetorian Bands which were the Instruments of that unruly Power , were frequently the means made use of to destroy them who had it . There will ever be this difference between God and his Vicegerents , that God is still above the Instruments he useth , and out of the danger of receiving hurt from them ; but Princes can never lodge Power in any hands , which may not at some time turn it back upon them ; for tho' it is possible enough for a King to have Power enough to satisfy his Ambition ; yet no Kingdom hath Money enough to satisfie the avarice of under-Workmen , who learn from that Prince who will exact more than belongeth to him , to expect from him much more than they deserve ; and growing angry upon the first disappointment , they are the Devils which grow terrible to the Conjurers themselves who brought them up , and can't send them down again ; And besides that , there can be no lasting Radical Security , but where the governed are satisfied with the governours ; it must be a dominion very unpleasant to a Prince of an clevated Mind , to impose an abject and sordid servility , instead of receiving the willing Sacrisice of Duty and Obedience . The bravest Priuces in all times , who were uncapable of any other kind of fear , have fear'd to grieve their own People ; such a fear is a glory , and in this sense 't is an insamy not to be a Coward : So that the mistaken Heroes who are void of this generous kind of fear , need no other aggravation to compleat their ill Characters . When a despotick Prince hath bruised all his Subjects with a slavish Obedience , all the force he can use cannot subdue his own fears , Enemies of his own creation , to which he can never be reconciled , it being impossible to do injustice , and not to fear Revenge : there is no cure for this fear , but the not deserving to be hurt , and therefore a Prince who doth not allow his thoughts to stray beyond the Rules of Justice , has always the blessing of an inward quiet and assurance , as a natural effect of his good meaning to his People , and tho' he will not neglect due precautions to secure himself in all Events , yet he is uncapable of entertaining vain and remote suspicions of those of whom he resolves never to deserve ill . It is very hard for a Prince to fear a Rebellion , who neither doth , nor intendeth to do any thing to provoke it ; therefore so great a diligence in the Governours , to raise and improve dangers and fears from the People , is no very good Symptom , and naturally begets an influence , that they have thoughts of putting their Subjects Allegiance to a Tryal ; and therefore not without some Reason fear before hand , that the Irregularities they intend , may raise Men to a Resistance . Our Trimmer thinketh it no advantage to Government , to endeavour the suppressing all kind of Right which may remain in the Body of the People , or to employ small Authors in it , whose Officiousness or want of Mony may encourage them to Write , tho' it is not very easie to have Abilities equal to such a Subject ; they forget that in their too high strain'd Arguments for the Rights of Princes , they very often plead against known Nature , which will always give a Biass to those Reasons which seem of her side ; it is the People that Readeth those Books , and its the People must judge of them , and therefore no Maxims should be laid down for the Right of Government , to which there can be any Reasonable Objection ; for the World hath an Interest , and for that Reason is more than ordinary discerning , to find out the weak sides of such Arguments as are intended to do them hurt ; and it is a diminution to a Government , to Promote or Countenance such well affected mistakes , which are turned upon it with disadvantage , whenever they are detected or expos'd ; and Naturally the too earnest Endeavours to take from Men the Right they have , tempt them , by the Example , to Claim that which they have not . And in Power , as in all other things , the way for Princes to keep it is , not to grasp more than their Arms can well hold ; nice and unnecessary enquiring into these things , or the Licensing some Books , and forbidding others , without sufficient Reason to justifie the doing either , is so far from being an Advantage to a Government , that it exposeth it to the Censure of being Partial , and to the suspicion , of having some suddain Designs to be carried on by these unusual methods . When all is said , there is Natural Reason of State , an undesinable thing , grounded upon the Common Good of Mankind , which is Immortal , and in all Changes and Revolutions , still preserveth its Original Right of saving a Nation , when a Letter of the Law perhaps would destroy it ; and by whatsoever means it moveth , carrieth a Power with it , that admitteth of no opposition , being supported by Nature , which inspireth an immediate consent at some Critical times into every individual Member , to that which visibly tendeth to the preservation of the whole ; and this being so , a Wise Prince instead of controverting the right of this Reason of State , will by all means endeavour it may be of his side , and then he will be secure . Our Trimmer cannot conceive that the Power of any Prince can be lasting , but where 't is built upon the foundation of his own unborrow'd vertue , he must not only be the first Mover and the Fountain , from whence the great Acts of State originally flow , but he must be thought so by his People , that they may preserve their veneration to him ; he must be jealous of his Power , and not impart so much of it to any about him , as that he may suffer an Eclipse by it . He cannot take too much care to keep himself up , for when a Prince is thought to be led by those , with whom he should onely advise , and that the Commands he giveth are transmitted through him , and are not of his own growth ; the World will look upon him as a Bird adorn'd with Feathers that are not his own , or consider him rather as an Engine than a living Creature ; besides , 't would be a Contradiction for a Prince to fear a Common-wealth , and at the same time create one himself , by delegating such a Power to any Number of Men near him , as is inconsistant with the true Figure of a Monarch ; it is the worst kind of Co-ordination the Crown can submit too ; for it is the exercise of Power that draweth the respect along with it , and when that is parted with , the bare Character of a King is not sufficient to keep it up ; but tho' it is a diminution to a Prince , to parcel out so liberally his Power amongst his Favourites , it 's yet worse to divide with any other Man , and to bring himself in Competition with a single Rival ; a Partner in Government is so unnatural a thing , that it is a squint-ey'd Allegiance that must be paid to such a double bottom'd Monarchy . The Caesars are an Example that the more civiliz'd part of the World will not be proud to follow , and whatsover Gloss may be put upon this Method , by those to whom it may be some use , the Prince will do well to remember , and reflect upon the Story of certain Men who had set up a Statue in Honour to the Sua , yet in a very little time they turned their backs to the Sun , and their Faces to the Statue . These Mystical Unions are better plac'd in the other World , than they are in this , and we shall have much ado to find , that in a Monarchy Gods Vicegerency is delegated to more Heads than that which is anointed . Princes may lend some of their Light to make another shine , but they must still preserve the superiority of being the brighter Planet ; and when it happens the Reversion is in Mens Eyes , there is more care to keep up the Dignity of Possessions , that Men may not forget who is King , either out of their hopes or fears who shall be . If the Sun shall part with all his Light , the Indians would not know where to find their God , after he had so deposed himself , and would make the Light ( wherever it went ) the Object of their Worship . All Usurpation is alike upon Soveraignty , it s no matter from what hand it cometh ; and Crowned Heads are to be the more Circumspect , in respect Mens thoughts are naturally apt to ramble beyond what is present , they love to work at a distance , and in their greedy Expectations ; their minds may be fill'd with a new . Master , the old one may be left to look a little out of Countenance . Our Trimmer owneth a Passion for liberty , yet so restrain'd , that it doth not in the least impair or taint his Allegiance , he thinketh it hard for a Soul that doth not love Liberty , ever to raise it self to another World , he taketh it to be the foundation of all vertue , and the only seasoning that giveth a relish to life , and tho' the laziness of a slavish subjection , hath its Charms for the more gross and earthly part of Mankind , yet to men made of a better sort of Clay , all that the World can give without Liberty hath no taste ; it 's true , nothing is sold so cheap by unthinking men , but that doth no more lessen the real value of it , than a Country Fellow's Ignorance doth that of a Diamond , in selling it for a Pot of Ale ; Liberty is the Mistress of Mankind , she hath powerful Charms that do so dazzle , that we find Beauties in her which perhaps are not there , as we do in other Mistresses ; yet if she was not a Beauty , the World would not run mad for her ; therefore since the reasonable desire of it ought not to be restrain'd , and that even the unreasonable desire of it cannot be intirely suppress'd , those who would take is away from a People possessed of it , are likely to fail in the attempting , or be very unquiet in the keeping of it . Our Trimmer admireth our blessed Constitutions , in which Dominion and Liberty are reconcil'd ; it giveth to the Prince the glorious Power of Commanding Free-men , and to the Subject , the satisfaction of seeing the Power so lodged ; as that their Liberties are secure ; it doth not al●ow the Crown such a Ruining Power , as that no grass may grow where e'er it treadeth , but a Cherishing and Protecting Power ; such a one as hath a grim Aspect only to the offending Subjects , but is the Joy and the Pride of all the good ones ; their own interest being so bound up in it , as to engage them to defend and support it ; and the King is in some Circumstances restrain'd , so as nothing in the Government can move without him ; our Laws make a true distinction between Vassalage and Obedience , between devouring Prerogatives , and a Licentious ungovernable Freedom : and as of all the Orders of Building , the Composite is the best , so ours by a happy mixture and a wise choice of what is best in others , is brought into a Form ; that is our Felicity who live under it , and the envy of our Neighbours that cannot imitate it . The Crown hath power sufficient to protect our Liberties . The People have so much Liberty as is necessary to make them useful to the Crown . Our Government is in a just Proportion , no Tympany , no natural swelling either of Power or Liberty ; and whereas in all overgrown Monarchies , Reason , Learning and Enquiry are banished in Effigy for Mutineers ; here they are encourag'd and cherish'd as the surest Friends to a Government establish'd upon the Foundation of Law and Justice : When all is done , those who look for perfection in this World , may look as long as the Jews have for their Messias , and therefore our Trimmer is not so unreasonably Partial as to free our Government ; no doubt there have been fatal Instances of its Sickness , and more than that , of its Mortality , for sometime , tho' by a Miracle , it hath been reviv'd again : but till we have another Mankind , in all Constitutions that are bounded , there will ever be some matter of Strife , and Contention , and rather than want pretensions , Mens Passions and Interest will raise them from the most inconsiderable Causes . Our Government is like our Climate , there are Winds which are sometimes loud and unquiet , and yet with all the Trouble they give us , we owe great part of our Health unto them , they clear the Air , which else would be like a standing Pool , and instead of Refreshment would be a Disease unto us . There may be fresh Gales of asserting Liberty , without turning into such storms of Hurricane , as that the State should run any hazard of being Cast away by them ; these struglings which are natural to all mixed Governments , while they are kept from growing into Convulsions , do by a natural agitation from the several parts , rather support and strengthen , than weaken or mame the Constitution ; and the whole frame , instead of being torn or disjointed , cometh to be the