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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES
 
 M. 
 
 
 
 i 1 ' ; r/u t JctL 

 
 Complete Colle&ion 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, 
 
 AND MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 WORKS 
 
 O F 
 
 JOHN MILTON- 
 
 Corre&ly printed from the Original Editions. 
 
 WITH AN 
 
 Historical and Critical ACCOUNT 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Life and Writings of the Author; 
 
 Containing feveral Original Papers of His, 
 
 Never before Publifhed. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for A. Millar, at Buchanans Head, againft St.flemetifs 
 
 Church in the Strand. 
 
 M.Dcc.xxxyui.
 
 *r? 
 
 
 ' 
 
 Advertifement to the Reader. 
 
 IN this new Edition of Milton'.*- Profe 
 Works , the Pieces are difpofed according to the 
 Order in which they were firft printed '; with the 
 addition of a Tract omitted by Mr. To land, 
 concerning the Reafon of the War with Spain in 
 1 655, and federal Pages in the Hiftory ^Bri- 
 tain, expunged by /^Licensers of the Prefs, 
 and not to be met with in any former Edition. 
 
 To make the lf r ork more complete , the Editor 
 has compiled a full and faithful Account of the 
 Author'^ Life 5 containing befides the Particu- 
 lars given us by Toland, and other Authors, 
 many never before printed, with fevcra I Pieces now 
 firft publifljed from the original Manufcripts of 
 Milton. To which is prefixed a curious Head 
 of the Author, engraven by Mr. Vertue from a 
 Drawing by Mr. Richardson, after a Eufldone 
 for the Author in his Life-time. To the JVork 
 is fubjoined a large Alphabetical Index, which no 
 otherEDi t ion has ; andthelmpreffionis much more 
 beautiful and cor reel than any hitherto publifljed. 
 
 Thef Advantages we hope will fujficiently re- 
 commend this Edition to the Publick. 
 
 TRACTS contained in the First Volume. 
 
 AN Account of the Life and Writings of Mr. 'John Milton, by 
 T. Birch, A. M. and F. R. S. page'i 
 
 Of Reformation in England, and the Caufes that have hitherto hindred 
 it : In two Books, written to a Friend. ■ ■ i 
 
 Of Prelatical Epiicopacy, and whether it may be dedue'd from the 
 Apoftolical Times by virtue of thefe Teftimonies which are alledg'd 
 to that purpofe in lbme late Treatifes; one whereof goes under the 
 Name of James Archbiihop of Armagh. ■ 30 
 
 The Realbn of Church-Government urg'd againft Prelacy. In two 
 Books. . 39 
 
 Animadverfions upon the Remonftrant's Defence againft Smtclvmnuus. 
 
 An 

 
 Tra&s contained in the Firft Volume. 
 
 An Apology for SmeStymnuus. page 103 
 
 Of Education ; to Matter Samuel Hartlib. 135 
 
 Areopagitica ; a Speech for the Liberty of Unlicens'd Printing, to the 
 Parlament of England. 141 
 
 The Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce reftor'd to the good of both 
 Sexes, from the Bondage of Canon Law, and other Miftakes, to 
 the true Meaning of Scripture in the Law and Gofpel, conipar'd, &c. 
 
 162 
 
 Tetrachordon : Expofitions upon the four chief Places in Scripture 
 which treat of Marriage, or Nullities in Marriage, iSc. 2 14. 
 
 The Judgment of Martin Bucer concerning Divorce : Written to Ed- 
 ward the Sixth, in his fecond Book of the Kingdom of Chrift, GV. 
 
 271 
 
 Colafterion : A Reply to a namelefs Anfwer againft the Doctrine and 
 Difcipline of Divorce : wherein the trivial Author of that Anfwer is 
 difcover'd, the Licenfer conferr'd with, and the Opinion which they 
 traduce, defended. ' 295 
 
 The Tenure of Kings and Magiftrates : proving that it is lawful, and 
 hath been held fo thro' all Ages, for any who have the Power, to call 
 to account a Tyrant or wicked King, and after due Conviction, to 
 depofe, and put him to death, if the ordinary Magiftrate have neg- 
 lected, or deny'd to do it, &c. 309 
 
 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace between James Earl of Ormond, 
 for King Charles the Firft, on the one hand, and the lrijh Rebels 
 and Papifts on the other hand : And on a Letter fent by Ormond to 
 Colonel Jones, Governour of Dublin ; and a Reprefentation of the 
 Scots Prefbytery at Belfajl in Ireland. To which the faid Articles, 
 Letter, with Colonel Jones's Anfwer to it, and Reprefentation, &c. 
 
 are prefix'd. — 3 2 5 
 
 Eikonoclafles : In Anfwer to a Book, intitled, Eikon Bafilike ; The Por- 
 traiture of his facred Majefty in his Solitude and Sufferings. 360 
 
 A Defence of the People of England, in Anfwer to Sabna/ius's Defence 
 of the King. . " 445 
 
 A Treatife of Livil Power in Ecclefiaftical Caufes : Shewing that it is not 
 lawful for any Power on Earth to compel in Matters of Religion. 554 
 
 Confiderations touching the likelieft means to remove Hirelings out 
 of the Church, &c. » 560 
 
 The prefent Means and brief Delineation of a Free Commonwealth, 
 eafy to be put in practice, and without delay. In a Letter to Ge- 
 neral Monk. Publilhed from the Manufcript. 585 
 
 The ready and eafy Way to eftablifh a Free Commonwealth, and the 
 Excellencies thereof compar'd with the Inconveniencies and Dangers 
 of re-admitting Kings in this Nation.^ 587 
 
 Brief Notes upon a late Sermon, intitled, The Fear of God and the 
 King, preach'd, and fince publifh'd, by Matthew Griffith D. D. and 
 Chaplain to the late King, wherein many notorious Wreftings of 
 Scripture, and other Falfities, are obferv'd. 602 
 
 Accedence commenc'd Grammar : Supply'd with fufficient Rules for 
 the Ufe of fuch as, Younger or Elder, are defirous without more 
 trouble than needs, to attain the Latin Tongue ; the Elder fort 
 efpecially with little Teaching, and their own Induftry. 607 
 
 A N
 
 A N 
 
 Hiftorical and Critical Account 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 LIFE and WRITINGS 
 
 O F 
 
 Mr, JOHN MILTON. 
 
 By T ho m/ s Birch, M. A. a?id F. R. S. 
 
 AS Mr. To/and has already publifh'd a Life of Milton, my Defign at 
 firit was only to have corrected and fupply'd his Account. But upon 
 a Review of it, I found, that he quotes no Authority for the particu- 
 lar Facts related by him, which is juftly expected, in order to ef- 
 tablifh the Credit of them •, that almofl: half the Life confifts of mere Ab- 
 ftracts of Milton's Writings, which, before an Edition of them, appears to be 
 nbfolutely unnecefiary ■, and that, befides his numerous Miftakes, he has omit- 
 ted a great many particulars of importance. 
 
 Upon thefe confiderations, I was induc'd to alter my former Scheme* 
 and digeft my Collections into a regular and uniform Body; in which will 
 be inferted feveral original Papers never before publifh'd, and the whole 
 fupported by proper Authorities. 
 
 MR. John Milton was defcended of an ancient Family of that Name at 
 Milton near Abington in Oxfordjlrire, where it had been a long time feated, 
 as appears from the Monuments ftill to be feen in the Church of Milton, till one 
 of the Family having taken the unfortunate Side in the Contefts between the 
 Houfes of York and Lancajler, was fequeiter'd of all his Eftate, except what 
 he held by his Wife (a). Our Author's Grandfather, whole Name was John 
 Milton, was an Under-ranger or Keeper of the Foreft of Shotover near Hul- 
 ton in Oxford/hire (b). He being a zealous Papilf, difinhcrited his Son, Mr. 
 John Milton, our Author's Father, on account of his embracing the Proteftant 
 Religion, when he was young ; which oblig'd the latter 10 retire to London, 
 where he applied himfelf to the Bufinefs of a Scrivener^ by the Advice of 
 an intimate Friend of his, who was eminent in that Profeffiori ; and by his 
 Diligence and Oeconomy gain'd a competent Eftate {£). He was a Man of 
 good Tafle in Mufic, in which he made fo considerable a pfogfefs, tint he 
 is faid to have compofed an In Nomine of forty Parts ; for which he was re- 
 warded wifh a gold Medal and Chain by a Polifh Prince, to whom he pre- 
 fented it. However, this is certain, that for feveral Songs of his Compofition, 
 after the way of thole times, three or four of which arc ftill to be leen in old 
 Wilby's, Set of Aiv, befides fomc Compofitior.s of his in Re. . fi's Pfalms; 
 he gain'd the Reputation of a confiderable Mailer in this Science (d,. His 
 Son complimuiis him upon this Head in one of his Lathi iV. ri is, ihtitled, 
 Ad Palrchi, in which he has the following Lines: 
 
 Nee 
 
 (a) Life of- Mr. jo'.'.n Mfitb'n, p. 4. pref.x'd to <u7>. ; .A w«i given It liiin fo a Friend of bis. 
 
 rteEngiifti Tranjluiion of Lis Lcttcis oi Suite, {b) Wood, Fafti! O\on. Vol.I.Cql. -bz. 2d. 
 
 Edit. London tfii 4. 77 1 hifs am written by E,l t London 1721. in fat. 
 
 bis Nepheiv Mr. Bdwatd Pniiips, as afpeyrs (.} I'! fuprq. p. 3, 4. 5- 
 
 from a Not \ ' ■ . . ' . ( ' p, -\, J- 
 
 Vol. I. a
 
 ;[ An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 Nee tuperge, precor, facras e'entemftere Mufas, 
 Nee vanas inopefque puta, quorum ipfe peritus 
 Munere, milk fonos ■ numeros cemponis ad aptos, 
 Millibus fcf vocem modulis variare canoram 
 Doilus, Arionii meritofis hominis hares. 
 Nunc tibi quid mirum, ft me genuijje Pqetqm ^ 
 Contigerit, charofi tamprope [anguine jiincli 
 Cognatas artes ftudiumque affine fequamure ? 
 Ipfe volens Phcebus fe' difpertire duohts. 
 Altera dona mibi, dedit altera dona Parenti, 
 Dividuumque Deum Geni torque Puerque tenemus. 
 
 He married Sarah, of the Family of the Cajlons, originally deriv'd from 
 Wales, as Mr. Philips tells us (*) ; but Mr. Wood (/) aliens, that fhe was of 
 the ancient Family of the Bradfhaws. She was a Woman of incomparable 
 Virtue and Goodnefs (g), and by her Mr. Milton had two Sons and one 
 Daughter. The eldeft Son was John, the Subject of the prefent Hiftory •, the 
 younger Christopher, who being defign'd for the ftudy of the common Law 
 of England, was enter'd young a Student of the Inner -'Temple, of which Houfe he 
 liv'd to be an ancient Bencher, and kept clofe to that Study and Profeiffidh 
 all his Life-time, except during the civil Wars in England; when he adher'd to 
 the royal Caufe, and became obnoxious to the Parlament by acting to the utmofl: 
 of his power againft them, fo long as he kept his Station at Reading in Berk- 
 Jhire; and therefore as foon as that Town was taken by the Parlament-Fosces, 
 he was oblig'd to quit his Houfe there, and ftcer'd his Courfe according to 
 the motion of the King's Army. When the War was ended, and his Oonrpo- 
 fition made thro' his Brother's Intereft with the then prevailing Powers, he 
 betook himfelf again to his former Study and Profeffion, following Chamber- 
 Practice every Term •, yet came to no Advancement in a long time, except a 
 fmall Employment in the Town oilpfwich, where and near it he fpent all the 
 latter time of his Life. In the beginning of the Reign of King James II. he was 
 recommended by force Perfons of Quality to his Majefty ; and at a call of fix 
 Serjeants received the Coif, and the fame day was fworn one of the Barons of the 
 Exchequer (h), and knighted (/) ; and foon after made one of the Judges of ths 
 Common Pleas. But his Years and Indifpofition rendering him unable to bear 
 the Fatigue of public Employment, he continued not long in either of thofe Sta- 
 tions ; but obtaining his Quietus, retir'd to a Country Life, his Study, and Devo- 
 tion (k). Mr. Toland tells us (/), that Sir Ckriflopher was " of a very fuperllitious 
 " Nature, and a Man of no Parts or Ability •," and that King James II. want- 
 ing a Set of Judges, that would declare his Will to be fuperior to our legal Confti- 
 tulion, appointed him one of the Barons of the Exchequer. But Mr. Philips 
 (m) reprefents him as a Perfon of a modefl quiet Temper, preferring Jujlice 
 and Virtue before all worldly Pleafure or Grandeur ; and affiires us, that he was re- 
 commended to that King by fome Perfons of Quality, for his known Integrity 
 and Ability in the Law. Anne, the only Daughter of Mr. John Milton the 
 Elder, had a confiderable Portion given her by her Father, in marriage with 
 Mr. Edward Philips, Son of Mr. Edward Philips of Shrewsbury, who coming 
 up to London young, was enter'd into the Crown-Office in Chancery, and at 
 length became Secondary of that Office under Mr. Bembo. By him fhe had, 
 befides other Children, who died Infants, two Sons, John and Edward. She 
 married for her fecond Hufband Mr. Thomas Agar, who, upon the Death of 
 his intimate Friend Mr. Philips, fucceeded him in his place, whichhe held for 
 many Years, and left to Mr. Thomas Milton, Son of Sir Chriflopher. He had by 
 Mr.Philips's Widow two Daughters, Mary, who died very young, and Anne, 
 who was living in the Year 1694 (»). 
 
 But to return to our Author, Mr. John Milton; he was born in his Father's 
 Houfe at the Sign of the Spread-Eagle in Bread-Street within the City of London % 
 December 9th, 1608 (0). Mr. Philips (p) and Mr. Toland (q) place his Birth in 
 1606, but erroneoufly ; for we find by the Inscription under his Effigies prefix'd to 
 
 his 
 
 (e) P. 5. See liktnhifi Tolnnd'j Life of Mil- (g) Philips, p. 0- {h) Id. p. 5, 6, 7. 
 
 ton, t. 6. prcfo'd to Milton'; Hiflerical, Political, (i) Toland, ubi fupra, p. 6. (/) Philips,^.-. 
 
 and Mifcelfaneout Works, Edit. Amfterdam [I.e. (/) f. 6. («) p. 6. («r) Philips, (p. 7. 
 
 London] '1698, bifol, (f) Ubi fupra. (■>) Wood, ubi fupra. (/>)/. 3. (7)/. 6«
 
 of Mr. John M ilto n\ 
 
 his Logic, that in 1671 he was fixty-three Years of Age ; and the very Cut of 
 him before the Edition of his Hiftorical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works, 
 to which T ' Life of htirh is prefix'd, informs us, that he was born in 
 1608. He a] rs to have had a tic Tutor from the fourth Elecry a- 
 
 mong his Latin Poems, written in the eighteenth Year ol his Age, to Mr. 
 Thomas To:<;:g, Paftor of the Englifh Company of Merchants at Hamburg, in 
 which he ftiles Mr. Young his Mailer. He was fenr likewife, with his^Bro- 
 ther, to St. Paul's School, of which Mr. (r) Alexani.r Gill the elder was 
 then Mailer, to whofe Son, Dr. Alexander Gill, and not to the Father as Mr 
 Toland miftakes, fome of his familiar Letters are written. While he' was at 
 this School he made an uncommon Progrefs by his admirable Genius and 
 indefatigable Application ; for from his twelfth Year he generally fate up half 
 the Night, as well in voluntary Improvements, as in die perfecting of his 
 School -exercifes •, and this, with his frequent Head -achs, was the firft ruin of 
 his Eyes (s). Mr. Wood (/) and Mr. Toland (h) affeit, that he was fenc 
 to the Univerfity of Cambridge at fifteen Years of Age. But this is undoubted- 
 ly a Miftake ■, lor he tells us in his Defenfio fecunr 'a, that he fpent feven Years 
 at the Univerfity •, and in his Apolo<jy for Smctlymnuus (x), that he continued 
 there till after he had taken t-zvo Degree*. Now it appears from the Re°ifterof 
 the Univerfity, that he took the Degree of Mailer of Ar:s in 163° ; a.i ! 
 Confequently that he did not go to the Univerfity till 1625, in the (t\ 
 teenth Year ot' his Age. He was enter'd in Cbrijl's College, where he was 
 put under the tuition of Mr. William Chap-pell, aft xw.irds Biihop of Rcfs in 
 Ireland (y). He had already given proofs of his early Genius for Poe'ry ; for 
 at fifteen Years of age he tranflated the 1 14 and 136 P faints into Endifh Verfe. 
 In his fixteenth Year he wrote a Latin Ode upon the Death of the Vice-Chan- 
 cellor of the Univerfity ; and in his feventeenth Year, a Copy of Englijh Verfes 
 on the Death of his Sifter's Child, who died of a Cough •, and a Latin Ele°y 
 on the Death of the Blfhop of ' Winchefter, and another on that of the Bifhop'of 
 Ely. It was then alfo, that he compoied his fine Latin Poem on the Gun- 
 powder-Treafon ; concerning which, and the reft of his juvenile Poems, M'r- 
 hof'm his Polykiflor declares, that they fnew Milton to have been a Man in his 
 Childhood, and are vailiy fuperior to the ordinary Capacity of that A°-e. In 
 his nineteenth Year he wrote the feventb of his Latin Elegies upon his fallino- in 
 Love for the firft time with a Lady, whom he met upon fome Walks near 
 London, but loft fight of her, and never knew who fhe was, nor faw her more • 
 but refolv'd that Love fhould thenceforth give him no farther Trouble. He 
 was extremely belov'd and admir'd by the whole Univerfity, and perform'd 
 his Academical Exercifes with great Applaufe, fome of which are itil] extant 
 among his Poems on feveral Occafions, and at the end of his familiar Letters. 
 In 162S he took the Degree of Batchelor of Arts (2). In 1629 he wrote an 
 excellent Ode on the Morning of Chrijl's Nativity ; and in 1630 his Verfes on 
 Sbakefpcar, which were printed with the Poems of that Author at London m 
 1640. In the twenty-third Year of his Age he wrote a Letter to a Friend of 
 his, who had importun'd him to enter into fome Profefllon. There are two 
 Draughts of this Letter in his own hand-writing among his Manufcripts in 
 Trinity College Library at Cambridge, the firft of which Draughts is as follows. 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " Befides that in fundry refpects I muft acknowledge me to proffit by you, 
 " whenever we meet, you are often, and were yefterday efpecially, to me 
 ct as a good Watchman to admonifh, that the howres of the Night pafie on, 
 " (for fo I call my Life as yet obfeure and unferviceable to Mankind,) 
 " and that the Day is at hand, wherin Chrift commands all to labour, 
 " while there is Light. Which becaufe I am perfuaded you doe to no other 
 " purpofe, than out of a true Defire that God fhould be honour'd in every 
 " one, I am ever readie, you know, when occafion is, to give you account, 
 *' as I ought, though unafkt, of my tardie moving according to the pr^e- 
 " cept of my Confcience, which I firmely truft is not without God. Yet 
 
 " now 
 
 (r) Afr. Toland, p. 6. trroneoujly Jli/es timDoc- Philips, p. $. (/) Cot. 262. [it) p. 6. [x] p. 
 tor. (;) Miltont Defenfio fecunda/i. 81. Edit. 12. Edit, in ^.to. ( >•) Wood, Col. 263. 
 
 1654. Vol. II. p. 331 of the prcfent Edit, and [x) From the Uni<verf.ty Regijier. 
 
 Ill
 
 iv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " now I will not ftreine for any fet Apologie, but only referre my felfe to 
 " what my Mynd fliall have at any tyme to declare herfelfe at her beft eafe. 
 " Yet if you thinke, as you faid, that too much Love of Learning is in fault, 
 " and that I have given up my felfe to dreame away my Yeares in the arms of 
 " a ftudious Retirement, like Endymion with the Moon on Latmits Hill ; yer 
 " confider, that if it were no more but this, to overcome this, there is on the 
 " other fide both ill more bewitchfull to entice away, and natural Yeares more 
 " fwaying, and good more availeable to withdraw to that which you wifh me ; 
 " as firft, all the fond hopes, which forward Youth and Vanitie are fledge with , 
 " none of which can fort with this Plutoh Helmet, as Homer calls it, of 
 " obfcurity, and would foon caufe me to throw it off, if there were nothing 
 " elfe in't but an affected and fruitlefTe Curiofity of knowing. And then a. 
 " naturall Defire of Honour and Renown, which, I think, pofleffes the breft 
 " of every Scholar, as well of him that fliall, as of him that never fliall ob- 
 *' taine it (if this be altogether bad,) which would quickly overfway this 
 " flegme and melancholy of BafhfulnefTe* or that other Humor •, and pra- 
 " vaile with me to prsferre a Life, tliat had at leaft fome Credit in it, lame 
 " place given it, before a manner of living much disregarded and difcoun- 
 " tenanc't. There is befides this, as all well know, about this tyme of a man's 
 " life, a ftrong inclination, be it good or no, to build up a Houfe and Fa- 
 " mily of his oWne in the bed manner he may ; to which nothing is more 
 " helpful then the early entring into fome credible Employment, and no- 
 " thing more croffe then my Way, which my wafting Youth would prse- 
 *' ft-ntly bethinke her of, and kill one Love with another, if that were all. 
 " But what Delight or what peculiar Conceit, may you in charitie thinke, 
 " could hold out againft the long Knowledge of a contrarie Command from 
 *' above, and the terrible feafure of him, that hid his Talent ? Therefore 
 " committ Grace to Grace, or Nature to Nature, there will be found on 
 " the other way more obvious Temptations to bad, as Gaine, Preferment, 
 " Ambition, more winning Prnsfentments of Good, and more prone Affections 
 *' of Nature to encline and difpofe, net counting outward Caufes, as Expecta- 
 *' tions and Murmurs of Friends, Scandals taken, and fuch-like, then the 
 " bare Love of Notions could refill. So that if it be that which you fuppofe. 
 *' it had by this bin round about begirt and over-mafter'd, whether it had 
 *' proceeded from Virtue, Vice, or Nature in me. Yet that you may fee* 
 " that I am fom tyme fufpicious of my felf, and do take notice of a cer- 
 • c taine Belatednefs ine me, I am the bolder to fend you fome of my night* 
 " ward Thoughts fome while iince, fince they come in fitly, in a Petrarcbi&i 
 " Stanza. 
 
 " How foon hath Time, the futile Theefe of Youth, 
 
 " Stolne on his Wing my three and twentieth Teere ! 
 " My hafting Days fly on with full Care ere ; 
 " But my late Spring no Bud or Bloffomfoew'tb. 
 *' Perhaps my Semblance might decease the Truth, 
 ' ' That I to Manhood am arrived fo mere, 
 " And inward Ripen efjc doth much leffe appear 
 " That fome more tymely-happie Spirits indu'th. 
 *' Tet be it leffe or more, or foone or flow, 
 " 7/ flmll be flill in jlriclefl Meafure even, 
 " To that fame Lot, however meane or high, 
 «' Towards which Tyme leads me, and the Will of Heaven, 
 " All is y if I have Grace to ufe it fo, 
 •* As ever in my great Tafk-maifer's Eye. 
 
 The laft Draught is as follows. 
 
 « Sir, 
 
 «' Befides that in fundry other refpefls I muft acknowledge me to proffir. 
 " by you, whenever wee meet, you are often to me, and were yefterday eft 
 " pecially, as a good Watchman to admonifh, that the howres of the night 
 " pufle on, (for fo I call my Life as yet obfeure and unferviceable to Man- 
 
 r ^ « kind)
 
 (< 
 
 of Mr. John Milto n. 
 
 c kind) and that the Day with me is at hand, wherin Chriil commands ail 
 : to labour, while there is Light; which becaufe I am perf waded you doe 
 ' to no other purpofe then out of a true Defire that God ihou!d be honour'd 
 ' in every one, I therfore thinke my felfe bound, tho' unafkt, to give you 
 ; account, as oft as occafion is, of this my tardie moving, according to 
 1 the praeccpt of my Conscience, which, I firmely trull is not without G >d. 
 : Yet now I will not ftreine for any fez Apologie, bur only referre my i 
 ; to what my Mynd fhall have at any tyme to declare h r felfe at her belt 
 ! eafe. But if you thinke, as you faid, that too mucli Love c f Learning is in 
 ; fault, and that I have given up my felfe to dreame away my Yea°es in 
 '• the armes of ftudious Retirement, like Endymion with the Moone as the 
 : tale of Latmus goes ; yet confider that if it were no more but the meere 
 • Love of Learning, whether it proceed from a Principle bad, good, or na- 
 turall, it could not have held out thus long againft fo ftrong eppofuion 
 ; on the other fide of every Kind -, for if it be bad, why fhould not all th : 
 fond Hopes, that forward Youth and Vanitie are fledge with, to?ether 
 with Gaine, Pride, and Ambition, call me forward more powerfully then 
 a poore regardleffe and unprofitable Sin of Curiofity fhould be able to with- 
 hold me, wherby a Man cutts himfelfe off from all Action, and becom 
 the moft helplefs, pufilanimous, and unweapon'd Creature in the World, 
 the moft unfit and unable to doe that which all Mortals moft afpire to, ei- 
 ther to be ufefull to his Friends, or to offend his Enemies. Or if it be to 
 be thought an naturall PronenefTe, there is againft that a much more po- 
 tent Inclination inbred, which about this tyme of a Man's Life follicits meft, 
 the Defire of Houfe and Family of his owne, to which nothing is efteem- 
 ed more helpful then the early entring into credible Employment, and 
 nothing more hindering then this affected Solitarinefle. And thouo-h this 
 were anough, yet there is to this another Act, if not of pure, yet of re- 
 fined Nature, no leffe availeabie to diffuade prolonged Obfcurity, a De- 
 fire of Honour and Repute and immortall Fame feated in the Brett of every 
 true Scholar, which al make haft to by the readieft Ways of publifhino- and. 
 divulging conceived Merits, as well thofe that fhall, as thofe that never 
 fhall obtaine it. Nature therefore would praefently worke the more pre- 
 valent way, if there were nothing but this inferiour Bent of herfelf to re- 
 ftraine her. Laftly, the Love of Learning, as it is the peri'uit of fome- 
 thing good, it wou'd fooner follow the more excellent and fupream Good 
 known and prrelented, and fo be quickly diverted from the emptie and fan- 
 taftick chafe of fhadows and notions to the folid Good flowing from due 
 and tymely Obedience to that Command in the Goipell fett out by the 
 terrible feafing of him, that hid the Talent. It is more probable therefore, 
 that not the endlefTe Delight of Speculation, but this very confideration of 
 that great Commandment, does not preffe forward, as foon as many do, to 
 undergoe, but keeps off with a facred Reverence and religious Advifement 
 how belt to undergoe •, not taking thought of beeing late, fo it give ad- 
 vantage to be more fit •, for thole that were iateft loft nothing, when the 
 Maifter of the Vinyard came to give each one his hire. And here I am 
 come to a ftreame-head, copious enough to difburden itfelfe like Nilus at fe- 
 ven Mouthes into an Ocean. But then I fhculd alfo run into a reciprocal! 
 Contradiction of ebbing and flowing at once, and do that which I ex- 
 cule myfelf for not doing, preach and not preach. Yet that you may fee 
 that I am fomething fufpicious of myfelfe, and doe take notice of a certaine 
 Belatedneffe in me, I am the bolder to fend you fome of my nightward. 
 Thoughts fome while fince, becaufe they come in not altogether unfitly, 
 made up in a Pctrarchian Stanza, which I told you of. 
 
 ' ' How foone hath Time^ &c. 
 
 By this I believe you may well repent of having made mention at all of 
 this matter ; for if I have not all this while won you to this, I have certainly 
 wearied you of it. This therfore alone may be a fufficient reafon for me to 
 keepe me as I am, leaft having thus tired you fingly, I fhould deale worfe 
 with a whole Congregation, and fpoyle all the patience of a Parifh ; for I my 
 felfe doe not only lee my owne Tedioufneffe, but now grow offended with 
 Vol. I. b " it,
 
 vi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " it, that has hinder'd me thus long from coming to the laft and bed period 
 " of my Letter, and that which muft now chiefely worke my pardon, that I 
 " am your true and unfained Freind." 
 
 It appears from this Letter, that his Friend, to whom he wrote it, had im- 
 portun'd him to enter the fervice of the Church ; to which, fays he in one of 
 his Tracts (a), by the intentions of my Parents and Friends I was defiin'd of a 
 Child, and in mine own Refolutior.s, till comming to fome maturity of Teers, 
 and perceavivg what Tyranny had invaded the Church, that he, who wculi take 
 Orders, muft fitbfcribe Slave, and take an Oath withal!, which unleffe he took with 
 a Confcicnce, that could retch, he muft either ftrait -perjure, or fplit his Faith ; I 
 thought it better to prefcrre a blameleffe ftlence before the office of fpeaking bought 
 and begun with fervitude and forfwearing. 
 
 After he had taken the Degree of Mafler cf Arts, which, as we obferv'd 
 above, was in 1632, he left the Univerfity. Mr. Toland remarks (i>), that 
 fome Verfes in the firft of his Latin Elegies written from London to his Friend 
 Charles Diodati, in which he feems to reflect upon the Univerfity, and prefer 
 the Pleafures of the City, might probably give occafion to a Calumny, that 
 he either was expell'd Cambridge, or left it in difcontent, becaufe he cou'.d ob- 
 tain no Preferment ; and that at London he fpent his time with leud Women, 
 or at Play-Houfes. The Verfes are thefe : 
 
 Me tenet nrbs refiud quam T'hamefts clluit unda, 
 
 Meque nee invitum patria dulcis ha bet. 
 Jam nee arundiferum mihi cura revifere Camum, 
 
 Nee dudiim vetiti me Laris angit amor. 
 J\ T uda nee arva placent, umbrafque negantia molles ! 
 
 Quam male Phcebicolis eonvenit ille Locust 
 Nee duri libet v.fque minas per f err e Magiftri, 
 
 Cateraque ingeniononfubeundameo. ,, ••. 
 
 Si fit hoc exilium pa trios adiijje penates, 
 
 Ft vacuum cur is ctia grata fequi, . - - 
 
 Non ego vel profugi nomen fontemve recufo, 
 
 Latus & exilii conditione fruor. 
 
 Tempera nam licet hie placidis dare libera Mufs, 
 
 Ft totum rapiunt me mea Vita Libri, 
 Excepit hinc feffum finuofi pompa Theatri, _ 
 
 Et vocat ad plaufus garrula Scenafuos. 
 
 Sed neque fub tetlo femper nee in urba latemus, 
 Irreta nee nobis tempora Veris euttt. 
 
 Nos qucque lucus habet vicind conftlus ultno, 
 Atque fuburbani nobilis umbra Loci. 
 
 Sapius hie blandas fpirantia fyderafammas, 
 Virgineos videas prateriifje Choros. 
 
 The Author of the Modefl Confutation againft a Jlanderous and fcurrilous Libel 
 havino- charged him with being vomited out of the Univerfity, after an inordinate 
 and riotous Youth fpent there, Milton writes thus in Vindication of himfelf (c) : 
 •* For which commodious Lye, that he may be incourag'd in the trade another 
 " time, I thank him •, for it hath given me an apt occafion to acknowledge 
 " publickly, with all gratefull Minde, that more then ordinary Favour and Re- 
 " fpe<5t, which I found above any of my Equals at the Hands of thofe curteous 
 « and learned Men, the Fellowes of that Colledge, wherein I fpent fome 
 " Yeares ; who at my parting, after I had taken two Degrees, as the Manner is, 
 " fionified many wayes, how much better it would content them that I would 
 " ftay; as by many Letters full of Kindneffe and loving refpecT: both before 
 «« that time and long after, I was afiured of their Angular good affection to- 
 wards 
 
 [ a ) Reafon of Church Government, B. II. (*) p. 7- (<) Apology for Smeflymnuus, p. 12. 
 ^.41. Edit. 1 $4.1. in t,to. Edit, in 4/0.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. vii 
 
 " wards me. Which being likewife propenfe to all fuch, as were for their 
 «« ftudious and civill life worthy of eiteeme, I could not wrong their Judgments 
 « and upright intentions fo much, as to think I had that regard from them for 
 *' other caufe then that I might be ftill encourag'd to proceed in the honeft and 
 " laudable courfes, of which they apprehended I had given good proofe. And 
 " to thofe ingenuous and friendly Men, who were ever the Countenancers of 
 " vertuous and hopefull Wits, I wiili the bell and happieft things that 
 *■ friends in abfence wifh one to another." We find the abovemention'd 
 Calumny repeated by the Author of Regit Sanguinis Clamor ad Ccelum adverfus 
 Parricidas Anglicanos (d), who affirms, that it was reported, that Milton had been 
 expell'd Cambridge for his fcandalous Behaviour •, and to avoid this difgrace, 
 left his Countrey, and gone to Italy. Aitint bominem Cantabrigienfi Academid 
 cb fiagitia. pulfum, dedecus & ' patriam fugip, & in Italiam comrnigraffe. In an- 
 fwer to this our Author in his Dcfenfw fecunda (e) afTures us, that he had 
 liv'd at Cambridge without the leaft of irregularity of Bduviour, and efteem'd 
 by all good Men, till he had taken the Degree of Matter of Arts with applatife ; 
 and did not fly into Italy, but went voluntarily to his Father's Houfe, to 
 the great regret of molt of the Fellows of his College, by whom he ivas high- 
 ly refpefted. 
 
 For the fpace of five Years he liv'd for the moll part witfi his Father and Mo- 
 ther at their Houfe at Horton near Coklrook in Buckii re (/), whither his 
 Father, having got an Eftate to his content, and left off all Bufinefs, was re- 
 tir'd(^). Here our Author at full Leifure read over all the Greek :ivA Latin 
 Writers ; but was not fo much in love with his Solitude, as not to make now 
 and then an Excurfion to London, fometimes to buy Books, or to meet his 
 P'riends from Cambridge ; and at other times to learn ibmething new in the Ma- 
 thematics or Mufic, with which he was extremely delighted (b). 
 
 In 1634 he wrote his Majk perform' d before tbe Preftdent of Wales at Ludlow- 
 Caftle. In the Library of '■Trinity College at Cambridge is the Original Manu- ■ 
 fcript of this Piece, which I have compar'd with the printed Edition ; and as 
 it will be extremely agreeable to fee the firft Thoughts and fubfequent Correc- 
 tions of fo great a Poet as. Milton, I fhall fet them down, as I find them in 
 the Manufcript, diftinguilhing the Lines, in which they occur, by inverted 
 Comma's. Mr. Waller's Obfervation is a very juft one : 
 
 Poets lofe balf the Praife they fhould have got, 
 Could it be known what they difcreetly blot. 
 
 A M A S K E. 1634. 
 
 The firft Scene difcovers a wild Wood, 
 A Guardian Spirit or Daemon. 
 After the Line [In Regions milde, &c] follow thefe Lines crofs'd out : 
 
 " Amidft th' Hefperian Gardens, on whofe Banks 
 
 *« Bedew'd with Nectar and eelefiiall Songs, 
 
 " ./Eternal Rofes grow, and Hyacinth, 
 
 " And Fruits of golden Rind, on whofe faire Tree 
 
 *' The fcalie-harneft Dragon ever keeps 
 
 " His uninchanted (/) Eye, around the Verge 
 
 " And facred Limits of this blisfull (k) Ifie. 
 
 ** The jealous Ocean, that old River, winds 
 
 *' His farre extended Armes, till with fteepe fall 
 
 " Halfe his waft Flood the wide Atlantique fills, 
 
 " And halfe the flow unfadom'd Stygian Poole (I). 
 
 " But foft, I was not fent to court your Wonder 
 
 " Withdiftant Worlds, and ftrange removed Climes. 
 
 " Yet thence I come, and oft from thence behold 
 
 •* Above the Smoake, &c. 
 
 After 
 
 (d) C. l. p. 9. Edit. Hague 1652. in \to. {b) Miltoni Dcfenfiofccunda,/>. S3. Edit. 1 
 
 (,) p. 82. Edit. i6j-2. Vol. II. p. J J 1. of tbe Vol. II. p. 331 of til prefent Edit. 
 prifent Edit. (/) Philips, p. 7. WToland, p. 7. (/) never cnarmed. (*) happje. 
 
 (g) Philips and Toland trrentouf.j fay Berkfhire. (I) Poole of S:yx.
 
 viii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 A fee r the Line [Strive to keep up a frail and feaverifti Being] follows this 
 crofs'd out. 
 
 " Beyond the written Date of mortall Change. 
 
 That opes the Palace of Eternity. 
 MS." That fieiv the Palace of M tern ity." 
 
 But to my Taftk, &c. 
 MS." But to my Buifneffe now. Neptune, whofe fway 
 
 " Of every fait Flood and each ebbing Streame 
 
 " Tooke in by Lot twixt high and neatlur Jove 
 
 " Imperiall Rule of all the fea-girt Ides." 
 
 The great eft and the beft of all the Maine, 
 MS. " The greater! and the beft of all his Empire" 
 
 Whom therefore Jbe brought up, and Comus nam'd. 
 MS. " Whom therefore fhe brought up, and nam'd him Comus.'' 
 
 And in thick Shelter of black Shades imbower'd, &c. 
 MS. " And in thick Covert of black Shade imbour'd, 
 
 " Excells his Mother at her potent Art." 
 
 For meft do tafte through fond intemperate Thirft. 
 MS. " For moil doe tafte through wcake intemperate Thirft." 
 
 All other parts remaining as they were, 
 MS. " All other parts remaining as before." 
 
 Likelieft and neereft to the prefent Ayd, &c. 
 MS. " Neereft and likelieft to give prasfent Aide 
 
 " Of tliis Occaf.on : But I hear the tread 
 
 " Oi Virgin Steps : I muft be viewleffe now." 
 
 Goes out. 
 
 MS. " Comus enters, with a charmingRod andGIaffe of Liquor, with his Rout 
 " all headed like fome wild Beafts, thire Garments •, fome like Men's, and 
 " fome like Women's. They come on in a wild and antick Fafhion. Intrant 
 
 In thefteep Atlantic Stream, Sec. 
 MS. " In the lteepe Tartarian Streame 
 
 " And the flope Sun his upward Beame 
 
 " Shoots againft the Northern Pole." 
 
 And Advice with f crapulous Head, 
 MS. " And quick Law with her fcrupulous Head." 
 
 And on the tawny Sands and Shelves. 
 MS. " And on the yellow Sands and Shelves." 
 
 Stay thy cloudy Ebon Chair, 
 MS. " Stay thy polijht Ebon Chaire, 
 
 " W r herein thou ridft with Hecate, 
 
 " And favour our clofe Jocondrie, 
 
 " Till all thy Dues bee done, and nought left out." 
 
 In a light fantaftic Round, 
 MS. " With a light and frolic Round." 
 
 The Meafure. 
 MS. " The Meafure in a wild, rude, and wanton Antick.' 1 
 
 Break off, break off, I feel the different Pace, &c. 
 MS. " Breake off, breake off, I hear the different Pace 
 
 " Of fome chaft footing neere about this Ground. 
 
 " Some Virgin fure, benighted in thefe Woods, 
 
 " For fo I can diftinguilh by myne Art. 
 
 " Run to your Shrouds, within thefe Braks and Trees, 
 
 " Our Number may affright." 
 
 Now to my Charms 
 
 And to my wily Trains, 
 MS. " Now to my Trains 
 
 " And to my Mother's Charmes." 
 
 ■ Thus I hurl 
 
 My dazzling Spells into the fpungy Air, 
 
 Of power to cheat the Eye with blear Illufion, 
 
 And give it falfe Preferments, left the Place, Src. 
 
 -Thus
 
 of Mr. John Milton. ix 
 
 « , Thus I hurle 
 
 " My powder'd Spells into the fpungie Air 
 
 " Of power to cheate the Eye v/hhfleight Illufion, 
 
 " And give it falfe Preferments, elfe the Place, &V." 
 
 And hug him into Snares 
 MS." And huggehim into Nets" 
 
 I Jhall appear fome harmlefje Villager, 
 
 And hearken, if I may, her Bufmefs here. 
 
 But here Jhe comes, 1 fairly ft ep afide. 
 MS. " I fhall appeare fome harmeleflfe Villager, _ 
 
 " Whom Thrift keeps up about his Countrie Geare. 
 
 " But heere fhe comes, I fairly ftep afide, 
 
 «« And hearken, if I may, her Buifnefle heere." 
 
 IVhen for their teeming Flocks, and Granges full, 
 MS. " When for thire teeming Flocks, and Gamers full." 
 
 In the Mind Mazes of this tangled Wood, 
 MS. " In the blind Alleys of this arched Wood." 
 
 Rofe from the hindmoft Wheels of P/^zw Wain. 
 MS. " Role from the hindmoft Wheeles of Phoebus Chaired 
 
 They had ingag'd their wandring Steps too far, 
 
 And envious Darknefs, e'er they could return, 
 
 Hadftole them from me. 
 MS. " They had ingag'd thire youthly Steps too farre 
 
 " To the foone-parting Light, and envious Darknefs 
 
 " Had ftolne them from me." 
 
 With everlafting Oil to give due Light 
 MS. " With everlafting Oyle to give thire Light." 
 
 And ayrie Toungs, that fy liable Men's Names. 
 MS. " And ayrie Toungs, that lure night-wanderers." 
 
 Thou hovering Angell, girt with golden Wings, 
 
 And thou unblemilht Form of Chafiity, &c. 
 MS. " Thou flittering Angell girtwiih golden Wings, 
 
 " And thou unfitted Forme of Chaftity, 
 
 " I fee ye vifibly, and while I fee yee, 
 
 " This dufkye Hollow is a Paradife, 
 
 " And Heaven-gates ore my Head : now I beleeve 
 
 " That the lupreme Good, to whome all things ill 
 
 " Are butasflavifh Officers of Vengeance, 
 
 " Would fend a gliftering Cherub, if need were, 63V." 
 
 Within thy airy Shell 
 MS. " Within thy ayrie Cell." 
 
 Scylla wept, 
 
 And chid her barking Waves into Attention, 
 MS." ■ Scylla would weepe, 
 
 " Chiding her barking Waves into Attention. 
 
 Dvvell'ft here with Pan 
 MS. Liv'ft heere with Pan." 
 
 To touch the profperous Growth of this tall Wood, 
 MS. " To touch the profptring Growth of this tall Wood." 
 
 Could that divide you from neer-ujhermg Guides ? 
 MS. " Could that divide you from thire ufhering Hands? 
 
 Without thefure guefs of well-pracliz'd Feet. 
 MS. " Without fure Steerage of well-prattiz'd Feet." 
 
 Dingle, or bufloy Dell of this wild Wood 
 MS. " Dingle, or bufhie Dell of this wide Wood." 
 
 Square my Tryal. 
 
 MS." Square this Tryal." 
 
 But that haplefs Virgin, our loft Sifter ! 
 
 Where may Jhe wander now, whither betake her 
 
 From the chill Dew, amongft rude Burrs and Thiftles ? 
 
 Perhaps fome cold Bank is her Boulfter now, 
 
 Or 'gainft the rugged Bark of fome broad Elm 
 ■ Leans her unpillow'd Head fraught with fad fears. ^^ 
 
 Vol. I. c
 
 An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 What if in wild Amazement and Affright, 
 
 Or -while we /peak, within the direful Grafp 
 
 Of favage Hunger, er of favage Heat ? 
 Elder Bro. Peace Brother, be not over-exquijite 
 
 To caft the fafhion of uncertain Evils ; 
 
 For grant they be fo, while they reft unknown. 
 
 What need a Man for eft all his Date of Grief, 
 
 And run to meet what he would mcft avoid ? 
 
 Or if they be but falfe Alarms of Fear, 
 
 How bitter is fuch Self-delufwn ? 
 
 I do not think my Sifter, &c. 
 MS." But oh that haplefle Virgin, our loft Sifter! 
 
 " Where may fhe wander now, whither betake her 
 
 " From the chill Dew in this dead Solitude? 
 
 " Perhaps ibme cold Banke is her Boulfter now, 
 
 " Or 'gainft the rugged Barke of Tome broad Elme 
 
 " She leans her thoughtful I Head mujing at our Unkindneffe t 
 
 " Or loft in wild Amazment and Affright 
 
 " So fares, as did forfaken Proferpine 
 
 " When the big wallowing Flakes of pitchie Clouds 
 
 " And Darknefle wound her in. 
 " i. Bro. Peace, Brother Peace, 
 
 " I doe not thinke my Sifter, &c." 
 
 Could ftir the conftant Mood of her calm Thoughts, 
 MS. " Could ftirre the ft able Mood of her calme Thoughts." 
 
 Benighted walks under the mid-day Sun ; 
 
 Himfelf is his own Dungeon. 
 MS. " Walks in black Vapours, though the noon-tyde Brand 
 
 " Blaze in the Summer-iblftice. 
 
 For who would rob a Hermit of his Weeds, 
 
 His few Books, or his Beads, or maple Difh ? 
 MS. For who would rob a Hermit of his Beads, 
 
 His Books, or his haire-gowne, or maple Difh? M 
 
 Uninjur'd in this wilde furrounding Waft. 
 MS. " Uniniur'd in this vaft and hideous Wild" 
 Elder Bro. I do not, Brother, 
 
 Jnferr, as if I thought my Sifter's State 
 
 Secure without all Doubt or Controverfy : 
 
 Yet where an equal poife, &c. 
 MS." i. Bro. I doe not, Brother, 
 
 " Inferre, as if I thought my Sifter's State 
 
 " Secure, without all Doubt or Queftion : No, 
 
 " I could be willing, though now i'th' darke, to trie 
 
 '• A tough Encounter (;») with the lhaggieft Ruffian, 
 
 " That lurks by Hedge or Lane of this dead Circuit, 
 
 " To have her by my Side, though I were fure 
 
 ** She might be free from Perill where ftie is. 
 
 " But where an equal Poife, &c." 
 
 She that has that, is clad in compleat Steel, 
 
 And like a quiver' d Nymph with Arrows keen 
 
 May trace huge Forrefts and unharbour'd Heaths, 
 
 Infamous Hill, and fandy perilous Wilds, 
 
 Where through the facred Rays of Chaftity, 
 
 No Savage fierce, Bandit e, or Mount aneer 
 
 Will dare tofoyl her Virgin Purity. 
 MS. " She that has that is clad incompleate Steele, 
 
 " And may, on every needfull Accident, 
 
 " Be it not don in Pride or wilful! tempting, 
 
 " Walk through huge Forrefts and unharbour'd Heaths, 
 
 " Infamous Hills, and fandie perilous Wilds, 
 
 " Where, through the facred Awe of Chaftirie, 
 
 ** No Savage feirce, Bandite, or Mountaneerc 
 
 2 Shall 
 
 {m) Paflado.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xi 
 
 *' Shall dare to folk her Virgin Purkie." 
 
 In Fog, or Fire, by Lake, or moorifh Fen, 
 
 Blew meager Hag, orjlubborn unlaid Gbqft. 
 MS. " In Fog, or Fire, by Lake, or moorie Fen, 
 
 " Blue wrinckled Hagge, or ftubborne unlaid Ghoft." 
 
 'That wife Minerva wore, unconquer'd Virgin. 
 MS. " That wife Minerva wore, eternal Virgin." 
 
 With fudden Adoration and blank Awe. 
 MS. " With fuddaine Adoration of her PurencJJe. 
 
 That when a Soul is found ftncerely fo. 
 MS. " That when it finds a Soule fincerely fo." 
 
 But mofl by lend and lavifh Aft of Sin. 
 MS. " And mod by the lafcivious AcT: of Sin." 
 
 Oftfeen in Charnel -Vaults, and Sepulchres 
 
 Lingering, &c. 
 MS. " Oft feene in Charnel-Vaults and Monuments 
 
 Hovering, &c. 
 
 Eld. Bro. Lift, lift, I hear, &c. 
 
 MS." Lilt, Hit, me thought, &c." 
 
 Some roving Robber calling to his Fellows. 
 MS. " Some curl'd Man of the Swoord calling to his Fellows." 
 
 If he be friendly, he comes well ; if not, 
 
 Defence is a good Caufe, and Heaven be for us. 
 MS." If he be friendly, he comes well; if nor, 
 
 " Had beft looke to his Forehead : heere be brambles." 
 
 Come not too near ; you fall on iron Stakes elfe. 
 MS. " Come not too neere ; you fall on pointed Stakes elfe." 
 
 Spir. 
 MS. " Dtem." 
 
 And fweetned every mufk-rofe of the Dale. 
 MS. " And fweetned every mufk-rofe of the Valley.*' 
 
 S lipt from the Fold, 
 MS. " Leapt ore the Penne." 
 
 What fears good Thyrfis ? 
 MS. " What feares, good Shepherd f 
 
 Deep-fkill'd in all his Mother's Witcheries. 
 MS. " Nurtured in all his Mother's Witcheries." 
 
 Tending my Flocks hard by i'th' hilly Crofts. 
 MS. " Tending my Flocks hard by i'th' paftur'd Lawns." 
 
 With flaunting Honyfuckle. 
 MS. " With fpreading Honyfuckle." 
 
 The aidlefs innocent Lady. 
 MS. " The helpleffe innocent Ladie." 
 
 Harpyes and Hydro's, or all the monftrous Forms 
 
 'Twixt Africa and Inde, Fie find him out, 
 
 And force him to reftore his purchafe back, 
 
 Or drag him by the Curls, to a foul death 
 
 Curs'd as his Life. 
 MS. " Harpyes and Hydra's, or all the monftrous Buggs 
 
 " 'Twixt Africa and Inde, He find him out, 
 
 " And force him to releafe his new-got Prey, 
 
 " Or drag him by the Curies, and cleave his Scalp 
 
 " Down to the Hips. 
 
 But here thy Sword can do thee little Stead. 
 MS. " But here thy Steele can doe thee fmall Availed 
 
 He with his bare Wand can unthred thy Joynts, 
 
 And crumble all thy Sinews. 
 MS. " He with his bare Wand can unquilt thy Joynts, 
 
 " And crumble every Sinew." 
 
 Andjhew me Simples of a thoufand Names. 
 MS. " And fhew me Simples of a thoufand Hues* 
 
 That Hermes once to wife Ulyjfes gave. 
 MS. " Which Mercury to wife Ulyfies gave.'* 
 
 {As
 
 xii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 
 {As I will give you, when we go.) 
 MS. " (As I will give you, as we go. 
 
 Boldly affault the Necromancer's Hall, 
 
 Where if he be, with dauntlefs hardihood, 
 
 And brandijht Blade rujh on him, break his Glafs, 
 
 And fhed the lujhious Liquor on the Ground. 
 MS. " Boldly affault the Necromantik Hall, 
 
 " Where if he be, -with fuddaine Violence, 
 
 " And brandifh't Blade rufh on him, breake his Gla fie, 
 
 " And powre the lufhious Potion on the Ground. 
 
 Ihyrfis, lead on apace •, He follow thee, 
 
 And fome good Angel bear a Shield before us. 
 MS. " Thyrfis, lead on a-pace •, / follow thee, 
 
 " And good Heaven caft his beft Regard upon us." 
 
 That Fancy can beget on youthful Thoughts, 
 
 When the frefh Blood grows lively. 
 MS. " That Youth and Fancie can beget, 
 
 " When the brijke Blood grows lively." 
 
 To Life fo friendly, or fo cool to thirfi . 
 
 Why fJoould you be Jo cruel to your felf ? 
 MS. " To Life fo friendly, and fo coole to thirft. 
 
 " Poor Ladie, thou haft need of fome refreshing. 
 
 " Why fhould you, &V. 
 
 But, fair Virgin, 
 
 This will rejlore all foon. 
 MS. ct Hcere, fair Virgin, 
 
 " This will reftore all foone." 
 
 Thefe o\ig\\\y-headed Monfters. 
 MS. Thefe ougly-hezded Monfters." 
 
 With vifor'd Falfoood and bafe Forgery. 
 MS. " With vifor'd Falfhood and bafe Forgeries." 
 
 To thefe budge Doclors of the Stoick Furr. 
 MS. " To thofe budge Doctors of the Stoick Gowne." 
 
 Thronging the Seas with Spawn innumerable, 
 
 But all to pleafe, and fate the curious Taft. 
 MS. " Cramming the Seas with Spawne innumerable, 
 
 " The Feilds with Cat tell, and the Aire with Fowled 
 
 Should in a Pet of Temperance feed on Pulfe. 
 MS. " Should in a Pet of Temperance feed on Fetches. 
 
 The Sea o'erfraught would fwell, and th' unfought Diamond 
 
 Would fo emblaze the forehead of the Deep, 
 
 And fo bejludd with Stars, that they below 
 
 Would grow inur'd to light, and come at I aft 
 
 To gaze upon the Sun with fhamelefs Brows. 
 MS. " The Sea orefraught would heave her Waters up 
 
 " Above the Stan, and th' unfought Diamonds 
 
 " And fo beftudde the Center with thire Light, 
 
 " Were they not taken thence, that they below 
 
 " Would grow enur'd to Day, and come at laft 
 
 " To gaze upon the Sun with fhamelefie Browes." 
 
 It withers on the Stalk with languifht Head. 
 MS. " It withers on the Stalke, and fades away." 
 
 They had their name thence, coarfe complexions. 
 MS. " They had thire name thence, coarfe beetle-brows." 
 
 And bound him faft ; without his Rod reverft, 
 MS. " And bound him faft •, without hhArt reverft." 
 
 We cannot free the Lady, that fits here, 
 MS. " We cannot free the Lady, that remains'* 
 
 Some other Means I have. 
 MS. " There is another Way." 
 
 Sabrina is her Name, a Virgin pure. 
 MS. " Sabrina is her Name, a Goddefs chafte." 
 
 The guilt! efs Damfel flying the mad purfuit. 
 MS. " She guiltleffe Damfell flying the mad perfuite." Com-
 
 of Mr. John Milton, x ;;i 
 
 Commended her fair Innocence to the Flood. 
 MS. " Commended her faire Innocence to the Streamed 
 
 Held up their pearled Wrifis, and took her in, 
 
 Bearing her jlrait to aged Nercus Hall. 
 MS. " Held up thire white Wrifts, and receav'd her in 3 
 
 " And bore her ftraite to aged Nereus Hall." 
 
 Helping all urchin Blajls, and ill luckfigns, 
 
 That the farewd medling Elfe delights to make, 
 
 IVhich [he with pretious viol'd Liquors heals. 
 MS. " Helping all urchin Blafts, and ill luck fignes, 
 
 " That the fhrewd medling Elfe delights to leave^ 
 
 " And often takes our Cattel with fir ange pinches, 
 
 " Which fhe with pretious viol'd Liquors heales." 
 
 Carrol her Goodnefs loud in ruftick Layes. 
 MS. " Carrol her Goodnefle loud in lively Layes. 
 
 Of Panfies, Pinks, and gaudy Daffadils. 
 MS. " Of Panfies, and of bonnie Daftadils." 
 
 The clafping Charm, and thaw the numming Spell. 
 MS. " Each clafping Charme, andfecret holding Spell." 
 
 In hard befetting need, this I will try, 
 
 And add the Power effome adjuring Verfe. 
 MS. " In honour'd Venue's Caufe, this will I trie, 
 
 " And add the Power of fome adjuring Verfe." 
 
 That in the Channel ftrayes. 
 MS. " That my rich V/heeles inlayes." 
 
 Brighter! Lady, looke on me. 
 MS. " Vertucus Ladie, looke on me." 
 
 To wait in Amphitrite's Bovfr. 
 MS. " To waite on Amphitrite in her Bowre." 
 
 May thy brimmed Waves for this. 
 MS. " May thy cryflall Waves for this." 
 
 That, tumbled down the fnowy Hills. 
 MS. " That tumbled down from fnowie Hills," 
 
 Where this night are met in flat e. 
 MS. *.' Where this night are come in ftat-e. 
 
 Come let us hafte, the Stars grow high, 
 
 But Night fits monarch yet in the mid Sky, 
 MS. " Come let us hafte, the Stars are high, 
 
 " But Night reignes monarch yet in the mil Skie." 
 
 Of lighter toes, and fuch court guife 
 
 As Mercury did firft devife. 
 MS. " Of lighter toes, and courtly guife, 
 
 " Such as Hermes did devife. 
 
 With a Crown of deathlefs Praife. 
 MS. " To a Crown of deathlefie Bays" 
 
 Than her pur fled Scarf can floew. 
 
 And drenches with Elyfian Dew, 
 MS. " Than her purfled Scarfe can Ihew, 
 
 " Yellow, watchet, greene and blew, 
 " And drenches with Sab a an Dew" 
 
 It appears from Sir Henry Wot ton's Letter to our Author dated April i^th, 
 1638, that this Mafk had been printed at the End of Mr. R's (w) Poems at 
 Oxford. There was an Edition of it likewife at London in 1637 in 4/0, under 
 the following Title ; A Mafk prefented at Ludlow Caftle, 1634, on Michael- 
 mx^t- Night, before the Right Honorable, John Earle of Bridge water, Vicount 
 Brackly, Lord Prafident of Wales, and one of his Majefties tnoft honorable Privie 
 Counfell. The Dedication of it by Mr. H. Lowes' to the Right Honorable John 
 Lord Vicount Brackly, Son and Heire Apparent to the Earle of Bridgwater, &c. 
 is as follows : " My Lord, This Poem, which receiv'd its firft Occafion of 
 
 " Birth 
 
 (*) Perhaps Mr. Tho. Randolph ; but I la-^e never met •with ary Edition of bis Poems to v.&ich 
 n'j Malk is added. 
 
 Vol. I. d
 
 xiv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " Birth from your felfe and others of your noble Famiiie, and much honour 
 " from your, own Perfon in the Performance, now returns againe to make a fij 
 " Dedication of itfeife to you. Although hot openly acknowled - theAu- 
 " thor, yet it is a legitimate Offspring, fo lovely and fo much <! ir , ; ci 
 " often copying of it hath tired my Pen to give my feverai! Friends Lei 
 " and brought me to a neceffitie of producing it to the publick vie* . 
 *' to offer it up in all rightfull devotion to thoie faire Hopes and rare Endow- 
 " ments of your much-promifing Youth, which give a full aflurance to & 
 " know you of a future Excellence. Live, i'v/eet Lord, to be the Honour of 
 " your Name, and receive this as your owne, from the hands of hi", . 
 " hath by many Favours beene long oblig'd to your moft honour Vi Parents ; 
 " and as in this Reprasfentation your attendant Thyrfts, fo now in all reail 1 . 
 
 6 ' preffion, 
 
 " Your faithfull and moft humble Servant, 
 
 H. Lawes." 
 
 It appears by the End of this Edition of the Majk, that the principal Pcrfons, 
 who perform'd in it, were the Lord Brackly, Mr. Tho. Egerton, and the Lady 
 Alice Egerlon. This Piece is very beautiful, and, as Mr. Ricbardfon ob- 
 ferves (o), of a kind purely original. A very learned and ingenious Friend of 
 mine (p), in a Letter to me containing feverai curious Remarks upon Milton^ 
 obferves, that in this Piece cur Author has Shckefptare very much in his Eye, and 
 that there is a brighter Vein of Poetry intermixed with a foftnefs of DefiHption, 
 than is to be found in the charming Scenes of Eden. 
 
 In November 1637 Milton wrote his Lycidas, in which he laments the Death 
 of his Friend Mr. Edward King, who was drown'd in his Pafiage from Cbefter 
 on the Irijh Seas in 1637. This Poem of our Author's was printed the Year 
 following at Cambridge in 4to, in a Collection of Latin and Englifh Poems u 
 on Mr. King's Death. The Latin Poems have this title : Jttfta Edoardo King 
 naufrago ab Amicis mxrentibusAmcris £■? pM\a.s yj<^>- This part coritaii 1 paj ;es, 
 and confifts of Poems by T. Farnaby, H. More, J.Pearfon. The La : iph 
 
 informs us, that Mr. King was Son of Sir John King, Secretary for Ireland to Queen 
 Elizabeth, King James I. and Charles I. and that he was Fellow of Shrift's Col- 
 lege Cambridge, and was drown'd in Auguft 1637, a g e< ^ 2 5 Years. The Eng- 
 lijh Part is intitled, Obfequies to the Memory cf Mr. Edward King, Anno Dc;;;;;:i 
 1638. It contains 25 pages, and confifts of Poems by H. King, J. Beaumont, 
 J. Cleavcland, W. More, W. Hall, Samf. Briggs, Ifaac Olivier, J. H, C. B, 
 R. B. T. N. J. M. i. e. John Milton, whofe Lycidas is the laft of the Poems. 
 
 I fhall fubjoin here the firft Thoughts of Mil/on, as they appear'd in his own 
 Manufcript abovemention'd. 
 
 Who would notfingfor Lycidas? he knew. 
 MS. " Who would not fing for Lycidas ? he well knew." 
 
 And bid fair Peace be to my fable jhrowd. 
 MS. " To bid faire Peace be to my fable fhroud." 
 
 Under the opening eye-lids of the morn. 
 MS. " Under the glimmering eye-lids of the morne." 
 
 Oft till the Star, that role at Ev'ning bright, 
 
 Toward Heaven's Defcent had Jlop'd his weftering Wheel. 
 MS. " Oft till the Even-Starre bright, 
 
 " Toward Heaven's Defcent had floapt his hirnifht Wheele.f 
 
 Or frojl to flowers, that their gay wardrop wear. 
 MS. " Or froft to flowers, that thire gay buttons weare." 
 
 Where your old Bards, the famous Druids, lie." 
 MS. " Where the old Bards, the famous Druids, lie." 
 
 What could the Mufe herfelf that Orpheus bore ? 
 
 The Mufe herfelf for her inchanting Son, 
 
 Whom univerfal Nature did lament, 
 
 When by the rout y that made the hideous Roar, 
 
 liii 
 
 (0 Life of Milton, p. 14. prefix" d to Explana- (fi) T/>e Rev. Mr. William VVarburton Author 
 
 tory Notes and Remarks on Milton 's Paradife af many excellent Notes publijh 'din Mr. Theobald"* 
 
 Loft. By J. Ricbardfon, Father and Son. Edit. Edition of Shakefpeare. 
 London 1734 in dvf.
 
 of Mr. J OHN MlLTO N. XV 
 
 His goary vifare down the fir cam was'fent, 
 Down the fwift Hebrus to the Lejbian Shore. 
 
 MS. " What could the golden-hayr'd Calliope 
 " For her inchaunting Son, 
 " When fr.ee beheld (the Gods farre-fighted 
 " His goarie Scalpe rowle downe the Thracian Lee.' 1 
 Or with the tangles of Ncsra's hair. 
 
 MS. " Hid in the tangles of Nea?ra's haire." 
 
 O Fountain Arethufe, and thou honour'd food, 
 Smoth-fiding Mincius. 
 
 MS. " Oh Fountain Arethufe, and thou fmccih flood, 
 " ^//-Aiding Mincius." 
 Inwrought with figures dim. 
 
 MS. " Scraiii'd ore with figures dim." 
 Daily devours apace, and nothing fed. 
 
 MS. " Daily devours apace, and little ltd." 
 
 On whofe frefh Lap the fw art Star fparely looks, 
 Throw hither all your quaint enamel' d Eyes. 
 
 MS. " On whole frefh Lap the fwart Starre ftintly looks, 
 " Bring hither all your quaint entimel'd Eyes." 
 Bring the rathe Pimrofe that forfaken dies, 
 'The tufted Crow-toe, and pale Geffamine, 
 The white Pink, and' the Panfie frcakt with Jet, 
 The glowing Violet ; 
 
 The MnJk-rOfe, and the well attired Woodbine, 
 With Cowflips wan that hang the penfive Head, 
 And every Flower that fad Embroidery wears. 
 Bid Amaranius all his Beauty fed, 
 And Daffadillies fill their Cups with Tears. 
 
 MS. " Bring the rathe Frimrofe, that unwedded dies, 
 " Colouring the pale cheeke of uninjoy'd Love s 
 " And that fad Floure that ftrove 
 " To write his own Woes on the vermel Graine. 
 " Next adde Narciffus, that ftill weeps in vaine : 
 *' The Woodbine and the Panciefreakt with ]ct ; 
 " The glowing Violet ; 
 
 *' The Cowflip wan, that hangs his penfive head 5 
 *' And every Bud, that Sorrow's Liverie weares, 
 '* Let Daffadillies fill thire Cups with Teares : 
 " Bid Amaranthus all his Beautie fhed." 
 Let our frail Thoughts dally with falfe furmife . 
 
 MS. " Let our fad Thoughts, Z£c. 
 
 Ay me ! whilft thee the Shores and founding Seas. 
 
 MS. " Ay mee, whilft thee the Floods and founding Seas.' s 
 Where thou perhaps under the whelming Tide. 
 
 MS. " Where thou perhaps under the humming Tide," 
 Sleepft by the Fable of Bellerus old. 
 
 MS. " Sleepft by the Fable of Corineus old. 
 And hears the unexprcffive nuptial Song. 
 
 MS. " Liftening the unexpreffive nuptial Song, 
 
 Upon the Death of his Mother he obtain'd leave of his Father to travel, and 
 having waited upon Sir Henry Wotton, formerly Embaffadorat^v/uf, and then 
 Provoft of Eaton College, to whom he communicated his Defign, that Gen- 
 tleman foon after wrote to him the following Letter dated from the College 
 April 1 8th, 1638. 
 
 Sir,
 
 xvi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 " It was a fpecial Favour, when you lately beftow'd upon me here the fir ft 
 " tafte of your Acquaintance, tho' no longer than to make me know, that f 
 " wanted more time to value it, and to enjoy it rightly. And in truth, if 
 " I could then have imagined your farther flay in thefe Farts, which I under- 
 " ftood afterward by Mr. H. I would have been bold, in our vulgar phrafe, 
 " to mend my draught, for you left me with an extreme Thirft •, and to have 
 " begged your Converfation ag-ain jointly with your laid learned Friend, at a 
 " poor Meal or two, that we might have banded together fome good Authors 
 " of the antient time, among which I obferv'd you to have been familiar. 
 
 " Since your going, you have charged me with new Obligations, both for 
 '• a very kind Letter from you, dated the fixth of this Month, and for a dainty 
 " piece of Entertainment, that came therewith ; wherein I fhould much commend 
 " the Tragical Part, if the Lyrical did not raviih with a certain Doric Delicacy 
 " in your Songs and Odes, wherein I miift plainly confefs to have feen yet no- 
 " thing parallel in our Language, Jpfa mollifies. But I muft not omit to rrll 
 " you, that F now only owe you thanks for intimating unto mc, howmodtftly 
 *' foever, the true Artificer. For the Work it felf I had viewed fome good 
 " while before with lingular Delight, having received it from our common 
 " Friend Mr. R. in the very clofe of the late i<'s Poems printed at Oxford ; 
 " whereunto it is added, as I now fuppofe, that the AcceiTory might help out 
 " the Principal, according to the Art of Stationers, and leave the Reader . 
 " la bocca dolce. 
 
 " Now, Sir, concerning your Travels, wherein I may challenge n little 
 " more Privilege of Difcourfe with you -, I fuppofe, you will not blanch Paris 
 " in your Way. Therefore I have been bold to trouble you with a lew Lines 
 " to Mr. M.B. whom you fhall eafily find attending the young Ford S. as 
 " his Governor ; and you may furely receive from him good Directions for 
 " fhaping of your farther Journey into Italy, where he did refide by my Choice 
 " fome time for the King, after mine own Recefsfrom Venice. 
 
 " I fhould think, that your beft Line will be through the whole Length of 
 " France to Marfeilles, and thence by Sea to Genoa, whence the paflage into 
 " Tufoany is as diurnal as a Grave/end Barge. I haften, as you do, to Florence 
 " or Sienna, the rather to tell you a fhort Story, from the Intereft you have 
 *' given me in your Safety. 
 
 " At Sienna 1 was tabled in theHoufe of one Alberto Scipione, an old Roman 
 " Courtier in dangerous times, having been Steward to theDucadi Paglic.no, who 
 " with all his Family were ftrangled, fave this only Man, that efcaped by fcre- 
 *' fight of the Tempeft. With him I had often much Chat of thofe Affairs ; 
 " into which he took Pleafure to look back from his native Harbour ; and at 
 *' my Departure toward Rome, which had been the center of his Experience, 
 *' I had won confidence enough to beg his Advice, how I might carry myfclf 
 " fecurely there, without Offence of others, or of mine own Confidence : Stg- 
 " nor Arrigo mio, fays he, i p-enfieri ftretti, di? il vifo fciolto, that is, your 
 " Thoughts clofe, and your Countenance loofe, will go fafely over the whole 
 " World. Of which Delphian Oracle (for fo I have found it) your judgment 
 " doth need no Commentary ; and therefore, Sir, I will commit you with it 
 " to the beft of all Securities, God's dear Love, remaining, 
 
 " Your Friend, as much at Command as any of longer date, 
 
 " H. Wot ton. 
 
 " P. S. Sir, I have exprefsly fent this by my Foot-Boy to prevent your 
 " Departure, without fome Acknowledgment from me of the receipt of your 
 " obliging Letter, having myfelf through fome Bufinefs, 1 know not how, 
 " neglected the ordinary Conveyance. In any part where I fhall underftand 
 " you fixed, I fhall be glad and diligent to entertain you with Home-novelties, 
 " even for fome Fomentation of our Friendfhip, too foon interrupted in the 
 " Cradle." 
 
 Soon after the receipt of this Letter he fet out for France, accompanied only 
 with one Man, who attended him thro' all his Travels. At Paris he waited 
 upon the Lord Scudamore, EmbaiTador from King Charles I. in France. His 
 
 Lordfhip
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xvii 
 
 Lordfhip receiv'd him with great Civility ; and understanding that Mr. Milton 
 had a defire to make a Vifit to Hugo Grotius, Embaflador from Chriftina Queen 
 of Sweden to the Court of France, fent feveral of his Attendants to wait upon 
 him, and introduce him in his name to that.great Man. After a few Days, not 
 intending to make the ufual Tour of France, he took his Leave of the Lord 
 Scudamore, who gave him Letters to the Englijh Merchants refiding in any part, 
 thro' which he was to travel, in which they were requefted to do him all the 
 good Offices, which lay in their power. From Paris he haften'd on his Jour- 
 ney to Nice, where he embark'd for Genoa, from whence he went to Leghorn, 
 and Pi fa, and fo to Florence. In this City he ftaid two Months, during which 
 time he contracted an intimate Acquaintance with feveral Perfons of the hi»heft 
 Diltinction for Learning and Quality, and was daily prefent at their private 
 Academies, which they held, according to the laudable Cuftom of Italy, for 
 the Improvement of Learning and Friendfhip (q). His principal Friends here 
 were Jacomo Gaddi, Carlo Dati, Frefcobaldi, Coltellino, Bonmatthei, Clemen- 
 tilli, Antonio Francini, &c. Carlo Dati gave him the following teftimonial 
 of his Efteem. 
 
 Johanni Milton i, Londinenfi, Juveni p'atrld, inrtutibus eximio : 
 Viro, qui multa peregrinatione, fludio cuncla orbis terrarum loca pi fpexii, ut 
 novus UlyJJes omnia ubique ab omnibus apprehenderet. Polyglotto, in cujus ore Lin- 
 gua jam deperdita ftc revivi faint, ut idlomata cimvc Jlnt in ejus laudibus in- 
 facunda ; & jure ea percallet, ut admirationes £•? plaujus populorum ab pro- 
 pria fapientid excitatos intelligat. lilt, cujus Animi Dotes corporifque fenfus 
 ad admirationem commovent, £s? per ipfam mctum cuique auferunt •, cujus opera- 
 ad plaufus hcrtantur, fed venuflate vocetn auditoribus adimunt. Cui in memo- 
 rid totus Orbis ; in IntelleiJu Sapientia ; in voluntate Ardor Gloria ; in ore E- 
 loquentia. Harmonicas caleftium Sphararum fonitus, Ajlronomid duce, audienti ; 
 characleres mirabilium Nature, per quos Dei magnitudo defcribitur, magiftrd Phi- 
 hfophid, legenti ; Antiquitalum latebras, Ve tuft at is excidia, Eruditionis am- 
 bages, comite affidud Autorum Leclione, exquirenti, rejlauranti, percurrenti . 
 At cur niter in arduum ? Illi, in cujus Virtutibus evulgandis ora Fam.e non fuffi- 
 ciant, nee Hominum ftupor in laudandis fat is eft. Reverentia & Amoris ergo hoc 
 ejus Meritis debitum Admirationis tributum offert 
 
 Carolus Datus Patricius Florentinus, 
 
 Tanto homini Servus, tantce virtutis Amator, 
 
 Antonio Francini is not lefs liberal of his Praifes of our Author in the long 
 Italian Ode, which he compos'd in his honour, and in which he complements 
 the Engl if} Nation, and foretold the future Greatnefs of Milton. The eighth 
 of our Author's familiar Letters, dated at Florence, Sept. ioth, 1638, is written 
 to Benedit to Bonmatthei, upon the latter's defign of publifning an Italian Gram- 
 mar, in which he advifes him to add fome Obfervations concerning the true 
 Pronunciation of that Language, for the fake of Foreigners. 
 
 From Florence he took his Journey next to Sienna, and from thence to Rome, 
 where he ftay'd about two Months, and became acquainted with feveral learned 
 Men, particularly Lucas Holftenius, Keeper of the Vatican Library (r), who 
 fhewed him all the Greek Authors, whether publifh'd or otherwife, which had 
 pafs'd through his Correction ; and introdue'd him to Cardinal Barberini, who, 
 at an Entertainment of Mufic perform'd at his own Expence, waited for him 
 at the Door, and brought him into the AfTembly. To thank Holftenius forthefe 
 Favours, Milton wrote the ninth of his familiar Letters, dated at Florence, 
 March 30th, 1630. At Rome he likewife commene'd a Friendfhip with Gio- 
 vanni Saljilli, who wrote the following Epigram upon him. 
 
 Ad Joannem Miltonem, Anglum, triplici poefeos Laured coronandum, Gracd, 
 nimirum, Latind, atque Hetrufcd, Epigramma Joannis Salfilli Romani. 
 
 Cede, Meles -, cedat depreffd Mincius urna 5 
 
 Sebetus "Taffum definat ufque loqui : 
 At Thamefis Viclor cunclis ferat altior undas, 
 
 Nam per te, Milto, par tribus unus erit. Milton 
 
 (y) Milton") Defenfio fecunda p. 84. Edit. 15,4. (r) Miltoni Defenfio fecunda, p. 84, 85. Edit. 
 
 Vol. II. p. 332. oid Philip.-, p. 11, 12. ifS^d.. Vol. II. p„WLjf tbejrifent Edition; and 
 
 Philips,/. 13. . 
 
 Vo l. I. e
 
 xviii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 Milton in return fent to Salfilli, foon after lying Tick, thofe fine Scazons, 
 which may be read among his Juvenile Poems. Here likewife Selvaggi wrote 
 the following Diftich upon him : 
 
 Gratia Maonidem, jailet fibi Roma Maroncm : 
 Anglia Milionum jail at Utrique par eta. 
 
 From Rome he travell'd to Naples, where he was introduced by a Certain 
 Hermit, who accompanied him in his Journey from Rome thither, to G 
 Baptijla Manfo (s) Marquis of Villa, z. Neapolian by Birth, a Perfon of great 
 Quality and Merit, to whom Taffo inferibed his Dialogue of Friendfhip, and 
 whom that Poet makes honourable mention of in the xx Book of his Gier, 
 lemme conqtiiftate : 
 
 Fra Cavalier magnanimi e cortefi 
 Refplende il Manfo. 
 
 The Marquis received Milton with extraordinary Refpect and Civility, and 
 went himfelf to mew him all the remarkable Places in the City, vifiting him 
 often at his Lodging, and made this Diftich in honour of him : 
 
 Ut mens, forma, decor, fades, mos,Ji pietasfie, 
 Non Anglus, verum hereto Angelus ipfe fores. 
 
 The Exception toMilton's Piety relates to his being a Proteftant ; and the Marquis 
 told him at his Departure, that he mould have been glad to have done him fe veral 
 other good Offices, if he had been more referv'd in matters of Religion (/). 
 Our Author out of Gratitude for the Marquis's Civilities, before he left Na- 
 ples, fent him a beautiful Latin Eclogue, intitled Manfus ; in which he inti- 
 mates his Defign of writing a Poem upon the Story of King Arthur, as i 
 pears from the following Lines : 
 
 O mihi ft me a for s talem concedat Amicum, 
 Phcebaos decor affe viros qui tarn bene norit, 
 Si quando indigenas revocabo in carmina Reges, 
 Arturumque etiamfub terris bella moventem: 
 Aut die am invicla fociali feeder 'e menf<e 
 Magnanimos Heroas, & (O modo Spiritus adfit) 
 Frangam Saxonicas Britonum fub Marte phalanges. 
 
