A second letter from a gentleman in the country to his friends in London upon the subject of the penal laws and tests. Penn, William, 1644-1718. 1687 Approx. 24 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 10 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2006-06 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A54211 Wing P1361 ESTC R38198 17203886 ocm 17203886 106228 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. A54211) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106228) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1621:22) A second letter from a gentleman in the country to his friends in London upon the subject of the penal laws and tests. Penn, William, 1644-1718. 18 p. Printed for J.S. and T.S. and to be had of most booksellers in London and Westminster, London : 1687. Attributed to Penn by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints. Reproduction of original in the Union Theological Seminary Library, New York. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Test Act (1673) Dissenters, Religious -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- England. Religious tolerance -- Early works to 1800. 2005-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-01 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2006-01 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Second LETTER From a Gentleman in the COUNTRY , To his Friends in LONDON , Upon the Subject of the Penal Laws and Tests . Licensed , April the 11th 1687. LONDON , Printed , for J.H. and T.S. and to be had of most Booksellers in London and Westminster . 1687. Gentlemen , I Am not much lifted up , or cast down at the news you send me , for that my Letter should be liked by some , and as ill taken by others , is but the fate of all things offer'd to publick censure ; tho without vanity , the reasons are unequal . But before I enter upon that , you 'l give me leave to observe the humor of the Party in the Proverbs you sent me , that methinks looks so much like a Green Ribband , that it hardly becomes the fall of the leaf , they conceit they are under . You say , the usual answer to the Letter is this ; There is a Snake in the Grass ; All is well that ends well , That a more moderate sort , allow it both witt and truth , but ill timed , considering the Melancholy circumstances the Church of England is under . To all this , you have here my answer , which I beseech you to communicate with that Cander ; that you know has alwayes been the companion of my Life . And for the Proverbs , I must say first , that a wise Sentence , may be sillily apply'd ; and next , I am apt to think that these are so ; for pray what is the Snake , and where doe's it lie . A Snake without a Sting hurts no body , let it lie where it will ; and a Snake with a Sting is dangerous every where . Now to find out who is the Snake , let 's consider what 's the Sting , The Penal Laws certainly ; and you are not ignorant who 's Tayle they belong to . But to be sure they Sting all that won't come to Church , and that every where . For a man can't walk in his own Land , mow his own Grass , enjoy his own Shop , Barn , Chamber , Closet , Chest or Cubbard ; no not his Pot , Pan or Skillet , but the Snake will get into it , and when it has swept his Fields and House clean with its Tayle , by the Teeth it draws him to its dark Holes and Dungeons for a further Prey . The History of this Snake out-does all the Giants of the old World , and it had been happy it had perish't with it : Wherefore Liberty of Conscience is so far from being the Snake in the Grass , that there is in it neither Snake , Teeth , Sting , or Grass to hide them . On the contrary , it spies out the Snake , cuts the Grass , ketches it , and pulls out the Sting , that it may do no more mischief : 'T is upon this Principle that one Party cannot hurt ' tother . And for the other Proverb , 't is certain , All 's well that ends well , but for that reason all will end ill that begins so , without Repentance . And such beginnings I call Penal Laws for Religion , let who will make them , or use them . And I beseech God to touch the Hearts of the Church of England with a sence of this ; for his Justice we can't Corrupt . All Parties as well as private Persons will meet with their own from him ; 't is a Decree as old as the World , stamp't in our Natures , and prov'd by the Records of all time , and God knows but too plainly in ours . But since these Gentlemen are upon their Proverbs , with their leave I will oppose a couple to them , and I hope a little better suited . Let every Tub stand upon its own Bottom ; and A Bird in the Hand is worth two in the Bush . These are the Texts , I 'le now give you the Comment . By the first , I mean , that the Government should stand upon its own Legs , and the Church upon hers . The Legs of the civil Government , is the civil Interest of the Government , which is that of all the People under it , so that the Government is obleiged to secure all , because all are for their own Interest bound to secure it : For the Church in Question , of which all the People are not Members , nor yet the greatest part , is a thing of another Nature , and relates to another World , and Christ has provided her another Bottom , if she really makes his Law the rule of her Actions and Authority . Let every one walk as he is perswaded , was divine Doctrine in St Paul's time , and our Glo●ying was to be in our selves , and not in another ; and we were to stand and fall to our own Masters , and not Judge , much less Persecute others , no , not Tares , for they were to grow with the Wheat , ( tho never like to change their Nature ) till the Harvest , which our Saviour