better and closer knit by being thus exercised ; but what ever faults our Government may have , or a discerning Critick may find in it , when he looketh upon it alone ; let any one be set against it , and then it shews its Comparative Beauty ; let us look upon the glittering outside of unbounded Authority , and upon a nearer enquiry , we shall find nothing but poor and miserable deformity within ; let us imagine a Prince living in this Kingdom , as if he were a great Gally , his Subjects tugging at the Oar , laden with Chains , and reduc'd to real Rags ; to give him imaginary Lawrels , let us present him gazing among his Flatterers , like a Child never contradicted and therefore always Cozen'd , or like a Lady complemented only to be abus'd , condemn'd never to hear Truth , and consequently never to do Justice , wallowing in the soft Bed of wanton and unbridled Greatness , not less odious to the Instruments themselves , than to the Objects of his Tyranny , blown up to an Ambitious Dropsy , never to be satisfied by the Conquest of other People , or by the Oppression of his own ; by aiming to be more than a Man , he becomes a Beast , a mistaken Creature , swell'd with Panegyricks , and slatter'd out of his Senses , and not onely an Incumbrance , but a common Nuisance to Mankind , a harden'd and unrelenting Soul , and like some Creatures that grow fat with Poisons , he grows great by other Mens Miseries ; an Ambitious Ape of the Divine Greatness , an unruly Gyant that would storm even Heaven it self , but that his scaling Ladders are not long enough ; in short , a Wild Beast in rich Trappings , and with all his Pride no more than a Whip in God Almighty's hand , to be thrown into the Fire when the World has been sufficiently scourged with it : This Picture laid in right Colours would not incite Mer to wish for such a Government , but rather to acknowledge the happiness of our own , under which we enjoy all the Priviledges Reasonable Men can desire , and avoid all the Miseries others are subject too ; so that our Trimmer would keep it with all its faults , and doth as little forgive those who give the occasion of breaking it , as he doth those that take it . Our Trimmer is a Friend to Parliaments , notwithstanding all their faults , and excesses , which of late have given such matter of Objection to them , he thinks that tho' they may at sometimes be troublesome to Authority , yet they add the greatest strength to it under a wise Administration , to believe no Government is perfect , except Omnipotence recide in it , to be exercis'd upon great Occasions : Now this cannot be obtain'd by force upon the People , let it be never so great , there must be their consent too , or else a Nation moveth only by being driven , a sluggish and restrained Motion , void of that Life and Vigour which is necessary to produce great things , whereas the virtual Consent of the whole being inclnded in their Representatives , and the King giving the faction of the united sense of the People , every Act done by such an Authority , seemeth to be an effect of their choice as well as part of their Duty ; and they do with an eagerness , of which Men are uncapable whilst under a force , execute whatsoever is so enjoined as their own Wills , better explained by Parliament , rather than from the terrour of incurring the Penalty of the Law for omitting it , and by means of this Political Omnipotence , what ever Sap or Juice there is in a Nation , may be to the last drop produc'd , whilst it rises naturally from the Root ; whereas all Power exercis'd without consent , is the giving Wounds and Gashes , and tapping a Tree at unseasonable Times , for the present Occasion , which in a very little time must needs destroy it . Our Trimmer believes , that by the advantage of our Scituation , there can hardly any such Disease come upon us , but that the King may have time enough to consult with Physitians in Parliament ; pretences indeed may be made , but a real necessity so pressing , that no delay is to be admitted , is hardly to be imagined , and it will be neither easie to give an instance of any such thing for the time past , or reasonable to presume it will ever happen for the time to come ; but if that strange thing should fall out , our Trimmer is not so strait-lac'd , as to let a Nation dye , or be stifled , rather than it should be help'd by the proper Officers . The Cases themselves will bring a Remedy along with them ; and he is not afraid to allow that in order to its Preservation , there is a hidden Power in Government , which would be lost if it was designed , a certain Mystery , by which a Nation may at some Critical times secur'd from Ruine , but then it must be kept as a Mistery ; it is rendred useless , when touch'd by unlucky hands ; and no Government ever had or deserv'd to have that Power , which was so unwary as to anticipate their claim to it : Our Trimmer cannot help thinking it had been better , if the Triennial Act had been observ'd ; first , because 't is the Law , and he would not have the Crown , by such an example , teach the Nation to break it ; all irregularity is catching , it hath a Contagion in it , especially in an Age , so much more enclin'd to follow ill Patterns than good ones . He would have a Parliament , because 't is an Essential part of the Constitution , even without the Law , it being the only Provision in extraordinary Cases , in which there would be otherwise no Remedy , and there can be no greater Solecisme in Government , than a failure of Justice . He would have one , because nothing else can unite and heal us , all other Means are meer Shifts and Projects , Houses of Cards , and blown down with the least Breath , and cannot resist the difficulties which are ever presum'd in things of this kind ; and he would have had one , because it might have done the King good , and could not possibly have done him hurt , without his Consent , which in that Case is not to be supposed , and therefore for him to fear it , is so strange and so little to be comprehended , that the Reasons can never be presum'd to grow in our Soyl , or to thrive in it when Transplanted from any other Country ; and no doubt there are such irresistable Arguments for calling a Parliament , that tho' it may be deny'd to the unmannerly threatning Petitions of men that are malicious and disaffected , it will be granted to the obsequious Murmurs of his Majesties best Subjects , and there will be such a Rhetorick it their silent Grief , that it will at last prevail against the Artifices of those . who either out of Guilt or Interest are afraid to throw themselves upon their Country , knowing how scurvily they have used it ; that day of Judgment will come , tho' we know not the day nor the hour . And our Trimmer would live so as to be prepared for it , with full assurance in the mean time , that a lamenting Voice of a Nation cannot long be resisted , and that a Prince , who could so easily forgive his People when they had been in the wrong , cannot fail to hear them when they are in the right . The Trimmer's Opinion concerning Protestant Religion . REligion hath such a Superiority above other things , and that indispensable Influence upon all Mankind , that it is as nece Tary to our Living Happy in this World , as it is to our being Sav'd in the next , without it Man is an abandon'd Creature , one of the worst Beasts Nature hath produc'd , and fit only for the Society of Wolves and Bears ; therefore in all Ages it hath been the Foundation of Government , and tho' false Gods have been impos'd upon the Credulous part of the World , yet they were Gods still in their Opinion , and the Awe and Reverence Men had to them and their Oracles , kept them within bounds towards one another , which the Laws with all their Authority could never have effected without the help of Religion ; the Laws would not be able to subdue the perverseness of Mens Wills , which are Wild Beasts , and require a double Chain to keep them down ; for this Reason'tis said , That it is not a sufficient ground to make War upon a-Neighbouring State , because they are of another Religion , let it be never so differing ; yet if they Worship'd nor Acknowledg'd no Deity , they may be Invaded as Publick Enemies of Mankind , because they reject the only thing that can bind them to live well with one another ; the consideration of Religion is so Interessed with that of Government , that it is never to be separated , and the Foundations of it are to be suited to the several Climates and Constitutions , so that they may keep men in a willing Acquiescence unto them , without discomposing the World by nice disputes , which can never be of equal moment with the publick Peace . Our Religion here in England seems to be distinguish'd by a peculiar effect of God Almighty's goodness , in permitting it to be introduc'd , or more properly restor'd , by a more regular Method than the Circumstances of more other Reformed Churches would allow them to do , in relation to the Government ; and the Dignity with which it hath supported it self since , and the great Men our Church hath produc'd , ought to recommend it to the esteem of all Protestants at least : Our Trimmer is very partial to it , for these Reasons , and many more , and desiring that it may preserve its due Jurisdiction and Authority , so far he is from wishing it oppressed by the unreasonable and malicious Cavils of those who take pains to raise Objections against it . The Question will then be , how and by what Methods the Church shall best support it self ( the present Circumstances consider'd ) in relation to Dissenters of all sorts : I will first lay it for a ground , That as there can be no true Religion without Charity , so there can be no true humanePrudence without bearing and condescension : This Principle doth not extend to oblige the Church always to yield to those who are disposed to molest it , the expediency of doing it is to be considered and determined according to the occasion , and this leadeth me to lay open the thoughts of our Trimmer , in reference , first , to the Protestants , and then to the Popish Recusants . What hath lately hapned among us , makes an Apology necessary for saying any thing that looketh like favour towards a sort of Men who have brought themselves under such a disadvantage . The lateConspiracy hath such broad Symptoms of the disaffection of the whole Party , that upon the first reflections , while our thoughts are warm , it would almost perswade us to put them out of the protection of our good Nature , and to think that the Christian Indulgence which our compassion for other Mens Sufferings cannot easily deny , seemeth not only to be forfeited by the ill appearances that are against them , but even becometh a Crime when it is so misapply'd ; yet for all this , upon second and cooler thoughts , moderate Men will not be so ready to involve a whole Party in the guilt of a few , and to admit Inferences and Presumptions to be Evidence in a Case , where the Sentence must be so heavy , as it ought not to be against all those who have a fixed resolution against the Government established ; besides , Men who act by a Principle grounded upon Moral Vertue , can never let it be clearly extinghish'd by the most repeated Provocations ; if a right thing agreeable to Nature and good Sence taketh root in the heart of a Man , that is impartial and unbyass'd , no outward Circumstances can ever destroy it ; it 's true , the degrees of a Mans Zeal for the prosecution of it may be differing , the faults of other Men , the consideration of the Publick , and the seasonable Prudence by which Wise Men will ever be directed , may give great delays , they may lessen and for a time perhaps suppress the exercise of that , which in a general Prosecution may be reasonable , but whether be , so will inevitably grow and spring up again , having a Foundation in Nature , which is never to be destroy'd . Our Trimmer therefore endeavoureth to separate the detestation of those who had either a hand or a thought in the late Plot , from the Principle of Prudential as well as Christian Charity towards Mankind , and for that reason , would fain use the means of retaining such of the Dissenters as are not injurable , and even to bearing to a degree those that are , as far as may consist with the Publick Interest and Security ; he is far from justifying an affected separation from the Communion of the Church , and even in those that mean well , and are mistaken ; he looketh upon it as a Disease that hath seized upon their Minds , very troublesome as well as dangerous , by the Confequence