 He was now preparing to pafs over into Sicily and Greece, when he was di- 
 verted from his Resolution by the fad News of a Civil War breaking forth in 
 England ; efteeming it an unworthy thing for him to be taking his Pleafure in 
 foreign Parts, while his Countrymen were contending at home for Liberty. 
 However, he refolv'd to fee Rome once more •, and tho* the Merchants gave him 
 a Caution, that the Jefuits were framing Defigns againft him, by reafon of the 
 Freedom, which he us'd in his Difcourfes about Religion, yet he ventur'd to go 
 to Rome the fecond time, determining with himfelf not to begin any Difpute a- 
 bout Religion; but being afk'd, not to diffemble his Sentiments. He flay'd 
 two months in that City, neither concealing his Name, nor declining openly 
 to defend the Truth, when any thought proper to attack him. Notwithrtand- 
 ing this, he return'd fafe to his Friends at Florence, who received him with 
 great Joy and Affection. Here he ftay'd as long as he had done before, except 
 an Excurfion of a few Days to Lucca ; and then eroding the Appenine, pafs'd 
 thro* Bononia and Ferrara to Venice, where having fpent one Month, and /hip- 
 ped off" the Books, which he had collected in his Travels thro' Italy, he came 
 thro' Verona, Milan, and along the Lake Leman to Geneva. In this City he 
 contracted an intimate Friendfhip with Giovanni Dcodati, and Frederic Span- 
 heim («), both Profeflbrs of Divinity there. He return'd thro' France by the 
 fameWay, which he pafs'd in going to Italy ; and after having been abfent from 
 England about a Year and three Months, arriv'd fafe in his own Country about 
 
 the 
 
 {1) Miltoni Defenfio fecunda, ubi fupra. tniftake, for Ezechiel ivas but ten Years old, ivben 
 
 (t) Ibid. («) Toland p. 20. fays Ezechiel Milton ivas at Geneva, tho 1 the latter afterward > 
 
 Spanheim, the celebrated Critic and Antiquary, had a correffondence wnth him, as af pears ' 
 
 '■and Son gf" Frederic: But this is undoubtedly a the \-jth of his familial Lexers.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xix 
 
 the time oF the King's fecond Expedition againft the Scots, and not long before 
 the calling of the Long Parliament (x). Upon his return, he had the misfor- 
 tune of being affur'd of the Death of his deareft Friend and School-fellow, 
 Charles Deodati, who was defcended from a Family at Lucca in Tuft any, but 
 born in England. This Gentleman ftudied Phyfic, and was an excellent Scho- 
 lar. Mr. Toland tells us (j), that he had in his Hands two Greek: Letters of 
 Decdati's to Milton, written with great Elegance. Milton lamented his imma- 
 ture Death in an excellent Latin Eclogue, intitled Damon, extant amon°- his 
 Poems ; by which we find, that he had already conceiv'd the Plan of an Epic 
 Poem, the fubjecT: of which he defign'd to be the warlike Actions of the old 
 Britijh Heroes, and particularly of King Arthur, as he tells us himfelf in thefe 
 Verfes : 
 
 Ipfe ego Dardanias Rutupina per aqnora puppes 
 Die am, fcf Pandrajidos regnum vet us Biogenic, 
 Bfennumque Arviragumque duces, prifcumque Belinum, 
 Et tandem Armoricos Britomim.fub lege colonos j 
 'Turn gravidam Arturo fat all fraude Jogemen, 
 Mcndaces vullus, ajfumptaaue Gorki's anna, 
 Mcrlini Dolus. 
 
 He then declares his defign of performing fomething in his native Language, 
 which might perpetuare his Name in thefe Iflands, tho' he ihould be the more 
 obfeure and inglorious by it to the reft of the World. 
 
 O mi hi turn fi Vita fuperfit, 
 
 Tu prociu I annofd pendebis, Fijiula, pinu 
 Multum oblita mihi, out patriis matata camanis 
 Brittonicv.m Jlrides; quid en im? omnia non licet uni, 
 Non fperdffe uni licet omnia ; mi fatis ampla 
 Merces, & mihi grande decus. (Jim ignotus in <evunl 
 Turn licet, externo penitufque inglorius Orbi) 
 Si me flava comas legat Uja, fc? potor Alauni, 
 Vorticibufque freqaens Abra, i£ nanus omne Treanta, 
 Et Thamejis mens ante cranes, & fufca mctallis 
 Tamara, & extremis me difcunt Orcades undis.. 
 
 Soon after his Return, and Vifits paid to his Father and his Friends, he hir'd 
 a Lodging in St. Bride's Church-yard in Fleet-ftreet, at the Houfe of Mr. RuJJel 
 a Taylor, where he undertook the Education and Inftruction of his Sifter's two 
 Sons, Edward and John Philips ; the elder of whom, John, had been wholly 
 committed to his Care. And here it will not be impertinent to mention the 
 many Latin and Greek Authors, which, thro' his excellent Judgment and Me- 
 thod of teaching, far above the Pedantry of common Schools, (where fuch Au- 
 thors are fcarce ever heard of) were read over, within no greater Compafs of 
 time, than from ten to fifteen Years of Age (z). Of the Latin, the four grand 
 Writers de Re Rufticd, Cato, Varro, Columella, and Palladius ; Cornelius Cel- 
 fus, the Phyfician -, a great Part of Pliny's Natural Hiftory ; Vitruvius's Archi- 
 ure; Front inns'* Stratagems •, and the Phi lofophical Poets, Lucretius and 
 Manilius. Of the Greek Writers, Hejiod ; Aratus's Phenomena and Diofemeia ■, 
 Dicnyfius de fitu Orbis ; Oppian ; Quintal Calaber ; Apollonius Rhodius ; Plu- 
 tarch's Placita Philofophorum, & -urs^l iraQm dyoylxs -, Geminus's Aftronomy ; Xe- 
 nophon's Inftitution of Cyrus and 'AvdZxo-v; ; Ailian's Tactics ; and Poly anus's Stra- 
 tagems. 
 
 Thus by teaching, he in fome meafure inlarg'd his own Knowledge, having 
 the reading of all thefe Authors by Proxy •, and all this might poflibly have con- 
 duced to the preferving of his Sight, if he had not been perpetually engag'd 
 in reading and writing. Nor did this Application of his to the Latin and Greek 
 Tongues hinder him from attaining the principal of the Oriental Languages, 
 viz. the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac, and a good Skill in Mathematics and 
 
 Aftro- 
 
 (*) Miltoni Defenfio fecunda, p. 8<, 86, 87, (y) p. 10. 
 Edit. i6j4> Vol- II. p. 332 of \nt Edit. (a) Philips, p. 16, £7,
 
 xx An Account of the Life and TVritings 
 
 Aftronbmy. The Sunday's Work for his Pupils was for the mod part to read a 
 Chapter of the Greek Teftament, and hear his Expofition of k. The next .Work 
 after this was to write from his Dictation, fome part of a Syftem of Divinity, 
 which he collected from the moft eminent Writers upon that fobjedfe, as Amefius, 
 Wollebitts, &c. (a). 
 
 He did not continue long in his Lodgings in St. Bride's Church-yard, but 
 took an handibme Garden-Houfe in Aider fgate-ftreet, fituated at the End of a 
 paffage, and the fitter for his purpofe by reafon of its privacy and freedom from 
 Noife and Difturbance. Here it was, that he put his Academical Inilitution 
 in practice, he himfelf giving an Example of hard Study and fpare Diet to 
 thofe under him ; for it was not long before his elder Nephew, Mr. Edward 
 Philips, was put to board with him. " Only this advantage he had, Jays Mr. 
 " Philips (b), that once in three Weeks or a Month, he would drop into the 
 ,c Society of fome young Sparks of his Acquaintance ; the chief whereof "/ere 
 " Mr. Alphry undMr. Millar, two Gentlemen of Gray's-Inn, the Beaus of thofe 
 " Days. With thefe Gentlemen he would fo fir make bold with his Body, as 
 " now and then to keep a Gawdy-day." ' In this Houfe he continued feveral 
 Years. 
 
 In 1 641 he publifh'd at London in 4/0, a Piece, intitled, Of Reformation- 
 touching Churcb-Difcipline in England, and the Caufes that hitherto have hindred 
 it Two Bookes. Written to a Friend. 
 
 About the fame time certain Minifters wrote a Treat ife againft Epifcopacy, 
 printed at London 164.1, in \to, under the following Title : An Anfwcr to a Book y 
 intitled, An humble Remonftrance ; in which the Originall of Liturgy and Epifcopacy 
 isdifcuffed, and Queries propounded concerning both ; theParity oj Bijhops andPreJby- 
 ters in Scripture demonftrated; the occafion of their Imparl tie in Ar.liauitie difcovercd j 
 the Difparitie of the ancient and our moderne Bifiops manifejied; the Antiquitie of 
 Ruling Elders in the Chuch vindicated ; the Prelalical Church bewnded. Written 
 by Smectymnuus. The Authors of this Treatile were fr-e, the firft Letters of 
 whofe Chriftian and Sur-Names compoie the Word Smeblymnuus \ viz. Stephen 
 Marfhal, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Tcung, Matthew Newcomen, and William 
 Spurftow. The Humble Remonjirance, to which this was defign'd as an Anfwer, 
 was written by Dr. Jofeph Hall, Bifhop of Norwich. Archbifhop Ufher having 
 publifh'd, in opposition to Smeclymnuus, a Tract concerning the Original of 
 Bifhops and Metropolitans, printed at Oxford 1641 in 4/0 •, Milton publifh'd at 
 London the fame Year in i.to, a Piece, intitled, Of Prelalical Epifcopacy, and 
 'whether it may be dedue'd from the Apoftolical times by virtue of thofe Tefiimonies, 
 which are alledg'd to that purpofe in fome late Treatifes j one whereof goes under 
 the Name of James Archbifhop of Armagh. 
 
 Hisnext performance was The Reafon of Church Govemement urg'd againft Prelaty; 
 By Mr. John Milton. In two Books. London 1641 in 4/0. In the beginning of the 
 fecondBookhe mentions his Defign of writing a Poem in the Englifo Language ; 
 where he tells us, that " in the privat Academies of Italy, whither I, fays he, was 
 " favour'd to refort, perceiving, that fome trifles, which I had in memory, com- 
 s ' pos'd at under twenty or thereabout, (for the manner is, that every one muft 
 " give fome proof of his Wit and reading there) met with acceptance above 
 •* what was lookt for, and other things, which I had fhifted in fcarfity of Books 
 " and Conveniences to patch up amongft them, were receiv'd with written En- 
 " comiums, which the Italian is not forward to beftow on Men on this fide the 
 " Alps 5 I began thus farre to affent both to them and divers of my Friends 
 " here at home, and not leffe to an inward prompting, which now grew daily 
 " upon me, that by Labour and intent Study, (which I take to be my portion 
 " in this Life) joyn'd with the ftrong Propenfity of Nature, I might perhaps 
 " leave fomething fo written to after-times, as they fhould not willingly let it 
 *' die. Thefe thoughts at once poffeft me, and thefe other, that if I were cer- 
 ** tain to write as Men buy Leafes, for three Lives and downward, there ought 
 " no Regard be fooner had, than to God's Glory by the Honour and In- 
 *' ftruetion of my Country. For which Caufe, and not only for that I knew 
 " it would be hard to arrive at the fecond Rank among the Latines, I apply'd 
 " my felfe that refolution, which Ariofto follow'd againft the perfwafions of 
 *« Bembo, to fix all the induftry and art I could unite, to the adorning of my 
 
 *' native 
 i {») Uid. p. 18, 19. [b) Ibid. p. 20, t*l
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxi 
 
 " native tongue ; not to make verbal Curiofities the End ; that were a toylfoni 
 " Vanity ; but to be an Interpreter and Relater of the beft and fagelt things 
 " among mine own Citizens throughout this Ifland in the mother Dialect. 
 " That what the greateft andchoyceft Wits of Athens, Rome, or modemltaly, 
 " and thofe Hebrews of old did for their Country, I in my proportion, with 
 " this over and above of being a Chriftian, might doe for mine, not carir.o- to 
 " be once nam'd abroad, though perhaps I could attaine to that ; but content 
 " with thefe Britip Iflands as my World, whole Fortune hath hitherto bin, 
 " that if the Athenians, as fome fay, made their final] deeds great and re- 
 " nowned by their eloquent Writers ; England hath had her noble Atchiev- 
 ** ments made fmall by the unfkilfull handling of Monks and Mechanicks. 
 " Time fervs not now, and perhaps I might leem too profufe to give any 
 " certain Account of what the Mind at home in the (pacious Circuits of her 
 " mufing hath liberty to propofeto herfclf, though of higheft hope and harden; 
 *' attempting ; whether that Epick form, whereof the two poems of Horner^ 
 " and thofe other two of Virgil and Tajfo are a diifufe, and the Book of Job a 
 " brief Model. Or whether the Rules of Ariftotle herein are ftrictly to be kept, 
 " or Nature to be followed -, which in them that know Art, and ufe Jud^e- 
 " ment, is no Tranfgreffion, but an inrichirig of Art. And laftly what King ' 
 " or Knight before the Conquer! might be chofen, in whom to lay the pattern 
 *« of a Chriftian Heroe. And as Tajfo gave to a Prince of Italy his chois, whe- 
 " ther he would command him to write of Godfrey's Expedition againft the In- 
 " fidels, or Belifartus againft the Gothcs, or Cbarlemain againft the Lombards ; 
 " . if to the Inftinct of Nature and the imbold'ning of Art ought may be trufted, 
 " and that there be nothing ad vers in our Climate, or the fate of this age, 
 " it haply would be no rafhnefle from an equal Diligence and Inclination to 
 " prefent the like offer in our own ancient Stories. Or whether thofe Drama- 
 *' tick Conltitutions, wherein Sophocles and Euripides raigne, fhall be found 
 " more doctrinal and exemplary to a Nation, the Scripture alio affords us a 
 " divine Paftoral Drama in the Song of Salomon, confiding of two Perfons and 
 " a double Chorus, as Origen rightly judges. And the Apocalyps of St. John is 
 «« the majeftick Image of a high and ftately Tragedy, fhutting up and inter- 
 <e mingling her folemn Scenes and Acts with afevenfold ChorusofHalleluja's and 
 " harping Symphonies •, and this my opinion the grave Authority of Pareuscom- 
 " menting that Booke is fufficient to confirm. Or if occafion fhall lead to 
 *' imitat thofe magnifick Odes and Hymns, wherein Pindarus and Callimachus 
 " are in moft things worthy, fome others in their frame judicious, in their 
 " matter moft an end faulty ; but thofe frequent Songs through out the Law 
 " and Prophets beyond all thefe, not in their divine Argument alone, but in 
 " the very critical Art of Compofition, maybe eafily made appear over all the 
 
 " Kinds of Lyrick Poefy, to be incomparable The thing, which I had 
 
 " to fay, and thofe intentions, which have liv'd within me ever fince I could 
 4< conceiv myfelf any thing worth to my Countrie, I return to crave excufe, 
 " that urgent reafon hath plukt from me by an abortive and fore-dated Dif- 
 " covery. And the accomplifhment of them lies not but in a power above 
 " Man's to promife ; but that none hath by more ftudious ways endeavour'd, 
 " and with more unwearied Spirit that none fhall, that I dare almoft averre of my 
 
 " felf, as farre as Life and freeLeafure will extend Neither doe I think 
 
 " it fhame to covnant with any knowing Reader, that for fome few Yeers yet 
 " I may go on truft with him toward the payment of what I am now indebted, 
 " as being a Work not to be rays'd from the heat of Youth, or the Vapours 
 " of Wine, like that which flows at waft from the pen of fome vulgar Amo- 
 " rift, or the trencher-fury of a riming Parafite •, nor to be obtain'd by the 
 " Invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren Daughters ; but by devout 
 " Prayer to that Eternal Spirit, who can inrich with all utterance and know- 
 " ledge, and fends out his Seraphim with the hallow'd Fire of his Altar, to 
 " touch and purify the Lips of whom he pleafes. To this muft be added in- 
 •* duftrious and felect reading, fteddy Obfervation, infight into all feemly 
 '« and generous Arts and Affaires ; till which in fome meafure be compaft, at 
 ** mine own peril and coft I refufe not to fuftain this Expectation from as many, 
 " as are not loath to hazard fo much Credulity upon the beft pledges, that I 
 " can give them." 
 
 Vol. I. f Bifhop
 
 xxii An Account of the Life and JVritings 
 
 Bifliop Hall having publifh'd a Piece intitled, A Defence of the Humble Rc- 
 monftrance againft the frivolous and falfe Exceptions of Smeclymnuus ; wherein 
 the Ri<rht ofLeiturgie and Epifcopacie is clearly 'vindicated from the vaine Cavils 
 and Challenges of the Anfwerers. By the Author of the J aid Humble Remon- 
 ftrance : London 1641 in \to ; Milton wrote his Ammadverjions upon the Re- 
 monftrant's Defence againft Smeclymnuus. London 1641 in 4/1?. 
 
 Soon after this there was publifh'd againft this Tract of our Author's, A modefi 
 Confutation againft a flanderous and fcurrilous Libel; which Milton tells us (. ), 
 was reported to be written by a Son of Bifhop Hall, In this Piece the Writer 
 having feverely reflected on him, and reprefented him as having been expell'd 
 the Univerfity, and as being a frequenter of Playhoufes and the Bordclloes ; Mil- 
 ton publifh'd at London 1642 in 4/0, An Apology againft a Pamphlet call'd, A 
 modeft Confutation of the Ammadverfions upon the kemonftrani againft Smeclym- 
 nuus; or, as the Title-page is in fome Copies, An Apology for Smeclymnuus, 
 with the Reafon of Church-Government. By John Milton, Gent. 
 
 During the time of his Continuance in his Houfe in Alderfgate-ftreet, there 
 happemd feveral Occafions of increafing his Family. His Father, who 
 till the taking of Reading by the Earl of EJfex's Forces, had liv'd with his 
 Son Chrijiopher at his Houfe there, was then oblig'd to remove to his eld- 
 eft Son, with whom he liv'd for fome Years. He had likewife an Addition 
 of Scholars (d) ; and in 1643 married Mary, the Daughter of Richard Powell* 
 Efq; of Foreflhill in Oxford/hire. " About V/hitfuntide it was, or a little 
 " after, fays Mr. Philips (e), that he took a Journey into the Countrey, no 
 " body about him certainly knowing the Reafon, or that it was any more than 
 " a Journey of Recreation. After a Month's ftay, home he returns a mar- 
 " ried Man, who went out a Bachelor, his Wife being Mary, the eldcit 
 " Daughter of Mr. Richard Powell-, then a Juftice of Peace, of Foreflhill near 
 " Shotover in Oxfordfhire ; fome few of her neareft Relations accompanying the, 
 " Bride to her new Habitation, which by reafon the Father nor any body elle 
 " were yet come, was able to receive them •, where the Feafting held for fome 
 " Days in celebration of the Nuptials and for entertainment of the Bride's 
 " Friends. At length they took their Leave, and returning to Foreflhill, left 
 " the Sifter behind ; probably not much to her Satisfaction, as appeared by 
 il the Sequel. By that time fhe had for a Month or thereabout led a Philo- 
 '•* fophical Life, after having been ufed at home to a great Houfe, and much 
 " Company and Joviality, her Friends, poflibly incited by her own Defire, 
 " made earned: iuit by Letter, to have her Company the remaining part of the 
 *' Summer; which was granted, on condition of her Return at the time appoint- 
 " ed, Michaelmas, or thereabout." 
 
 In the mean time came his Father, and fome of the foremention'd Scholars ; 
 and their Courfe of Studies was profecuted with great vigour. Milton diverted 
 himfelf fometimes in an Evening in vifiting the Lady Margaret Leigh, Daugh- 
 ter to the Earl of Marlborough, Lord High Treafurer of England, and Presi- 
 dent of the Privy Council to King James 1. This Lady being a Woman of ad- 
 mirable Wit and good Senfe, had a particular Efteem for our Author, and took 
 much delight in his Company ', as likewife did herHufband, Captain Hobfon (/). 
 And what Regard Milton had for her, appears from a Sonnet, which he wrote 
 to her, extant among his Occafwnal Poems (g). 
 
 Michaelmas being now come, and Milton receiving no Account of his Wife's 
 Return, he fent for her by Letter, and having no Anfwer, wrote feveral o- 
 ther Letters, which were alfo unanfwer'd ; fo that at laft hedifpatch'd a Mef- 
 fenger with another Letter, defiring her to return ; but the Mefienger was dif- 
 mifs'd with fome kind of Contempt. " This proceeding, fays Mr. Philips (b), 
 " in all probability, was grounded upon no other Caufe but this, namely, that 
 " the Family being generally addicted to the Cavalier Party, as they called it, 
 " and fome of them pofiibiy engag'd in the King's Service, who by this time 
 " had his Head-Quarters at Oxford, and was in fome profpect of Succefs ; they 
 **■ began to repent them of having match'd the eldeft Daughter of their Fami- 
 *i ly fo contrary to them in Opinion, and thought it would be a Blot in their 
 " Efcutcheon, whenever that Court fhould come to flourifh again. However, 
 
 " it 
 
 (1) Apology for Smeflymnuus, p. 21. Edit. (g) Sonnet x. p. \$. Edit. London 1675. 
 London, /« 4to. (d) Philips, p. z\, 22. {b) p. 24. 
 
 {<) Toland, p. :8. (/) Philips, p. 23.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxjii 
 
 " it fo incens'd our Author, that he thought it would be difhonourable ever 
 " to receive her again, after fuch a Repulfe ; fo that he forthwith prepar'd to 
 " fortify himfelf with Arguments for fuch aRefolution." He publifh'd there- 
 fore in 1644 in /{.to, The Doclrine and Difcipline of Divorce, without his Name ; 
 as not willing, fays he (i), it fhould fway the Reader either for me or againfi me. 
 But when I was told, that the ft He, which what it ailes to be fofoon diftirguifhables, 
 I cannot tell, was known by moft Men, and that fome of the Clergie began to inveigh 
 and exclaim on what I was credibly inform' d they had not read, I took it for my proper 
 Seafon both to fhew them a Name, that could eafily contemn fuch an indifcreet kind 
 of Cenfure, and to reinforce the ^ueftion with a more accurat Diligence, Accord- 
 ingly he publifh'd a fecond Edition of it the fame Year at Lo?idon in $to, un- 
 der this title : The Doclrine and Bifcipline of Divorce reftor'd to the Good of both 
 Sexes, from the Bondage of the Canon Law, and other Miftakes, to the true 
 meaning of Scripture in the Law and Gofpel compar'd. Wherin alfo are fet down 
 the bad Conferences of punifhing or condemning of Shi, that which the Law of God 
 ' allow es, and Chrift aboliflot not. Now the fecond time revis'd and much augmented. 
 In two Books. To the Parlament of England, with the AJJembly. The Author 
 J. M. The grand Pofition, which he maintains in this Treatife is, " That In- 
 vt difpofition, Unfitnefs, or Contrariety of Mind, arifing from a Caufe in nature 
 " unchangeable, hindering and ever likely to hinder the main Benefits of con - 
 " jugal Society, which are Solace and Peace, is a greater feafon of Divorce 
 " than natural Frigidity, efpecially if there be no Children, and that there be 
 ** mutual Confent." The fame Year he publifh'd at London in 4/0, The Judge- 
 ment of Martin Bucer concerning Divorce. Writt'n to Edward the fixt, in his 
 fecond Bock of the Kingdom of Chrift. And now Englifht. Wherin a late Book re- 
 ftoring the Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce is beer confirm' d and jullify'd by 
 the Autboritie of Martin Bucer. To the Parliament of England. Publifiot by Au - 
 thoritie. In 1645 he publifh'd at London in 4/0, Tetrachordon : Expeditions up- 
 on the foure chief Places in Scripture, which treat of Mariage, or Nullities in 
 Mariage, on Gen. 1. 27, 28. compar'd and explain' d by Gen. 2. 18, 23, 24. 
 en Deut. 24, 1, 2. on Matth. 5. 31, 32. with Matth. 19. from the 7,d v. to the 
 nth. on 1 Cor. 7. from the 10th to the 16th. V/herin the Doclrine and Dif- 
 cipline of Divorce, as was lately publtft'd, is confirmed by explanation of Scripture? 
 by teftimony of ancient Fathers, of civill Lawes in the Primitive Church, of fa- 
 mmtfeft Reformed Divines,, and lcftly h by an intended Act of the Parlament and 
 Church of England in the loft Tear of Edward the fixth. By the former Author 
 J. M. 
 
 On the firft appearance of the Doclrine and Difcipline of Divorce, the Clergy 
 •were extremely offended at it, and daily follicited the Parliament to pafs a 
 Cenfure upon it-, and at laft one of them, in a Sermon before the Parliament 
 on a day of Humiliation in Auguft 1644, told them, that there was a wicked 
 Book abroad, which deferv'd to be burnt •, and that among their other fins 
 they ought to repent, that it had not yet been branded with a Mark of their 
 Difpleafure (k). And Mr. Wood tells us (/), that upon Milton's publifhing 
 his three Books of Divorce, " the Affembly of Divines, then fitting at Weft- 
 " minfter, took fpecial Notice of them ; and thereupon, tho' the Author had 
 *' obliged them by his Pen in his defence of Smeclymnuus and other their Con- 
 " troverfies had with the Bifhops, they impatient of having the Clergy's Jurif- 
 " diction (as they reckon'd it) invaded, did, infteadof anfwering or difprov- 
 " ing what thefe Books had afTerted, caufe him to be fummoned before the 
 *' Houfe of Lords. But that Houfe, whether approving the Doctrine, or not 
 " favouring his Accufer, did foon difmifs him." 
 
 His Treatife of Divorce was attacked by a piece intitled, Divorce at pleafure -, 
 and by another printed at London 1644 in 4to, and intitled, An Anfwer to a 
 Book, intituled, The Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce, or, a Plea for Ladies 
 and Gentlemen, and all other married Women againft Divorce. Wherein both Sex- 
 es are vindicated from all Bondage of Canon Law, and other Miftakes wbatfoever ; 
 and the unfound Principles of the Author are examined and fully confuted by Autho- 
 rity of Holy Scripture, the Laws of the Land, and found Reafon. Mr. Jofeph 
 
 Caryl, 
 
 (/) Pirfateto The Judgement t>f Martin Bucer. (/) Col. 264. 
 (*) Milton's Preface to bis Tetrachordon.
 
 xxiv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 Caryl, a Prefbyterian Divine, who wrote a very voluminous Commentary on 
 the Book of Job, gave on the 14th of November 1644, his Imprimatur to this 
 piece in the following Words : " To preferve the ltrength of the Marriage- 
 " bond, and the Honour of that Eftate, againft thofe fad Breaches and dan- 
 " gerous Abufes of it, which common Difcontents (on this fide Adultery) arc 
 " likely to make in unftaied minds and men given to change, by taking in or 
 " ^rounding themfelves upon the Opinion anfwcred, and with good Reafon 
 " confuted in this Treatife, I have approved the printing and publifhing of it." 
 In this piece the Author (?«) ftiles Milton's Book a frothie Difcourfe, and tells 
 us, that ivere it not fugred over with a little neat language, would appear fo imme- 
 ritous and undeserving, fo contrary to all humane Learning, yea Truth anil common 
 Experience itfelf, that all that reade it, muft needs count it worthie to be burnt by 
 the Hangman. In anfwer to this Piece, Milton publifh'd at London 164.5, in 4 
 Colafterion : A Reply to a nameles Anfwer againfi The Doctrine and Difcipline 
 of Divorce. Wherein the trivial Author of that Anfwer is difcover'd, the Licencer 
 conferred with, and the Opinion which they traduce defended. By the former Au- 
 thor, I. M. In this he complains, that when his Dotlrine and Difcipline of Divorce 
 had been a whole Year publifh'd the fecond time with many Arguments added, and 
 the former ones better 'd and confirm 'd, the Anfwer >\bove-ment\o:>'d was directed only 
 ao-ainft the firft Edition. And he tells us that the Author of that Anfi er was 
 a Servingman tum'd Sollicitor affifted by a young Divine or two. He treats his 
 Antagonift with great Contempt •, but concludes with obferving, that " as for 
 " the fubjedt itfelf, which I have writt, and now defend, according as the op- 
 *' pofition beares, if any Man equal to the matter lhall think it appertains him 
 " to take in hand this Controverfy, either excepting againft ought writt'n, or 
 " perl waded hee can fhew better how this queftion of fuch moment to bee through- 
 ** ly known may receav a true determination, not leaning on the old and rott'n 
 " iuggeftions, whereon it yet leans, if his intents bee fincere to the public, 
 " and fhall carry him without bitternes to the opinion, or to the perion dif- 
 " fenting ; let him not, I intreate him, guefs by the handling, which merito- 
 '« rioufly hath bin beftow'd on this object of contempt and laughter, that I ac- 
 " count it any Difpleafure don mee to bee contradicted in prints but as it leads 
 " to the attainment of any thing more true, fhall efteem it a Benefit, and fhall 
 " know how to return his Civility and faire Argument in fuch a fort, as hee 
 ' ' fhall confers that to doe fo is my choife, and to have don thus was my chance." 
 About this time, he was ibllicitedby feveral Gentlemen of his acquaintance, to 
 take upon him the Education of their fons, his great fuccefs in his firft Under- 
 taking of that Kind being known. Upon this he hir'd a larger Houfe, than 
 that in which he then liv'd ; but in the Interval before he removM into it, 
 " there fell out, fays Mr. Philips (»), a paffage, which tho 5 it altered not the 
 " whole Courfe he was going to fleer, yet it put a Stop or rather an End to a 
 " grand Affair, which was more than probably thought to be then in agitation. 
 " It was indeed a Defign of marrying one of Dr. Davis's Daughters, a very 
 " handfome and witty Gentlewoman, but averfe, as it is faid, to this Motion. 
 " However the Intelligence hereof, and the then declining State of the King's 
 " Caufe, and confequently of the Circumftances of Juftice Powell's Family, 
 *' caufed them to fet all Engines on work to reftore the late married Woman 
 " to the ftation, wherein they a little before had planted her. At laft this De- 
 " vice was pitch'd upon. There dwelt in the Lane of St. Martins-Le-Grand, 
 " which was hard by, a Relation of our Author's, one Blackborough, whom it 
 *' was known he often vifited, and upon this Occafion the Vifits were the more 
 " narrowly obferv'd, and poflibly there might be a Combination between both 
 " Parties ; the Friends on both fides concentring in the fame Action, tho' on 
 *' different behalfs. One time above the reft, he making his ufual Vifit, the 
 " Wife was ready in another Room, and on a hidden he was furpriz'd to fee 
 " one, whom he thought to have never feen more, making fubmifiion, and 
 *' begging Pardon on her Knees before him. He might probably at firft make 
 *' fome fhew of Averfion and Rejection ; but partly his own generous Nature, 
 " more inclinable to Reconciliation than to perfeverance in Anger and Revenge, 
 " and partly the ftrong Interceffion of Friends on both fides, foon brought him 
 " to an Act of Oblivion, and a firm League of Peace for the future. And it 
 
 was 
 (*) P. 41. («) P. 25, 16, 17.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxv 
 
 " was at length concluded, that fhe mould remain at a Friend's Houfe till fuch 
 " time as he was fettled in his new Houfe in Barbican, and all things for her 
 " Reception in order. The place agreed on for her prefent Abode was the 
 ** Widow Webber's, Houfe in St. Clement'- 's-Church-yard, whole fecond Daugh- 
 " ter had been married to the other Brother many Years before. The firft 
 " Fruits of her Return to her Hufbind was a brave Girl, born within a Year 
 " alter ; tho' whether by ill Conftitution, or want of Care, lhe grew more and 
 " more decrepit." Mr. Elijah Fenton obferves (0), that it is not to be doubt- 
 ed, but the abovemention'd Interview between Milton and his Wife, muft 
 wonderfully affect him •, and that perhaps the Impreffions it made on his Imagi- 
 nation, contributed much to the painting of that pathetic Scene in Paradife Loft, 
 B. x. Verf. 909. in which Eve addrefles herfelf to Adam for Pardon and Peace. 
 After this Reunion, fo far was Milton from retaining an unkind Memory of 
 the Provocations, which he had receiv'd from her ill Conduct, that he enter- 
 tain'd her Father and feveral of her Brothers and Sifters in his Houfe till after 
 his own Father's Death (p). 
 
 About this time he wrote a fmall piece, printed in onefheet in 4/0, under this 
 title, Of Education. To Mafter Samuel Flartlib. It was reprinted at the End 
 of his Poems upon feveral Occafons, London 1673, in 8w. " In thisTreatife, 
 " fays Mr. Wood (q), he prefcrib-d an eafy and delightful Method for the 
 " training up of Gentry to all forts of Literature, that they might at the fame 
 '' time by like Degrees advance in Virtue and Abilities to ferve their Country; 
 " fubjoining Directions for their obtaining other neceffary and ornamental Ac- 
 " complifhments." Mr. William Petty, afterwards Sir William, wrote likewife 
 to Mr. Hartlib a piece upon rile fame fubjecl, printed at London 1647, in 4/0, 
 under the following title, Advice to Mr. Samuel Hartlib/V the Advancement of 
 fame particular Parts of Learning ; and Mr. John Durie wrote another to the 
 fame purpofe, printed at London 1651, in Bvo, with this title: The Reformed 
 School, and the Reformed Librarie-Keeper, by John Durie. 
 
 In 1644, Milton publifh'd at London in 4/0. his Areopagitica: A Speech of 
 Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of unlicencd Printing, to the Parliament of 
 England. From a MS. Note in a Copy of this piece prefented by him to 
 a Friend-, it apppears to have been publifh'd in November that Year. Mr. War- 
 burton above-citedobfcrves, that it is in allrefpecls a Mafler-piece. A new E- 
 dition of it in Bvo, isjuft now publifh'd (r), with a Preface by another Hand. 
 Mr. Toland tells us (/), that fuch was the Effect of this Piece of our Author, 
 that the following Tear, Mabol, a Licenfer, offer' d Reafons againfl Licenfing, 
 and at his own Requejl -was difcharg'd that Office. But that Writer is guilty of 
 two Miftakes in this PafTage ; for the Licenfer's Name was not Mabol, but Gil- 
 bert Mabbot, who continued in his Office till May 2 2d, 1649, when, as Mr. 
 IVhitelocke obferves (t), upon his defire, and Reafons againfl Licenfing of Books to 
 be printed, he was difcharg'd of that Employment . And we finda particular Accounc 
 of the Affair in a Weekly-Paper, printed in 4/0, andintitled, A perfecl Diurnall 
 of fome Paffages in Parliament, and the daily Proceedings of the Army under his 
 Excellency the Lord Fairfax. From Munday May 21, to Munday May 28, 
 1649. Collecled for the fatisfatlion of fuch as defire to be truly informed. N° 304. 
 In which, under Tuefday May iid,p. 2531, we read as follows : " Mr. Mabbot 
 " hath long defired feverall Members of the Houfe, and lately thcCouncell of 
 " State, to move the Houfe, that he might be difcharged of Licencing Books 
 " for the future upon the reafons following, viz. 
 
 " I. Becaufe many thoufand of fcandalous and malignant Pamphlets have been . 
 " publift'd with his Name thereunto, as if he had licenced the fame {though he 
 " never faw them) on purpofe (<is he conceives) to prejudice him in his Reputation 
 " amongft the bonefl Party of this Nation. 
 
 " II. Becaufe that Imployment (as he conceives) is unjuft and illegall, as to the 
 " Ends of its firft Ivjlitution, viz. to flop the Prejje for publiflnng any thing, that 
 " might df cover the Corruption of Church and Stale in the time of Popery, Epifco- 
 '•' pacy, and Tyranny, the better to keep the People in ignorance, and carry on their 
 " Popijh, Fattious, and Tyrannical Defigns, for the enflaving and definition both 
 " of the Bodies and Souls of all the free People of this Nation. 
 
 [' Life of Milton, p. 13 prefixed to Paradife [r\ I write this in January 1737-8. 
 Lolt, 'Edit'. London' \-jzy in 8vo. (■•) p. 23. (/) Memorials p- 4°3- Edit. 
 
 [p"> Philips p. 27. ($) Ubi fupra, Col. z6\. London, 1732. 
 
 \'() L. I. g
 
 xxvi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " III. Becaufe Licencing is as great a Monopoly as ever was in (bis Nation, in 
 «• that all Men's Judgements, Reafons, &c. are to be bound up in the Licenced s 
 " (as to Licencing;) for if the Author of any Sheete, Booke, or Treatife, writ not 
 " to pleafe the Fancy, and come within the Compaffe of the Liccncer's 'Judgement, 
 " then hee is not to receive any Stampe of Authority for publifhing thereof. 
 
 " VI. Becaufe it is lawfull {in his Judgement) to print any Booke, Sheete, &c. 
 *« without Licencing, fo as the Authors and Printers dofubferibe their true Names 
 " thereunto, that fo they may be liable to anfwer the Contents thereof ; and if they 
 ** offend therein, then to be punifhed byfuch Lawes as are or ft: all be for thofe Cajes 
 « provided. 
 
 '* A Committee of the Councell of State being fatisfied with thefe and other 
 " Reafons of M. Mabbot concerning Licencing, the Councell of State reports 
 «' to the Houfe •, upon which the Houfe ordered this Day, that the laid M. 
 " Mabbot ihould be difcharged of licencing Books for the future." 
 
 In 1645, our Author's Juvenile Poems appear'd under the following title: Poems 
 ef Mr. John Milton, both Englifh and Latin, compos' d at fever al times. Primed 
 by bis true Copies. The Songs were fet in Mufick by Mr. Henry Lawes, Gentle- 
 man of the King's Chapel, and one of his Majefties private Mufick. Printed and 
 publifh'd according to Order. London printed by Ruth Raworth, for Humphrey 
 Molely, and are to be fold at the Signe of the Princes Arms in St. Pauls Church- 
 yard, 1645, in i2mo. The title of the Latin Poems is as follows : Jcannis Mil- 
 toni Londtnenfis Poemata. Quorum pleraaue intra annum atatis vigefimum conferip- 
 fit. Nunc primum edita. To this Edition is prehx'd the following Preface of 
 Humphry Mcfeley the Stationer, to the Reader. " It is not any private refpecl: 
 " of gain, gentle Reader, for the (lighten: pamphlet is nowadayes more vendi- 
 " ble then the Works of learnedett Men ; but it is the Love I have to our 
 «' own Language, that hath made me diligent to collect and fet forth fuch 
 " peeces both in prole and vers, as may renew the wonted Honour andEftecm 
 " of our Englifl] tongue : and it's the worth of thefe both Euglijb and Latin 
 11 Poems, not the ilouriih of any prefixed Encomions, that can invite thee to 
 " buy them, though thefe are not without the higheft Commendations and 
 "J Applaufe of the learnedeft Academies both domeitick and forreign ; and a- 
 *' monglt thole of our own Countrey, the unparallel'd Provoft of Eaton, Sir 
 " Henry Wool ton. I know not thy Palate how it relifhes fuch Dainties, nor how 
 •* harmonious thy Soul is •, perhaps more trivial Airs may pleafe thee better. 
 *' But howfoever thy Opinion is 1 pent upon thefe, that Incouragement I have 
 " already receiv'd from the moft ingenious Men in theirclear and courteous En- 
 " tertainment of Mr. Waller's late choice Peeces, hath once more made me ad- 
 " venture unto the World, prefenting it with thefe ever-green, and not to 
 " be blafted Laurels. The Author's more peculiar Excellency in thefe Studies 
 " was too well known to conceal his Papers, or to keep me from attempting 
 " to fo'.licit them from him. Let the Event guide itfelf which way it will, J 
 " fhall deferve of the Age by bringing into the Light as true a Birth as the 
 " Mufes have brought lorth fince our famous Spencer wrote, whole Poems 
 " in thefe Englifh ones are as rarely imitated, as fweetly excell'd. Reader, if 
 " thou art eagle-eied to cenfure their Worth, I am not fearful to expofe them 
 " to thy exacteft perufal." This Edition contains the following Poems: On 
 the Morning of drift's Nativity, compofed 1629. The Hymn. A Paraphrafe on 
 Pfalm CXIV. Pfalm C XXXVI. The Paffion. On Time. Upon the Circumcifion. 
 At a folemn Mufick. An Epitaph on the Marchionefs of Winchefter. Song on May 
 Morning. On Shakefpeare, 1030. On the Univerfity Carrier, who fickn' d in the 
 time of his Vacancy, being forbid to go to London, by reafon of the Plague. Ano- 
 ther on the fame. L' Allegro. II Penferoib. X Sonnets. Averts., Part of an 
 Entertainment prefented to the Countefs Dowager of Darby at Harefield by fome 
 noble Perfons of her Family. Lycidas ; In this monody the Author bewailes a learn- 
 ed Friend unfortunately drown'd in his paffage from Chefter on the Irifh Seas, 
 1637 i and by occafion foretels the ruine of our corrupted Clergy then in their 
 height. A Mafk prefented at Ludlow-Caftle, 1634, before the Earl of Bridgewa- 
 ter, then Prefident of Wales. Among the Latin Poems are contain'd all that are 
 publilh'd in the Edition oi\v\% Poems, &c. upon feveral Occafions, ^London 1673, 
 in 8vo, except Apologus de Rujlico & Hero ; and Ad Jeannem Roufium Oxonienfis 
 
 Aca-
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxvit 
 
 Academic Bibliothecarium, de libro poematum amiffo, quern illefibi demo mitti pof 
 tulabat, ut cum aliis noftris in Bibliothecd public d reponeret, Ode ; dated Jan. 23, 
 1646. To the Edition of 1645 is prefix'd the Author's Picture, with the fol- 
 lowing Greek Epigram under it written by himfelf: 
 
 'AuaOTi yiy^atp^xt %£if 1 -raj's ph clyJvx 
 $zit; Taj£ dv, irpoq hSoc; uvTO<pv\<; fixlnun 
 
 Tov S IX.TVTTWTOV HX £7TI J'l/OVTf;' (plAoj 
 
 Upon the Death of his Father, his Wife's Relations returning to their feverai 
 Habitations, " his Houfe look'd again, fays Mr. Philips (a), like a Houfe of 
 " of the Mufes only, tho' the acceflion of Scholars was not great. Poffibly his 
 c ' proceeding thus far in the Education of Youth may have been the Occafion 
 " of fome of his Adverfaries calling him Pedagogue and School-mafter ; where - 
 «' as it is well known, he never fet up for a public School to teach all the young 
 " Fry of a Parifli ; but only was willing to impart his Learning and Know- 
 ** ledge to Relations, and the Sons of Gentlemen, that were his intimate 
 " Friends; and that neither his Converfe, nor his Writings, nor his manner of 
 " teaching ever favour'd in the leaft any thing of Pedantry. And probably he 
 «' might have fome profpecl: of patting in praftice his Academical Inftitution, 
 «* according to the Model laid down in his Sheet of Education. The Progreis 
 ** of which Defign was afterwards diverted by a Series of Alteration in the Af- 
 " fairs of State. For I am much miftaken, if there was not about this time a 
 " Defign of making him Adjutant-General in Sir IVilliam Waller's Army •, but 
 *' the new modelling of the Army foon following (.*), prov'd an Obftruclion 
 «*« to that Defign." 
 
 Soon after the March of Fairfax and Cromwell with the whole Army thro' the 
 City, in order to fupprefs the Infurreftion, which Brozvn and Maffey were en- 
 deavouring to raife there againft the Army's Proceedings, he left his great 
 Houfe in Barbican tor a fmaller in High-Holborn, which open'd backward into 
 Lincohh-lnn-Fields ; where he profecuted his Studies, till after the King's Tryal 
 and Death, when the Form of Government being now chang'd into a Common- 
 wealth, and the Prefbyterians declaring their Abhorrence of the King's Execu- 
 tion, andafferting, that his Perfon was facred and inviolable, Milton publifh'd, 
 The Tenure of Kings and Magiftrates \ proving that it is lawfull, and hath been 
 held fo through all Ages, for any who have the Power to call to Account a Tyrant or 
 wicked King, and, after due Conviclion, to depofe and put him to death, if the or- 
 dinary Magiflrate have 'neglebled or denied to doe it ; and that they, who of late 
 fo much blame depojhg, are the Men that did it themfelves. The Author J. M. 
 Wood fuppofes (v), that this Piece was written before King Charles I's Death j 
 but Milton himfelf afTures us (2), that it was not publifh'd till after it 
 and even then, with a View rather to compofe the Minds of the People, 
 than to determine any thing with relation to that Prince : Liber ifte, fays he, 
 non nift poft Mortem Regis prodiit, ad componendos potius hominum animos fatlus % 
 qtiam ad jlatuendum de Carolo quicquam, quod non mei, fed Magijlratuum intere- 
 rat, & peranum jam turn erat. And I find by a MS. Note in a printed Copy 
 of this Book, that it was publifh'd in February 1648-9. 
 
 Not long after his he wrote his Obfervations on the Articles of Peace be- 
 ttvecn James Earl of Ormond for King Charles the firft, on the one hand, and 
 the Irifh Rebels and Papifls on the other hand ; and on a Letter fent by Ormond 
 to Colonel Jones Governour of Dublin ; and a Reprefentation of the Scots Prejby- 
 tcry at Belfaft in Ireland {a). 
 
 After this, he applied himfelf to his own private Studies, and had already 
 finifh'd four Books of his Hiftory of England, when he was taken into the fer- 
 vice of the Commonwealth, and made Latin Secretary to the Council of State (b); 
 who refolv'd, neither to write to others abroad, nor to receive any Anfwers, 
 except in the Latin Tongue, which was common to them all (c). 
 
 Ke 
 
 («) p. 27, 28. (a) This Model of the Army f. 9$. Edit. 1654. Vol. II. p. 333, 334, tfthepri* 
 
 took place about April .64;. See Whitelocke's Jevt Edit. (a) This Reprefentation is dated 
 
 Memorials, p- i/j-'o, Edit. London 1731. February ljfi&, 1649. (b) Miltoni Defenfio 
 
 (y) Oil. 164, *6f . (s) Defenfio fecumia, fecurida, p. g^„ Edit. 1654. (0 Philips, p .30.
 
 xxviii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 He had not long difcharg'd the Bufinefs of his Office, when he was order'd 
 to write an Anfwer to the 'Eixuv B*<riAi>oi, which had been publifh'd immediate- 
 ly after King Charles I's Death under his Majefty's name. Miitcn's Anfwer 
 was printed at London in 4/0, under the following title. EIKONOKAA'STH 1", 
 in Anfwer to a BookintiWd "EIKnN BAEIAIKH\ The Portrature of his fa- 
 cred Majefty in his Solitudes and Sufferings. The Author I. M. Pnblijb'd by 
 Authority. There is a French Tranflation of it printed at London i 1 urno. un- 
 der the following title : E'lKONOKAA'STHS, on Reponfe au Livre intitule 
 'EIKftN BASIAIKH': ou le Pourtraict de fa facree Majefte durant fa foli- 
 tude & fes fouffrances. Par le Sr. Jean Milton. Traduite de P 'Anglais fur la 
 feconde & plus ample Edition, & revue par I'Auteur. A laquelle font ajoutees di~ 
 verfes pieces mentionnees en la dite Reponfe pour la plus grandeCommodile duLecleur. 
 A Londres par Guill. Du-Gard, Imprimeur du Confeil d' Etat, Can 1652. It 
 was anfwer'd in a Book printed in 1451, p-igg. 267. in \to. under the following 
 title: 'EIKI2N AKAA2TOI: The Image unbroaken. A perfpeiiive of the 
 Impudence, Faljhood, Vanitie, and Prophaunes, publiflied in a Libell intitled, 
 EIKONOKAA2THI againft EIKX1NBASIAIKH, or the Portraiclure of his 
 facred Majeftie in his Solitudes and Sufferings. And upon the reprinting our Au- 
 thor's Book at Amficrdam 1690, in Svo, there was publifh'd at London i6gz, 
 in 8vo, Vindicue Carolina : Or, a Defence of "Eiwj B««A»i«, the Portraiclure 
 of his facred Majefty in his Solitudes and Sufferings. In a Reply to a Book in- 
 tituled, 'EixovcxA^ri?, written by Mr. Milton, and lately reprintedat Amfterdam. 
 Milton in his 'EikovokA* r»j, among other fevere Reproaches upon the King, 
 charges him with borrowing one of his Prayers out of Sir Philip Sidney's Arca- 
 dia (d), and with being Author or Injligator of the Rebellion in Ireland, and 
 giving the Irifh aCommiffion under the Great Seal cf Scotland to rife in Arms ; 
 who no fooner received fuch Command, but they obeyed, and begun the Maffacre (e). 
 But as the Difcuflion of thefe points would too much interrupt the Thread of 
 our Author's Life, I fhall referve it for the Appendix to this Life. 
 
 In 1650, there was publilh'd at London in \to, pagg. 22. a piece, intitled, 
 The Grand Cafe of Conscience concerning the Ingagement fated and refolved '. Or, A 
 Jlricl Survey of the Solemn League and Covenant in reference to the prefent En- 
 gagement. Mr. Wood tells us (/), that Milton was thought to be the Author 
 of it ; but the ftyleand manner of writing do not the lealt favour that fuppofition. 
 
 I comenexttohis moll celebrated Work, ImPropopulo Anglicano Defenjio contra 
 Claudii Anonymi alias Sdmafii Defenfionem Regiam : London 1651, in fol. It was 
 written upon this Occafion. King Charles II. had engaged Claudius Salmafius 
 to write a Defence of his Father, the lateKing, which Defence was print- 
 ed in 1649, with this title •, Defenjio Regia pro Carolo I. ad Carolum II. 
 Salmafius was at that time an honorary Profeffor at the Univerfity of Ley den, 
 and eminent for his Plinian* Exercitationes in Solinum and other Critical Wri- 
 tings, and is allow'd to have been a Man of the moft extenfive Learning of any 
 in that Age, Grotius himfelf fpeaking of his confummatiffima Eruditio {g) ; tho% 
 as Herman Conringius obferves (h), his Defenjio Regia did not anfwer the Ex- 
 pectation conceiv'd of it, and he was a'ways remarkable for an Haughtinefs of 
 Temper and Virulency of Style. Mr. Toland fpesks of him in very fevere terms, 
 where he obferves (z), that this Author " being better vers'd in Writings of 
 " Grammarians and Lexicographers (which fort of Men were his chief Admi- 
 " rers) than in thofe of Legislators and Politicians, gave a true Demonftration, 
 *'• that mere Scholars, when they meddle with any thing, that requires Rea- 
 " foning or Thought, are but mere Affes •, for being wholly occupied about 
 " frivolous Etymologies, or the bare found of Words, and living moft of 
 "their time excluded from Converfation, buried in Dull among Worms and 
 *' moldy Records, they have no exact Knowledge of things, and are perfect 
 " ftrangers to all the ufeful Bufinefs of the World. Accordingly the Royal De- 
 " fence was deftitute of Eloquence or Art, being nothing elfe but a huge heap 
 " of Rubbifh, confifting of injudicious Quotations, very diforderly piee'd to- 
 " gether, feldom making for his purpofe; and when they feem'd to favour him, 
 " quite ipoil'd by his own impertinent Comments. But what is worfe than all 
 " the reft, he appear'd on this occafion fuch an abfolute ftranger and bungler 
 " in his own province, as to open a large Field for Milton to divert himfelf 
 
 with 
 (/) Eiv.1 ov>a?nf, Sefl. i. (<•) Ibid. Se&. rileg. Edit. Paris 162?. (b) De Regno An- 
 H. (/) Col. i6j. (x) Not. ad Stobcei Flo- glorum. (/) Life of Milton, p. 31.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxix 
 
 <c with his barbarous Fhrafes and Solecifms. Nor had he more Wit likewife 
 *« than to publiih his Defence of Monarchy in Holland, at the fame time that he 
 " had aPenfion from that free State, and was actually entcrtain'd in their Service. 
 " For tho' the Dutch were then no good Friends to the Englifh, being jealous 
 " of their growing Power ; yet they could not be pleas'd with any Writing op- 
 " pos'd to the common Caulc of Liberty, and accordingly they blam'd Salma- 
 " Jh'.t, and order'd the "Defence to be fupprefs'd." Claudius Sarravius, Coun- 
 fellor in the Parliament of Paris, and an intimate Friend of Sa'mrfius, in a Let- 
 ter to him dated at Paris Feb. 18, 1650 (k), exprcfTeshisfurprize, that he mould 
 write in the Preface to his Defenfio with fo much Zeal in defence of the 
 Bifhops of England, when he had in another Work of his ^ Prejbyteris & Epif- 
 copis, printed at Leyden 1641, in Svo, under the fictitious name of Walk Al.-f- 
 falinus, attack'd them with the utmoft Acrimony ; which he obferves might 
 cxpofe him to the Imputation of a Timc-ferver, who paid no regard to Truth 
 itfelf. Hoc fane- dicent e£e tu v.xtp'Z Jvxdsiv potius quam tn aXnhla. Tz-efleaQxi. And 
 in another Letter (/), dated at Paris March 5, of the fame Year, he reminds 
 him of this Inconliitcncy, which would make his Sincerity qucftion'd. De Necef- 
 fitate Erifcopatus Anglicani quod obiter dixtras in Prxfatione, uti jam monui, for- 
 tius adbuc urges ipfo opere, contra diclata Wallonis MelTalini i quod tibi vitio 
 ver tetnr, diceturque tc calidum £«f frigidtm eodemcx ore effiare, ncc generofitati tude 
 id convenire exifiimabitur. Salmafius having wrote an aniwvr to Sartayius upon 
 this point, the latter replied to him thus in a Letter dated March 12th, 1650. 
 We ergo habemus renin fatentem Sec. i. e. " We have now your own Confcffion 
 " of your Fault ; tor it is the lame thing to us, whether you adapt yourfelf to 
 " the times or to the caufe. But before this, it was (aid, that you was a Man 
 '* of an inflexible Difpofltion, who like the God Terminus, would not give 
 " way to Jove himfelf. B^fides, I am of opinion, that even a King's Advocate 
 " ought not, in his Mailer's caufe, to fpeak in public differently irom what he 
 **■ {peaks and thinks in private ; as the Laws which we ufein private Life, are not 
 " at all different from thofc, upon which Decrees are made in Courts of Judica- 
 " ture. But you wrote, you fay, by command. And was it poffible lor any 
 " Commands to prevail on you to change your opinion ? Your favourite Epic- 
 " tetus tells us, that our Opinion is one of thofe things in our power, and fo far in 
 •■* our power, that nothing can take it away from us without our Confent." As 
 foon as Salmafius's Book appear'd in England, the Council of State unanimoufly 
 appointed Milton, who was prefent, toanfwer it(«). Mr. Bayle obferves (»), 
 that Milton's Defenfio " made him talk'd of every where ; that it fhews him 
 " to have been a Matter of the Latin Tongue •, that his ftyle is flowing, 
 *' lively, and elegant •, and that he has defended the Enemies to Monarchy 
 " with great fkill and ingenuity ; but that he hastreatedthe fubjectin too ludi- 
 " crousa manner." It was burnt at Paris, not by order of the Parliament, but that 
 of the Lieutenant Civil ; and oxTouloufe by the hands of the common Hangman 
 (0) -, but this ferv'd to procure it more Readers ; and it is certain, that it was 
 read every where with the utmoft Attention, as Mr. Ziegler allures us in the 
 Preface to his Exercitationes ad Regicidium Anglorum. And the Author of the 
 Apologia pro Rege & Populo Anglicano contra Johannis Polypragmatici (alias Milto- 
 ;/.•' Angli) Defenfioncm deftriiciivam Regis C5 1 Populi Anglicani, complains, that it 
 was with the utmolt difficulty that one Edition of Salmafius's Book could be 
 procur'd, while that of Milton was printed feveral times: &uod ornatiffimus Sal- 
 mafius ad tuendum jus & honorem Caroli Britannia Monarch^, fceleratorum ma- 
 nibtis interfecli prudent er fcripferat ', una tantum impreffione, idque magna cum difficul- 
 tate in lucemerupit, tanto odio hifce ullimis temporibus veritatem mundus perfequi tur. 
 Sedquod fcclefliffimus Milt onus, adlacerandam famam Regis defuncli, 13 'fubvertendum 
 infubditos dominium haredilarium, invidiofe elaboravit, illius tot funt Exempla- 
 ria, ut nefcio cui he el or em remitter em, fie mendaciorum 13 convitiorum amore fla- 
 grant Homines (/>). Milton was likewife, on the firft Appearance of this Book, 
 vifited or invited by all the Embaffadors at London, not excepting even thofe 
 from Princes ; and was particularly cfteem'd by Adrian Paaw, Embafiador 
 from the United Provinces. He was highly complimented at the fame time by 
 
 Letters 
 
 (k) See Burman'j Edition of Claudii Sarravii fecunda p. 95. Edit. 1654 (») Hift. and Critical 
 Epifto'a ex Bibliotheca Gudiana aucliores, p. T>\&\ox\a.iy, Article h/Milton. (0) MiltoniDe- 
 224. Edit. Utrecht 1697, in ^to. fenfio fecunda; p. 127. (p) Apologia pro Rege & 
 
 (/) Hid. p. 226. (»») Miltoni Defenfio Populo Anglicano &c. In Monito ad Ltclorem. 
 
 Vol. I. h
 
 xxx An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 Letters From the moft ingenious Perfons in Germany and France (q) ; and Leonard 
 Philaras, an Athenian born, and Embaffador from the Duke of Parma to the 
 King of France, wrote a fine Commendation of his Defence, and fent him his 
 Picture, as appears from Milton's Letter to Philaras, dated at London in June 
 1652. He was rewarded with a thoufand Pounds for this Performance (r). 
 
 Mr. Toland obferves(jj, " that fome have blam'd Milton for his rough Ufage 
 c; of Salmajius ; nor herein will I pretend wholly to excufe him. But when I 
 *' confider how bafely the whole Lnglifh Nation was abus'd by Salmajius, as fo 
 *' many Barbarians and Enthufiafts, it goes a great way with me towards Mil- 
 " ton's Juftification ; and if we add to this, that he fpeaks not in his own 
 " Perfon, but as the Mouth of a potent State tradue'd by a pitiful ProfeHbr, 
 " there be thofe in the World, that will pofitively commend him." Mr. 
 Richard/on likewife tells us (/), " that he will not wholly juftify his Plea- 
 " fantry and perfonal Reflections, all foreign to the Argument, and unworthy 
 " the importance of the Subject, and Love of Truth. Something mult how- 
 " ever be allowed to the time and cuftom. The Ancients in their Wars were 
 " barbarous compar'd to the Moderns: at prefcntWar is a polite Amufement 
 *' to what it was an age or two ago. 'Tis much the fame in Controverfy. If 
 " Milton was in fault here, his Adverfaries were no lefs fo ; I hope more ; for 
 «' they loaded him with Lyes. After all, as Mr. Bayle obferves on this occa- 
 *' calion, 'tis of ufe to get the Laughers on one's fide : It is not the ferious and the 
 " reafonable, who are to determine, if the Majority are to be Judges." 
 
 This Work was tranflated into Englijh by Mr JVafhington, and printed in 1692, 
 in Hvo. In 1652 Sir Robert Filmer publilh'd fome Remarks upon it in a Piece, 
 printed at London in 4/0, and intitled, Obfervations concerning the Originall of 
 Government, upon Mr. HobbesV Leviathan ; Mr. Milton <?£«/«/? Sal mafius ; H. 
 Grotius de Jure Belli. 
 
 Salmaftus made a great Figure at this time in the Swedijh Court, whither 
 Queen Chriflina invited all the moil eminent Men of Learning in Europe. But 
 no fooner had Milton's Defence of the People of England reach'd Sweden, and 
 was read to the Queen at her own defire, butSalmaJius, who till then had been her 
 chief Favourite, and who, when he firft law the Book, fwore that he would de- 
 ftroy Milton and the whole Parliament, declin'd fo much in her Efleem and the 
 Opinion of others, that he thought it not proper to continue longer there, and was 
 difmifs'd with extraordinary Coldnefs and Contempt (a). He died ztSpa in Ger- 
 many, Sept. %d, 1652, leaving a pofthumous Reply toMilton, which was publilh'd 
 at London in 1660, in 24/0, under the following title ; Claudii Salmafii ad Jo- 
 annem Miltonum Refponfto, Opus pofihumum. The Dedication to King Charles II. 
 by Salmajius's Son Claudius, is dated at Dijon Sept. 1, 1660. This Book is 
 written with a prodigious feverity of ftile. He treats Milton as an ordinary 
 School -matter ; QuiLudimagiJler in Schold triviali Londinenfi fuit (*)"> and charges 
 him with divorcing his Wife after a year's marriage, for reafons beft known 
 to himfelf, and defending the lawfulnefs of Divorce for any Caufes whatfoe- 
 ver (y). He ftiles him impura BeJlua, qua nihil hominis fibi reliqui fecit prater 
 lippientes oculos (z) ; and charges him with fome falfe Quantities in his Latin 
 Juvenile Poems (a) ; and throughout the whole Book gives him the titles ofBel- 
 lua, fanaticusLatro, Homunculus, Lippulus, Caculus, Homo per ditnffinus, Nebulo f 
 impurus, fcelcftus audax & nefarius Alaftor, infandus Impoftor, &c. and declares 
 that he would have him tortur'd with burning Pitch or fcalding Oil till he ex- 
 pi r'd : Pro ceteris autem tuis fatlis diilifque dignum die am videri, qui pice 
 ardenti, vel oleofervente, perfundaris, ufque dum Animam eff.es nocentem & carni- 
 fici jam pridem debit am (b). 
 
 In 1 651 there was publifh'd in nmo, a Piece, intitled, Apologia pro Rege & 
 Populo Anglicano contra Johannis Polypragmatici {alias MiltoniAngli) Defenjionem 
 defiruttivam Regis iSPopuli Anglic ani. Mr. Philips tells us (c), that fome fuppos'd 
 this Piece to be written by one Janus a Lawyer of Grafs-Inn ; and others, by Dr. 
 JohnBramhall, Bifhop oiDerry, made Archbifhop of Armagh in Ireland after the 
 Reftoration. But Wlr,Wood\s of opinion(d), that there was no ground to imagine 
 to have been the performance of that Prelate j as indeed it was very improbable, 
 
 that 
 
 {q) Miltoni Defenfio fecunda, f. 1*9, 130. (x) Salmafii Refponfio, p. 3. (y) Ibid. 
 
 I dit. 1654. Vel.Il.f.^lcftbeprefentEdit. (z) Ibid, p, 4, (a) Ibid. p. 5. {b) Ibid. p. 11. 
 
 {/) Toland, p. 32. (0/. 31. (/) p. 79. (<j p- 32. (<0 Athen. Oxon /V. //, 
 
 in) Miltoni DefenfiQ fecunda, p. 11, 12. Col, m8.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxxi 
 
 that a Piece written in fo barbarous a Latin Stile, and fo full of Solecifms, could 
 come from the hands of a Man of fuch diftinguifh'd Abilities and Learning. 
 " But whoever the Author was, fays Mr. Philips (<?), the Book was thought fit 
 " to be taken into Correction ; and our Author not thinking it worth his own 
 " undertaking, to the difturbing the progrefs of whatever more chofen Work 
 " he had then in his hands, committed this Talk to the youn°eft of his Ne- 
 " phews, but with fuch exacl Emendations before it went to the Prefs, that it 
 " might very well have pafs'd for his, but that he was willing the Perfon, that 
 «' took the pains to prepare it for his Examination and Polimment, Ihould 
 " have the Name and Credit of being the Author." It was printed at Lon- 
 don in 1652, under this title ; Joannis Pbilippi Angli Refponfto ad Apoloo-iam 
 Anonymi cujufdam Tenebrionis pro Rege & Populo Anglicano infantiffimam . In 
 this Book Mr. John Philips every where treats Dr. Bramhall with great Se- 
 verity, as the Author of the Apology. 
 
 During the writing and publishing of this Book, Milton lodg'd at one 
 'Tbomfon's next Door to the Bull-Head Tavern at Charing-Crofis, opening into 
 the Spring-Garden ; which appears to have been only a Lodging taken, till his 
 defign'd Apartment in Scotland-yard was prepared for him •, for hither he foon 
 remov'd, and here his third Child, a Son, was born, which, thro' the ill ufa°-e 
 or bad Conftitution of the Nurfe, died an Infant. From this Apartment, whe- 
 ther he thought it not healthy, or otherwife inconvenient for his ufe, he foon 
 remov'd to a Garden -Houfe in Petty France in Weftminjler, next Door to the 
 Lord Scudamore's, and opening into St. James's Park ; where he remain'd ei^ht 
 Years, viz. from the Year 1652 till within a few Weeks of the Restoration. 
 In this Houfe his firft Wife dying in Childbed (/), he married a fecond, Ca- 
 therine, the Daughter of Captain Woodcock of Hackney, who within a Year died 
 alio in Childbed, and was about a Month after follow'd by her Child, whicli 
 was a Girl (>). Upon the Death of this Wife he wrote the following beautiful 
 Sonnet : 
 
 Me thought I faw my late efpoufed Saint 
 
 Brought to me like Alceftis from the Grave, 
 
 Whom Jove's great Son to her glad Hufhand gave, 
 Refcued from Death by force, though pale and fain. , 
 Mine, as whom wajht from fpot of child-bed taint t 
 
 Purification in the old Law didfave, 
 
 And fuch, as yet once more I trufi to have 
 Full fight of her in Heaven without reflraint 9 
 Came vefted all in white, pure as her Mind : 
 
 Her Face was veiled, yet to my fancied Sight \ 
 
 Love, Sweetnefs, Goodnefs in her Perfon Jhi?i'd 
 So clear , as in no Face with more Delight. 
 
 But ! as to embrace me floe inclin d, 
 
 I wak'd, fhe filed, and Day brought back my Night. 
 
 This fecond Marriage was about two or three Years after his being wholly de- 
 priv'd of his Sight •, for by reafon of his continual Studies and the Head-ach, to 
 which he was fubje<5t from his Youth, and his perpetual tampering with Phy- 
 fic, his Eyes had been decaying for twelve Years before, and the Sight of one 
 for a long time intirely loft (/;>). In his Defienfio fecunda (J) he tells us him- 
 felf, that when he was injoin'd by public Authority to write his Defence of the 
 People of England againft Salmafius, he was in an ill State of Health, and the 
 Sight of one Eye was almoft loft already, the Phyficians declaring, that he 
 would lofe the other, if he mould attempt that Work. In a Letter of his to 
 Leonard Philaras, Envoy from the Duke of Parma to the King of France, dated 
 at Weflminfier Sept. 28, 1654, he gives a particular Account of the manner, in 
 which he loft his Sight ; which we fhall give an Extract of in Mr. Richardfon's 
 Translation (k). " Since you advifed me not to fling away all hopes of reco- 
 " vering my Sight, for that you have a Friend at Paris, Thevenot, the Phyfi- 
 " cian, particularly famous for the Eyes, whom you offer to confult in my be- 
 " half, if you receive from me an Account, by which he may judge of the 
 
 " Caufe 
 
 (e) p. 32. (/) Philips, p. 33. (g) Id. p. Edit. i6f4. Vol. II. p. 324 of the preftnt Edit- 
 33, and 41. [b] Id. p. 33, 34. («") p. 47. [k\ Lif? of Milton, p. 76, 77, 78.
 
 xxxii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " Caufe and Symptoms of my Difeafe ; I will do what you advife me to, that 
 " I may not feem to refufe any Afiiftance, that is offered, perhaps from God. 
 " I think 'tis about ten Years, more oriels, fince I began to perceive, that my 
 " Eve- fi°ht grew weak and dim ; and at the fame time my Spleen and BoweN 
 " to be opprefs'd and troubled with Flatus ; and in the Morning, when I be- 
 «' dan to read, according to my Cuftom, my Eyes grew painful immediately, 
 " and to refufe reading, but were refrefh'd after a moderate Exercife of the 
 " Body. A certain Iris began to furround the Light of the Candle, if I look- 
 " ed at it •, foon after which, on the left part of the left Eye (for that was fome 
 " Years fooner clouded) a Miff, arofe, which hid every thing on that fide -, 
 " and looking forward, if I fhut my right Eye, Objefts appeared fmaller. My 
 " other Eye alfo, for thefe laft three Years, failing by degrees, fome months 
 " before all Sight was abolifn'd, things, which I look'd upon, feem'd to fwim 
 " to the ri^ht arid left. Certain inveterate Vapours feem to poiTefs my Fore- 
 " head and Temples, which, after Meat efpecially, quite to Evening generally 
 " urge and deprel's my Eyes with a fieepy Heavinefs. Nor would I omit, 
 " that whilft there was as yet fome Remainder of Sight, I no fooner lay down 
 " in my bed, and turn'd on my fide, but a copious Light dazzled out of my 
 " fhut Eyes -, and as my Sight diminiih'd, every day Colours gradually more 
 " obfeure flafh'd out with vehemence; but now that the Lucid is in a manner 
 " wholly extinct, a direct Blacknefs, or elfe fpotted, and, as it were, woven with 
 " Aih-colouf, is us'd to pour itfelf in. Neverthelefs the conftant and fettled 
 *' Darknefs, that is before me, as well by Night as by Day, feems nearer to the 
 *.« whitilh than the blackifh •, and the Eye rolling itfelf a little, feems to admit 
 " I know not what little fmallnefs of Light as thro' a Chink." 
 
 But what he thought of his Blindnefs, and how he bore it, may be feen by 
 £is Sonnet to his Friend Cyriac Skinner, which is as follows : 
 
 Cyriac, this three years day, thefe Eyes, the? clear 
 
 To outward View of Blemj/h or of Sfot, 
 
 Bereft of Sight, their feeing have forgot % 
 Nor to their idle Orbs doth Day appear, 
 Or Swf, or Moon, or Star, throughout the Tear, 
 
 *Or Man or Woman. Yet I argue not 
 
 Agaitiff Heaven's Hand or Will, nor hate one Jot 
 Of Heart or Hope, hut fill bear up, and fleer 
 Flight onward. What fupports me, deft thou afk? 
 
 The Cohfcience, Friend, t'have loft them overply'd 
 
 In Liberty's Defence, my noble Tafk, 
 Whereof all -Europe rings from fide to fide. 
 
 This Thought' might lead me thro' this world's vain Mafk, 
 
 Content, tho' blind, had I no other Guide. 
 
 In 1652 there had been publihVd at the Hague in 4/0, a Book intitled, Regit 
 Sanguinis Clamor adverfus Parricidas Anglicanos. In this Book a great many 
 fcandalous Imputations were caft upon Milton, who is treated with prodigious 
 Scurrility, and among other Epithets is {filed, Tartareus Fnrcifer, teterrimus 
 Carnifex, Hominis monflrum, &c. and at the end is a Satire in Iambic Verfe 
 in impuriffimum Nebulonem Joannem Miltonum, Parricidarum ti? Parricidii Ad~ 
 vocatum. The Book is dedicated to King Charles II. (whofe Picture is prefix'd 
 to it) by Adrian Viae, the Printer, who calls Milton, Monflrum horrendum, in- 
 form e, ingens, cui lumen ademptum, i£ Generis humani Dehonefi amentum. The 
 true Author of the Book was Peter du Moulin the younger, afterwards Preben- 
 dary of Canterbury, as he owns himfelf in the Edition of his Latin Poems (/), 
 printed at Cambrigde 1670 in Svo ; where he tells us, that he had fent his Pa- 
 pers to Salmafius, who committed them to the Care of Alexander Morns, a French 
 Minifter, and this latter publifh'd them, with a Dedication to King Charles II. 
 written in the Name of the Printer. This Morus was Son of a Scotfman, who 
 was Principal of the Proteftant College at Cajlres in France, and was a Man 
 of a very haughty Difpofition, his Contempt of his Collegues making him o- 
 dious and uneafy wherever he liv'd; and was generally thought to be a Perfon 
 
 of 
 (0 L. III. P. 141, 142.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxxiii 
 
 of immoderate Inclination for Women. He was extoll'd as an admirable 
 Preacher ; but his chief Talent muft have confifted in the Gracefulnefs of his 
 Pronunciation and Gefture, and in thofe quaint Turns, Allufions, and Puns, 
 of which his Sermons were full ; for it is certain, that they do not now retain 
 thole Charms in print, which they were faid to have had formerly in the Pu'pit. 
 He being iufpecled to be the Author of the Book abovemention'd, Milton by 
 public Command publifh'd a fecond Defence of the People of England at Lon- 
 don, 1654, in Svo, under this title : Joannis Mikoni Angh 'pro Populo An^lica- 
 no Defenfio fecnnda. Contra infamem Libellum anonymum, cui titulus, Regii San- 
 guinis Clamor ad Ccelum adverfus Parricidas Anglicanos. In this Book he con* 
 iiders Morus as the Author of the Regii Sanguinis Clamor, and accufes him of 
 having behav'd in a very profligate and debauch'd Manner at Geneva and other 
 Places, and inferts aDiftich made upon theReportof his having gotten Salmq/ius's 
 Maid with child, which had been before printed in the News-papers at Lon~ 
 don [m), and which is as follows : 
 
 Galli ex concitbitu gravidam te, Pontia, Mori, 
 Quis bene moratam morigeramque neget ? 
 
 And Morus having threatned him with a fecond Edition of Salmqfus's Defence 
 of the King, inlarg'd with Animadverfions on his Defence of the People, he in- 
 troduces the following Epigram : 
 
 Gaudete, Scombri, C5 1 quicquid efl pifcium Salo, 
 Qui frigidd Hyeme incolitis algentes freta, 
 Veftrum mifertus ille Salmafius Eques 
 Bonus amicire nuditatem cogitat, 
 Chart<eque largus apparat papyrinos 
 Vobis Cucullos pr<eferentes Claudii 
 Jnfignia, nomenque, cjf decus Salmaf.i ; 
 Geftetis tit per cmne cetarium forum 
 Equitis Clientes, fcriniis mungentium 
 Cubito virorum, & capfulis gratijflmos. 
 
 Morus publifh'd, in anfwer to this Book of Milton, a Piece intitled, /Ilex- 
 endri Mori, Ecclefiafl* & facrarum Literarum Profcjforis, Fides Publica, contra 
 Calumnias Joannis Miltoni : Hague 1654, in nmo : in which he inferteJ a 
 great many Teftimoniesof his Orthodoxy and Morals, fign'd by the Confifto- 
 ries, Academies, Synods, and Magiftrates of the Places where he had liv'd. 
 This occafion'd Milton to reply in his Defenfio pro fe contra Alexandrum Morum 
 Ecclefiaftem, Libelli famofi, cui titulus, Regii fanguinis Clamor, &c. Authorem 
 retle diclum. London 1655, in Svo. Peter Du Moulin in the pafiage above- 
 quoted, tells us, that Morus being uneafy at the fevere attack upon his Cha- 
 racter by Milton in his Defenfio fecunda, begun to grow cool in the Royal Caufe ; 
 and in his Anfwer appeal'd to two Gentlemen of great Credit with the Parlia- 
 ment-Party, who knew the real Author of the Regii Sanguinis Clamor. This 
 expos'd Du Moulin to great Danger, he being then in England; but he informs 
 us, that Milton being unwilling to own himfell guilty of a miftake inhis charge 
 upon Morus, perfifted in his Accufation ; fo that the Parliament-Party let the 
 true Author efcape with impunity, left they fhould publicly contradict the 
 Patron of their Caufe. At Morus, tanta invidix impar, in Regid Caufd frigere 
 cwpit, (jj Clamoris Authorem Miltono indicavit. Enimvero in fud ad Miltoni 
 Maledicla refponfione, duos adhibuit tefies pracipute apud per duellos Fidei, qui 
 Authorem probe nojfent, & rogati poffent revelare. Unde fane mihi ci? capiti meo 
 cert if mum impendebat exitium. At magnus ille Juftitite vindex, cui & banc operant 
 hoc caput libens devoveram, per Miltoni fuperbiam falutem meam afjeruit, ut ejus 
 fapientia folenne eft ex malis bona, ex tenebris luce?n elicere. Mil tonus enim, qui 
 plenis canina Eloquenli<s velis in Morum inventus fuerat, quique id ferme uni- 
 cum Defenfionis fecundfe fua fecerat argumentum, «/Mori vitam atque famam la- 
 ceraret, adduci nunquampotuit, utfe tamcrafe hallucinatum effe fateretur. Scili- 
 cet metuens ne Ccecitati ejus populus illuderet, eumque compararent Grammaticorum 
 pucri Catulo illi csco apud Juvenalcm, qui pifcem Domitiano donatum laudaturus f 
 
 plurima 
 
 (in) Colomies, Bib'iictheqce Chcifif, />. 19. 
 Vo L. I. i
 
 xxxiv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 plurima dixit 
 In lasvum converfus, at ill! dextra jacebat 
 
 Bellua. 
 Perfevcrantc igitur Miltono totum Mud periculqfiin Regem amoris crimen Moro im- 
 pingere, non peter ant cater* perduelles fine magna boni patrcni fui injuria alium a 
 Moro tanti crtminis rcv.m feragere. Ctimque Miltonus me falvum ejfe mallet quam 
 
 Jcridiculum, hoc opene mea praminm tuli, tit Mi! ton urn, quern inclement! us ac- 
 ceperam, habercm patronum, £s? capitis meifedulum Zittfounnrij). 
 
 Milton being now at eafe from State-Adverfaries and public Contefts, had 
 leifure again to profecute his own Studies, and private Defigns ; particularly his 
 Hijlcry of Britain, and his new Thefaurus Lingua Latin*, according to the Me- 
 thod of Robert Stephens ; " a Work, fays Mr. Philips (n), he had been long 
 " fince collecting from his own Reading, and ftill went on with at times even 
 " very near to his dying day. But the Papers after his Death were fo difcom- 
 " pos'd and deficient, that they could not be made fit for the Prefs." Thefe Papers 
 confiding of three large Volumes in folio, and containing a Collection out of all 
 the beft and pureft Roman Authors, were made ufe of by the Editors of the 
 Cambridge Dictionary printed in 1693 in 4/c, with the title of Lingu<e Romance 
 DiStiondrium luculentum novum (0). But the grand Dcfign, to which he new be- 
 gan to apply himfelf, was his Paradife Loft (p) 
 
 We have a Letter of his to Emeric Bigot, a learned French Writer, dated 
 at Weflminfier March 24th, 1656, in which " he thanks that Gentleman for 
 " the Honour of his Vifir, when in England, and the Letter which he had re- 
 " ceiv'd from him ; and takes notice, that he bore his Blind nefs with the great- 
 " er patience, as he was in hopes, that this Misfortune would add new Vigour 
 " to his Genius •, and was far from being averfe to his Studies, which had oc- 
 " cafioned his Lois of Sight, being animated by the Example of Telephus Ki. n g 
 " of the Myfians, who readily confented to be heal'd by the Weapon from which 
 " he had rereiv'd his wound." Orbitatem arte Luminis quidni leniter feram, 
 quod non tarn amiffum quam revocatum intus at que retraclum, ad acuendam potiui 
 mentis Aciem quam ad hebetandam fperem? .^uoft, tit ne^tie Literis irafcar, nee 
 earum undid penitus intermittam, etiamfi me tarn male multaverint ; tarn ev.im 
 morofus ne Jim, Myforum Regis Telephi faltem Exemplum erudiit, qui eo tclo, quo 
 vulneratus fuit, fanari poflea non recufavit. 
 