Interprets , the end of the World : And the Apostle tells us , Every One must appear before God , and give an Account for the Deeds done in the Body ; so that you see the Proverb is true , that every Tub ought to stand upon its own bottom . For the other , 't is as obvious & reasonable in this case ; for why should it be taken ill that the Poor Fanaticks accept the Liberty the Church of England refus'd , and has driven them to such extreamities for . She would have them to stay till she can give what she would not when she had power to do it . Nay , she has it still , & yet will not for a reason that exposes them more then before . But which way can she ensure it to them ? First , Can they with Honour or Conscience refuse what they have sought , or reject that by Declaration the Church of England will not allow by Law ? Secondly , How are they assurd , while the Church of England is by Law secured , that by those very Laws they shall not be ruin'd in the mean time ? Is it not natural enough to expect at the hand of the King , that they will not , shall not have Liberty of Conscience ? and that at any rate , they shall conform thorowly , that will not at an other time conform at all , When they do it now only to bob the Goverment ? But what is Faction if this be not ? If conform , why just now ? If now , why not before ? If not before , why then now ? if things are the same , why are not they ? and if they are , that is , if their opinion of the Discipline and Ceremonies of the Church be what it was , they can't be honest men and conform : They may set up for men of Art , and Managers , that have given by their own Consciences such a proof of their skill ; but I should lament extreamly any Dissenter in England should have so little wit or truth . And to be free , it would not look Candid in the Church of England , that gives her fear of Poperies having the Power to destroy others , for the reason of her keeping the Penal Laws on foot , if she takes it ill , that the Dissenters are for the same reason for their repeal ; for she can't but think that Popery actually has that Power over them , by the Oppertunity of the Laws she will manintain to secure herself . So that light and darkness are not more opposite then the safety of the Dissenters , and the reason the Church of England gives for the keeping up the Penal Laws for her own . To remove this Difficulty , and to make the methods of their security meet , has , God knows , been my only drift , that so false Notions of Preservation might not destroy us , when the means of our common safety are so obvious to us . The general and deep Prejudices men entertain against Popery will hardly suffer them to diliberate for their own benefit . If a Ship be near a Rock , I think the danger should not frighten away the Masters wits , when he has most need of them for a common Safety . I beg the Gentlemen of the Church of England but to think , and I am Sure they will find me less Criminal in my other Letter to you : For is any thing truer then that the Papists court a legal Ease ? need they this , if they design Force ? or were it worth their Labouring ? Again , cannot a Law be made to fix Liberty of Conscience , that they shall as uneasily violate , as these the Church calls her Bulwark ? If the Laws in Question were defensive only , God forbid that I should attempt to lessen her security , I declare in the presence of God I would not ; but when they are offensive and destroying to other People , and those of the most peaceable Principles , who have neither Interest nor Arts to defend them , she must Pardon me if I oppose my self to their Teeth and Sting . It is also as true that her Dissenters are of no use to her unless these Shackles are taken off ; That if she does not fear Liberty more then Popery , she must yeild the point desired for their sake , because her own . That for every Enemy she releases by it , she has an hundred Friends to secure her against Him. That she must remember she is but a part of the whole , and should not flatter her self with Numbers not of her Communion ; especially while they sleep with naked Swords hanging by Hairs over their Heads , and so are made uncapable to serve her . Again , pray , can she think that force becomes a Gospel Church ? that it is not using against Popery what she accuses it for , and by it condemns her self ? Is it not taking Sanctuary in human Strength instead of divine Truth , that is al-sufficient to its own support ? That the Laws that remain , secure the State , and if any be wanting , they may be added without keeping up the Ball of Vengeance by partial Provisions , directed by one Party , of the same People , against an other , under one and the same Government ; for this is puzling , not serving Government : Nor can any be great , easie or successful where the Heads and Hands , that should make it so , are zealously disabled from that Duty and Service . It seems a day wherein God is pleased to make use of the Necessities of Men to effect what Vertue and Wisdom should have taught us long ago to have done ; Agree I mean upon our civil common Interest . And now we have a King , who has so gracious a regard to Liberty , ( and that chuses to recommend himself by so honest , so tender and so equal a Principle , and whose own Party , tho they may want it most hereafter , do least need it now , and are the most feeble in number to make the use of it dangerous to the rest ) let us by no means loose the oppertunity of our own Happiness . Nor can the Church of England refuse me my Petition to her , but upon this single account , the Insincerity of the King ; that must be her Snake in the Grass , that Popery's at the Bottom ; Mark