it may produce : he doth not go about to excuse their making it an indispensable duty , to meet in numbers to say their Prayers , such Meetings may prove misch evous to the State at least ; the Laws which are the best Judges , have determin'd that there is danger in them : he hath good nature enough to lament that the perversness of a Part should have drawn Rigorous Laws upon the Body of the Dissenters , but when they are once made , no private Opinion must stand in Opposition to them ; if they are in themselves reasonable , they are in that respect to be regarded , even without being enjoyned , if by the Change of Laws and Circumstances they should become less reasonable than when they were first made , even then they are to be obey'd too , because they are Laws , 'till they are mended or repealed by the same Authority that Enacted them . He hath too much deference to the Constitution of our Government ; to wish any more Prerogative Declarations in favour of scrupulous Men , or to dispence with Penal Laws in such manner , and to such an end , that suspecting Men might with some reason pretend , that so hated a thing as Persectuion could never make way for it self with any hopes of Success , otherwise than by preparing the deluded World by a false prospect of Liberty and Indulgence ; the inward Springs and Wheels whereby the Engine mov'd , are now so fully laid open and expos'd , that it is not supposable that such a baffled Experiment should ever be tryed again , the effect it had at the time , and the Spirit it raised , will not easily be forgotten , and it may be presum'd the remembrance of it may secure us from any more attempts of that nature for the future ; we must no more break a Law to give Men ease , than we are to Rob an House with a devout intention of giving Plunder to the Poor ; in this case , our Compassion would be as ill directed as our Charity in the other . In that the veneration due to the Laws is never to be thrown off , let the Pretences be never so specious ; yet with all this he cannot bring himself to think , that an extraordinary diligence to take the uttermost penalyt of the Laws upon the Poor offending Neighbour , is of it self such an all-sufficient vertue , that without something else to recommend Men , it should Entitle them to all kind of preferments and Rewards ; he would not detract from the merits of those who execute the Laws , yet he cannot think such a piece of service can entirely change the Man , or either make him a better Divine , or a more knowing Magistrate than he was before , especially if it be done with a partial and unequal hand , in Reference to greater and more dangerous Offenders . Our Trimmer would have those mistaken Men ready to throw themselves into the arms of the Church , and he would have those arms as ready to receive them ; he would have no supercilious look to fright those strayed Sheep from coming into the Fold again ; no ill-natur'd maxims of an Eternal suspicion , or a belief that those who have once been in the wrong can never be in the right again ; but a visible preparation of mind to receive with joy all the Proselites that come amongst us , and much greater earnestness to reclaim than punish them : It is to be confess'd , there is a great deal to forgive , a hard task enough for a Church so provoked ; but that must not cut off all hopes of being reconciled , yet if there must be some anger left still , let it break out into a Christian Revenge , and by being kinder to the Children of Disobedience than they deserve , let the injur'd Church Triumph , by throwing shame and confusion of face upon them ; there should not always be Storms and Thunder , a clear Sky would sometime make the Church more like Heaven , and would be more towards the reclaiming those wanderers , than a perpetual terrour , which seemeth to have no intermission , for there is in many , and particularly in English Man , a mistaken pleasure , in resisting the dictates of Rigorous Authority ; a Stomach that riseth against a hard imposition , nay , in some , raise even a lust in suffering from a wrong point of Honour , which doth not want her greater applause , from the greater part of Mankind , who have not learnt to distinguish ; constancy will be thought a vertue even where it is a mistake ; and the ill Judging World will be apt to think that Opinion in thought which produceth the greatest number of those who are willing to suffer for it ; all this is prevented , and falleth to the ground , by using well-timed Indulgence ; and the stubborn Adversary who values himself upon his resistance whilst he is oppress'd , yieldeth insensibly to kind Methods , when they are apply'd to him , and the same Man naturally melteth into Conformity , who perhaps would never have been beaten into it . We may be taught by the Compassion that attendeth the most Criminal Men when they are Condemned , that Faults are more natural things than Punishments , and that even the most necessary acts of severity do some kind of violence to our Nature , whose Indulgence will not be confin'd within the strait bounds of inexorable Justice ; so that this should be an Argument for gentleness , besides that it is the likeliest way to make Men asham'd of their Separation , whilst the pressing them too hard , tendeth rather to make them proud of it . Our Trimmer would have the Clergy supported in their lawful Rights , and in all the Power and Dignity that belongeth to them , and yet he thinketh possibly there may be in some of them a too great eagerness to extend the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction ; which tho' it may be well intended , yet the straining of it too high hath an appearance of Ambition , that causeth many Objections to it , and it is very unlike the Apostolick Zeal , which was quite otherwise employ'd , that the World draweth inferences from it , which do the Church no service . He is troubled to see Men of all sides sick of a Calenture of a mistaken Devotion , and it seemeth to him that the devout Fire of mutual Charity , with which the Primitive Christians were inflam'd , is long since extinguish'd , and instead of it a devouring Fire of Anger and Persecution breaketh out in the World ; we wrangle now one with another about Religion 'till the Cloud cometh , whilst the Ten Commandments have no more authority with us , than if they were so many obsolete Laws or Proclamations out of date ; he thinks that a Nation will hardly be mended by Principles of Religion , where Morality is made a Heresy ; and therefore as he believeth Devotion misplac'd where it getteth into a Conventicle , he concludeth that Loyalty is so , when lodg'd in a drunken Club , those Vertues deserve a better Seat of Empire , and they are degraded , when such Men undertake their defence , as have so great need for an Apology themselves . Our Trimmer wisheth that some knowledge may go along with the Zeal on the right side , and that those who are in possession of the Pulpit , would quote at least so often the Authority of the Scriptures as they do that of the State ; there are many who borrow too often Arguments from the Government , to use against their Adversaries , and neglect those that are more proper , and would be more powerful ; a Divine grows less , and putteth a diminution on his own Character , when he quoteth any Law but that of God Almighty , to get the better of those who contest with him ; and it is a sign of a decay'd Constitution , when Nature with good diet cannot expel noxious Humours without calling Foreign Drugs to her Assistance ; So it looketh like want of health in a Church , when instead of depending upon that Truth which it holdeth , and the good Examples of them that teach it , to support it self , and to suppress Errors , it should have perpetual recourse to the secular Authority , and even upon the slightest occasions . Our Trimmer hath his Objections to the too hasty diligence , and to the overdoing of some of the dissenting Clergy , and he doth as little approve of those of our Church , who wear God Almighty's Liveries , as some old Warders in the Tower do the Kings , who do nothing in their place but receive their Wages for it ; he thinketh that the Liberty of the late times gave Men so much Light , and diffused it so universally amongst the People , that they are not now to be dealt with , as they might have been of less enquiry ; and therefore tho' in some well chosen and dearly beloved Auditories , good resolute Nonsence back'd with Authority may prevail , yet generally Men are become so good Judges of what they hear , that the Clergy ought to be very wary how they go about to impose upon their Understandings , which are grown less humble than in former times , when the Men in black had made Learning such a sin in the Laity , that for fear of offending , they made a Conscience of being able to read ; but now the World is grown sawcy , and do expect Reasons , and good ones too , before they give up their own Opinions to other Mens Dictates , tho' never so Magisterially deliver'd to them . Our Trimmer is far from approving the Hypocrisie which seemeth to be the reigning Voice amongst some of the Dissenting Clergy , he thinketh it the most provoking sin Men can be guilty of , in Relation to Heaven , and yet ( which may seem strange ) that very sin which shall destroy the Soul of the Man who preaches , may help to save those of the Company that hear him , and even those who are cheated by the false Ostentation of his strictness of life , may by that Pattern be encouraged to the real Practice of those Christian Vertues which he doth so deceitfully profess ; so that the detestation of this fault may possibly be carry'd on too far by our own Orthodox Divines , if they think it cannot be enough expres'd without bending the Stick another way ; a dangerous Method , and a worse Extream for Men of that Character , who by going to the outward line of Christian Liberty , will certainly encourage others to go beyond it : No Man doth less approve the ill-bred Methods of some of the Dissenters , in rebuking Authority , who behave themselves as if they thought ill manners necessary to Salvation , yet he cannot but distinguish and desire a Mean between the sawcyness of some of the Scotch Apostles , and the undecent Courtship of some of the Silken Divines , who , one would think , do practice to bow at the Altar , only to learn to make the better Legs at Court. Our Trimmer approveth the Principles of our Church , that Dominion is not founded in Grace , and that our Obedience is to be given to a Popish King in other things , at the same time that our Compliance with him in his Religion is to be deny'd , yet he cannot but think it an extraordinary thing if a Protestant Church should by a voluntary Election chuse a Papist for their Guardian , and receive Directions for supporting our Religion from one who must believe it a Mortal Sin not to endeavout to destroy it ; such a refined piece of Breeding would not seem to be very well plac'd in the Clergy , who will hardly find presidents to justify such an extravagant piece of Courtship , and which is so unlike the Primitive Methods , which ought to be our Pattern ; he hath nc such unreasonable tenderness for any sorts of Men , as to expect their faults should not be impartially laid open as often as they give occasion for it ; and yet he cannot but smile to see the same Man , who setteth up all the Sails of his Rhetorick , to fall upon Dissenters ; when Popery is to be handled , he doth it so gingerly , that he looketh like an Ass mumbling of Thistles , so afraid he is of letting himself loose upon a Subject , where he may be in danger of letting his Duty get she better of his Discretion . Our Trimmer is far from relishing the impertinent Wandrings of those who pour out long Prayers upon the Congregation , and all from their own Stock , which God knows , for the most part , is a barren Soil , which produceth Weeds instead of Flowers , and by this means they expose Religion it self , rather than promote Mens Devotions : On the other side , there may be too great Restraint put upon Men , whom God and Nature hath distinguished from their Fellow-Labourers , by blessing them with a happier Talent , and by giving them not only good Sense , but a powerful Utteranee too , hath enabled them to gust out upon the attentive Auditory with a mighty Stream of Devout and unaffected Eloquence ; when a Man qualified , endued with Learning too , and above that , adorn'd with a good Life , breaks out into a warm and well-deliver'd Prayer before his Sermon , it hath the appearance of a Divine Rapture , he raiseth