 In 1655 there was publiih'd at London in 4/0, pagg. 4.2, Scriptum Don. Pro- 
 tectoris Reipublica Angli<e, Scotia, Hiberni*, &c. ex Confenfu at que fententid Ccn- 
 cilii fui editum ; in quo hujus Reipubliae Caufa contra Hispanos jnfta ejfe de- 
 monjiratur. Londini excudebant Henricus Hills -6? Johannes Field, Impreffores 
 Dom. Protectoris, 1655. This piece, from the peculiar Elegance of the Stile, ap- 
 pears to have been drawn up in Latin by our Author, whofe Province it was, 
 as Secretary to Cromwell'va that Language •, and is reprinted in the prefent Edition. 
 
 In 1658 he publiih'd at London in Svo, a Piece of Sir Walter Raleigh'a under 
 the following Title: The Cabinet -Council, containing the chief Arts of Empire, 
 and Myft cries of State ; difcabineted in Political & Polemical Aphorifms, grounded 
 en Authority and Experience, and illuflrated with the choicefl Examples and Hifto- 
 rical Obfervations. By the ever renown' d Knight Sir Walter Raleigh. Publiffjed 
 by John Milton Efq. To this our Author prefix'd the following Advertifement 
 to the Reader. " Having had the Manufcript of this Treatife, wrirten by Sir 
 " Walter Raleigh, many years in my hands, and finding it lately by chance a- 
 " mong other Books and Papers -, upon reading thereof, I thought it a Kinde 
 " of injury to withhold longer the work of fo eminent an Author from the pub- 
 " lick, it being anfwerable in ftile to other Works of his already extant, as far 
 " as the Subject would permit ; and given me for a true Copy by a learned Man 
 " at his Death, who had collected feveral fuch pieces." 
 
 In 1659 he publiih'd at London in nmo, A Treatife of the Civil Power in 
 
 Ecclefwftical Caufes ; and another Tract, intitled, Confulerations touching the like- 
 
 liefl Means to remove Hirelings out of the Church. Wherein is alfo difcotrrs'd of 
 
 Tithes, Church-fees, Church-Revenues ; and whether any Maintenance of Mini- 
 
 Jlers can be fettled by Law. The Author J. M. London 1659, in izmo. 
 
 Upon the Diffolution of the Parliament by the Army, after Richard Crom- 
 well had. been oblig'd to refign the Protedtorfhip, Milton wrote a Letter, in 
 
 which 
 ('■') /• 34- (0) See the Preface, p. 4. of Mr. compendiarius, Edit. London 1736, in 4ft. 
 Rcbat Aivfowrtb's Thefaurus Lingua Latir.x {p) Philips, p. 34,.
 
 of Mr. John M ilton. xxxv 
 
 which he lays down the Model of a Commonwealth ■, not fuch as he thought the 
 beft, but what might be readied fettled at that time to prevent the Reftoration 
 of Kingly Government and domeftic Diforders, till a more favourable Seafon, 
 or better Difpofitions for erecting a perfect Democracy. This and another fmall 
 Piece to the fame purpofe, which feems to be addrefs'd to General Monk, were 
 communicated to Mr. Toland by a Gentleman, who, a little after Milton's 
 Death, had them from his Nephew ; and Mr. Toland gave them to be publifh'd 
 in the Edition of our Author's Works in 1698, in Fol. (q). 
 
 Milton publifh'd his Ready and cafy Way to eftablifi a free Commonwealth ; and 
 the Excellence thereof compar'd with the Inconveniences and Dangers of re-admit- 
 ting Kingpoip in the Nation, at London 1659, In^to. Mr. Wood tells us (r), that 
 this was publifh'd in February 1659-60. It was anfwer'd by G. S. in his Dignity 
 of King/hip ; and foon after attack'd in a burlefque Pamphlet pretended to be 
 written by Mr. James Harrington's Republican Club, and printed under the title 
 of The Ceiifure of the Rota upon Mr. Milton'i Book, entituled, The Ready and 
 eafie way to eftablifh a Free-Commonwealth. London printed ly Paul Giddy, 
 Printer to the Rota, at the Sign of the Windmill in Tum-againe-Lane, 1660. 
 Pagg. 16. In the Title-page is the following Order. 
 
 " Die Luna 26, Martii, 1660. 
 " Ordered by the Rota, that Mr. Harrington be defired to draw up a Nar- 
 " rative of this Daye's Proceeding upon Mr. Milton's Book, called, The Rea ■ 
 " and Eafie Way, &c. and to caufe the fame to be forthwith printed and pub- 
 »' lifhed, and a Copy thereof to be fent to Mr. Milton. 
 
 " Trundle Wheeler, Clerk to the Rota." 
 
 Soon after this, our Author publifh'd his Brief Notes npon a late Sermon, in- 
 titled, The Fear of God and the King, &c. London 1660, in 4/0. This Sermon, 
 was preach'd by Dr. Matthew Griffith at Mercer's Chapel, March 25th, 1660, 
 on Prov. xxiv. 2 1 . and printed at London 1660, in 4/0. Sir Roger Lcfirange 
 publifh'd in anfwer to Milton's Notes on this Sermon, a Piece, intitled, No blind 
 Guides, &c. printed in his Apolog y, London 1660, in 4*0. 
 
 Juft before the Reftoration he wasremov'd from his Office of Latin Secretary, 
 and oblig'd to leave his Houfe in Petty France, where for eight Years, before he 
 had been vifited by all Foreigners of Note and feveral Perfons of Quality •, and 
 by the Advice of his Friends abfconded, till fuch time as the Event of public 
 Affairs fhould direct him what courfe to take. For this purpofe he retir'd to a 
 Friend's Houfe in Bartholomew -Clofe near Weft Smithfield, till the Act of Obli- 
 vion came forth ; " which, fays Mr. Philips {$), prov'd as favourable to him 
 " as could be hoped or expected, thro' the interceffion of fome, that flood 
 " his Friends both in Council and Parliament: particularly in the Houfe of 
 ** Commons, Mr. Andrew Marvel, a Member for Hull, acted vigoroufly in 
 " his behalf, and made a confiderable party for him ; fo that, together with 
 " John Goodwin of Coleman-Jlreet, he was only lb far excepted, as not to bear 
 " any Office in the Commonwealth." But we have the moft accurate Account 
 of this Affair in Mr. Richardfon's Life of our Author (7), whole Words we fhall 
 transcribe. " That Milton efcap'd, is well known, but not how. By the 
 " Account we have, it was by the Adl of Indemnity ; only incapacited for 
 " any public Employment. This is a notorious Miftake, tho' Toland, the 
 " Bifhop of Sarion, Fenton, &c. have gone into it, confounding him with 
 " Goodwin. Their Cafes were very different, as I found upon Enquiry. Not 
 " to take a matter of this importance upon truft, I had firft recourfe to the 
 " Act itfelf. Milton is not among the Excepted. If he was fo condi- 
 " tionally pardoned, it muft then be by a particular Inftrument. That 
 " could not be after he had been purified intirely by the general Indemnity ; 
 " nor was it likely the King, who had declar'd from Breda, he would pardon 
 " all but whom the Parliament fhould judge unworthy of it, and had thus 
 " lodg'd the matter with them, fhould, before they come to a Determination, 
 " beftow a private Act of Indulgence, and to one fo notorious as Milton. 'Tis 
 " true, Rapin fays, feveral principal Republicans applied for Mercy, whilft the Act 
 " was yet depending, butquotes no Authority ; and upon fearch, no fuchPardon 
 " appears on Record, tho many are two or three Years after, but then they are 
 
 with- 
 al Toland, ;. 3-. (.) CV, 266. !j) p. 37. (/) p. S6, & fej,
 
 xxxvi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " without Reftrittions. Some People were willing to have a Particular as well 
 " as the General Pardon. But whatever was the Cafe of others, there is a Rea- 
 " fon befides what has been already noted, to believe no fuch Favour would now 
 " be fhewn to Milton. The Houfe of Commons ( 1 6tb June 1 660) vote the King 
 " be mov'd to call in Milton's two Books, and that oi'John Goodwin, written in 
 " justification of the Murder of the King, in order to be burnt •, and that the Attcr- 
 " ney-General do proceed againft them by Indictment or otherwife. June 2 jib, 
 «' an Order of Council reciting that Vote of the 16th, and that the Peribns were 
 «' not to be found, direfts a Proclamation for calling in Milton's two Books, 
 « which are here explained to be that againft Salmn/ius (the Defence) and his 
 " Jnfwer to Eikon Bafilike ; as alfo Goodwin's Book. And a Proclamation 
 «« was iffued accordingly, and another to the fame purpofe 13th Augufi. As 
 *« for Goodwin, he narrowly efcap'd with Life, but he was voted to be ex- 
 " cepted out of the Acl: of Indemnity among the twenty defign'd to have 
 « Penalties inflided fhort of Death. And Augufi the 2jtb, thofe Books of 
 " Milton and Goodwin were burnt by the Hangman. The Acl: of Oblivion 
 " was pafs'd the 29^, [Kemiet's Regifter]. 'Tis feen by this Account, that 
 " Milton's Perfon and Goodwin's are feparated, tho* their Bjoks are blended 
 " to°ether. As the King's Intention appear'd to be to pardon all but actual 
 " Regicides, as Bifliop Burnet fays («) ; 'tis odd he mould fay in the fame 
 " Breath, almoft all People were furpriz'd that Goodwin and Milton efcap'd 
 « all Cenfure, (neither is that true, as has been feen). Why mould it be la 
 " ftran^e, they being not concern'd in the King'sBlood ? That he was forgot, as 
 " Toland fays lbme People imagin'd, w.is very unlikely. However it is certain, 
 " by what has been fhewn from Bifliop Kennet, he was not. That he fhould be 
 " diftinguifh'd from Goodwin with advantage, will juftly appear ftrange, for 
 " his vaft Merit as an honeft Man, a great Scholar, and a mod excellent Wri- 
 " ter, and his Fame on that account, will hardly be thought the Cauies, efpe- 
 " cially when 'tis remember'd Paradife Lojl was not yet produe'd, and the 
 ♦« Writings, on which his vaft Reputation flood, were now accounted Cri- 
 " minal, every one of them-, and thofe moft, which were the main Pillars 
 ** of his Fame. Goodwin was an inconfiderable Offender compar'd with him. 
 " Some fecret Caufe muft be recurr'd to in accounting for this Indulgence. I have 
 " heard that Secretary Morrice and Sir Thomas Clarges were his Friends, and 
 " manag'd Matters artfully in his favour. Doubtlefs they or fomebody elfe 
 " did, and they very prob.~My, as being very powerful Friends at that time. 
 " But ftill how came they to put their Intereft on fuch a flretch in favour of a 
 " Man fo notorioufly obnoxious ? Perplex'd and inquifitive as I was, I at length 
 " found the Secret. 'Twas Sir William Davenant obtain'd his Remifllon in re- 
 " turn for his own Life procur'd by Milton's Intereft, when himfelf was under 
 " Condemnation, Anno 1650. A Life was owing to Milton, (Davenant's,) and 
 " 'twas paid nobly : Milton's for Davenant's at Davenant's Interceffion. The 
 <c Management of the Affair in the Houfe of Commons, whether by fignify- 
 " ing the King's Defire, cr otherwife, was perhaps by thofe Gentlemen 
 " nam'd." This Account Mr. Richardfon had from Mr. Pope, who was 
 inform'd of it by Mr. Thomas Betterton, the celebrated Adtor, who was firft 
 brought upon the Stage by Sir William Davenant. 
 
 I cannot difcover upon what account Milton was in cuftody of the Serjeant at 
 Arms of the Houfe of" Commons in December following, as he appears to have 
 been from the following Minutes in the Books of that Houfe, for a Copy of 
 which I am oblig'd to Mr. Richardfon. 
 
 " Saturday, 15th Dec. 1660. 
 
 " Ordered, That Mr. Milton, now in Cuftody of the Serjeant at Arms at- 
 " tending this Houfe, be forthwith releafed, paying his Fees. 
 
 " Monday, ijth Dec. 
 
 " A Complaint made, that the Serjeant at Arms had demanded exceffive 
 M Fees for the Imprilbnment of Mr. Milton. 
 
 ** Ordered, That it be referr'd to the Committee for Privileges to examine 
 <l this Bufincfs, and to call Mr. Milton and the Serjeant before them, and to 
 '* determine what is fit to be given the Serjeant for his Fees in this Cafe." 
 
 We 
 
 («) Hiftory of his own Time, Vol. I. p. 1631
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxxvii 
 
 Wc have no Account, when he was taken into Cuftody. Guy Patin indeed 
 in 'a Letter dated 'July iph, 1660 (x) writes, that he had juft been told by 
 Monf. dela Mothe le Vayer, that " Milton's Book againft the late King of Eng- 
 " land was burnt by the hands of the common Hangman ; that Milton was in 
 " Cuftody; that he would probably be hang'd ; that Milton wrote that Book 
 " only in EngliJJo, and that a Perfon, nam'd, Peter du Moulin, Son of Peter du 
 " Moulin of Sedan, who had trandated it into elegant Latin, was in danger of 
 " his Life." There is one very grofs miftake here, fince du Moulin was a 
 zealous Royalift, and Author of Regii Sanguinis Clamor ad Cerium, as I have 
 obferv'd above. However Monf. Demijfy in a Letter of his printed in the Biblu* 
 theaue Br itannique, Tom. IX. Part 2. Art. i.p. 234,* obferve;, that this Letterof 
 Patin may ferve to give us fome Light into the time, when Milton was taken 
 into Cuftody. As this Letter is dated July iph, and mentions the News as 
 juft then receiv'd •, it is poffible, that it might reach Paris from London in four 
 or five days, being dated the eighth or ninth of July, new ftile, and the twenty- 
 eighth or twenty-ninth of June, old ftile, Milton might have been taken one of 
 thole days. The Order of Council, which fhews that he was not to be found, 
 is dated the twenty -feventh, and would not flop the fearch after him. " I own, 
 * : Ciys Monfieur Demijfy, that Patin adds another piece of News, which was not 
 " exadtly true, viz. that Milton's Book againft the late King of England had been 
 " burnt by the bands of the common Hangman. Milton's Book, or rather Books, 
 " were not burnt till Aug. 27th. But one may eafily conceive how fuch a piece 
 " of News, which was at the bottom true, might be anticipated on account of 
 " the Order of Council for burning the condemn'd Books ; but it cannot be (o 
 " eafily conceiv'd in my Opinion, that a Correfpondent in England, who ap- 
 " pears to have known of this Order, in which Milton is faid not to be found, 
 " fhould pofitively fay, Milton it in Cuftody, unlefs he was feiz'd after the pub- 
 " lication of the Order." 
 
 Milton being fecur'd by his Pardon, appear'd again in public, and remov'dto 
 Jewen-Street near Alderfgate-Street, where he married his third Wife, Eliza- 
 beth the Daughter of Mr. Minfhul of Chefhire, recommended to him by his 
 Friend Dr. Paget of Coleman-Street, to whom fhe was related •, but he had no 
 Children by her (y). She died at Nantwich in Chejhire a few Years ago. 
 
 Soon after the Reftauration he is faid to have been ofter'd the place of Latin 
 Secretary to the King, which he refus'd. Mr. Richardfon, who relates this Sto- 
 ry, exprefies himfelf in thefe terms (z): " My Authority is Henry Bendijh Efq; 
 " a Defcendantby his Mother's fide from the Protector Oliver Cromwell. Their 
 " Family and Milton's were in great Intimacy before and after his Death ; and 
 " the thing was known among them. Mr. Bendijh has heard the Widow or 
 *' Daughter (of Milton) or both fay it, thatfoon after the Reftauration, the King 
 " ofter'd to employ this pardon'd Man, as Latin Secretary ; the Poft in which 
 " he ferv'd Cromwell with fo much Integrity and Ability. (That a like offer 
 " was made to Thurloe, is not difputed, as ever I heard.) Milton withftood the 
 " Offer, the Wife prefs'd his Compliance. Thou art in the right, fays he ; you, 
 " as other Women, would ride in your Coach : for me, my Aim is to live and die 
 «« an honeft Man." 
 
 In 1 66 1 hepublifh'd his Accedence commene'd Grammar, at London in $vo, and a 
 Tract of Sir ^Ftftor Ralegh, printed there in Svo, and intitled, Aphorifms of State. 
 It appears, that Milton liv'd in Jewen-Street in 1662, from a paflfage in the 
 Life of Thomas Ellwood, an eminent Quaker, who tells us(«), " that our Author 
 ' having fill'd a public Station in the former times, liv'd now a private and 
 " retired Life in London, and having wholly loft his Sight, kept always a Man 
 to read to him, which was ufually the Son of fome Gentleman of his Acquain- 
 tance, whom in Kindnefs he took to improve in his Learning." Mr. Ell- 
 wood was recommended to him by Dr. Paget, and went every Day in the After^ 
 noon, except Sunday (b), and read to him fuch Books in the Latin Tongue as 
 Milton thought proper (c). " At my firft fitting to read to him, fays Air. 
 " Ellwood (d), obferving that I us'd the Englifo Pronunciation, he told me, 
 " if I would have the Benefit of the Latin Tongue, not only to read and un- 
 
 derftand 
 
 [x) Letters Choifies de feu Mr Guy Patin, (a) Hiftory of the Life of Thomas Elbuiood, 
 
 Vol. II. Lettr. 187. Edit, de Cologne 1691. written by hk own Hand, p. i^\. 2d. Edit 
 
 {y) Philips, p. 38, 41. (» Life of Mil- Londjn 1714. in Sva {b) Hid. p. 156 
 
 ton, p. 100. (<) Ibid. p. 154. • Hid. p- 156 
 
 Vol. I. k 
 
 tt
 
 xxXviii An Account of the Life and JVr kings 
 
 " derftand Latin Authors, but to converfe with Foreigners either abroad or at 
 " home, I muft learn the Foreign Pronunciation. To this I contenting, he 
 " inftruCted me how to found die Vowels, lb different from the common Pro- 
 " nunciation ufed by the Englifh, who fpeak Anglice their Latin, that (with 
 " fome few oiher Variations in founding fome Confonants in particular Calls, 
 " asc before e and / \iko.ch, fc before i like fh, &c.) The Latin thus fpoken 
 " feemed as different from that which was delivered as the Englijb generally 
 " fpeak it, as if it were another Language. . . . This Change of Pronunciation 
 " pro v'd a new Difficulty to me. It was now harder to me to read, than it 
 " was before to underftand when read. But 
 " — i Liibor omnia vincit 
 
 " Imp obits ; 
 
 " and fo did I ; which made my Reading the more acceptable to my Matter. 
 " He, on the other hand, perceiving with what earneft Defire I purfued 
 *' Learning, gave me not only all the Encouragement, but all the Help he 
 « could. For having a curious Ear, he underftood by my tone, when I un- 
 " derftood what I read, and when I did not; and accordingly would ftop me, 
 " examine me, and open the moft difficult Paffages to me." 
 
 It was not long after Milton's third Marriage, that he removed to an Houfe 
 in the Artillery-Walk leading to Bunhill- Fields; and this, fays Mr. Pbilfps (/), 
 was bislaft Stage in this World ; but it was of many Tears continuance ; more per- 
 haps than he had had in any other Place befides. And Mr. Richardfon informs us 
 (f), that " he ufed to fit in a grey coarfe Cloth Coat at the Door ci this Houfe, 
 " in warm funny Weather, to enjoy the irefh Air ; and fo, as well as in his 
 " Room, receiv'd the Vifits of People of diftinguifh'd Parts, as well as Quality. 
 " And very lately I had the good Fortune, continues Mr. Richardfon, to have 
 " another Picture ofhimfroman ancient Clergyman in Dorfetfhire, Dr. Wright. 
 " He found him in a fmall Houfe •, he thinks but one Room on a Fioor. 
 " In chat, up one pair of Stairs, which was hung with a rutty Green, he found 
 " John Milton fitting in an Elbow Chair ; black Clothes, and neat enough -, 
 " pale, but not cadaverous ; his Handsand Fingers gouty, and with Chalk-ttones. 
 " Among other Difcourfe he exprefs'd himfe:r to this purpofe, that washelree 
 " from the Pain this gave him, his Blindnefs would be tolerable." 
 
 When the Plague began to encreafe in London in 1 665, Mr. Ellwood took a 
 fmall Houfe for Milton and his Family at St. Giles Chalfont, in Buckingbairfkire; 
 and after the Sicknefs was over, and the City well cleanfed and become lately 
 habitable again, Milton return'd to London (h). 
 
 I have in my hands a Sonnet laid to be written by Milton upon occafion of 
 the Plague, and to have been lately found on a Glafs-Window at Chalfont. It 
 is as follows : 
 
 " Fair Mirrour of foul 'Times ! whefe fragile Sheen e 
 " Shall as it blazeth, break ; while Providence 
 " {Aye watching o'er his Saints with Eye urfeen,) 
 " Spreads the red Rod of angry Peftilence, 
 " To J weep the wicked and their Counfels hence ; 
 
 " 2 r ea all to break the Pride cfluflful Kings, 
 
 " Who Heaven's Lore reject for brutijh Senfe ; 
 " As erjlhe fcourg'd Jeffides' Sin of yore 
 
 " For the fair Hittite, when on Seraph's Wings 
 " He fent him War, or Plague, or Famine fore" 
 But the obvious Miftake in this Sonnet, in reprefenting the Peftilence as a 
 Judgment upon David for his Adultery with Bathfhcba, whereas it was on ac- 
 count of his numbring the People, renders it juftly fufpected not to be our Au- 
 thor's, who was too converfant in Scripture to commit fuch an Error. For 
 this and fome other Reafons, which I might mention, I confider it only as a 
 very happy Imitation of Milton's Style and Manner. However I am inform'd 
 by Mr. George Vertue, that he has feen a fatirical Medal 1 pen King Charles II. 
 ftruck abroad, without any Infcription, the Device of which correfponds 
 extremely with the Sentiment in this Sonnet. On one fide is reprefented ihe 
 Xing, drett in the moft magnificent Manner; and on the Reverie, his Subjects 
 perilhing by a raging Peftilence fent from Heaven. 
 
 His 
 (/) t- 3 s - (g) Life of Hilton,/. 4. (/•) Killory of the Life cf Tko. Elhxtod, p. 246, 2^7.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xxxix 
 
 His Paradife Loft was now finifh'd, for when Mr. Ellwood vifited him at 
 St. Giles Chalfont, Milton lent him the Manufcript of it, in order that he mio-'ht 
 read it over, and give him his Judgment of it. When Mr. Ellwood return 'd it, 
 Milton afk'd him how he lik'd it, and what he thought of it •, " which I modeftly 
 " but freely told him, fays Mr. Ellwood (0 ; and after fome further Difcourfe a- 
 " bout it, I pleafantly faid to him, Thou haft [aid much of Paradife Loft-, but what 
 " haft thou to fay of Paradife Found? He made me no Anfwer, but fate fome time 
 " in a Mufe; then broke off that Difcourfe, and fell upon another Subject." 
 When Mr. Ellwood afterwards waited upon him in London, Milton fhew'd him 
 his Paradife Regain* 'd, and in a pleafant tone faid to him, This is owing to you ; 
 for you put it into my Head by the ^ueftion you put to me at Chalfont •, which be- 
 fore I had not thought of. Mr. Philips obferves (k), that the Subjecl of Milton's 
 Paradife Loft was firft defign'd for a Tragedy ; " and in the fourth Book of 
 " the Poem, fays he, there are ten Verfes, which, feveral Years before the Poem 
 '« was begun, were fhewn to me and fome others, as defign'd for the very Be- 
 *' ginning of the faid Tragedy." The Verfes were thefe j 
 
 O then ! that, with furpajfing glory crown* d, 
 Look'ft from thy fole dominion like the God 
 Of this new World; at who fe fight all the Stars 
 Hide their dhninijti 'd Heads ; to thee I call, 
 But with 710 friendly Voice, and add thy name y 
 
 Sun ! to tell thee, how I hate thy Beams, 
 That bring to my Remembrance from what State 
 
 1 fell ; how glorious once above thy Sphere ; 
 
 'Till Pride, and worfe Ambition, threw me down, 
 Warring in Heav'n againft heav'n's matchlefs King. 
 
 There are. feveral Plans of Paradife Loft in the form of a Tragedy in our Au- 
 thor's own hand-writing in the Manufcript in Trinity-College Library, which 
 contains likewife a great Variety of other Subjects for Tragedies, and is as 
 follows : 
 
 " The Perfons. 
 
 
 
 " The Perfons. 
 
 " Michael 
 
 
 «« 
 
 Mofes 
 
 " Chorus of Angels 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Divine J uft ice, Mercie, Wifdom, Hea. 
 
 " Heavenly Love 
 
 
 
 " venly Love 
 
 " Lucifer 
 
 
 <c 
 
 The Evening Starre Hefperus 
 
 «c p am f w i tn trie Serpent. 
 
 
 CC 
 
 Chorus of Angels 
 Lucifer 
 
 " Confcience 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Adam 
 
 " Death 
 
 
 CC 
 
 Eve 
 
 " Labour "\ 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Confcience 
 
 " Sicknejfe / 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Labour ~\ 
 
 « Difcontent f Mutes 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Sicknejfe 1 
 
 " Ignorance V 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Difcontent ! ,«■ . 
 r J > Mutes 
 Ignorance i 
 
 Feare 
 
 *' withothersj 
 
 
 cc 
 
 *' Faith 
 
 
 cc 
 
 " Hope 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Death j 
 
 " Charity. 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Faith 
 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Hope 
 
 
 
 cc 
 
 Charity. 
 
 Paradise 
 
 Lost* 
 
 
 The 
 
 Perf 
 
 ms. 
 
 *-* Mofes Tr^oXoyi^it, recounting how he affum'd his true Bodie ; that it cor- 
 " rupts not, becaufe 'tis with God in the .Mount ; declares the like of Enoch 
 *' and Eliah ; befides the Purity of the Place, that certaine pure Winds, Dues, 
 " and Clouds prseferve it from Corruption 5 whence exhorts to the Sight of 
 " God ; tells they cannot fe Adam in the State of Innocence by reafon of thire 
 «* Sin. » Juflid 
 
 CO an. (*)ms«
 
 xl An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " Jul ice ) 
 
 " Mercie ^.debating what fhould become of Man, if he fall. 
 
 " Wifdome\ 
 
 " Chorus of Angels finging a Hymne of the Creation. 
 
 " Ad II. 
 
 «' Heavenly Love 
 " Evening Starre. 
 " Chorus fing the Mariage Song, and defcribfi Paradice. 
 
 " Aft III. 
 " Lucifer contriving Adam's ruine. 
 " Chorus feares for Adam, and relates Lucifer's Rebellion and Fall. 
 
 " Aft IV. 
 
 , _ V-fallen 
 " Eve y 
 
 " Confcience cites them to God's Examination. 
 
 " Chorus bewailes, and tells the Good Adam hath loft. 
 
 " Aft V. 
 " Adam and Eve driven out of Paradice : 
 
 " Prasfented by an Angel with 
 " Labour, Grief e, Hatred, Envie, IVarre, Famine, Pefti-\ Mutcs 
 " lencc, Sickneffe, Difccntent, Ignorance, Feare, Deathy 
 " to whome he gives thire Names : hkewife Winter, Heat, Tempeji, &c. 
 " Faith 
 
 " taito -\ 
 
 " Hope > comfort him, and inftruct him. 
 
 " Charitvi 
 
 Charity ■ 
 " Chorus briefly concludes. 
 
 " The Deluge. Sodom. 
 " Dinah. Vide Eufeb. Prasparat. Evang. L. 9. C. 22. 
 " The Perfons. 
 «' Dine. " Hamor. 
 
 *' Dehor a, Rebecca's Nurfe. " Sichem. 
 
 " Jacob. " Counfehrs 2. 
 
 " Simeon. " Nuncius. 
 
 " L<?w. " Chorus. 
 
 " Tbamar Cuophorufa ; where 7«<&? is found to have bin the Author of that 
 «« Crime, which he condemn'd in Tamar. 
 
 " Tamar excus'd in what fhe attempted. 
 
 " The Golden Calfe, or the Maffacre in Horeb. 
 
 " The Quails, Num. 11. 
 
 " The Murmurers, Num. 14. 
 
 " G?rrt£, Dathan, &c. iVaw. 16, 17. 
 
 " Moabitides, Num. 25. 
 
 " Achan, Jofue 7 and 8. 
 
 " Jcfuah in Giheon, J of. 10. 
 
 " Gideon Idoloclafies, Jud. 6, 7. 
 
 " Gideon purfuing, Jud.S. 
 
 " Abimelech the Ufurper, 7«<i. 9. 
 
 " Samfon marriingor in Ramah Lechi, Jud. 15. 
 
 " Samfon puribphorus, or Hybriftes, ox D agon alia, Jud. 16. 
 
 " Comazontcs, or the Benjaminites, or the Rioters, Ja^. 19, 20, 21. 
 
 " Theriflria, a Paftoral out of Ruth. 
 
 " Eliad<e, Hophni and Phinehas, Sa?n. 1, 2, 3, 4, beginning with the firft 
 " Overthrow of Ifrael by the Philiftiv.s, interlac't with Samuel's Vifion concern- 
 " ing E/«'j Familie. 
 
 " Jonathan refcued, Sam. 1, 14. 
 
 *' Doeg flandering, •&???;. 1, 22. 
 
 " The Sheepfhearers in Carmel, a Paftoral, 1 Sam. 25. 
 
 " Saul in Gilboa, 1 &w». 28, 31. 
 
 »« D^r'^ revolted, 1 Sam. from the 27 C. to the 31. 
 
 " David
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xli 
 
 ** "David adulterous, 2 Sam. c. n, 12. 
 
 " Tamar, 2 Sam. 13. 
 
 " Achitopbel, 2 Sam. 15, 16, 17, 18. 
 
 " AJoniah, 1 Reg. 2. 
 
 " So/omcn, Idolomargus, or Gyn<ecocratumenus, aut 'Tbyjiazuf<e . Reg. 1. 11. 
 
 " Reboboam, 1 Reg. 12. wher is difputed of a Politick Religion. 
 
 44 Abias Therfaus. 1 Reg. 14. The Queen after much Diipute, as the laft 
 ** Refuge fent to the Profet Ahias oiShilo -, receavs the melTage. The Epitafis 
 " in that fhee hearing the Child ihal! die as (he comes home, refufes to return, 
 M thinking therby to elude the Oracle. The former part is fpent in bringing 
 *' the fick Prince forth as it were defirous to fhift his Chamber and Couch as 
 " dying Men ufe, his Father telling him what facrifize he had fent for his 
 " Health to Bethel and Dan ; his fearlefnefle of Death, and puting his Father 
 " in mind to fet to Ahiah. The Chorus of the Elders of Ifrael, bemoaning his 
 '' Vertues bereft them, and at another time wondring why Jeroboam being bad 
 " himfelf mould fo grieve for Son that was good, £sV. 
 
 44 Imbres, or the Showers, 1 Reg. 18. 19. 
 
 " Nabotb <rvx(4>(xi/T»f*{V!)?, 1 Reg. 21. 
 
 " Ahab, 1 Reg. 22. beginning at the Synod of fals Profets •, ending with re- 
 " lation of Abab's Death ; his Bodie brought •, Zedechiah (lain by Ahab's Freinds 
 " for his feducing. (See La-j at er, 2 Chron. 18.) 
 
 " Elias in the Mount, 2 Reg. 1 . 'Oos»S«t»i;, or better Ellas Polemijles. 
 
 44 Elifaus Hudrocboes, 2 Reg. 3. Hudropbantes, Aquator. 
 
 " Elijeus Adorodocetas. 
 
 44 Elifeeas Menutes, five in Dothaimis, 2 Reg. 6. 
 
 " Samaria Libcrata, 2 Reg. 7. 
 
 " Achaba'i Cunoborumeni, 2 Reg. 9. The Scene Jefrael: beginning from 
 " the Watchman's Difcovery mi Jehu till he go out: in the mean while, mef- 
 *' fitge of things paffing brought to Jefebel, &c. Laftly the 70 Heads of A- 
 " hab's Sons brought in, and melTage brought of Ahaziah's brethren flain on die 
 " Way, C. 10. 
 
 " Jehu Bel/cola, 2 Reg. 10. 
 
 " Athaliah, 2 Reg. 11. 
 
 " Amaziab Doryalotus, 2 Reg. 14. 2 Chron. 25. 
 
 " Hezechias TroXio^HfAivoc, 2 Reg. 18, 19. Hefechia befieg'd. The wicked 
 " Hypocrify of Sbebna, fpoken of in the 11, or thereabout of Ifaiah, and the 
 " Commendation of Eliakim will afford »(po^»; xiyv, together with a Faction, 
 ** that fought help from Egypt. 
 
 " Jofiah Aix^omenos 2 Reg. 23. 
 
 " Zedechiah viot^uv, 2 Reg. but the Story is larger in Jeremiah. 
 
 " Selytmv Halo/is •, which may begin from a meffage brought to the City, of 
 " the Judgment upon Zedechiah and his Children in Ribla, and fo feconded 
 44 with the burning and deftruftion of City and Temple by Nebuzaradan ; la- 
 44 mented by Jeremiah. 
 
 44 A/a or ALthiopes, 2 Chron. 14, with the depofing his Mother, and burn- 
 44 ing her Idol. 
 
 44 The three Children, Dan. 3. 
 
 " Briti/h Trag. 
 
 44 r. The Cloifter King Conftans fet up by Vortiger. 
 
 44 2. Vortiger poifon'd by Roena. 
 
 44 3. Vortiger immur'd. Vortiger marrying Roena. Reproov'd by Vodin 
 44 Archbifhop of London. Speed. 
 
 44 4. Sigher of the Eajl-Saxons revolted from the Faith, and reclaim'd by 
 44 Jarumanv. 
 
 " 5. Ethclbert of the Eah- Angles flaine by Offa the Mercian. See Holinjh. 
 44 L. 6. C. 5. Speed in the Life of Offa and Ethelbert. 
 
 44 6. Scbert flaine by Penda after he had left his Kingdom. See Holinjhed, 
 
 " 116 P- 
 
 44 7. IVulfer flaying his tow Sons for beeing Christians. 
 
 44 8. OJbert of Northumberland (lain for ravifhing the Wife of Bernbocard, 
 44 and the Dans brought in. See Stow. Holinjh. L. 6. C. 12. and efpecial- 
 " ]y Speed, L. 8. C. 2. 
 
 Vol I. 1 " 9. &
 
 xlii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " 9. Edmund laft King of the Eaft-Angles martyr'd by Hinguar the Dane. See 
 " Speed, L. 8. C. 2. 
 
 " 10. Sigbert, Tyrant of the Weft-Saxons flaine by a Swinheard. 
 
 " 11. Edmund Brother of Athelfian flaine by a Theefe at his owne Table. 
 " Mahnejb. 
 
 " 12. Ed-Kin, Son to Edward the yonger, for Luft depriv'd of his Kingdom, 
 " or ratheT by^Faction of Monks, whome he hated ; together the impcfter 
 «' Dunftan. 
 
 " 13. Edward Son of Edgar murder'd by his Step-mother. To which may 
 " be inferted the Tragedie ftirr'd up betwixt the Monks and Priefts about 
 *' Mariage. 
 
 " 14. Etheldred, Son of Edgar, afiothful King, the Ruin of his Land by the 
 " Danes. 
 
 " 15. Ceaulin, King of Weft-Saxons, for Tyranniedepos'd, and banifh't, and 
 " dying. 
 
 " 16. The (laughter of the Monks of Bangor by Edelfride ftirr'd up, as is 
 " faid, by Ethelbert, and he by Auftine the Monke, becaufe the Britains would 
 " not receave the Rites of the Roman Church. See Bede, Gtffrey Monmouth, 
 " and Hclirjhed, p. 104. which muft begin with the Convocation of Britijh 
 " Clergie by Auftin to determin fuperfluous Points, which by them were re- 
 " fufed. 
 
 " 17. Edwin by Vifion promis'd the Kingdom of Northumberland on prc- 
 " mife of his Converfion, and therin eftablifh't by Rodoald King of Eaft- 
 u Angles. 
 
 " 18. Ofwin King of Deira flaine by Ofwie his Friend King of Bernitia, 
 " through Inftigation of Flatterers. See Holinjhed, p. 115. 
 
 " 19. Sigibert of the Eoft- Angles keeping Companie with a Perfon excom- 
 " municated, flaine by the fame Man in his Houfe, according as the Bifhop 
 " Cedda had foretold. 
 
 " 20. EgfrideK'mg of the Northumbers flaine in Battle againft the Puis, ha* 
 " ving before wafted Ireland, and made warre for no reaibn on Men that ever 
 *' lov'd the Englijk ; forewarn'd alfo by Cuthbert not to fight with the PiSfs. 
 
 " 21. Kinewulf, King of Weft -Saxons, flaine by Kineard in the Hcufe of one 
 " of his Concubins. 
 
 " 22. Cunthildis, the Danijh Ladie, with her Hufband Palingus, and her 
 " Son, flaine by appointment of the Traitor Edrick in King Etbelred's, Days. 
 *• Holinjked, 7 L. C. 5. together with the Maflacre of the Danes at Oxford. 
 " Speed. 
 
 " 23. Brightrich of Weft -Saxons poyfon'd by his "Wife Ethelburge Ojfa's Daugh- 
 *■* ter, who dies miferably alfo in beggery after adultery in a Nunnery. Speed 
 ** inBithrick. 
 
 " 24. Alfred in difguife of a Miniftrel difcovers the Danes negligence, fets 
 " on with a mightie Daughter ; about the fame tyme the Devonftjire Men rout 
 " Hubba and flay him. 
 
 '• A Heroicall Poem may be founded fomwhere in Alfred's Reigne, efpe- 
 " cially at his iffuing out o\ Edelingfey on the Danes, whofe Actions are wel 
 " like thofe of UlyJJes. 
 
 ** 25. Altheftan expofing his Brother Edwin to the Sea, and repenting. 
 
 " 26. Edgar flaying Ethelwold for falfe play in woing, wherein may be {et 
 " out his Pride, Luft, which he thought to clofe by favouring Monks and build 
 " ing Monafteries: alfo thedifpofition of Women in Elfrida toward her Hufband. 
 
 " 27. Swane befeidging London, and Ethelred repuls't by the Londoners. 
 " && Harold flaine in Battle by William the Norman. 
 
 " The firft Scene may begin with the Ghoft of Alfred, thefecond Son of Et- 
 " helred, flaine in cruel manner by Godwin Harold's Father, his Mother and 
 " Brother diftuading him. 
 
 •' 29. Edmond lronfide defeating the Danes at Brentford, with his Combat 
 " with Canute. 
 
 " 30. Edmund Lronfide murder'd by Edrick the Traitor, and reveng'd by Canute. 
 
 " 31. Cunilda, Daughter to King Canute and Emma, Wife to Henry the third 
 
 " Emperour, accus'd of Inchaftitie, is defended by her Englift} Page in Combat 
 
 u againft
 
 of Mr. John M i l t o n. xliii 
 
 " againft a giant-like Adverfary ; who by him at two blows is flaine, &c. 
 " Speed in the Life of Canute. 
 
 '' 32. Hardiknute dying in his Cups, an example to Riot. 
 
 « 33. Edward Confeffor's divoriing and imprifoning his noble Wife Editba, 
 " Godwin's Daughter ; wherin is ihewed his over-affection to Strangers the 
 " Cauie of Godwin's Iniurreetion, wherin Godwin's Forbearance of Battel 
 " prais'd, and the Englifh moderation on both fides magnified. His flacknefle 
 ** to redreffe the corrupt Clergie, and fuperftitious Pretence of Chaftitie. 
 " Scotch Stories, or rather Brittifh of the North Parts. 
 
 " ATHiRcoflain by Natholochus, whofe Daughter he had raviflit, and 
 " this Natholochus ufurping thereon the Kingdom, feeks to flay the Kindred of 
 " Aihirco, who fcape him and confpire againft him. He fends to a Witch to 
 " know the Event. The Witch tells the Meffinger, that he is the Man lhall 
 " flay Natholochus : he detefts it, but in his Journie home changes his mind, 
 " and performs it.. Scotch Chron. Etigii/b, p. 68, 6q. 
 
 " D u f f e and Do n w a l d, a ftrange Story of Witchcraft, and murder 
 " difcover'd and reveng'd. Scotch Story, 149, &c. 
 
 " H a 1 e, the Plowman, who with his tow Sons that were at plow running to 
 " the Battel! that was between the Scots and Danes in the next Field, ftaid the 
 " Flight of his Countrymen, renew'd the Battel!, and caus'd the Viftoric, 
 " Sec. Scotch Story, p. 155. 
 
 " Kenneth, who having privily poifon'd Malcolm Duffe, that his own Son 
 " might fucceed, is flain by Fenella. Scotch Hi/}, p. 157, 158, fcff. 
 
 " M a c b e th, beginning at the Arrival] of Malcolm at Mackduffe. The 
 " matter of Duncan may be exprefs't by the appearing of his Ghoft. 
 A b r a m from Mcrea, or Isack redeem' d. 
 
 " The Oiconomie may be thus. The firft or fixt Day after Abraham's De- 
 " parture, Eleazer Abram's Steward, firft alone, and then with the Chorus, 
 *' c'ifcourfe of Abraham's ftrange voiage, thire Miftreffe forrow and perplexity, 
 c< accompanied with frightful! Dreams •, and tell the manner of his rifing by 
 " night, taking his fervants and his fon with him. Next may come forth Sa- 
 tc rah herfeif ; after the Chorus, or Ifmael, or Agar % next fome Shepheard 
 " or companie of Merchants parting through the Mount in the time that Abram 
 ♦' was in the midwork, relate to Sarah what they faw. Hence Lamentations, 
 " Fears,. Wonders •, the matter in the mean while divulg'd. Aner or Efchcol, 
 " or Mamre Abram's Confederats come to the Hous of Abram to be more 
 " certaine, or to bring news ; in the mean while difcourfing as the World 
 " would, offuch an Action divers ways, bewayling the Fate of fo noble a Man 
 " fain from his reputation, either through divin Juftice, or Superftition, or 
 " coveting to doe fome notable Act through Zeal. At length a Servant lent 
 *' from Abram relates the Truth ; and laft he himfelfe comes with a great 
 " Traine of Melchizedec, whofe fhepheards beeing fecretlye witnefTes of all paf- 
 " fages had related to thir Matter, and he conducted his Freind Abraham home 
 " with joy. 
 
 Baptistes 
 The Scene, the Court. 
 Beginning from the Morning of Herod's Birth-Day. 
 
 " Herod by fome Counfeller perfuaded (/) on his Birth-Day to releafe John 
 
 " Baptijl, purpofes it, caufes him to be fent for to Court from Prifon. The 
 
 " Queen hears of it, takes occafion to paiTe wher he is, on purpofe, that un- 
 
 *'• der prretence ot reconfiling to him, orleeking to draw a kind retraction from 
 
 " him of the Cenfure on the Marriage; to which End the fends a Courtier 
 
 *' before to found whether he might be perfuaded to mitigate his fentence, 
 
 " which not finding, fhe herfeif craftily afiays, and on his conftancie founds an 
 
 " accufition to Herod of a contumacious Affront on fuch a day before many 
 
 " Peers, prepares the King to fome Patfion, and at laft by her Daughter's 
 
 " dancing effects it. There may prologize the Spirit of Philip, Herod's Brother. 
 
 *' It may alfo be thought, that Herod had well bedew'd himfelf with Wine, 
 
 " which made him grant the eafier to his Wives Daughter. Some of his Dif- 
 
 ciples 
 
 (/) Or els the Queen may plot under prcctenfe of begging for his Liberty, to feek to draw him into 
 a fnare by his freedom of fpeech
 
 xiiv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " ciplesalfo, as to congratulate his Liberty, may be brought in, with whom 
 «« arter certain command of his Death many companioning Words of his 
 " Difciples, bewayling his Youth cut off in his glorious Cours, he telling them 
 « his Work is don, and wiihing them follow Chrift his Maifter. 
 
 Sodom. 
 
 The Scene before Lot's, Gate. 
 
 " The Chorus confifts of Lot's Shepherds come to the Citty about fome Affairs 
 " await in the Evening thire Maifter's return from his Evening Walk toward 
 " the Citty-gates. He brings with him 2 young Men or Youths of noble form. 
 " After likely Di courles prepares for thire entertainment. By then Supper 
 " is ended, the Gallantry of tne Town pafTe by in proceffion with mufick and 
 " foncr to the Temple of Venus Urania or Peor, and underftanding of tow noble 
 " Strangers ai riv'd, they fend 2 of thire choyleft Youth with the Prieft to in- 
 " vite them to their Citty Solemnities, it beeing an honour that thire Citty had 
 " decreed to all fair perfonages, as beeing facred to thir Goddefte. Lot, that 
 " knows thire Drift, anfwers thwartly at laft, of which notice given to the 
 " whole Affembly, they haften thither, taxe him of prfefumption, fingularity, 
 ** Breach of City-Cuftoms •, in fine, after Violence, the Chorus of Shepherds 
 " praepare refiftance in thire Maifter's Defence, calling thereftof the ferviture ; 
 " but beeing forc't to give back, the Ange's open the dore, refcue Lot, dif- 
 " cover themfelves, warne him to gether his Friends and Sons in Law out of 
 " the Citty. He goes and returns, as having met with fome incredulous. Some 
 " other Friend or Son in Law out of the way, when Lot came to his houfe, 
 " overtakes him to know his Bufines. Heer is dilputed of Incredulity of divine 
 " Judgements, and fuch like matter : at laft is defcribed the. parting from the 
 " Citty •, the Chorus depart with thir Maifter ; the Angels doe the deed with 
 " all clreadfull execution •, the King and Nobles of the Citty may come forth, 
 " and ferve to fet out the terror; a Chorus of Angels concluding, and th 
 
 u* 
 
 Angels relating the Event of Lot's Journey and of his Wife. The firft 
 " Chorus beginning, may relate the Courfe of the Citty, eachevening every one with 
 " Miftiefle or Ganymed, gitterning along the Streets, or folacing on the Banks 
 " of Jordan, or down the ftream. At the Priefts inviting the Angels to the 
 " folemnity, the Angels pittying thir beauty may difpute of Love, and 
 " how it differs from Luft, feeking to win them. In the laft Scene, to the 
 " King and Nobles, when the firce thunders begin aloft, the Angel appeares 
 " all girt with Flames, which he faith are the flames of true Love, and tells 
 " the King, who falls down with terror, his juft fufFering, as alfo Athene's, i. e. 
 " Gener, Lot's Son in Law, for defpifing the continual admonitions of Lot : 
 " thencallingto theThunders, Lightning, and Fires, he bids them heare the Call 
 " and Command of God to come and deftroy a godlefie Nation : he brings 
 " them down with fome fhort warning toother Nations to take heed. 
 
 Adam unparadiz'd. 
 
 " The Angel Gabriel either defcending or entring, fhewing fince this Globe 
 " was created, his Frequency as much on Earth, as in Heaven : defcribesP^- 
 " radife. Next the Chorus fhewing the reafon of his comming to keep his 
 " Watch in Paradife after Lucifer's Rebellion, by command from God, and 
 " withall exprefllng his defire to fee and know more concerning this excellent 
 " new Creature, Man. The Angel Gabriel, as by his name fignifying a prince 
 " of Power, tracing Paradife with a more free office, paffes by the ftation of the 
 " Chorus, and defired by them relates what he knew of Man, as the Creation 
 " of Eve, with thire Love and Mariage. After this Lucifer appeares after 
 '* his overthrow, bemoans himfelf, leeks revenge on Man. The Chorus pre- 
 " pare refiftance at his firft approach. At laft, after difcourfe of enmity on 
 " either fide, he departs ; wherat the Chorus fings of the Battel!, and Vic- 
 «' torie in Heaven againft him and his Accomplices -, as before, after the firft 
 " Act, was fung a Hymn of the Creation. Heer again may appear Lucifer 
 " relating and inlulting in what he had don to the Deftruftion of Man. Man 
 " next, and Eve having by this time bin feduc't by the Serpent appeares 
 " confufedly cover'd with Leaves. Confcience in a fhape accufes him, Juf- 
 " tice cites him to the place, whither Jebova call'd for him. In the mean while 
 " the Chorus entertains the Stage, and is informed by fome Angel the manner 
 
 of
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xlv 
 
 cc of his Fall. Heer the Chorus bewailes Adam's Fall. Adam then and Eve re- 
 " turnc, accufe one another, butefpecially Adam layes the Blame to his Wife, 
 " is ftubborn in his Offence. Juftice appears •, reafons with him convinces 
 " him. The Chorus admonifheth Adam, and bids him beware Lucifer's Ex- 
 " ample of Impenitence. The Angel is Tent to banifh them out of Paradife ; but 
 " before caufes to pafle before his Eyes in fhapes a Malk of all the Evills of 
 " this Life and World. He is humbl'd, relents, difpaires ; at laft appeares 
 " Mercy, comforts him, promifes the Mejfmb ; then calls in Faith, Hope, 
 •« and Charity ; inftructs him ; he repents, gives God the Glory, fubmitts to 
 " his penalty. The Chorus briefly concludes. Compare this with the former 
 «« Draught. 
 
 MOAEITIDES OrPHINEAS. 
 
 " The Epitafis wherof may lie in the Contention, firff between the Father of 
 ct Zimri and Eleazer, whether he to have (lain his fon v/ithout Law. Next, 
 *< the Embafiadors of the Moabites expoftulating about Cojbi a ftranger and a 
 " noble Woman (lain by Phineas. It may be argued about Reformation and 
 «* Punifhment illegal, and, as it were, by tumult : after all arguments driv'n 
 " home, then the Word of the Lord may be brought acquitting and approv- 
 44 ins; Phineas. 
 
 Christus Patiens. 
 
 ,{ The Scene in the Garden beginning from the comming thither till Judas 
 " betraies, and the Officers lead him away. The reft by MefTage and Chorus. 
 " His Agony may receav noble Expreffions. 
 
 " Chrijl born. 
 
 " Herod majjacring, cr Rachel weepings Matt. * 
 
 " Chrijl bound. 
 
 ". Chrijl crucifi'd. 
 
 " Chrifi rijhi. 
 
 " Lazarus. Joan. I. 
 
 Mr. Philips obferves (;»), that there was a very remarkable Circumftance in 
 the Compofure of Paradife Loft, -which I have a particular Reafon, fays he, to 
 remember ; for whereas I had the perufal of it from the very beginning, for fome 
 Tears as I went from time to time to vifit him, in a parcel of ten, twenty, or thir- 
 ty Verfes at a time, (which being written by whatever Hand came next, might pof- 
 Jibly want Correction as to the Orthography and Pointing^) having, as the Summer 
 came on, not been fiewed any for a confiderable while, and defiring the Reafon 
 thereof was anfwer'd, that his Vein never happily fiozv'd but from the Autumnal 
 Equinox to the Vernal ; and that whatever he attempted at other times was never to 
 his Satisfaction, though he courted his Fancy never fo much ; fo that in all the Tears 
 he was about this Poem, he may be faid to have fpent but half his Time therein. 
 Mr. Toland imagines (n), that Mr. Philips was miftaken with regard to the time, 
 fince Milton in his Latin Elegy, written in his twentieth Year upon the Approach 
 of the Spring declares the contrary, and that his Poetic Talent return'd with the 
 Spring. 
 
 Fallor ? an & nobis redeunt in Carmina Vires> 
 
 Ingcniumque mihi tnunere Veris adefl ? 
 Munere Veris adefl, iterumque vigefcit ab illo, 
 (®uis putet?) at que aliquodjamjibipofcit Opus. 
 
 A Friend of Milton's likewife inform'd Mr. Toland, that our Author could 
 never compofe well but in the Spring and Autumn. But Mr. Richardfon is of 
 opinion (o), that neither of thefe Accounts is exactly true, nor " that a Man 
 *' with fuch a Work in his Head can fufpend it for fix Months together, or but 
 " one, though it may go on more (lowly ; but it muft go on. This laying ic 
 ** afide is contrary to that Eagernefs to finifh what was begun, which he fays 
 " \Epiflle to Deodatus, dated Sept. zd, 1637] was ^' s Temper." The fame 
 Gentleman informs us (/>), that when he dictated, he us'd to fit leaning backward 
 obliquely in an eafy Chair, with his Leg flung over the Elbow of it; that he fre- 
 quently compos' d lying in Bed in a Morning ; and that when he could not Jleep, but 
 lay awake whole Nights, he tried ; not one Verfe could he make : at other times 
 fiow'd eafy his unpremediated Verfe, with a certain Impetus and CEftrum, as 
 
 bim- 
 
 (m) p. 36. («) Life of Milton, p. 40. (0) p. 113. (/>) p. 114, 
 
 Vol. ra
 
 xlvi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 bimfelf feem'd to believe. Then, at what Hour foever, he rung for his Daughter 
 to fecure what came. I have been alfo told, he would diclate many, perhaps for- 
 ty Lines in a Breath ; and then reduce them to half the Number. I would not o~ 
 mit, fays Mr. Richardfon, the leafi Circumftance. Thefe indeed are Trifles ; but 
 evenfuch contrail a fort of Great nefs, when related to what is great. 
 
 After the Work was ready for the Prefs, it was near being fupprefs'd by the 
 Io-norance or Malice of the Licenfer, who, among other frivolous Exceptions, 
 imagin'd there was Treafon in that noble Simile (q), B. I. Verf. 594, and feqq. 
 
 ■ as when the Sun new-ris'n 
 
 Looks thro' the horizontal mijly Air., 
 
 Shorn of his Beams ; or from behind the Moon, 
 
 In dim Eclipfe, difafirous twilight fheds 
 
 On half the Nations, and with Fear of Change 
 
 Perplexes Monarchs. 
 
 Mr. Philips (r) and Mr. Toland(s) aflert, that this Poem was publifh'd in 1666 ; 
 but this is undoubtedly a Miftake, fince Milton's Contract: with his Bookfeller 
 S. Simmons for the Copy bears Date April 2jth, 1667 ; in which Contract our 
 Author fold his Copy for no more than fifteen Pounds ; the payment of which 
 depended upon the fale of three numerous Imprefiions, as we are inform'd by 
 Mr. Fenton (t), who with Mr. Wood is miftaken, in aflerting, that it was firit 
 publifh'd in 1669 •, tho' it is true, there are of the firft Quarto Editions with 
 that Year in the Title-page. The Cafe is thus ; there are feveral Titles, with 
 a little Variation in each, befides that of the Date. There are of 1667 and 
 1668, as well as of 1669. **f he Sheets are the fame, only a Word and a Point 
 or two alter'd ; the Sheet otherwife the fame, not cancell'd, but the Alteration 
 made as it was printing ; fo that part of the Impreffion was fo far different from 
 the other part. And there were not only three feveral Title-pages, but a 
 fhort Advertifement to the Reader, the Argument to the feveral Books, and a 
 Lift of Errata are added, with a little Difcourfe concerning the Kind of Verfe. 
 But thefe Additions were not exactly the famein every Year, as neither were the 
 Names of the Bookfellers, thro' whofe hands it pafs'd. The firft Title, viz. 
 that of 1667, was immediately followed by the Poem, without the Advertife- 
 ment, Errata, &c. In 1674 Milton publifh'd in 8vo a fecond Edition under 
 this title, Paradife Loft. A Poem in twelve Books. The Author John Milton. 
 The fecond Edition. Revifed and augmented by the fame Author . London, in Svo. 
 In this Edition he made fome few Alterations, chiefly Additions ; and now the 
 Poem, which at firft confifted of ten Books, was divided into twelve ; " not, 
 *< fays Mr. Fenton («), with refpect to the Mneis (for he was, in both 
 «' Senfes of the Phrafe, above Imitation,) but more probably, becaufe the 
 *' length of the feventh and tenth requir'd a Paufe in the Narration, he divided 
 «« them, each into two." Upon this Diftribution, to the beginning of thofe 
 Books, which are now the eighth and twelfth, Milton added the following Verfes, 
 which were necefiary to make a Connection : 
 
 Book VIII. Verfe 1. 
 The Angel added, and in Adam'j eare 
 So charming left his Voice, that he a-while 
 Thought him fill fpeaking \ ftill flood fix'd to hear; 
 Then as new wak't, thus gratefully repli'd. 
 
 The latter half of the Verfe was taken from this in the firft Edition : 
 
 " To whom thus Adam gratefully reply'd." 
 Book XII. Verfe 1. 
 
 'As one, who in his Journey bates at noon, 
 
 Though bent on Speed ; fo heer th' Arch- Angel paus'd. 
 
 Betwixt the World deflroy'd, and World refior'd ; 
 
 If Adam aught perhaps might interpofe : 
 
 Then, with Tranfition fweet, new Speech refumes. 
 At the fame time he made fome few Additions in other Places of the Poem, 
 which are as follow : Book 
 
 {q) Toland/.. 40. (r) f. j8. (/) /.4c, £/) Life of MiltW, /, l9i *0> ?.«• («) Peftfsrijt 
 f* bit Life of Milton.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xlvii 
 
 Book V. Verfe 637. 
 " They eat, they drink, and with Refettion fweet 
 " Are fill'd, before th' all-bounteous King, &c." 
 were thus inlarg'd in the fecond Edition : 
 
 They eat, they drink, and in communion fweet 
 Quaff Immortality and Joy, fecure 
 Of Surfeit, where full Meafure only bounds 
 Excefs, before th' all-bounteous King, &V. 
 
 Book XL Verfe 484. after, 
 " Inteftine Stone, and Ulcer, Colic-pangs," 
 
 thefe three Verfes were added, 
 
 Damoniac phrenzie ) moaping melancholie, 
 And moon-ftruck madnefs, pining atrophie, 
 Marafmus, and wide-wafting peftilence. 
 
 And Verfe 551 of the fame Book (which was originally thus*' 
 
 " Of rend'ring up. Michael to him reply'd") 
 
 receiv'd this Addition, 
 
 Of rend'ring up, and patiently attend 
 My Dijfolution. Michael reply'd. 
 
 Another Edition of this Poem was publifh'd in 8vo in 1678; and in 1688 it 
 was publifh'd in folio with Cuts by Subfcription. In 1695 Mr. Jacob Tonfon 
 printed our Author's Poetical Works in fol. with the fame Cuts, and large 
 Notes on Paradife Loft by P. H. who is faid to be Philip Humes. This is the 
 fixth Edition. Since that it has been re-printed in feveral Sizes. The thir- 
 teenth Edition was publifh'd at London 1727, in Svo, with an Account of Mil- 
 tonV Life by Mr. Elijah Fenton. The fourteenth Edition was printed in 1730. 
 
 It has been a current Opinion, that the late Lord Somers firft gave Para- 
 dife Loft a Reputation •, but Mr. Richardfon obferves (*)> that it was known and 
 efteem'd long before there was fuch a Man as Lord Somers, as appears from the 
 pompous Edition of it printed by Subfcription in 1688, where among the Lift of 
 the Subfcribers are the Names of Lord Dorfet, Waller, Dryden, Sir Robert How- 
 ard, Duke, Creech, Flatman, Dr. Aldrich, Mr. Atterbury, Sir Roger L'Eftrange, 
 Lord Somers, who was likewife a Subfcriber, was then only John Somers Efq; 
 jVb doubt, fays Mr. Richardfon, when he was fo confpicuous himfelf as he after- 
 wards was, his Applaufe and Encouragement fpread and brighten* d its Luftre ; but 
 it had beamed out long before. However we find in the Dedication of one of the 
 Editions of this Poem to Lord Somers, that it was his Lord/hip's Opinion and En- 
 couragement, that occajion'd the firft Appearing of this Poem in the Folio Edition, 
 •which from thence has been fo well received, that notwithfianding the Price of it was 
 four times greater than before, the Sale increas'd double the Number every Tear. Mr. 
 Richardfon tells us (y), that he was inform'dby Sir George Hungerford, an ancient 
 Member of Parliament, that Sir John Denhamcame into the Houfe of Commons 
 one Morning with a Sheet of Paradife Loft, wet from the Prefs, in his hand ; and 
 being afk'd what it was, faid, that it was fart of the nobleft Poem, that ever was 
 written in any Language or in any Age. However it is certain, that the Book 
 was unknown till about two Years after, when the Earl of Dorfet produc'd it, 
 as appears from the following Story related to Mr. Richardfon by Dr. Tancred 
 Robinfon, an eminent Phyfician in London, who was inform'd by Sir Fleetwood 
 Sheppard, that the Earl, in company with that Gentleman, looking over ibme 
 Books in Little-Britain, met with Paradife Loft, and being furpriz'd with fome 
 PafTages in turning it over, bought it. The Bookfeller defir'd his Lordfhip to 
 fpeak in its favour, if he lik'd it, fince the ImprefTion lay on his hands as waft 
 paper. The Earl having read the Poem, fent it to Mr. Dryden, who inafhort 
 time return'd it with this Anfwcr : This Man cuts us all out, and the Antients 
 too. 
 
 In 1732, Dr. Richard Bentley publifh'd at London in 4/0, a new Edition of 
 Paradife Loft ; in the Preface to which, the Doctor tells us, that " the Friend 
 
 " or 
 
 (x) p. 11 8. (.;•)/>. 119,
 
 xlviii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " or Acquaintance, whoever he was, to whom Milton committed his Copy 
 " and the overfeeing of the Prefs, did fo vilely execute that truft, that Paradife 
 " under his Ignorance and Audacioufnefs may be faid to be twice loft. A poor 
 " Bookfeiler, then living near Aider/gate, purchafed our Author's Copy for ten 
 " Pounds, and (if a fecond Edition fol'low'd) for five Pounds more, as appears 
 " by the original Bond yet in being. This Bookfeiler and that Acquaintance, 
 " who feems to have been the fole Corrector of the Prefs, brought forth their 
 " firft Edition, polluted with fuch monftrous faults, as are beyond Example 
 
 " in any other printed Book But thefe typographical Errors, occafion'd 
 
 " by the Negligence of his Acquaintance, (if all may be imputed to that, and 
 " not feveral willfully made) were not the worft blemifhes brought upon our 
 " Poem. For this fuppos'd Friend (call'd in thefe Notes the Editor) knowing 
 " Milton's bad Circumftances ; who, VII. 26. 
 
 " Was fall* n on evil Days and evil Tongues, 
 
 " In Darknefs, and with Danger t compafs'd round, 
 
 " And Solitude, 
 
 <c thought he had a fit Opportunity to foift into his Book feveral of his own 
 " Verfes without the blind Poet's difcovery." He afterwards obferves, that 
 the Proof-Sheets of the firft Edition were never read to Milton •, who, ur.lefs 
 he was as deaf as blind, could not poffibly let pafs fuch grofs and palpable Faults. 
 Nay, the Edition, when publifh'd, was never read to him in feveral Tears. The 
 firft came out in 1667, and a fecond in 1674., in which all the Faults of the former 
 are continued with the addition of new ones. This Edition of Dr. Bentley was at- 
 tack'd by feveral Writers, particularly by Dr. Zachary Pearce, who in 1733, 
 publifh'd at London in Svo, A Review of the Text of the Twelve Books of Milton'i 
 Paradife Loft : in which the chief of Dr. Bentley'.! Emendations are confider'd, and 
 feveral other Emendations and Obfervations are offer 'd to the Public. In the Pre- 
 face he obferves, that " Dr. Bentley isdefervedly diftinguifh'd for his fuperior 
 " Talents in Critical Knowledge, which are own'd by the unanimous Confent 
 *' of the Learned World, and have gain'd him a Reputation, which is real 
 *' and fubftantial. But this will be underftood with exception to what lie has 
 *' done on Milton's Poem ; in which, tho' he has given us fome ufeful and ju- 
 *' dicious Remarks, yet at the fame time he has made many Emendations, 
 *' which may juftly be call'd in queftion." Dr. Pearce then tells us, that in 
 the Emendations, which he offers as from himfelf, he never ventures farther than 
 to propofe Words of like found, which a blind Poet's Ear may be prefunfd to 
 have been fometimes miftaken in, when the Proof -fheets were read to him ; and but 
 few of this fort are mention'' d. The greateft part arifes from the Alteration of the 
 points- in which it is not improbable, that Milton trifled much to the Care of the 
 Printer and Revifer. He remarks next, that " he cannot agree with Dr. Bent- 
 «' ley, that there was any fuch P erf on of an Editor, as made alterations, and 
 '« added verfes at his pleafure in ths firft Edition of this Poem •, becaufe the 
 " Account, which Mr. Toland gives us of Milton's Life, will not leave us room 
 '* to fufpecl:, that he wanted one, or indeed many learned Friends to have 
 " done him Juftice on this occafion. Moft probably feveral of his Acquain- 
 " tance, we are fure that fome of them, had had the perufal of the Poem be- 
 " fore it was publifh'd ; and would none of them have difcovered it to Milton, 
 " if he had received fuch an Injury ? Would none have warn'd him of the bold 
 *« Alterations, time enough at leal? to have prevented their being continued in 
 " the fecond Edition, publifh'd likewife in the Poet's Life-time. Befides the 
 " firft Edition of Paradifc Regain' d appear'd in 1671 ; and Dr. Bentley fays, 
 *' that this Edition is without Faults, becaufe Milton was then in high Credit, 
 * c and had chang'd bis old Printer and Supervifor. How far this changing his 
 '* Printer might contribute to make the firft Edition of this Poem more correct 
 ■* than the firft Edition of Paradife Loft, we cannot certainly fay -, but it may be 
 *' afk'd of the Doctor, why Milton's ftill higher Credit in 1674, when the 
 «' fe. end Edition of Paradife Loft appear'd, could not have procur'd him the 
 *' fame Supervifor, or one at leaft as good ?" Dr. Pearce afterwards obferves, 
 that Milton took the firft Hint of his Defign of writing a Tragedy upon the 
 fubject or his Poem, from an Italian Tragedy call'd II Paradifo perfo, ftill 
 mant, and printed many Years before he enter'd upon his Defign. Mr. Ri- 
 
 chardfon
 
 of Mr. John Milton. xlix 
 
 tbardfon (z) likewife rejedts the Hypothefis of Dr. Bentley, and fhews (a) that the 
 Edition of 16J4. is the finiflSd, the genuine, the uncorrupted Work of Milton. 
 
 This Poem has been tranflated in Blank Verfe into Low Dutch, and printed 
 at Harlem 1728, in 4/5. A French Tranflation of it by Monf. Dupre de S. Maur, 
 with Mr. Add/fen's Remarks, and a Life of the Author, was printed at Pa- 
 ra 1729, in three Volumes nmo, and reprinted at the Hague 1730 in three Vo- 
 lumes in iDno ; to vvhichis added Dijfertation critique de M. Conftantin de Mag- 
 ny, which is thought by fome to have been written by the Abbe Pellegrin, and 
 La Chute de l* Homme, Poeme Francois par M. Durand. In this Edition feve- 
 ral pafTages are reftor'd, which had been retrench'd in that of Paris. Signor 
 Paolo Rolli, F. R. S. publifh'd an Italian Tranflation of this Poem at London 
 1736 in fob In 1690 Mr. William Hog or Hogaus publifh'd at London in 8vo 
 a Tranflation of Paradife Loft, Paradife Regained, and Sampfon Agonifles, in 
 Latin Verfe. But this Verfion is very unequal to the Original. In 1699 there 
 appear'd in a Pamphlet, intitled, Lufus Amatorius, five Mufai Poema de Hero- 
 neet Leandro, e Gracd in Latinam Linguam tranjlatum. Cui alia (tresfcilicet) acce- 
 dunt Nugte Poetic*. Authore C. B. London in 4/0. which contains a Latin Tranf- 
 lation of a Fragment of the fifth Book of Paradife Loft, beginning Verfe 6y, 
 and ending Ver. 245. Mr. Powers alfo publifh'd a Latin Verfion ofthefirft 
 Book of tint Poem ; as did Mr. Matthew Bold likewife in 1702, in 4/0, whole 
 Tranflation was republifh'd in 1717. And in 1736, Mr. Richard 'Dawes, M. A. 
 and Fellow of Emanuel College in Cambridge, publifh'd Propofals for print- 
 ing by fubfeription Paradifi AmiJJi a CI. Miltono conferipti Liber primus Gracd 
 I erfione donalus, una cum Annotationibus : of which he gave the following Spe- 
 cimen, beginning B. I. V. 250. 
 
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 M^.AAov a.v 'A^OTopauuo; n OuposvoJaAof ecoj/^v. 
 
 This Poem of our Author has met with an Approbation, which will continue 
 as long as a true Tafte for Poetry fhall remain among Mankind. I lhall give 
 the Judgments of fome Writers upon it. Mr. Edward Philips (b), on account 
 of this Performance, ftiles M.ihon the exaffeft of Heroic Poets, either of the ancients 
 or moderns, either of our own or whatfoever Nation elfe. However Mr. Tho- 
 mas Rymer, who treated Shakefpeare with lb muchContempt, prefum'd likewife 
 to declare War againlt Milton, threatning to write feme Reflexions upon Paradife 
 Loft, which fome, fays he (c), are pleas' d to call a Poem ; and to afj'ert Rhime a- 
 aga'mft the fender Sophiftry wherewith he attacks it. 
 
 Mr. Drydcn [d) obierves, that for our Author, " whom we all admire with 
 " fo much Juftice, his Defign is not that of an Heroic Poem properly focall'd. 
 " His Defign is the lofingof our Happinefs ; his Event is not profperous like 
 " that of oiher Epic Works-, his heavenly Machines are many; and his human 
 " Perfons are but two. But I will not take Mr. Rymer' s Work out of his 
 " hinds ■, he has promis'd the World a Critique on that Author, wherein, 
 " tho' he will not allow his Poem for Heroic, I hope he will grant us, that 
 " his Thoughts are elevated, his Words founding •, and that no Man has fo 
 " happily copied the manner of Homer, or fo copioufly tranflated his Grecifms 
 " and the Latin Elegancies of Virgil. 'Tis true, he runs into a flat Thought 
 '* fometimes for a hundred Lines together •, but 'tis when he has got into a 
 
 Track 
 
 (a) P. 121, & feqq. (a) P. 138. mon Senfe of all Ages. InaLetterto Fleetwood 
 
 (It) T heat mm Poetarum among the Modem Sbepbeard Efq; p. 143. Edit. London 1678 
 
 Po [-, 114, Edit. London id;,-. (<•) Tra- (</) Preface to his Tranflation of Jmeaal, p. 
 
 ot the lad Age confider'd and examin'd 8, 9. 
 
 by the Pra&iceof [he Ancients, and by the cum- 
 
 VoL. I. n
 
 An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " Track of Scripture. His antiquated Words were his Choice, not his N 
 " ty ; for therein he imitated Spenfer, as Spenfer did Chaucer. And tho' per- 
 " haps the Love of their Matters may have tranfported both too fur in the fre- 
 " quent ufe of them •, yet, in my Opinion, obfolete Words may then be lau- 
 *' d«tbly reviv'd, when either they are more founding or more fignificant than 
 " thofe in practice, and when their Obfcurity is taken away by joining other 
 " Words to them, which clear the fenfe, according to the Rule of Horace for 
 " the admiffion of new Words. But in both Cafes a Moderation is to be ob- 
 " ferv'd in the ufe of them, for unneceffary Coinage, as well as unnece 
 " Revival, runs into Affectation, a fault to be avoided on either hand. Neither 
 " will 1 ]uRify Milton for hh Blank Ferfe, tho' I may excufe him by the Example 
 " of Hannibal Caro and other Italians, who have us'd it. For whatever Caufes 
 " he alledges for the abolilhing of Rhime, his own particular Reafon is plainly 
 " this, that Rhime was not his talent ; he had neither the Eafe of doing it, nor 
 " the Graces of it ; which is manifeft in his Juvenilia, or Verfes written in his 
 " Youth, where his Rhime is always conftrain'd and fore'd, and comes hardly 
 " from him, at an age, when the Soul is molt pliant, and the Paffion of Love 
 " makes almoft every Man a Rhimer, tho' not a Poet." He afterwards tells 
 us (e), that he confulted Milton for the beautiful turns of Words and Thoughts: 
 But as he endeavours every where, fays he, to exprefs Homer, whofe age had not 
 crriv*d to that finenefs, I found in him a true Sublimity, lofty Thoughts, which 
 •were cloath'd with admirable Grecifms and antient Words, which he had been dig- 
 ging from the Mines of Chaucer and of Spenfer, and which, with all their Rujii- 
 city, had femczvhat of venerable in them ; but I found not there what I look* d for, 
 viz. any elegant Turns, either on the Word or en the Thought. But the Au- 
 thor of the Taller (/) is of a different opinion from Mr. Dry den in this laft 
 point, and having quoted that beautiful paffage in Paradife Loft, B. IV. 639. 
 
 With thee converfing, &c. 
 
 he obferves, that he could fhew fever al paffage s in Milton, that have as excellent 
 
 Turns of this nature as any of cur Englifh Poets whatfoever. 
 
 Mr. Addifon's Criticifm upon this Poem publifh'd in the Speclator, has been 
 of great advantage to its Reputation ; and, as Dr. Fiddes remarks (g), has dis- 
 covered a multitude of Beauties in it, fever al of which might perhaps have been un- 
 dif covered for many ages. 
 
 Bifhop Atterbury in a Letter to Mr. Pope, dated at Bromley, Nov. 8th, 171 7, 
 writes thus concerning our Author : / return you your Milton, which, upon Col- 
 lation, I find to be revifed and augmented in fever al Places, as the Title-page of my 
 third Edition pretends it to be. When I fee you next, I will fhew you the fever al 
 Paffages alter* d and added by the Author, hejide what you mention* d to me. I pro- 
 teft to you, this laft perufal of him has given me fuch new Degrees, I will not fay of 
 pleafure, but of admiration and aftoniftoment, that I look upon the Sublimity c/Ho- 
 jner, and the Majefty of Virgil with fomewhat lefs reverence than I us'd to do. I 
 challenge you, with all your Partiality, to floew vie in the firft of thefe any thing 
 equal to the Allegory of Sin and Death, either as to the greatnefs and jvftnefs of the 
 Invention, or the height and beauty of the colouring. What I look*d upon as a Rant 
 //Barrow's, I now begin to think a ferious Truth, and could almoft venture to fet 
 my Hand, to it ; 
 
 Hsec quicunque legit, tantum ceciniffe putabit 
 Mseonidem Ranas, Virgilium Culices. 
 
 But more of this when we meet. 
 
 Mr. Charles Gildon (h) obferves, that Mr. Addifon in his Criticifm upon Milton 
 publifh'd in the Speclator, feems to have miftaken the matter in endeavouring 
 to bring Paradife Loft to the Rules of the Epopceia, which cannot be done ; and 
 that Sir Richard Blackmore in his Effay upon Epic Poetry, led by the fame Error, 
 •ndeavours to defend Milton by his own Rules of the Epopceia. " But they 
 " are both miftaken, fays Mr. Gildon ; it is not an Heroic Poem, but a Di- 
 " vine one, and indeed a new Species. It is plain, that the Propofition of all 
 
 « the 
 
 [e] Ibid. p. 50. (/) N° 114. (g) Pre- 1 7 14. fi) Laws of Poetry explain'd and il- 
 
 fatory Epiftle concerning fome Remarks to be lullrated, j>, 259, Edit, London 17a!. in 8vp. 
 } ublifhcd on Homer t Iliad, p. 15. Edit. London
 
 of Mr. John Milton. ]j 
 
 " the Heroic Poems of the Antients mentions fome one Perfon as the Subject of 
 " their Poem. Thus Homer begins his Bias by propofing to fing the Anger of 
 " Achilles ; and his Odyffey begins, 
 
 
 Mufe, /peak the Man, who, Jince the Siege of Troy, 
 " So many Towns, fitch Change of Manners faw. 
 
 '* And Virgil begins his ALneis with, 
 
 " Arms and the Man I fing, &c. 
 
 " But Milton begins his Poem of Things, and not of Men ; as, 
 
 " Of Man's firft Difobedicnce, and the Fruit 
 " Of that forbidden Tree, &c." 
 
 yioni.de Volt a ire (/) tells us, that Milton, as he was travelling thro'Italy in his 
 Youth, few at Florence a Comedy call'd Adamo, written by oncAndreino, a Player, 
 nni dedicated to Mary de\Medicis, Queen of France. The Subject of the Play was 
 the Fall of Man ; the Actors, God, the Devils, the Angels, Adam, Eve, the 
 Serpent, Death, and the feven mortal Sins. That Topic, fo improper for a 
 Drama, but fo iuitable to the abfurd Genius of the Italian Stage, as it was at 
 that time, was handled in a manner intirely conformable to the Extravagance 
 of the Defign. The Scene opens with a Chorus of Angles, and a Cherubim 
 thus fpeaks for the reft : " Let the Rainbow be the Fiddleftick of the Fiddle 
 " of the Heavens ; let the Planets be the Notes of our Mufic ; let Time beat 
 " carefully the Meafure, and the Winds make the Sharps, &c." Thus the 
 Play begins •, and every Scene rifes above the laft in profufion of impertinence. 
 " Milton, continues Voltaire, piere'd through the Abfurdity of that perform- 
 " ance to the hidden Majefty of the Subject -, which being altogether unfit for 
 " the Stage, yet might be, for the Genius of Milton, and for his only, the 
 " Foundation of an Epic Poem. He took from that ridiculous Trifle the firft 
 " Hint of the nobleft Work, which human Imagination hath ever attempted, 
 " and which he executed more than twenty Years after. In the like manner Pj- 
 " thagoras ow'd the Invention of Mufic to the Noife of the Hammer of a Black- 
 " fmith. And thus in our days Sir Ifaac Newton walking in his Gardens had 
 " the firft thought of his Syftem of Gravitation, upon feeing an Apple falling 
 " from a Tree. If the Difference of Genius between Nation and Nation ever 
 " appeared in its full Light, 'tis in Milton's Paradife Loft. The French an- 
 " fwer with a fcornful Smile, when they are told there is in England an Epic 
 '' Poem, the Subject whereof is the Devil fighting againft God, and Adam and 
 " Eve eating an Apple at the perfuafion of a Snake. As that Topic hath af- 
 " forded nothing among them but fome lively Lampoons, for which that Na- 
 " tion is fo famous •, they cannot imagine it poffible to build an Epic Poem up- 
 " on the Subject of their Ballads. And indeed fuch an Error ought to be ex- 
 " cufed ; for if we confider with what Freedom the politeft part of Mankind 
 " throughout all Europe, both Catholics and Proteftants, are wont to ridicule 
 " in Converfation thofe confecrated Hiftories ; nay if thofe, who have the high- 
 " eft refpect for the Myfteries of the Chriftian Religion, and who are ftruck 
 " with Awe at fome parts of it, yet cannot forbear now and then making free 
 "' with the Devil, the Serpent, the Frailty of our firft Parents, and the Rib, 
 " which Adam was robb'd of, and the like •, it feems a very hard Tafk for a 
 " profane Poet to endeavour to remove thofe Shadows of Ridicule, to reconcile 
 " together what is Divine and what looks abfurd, and to command a Refpect, 
 " that the facred Writers could hardly obtain from our frivolous Minds. What 
 " Milton fo boldly undertook, he perform'd with a fuperior Strength of 
 " Judgment, and with an Imagination productive of Beauties not dream'd 
 " of before him. The meannefs (if there is any) of fome parts of the Subject is 
 " loft in the Immenfity of the poetical Invention. There is fomething above 
 M the reach of Human Forces to have attempted the Creation without Bombaft, 
 " to have defcrib'd the Gluttony and Curiolity of a Woman without Flatnefs, 
 M to have brought Probability and Reafon amidft the Hurry of imaginary things 
 " belonging to another World, and as far remote from the Limits of our No- 
 
 " tions, 
 
 (0 EfTay upon the Epic Poetry of the European Nations from Homer down to Milton, p. 103. &f 
 feqq. Edit. Ltncion 1727.
 