the end of this Liberty ; All 's well that ends well : But this plainly implies my Arguments to be good , and that if the King holds as he begins , we shall all be happy . Le ts see then why he should not do so , tho it looks very ill in the high Sons of the Church to blow upon that Honour they have so often and so highly recommended for our Security . First , The King has given her his Word to maintain her at his coming to the Crown , and has now repeated it to her for the whole time of his Reign , in the most solemn manner that was possible out of Parliament , Secondly , If he be willing , to turn this Promise into a Law at the repeal of those he would abolish when they meet , and that to be sure he is ready to do , there can be no room to doubt his Sincerity . Thirdly , He is compell'd to be sincere , for Popery without him is but a Name in England , and Lives by him , and must otherwise expect to expire with him . So that if it were possible for the People of his Communion to prevail with him to force his Religion upon the Kingdom , tho I think it as impracticable , as to set Westminster-Abby upon Bow-Steeple ; he must leave them to make satisfaction for the attempt in the next Reign ; Or conclude , he never intends his Lawful Heirs to succeed him : And they must take him for the worst of men to be guilty of an Injustice and Irreligion he has so often and solemnly , and earnestly spoken against . But if that were no security to us , yet the ruin of those that in all probability must follow that attempt , for whose sakes we suppose him to endanger us , would obliege him to the soft & obleiging methods he now takes . So that we have his Honour , Conscience , Nature , and the Security of his own Party for Ours . Come , 't is Disingenious to call Liberty of Conscience the Snake in the Grass , that like the Balm of Gillead cures the Gaps and Sores that Time and private Interests have made . And since he offers to confirm it by Law , HE ONLY CHANGES THE SECVRITY , HE DOES NOT DESTROY IT ; and which is more she is a gainer by it : For whereas she is now the National Religion by Compulsion she will then keep her Station by Consent ; both extreams yeilding a preferrence to her , and so she is neither hated nor envied by them . I would have her further reflect , that the keeping the Penal Laws on foot will not answer the end she does it for , since she believes they will be suspended during the time she fears most , and of the next Reign , she has no apprehension , and in the mean time she and the Protestant Dissenters have the Hands . So that the only reason for maintaining them , is the Awe they ought to give the Papists in this Kings time , and yet if what she suggests be true , that the Papists aim at all , pray , how far will those Laws awe them , that for that reason should rather aim at all . I say , what good will that do her , that must be the greatest Argument of the Force she fears they will use against her ? and if they have no such design , there is no reason to keep them in awe , but much to soften and engage them , that we may all meet upon our common civil Bottom , and as one People with one Heart Fear God , after our own Perswasion ; Honour the King , according to our Allegiance ; and Love and Serve one another as becomes the Members of the great civil Family of this Kingdom . But some , you tell me , think it had been better The Laws where Repealed in a Pro●estant King's Reign , then in this ; But can any shew it is not fit in this ; for that 's the Question . Let us suppose ours were a Protestant , and they were repealed accordingly . How could we assure our selves our next Heir would not turn ; Ay , the Prince in Possession ? And unless the Principles of Exclusion prevail'd , 't is clear the Delemma would be the same , because the security upon that notion is uncertain . I confess it had been better for us , it had been done before his coming to the Crown , but since he forgives us that deficiency , and offers to supply it , in ways the most assuring , why it should not be good to do it now I cannot imagine : It is to say , it is not fit to be done , when it is most fit to make us best with him . We will have him trust us , but we will not trust him , where his interest Secures us . Well , but you add , That it is generally agreed , the Penal Laws should he repeal'd , but not the Tests . I must tell you , I do not agree with you in that Fact ; for I hear there are divers Schisms in the Church about it : Some for their repeal , and keeping of the Tests : Some for repealing neither : Some for their repeal to Papists only : Some for Dissenters only ; And a few for a general Repeal of both ; so that the Church is yet unresolved what to do : But I will attend the great Question . For the Penal Laws , no matter if they go ; but if the Tests be repealed too , the Government is lost to the Romanists ; for they may pack a Parliament of their own Religion , that in all Probability will make it national ; and so Liberty of Conscience will not serve them , nor save us . You see I am fair in the Objection , I le give you my Answer as freely . I cannot imagine the Councils that engage them to take a fair way , can lead them to be foul in it ; for that 's giving a pail of Milk , and kicking it down with their foot . If they had number to chuse , or could be returned without it , they must naturally search the most durable means of their safety : Now , that connot be making their Religion national , both because they are not the two hundred and fiftieth man , and that the attempt would eternally ruin them with the Kingdom , whose kindness , in a future Raign , their discreeter Conduct in this must secure . Nor could any