and leadeth the Hearts of the Assembly in another manner than the most Compos'd or best Studied Form of Set Words can ever do ; and the Pray-wees , who serve up all the Sermon with the same Garnishing , would look like so many Statues , or Men of Scraw in the Pulpit , compar'd with those who speak with such a Powerful Zeal , that Men are tempted at the moment to believe Heaven it self hath directed their Words to them . Our Trimmer is not so unreasonably indulgent to the Dissenters , as to excuse the Irregularities of their Complaints , and to approve their threatning Stiles , which is so ill-suited to their Circumstances as well as to their Duty ; he would have them to shew their Grief , and not their Anger to the Government , and by such a Submission to Authority , as becomes them , if they cannot acquiesce in what is imposed ; let them deserve a Legislative Remedy to their Sufferings , there being no other way to give them perfect redress ; and either to seek it , or pretend to give it by any other Method , would not only be vain but Criminal too in those that go about it ; yet with all this , there may in the mean time be a prudential Latitude left , as to the manner of preventing the Laws now in force against them : The Government is in some degree answerable for such an Administration of them , as may be free from the Censure of Impartial Judges ; and in order to that , it would be necessary that one of these Methods be pursued , either to let loose the Laws to their utmost extent , without any Moderation or Restraint , in which at least the Equality of the Government would be without Objection , the Penalties being exacted without Remission from the Dissenters of all kinds ; or if that will not be done ( and indeed there is no reason it should ) there is a necessity of some Connivance to the Protestant Dissenters to execute that which in Humanity must be allowed to the Papists , even without any leaning towards them , which must be supposed in those who are or shall be in the administration of publick Business ; and it will follow that , according to our Circumstances , the distinction of such connivance must be made in such manner , that the greatest part of it may fall on the Protestant side , or else the Objections will be so strong , and the Inferences so clear , that the Friends , as well as the Enemies of the Crown , will be sure to take hold of them . It will not be sufficient to say , the Papists may be conniv'd at , because they be good Subjects , but not the Protestant Dissenters , because they are ill ones ; these general Maxims will not convince discerning Men , neither will any late Instances make them forget what hath passed at other times in the World ; both sides have had their Turns of being good and ill Subjects , therefore 't is easie to imagine what suspicions would arise in the present conjuncture , if such a partial Argument as this should be impos'd upon us ; the truth is , the Matter speaketh so much of it self , that it is not only unnecessary , but it may be unmannerly to say any more of it . Our Trimmer therefore wisheth , that since notwithstanding the Laws which deny Churches to say Mass in ; not only the Exercise , but also the Ostentation of Popery is as well or better performed in the Chappels of so many Foreign Ministers , where the English openly resort in spight of Proclamations and Orders of Council , which are grown to be as harmless things to them , as the Popes Bulls and Excommunications are to Hereticks who are out of his reach ; I say he could wish that by a seasonable as well as an equal piece of Justice , there might be so much consideration had of the Protestant Dissenters , as that there might be at sometimes , and at some places , a Veil thrown over an Innocent and retired Conventicle , and that such an Indulgence might be practic'd with less prejudice to the Church , or diminution to the Laws , it might be done so as to look rather like a kind Omission to enqu●re too strictly , than an allow'd Toleration of that which is against the Rule Established . Such a skilful hand as this is very Necessary in our Circumstances , and the Government by making Men entirely desperate , doth not only secure it self from danger of any Wild or Villianous attempts , but layeth such a Foundation for healing and uniting Laws , when ever a Parliament shall meet , that the Seeds of Differences and Animosities between the contending sides may ( Heaven consenting ) be for ever destroy'd . The Trimmer's Opinion concerning the Papists . TO speak of Popery leadeth me into such a Sea of Matter , that it is not easie to forbear launching into it , being invited by such a fruitful stream , and by a variety never to be exhausted ; but to confine it to the present Subject , I will only say a short word of the Religion it self ; of its Influences here at this time ; and of Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to our living with them . If a Man would speak Maliciously of this Religion , one might say it is like Diseases , where as long as one drop of the infection remains , there is still danger of having the whole Mass of Blood corrupted by it . In Swedeland there was an absolute cure , and nothing of Popery heard of , till Queen Christiana ( whether mov'd with Arguments of this or the other World , may not be good Manners to enquire ) thought fit to change her Religion and Country , and to live at Rome where she might find better judges of her Vertues , and less ungentle Censures of those Princely Liberties she was sometimes disposed to , than she left at Stockholme , where the good breeding is much inferior to that of Rome , as well as the Civility of the Religion : The Cardinals having rescued the Church from those Clownish Methods the Fisher-men had first introduc'd , and mended that Pattern so effectually , that a Man of that Age , if he should now come into the World , would not possibly know it . In Denmark the Reformation was entire , in some States of Germany , as well as Geneva , the Cure was universal ; but in the rest of the World where the Protestant Religion took place , the Popish humour was too high to be totally expell'd , and so it was in England , tho' the Change was made with all the advantage imaginable to the Reformation , it being Countenanc'd and introduc'd by Legal Authority , and by that means might have been perhaps as perfect as in any other Place , if the short Reign of Edward the 6th and the succession of a Popish Queen had not given such advantage to that Religion , that it hath subsisted ever since under all the hardships that have been put upon it ; it hath been a strong Compact Body , and made the more so by these Sufferings ; it was not strong enough to prevail , but it was able with the help of Rome , to carry on an Interest which gave the Crown trouble , and to make a considerable ( not to say dangerous ) Figure in the Nation ; so much as this could not have been done without some hopes , nor these hopes kept up without some reasonable grounds : In Queen Elizabeth's time , the Spanish Zeal for their Religion , and the Revenge for 88 gave warmth for the Papists here , and above all the sight of the Queen of Scots to succed , while she lived , sufficient to give a better prospect of their Affairs : In King Jame's time the Spanish Match and his gentleness towards them , which they were ready to interpret more in their own Favour , than was either reasonable or became them , so little tenderness they have , even where it is most due , if the Interest of their Religion cometh in competition with it . As for the late King , tho' he gave the most Glorious Evidence that ever Man did of his being a Protestant , yet , by the more than ordinary influence the Queen was thought to have over him , and it so happening that the greatest part of his Anger was directed against the Puritans , there was such an advantage to Men to suspect , that they were ready to interpret it a leaning towards Popery , without which handle it was Morally impossible that the ill-affected part of the Nation could ever have seduc'd the rest into a Rebellion . That which help'd to confirm many well meaning Men in their Misapprehensions of the King , was the long and unusual intermission of Parliaments , so that every year that passed without one , made up a new Argument to increase their Suspicion , and made them presume that the Papists had a principal hand in keeping them off : This raised such heats in Mens Minds , to think that Men who are obnoxious to the Laws , instead of being punished , should have Credit enough to serve themselves , even at the price of destroying the Fundamental Constitution ; that it broke out into a Flame , which , before it could be quenched , had almost reduc'd the Nation to Ashes . Amongst the miserable Effects of that unnatural War , none hath been more fatal to us , than the forcing our Princes to breathe in another air , and to receive the early impressions of a Foreign Education : the Barbarity of the English towards the King and the Royal Family , might very well tempt him to think the better of every thing he found abroad , and might naturally produce more gentleness , at least , towards a Religion by which he was hospitably receiv'd , and the same time he was thrown off and persecuted by the Protestants ( tho' his own Subjects ) to aggravate the Offence . The Queen Mother ( as generally Ladies do with age ) grew most devout and earnest in her Religion ; and besides the Temporal Rewards of getting larger Subsidies from the French Clergy , she had Motives of another kind , to perswade her to shew her Zeal : and since by the Roman Dispensatory , a Soul converted to the Church is a Soveraign Remedy , and layeth up a mighty stock of merit ; she was solicitous to secure her self in all Events , and therefore first set upon the Duke of Gloucester , who depended so much upon her good will , that she might for that reason believe the Conquest would not be difficult ; but it so fell out that he , either from his own Constancy , or that he had those near him by whom he was otherways advis'd , chose rather to run away from her importunity , than by staying to bear the continual weight of it : It is believ'd this had better success with another of her Sons , who , if he was not quite brought off from our Religion , at least , such beginnings were made , as made them very easie to be finish'd ; his being of a generous and aspiring Nature , and in that respect , less patient in the drudgery of arguing , might possibly help to recommend a Church to him , that exempteth the Laity from the vexation of enquiring ; perhaps he might ( tho' by mistake ) look upon that Religiou as more favourable to the enlarged Power of Kings , a Consideration which might have its weight with a young Prince in his warm blood , and that was brought up in Arms. I cannot hinder my self from a small digression , to consider with admiration the Old Lady of Rome , with all her wrinkles , should yet have Charms to subdue great Princes , so painted , and yet so pretending , after having abus'd , depos'd , and murther'd so many of her Lovers , she still findeth others glad and proud of their new Chains ; a thing so strange , to indifferent Judges , that those who will allow no other Miracles in the Church of Rome , must needs grant that this is one not to be contested ; she setteth in her Shop , and selleth at dear Rates her Rattles and her Hobby-Horses , whilst the deluded World still continues to furnish her with Customers . But whither am I carried with this Contemplation ? it is high time to return to my Text , and to consider the wonderful manner of the Kings coming home again , led by the hand of Heaven , and called by the Voice of his own People , who receiv'd him , if possible , with Joys equal to the Blessing of Peace and Union which his Restauration brought along with it ; by this there was an end put to the hopes some might have abroad , of making use of his less happy Circumstances , to throw him into foreign Interests and Opinions , which had been wholly inconsistent with our Religion , our Laws , and all other things that are dear to us ; yet for all this , some of those Tinctures and impressions might so far remain , as tho' they were very innocent in him , yet they might have ill effects , by softning the Animosity which seems necessary to the Defender of the Protestant Faith , in opposition to such a powerful and irreconcilable an Enemy . You may be sure , that among all the sorts of Men who apply'd themselves to the King at his first coming , for his Protection ; the Papists were not the last , nor , as