 Hi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 " tions, as they are from our Earth; in fhorr, to force the Reader to fay, If 
 " God, if the Angels , if Satan would fpeak, I believe they would fpeak as they 
 " do in Milton. I have often admir'd how barren the Subject appears, artd 
 " how fruitful it grows under his hands. The Paradife Loft is the only 
 " Poem, wherein are to be found in a perfect degree that Uniformity, which 
 '* fatisfies the Mind, and that Variety which pleafes the Imagination ; all its 
 " Epifodes being necefTary Lines, which aim at the Centre of a perfect Cir- 
 " cle. Where is the Nation, who would not be pleas'd with the Interview of 
 " Adam and the Angel, with the Mountain of Vifion, with the bold Strokes, 
 " which make up the relentlefs, undaunted, and fly Character of Satan ? 
 " But above all, with that fublime Wifdom, which Milton exerts, when ever 
 " he dares to defcribe God, and to make him fpeak ? He feems indeed to draw 
 " the Picture of the Almighty, as like as human Nature can reach to, through 
 " the Duft in which we are clouded. The Heathens always, the Jews often, 
 " and our Chriftian Priefts fometimes, reprefent God as a Tyrant infinitely 
 •« powerful. But the God of Milton is always a Creator, a Father, and a 
 " Judge; nor is his Vengeance jarring with his Mercy, nor his Predetermi- 
 " nations repugnant to the Liberty of Man. Thefe are the Pictures, which 
 " lift up indeed the Soul of the Reader. Milton in that point, as well as in many 
 " others, is as far above the antient Poets, as the Chriftian Religion is above 
 " the Heathen Fables. But he hath efpecially an indifputable Claim to the 
 " unanimous Admiration of Mankind, when he defcends from thofe high 
 " Flights to the natural Defcription of human things. It is obfervable, that in 
 " all other Poems Love is reprefented as a Vice ; in Milton only 'tis a Virtue. 
 *' The Pictures he draws of it are naked as the Perfons he fpeaks of, and as 
 " venerable. He removes with a chafte Hand the Veil, which covers every 
 *' where elfe the Enjoyments of that Paffion. There is foftnefs, tendernefs, and 
 '* warmth without Lafciviouihefs : the Poet tranfports himfelf and us into that 
 " State of innocent Happinefs, in which Adam and Eve continued for a fhort 
 " time. He foars not above human, but above corrupt Nature ; and as 
 " there is no inftance of fuch Love, there is none of fuch Nature." Monf. 
 de Voltaire then proceeds to remark, that the French Critics would not ap- 
 prove of Milton's Excurfions {k) ; he touches upon his Errors, as Contra- 
 dictions, his frequent Glances at the Heathen Mythology -, his prepoflerous and awk- 
 ward Jefts, his Puns, and too familiar Expreffions (I) ; and objects to the Con- 
 trivance of the Pandemonium (m) ; the Fiction of Death and Sin (n); the Bridge 
 built by Death and Sin (o) ; the Paradife of Fools (p) ; and the War in Hea- 
 ven (q). 
 
 The Author of Lettres Critiques a Mr. le Comte *** fur le Paradis Perdu & 
 Reconquis de Milton: Par R**. printed at Paris 1731, in 8w, tells us (r), 
 that " Milton is in his Kind one of the greateft Geniules, which ever appear'd 
 " in the World. His Imagination, which is ftrong, elevated, extenfive, live- 
 " ly, brilliant, fruitful adorn'd with every thing, which the ftudy of polite 
 " Learning can add to excellent natural Parts, gives him a fuperiority over all 
 «' thole, who have run the fame courfe with him, which Virgil and Homer alone 
 " can difpute with him." But he declares, that Paradife Lofi is very far from 
 being fo faultlefs a Poem as Mr. Addifon reprefents it ; and he objects againft 
 the Subject of it, which he obferves to be Original Sin ; whereas the Subject of 
 an Epic Poem ought always to be an Action virtuous, or at leaft innocent, and 
 happy in the Event of it (j). He concludes his Criticifm with remarking (/), 
 that the SubjeSl and Fable of Milton's appear to be abfolutely faulty ; Jujlnefs, Me- 
 thod, Probability, Decorum, in port, every thing, which requires Art and Re- 
 flet! ion, is extremely negletled in Milton : one would often be tempted to think, that 
 thefe Qualities efjcntial to an Epic Poem were never known to him. Of feven or 
 eight Epic Poets, which I have now in my hands, there is not one, but is fuperior 
 to him in all thefe Points. But thefe Defects are happily effaced by the Invention, 
 the Fruitfulnefs, Force, and Beauty of Imagination, which pine throughout Para- 
 dife Loft. "This Compenfation has the fame effeEl upon me as the fine Paffages in 
 Homer, Archilochus, (£c. had upon Longinus : i" can readily fay with that 
 learned Critic («) : *' One of thefe beautiful Strokes and fublime Thoughts in 
 
 the 
 
 (*)/>• HO. (/) p. 112, 113. (m) p. 113, (,) p. a, J, 4, 5, 12. (/) p. 1S2, 1S3. 
 
 114. {v) ^.114, 115, n6. (0) /. 117. (a) Longin, Traite du Sublime, Chap. 27. 
 (/) Ibid. (?) /. 117, 118, 119. (r) p. 2.
 
 of Mr. John Milton. Hii 
 
 " the Works of thefe excellent Authors, is fuffkient to atone for their De- 
 •« feels." 
 
 Mr. Richardfon obferves, (.v) that "Milton's Language is Englijh, but'tis Milton's 
 *' Englijh ; 'tis Latin* 'thGreek Englijh. Not only the Words, the Phrafeology, the 
 " Tranfpofitions, but the anticnt Idiom is feen in all he writes. ... Poetry pretends 
 "■ to a Language of its own : that of the Italian Poetry is fo remarkably peculiar, 
 " thataMan may well underftand a Profe-Writer, and nota Poet. Words, Tours 
 " of Expreffion, the Order of them, all has fomething not Profaic. This is 
 " obfervable particularly in Shakefpeare, Milton has applied it to that Sublimity 
 «' ofSubject, in which he perpetually engages his Reader above what Shakefpeare 
 ** ever aim'd at, and where this is peculiarly neceffary. Nor does he want a- 
 ** bundant inftances of what all good Poets have : the Sound of the Words, 
 " their Harfhnefs, Smoothnefs, or other properties, and the ranging and mix- 
 
 " ing them, all help to exprefs, as well as their Signification A Reader 
 
 " oiMilton muff, be always upon Duty : he is lurrounded with Senfe ; it rifes 
 " in every Line, every Word is to the purpofe. There are no lazy Intervals : 
 " all has been confider'd, and demands and merits Obfervation. Even in the 
 " beft Writers you fometimes find Words and Sentences, which hang on fo 
 " loofely, you may blow them off. Milton's are all Subftance and Weight: 
 " fewer would not have ferv'd the turn, and more would have been fuper- 
 «* fluous. His Silence has the fame effect, not only that he leaves Work for 
 «' the Imagination, when he has entertained it, and furnifh'd it with noble Ma- 
 * c terials ; but he exprefTeshimfelf fo concifely, employs Words fo fparing- 
 " ly, that whoever will pofTefs his Ideas, muft dig for them, and oftentimes 
 ** pretty far below the Surface. If this is called Obfcurity, let it be remem- 
 " ber'd, 'tis fuch a one as is complaifant to the Reader, not miftrufling his Abi- 
 " lity, Care, Diligence, or the Candidnefs of his Temper; not that vicious 
 *' Obfcurity, which proceeds from a muddled inaccurate Head, not accuf- 
 " tom'd to clear, well-feparated, and regularly-order'd Ideas, or from 
 " want of Words and Method and Skill to convey them to another, from 
 " whence always arifes Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and a fort of a moon- 
 " light profpect over a Landfcape, at beft not beautiful. Whereas if a 
 ce good Writer is not underftood, 'tis becaufe his Reader is unacquainted 
 " with or incapable of the Subject, or will not fubmit to do the Duty 
 " of a Reader, which is to attend carefully to what he reads. What Ma- 
 " crobius fiys of Virgil, is applicable to Milton : He keeps his Eye fix'd and 
 cc intent upon Homer, and emulates alike his Great nefs and Simplicity, his Rea- 
 " dinefs of Speech and /dent Majefty. By filent Majejly he feems to mean with 
 " Longinus, his leaving more to the Imagination than is exprefs' d." Mr. Ri- 
 chardfon then obferves (y), that it is of no great importance, whether Paradife 
 Lofl be call'd an Heroic or a Divine Poem, or only, as the Author himfelf has 
 call'd it in his Title-page, a Poem. What if it were a Compofition intirely new, 
 and not reducible under any known Denomination ? But 'tis properly andfiriclly He- 
 roic, and fuch Milton intended it, as he has intimated in his JhortDifcourfe concerning 
 the Kind of Verfe, which is prefix' d to it, as alfo in his Entrance on the ninth Book. 
 And 'tis not his fault, if there have been thofe, who have not found a Hero, or 
 who he is. 'Tis Adam •, Adam, the firfl, the reprefentative of Human Race. 
 He is the Hero in this Poem, though, as in other Heroic Poems, fuperior Beings are 
 introdue'd. The Bujinefs of it is to condutl Man thro' Variety of Conditions of Hap- 
 pinefs and Difirefs, all terminating in the utmoft Good ; from a- State of precarious 
 Innocence, through Temptation, Sin, Repentance, and finally a fecure Recumbency 
 upon, and Intereft in the Supreme Good by the Mediation of his Son. He is not fuch 
 a Hero as Achilles, UlyfTes, iEneas, Orlando, Godfrey, &V. all Romantic 
 JVorthies, and incredible Performers of fortunate fav age Cruelties. He is one of a 
 nobler Kind, fuch as Milton chafe to write of, and found he had a Genius for the 
 purpofe. He is not fuch a Conqueror as fubdued Armies or Nations, or Enemies 
 in Jingle Combat ; but his Conqueft was what juftly gave Heroic Name to Perfon 
 and to Poem : His Hero was more than a Conqueror through him, that loved 
 us-, as Rom. viii. 37. This was declared to be the Subjecl of the Poem at the 
 Entrance on it, Man's firfl Difobedience and Mifery, till our Rejloration to a 
 more happy State. The Defign of it is alfo declared ; 'twas to jujlify Providence ; all 
 
 which 
 
 (x) P. 142, & feqq. (y) P. 145- 
 
 Vol, I. o
 
 liv An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 which is done. The Moral we are alfo direcled to ; and this the Poet has put inta 
 the Mouth of an Angel. Many moral Reftecliom are excited throughout the whole 
 Work ; but the great one is mark'dftronglyXIL 745, £3c. Piety and Virtue, 
 
 ALL COMPRIZ'D IN ONE WORD, CHARITY, IS THE ONLY WAY TO HAP- 
 PINESS. If the Sublimity and Peculiarity of the Matter of this Poem, if its Superi- 
 ority in that refpeil has rais'd it above fame of the Rules given by Ariftotle, or 
 whatever other Critics, and gather' d from or founded on the Iliad, Odyfiey, or 
 JEneid •, it has diftinguifh'd it to its greater Glory. 'Tis not only an Heroic Poem r 
 but the moftfo that ever was wrote. Milton did not defpife Rules, fuch as were 
 built upon Reafon,fo far as thofe eftabliftSd reach* d; but as his free and exalted Ge- 
 nius afpir'd beyond what had yet been attempted in the Choice of his Subjeil, himfelf 
 was his own Rule, when in Heights, where none had gone before, and higher than 
 which none can ever go. Milton^ true Character as a Writer is, that he is an 
 Antient, but born two thoufand Years after his Time. His Language indeed is mo- 
 dern, but thebeft, next to Greek and Lath, to convey thofe Images himfelf conceived -, 
 and that moreover Greek'd and Latiniz'd, and made as uncommon and expreffive 
 as our Tongue could be, and yet intelligible to us for whom he wrote. But all his 
 Images are pure Antique, fo that we read Homer and Virgil in reading him ; we 
 read them in our own Tongue, as we fee what they conceiv'd, when Milton fpeaks -,. 
 yes, and we find ourfelves amongft Per fans and Things of a more exalted Char abler. 
 Connoiffeurs in Painting and Sculpture can left tell what is the Difference of Tafte 
 in Antient and Modern Work ; and can therefore beft under/land what I am now 
 faying. It muft fuffice that I tell others, that there is a certain Grace, Majefty, 
 and Simplicity in that Antique, which is its diflinguifhing Characler. The fame 
 Kind of Tafte is feen in Writing ; and Milton has it, I think, to a degree beyond 
 what we have ever found in any Modern Painter or Sculptor, not excepting Ra- 
 fael'le himfelf " Thofe who are unaccuftomed to this Train of thinking, may 
 '« only pleafe to dip into Chaucer, Spenfer, Ariofto, even Tajfo,. or any of 
 " the Moderns, and obferve what Gothic Figures and Things prefent them- 
 " felves to their Imagination, or what are comparatively mean. Let them 
 " read even the Antients, the beft of them (always excepting the moft antient 
 " of all, the Pentateuch, Job, and fome other of the facred Books;) and they 
 " will find even thefe fill not, nor enrich the Mind, as Milton does. His E- 
 *' den, his Chaos, Hell, Heaven, his Human Figures, his Angels good and 
 «' evil, his Mediator, his God, all is fuperior to what is elfewhere to be found, 
 *' all are with regard to the reft like what Rafaelle's Pictures exhibit, compar'd 
 *' with what we fee in thofe of any other Matter ; or (to fpeak more familiarly 
 " to common Obfervation) they are as Weftminfter- Abbey, or even St. Paul'% 
 *' compar'd with the Pantheon, the Colifeum, the Temple of Thefeus, or other 
 " Remains of Architecture of the pureft Antiquity. Even the Prints of them, 
 " thofe I mean done by the beft Hands, and which are not very rare, will 
 " explain and prove what I advance. In the Parnaffus (one of the famous Pic- 
 *' tures of Rafaelle in the Vatican) Dante is reprefented as having his Eye upon 
 «« Homer. Had Milton been put there, Homer and he ought to have been em- 
 " bracing each other. He knew him perfectly ; it fhould not be faid he copied, 
 " he imitated him, but that they both wrote by the felf-fame poetical Genius. 
 " What is purely Milton's own, is equal at leaft to the beft of that Prince of 
 " Poets ; and when he profits himfelf of what he has done, 'tis with equal 
 cc Beauty and Propriety. A Simile, for inftance, in Paradife Loft, fhines no 
 " lefs than in thelliad or the Odyffey ; and fome of Milton's have the fame 
 tC peculiarity as we find in fome of Homer, they ftrike firmly on the point 
 " they are directed to, and the main Bufinefs being done, the Poet gives the 
 '* Rein a little to Fancy, entertaining his Reader with what is not otherwife 
 «' to the purpofe. . . . Whatever Milton has woven into his Poem of others,, 
 «' ftill hisfublimeft Pafiages are more fo than could enter the Heart ofOrpheus^ 
 *' Hefiod, Homer, Pindar, Callimachus, &c. fuch as the Heathen World were 
 " incapable of by infinite degrees ; fuch as none but the nobleft Genius could 
 « attain to, and that afiifted by a Religion reveal'd by God himfelf. We have 
 «' then in Paradife Loft a Collection, the QuintefTence of all that is excellent 
 «' in writing, frequently improv'd and explain'd better than by the beft of 
 *« their profefs'd Commentators, but never debas'd ; and a Sublimity, which 
 " all other Human Writings put together have not. To compleat all, he 
 
 ha*
 
 of Mr. John Milton. lv 
 
 " has made ufe of all thefe, fo as to be fubfervient to the great End of Po- 
 " etry, which is to pleafe and inrich the Imagination, and to mend the Heart, 
 " and make the Man happy." 
 
 Mr. Warburlon, in an excellent Work of his, jufb now publifh'd in dvo, 
 under the title of The Divine Legation of Mofes demonjlrated on the Principles of 
 a Religious Deift, from the Omiffion of the Dotlrine of a Future State of Reward 
 and Punifhmnt in the Jewifh Difpenfation, obferves (z), that Milton produc'd a 
 third Species of Poetry ; for juft as Virgil rivalled Homer, fo Milton emulated 
 both. He found Homer poffefjed of the Province of Morality, Virgil of Politics, 
 and nothing left for him but that of Religion. This he feized, as afpiring to fhare 
 with them in the Government of the Poetic World ; and by means of the fuperior 
 Dignity of his Subject, got to the Head of that Triumvirate, which took fo many 
 ages informing. Thefe are the three Species of the Epic Poem ; for its largefl Pro- 
 vince is human Action, which can be confidered but in a moral, a political, or 
 religious View; and thefe the three great Creators of them ; for each of thefe Poems 
 was firuck out at a Heat, and came to perfetlion from its firft Efjay. Here then 
 the grand Scene is clofed, and all further improvements of the Epic at an end. 
 
 In 1670 he publifh'd ?x London in 4/0 his Hiftory of Britain, that part efpecial- 
 ly now caWd England. From the firft traditional Beginning, continu d to the Nor- 
 man Conqueft. C die tied out of the antientejt and beft Aut hours thereof. It is re- 
 printed in the firft Vo'ume of Dr. Kennet'j Complete Hiftory of England. Mr. 
 Toland obferves (a), that " we have not this Hiftory as it came out of his hands j 
 " for the Licenfers, thofe fworn Officers to deftroy Learning, Liberty, and 
 " good Senfe, expung'd feveral Paflages of it, wherein he expos'd the Super- 
 " itition, Pride, and Cunning of the Popilh Monks in the Saxon Times, but 
 " applied by the i'agacious Licenfers to Charles the Second's Biihops." Milton 
 beftow'd a Copy of the unlicens'd Papers on the Earl of Anglefea, who, as well 
 as feveral of the Nobility and Gentry, was his conftant Vifiter (b). In 1681 
 a confiderable Pafiage, which had been fupprefs'd in the Publication of this 
 Hiftory, was printed at London, in 4/0, under the following title : Mr. John 
 MiltonV Charatler of the Long Parliament and Affembly of Divines in 
 MDCXLI. Omitted in his other Works, and never before printed, and very fea- 
 fonable for thefe times. To this is prefix'd a Preface to the Reader, which is as 
 follows : " The Reader may take notice, that this Character of Mr. Milton's 
 '•* was a part of his Hiftory of Britain, and by him defign'd to be printed ; but 
 *' out of tendernefs to a party (whom neither this nor much more Lenity has 
 " had the Luck to oblige) it was ftruck out for fome harfhnefs, being only 
 " fuch a Digreffion, as the Hiftory itfelf would not be difcompos'd by its o- 
 ** million : which," I fuppofe, will be eafily difcerned by reading over the be- 
 " ginning of the third Book of the faid Hiftory, very near which Place this 
 " Character is to come in. It is reported (and rrom the foregoing Character it 
 " feems probable) that Mr. Milton had lent moft of his perfonal Eftate upon the 
 " public Faith ; which when he fomewhat earneftly and warmly prefled to 
 " have reftor'd, (obierving how all in Offices had not only feathered their 
 " own Nefts, but had enrich'd many of their Relations and Creatures, before 
 " the publick Debts were difchargedj after a long and chargeable Attendance, 
 '* met with very fharp Rebukes •, upon which at laft defpairing of any Suc- 
 " cefs in this Affair, he was forced to return from them poor and friendlels, 
 " having fpent all his Money, and wearied all his Friends. And he had not 
 *' probably mended his worldly Condition in thofe Days, but by performing 
 " fuch Service for them, as afterwards he did, for which fcarce any thing 
 '' would appear too great." Mr. Warburton, in a Letter of Obfervations onMil- 
 ton, having obferv'd, tlvxt his ILngliih profe Stile has in it fometbingvery Jingular and 
 original ; it has Grandeur, and Force, and Fire, but is quite unnatural, the idiom and 
 turn of the Period being Latin •, remarks, that it is beft fuited to his Englifh Hiftory, 
 this Air of Antique giving a good Grace to it ; and that this Hiftory is written with 
 great Simplicity, contrary to his Cuftom in his profe Works, and is the better for it. 
 But hefometimes rifes to afurprifing Grandeur in the Sentiment and ExpreJJion. 
 
 In 1671 he publifh'd at London, in 8vo, Paradife Regain'd. A Poem in IV 
 Books. To which is added, Samfon Agoniftes. The Author John Milton. This 
 Book is licens'd July 2d, 1670. Paradife Regain'd was trandated into French, 
 
 and 
 («) B. II. SeX. 4. p. 188, {a) Life of Milton /. 43, (£) Id. Ibid,
 
 lvi An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 and printed at Paris 1730 in 12*00, under the title of, Le Paradis reconquis, 
 traduit de I'Anglois de Milton •, avec quelques autres Pieces de Poefies. The four 
 Pieces, which the Tranflator has added, are Lycidas, Allegro, II Penferofo, and 
 the Ode on Cbriji's Nativity. Mr. Toland (Y) obferves, that Paradife Regained 
 was generally efteem'd much inferior to Paradife Loft ■, which Milton could not 
 endure to hear, being quite of another mind. Father Niceron (d) is of opinion, 
 that the Title of Paradife Kegain'd is not a juft one, fince the Subject of the 
 Poem is the Conqueft of Chrift over Satan in the Defert. Mr. Warburton ftiles 
 this " a charming Poem, nothing inferior in the Poetry and Sentiments to the 
 " Paradife Loft; but confider'd as a juft Compofition in the Epic Poem, infi- 
 •' nitely inferior, and indeed no more an Epic Poem than his Mar.fm." The 
 Author of the Lettres Critiques above cited obferves (V), that if there are not fo many 
 furprizing Beauties in this Poem, as in Paradife Loft, yet there are fewer Faults, 
 andthcfe lef grofs ones. The Rev. Mr. Johnjortin (J) obferves, that our Author's 
 Paradife kegain'd " has not met with the Approbation that it deferves. It has not 
 " the Harmony of Numbers, the Sublimity of Thought, and the Beauties of 
 " Diction, which are in Paradife Loft. It is compofed in a lower and lei's 
 " ftriking Stile, a Stile fuited to the Subject. Artful Sophiftry, falfe Rea- 
 " foning let off in the moft fpecious Manner, and refuted by the Son ot God 
 " with ftrong unaffected Eloquence, is the peculiar Excellence of this Poem 
 " Satan there defends a bad Caufe with great Skill andSubtilty, as one through- 
 " ly verfed in that Craft : 
 
 " Qui facer e affuerat 
 
 " Candida de nigris, & de candentibus atra. 
 
 " His Character is well drawn." In 1732 there was printed at London, in 4/0, 
 a Critique on this Poem, pointing out the Beauties of it. 
 
 With regard to the Tragedy of Samfon Agoniftes, Biftiop Atterbury in a Let- 
 ter to Mr. Pope, dated June \%th, 1722, writes thus: / hope you won't forget 
 what pafs'd in the Coach about Samfon Agoniftes. Ifhan't prefs you as to time, 
 but feme time or other 1 wifh you would review andpoliflo that Piece. If upon a new 
 perufal of it {which I dejire you to make) you think as I do, that it is written in 
 the very Spirit of the Antients ; it deferves your Care, and is capable of being im- 
 proved with little trouble into a perfetl model andftandard of 'Tragic Poetry ; al- 
 ways allowing for its being a Story taken out of the Bible, which is an Objetlion, 
 that at this time of Day, I know is not to be got over. Mr. Warburton Yikewik 
 obferves, that this Tragedy, as well us Paradife Loft and the. Majk, " is a perfect 
 '* Piece ; and as an Imitation of the Ancients, has, as it were, a certain Gloom i- 
 " nefs intermix'd with the Sublime (the Subject not very different, the Fall of 
 ** two Heroes by aWomanj which fhines more ferenely in his Paradife Loft." 
 
 In 1672 our Author publifh'd at London, in 12020, Artis Logic* plenior In- 
 ftitutio ad Petri Rami Methodum concinnata ; and the Year following, a Dif- 
 courfe, intitled, Of true Religion, Harefie, Schifm, Toleration, and what beft 
 Means may be us'd againfl the Growth of Popery. The Author J. M. London 
 1673, in \to. He publifh'd likewife the fame Year, Poems, Sec. upon fever al 
 Occafions. ByMr. John Milton. BothKngliOn and Latin, &c. Compofed at fever al 
 times. With a fmallTraclate of Education to Mr. Hartlib. London 1673, in Svo. 
 This Volume contains all the Poems printed in the Edition of 1645, with the 
 addition of feveral others ; but in both thefe Editions are omitted a Sonnet to 
 Fairfax, another to Cromwell, another to Sir Henry Vane the Younger, and that to 
 Cyriac Skinner on his Blindnefs, which were firft printed by Mr. Philips at the 
 End of his Life of Milton, and prefix'd to the Engliflj Tranflation of our Author's 
 State-Letters. We fhall inlert from the Manufcript of Milton above quoted a 
 Collation of it with the printed Copies of fome of his Poems. 
 
 Part of a Masks. 
 
 Lefs than half -we find expreft; 
 Envy bid conceal the reft. 
 MS. *• Lefs than hzlfe Jhe hath expreft : Envic 
 
 (c) P. 43. [d) Memoires pour fervir a (/) Remarks on Sf>r>//er'$ Poems, f. 171, &c. 
 
 l'Hilloire des Hommeslllultres, Tom. X. Part II. Edit. London 1734. 
 f. 115. Edit. Paris 17J1. (f) LettreVI./. 251.
 
 of Mr. John Milton, Ivii 
 
 <c Envie bid her hide the reft." 
 
 Sitting like a Goddefs bright. 
 MS. " Seated like a GaddeiTe bright." 
 
 Who had thought this Clime hath hell. 
 MS. " Who would have thought this Clime had he! '." 
 
 What jhallow-fearching Fame had lej 
 MS. •' Thofe Virtues which dull Fame hath left untold." 
 
 For know by Lot from Jove I am the Power. 
 MS. " For know by Lot from Jove I have the Power." 
 
 Hath lock'd up mortal Senfe. 
 MS. " Hath chain'd Mortalitie." 
 
 At a folemn Mttfick, 
 
 Wed your divine founds, and mix t power employ, &c. 
 MS. " Mixe your choife Words, and happieft founds employ* 
 
 " And as your equal! Raptures temper'd fweet 
 
 " In high mifterious Spoufal! meet, 
 
 " Snatch us from Earth a while, 
 
 " Us of our Woes beguile, 
 
 " And to our high-rays'd Phantafie prsefent 
 
 " That undilturbed Song, &c. 
 May rightly anfwtr, &c. 
 MS. " May rightly anfwere that melodious noife, 
 
 " By leaving out thofe haiih illfounding Jarres 
 
 " Of clamourous Sin, di.it all our Mufick marres > 
 
 '* And in our Lives and in our Song 
 
 " May keepe in tune with Fleaven, till God ere long 
 
 " To his Celeftial Conlorr us unite 
 
 ** To live and fing with him in endleffe morne of light, 
 
 On Time. 
 MS. « To be fet on a Clock-Cafe." 
 The Sonnet, which begins thus, Captain, or Colonel, hath this Title, On his 
 Dore, when the Citty expecled an AJJault ; or, When the AJault was intended a- 
 gainfb the Citty, 1642. 
 
 In the Sonnet, beginning, Lady, that in the prime, inftead of this Verfe, 
 And at thy growing Venues fret their Spleen, 
 he had written at iirft, 
 
 " And at thy blooming Vertue fret their Spleen." 
 And inftead of 
 
 Pafjes to Blifs dt the mid Hour of Night, 
 he had written, 
 
 " Opens the Bore of Blifs, that Howre of Night.*' 
 His Sonnet to Mr. H. Lawes was at fir ft written thus : 
 
 To my Friend Mr. Hen. Lawes, Feb. 0. 1645. 
 MS. " Harry, whofe tuneful! and well-meafur'd Song 
 " Firft taught our Engliflj Mufic how to fpan 
 " Words with juft Notes, when moft were wont to fcan 
 " With Midas Eares, misjoyning fhort and long ; . 
 " Thy Worth and Skill exempts thee from the throng, 
 " And gives thee praife above the Pipe of P<: : : 
 '* To after age thou fhalt be writt a Man, 
 
 " That didft reform thy Art, the chief among. 
 *' Thou honourft Vers, and Vers muft lend her Wing 
 " To honour thee, the Prieft of Phoebus Quire, 
 
 " That tun'ft thir happieft Lines in Hymn or Story. 
 " Fame, by the Tufcan's Leav, fhall fet thee higher 
 " Than old Cafell, whom Dante won to fing 
 " Met in the milder fhades of Purgatory." 
 
 His Sonnet, which begins, I did but prompt the Age, &c. has this title in the 
 Manufeript : On the Detraclion which follow d upon my writing certain Treatifes ; 
 and inftead of this Line,. 
 
 Vol. I. p And
 
 Iviii An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 Andfi'ill revolt, when Truth would Jet them fret ; 
 
 he had written 
 
 " And hate the Truth wherby they Jhould be free. 
 The Sonnet beginning, When Faith and Love &c. has this title, On the re- 
 ligious Memorie of Mrs. Catharine Thomfon, myChrijlianFreind deceased, 16 De- 
 cemb. 1646 ; and inftead of thefe Lines, 
 
 Meekly thou didft refigne this earthly Load 
 Of Death, call'd Life, csV. 
 he had written 
 
 MS. " Meekly thou didft refigne this earthy Clod 
 
 " Of Flejh and bin, which Man from Heav'n doth fever. 
 " Thy Works and Alms, and all thy good Endeavor 
 " Strait follow'd thee the path that Saints have trod, 
 " Still as they journey'd from this dark Abode 
 " Up to the Realm of Peace and Joy for ever. 
 " Faith who led on the Way, and knew them befh 
 " Thy Handmaids, &c." 
 In the Sonnet beginning, J Book was writ of late, he had written, 
 MS. " I writt a Book of late call'd Tetrachordon, 
 
 " And weav'd it clofe both Matter, Form, and Stile : 
 " It went off well about the Town awhile, 
 " Numbering good &c." 
 In the Verfes upon the Forcers of Confcience, inftead of this Line, 
 To feize the widdow'd Whore Plurality, 
 he had written the vacant Whore ; inftead of To force our Confciences, 
 *' the Coniciences"j inftead of fhallow Edwards, " haire brain'd"i in- 
 ftead of 
 
 Clip your Phylatleries, though bauk your Ears, 
 
 MS. " Crop yee as clofe as Marginall P s Ears." 
 
 and inftead of When they fhallread this, " When you fhall read this £ffV. w 
 
 The Sonnet to Sir Thomas Fairfax had this title : On the Lord General Fairfax 
 at the Siege of Colchefter •, and in that Sonnet, inftead of thefe Lines, 
 
 , while new Rebellions raife 
 
 Their Hydra heads, and thefalfe North dijplays 
 Her broken League to imp her Serpent-Wings, 
 
 And public Faith be refcued from the Brand: 
 he had written, 
 
 MS. " . though new Rebellions raife 
 
 "• Their Hydra-heads, and the fals North difplaies 
 " Her broken League to impe their Serpent -Wings. 
 
 fc£ 
 
 " And public Faith clear'd from the floameful Brand." 
 The Sonnet to Cromwell had this title : To the Lord General Cromwell, 
 May 1652. On the Propof alls of certaine Minifters at the Committee for propa- 
 Uon of the Gofpell. 
 
 In the Sonnet to Sir Henry Vane, inftead of thefe Lines, 
 
 — Befuies to know 
 
 Both Spiritual and Civil, what each means, 
 What ferves each, thou haft learn'd t which fw have done. 
 The Bounds of either Sword to thee we owe •, 
 Therefore on thy right hand Religion leans, 
 And reckons thee in chief her eldejl Son : 
 he had written : 
 
 MS. " Befides to know 
 
 " What Pow're the Church and what the Civill means 
 " Thou teacheft beft, which few have ever don. 
 " The Bounds of either Sword to thee we ow. 
 " Therfore on thy firme Hand Religion leans 
 " In Peace, and reckons thee her eldeft Son." 
 In the Sonnet to Mr. Cyriac Skinner, upon his Blindnefs, inftead of thefe Lines, 
 A/ainft Heaven's Hand or Will, nor bate one lot 
 
 Of
 
 of Mr. John Milton. j] x 
 
 Of Heart or Hope, but fi ill bear up and Jleer 
 Right onward : 
 he had written, 
 
 MS. " Againft God's Hand or Will, nor bate a Jot 
 " Of Heart or Hope, but flill attend to fteer 
 " Uphillward." 
 
 In 1 674 his Epiflolarum Familiar ium Lib. I. and Prolujiones qu.-edam Oratorio in 
 Collegio Chrifti habit a, were printed at London in 8vo. Befidesthe Works already 
 mentioned, he was prevail'd upon by the Danifh Refident to get his State-Letters 
 tranfcrib'd, which were printed at London in 1676, in \%mo ; and tranflated into 
 Englifh, and printed at London 1694; He tranflated likewife out of Latin into 
 Englijh the Declaration of the Poles concerning the Eleclion of their Kinv John 
 III. which Tranflation was printed at London 1674, in 4/0 ; and wrote The 
 brief Hijlory of Mofcovie, and of thir lefs known Countries lying eqftward of 
 Ruflla as far as Cathay •, printed at London 1682, in Svo. 
 
 He died at his Houle in Bunhill-Row November 15th, according to Mr. Ri- 
 chard Smith, his Neighbour, in hisObituary (g) ; tho' Mr. Wood tells us (h), that it 
 was on the 9th, or 10th of that Month. He died of the Gout, but with ib lit- 
 tle pain, that the time of his expiring was not perceiv'd by thofe in the Room 
 (/). His Body was interr'd near that of his Father in the Chancel of the 
 Church of St. Giles's Cripplegate, being attended by a great number of his 
 Friends (A). Mr. Fenton obferves (/), that he had defired a Friend of his to 
 enquire at that Church, whether there was any Monument there to Milton's 
 Memory ; and the Sexton fhew'd a fmall one, which he faid was fuppos'd to 
 be our Author's •, but the Infcription had never been legible fince he was em- 
 ploy'd in that Office, which he had poffefs'd above forty Years. This Cure 
 could never have happen' d, fays Mr. Fenton, info port a fpace of time, unlefs the E- 
 pitaph had been induftrioujly eras' d; and that Suppofition carries with it fo much 
 inhumanity, that I think -we ought to believe it was not erected to his Memory. 
 In his Youth he is laid to have been extremely handfome, and while he was a 
 Student at Cambridge, he was call'd the Lady of Chriji's College. The Colour 
 of his Hair was a light brown ; the Symmetry of his Features exact ; enliven'd 
 with an agreeable Air, and a beautiful Mixture of fair and ruddy («) ; which 
 occafion'd John Baptijla Manfo to give his Epigram upon him above quoted the 
 fame turn of thought, which Gregory Arch-Deacon of Rome had employ'd above 
 a thoufand Years before, in praifing the amiable Complexion of lome Englijh 
 Youths. But Mr. Wood obferves, that his Eyes were none of the quickeft. His 
 Stature, as we find it meafur'd by himfelf(o), did not exceed the middle-fize; 
 neither too lean, nor too corpulent ; his Limbs well proportion'd, nervous, 
 and a&ive, ferviceable in all refpecls to his exercifing the Sword, in which he 
 much delighted, and wanted neither Skill, nor Courage, to refent an Affront 
 from Men of the mod athletic Conflitutions. In his Diet he was abftemious j 
 not delicate in the choice of his Dilhes ; and ftrong Liquors of all kinds were 
 his Averfion. Being too i ad 1 y convinc'd how much his Health had fuffer'ri 
 by Night-ftudies in his younger Years, he us'd to go early (ieldom later than 
 nine) to reft ; and rofe commonly in the Summer at four, and in the Winter 
 at five in the Morning ; but when he was not difpos'd to rife at his ufual 
 Hours, he always had one to read to him by his Bed-fide. When his Blind- 
 nefs reftrnin'd him from other Exercifes, he had a Machine to fwing in for 
 the prefervation of his Health -, and diverted himfelf in his Chamber with 
 playing on an Organ. He had a delicate Ear, and excellent Voice, and great 
 Skill in Vocal and Inftrumental Mufic. His Deportment was erect, open, 
 and affable ; and his Converfation eafy, chearful, and inftrudive (p). 
 
 As he look'd upon true and abfolute Freedom to be the greateft Happinefs of 
 this Life, whether to Societies or fingle Peribns, fo he thought Conflraint of any 
 fort to be the utmoftMifery ; forwhich reafon he us'd frequently to tell thofe about 
 
 him 
 
 {g) An ExtraS of •which is printed by Fran- lips, p. 41, <z;k/ Toland, p. 46. (/) Poftfciipt 
 
 cis Peck. M. A. in the fecottd Volume of his De- to the Life of Milton. 
 
 fiderata Curiola. L. XIV. p. 48. Edit. Lon- («} Wood, ubi fupra. (0) Defenfio Secun- 
 
 don 173d, infpl. [h) Falli Oxon. Vol. I. da, p. 41. Edit. 1654. (/) Wood, Col. 266. 
 
 Col. 166. (/') Id. ibid, (/i) Id. ibid, and ?hi- ToUnd, p. 46. and Fenton, p. 34.
 
 \%, An Account of the Life and Writings 
 
 him of the intire Satisfaction of Mind, that he had conftantly imploy'd his 
 Strength and Faculties in the Defence of Liberty, and in dire<5t Oppofition to 
 Slavery (q). However his Attachment to Cromtvell has been thought by many 
 a crreat inconftftency with the Zeal, which he profefs'd for Liberty •, fince it is 
 certain, that Cromwell's afiuming the Protectorfhip was a mocking Ufurpation 
 over the Rights and Liberties of the Nation, and render'd him deteftable to 
 almoft all the Republican Party. What Milton did or might alledge in excufe 
 for his ferving under fuch a Mafter, I cannot tell ; but fhall give the Reader a 
 tranflation of lome PafTages of his Defcnfio Secunde, in which he gives Cromwell 
 excellent Advice, not to abufe his Power in the Office of Protestor. He thus 
 addreffes himfelf to Cromwell (r) : " You have juftly rejected the title of King ; 
 " for if you, who when a private Perfon was able to reduce it to nothing, fhould, 
 " now you are fo highly advane'd, be captivated with it, it would be exactly the 
 *' fame cafe, as if after having, by the Afliftance of the true God fubdued an ido- 
 " latrous Nation, you fhould worfhip the Deities, which you had conquer'd. 
 44 Confider often withyourfelf, that your Country has intrufted you with her dear- 
 " eft Pledge, that of her Liberty. Regard the great Expectations conceived 
 " of you •, reflect that your Countrey's Plope is intirely from you ; regard the 
 " Countenances and Wounds of fo many brave Men, who, under your Conduct, 
 " have fought for Liberty ; regard the Manes of thofe, who have died in Battle ; 
 " regard what foreign Nations may think and fay of us, and the great Things, 
 " which they have promis'd themfelves from our noble Acquifition of Liberty, 
 •« and our new Commonwealth fo glorioufly begun to be eitablifh'd, which if 
 " it prove abortive, will be the greateft Infamy to this Nation ; laftly, re- 
 " o-ard your own Character, and never fufter that Liberty, for which you 
 " have pafs'd thro' fo many toils and dangers, to be violated by yourfelf, or 
 " in any meafure lefTen'd by others. You cannot be free yourfelf, unlefs we ' 
 44 are free -, for fuch is the neceffary Conftitution of things, that whoever in- 
 44 vades the Liberty of others, firft of all lofes his own, and will be firft fenfible 
 " of his own being a Slave. But if he, who has been the Patron, and as it were 
 " tutelar Deity of Liberty, and been efteem'd a Man of the greateft Sanctity and 
 " Probity, fhould ufurp over that Liberty, which he has defended •, it will be a 
 " pernicious and almolt fatal wound, not only to his Reputation, but even to that 
 " of Virtue and Piety in general. Honefty and Virtue will feem to be loft ; Re- 
 44 ligion will have little regard paid to it, and Reputation will ever after be of 
 " fmall account •, than which no greater Misfortune can befall Mankind.'* 
 
 He ever exprefs'd the profoundeft Reverence to the Deity as well in Deeds 
 as Words; and would fay to his Friends, that the divine Properties ofGood- 
 nefs, Juftice, and Mercy were the adequate Rules of human Actions, nor 
 lefs the Object of Imitation for private Advantage, than of Admiration or 
 Refpect for their own Excellence and Perfection. In his early Years he was 
 a Favourer of the Puritans ; in his middle Age he was beft pleas'd with the 
 Independents and Anabaptifts, as allowing of more Liberty than others, and 
 coming neareft, in his Opinion, to the primitive Practice ; but in the latter 
 part of his Life he was not a profefs'd Member of any particular Sect among 
 Chriftians ; he frequented none of their AfTemblies, nor made uie of any of 
 their peculiar Rites in his Family (s). Mr. Richard/on obferves upon this occafion 
 (/), that " it was very probable, that as he was always very Anti-Epifcopal, and 
 " no Lover of our Eftablifh'd Church, neither could he bear with the tolerated 
 "■ Preachers after the Reftoration •, thofe of whom he fpeaks, when he fays (u), 
 44 that they were feen under fubtle Hypocrify to have preached their own Follies, 
 44 moft of them, not the Go/pel, Time-fervers, covetous, illiterate Per/ecu tors, not 
 
 4 4 Lovers oj Truth, like in all things whereof they accufed their Predeceffors 
 
 44 His Averfion to and contempt of thefe pretended Divines, I am the more 
 44 perfuaded of, from a Story I well remember to have heard many times fince, 
 44 in fuch a manner as to make it credible, tho' otherwife, and without what 
 44 we learn from the little Tract juft now cited, I fhould ftill wifh it was not 
 « true. Milton had a Servant, who was a very honeft, filly Fellow, and a 
 " zealous and conftant Follower of thefe Teachers. When he came from the 
 
 «« Meeting, 
 
 (7) Toland p. 46. (/•) Defenfio Secun- Parliament, and of the Affembly of Divines: 
 
 da, 152, y fiqq. Edit. 165-4. ( J ) Toland, p. inferted in the beginning of the third Book of tbt 
 46. (0 f. 46. («) Character of the Long Hiftory of Britain, in tbt prefent Edition.
 
 of Mr. John Milto n. Ixi 
 
 11 Meeting, his Mafter would frequently afk him what he had heard, and di- 
 " vert himfelf with ridiculing their Fooleries, or, it may be, the poor Fel- 
 41 low's Understanding ; both one and t'other probably. However this was 
 " fo grievous to the good Creature, that he left his Service upon it." 
 
 Mr. Wood tells us (x), that " the Eftate, which his Father left him, was but 
 •' indifferent ; yet by his Frugality he made itferve him and his. Out of his 
 " Secretary's Salary he laved 2000/. which being lodg'd in the Excife, and 
 " that Bank failing upon his Majefty's Reftoraticn, he utterly loft that Sum." 
 Mr. Phillips likewife obferves (jy), that he loft another great Sum by Mifma- 
 nagement and for want of good Advice. His Houfe in Bread-Jireet, which was all 
 then remaining of his Paternal Eftate, and which Foreigners us'd to vifit out of 
 ■pure Devotion, as Mr. IVood expreffes it, was burnt in the Fire of London (z). 
 Towards the latter End of his Life he contracted his Library, both becaufe the 
 Heirs he left could not make a right ufe of it, and that he thought he could 
 fell it more to their advantage than they would be able to do themfelves [a). 
 He died worth 1500/. in Money, befides his houfhold Goods (b). 
 
 He had three Daughters, who furviv'd him, all by his firft Wife ; Anne, the 
 eldeft ; Mary, the fecond ; and Deborah, the youngeft (c). The two youngeft 
 us'd to read to him ; for Mr. Philips tells us {d), that tho' our Author " had 
 " daily about him one or other to read, fome Perfons of Man's Eftate, who of 
 •-' their own accord greedily catch'd at the Opportunity of being his Readers, 
 ** that they might as well reap the Benefit of what they read to him, as ob- 
 ** lige him by the Benefit of their reading •, and others of younger Years were 
 " fent by their Parents to the fame End: yet excufing only the eldeft Daughter, 
 " by reafon of her bodily Infirmity and difficult Utterance of Speech (which, 
 •* to fay truth, I doubt was the principal Caufe of excufing her,) the other 
 " two werecondemn'd to the performance of reading, and exactly pronouncing 
 " of all the Languages of whatever Book he fhould, at one time or other, 
 " think fit to perufe ; viz. the Hebrew (and I think the Syriac,) the Greek, 
 " the Latin, the Italian, Spanifi, and French. All which forts of Books to be 
 " confined to read, without underftanding one Word, muft needs be a Trial 
 " of Patience almoft beyond endurance. Yet it was endur'd by both for a 
 " long time •, yet the irklbmenefs of this Employment could net be always 
 " concealed, but broke out more and more into Expreflions of uneafinefs ; fo 
 «« that at length they were all (even the eldeft alfo) fent out to learn fome cu- 
 *' rious and ingenious forts of Manufacture, that are proper for Women to learn, 
 " particularly Imbroideries in Gold or Silver." 
 
 And here I mall take the Opportunity of giving a more exact Account of 
 Milton's Children and Defendants, communicated to me by my learned Friend, 
 Mr. John Ward, F. R. S. and Profeffor of Rhetorick in Grefiam College Lon- 
 don ; who juft now (e) received it from a Grand -daughter of our Author. 
 
 Milton's firft Wife was Mary, Daughter of Richard Powell Efq •, Lord of the 
 Manor of Forefthill in Oxfordflnre. By her he had four Children, viz. 1. Anne t 
 born July 29th, 164.6. 2. Mary, bom OcJober 25th, 1648. 3. John, bom 
 March 16th, 1650, who died an Infant. 4. Deborah, bom May 3d, 1652; 
 of whom her Mother died in Childbed. The three Daughters all furviv'd him. 
 Anne married a Mafter-Builder, and died in Childbed of her firft Child, which 
 died with her. Mary Iiv'd fingle. Beborah married Mr. Abraham Clarke, a 
 Weaver in Spittle-Fields, and died Auguft 24th, 1727, in the 76th year of her 
 age. She had ten Children, viz. feven Sons and three Daughters. But none of 
 them had any Children, except one of her Sons, nam'd Caleb, and the youngeft 
 Daughter, whofe name is Elizabeth. Caleb went over to Fort St. George in the Eafi 
 Indies, where he married, and had two Sons, Abraham and Ifaac. Of thefe 
 Abraham the elder came to England with the late Governor Harrifon, but re- 
 turn'd again upon advice of his Father's Death ; and whether he or his Brother 
 be now living; is uncertain. Elizabeth, the youngeft Child of Deborah, married 
 Mr. Thomas Fojler, a Weaver, and lives now in Pelham-Jlreet in Spit tie -fields. 
 She has had feven Children, viz. three Sons and four Daughters, who are now 
 all dead. 
 
 Mr. Ward faw Mrs. Clarke, Milton's Daughter, at the Houfe of one 
 of her Relations, not long before her Death, " when fhe informed me, 
 
 " fays 
 
 (x) Cot. 266. (_)•) p. 43. (z) Wood, ubi p. 43. (c) p. 40, 41. {J) p. 41, 42. 
 
 fu[.r«. (a) Toland, p. 45, 46. (/>) Philips (f) Feb. io.'£, 1737-8. 
 
 Vol. I. q
 
 lxii An Account of the Life and IVritings 
 
 " fays that Gentleman, that (he and her Sifters us'd to read to their Father in 
 " eio-ht Languages -, which by practice they were capable of doing with great 
 " readinefs and accuracy, tho' they underftood what they read in no other 
 " Language but Englijh ; and their Father us'd often to fay in their hearing, 
 " one Tongue was enough for a Woman. None of them were ever fent to School, 
 »« but all taught at home by a Mi ft re fs kept for that purpofe. Ifaiab, Homer, 
 " and Ovid's Metamorpbofes were Books, which they were often call'd to read 
 " to their Father-, and at my defirefhe repeated a confiderable number ofVer- 
 " fes from the beginning of both thole Poets with great Readinefs. I knew 
 « who fhe was, upon the firft fight or her, by the fimiiitudeof her Countenance 
 " with her Father's Picture. And upon my telling her fo, fhe informed me 
 " that Mr. Addifon told her the fame thing, upon her going to wait on him. 
 " For he, upon hearing fhe was living, fent for her, and defired, if fhe had any 
 " Papers of her Father's, fhe would bring them with her, as an Evidence of 
 " her being Mr. Milton's Daughter. But immediately upon her being intro- 
 " due'd to him, he laid, Madam, you need no other Voucher ; your Face is a fuffi- 
 " cient Tefiimonial wbofe Daughter you are. And he then made her a hand- 
 " fome Prelent of a purfe of Guineas, with a promife of procuring for her an 
 " annual Provifion for her Life ; but he dying foon after, fhe loft the Benefit 
 «' of his generous Defign. She appeared to be a Woman of good Senfc and 
 " a crenteel Behaviour, and to bear the Inconveniencies of a low Fortune with 
 " decency and prudence." 
 
 Since I receiv'd this account, I vifited Mrs. Fqfler, her Daughter, from 
 whofe Mouth I had the following particulars, which fhe had often heard from 
 her Mother •, who meeting with very ill treatment from Milton's laft Wife, 
 left her Father, and went to live with a Lady, whom fhe cali'd Lady Merian. 
 This L.ady going over to Ireland, and refolvingto take Milton's Daughter with 
 htr, if he would give his Confent, wrote a Letter to him of her Delign, and 
 aiiur'd him, that as Chance had thrown his Daughter under her care, fie would 
 treat her no otherwife than as his Daughter and her own Companion. She livM 
 with that Lady, till her Marriage, and came over again to England during the 
 Troubles in Ireland, under King J antes II. Milton's Widow, tho' fhe own'd, that 
 he died worth 1500 /. yet allow'd his three Daughters but 100 /. each. Mrs. FoJ- 
 ter inform'd me, that M tltcn'sF.xthtr was born in France. That Miltonloft ? 000/. by 
 a Money-Scrivener, whom hehadintrufted with it-, andthatanEftateofabout 60/, 
 per Ann. at IVeftminJhr, was taken away from him at the Reftoration, it belong- 
 incrtothe Dean and Chapter there. That his fecond Wife did not die in Child- 
 bed, as Mr. Philips and Toland relate, but above three Months after of a Con- 
 fumption. That he kept his Daughters at a great diftance ; and would not al- 
 low them to learn to write, which he thought unneccfiary for a Woman. That 
 he feldom went abroad in the latter part of his Life, but was conftantly vifited 
 even then by Perfons of Diilinction, both Foreigners and others. That there 
 were three Pictures of him ; the firft, painted while he was at School ; the fe- 
 cond, when he was about twenty-five or twenty-fix Years of Age -, and the third, 
 y hen he was pretty well advane'd in Age. That her late Majefty Queen Cara- 
 line fent his Daughter, Mrs. Clarke, fifty Pounds: and that fhe receiv'd feveral 
 piefents of Money from other Gentlemen. 
 
 The Arms that he us'd, and llal'd his Letters with, were Argent a fpreaJ 
 Eagle, with two Heads gules, legg'd and beck'd fable (/). 
 
 Before I conclude this Life, 1 mull not omit fome Verfes, faici to be written 
 by our Author, (tho' others afcribe them to Mr. Andrew Marvel!), and fent 
 with Cromwell's Picture to Cbrijlina, Queen of Sweden. In thefe Verfes Crow- 
 wed is introduced fpeaking thus : 
 
 Bcllipotens Virgo, fcptem Regi/.a Trionim, . 
 
 Chriftina, An&ei lucida iielhi pelt; 
 Ccrnis qv.as nterui dura fub CaJJide rugas, 
 
 Utque fencx armis impiger or a tero; 
 Invia fatorum dum per vefiigia nit or, 
 Exequor & popv.lt fortia jujja tnttnu. 
 
 4$ 
 
 {j t J/WFaAiOxon. Kit I. CoK zdz.
 
 of Mr. John Milton, Ixiii 
 
 Aft t'vbi fubmittit frontem reverent ior umbra ; 
 Necfunt hi vullus Regibus itfque truces. 
 thus tranflated : 
 
 '' Bright Martial Maid, Queen of the frozen Zone, 
 " T1vj North's refplendent Star ; behold what Furrows, 
 " The Helmet's Weight has made upon thefe Brows j 
 " While thro' th' untrodden Paths of Fate I move, 
 And glad perform the Nation's bold Commands. 
 Yet this ftern Shade to you fubmits its Frowns, 
 Nor are thefe Looks always fevere to Princes." 
 
 c; 
 
 is 
 
 Mr. Philips tells us (g), that our Author " had prepar'd for the Prefs, an 
 " Anfwer to fome little fcribbling Quack in London, who had written a fcur- 
 " rilous Libel againft him : but whether by the dilTuafion of Friends, asthink- 
 " ing him a Fellow not worth notice, or for what other caufe I know not, this 
 * l Anfwer was never publifh'd." 
 
 Milt en has been very injurioufly treated by the anonymous Author of Re- 
 marque s Critiques fur la nouve'.le Edition de Diitionnaire Hijlorique de Moreri 
 donneeen 1704, inthefecond Edition of the Book publifh'd by Monf. Baykzt 
 Amfterdam 1706 in lZ/no. For this Writer reprefents him, not only as a Man 
 abfolutely without the lead Religion, but likewife as a wretched Poet, and 
 worfe Orator. But fuch a Judgment is a Reproach only to the Perfon, who is 
 rafh enough to pafs it. 
 
 A Monument is expected to be erefted to our Author's Memory in Weft- 
 minjler- Abbey by William Ben/on Efq; one of the Auditors of the Impreft. In 
 fhort, the public Honours paid to Milton, and the univerfal Admiration, 
 with which his Works are read, juftify what he faid himfelf, in his Ode (h) 
 to Mr. Roufe Library -Keeper of the Univerfity of Oxford, concerning his own 
 Writings, even before fome of the moft considerable of them were compos'd ; 
 
 At altimi Negates, 
 
 Et cordatior <etas 
 
 Judicia rebus cquiora for/it an 
 
 Adbibebit integrofinu. 
 
 Turn livore fepulto, 
 
 Si quid meremur, fana Pojleritasfciet, 
 
 (g) P. 40. (b) Dated Jan. 23d, 1646. 
 
 APPENDIX
 
 lxiv 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 T O 
 
 The LIFE of MILTON. 
 
 AS Mr. Toland in his Life of Milton and Edition of that Authors 
 Profe Works, has offer'd to the Reader the Evidence on one Side 
 only of the following controverted Points, viz. concerning the 
 Author of Icon Bafilike, Pamelas Prayer, and the Commijfion 
 faid to be given by King Charles I. in the Year 1641, to the Irifh Papijls, for 
 taking up Arms againft the Proteftants in Ireland ; I think it neceflary to ex- 
 hibit here the fuli Evidence on both fides of thefe Queftions, which I fhall 
 endeavour to do with the utmoft Brevity, that the Nature of it will admits 
 and fhall leave the Determination upon the Whole to the Impartial and In- 
 telligent. 
 
 DISSERTATION I. 
 
 Concerning the Author of'Eot^BacnAixM' .• The Portraiture 
 of his Jawed Majeffy i?i his Solitude, and Sufferings ; 
 and concerning the Prayer of Pamela, fnbjoin'd to 
 feveral Editions of that Book. 
 
 71/fI LTO N in fome few Paflages of his 'Eixwot&.urns has insinuated, as if 
 there were fome doubt whether King Charles I. was really the Au- 
 thor of "Eixav EaTiAix-i ; particularly in his Preface, where he fays, As to the 
 Author of thefe Soliloquies, whether it were the late King, as is -vulgarly be- 
 lieved, or any fecret Coadjutor, and fome flick not to name him. And again in 
 the fourth Section (a), Whether the King, or Houficld Rhetorician ; and af- 
 terwards in the fame Section (b), upon the Word Demagogue, 'lis bcliev'd 
 this Wording was above his known Stile and Orthographic, and accufes the whole 
 Compofure to be confcious of fome other Author. And again in the eighth 
 Section, concerning the Fate of the Hothams (c), So like the Quibbles of a 
 Court Sermon, that we may fafely reckon them either fetcht from fuch a Pattern, 
 cr that the Hand of 'fome Houjliold Prieft foijled them in. Notwithstanding 
 this, in a great many other Places he owns the Book to be the King's ; and 
 when he quotes Pafiages out of it, he generally ufes thefe Exprcfhons, The 
 King's own Language, his own Words, his own Tejlimony, his Apborifm, bis 
 own Rule, the Difcourfes of a Prince, the Reafon by himfelf fet dcv. n, ccc. 
 Befides, in his Pro Populo Anglicano Defenfio (d), printed in 1651 •, and in his 
 Dcfenjio fecunda (c), printed in 1654, he refers to it as the King's Work ; 
 as he does likewife in his Ready and eafy Way to efiablifh a free Common- 
 wealth, publifh'd in 1 659, where he hath thefe Words, Epifcopacy, which 
 no Son of Charles returning but will certainly bring back with him, if he regard 
 the loft and ftricleft Charge of his Father : and then quotes the very Words 
 out of the Chapter to the Prince, and prints them in Italic Character. 
 
 But the Controverfy concerning the real Author of the Icon, began firft in 
 the Year 1686, on occafion of a Memorandum, faid to be found by Mr. 
 Millingtcn the Auctioneer in a vacant Page of a printed Copy of that Book, 
 
 and 
 
 (a) Page zS. Edit. 1649. gutiis & verborum Lenociniis pcpulo fe vendi 
 
 (b) P. 36. (c) P. 72. tantem redarguit atque fummovit. 
 
 (d) Quamque facili negotio nuper unus de (e) Jampridem Carolus hoc inter alia Prse- 
 multis, ipi'umRegem velut ab inferis refurgen- cepta Filio mandaverat in il.a Icone Bafdid^ 
 tern, inque illo Libro pod mortem edito novis ar- CSV.
 
 APPENDIX to the Life of Milt on. Ixv 
 
 and fuppofed to be written by the Earl of Angle 'fey' 's own Hand ; which Me- 
 morandum was in thefe Words : 
 
 MEMORANDUM. 
 " King Charles the Second, and the Duke of York, did both (in the Jail: 
 " Seflion of Parliament 1675, when I fhew'd them, in the Lords Lloufe, 
 " the written Copy of this Book, wherein are fome Corrections, written 
 " with the late King Charles the Firft's own Hand) affure me, that this was 
 " none of the faid King's compiling, but made by Dr. Gauden, Bifhop of 
 " Exeter ; which I here infert for the undeceiving others in this Point, by 
 " attefting fo much under my Hand, 
 
 " ANGLESEY. " 
 
 This occafioning a great deal of Converfation upon the Subject, fome Per- 
 fons applied themfelves to Dr. Anthony Walker, Rector of Fyfield m Effex, 
 who had been Curate to Dr. Gauden at Backing in that County, and were af- 
 fur'd by him, that Dr. Gauden was really the Author of*Eixwv B^iAict. This 
 Point afterwards came to be difcufs'd in Print, in feveral Pamphlets, of which 
 I fhall give a Detail. The firft was intitled, A Letter from Major-General 
 Ludlow to Sir E. S. [Edward Seymour] comparing the Tyranny of the firft 
 four Years of King Charles the Martyr, with the Tyranny of the four Years 
 Reign of the late abdicated King, occafiorfd by the reading Dotlor PellingV 
 lewd Harangues upon the 30th of January, being the Anniverfary or general 
 Madding Day. Amfterdam, printed Anno Domini i6gi, pagg. 28, in 4to. This 
 was anfwer'd in A Defence of King Charles I. eccafion'd by the Lyes and Scandals 
 of many bad Men of this Age. By Richard Hollingworth, D. D. their Majefties 
 Chaplain, at St. Botolph Aldgate, London. London 1692, in 4to. Pagg. 40. 
 In this Piece Dr. Hollingworth having reflected upon Dr. Anthony Wal- 
 ker, abovementioned, for having reported, that Dr. Gauden was Author 
 of"E«xu'v Bxo-iXixii ; Dr. Walker wrote A true Account of the Author of a Book 
 entituled "Eiy.w BxtriXixri ; or, The Pourtraiture of his facred Majefty in his So- 
 litudes and Sufferings. With an Anfwer to all Objections made by Dr. Hol- 
 lingworth and others, in Defence of the faid Book. Publifhed for pullick Sa~ 
 tisfatlion, and in Vindication of the Author hereof. London, 1692, in 4to. 
 Pagg. 37. At the End of it is this Advertifement ; " The Reverend Au- 
 " thor, Dr. Anthony Walker, coming to London to publifh this Treatife, it 
 " pleafcd God, before it was finiuYd at the Prefs, to take him to himfelf. 
 " But for the Satisfaction of any that are doubtful herein, there are feveral 
 " credible Perfons, that can teftify the Truth hereof ; and the Manufcript 
 " Copy, under the Doctor's own Hand, will evidence the fame." Dr. Hol- 
 lingworth replied to this in a Piece, intitled, A Defence of King Charles 
 the Firft's holy and divine Book againft the rude and undutiful s/Jfaults of 
 the late Dr. Walker of Effex. London, 1692, in 4to. Pagg. 27. The 
 fame Year was publifhed a Pamphlet, intitled, A Letter from General 
 Ludlow to Dr. Hollingworth, their Majefties Chaplain, at St. Botolph Aid- 
 gate. Defending his former Letter to Sir E. S. which compared the Tyranny 
 of the firft four Years of King Charles the Martyr, with the Tyranny of the 
 four Years of the late abdicated King ; and vindicating the Parliament, which 
 began in November 1 640. Occafioncd by the Lyes and Scandals of many bad 
 Men of this Age. Amfterdam 1692, in 4to, Pagg 70. Dated at Amfter- 
 dam, January 30th, 1691-2. Upon this Dr. Hollingworth publifhed A fe~ 
 cond Defence of King Charles I. By way of Reply to an infamous Libel, called 
 Ludlow's Letter to Dr. Hollingworth. London, 1692, in 4to, Pagg. 53. 
 with a Poftfcript of two Pages. Soon after this there appeared a Pamphlet 
 intitled, Ludlow no Lyar ; or a DeteSion of Dr. HollingworthV Dijingenuity 
 in his fecond Defence of King Charles I. and a further Vindication of the Par- 
 liament of the ^d of November 1640. With exacl Copies of the Pope's Letter 
 to King Charles the Firft, and of his Anfwer to the Pope. In a Letter from 
 General Ludlow to Dr. Hollingworth. Together with a Reply to thefalfe and 
 malicious Affertions in the Dotlor' s lewd Pamphlet, entituled, His Defence of 
 the King's Holy and Divine Book, againft the rude and undutiful AfTaults 
 of the late Dr. Walker of Effex. Amfterdam, 1692, in 4to. Dated at Ge- 
 neva, May 29th, 169?.. The fame Year Dr. Hollingworth published The, 
 
 Vol. I. r Cta \k
 
 Ixvj APPENDIX to 
 
 Character of King Charles I, from the Declaration of Mr. Alexander Hender- 
 fon, (principal Minifter of the Word of God at Edinburgh, and chief Commif- 
 fioner from the Kirk of Scotland, to the Parliament and Synod of England) up- 
 on his Death-bed. With a fartherDefenceof the King's Holy Dock. To which is an- 
 nex% fome fhort Remarks upon a vile Book, called, Ludlow no Lyar. With a 
 Defence of the King from the Irifh Rebellion. London, 1692, in -fto. Pagg. 28. 
 This occafion'd the following Pamphlet ; Truth brought to Light : Or the 
 grofs Forgeries of Dr. Hollingworth in his Pamphlet, intituled, The Cha- 
 racter of King Charles the Firft, from the Declaration of Mr. Alexander Hen- 
 derfon, &c. detetled. Being a Vindication of Mr. Henderfon and Dr. Walker 
 from the Aid gate Chaplain's vile Scandals. To which is annex* d, A man: f ft 
 Proof, that Dr. Gauden {not King Charles I.; was the Author of Icon Bafilike, 
 by a late happy Difcovery of his Original Papers upon that Occafion. In a Let- 
 ter from Lieutenant General Ludlow to Dr. Hollingworth. London, 1693, 
 in 4to.Pagg. 40. The fame Year Thomas Long, B. D. Prebendary of Exeter, 
 publifh'd a Piece, intituled, Dr. Walker\f true, modeft, and faithful Account of 
 the Author of ElKIiN BAZIAIKH ftrifily examined, and demenftrated to be 
 falfe, impudent and deceitful. In two Parts: The firft di [proving it to be Dr. 
 Gauden'j ; the fecond proving it to be King Charles the Firft' s. London, 1693, 
 in 4to. Pacg. 57. And Mr. Thomas Wagftaffe publifh'd, without his Name, A 
 Vindication of King Charles the Martyr, proving that his Majcfty ivas the Au- 
 thor of "Eixuv BxctXixf,, againft a Memorandum faid to be written by the Earl 
 r/Anglefey, and againft the Exceptions of Dr. Walker, and others. London, 
 1693, in 8vo. This was reprinted with Additions at London, 1697, in 8vo. 
 In 1698, Mr. Tcland'm his Life of Milton, endeavour'd to fhew, that King 
 Charles was not the Author of that Book ; which AfTertion he further urg'd 
 againft Mr. Wagflaffe's Vindication, in his Amyntor, or a Defence of Milton'* 
 Life, printed at London, 1699, in 8vo. This occafion'd Mr. Wagftaffe to 
 publifh A Defence of the Vindication of King Charles the Martyr, juftifying 
 his Majefiy's Title to "Eixwv Bzo-iAixii. In Anfwer to a late Pamphlet, intitled, 
 Amyntor. By the Author of the V indication. London, 1699, in 4to, 
 Pagg. 96. There was alfo publifh'd on the fame Side, Several Evi- 
 dences which have not yet appeared in the Controverfy, concerning, the 
 Author o/EIKON BASILIKE ; produced in a Letter to the 
 Rev. Mr. Wagftaffe. By J. Y. [Young] of Plymouth. In 171 1, Mr. 
 Wagftaffe publifhed a third Edition of his Vindication, with large Additions, 
 and prefix'd to it A Preface, wherein the bold and infolent After tions publiftjed 
 in a Paffage of Mr. Bayle'j Diclionary, relating to the prefent Controvcrfy, 
 are examined and confuted. Together with fome original Letters of King 
 Charles I. tinder his own Hand, never before printed, and faithfully copied from 
 the [aid Originals. 
 
 The Evidence urg'd againft the King's being the Author of the Book 
 
 in queftion, is the Earl of Ang'efey's Memorandum above-mentioned, 
 
 and the Authority of Dr. Anthony Walker, who declares, 1. That 
 
 " Dr. Gauden fome time before the whole was finifh'd, acquainted him 
 
 •' with his Defign, and fhew'd him the Heads of divers Chapters, and 
 
 " fome of the Difcourfes written of them ; and after fome time fpent in the 
 
 " Perufal, he afked his Opinion concerning it ; and he (Dr. Walker) told 
 
 " him, he fuppofed it would be for the King's Reputation, but he expreflv 
 
 " added, he ftuck at the Lawfulnefs of it, and afk'd him how he latisfied 
 
 " himfelf fo to impofe upon the World. To which Dr. Gauden replied, 
 
 " look on the Title ; 'tis the Pourtraiture, &c. and .10 Man draws his awn 
 
 " Pifture, &c. That he perfectly remember'd, that Dr. Gsudtn told him, that 
 
 " by thefe Words in the fecond Chapter of the Death of the Earl of Strafford, 
 
 *' He only hath been leaft vexed by them, who cour. felled me not to cenfent againft 
 
 " the vote of my Confcience, he meant the then Biinop of London, Dr. Juxon 
 
 " (/). 2. That being both in London, in an afternoon Dr. Gauden alk'd him 
 
 " to walk with him to a Friend, and in the going told him, he was goir^ 
 
 " to the Bifhop of Salifbury, Dr. Duppa, . (whom he had acquainted with his 
 
 " Dehgn) to fetch what he had left with his Lordfhip to l-e perufed, or to 
 
 <; fhew him what he had farther written. That Dr. Gauden defir'd him, 
 
 " after a general Converf.ticn to withdraw,which he diJ-, and that upon their 
 
 " return Dr. Gauden laid to him, that my Lord of Salifbury told him, there 
 
 " were 
 Walkefi true Account, p 4.
 
 the Life of M i L T o N. Ixvii 
 
 " were two Subjects more he wifh'd he had thought on, and propounded 
 " them, viz. the Ordinance againft the Common-Prayer, and the denying his 
 " Majefty the Attendance of his Chaplains ; and defir'd him to write two 
 " Chapters upon them ■, which the Bifhop recali'd, and defir'd him to finifh 
 " what remain'd, and leave thofe to him ; and that Dr. Gauden did not pre- 
 " tend to have written thofe, as he did to have done all the reft (g)". 3. 
 That upon Dr. WalkerV a/king Dr. Gauden {after the King was murder d) whe- 
 ther the King had ever fcen the Book, Dr. Gauden anfwer'd, I know it cer- 
 tainly no more than you, but I us'd my beft Endeavours that he might ; for I 
 delivered a Copy of it to the Marquifs of Hertford, when he went to the Treaty 
 at the Ifle of Wight, and intreated his Lordflnp, if he could obtain any private 
 Opportunity, he would deliver it to his Majefty, and humbly dtfire to know his 
 Majefty s Pleafure concerning it. But the Violence, which threatned the King, 
 haftnin^ fo fajl, he ventured to print it, and never knew what was the IJfue 
 of fending it ; for when the thing was done, he judg'd it not prudent to make 
 farther Noife about it by enquiry. 4. Dr. Walker afking him, (for we feldom, 
 -fays he, were in private but fomewhat was difcourfed of this Book, even to the 
 lajl time I faw him, after he was Lord Biftoop of Worcefter elcEi) whether 
 King Charles II. knew that he wrote it ? he anfwer'd, / cannot pofitively and 
 certainly fay he doth, becaufe he was never pleafed to take exprefs notice of it 
 to me ; but I take it for granted he doth, for I am fure the Duke of York 
 doth, for he hath fpoken of it to me, and own'd it as a feafonable and accepta- 
 ble Service ; and he knowing it, I queftion not but the King alfo doth. 5. 
 Mrs. Gauden the Doctor's Wife, Mr. Gifford and Dr. Walker, believed it as 
 much as they could believe any thing, and were as much affured of it as 'tis 
 poffible they could be of any Matter of Fail (h). 6. Dr. Gauden deliver' d to 
 him with his own Hand what was laft fent up, {after part was printed, or at 
 leaji in Mr. Royfton'^ hand to be printed) and after he bad fhewed it him, and 
 feakd it up, gave himftriH caution to deliver it -, which he did on Saturday De- 
 cember 23, 1648, in the Evening,according to direclionjo one Peacock (Brother 
 to Dr. Gauden's Steward or Bailiff, fome time before deceafed) who was in- 
 ftrucled by what hands to deliver it to Mr. Royfton ; and in the fame manner 
 after the Impreffwn was finiftj'd, he received fix Books by the Hand of Peacock, 
 as an Acknowledgment ; and one of them he hath ftill by him (*). To thefe 
 Particulars Dr. Walker adds {k), that the Reafon why the Covenant is more 
 t.ivourably mention'd in "Eihmu Baa-iAoc-i than the King or any other of his 
 Party would do, was, becaufe Dr. Gauden himfelf had taken it ; that in the 
 devotional part of the Book, there occur fevcral Exprefiions, which were ha- 
 bitual to Dr. Gauden in his Prayers ; and that to his knowledge it was Dr. 
 Gauden, who made that Collection of Sentences out of it, intitled Apotheg- 
 mata Caroliniana. 
 
 This Evidence in behalf of Bifhop Gauden fupported by fome Pa- 
 pers, faid to be in the hands of Mr. Arthur North, a Merchant, living on 
 Tower-Hill, which Papers are faid to be fent by Mrs. Gauden, the Bifhop's 
 Wife, to her Son Mr. John Gauden ; after whofe Death they came into the 
 hands of Mr. Charles Gauden, and after hi3 Death, to Mr. North. Amongft 
 thefe Papers there is faid to be (/), A Letter from Sir Edward Nicholas, 
 Secretary of State, dated in January 1 660, to Dr. Gauden, then Bifhop of 
 Exeter, wherein the Secretary tells him, that he wrote by the King's 
 Command, to acquaint him, that his Majefty had received his Letter •, that 
 lie had him in his Thoughts •, and that he fhould not have long Caufe to com- 
 plain of his Removal from Booking. 2. A Copy of a Letter from the Bi- 
 fhop to the Lord Chancellor Hyde, dated December 28th, 1 66 r , and a Copy 
 of a Petition to the King, written by the Bifhop's own Hand •, in which he 
 rcprefents what Hazards he had run of Life and Eftate, and what great Ad- 
 vantage had accrued to the Crown by his Service •, that what he had done 
 was/cr the comforting and encouraging of the King's Friends, expofing his Ene- 
 mies', &c. and that what was done like a King, Jhould have a King-like Retri- 
 bute/!, j. A Copy of a Letter from the Bifhop to the Duke of York, da- 
 3 ted 
 
 (?) Ibid. p. 4. ;. (h) Ibid. p. 5. (i) Ibid p. 5, 6. (k) p. 7. (I) Truth 
 brought en Light) p 36 & fec^. x
 
 kvifi APPENDIX to 
 
 ted 17 Jan. i66i,ftrongly urging the great Service he had done, and impor- 
 tunately begging his Royal Highnefs to intercede for him with the King. 4, 
 An original Letter from the Lord Chancellor Hyde to the Bifhop, dated 
 March 13th, 1661, importing, that the Chancellor had received feveral 
 Letters from him; and that he was uneafy under the Bifhop's Importunity, 
 excufing his not being yet able to ferve him, and mentioning a Commendam 
 to his Bifhopric; and towards the Clofe there is this ExprelTion, The Parti- 
 cular you mention has indeed been imparted to me as a Secret: lam forry I 
 ever knew it ; and when it ceafes to be a Secret, it will pleafe none but Mr. 
 Milton. 5. An Original Letter of Mrs. Gauden to her Son Mr. John Gau~ 
 den, after the Death of her Hufband ; in which fhe fpeaks of the Baok com- 
 monly called the King's Book, and calls it the Jewel ; and tells her Son, that 
 her Hufband hoped to make a Fortune by it ; and wonders it lhould be doubt- 
 ed whether her Hufband wrote it ; but fays, thatJJje has a Letter of a very great 
 Man, which will clear if up. 6. A long Narrative of Mrs. Gauden's Hand- 
 writing •, fhewing, that her Hufband wrote the Book ; which fhe fent to her 
 Son with the Letter, wherein fhe fays fhe had fent it, that fhe might be a 
 Clavis to him. This Narrative fets forth, " That after her Hufband had wrote 
 " the Book, he fhew'd it to the Lord Capel, who approved of it, and was for 
 " the printing of it •, but wifh'd the King might have a fight of it. That im- 
 " mediately after an Opportunity was taken to convey it to his Majefty by the 
 " Lord Marquis of Hertford, when he went to the Treaty at the Ifle of 
 " Wight. That the Marquis, after his Return from thence, told her Hufband 
 " that he gave the Book to the King ; and his Majefty did well like it ; but 
 *' was for putting it out, not as his own, but another's. But it being urg'd, 
 " that Cromwell and others of the Army having got a great Reputation with 
 " the People for Parts and Piety, it would do belt, to be in the King's Name j 
 " his Majefty took time to confider of it. That the Marquis told her Huf- 
 " band, that he knew not what was become of the Papers, and faid, God 
 " knows what will become of the King. That her Hufband not hearing 
 " the King's Pleafure about it, and finding Danger haftening on him, he ha- 
 " ving kept a Copy by him, fent it by one Mr. Simmons, a perfecuted Mi- 
 " nifter, to the Prefs, together with a Letter. That Mr. Royftcn was the 
 " Printer, but did not know but that the King wrote it. That part of it was 
 " feiz'd in the Prefs, together with her Huiband's Letter, and Mr. Simmons 
 " was taken. Neverthelefs the Work was carried on, and finifh'd a few Days 
 " after his Majefty's Death. That when it was publifhed, the Parliament 
 " was enraged, and infinitely follicitous to find out the Author, and they 
 " took that very Manufcript which her Hufband had fent to his Majefty, 
 " and faw that it was none of his Majefty's Hand- writing ; and they r.ppoin- 
 " ted a Committee to examine the Bufinefs ; and her Hufband conceiving his 
 " Life and Eftate in danger, fled to Sir John Wentwortb's near larmouth, 
 " intending thence to pafs the Seas •, but Mr. Simmons falling fick, and dying 
 " foon after, not having been examined, and it not being difcovered, that 
 " her Hufband was concern'd in it (the Letter, which had been taken, having 
 " no Name to it) he alter'd his Purpofe, and return'd home. That there 
 " was an Epiftle at firft intended. That the firft Title was Sufpiria Rega- 
 " lia, but chang'd to Icon Bafilike ; and that there were two Chapters 
 " added. That the Marquis of Hertford, the Lord Capel, Bifhop Duppa, 
 " and Dr. Morley, were at firft the only Perfons privy to it. That after 
 " the King's Reftoration, Dr. Morley told her Hufband, that his Merit was 
 " fuch, that he could afk nothing but he would receive it. That Bifliop 
 " Duppa of Winchefter being very fick, her Hufband went to the King, and 
 " acquainted him, that he was the Author of the Book ; and for the Truth 
 " thereof appealed to Bifhop "Duppa his Majefty's Tutor, who was yet liv- 
 " ing ; and made an Apology for printing it without his Majefty's Father's 
 " Order, or his ; but pleaded the Circumftance of Time, and the King's 
 " Danger. That his Majefty told her Hufband, that till then he never 
 " knew, that he wrote it ; but thought it was his Father's ; yet wonder'd 
 " how he could have Time ; and obferv'd, that it was wrote like a Scholar, 
 " as well as like a King ; and laid, that if it had been publifhed foofler, it 
 " might have fav'd his i ather's Life. That at the fame time the King gave 
 
 " him
 
 cc 
 
 the Life o/Milto n. lxix 
 
 him a Promifeofthe Bifhopric of Wincheftcr. That he afterwards ac- 
 ' quainted the Duke of Fork, that he was the Author of that Book, which 
 " went under his Father's Name j and that the Duke anfwered, he had 
 " thought that his Father wrote it. That her Hufband then told his High- 
 " nefs, that the King had promis'd him the Bifhopric of Winchefter ; and 
 " that his Highnefs aflur'd him of his Favour. That Bifhop Duppa dying, 
 " her Hufband applied to the King upon his Promife ; but Dr. Morley, who 
 " had told her Hufband, that he might have what he would afk, got it, and 
 " her Hufband was made Bifhop of Worcefter; but having enjoy'd it but about 
 " half a Year, fell fick and died. That fhe petition'd the King, fetting 
 " forth, That her Hufband left her a Widow, with four Sons and a Daugh- 
 ''• ter •, that it coft her Hufband 200 /. to remove from Exeter to Worcefter % 
 " and pray'd his Majefty to beftow the half Year's Rents upon her ; which 
 *' he denied, and gave them to another." 
 