thing be so odious , faithless and immoral , then for them to attempt it ; for if ever they should teach the Nation that Arithmatick , that thirteen is more then three and twenty , they will make True Prophets of those they have taken pains to prove False Witnesses . But besides their Discretion and Interest , the Kings Faith is given us , for his whole Raign , in his Great and Gratious Declaration , that he will not exceed the bounds of Liberty of Conscience . By This , every Party is secured with his in their Religion and Property ; and This tyes him against any concurrance with the People representatively , contrary to this made to them universally : We may assure our selves , he is not like to break it in either of those respects , since we don't think that will so easily become the Religion of the Kingdom , or that whilest the People are of another , they will chuse a Representative of the Roman Communion . Lastly , the Law that shall repeal these Laws , may be so drawn , as to make it impracticable to return a Parliament that is not chosen ; as well as I dare say , it is below the Glory of our King , to use ways so unlike the rest of his Open and Generous Principles . My former Argument was ad homenem , for , what ever the Church of England men think , 't is certain , the Answer they gave for a Popish Successor , we must trust God and do our Duty , is still Cogent . For if Providence was strong enough to secure us then against our fears of such a Successor , can an Act of Parliament , be a better Defence to us now . I fear such are fallen from their Faith , and change their Devotion , for carnal securities . Let us be all of a piece ▪ not hot and then cold ; one while for relying on Providence , and another time jealous to death , and beating our Brains for safety , as if there were no such thing as God in the World. The Question is not about the King 's imposing his Religion upon us ; for so I should have almost ador'd the Gentlemen that left their imployments ; but whether we will not impose our Religion upon the Friends of his Communion ; and this shows no bigottry in the King , that he gives all Parties Liberty to muster & exercise themselves according to their own Principles , that he knows to be so very contrary to his : An odd way of advancing Popery , especially by foul play . I wish any thing would satifie us . And yet after so gratious a Declaration , both to Church and Dissenters , and that has so decent a regard to the concurrance of a Parliament too , Who can be displeased ? Have we been Hunting , Hawking Gaming , and Marrying with Roman Catholicks these six and twenty Years ! and did they engage on the same side for the King's Father , help to support the King abroad , and labour the Restoration of the Royal Family to their Inheritance ; and are we now afraid of them for the Religion they had then , or that they should have a few Offices with us , in the Reign of a Prince of their own way , that were the Companions of our sufferings and Pleasures ? methinks it looks ill natur'd at all times , and indiscreet at this ; since 't is certain we may roundly and securely tell them , You are upon your good behaviour : Be moderate at your perril : You are but a morfel of men ; and therefore as little feared as loved : 'T is in your own power to be well with the Kingdom : Know when you have enough ; and let us see you aim at no more then securing your civil Property and Interest in that of the Nation , from any violence , on the score of Religion , and that meer matters of Faith and Worship of God shall disable no man of his Birth-right . This Bottom is broad enough for all the interests of this Kingdom to meet upon ; and till God from Heaven send us with miracles an higher Principle of Union ; let us not neglect this lower , but sure means of our Peace and Happiness . To Conclude , let us have a care of the Snake every where ; in the Grass , in the Square , in the Coffee-House , in the Church , ay , and in the Meeting-House too ; for 't is ill company at all times , and in all places . Let us remember that not only the four , but the seven last Raigns have prov'd Penal Laws an Enemy to the Peace and Wealth of the Kingdom , and the strictest Tests no Security to the Government of it against the weight of its own miscarriages . Let us forgive one another , and look forward . I am for having the Church of England keep the Chair , but let the rest subsist . To fix Government upon any Mode of Religion , convulses it as often as that changes , at least hazards it . That which takes in all Interests is the best foundation for any Government , because it is least exposed to State Contingencies . Let us then bend our thoughts towards such an expedient as may secure Property to all , the first reason of civil Government , and that which every Party for its own Interest must close with . Three things strictly speaking make an English man Ownership , Consent in Parliament , and Right of Juries . We all know what Laws have been made , and by whom to destroy these several Capacities , that frame an English man ; amongst which , pray let not that against Conventicles go for the least ! Let us see then what it is that divests us of these Native Priviledges , and like true English men , & Christians , let us remove it ; that in the Raign , of a King so ready to disapoint the Enemies of his Glory , by repairing the Breaches of his People , and of the old true civil Government of his Kingdom , we may not be wanting to our selves and our Posterity , in another Great Charter , to bury all our Prejudices , and Establish a lasting Civil union among the Inhabitants of this Ancient and Famous Kingdom . Yours more then my own . FINIS .