they fain would have flatter'd themselves , the least welcome , having their past Sufferings , as well as their present Professions to recommend them ; and there was something that look'd like a Considerable Consideration of them , since so it happened , that the Indulgence promised to Dissenters at Breda , was carried on in such a manner , that the Papists were to divide with them , and tho' the Parliament , notwithstanding its Resignation to the Crown in all other things , rejected with scorn and anger a Declaration fram'd for this purpose , yet the Birth and steps of it gave such an alarm , that Mens suspicions once raised , were not easily laid asleep again . To omit other things , the breach of the Tripple League , and the Dutch War with its appurtenances , carried Jealousies to the highest pitch imaginable , and fed the hopes of one Party , and the fears of the oth●● to such a degree , that some Critical Resolutions were generally expected when the ill success of that War , and the Sacrifice , Fame thought sit to make of the Papists here , to their own Interest abroad , gave another Check ; and the Act of enjoyning the Test on all Officers , was thought to be no ill Bargain to the Nation , tho' bought at the Price of 1200000 pound , and the Money apply'd to continue the War against the Dutch , than which nothing could be more unpopular or less approv'd ; not withstanding those discouragements , Popery is a Plant that may be mowed down , but the Root will still remain , and in spite of the Laws , it will sprout up and grow again ; especially if it should happen that there should be Men in Power , who instead of weeding it out of our Garden , will take care to Cherish and keep it alive ; and tho' the Law of excluding them from Places was tolerably kept as to their outward Form , yet here were many , Circumstances , which being improv'd by the quick-sighted Malice of ill-affected Men , did help to keep up the World in their suspicions , and to blow up Jealousies to such a height both in and out of Parliament , that the remembrance of them is very unpleasant , and the Example so extravagant , that it is to be hop'd nothing in our Age like it will be attempted ; but to come closer to the Case in question , in this Condition we stand with the Papists , what shall now be done according to our Trin. mer's Opinion , inorder to the better clearing of this grievance , since as I have said before , there is no hopes of being entirely free from it ; Papists we must have among us , and if their Religion keep them from bringing honey to the Hive , let the Government try at least by gentle and not by violent means to take away the Sting from them ; the first Foundation to be laid is , that a distinct Consideration is to be had of the Papists Clergy , who have such an Essential Interest against all accommodation , that it is a hopeless thing to propose any thing to them less than all ; their Stomachs have been fit for it ever since the Reformation , they have pinn'd themselves to a Principle that admits no mean , they believe Protestants will be damn'd , and therefore by an extraordinary Effect of Christian Charity , they would destroy one half of England that the other might be saved ; then for the World , they must be in possession for God Almighty , to receive his Rents for him , not to accompt till the Day of Judgment , which is a good kind of Tenure , and ye cannot well blame the good Men , that will stir up the Laity to run any hazard in order to the getting them restor'd : What is it to the Priest , if the deluded Zealot undoes himself in the Attempt , he singeth Masses as joyfully , and with as good a Voice at Rome or St. Omers as ever he did ; is a single Man , and can have no wants but such as may be easily supply'd yet that he may not seem altogether insensible , or ungratesul to those that are his Martyrs , he is ready to assure their Executors , and if they please , will procure a Grant sub Anulo Piscatoris , that the good Man by being changed , hath got a good Bargain , and sav'd the singing of some hundred of years , which he would else have had in Purgatory ; there 's no Cure for those sorts of Men , no Expedient to be propos'd , so that tho' the utmost severity of the Laws against them , may in some sort be mittigated , yet no Treaty can be made with Men who in this Case have no Free Will , but are so muffled by Zeal , tyed by Vows , and kept up by such unchangeable Maxims of the Priesthood , that they are to be left as desperate Patients , and look'd upon as Men that will continue in an Eternal State of Hostility , till the Nation is entirely subdued to them ; it is then only the Lay Papists that are capable of being treated with , and we are to examine of what temper they are , and what Arguments are the most likely to prevail upon them , and how 't is adviseable for the Government to be Indulgent unto them ; the Lay Papists generally keep their Religion , rather because they will not break Company with those of their Party , than out of any setled Zeal that hath Root in them ; most of them do by the Mediation of the Priests Marry one another , and by keeping up an ignorant Opinion by hearing only one side ; others look upon it as the Escutcheons , the more Antient Religion of the two ; and as some Men of a good Pedigree , will despise meaner Men , tho' never so much superior to them by Nature , so these undervalue Reformation as an Upstart , and think there is more Honour in supporting an old Errour , than in embracing what see meth to be a new Truth ; the Laws have made them Men of Pleasure , by excluding them from Publick Business , and it happens well they are so , since they will the more easily be perswaded by Arguments of Ease and Conveniency to them ; they have not put off the Man in general , nor the Englishman in particular ; those who in the late storm against them went into other Countries , tho' they had all the Advantage that might recommend them to a good Reception , yet in a little time they chose to steal over again , and live here with hazard , rather than abroad with security ; there is a Smell in our Natural Earth better than all the Perfumes in the East ; there is something in a Mother , tho' never so Angry , that the Children will more Naturally trust sooner , than the Studied Civilities of Strangers , let them be never so Hospitable ; therefore 't is not adviseable , nor agreeing with the Rules of Governing Prudence , to provoke Men by hardships to forget that Nature , which else is sure to be of our side . When these Men by fair Usage are put again into their right Senses , they will have quite differing Reflections from those which Rigour and Persecution had raised in them : A Lay-Papist will first consider his Abby-Lands , which notwithstanding whatever hath or can be alledged ; must sink considerably in the Value , the moment that Popery prevaileth ; and it being a Disputable Matter whether Zeal might not in a little time get the better of the Law in that case , a considering Man will admit that as an Argument to perswade him , to be content with things as they are , rather than run this or any other hazard by Change , in which perhaps he may have no other Advantage , than that his new humble Confessour may be rais'd to a Bishoprick , and from thence look down superciliously upon his Patron , or which is worse , run to take Possession for God Almighty of his Abby , in such manner as the usurping Landlord ( as he will then be called ) shall hardly be admitted to be so much as a Tenant to his own Lands , lest his Title should prejudice that of the Church , which will then be the language ; he will think what disadvantage 't is to be look'd upon as a separate Creature , depending upon foreign Interest and Authority , and for that reason , expos'd to the Jealousie and Suspicion of his CountryMen ; he will reflect what an Incumbrance it is to have his House a Pasture for hungry Priests to grow in , which have such a never-failing Influence upon the Foolish , which is the greatest part of every Man's Family , that a Man's Dominion , even over his own Children , is mangled and divided , if not totally undermin'd by them ; then to be subject to what arbitrary Taxes the Popish Convocations shall impose upon them for the carrying on the Common Interest of that Religion , under Penalty of being mark'd out for half Hereticks by the rest of the Laity , to have no share in Business , no opportunity of shewing his own Value to the World ; to live at the best an useless , and by others to be thought a dangerous Member of the Nation where he is born , is a burden to a generous Mind that cannot be taken off by all the Pleasure of an easie unmanly life , or by the nauseous enjoyment of a dull Plenty , that produceth no good for the Mind , which will ever be consider'd in the first place by a Man that hath a Soul ; when he should think , that if his Religion , after his wading through a Sea of Blood , come at last to prevail , it would infinitely lessen , if not entirely destroy the Glory , Riches , Strength and Liberty of his own Country ; and what a Sacrifice is this to make to Rome , where they are wise enough to wonder there should be such Fools in the World , as to venture , struggle , and contend , nay , even to die Martyres for that which , should it succeed , would prove a Judgment instead of a Blessing to them ; he will conclude that the advantages of throwing some of their Children back again to God Almighty when they have too many of them , are not equal to the Inconveniences they may either feel or fear , by continuing their separation from the Religion established . Moral things will have their weight in the World , and tho' Zeal may prevail for a time , and get the better in a Skirmish , yet the War endeth generally on the side of Flesh and Blood , and will do so till Mankind is another thing than it is at present : And therefore a wise Papist in cold Blood , considering these and many other Circumstances , 't will be worth his pains to see if he can unmuffle himself from the Mask of Infallibility , will think it reasonable to set his imprison'd Senses at Liberty , and that he hath a right to see with his own Eyes , hear with his own Ears , and judge by his own Reason ; the consequence of which must probably be , that weighing things in a right Scale , and seeing them in their true Colours , he would distinguish between the merit of suffering for good Cause , and the foolish ostentation of drawing inconveniences upon himself , and therefore would not be unwilling to be convinc'd that our Protestant Creed may make him happy in the other World , and the easier in this ; a few of such wise Proselytes would by their Example draw so many after them , that the Party would insensibly melt away , and in a little time , without any angry word , we should come to an Union , that all Good Men would have Reason to rejoyce at ; but we are not to presume upon these Conversions , without preparing Men for them by kind and reconciling Arguments ; nothing is so against our Nature , as to believe those can be in the right who are too hard upon us ; there is a deformity in every thing that doth us hurt , it will look scurvily in our Eye while the smart continues , and a Man must have an extraordinary Measure of Grace , to think well of a Religion that reduceth him and his Family to Misery ; in this respectour trimmer would consent to the mitigation of such Laws as were made , ( as it 's said King Henry VIII . got Queen Elizabeth ) in heat against Rome : It may be said that even States as well as private Men are subject to Passion ; a just indignation of a villainous Attempt produceth at the time such Remedies , as perhaps are not without some mixture of Revenge , and therefore tho' time cannot Repeal a Law , it may by a Natural Effect soften the Execution of it ; there is less danger to rouse a Lyon when at Rest , than to wake Laws , that intended to have their time of Sleeping , nay more than that , in some cases their Natural periods of Life , dying of themselves without the Solemnity of being revok'd , any otherwise than by the common consent of Mankind , who do cease to Execute , when the Reasons in great Measure fail that first Created and Satisfyed the Rigour of unusual Penalties . Our Trimmer is not eager to pick out some places in History against this or any other Party ; quite contrary , is very sollicitous to find out any thing that may be healing , and tend to an Agreement ; but to prescribe the Means of this Gentleness so as to make it effectual , must come from the only place that can furnish Remedies for this Cure , viz. a