 I proceed now to ftate the Evidence on the other fide of the Queftion, iri 
 favour of King Charles I. 
 
 With regard to the Memorandum, it is obferv'd (m), I. That both King 
 Charles II. and James II. have attefted the contrary to what is afferted in the 
 Memorandum, by their Letters Patents to Mr. Royfton, granting him the fole 
 Privilege to print all the Works of King Charles I. Thofe of King Charles 
 II. bear date November 29th, 1660, and exprefly mention the Fidelity of Mr. 
 Royfton to King Charles I. and to himfelf, and in thefe remarkable Words : 
 In printing and publijhing many Meffages and Papers of our /aid blejjed Father, 
 efpecially thofe moft excellent Difcourfes and Soliloquies by the Name of "Eixmi 
 Bao-tAtxn. Thofe of King James II. bear date February 22d, 1685, and ex- 
 prefly refer to the firft Edition of the King's Works in 1662, in which his 
 Majefty declares, That all the Works of his Royal Father were colletled and 
 publifhed. 
 
 II. The Memorandum bears no Date, with refpecr. to the exact Time, when 
 the King and the Duke gave the Lord Anglefey this Aflurance. It fays in- 
 deed, in the loft Sejfion of Parliament, 1675. But this is exprefs'd very am- 
 biguoufly •, and the Queftion is, Whether by laft Sejfion the Memorandum 
 means the laft before the writing the Memorandum, or with refpect to it ; or 
 the laft Sejfion of the Year. If the laft with refpect to the writing of the 
 Memorandum, then we are not directed by the Memorandum, when that Sef- 
 fion was ; for it felf having no date, v/e have no poffible Means to know the 
 time of that Sejfion. And as it gives us no determinate time, when thofe 
 Words were fpoken, fo likewife has it no Date, when the Memorandum it 
 felf was written. It is penn'd, as if there was a Fear of having it difprov'd. 
 Had the Day been nam'd, when the King and the Duke of York had faid 
 this, perhaps by fome unlucky Circumftance or other it might have ap- 
 pear'd, that one or both of them together (which was very rare) were not at 
 the Houfe that Day. Had the Memorandum been punctually dated, fome- 
 thing might have happen'd to have prov'd, that the Earl of Anglefey was at 
 that time travelling, or in the Country from his Study, or otherwife unlikelv 
 to have made fuch a Memorandum at that time (n). 
 
 III. It is unattefted by any Witnefs, and (as the Cafe ftands) it is impof- 
 fible it fhould be, except there were one or more Perfons, who faw the Earl 
 of Anglefey write or fign it (0). 
 
 IV. It was the moft improbable and unlikely Courfe, which could be taken, 
 to anfwer thofe Ends mention'd in the Memorandum, viz. for the undeceiving 
 cf others, to lodge it in a vacant Page of a Book, never to be ken 'till after 
 the Earl's Death, and then liable to a thoufand Contingencies, to be torn, to 
 fall into private Hands, to Jie neglected, and never fee the Light (p). 
 
 V. The Memorandum afferts, that the Earl fhew'd the King and the Duke 
 the written Copy of this Book. Nof is it not wonderful, that his Lord- 
 fhip fhould not infert this Memorandum in that very Manufcript, which 
 he fhew'd to thenij but go and fearch in his Study for another Book 
 to place it in ? In the mean time it deferves Enquiry, Whether the 
 Earl had fuch a Manufcript of the rf E»c«» ? If he had not, the Memoran- 
 
 Voi. I. £ dum 
 
 (m) V/ a ?Jlaffe% Vindication of King Charles, 3d Edit. p. 4. (n) Id p. 7, S, 9. 
 
 (0) Id. p. 9, 10. (p) Id, p. 10, !i.
 
 lxx APPENDIX^ 
 
 dum is at an end •, if he had, the Memorandum tells us, that there were in it 
 Corrections written with King Charles the Firji's own Hand. Then the Quef- 
 tion is, Was the printed Book according to thole Corrections, or not ? If ac- 
 cording to the Corrections, then Dr. Gauden's Title is at an end •, for ail the 
 Narratives and Accounts of that fide fay, that it was printed by a Copy, 
 which the King never faw. If not according to thole Corrections, then that 
 Manufcript fhew'd to the King in the Houfe could not properly be laid to 
 be a Copy of that printed Book, in which the JWemorandum was written, be- 
 caufe thofe Corrections ought to have been excepted (q). 
 
 VI. There is reafon to believe, that there never was fuch a Manufcript, 
 and confequently no fuch Memorandum, but that they were both fcrg'd at the 
 fame Anvil -, becaufe, 
 
 i . Mr. Millington, tho' he often pretended that he had it, and promis'd to 
 fhew it to Mr. Wagftaffe, always refus'd it, when Mr. Wagftaffe waited up- 
 on him for that purpofe. 
 
 2. Lord Altham, the Earl of Angle fey's Son, inform'd Mr. Wagftaffe in 
 a Letter, " That he had fent to Mr. Millington, and defir'd a Sight of the 
 " Memorandum, which Millington refus'd to fend, but promis'd to bring it 
 " himfelf, either that or the next Day -, but he never came, fo that his Lord- 
 " fhip could fay nothing as to the Hand- writing ; but if he may be allowed 
 " to judge of the Memorandum by the confus'd manner, in which it is ex- 
 " prefs'd, clogg'd with Parenthefes, he mould not think it was penn'd by 
 " my Lord Anglefey, who was always obferv'd to have a great Happinefs in 
 " expreffing himfelf eafily and plainly. And he looks upon it to be no more 
 " his Father's Memorandum than Pamela's Prayer was the King's, but both 
 " alike forg'd ; becaufe neither himfelf, nor any of the Family that he knows 
 '* of, ever heard his Father queftion the King's being- the Author, or fay any 
 " thing contained in the' Memorandum. And as to the Manufcript, which the 
 " Memorandum refers to, he had oftentimes the Keys of his Father's Library, 
 " and Liberty to perufe what Books he pleafed-, but he never faw fuch a Ma- 
 " nufcript, nor doth he know that my Lord Anglefey ever had fuch a Manu- 
 " fcript." In a fecond Letter the Lord Altham declar'd, That he had been turning 
 over his Father's Papers, amongft which he found a Parliament-Diary,^;. 
 by himfelf, and relating particularly to himfelf, of that Tear the Memo- 
 randum refers to ; in which there are many things of far lefs Confequence, and 
 particularly fome things the King faid to him in that Houfe, but not one Syllable 
 of what is exprefs'd in the Memorandum (r). The Lord Altham had fre- 
 quently and viva voce declar'd all the fame Matters (except what relates to the 
 Parliament -Diary) to feveral Perfons (/"). 
 
 VII. The Writers on the other fide reckon as a remarkable Piece of Pro- 
 vidence, the cafual finding of this Memorandum. Dr. Walker fays (t), that 
 Millington cafually opening the Book upon the Sale ; and Mr. Toland writes (u), 
 that Millington putting up an Icon, an J a few bidding very low for it, he had 
 leifure to turn over the Leaves, when to his great furprize he perceiv'd the 
 Memorandum. Now, this is a grofs Falihood, fince long before the Auction 
 of the Lord Angle fey% Library, Millington carried the Book about with him 
 in his Pocket, and fhew'd it to feveral Perfons. And it feems extremely 
 fufpicious, that he fhould take this particular Book from the whole Library, 
 into his own private keeping, diftinct from the reft, and carry it about in his 
 Pocket for a considerable time ; and when he fold the Book, he tore the Leaf, 
 on which the Memorandum was written, and kept it ever after, that no body 
 could fee it without his Licence and Prefence (■::). 
 
 VIII. There is no Appearance, nor fo much as Prefumption, that the two 
 Royal Brothers ever faid what is contain'd in the Memorandum to any o- 
 ther Perfon (x). 
 
 IX. Dr. James Canaries, in a Letter dated at Abingdon in Berks, July ij, 
 1695, writes, that his Father was alTur'd by Mr. James Wood, one of the 
 Minifters of St. Andrews, and Provoft or Principal of the Old College in that 
 
 Univcr- 
 (q ) Id p. 11. iz. concerning the Author of *eikuv Tiaat 
 
 (r) Id. p. 12,13,14- F- "• (0 P 3' 
 
 (/) Young's leveral Evidences, which (*) Amyntor, p. 80. 
 
 have no: vet appeared in the Controvsrfy (<w ) Wagftaffe, p. 15, 16 
 
 (*) "■ P
 
 the Life o/Milto n. Ixxi 
 
 Univerfity, and one of the Commiihoners from Scotland to King Charles \\. 
 at Breda, in 1650, " That when he waited upon the King there, his Ma- 
 " jefty began a Difcourfe about his Father's Book, fevera! Perfo:is of 
 ** Quality being prefeht; and aftc le Talk he turn'd to Mr. Wood, and 
 
 " faid to him, Mr. Wood, I hear that J iber 
 
 " was not the Author of that Book. But it is r 
 
 " who have been fo injurious to him upon all other refpefts, Jhould not fpare 
 ** bis Memory in an Affair of this nature. However, 1 will 
 " great a Calum this is. Whereupon the King took Mr. Wood into his 
 " Clofet with him, and there he fhew'd him the whole Book written all in 
 " his Father's Hand, together with a Letter from his Father concerning it 
 " to him. Then the King faid, But, Mr. Wood, that you may not entertain 
 " any Scruple about tie Hand, here are fever al of my Father's Letters to me, 
 " all written in his own Hand ; , and compare the Hands to- 
 
 " getber. So Mr. Wood compar'd the Hands, and then laid to the King, 
 " that he was fully convine'd, that the Book and the Letter about it, were 
 " all written in his Father's Hand. Upon which the King faid to him, 
 " Now Mr. Wood, / appeal to you, whether or not my Father would have 
 " ever written over a Book that was not his own, and have _ : fitch a 
 " Letter to me about it ? " Mr. Wood upon his Return to Scotland, told Dr. 
 Canaries's Father the whole Paffage, with all its Circumftances (y). 
 
 X. King Charles II. in a Letter dated at Beauvois, March 15th, 1650, to 
 Monfieur Teftard, a Protectant Minifter of Blois, who was at that time tranf* 
 lating "E;y-w BztnAtxj into French, ftiles it an incomparable Book compofed by the 
 late King our Father of glorious Memory (z). 
 
 XI. King James II. in his Letters to the Lords and others of the Privy 
 Council, to be communicated to the reft of the Nobility, the Lord Mayor 
 of London, &c. dated at St. Germains en Laye, January 14th, 1688-9, giving 
 the Reafons of his withdrawing, among others hath thefe Words : Together 
 with a ferious Reflection on a Saying of our Royal Father of bleffed Memory, 
 when he was in like Circumftances, That there is little Diftance between 
 the Prifons and the Graves of Princes, which afterwards prov'd too true in 
 his Cafe ; could not but perfuade us to make ufeof that, which the Law of Na- 
 ture gives to the meaneft, of freeing our /elves from Confinement and Reftraint. 
 Thefe Expreftions are in the 28 th and laft Chapter of this Book, and in 
 the firft Paragraph of that Chapter. Now this proves, in oppofition to the 
 Memorandum, that King James believ'd, that his Father was the Author of 
 that Book (a). 
 
 I fhall now exhibit the Evidence brought to fhew, that King Charles I. 
 and no other Perfon, was the Author of the Book. And this Evidence is of 
 two kinds, external, relating to outward Teftimonies ; and internal, drawn 
 from the Thing itfelf. 
 
 With regard to the external Evidence, I fhall confider what is faid in an- 
 fwer to the Atteftation of Dr. Walker, and the Evidence of the Papers i:i 
 the hands of Mr. North. 
 
 As for Dr. Walker's Account, I. All that is material in it, is refolv'd in- 
 to the Teftimonv of Dr. Gauden himfelf, viz. That Dr. Gauden acr.iainted 
 him with his Defign ; that Dr. Gauden told him the Difcourfe or the Bilhop of 
 Salijhury, iftc. 
 
 II. That which feems to be otherwife, is of no Validity at all ; becaufe, 
 1 . It only feems to be fomething more, but in truth is not. It i3 indeed ex- 
 prefs'd, as if Dr. Walker had given us ocular Teftimonv, that he had ken 
 the Heads and fome of the Difcourfes •, but this is very defective in a necef- 
 fary and material Point, and does not come up to any ftrict Evidence ; for 
 tho' he fays, that Dr. Gauden fhew'd him the Heads of divers Chapters, and 
 fome of the Difcourfes written of tkem, and fome Time being fpent in the per- 
 ufal ; yet that which fhould make this a Proof, that they were written by 
 Dr. Gauden, is altogether wanting ; which is, that they were written with 
 Dr. Gauden's own Hand. 
 
 3. About 
 (y) Id p :-, ifi (z) Id p. 19, zo, zi. (a) Id. p. zz, 23, 24.
 
 hxii APPENDIX to 
 
 2. About a Year and a little more before the publishing of his printed 
 Book, Dr. Walker gave an Account of his Knowledge concerning *£i*»v B*- 
 Wwa to Dr. Charles Goodall, Prefident of the College of Phyficians in Lon- 
 don, which deferves to be compar'd with his Book. For when Dr. Walker 
 gave that Teftimony, he pretended that it was the whole Knowledge that 
 he had, or that he could remember concerning the Icon. This Teilimony 
 •was given March 23d, 1 690-1, a little more than a Year before his 
 Book was publifh'd, probably not half a Year before it v. as compos'd. And 
 yet by comparing it with his other Account, we fhall perceive a very great 
 Difference between them -, and that there is not an entire Agreement in any 
 one of the Paragraphs, but there are either Alterations, or Addition-, or Sub- 
 tractions, or Contradiclions j of which Mr. Wagftaffe gives feveral Inftances, 
 with Obfervations upon them (b). With regard to the Contradictions, we 
 may remark, that Dr. Walker, in his Teftimony of March 23, 1690, writes 
 thus : Dr. Walker and Mr. Gifford were both privy to thofe Affairs, living to- 
 gether in the Bifiop's Houfe ; tho' the Doclor is uncertain, whether he ever read 
 this Book in Manufcript, or only Jaw it with its Title of the Chapters, tho' he 
 thinks that Mr. Giffard might copy it out. Now this is a flat Contradiction 
 to his printed Relation {c), that Dr. Gauden acquainted him, fome time before 
 the Whole was finiftid, with his De/ign, andfhew'dhimthe Heads of divers 
 Chapters, and fome of the Difcourfes written of them ; and after fome time 
 fpent in the pcrufal, he ajk'd his Opinion .concerning it. With regard like wife 
 to Mr. Giff'ord's being privy to the Affair of Dr. Gauden's writing the "Eiv.mu 
 Bzo-iAijw, there is Evidence to the contrary, viz. That he believ'd that Book 
 to be written by King Charles (d). Befides, what Credit is to be given to 
 Dr. Walker's Affeverations, will appear from hence, that in his Account, p. 8. 
 he writes thus : / am as fare as I can be of any thing, that D;-. Gauden made the 
 Extracl out of this Book, call'd Apothegmata Carolina •, and produces this 
 as a ftrong Reafon, that Dr. Gauden made the Book. Now this isabfolute- 
 Jy falfe ; for it was Dr. Hooker, who made that Extracl, the fame who cor- 
 rected "Eixt.ii/ Ba<riAix»i itfelf, when it was printed at Mr. Dugard's Prefs (e) ; 
 and Dr. Walker himfelf tells us, that the Apothegmata was printed by Du~ 
 gard. 
 
 Let us now confider the Papers in the hands of Mr. North, feveral Par- 
 ticulars of which Mr. Wagftaffe clearly confutes {f ). He remarks among 
 other things (g), with Regard to this Paflage in Lord Chancellor Hyde's Let- 
 ter, The Particular you mention has indeed been imparted to me as .; Secret : 
 I aM forry I ever knew it ; and when it ceafes to be a Secret, it will' pleafe 
 none but Mr. Milton ; that the Earl of Clarendon, Son of the Lord Chan- 
 cellor, inform'd him, in a Letter dated at Swallowfi 'eld, October 2 2d, 1694, 
 " That preparing to attend his Father in France, in the beginning of the 
 " Year 1674, his Lordfhip went firft to Farnham, to the lateBifhop oi'Win- 
 " ton [Dr. Morley] on the 14th of May ; and among feveral things his 
 " Lordfhip had in charge from the Bifhop to his Father, he bad him tell 
 " him, that the King had very ill People about him, who turn'd all things 
 '.' into Ridicule ; that they endeavour'd to bring him to have a mean Opi- 
 " nion of the King his Father, and to perfuade him that his Father was not 
 " the Author of the Book, which goes under his Name. And when (after 
 " his Lordfhip's Arrival in France,May 30th, 1674,) his Lordfhip had deli- 
 '* ver'd his Father thefe Particulars among others, to that concerning the 
 " Book, his Father reply'd, Good God! I thought the Marquis of Hertford had 
 " fatisfy'd the King in that Matter." From this Letter it appears, that the Lord 
 Chancellor Hyde did not himfelf believe, that any other Perfon was the Author of 
 that Book befides the King-, and that he was furprized, that any Perfon fhould go 
 about to perfuade the King, that his Father was not the Author of it. And this 
 being almoft thirteen Years after the Date of the former Letter from the Lord 
 Chancellor to Dr. Gauden, it is evident, that whatever may be the Meaning 
 of thefe Expreffions, the Secret that would pleafe none but Milton, they nei- 
 ther 
 (b) p. 29, & feq. (c) p. 4. (d) Dr. 43, 44. (f) p. 48. & fcq. (g) p. 4J , 
 Walker's Account examin'd. By Tho. Long, 46,47. 
 B. D. p. 6. (ej Id. p.|F. and W'ag/laffe, p.
 
 the Life o/Milton, lxxiii 
 
 ther do nor can mean the Secret of Dr. Gauden's being the Author of 
 that Book. 
 
 Mr. Wagftaffe likewife obferves (g), that with refpect to Dr. Gauden's Ser- 
 vices, which might be the Plea he made to the King, he did indeed write 
 and publifh two Books, the one a Proteftation againji the King's Death, prin- 
 ted for Mr. Royfton, dated Jan. 5, 1648 ; and another proving the Non-obligation 
 of the Covenant ; which might put him into the King's favour. And in truth it is 
 very probable, that the Protejlaticn was the only thing in which Dr. Gauden was 
 concerned ; and being printed by Mr. Royfton, and about the fame time, 
 might be the Occafion of all this Miftake, and might be the Book he gave 
 to the Marquis of Hertford, c5V. if any fuch thing was ever done. 
 
 He then tells us (b) t That the Whole of thefe Papers is finallv refolved in- 
 to the fingle Teftimbny of Dr. Gauden himfelf; and of what Confideration 
 that ought to be in this Cafe, will appear from thefe Particulars : 
 
 I. That a Man's own Evidence in his own Caufe labours under very great 
 Prejudices, efpecially when there is another Claim and Pretender in pofieflion 
 of the Thing in Controverfy. 
 
 II. It is always refus'd, when any Intereft or Advantage is to be reap'd 
 by it. Now it is remarkable, that Mrs. Gauden owns, that her Hufland ho- 
 ped to make a Fortune by it ; and thefe very Papers infinuate too much of an 
 ambitious and felfifh Temper in Dr. Gauden ; for they lay before us a very 
 ftrange and immodeft magnifying of his own Merits, and an immoderate De- 
 fire of Reward, and undue Solicitation for it. 
 
 III. Another thing, which would take off the Force of Dr. Gauden's Tefti- 
 mony in this Cafe, fuppofing that he ever attefted it, is the Immorality 
 and Infamy of the whole Practice, which muft be charged upon him on fuch 
 a Suppofition •, and that is, writing a Book in the King's Name, and therein 
 perfonating him in the Acts of Piety, Devotion and high Points of Confci- 
 ence ; which, whatever the End might be, in the fofteft Language, is firft 
 inventing a Fahhood, and then impofing it on the World, and (as thefe 
 Papers intimate) on the King too ; for they plainly tell us, he never had the 
 King's Confent (i). 
 
 Thefe Papers likewife contradict Dr. Walker's Account in direct Terms ; 
 and of thefe Contradictions, all of them in Matter of Fact, Mr. Wagftaffe gives 
 us thirteen Inftances (k). In Dr. Walker's Evidence, Dr. Gauden did not 
 certainly know, and no more than Dr. Walker himfelf whether King Charles I. 
 had ever feen the Book. But in Mrs. Gauden's Evidence, the Marquis of 
 Hertford told him, that he gave the Book to the King. In Dr. Walker's, He 
 never knew what was the lffue of fending it. But in Mrs. Gauden's, That the 
 King liked it well, but was for putting it out, not as his own, &c. In Dr. 
 Walker's, When the Thing was done, he judg'd it not prudent 10 make further 
 Noife about it by Enquiry ; nor was it neceflary for him to do fo, as Mrs. 
 Gauden reprefents it, when the Marquis had told him already, and by fuch a 
 remarkable Circumftance, that Cromwell, &c. having got a great Reputation 
 with the People for Parts and Piety, it would do bejl to be in the King's Name; 
 and his Majejly took time to confider of it. In Dr. Walker's Evidence, Dr. 
 Gauden could not pofttively and certainly fay, that King Charles II. knew that 
 he wrote it. But in Mrs. Gauden's, he told that King himfelf, that he was the 
 Author of it, and appealed to Bifoop Duppa for the Truth of it. In 
 Dr. Walker's he gave this as a Reafon why he could not pofitively fay it, 
 viz. becaufe the King was never fleas' d to take exprefs Notice of it to him. But 
 in Mrs. Gauden's, the King took exprefs Notice of it to him, and told him, 
 that till then he never knew that he wrote it, but thought it I: a I been his Fa- 
 ther's ; yet wondred how he cottb& have time, &c. and that had it been publijh'd 
 fooner, it might have faved his Father's Life. And all this by a very good 
 Token, that at the fame time the King promis'd him th: Bifoopric s/Wincheiler. 
 In Dr. Walker's, he collects the King's knowing it by Inference, and takes it 
 for granted, becaufe he is fure the Duke of York doth, and he knowing it, he 
 does not quejlion but the King alfo doth. But in Mrs. Gauden's, he acquainted 
 the King himfelf; and not only fo, but he acquainted the King firft, and the 
 
 Vol. I. t Duke 
 
 (s) P- 45» 46. (k) Defence of the Vindication, p. 53, 54, 
 
 (h) p. 56. 55, 56. 
 
 (') P 56, 57. 58.
 
 l*xiv APPENDIX to 
 
 DukeofiV* afterwards, as Mrs. Gauden exprefly declare?, that he afterwards 
 acquainted the Duke that he was the Author ; and by the fame Token, that he 
 then told his Highnefs, that the King promts' d him the Bifiopric c/Winchefter. 
 So that if it had not been faid fo exprefly, this telling the Duke mull: be 
 fubfequent to that Promife, which (as Mrs. Gauden fays) was at the fame 
 time that he told the King. And laftly, in Dr. FFalker's, the Reafon of Dr. 
 Gauden's Affurance that the Duke knew it, was, becaufe the Duke bad Jpsken 
 of it to him. But in Mrs. Gauden's, that he had acquainted the Duke himfelf. 
 In fhort, either Dr. Gauden told thefe Things reflectively to Dr. Walker and 
 Mrs. Gauden, or he did not •, if he did not, their Evidence is of no value ; 
 if he did, his own is of no value, as contradicting himfelf. 
 
 For a further Confirmation, we may add the Teftimony of Dr. Gauden 
 himfelf, when Bifhop of Exeter, who was often heard by Mr. Thomas Long, 
 Prebendary of that Church, to affirm, that he was fully convinc'd, that the 
 "Emm BixviMm was entirely the King's Work {I). And Mr. Gauden, a 
 Nephew of the Bifhop, in the Year 1694, expreffed his Indignation at the 
 bafe Dealing of fame Men, who would endeavour to rob the King of his Book, 
 and make his Uncle guilty of fo much Knavery as to ufurp it ; whereas he had 
 often and often heard his Uncle fay, that the King himjelf was the Author of .•'/, 
 andno body elfe ; and that of this he was well ajfur'd (ru). 
 
 What Title Dr. Gauden had to this Book, and that he was only a Tran- 
 fcriber of it, appears from a Letter of Mr. Le Pla, Minifter of Fincbingfield 
 in EJJex, to Dr. Goodalljdzted November 27th, 1696; in which he gives an 
 Account, that William Allen, formerly Servant to Dr. Gauden, affirmed to 
 him, " That Dr. Gauden told him, that he had borrowed the Book, and 
 " was obliged to return it by fuchatime. That (beliJes what other time 
 " he might employ in it) he fat up one whole Night to tranferibe it. And that 
 " himfelf fat up in the Chamber with the Doctor, to wait upon him, to 
 " make his Fires, and fnuff his Candles." And Mr. Le Pla thinks, 
 " That Allen faid, that the Book was borrowed of Mr. Symmons of 
 " Rayne." 
 
 That Mrs. Gauden herfelf had no fuch Notion of this Book, as the Nar- 
 rative and Dr. Walker afcribe to her, is evident from a Letter of Mr. Luke 
 Beaulteu, Prebendary of Gloucefter, to ~Dr.Goodall, dated May 30th, 1699, 
 wherein he writes (») ; " That Bifhop Gauden's Widow, at her Death, gave 
 " to one Mrs. Lamb many Parcels of Papers, written moft of them with her 
 " own Hand, with a Charge that they fhould be all burnt after her Deceafe, 
 " there being Verfes and other Compofuresof her own amongft thofe Papers, 
 " which flie defir'd might not out-live her. That Mrs. Lamb had been dead 
 *' feveral Years ; but her Hufband, who had been Alderman and Mayor of 
 " Gloucefter, and was then living, often declar'd to many, and to Mr. Beaulteu 
 " feveral times, that carting his eye on thefe Writings, which were by the 
 " Author devoted to the Flames, he faw the Life of Bifhop Gauden, written 
 " all of it by his Wife, and out of Curiofity took it and read it ; but there - 
 " in found no manner of mention of the Bifhop's having any hand in compo- 
 " fing King Charles's Meditations; tho', as Mr. Lamb judged, there was 
 " great Care taken to bring in all Circumftances of whatever the Bifhop had 
 " been, or had done, that might be for his Credit; about taking his Degrees, 
 " being Chaplain to the Lord of Warwick's Family, preaching before the 
 " Parliament, and being thereupon prefented with a 1'ankard bearing fuch 
 " an Infcription ; and many PafTages of the like nature, which makes it 
 " not probable, this vain Woman would have omitted the moft glorious 
 " of all his Achievements, had the Bifhop indeed had any Hand in that hea- 
 " venly Compofure, which is by fome afcribed to him. He himfelf is thought 
 " to be oftentatious enough ; and it appears he had acquainted his Wife with 
 " whatever could bring him Reputation." 
 
 ' There is one further Obfervation to be made upon the Whole ; which is, 
 that after the Publication of this Book, the Men in Power did all that was 
 poffible for them to do, to blaft and difcourage it, and us'd every Method to 
 fallen it upon any other Author. To this purpofe were feveral Committees 
 held, ftridt Examinations had, all Arts us'd, Threatnings denoune'd, and all 
 
 manner 
 (I) Dr. Walker's Account examined, by (m) Wagftaffe, p. 63. 
 
 Tho. Long, B. D. p. 4. (n) Id. p. 65, 66.
 
 the Life <?/Milton. J xxv 
 
 manner of Rewards promifed ; no Enticements of any kind were wanting 
 Great Sums of Money were proffer'd to Mr. Royfton ; great Rewards of hun- 
 dreds of Pounds to Mr. Simmons 's Widow, to own that the King was not the 
 Author. And yet, not one of the Perfons concerned in, or privy to this pre- 
 tended Secret, made the leaft Difcovery of it. 
 
 I mall now lay before the Reader the Evidence brought to prove the Kino- 
 to be the Author of the Book •, fome of which Teftimonies are fumm'd up 
 by Sir William Dugdale in thefe words (*). " I mail make it evident from the 
 " Teftimony of very credible Perfons yet living, that he had begun the pen- 
 " ning of them long before he went from Oxford to the Scots. For. the Manu- 
 " fcript itfelf, written with his own Hand, being found in his Cabinet, which 
 " was taken at Nafeby Fight, was reftored to him after he was brought to 
 « Hampton-Court, by the hand of Major Huntington, through the Favour of 
 « General Fairfax, of whom he obtain'd it •, and that whilft he was in the 
 i' Me of Wight, it was there feen frequently by Mr. Thomas Herbert, who 
 « then waited on his Majefty in his Bed- Chamber ; as alfo by Mr. William 
 « Level, a Page of the Back-Stairs, (the Title then prefix'd to it being Suf- 
 "piria Regalia,) who not only read feveral Parts thereof, but faw the Kino- 
 " divers times writing further on it. Add hereunto the Teftimony of Mr° 
 " Richard Royfton, a Bookfeller at the Angel in Ivy Lane; who having in 
 «' thofe rebellious times adventured to print divers of his Majefty's Declara- 
 " tions, Speeches, and Meflages ; about the beginning of October 1648, (the 
 " King being then in the lfle of Wight,) was fent to by his Majefty to pre- 
 " pare all things ready for the printing fome Papers, which he purpofed fhort- 
 " iy after to convey unto him ; which was this very Copy, brought to him 
 " on the 23d of December next following by one Mr. Edward Symmons, a 
 " reverend Divine, who receiv'd it from Dr. Brian Duppa, then Bifhop of Sa- 
 " UJbury, and afterwards of ' Winchefter. In the printing whereof Mr. Royfton 
 " made fuch fpeed, that it was finifhed before that difmal 30th of January, 
 " that his Majefty's Life was taken away." In this Summary there are four 
 confiderable Evidences, Major Huntington, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Levet, and Mr. 
 Royfton ; three of them directly to the thing, and Mr. Roy/Ion's fo circumftan- 
 tiated, as amounts very near to a direct Evidence. Major Huntington's Tef- 
 timony in particular is of the utmoft importance ; becaufe if it appears from 
 thence, that any of the Papers relating to the Icon were written before Nafeby 
 Fight, if they were then feiz'd, and recover'd afterwards, Dr. Gauden's Title 
 is extinct for ever, fince all on that fide affirm, that the Book was begun long 
 after that Fight, and that the King never faw it, till the Treaty at the lfle of 
 Wight ; which was at leaft three years after. In order therefore to fupport 
 the Major's Teftimony againft Dr. Walker's Exceptions, there are produe'd fe- 
 veral other weighty and valuable Teftimonies, attefting that the Major had 
 affirm'd the fame thing to feveral perfons, at feveral times, and upon feveral 
 Occafions: as 1. Of Richard Duke Efq; a Juftice of the Peace in Devon, in 
 a Letter to Dr. Goodall, dated June 15th, 1692 (0). 2. Of Mr. Cave Beck, a 
 Clergyman of Ipfwich in Suffolk, in a Letter to Dr. Hollingworth (p). 3. Of 
 Sir Paul JVbichcott, who declar'd, that he had often heard his Father Sir 
 Jeremy Whichcott tell, that he had the "Ehcwij BzmAixr fome time in his hands, 
 lent him by Major Huntington, and that he tranferibed about 17 Chapters, as 
 he would have done the whole, had not the Major been in hafte to re/lore it to 
 the King (q). 4. Of Dr. Robert Hall, Son to Bifhop Hall, attefted by Mr. 
 Lon% (r). 5. Of Mr. Rowney of Oxford, attefted by Dr. Byrom Eaton, Prin- 
 cipal of Gloucefter-Hall in Oxford (s). The Teftimony itfelf, which the Ma- 
 jor gave to Sir William Dugdale, was in thefe Words : As to the Eikon Bafi- 
 like, he faith, that after the King was brought to Hampton- Court, his Majef- 
 ty there acquainting him with the Lofs of that Book at Nafeby Fight, and de- 
 firing him to life his Intereft to regain it, he did apply bimfelf to General Fair- 
 fax', and iy his means obtained it ; it being bound up in a white Vellum Cover, 
 
 and 
 (n) Short View of the Troubles ir. Eng. (q) tVagftaffe, p. 72. 
 
 land, p. 380. (r) Dr. Walkers Account examin'd, by 
 
 (0) tt'agftaffe, p. 69, 70, 71. Tho?na: Long, B.D. p. 37. 
 
 (p) '. uortb's Charaftcr of King (s) Wagftaffe, p. 72, 73. 
 
 Charles 1. | ■ -
 
 lxxvi APPENDIX/o 
 
 and (as be well remembers) all the Chapters in it were written by the Hand of 
 Sir Edward Walker, but much corretled with Interlineations by the King's 
 own Handy the Prayers being all written with the King's ozvn Hand, whicl.\ 
 h>e fays, he knew fo to be (/). 
 
 That thefe Papers were taken at Nafeby, and afterwards reftor'd to the 
 King, is prov'd by a Variety of other Teftimonies, independent of Major 
 Huntington ; particularly of, 
 
 I. The Author of a Book intitled, The Princely Pelican : Royal Rfohes 
 prefented in fun dry choice Obfervations extracled from his Majefiy y s Meditations. 
 With fatisfatlory Reafons to the whole Kingdom, that his facred Perfon was the 
 only Author of them: Printed in 1649. 
 
 II. The Author of "Eixui; * mrv, printed the fame year, in ^to. 
 
 III. Mr. William Sanderfon, in his Hiftory of the Life and Reign of King 
 Charles, printed in 1658, p. 324. 
 
 IV. Dr. Perinchief, in his Life of King Charles I. who declares, that Arch- 
 bifhop Ufher declared to feveral Perfons of his acquaintance, that he was employed 
 by his Majefly to recover thefe Papers from the Enemy after the Battle of 
 Nafeby. 
 
 V. Dr. Gorge, atteft'ed by Bifhop Bull (u). 
 
 VI. Dr. Luke Eales a Phyfician of Welwyn in Hertfordfiire, who heard 
 the Earl of Manchcfter affirm, that when the King's Cabinet was taken at 
 Nafeby, he found in it, in loofe Papers, the "Eixwu B*cnAi>c>) written and inter- 
 lin'd with the King's own Hand («;). 
 
 VII. Mr. John Jones, who foon after the publication of the Tow, heard 
 Mr. Stroud, a Parliament Colonel, declare, that Mr. Prynne affiired him, 
 that after Nafeby Fight, he read feveral Chapters of that Book in the King's 
 own Hand (*•). 
 
 VIII. Mr. William Fofter ; whofe Mother heard Colonel Oakey declare, 
 that he had ken feveral Sheets of the Icon written with the King's own Hand, 
 which were taken at Nafeby (y). 
 
 IX. Mr. Thomas Herbert, afterwards Sir Thomas, who affirms, that the 
 Icon was at firft intitled by the King Sufpiria Regalia; and that his Majefty 
 gave him the original' Manufcript of it written with his own Hand (2). 
 
 X. Mr. William Levet, who faw the King feveral times write part of it, 
 read it often, and had the Charge of it, till he deliver'd it to the King at Hurfi 
 Cajlle (a}. 
 
 That the Icon was the genuine Work of King Charles I. appears from the 
 following Teftimonies : viz. of 
 
 I. The Author of the Princely Pelican, above cited, who gives an Account 
 of the early Intentions of the King, before he fet pen to paper ; of the firft 
 Steps and Lineaments ; and of the gradual Proceeding of his Majefty during 
 the writing of it. 
 
 II. Mrs. Rhodes, and her Son Captain Rhodes, who declare that Dr. 
 Rhodes, Hufband of the former, read part of it in the King's Hand, in his 
 Progrefs from Newark (b). 
 
 III. Dr. Dillingham, who at Holdenby read one Chapter of it frefti written 
 by the King himfelf (c). 
 
 IV. Sir John Brattle, who affifted his Father in methodizing the loofe Pa- 
 pers, all written with the King's own Hand (d). 
 
 V. Mr. Anthony Mildmay, who had a Bible given him by the King, where- 
 in feveral parts of Scripture, efpecially the Pfalms, were mark'd by the King; 
 and comparing thefe mark'd Places with the Icon, found them to be the fame 
 ufed in that Book (e). 
 
 VI. Mr. Robert Hearne, who attefts, that " he had often heard Sir Philip 
 " Warwick, Mr. Odart, and Mr. Whitaker declare, that they had tranfcrib'd 
 " Copies of the King's Manufcript written with his own Hand (f)." 
 
 VII. 
 
 (t) Memoirs of the two lad Years Reign (a) Wa?ftafe, p. 84, &fej. 
 
 of King Charles I. p 163. Edit. 1702. (b) Id. p. 90. 
 
 (u) Young's feveral Evidences, 6V. p. ;. (c) Kauingvmrttis Cliara&er of King 
 
 (<wj JVagjjaffe, p. 79, 80. Charles I. p. 7, 8. 
 
 (x) Id. p. 8c. (y) Id. p. 8o, 81. (J) Dr. Hotlhigiuorth's Defence, p. 7. 
 
 (x ) Herbert's Carolina Threnodia. (e) Wagfiaffe, p. 9$. (f) Id. ibid.
 
 the Life of M ilto n. Ixxvii 
 
 VII. Dr. Fowler, Bifliop of Gloucefier, whole Aunt heard Captain Wade, 
 who was one of thole that guarded the King in the Ifle of Wight^ declare, 
 that he faw part of the Book in the King's own Hand-writing 
 
 VIII. Robert Gun, . who heard Serjeant Brown declare, that he faw the 
 Icon in ioofe Papers pinn'd up behind the Hangings at Carijbrook-Caftle (/.>). 
 
 IX. Colonel Hammond, who confefs'd to feveral Perfons, that he i.e.! feen 
 the Bock in the Xing' s band, beard bim read it, and feen birr, write part of 
 it (i); and who, in the prefence of Jobn Wight Efq ; deciar'd, that he had 
 in his pofieflion fome of the Sheets of the rough Draught of that Boole under 
 the King's own Hand [k). 
 
 X. Mr. Henry Margetts, who heard Mr. Robert Sparbam relate, thafi 
 Oliver Cromwell being afle'd, whether he thought that Book to be the King's, 
 anfwer'd, yes certainly •, for he was the greatefl Hypocrite in the World (/). 
 
 XI. The Author of v E»x»» >; mn, above quoted ; who had (cen it in the 
 Kino's own hand, and heard him own it. 
 
 XII. Mr. Rujhwortb, who in his Colletlions (»), cites it as the King's. 
 
 XIII. An original Letter of the King, written with his own hand, bear- 
 ing date Tburfday Night, Auguft 31. 164S, directed to a perfon under the 
 figures 48, and fubferibed 39, by which laft figure the King always meant 
 himfelf. The Letter is as follows : 
 
 '* This inclofed to N. is chiefly to have an Account from her of thofe Pa- 
 " pers, that I left with her this day ; and becaufe I know ihe has defircd 
 " your AfTutance therein, I pray you to take care to point them well, and 
 ** be fure to put the Intei linings in their right Places. 
 
 "59" 
 This indeed is no direct Proof, becaufe it is not mention'd in the Letter 
 
 what Papers thefe were ; but it is very probable, that they were thefe, be- 
 caufe it does not appear, that the King at that time had any thing elfe, which 
 he defign'd to publifh •, and there was good reafon for the retarding them, for 
 the Treaty began 18 Days after ; and it is very probable that the King would 
 fee the Succefs of that Treaty, before he would expofe them to the Eyes of 
 the Nation. For it is very plain, that»they were then ready forthePrefs; 
 becaufe as foon as the Treaty was over, or rather before it was quite over, 
 the King fent to Mr. Royfton in Otlober, to prepare all things ready for the 
 printing fome Papers, which he purpofed floor tly to fend them; I fay, before the 
 Treaty was fully concluded, yet fo as the King could eafily fee what the End 
 of it would be. And therefore as he then took a refolution to print his Book, 
 f ) it is certain, that it was ready before, becaufe the inceflant Bufinefs of the 
 Treaty could give him neither Leifure nor Time to proceed with it, or add 
 much to it ; and we find the fubject matter of the Book ends before that 
 Treaty began ; altho' it may be very probable,' that fo long as he kept it in 
 his own hands he might be polifliing it, and adding fome interlinings, till he 
 fent it away all together for the Prefs («). 
 
 XIV. Mrs. Fotherley of Rickmanfworth in Hertfordfhire, Daughter of Sir 
 Ralph IVhitfield, firfi Serjeant at Law to King Charles I. and Grand-daughter 
 to Sir Henry Spelman, who declares, "that fome days before the King was 
 
 ' brought to Tryal, ihe was in the room with the Lady Whitfield her Mother, 
 *' when one Mr. Francis Boy ton, a Norfolk Gentleman, who had a place in the 
 " Pipe-Office, difcourfing with her concerning the King, faid to her, Madam, 
 " the King has wrote fuch a Book as never was wrote in the World. We labour 
 *' all we can to get it printed; but I am afraid we fhall not be able, for could it 
 " be publijhed and made known to the World, I am confident the People would 
 " rife, and never fuffer him to be tryed. I and others have labour 'd night and 
 " day, but cannot yet effeel it." Mrs. Fotherley further fays, that fhe heard 
 Colonel James Proger declare, that he had been told by Mr. Reading, that 
 he had often feen the King writing feveral parts of the Icon, and when his Ma- 
 jeity was tir'd with writing;, wrote for him what he dictated (0). 
 
 Vol. I. u XV. 
 
 (g) Wagftaffe, p. 98, 99. (I) Id. p. 1 01. 
 
 (b) Id. p. 99. (m) Hart ill. Vol. l. p. 403. 
 
 (i) Dr. Perinckeifs Life of King Charlet I- (») Wagftaffe, p. 102, 103. 
 
 (t) Wagjiaffe, p 9;, 100. (0) Id. p. 103, 19+. 
 
 <
 
 Ixxviii APPENDIX to 
 
 XV. Mr. Royfton, who inform'd Sir William Di'.gdale (p), " that about 
 -' the beginning of October 1648, he was fent to by the King to prepare all 
 " things ready for the printing fome Papers, which he purpofed fhortly after 
 " to convey unto him ; and which was this very Copy brought to him on 
 t: the 23d of December next following by Mr. Edward Symmons ; in the prin- 
 " ting whereof Mr. Royfton made fuch fpeed, that it was. finim'd before the 
 " 30th of January, on which his Majefty's Life was taken away." This 
 Tdtimony of Mr. Royfton is corroborated by two others, viz. that of Mr. 
 'Thomas Milbov.m (q) and Mr. James Clifford, who both afiifted in the print- 
 ing of it from the Copy of Mr. Qdart (r). 
 
 XVI. Mr. Edward Hooker, who declares, that he corrected this Book, 
 when it was printed at Mr. Dugard's Prefs, being brought thither by Mr. 
 Edward Symmons, who affur'd Mr. Ditgard and Mr. Hooker, that the Copy 
 was written with the King's own Hand, and deliver'd to him by the King 
 himfelf (s). 
 
 XVII. Mr. Ed-ward Symmons, who convey'd both the Copies, (viz. that 
 written by Mr. Odart and that by the King) to the Prefs, and declar'd upon 
 his Death-bed, that it was the King's Work (t) ; and affur'd feveral of his 
 Friends at Ferny, when he fent them fome of the Books, that he had printed 
 them from the King's own Copy («). 
 
 I proceed now to the Intrinfic Evidence, which arifes from the Book itfelf j 
 and it plainly appears to be the King's from thefe particulars : 
 
 I. The general Style. By this, fays Mr. Wagftaffe (zv), I do not only mean 
 the Phrafe and Expreffion, but together with that the Manner of management ; 
 and to this I add, the great Weight of the Matter. All thefe are very great 
 and majeftic, not only like a King, but like that very King to whom they are af- 
 crib'd. And let any Man compare this Book with the other Works of this glo- 
 rious Martyr, and he cannot but fee the fame generous and free Expreffion, the 
 fame Clearness of Reafon, the fame Greatnefs of Mind, injhort, the fame Ma- 
 jefty throughout. But for the Works of Dr. Gauden, there is nothing in the 
 world more unlike ; a lufcious Style fluffed with gawdy Metaphors and Fancy, far 
 more Expreffion than Matter, a fort of noify and romantic Eloquence. Thefe 
 are the Ornaments of Dr. GaudenV Writings, and differ as much from the Gra- 
 vity and Majefty of the King's Book, as Tawdrinefs does from a genteel and ac- 
 compliftfd Dre/s. The truth is, of all the Authors of that Age, there are fear cely 
 anv, whofe Writings were more light and thin, than thofe of Dr. Gauden. 
 
 II. The Hiftorical Part of it ; which fhews the Author to be well vers'd in 
 the Affairs which he wrote of, an excellent Statefman, and of a clear and 
 penetrating Judgment ; all which very well agree with the Character of the 
 King, tho' irreconcileable with that of Dr. Gauden, of whofe Faculty in Hi- 
 ftory we have but one Inftance, and that is, the Life of Mr. Richard Hooker, 
 prefix'd to one Edition of the Ecclefiaflical Polity, which is full of mif- 
 takes, and certainly the moft injudicious Hiftory of a Man's Life, that ever 
 was written (#). 
 
 III. Some Particulars in the fubject matter of it. And thefe are fuch things 
 as could only be known to the King himfelf, and confequently could have 
 no Author but him •, as, 1. His fecret Intentions exprefs'd all over the Book ; 
 and 2. The Matter of his Confcience, particularly in the Cafe of the Earl of 
 Strafford (y). 
 
 There is one Objection more, which deferves to be confidered ; and that is 
 with relation to a Prayer added to fome Editions of the Icon, and intitled, 
 A Prayer in time of Captivity, which feems to be borrowed from that of 
 Pamela in Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia ; both which Prayers I fhall fubjoin for 
 the Satisfaction of the Curious. 
 
 Prayer 
 
 (f) Dugdalfs Short View, p. 3S0. tion, p. 105, 106. 
 
 (q) Hottiugivortb's Defence, p. iz, 13, 14. (u) Youngs feveral Evidence?, p. 17. 
 (r) Id. ibid. (*<■) p. 112. 
 
 (s) U'agftafft, p. 107. (x) Id. p. 113, 114. 
 
 (t) Holtingwortb's Further Defence, p. 3, 4. (y) Id. p. 114, 113, 116. : 
 
 Wagfiafffs Defence, p. 90, 91. a«d Vindica- ■> 
 
 I
 
 °J 
 
 The Prayer afcvib'd to King Charles I. 
 
 the Life of Milton. 
 
 IXX1X 
 
 O 
 
 Powerful and Eternal God, to 
 whom nothing is fo great that it 
 way rcfiJI, or fo fmall that it is con- 
 temned ; look upon my Mifery with 
 thine Eye of AJcrcy, and let thine in- 
 finite Power vouchfafe to limit out fome 
 Proportion of Deliverance unto me, as 
 to thee fball feem moft convenient. 
 Let not Injury, O Lord, triumph over 
 me, and let my Fault by thy Hand be 
 correcled ; and make not my uhjuji E- 
 nemies the Miniflers of thy Juflice. But 
 yet, my God, if in thy IVifdom this 
 be the aptefi Chajlifement for my 
 
 o 
 
 The Prayer of Pamela. 
 
 All-feeing Light, and eternal 
 Life of all thing?, to whom no- 
 thing is either fo great that it may re- 
 fift, or fo fmall that it is contemned ; 
 look upon my Mifery with thine Eye 
 of Mercy, and let thine infinite Power 
 vouchfafe to limit out fome Propor- 
 tion of Deliverance unto me, as to 
 thee fhall feem moft convenient. Let 
 not Injury, O Lord, triumph over 
 me, and let my Faults by thy Hand 
 be corrected ; and make not mine un- 
 juft Enemy the Minifter of thy Juftice. 
 But yet, my God, if in thy Wifdom 
 unexcufable Tranfgreffwns ; if this tin- this be the apteft Chaftifement for my 
 grateful Bondage be fit left for my over- unexcufable Folly ; if this low Boi- 
 highDefires ; if the Pride of my (not dage be fitteft for mv over-high De- 
 enough humble) Heart be thus to be bro- fires ; if the Pride of my not-enough 
 ken, O Lord, I yield unto thy Will, humble Heart be thus to be broken, O 
 and cheerfully embrace what Sorrow 
 thou wilt have me fuffer ; only thus 
 much let me crave of thee ( let my crav- 
 ing, Lord, be accepted of, fince it e- 
 ven proceeds from Thee) that by thy 
 Goodnefs which is thy felf, thou wilt 
 
 Lord, I yield unto thy Will, and joy- 
 fully embrace what Sorrow thou wilt 
 have me fuffer •, only thus much let me 
 crave of thee (let my craving, O Lord, 
 be accepted of thee, fince even that 
 proceeds from thee) let me crave even, 
 fuffer fome Beam of thy Majefly fo to by the nobleft Title, which in my great 
 
 fljine in my Mind, that I, who in my 
 greateft Afflictions acknowledge it my 
 nobleft Title to be thy Creature, may 
 Jlill depend confidently on Thee. Let 
 Calamity be the Exercife, but not the 
 Overthrov) of my Vertue. O let not their 
 prevailing Power be to my Deftruclion ; 
 and if it be thy Will that they more 
 and more vex me with Punifhment, yet, 
 O Lord, never let their Wickednefs have 
 fuch a hand but that I may Jlill carry 
 ' a pure Mind and ftedfaft Refoluticn e- 
 ver toferve thee without Fear or Pre- 
 fumption, yet with that humble Confi- 
 dence, which may beft pleafe thee ; fo 
 that at the loft I may come to thy eter- 
 nal Kingdom, through the Merits of thy 
 Son our alone Saviour, Jefus Chrift. 
 Am en. 
 
 eft Affliction I may give my felf, that 
 I am thy Creature ; and by thy Goodnefs, 
 which is thy felf, that thou wilt fuffer 
 fome Beam of thy Majefty to fhine into 
 my Mind, that it may ftill depend 
 confidently on thee. Let Calamity be 
 the Exercife, but not the Overthrow 
 of my Vertue ; let their Power pre- 
 vail, but prevail not to Deftruclion ; 
 let my Greatnefs be their Prey. • Let 
 my Pain be the Sweetnefs of their Re- 
 venge. Let them (if fo it feem good 
 unto thee) vex me with more and 
 more Punifhment-, but, O Lord, let 
 never their Wickednefs have fuch a 
 hand, but that I may carry a pure 
 Mind in a pure Body. And paufing 
 a while ; And, O moft gracious Lord, 
 faidflie, whatever becomes of me, pre*- 
 ferve the virtuous Mufnlorus. 
 
 Milton, in his "EixovoxXar-i,- (z), fpeaks upon Occafion of this Prayer as 
 follows •, Who would have imagined fo little Fear in him of the true All- feeing 
 Deity, fo little Reverence of the Holy Ghoft, whofe Office it is to diclate and 
 prefent our Chriftian Prayers ; fo little Care of Truth in his laft Words, or Ho- 
 nour to him/elf, or to his Friends, or Senfe of his Afflictions, cr of that fad 
 Horror, which was upon him, as immediately before his Death to pop into the 
 Hand of that grave Bifiiop, who attended him, as a fpecial Relique of 
 his Saintly Exercifcs, a Prayer ftoPn word for word from the Mouth 
 of a Heathen Woman praying to a Heathen God ; and that in no Jerious 
 Book, but in the vain and amatorious Poem of Sir Philip Sidney'.; Arca- 
 dia •, a Book in that Kind full of Worth and Wit, but among religious 
 Thoughts and Duties not to be named ; nor to be read at any time without 
 good Caution, much lefs in time of Trouble and Affliction to be a Chrfi-ian's 
 
 Prayer- 
 fz) Sed. I.
 
 hxx APPENDIX to 
 
 Praxer-Book.ln anfvver to this the Author of "Eixmv "AxXars?, The Image unbro- 
 ken, publifti'din 1651, obferves(rt) ; "That after thefirfl Edition of his Majcf- 
 " ty'sBook, the Printers finding the great Ventof them, in the following Edi- 
 " tions, printed Prayers and other Things in the King's Name, not belonging ro 
 " the Book. Among thefe Prayers there is a Prayer taken out of the Arca- 
 " die. That Prayer is neither made by a Heathen Woman, nor to a Hca- 
 " then God, but is compos'd by the Author, aChriflian, without reference 
 " to any Heathen Deity ; and the Author is not thought to iinchriften 
 " Prayer by it, the Libeller himfelf faying, the Book in its Kind is full cf 
 " Worth and Wit. But as his Outcry hath no Caufe from the Matter, fo 
 " here is no Evidence of the Fact, that his Majefty made ufe of the Prayer, 
 " or popt into the Bijhop's Hands as a Re' i que of his Exercife, though l.e 
 " might warrantably have ufed it, and profefs'd it. — If his Majefty had ufed 
 " the Prayer, or deliver'd it, as he imagines, no Man of Chriftiaii Sobriety 
 " could charge the Fact with Crime. "What oae Word cr Sentence is there 
 " in that Prayer, which a Christian may not ufe?" Mr. Themes Wagfifrffe 
 (If) reives us a very particular Account of this Affair; and obferves, That tho* 
 he fees no reafon, why a Man may not ufe good Exprcjfions in his Prayers, let 
 them he borrow" d from whom they will, as well as a good Sentence out of a Hea- 
 then Writer ; and which was never any Blemifi, tho' on the mojl pious Occa- 
 fwns ; yet there is great Reafon to believe, that the King did never make ufe cf 
 that Prayer, for that is not found in the firft, nor in (everal other ihe 
 tneft early Editions of this Book. He then gives us a Catalogue of the feve- 
 ral Editions of "Eixuv B*<t»Ai>m, both with and without the Prayers, mentioning 
 the Size of the Volume, the Time of Printing, the Number of Pages that the 
 Contents confift of,and the Number ofthe Pages of the Book it felf, when there 
 were any fuch. From this Catalogue it appears, that there are no lefs than 
 twenty nine Editions without the Prayers, and feventeen of them printed in 
 1648. and that there were twenty feven Editions with the Prayers. Fie ac- 
 quaints us likewife (c), that fmce the firft Edition of his Vindication, in 1695, 
 he had received a full and convincing Information concerning the Myfiery of 
 this Prayer, that it was an Artifice o/Bradfhaw or Milton, cr both, and by them 
 furreptitioufly thruff into the King's Work to difcredit the Whole. This Informa- 
 tion comes originally from Mr. Hills the Printer, but convey \l by two very worthy 
 Gentlemen, and againft whom there can be no pojfible Exception, Dr. Gill and 
 Dr. Bernard, who were both Phyfieians to him, and very intimate with him. 
 And becaufe their Tefiimony is fo very important, ihe Reader fhall have it in 
 their own Words, from a Letter oj Dr. Gill to the Honourable Charles Pint- 
 ton, Efq; at the end of which is added the Tefiimony of Dr. Bernard, and 
 which I have now in my Cuftody ; and is as follows, verbatim. 
 
 "SIR, May 1, 1694. 
 
 " T Moft readily comply with your Requeft,in informing you, from whom 
 " J_ I heard what I was faying (the laft time I had the Honour to be in 
 " your Company) that I was told, Pamela's Prayer was transferr'd out of Sir 
 " Philip Sidney's Arcadia into "Emtov BxiriMw, by a Contrivance of Bradjbaw's 
 " and Milton's. Sir. I make no Secret of it, and I frankly tell you myAn- 
 " thor, who was Mr. Henry Hills, Oliver's Printer. And the Occafion, as 
 " he many Years ago told me, was this : Mr. Dugard (//), who was Milton's 
 " intimate Friend, happen'd to be taken printing an Edition of the King's 
 " Book. Milton ufed his Intereft to bring him off, which he effected by the 
 " means of BradJJpaw, but upon this Condition, that Dugard ihould add 
 " Pamela's Prayer to the aforefaid Book he was printing, as an Atonement 
 " for his Fault, they defigning thereby to bring a Scandal upon the Book, 
 " and blaft theReputation of its Author ; purfuant to which Defign, they indu- 
 " ftrioufly took care afterwards, as foon as publifhed, to have it taken notice of. 
 " Mr. Hills hath affirm'd this to me feveral times of his own Knowledge ; and 
 " I need not tell you how eafy it was for himto know it, whobeing a forward 
 " and confiding Man, was in moft of the Intrigues of that time, and in- 
 
 " trufted 
 
 (a) p. 82. (b) Vindication p. uj.Ufe<\. (a) He printed MiUqn'i Deftnfio pre Pofuh 
 
 \c) p. 117, Anglicam.
 
 the Life o/Milton. lxxxi 
 
 " trufted with Bufmefs of the greateft Privacy by the then governing Parties; - 
 *' and no Man that I have met with, was better vers'd in the fecret Hiftory 
 " of that Time than himfelf, as I have found by the often Difcourfe I had 
 " with him ; for being his Phyfician for feveral Years, I had many Oppor- 
 " tunities to talk with him about thofe Affairs, from whom I have re- 
 " ceived a different Account of the Tranfaclions of thofe Times, than what 
 " was commonly known or made public, and many PafTages that I was a 
 " Stranger to before. Thus, Sir, I have given you my Authority for what 
 " I faid ; which, if you pleafe you may communicate to the reft of your 
 " Friends; and believe me always, 
 
 " Your moft humble Servant, 
 
 " THO. GILL." 
 
 " T Do remember very well, that Mr. Henry Hills the Printer told me, 
 " J[_ that he had heard Bradjhaw and Milton laugh at their inferting a Paper 
 " out of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia at the end of King Charles's Book; and 
 " then Milton had jeer'd it in his Anfwer ; adding withal, that they were 
 " Men would ftick at nothing, that might gain their Point. And this I 
 " teftify, 
 " May 10th, 1694. FRANCIS BERNARD." 
 
 To this may be added part of a Letter written a Year before by Dr. Ber- 
 nard to Dr. Goodall, in thefe Words ; 
 
 " Concerning the Prayer out of Sir Philip Sidney (which Milton makes a 
 " great buftle aboufj I remember Henry Hills, who was Oliver's Printer, and 
 " my Patient, told me, amongft other Things, of the Artifice of that Party ; 
 " that he had heard Bradjhaw and Milton laugh how they had put a Cheat 
 " upon the World ; and in order thereunto had printed the whole Book a- 
 " new, that they might add that Prayer thereunto ; and that they were not 
 " more ftudious of any thing, than to rob that good King of the Reputation 
 " of that Book. I doubt not, but Dr. Gill can remember fomething to this 
 *' purpofe from the fame Henry Hills. 
 " I am, 
 
 March \%th, 1693. " Your moft allured humble Servant, 
 
 " FRANCIS BERNARD." 
 
 Dr. Edward Hooker, who was Corrector to Mr. Dugard's Prefs, when the 
 Icon was firft printed there, declares (e), " That Mr. Dugard having printed 
 " that Book, and it coming to be known, he was thrown into Prifon, and 
 " turn'd out of Merchant-Taylor's School ;and Hooker, to fave himfelf, went 
 " to travel for feveral Years ; and had during his Travels, by feveral Let- 
 " ters, an Account given him by Mr. Dugard what he had fuffer'd in this 
 " Service ; in which Letters he remembers the following Expreflions : 'They 
 " have dealt with me worfe than the Devil did with Job, having taken all from 
 " me, yet left me all my Children. And that the faid Mr. Dugard acquainted him 
 " in the faid Letters, That his Wife made Applicatin to Prefident Bradfhaw 
 " for his Releafe, who told her, that he might come out, if he would take Ad- 
 " vice of a Friend of his, and then he need not lie in Prifon. And accordingly 
 " Mr. Milton was fent to him, who offer'd him his Liberty, if he would do 
 " what he\would have him, who refus'dhis Propofals, faying, God's Will be done, 
 " tho' I be undone. But, faid he, how my Wife and they juggle together, I 
 " know not ; but I fh all get out, and when I am, I will write to my dear 
 " Hooker, and follow your Chriftian Advice, to be a free Prifoner in the In- 
 " terim. And Hooker believes, that Mr. Dugard's Wife printed Pamela's 
 " Prayer taken out of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, with the Alterations 
 " made in it, as one of the Conditions of her Hufband's Releafe out of 
 " Prifon.' 
 
 To this we may add the following Obfervations of Mr. Wagdaffe : 1. That 
 it does not any where appear, that Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia was a Book 
 which the King ufed to read or delight in. And Sir Thomas Herbert, who 
 
 Vol. I. x waited 
 
 (t) Wagjlafft, p. 107.
 
 lxxxii APPENDIX to 
 
 Waited on the King from the time of his Imprifonment at Koldehby to his 
 Death, and had the Charge of the King's Books, and gives a particular Ac- 
 count of what Books the King read, either in his ferious Studies, or for Di- 
 verfion, makes not the leaft mention of the Arcadia ; whereas Milton was 
 very well acquainted with that Book, and had fpent much time in reading it 
 (f). 2. It deferves Enquiry, who it was, that caufed thefe Pravers to b<2 
 printed, or by whofe Hands they were conveyed to the Prefs ? All the 
 Prints, which give any Account of them, only fay, that they were deliver'd 
 by the King into the Hands of Dr. Juxon, Bijhop of London, at his Death. 
 And this is confirm'd by Milton, who writes thus, As immediately before bis 
 Death to fop into the Hands of that grave Biftjop who attended him, as a 
 fpecial Relique of his Saintly Exercifes, a Prayer ftol'n ward fir word, &c. 
 Now from hence it will appear plainly, That that Party, and they or.lv, 
 were the Perfons who convey'd the Prayers to the Prefs, and caufed them 
 to be printed-, fince what Papers foever the King might deliver toBiihop 
 Juxon, he could print none of them, nor yet keep them to himfejf ; for 
 the Regicides immediately feiz'd and imprifon'd him, and examin'd hirh 
 with all poffible Rigour, and fearch'd him narrowly for all Papers, that 
 he might have from the King, even to Scraps and Parcels ; and mere- 
 over rifled all the King's Clothes, Scrutores, Cabinets, and Boxes ; and 
 whatever they found,they kept in their own hands. This Mr. Wagftaffe, proves 
 from the Author of Regit fanguinis Clamor, p. 83. Saunderfon's Hijlax, 
 p. 1 139. Dr. Bates's Eknchus, and Dr. Perincheifs Life of King Charles I. 
 And ihe obferves, from hence (g), " That it was utterly impoiTible for 
 " Bifhop Juxon, or any Perfon from him, or indeed any of the Royal 
 " Party, to tranfmit thofe Prayers to the Prefs, or any other Papers 
 *' which the King deliver'd to Bifhop Juxon, or left behind him in 
 * his Pockets, or any where elfe within the compafs of their Power : for 
 " they were all taken, and never (like thofe of Nafeby) reftor'd again ; but 
 '* all was kept in their own Cuftody. The Conclusion is this ; That after that 
 " time, whatever was printed, muft come from themfelves ; and if any of 
 " the Papers, that the King deliver'd to Bifhop Juxon at hisDeath, were made pub- 
 " lick, they are the Perfons, who were the Publifhers, and no others. And there 
 " is no doubt, but that Milton himfelf fir ft brought thefe Papers, and got them 
 " printedat Dugard's Prefs, and from thence they were quickly tranflated to 
 " 'M.r.Rcv/lon's ; for every little Addition having the King's Name to itquic- 
 *' ken'd the Sale, and made all the Bookfellers, fo foon as they had notice of 
 " it, add the Prayers to their own Editions, fuppofing them all genuine, not 
 " being confeious of Milton's Forgery ; but however very instrumental, tho' 
 ** innocently, to fpread and propagate it. 'Tis very probable, that fome of 
 " thefe Prayers were fuch as were us'd and penn'd by the King. For it had 
 «' been ridiculous and impolitic, to have counterfeited four Prayers, when 
 " it was one only they had to play upon ; and they fuffer'd thofe that were 
 " genuine to pafs, to give countenance to the other. And Milton hav- 
 *' ing them in his hands, he added this of his own coining to the reft, to 
 * c difcredit the Whole, and to fupply himfelf with Matter to burlefque the 
 " Book, and to abufe the King." Mr. JVagjlaffe tells us (b), That he has a 
 very good Evidence, that the King left but three Prayers behind him, and 
 deliver'd to Bifhop Juxon no more but three Prayers ; and that is the Tefti- 
 mony of Mrs. Fotherley above mentioned; who declares, That within two 
 Days after the King's Death, Jhe faw in a Spanifh Leather-Cafe three 
 thofe Prayers, that are printed in fome, if not in all the Editions of that B , 
 which were faid to be us'd by him in the Time of his Reflraint, and deliver. ; 
 to the Bijhop of London at his Death ; from whom they were taken away 
 by the Officers of the Army ; and it was from one of thofe Officers, in whofe 
 Cuftody they then were, that fhe had the favour to fee them ; and that 
 the Perfon, who fhewed her thofe Prayers, fhewed her alfo the George 
 with the Queen's Piclure in it, and two Seals, which were the 
 King's. " This further confirms the Truth, fays Mr. Wagftaffe, that 
 «« the Prayers were only in their Cuftody ; and moreover, that the 
 " number of thefe Prayers was but three; the fourth is their own ■, 
 
 " and 
 {/) Wagftaje, p. 1 1 8, 119. (f) p. IZI. (*r p. 122.
 
 the Life 0/ M i l t o n. Ixxxii 
 
 111 
 
 " and Milton vouchfafed to print the other three, for the fake of the 
 " fourth ; and he was contented the World fhould fee fome of the Kino-'s 
 " Prayers, provided he might add one more to difparage all the reft." It appears 
 alfo from the Teftimony of Mr. Roger Norton, Mr. Royfton's Printer, dated 
 Auguft 8, 1693, that King Charles II. had fo little opinion of the Prayers 
 added to the Icon, that when Mr.- Royfton afk'd his leave for the reprinting it 
 in r68o, he gave him leave, but expreffly order'd him to omit thofe additio- 
 nal Prayers. It is to be obferv'd, that this was five years after the pre- 
 tended Memorandum. It feems, that King Charles II. was then fatisfied, 
 that the Book was his Father's, and he took fo much care of it, as to throw 
 out what he fufpecled might be fuppofititious. Mr. Norton obferves, that 
 Mr. Roy ft on lik'd this Order of the King very well, for he feared, whilft he 
 abfconded, his Servants had fome tricks put upon them in the Additional Prayers, 
 tho' he could not fay certainly, that he who brought them to his Servants, was 
 fent by Mr. Milton ; but he much fufpecled it. Mr. Norton added, that Mrs. 
 Royfton could tell, that her Huftand, by the Men then in Power, had great Sums 
 of Money offer' d him, if he would fay, that the King was not the Author of that 
 Book ; and that he himfelf (Mr. Norton) had often heard him fay the fame (/). 
 
 Mr. Toland in his Amyntor treats Mr. Hills's Evidence as of no Weight, he 
 having turn'd Papift in King James IPs Reign, in order to be that King's Prin- 
 ter, and takes a great deal of pains to prove, that Pamela's Prayer was us'd by 
 the King •, " which from him, as Mr. Wagftaffe obferves (k), is the pleafanteft 
 " thing in the world. He hath all along been endeavouring to prove the whole 
 " Book a Forgery, and father'd it upon the King; and why not the Prayer 
 " too? Why is not the Prayer Dr. Gauden's, as well as the Book alfo ? And 
 " his reafon for this makes it yet more pleafant, which is, that Mr. Royfton 
 " printed it (/). Why, Mr. Royfton printed the whole Book, and moreover 
 " affirms, that it was brought to him from the King, which is more than 
 " was ever faid of the Prayer. And if Mr. Royfton's printing and attefting 
 " are not fufHcient to prove the Book genuine ; how comes his bare printing 
 " without any further Circumftance, to be fuch an extraordinary Proof, for 
 " the ufe of the Prayer ?" 
 
 DISSERTATION II. 
 
 Concerning the CommiJJion faid to be given by King 
 Charles I. in the Year 1641, to the IriJJj Papifts, for 
 taking up Arms againft the Proteftants in Ireland*. 
 
 THIS Commiflion is in the following Words : 
 
 " f^HARLES by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, 
 " \_J and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, C5V. To all our Catholic 
 " Subjects within our Kingdom of Ireland, Greeting: Know ye, that We for 
 " the fafeguard and prefervation of our Perfon, have been enforc'd to make 
 *' our abode and refidence in our Kingdom of Scotland for a long feafon, oc- 
 " cafioned by reafon of the obftinate and diibbedient Carriage of our Parliament 
 " in England againft Us ; who have not only prefumed to take upon them 
 *' the Government and difpofing of thofe Princely Rights and Prerogatives 
 " that have juftly defcended upon Us from our PredecefTors both Kings and 
 " Queens of the faid Kingdom, for many hundred years paft, but alfo have 
 *« pohefTed themfelves of the whole Strength of the faid Kingdom, in ap- 
 " pointing Governours, Commanders, and Officers in all parts and places 
 " therein, at their own wills and pleafures, without Our confent ; whereby 
 " we are deprived of Our Sovereignty, and left naked without defence. 
 " And for as much as we are (in our felf) very fenfible, that thefe Storms 
 " biow aioft, and are very likely to be carried by the vehemence of the * Pro- tPun'/afi'mt- 
 " teftant Party into our Kingdom of Ireland, and endanger our Regal Pow-no^r Copy. 
 " er and Authority there alfo : Know ye therefore, that we repofing much 
 " care and truft in your duties and obedience, which we have for many years 
 " paft found-, do hereby give unto you full power and authoritv to affem- 
 
 " ble 
 (J J Id; p. 123. (A) Defence of the Vindication, p. 93. (I) Amyntor, p. 154.
 
 lxxxiv APPENDIX to 
 
 " ble and meet together with all the fpeed and diligence that a bufinefs of To 
 " great confequence doth require, and to advife and confult together by fuf- 
 " ficient and difcreet numbers at all times, days, and places which you fhall 
 ** in your judgments hold moft convenient and material, for the ordering, fet- 
 " tling, and effecting of this great work (mentioned and directed unto you in 
 " Our Letters:) And to ufe all politic ways and means poflible to pofTefs your 
 " felves (for Our ufe "and fafety) of all the Forts, Caftles, and places of ftrength 
 *' and defence within the faid Kingdom (except the Places, Perfons, and 
 " Eftates of our loyal and loving Subjects the Scots :) And alfo to arreft and 
 " feize the Goods, Eftates, and Perfons of all the Englijh Proteftants within 
 " the faid Kingdom to Our ufe. And in your care and fpeedy performance 
 " of this Our will and pleafure, We fhall perceive your wonted Duty and 
 " Allegiance unto us, which We fhall accept and reward in due time. 
 
 Witnefs Our felf at Edenbrough the firft day of October in the feven- 
 teenth year of Reign. 
 
 Milton (m) reprefents this Commiflion as genuine ; and Mr. Toland ob- 
 ferves (»), " That whoever would, befides the Confeflion of the Rebels 
 " themfelves, fee further Reafons to believe the faid Commiflion genuine, 
 " (for in this Affair we determine nothing) may perufe the Irijb Remon- 
 " firance, and Dr. Jones's Book, both publiih'd by Authority of Parliament ; 
 *' and alio a Piece intitled, The My fiery of Iniquity, p. 35, 36. printed in 1643 ; 
 " likewife Vicars' s Chronicle, part 3. p. 70. wherein this Commiflion is in- 
 " ferted at large." 
 
 Mr. Richard Baxter likewife, in his Life (0), lays great ftrefs upon the Cafe 
 of the Marquis of Antrim, who had been one of the Irifh Rebels in the beginning 
 of that War, when, in the horrid Maffacre, 200000 Proteftants were murthered. 
 His Eft ate being feqiieftred, he fought his reftitution of it, when King Charles II. 
 was reftor'd. Ormond and the Council judg'd againft him as one of the Rebels. 
 He brought his Caufe over to the King, and affirmed that what he did was by his 
 Father's Confent and Authority. The King referred it to fome very worthy 
 Members of his Privy Council, to examine what he had to /hew. Upon Exa- 
 mination they reported, that they found, that he had the King's Confent or Letter 
 of Inftruclions for what he did ; which amazed many. Hereupon his Majefty, 
 King Charles II. wrote to the Duke of Ormond and Council to reft ore his Eftates, 
 becaufe it appeared to thofe appointed to examine it, that what he did was by 
 his Father's Order or Confent. Upon this the Parliament's old Adherents grew 
 more confident than ever of the Righteoufnefs of thofe Wars ; and the very De- 
 frayers of the King (whom the firft Parliamentiers catt'd Rebels) did prefume 
 alfo to juftify their Caufe, and faid that the Law of Nature did warrant them. 
 But itftopt not here. For the Lord Mazarine, and others of Ireland, did fo far 
 profecute the Caufe, as that the Marquis of Antrim was forced to produce in 
 the Parliament of England, in the Houfe of Commons, a Letter of the King's 
 (Charles I.) by which^he gave him orders for his taking up Arms ; which being 
 read in the Houfe, did put them into afilence. But yet fo egregious was their 
 Loyalty and Veneration of Majefty, that it put them not at all one fiep out of the 
 way which they had gone in. But the People without doors talked ftrangely -, 
 fome faid, Did you not perfuade us, that the King was againft the Irifh Rebel- 
 lion ? and that the Rebels belyed him, when they faid, they had bis Warrant 
 and Commiffion ? Do not we now fee, with what mind he would have gone himfelf 
 with an Army into Ireland to fight againft them ? A great deal more, not here to 
 be mentioned, was vented feditioufly among the People, th: fum of which was 
 intimated in a Pamphlet, which was printed, called Murder will out •, in which 
 they publijhed the King's Letter, and Animadverfions on it. Some that were ft ill 
 loyal to the King did wijh, that the King that now is, had rather declared, that 
 his Father did only give the Marquis of Antrim commiffion to raife an Army, as 
 to have helped him againft the Scots : and that his turning againft the Englifh 
 Proteftants in Ireland, and the Murdering of fo many hundred thoufands there, was 
 
 againft 
 
 (m) 'EuweoJtAariif, Seft. 12. (0) Part. iii. §.'73- /> 83. See likewife Dr. 
 
 («) Edit, of Milton s Works, p 528. printed Calamy's Abridgment of Mr . Baxter's. Life, 
 in 1698, /'/; fot. p. 43. Edit. 1713. 
 
 t
 
 the Life o/Milton. Ixxxv 
 
 againft his Will. But quod fcriptum erat, fcriptum erat. King Charles IPs 
 Letter mentioned in this Parage, is as folJows : 
 
 CHARLES R. 
 
 " T? 'S nt trufty and well-beloved Coufins and Counfellors, &c. We greet 
 " f\_ you well. How far we have been from interpofing on the behalf of 
 " any of our Irijh Subjects, who by their mifcarriages in the late Rebellion in 
 " that Kingdom of Ireland had made themfelves unworthy of Our Grace and 
 " Protection, is notorious to all Men-, and We were fo jealous in that particu- 
 " lar, that fliortly after our return into this Our Kingdom, when the Marquis 
 " of Antrim came hither to prefent his Duty to Us. upon the Information We 
 " received from thole Perfons who then attended Us, by a Deputation from 
 " Our Kingdom of Ireland, or from thofe who at that time owned our 
 " Authority there, that the Marquis of Antrim had fo mif-behaved himfelf to- 
 " wards Us, and Our late Royal Father of blefled Memory, that he was in no 
 " degree worthy of the leaft Countenance from Us, and that they had rnani- 
 **■ fell and unquestionable Evidence of fuch his Guilt : Whereupon We refufed 
 •* to admit the faid Marquis fo much as into Our Prefence, but on the con- 
 " trary committed him Prifoner to Our Tower of London ; where after he had 
 ** continued feveral Months under a ftrict reftraint, upon the continued Infor- 
 " mation of the faid Perfons, We fent him into Ireland, without interpofing 
 " the leaft on his behalf, but left him to undergo fuch a Tryal and Punimment, 
 " as by the Juftice of that Our Kingdom mould be found due to his Crime, ex-* 
 *' pecking ftill that fome heinous Matter would be objected and proved againft 
 " him, to make him uncapable, and to deprive him of that Favour and Pro- 
 « c tection from Us, which We knew his former Actions and Services had meri- 
 «' ted. After many Months attendance there, and (We prefume) after fuch 
 " Examinations as were requilite, he was at laft difmiffed without any Cenfure, 
 " and without any tranfmiffion of Charge againft him to Us, and with a Li- 
 *' cence to trafifport himfelf into this Kingdom* We concluded, that it was 
 " then time to give him fome inftance of Our Favour, and to remember the 
 " many Services he had done, and the Sufferings he had undergone, for his Af- 
 " fections and Fidelity to our Royal Father and Our Self, and that it was time 
 " to redeem him from thofe Calamities, which yet do lie as heavy upon him 
 •' fince, as before our happy Return. And thereupon we recommended him to 
 " you Our Lieutenant, that you fhould move Our Council there, for preparing 
 " a Bill to be tranfmitted to Us, for the re-invefting him the faid Marquis into 
 " the Poffeffion of his Eftate in that Our Kingdom, as had been done in 
 " fome other Cafes. To which Letter, you Our faid Lieutenant returned us 
 " anfwer, that you had informed Our Council of that Our Letter, and that 
 " you were upon confideration thereof, unanimoufly of Opinion, that fuch a 
 " Bill ought not to be tranfmitted to Us, the Reafon whereof would forthwith 
 " be prefented to Us from Our Council. After which time We received the 
 " inclofed Petition from the faid Marquis, which we referred to the Confide- 
 " rations and Examinations of the Lords of Our Privy Council, whole Names 
 " are mentioned in that Our Reference, which is annexed to the faid Petition ; 
 " who thereupon met together, and after having heard the Marquis of Antrim, 
 " did not think fit to make any Report to Us, till they might fee arid understand 
 " the Reafons which induced you not to tranfmit the Bill We had propofed, 
 " which Letter was not then come to Our Hands: After which time We have 
 " received your Letter of the iSth of March, together with feveral Petitions 
 " which had been prefented to you, as well from the Old Soldiers and Adventu- 
 " rers, as from the Lady Marchionefsofyfe/r/w, all which we likewife tranfmitted 
 " to the Lords Referees. Upon a fecond Petition prefented to Us by the Lord 
 " Marquis, which is here likewifeenclofed, commanding our faid Referees to take 
 " the fame into their ferious Confideration, and to hear what the Petitioner had 
 " to offer in his own Vindication, and to report the whole matter to Us, which 
 " upon a third Petition herein likewife inclofed, We required them to expedite 
 " with what fpeed they could. By which deliberate Proceedings of Ours you 
 " cannot but obferve, that no Importunity, how juft fo ever, could prevail with ■ 
 *« Us to bring our felf to a Judgment in this Affair, without very ample Infor- 
 Vol. I. y " mation.
 
 lxxxvi APPENDIX to 
 
 mation. Our faid Referees, after feveral Meetings, and perufal of what hath 
 been offered to them by the faid Marquis, have reported unto Us, That they 
 have feen feveral Letters, all of them the hand-writing of Our Royal Father to 
 the faid Marquis, and feveral InfiruEfions concerning his treating and joining 
 with the Irifh, in order to the King's Service, by reducing to their Obedience, 
 and by drawing fome Forces from them for the Service of Scotland. That 
 befides the Letters and Orders under his Majefty's Hand, they have re- 
 ceived fufficient Evidence and Teftimony of feveral private MefTages and Di- 
 rections fent from Our Royal Father, and from Our Royal Mother, with the 
 ; Privity and with the Directions of the King Our Father, ; by which they 
 ; are perfuaded that whatever Intelligence, Correfpondence or Actings, the 
 : faid Marquis had with the Confederate Irifh Catholicks, was directed or al- 
 1 lowed by the faid Letters, Inftruclions and Dirctlions ; and that it manifestly 
 1 appears to them, that the King Our Father was well pleafed with what the 
 1 Marquis did, after he had done it, and approved the fame. 
 
 " This being the true ftate of the Marquis his Cafe, and there being no- 
 ' thing proved upon the firft Information againft him, nor any thing contained 
 ' againft him in your Letter of March 1 8 . but that you were informed, he had 
 ' put in his Claim before the Commiffioners appointed for executing the Acl of 
 ' Settlement ; and that if his Innocency be fuch as is alledged, there is no need of 
 ' tranfmitting fuch a Bill to Us as is defired •, and that if he be Noccnt, it confifts 
 ' not with the Duty which you owe to Us, to tranfmit fuch a Bill,as, if it fhould 
 ' pafs into a Law, muft needs draw a great Prejudice upon fo many Adventu- 
 ' rers and Soldiers, which are, as is alledged, to be therein concerned : We have 
 ' confidered of the Petition of the Adventurers and Soldiers, which was tranf- 
 ;t mitted to Us by you, the Equity of which confifts in nothing, but that they 
 ; ' have been peaceably in Poffefiion, for the fpace of feven or eight years, of 
 " thofe Lands,which were formerly the Eftate of the Marquis of Antrim, and 
 " others, who were all engaged in the late Irifh Rebellion ; and that they fhall 
 " fuffer very much, and be ruined, if thofe Lands fhould be taken from them. 
 " And We have likewife confidered another Petition from feveral Citizens of 
 " London, near fixty in number, directed to Our Self, wherein they defire, That 
 " the Marquis his Eftate may be made liable to the Payment of his juft Debts, 
 " that fo they may not be ruined in the favour of the prefent Poffeffors, who 
 " (they fay) are but a few Citizens and Soldiers, who have difburfed very 
 " frnall Sums thereon. Upon the whole matter, no man can think We are left 
 " engaged by Our Declaration, and by the Act of Settlement, to protect thofe 
 " who are innocent, and who have faithfully endeavoured to ferve the Crown, 
 " how unfortunate foever, than to expofe to Juftice thofe who have been really 
 *' and malicioufly guilty. And therefore we cannot in Juftice, but upon the 
 " Petition of the Marquis of Antrim, and after the ferious and ftrict Inquifi- 
 " tion into his Actions, declare unto you, That we do find him innocent from 
 " any malice or rebellious purpofe againft the Crown ; and that what he did 
 " by way of Correfpondence or Compliance with the Irifh Rebels, was in or- 
 '* der to the Service of Our Royal Father, and warranted by his Inftructions, 
 " and the Truft repofed in him ; and that the benefit thereof accrued to the Ser- 
 " vice of the Crown, and not to the particular advantage and benefit of the 
 " Marquis. And as We cannot in juftice deny him this Teftimony, fo We re- 
 " quire you to tranfmit Our Letter to OurCommiffioners, that they may know 
 " Our Judgments in this Cafe of the Lord of Antrim, and proceed accordingly. 
 " And fo We bid you heartily farewell. 
 
 Given at Our Court at White-Hall, July io, in the 15th Tear of Our 
 Reign, 1663. 
 
 By His Majefty's Command, 
 
 To our Right Trufiy and Right en- ^ 
 
 tirely Well-belo'ved Coujtn and 
 
 £^fe2fi£S HENRY BEN NET. 
 
 and General Governor of Our 
 Kingdom of Ireland ; and to the 
 
 Lords of Our Council of that Our £ t d a( . the Signet-Office, 
 
 Kingdom. o 
 
 July 13, 1663. 
 
 Having
 
 the Life of M ilto n. lxxxvii 
 
 Hiving thus ftated what has been urg'd againft King Charles 1. with rela- 
 tion to the Irijh Rebellion ; let us proceed now to reprefent what is alieg'd ill 
 Vindication of him. 
 
 With refpecT: to the Commiflion pretended to be given by the Kinc a t £. 
 dinburgh, Oftober ift, 1641, Monfieur Rapin (p) obferves, that " tho' for 
 " many reafons it is more than probable, that the King never granted a Com- 
 " million to the Irijh to take Arms ; it is however certain, that they boafted 
 " of having fuch a Commiflion. But it is no lefs certain, that it cannot be 
 " the fame with what has been juft read ; nor can this be the Commiflion 
 " publifh'd by the Leaders of the Irijh Rebels. My reafon is, becaufe in 
 " this Commiflion the King is made to fay things, which happen'd not till 
 " feveral Months after the Day of the Date, and which thofe, who are fup- 
 " pofed to have publifhed it the 4th of November, could not forefee. The 
 " King is made to fay on the ift of Otlober 1641, that the Parliament had 
 " poffefs'd themfelves of his Sovereignty, and appointed Governors, Com- 
 " manders, and Officers in all places, which certainly was not done before 
 " the Month of Otlober 164.1. It muft therefore be, that Ruth worth, who has 
 " inferted this Commiflion in his Collcclions (q), had bad Memoirs and little 
 " Judgment not to fee,in this pretended Commiflion of the 1 ft of Otlober 1641, 
 " things, which happen'd not till the Year 164.2." Mr. Tindal, in his Notes 
 upon his Tranflation of this Paflage, adds another Reafon, which fetms to de- 
 monftrate the forgery of this Commiflion •, which is, that this Commiflion is 
 fuppofed to be under the Great Seal of Scotland ; and yet in the Enumeration 
 of the King's Titles, England is named before Scotland, which doubt lefs never 
 was done in any Writings publifhed by Authority in that Kingdom. Before the 
 late Union in Queen Anne'j Reign, the King's conftant Title in all the Scots 
 publick ASis was, of Scotland, England, &c. King. Mr. Rujhworth like- 
 wife obferves, that the words of the Commijfion are enough to foe w the vil- 
 lainous Pratlice of the Authors, arid its bare recital a fufficient confutation and 
 deteclion of the unparallel'd Forgery. And that it was forg'd by Sir Phelim 
 O Neile, appears from the following Deposition of Dr. John Ker,Dem of Ar- 
 magh, (r), publifh'd by Nalfon. 
 
 " I John Ker, Dean of Ardagh, having occa/ionally difcourfed with the 
 " Right Honourable George Lord Vifcount Lanefborough concerning the late; 
 " Rebellion of Ireland ■, and his Lordfnip at that time having deiired to cer- 
 " tify the faid Difcourfe under my hand and feal, do declare as follows : 
 
 " That I was prefent in Court, when the Rebel Sir Phelim O Neile was 
 " brought to his tryal in Dublin (s), and that he was tryed in that Court, which 
 " is now the High-Court of Chancery •, and that his Judges were Judge Do- 
 *' v.clan, afterwards Sir James Donelan ; Sir Edward Bolton Knight, fome- 
 
 " time Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer i — Dungan, then called 
 
 '* Judge Dungan •, and another Judge, whofe name I do not now remember. 
 '* And that amongft other Witnefles then brought in againft him, there was 
 ■* one Jofeph Travers Clerk, and one Mr. Michael Harrifon, if I miftake 
 " not his Chi'iftian Name. And that I heard feveral Robberies and Murders 
 " proved againft him the faid Sir Phelim, he having nothing material to plead 
 " in his own Defence. And that the faid Judge, whofe name 1 remember not 
 " as above faid, examin'd the faid Sir Phelim about a Commiflion, that the faid 
 " Sir Phelim fhould have had from Charles Stuart, as the faid Judge then 
 " called the late King, for levying the faid War. That the faid Sir Phelim 
 " made anfwer, that he never had any fuch Commiflion. And that it was 
 " proved then in Court by theTeftimony of the faid J cfeph Travers and others, 
 " that the faid Sir Phelim had fuch a Commiflion, and did then in the begin- 
 " ning of the faid Irijh Rebellion (hew the fame unto the faid Jofeph and feveral 
 " others then in Court. Upon which the faid Sir Phelim con-feifed, that when 
 " he furprized the Caftle of Charlemount and the Lord Caulfield, that he order'd 
 " the faid Mr. Harrifon and another Gentleman, whofe name I do not now ■ 
 " remember, to cut off the King's broad Seal from a Patent of the faid Lord's 
 " they then found in Charlemount, and to affix it to a Commiflion, which he 
 
 the 
 
 (p) Hiftory of England. B. XX. ad ar.r.. I Impartial Collection, Vol. II. p 5 : 
 
 '164.1. (q) Vol. IV. p. 400. ^30. 1 [n Feb vary, 1 65-i.
 
 Ixxxviii APPENDIX to 
 
 " the faid Sir Pbelim had order'd to be drawn up. And that the faid Mr. Harri- 
 " fon did in the faceof the whole Court confefs,that by the faid Sir Pbelim'sOrdev 
 " he did flitch the (ilk Cord or Label of that Seal with filk of the Colours of the 
 " faid Label, and fo fixed the Label and Seal to the laid Commiifion. And that 
 " the faid Sir Edward Bolton and Judge Donclan urging the faid Sir Phelim 
 " to declare, why he did fo deceive the People ? he did anfwer> that no Man 
 " could blame him to ufe all means whatfoever to promote that Caufe, he had 
 " fo far engaged in. And that upon the fecend day of his Tryal, fome of the 
 " faid Judges told him, that if he could produce any material proof, that he 
 " had fuch a Commiifion from the faid Charles Smart, to declare and prove 
 " it before Sentence fhould pafs againft him ; and that he the faid Sir Phelim 
 " fhould be reftor'd to his Eitate and Liberty. But he anfwered, that he 
 " could prove no fuch thing. Nevertheless they gave him time to confidet" 
 " of it till the next Day, which was the third and laft day of his Tryal. Up- 
 " on which day the faid Sir Phelim being brought into the Court, and urg'd 
 " again, he declared again, that he never could prove any fuch thing as aCom- 
 " million from the King ; and added, that there were frveral Outrages com- 
 '* mitted by Officers and others, his Aiders and Abettors in the Management 
 " of that War, contrary to his Intention, and which now prefied his Con- 
 ** fcience very much; and that he could not in Confcience add to them the 
 " unjuft calumniating the King, tho' he had been frequently follicited there - 
 " unto by fair Promifes and great Rewards while he was in prifon (/). And 
 " proceeding further in this Dilcourfe, that immediately he was ftopt, before 
 «' he had ended what he had further to fay, and the Sentence of Death was 
 " pronounced againft him. 
 
 " And I do further declare, That I was prefent, and very near to the faid 
 •' Sir Phelim, when he was upon the Ladder at his Execution. And that 
 " one Marfhal Peake and another Marfhal, before the faid Sir Phelim was cait, 
 " came riding towards the Place in great hafte,and called aloud, Stop a little ; 
 " and having paffed thro' the Throng of the Spectators and Guards, one of 
 *' them whifpered a pretty while with the faid Sir Phelim -, and that the faid 
 " Sir Phelim anfvvered in the hearing of feveral hundreds of People, of whom 
 * Ludlow. " my felf was one, I thank the Lieutenant General* for his intended Mer- 
 " cy ; but I declare, good People, before God and his holy Angels, and all of 
 " you that hear me, that I never had any Commiffion from the King for what 
 " / have done, in levying or ptofecution of this War \ and do heartily beg your 
 " Prayers, all good Catholics and Chriftians, that God may be merciful unto 
 " me, and forgive me my Sins. More of this Speech I could not hear, which 
 " continued not long, the Guards beating off thofe that ftood near the Place 
 " of Execution. 
 
 " All that I have written as above, I declare to be true, and am ready, 
 " if thereunto required, upon my Corporal Oath to atteft the Truth of 
 " every particular of it. And in teftimony thereof, do hereunto fubferibe 
 " my Hand, and affix my Seal, this 28th Day of February, 168 1. 
 
 " JOHN KER.'» 
 
 M.x.'Tloomas Carte likewife («) informs us of a Particular, out of an Ac- 
 count of Sir Phelim O Neile's Trial, which he had often heard from a very 
 worthy Clergyman, who was born in Ireland before the time of the 
 Trial, and whofe Uncle, from whom he had the Relation, was prefent at 
 it in the Chancery Court of Dublin, where the High-Court of Juftice 
 fat, the Commilfioners whereof were directed by a Committee, that fat in 
 an adjoining Room, called the Chancery Chamber, what Queftions they 
 fhould propofe to O Neile ; a Communication being kept up bv means of a 
 Meflenger, who went conftantly between them, and reprefented to the Com- 
 mittee all Proceedings in the Court, and brought Inftruction? ;othe Commif- 
 fioners on every Occafion, fpeaking to them thro' a fquare Hole in the Wall. 
 
 Sir 
 
 (/) Mr. 71)0. Carte, in his Life of James, " frequently to mention this, at told him 
 
 the hrft Duke of Ormonde, Vol. I. /. r8i, " there by Sir Pbelim, with great Detefia- 
 
 note [g), obferves, " That Sir Richard Kenne- " tion of the Offer. " 
 
 " d\ (made Baron of the Exchequer of Ire- (a) The Irj/b MalTacre fet in a clear Light, 
 
 " land by King Charles II) who attended p. 13. 2d Edit. London, 17J3, in 4W. 
 " Sir Pbtlim in Prifon, as his Council, ultd
 
 the Life o/Milton. '. Ixxxik 
 
 Sir Pbelim fccnid, fays Mr. Carte, to appear in the Court with a Remorfefor 
 the Sins of his Life, and the Blood he hadfied in the Rebellion, and with an 
 unfeigned Deftre of wafBing away the Guilt of his former Crimes by a fin- 
 cere Repentance of them. And therefore when the Commiffioners, wbofe bar- 
 barous Endeavours to extort from him an Accufation of the Kino-, during the 
 Courfe of his Trial, (which was drawn out to the length of feveral Bays, 
 that he might be worked upon in that Time) he had rejifled with a Conjlancy, 
 that could hardly be expetled in his Circumftances, owning that he hadfhew d 
 a Commiffwn, but it was of his drawing, he having been bred in the Inns 
 of Court in England, and the Broad Seal affixed to it, as above related ; 
 when they prefs'd him to plead this Commiffwn, as given him by the Kin°~, 
 be anfwered, that he would not increafe his Crimes by accufing an inno- 
 cent Man, who was dead. The fame Writer,, in his Hiflory of the Life of 
 James the firjl Duke of Ormonde (x), obferves, that Dr. William Sheridan, 
 formerly Bifhop of Kilmore, and the late Mr. Lock, (a very worthy Man, 
 and well known in Ireland by the Name of Father Lock, as feme younger 
 Members, who fat with him in the Houfe of Commons there, us'd to 
 ftile him) were prefent at the Execution of Sir Pbelim Nrile, and have 
 to many Gentlemen now living confirm'd the Truth of Dean Ker's Rela- 
 tion. And Mr. Carte remarks ( v ), " That the very Patent, from which 
 «« the Great Seal was torn, and which contained a Grant of feme Lands in 
 »' the County of Tyrone, was about five or fix Years ago upon a Suit of 
 *' Law in relation to thofe Lands, produe'd at the Affizes of Tyrone by 
 " the late Lord Charlemont, having on it evident Marks of the Seal's 
 *' being torn from it, and an Indorsement proving the Fad: ; and was al- 
 « lowed by the Judges as a proper Evidence to prove his Lordfhip's Right 
 u to the Lands in queftion." 
 
 It is remarkable likewife, that the Commiflioh was pretended to be dated 
 at Edinburgh, October i, 1641, and had the Great Seal of Scotland affix'd 
 to it, tho' all the King's Ads, whilft he was in Scotland, were dated from 
 Uohrood- Houfe ', where was his conftant Residence during his Stay there. 
 And Dr. Gilbert Burnet, in his Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton (2), 
 tells us, that the Keeper of the Great Seal of that Kingdom declar'd, That 
 it had never been out of his keeping for many Months before and after 
 that Time ■, and was never put to any fuch CommifTion. Mr. Howell ob- 
 ferves (a), That the King was fo far from giving the Irifh Rebels a Com- 
 mifTion, that he had no Fore-knowledge of their Defign, as, fays he, (befides 
 a world of other convincing Circumftances, which may clear him in this 
 particular), appears from the Confeflion of the Lord Macguire before his 
 Execution on February 20th, 1644, who, upon the Ladder, and another 
 Perfon on the Scaffold, did abfolutely acquit the King in this point. 
 And the fame Author afierts (b), that his Majefty was fo far from hav- 
 ing any Intimation of the Infurreclion in Ireland, that the Spanifh Embaf- 
 fador here, and his Confeflbr, an Irifhman, told him, that the Kino- knew 
 no more of it than the Great Mogul did. Roger Earl of Orrery (c) writes 
 upon this Affair, as follows; " In the Year 1641, the Irifh Papifts pre- 
 "• tended his Majefty's Authority, the pretending whereof having been fo 
 " horrid a Sin, (for it was no lefs than to have intitled his facred Maje- 
 *' fty to all their unparallel'd Crimes, nay, to have made him Author 
 " of them ;) I think it a Duty to the Memory of that glorious Martyr, 
 " to prefent the Reader with what will clearly evince their Malice to be as 
 u great as his Majefty's Innocence. I will therefore only cite the Preamble 
 " of their own Remonjlrance, delivered by the Lord Vifcount Gorman/Ion, 
 " Sir Lucas Dillon, and Sir Robert Talbot, Bart, to his Majefty's Corrimif- 
 " fioners at the Town of Trim in the County of Meath, on the 17th of 
 " March 1642. In which Remonjlrance of Grievances, for fo they call'd 
 Vol. I. z it, 
 
 (x) Vol. I. B. 3. p. 181. Edit. London, (b) Italian Perfpective, p. 289. 
 
 1736, in fol. (c) Anfwer to a fcandalous Letter lately 
 
 (y) Ibid. p. 182. printed, and fubferibed by Peter Welcb,?ro- 
 
 (z) p. 193, and jjo. curator for the fecular and regular Popilri 
 
 (a) Glance on the Jfleof Wight, p. 381. Priefts in Ireland, p. 29. Edit. Dublin, 1662 
 
 2
 
 xc APPENDIX/^ 
 
 " it, after they had taken notice, - that his Majefty had authorized Commif- 
 " fionersto hear what they {hould fay or propound, thefe very Words fol- 
 " low, viz. Which your Majefty's gracious and princely Favour ue find ac- 
 " companied with thefe Words, viz. Albeit We do extremely detest 
 " the odious Rebellion, which the Recusants of Ireland 
 " have without Ground or Colour raised against Us, Our 
 " Crown and Dignity : Words which deferve to be written with a 
 " Beam of the Sun, as an eternal Monument of his Majefty's Juftice and 
 " their Guilt. Nor were they fpoken in a Corner, but fpoken under the 
 " Great Seal of England, and even in that Commiffion, which thofe falfe 
 " Accufers were to fee, and hear read ; and by thofe ExprelTions they were 
 " fufficiently provoked to have pleaded the Authority, which they falfe- 
 " ly pretended, had they had the leaft Shadow for fo black a Calumny." 
 Father Welch or Waljh, in his Anfwer to the Earl's Book, p. 57. Seel. yy. 
 acquits King Charles 1. of the Imputation of having given the pretended Com- 
 miffion, which he acknowledges to have been the Invention of Neile. Sir 
 Roger Manley (c), having given an Account of King Charles I's. caufing the 
 Marquis of Ormonde to deliver up Dublin, then (Anno Dom. 1646) be- 
 fieg'd by the Irifj Army by Land, and block'd up by the Parliament Ships 
 on the Sea-fide, into the hands of the latter, rather than of the former ; 
 and having briefly recited Sir Phelim O Neile's Atteftation of that King's 
 Innocence, expreffes himfelf in thefe Words (d), Nor -was it only with him 
 (O Neile) but with feveral other Prisoners, that they moft impioufly endeavou- 
 red by Promifes of Life, Liberty and Eftate, and no lefs abominable Artifices, 
 to footh them to Confeffions, that might entitle the King to that nefarious 
 R.ebellion. Mr. Carte (e) likewife cbferves, that the King's granting fuch a 
 Commiffion is contrary, i.(/)To the public and authentic Actsof the King him- 
 felf and Lords Juftices, to the Proclamations of Otlober 20th, of January ift, 
 and February 8th, 1641 •, Acts of fuch a nature, as to vacate, or at leaft, 
 to render ufelefs all Commiffions inconfiftent with them, and granted in a 
 clandeftine way, if any could be fo uncharitable as to fuppofe, that the King 
 would grant any for the Crimes of Rapine, Murder and Rebellion ; or fo 
 fenfelefs as to imagine, that he would grant it for no end, or for one, that 
 it could ferve but a Day, (or ftrictly fpeaking) but a Week. 2. To 
 the King's furprize at the breaking out of the Rebellion, exprefs'd in hid 
 Letter {g ) to the Marquis of Ormcnd, wrote from Edinburgh, October, 31, 
 1641 ; and to his Care and improving every Hint and Intelligence he re- 
 ceived of ill and feditious Defigns for preventing them. See his Letter wrote 
 by his Order to the Juftices of Ireland, March 6th, 1640. 3. To his 
 Profeffions of having had fince the beginning of that monftrous Rebellion 
 no greater Sorrow, than for the bleeding Condition of the Kingdom of Ire- 
 land, and of his being griev'd from the very Soul at the Calamities of his 
 good Subjects there. 4. To his repeated folemn Appeals to God, and calling 
 him to witnefs for the Truth and Sincerity of his Profeffions. 5. To his 
 whole Conduct and Actions, to his zealous Endeavours and Ufe of all Means 
 in his Power, that timely Relief might be fent over to the Succour of the 
 diftrefs'd Proteftants ; to his leaving the Management of the War there to 
 the Parliament, and parting with his Prerogative, already fufficiently pared, 
 that, if poffible to move them by fuch a Sacrifice, it might be carried on 
 the better ; to his confenting to all Propofitions (how difadvantageous foever 
 to himfelf) that were offer'd to him for that purpofe •, to his fending over 
 immediately, on the firft News of the Infurreftion of the Rebels, 1500 Men 
 to oppofe them, and fending afterwards Arms and Ammunition in fuch 
 Proportion and Quantities, and at fuch times as he could very ill fpare them ; 
 to his inflexible Refolution (even after the Battle of Nafeby) when his Af- 
 fairs feem'd defperate, that if the Condition of them were ftill more de- 
 fperate, he would never redeem them by any Conccfiions to the Irijh Re- 
 bels, which muft wound his Honour and Confcience ; and that, let his 
 
 Cu- 
 ff) Hiftoryofthe Rebellions in England, (/) Borlace, p. 53, 34, 6j, 30. append. 
 Scotland and Ireland, Edit. 1691. 3- p- 21. 6. p. 27. 
 
 (d) p. 92. (gj ^ir R. Ccx's Appendix to his Hibernia 
 
 (<■) irijh Maflacre fet in a clear Light, /. Ar.gluana, 49. and /d/y^w/Z/s Abridgment, 
 18, & feq. „ Vol.JIJ. /. 168.
 
 the Life of Milton. xci 
 
 Circumftances be what they would, he would run any Extremity, rather 
 than do the leaft Act, that might hazard the Religion of the Church of 
 England, in which, and for which he was refolv'd to die (h) ; and to his Or- 
 ders from time to time to the Marquis of Ormond, in regard to which 
 the Marquis (in his Anfwer to the Addrefs of Thanks of the two Houfes 
 of Parliament in Ireland, for the Prefervation of themfelves and the reft of 
 the Proteftant Party there, thro' his Care, March 17th, 1646-7) declares, 
 " That in all the time he had the Honour to ferve the King his Mafter, 
 " he had never received any Command from him, but fuch as fpalce him 
 " a wife, pious, Proteftant Prince, zealous of the Religion he profefled, 
 " the Welfare of his Subjects, and induftrious to promote and fettle Peace 
 " and Tranquillity in all his Kingdoms." 6. To not only what he did, but 
 what he would further have done ; and to his unfeigned Offers of venturing 
 in his own Perfon all the Dangers of War ; of hazarding his very Life for 
 the Defence of his Proteftants in Ireland, and for the Chaftifement of thofe 
 perfidious and barbarous Rebels (as he ftiles them;) and of pawning or even 
 felling his own Parks, Lands, and Houfes for this Service. 7. To not 
 only his conftant Expreffions of Abhorrence of that Rebellion ; but alfo to 
 his denying all Knowledge of it, with the ftrongeft Affeveratiorts and De- 
 clarations of it to fuch a degree, as to vow, That if his own Son had a 
 hand in it, he would cut off his Head. 8. To this Confideration, which 
 alone, (fays Sir Richard Cox) muft convince all Mankind of the King'j Inno- 
 cence in this Affair ; and that is, that an Irijh Rebellion was the moft un- 
 lucky and fatal thing, that could happen to his Majefty at that Juncture ; 
 it broke all his Meafures, and was fo evidently againft his Intereft, that 
 no Perfon could fufpect him to contrive it, who did not at the fame time 
 think him mad. 
 
 I proceed now to cenfider the Cafe of the Marquis of Antrim, which has 
 been frequently urg'd to caft an Odium upon the King, as concern'd in the 
 Irijh Rebellion andMafTacre. Mr.Baxter,'m the PafTage above cited, affirms, that 
 this Marquis had been one of the Irifh Rebels in the beginning of that War, when 
 in the horrid Maffacre 200000 Proteftants were murther'd. But there will 
 not appear the leaft Grounds for fuch an AfTertion, if we confider, that the 
 Marquis is not mention'd in any of the Lifts or Accounts, which we have of 
 thofe, who firft appear'd in the Province of Uljler, (in which Province the 
 County of Antrim lies) for the Execution of the Conspiracy (z) -, nor in the Lift 
 of the principal Rebels found among the Papers in the Clerk of the Com- 
 mons Houfe of Parliament's Office (k) ; nor in the Account, which we have 
 of them in Dowdale's Depofition (/) ; nor in the Proclamation againft the 
 Rebels publifh'd by the Lords Juftices and Council February 8, 1 641, wherein 
 thofe then in Rebellion are particularly named (;»). And when by fome falfe 
 Reports carried over into England, he was afperfed there on account of the 
 Rebellion, Sir William Parfons, under whofe Eye he liv'd at that time at 
 Dublin, wrote into England a Vindication of him from that Charge («). 
 
 It appears likewife from Dr. Robert Maxwell's Depofitions (0), that fome 
 of the Rebels complaiivd of the Marquis's not taking up Arms, and that o- 
 thers of them exclaim'd againft him fo long as the March following at the 
 End of the Year 1641, becaufe their Cauie fuffer'd by his non-concurrence. 
 He was very free in expreffing his Deteftation of their proceedings; and go- 
 ing down to his Eftate in the County of Antrim in May 164.2, did good Ser- 
 vice in relieving Colerain ; which was then befieg'd by the Rebels, and in 
 danger of being taken for want of Provifions. Notwithftanding this Service, 
 and tho' Mr. Archibald Stewart, his chief A^ent or Steward, had by his in- 
 tereft and among his Tenants raifed a Regiment, which did good Service a- 
 gainft the Rebels •, Major General Monroe, on pretence that fome other of 
 his Tenants were in the Rebellion, but in reality to gratify the Paflions of 
 a great Man in Scotland, and his own Avarice, by getting poffeiTion of his 
 Eftate and plundering his Houfe, feized the Marquis of Antrim, whilft he 
 
 was 
 
 (b) Cox, Part II. C. 1. p. 152. (m) Id. p. 65, and Appendix from p. 27, 
 
 ( i) Nalfoii's Collections, Vol. II. p. 632. to 3 5 
 
 (k) lb." p. 8S8 (>:) Cam's Life of James, the firft Duke 
 
 (I) Borlace'i Hiftory, p. 39. of Ormond, Voh II. p 277. 
 
 (0) See Bar/ace's Appendix, p. 126, & feq.
 
 xcii APPENDIX to 
 
 was entertaining him in his own Caftle of Dunlace, and fent him prifoner to 
 Garrickfergus. Thence he made his Efcape into England, where he waited 
 on the Queen at York in March 1643. Msntrofs and fome other Scots Noble- 
 men comincr thither, pvopos'd a Scheme for railing a Body of the King's 
 Friends in Scotland, to oppofe the Covenanters, who were then in Treaty 
 with the Parliament. The Marquis of Antrim undertook to bring over fome 
 Irifh Troops to their affiftance ; and with that View went to the North of 
 Ireland, but was taken by Monroe the very inftant of his landing, and im- 
 prisoned again at Garrickfergus. He made thence a fecond Efcape into Eng- 
 land, and never was concern'd in any action or engagement with the Rebels till 
 after the Ceflation ; Monroe all that time enjoying his Eftate, and refufing to 
 allow him or his Agents to receive the Rents of it, tho' repeated Orders were 
 fent from the King and the State of Ireland for that purpofe. At the time 
 of the Ceflation, the Scots had declared they would affift the Parliament, and 
 were railing Forces to invade England. The Marquis of Montr -oj s coming to 
 Oxford, propofed to cut them out work at home, and to make a diveriion in 
 their own Country, if he had but a Body of Forces to begin the Affair, and 
 to ferve for a Protection to the Royalifts, who would join with him, Antrim 
 then at Oxford readily undertook to bring or fend a Body of Irifh Troops for 
 that purpofe •, and in order thereto went to Ireland in 1644. He could not 
 make good this promife without the affiftance or countenance of the Council 
 of Kilkenny ; and in order to recommend himfelf to them, he took the Oath 
 of Aflbciation, and was made a Member of that Body. There were ftill con- 
 fiderable Expences to be defrayed, and great difficulties to be got over ; which 
 at laft was done by the help and credit of the Marquis of Ormond. During 
 this Negociation, Antrim had feveral Letters from the Queen, encouraging 
 him to go on with the Affair, and prefling Difpatch. At laft he fent off about 
 1500 Men, which landing in Scotland, enabled Montrofs to raife the Royal 
 Party there, and laid the Foundation of all the great Enterprizes, which he 
 undertook, and the amazing Victories, which he gained in that Country. 
 *' This, continues Mr. Carte (0), was certainly a very eminent Service, at- 
 " tempted whilft the Marquis of Antrim was innocent ; and if in order to the 
 " performance, he contracted any Guilt, by correfponding with the Rebels, 
 " (when they were no longer in arms,) which was abfolutely neceffary, or by 
 " taking the Oath of Aflbciation •, which tho' it was not, he might poffibly 
 " deem ferviceable to that End, there was nothing in his Conduct but what 
 " might be very well excufed and pardoned. But his After-actions did not 
 " correfpond to thefe Beginnings •, and far from being proper or lawful means 
 " of advancing the King's Affairs, were not fo much as directed or intended 
 " for his Service." He join'd in all the violent Meafures of the Nuncio and 
 his Party; oppofed the Peace of 1646, to the utmoft of his power; em- 
 bark'd in the defign to put the Kingdom under fubjection to the Pope, or fome 
 foreign Power; was a declar'd Enemy to the Marquis of Ormond; and upon 
 his return from France, whither he went in the beginning of 164S, join'd 
 with the Nuncio in oppofing the Ceflation lately made with Lord Inchiquin y 
 and ftood out againft the Peace, which follow'd it, and which was thought 
 by the Marquis of Ormond and the Roman Catholic Confederates (between 
 whom it was concluded) the only means to prevent the Death of the King. 
 He kept a Correfpondence with Cromwell from the time of his landing at 
 Dublin ; fow'd difcontents among the Irifh Troops, raifing Jealoufies be- 
 tween them and Lord Incbiquin's Party, which ruin'd the King's Affairs in Ire- 
 land; was aconftant Spy on the Marquis of Ormond and all who adher'd to 
 the King's Authority, giving intelligence to Jones and Ireton of all their Mea- 
 fures and Defigns, and afterwards openly joining wit.': their Party ; and en- 
 deavour'd to afperfe the Memory of the late King, by pretending to confefe 
 an antecedent Defign, wherein he pretended to be concern'd himfelf, but which 
 never was acted, nor had the leaft foundation of Truth or Probability {p). 
 
 Soon after the Reftoration he came to England; but upon information from 
 the Commiflioners of the Convention, that he had mifbehaved himfelf both 
 in regard to his Majefty and his Father, the King refufed to fee, and com- 
 mitted 
 
 (0) Life of James the fuft Duke of Or- (f>) Id. p. 278, 279. 
 
 mond, Vol. II. p. 278.
 
 the Life o/Milto N. Xciii 
 
 jnitted him prifoner to the Tower of London. He was continued there feve* 
 ral Months under a clofe Reftraint, upon the continued Information of the 
 fame Commiffioners. But no Evidence being produced of his Gui!t, as was 
 confidently promis'd, and a Petition being prefented by his Wife to the King 
 in Council, on March 29th, 1661, it was order'd, that he ihould be bail'd, 
 upon the Lords Moore, Dillon, and Taaffe entering into a Recognizance of 
 /. 20COO, for his Appearance, within fix Weeks after the Date of it, before 
 the Lords Juftices of Ireland ; to whom were remitted all the Papers, which 
 they had fent over about him. However, after above fourteen months At- 
 tendance, he was at laft difmiffed without any Cenfure, or Tranfmiflion of a 
 Charge againft him, and with a Licence from the Lords Juftices to tranfport 
 himfelf into England. He there follicited for the Reftitution of his Eftate, 
 which confifted of 107611 Acres, and had been allotted to the Lord Majfa- 
 reene and a few other Adventurers and Soldiers, in confideration of their Ad- 
 ventures and Pay, which did not in all exceed the Sum of /. 7000. 
 
 The Queen-Mother folliciting ftrongly in favour of the Marquis, and the 
 King feeing nothing prov'd againft him, was prevail'd upon to write a Letter 
 to the Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, dated Decemb. 8, 1662, 
 requiring him to move the Council of Ireland to prepare a Bill to be tranf- 
 mitted over, according to Poyning's Law, for putting the Marquis in poffef- 
 fion of his Eftate. The Council in Ireland were unanimoufly of opinion, that 
 fuch a Bill ought not to be tranfmitted. Upon this Antrim prefented a Pe- 
 tition to his Majefty, giving a favourable Account of his Cafe, and reprefen- 
 ting, " that upon the breaking out of the Irijh Rebellion he had quitted that 
 " Kingdom on account thereof, and had retired into England ; that he was 
 " lent back by the late King's pofitive Command for the carrying on of fuch 
 '* Services there and in Scotland, as were given him in charge ; and his En- 
 " deavours therein were fo well accepted, that he was dignified with the title 
 " of Marquis. That indeed he had been accufed of defaming the late King, 
 " and on that account had been imprifon'd in the Tower, and forbid his Ma- 
 " jefty's Prefence, but during all his Attendance in Ireland, the Fact had 
 " been never proved, and was indeed without foundation ; and (as a Proof 
 " of his conftant Adherence to his Majefty) that he had been deprived by the 
 " Irijh and Ufurpers of his whole Eftate, and lived in great Mifery till his 
 " Majefty's happy Reftoration." This Petition was referr'd to a Committee 
 of the Council of" England, who, having heard the Marquis, did not think 
 fit to make any Report, till they firft faw and underftood the Reafons, which 
 induc'd the Council of Ireland not to tranfmit the Bill propofed. Thefe Rea- 
 fons were fent in a Letter of March 18th, with feveral Petitions which had 
 been prefented to them, as well from the Soldiers and Adventurers, as from 
 the Marquis himfelf. The Reafons imported, " that they were informed, 
 " that the Marquis had put in his Claim before the Commiffioners for execu- 
 " ting the Aft of Settlement ; and if his Innocency were fuch as he alledged, 
 *' there was no need of tranfmitting fuch a Bill as was defired ; and if he were 
 •* nocent, it confifted not with their Duty to his Majefty to tranfmit fuch a 
 " Bill, as, if ic fhould pafs into a Law, muft needs draw a great prejudice 
 " upon fo many Adventurers and Soldiers, as were alledg'd to be there- 
 •■ in concern'd." While thefe Papers were under Confideration, the Marquis 
 prefented another Petition of the fame Tenor as the former, praying to be 
 heard ; and afterwards a third, prefiing Difpatch, on account of the In- 
 conveniences he fuffer'd by Delays. 
 
 The Committee of the Council proceeded with great Deliberation in the 
 Affair, and heard what the Marquis had to offer in his own Vindication. 
 He produced King Charles I's Inftruftions and Letters in 1643 and 1644 for 
 his going into Ireland, and treating with the Irifi, in order to reduce them 
 to their Obedience, to draw from them Forces for the Service of Scotland, and 
 to engage them to fend a Succour of 1 0000 Men to his Majefty's Afliftance in 
 England. Daniel O Neile, who had been fent with him as an Advifer, was 
 an unexceptionable Witnefs of his Behaviour at that time. The Committee 
 therefore made a Report in his favour, and accordingly the King wrote a 
 Letter to the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland, dated July 10th, 1663, 
 and given at large above. This Letter arriv'd at Dublin July 20th, and the 
 
 Vol.. I. a a Purport
 
 xciv APPENDIX to 
 
 purport of it coming to be known, the Adventurers and Soldiers concem'd in 
 Antrim's Eftate presented a Petition to the Council of Ireland, who transmitted 
 it to his Majefty, with their own Letters of the 31ft of that Month. In thefe 
 Letters they obferv'd, that the Marquis's Cafe had not been fully ftated to the 
 Council in England, Since his Conduct had been very criminal in many In- 
 ftances, in oppofmg the Peace of 1646 and 1648, joining with the Pope's 
 Nuncio and his Adherents againft the Royal Authority, &c. The Peti- 
 tion of the Adventurers, which they tranfmitted with thefe Letters, contain'd 
 the Heads of their Accufation againft the Marquifs, upon which he was fcon 
 after to be tried before the Court of Claims. 
 
 When the Marquis's Friends found, that the Certificate, which had been 
 fent to the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland, would not be tranfmitted 
 to the Court of Claims, and that the Council were preparing a Remonftrance 
 againft it, they procur'd from the King another Certificate, dated Auguft nth 
 in the form of a Letter to the Commiifioners for executing the Act of Settle- 
 ment, of the fame Import, and in the fame Words, except where the Form ne- 
 ceffarily occafion'd a Variation. This Letter arriv'd at Dublin time enough 
 to be made ufe of at the Marquis's Tryal, which was on the 20th ot that 
 Month. Mr. Carte (p) thinks it very probable, that Sir Henry Bennet, Se- 
 cretary of State, out of Complaifance to the Queen-Mother, who greatly fa- 
 vour'd the Marquis, had fecreted the joint Letter of the Council of Ireland 
 of Jufyls 1 ft, till after his Majefty's Letter to the Comrmflk ners of Augvjl 1 1 th 
 was fent away. 
 
 The Marquis's Tryal before the Commissioners of the Court of Claims in 
 Ireland came on Auguft 20th, when his Majefty's Letter was firft read ; and 
 four of the Commissioners thought, that this Letter was a fufficient ground for 
 them to declare the Innocency of the Marquis ; but the other three thinking it 
 proper to hear what Evidence could be offer'd for criminating the Plaintiff, and 
 afterwards to confider, whether what they alledg'd was comprehended within 
 the Instructions and Directions mentioned in the Letter, the Matter was argued 
 by the Council on both fides. At laft the Council for the Defendants mov'd, 
 '* that this Point of the King's Letters might be referred to the Lord Lieu- 
 " tenant and Council, as had been before in Sarsfiela's Cafe." But this was 
 carried in the Negative. The next Queftion, whether they fhould hear any 
 Evidence on the Defendants part, was carried in the Affirmative. The firft 
 thing, which the Defendants offer'd, was a Copy of the above-mentioned 
 Letter of July 31, from the Lord Lieutenant and Council, in anfwer to his 
 Majefty's •, but the reading of it was carried in the Negative. They then at- 
 tempted to prove, that Antrim knew of the Plot for the furprifing of Dublin 
 Caftle, on Oftob.23, 1641. But all the Evidence was two hear-fay Deposi- 
 tions taken in 1642, from Perfons who were told fo by the common Soldiers 
 of the Irijh, whilft they were Prifoners. The Conduct of his Tenants in the 
 North was objected ; but the only thing of any confequence urg'd againft 
 him before the Ceffation in 1643, was a Conference, which he was charg'd 
 with having had with Roger Moore. Whether this was, fays Mr. Carte (q), in 
 order to get a Pafs to go to his Eftate in the North, or for fome other lawful 
 purpofe ; or whether it was abfolutely falfe, does not appear from any Witnefs 
 on the Marquis's fide ; for his Council would examine none, choofing to reft 
 their Caufe upon the King's Teftimony in his Letter, rather than to lefj'en its 
 Weight by any Aft of their own, in appealing to other Evidence. The Defen- 
 dants, to prove the Fact, produe'd another of the old hear-fay Depositions, 
 taken juft after the Rebellion broke out, and Six living Witneffes, who all, 
 fpeaking to one and the fame Fact, fix'd it, fome in January, others in Fe- 
 bruary, another in April, and one (viz. Connor Donnogh, a Romifti Prieft) 
 in June 1642, at which time Antrim was Prifoner at Carrickfergus. But as 
 Sir William Parfons at that time vindicated the Marquis's Innocency ; as the 
 Duke of Ormond confider' d him as a faithful Subjeft, when he waited upon him 
 after the Battle of KilruSh, two or three days before Antrim went into the 
 North ; as no Indiftment was laid, nor any Profecution carried on againft him, 
 in a time of the fever eft Inquifition after the Adherents and Correfpon dents of the 
 Rebels, when fuch Profecutions were made upon the ftighteft Sufpicions and 
 
 weakeft 
 
 {}) Ibid. p. 288, 289, (?) Ibid. p. 290.
 
 the Life o/Milton, xcv 
 
 weakefl Grounds ; as no Objeclion was made in the Council, compofed as it was 
 in Sir Will. ParfonsV time, when Orders were fent them about a Tear after* 
 wards to put the Marquis in Po([cJfion of the Rents of his Eftate : I do not fee, 
 fays Mr. Carte (r), the leaft reafon to lay any Jlrefs upon thefe difagreeing De- 
 positions ; efpecially conftdering the Pratlices ufed at that time of the fitting of 
 this Court of Claims, to procure and fuborn Witnefj'es, whofe Perjuries were 
 fometimes prcv'd in open Court by the Teftimony of honourable Perfons, who hap- 
 pened accidentally to be prefent. The Defendants next proceeded to fhew, that 
 he had fign'd the Roll of Aflbciation ; that he had been of the fupreme 
 Council of Kilkenny ; that he had acted as a Lieutenant-General among the 
 Rebels •, that he had join'd with the Nuncio, and with Owen Ro O Neile, 
 and oppos'd the Peace of 1 648 •, and that he came in 1 650 with a Pafs from 
 Ireton to the Engliflj Camp, and had form*d a Defign to tranfport Soldiers to 
 oppofe King Charles 11. in Scotland. When the Evidence of the Defendants 
 was finifti'd, and Antrim's oppofing the Peace in 1646 and 164S was prov'd, 
 without any Defence on the Plaintiff's fide, the Court was to determine. 
 That Oppofition expreffly barred his Innocency according to the Act of Settle- 
 ment •, the only Doubt was, whether thofe particular proofs were to be receiv'd 
 in oppofition to the King's general Teftimony, and exprefs directions to pro- 
 nounce the Marquis innocent ; as he was at laft adjudg'd to be by the Ma- 
 jority of the Judges. 
 
 As foon as the Tryal was over, the Adventurers and Soldiers aggriev'd by 
 this Sentence, prefented at the Council-Board a Petition to his Majefty praying 
 relief againft the Declaration of the Court of Claims, which they defir'd 
 might be refpited and referr'd to the confideration of the Lord Lieutenant and 
 Council of Ireland. The King upon receipt of this Petition, immediately 
 wrote another Letter to the Commifiloners (to whom he tranfmitted at the 
 fame time his former Letters to the Lord Lieutenant and Council, and their 
 Anfwer of July 31.) reprefenting therein, how he found by that Petition (a 
 Copy whereof he fent them) " that upon the hearing of the Marquis of Antrim's 
 '* Caufe on Aiiguft 20. there were offered unto them in Evidence againft the 
 " faid Marquis feveral things, which by the Characters given of that Noble- 
 *' man to his Majefty, he did not conceive he had been guilty of; upon 
 " which particulars (fays his Majefty in the Words of the Letter) as they were 
 " not made known to us before, fo now being made known unto us, we can- 
 " not but take notice of them, and declare our Senfe, that they cannot con- 
 " fift with the Marquis's Duty and Allegiance to our Royal Father or Our- 
 " felf, neither can the fame be warranted by any Authority fuppofed to be 
 *' derived from our Royal Father, or be any ways confident with the Service 
 " of our Royal Father or Ourfelf. And therefore fince that we are given to 
 " underftand, that the faid Marquis made not any defence againft the faid 
 " Evidence, but relied wholly on our Letters to you directed, which were 
 " by you held very comprehenfive for the acquitting the faid Marquis of all 
 " the Matters objected againft him, and that the Crimes laid to his charge 
 " (though conferred) were thereby avoided •, and that thereupon only, you 
 " did adjudge the faid Marquis to be an innocent Perfon within the faid 
 " Act ; we cannot therefore, but upon the whole matter declare unto you, 
 " that we conceive, that fuch atlings of the faid Marquis can no ways be in- 
 " tended to be warranted or excufed by any of the Authorities derived from our 
 " Royal Father or Ourfelf; and that the fame were fo far from being a Service 
 " to our Royal Father, that they did much reflect upon him. And there- 
 " fore we do hereby require you to forbear iffuing out of any Decree for the 
 " faid Marquis, until our further Pleafure be known therein ; and if any 
 " Decree be ifTued forth, that you do give order and take care for fuperfe- 
 " ding thereof; and for fo doing this fhall be your warrant, cirV." 
 
 This Letter the King fent with another to the Lord Lieutenant and Coun- 
 cil, wherein after acknowledging the Receipt of theirs of July 31. the 
 Petition tranfmitted therewith, and the other laft mentioned, he adds, "That 
 " upon ferious Confideration thereof he had thought fit to fignify his Royal 
 *' Pleafure unto the faid Commiffioners by the inclofed, which he fent to 
 " them, to the Intent that they fhould fee the fame duly obferved ; and 
 
 " that 
 
 (r) p. 291.
 
 xcvi APPENDIX /«, 
 
 " that if the CommilTioners Decree in the Marquis's behalf mould be exe- 
 " cuted before thefe his Letters came to their hands, then they fhould caufe 
 " the Sheriffs of the Counties, where the -Lands lay, to put the Adven- 
 " turers and Soldiers in pofieffion again, and continue them therein, until 
 '• his Pleafure were further known, &c." 
 
 There was afterwards upon this laft Petition of the Adventurers and Sol- 
 diers a folemn Hearing before his Majefty at his Council-Board in England, 
 againft the Judgment and Decree given by the major Part of the Commiffio- 
 ners for the Marquis's Innocency. The King, after much time fpent in the 
 Examination of the Cafe, declared, " That he faw no Caufe, why the 
 " faid Marquis fhould be adjudged innocent, much lefs that the Commif- 
 " fioners, not at all considering the Proofs, which they heard againft him, 
 " fhould lay the whole Weight of their Judgment upon his Majeity's Certifi- 
 " cate, the faid Certificate being only to declare, that the Marquis was employ - 
 " ed into Ireland, to procure what Forces he could from thence, to be trdnf- 
 " ported into Scotland for his late Majeflfs Service under the late Marquis 
 " of Montrofe, to the end that the Converfation of the Caid Marquis in the Rebels 
 " Quarters, which was neceffary for that Service, might not, according to the 
 " Letter of the former AcJi render him Criminal, if that had been the only, 
 " as it was the leaft Objection againft him; and therefore rcfolv'd that he 
 " fhould undergo a new Tryal." To prevent this, Antrim, in an humble 
 Petition to the King, acknovvledg'd himfelf guilty, and befcught his Maje- 
 fty, that he might be fupported by his Mercy, fmce he was not able to 
 fupport himfelf by his own Innocency. The King thereupon, reflecting on 
 the Services performed for his Father by the Marquifs in the Scots Affair 
 " and fome eminent Services of his likewife done to himfelf, (the Marquis, 
 " befides affifting him with Arms and Ammunition, when he was in the 
 " Weft, having alfo furnifh'd him with Ships to make his Efcape into 
 " foreign Parts, when his Armies were defeated in the Weft ;) and confi- 
 " dering that his Mercy was in the fame Act extended to fome, who had as 
 " much dtmerited, did by the Act of Explanation provide for the Mar- 
 " quis's being reftored to all his Eftate (except Impropriations) taking care 
 " in the fame Act to have the Judgment of the Court of Ciaims declared 
 " void and null to all intents and purpofes." 
 
 Mr. Carte obferves (s), that there is nothing more unaccountable in this 
 Relation of the Marquifs's Reftitution, than the wonderful Zeal, with which 
 the Queen-Mother exerted her Intereft in his behalf ; and that fome Writers- 
 fay, this was owing to the Influence of her Favourite the Earl of St, Al- 
 bans, upon whom the Marquis had made a Settlement of his Eftate, 
 while he was imprifoned in the Tower in 1660, in order to engage his In- 
 tereft for his Reftitution •, tho' after the Marquis had carried his Point, 
 and it was agreed, that he fhould be reftored to his Eftate by a particular 
 Claufe in the Aft of Explanation, it appeared, that before he came from 
 Ireland, he had made a prior Settlement on his Brother Alexander Macdonnel 
 and his Heirs ; by which St. Albans was difappointed of the expected Re- 
 compenfe of all his Trouble (t). 
 
 With regard to the other Story in Mr. Baxter's Life about the Lord Maf- 
 fareene's and others profecuting the Caufe fo far, as that the Marquis of An- 
 trim was forced to produce in the Parliament of England, in the Houfe cf 
 Commons, a Letter of the King's (Charles I.) by which he gave hhn Orders for 
 his taking up Arms; which being read in the Houfe did put them to filence ; 
 Mr. Carte obferves («), " That if this Letter of the King's was one of 
 " thofe produced before the Lords Referees of the Council, it has been 
 
 already confider'd and clear'd. And as it relates only to the Marquis's 
 
 drawing Forces out of Ireland for the Service of Scot Ian d,thn King can be no 
 " more blameable for giving theMarquis of Antrim fuch Order,than forgiving 
 " one to the Marquis of Montrofsfoi the like purpofeand for the fame fervice. 
 
 " If it is pretended, that it is none of thofe, which were laid before 
 
 " the Lords of the Council; it will be hard to account how the Mar- 
 " quis came not to produce it before them for his fuller Vindication." The 
 
 fame 
 
 (') P- 2 9- (') Itl. p. 29J. (» N Irijk Maffacre fee in a clear Light,/* 35. 
 
 cc
 
 the Life <?/Milto n. xcvii 
 
 feme Writer likewife in his Preface (x) to the Life of James, the firji 
 Duke of Ormonde, remarks, that there was no Occafiosi for the Lord 
 Maljareene or the Adventurers to appeal to the Parliament from the Sen- 
 tence given at the Trial of the Marquis, becaufe it was immediately fuperfe- 
 ded and annulled by the King's exprefs Orders ; and heafTures us, that he has 
 fearched all the Journals of the Houfeof Commons from the Reftoration 
 till after 1670 (y ), and could find no Entry nor Mention made of any fuch 
 Letter, nor of the Marquis's appearing before the Commons, nor of the 
 Lord Alajfareene's prefenting any Petition, or bringing the Caufe before that 
 Houfe. And indeed-, fays he, if any fuch Application had been ever made, 
 I fliould certainly have found fome mention of it in Lord AungierV Letters to 
 the Duke, 0/" Ormonde, that Nobleman being a Member of the Houfe of Com- 
 mons in England, a conftant Attender, fcarce ever miffing a Poft in writing 
 te the Lord Lieutenant, and feldom omitting to fpeak particularly of Lord 
 MafTareene'i Proceedings whilfl he was in England. Dr. Calamy tells us (z), 
 that he had been inform'd, that the Original of this Letter was once in 
 the Paper-Office. Upon which Mr. Carte obferves (a), That the Paper- 
 Office is a Repofitory of Papers, not fuch as are prefented to the Houfe of 
 Commons, but fuch as are repofed with the Secretaries of State ; however that 
 he had fearch'd that Office likewife, but could find no fuch Letter, tho' 
 he met with Petitions to the King in Council, and feveral other Papers rela- 
 ting to the Marquis of Antrim. 
 
 As Mr. Baxter refers to a Pamphlet, called, Murder will out, as an 
 Authority for what he had advanced in the PafTage from his Life above 
 cited, I mall give fome Account of it, as I met with it in the Earl of Ar- 
 lington's Letters to the Duke of Ormond ; whence it appears, that this Pam- 
 phlet was written and committed to the Prefs foon after the Date of the Let- 
 ter of King Charles II. to the Lord Lieutenant and Council of Ireland, 
 which makes the Subftance, as it was the Ground of it. For Lord Arlington 
 in a Letter dated Oclober 17th, 1663, writes, That the Surveyors of the 
 Prefs had, among other malicious Papers, found one with this Title, Mur- 
 der will out, accompanied with a Preamble, faying, the King has accufed his 
 Father, to clear my Lord of Antrim •, and then follows his Majefifs Letter 
 to the Duke of Ormond, to whom Lord Arlington recommends the making 
 the Enquiry whether it was printed in Ireland ; and adds, that it is certain, at 
 leaft, that the Instruction and Compofure of it came from thence. To this 
 Letter and Account of the Pamphlet Lord Arlington refers in another Let- 
 ter to the Duke of Ormond, dated January 30th, 1664, in thefe Words; 
 " This Day is the Anniversary of our late King's Murder •, and fome vil- 
 " lainous People, to blot the Remembrance of it, have (as I am told) dif- 
 " perfed many Copies of that feditious Paper, call'd, Murder will out -, 
 ** wherein his Majefty's Recommendation of my Lord Antrim is printed, 
 " with fome villainous Application to his Majefty, whereof I fent you at its 
 " firft coming abroad a Copy, and then fuppofed the firft ImprefTion there- 
 " of came from Ireland. If your Grace could difcover any thing of it 
 *' there, it would be a great Service to the King to have the Author and 
 " Printer of it fufFer fome exemplary Puniihment. Fornow the Prefs andPen 
 " is beginning as hot a War upon us, as if they intended fpeedily to follow it 
 " with the Sword.'' In both thele Letters the Account given of the Pamphlet 
 is exactly the fame ; and it is faid to confift only of the King's Letter, and of a 
 Preamble applying it to him-,butnot the leaftHint is given of any Letter pro- 
 duced by the Marquis of Antrim, in the Houfe of Commons in England; which 
 furnilhes us with another Reafon to fufpect. that no fuch Letter was ever 
 
 produe'd. 
 
 (x) p. 1 1 . (_>>) Lord Majfareene died in ( z ) Abridgement of Mr. Baxter's Life, 
 
 September 1665. /• 43- Edit - l 7 l i' l a ) P retace , P- 12- 
 
 End of /^APPENDIX. 
 
 Erratum, in the Life of Milton, P. 19. Line 37. inflead of elder read younger. 
 Vol. I. B b
 
 O F 
 
 REFORMATIO! 
 
 in ENGLAND, 
 
 AND 
 
 The Caufes that hitherto have hundred it. 
 
 In Two Books. TP r ritte?i to a Friend. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 AMidft thofe deep and retired Thoughts, which with every Man chri- 
 ftianly inftrucled, ought to be molt frequent, of God, and of his mi- 
 raculous Ways and Works amongft Men, and of our Religion and Works, 
 to be perform'd to him ; after the Story of our Saviour Chriji, fu fit-ring to the 
 loweft bent of weaknefs in the Flejh, and prefently triumphing to the high- 
 eft pitch of Glory in the Spirit, which drew up his Body alio, till we in both 
 be united to him in the Revelation of his Kingdom ; I do not know of any 
 thing more worthy to take up the whole paffion of Pity on the one fide, and 
 Joy on the other, than to confider firft, the foul and fudden Corruption, and 
 then after many a tedious Age, the long deferr'd, but much more wonderful 
 and happy Reformation of the Church in thefe latter Days. Sad it is to think 
 how that Doctrine of the Go/pel, planted by Teachers divinely infpired, and 
 by them winnow'd, and fifted from the Chaff of overdated Ceremonies, and 
 refin'd to fucha fpiritual height and temper of Purity, and knowledge of the 
 Creator, that the Body, with all the Circumftances of Time and Place, were 
 purify'd by the Affections of the regenerate Soul, and nothing left impure 
 but Sin ; Faith needing not the weak, and fallible Office of the Senfes, to be 
 either the Ulhers or Interpreters of heavenly Myiteries, fave where our Lord 
 himfelf in his Sacraments ordain'd, that fuch a Doctrine fhould, through the 
 groffnefs and blindnefs of her Profeffors, and the fraud of deceivable Tradi- 
 tions, drag fo downwards, as to backflide one way into the Jewifh beggary of 
 old caft Rudiments, and (tumble forward another way into the new-vomited 
 Paganifm of fenfual Idolatry, attributing Purity or Impurity to things indif- 
 ferent, that they might bring the inward Acts of the Spirit to the outw.ird and 
 cuftomary Eye-fervice of the Body, as if they could make God earthly and 
 fleihly, becaufe they could not make themfelves heavenly zn&fpiritual ; they 
 began to draw down all the divine Intercourfe betwixt God and the Soul, yea, 
 the very fhape of God himfelf, into an exterior and bodily form, urgently 
 pretending a neceffity and obi igement of joining the Body in a formal Re- 
 verence, and Wor/loip circumfcrib'd ; they hallow'd it, they fum'd it, they 
 iprinkied it, they bedeckt it, not in Robes of pure Innocency, but of pure 
 Linen, with other deformed and fantaftick dreffes, in Palls and Miters, 
 Gold, and Guegaws fetcht from Aaron 1 ?, old Wardrobe, or thtFlamins Vejlry: 
 then was the Prieft fet to con his Motions and his Poftures, his Liturgies, and 
 his Lurries, till the Soul by this means of over-bodying herfelf, given up juft- 
 ly to flefhly delights, bated her Wing apace downward : And finding the eafe 
 fhe had from her vifible and fenfuous Collegue the Body, in performance of 
 religious Duties, her Pinions now broken, and flagging, fhifted off from her 
 felf the labour of high foaring any more, forgot her heavenly flight, and left 
 the dull and droyling Carcafe to plod on in the old Road, and drudgingTrade 
 of outward Conformity. And here out of queftion from her perverfe con- 
 ceiting of God, and holy things, fhe had fal'n to believe noGo^atall, hadno( 
 cuftom and the worm of Confcience nipt her Incredulity hence to all the Du- 
 Vol. I. B tief
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 ties of evangelical Grace, inftead of the adoptive and chearful boldnefil 
 which our new Alliance with God requires, came fervile, and thrall-like fear : 
 For in very deed, the fuperftitious Man, by his good will, is an Atheift ; 
 but being fcar'd from thence by the pangs and gripes of a boiling Confcience^ 
 all in a pudder muffles up to himfelf fuch a God, and fuch a Worjhip as is moft 
 agreeable to remedy his fear ; which fear of his, as alio is his hope, fixt only 
 upon ihe\FleJh, renders likewifethe whole faculty of his Apprehenfion carnal; 
 and all the inward Acts of Worftjip, iffuing from the native Strength of the 
 Soul, run out lavifhly to the upper Skin, and there harden into a Cruft of 
 Formality. Hence Men came to fcan the Scriptures by the Letter, and in 
 the Covenant of our Redemption, magnify d the external Signs more than the 
 quickning Power of the Spirit; and yet looking on them through their own 
 guiltinefs, witha fervile fear, and finding as little comfort; or rather terror 
 from them again, they knew not how to hide their flavifh approach to God's 
 Behefts by them not underftood, nor worthily receiv'd, but by cloaking their 
 fervile crouching to all religious Prefentments, fometimes lawful, fometimes 
 idolatrous, under the name of Humility, and terming the py-bald Frippery, 
 and oftentation of Ceremonies, Decency. 
 
 Then wasBaptifm chang'd into a kind of Exorcifm, and Water, fmfb'fy'd 
 by Cbrijl's Inftitute, thought little enough to wafh off the original Spot with- 
 out the Scratch, or crofs Impreffion of a Pricft's fore-finger : And thatFeaft 
 of Free-grace, and Adoption to which Chrift invited his Difciples to fit as 
 Brethren, and Co-heirs of the happy Covenant, which at that Table was to 
 be feal'dtothem, even that Feaft of Love and heavenly-admitred Fellowfhip, 
 the Seal of filial Grace, became the fubject of Hoi ror, and glouting Adoration, 
 pageanted about like a dreadful Idol : which fometimes deceives well-mean- 
 ing Men, and beguiles them of their Reward, by their voluntary Humility ; 
 which indeed is flelhly Pride, preferring a foolifh Sacrifice, and the Rudiments 
 of the World, as Saint Paul to the Cohjfians explaineth, before a favory Obe- 
 dience to Chrift's Example. Such was Peter's unfeafonable Humility, as then 
 his Knowledge was frnall, when Chrift came to wafh his feet •, who at an im- 
 pertinent time would needs ftrain Courtefy with his Mafter, and falling trouble- 
 fomly upon the lowly, alwife, and unexaminable intention of Chrift, in what 
 he went with refolution to do, fo provok'd by his interruption the meek Lord, 
 that he threaten'd to exclude him from his heavenly Portion, unlefs he could 
 be content to be lefs arrogant and ftiff-neckt in his Humility. 
 
 But to dwell no longer in characterizing the Depravities of the Church, and 
 how they fprungj and how they took increafe ; when I recall to mind atlaft, 
 after fo many dark Ages, wherein the huge overfhadowing Train of Error 
 had almoft fweptall the Stars out of the Firmament of the Church; how the 
 bright and bl'ifsful Reformat ion (by Divine Power) ftrook through the black 
 and fettled Night of Ignorance and Antichriftian Tyranny, methinksa fovereign 
 and reviving Joy muft needs rufh into the Bofom of him that reads or hears ; 
 and the fweet Odour of the returning Gofpel imbath his Soul with the fragran- 
 cy of Heaven. Then was the facred BIBLE fought out of the dufty Cor- 
 ners where profane Falfhood and Neglect had thrown it, the Schools opened, 
 Divine and Humane Learning rak'd out of the Embers of forgotten Tongues, the 
 Princes and Cities trooping apace to the new-erected Banner of Salvation ; 
 the Martyrs, with the unreiiftable might of JVeaknefs, fhaking the Powers of 
 Darknefs, and fcorning theory Rage of the old red Dragon. 
 
 The pleafing purfuit of thefe Thoughts hath oft-times led me into a feri- 
 ous queftion and debatement with myfelf, how it fhould come to pafs that 
 England (having had this Grace and Honour from God, to be the firft that 
 fhould let up a Standard for the recovery of loft Truth, and blow the firft 
 Evangelick Trumpet to the Nations, holding up, as from a Hill, the new 
 Lamp of faving Light to all Chriftendom) fhould now be lall, and moft un- 
 fettled in the enjoyment of that Peace, wherof fhe taught the way to others •, 
 although indeed our Wicklef's preaching, at which all the fucczedlngRefcrmers 
 more effectually lighted their Tapers, was to his Countrymen but a fhortBlaze, 
 foon dampt and ftifled by the Pope and Prelates for fix or feven Kings Reigns ; 
 yet methinks the Precedency which God gave this Iftand, to be the firft Re- 
 ft orer of buried Truth, mould have been followed with more happy fuccefs, 
 2 and
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 and fooner attain'd Perfection ; in which as yet we are amongft the laft : 
 for, albeit in purity of Doctrine we agree with our Brethren •, yet in Difci- 
 pline, which is the execution and applying of Doilrine home, and laying the 
 Salve to the very Orifice of the Wound, yea, tenting and fearching to the 
 Core, without which Pulpit-preaching is but mooting at Rovers ; in this we are 
 no better than a Schifm from all the Reformation, and a fore Scandal to them : 
 for while we hold Ordination to belong only to Bifhops, as our Prelates do, we 
 muft of neceiTity hold alfo their Minijlers to be no Minifters, and ihortly 
 after their Church to be no Church. Not to fpeak of thofe fenfeleis Ceremonies 
 which we only retain, as a dangerous earneft of Aiding back to Rome, and 
 ferving merely, either as a Mift to cover nakednefs where true Grace is extin- 
 guiih'd, or as an Enterlude to fet out the Pomp of Prelatifm. Certainly it 
 would be worth the while therefore, and the pains, to enquire more parti- 
 cularly, what, and how many the chief Caufes have been, that have ftill 
 hindred our uniform Co7ifent td the reft of the Churches abroad, at this time 
 efpecially when the Kingdom is in a good propcnfity thereto ; and all Men in 
 Prayers, in Hopes, or in Difputes, either for or againft it. 
 
 Yet will I not infill on that which may feem to be the Caufe on God's part; 
 as his Judgment on our Sins, the trial of his own, the unmafking of Hypo- 
 crites : nor fhall I ftay to fpeak of the continual Eagernefsand extreme Dili- 
 gence of the Pope and Papifts to flop the furtherance of Reformation, which 
 know they have no hold or hope of England their loft Darling, longer than 
 the Government of Bifhops bolfters them out ; and therefore plot all they can to 
 uphold them, as may be feen by the Book of Santa Clara the Popifh Pricfi in 
 defence of Bifiops, which came out piping hot much about the time that one 
 of our own Prelates, out of an ominous fear, had writ on the fame Argument; 
 as if they had join'd their Forces, like good Confederates, to fupport one 
 falling Babel. 
 
 But I fhall chiefly endeavour to declare thofe Caufes that hinder the for- 
 warding of true Di/cipline, which are among ourfelves. Orderly proceeding 
 will divide our Inquiry into our Fore-fathers Days, and into our Times. Hen- 
 ry VIII. was the firftthat rent this Kingdom from the Pope's Subjection total- 
 ly i but his Quarrel being more about Supremacy, than other faultinefs in Re- 
 ligion that he regarded, it is no marvel if he ftuck where he did. T'he next 
 Default was in the Bijhops, who though they had renounced the Pope, they ftill 
 hugg'd the Popedom, and fhar'd the Authority among themfelves, by their 
 fix bloody Articles, perfecuting the Proteftants no flacker than the Pope would 
 have done. And doubtlefs, whenever the Pope fhall fall, if his ruin be not 
 like the fudden down-come of a Tower, the BiJJoops, when they fee him tot- 
 tering, will leave him, and fall to fcrambling, catch who may, he a Patri- 
 archdom, and another what comes next hand •, as the French Cardinal of 
 late, and the See of Canterbury hath plainly affected. 
 
 In Edward the VI's days, why a compleat Reformation was not effected, 
 to any confiderate Man may appear. Firft, he no fooner entred into his King- 
 dom, but into a War with Scotland ; from whence the Protector returning 
 with Victory, had but newly put his hand to repeal the fix Articles, and 
 throw the Images out of Churches, but Rebellions on all fides, ftirr'd up by ob- 
 durate Papifts, and other Tumults, with a plain War in Norfolk, holding 
 tack againft two of the King's Generals, made them of force content them- 
 felves with what they had already Uone. Hereupon follow'd ambitious Con- 
 tentions among the Peers, which ceas'd not but with the Protector's death, who 
 was the moft zealous in this point : And then Northumberland was he that could 
 do moft in England, who little minding Religion, (as his Apoftacy well fhew'd 
 at his death) bent all his Wit how to bring the Right of the Crown into his own 
 Line. And for the Bifljops, they were fo far from any fuch worthy Attempts, 
 as that they fuffer'd themfelvesto be the common Stalesto countenance, with 
 their proftituted Gravities, every politick Fetch that was then on foot, as 
 oft as the potent Statifts pleas'd to employ them. Never do we read that they 
 made ufe of their Authority, and high Place of Accefs, to bring the jarring 
 Nobility to Chrijlian Peace, or to withftand their difloyal Projects: but if a 
 Toleration for Mafsv/ere to be begg'd of the King for his Sifter Mary, left 
 Charles the Fifth ihould be angry ; who but the grave Prelates, Cranmer 
 
 Vol. I. B 2 and 
 
 * 
 D
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 and Ridley, muft be fentto extort it from the young King ? But out of the 
 mouth of that godly and royal Child, Chrift himfelf return'd fuch an awiul 
 repulfe to thofe halting and time-ferving Prelates, that after much bold im- 
 portunity, they went their way not without Shame and Tears. 
 
 Nor was this the firft time that they difcover'd to be followers of this 
 World ; for when the Protector's Brother, Lord Sudley, the Admiral, through 
 private malice and mal-engine was to lofe his Life, no Man could be found 
 fitter than Bifhop Latimer (like another Dr. Shaw) to divulge in his Sermon 
 the forged Aceufations laid to his charge, thereby to defame him with the 
 People, who elfe 'twas thought would take ill the innocent Man's death, un- 
 lefs the reverend Bifiop could warrant them there was no foul play. What 
 could be more impious than to debar the Children of the King from their Right 
 to the Crown ? To comply with the ambitious Ufurpation of a Traitor, and 
 to make void the laft Will of Henry VIII. to which the Breakers had fworn 
 obfervance? Yet Bifhop Cranmer, one of the Executors, and the other Bifuops 
 none refufmg, (left they mould refill the Duke of Northumberland) could find 
 in their Confciences to let their hands to the difinabling and defeating not 
 only of Princefs Mary the Papift, but of Elizabeth the Proteftant, and 
 (by the Bijhops judgment) the lawful IfTueofKing Henry. 
 
 Who then can think (tho' thefe Prelates had fought a further Reformation) 
 that the leaft wry Face of a Politician would not have hufht them ? But it 
 will be faid,Thefe Men wcreMartyrs : What then ? Though every true Chri- 
 ftian will be a Martyr when he is called to it •, not prefently does it follow, 
 that every one fuffering for Religion, is without exception. Saint Paul 
 writes, that A Man may give his Body to be burnt, (meaning for Religion) 
 and yet not have Charity : He is not therefore above all poffibility of erring, 
 becaufe he burns for fome points of Truth. 
 
 Witnefs the Arians and Pela,gians, which were (lain by the Heathen for 
 Chrift\ fake, yet we take both thefe for no true Friends of Chrift. If the Mar- 
 tyrs (faith Cyprian in his 30th Epiftle) decree one thing, and the Go/pel an- 
 other, either the Martyrs muft lofe their Crown by not obferving the Go/pel 
 for which they are Martyrs, or the Majefty of the Go/pel muft be broken and 
 lie flat, if it can be over-topt by the novelty of any other Decree. 
 
 And herewithal I invoke the Immortal DEITY, rcvealer and judge of Se- 
 crets, That wherever I have in this Book plainly and roundly (though wor- 
 thily and truly) laid open the faults and blemifhes of Fathers, Martyrs, or 
 Chriftian Emperors, or have otherwife inveighed againft Error and Superfti- 
 tion with vehement Expreffions ; I have done it, neither out of malice, nor 
 lift to fpeak evil, nor any vain-glory,but of mere necefllty to vindicate the fpot- 
 lefs Truth from an ignominious Bondage, whole native worth is now become 
 of fuch a low efteem, that fhe is like to find finall credit with us. for what flie 
 can fay, unlefsfhe can bring a Ticket from Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley ; or 
 prove herfelf a retainer to Conftantine, and wear his Badge. More tolerable 
 it were for the Church of God, that all thefe Names were utterly abolilhed 
 like the Brazen Serpent, than that Men's fond Opinion ihould thus idolize 
 them, and the Heavenly Truth be thus captivated. 
 
 Now to proceed, whatfoever the Bijhops were, it feems they themfelves 
 were unfatisfy'd in matters of Religions they then flood, by thatCommif- 
 fion granted to 8 Bijhops, 8 other Divines, 8 Civilians, 8 common Lawyers, to 
 frame Ecclefiaftical Ccnftitutions •, which no wonder if it came to nothing, for 
 (as Hayward relates) both their Profeffions and their Ends were different. Laft- 
 ly, We all know by Examples, that exact Reformation is not perfected at the 
 firft pufh, and thofe unwieldy Times of Edward VI, may hold fome Plea by 
 this excufe. Now let any reafonable Man judge whether that King's Reign be 
 a fit time from whence to pattern out the Conftitution of a Church-Difcipline, 
 much lels that it ihould yield Occafion from whence to fofter and eftablifh the 
 continuance of Imperfection, with the commendatory Subfcriptions oiConfef- 
 fors and Martyrs, to intitle and engage a glorious Name to a grofs Corruption. 
 It was not Epifcopacy that wrought in them the heavenly Fortitude of Mar- 
 tyrdom, as little is it that Martyrdom can make good Epifcopacy -, but it was 
 Epifcopacy that led the good and holy Men through the Temptation of the E- 
 nemy\ and the fnare of this prefent World, to many blame-worthy and oppro- 
 brious
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 brious Anions. And it is ftill Epifcopacy that before all our eyes worfens and 
 flugs the moft learned, and feeming religious of our Minifters, who no foon- 
 er advane'd to it, but like a Seething-Pot fet to cool, fenfibly exhale and 
 reak out the greateft part of that Zeal, and thole Gifts which were formerly 
 in them, fettling in a fkinny congealment of eafe and floth at the top : and if 
 they keep their Learning by fome potent fway of Nature, 'tis a rare Chance; 
 but their Devotion moft commonly comes to that queazy temper of Luke - 
 warmnefs, that gives a Vomit to God himfelf. 
 
 Bat what do we fofFer mif-fhapen and enormous Prelatifm, as we do, thus 
 to blanch and varnifh her Deformities with the fair Colours, as before of Mar- 
 tyrdom, fo now of Epifcopacy ? They are not Bijhops, Goo and all g ooa Men 
 know they are not, that have fill'd this Land with late Confufion and Violence, 
 but a tyrannical Crew and Corporation of Impoftors that have blinded and 
 abus'd the World fo long under that Name. He that enabled with Gifts from 
 God, and the lawful and primitive Choice of the Church afiembled in conve- 
 nient number, faithfully from that time forward feeds his parochial Flock, has 
 his coequal and comprefbyterial Power to ordain Minifters and Deacons by 
 publick Prayer, and Vote ot Cbrift's Congregation in like fort as he himfelf 
 was ordain'd, and is a true Apoftolick Bijhop. But when he fteps up into the 
 Chair of Pontifical Pride , and changes a moderate andexemplary Houfe for 
 a mif-govern'd and haughty Palace, fpiritual Dignity for carnal Precedence, 
 andfecular high Office and Employment for the high Negotiations of his heaven- 
 ly Embaffage : Then he degrades, then he un-bijhops himfelf ; he that makes 
 him Bijhop, makes him no Biftjop. No marvel therefore if S Martin complain- 
 ed to Sulpitius Severus, that fince he was Bifoop he felt inwardly afenfible decay 
 of thofe Virtues and Graces that God had given him in great meafure before ; 
 altho' the fame Sulpitius write that he was nothing tainted or alter'd in his 
 Habit, Diet, or perfonal Demeanor from that firnple plainnefs to wliich he firft 
 bc-rook himfelf. It was not therefore that thing alone which God took dif- 
 pleafure at in the Bijhops of thofe times, but rather an univerfal rottennefs and 
 gangrene in the whole Funtlion. 
 