Parliament ; in the mean time , it is to be wished there may be such a mutual calmness of Mind , as that the Protestants might not be so jealous , as still to smell the Match that was to blow up the King , and both Houses in the Gunpowder Treason , or to start at every appearance of Popery , as if it were just taking Possession . On the other side , that the Papists may not suffer themselves to be led by any hopes , tho' never so flattering , to a Confidence or Ostentation which must provoke Men to be less kind to them ; that they may use Modesty on their sides , and the Protestants Indulgence on theirs ; by this means there will be an over-looking of all Venial Faults , atacit connivance at all things that do not carry Scandal with it , and it would amount to a kind of Natural Dispensation with the severe Laws , Since there would be no more Accusers to be found , were the occasions of Anger and Animosity once remov'd ; let the Papists in the mean time remember , that there is a respect due from all lesser numbers to greater , a deference to be paid by an Opinion that is Exploded , to one that is Established ; such things well digested will have an influence upon their Behaviour , and produce such a Temper as must win the most eager Adversaries out of their ill Humour to them , and give them a Title to all the Favour that may be consistent with the Publick Peace and Security . The Trimmer's Opinion in Relation to things abroad . THE World is so compos'd , that it is hard , if not impossible , for a Nation not to be a great deal involv'd in the fate of their Neighbours ; and tho'by the felicity of our Scituation , we are more Independent than any other People , yet we have in all Ages been concern'd for our own selves in the Revolutions abroad . There was a time when England was the over-Ballancing Power of Christendom , and that eitherby Inheritance or Conquest , the better part of France receiv'd Laws from us ; after that we being reduc'd into our own Limits , France and Spain became the Rivals for the Universal Monarchy , and our third Power , tho' in it self less than either of the other , hapned to be Superiour to any of them , by that choice we had of throwing the Scales on that side to which we gave our Friendship . I do not know whether this Figure did not make us as great as our Formal Conquest , to be a perpetual Umpire between the two great contending Powers , who gave us all their Courtship , and offer'd all their Incense at our Altar , whilst the Fate of either Prince seemed to depend upon the Otacles we delivered , for the King of England to sit on his Throne , as in the Supream Court of Justice , which the two last Appeal , the two great Monarchs pleading their Cause , and expecting their Sentence ; declaring which side was in the right , or at least if we pleas'd which side should have the better of it , was a piece of Greatness which was peculiar to us , and no wonder if we endeavour to preserve it , as we did for a considerable time , it being our Safety , as well as Glory , to maintain it ; but by a Fatality upon our Councils , or by the refin'd Policy of this latter Age , we have thought fit to use industry to destroy this mighty Power , which we have so long enjoyed ; and that equality between the two Monarchs , which we might for ever have preserved , hath been chiefly broken by us , whose Interest it was above all others to maintain it ; when one of them , like the overflowing of the Sea , had gained more upon the other than our conveniency , or indeed our safety , would allow , instead of mending the Banks , or making new ones , we our selves helpt to cut them , to invite and make way for a farther Inundation . France and Spain have had their several turns in making use of our Mistakes , and we have been formerly as deaf to the Instances of the then weaker part of the World to help them against the House of Austria , as we can now be to the Earnestness of Spain , that we would assist them against the Power of France . Gondamar was as sawcy , and as powerful too in King James his Court , as any French Ambassadour can have been at any time since , when men talkt as wrong then on the Spanish side , and made their Court by it , as any can have done since by talking as much for the French ; so that from that time , instead of weighing in a wise Balance the Power of either Crown , it looketh as if we had meant only to weigh the Pensions , and take the heaviest . It would be tedious , as well as unwelcome , to recapitulate all our wrong steps , so that I will go no farther than the King's Restauration , at which time the Balance was on the side of France , and that by the means of Cromwell , who for a separate Interest of his own , had sacrificed that of the Nation , by joyning with the stronger side , to suppress the Power of Spain , which he ought to have supported . Such a Method was natural enough to an Usurper , and shew'd he was not the Father of the People , by his having so little care for them ; and the Example coming from that hand , one would think should , for that Reason , be less likely to be solIow'd . But to go on , here cometh the King , follow'd with Courtships of all Nations abroad , of which some did it not only to forget how familiarly they had us'd him when he was in other Circumstances , but to bespeak the Friendship of a Prince , who , besides his other Greatness , was more considerable by being re-establisht by the love of his people ; France had an Interest either to dispose us to so much good will , or at least to put us in such a Condition , that we might give no Opposition to their Designs ; and Flanders being a perpetual Object in their Eye , a las●ing Beauty for which they have an incurable passion , and not being kind enough to consent to them , they meditated to commit a Rape upon her , which they thought would not be easie to do , whilst England and Holland were agreed to rescue her , when-ever they should hear her cry out for help to them ; to this end they put in practice seasonable and artificial Whispers , to widen things between us and the States , Amboyna and the Fishery must be talk'd of here ; the freedom of the Seas and the preservation of Trade must be talk'd of and insinuated there ; and there being combustible matter on both sides , in a little time it took fire , which gave those that kindled it , sufficient cause to smile and hug themselves , to see us both fall into the Net they had laid for us ; and it is observable and of good example to us , if we will take it , That their Design being to set us together at Cuffs to weaken us , they kept themselves indifferent till our Victories began to break the Balance ; then the King of France , like a wise Prince , was resolved to support the beaten side , and would no more let the Power of the Sea , than we ought to suffer the Monarchy of Europe , to fall into one hand : In pursuance to this , he took part with the Dutch , and in a little time made himself Umpire of the Peace between us ; some time after , upon pretence of his Queen's Title to part of Flanders , by Right of Devolution , he falleth into it with a mighty Force , for which the Spaniards were so little prepared , that he made a very swift Progress , and had such a Torrent of undisputed Victory , that England and Holland , tho' the Wounds they had given one another were yet green , being struck with the apprehension of so near a danger to them , thought it necessary , for their own defence , to make up a sudden League , into which Sweden was taken to interpose for a Peace between the two Crowns . This had so good an effect , that France was stopt in its Career , and the Peace of Aix le Chapelle was a little after concluded . 'T was a forc'd putt ; and tho' France wisely dissembled their inward dissatisfaction , yet from the very moment they resolv'd to unty the Triple knot , whatever it cost them ; for his Christian Majesty , after his Conquering Meals , ever riseth with a stomach , and he lik'd the Pattern so well , that it gave him a longing desire to have the whole Piece . Amongst the other means used for the attaining this end , the sending over the Dutchess of Orleans , was not the least powerful , she was a very welcome Guest here , and her own Charms and Dexterity joined with other Advantages , that might help her perswasions , gave her such an Ascendent , that she could hardly fail of success . One of the Preliminaries of her Treaty , tho' a trivial thing in it self , yet was considerable in the consequence , as very small Circumstances often are in relation to the Government of the World About this time a general humour , in opposition to France , had made us throw off their Fashion , and put on Vests , that we might look more like a distinct People , and not be under the servility of imitation , which ever payeth a greater deference to the Original , than is consistent with the Equality all Independent Nations should pretend to ; France did not like this small beginning of ill humours , and least of Emulation , and wisely considering that it is a natural Introduction first to make the World their Apes , that they may be afterwards their Slaves . It was thought that one of the Instructions Madam brought along with her , was to laugh us out of these Vests , which she performed so effectually , that in a moment , like so many Footmen who had quitted their Masters Livery , we all took it again , and return'd to her Service ; so that the very time of doing it gave a very critical Advantage to France , since it lookt like an Evidence of our returning to their Interest , as well as to their Fashion , and would give such a distrust of us to our new Allies , that it might facilitate the dissolution of the knot , which tied them so within their bounds , that they were very impatient till they were freed from the restraint . And the Lady had a more extended Commission than this , and we double-laid the Foundation for a new strict Alliance , quite contrary to the other , in which we had been so lately engag'd . And of this there were such early appearances , that the World began to look upon us as falling into Apostacy from the common Interest . Notwithstanding all this , France did not neglect at the same time to give good words to the Dutch , and even to feed them with hopes of supporting them against us , when on a sudden , that never to be forgotten Declaration of War against them cometh out , only to vindicate his own Glory , and to revenge the Injuries done to his Brother of England , by which he came out Second in this Duel ; so humble can this Prince be , when at the same time he doth more Honour than we deserve , he layeth a greater share of the blame upon our shoulders , than did naturally belong to us ; the particulars of that War , our part in it while we staid in , and when we were out of breath , our leaving the French to make an end to fight , are things too well known to make it necessary , and too unwelcome in themselves to incite me to repeat them ; only the Wisdom of France is in this to be observ'd , That when we had made a separate Peace , which left them single to oppose the united Force of the Confederates , they were so far from being angry , that they would not shew so much as the least coldness , hoping to get as much by our Mediation for a Peace , as they would have expected from our Assistance in the War , our Circumstances at that time consider'd . This seasonable piece of Indulgence in not reproaching us , but rather allowing those Necessities of State which we gave for our Excuse , was such an engaging Method , that it went a great way to keep us still in his Chains , when , to the Eye of the World , we had absolutely broke loose from him : And what pass'd afterwards at Nimeguen , tho' the King's Neutrality gave him the outward Figure of a Mediator , it appear'd that his Interposition was extremely suspected of Partiality by the Confederates , who upon that Ground did both at and before the Conclusion of the Treaty , treat his Ministers there with a great deal of neglect . In this Peace , as well as that in the Pirenean and Aix le Chapelle , the King of France , at the Moment of making it , had the thought of breaking it ; for a very little time after he broach'd his Intentions upon a Cost , or things that if they had been offer'd by a less formidable hand , would have been smiled at ; but ill Arguments being seconded by good Armies , carry such a power with them , that naked sense is a very unequal Adversary . It was thought that these aiery Claims were chiefly rais'd with the prospect of getting Lunenburgh for the Equivalent ; and this Opinion was