 From hence then I pafs to Queen Elizabeth, the next Proteftant Prince, 
 in whofe days why Religion attain'd not a perfect reducement in the beginning 
 of her Reign, I fuppofe the hindring Caufes will be found to be common with 
 fome formerly alledg'd for King Edward VI. theGreennefs of the times, the 
 weak Eftate which Queen Mary left the Realm in, the great Places and Of- 
 fices executed by Papifts, the Judges, the Lawyers, the Juftices of Peace for the 
 moft part Pcpijh, the Bifiops firm to Rome ; from whence was to be expected 
 the furious flaming of Excommunications, and abfolving the People from their 
 Obedience. Next her private Counsellors, whoever they were, perfuaded her 
 (as Camden writes) that the altering of Eccle/iaftical Policy would move Sedition. 
 Then was the Liturgy given to a number of moderate Divines, and Sir Tho. 
 Smith a Statefman to be purg'd and phyfick'd : And furely they were mode- 
 rate Divines indeed, neither hot nor cold ; and Grindal the beft of them, af- 
 terwards Archbijhop of Canterbury, loft favour in the Court, and I think was 
 difcharg'd the Government of his See, for favouring the Minifters, though 
 Camden feem willing to find another Caufe : therefore about her fecond Year, 
 in a Parliament, of Men and Minds fome fcarce well grounded, others belch- 
 ing the four Crudities of yefterday's Popery, thofe Conftitutions of Edward 
 VI. which as you heard before, no way fatisfied the Men that made them, are 
 now eftablifh'd for beft, and not to be mended. From that time follow'd 
 nothing but Imprifonments, Troubles, Difgraces on all thofe that found fault 
 with the Decrees of the Convocation, and ftrait were they branded with the 
 name of Puritans. As for the Queen herfelf, fhe was made believe that by 
 putting down Bifliops her Prerogative would be infring'd, of which fhall be 
 Ipofcen anon as the courfe of Method brings it in : And why the Prelates la- 
 bour'd it fliould be fo thought, afk not them, but afk their Bellies. They had 
 found a good Tabernacle, they fate under a fpreading Vine, their Lotwas 
 fallen in a fair Inheritance. And thefe perhaps were the chief Impeachments 
 of a more found rectifying the Church in the Queen's Time. 
 
 From this Period I count to begin our Times, which becaufethey concern us 
 more nearly, and our own Eyes and Ears can give us the ampler fcope to judg.% 
 
 will
 
 6 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 will require a more exact fearch •, and to effect this the fpeedier, I fhali di- 
 ftinguifh fuch as I efteem to be the hinderers ofReformaiion into three £orts,An- 
 tiquitarians, (for fo I had rather call them than Antiquaries, whole Labour* 
 are ufeful and laudable.) 2. Libertines. 3. Politicians. 
 
 To the Votarifts of Antiquity I flia.ll think to have fully anfwer'd, if I 
 ftiall be able to prove out of Antiquity, Firft, That if they will conform our 
 Bifhops to the purer times, they muft mew their leathers, and their pounces, 
 and make but curt-tail'd Bifhops of them -, and we know they hate to be 
 dockt and dipt, as much as to be put down outright. Secondly, that thofe 
 purer times were corrupt, and their Books corrupted foon after. Thirdly,. 
 that the beft of thofe that then wrote, drfclaim that any Man fhouki repofe 
 on them, and fend all to the Scriptures. 
 
 Firft therefore, if thofe that over-affect Antiquity will follow the fqunre 
 thereof, their Bifhops muft be elected by the hands of the whole Church. The 
 ancrenteft of the extant Fathers, Ignatius, writing to the Philadehb'.ans, faith, 
 that it belongs to them as to the Church of God to chufe a Bifiop. Let no Man 
 cavil, but take the Church of God as meaning the whole coi fiftence of Orders- 
 and Members, as St. Paul's Epiftles expreis, and this likewife being read 
 over : Beftdes this, it is there to be mark'd, that thofe Philadelphia's are- 
 exhorted to chufe a Bifhop of Antioch. Whence it feems by the way that 
 there was not that wary limitation of Diocefs in thofe times, which is con- 
 firm'd even by a faft Friend of Epifcopacy, Camden, who cannot but love: 
 Bifhops as well as old Coins, and his much lamented Monalteries, for anti- 
 quity's fake. He writes in his Defcription of Scotland, that over all the world. 
 Bijhops had no certain Diocefs, till Pope Dionyfi.is about the year 26S did cut 
 them out ; and that the Bijhops of Scotland executed their function in what place 
 foever they came indifferently, and W'thout difiiv.tlion, till King Malcolm the 
 third, about the Tear 1070. Whence may be guefs'd what their function was: 
 Was it to go about circled with a band of rooking Officials, with Cloak-bags 
 full of Citations, and Proceffes to be ferv*d by a corporalty of griffon-like 
 Promoters and Apparitors ? Did he go about to pitch down his Court, as an 
 Empirick does his Bank, to inveigle in all the Money of the Country ? No 
 certainly it would not have bin permitted him to excrcife any fuch Function 
 indifferently wherever he came. And verily fome fuch matter it was as want 
 of a fat Diocefs tliat kept our Britain Bifhops fo poor in the primitive times, 
 that being call'd to the Council of Ariminum in the Year 359, they had net 
 wherewithal to defray the Charges of their Journey, but were fed and lodg'd 
 upon the Emperor's coft ; which muft needs be no accidental, but ufual po- 
 verty in them : for the Author Sulpitius Sevens in his 2d Book of Church- 
 Hiftory praifes them, and avouches it praife-worthy in a Bifhop to be fo poor 
 as to have nothing of his own But to return to the ancient election of Bifhops, 
 that it could not lawfully be without the confent of the People is fo exprefs in 
 Cyprian, and fo often to be met with, that to cite each place at large, were 
 to tranflate a good part of the Volume ; therefore touching the chief paffages, 
 I refer the reft to whom fo lift perufe the Author himfclf : In the 2.4th Epift. 
 If a Bijljop, faith he, be once made and allow' d by the Tcjlhncny and Judgment of 
 his Collegues and the People, no other can be made. In the 55. When a Bijhop is 
 made by the fuff rage of all the People in peace. In the 63 . mark but what he fays -, 
 The People chiefly hath power either of chufiug worthy ones, or refufing unworthy : 
 This he there proves by Authorities out of the old and new Teftament, and 
 with folid Reafons : thefe were his Antiquities. 
 
 This voice of the People, to be had ever in Epifcopal Elections, was fo 
 well known, before Cyprian's time, even to thofe that were without the 
 Church, that the Emperor Alexander Severus defir'd to have his Governors 
 of Provinces chofen in the fame manner, as Lampridius can tell ; fo little 
 thought it he offenfive to Monarchy. And if fingle Authorities perfuade nor, 
 hearken what the whole general Council of Nieaa, the firft and famoufeft of 
 all the reft, determines, writing a Synodal Epift'e to the African Churches, 
 to warn them of Arianifm •, it exhorts them to chufe orthodox Bifhops in 
 the place of the dead, fo they be worthy, and the People chafe them, where- 
 by they feem to make the People's affent fo neceflary, that Merit, with- 
 out their free Choice, were not fufficient to make a Bifhop. What would yc 
 fay now, grave Fathers, if you fhould wake and fee unworthy Bifhops, or ra- 
 ttier
 
 Of Reformation in England. f 
 
 ther no Bifhops, but Egyptian tafk-maftefs of Ceremonies thruft purpofely 
 upon the groaning Church; to the affliction and vexation of God's people ? Jt 
 was not of old that a Confpiracy of Bifhops could fruftrate and fob off the 
 right of the people ; for we may read how St. Martin, foon after Conftantine, 
 was made Bifliop of Turon in France, by the people's confent, from all places 
 thereabout, maugre all the oppofition that the Bifhops could make. Thus 
 went matters of the Church almoft 400 years after Chrifi, and very probably 
 far lower : for Nicepborus Phocas the Greek Emperor, whofe reign fell near the 
 1000 year of our Lord, having done many things tyrannically, is faid by Ce- 
 drenus to have done nothing more grievous and difpleafing to the people, than 
 to have enacted that no Bifhop fhould be choi'en without his will ; fo long did 
 this right remain to the people in the midft of other palpable Corruptions. 
 Now for Epifcopal dignity, what it was, fee out of Ignatius, who in his E- 
 piftle to thofe of Trallis, confeffeth, That the Prejfjyters are his Fellow Coun- 
 sellors and Fellow-Benchers. And Cyprian in many places, as in the 6, 41, 52 
 Epift. fpeaking of Preflyters, calls them his Comprejbyters, as if he deem'dhim- 
 felf no other, whenas by the fame place it appears he was a Bifhop, he calls 
 them Brethren ; but that will be thought his meeknefs : yea, but the Prejbyters 
 and Deacons writing to him, think they do him honour enough when they 
 phrafe him no higher than Brother Cyprian, and dear Cyprian in the 26 Epift. 
 For their Authority 'tis evident not to have bin fingle, but depending on the 
 counfel of the Presbyters, as from Ignatius was erewhile alledg'd ; and the 
 lame Cyprian acknowledges as much in the 6 Epift. and adds thereto, that he 
 had determin'd, from his entrance into the Office of Bifhop, to do nothing 
 without the confent of his people, and fo in the 3 1 Epift. for it were tedious 
 to courfe through all his writings, which are fo full of the like affertions, in- 
 fomuch that even in the womb and center of Apoftacy, Rome itfelf, there yet 
 remains a glimpfe of this truth ; for the Pope himfelf, as a learned Engli/h 
 writer notes well, performeth all Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiftion as in Confiftory 
 amongft his Cardinals, which were originally but the Parifh-Priefts of Rome. 
 Thus then did the Spirit of unity and meeknefs infpire and animate every 
 joint and finewof themyftical body •, but now the graveft and worthieft Mi- 
 nifter, a true Bifhop of his fold, fhall be revil'd andruffledby an infultingand 
 only Canon-wife Prelate, as if he were fome flight paltry companion : and the 
 people of God, redeem'd and wafh'd with Cbri/t's blood, and dignify 'd with fo 
 many glorious titles of Saints, and Sons in the Gofpel, are now no better re- 
 puted than impure Ethnicks •, and lay-dogs, ftones, and pillars, and crucifixes, 
 have now the honour and the alms due to Chrijl's living members ; the Table 
 of Communion, now become a Table of Separation, ftands like an exalted 
 platform upon the brow of the Quire, fortify'd with bulwark and barricado, to 
 keep off the profane touch of the Laicks, whilft the obfceneand furfeited 
 Prieft fcruples not to paw and mammock the Sacramental Bread, as familiarly 
 as his Tavern Bifket. And thus the people, vilify'd and rejected by them, give 
 over the earneft ftudy of vertue and godlinefs, as a thing of greater purity than 
 they need, and thefearch of divine knowledge as a myftery too high for their 
 capacities, and only for Church-men to meddle with ; which is that the Pre- 
 lates defire, that when they have brought us back to Popifli blindnefs, we 
 might commit to their difpofe the whole managing of our Salvation, for they 
 think it was never fair world with them fince that time. But he that will 
 mould a modern Bifliop into a primitive, muft yield him to be elected by the 
 popular voice, undioceft, unrevenu'd, unlorded, and leave him nothing but 
 brotherly equality, matchlefs temperance, frequent fafting, inceffant prayer 
 and preaching, continual watchings and labours in his Miniftry •, which what 
 a rich booty it would be, what a plump endowment to the many-benefice- 
 gaping mouth of a Prelate, what a relifh it would give to his canary-fucking, 
 and fwan-eating palate, let old BifhopMountain judge forme. 
 
 How little therfore thofe ancient times make for modern Bifhops, hath bin 
 plainly difcours'd ; but let them make for them as much as they will, yet why 
 we ought not to ftand to their arbitrament, fhall now appear by a threefold cor- 
 ruption which will be found upon them. 1 . The beft times were fpreadingly 
 infected. 2. The beft men of thofe times foully tainted. 3. The beft wri- 
 tings of thole men dangeroufly adulterated. Thefe Pofiuons are to be made 
 
 good
 
 8 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 o-ood out of thofe times witneffing of themfelves. Firft, Ignatius in his early 
 days teftifies to the Churches of Afia, that even then Herefies were fprung 
 up, and rife every where, as Eufebius relates in his 3 Book, 35 chap, after the 
 Greek number. And Hegefippus, a grave Church-writer of prime Antiquity, 
 affirms in the fame Book of Eufebius , c. 32. That while the Apcfiles were cu 
 earth, the depravers ofDoclrine did but lurk ; but they once gone, with open fore- 
 head they durjl preach down the Truth with Faljities. Yea, thofe that are reckon'd 
 for orthodox, began to make fad and fhameful rents in the Church about the 
 trivial Celebration ofFeafh,- not agreeing when to keep Eafter-day ; which 
 Controverfy.grew fohot, that Victor the Bifhop of Rome excommunicated all 
 the Churches of Afia for no other caufe, and was worthily therof reprov'd by 
 Trenails. For can any found Theologer think that thefe great Fathers under- 
 stood what was Gofpel, or what was Excommunication ? Doubtlefs that 
 which led the good Men into fraud and error was, that they attended more to 
 the near tradition of what they heard the Apoftles fometimes did, than to what 
 they had left written, notconfidering that many things which they did were by 
 the Apoftles themfelves profeft to be done only for the prefent, and of mere 
 indulgence to fome fcrupulous Converts of the Circumciiion, but what they 
 writ was of firm decree to all future ages. Look but a century lower in the 
 leap, of Eufebius 8 Book. What a univerfal tetter of Impurity had invenom'd 
 everyPart, Order, and Degree of the Church, to omit the lay-herd, which will 
 be little regarded, thofe that feem'd to be our Paftors, faith he, overturning the 
 Law of God's worjhip, burnt in Contentions one towards another, and increaftng 
 in hatred and bitternefs, outragioujly fought to uphold Lordfh/p, and command as 
 it were a Tyranny. Stay but a little, magnanimous Biihops, fupprefs your af- 
 piring thoughts, for there is nothing wanting but Conftantine to reign, and then 
 Tyranny herfelf fhall give up all her Citadels into your hands, and count ye 
 thenceforward her truftieft Agents. Such were thefe that muft be called the 
 ancienteft and moft virgin times between Chrift and Conjlantine. Nor was 
 this general Contagion in their actions, and not in their writings : who is ig- 
 norant of the foul errors, the ridiculous wrefting of Scripture, the Herefies, 
 the Vanities thick fown through the Volumes oijujlin Martyr, Clemens, Ori- 
 gen, Tertullian, and others of eldeft time? Who would think him fit to write 
 an Apology for Chriftian Faith to the Roman Senate, that would tell them how 
 of the Angels, which he muft needs mean thofe in Gene/is call'd the Sons of 
 God, mixing with Women were begotten the Devils, as good Juftin Martyr 
 in his Apology told them. But more indignation would it move to any Chri- 
 ftian that fhall read Tertullian, terming St. Paula novice, and raw in Grace, 
 for reproving St. Peter at Antioch, worthy to be blam'd if we believe the 
 Epiftle to the Galatiafis : perhaps from this hint the blafphemous Jefuits 
 prefum'd in Italy togive their Judgment of St. Paul, as of a hot-headed per- 
 fon, as Sandys in his Relations tells us. 
 
 Now befides all this, who knows not how many furreptitious works are in- 
 grafiedinto the legitimate writings of the Fathers ? and of thofe Books that 
 pafs for authentick, who knows what hath bin tamper'd withal, what hath bin 
 raz'd out, what hath bin inferted ? Befides the late legerdemain of the Papifts, 
 that which Sulpitius writes concerning Origen's Books, gives us caufe vehe- 
 mently to fufpect, there hath bin packing of old. In the third chap, of his 
 1 Dialogue we may read what wrangling the Biihops and Monks had about 
 the reading or not reading ofOrigen, fome objecting that he was corrupted by 
 Hereticks, others anfwering that all fuch Books had been fo dealt with. How 
 then fhall I truft thefe times to lead me, that teftify fo ill of leading themfelves? 
 Certainly of their defects their own witnefs may be belt receiv'd, but of the 
 rectitude and fincerity of their life and doctrine, to judge rightly, we muft 
 judge by that which was to be their rule. 
 
 " But it will be objected, that this was an unfettled ftate of the Church, want- 
 ing the temporal Magiftrate to fupprefs the licence of falfe Brethren, and the 
 extravagancy of ftill new opinions ; a time not imitable for Church-govern- 
 ment, where the temporal and fpiritual Power did not clofe in one belief,- as 
 under Conflantine. lam not of opinion to think the Church a Vine in this re- 
 flect, becaufe, as they take it, fhe cannot fubfilt without clafping about the 
 Elm of worldly ftrength and felicity, as if the heavenly City could not iiip- 
 2 port
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 port it fclf without the props and buttrefies of" fecular Authority. They ex- 
 tol Conftantine becaufe he extol I'd them ; as our home-bred Monks in their 
 Hiftories blanch the Kings their Benefactors, and brand thofe that went about 
 to be their Correctors. If he had curb'd the growing Pride, Avarice, and 
 Luxury of the Clergy, then every Page of his Story mould have fwell'd with 
 his faults, and that which Zczimns the Heathen writes of him mould have 
 come in to boot : we mould have heard then in every declamation how he flew 
 his Nephew Commodus, a worthy Man, his noble and eldeft Son Crijpus, his 
 Wife Faufta, befides numbers of his Friends ; then his cruel Exactions, his 
 finfoundnefs in Religion, favouring the Ariam that had been condemn'd in a 
 Council, of which himielf fat as it were Prefident ; his hard meafure and ba- 
 nifhment of the faithful and invincible Athanaftus ; his living unbaptiz'd al- 
 moft to his dying day ; thefe blurs are too apparent in his Life. But fince he 
 m uft needs be the Load-ftar of Reformation, as fome Men clatter, it will be 
 good to fee further his knowledge of Religion what it v/as, and by that we 
 may likewife guefs at the fincerity of his times in thofe that were not Here- 
 tical, it being likely that he would converfe with the famoufeft Prelates (for 
 fo he had made them) that were to be found for Learning. 
 
 Of his Arianifm we heard, and for the reft, a pretty fcantling of his 
 Knowledge may be taken by his deferring to be baptiz'd fo many years, a 
 thing not ufual, and repugnant to the tenor of Scripture, Philip knowino- no- 
 thing that fhould hinder the Eunuch to be baptiz'd after profeffion of his Belief '. 
 Next, by the exceffive devotion, that I may not fay Superftition both of him 
 and his Mother Helena, to find out the Crofs on which Chrifi fufter'd, that had 
 long lain under the rubbiih of old ruins, (a thing which the Difciples and 
 Kindred of our Saviour might with more eafe have done, if they had thought 
 it a pious duty :) fome of the nails wherof he put into his Helmet, to bear off 
 blows in battel, others he faften'd among the ftuds of his bridle, to fulfil (as 
 he thought, or his Court BiJJoops perfuaded him) the Prophecy of Zechariah; 
 And it fhall be that that •which is in the bridle jhall be holy to the Lord. Part of 
 the Crofs in which he thought fuch Virtue torefide, as would prove a kind of 
 Palladium to fave the City wherever it remain'd, he caufed to be laid up in a 
 Pillar of Porphyry by his Statue. How he or his Teachers could trifle thus 
 with half an eye open upon St. Paul's Principles, I know not how to imagine. 
 
 How fhould then the dim Taper of this Emperor's age that had fuch need 
 of fnuffing, extend any beam to our times wherewith we might hope to be 
 better lighted, than by thofe Luminaries that God hath fet up to fliineto us 
 far nearer hand. And what Reformation he wrought for his own time, it will 
 not be amifs to confider •, he appointed certain times for Fails and Feafts, built 
 ftately Churches, gave large Immunities to the Clergy, great Riches and Pro- 
 motions to Bifiops, gave and minifter'd occafion to bring in a deluge of Cere- 
 monies, thereby either to draw in the Heathen by a refemblance of their 
 Rites, or to fet a glofs upon the fimplicity and plainnefs of Chriftianity ; 
 which to the gorgeous Solemnities of Paganifm, and the fenfe of the World's 
 Children, feem'd but a homely and yeomanly (Religion, for the beauty of in- 
 ward Sanctity was not within their profpect. 
 
 So that in this mannenhe Prelates, both then and ever fince, coming from a 
 mean and plebeian Life, on a fudden to be Lords of ftately Palaces, rich fur- 
 niture, delicious fare, and princely attendance, thought the plain and home- 
 fpun verity of Chrifl's, Gofpel unfit any longer to hold their Lordfliips ac- 
 quaintance, unlefs the poor thread-bare Matron were put into better clothes ; 
 her chafte and modeft vail, furrounded with celeftial beams, they over- laid 
 with wanton treffes, and in a flaring tire befpeckl'd her with all the gaudy 
 allurements of a Whore. 
 
 Thus flourifh'd the Church with Conjlantine's wealth, and therafter were 
 the effects that follow'd ; his Son Conjlantius proved a flat Arian, and his Ne- 
 phew Julian an Apoftate, and there his Race ended : the Church that before 
 by infenfible degrees welk'd and impair'd, now with large fteps went down 
 hill decaying-, at this time Ant ichrift began firft to put forth his horn, and 
 that faying wascommofl, that former times had wooden Chalices and golden 
 Priefls ■, but they golden Chalices and wooden Priefts. Formerly (faith Sulpi- 
 
 Vol. I. C r /».<■,
 
 io Of Reformation in England. 
 
 this) Martyrdom by glorious death was fought more greedily than now BL 
 fhopricksby vile Ambition are hunted after, (fpeaking ofthefe times: and in 
 another place, they gape after poffeffions, they tend Lands and Livings, they 
 coure over their Gold, they buy and fell r and if there be any that neither 
 poffefs nor traffique, that which is worfe, they fit ftill, and expe& gifts, and 
 proftitute every induement of Grace, every holy thing to fale. And in the 
 end of his Hiftory thus he concludes, all things went to wrack by the Faction* 
 Wtlfulnefs, and Avarice of the Biftoops, and by this means God's people, and 
 every good Man was had in fcorn andderifion : which St. Martin round truly 
 to be faid by his Friend Sulpitius ; for being held in admiration of all Men, he 
 had only the Eijhops his enemies, found God lefs favourable to him after he 
 was Bijhop than before, and for his laft 1 6 years would come at no BiJhop y s. 
 meeting. Thus you fee, Sir, what Conftantine'^ doings in the Church brought 
 forth, either in his own or in his Son's Reign. 
 
 Now left it fhould be thought that fomething elfe might ail this Author thus 
 to hamper the Bilhops ofthofe days; I will bring you the opinion of three 
 the famoufeft Men for Wit and Learning that Italy at this day glories of, 
 whereby it may be concluded for a receiv'd opinion even among Men pro- 
 fefling the Rornifh Faith, that Conftantine marr'd all in the Church. Dante in 
 his 1 9 Canto of Inferno hath thus, as I will render it you in Englijh blank Verfe i 
 
 Ah Conftantine, of how much ill was caufe 
 Not thy Conversion, but thofe rich demains 
 That thefirft wealthy Pope receiv'd of thee? 
 
 So in his 20 Canto of Paradife he makes the like complaint, and Petrarch 
 feconds him in the fiunemindin his 108 Sonnet, which is wip'd out by the 
 Inquifitor in fome Editions ; fpeaking of the Roman Ant ichrift as merely br-ed 
 up by Conftantine. 
 
 Founded in chaft and humble Poverty, 
 'Gainft them that rais'dthee doft thou lift thy horn, 
 Impudent whoore, where haft thou plac'd thy hope ? 
 In thy Adulterers, or thy ill got wealth ?■ 
 Another Conftantine comes not in haft.. 
 
 Ariofto of Ferrara, after both thefe in time, but equal in fame, following, 
 the fcope of his Poem in a difficult knot how to reftore Orlando his chief Hera 
 to his loft fenfes, brings Aftolfo the Englifh Knight up into the Moon, where 
 St. John, as he feigns, met him. Cant. 34. 
 
 And to be floor t, at laft his guide him brings- 
 Into a goodly valley, where be fees 
 A mighty mafs of things jlrangely confus'd, 
 Things that on earth were loft, or were abus'J.. 
 
 And amongft thefe fo abufed things,- liften what he met withal, under thq 
 Conduct of the Evangelift. 
 
 Then paft he to a flowry Mountain green, 
 Which once fmelt fweet, now ft inks as odioufly ; 
 This was that gift {if you the truth will have) 
 That Conftantine to good Sy\vtft.xQ gave. 
 
 And this was a truth well known in England before this Poet was burn, as- 
 our Chaucer's, Plowman fhall tell you by and by upon another occafion. By aL l 
 thefe circumftances laid together, I do not fee how it can be difputed what 
 good this Emperor Conftantine wrought to the Church, but rather whether 
 ever any, though perhaps not wittingly, kt open a door to more mifchief in 
 Chriftendom. There is juft caufe therfore that when the Prelates cry out, 
 Let the Church be reformed according to Conftantine, it fhould found to a ju- 
 dicious ear nootherwife, than if theyihould fay, Make us rich, make us lofty. 
 
 make
 
 Of Reformation in England. II 
 
 make us lawlefs ; for if any under him were not fb, thanks to thofe ancient 
 remains of Integrity, which were not yet quite worn out, and not to his Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Thus finally it appears, that thofe purer times were not fuch as they are 
 cry'd up, and not tobefollow'd without fufpicion, doubt and danger. The 
 Lift Point wherein the Antiquary is to be dealt with at his own "Weapon, is to 
 make it manifeft, that the ancienteft and bed of the Fathers have difclaim'd 
 all Sufficiency in themfelves that Men fhould rely on, and fent all Comers to 
 the Scriptures, as all-fufficient : That this is true, will not be unduly gather'd, 
 -"by flu-wing whatefteem they had of Antiquity themfelves, and what validity 
 they thought in it to prove Doctrine, or Difcipline. I mull of necefTity be- 
 gin from the fecond Rank of Fathers, becaufe till then Antiquity could have 
 no Plea. Cyprian in his 6$Epiftle : If any, faith he, ot our Anceftors, either 
 ignorantly, or out of fimplicity, hath not obferved that which the Lord 
 taught us by his Example, (fpeakingof the Lord's Supper) his fimplicity Go.'. 
 may pardon of his Mercy •, but we cannot be excus'd lor following him, be 
 ing initructed by the Lord And have not we the fame Inftructions ; and will 
 not this holy Man, with all the whole Confiftory of Saints and Martyrs that 
 liv'dof old, rife up and flop our mouths in Judgment, when we flial! go a- 
 bout to father our Errors and Opinions upon their Authority ? In the 73 E- 
 pift. he adds, In vain do they oppole Cuflom to us, if they be overcome by 
 Reafon •, as if Cuficm were greater than Truth, or that in fpiritual things 
 that were not to be follow'd, which is reveal'd for the better by the Holy 
 Ghofl. In the 7.;, Neither ought Cuflom to hinder thatTruth fhould not pre- 
 vail i for Cuilom without Truth is but agednefs of Error. 
 
 Next Lailantius, he that was prefer'd to have the bringing up of Conflan- 
 tine's Children, in his fecond Book of Infiitutions, Chap. 7, & 8. difputes a- 
 gainflthe vaintrufl in Antiquity, as being the chiefeft Argument of the Hea- 
 then againft the Chriflians : They do not confider, faith he, what Religion is; 
 but they areconfident it is true, becaufe the Ancients deliver'd it •, they count 
 itaTrefpafs to examine it. And in the eighth : Not becaufe they went be- 
 fore us in Time, therfore in Wifdom •, which being given alike to all Ages, 
 cannot be prepofifeft by the Ancients: Wherfore feeing that to feck the Truth 
 is inbred to all, they bereave themfelves of Wifdom, the Gift of God, who 
 without Judgment follow the Ancients, and are led by others like brute 
 Beafts. St. Attftin writes to Fortunatian, that he counts it lawful in the Books 
 of whomfoever, to reject that which he finds otherwife than true, and fo he 
 would have others deal by him. He neither accounted, as it feems, thofe Fa- 
 thers that went before, nor himfelf, nor others of his Rank, for Men of more 
 than ordinary Spirit, that might equally deceive, and be deceiv'd : and oft- 
 times fetting our fervile humours afide, yea, God fo ordering, we may find 
 Truth with one Man, as foon as in a Council, as Cyprian agrees, 71 Epifl. 
 Many things, faith he, are better reveal'd to Jingle Perfons. At Nica-a in the 
 firft, and bell-reputed Council of all the world, there had gone out a Canon 
 to divorce married Priefls, had not one old Man Paphnutius flood up, and 
 reafon'd againft it. 
 
 Now remains it to fhew clearly that the Fathers refer all decifion of Con- 
 troverfy to the Scriptures, as all-fufficient to direct, to refolve, and to deter- 
 mine. Ignatius taking his lafl leave of the Afian Churches, as he went to Mar- 
 tyrdom, exhorted them to adhereclofe to the written Doctrine of the Apoflles, 
 necefiarily written for Poflerity : fo far was he from unwritten Traditions, 
 as may be read in the 36 cap. of Eufebius 3 b. In the 74 Epifl. of Cyprian 
 againft Stefan, Bifhop of Rome, impofing upon him a Tradition ; Whence* 
 quoth he, is this Tradition ? Is it fetch' d from the Authority of Chrift in the Go- 
 fpel, or of the Apoflles in their Epiflles ? for God teftifies that thofe things are to 
 be done which arewritten. And then thus, IVliat Obflinacy, what Prefumption is 
 this, to prefer Human Tradition before Divine Ordinance ? And in the fame 
 Epifl. If wejliall return to the head, and beginning of Divine Tradition, (which 
 we all know he means the Bible) humane Error ceafes ; and the reafon of heaven- 
 ly Myjieries unfolded, what faever was obf cure, becomes clear. And in the 14 Di- 
 ftinct. of the fame Epifl. directly againft our modern Fantafies of a ftill Vifi- 
 ble Church, he teaches, That fmceffmi of Truth may fail ; to renew which, we 
 Vol. I. C 2 mifi
 
 ! 2, Of Reformation in England. 
 
 muft have recourfe to the Fountains •, ufing rhis excellent Similitude, If a Chan- 
 nel, or Conduit --pipe which brought in Water plentifully before, fuddenly fail, do we 
 not go to the Fountain to know the Caufe, whether the Spring affords no more, or 
 whether the Vein be ft opt, or turrtd afide in the mid-courfe ? Thus ought we to do % 
 keepingGocfs Precepts, that if in ought the Truth fh all be changed, we may repair 
 to the Gofpel, and to the Apoftles, that thence may arife thereafon of our doings, from 
 whence our order andbeginning arofe. In the yg he inveighs bitterly againft Pope 
 Stefanus, for that he could boaft his Succeffion from Peter, and yet foift in 
 Traditions that were not Apoftolical. And in his Book of the Unity of the 
 Church, he compares thofe that, neglecting God'a Word, follow the Doctrines 
 of Men, to Corah, Dathan, and Abiram. The very firft Page of Athanqfius 
 againft the Gentiles, avers the Scriptures to be fufficient of themfelves for the 
 declaration of Truth •, and that if his Friend Macarius read other Religious 
 Writers, it was but <PiXo-/.J,\un; come un viftuojb, (as the Italians fay) as a lover 
 of Elegance : And in his fecond Tome, the 39 pag. after he hath reckon'd up 
 the Canonical Books, In thefe onh, faith he, is the Dofirine of God! inefs taught - 3 
 Let no Man add to thefe, or take from thefe. And in \{\%Sy nop/is, having again 
 fet down all the Writers of the Old and New Teftament, Thefe, faith he, be 
 the Anchors and Props cf our Faith. Befides thefe, millions of other Books have 
 been written by great and wife Men according to Rule, and agreement with 
 thefe, of which I will not now fpeak, as being of infinite number, and mere 
 dependance on the Canonical Books. Bafil in his 2d Tome, writing of true 
 Faith, tells his Auditors, He is bound to teach them that which he hath 
 learnt out of the Bible : And in the fame Treadle he faith, That feeing the 
 Commandments cf the Lord are faithful, and fure for ever; it is a plain falling; 
 from the Faith, and a high pride, either to make void .r.vv thing therein, or to intro- 
 duce any thing not there to be found: And he gives the reafon, for Chrift faith y 
 My Sheep hear my Voice, they will not follow another, hut fly from him, becaufe 
 they know not his Voice. But not to be endlefs in Quotations, it may chance to 
 be objected, that there be many Opinions in the Fathers which have no ground 
 in Scripture ; fo much the lefs, may I fay, mould we follow them, for their 
 own words fhall condemn them, and acquit us that lean not on them •, other- 
 wife thefe their words will acquit them, and condemn us. But it will be re- 
 ply'd, the Scriptures are difficult to be underftood, and therfore require the 
 Explanation of the Fathers. 'Tis true, there be fome Books, and efpecially 
 fome places in thofe Books, that remain clouded -, yet ever that which is moft 
 necefiary to be known, is mofteafy ; and that which is moft difficult, fo far 
 expounds itfelf ever, as to tell us how little it imports our faving Knowledge. 
 Hence to infer a general Obfcurity over all the Text, is a mere Suggeftion of 
 the Devil to diffuade Men from reading it, and cafts an Afperfion of Difho- 
 nour both upon the Mercy, Truth, and Wifdom of God. We count it no 
 gentlenefs, or fair dealing in a Man of Power amongft us, to require ftrict 
 and punctual Obedience, and yet give out all his Commands ambiguous and 
 obfeure, we fhould think he had a Plot upon us ; certainly fuch Commands 
 were no Commands, but Snares. The very EfTence of Truth is plainnefs 
 and brightnefs, the darknefs and crookednefs is our own. The Wifdom of God 
 created Uuderftanding, fit and proportionable to Truth, the Object, and End 
 of it, as the Eye to the thing vifible. If our Uuderftanding have a Film of 
 Ignorance over it, or be blear with gazing on other falfe Glifterings ; what is 
 that toTruth ? If we will but purge with foveregin Eye-falve that intellectual 
 Ray which God hath planted in us, then we would believe the Scriptures proteft- 
 ing their own plainnefs and perfpicuity, calling to them to be inftructed, not 
 only the Wife and Learned, but the Simple, the Poor, the Babes, foretelling 
 an extraordinary effufion of God's Spirit upon every Age, and Sex, attributing 
 to all Men, and requiring from them the Ability of fearching, trying, exa- 
 mining all things, and by the Spirit difcerning that which is good ; and as the 
 Scriptures themfelves pronounce their own plainnefs, fo do the Fathers teftify 
 of them. 
 
 I will not run into a Paroxyfm of Citations again in this Point, only inftance 
 
 Athanafius in his fore-mention'd firft page •, The knowledge of Truth, faith he, 
 
 wants no humane Lore, as being evident in itfelf, and by the preaching of Chrift 
 
 now opens brighter than the Sun. If thefe Doctors, who had fcarce half the Light 
 
 2 that
 
 Of Reformation in England. 1 1 
 
 that we enjoy, who all, except two or three* were ignorant of the Hebrew 
 Tongue, and many of the Greek, blundering upon the dangerous and fufpect- 
 ful Tranfiaaons of the Apoftate Aquila, the Heretical Tbeodotion, thejudaiz'd 
 Symmacbus, the Erroneous Origen •, if thefe could yet find the Bible fo eafy, 
 why mould we doubt, that have all the helps of Learning, and faithful 
 Induilry that Man' in this Life can look for, and the Afliftance of God as near 
 now to us as ever ? But let the Scriptures be hard; are they more hard, more 
 crabbed, more abftrufe than the Fathers ? He that cannot underftand the fo- 
 ber, plain, and unaffected ftile of the Scriptures, will be ten times more 
 puzzled with the knotty Africanifms, the pamper'd Metaphors, the intricate 
 and involv'd Sentences of the Fathers, befides the fantaftick and declamatory 
 flafhes, the crofs- jingling Periods which cannot but difturb, and come thwart 
 a fettled Devotion, worfe than the din of Bells and Rattles. 
 
 Now, Sir, for the love of holy Reformation, what can be faid more againfl! 
 thefe importunate Clients of Antiquity, thanfhe herfelf their Patronefs hath 
 faid ? Whether think ye would flie approve (till to doat upon immealurable, 
 innumerable, and therfore unnecefTary and unmerciful Volumes, chufing 
 rather to err with the fpecious Name of the Fathers, or to take a found 
 Truth at the hand of a plain upright Man, that all his days hath been dili- 
 gently reading the holy Scriptures, and therto imploring God's Grace, while 
 the admirers of Antiquity have been beating their Brains about their Ambones, 
 their Diptycbs, and Meniaia's ? Now, he that cannot tell of S:ations and In- 
 dictions, nor has wafted his precious hours in the endlefs conferring of Coun- 
 cils and Conclaves that demolifh one another, although I know many of thofe 
 tluit pretend to be great Rabbies in thefe ftudies, have icarce faluted them 
 from the Strings, and the Title-Page •, or to give them more, have bin but 
 the Ferrets and Moufe-huntsof an Index : Yet what Paftor cr Minifter, how 
 learned, religious, or dilcreet foever, does not now bring both his Cheeks 
 full blown with Oecumenical and Synodical, fhall be counted a lank, mallow, 
 unfufficient Man, yea a Dunce, and not worthy tofpeak about Reformation of 
 Church-Difcipline. But I truft they for whom God hath referv'd the honour of 
 reforming this Church, will eafdy perceive their Adverfaries drift in thus 
 calling for Antiquity •, they fear the plain Field of the Scripturesi, the Chafe, 
 is too hot •, they feek the dark, the bufhy, the tangled Foreft, they would 
 imboflc : they feel themfelves ftrook in the tranfparent Streams of Divine 
 Truth, they would plunge, and tumble, and think to lie hid in the foul 
 Weeds and muddy Waters, where no Plummet can reach the bottom. But 
 let them beat themfelves like Whales, and fpend their Oil till they be drag'd 
 afhore : though wherfore fhould the Minifters give them fo much Line for 
 Shifts and Delays ? Wherfore fhould they not urge only the Gofpel, and 
 hold it ever in their Faces like a Mirror of Diamond, till it dazle and pierce 
 their mifty Eye-balls ? maintaining it the honour of its abfolute Sufficiency 
 and Supremacy inviolable : for if the Scripture be for Reformation, and Anti- 
 quity to boot, 'tis but an advantage to the Dozen, 'tis no winning Caft : And 
 though Antiquity beagainft it, while the Scriptures be for it, the Caufe is as 
 good as ought to bewifh'd, Antiquity itfelf fitting judge. 
 
 But to draw to an end; the fecond fort of thofe that may be juftly number'd 
 among the hinderers of Reformation, are Libertines ; thefe fuggeft that the Dif- 
 cipline fought would be intolerable : for one Bifhop now in a Diocefs we 
 fhould then have a Pope in every Parifh. It will not be requifite to anfwer 
 thefe Men, but only to difcoverthem ; for Reafon they have none, but Luft 
 and Licentioufnefs, and therfore Anfwer can have none. It is not any Dif- 
 cipline that they could live under, it is the corruption and remifiuefs of Difci- 
 pline that they feek. Epifcopacy dufy executed, yea, the Turkijb and Jewijb 
 rigour againft whoring and drinking ; the dear and tender Difciphne of a 
 Father, the fociableand loving Reproof of a Brother, the bofom Admonition 
 of a Friend, is a Prefbytery, and a Confiftory to them. 'Tis only the merry 
 Friar in Chaucer can difple them. 
 
 Full fweetly beard be Confejfwn, 
 
 And pleafant was bis Absolution, 
 
 He was an eafy Man to give Penance. 
 And fo I leave them ; and refer the political Dilcourfc of F-pifcopacy to a 
 Second Book. Of
 
 *4 
 
 Of REFORMATION, 8V. 
 
 7$£ Second Book. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 IT is a work good and prudent to be able to guide one Man •, of larger ex- 
 tended Virtue to order well one Houfe : but to govern a Nation pioufly 
 and juftly, whicti only is to fay happily, is for a Spirit of the greateft 
 fize, and divineft metal. And certainly of no lefs a mind, nor of lefs ex- 
 cellence in another way, were they who by Writing laid the folid and true 
 foundations of this Science ; which being of greateft Importance to the Life 
 of Man, yet there is no Art that hath bin more canker'd in her Principles, 
 more foil'd, and flubber'd with aphorifming pedantry, than the art of Policy; 
 and that moll, where a Man would think fhould leaft be in Chriftian Com- 
 monwealths. They teach not, that to govern well, is to train up a Nation 
 in true Wifdom and Virtue, and that which fprings from thence, Magnani- 
 mity, (take heed of that) and that which is our beginning, Regeneration, and 
 happieft end, likenefs to God, which in one word we call Godlinefs ■, and that 
 this is the true flourifhing of a Land, other things follow as the Shadow does 
 the Subftance ; to teach thus were mere pulpitry to them. This is the Mafter- 
 piece of a modern Politician, how to qualify and mould the fufFerance and 
 f ubjection of the People to the length of that Foot that is to tread on their 
 Necks •, how Rapine may ferve itfelf with the fair and honourable pretences 
 of publick Good ; how the puny Law may be brought under the wardfhip 
 and controul of Lull and Will : in which attempt if they fall fliort, then muft 
 a fuperficial colour of Reputation by all means, direct or indirect, be gotten 
 to wafh over theunfightly bruife of Honour. To make Men governable in 
 this manner, their Precepts mainly tend to break a national Spirit and Cou- 
 rage, by countenancing open Riot, Luxury, and Ignorance, till having thus 
 disfigur'd and made Men beneath Men, as Juno in the Fable of Io, they deli- 
 ver up the poor transform'd heifer of the Commonwealth to be (lung and vex- 
 ed with the breefe and goad of Oppreffion, under the cuflody of fome Argus 
 with a hundred Eyes of Jealoufy. To be plainer, Sir, how to foder, how to 
 flop a Leak, how to keep up the floating carcafe of a crafy and difeafed Mo- 
 narchy or State, betwixt wind and water, fwimming flill upon her own dead 
 Lees, that now is the deep defign of a Politician. Alas, Sir ! a Com- 
 monwealth ought to be but as one huge Chriftian perfonage, one mighty 
 growth and ftature of an honeft Man, as big and compact in Virtue 
 as in Body -, for look what the grounds and caufes are of fingle Happi- 
 nefs to one Man, the fame ye fhall find them to a whole State, as Arif- 
 totle both in his Ethicks, and Politicks, from the principles of Reafon lays 
 down : by confequence therfore that which is good and agreeable to Mo- 
 narchy, will appear fooneft to be fo, by being good and agreeable to 
 the true welfare of every Chriftian ; and that which can be juftly prov'd 
 hurtful and offenfive to every true Chriftian, will be evinc'd to be alike 
 hurtful to Monarchy : for God forbid, that we fhould feparate and difbin- 
 guifh the end and good of a Monarch, from the end and good of the 
 Monarchy, or of that, from Chriftianity. How then this third and laft fort thac 
 hinder Reformation, will juilify that it ftands not with reafon of State, I 
 much mufe : For certain I am, xht Bible is fhut againft them, as certain that 
 neither Plato nor Ariflotle is for their turns. What they can bring us now 
 from the Schools of Loyola with his Jefuits, or their Malvezzi, that can cut 
 Tacitus into flivers and fteaks, we fhall prefently hear. They alledge, i. Thac 
 the Church-government muft be conformable to the civil Polity •, next, that no 
 form of Church-Government is agreeable to Monarchy, but that of Bifhops. 
 Muft Church-Government that is appointed in the Golpel, and has chief re-
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 fpecttothe Soul, be conformable and pliant to Civil, tint is Arbitrary, and 
 chiefly converfant about the vifible and external part of Man ? This is the very 
 Maxim that moulded the Calves ofBetbelandof Dan ; this was the quinteffence 
 of Jeroboam's Policy, he made Religion conform to his politick Interefts ; and 
 this was the Sin that watch'd over the Ifraelites till their final Captivity. If 
 this State-principle come from the Prelates, as they affect to be counted Sta- 
 tifts, let them look back to Elutherius Bifhop of Rome, and fee what lie 
 thought of the Policy of England; being requir'd by Lucius, thefirft Chriftian 
 King of this Ifland, to give his Counfel for the founding of Religious Laws, 
 little thought he of this fage Caution, but bids him betake himfelf to the Old 
 and New Teftament, and receive direction from them how to adminifter both 
 Church and Commonwealth ; that he was God's Vicar, and therefore to rule 
 by God's Laws ; that the Edicts of Cafar we may at all times difallow, but the 
 Statutes of God for noreafon we may reject. Now certain if Church-Govern- 
 ment be taught in the Gofpel, as the Bifhops dare not deny, we may well 
 conclude of what late Handing this Pofition is, newly calculated for the al- 
 titude of Bifhop-elevation, and lettice for their Lips. But by what example 
 can they fhew that the form of Church-Difcipline muff, be minted, and mo- 
 delld out to fecular pretences? The ancient Republick of the Jews is evident 
 to have run through all the changes of civil Eftate, if we furvey the Story 
 from the giving of the Law to the Herods ; yet did one manner of Prieftly Go- 
 vernment ferve without inconvenience to all thefe temporal Mutations •, it 
 ferv'd the mild Ariftocracy of elective Dukes, and heads of Tribes join'd 
 with them •, the dictatorfhip of the Judges, the eafy or hard-handed Mo- 
 narchies, the domeftick or foreign Tyrannies : Laftly, the Roman Senate from 
 without, the JeioiJJj Senate at home, with the Galilean Tetrarch ; yet the Le- 
 vites had fome right to deal in civil Affairs : but feeing the evangelical Pre- 
 cept forbids Churchmen to intermeddle with worldly Employments, what in- 
 terweavings, or interworkings can knit the Minifler and the Magiftrate in 
 their feveral Functions, to the regard of any precife Correfpondency ? Seeing 
 that the Churchman's Office is only to teach Men the Chriftian Faith, to ex^ 
 hortall, to encourage the Good, toadmonifh the Bad, privately the lefs Of- 
 fender, publickly the fcandalous and ftubborn •, to cenfure and feparate from 
 the Communion of Cbrift's Flock, the contagious and incorrigible, to receive 
 with Joy and fatherly Compaffion the Penitent: all this muft be done, and 
 more than this, is beyond any Church- Authority. What is all this either here 
 or there, to the Temporal Regiment of Weal-publlck, whether it be Popular, 
 Princely, or Monarchical ? Where doth it intrench upon the temporal Go- 
 vernor ? Where does it come in his walk ? Where does it make inroad upon 
 his Jurifdiction ? Indeed if the Minifter's part be rightly difcharg'd, it renders 
 him the People more confcionable, quiet, and eafy to be govenrd •, if other- 
 wife, his Life and Doctrine will declare him. If therfore the Conftitution 
 of the Church be already fet down by divine Prefcript, as all fides cpnrefs, 
 then can fhe not be a Hand-maid to wait on civil Commodities, and Reflects : 
 and if the Nature and Limits of Church-Difcipline be fuch, as are either help- 
 ful to all political Eftates indifferently, or have no particular relation to any, 
 then is there no neceffity, nor indeed poflibility of linking the one with the 
 other in a fpecial conformation. 
 
 Now for their fecond conclufion, That no form of Church-Government is a- 
 greeable to Monarchy, but that of Bifhops, although it fall to pieces of itfelfby 
 that which hath been faid •, yet to give them play, front, and rear, it fhall be 
 my talk to prove that Epifcopacy, with that Authority which it challenges in 
 England, is not only not agreeable, but tending to the deftrilction of Monar- 
 chy. While the Primitive Paftors of the Church of God labour'd faithfully in 
 their Miniftry, tending only their Sheep, and not feeking, but avoiding all 
 worldly matters as clogs, and indeed derogations and debafements to their 
 high Calling ; little needed the Princes and Potentates of the Earth, which 
 way foever the Gofpel was fpread, to ftudy ways how to make a Coherence 
 between the Church's Polity, and theirs : therfore when Filaie heard once 
 our Saviour Chrift profefling that his Kingdom was not of this JVorld^ he thought 
 the Man could not ftand muchinCf/rtr's light, nor much indamagethe Roman 
 Empire •, for if the Life of Chrift be hid to this World, much more is his 
 
 S( cpter 
 
 15
 
 1 6 Of Reformatio)! in England. 
 
 Scepter unoperative, but in fpiritual things. And thus liv'd for 2 or 3 Age« T 
 the Succeffors of the Apoftles. But when through Conftantiue's l.ivilh Super- 
 ftitionthey forfook tntir firft Love, and fet themfelves up too in God's ftead ; 
 Mammon and their Belly, then taking advantage of the fpiritual Power which 
 they had on Men's Confciences, they began to cad a longing eye to get the 
 Body alfo, and bodily things into their command ; upon which their carnal 
 defires, the Spirit daily quenching and dying in them, knew no way to keep 
 themfelves up from falling to nothing, but by boiftcring and fupporting their 
 inward rottennefs, by a carnal and outward Strength. For a while they rather 
 privily fought opportunity, than haftily diiclos'd their Projeft; bat when 
 Conftantine was dead, and 3 or 4 Emperors more, their drift became notori- 
 ous and offenfive to the whole World ; for while Iheodoftus the younger 
 reign'd, thus writes Socrates the Hiftorian, in his 7th Book Chap. n. Now 
 beo-an an ill Name to flick upon the Bifhops of Rome and Alexandria, who 
 beyond their Prieflly bounds now long ago had ftept into Principality, and this 
 was fcarce 80 years fince their raifing from the meaneft worldly Condition. 
 Of courtefy now let any Man tell me, if they draw to themfelves a temporal 
 Strength and Power out of Cafafs Dominion, is not Csfar's Empire thereby 
 diminifh'd ? But this was a ftolen bit, hitherto he was but a Caterpillar fecret- 
 ly gnawing at Monarchy, the next time you fhall fee him a Wolf, a Lion, 
 lifting his Paw againft his Raifer, as Petrarch exprefs'd it, and finally an o- 
 pen enemy and fubverter of the Greek Empire. Pbitippicus and Leo, with di- 
 vers other Emperors after them, not without the advice of their Patriarchs, 
 and at length of a whole Eaftern Council of three hundred thirty eight Bi- 
 Jhops, threw the Image? out of Churches as being decreed idolatrous. 
 
 Upon this goodly occalion, the Bijhop of Rome not only feizes the City, ami 
 all the Territory about into his own hands, and makes himfelf Lord therof, 
 which till then was govern'd by a Greek Magiftrate, but abfolves all Italy of 
 their Tribute and Obedience due to the Emperor, becaufe he obey'd God's 
 Commandment in abolifhing Idolatry. 
 
 Mark, Sir, here how the Pope came by S. Peter's, Patrimony, as he feigns 
 it ; not the Donation of Conflantine, but Idolatry and Rebellion got it him. 
 Ye need but read Sigonius, one of his own Sect, to know the Story at large. 
 And now to fhroud himfelf againft a Storm from the Greek Continent, and pro- 
 vide a Champion to bear himoutin thefe practices, he takes upon him by Pa- 
 pal Sentence to unthrone Chilpericus the rightful King of France, and gives the 
 Kingdom to Pepin for no other caufe, but that he feem'd to him the more 
 active Man. If he were a Friend herein toMonarchy, I know not ; but to the 
 Monarch, I need not afk what he was. 
 
 Having thus made Pepin his faft Ffiend,he calls him into Italy againft Ai- 
 jlulphus theLomaard, that warr'd upon him for his late Ufurpation of Rome, as 
 belonging to Ravenna which he had newly won. Pepin not unobedient to the 
 Pope's call, paffing into Italy, frees him out of danger, and wins for him the 
 whole Exarchate of Ravenna; which though it had bin almoft immediately 
 before the hereditary Poffeffion of that Monarchy which was his chief Patron 
 and Benefactor, yet he takes and keeps it to himfelf as lawful prize, and 
 given to St. Peter. What a dangerous fallacy is this, when a Spiritual Maa 
 may fnatch to himfelf any temporal Dignity or Dominion, under pretence 
 of receiving it for the Church's ufe? Thus he claims Naples, Sicily, England, 
 and what not ? To be lhort, under fhew of his zeal againft the errors of the 
 Greek Church, he never ceas'd baiting and goring the Succelfors of his beft 
 Lord Con'lantme, what by his barking Curies and Excommunications, what 
 by his hindring the Weftern Princes from aiding them againft the Sarazens 
 and Turks, unlefs when they humour'd him ; fo that it may be truly affirm'd, 
 he was the fubverfion and fall of that Monarchy, which was the hoiftmg of 
 him. This befides Petrarch, whom I have cited, our Chaucer alfo hath ob- 
 ferv'd, and gives from hence a caution to England, to beware of her Bijhops in 
 time, for that their ends and aims are no more friendly to Monarchy, than thr 
 Popes. 
 
 Thus he begins in the Plow-man fpeaking, Part z, Sta<:z. 28. 
 
 5fe
 
 Of Reformation in England. 1 7 
 
 The Emperor yafe the Pope fome time 
 
 So high Lord/hip him about, 
 
 That at laft the ftlly Kime, 
 
 The proud Pope put him out ; 
 
 So of this Realm is no doubt, 
 
 But Lords beware, and them defend ; 
 
 For now thefe Folks be wonders ft out, 
 
 The King and Lords now this amend. 
 
 And in the next Stanza, which begins the third part of the Tale, he argues 
 that they ought not to be Lords. 
 
 Mofes Law forbade it tho 
 
 That Priefts fhould no Lordfhips welde, 
 
 Chri/i's G of pel biddeth alfo 
 
 That they fhould no Lordflrips held: 
 
 Ne Chrifts Apoftles were never fo bold 
 
 No fitch Lordfhips to hem embrace, 
 
 But finer en her Sheep, and keep her Fold. 
 
 And fo forward. Whether the Bifhops of England have deferv'd thus to 
 be fear'd by men fo wife as our Chaucer is efteem'd ; and how agreeable to our 
 Monarchy and Monarchs, their demeanour has been, he that is but meanly 
 read in our Chronicles needs not be inftrudted. Have they not been as the Ca- 
 naanites, and Philiftins, to this Kingdom ? what Treafons, what revolts to the 
 Pope ? what Rebellions, and thofe the bafeftand molt pretencelefs, have they 
 not bin chief in? What could Monarchy think, when Becket durft challenge 
 the Cuftody of Rochefter Caflle, and the Tower of London, as appertaining 
 to his Signory ? To omit his other infolencies and affronts to regal Majefty, 
 'till the Lames inflicted on the anointed Body of the King, wafh'doff the holy 
 Unclion with his Blood drawn by the polluted hands of Bifhops, Abbots, and 
 Monks. 
 
 What good upholders of Royalty were the Bifhops, when by their rebellious 
 oppofitio.i againft King John, Normandy was loft, hehimfelf depos'd, and this 
 Kingdom made over to the Pope? When the Bifhcp oi VVinchcfter durft tell 
 the Nobles, the Pillars of the Realm, that there were no Peers in England, as 
 in France, but that the King might do what he pleas'd. What could Tyranny 
 fay more ? It wou'd be pretty now, if I fhou'd infill upon the rendring up of 
 Tourney by IVoclfey's Treafon, the Excommunications. Curfings and Interdicts 
 upon the whole Land : For haply I mall be cut off fhort by a Reply, that 
 thefe were the faults of men and their Popifh Errors, not of Epifcopacy, 
 that hath now renoune'd the Pope, and is a Proteftant. Yes fure ; as wife and 
 famous men have fufpedled and fear'd the Proteftant Epifcopacy in England, as 
 thefe that have fear'd the Papal. 
 
 You know, Sir, what was the Judgment of Padre Paolo, the great Venetian 
 Antagonift of the Pope, for it is extant in the hands of many men, wherby 
 he declares his fear, that when the Hierarchy of England fhall light into the 
 hands of bufy and audacious men, or fhall meet with Princes tradable to the 
 Prelacy, then much mifchief is like to enfue. And can it be nearer hand, 
 then when Bifhops fhall openly affirm that, No Bifhop, no King ? A trim Para- 
 dox, and that ye may know where they have been a begging for it, I will ietch 
 you the Twin-brother to it out of the Jeiuits Cell ; they feeling the Ax of 
 God's Reformation, hewing at the old and hollow trunk of Papacy, and find- 
 ing the Spaniard their fureft friend, and fafeft refuge, to footh him up in his 
 Dream of a fifth Monarchy, and withal to uphold the decrepit Papalty, have 
 invented this fuper politick Aphorifm, as one terms it, One Pope, and one 
 
 Kin §- 
 
 Surely there is not any Prince in Chriftendom, who hearing this rare So- 
 
 phiftry, can choofe but fmile •, and if we be not blind at home, we may as well 
 
 perceive that this worthy Motto, no Bifhop, no King, is of the fame batch, 
 
 and infanted out of the fame fears, a meer Aaue-Cake coagulated of a certain 
 
 Vol. I. D Fever
 
 1 8 . Of Reformation in England. 
 
 Fever they have, prefaging their time to be but fhort : and now like thofe 
 that are finking, they catch round at that which is likelieft to hold them up ; 
 and would perfuade Regal Power, that if they dive, he muft after. B.it 
 what greater debafement can there be- to Royal Dignity, whofe tow'ring and 
 ftedfaft height refts upon the unmoveable foundations of Juftice, and Heroick 
 Vertue, than to chain it in a dependance of fubfifting, or ruining, to the 
 painted Battlements and gaudy Rottennefs of Prelatry, which want but one 
 puff of the King's to blow them down like a paft-board Houfe built o'iLourt- 
 Cards. Sir, the little ado which methinks I find in untacking thefe plealant 
 Sophifms, puts me into the mood to tell you a Tale e'er I proceed further j 
 and Menenius Agrippa fpeed us. 
 A Tale of the Upon a time the Body fummon'd all the Members to meet in the Guild for 
 Head and a ^ e cornmon good, (as yEfop's Chronicles aver many Arranger Accidents:) The 
 Head by right takes the firft feat, and next to it a huge and monftrous Wen 
 little lefs than the Head it felf, growing to it by a narrower excrefcency. 
 The Members amaz'd began to afk one another what he was that took place 
 next their chief ; none could refolve. Whereat the Wen, though unwieldy, 
 with much ado gets up, and befpeaks the AfTembly to this purpofe ; That as 
 in place he was fecond to the Plead, lb by due of merit; that he was to it an 
 ornament, and flrength, and of fpecial near relation •, and that if the Head 
 Ihould fail, none were fitter than himfelf to ftep into his place : therfore he 
 thought it for the honour of the Body, that fuch Dignities and rich Endow- 
 ments ihould be decreed him, as did adorn, and let out the nobleft Members. 
 To this was anfwer'd, that it mould be confulted. Then was a wife and 
 learned Philolbpher fent for, that knew all the Charters, Laws and Tenures 
 of the Body. On him it is impos'd by all, as chief Committee to examine, 
 and difcufs the Claim and Petition of Right put in by the Wen ; who foon 
 perceiving the matter, and wondring at the boldnefs of fuch a fwoln Tu- 
 mor, Wilt thou (quoth he) that art but a bottle of vicious and harden'd 
 Excrements, contend with the lawful and free-born Members, whofe certain 
 number is fct by ancient, and unrepeatable Statute ? Head thou art none, 
 though thou receive this huge fubftance from it : what Office beared thou ? 
 What good canft thou fhew by thee done to the Common- weal ? The Wen 
 not eafily daftit replies, that his Office was his Glory •, for fo oft as the Soul 
 would retire out of the Head from over the fteaming vapours of the lower 
 parts to divine Contemplation, with him fhe found the pureft and quieten; 
 retreat, as being moft remote from foil, and difturbance. Lourdan, quoth 
 the Philofopher, thy folly is as great as thy filth : know that all the faculties 
 of the Soul are confin'd of old to their feveral vefTels and ventricles, from 
 which they cannot part without difTolution of the whole Body -, and that 
 thou contain'ft no good thing in thee, but a heap of hard and loathfome Un- 
 cleannefs, and art to the Head a foul disfigurement and burden •, when I have 
 cut thee off, and open'd thee, as by the help of thefe Implements I will do, 
 all men fliall fee. 
 
 But to return whence was digrefs'd : Seeing that the Throne of a King, as 
 the wife King Solomon often remembers us, is cftabliftfd in Juftice, which is the 
 univerfal Juftice that Ariftotle fo much praifes, containing in it all other 
 Vertues, it may affure us that the fall of Prelacy, whofe actions are fo far 
 diftant from Juftice, cannot fhake the leaft fringe that borders the royal 
 Canopy •, but that their {landing doth continually oppofe and lay battery to 
 regal fafety, fhall by that which follows eafily appear. Amongft many fe- 
 condary and acceflary Caufes that fupport Monarchy, thefe are not of leaft 
 reckoning, though common to all other States : the love of the Subjects, the 
 multitude and valour of the People, and ftore of Treafure. In all thefe things 
 hath the Kingdom bin of late fore weaken'd, and chiefly by the Prelates. 
 Firit, let any man confider, that if any Prince fhall fufter under him a com- 
 miflion of Authority to be exercis'd, 'till all the Land groan and cry out, as 
 againft a whip of Scorpions, whether this be not likely to lefTen, and keel the 
 affections of the Subject. Next what numbers of faithful, and free-born 
 Englijhmen, and good Chriftians, have bin conftrain'd to forfake their deareft 
 home, their friends, and kindred, whom nothing but the wide Ocean, and 
 the lavage Deferts of America could hide and fhelter from the fury of the 
 
 t Bifhops ?
 
 Of Reformation in England. ig 
 
 Bifhops ? O Sir, if we could but fee the fhape of our dear Mother England t 
 as Poets are wont to give a perfonal form to what they pleafe, how would 
 me appear, think ye, but in a mourning weed, with afhes upon her Head, 
 and tears abundantly flowing from her Eyes, to behold fo many of her Chil- 
 dren expos'd at once, and thruft from things of dearefl neceflity, becaufe 
 their Confcience could not aflent to things which the Bifhops thought in- 
 different ? What more binding than Confcience ? What more free then In- 
 dTfferency ? Cruel then muft that Indifferency needs be, that fhall violate the 
 flrict neceflity of Confcience ; mercilefs and inhuman that free choice and 
 liberty that fhall break afunder the bonds of Religion. Let the Aftrologer 
 be difrnay'd at the portentous blaze of Comets, and imprefllons in the Air, 
 as foretelling troubles and changes to States : I fhall believe there cannot be a 
 more ill-boding Sign to a Nation (God turn the Omen from us) than when 
 the Inhabitants, to avoid infufferable Grievances at home, are inforc'd by 
 heaps to forfake their Native Country. Now wheras the only remedy and 
 amends againft the depopulation and thinnefs of a Land within, is the bor- 
 rowed ftrength of firm alliance from without, thefe Prieftly Policies of theirs 
 having thus exhauftedour domeftick Forces, have gone the wayalfo to leave 
 us as naked of our firmeft and faithfulleft Neighbours abroad, by difparaging, 
 and alienating from us all Proteftant Princes, and Commonwealths, who 
 are not ignorant that our Prelates, and as many as they can infect, account 
 them no better than a fort of facrilegious and puritanical Rebels, preferring 
 the .' our deadly Enemy before them, and fet all orthodox Writers at 
 
 nought in comparifon of the Jefuit c , who are indeed the only corrupters of 
 Youth and good Learning •, and I have heard many wife and learned men 
 in Italy fay as much. It cannot be that the ftrongefl knot of Confederacy 
 fhould not daily flacken, when Religion, which is the chief engagement of our 
 League, fhall be turn'd to their reproach. Hence it is that the profperous and 
 prudent States of the United Provinces, whom we ought to love, if not for 
 themfelves, yet for our own good work in them, they having bin in a manner 
 planted and erected by us, and having been fince to us the faithful watch men 
 and difcoverers of many a Popifh and Auftrian complotted Treafon, and 
 with us the partners of many a bloody and victorions Battel ; whom the fimi- 
 litude of Manners and Language, the commodity of Traffick, which founded 
 the old Burgundian League betwixt us, but chiefly Religion, fhould bind to us 
 immortally -, even fuch Friends as thefe, out of fome Principles inftill'd into 
 us by the Prelates, have been often difmift with diftaflful Anfwers, and fome- 
 times unfriendly Actions : nor is it to be confider'd to the breach of confede- 
 rate Nations, whofe mutual Intereft is of fuch high confequence, though their 
 Merchants bicker in the Ecfi-Indies ; neither is it fafe, or wary, or indeed 
 chriflianly, that the French King, of a different Faith, fhould afford our 
 neareft Allies as good Protection as we. Sir, I perfuade my felf, if our zeal 
 to true Religion, and the brotherly ufage of our truefl Friends, were as no- 
 torious to the world, as our Prelatical Schifm, and Captivity to Rochet Apo- 
 thegms, we had e'er this feen our old Conquerors, and afterwards Liege- 
 men the Normans, together with the Britains our proper Colony, and all the 
 Go/coins that are the rightful Doicry of our ancient Kings, come with cap 
 and knee, defiring the fhadow of the Englijh Sceptre to defend them from 
 the hot Perfections and Taxes of the French. But when they come hither, 
 and fee a Tympany of Spanioliz'd Bijhops fwaggering in the fore-top of the 
 State, and meddling to turn and dandle the Royal Ball with unfkilful and 
 Pedantic Palms, no marvel though they think it as unfafc to commit Re- 
 ligion and Liberty to their arbitrating as to a Synagogue of Jefuits. 
 
 But what do I ftand reckoning upon Advantages and Gains loft by the mif- 
 rule and turbulency of the Prelates ? what do I pick up fo thriftily their fcat- 
 terings and diminifhings of the meaner Subject, whilfl they by their feditious 
 Practices hive eiiang;rd to lofe the King one third of his main Stock? 
 What have they not done tobanifh him from his own Native Country ? But 
 to fpeak of this as it ought, would afk a Volume by it felf. 
 
 Thus as they have unpeopled the Kingdom by expulfion of fo many thou- 
 fands, as they have endeavour'd to lay the fkirts of it bare by difheartening 
 and difhonouring our loyalkft Confederates abroad, fo have they hamftrung 
 
 Vol. I. D z the
 
 20 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 the Valour of the Subject by feeking to effeminate us all at home* Well 
 knows every wife Nation that their Liberty confifts in manly and honeft La^ 
 bours, in fobriety and rigorous honour to the Marriage-Bed, which in bothi 
 Sexes fhould be bred up from chafte Hopes to loyal Enjoyments ; and when the 
 People flacken, and fall to Loofenefs and Riot, then do they as much as if 
 they laid down their Necks for fome wild Tyrant to get up and ride. Thus 
 learnt Cyrus to tame the Lydians? whom by Arms he could not whiht they 
 kept themfelves from Luxury •, with one eafy Proclamation to fet up Stews* 
 dancing, feafting, and dicing, he made them foon his Slaves. I know noc 
 what drift the Prelates had, whofe Brokers they Were to prepare, and fupple 
 us either for a foreign Invafion or domeftick Oppreffion •, but this I am Jure, 
 they took the ready way to defpoil us both of Manhood and Grace at once, 
 and that in the fhamefulleft and ungodlieft manner, upon that Day which- 
 God's Law, and even our own Reafon hath confecrated, that we might have 
 one day at leaft of feven fet apart wherin to examine and encreaie our 
 knowledge of God, to meditate, and commune of our Faith,, our Hope, our 
 eternal City in Heaven, and to quicken withal the ftudy and exercife of 
 Charity ; at fuch a time that Men fhould be pluck'd from their fobereft and 
 faddeft Thoughts, and by Bijhops, the pretended Fathers of the Church, infngated, 
 by publick Edict, and with earned: endeavour pufh'd forward to gaming, 
 jigging, waffailing, and mixt dancing, is a horror to think. Thus did the 
 Reprobate hireling Prieft Balaam feek to fubdue the Israelites to Moab, if 
 not by force, then by this devilifh Policy, to draw them from the Sanctuary 
 of God to the luxurious and ribald Feafts of Baal-pecr. Thus have they 
 trefpafs*d not only againft the Monarchy of England, but of Heaven alfo, as 
 others, I doubt not, can profecute agamft them. 
 
 I proceed within my own bounds to fhew you next what good Agents 
 they are about the Revenues and Riches of the Kingdom, which declares of 
 what moment they are to Monarchy, or what avail. Two Leeches they have 
 that ft III fuck, and fuck the Kingdom, their Ceremonies and their Courts. 
 If any man will contend that Ceremonies be lawful under the Gofpel, he 
 may beanfwer r d other where. This doubtlefs, that they ought to be many 
 and over-coftly, no true Proteftant will affirm. Now I appeal to all wife 
 Men, what an exceffive wafle of Treafure hath been within thefe few years in 
 this Land, not in the expedient, but in the idolatrous erection of Temples 
 beautified exquifitely to out-vie the Papifts, the coftly and dear-bought 
 Scandals and Snares of Images, Pictures, rich Copes, gorgeous Altar-cloths : 
 and by the courfes they took, and the opinions they held, it was not likely 
 any ftay would be, or any end of their MadnefS, where a pious Pretext is (o 
 ready at hand to cover their infatiate Defires. What can we fuppofe this 
 will come to? What other materials than thefe have built up the fpiritual 
 Babel to the height of her Abominations ? Believe it, Sir, right truly it 
 may be fard, that Antichrift is Mammon's Son. The four Leven of human 
 Traditions, mixt in one putrify'd Mafs with the poifonous dregs of Hypocrify 
 in the Hearts of Prelates, that lie balking in the funny warmth of Wealth 
 and Promotion, is the Serpent's Egg that will hatch an Antichrift wherfo- 
 ever, and engender the fame Monfter as big, or little, as the Lump is 
 which breeds him. If the Splendor of Gold and Silver begin to lord it once 
 again in the Church of England, we fhall fee Antichrift fhortly wallow here, 
 though his chief Kennel be at Rome. If they had once thought upon God's 
 Glory, and the advancement of Chriftian Faith, they would be a means that 
 with thefe Expences, thus profufely thrown away intrafh, rather Churches and 
 Schools might be built, where they cry out for want, and more added where 
 too few are ; a moderate maintenance diftributed to every painful Minifter > 
 that now fcarce fuftains his Family with Bread, while the Prelates revel like 
 Belfljazzar with their full caroufes in Goblets, and Vejfeb of Gold fnatch'd from, 
 God's Temple : Which (I hope) the worthy Men or our Land will confider. 
 Now then for their Courts. What a Mafs of Money is drawn from the 
 Veins into the Ulcers of the Kingdom this way ; their Extortions, their open 
 Corruptions, the multitude of hungry and ravenous Harpies that fwarm about 
 their Offices declare fufficiently. And what though all this go not over Sea > 
 'twere better it did : better a penurious Kingdom, than where exceffive 
 
 Wealth
 
 Of Reformation in England.' 21 
 
 Wealth flows into the gracelefs and injurious hands of common fponges, to 
 the impoverifhing of good and loyal men, and that by fuch execrable, fuch ir- 
 religious courfes. 
 
 If the facred and dreadful works of holy Difcipline, Cenfure, Penance, Ex- 
 communication, and Abfolution, where no prophane thing ought to haveac- 
 cefs, nothing to be affiftant but fage and chriftianly Admonition, brotherly 
 Love, flaming Charity and Zeal ; and then according to the effects, paternal 
 Sorrow or paternal Joy, mild Severity, melting Companion ; if fuch divine Mi- 
 nifteries as thefe, wherein the Angel of the Church represents the Perfon of 
 Chrift Jefits, muff, lie proftitute to fordid Fees, and not pafs to and fro be- 
 tween our Saviour that of free Grace redeem'd us, and the fubmiffive Peni- 
 tent without the truccage of perifhing Coin, and the butcherly execution of 
 Tormentors, Rooks and Rakefhames fold to lucre, then have the Babylonifh 
 Merchants of Souls jiift excufe. Hitherto, Sir, you have heard how the Prelates 
 have weaken'd and withdrawn the external Accomplilhments of Kingly pro- 
 fperity, the love of the People, their multitude, their valour, their wealth ; 
 mining and topping the out- works and redoubts of Monarchy. Now hear how 
 they ftrike at the very heart and vitals. 
 
 We know that Monarchy is made up of two parts, the Liberty of the Sub- 
 ject, and the Supremacy of the King. I begin at the root. See what gentle 
 and benign Fathers they have been to our Liberty. Their trade being, by 
 the fame Alchymy that the Pope ufes, to extract heaps of Gold and Silver out 
 of the droffy Bullion of the People's fins ; and juftly fearing that the quick- 
 fighted Proteftant's eye, clear'd in great part from the mift of Superftition, 
 may at onetime or other look with a good judgment into thefe their deceitful 
 Pedleries •, to gain as many aflbciates of guiltinefs as they can, and to infect the 
 temporal Magiftrate with the like lawlefs, tho' not facrilegious extortion, 
 fee a while what they do ; they ingage themfelves to preach, andperfuade an 
 aflertion for truth the moil falfe, and to this Monarchy the moil pernicious and 
 deftructive that could be chofen. What more baneful to Monarchy than a po- 
 pular Commotion, for the Diffolution of Monarchy Aides apteft into a Democra- 
 ty, and what ftirs the Englijhmen, as our wifeft Writers have obferved, fooner 
 to Rebellion, than violent and heavy hands upon their goods and purfes ? Yet 
 thefe devout Prelates, fpight of our great Charter, and the Souls of our Pro- 
 genitors that wrefted their Liberties out of the Norman gripe with their dear- 
 eft blood and higheft prowefs, for thefe many years have not ceas'J in their 
 Pulpits wrinching and fprainingthe Text, to fet at nought and trampie under 
 foot all the moil facred and life-blood Laws, Statutes, and Acts of Parlament y 
 that are the holy Covenant of Union and Marriage between the King and his 
 Realm, by profcribingand confifcating from us all the right we have to our 
 own Bodies, Goods and Liberties. What is this but to blow a trumpet, and 
 proclaim a fire-crofs to a hereditary and perpetual Civil War ? Thus much 
 againft the Subjects Liberty hath been affaulted by them. Now how they 
 have fpar'd Supremacy, or are likely hereafter to fubmit to it, remains laftly 
 to be confider'd. 
 
 The emulation that under the old Law was in the King towards the Prieft, is 
 now fo come about in the Gofpel, that all the danger is to be fear'd from the 
 Priejl to the King. Whilfl the Prieft s Office in the Law was fet out with an ex- 
 teriour luftre of Pomp and Glory, Kings were ambitious to be Prieft s •, now 
 Prieft s not perceiving the heavenly brightnefs and inward fplendor of their 
 more glorious Evangelick Miniftry, with as great ambition affect to be Kings, 
 as in all their courfes is eafy to be obferv'd. Their eyes ever imminent upon 
 worldly matters, their defires ever thirfting after worldly employments ; in- 
 ftead of diligent and fervent ftudy in the Bible, they covet to be expert in 
 Canons and Decretals, which may inable them to judge and interpofe in tem- 
 poral Caufes, however pretended Eccleftaftical. Do they not hord up Pelf, 
 leek to be potent in fecular Strength, in St ate Affairs, in Lands, Lord/hips, and 
 Demeans, to /way and carry all before them in High Courts and Privy Councils, 
 to bring into their grafp the high and principal Offices of the Kingdom ? Have 
 they not been bold of late to check the Common Law, to flight and brave the 
 indiminifhable Majefty of our higheft Court, the Law-giving and Sacred Parla- 
 vient ? Do they not plainly labour to exempt Churchmen from the Magiftrate ? 
 
 i Yea,
 
 a 3, Of Reformation in England. 
 
 Yea, fo prefumptuoufly as to queftion and menace Officers that reprefent th? 
 King's Per/on for ufing their Authority againft drunken Priefts ? The caufe of 
 protecting murderous Clergymen was the firft heart-burning that fwell'd up the 
 audacious Becket to the peftilent and odious vexation of Henry the Second. 
 Nay more, have not fome of their devoted Scholars begun, I need not fay to 
 nibble, but openly to argue againft the King's Supremacy ? Is not the Chief 
 of them accus'd out of his own Book, and his late Canons, to affect a certain 
 unqutftionable Patriarchate, independent and unfubordinate to the Crown ? 
 From whence having firft brought us to a fervile Ejlate of Religion and Man- 
 hood, and having predilpos'd his Conditions with the Pope, that lays claim to 
 this Land, or fome Pepin of his own creating, it were all as likely for him to 
 afpire to the Monarchy among us, as that the Pope could find means fo on the 
 fudden both to bereave the Emperor of the Roman Territory with the favour of 
 Italy, and by an unexpected friend out of France, while he was in danger to 
 lofe his new-got Purchafe, beyond hope to leap into the fair Exarchate of Ra- 
 venna. 
 
 A good while the Pope futtl'y acted the Lamb , writing to the Emperor, my 
 Lord Tiberius, my Lord Mauritius ; but no fooner did this his Lord pluck at 
 the Images and Idols, but he threw off his Sheep's clothing, and itartedup a 
 Wolf, laying his paws upon the Emperor's Right, as forfeited to Peter. Why- 
 may not we as well, having been forewarn'd at home by our renowned Chau- 
 cer, and from abroad by the great and learned Padre Paolo, from the like be- 
 ginnings, as we fee they are, fear the like events ? Certainly a wife and pro- 
 vident King ought tofuipect a Hierarchy in his Realm, being ever attended, as 
 it is, with two fuch greedy Purveyors, Ambition and Ufurpation •„• I fay, he 
 ouo-ht to fufpecla Hierarchy to be as dangerous and derogatory trom his Crown 
 as a Tetrarchy or a Heptarchy. Yet now that the Prelates had almoft attain'd to 
 what their infolent and unbridl'd minds had hurried them •, to thruft the Lai- 
 ty under the defpotical rule of the Monarch, that they themfelves might con- 
 fine the Monarch to a kind of Pupillage under their Hierarchy, obferve but how 
 their own Principles combat one another, andfupplant each one his fellow. 
 
 Having fitted us only for Peace, and that a fervile Peace, by lefieningour 
 numbers, draining our Eftates, enfeebling our Bodies, cowing our free Spirits 
 by thofe ways as you have heard, their impotent actions cannot fuftain them- 
 felves the leaft moment, unlefs they would rouze us up to a War fit tor Cain to be 
 the Leader of •, an abhorred, a curfed, a fraternal War. England and 
 Scotland, dearcft Brothers both in Nature and in Christ, mull be lotto 
 wade in one another's blood •, and Ireland our free Denizen upon the back 
 of us both, as occafion mould ferve : a piece of Service that the Pope and all 
 his Factors have been compafiing to do ever fince the Reformation. 
 