confirm'd by the blocking it up afterwards , pretending to the Country of China , that it might be entirely surrounded by the French Dominions , it was so pressed that it might have fallen in a little time , if the King of France had not sent Orders to his Troops to retire , and his Christian Generosity which was assign'd for the reason of it , made the World smile , since it hath been seen how differently his devout Zeal worketh in Hungary : that specious Reason was in many respects ill tun'd , and France it self gave it so faintly , that at the very time it look'd out of Countenance ; the true ground of his Retiring is worth our observation ; for at the Instance of the Confederates , Offices were done , and the Memorials given , but all ineffectual till the word Parliament was put into them ; that powerful word had such an effect , that even at that distance it rais'd the Siege , which may convince us of what efficacy the King's words are , when he will give them their full weight , and threaten with his Parliament ; it is then that he appears that great Figure we ought to represent him in our Minds , the Nation his Body , he the Head , and joined with that Harmony , that every word he pronounceth is the word of a Kingdom : Such words , even by this Example , are as effectual as Fleets and Armies , because they can create them , and without this his word founds abroad like a faint Whisper , that is either not heard ( or which is worse ) not minded . But tho' France had made this step of forced Compliance , it did not leave off the pursuit of their pretensions ; and therefore immediately proposed the Arbitration to the King ; but it appear'd , that notwithstanding his Merit towards the Confederates , in saving Luxenburgh , the remembrances of what had passed before , left such an ill taste in their Mouths , they could not without being put into a Condition to dispose of their Interests , and therefore declin'd it by insifting upon a general Treaty , to which France hath ever since continued to be averse ; our great earnestness to perswade the Confederates to consent to it , was so unusual , and so suspicious a method , that it might naturally make them believe , that France spake to them by our Mouth , and for that Reason , if there hath been no other , might hinder the accepting it ; and so little care hath been taken to cure this , and other Jealousies the Confederates may have entertain'd , that quite contrary , their Ministers here every day take fresh Alarms , from what they observe in small as well as greter Circumstances ; and they being apt both to take and improve apprehensions of this kind , draw such Inferences from them , as make them entirely despari of us . Thus we uow stand , far from being Innocent Spectators of our Neighbours Ruine , and by a fatal mistake foregetting what a Certain Forerunner it is to our own ; and now it 's time our Trimmer should tell something of his Opinion , upon this present State of things abroad ; he first professeth to have no Biass , either for or against France , and that his thoughts are wholly directed by the Interest of his own Country ; he alloweth , and hath read that Spain used the same Methods , when it was in its height , as France doth now , and therefore 't is not Partiality that moveth him ; but the just fear which all reasonable Men must be possess'd with , of an overgrowing Power ; Ambition is a devouring Beast , when it hath swallow'd one Prince , instead of being cloyed , it hath so much the greater Stomach to another , and being fed , becometh still the more hungry ; so that for the Confederates to expect a security from any thing but their own strength , is a most miserable fallacy ; and if they cannot resist the Incroachments of France by their Arms , it is in vain for them to dream of any other means of preservation , it will have the better grace , besides the saving so much Blood and Ruine , to give all up at once ; make a Present of themselves , to appease this hungry Stomach , rather than be whipser'd , flatter'd , or Cozened out of their Liberties ; nothing is so soft as the first applications of a greater Prince , to engage a weaker , but that pleasing Countenance is but a Vizard , it is not the true Face , for as soon as their turn is serv'd , the Courtship flyeth to some other Prince or State , where the same part is to be acted , leaveth the old mistaken Friend , to Neglect and Contempt , and like an insolent Lover to a Cast off Mistress , Reproacheth even with that Infamy , of which he himself was the Author . Sweden , Bavaria , ●alatine , &c. may by their Fresh Examples , teach other Princes what they are reasonably to expect , and what Snakes are hid under the Flowers the Crown of France so liberally throws upon them , whist they can be useful : The various Methods and deep Riddles , with the differing Notes in several Countries , do not only give suspicion , but assurance that every thing is put in Practice , by which the Universal Monarchy may be obtained : who can reconcile the withdrawing of his Troops from Luxenburgh , in Consideration of the War in Hungary , which was not then declar'd , and presently after encouraging the Turk to take Vienna , and consequently to destroy the Empire . Or who can think that the Prosecution of the Poor Protestants of France , will be accepted of God , as an Attonement for hazarding the loss of the whole Christian Faith ? Can he be thought in earnest , when he seen'd afraid of the Spaniards , and for that reason must have Luxenburgh , and that he cannot be fafe from Germany , unless he is in possession of Strasburgh ? All Injustice and Violence must in it self be grievous , but the aggravations of supporting them by false Arguments , and insulting Reasons , hath something in it yet more provoking , than the Injuries themselves ; and the World hath ground enough to apprehend , from such a Method of arguing , that even their Senses are to be subdu'd as well as their Liberties . Then the Variety of Arguments used by France , in several Countries is very observable : In England and Denmark , nothing instill'd , but the Greatness and Authority of the Crown ; on the other side , the great Men in Poland are commended , who differ in Opinion with the King , and they argue like Friends to the Priviledge of the Dyet , against the separate Power of the Crown : In Sweden they are troubled that the King should have chang'd something there of late , by his single Authority , from the ancient and settled Authority and Constitutions ; at Ratisbone , the most Christian Majesty taketh the Liberties of all the Electors , and their Estates , into his immediate protection , and telleth them the Emperour is a dangerous Man , an aspiring Hero , that would infallibly devour them , if they were not at hand to resist him on their behalf ; but above all in Holland , he hath the most obliging tenderness for the Common-wealth , and is in such disquiets , lest it should be invaded by the Prince of Orange , that they can do no less in gratitude , than destroy themselves when he biddeth them , to see how sensible they are of his excessive good Nature ; yet in spight of all these Contradictions , there are in the World such refin'd States-men , as will upon their Credit affirm the following Paradoxes to be real truth ; first that France alone is sincere and keepeth its Faith , and consequently that it is the only Friend we can rely upon ; the King of France , of all Men living , hath the least mind to be a Conquerour ; that he is a sleepy , tame Creature , void of all Ambition , a poor kind of a Man , that hath no farther thoughts than quiet ; that he is charm'd by his Friendship to us , that it is impossible he-should ever do us hurt , and therefore tho' Flanders was lost , it would not in the least concern us ; that he would fain help the Crown of England to be absolute , which would be to take pains to put it into a condition to oppose him , as it is , and must be our Interest , as long as he continueth in such an overballancing Power and Greatness . Such a Creed as this once receiv'd , might prepare our belief for greater things , and as he that taught Men to eat a Dagger , began first with a Penknife ; so that if we can be prevail'd with to digest the smaller MIstakes , we may at last make our stomachs strong enough for that of Transubstantiation : Our Trimmer cannot easily be converted out of his senses by these State Sophistries , and yet he hath no such peevish Obstinacy to reject all Correspondence with France , because we ought to be apprehensive of the too great power of it ; he would not have the Kings Friendship to the Confederates extended to the involving him in any unreasonable or dangerous Engagements , neither would he have him lay aside the consideration of his better establishment at home , and of his excessive Zeal to serve his Allies abroad ; but sure there might be a Mean between these two opposite Extreams , and it may be wish'd that our Friendship with France may be so bounded , that it may consist with the humour as well as the interest of England . There is no Woman but hath the fears of contracting too near an intimacy with a much greater Beauty , because it exposeth her too often to a Comparison that is not advantagious to her ; and sure it may become a Prince to be as jealous of his Dignity , as a Lady can be of her good looks , and to be as much out of Countenance , to be thought an humble Comparison to so much a greater Power ; to be always seen in an ill light , to be so darkned by the brightness of a greater Star , is somewhat mortifying ; and when England might ride Admiral at the head of the Confederates , to look like the KitchinYatch to the Grand Louis , is but a scurvy Figure for us to make in the Map of Christendom ; it would rise upon our Trimmer's stomach , if ever ( which God forbid ) the power of calling and intermitting Parliaments here , should be transferred to the Crown of France , and that all the opportunities of our own settlements at home should give way to their designs abroad ; and that our Interest should be so far sacrific'd to our Compliance , that all the Omnipotence of France can never make us full amends for it . In the mean time , he shrinketh at the dismal prospect he can by no means drive away from his thoughts , that when France hath gather'd all the fruit arising from our Mistakes , and that we can bear no more with them , they will cut down the Tree and throw it into the fire ; all this while , some Superfine States-Men , to comfort us , would fain perswade the World that this or that accident may save us , and for all that is or ought to be dear to us , would have us to rely wholly upon Chance , not considering that Fortune is Wisdoms Creature , and that God Almighty loveth to be on the Wisest as well as the Strongest side ; therefore this is such a miserable shift , such a shameful Evasion , that they would be laught to death fot it , if the ruining Consequence of this Mistake did not more dispose Men to rage , and a detestation of it . Our Trimmer is far from Idolatry in other things , in one thing only he cometh near it , his Country is in some degree his Idol ; he doth not Worship the Sun , becanse 't is not peculiar to us , it rambleth about the World , and is less kind to us than others ; but for the Earth of EngLand , tho' perhaps inferiour to that of many places abroad , to him there is Divinity in it , and he would rather dye , than see a piece of English Grass trampled on by a foreign Trespasser : he thinks there are a great many of his mind , for all Plants are apt to taste of the Soyle in which they grow , and we that grow here , have a Root that produceth in us a Stalk of English Juice , which is not to be changed by grasting or foreign infusion ; and I do not know whether any thing less wilp prevail , than the Modern Experiment , by which the blood of one Creature is transmitted to another , according to which , before the French be let into our Bodies , every drop of our own must be drawn out of them . Our Trimmer cannot but lament , that by a Sacrifice too great for one Nation to make another , we should be like a rich Mine , made useless only for want of being wrought , and that the Life and Vigour which should move us against our Enemies is miserably apply'd to tear our own Bowels , that being made by our scituation , not only safer , but if we please greater too , than Countries which far exceed us in extent ; that having Courage by Nature , Learning by Industry , Riches by Trade , we should corrupt all these Advantages so as to make them insignificant , and by a satality which seemeth peculiar to us , misplace our active rage one against another , whilst we are turn'd into Statues on that fide where Iyeth out greatest danger ; to be unconcern'd not only in our Neighbours ruim ; but our own , and let our Island lye like a great Hulk in the Sea , without Rudder or Sail , all the Men cast away in her , or as if we were all Children in a great Cradle , and rockt asleep to a foreign Tune . I say our Trimmer representeth to his Mind , our Roses blasted and discolour'd , whilst the Lillies Triumph and grow Insolent , upon the Comparison ; when he considereth our own flourishing Harvest now withered and dying , and nothing left us but a remembrance of a butter part in History , than we shall make in the next Age ; which will be no more to us than an Escutcheon hung upon our Door when we are dead ; when he foreseeth from hence , growing Infamy from abroad , confusion at home , and all this without the possibility of a Cure , in respect of the voluntary fetters good Men put upon themselves by their Allegiance , without a good measure of preventing Grace , he would be tempted to go out of the World like a Roman Philosopher , rather than endure the burthen of Life under such a discouraging Prospect : But Mistakes , as all other things , have their Periods , and many times the nearest way to Cure , is not to oppose them , but stay till they are crusht with their own weight , for Nature will not let any thing to continue long that is violent ; violence is a wound , and as a wound , must be Curable in a little time , or else 't is Mortal ; but a Nation cometh near to be Immortal , therefore the wound will one time or another be Cured , tho' perhaps by such wrong Methods , if too long forborn , as may even make the best Remedies we can prepare , to be at the same time a Melancholly Contemplation to us ; there is but one thing ( God Almighties Providence excepted ) to support a Man from sinking under these afflicting thoughts , and that is the hopes we draw singly from the King himself , without mixture of any other Consideration . Tho' the Nation was lavish of their Kindness to him at his first coming , yet there remaineth still a Stock of Warmth in Mens Hearts for him . Besides the good Influences of his happy Planet are not yet all spent , and tho' the Stars of Men past their Youth are generally declining , and have less Force , like the Eyes of decaying Beauties , yet by a Blessing peculiar to himself , we may yet hope to be sav'd by his Autumnal Fortune : He hath something about him that will drawdown a healing Miracle for his and our Deliverance ; a Prince which seemeth fitting for such an offending Age , in which Mens Crimes have been so general , that the not forgiving his People hath been the destroying of them , whose Gentleness gives him a natural Dominion that hath no bounds , with such a noble mixture of Greatn●ss and Condeseention , an engaging Look , that disarmeth Men of their ill Humours , and their Resentments , something in him that wanteth a Name , and can be no more defin'd than it can be resisted ; a Gift of Heaven , of its last finishing , where it will be peculiarly kind ; the only Prince in the World that dares be familiar , or that hath right to triumph over those forms which were first invented to give awe to those who could not judge , and to hide Defects from those that could ; a Prince that hath exhausted himself by his Liberality , and endanger'd himself by his Mercy ; who out-shineth by his own Light and natural Virtues all the varnish of studied Acquisitions ; his Faults are like Shades to a good Picture , or like Allay to Gold , to make it the more useful , he may have some , but for any Man to see them through so many reconciling Virtues , is a Sacrilegious piece of ill nature , of which no generous Mind can be guilty ; a Prince that deserveth to be lov'd for his own sake , even without the help of a Comparison ; our Love , our Duty , and our Danger , all join to cement our Obedience to him ; in short , whatever he can do , it is no more possible for us to be angry with him , than with a Bank that securesh us from the raging Sea , the kind Shade that hideth us from the scorching Sun , the welcome Hand that reacheth us a Reprieve , or with the Angel , that rescueth our Souls from the devouring Jaws of wretched Eternity CONCLUSION . TO Conclude , our Trimmer is so fully satisfy'd with the Truth of these Principles , by which he is directed , in reference to the Publick , that he will neither be pall'd and threatned , laught , nor drunk out of them ; and instead of being converted by the Arguments of his Adversaries to their Opinions , he is very much confirm'd in his own by them ; he professeth solemnly that were it in his Power to chuse , he would rather have his Ambition bounded by the Commands of a Great and Wise Master , than let it range with a Popular License , tho' crown'd with Success ; yet he cannot commit such a Sin against the glorious thing call'd Liberty , nor let his Soul stoop so much below it self , as to be content without repining to have his Reason wholly subdu'd , or , the Priviledge of Acting like a sensible Creature , torn from him by the imperious Dictates of unlimited Authority , in what hand soever it happens to be plac'd ; what is there in this that is so Criminal , as to deserve that Penalty of that most singular Apothegme , A Trimmer is worse than a Rebel ? What do angry Men ail to rail so against Moderation , doth it not look as if they were going to some very scurvy Extreme , that is too strong to be digested by the more considering part of Mankind ? These Arbitrary Methods , besides the injustice of them , are ( God be thanked ) very unskilful too , for they fright the Birds by talking so loud from coming into the Nets that are laid for them ; and when Men agree to rifle a House , they seldom give warning , or blow a Trumpet ; but there are some small States-Men , who are so full charg'd with their own Expectations , that they cannot contain . A kind Heaven sending such a seasonable Curse upon their undertakings , hath made their ignorance an Antidote against their Malice ; some of these cannot treat peacebly , yielding will not satisfy them , they will have Men by storm ; there are others , that must have Plots , to make their Service more necessary , and have an Interest to keep them alive , since they are to live upon them ; these Men will perswade the King to retrench his own Greatness , so as to shrink into the head of a Party , which is the betraying him into such an Unprincely mistake , and to such a wilful diminution of himself , that they are the last Enemies he ought to allow himself to forgive ; such Men if they could , would prevail with the Sun to shine only upon them and their Friends , and to leave all the rest of the World in the dark ; this is a very unusual Monopoly , and may come within the Equity of the Law , which maketh it Treason to Imprison the King , when such unfitting bounds are put to his Favour , and confin'd to the narrow limits of a particular set of Men , that would inclose him ; these Honest and only Loyal Gentlemen , if they may be allow'd to bear Witness for themselves , make a King their Engine , and degrade him into a property at the very time that their Flattery would make him believe they paid down Worship to him ; besides these there is a flying Squadron on both sides , that are afraid the World will agree , small dablers in Conjuring , that raise Apparitions to keep Men from being reconcil'd , like Wasps that fly up and down , buz and sting to keep Men unquiet ; but these Infects are commonly short-liv'd Creatures , and no doubt in a little time Mankind will be rid of them ; they were Gyants at least who fought once against Heaven , but for such pigmies as these to contend against it , is such a provoking Folly , that the insolent Bunglers ought to be laught and hist out of the World for it ; they should consider there is a Soul in that great body of the People , which may for a time be drowzy and unactive , but when the Leviathan is rouz'd , it moveth like an angry Monster , and will neither be convinc'd nor resisted ; the People can never agree to shew their united Powers , till they are extreamly tempted and provoked to it , so that to apply Cupping Glasses to a great Beast dispos'd to sleep , and to force that same thing whether it will or no to be Valiant , must be learnt out of some other Book than Machiavil , who would never have prescrib'd such a preposterous Method ; it is to be remembred , that if Princes have Law and Authority on their sides , the People on theirs may have Nature which is a formidable Adversary ; Duty , Justice , Religion , nay , even Humane prudence too biddeth the People suffer any thing rather than resist ; but uncorrected Nature , where e're it feeleth the smart will come to the nearest Remedy , Mens Passions in this Case are to be consider'd as much as their Duty , let it be never so strongly enforc'd , for if their Passions are provoked , they being so much a part of us as our Limbs , they lead Men into a short way of Arguing , that admitteth no distinction , and from the foundation of Self Defence , they will draw Inferences , that will have inseparable effects upon the quiet of a Government . Our Trimmer therefore dreadeth a general discontent , because he thinks it differs from a Rebellion , only as a Spotted Fever does from the Plague , the same Species under a lower degree of Malignity ; is worketh several ways , sometimes like a slow Poyson that hath its Effects a great distance from the time it is given , sometimes like dry Flax prepated to catch at the first Fire , or like Seed in the Ground ready to sprout upon the first Shower ; in every shape 't is fatal , and our Trimmer thinketh no pains or precaution can be so great as to prevent it . In short , he thinketh himself in the right , grounding his Opinion upon the Truth , which equally hateth to be under the Oppressions of wrangling Sophistry of the one hand , or the short dictates of mistaken Authority on the other . Our Trimmer adoreth the Goddess Truth , tho' in all Ages she hath been scurvily used , as well as those that Worshipped her ; 't is of late become such a cozening Vertue , that Mankind seems to be agreed to shun and avoid it ; yet the want of Practice which Repealeth the other Laws , hath no influence upon the Law of Truth , because it hath root in Heaver , and an Intrinsick value in it self , that can never be impaired ; she sheweth her Greatness in this , that her Enemies when they are successful are asham'd to own it ; nothing but Power full of Truth hath the Prerogative of Triumphing , not only after Victories , but in spite of them , and to put Conquest her self out of Countenance ; she may be kept under and supperst , but her Dignity still remaineth with her , even when she is in Chains ; Falsehood with all her Impudence , hath not enough to speak ill of her before her Face , such Majesty she carrieth about her , that her most prosperous Enemies are fain to whisper their Treason ; all the Power upon Earth can never extinguish her , she hath lived in all Ages ; and let the mistaken Zeal of prevailing Authority , Christen any opposition to it , with what Name they please , she makes it not only an ugly and unmannerly , but a daugerous thing to persist ; she hath lived very retired indeed , nay sometime so buried , that only some sew of the discerning part of Mankind could have a Glimpse of her ; with all that she hath Eternity in her , she knows not how to dye , and from the darkest Clouds that shade and cover her , she breaketh from time to time with Triumph for her Friends , and Terrour for her Enemies . Our Trimmer therefore inspired by this Divine Vertue , thinks fit to conclude with these Assertions , That our Climate is a Trimmer , between that part of the World where men are Roasted , and the other where they are Frozen ; That our Church is a Trimmer , between Phrenzy of Platonick Visions , and the Lethargick Ignorance of Popish Dreams ; That our Laws are Trimmers , between the Excess of unbounded Power , and the Extravagance of Liberty not enough restrained : That true Vertue hath ever been thought a Trimmer , and to have its dwelling in the middle between the two Extreams ; That even God Almighty is divided between his two great Attributes , his Mercy and his Justice . In such Company , our Trimmer is not asham'd of his Name , and willingly lea veth to the bold Champions of either Extream , the Honour of contending with no less Adversaries , than Nature , Religion , Liberty , Prudence , Humanity , and Common Sense . FINIS .