 But evetbleffed be he, and ever glorify'd, that from his high Watch-Tower 
 in the Heavens, difcerning the crooked ways of perverfe and cruel men, hath 
 hitherto maim'd and infatuated all their damnable Inventions, and deluded 
 their great Wizards with a deluiion fit for Fools and Children : had God 
 been fo minded, he could have fent a Spirit of Mutiny amongft us, as he did 
 between Abimelech and the Sechemites, to have made our Funerals, and flain 
 ' heaps more in number than the miferable furviving remnant •, but he, when 
 we leaft deferv'd, fent out a gentle gale and meffage of Peace from the wings 
 of thofe his Cherubims that fan his Mercy-feat. Nor mall the Wifdom, the 
 Moderation, the Chriftian Piety, the Conftancy of our Nobility and Com- 
 mons of England be ever forgotten, whofe calm and temperate connivance 
 could fit ftill and fmileout the ftormy blufter of men more audacious and pre- 
 cipitant than of folid and deep reach, 'till their own fury had run it felf out of 
 breath, affailing by rafh and heady Approaches the impregnable fituation of 
 our Liberty and Safety, that laught fuch weak enginery to fcom, fuch poor 
 drifts to make a National War of&Surplice Brabble, a Tippet-fcuffie, and ingage 
 the untainted Honour of Englifi Knighthood to unfurl the ftreaming Red 
 Crofs, or to rear the horrid Standard of thofe fatal guly Dragons for fo un- 
 worthy a purpofe, as to force upon their Fellow-Subjects that which them- 
 felves are weary of, the Skeleton of a Mafs-Book. Nor muft the Patience, the 
 Fortitude, the firm Obedience of the Nobles and People of Scotland, ftriving 
 againft manifold Provocations ; nor muft their fincerc and moderate proceed-
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 ings hitherto be unremember'd, to the ffiameful Conviction of all their De- 
 tractors. 
 
 Go on both hand in hand, O NATIONS, never to be dif-united ; be 
 the Praife and the Heroick Song of all Posterity ; merit this, but feek 
 only Vertue, not to extend your Limits ; lor what needs ? to win a fading 
 triumphant Laurel out of the tears of wretched Men, but to fettle the pure 
 "Worfhip of God in his Church, and Juftice in the State : then /hall the hardefl 
 difficulties fmooth out themfelves before ye ; Envy mail fink to Hell, Craft 
 and Malice be confounded, whether it be homebred mifchief or outlanai/h 
 cunning: yea, other Nations will then covet to ferve ye, for Lordfhip and 
 Victory are but the pages of Juftice and Vertue. Commit fecurely to true 
 "Wifdom the vanquishing and uncafing of craft and fubtlety, which are but her 
 two runnagates : join your invincible might to do worthy and godlike deeds ; 
 and then he that feeks to break your Union, a cleaving Curie be his inheritance 
 to all Generations. 
 
 Sir, you have now at length this queftion for the time, and as my memory 
 would belt ferve me in fuch a copious and vaft Theme, fully handled, and you 
 your felf may judge whether Prelacy be the only Church-government agreea- 
 ble to Monarchy. Seeing therefore the perillous and confufed eftate into 
 which we are fallen, and that to the certain knowledge of all men, through the 
 irreligious Pride and hateful Tyranny of Prelates, (as the innumerable and 
 grievous complaints of every Shire cry out) if we will now refolve to fettle 
 affairs either according to pure Religion or found Policy, we muft firit of all 
 begin roundly to cafhier and cut away from the public body the noifom and 
 difeafed tumour of Prelacy, and come from Schiifn to Unity with our neigh- 
 bour Reform'd Sifter-Churches, which with the blefiing cf Peace and pure 
 Doctrine have now long time fiourilh'd ; and doubtlefs with all hearty Joy and 
 Gratulation will meet and welcome our Chriftian Union with them, as they 
 have bin all this while griev'd at our ftrangenefs, and little better than fepara- 
 tion from them. And for the Difcipline propounded, feeing that it hath bin 
 inevitably prov'd that the natural and fundamental caufes of political Hap- 
 pinefs in all Governments are the fime, and that this Church-difcipline is 
 ta - ghtin the Word of God, and, as we fee, agrees according to wifh with 
 all fuch States as have receiv'd it ; we may infallibly afiure our felves that it 
 will as well agree with Monarchy, though all the Tribe of Aphorijmers and 
 Pcliticafters would perfuade us there be fecret and myfterious reafons againft 
 it. For upon the fettling herof mark what nourifhing and cordial reliore- 
 ments to the State will follow, the Minifters of the Gofpel attending only to 
 the work of Salvation, every one within his limited charge •, befides the diffu- 
 fiveBleffingsof God upon all our actions, the King fhall fit without an old 
 Di'urber, a daily Incroacher and Intruder; fhall rid his Kingdom of a 
 firong fequefter'd and collateral Power; a confronting Miter, whofe potent 
 Wealth and wakeful Ambition he had juft caufe to hold in jealoufy : not to 
 repeat the other prcfent evils which only their removal will remove, and 
 becaufe things fimply pure are inconfiltent in the mafs of Nature, nor are the 
 Elements or Humours in a Man's Body exactly homogeneal\ and hence the beft- 
 founded Commonwealths and leaft barbarous have aim'd at a certain mixture 
 and temperament, partaking the feveral Virtues of each other State, that 
 each part drawing to it felf may keep up a fteady and even uprightnefs in 
 common. 
 
 There is no Civil Government that hath been known, no not the Spartan, 
 rot the Roman, though both for this refpect fo much prais'd by the wife Poly- 
 bius, more divinely and harmonioufiy tun'd, more equally balanc'd as it 
 were by the hand and fcale of Juftice, than is the Commonwealdi of Eng- 
 land ; where, under a free and untutor'd Monarch, the nobleft, worthieft, and 
 •mot prudent men, with full approbation and fuffrage of the People, have in 
 their power the fupreme and final determination of higheft Affairs. Now if 
 Conformity of Church-Difcipline to the Civil be fo defir'd, there can be no- 
 thing more parallel, more uniform, than when under the Sovereign Prince, 
 Chart's Vicegerent, ufing the Scepter of David, according to God's Law, the 
 gocllieft, the wifeft, the learnedeft Minifters in their feveral charges have the 
 initrueting and difciplining of God's People, by whofe full and free Election 
 
 they 

 
 2 4 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 they are confecrated to that holy and equal Ariftocracy. And why fhould not 
 the Piety and Confcience of ' Englijhmen, as Members of the Church, be trufl> 
 eft in the Election of Paftors to Functions that nothing concern a Monarch, as 
 well as their worldly Wifdoms are privileg'd as Members of the State in fuf- 
 fracnno- their Knights andBurgeffes to Matters that concern him nearly? And 
 if in weighing theie feveral Offices, their difference in time and quality be caft 
 in, I know they will not turn the beam of equal Judgment the moiety of a 
 Scruple. We therfore having already a kind of apoftolical and ancienz 
 Church-Election in our State, what a perverfenefs would it be in us of all others 
 to retain forcibly a kind of imperious and ftately Election in our Church ? 
 And what a blindnefs to think that what is already evangelical, as it wereby 
 a happy chance in our Polity, fhould be repugnant to that which is the fame 
 by divine Command in the Miniftry ? Thus then we fee that our Ecclefial and 
 Political Choices may confent and fort as well together without any rupture in 
 the State, as Chriftians and Freeholders. But as for Honour, that ought 
 indeed to be different and diftinct, as either Office looks a feveral way •, the 
 Minifter whofe Calling and End is fpiritual, ought to be honour'd as a Father 
 and Phyfician to the Soul, (if he be found to be fo) with a Son-like and Dif- 
 ciple-like Reverence, which is indeed the deareft and moft affectionate Ho- 
 nour, moft to be defir'd by a wife man, and fuch as will eafily command a free 
 and plentiful provifion of outward neceffaries, without his further care of this 
 World. 
 
 The Magiftrate, whofe Charge is to fee to our Perfons and Eftates, is to be 
 honour'd with a more elaborate and perfonal Courtfhip, with large Salaries 
 and Stipends, that he himfelf may abound in thole things wherof his legal 
 Juftice and watchful Care gives us the quiet En j oyment. And this diftir.ction 
 of Honour will bring forth a ilemly and graceful Uniformity over all the 
 Kingdom. 
 
 Then (hall the Nobles poffefsall the Dignities and Offices of temporal Ho- 
 nour to themfelves, fole Lords without the improper mixture of fcholaflic 
 and pufillanimous upftarts -, the Parlament fhall void her Upper Hcufc of the 
 fame annoyances ; the Common and Civil Laws fhall be both lit free, the for- 
 mer from the controul, the other from the meer Vaffalage and Copy-hold of 
 the Clergy. 
 
 And wheras temporal Laws rather punifh men when they have tranfgrefs'd, 
 than form them to be fuch as fhould tranfgrefs feldomeft, we may conceive 
 oreat hopes, through the fhowers of Divine Benediction watering the unmo- 
 lefted and watchful pains of the Miniftry, that the whole inheritance of God 
 will orow up fo ftraight and blamelefs, that the Civil Magiftrate may with far 
 lefs toil and difficulty, and far more eafe and delight, fteer the tall and goodly 
 Veffel of the Commonwealth through all the gufts and tides of the World's 
 mutability. 
 
 Here I might have ended, but that fome Objections, which I have heard 
 commonly flying about, prefs me to the endeavour of an Anfwer. We muft 
 not run, they fay, into hidden extremes. This is a fallacious Rule, unlefs un- 
 derftood only of the actions of Vertue about things indifferent: for if it be 
 found that thofe two extremes be Vice and Vertue, Falfhood and Truth, the 
 greater extremity of Vertue and fuperlative Truth we run into, the more 
 vertuous and the more wife we become ; and he that flying from degenerate 
 and traditional Corruption, fears to fhoot himfelf too far into the meeting 
 Embraces of a divinely warranted Reformation, had better not have run at 
 all. And for the fuddennefs, it cannot be fear'd. Who fhould oppofe it r The 
 Papifts ? they dare not. The Proteftants otherwife affected ? they were 
 mad. There is nothing will be remov'd but what to them is profeilcdly in- 
 different. The long affection which the People have born to it, what for it 
 felf, what for the odioufnefs of Prelates, is evident : From the firft year of 
 Queen Elizabeth it hath ftill been more and more propounded, defir'd, and bc- 
 feech'd, yea fometimes favourably forwarded by the Parlamsnts themfelves. 
 Yet if it were fudden and fwift, provided ftill it be from worfe to better, cer- 
 tainly we ought to hie us from evil like a torrent, and rid our fclves of cor- 
 rupt Difcipline, as we would fhake fire out of our bofoms. 
 
 Speedy
 
 Of Reformation in England. 35 
 
 Speedy and vehement were the Reformations of all thegood Kings ofjuda, 
 though the People had been nuzzl'd in Idolatry ever lo long before ; they 
 fear'd not the bug-bear danger, nor the Lion in the way that the fluggim anil 
 timorous Politician thinks he fees ; no more did our Brethren of the Reforni'J 
 Churches abroad, they ventured (God being their guide; out of rigid Popery, 
 into that which we in mockery call precife Puritanijhii and yet we fee no 
 inconvenience befel them. 
 
 Let us not dally with God when he offers us a full Bleffing, to take as much 
 of it as we think will ferve our ends, and turn him back the reft upon his 
 hands, left in his anger he fnatch all from us again. Next, they alledge the 
 Antiquity of Epifcopacy through all Ages. What it was in the Apoftle's time, 
 that queltionlefs it muft be ftill -, and therin I trull the Minifters will be able 
 tofatisfy the Parlament. But if Epifcopacy be taken for Prelacy, all the Ages 
 they can deduce it through, will make it no more venerable than Papacy. 
 
 Moft certain it is (as all our Stories bear witnefs) that ever fince their 
 coming to the See of Canterbury for near twelve hundred years, to fpeak of 
 them in general, they have been in Englandto our Souls a fad and doleful fuc- 
 ceffion of illiterate and blind guides ; to our purfes and goods a waftful band 
 of robbers, a perpetual havock and rapine •, to our State a continual Hydra of 
 mifchief and moleftation, the forge of difcord and rebellion : This is the 
 Trophy of their Antiquity, and boafted Succeffion through fo many ages. 
 And for thofe Prelate-Martyrs they glory of, they are to be judg'd what they 
 were by the Gofpel, and not the Gofpel to be tried by them. 
 
 And it is to be noted, that if they were for Bifhopricks and Ceremonies, 
 it was in their Profperity and fulnefs of Bread; but in their Perfecution, which 
 puriry'd them, and near their death, which was their Garland, they plainly 
 diilikedand condemn'd the Ceremonies, and threw away thofe Epifcopal Or- 
 naments wherein they were inftall'das foolifh and deteftable; forfo the words 
 of Ridley at his Degradement, and his Letter to Hooper, exprefly fhew. Nei- 
 ther doth the Author of our Church-Hiftory fpare to record fadly the Fall 
 (for fohe terms it) and Infirmities of thefe Martyrs, though we would deify 
 them. And why fhould their Martyrdom more countenance corrupt Doctrine 
 or Difcipline, than their Subfcriptions juftify their Treafon to the Royal Blood 
 of this Realm, by diverting and intailing the Right of the Crown from the 
 true Heirs, to the Lloufes of Northumberland and Suffolk ? which had it took 
 effect, thisprefent King had in all likelihood never fat on this Throne, and 
 the happy Union of this Iflandhad bin fruftrated. 
 
 Laftly, Wheras they add that fome the learnedeft of the Reformed abroad 
 admire our Epifcopacy -, it had bin more for the ftrength of the Argument to 
 tell us, that fome of the wifeft Statefmen admire it, for thereby we might 
 guefs them weary of the prefent Difcipline, as offenfiveto their State, which 
 is the bug w r e fear : but being they are Churchmen, we may rather fufpect 
 them for iomcPrelatiping Spirits that admire ourBifhopricks, not Epifcopacy. 
 The next Objection vanifhes of itfelf, propounding a doubt, whether a 
 greater Inconvenience would not grow from the corruption of any other Dif- 
 cipline than from that of Epifcopacy. This feems an unfeafonable forefighr, 
 and out of order, to defer and put off the moft needful Conftitution of one 
 right Difcipline, while we ftand ballancing the Difcommodities of two cor- 
 rupt ones. Firft conftitute that which is right, and of itfelf it will difcover 
 and rectify that which fwerves, and eafdy remedy the pretended fear of having 
 a Pope in every Parifh, unlefs we call the zealous and meek cenfure of the 
 Church a Popedom, which whofo does, let him advife how he can reject the 
 Paltorly Rod and Sheep-hook of Christ, and thole Cords of Love, and not 
 tear to fall under the iron Scepter of his Anger, that will dafh him to pieces 
 like a Potfherd. 
 
 At another Doubt of theirs I wonder, whether this Difcipline which we de- 
 fire be fuch as can be put in practice within this Kingdom •, they fay it cannot 
 ftand with the common Law nor with the King's Safety, the Government of 
 Epifcopacy is nowfo weav'd into the common Law. In God's name let it 
 weave out again •, let not human Quillets keep back divine Authority. 'Tis 
 not the common Law, nor the civil, but Piety and Juftice that are our foun- 
 dreffes ; they (loop not, neither change colour for Ariftocracy, Democracy, or 
 Vol. I. E ' Mo-
 
 2,6 Of Reformation i?i England. 
 
 .' ' narcbj, r.or yet at all interrupt their juft courfes •, but far above the taking 
 notice of thefe inferior Niceties, with perfect Sympathy, wherever they 
 meet, kifs each other. Laftly, they are fearful that the Discipline which 
 will fucceed cannot ftand with the King's Safety. Wherefore ? it is but Epif- 
 copacy redue'd to what it mould be : were it not that the tyranny of Prelates 
 under the name of Bifcops hath made our ears tender, and ftartling, we might 
 call every 2;ood Minifter a Bijhop, as every Bijhop, yea the Apoftles themfelves 
 are call'd A&ri/ters, and the Angels minijirhig Spirits, and the Ministers again 
 Ards. But wherin is this propounded Government fo fhrewd ? Became the 
 Government of AfTemblies will fucceed. Did not the Aptftles govern the 
 Church bv AfTemblies? How mould it elfe be Catholick: How mould ic 
 have Communion ? We count it Sacrilege to take from the rich Prelates their 
 Lands and Revenues, which is 'Sacrilege in them to keep, uiingthem as they 
 do ; and can we think it iafe to defraud the living Church of God of that right 
 which God has given her in AfTemblies ? O but the Conk-quence ! AfTemblies 
 draw to them the Supremacy of Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction. No Curdy, they 
 draw no Supremacy, but that Authority which Christ, arid St. Paul in his 
 Name, confers upon them. The King may ftill retain the fame Supremacy ii 
 the AfTemblies, as in the Parlament -, here he can do nothing alone againft the 
 Common Law, and there neither alone, nor with Content, againft the Scrip- 
 tures. But is this all ? No, this Ecclefiaftical Supremacy draws to it the 
 Power to excommunicate Kings ; and then follows the worft that can be ima- 
 o-ined. Do they hope to avoid this, by keeping Prelates that have fo often 
 done it? Not to exemplify the malapert Infolence of our own Bijhops in this 
 kind towards our Kings, I mail turn back to the P ..nd pure Times, 
 
 which the Objectors would have the Rule of Reformation to us. 
 
 Not an AfTemblv, but one Bijhop alone, Saint Ambrose of Milan, held 
 72y the moft Chriftian Emperor under Excommunication above eight 
 
 Months together, drove him from the Church in the prefence of his Nobles -, 
 which the good Emperor bore with heroic humility, and never ceas'd by 
 Prayers and Tears, till he was abfolvM-, for which coming to the Bifhop with 
 Supplication into the Salutatory, Tome Out-porch of the Church, he was char- 
 ged by him of tyrannical madneis againft God, for coming into holy Ground. 
 At laft, upon Conditions abfolved, and after great humiliation approaching to 
 the Akar to offer, (as thofe thrice pure times then thought meet) he had fcarce 
 withdrawn his hand, and ftood a while, when a bold Arch-deacon comes in 
 the Bifhop's name, and chaces him from within the Rails, telling him peremp- 
 torilv, that the place wherin he ftood, was for none but the Priejis to enter, 
 or to touch •, and this is another piece of pure P \ Divinity. Think ye 
 
 then our Bifhopswill forego the Power of Excommunication on whomibever? 
 No certainly, unlefs to compafs finifter Ends, and then revoke when they'fee 
 their time. And yet this moft mild, though withal dreadful and inviolable 
 Prerogative oiChriJi's Diadem, Excommunication, ferves for nothing with 
 them, but to prog and pander for Fees, or to difplay their Pride, and fharpen 
 their Revenge, debarring Men the protection of the Law ; and I remember 
 not whether in Tome Cafes it bereave not Men all right to their worldly Goods 
 and Inheritances, befides the denial of Chriftian Burial. But in the Evange- 
 lical, and reformed ufe of this facred Cenfure, no fuch Projiitution, no fuch 
 IJcariotical Drifts are to be doubted, as that fpiritual Doom and Sentence 
 fhould invade worldly pofleffion, which is the rightful Lot and Portion even 
 of the wickedeft Men, as frankly beftow'd upon them by the all-difpenfing 
 Bounty as Rain and Sunjline. No, no, it feeks not to bereave or deftroy the Bo- 
 i it feeks to fave the Soul by humbling the Body, not by Imprifonment, or 
 ■ ur.iary Mulct, much lefe by Stripes or Bonds, or difinheritance, bur by fa- 
 therly Admonifhment and chriftian Rebuke, to caft it into godly Sorrow, 
 whofeEnd is Joy, and ingenuous bafhfulnefs ro Sin : If that cannot be wrought, 
 then as a tender Mother takes her Child and holds it over the Pit with fea- 
 ring words, that it may learn to fear where danger is ; lb doth Excommuni- 
 cation as dearly and as freely, without Money, ufe her wholefome and laving 
 Terrors : fhe is inftant, fhe befeeches, by all the dear and fweet Promifes of 
 Salvation fhe entices and woos-, by all the Threatnings and Thunders of 
 the £«w, and rejected Go/pel, fhe charges, and adjures : this is all her Armory, 
 
 her
 
 Of Reformation in England. 
 
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 28 Of Reformation in England. 
 
 furely a right reafonable, innocent, and foft-hearted Petition. O the relenting 
 Bowels of the Fathers! Can this be granted them, unlefs God have frrut 
 lis with Frenfy from above, and with a dazling-giddinef at noon-day ? 
 Should not thofe Men rather be heard that come to plead againft their own 
 Preferments, their worldly Advantages, their own Abundance •, for Honour 
 and Obedience to God's Word, the Converfion of Souls, the Cbriftian Peace 
 of the Land, and Union of the Reformed Catholick Church, the unappropriating 
 and unmonopclizing the Rewards of Learning and Ir.duftry, from the greafy 
 clutch of Ignorance, and high feeding. We have try'd already, and miltrably 
 felt what Ambition, worldly Glory and immoderate Wealth can do, what the 
 boifterous and contradittional hand of a temporal, earthly, and corporeal Spi- 
 rituality can avail to the edifying of Chrift's holy Church ; were it fuch a de- 
 fperate hazard to put to the venture the univerfal Votes of Chrift's, Congrega- 
 tion, the fellowly and friendly Yoke of a teaching and laborious Miniftry, the 
 Paft'orlike and Apoftolick Imitation of meek and unlordly Difcipline, the 
 o-entleand benevolent Mediocrity of Church-maintenance, without the igno- 
 ble Hucfterace of pidling Tithes? Were it fuch an incurable mifchiefto 
 make a little trial, what all this would do to the flourifhing and growing up 
 of Chrift's myftical Body ? As rather to ufe every poor fhitt, and if thatferve 
 not, to threaten Uproar andCombuftion, and (hake the Brand of civil Difcord r 
 O Sir, I do now feel myfelf inwrapt on the Hidden into thofe Mazes and 
 Labyrinths of dreadful and hideous thoughts, that which way to get out, or 
 whi'ch way to end, I know not, unlefs I turn mine eyes, and with your help 
 lift up my hands to that eternal and propitious Throne, where nothing is rea- 
 dier than Grac e and Refuge to the diftrefies of mortal Suppliants : And it were 
 a fhame to leave thefe ferious thoughts lefs pioufly than the Pieathen were wont 
 to conclude their graver Difcourfes. 
 
 Thou therefore that fitted in Light and Glory unapproachable, Parent of 
 Angels and Men! next thee I implore Omnipotent King, Redeemer of that 
 loft Remnant whofe Nature thou didft afTume, ineffable and everlafting Love ! 
 And thou the third fubfiftence of Divine Infinitude, illumining Spirit, the Joy 
 and Solace of created Things ! one Tri-perfonal Godhead! look upon this 
 thy poor and almoft fpent and expiring Church, leave her not thus a Prey to 
 thefe importunate Wolves, that wait and think long till they devour thy ten- 
 der Flock ; thefe wild Boars that have broke into thy Vineyard, and left the 
 print of their polluting Hoofs on the Souls of thy Servants. O let them not 
 brin^ about their damned Defigns, that ftand now at the entrance of the bot- 
 tomlefs Pit, expecting the Watch-word to open and let out thofe dread id 
 Locufts and Scorpions, to re-involve us in that pitchy Cloud of infernal Dark- 
 tiefs, where we fhall never more fee the Sun of thy Truth again, never hope 
 for the chearful Dawn, never more hear the Bird of Morning ling. Be mov'd 
 with pity at the afflicted ftate of this our fhaken Monarchy, that now lies la- 
 bouring under her Throws, and ftruggling againft the Grudges of more 
 dreaded Calamities. 
 
 O thou that after the impetuous rage of five bloody Inundatio-.s, and the 
 fucceedino- Sword of inteftine War, ioaking the Land in her own Gore, didft 
 pity thefad and ceaflefs Revolution of our fwift and thick-coming Sorrows, 
 when we were quite breathlefs, of thy free Grace didft motion Peace, and 
 terms of Covenant with us ; and having firft well-nigh freed us from Anti- 
 chriftian Thraldom, didft buildup this Britannick Empire to a glorious and en- 
 viable height, with all her Daughter-Iftands about her •, ftay us in this Felicity, 
 let not the Obftinacy of our Half-obedience and Wil!-worfnip bring forth 
 that Viper of Sedition , that for thefe fourfcore Years hath bin breeding to eat 
 through the Entrails of our Peace •, but let her caft her abortive Spawn with- 
 out the danger of this travelling and throbbing Kingdom. That we may ftill 
 remember in our folemn Thank [givirgs, how forus, the Northern Ocean even to 
 the frozen Thule, was fcatter'd with the proud Shipwrecks of the Spanijh Ar- 
 mado, and the very Maw of Hell ranfack'd, and made to give up her con- 
 ceal'd Deftrudion, ere the could vent it in that horrible and damned blaft. 
 
 O how much more glorious will thofe former Deliverances appear, when we 
 fhall know them not only to have fav'd us from greateft Miferies paft, but to have 
 referv'dus for greateft Happinefs to come ?• Hitherto thou haft but free i us, 
 
 and
 
 Of Reformation in England. 29 
 
 and that not fully, from the unjuft and tyrannous Claim of thy Foes, now 
 unite us entirely, and appropriate us to thy felf, tie us cverlaftingly in willing 
 Homage to the Prerogative of thy eternal Throne. 
 
 And now we know, O thou our moft certain Hope and Defence, that thine 
 Enemies have been confulting all the Sorceries of the great Whore, and have 
 join'd their Plots with that fad intelligencing Tyrant that mifchicfs the World 
 with his Mines of Ophir, and lies thirfting to revenge his naval Ruins that 
 have larded our Seas : but let them all take Counfel together, and let it come 
 to nought •, let them decree* and do thou cancel it •, let them gather them- 
 felves, and be fcatter'd ; let them imbattel themfelves, and be broken ; let 
 them imbattel, and be broken, for thou art with us. 
 
 Then amidft the Hymns and Hallelujahs of Saints, fome one may perhaps 
 be heard offering at high Strains in new and lofty Meafures, to fing and cele- 
 brate thy divine Mercies, and marvellous Judgments in this Land throughout 
 all Aces ; wherby this great and warlike Nation, inftructed and hur'd to 
 the fervent and continual practice of Truth and Right eoufnefs, and carting far 
 from her the Rags of her old Vices, may prefs on hard to that high and happy 
 Emulation to be found the fober eft, wifeft, and moft Chriftian People at that 
 day, when thou the eternal and fhortly- expected King, fhaltopen the Clouds 
 to judge the feveral Kingdoms of the World, and diftributing National Ho- 
 nours and Rewards to religious and juft Commonwealths, fhall put an end to all 
 earthly Tyrannies, proclaiming thy univerfal and mild Monarchy through 
 Heaven and Earth. Where they undoubtedly, that by their Labours, Coun- 
 fels, and Prayers, have bin earneft for the common Good of Religion and their 
 Country, fhall receive above the inferior Orders of the Blejfed, the regal Ad- 
 dition of Principalities, Legions, and Thrones into their glorious Titles, and in 
 fupereminence of beatific Vifton, progreffing the datelefs and irrevoluble Circle 
 of Eternity, fhall clafp infeparable hands with Joy and Blifs, in over-mea- 
 fure for ever. 
 
 Bat they contrary, that by the impairing and diminution of the true 
 Paith, the DiftrefTes and Servitude of their Country, afpire to high Dignity, 
 Rule and Promotion here, after a fhameful end in this Life, (which God grant 
 them) fhall be throwndown eternally into thedarkeft and deepeJIGulf of Hell, 
 -where under the dejpiteful Contrcul, the Trample and Spurn of all the other 
 Lamned, that in the anguifh of their Torture, fhall have no other eafe than 
 to exercife a raving and beftial Tyranny over them as their Slaves and Negroes^ 
 they fhall remain in that plight for ever, the bafeft, the lowermoft, the moft 
 dejeiled y moft underfoot , and down- trodden Vajfals of Perdition. 
 
 OF
 
 3° 
 
 O F 
 
 And whether it may be deduced from the Apo- 
 
 flolical Times by virtue of thofe Tejii monies which are al~ 
 ledgd to that purpofe in fame late Treatifes ; one ivher- 
 of goes under the Name of James Arcbbifljop ^Armagh. 
 
 EPISCOPACY, as it is taken for an Order in the Church above a PreJLy- 
 ter, or as we commonly name him the Minifler of a Congregation, is 
 either of Divine Conftitution, or of Human. If only of Human, 
 we have the fame human Privilege that all Men have ever had fince Adam, 
 being born free, and in the Miftrefs Ifland of all the Britijh, to retain this 
 Epifcopacy, or to remove it, confulting with our own Occafions and Conve- 
 niences, and for the prevention of our own Dangers and Difquiets, in what 
 belt manner we can devife, without running at a lofs, as we mufl needs in thofe 
 ftale and ufelefs Records of either uncertain or unfound Antiquity ; which, if 
 we hold faft to the grounds of the Reformed Church, can neither fkill of us, 
 nor we of it, fooft as it would lead us to thi broken reed of Tradition, If 
 it be of Divine Conftitution, tofatisfy us fully in that, the Scripture only is 
 able, it being the only Book leftus of Divine Authority, not in any thing more 
 divine than in the all-fufficiency it hath to furnifh us, as with all other ipiri- 
 tual Knowledge, fo with this in particular, fetting out to us a perfect Man 
 of God, accomplifh'd to all the good works of his charge : through all which 
 Book can be no where, either by plain Text, or folid reafoning, found any 
 difference between a Bifhop and a Prefbyter, five that they be two names to 
 fignify the fame Order. Nqtwithftatading this clearnefs, and that by all evi- 
 dence of Argument, Timothy and Titus (whom our Prelates claim to imitate 
 only in the controlling part of their Office) had rather the Vicegerency of 
 '2 Tim. 4. an Apoftlefhip committed to them, than the ordinary charge of a Bifhoprick, 
 as being Men of an extraordinary calling ; yet to verify that which St. Paul 
 foretold of fucceeding times, when Men began to have itching Ears, then 
 not contented with the plentiful and wholefom fountains of the Gofpel, 
 they began after their own Lulls to heap to themfelves Teachers, and as if 
 the divine Scripture wanted a Supplement, and were to be eke'd out, they 
 cannot think any doubt refolv'd, and any Doctrine confirm'd, unlefs they 
 run to that indigefted heap and fry of Authors, which they call Antiquity- 
 Whatfoever time, or the heedlefs hand of blind chance, hath drawn down 
 from of old to this prefent, in her huge Drag-net, whether Fifh, or Sea- 
 weed, Shells, or Shrubs, un-pick'd, unchofen, thofe are the Fathers. Seeing 
 therfore fome Men, deeply con verfant in Books, have had fo little care of 
 late to give the World a better account of their reading, than by divulg- 
 ing needlefs Tractates, ftuff'd withfpecious names of Ignatius and Polycarpus\ 
 with fragments of old Martyrolcgies, and Legends, to diffract and flagger the 
 multitude of credulous Readers, and miflead them from their flrong Guards 
 and places of Safety, under the tuition of Holy Writ ; it came into my 
 thoughts to perfuade myfelf, fetting all diftances, and nice refpects afide, 
 that I could do Religion, and my Country no better fervice for the time, than 
 doing my utmofl endeavour to recall the People of God from this vain for- 
 raging after Straw, and to reduce them to their firm Stationsunder the ftan- 
 dard of the Gofpel ; by making appear to them, firif the iniufficiency, next 
 the inconveniency ; and laflly, the impiety of thefe gay Teltimonies, that 
 their great Doctors would bring them to dote on. Arid in performing this, 
 I fhall not fbrive to be more exact in Method, than as their citations lead 
 me. 
 
 1 Firflv
 
 Of Prelatical Epifcopacy. % t 
 
 Firft, therefore concerning Ignatius fliall be treated fully, when the Author 
 Pull come to infift upon fome places in his Epiftles. Next, to prove a fuccef- 
 fion of 27 Bifhops from Timothy, he cites one Leontius Bifhop of ' Magnefia, out 
 of the 1 ith Aft of the Chalcedonian Council : this is but an obfeure and finolc 
 witnefs, and for his faithful dealing who fhall commend him to us, with this 
 his Catalogue of Bifljops ? "What know we further of him, but that he might 
 be as factious and falfe a Bifhop, as Leontius of Antioch, that was a hundred 
 years his Predecefibr ? For neither the praife of his Wifdom, or his Yirtue» 
 hath left him memorable to Pofterity, but only this doubtful relation, which 
 we mull take at his word: and how fhall this Teftimony receive credit from 
 his word, whofe very Name had fcarce bin thought on but for this bare Tef- 
 timony ? But they will fay, he was a Member of the Council, and that may 
 deferve to gain him Credit with us. I will not Hand to argue, as yet with 
 fair allowance I might, that we may as juftly fufpeci there were fome bad 
 and flippery Men in that Council, as we know there are wont to be in our 
 Convocations : Nor fliall I need to plead at this time, that nothing hath bin 
 more attempted, nor with more fubtlety brought about, both anciently by 
 other Hereticks, and modernly by Papifts, than to falfify the Editions of the 
 Councils, of which we have none but from our Adveriaries hands, whence Ca- 
 nons, A els, and whole fpurious Councils are thruft upon us •, and hard it would 
 be to prove in all, which are legitimate againft the lawful rejection of an ur- 
 gent, and free difputer. But this I purpofe not to take advantage of -, for 
 what avails it to wrangle about the corrupt Editions of Councils, whenaswe 
 know that many Years ere this time, which was almoft 500 Years after Chrifi, 
 the Councils themfelves were foully corrupted with ungodly Prelatifm, andfo 
 far plung'd into worldly Ambition, as that it Hood them upon long ere this to 
 uphold their now well-tafted Hierarchy by what a fair pretext foever they 
 could, in like manner as they had now learnt to defend many other grofs Cor- 
 ruptions by ne ancient, and fuppofed authentick Tradition as Epifcopacy ? 
 And what hope can we have of this whole Council to warrant us a matter, 400 
 Yeats at Ieaft above their time, concerning the diftindtion of Bifhop and Pref- 
 byter, whenas we find them fuch blind Judges of things before their eyes, in 
 their decrees of precedency between Bfjop and Bi/hop, acknowledging Rome 
 for the Apollolick Throne, and Peter in that See for the Rock, theBafis, and 
 the Foundation of the Catholick Church and Faith, contrary to the interpre- 
 tation of more ancient Fathers ? And therfore from a miftaken Text did they 
 give to Leo, as Peter's SuccefTor, a kind of Preheminence above the whole 
 Council, as Euagrius exprelTes (for now the Pope was come to that height, as 
 to arrogate to himfelf by his Vicars incompetible honours) and yet having 
 thus yielded to Rome the univerfal Primacy for fpiritual Reafons, as they 
 thought, they conclude their fitting with a carnal and ambitious Decree, to 
 give the fecond place of Dignity to Conjiantinople from reafon of State, becaufe 
 it was New ROME ; and by like confequence, doubtlefs of earthlyPrivileges 
 annext to each other City, was the Bishop therof to take his place. 
 
 I may fay again therfore, what hope can we have of fuch a Council, as be- 
 ginning in the Spirit, ended thus in the Flefh ? Much rather fhould we attend 
 to what Eufebi us, the ancienteft Writer extant of Church- Hiflory, notwith- 
 standing all the helps he had above thefe, confeffes in the 4th Chapter of his 
 3d Book, That it was no eafy matter to tell who were thofe that were left 
 Bifllops of the Churches by the Apoflles, more than by what a Man might ga- 
 ther from the Atls of the Apoftles, and the Epiftles of St. Paul, in which 
 number he reckons Timothy for Bifhop of Ephefus. So as may plainly appear, 
 that this Tradition of Bifhoping Timothy over Ephefus, was but taken for 
 granted out of that place in St. Paid, which was only an intreating him to tar- 
 ry at Ephefus, to do fomething left him in charge. Now if Eufebius, a famous 'Tim. \. 3. 
 Writer, thought it fo difficult to tell who were appointed Bifhops by the A- 
 poflles, much more may we think it difficult to Leontius, an obfeure Bifhop, 
 fpeaking beyond his own Diocefs : and certainly much more hard was it for 
 either of them to determine what kind of Bifhops thefe were, if they had fo 
 little means to know who they were; and much lefs reafon have we to rtand 
 to their definitive Sentence, feeing they have bin fo rafh to raife up fuch 
 lofty Bifhops and Biihopricks out of places in Scripture merely mifunderftood. 
 
 Thus
 
 3 2 Of P relatival Epifcopaty, 
 
 Thus while we leave the Bible to gad after thcfe Traditions of the Ancients; 
 we hear the Ancients themfelves confeffing, that what knowledge they had in 
 this point was fuch as they had gather'd from the Bible. 
 
 Since therefore Antiquity itfelfhath turn'd over the Cor.troverfy to that 
 fovereign Book which we had fondly ftraggl'd from, we fhall do better not to 
 detain this venerable Apparition of Lccntius any longer, but difmifs him 
 with his Lift of feven and twenty, to deep unmolefted in his former ob- 
 fcurity. 
 
 Now for the word wptrw, it is more likely that Timothy never knew the 
 word in that fenfe ; it was the vanity of thofe next fucceeding times not to 
 content themfelves with the fimplicity of Scripture-phrafe, but muft make a 
 new Lexicon to name themfelves by ; one will be call'd Sr^owwj, or Antiftes, a 
 word of Precedence ; another would be term'd a Gnoftick, as Clemens ; a third 
 Sacerdos, or Prieft, and talks of Altars •, which was a plain fign that their 
 Dodrine began to change, for which they muft change their expreffions. But 
 that place of Juftin Martyr ferves rather to convince the Author, than to 
 make for him, where the name ■srgferw twj ah\(puv, the Prefident, or Paftor 
 of the Brethren (for to what end is he their Prefident, but to teach them ? ) 
 cannot be limited to fignify a Prelatical Bifhop, but rather communicates that 
 Greek appellation to every ordinary Prejbyter : For there he tells what the 
 Chriftians had wont to do in their feveral Congregations, to read and ex- 
 pound, to pray and adminifter, all which he fays the ir^oir^;, or Antiftes did. 
 Are thefe the Offices only of a Bifhop, or fhall we think that every Congre- 
 gation where thefe things were done, which he attributes to this Antiftes, had 
 a Bijhop prefent among them ? Unlefs they had as many Antiftites as Presbyters, 
 which this place rather feems to imply ; and fowe may infer even from their 
 own alledg'd Authority, that Antiftes was nothing elfe but Presbyter. 
 
 As for that namelefs Treatife of Timothy's Martyrdom, only cited by Pho- 
 tius that liv'd almoft 900 Years after Chrijl, it handfomly follows in that Au- 
 thor, the Martyrdom of the feven Sleepers, that flept (I tell you but what 
 mine Author fays) three hundred feventy and two Years •, for lb long they 
 had bin fhut up in a Cave without meat, and were found living. This Story 
 of Timothy's Ephefian Bifhoprick, as it follows in order, fo may it for truth, 
 if it only fubfift'upon its own Authority, as it doth-, for Photius only faith he 
 read it, he does not aver it. That other legendary piece found among the 
 iu l ' " 'lives of the Saints, and fent us from the fhop of the Jefuits at Lovain, does 
 ' but bear the name of Poly crates, how truly who can tell? and fhall have fome 
 more weight with us, when Polycrates canperfuade us of that which he af- 
 firms in the fame place of Eufebius's 5th Book, that St. John was a Prieft, and 
 wore the golden Breaft-plate : and why fhould he convince us more with his 
 Traditions of Timothy's Epifcopacy, than he could convince Vitlcr Bifhop of 
 Rome with his Traditions concerning the Feaft of Eafter, who not regarding 
 his irrefragable inftances of examples taken from Philip and his Daughters 
 that were ProphetefTes, or from Polycarpus, no nor from St. John himfelf, 
 excommunicated both him, and all the AJian Churches, for celebrating their 
 Eajler judaically ? He may therfore go back to the feven Bifhops his Kinf- 
 men, and make his moan to them, that we efteem his traditional Ware as 
 lightly as Vitlor did. 
 
 Thofe of Theodoret, Felix, and John of Antioch, are Authorities of later 
 times, and therfore not to be receiv'd for their Antiquities fake to give in 
 evidence concerning an Allegation, wherin Writers, fo much their Elders, 
 we fee fo eafily mifcarry. What if they had told us that Peter, who as they 
 fay left Ignatius Bifhop of Antioch, went afterwards to Rome, and was Bifhop 
 there, as this Ignatius, and Irenaus, and all Antiquity with one mouth de- 
 liver ? there be neverthelefs a number of learned and wife Proteftants, who 
 have written, and will maintain, that Peter's being at Rome as Bifhop, cannot 
 ftand with concordance of Scripture. 
 
 Now come the Epiftles of Ignatius to fhew us firft, that Onefitnus was Bi- 
 fhop of Ephefus •, next, toafTert the difference of Bijhop and Presbyter, wherin I 
 wonder that Men, teachers of theProteftant Religion, make no more difficul- 
 ty of impofing upon our Belief a fuppofuitious offspringof fome dozen Epiftles, 
 wherof five are rejected as fpurious, containing in them Herefies and Trifles ■, 
 z which
 
 Of Prelatical Epifcopacy. 
 
 which cannot agree in Chronology with Ignatius, entitling him Archbifhop 
 of Antioch Iheopolis, which name of Theopolis that City had not till Juftinian's 
 time, long after, as Cedrenus mentions ; which argues both the barbarous 
 time, and the unfkilful fraud of him that foifted this Epiftle upon Ignatius. 
 In the Epiftle to thofe of Tarfus, he condemns them for Minifters of Satan, 
 that fay thrift is God above all. To the Pbilippians them that kept their Eafter 
 as the Afian Churches, as Polycarpus did, and them that rafted upon any Sa- 
 turday, or Sunday, except one, he counts as thofe that had (lain the Lord. 
 To thofe of Antioch, he falutes the Sub-Deacons, Chaunters, Porters and 
 Exorcifts, as if thefe had bin Orders of the Church in his time : thofe other 
 Epiftles lefs queftion'd, are yet lb interlarded with Corruptions, as may juftly 
 indue us with awholefome fufpicion of the reft. As to the Trallians, he writes 
 that a Bijhop hath Power over all beyond all Government and Authority ivhatfoever. 
 Surely then no Pope can defire more than Ignatius attributes to every Bifhop ; 
 but what will become then of the Archbifhops and Primates, if every Biihop 
 in Ignatius's judgment be as fupreme as a Pope ? To the Ephefians, near the 
 Very place from whence they fetch their proof for Epifcopacy, there ftands 
 a line thattafts an ill hue upon all the Epiftle ; Let noMan err, faith he ; unlefs 
 a Man be within the rays or enclofure of the Altar, he is depriv'd of the 
 bread of Life. I fay not but this may be ftretch'd to a figurative conftruction, 
 but yet it has an ill look, efpecially being follow'd beneath with the 
 mention of I know not what Sacrifices. In the other Epiftle to Smyrna, 
 wherin is written that they mould follow their Bifhop as Chrift did his Fa- 
 ther, and the Prejhytery as the Apoftles ; not to fpeak of the infulfe, and ill- 
 kid comparifon, this cited place lies upon the very brim of another Cor- 
 ruption, which had they that quote this pafiage, ventur'd to let us read, all 
 P ". n would have readily km what grain the Teftimony had bin of, where it 
 is faidj that it is not lawful without a Bifhop to baptize, nor to offer, nor 
 to do facrifice. What can our Churches make of thefe Phrafesbut fcandalous? 
 And but a little further he plainly tails to contradict the Spirit of God in So- 
 lomon, judg'd by the words themfelves -, My Son, faith he, honour God and the 
 King -, but I fay, honour God and the Bifhop as High-Prieft, bearing the Imao-e 
 of God according to his ruling, and of Chrift according to his Prieftino-, and 
 after him honour the King. Excellent Ignatius ! can ye blame the Prelates 
 for making much of this Epiftle? Certainly if this Epiftle can ferve you to Cct 
 a Bifhop above zPreJhyter, it may ferve you next to fethim above a Kino-. 
 Thefe, and other like places in abundance through all thofe fhort Epiftles, 
 inuft either be adulterate, or elfe Ignatius was not Ignatius, nor a Martyr, 
 but moil adulterate, and corrupt himfelf. In the midft therfore of fo many 
 forgeries, where fhall we fix to dare fay this is Ignatius? As for his ftile, who 
 knows it, fo disfigur'd and interrupted as it is ? except they think that where 
 they meet with any thing found, and orthodoxal, there they find Ignatius, 
 and then they believe him not for his own Authority, but for a truth's fake, 
 which they derive from elfewhere : to what end then fhould they cite him as 
 Authentic for Epifcopacy, when they cannot know what is authentic in him, 
 but by the judgment which they brought with them, and not by any judgment 
 which they might fafely learn from him ? How can they bring fatisfaction 
 from fuch an Author, to whofe very efTencethe Reader muft be" fain to con« 
 tribute his own Underftanding ? Had God ever intended that we fhould have 
 fought any part of ufeful Inftruction from Ignatius, doubtlefs he would not 
 have fo ill provided for our knowledge, as to fend him to our hands in this 
 broken and disjointed plight; and if he intended no fuch thing, we do injuri- 
 oufly in thinking to tafte better the pure Evangelic Manna, by feafoning our 
 mouths with the tainted fcraps and fragments of an unknown Table, and 
 fearching among the verminous and polluted Rags dropt over- worn from the 
 toiling fhoulders of Time, with thefe deformedly to quilt and interlace the 
 intire, the fpotlefs, and undecaying robe of Truth, the daughter not of 
 Time, but of Heaven, only bred up here below in Chriftian Hearts, between 
 two grave and holy Nurfes, the Doctrine and Difcipline of the Gofpel. 
 
 Next follows Ir-enaus Bifhop of Lyons, who is cited to affirm that Polycar- 
 pus was madeBiJhop ^/Smyrna by the Apoftles ; and this, it may feem, none could 
 barer tell than he who had bothfeen and heard Polycarpus: But when did he 
 Vol. I. F hear
 
 34 Of Prelatical Epifcopacy. 
 
 heir him? himfelf confefles to Flor'mus, when he was a Boy. Whether, that 
 Age in Irenaui may not be liable to many miftakings ; and whether a Boy may 
 be crafted to take an exact account of the manner of a Church-Conftitution, 
 and upon what terms, and within what limits, and with what kind of Com- 
 miffion Polycarpus receiv'd his Charge, let a Man confide^ ere he be cre- 
 dulous. It will not be deny'd that he might have feen Polycarpus in his youths . 
 a Man of great eminence in the Church, to whom the other Prejlyters might 
 give way tor his Virtue, Wifdem, and the reverence of his Age ; and Jo did 
 Anicetus Bifhop of Rome, even in his own City, give him a kind of Priority 
 in adminiftringthe Sacrament, as maybe read in Eufebius: butthat we fhouiJ 
 hence conclude a diftinct, and fuperior Order from the young observation of 
 Jren<cus, nothing yet alledg'dcan warrant us, unlefs we (hall believe fuch as 
 would face us down, that Calvin* and after him Beza were BiJhops of Geneva, 
 becauie that in the unfettled ftate of the Church, while things were not fully 
 compos'd, their worth and learning caft a greater fhare of bufinefs upon diem, 
 and directed Men's eyes principally towards them : and yet thefe Men were 
 the diffolvers of Epifcopacy. "We fee the fame necefTity in State- Affairs ; Bru- 
 tus that expell'd the Kings out oi Rome, was for the time fore'd to be as it were 
 a King himfelf, till matters were fet in order, as in a free Commonwealth. 
 He that had feen Pericles lead the Athenians which way he lifted, haply 
 would have faidhehadbin their Prince-, and yet he was but a powerful and 
 eloquent Man in a Democraty, and had no more at any time than a tempo- 
 rary and elective fway, which was in the will of the people when to abrogate. 
 And it is moft likely that in the Church, they which came after thefe Apo- 
 ftolic Men, being lei's in Merit, but bigger in Ambition, ftrove to invade 
 thoi'e Privileges by intrufion and plea of right, which Polycarpus, and others 
 like him polTeft from the voluntary furrender of Men fobdu'd by the excel- 
 lency of their heavenly Gifts ; which becaufe their Succeiibrs had not, and fo 
 could neither have that Authority, it was their policy to divulge that the e- 
 minence which Polycarpus and his equals enjoy'd, was by right of conftitution, 
 not by free will of condefcending. And yet thus far Iren<eus makes againft 
 them, as in that very place to call Polycarpus an Apoftolical Prejbyter. But 
 what fidelity his relations had in general, we cannot fooner learn than by Eufebius, 
 who near the end of his third Book, fpeaking of Papias a very ancient Wri- 
 ter, one that had heard St. John, and was known to many that had feen, and 
 bin acquainted with others of the Apoftles, but being of a mallow wit, and 
 not underftanding thofe Traditions which he receiv'd, fili'd his Writings with 
 many new Doctrines, and fabulous Conceits •, he tells us there, that divers Ec- 
 clefiaftical Men, and Irenaus among the reft, while they look'd at his Anti- 
 quity, became infected with his Errors. Now if Irenaus were fo rafh as to 
 take unexamin'd opinions from an Author of fo fmall capacity, when he 
 was a Man, we fhould be more rafh ourielves to rely upon thofe obfervations 
 whichhe made when he was a Boy. And this may be a fufficient reafon to us 
 why we need no longer mufe at the lpreading of many idle Traditions fo 
 foon after the Apoftles, whilft fuch as this Papias had the throwing them 
 about, and the inconfiderate zeal of the next Age, that heeded more the 
 Perfon than the Doctrine, had the gathering them up. Wherever a Man, 
 who had bin any way converfant with the Apoflles, was to be found, thither 
 flew all the inquifitive ears, although the exercife of right inftructing was 
 chang'd into thecuriofity of impertinent fabling: where the Mind was to be 
 edify'd with ibiid Dotlrine, there the Fancy was iboth'd with folemn Stories: 
 withlefs fervency was ftudied what Saint Paul, or Saint John had written, 
 than was liften'd to one that could fay here he taught, here he flood, this 
 was his ftature ; and thus he went habited, and O happy this houfe that har- 
 bour'd him, and that cold ftone wheron he relied, this Village wherin he 
 wrought fuch a miracle, and that pavement bedew'd with the warm effufion 
 of his laft blood, that fprouted up into eternal Rofes to crown his Martyr- 
 dom. Thus while all their thoughts were pour'd out upon circumftances, 
 and the gazing after fuch Men as had fat at table with the Apoftles (many of 
 which Chrift hath profeft, yea tho' they had caft out Devils in his name, 
 he will not know at the laft day) by this means they loft their time, and 
 truauted in the fundamental grounds of faving knowledge, as was feen fhortly 
 
 by
 
 Of Prelatical Epifcopacy. 
 
 by their Writings. Laftly for Irenaus, we have caufe to think him lefs judi- 
 cious in his reports from hand to hand of what the Apoftles did, when we 
 find him fo negligem ping the Faith which they writ, as to fay in his 
 
 third Book againft Herefies, that the obedience of Mary was the caufe of 
 Salvation to herfelf, and all Mankind ; and in his fifth Book, that as Eve was 
 fe lue'd to fly God, fo the Virgin Mary was perfuaded to obey God, that the 
 Virgin Mary might be made the Advocate of the Virgin Eve. Thus if Irenaus 
 for his nearnefs to the Apoftles, mull be the Patron of Epifcopacy to us, it 
 is vo marvel though he be the Patron of Idolatry to the Papift, lor the fame 
 caufe. To the Epiftle ofthofe Brethren of Smyrna, that write the Martyr- 
 dom of Poly carpus, and ftile him an Apoftolical, and Prophetical Doctor, and 
 Bifhop of the Church in Smyrna, I could be content to give fome credit for 
 the great honour and afFeclion which I fee thofe Brethren bear him, and not 
 undefervedly, if it be true which they there fay that he was a Prophet, and had 
 a voice from Heaven to comfort him at his death, which they could hear, but 
 the reft could not for the noife and tumult that was in the place ; and belides, 
 if his Body were fo precious to the Chriftians, that he was never wont to 
 pull orl' his lliocs for one or other that ft ill ftrove to have the Office, that they 
 might come to touch his feet, yet a light fcruple or two I would gladly be 
 refolv'd in : If I'olycarpus (who, as they fay, was a Prophet that never fail'd 
 in what he foretold) had declar'd to his friends, that he knew by Vifion, he 
 fhould die no other death than burning, how it came to pals that the fire 
 when it came to proof, would not do his work, but flarting off like a full 
 fail from the malt, did but reflect a golden light upon his unviolated limbs, 
 exhaling filch a fweet odour, as if all the incenfe of Arabia had bin burnino- ; 
 in ;o much that when the bill-men faw that the fire was over-aw'd, and 
 could not do the deed, one of them fteps to him and ftabs him with a fword, 
 at which wound fuch abundance of Blood gufh'd forth, as quench'dthe fire. 
 By all this relation it appears not how the fire was guilty of his death, and 
 then how can his Prophecy be fulfill'd ? Next, how the ftanders-by could be 
 fo foon weary of fuch a glorious fight, and fuch a fragrant fmell, as to haften 
 the Executioner to put out the fire with the Martyr's Blood; unlefs per- 
 haps they thought, as in all perfumes, that the Smoak would be more odo- 
 rous than the Flame : yet thefe good Brethren fay he was Bifhop of Smyrna. No 
 Man qu' (lions it, if Bifhop and Presbyter anciently wereall one, and how does 
 it appear by any thing in this teftimony that they were net ? If among his 
 other high titles of Prophetical, Apoftolical, and moft admired of thofe 
 times, he be alfo ftiled Bilhop of the Church of Smyrna in a kind of fpeech, 
 which the Rhetoricians call y.xr tfryjx, for his excellence fake, as being the 
 moft famous of all the Smyrnian Prejbyters ; it cannot be prov'd neither irom 
 this nor that other place of Irenaus, that he was therefore in diftincl and 
 monarchical order above the other Prejbyters ; it is more probable, that if the 
 whole Prefiytery had been as renowned as he, they would have term'd every 
 one of them feverally Bifhop ol Smyrna. Hence it is that we read fometimes 
 of two Bifhops in one place ; and had all the Pre/liters there been of like 
 worth, we might perhaps have read of twenty. 
 
 Tertullian accofts us next, (for Polycrates hath had his Anfwer) whofc 
 Teftimony, ftate but the queftion right, is of no more force to deduce Epifco- 
 pacy, than the two former. He fays that the Church of Smyrna hid Poly carpus 
 plac'd there by John, and the Church of Rome Clement ordain'd by Peter ; and 
 fo the reft of the Churches did fhew what Bifhops they had receiv'd by the ap- 
 pointment of the Apofiles. None of this will be contradicted, lor we have 
 it out of the Scripture that Bifhops or Prejbyters, which were the lame, were 
 left by the Apcjiles in every Church, and they might perhaps give fome fpe- 
 cial charge to Clement, or Poly carpus, or Linus, and put fome fpecial truft in 
 them for the experience they had of their Faith and Conftancy ; it remains 
 yet to be evine'd out of this and the like places, which will never be, that the 
 word Bifhop is ctherwife taken, than in the language of Saint Paul, and the 
 A&s, for an order above Prejbyters. We grant them Bifhops, we grant them 
 worthy Men, we grant them plac'd in feveral Churches by the Apojlles ; we 
 grant that Irenaus and Tertul affirm this, but that they were plac'd in a fupe- 
 rior Order above the Prejbytery, fhew from all thefe words why we fhould 
 Vol. I. F 2 grant. 
 
 35
 
 36 Of Prelatkal Kpifcopacy. 
 
 grant. 'Tis not enough to fay the Apoftle left this Man Bifnop in Re me, and 
 that other in Ephejus, but to fhew when they alter'd their own Decree fet 
 down by St. Paul, and made ail the Prejbyters underlings to one Bifiiop. But 
 fuppofe Tcrtul/ian had made an imparity where none was originally, mould 
 he move us, that goes about to prove an imparity between God the Father, 
 and God the Son, asthefe words import in his Book againft Praxeas ? The 
 Father is the whole fubftance, but the Son a derivation, and portion of the 
 whole, as he himfelf profeffes, becaufe the Father is greater than me. Be- 
 lieve him now for a faithful relater of Tradition, whom you fee fuch an 
 unfaithful expounder of the Scripture -, befides, in his time all allowable Tra- 
 dition was now loft. For this fame Author whom you bring to teftify the 
 Ordination of Clement to the Bifhoprick of Rome by Peter, teftifies alfo in the 
 beginning of his Treatife concerning Chaftity, that the Bifhop of Rome did 
 then ufe to fend forth his Edicts by the name of Pontifex Maximus, and 
 Epijcopus EpifcGpcrum, chief Prieft, and Bifhop of Bifhops : For fhame then 
 do not urge that Authority to keep up a Bifhop, that will neceflarily engage 
 you to fet up a Pope. As little can your Advantage be from Hegefippus anHi- 
 torian of the fame time not extant, but cited by Eiifebius ; his words are, that 
 in every City all things fo flood in his time as the Law, and the Prophets, and 
 our Lord did preach. If they ftood fo, then ftood not Bifhops above Prejlty- 
 ters; for what our Lord and his Difciples taught, God be thanked, we have 
 no need to go learn of him : and you may as well hope to perfuade us out of 
 the fame Author, that James the Brother of our Lord was a Nazarite > and 
 that to him only it was lawful to enter into the Holy of Holies ; that his 
 food was not upon any thing that had life, Fifh or Flefh ; that he ufed no 
 woollen Garments, but only Linen, andfo as he trifles on. 
 
 If therfore the Tradition of the Church were now grown fo ridiculous, and 
 difconfenting from the Doftrine of the Apcjlles, even in thofe points which 
 were of Ieaft moment to Men's particular ends, how well may we be afTur'd 
 it was much more degenerated in point of Episcopacy, and Precedency, things 
 which could afford fuch plaufible Pretences, fuch commodious traverfes for 
 Ambition, and Avarice to lurk behind? 
 
 As for thofe Britain Bifhops which you cite, take heed what you do ; for 
 our Britain Bifhops, lefs ancient than thefe, were remarkable for nothing 
 more than their Poverty, as Sulp. Sevcrus, and Beda can remember you of 
 Examples good ftore. 
 
 Laftly (for the fabulous Metaphrafies is not worth an Anfwer) that Au- 
 thority of Clemens Alexandrinus is not to be found in all his Works; and 
 wherever it be extant, it is in controverfy, whether it be Clemens or no ; or 
 if it were, it fays only that Saint John in fome places conftituted Bifhcps : 
 queftionlefs he did, but where does Clement fay he fet them above Prejbyters ? 
 No Man will gainfiy the conftitution of Bijhops •, but the raifing them to a 
 fuperior, and diftincl: order above Prejbyters, feeing the Gofpel makes them 
 one and the fame thing, a thoufand fuch Allegations as thefe will not give 
 Prelatical Epijcopacy one Chapel of Eafe above a Parifh Church. And thus 
 much for this cloud I cannot fay rather than petty-fog of Witneffes, with 
 which Epifcopal Men would caft a Mift before us, to deduce their exalted 
 Epijcopacy from Apoftolic Times. Now although, as all Men well know, 
 it be the wonted fhift of Error, and fond Opinion, when they find them- 
 felves outlaw r d by the Bible, and forfaken of found Reafon, to betake them 
 with all fpeed to their old ftarting-hole of Tradition, and that wild, and 
 overgrown covert of Antiquity, thinking to frame v there a large room, and 
 find good ftabling, yet thus much their own deify'd Antiquity betrays them, 
 to inform us that Tradition hath had very feldom or never the gift of Per- 
 fuafion ; as that which Church-Hiftories report of thofe Eajl and Wejlcrn 
 P Jchalijls, formerly fpoken of, will declare. Who would have thought that 
 P 'ycarpus on the one fide could have err'd in what he faw Saint John do, 01 
 Anicetus Bifhop of Rome on the other fid?, in what he or fome of his Friends 
 might pretend to have feen St. Peter or St. Paul do •, and yet neither of thefe 
 could perfuade either when to keep Eajler? The like frivolous Contention 
 troubled the Primitive Englift Churches, while Colmanus, and Wilfride on 
 cither fide deducing their Opinions, the one from the undeniable Example of 
 
 Saint
 
 Of Prelatical Epifcopacy. * y 
 
 Saint John, and the learned Bifhop Anatolius, and laftly the miraculous 
 Columba, the other from Saint Peter and the Nicene Council, could o-ajn no 
 ground each of other, till King Ofwy perceiving no likelihood of ending the 
 Controverfy that way, was fain to decide it himfelf, good King, with that 
 fmall knowledge wherewith thole times had furnifh'd him. So when thofe 
 pious Greek Emperors began, as Cedrenus relates, to put down Monks, and 
 abolifh Images, the old Idolaters finding themfelves blafted, and driven back 
 by the prevailing Light of the Scripture, fent out their fturdy Monks call'd 
 the Abramitesy to alledge for Images the ancient Fathers Biomfms, and this 
 our objected Iren<eus : nay, they were fo high flown in their Antiquity, that 
 they undertook to bring the Apoftles, and Luke the Evangelift, yea Cbrift 
 himfelf, from certain Records that were then current, to patronize their 
 Idolatry. Yet for all this the worthy Emperor Theophilus, even in thofe 
 dark times, chofe rather to nourifh himfelf and his People with the fincere 
 Milk of the Gofpel, than to drink from the mix'd Confluence of fo many cor- 
 rupt and poifonous Waters, as Tradition would have perfuaded him to, by 
 moft ancient feeming Authorities. In like manner all the reform'd Churches 
 abroad, unthroning Epifcopacy, doubtlefs were not ignorant of thefe Teftimo- 
 nies alledg'd to draw it in a line from the Apoftles days ; for furely the Author 
 will not think he hath brought us now any new Authorities, or Confiderations 
 into the World, which the Reformers in other places were not advis'd of: 
 and yet we fee, the interceifion of all thefe Apoftolic Fathers could not prevail 
 with them to alter their refolv'd Decree of reducing into order their ufur- 
 ping and over-provender'd Epifcopants ; and God hath bleft their Work this 
 hundred years with a profperous and ftedfafl, and ftill happy Succefs. And 
 this may ferve to prove the Infufficiency of thefe prefent Epifcopal Teftimo- 
 nies, not only in themfelves, but in the account of thofe ever that have bin 
 the followers of Truth. It will next behoove us to confider the Inconvenience 
 we fall into, by ufing ourlelves to be guided by thefe kind of Teftimonies. 
 Fie that thinks it the part of a well-learned Man to have read diligently the 
 ancient Stones of the Church, and to be no ftranger in the Volumes of 
 the Fathers, fhall have all judicious Men confenting with him ; not hereby to 
 controul, and new-fangle the Scripture, God forbid, but to mark how Cor- 
 ruption and Apoftacy crept in by degrees, and to gather up wherever we 
 find the remaining fparks of original Truth, wherewith to flop the mouths of 
 our Adverfaries, and to bridle them with their own curb, who willingly pafs 
 by that which is Orthodoxal in them, and ftudioufly cull out that which is 
 commentitious, and befl for their turns, not weighing the Fathers in the 
 balance of Scripture, but Scripture in the balance of the Fathers. If we 
 therfore, making firft the Gofpel our Rule and Oracle, fhall take the good 
 which we light on in the Fathers, and fet it to oppofe the evil which other 
 Menfeek from them, in this way of fkirmifh we fhall eafily mailer all Super- 
 ftition and falfe Doctrine-, but if we turn this our difcreet and wary ulage 
 of them into a blind devotion towards them, and whatfoever we find written 
 by them, we both forfake our own grounds and reafons which led us at firfl: 
 to part from Rome, that is, to hold to the Scriptures againft all Antiquity ; we 
 remove our Caufe into our Adverfaries own Court, and take up there thofe 
 cait Principles which will foon caufe us to foder up with them again, in as 
 much as believing Antiquity foritfelf in any one point, we bring an engage- 
 ment upon ourfelves of aflenting to all that it charges upon us. For fuppofe we 
 fhould now, neglecting that which is clear in Scripture, that a Bifhop and 
 Prcjbyler is all one both in Name and Office, and that what was done by Timo- 
 thy and Titus, executing an extraordinary place, as fellow-labourers with the 
 Apoftles, and of a univerfal charge in planting Chriftianity through divers 
 Regions, cannot be drawn into particular and daily example •, fuppofe that 
 neglecting this clearnefs of the Text, we fhould by the uncertain, and cor- 
 rupted Writings of fucceeding times, determine that Bifliop and Prejbyter 
 are different, becaufe we dare not deny what Ignatius, or rather the Perkin 
 Warbeckoi Ignatius, fays •, then muft we be conftrain'd to take upon our 
 felves a thoufand Superftitions and Falfities which the Papifls will prove us 
 down in from as good Authorities, and as ancient as thefe that fet a Bifhop 
 above a Presbyter. And the plain truth is, that when any of our Men of thofe 
 
 that
 
 
 Of Prelatical Epifcopacj. 
 
 that are wedded to Antiquity come to difpute with a Papift, and leaving x\\? 
 Scriptures put themielves without appeal to the Sentence of Synods and Coun- 
 cils, ufino- in the caufe of Sion the hir'd Soldiery of revolted IJrael, where 
 they give the Romanifts one buff, they receive two counterbuffs. Were it 
 therfore but in this regard, every true Bifhop fhould be afraid to conquer 
 ki his Caufe by fuch Authorities as thefe, which if we admit for the Authori- 
 ty's fake, we open a broad paiiage for a multitude of Doctrines that have no- 
 ground in Scripture to break in upon us. 
 
 Laftly, I do not know, it being undeniable that there are but two Ecclefi- 
 aftical Orders, Bifhops and Deacons, mention'd in the Go/pel, how it can be 
 lefs than Impiety to make a demur at that, which is there lb perfpicuous, con- 
 fronting, and parallelling the facred Verity of Saint Paul with the offals and 
 fweepings of Antiquity, that met as accidentally andabfurdly, as Epkurushis. 
 Atoms, to patch up a Leucippean Ignatius, inclining rather to make this 
 phantafm an expounder, or indeed a depraver of Saint Paul, than SaintP<-:.\'< 
 an examiner, and difcoverer of this Impoftorfhip ; nor caring how (lightly 
 they put off the verdict of holy Text unfalv r d, that fays plainly there be but 
 two Orders, fothey maintain the Reputation of their imaginary Doctor that 
 proclaims three. Certainly if Cbriji's Apoftle have fet down but two, then 
 according to his own words, though he himfelf mould unfay it, and not only 
 the Angel of Smyrna, but an Angel from Heaven fhould bear us down that 
 there be three, SxmtPaul has doom'd him twice,Let him be accurs'd, for Chrift 
 hath pronoune'd that no tittle of his Word mall fall to the ground •, and if one 
 jot be alterable, it is as poffible that all fhould perifh : and this fhall be our 
 Right eoufnefs, our ample warra'nt, and ftrong affurance both now, and at the 
 lafl day never tobe afham'dof, againft all the heaped names of Angels, and 
 Martyrs, Councils, and Fathers urg'dupon us, if we have given ourfelvesup 
 to be taught by the pure, and living Precept of God's Word only ; which 
 without more additions, nay with a forbidding of them, hath within itfelf the 
 promife of Eternal Life, the end of all our wearifome Labours, and all our 
 fuflaining Hopes. But if any fhall ftrive to fet up his Ephod, and Teraphim 
 of Antiquity againft the brightnefs and perfection of the Gofpel ; let him fear 
 left he and his Baal be turn'd into Bofieth. And thus much may fuffice to 
 fhew that the pretended Epifcopacy cannot be dedue'd from the Apojlolical 
 Times. 
 
 THE
 
 39 
 
 THE 
 
 Reafon of Church-Government 
 
 Urg'd againft 
 
 P RE L A T Y, 
 
 In TWO BOOKS. 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 IN the publifhing of human Laws, which for the mofl part aim not be- 
 yond the good of civil Society, to fet them barely forth to the People 
 without reafon or preface, like a phyfical Prefcript,or only with thi ear- 
 nings, as it were a lordly Command, in the judgment of Plato was 
 thought to be done neither generoufly nor wifely. His advice was, feeing 
 that perfuafion certainly is a more winning, and more manlike way to keep 
 Men in obedience than fear, that to fuch Laws as were of principal moment, 
 there mould be us'd as an induction, fome well-temper'd difcourfe, fhewing 
 how good, how gainful, how happy it muft needs be to live according to 
 honefly and juftice ; which being utter'd with thole native colours and graces 
 of fpeech, as true eloquence, the daughter of virtue, can bell bellow upon her 
 mother's praifes, would fo incite, and in a manner charm the multitude into 
 the love of that which is really good, as to embrace it ever after, not of 
 cuftom and awe, which moft Men do, but of choice and purpofe, with true 
 and conftant delight. But this practice we may learn from a better and more 
 ■ancient authority than any heathen writer hath to give us ; and indeed being a 
 point offo high wifdom and worth, how could it be but we mould find it in 
 that Book, within whofe facred context all wifdom is infolded ? Mofes there- 
 fore the only Lawgiver that we can believe to have been vifibly taught of God, 
 knowing how vain it was to write Laws to Men whofe hearts were not firfc 
 feafon'd with the knowledge of God and of his works, began from the book 
 of Genr/is, as a prologue to his Laws ; which Jofephus right well hath noted : 
 That the nation of the Jews, reading therin the univerfal goodnefs of God 
 to all Creatures in the Creation, and his peculiar favour to them in his election 
 of Abraham their anceftor, from whom they could derive fo many bleiTings 
 upon themfelves, might be mov'd to obey fincerely, by knowing fo good a 
 reafon of their obedience. If then in the adminiltratkm of civil Juftice, and 
 under the obicurity of Ceremonial Rites, fuch care was- had by the wifeft of 
 the Heathen, and by Mofes among the Jews, to inftrucT: them at leafr. in a ge- 
 neral reafon of that Government to which their fubjection was requir'd; how 
 much more ought the Members of the Church under the Gofpel, feek to in- 
 form their underftanuing in the reafon of that Government which the Chun it 
 claims to have over them ? efpeciaily for that the Church hath in her imme- 
 diate cure thofe inner parts and affeclions ot the mind where the feat ofReafou 
 is, having power to examine our fpiritual knowledge, and to demand from us 
 in God's behalf, a fervice entirely reasonable. But becaufe about the manner 
 and order of this Government, whether it ought to be Preibyterial or Prela- 
 tical, fuch endlefs queftion, or rather uproar is arifen in this Land, as may 
 be juftly term'd what the Fever is to the Phyficians, the eternal Reproach of our 
 Divines-, whilft other profound Clerks ol late greatly, as they conceive, to 
 the advancement ofPrelaty, are foearneilly meting out th&L,ydian Proc , : i- 
 fuSsr AJia, to make good the prime Metropolis of Epbefus, as if fome of our 
 
 Pne I .
 
 ao "The Reafon of 'Church-Government , Book I. 
 
 Prelates in all hafte meant to change their Soil, and become Neighbours to the 
 £»p7//7jBifhop of Chalcedon ; andwhilftgoodSmro-m/asbufily beftirshimfelf 
 in our vulvar tongue,to divide precifely the three Patriarchates oi'Rcme, Alexan- 
 dria and Antioch ; and whether to any of thefe E?igland doth belong. I jfhall 
 in the mean while not ceafe to hope, through the Mercy and Grace of Cbr-.Jl, 
 the Head and Hufband of his Church, that England fhortly is to belorg, 
 neither to See Patriarchal, nor See Prelatical, but to the faithful feeding and 
 difciplining of that minifterial Order, which the blefied Apoftles conflicted 
 throughout the Churches •, and this I fhalleffay to prove, can be no other than 
 that of Prefbyters and Deacons. And if any Man incline to think I undertake 
 a talk too difficult for my years, I truft, through the fupreme inlightning af- 
 ftftance far otherwife •, for my years, be they few or many, what imports it ? 
 fo they bring reafon, let that be look'd on : and for the talk, from hence that 
 the queftion in hand is fo needful to be known at this time, chiefly by every 
 meaner capacity, and contains in it the explication of many admirable and 
 heavenly privileges reach'd out to us by the Gofpel, I conclude the tafk mult 
 be eafy : God having to this end ordain'd his Gofpel to be the revelation of 
 his power and wifdom in Chriftjefus. And this is one depth of his Wifdom, 
 that he could fo plainly reveal fo great a meafure of it to the grofs diftorted 
 apprehenfion of decay'd mankind. Let others therfore dread and fhun 
 the Scriptures for their darknefs, I fhall wifh I may deferve to be reckon'd a- 
 mong thofe who admire and dwell upon them for their clearnefs. And this 
 feems to be the caufe why in thofe places of holy Writ, wherin is treated of 
 Church-Government, the Reafons therof are not formally and profeftly fet 
 down, becaufe to him that heeds attentively the drift and fcope of Chriftian 
 Profeffion, they eafily imply themfelves ; which thing further to explain, 
 having now prefac'd enough, I fhall no longer defer. 
 
 CHAR I. 
 
 That Church-Government is prefcritid in the Gofpel^ and 
 that to fay otherwife is unfound, 
 
 TH E firfl and greateft reafon of Church-Govern menr, we may feeurely, 
 with the aflent of many on the adverfe part, affirm to be, becaufe we 
 find it fo ordain'd and kt out to us by the appointment of God in the Scrip- 
 tures ; but whether this be Prefbyterial, or Prelatical, it cannot be brought 
 to the fcanning, until I have faid what is meet to fome who do not think it 
 for the eafe of their inconfequent Opinions, to grant that Church-Difcipline 
 is platform'd in the Bible, but that it is left to the difcretion of Men. To 
 this conceit of theirs I anfwer, that it is both unfound and untrue -, for there 
 is not that thing in the World of more grave and urgent importance through- 
 out the whole Life of Man, than is Difcipline. What need I inftance ? He 
 that hath read with judgment, of Nations and Common-wealths, of Cities 
 and Camps, of Peace and War, Sea and Land, will readily agree that the 
 flourifhing and decaying of all Civil Societies, all the moments and turnings 
 of human Occafions are mov'd to and fro as upon the Axle of Difcipline. 
 So that whatfoever power or fway in mortal things weaker Men have attri- 
 buted to Fortune, I durft with more confidence (the honour of Divine Provi- 
 dence ever fav'd) afcribe either to the vigour or the flacknefs of Difcipline. 
 Nor is there any fociable Perfection in this Life, Civil, or Sacred, that can be 
 above Difcipline •, but flie is that which with her mufical cords preferves and 
 holds all the parts therof together. Hence in thofe perfect Armies of Cyrus 
 in Xenophon, and Scipio in the Roman Stories, the excellence of military Skill 
 wasefteem'd, not by the not needing, but by the readieft fubmitting to the 
 Edicts of their Commander. And certainly Difcipline is not only the remo- 
 val of Diforder ; but if any vifible fhape can be given to divine things, the 
 very vifible fhape and image of Virtue, wherby fhe is not only feen in the 
 regular geftures and motions of her heavenly Paces as fhe walks, but alfo 
 makes the harmony of her Voice audible to mortal ears. Yea, the Angels 
 themfelves, in whom no diforder is fear'd, as the Apoftle that faw them inC 
 I his
 
 ■ 
 
 Book I. urg\I againftVREL at Y. 41 
 
 his rapture defcribes, are diftinguifh'd and quaternion'd into their Celeftial 
 Princedoms, and Satrapies, according as God himfelf has writ his Imperial 
 Decrees through the great Provinces of Heaven. The ftate alfo of the blef- 
 fed in Paradife, though never fo perfect, is not therfore left without Difci- 
 pline, whofe golden furveying Reed marks out and meafures every Quarter 
 ami Circuit of Neiv Jcrufakm. Yet is it not to be conceiv'd that thole eter- 
 nal Erfkii-nces of Sanctity and Lovein the glorified Saints, fhould by this means 
 be confin'd and cloy'd with repetition of that which is prefcrib'd, but that 
 our happinefs may orb itfelf into a thoufand vagancies of glory and delight, 
 and with a kind of eccentrical Equation be, as it were, an invariable Planet 
 of Joy and Felicity ; how much lefs can we believe that God would leave his 
 frail and feeble, trio' not lefs beloved Church here below, to the perpetual 
 Mumble of Conjecture and Difturbance in this our dark Voyage, without the 
 Card ant! Compafs of Difcipline ? which is fo hard to be of Man's making 
 that we may fee even in the guidance of a Civil State to worldly happinefs, it 
 is not for every learned, or every wife Man, though many of them confuk in 
 common, to invent or frame a Difcipline : but if it be at all the work of Man, 
 it muft be of fuch a one as is a true knower of himfelf, and himfelf in whom 
 Contemplation and Practice, Wit, Prudence, Fortitude, and Eloquence, muft 
 be rarely met, both to comprehend the hidden caufes of things, and (pan in 
 his thoughts all the various effects that Paffion or Complexion can work in 
 Man's nature ; and hereto muft his hand be at defiance with Gain, and his 
 heart in all Virtues heroic. So far is it from the ken of thefe w retched Pro- 
 jectors of ours, that befcraul their Pamphlets every day with new Forms of 
 Government for our Church. And therfore all the ancient Lawgivers were ei- 
 ther truly infpired, as Mofes, or were fuch Men as with Authority enough 
 might give it out to be fo, as Minos, Lycurgus, Numa, becaufe they wifely 
 forethought that Men would never quietly iubmit to fuch a Difcipline as had 
 not more of God's hand in it than Man's. To come within the narrownefs of 
 Houfhold-Government, obfervation will fhew us many deep Counfellors of 
 State and Judges do demean themfelves incorruptly in the fettled courfe of 
 Affairs, and many worthy Preachers upright in their Lives, powerful in their 
 Audience : but look upon either of thefe Men where they are left to their own 
 difcipliningat home, and you mall icon perceive, for all their fingle know- 
 ledge and uprightnefs, how deficient they are in the regulating of their own 
 Family; not only in what may concern the virtuous and decent compofure 
 of their minds in their feveral places, but that which is of a lower and eafier 
 performance, the right pofielTingofthe outward Veffel, their Body, in Health 
 or Sicknefs, Reft or Labour, Diet or Abftinence, wherby to render it more 
 pliant to the Soul, and ufeful to the Common-wealth : which if Men were but 
 as good to difcipline themfelves, as fome are to tutor their Horfes and Hawks, 
 it could not be fo grofs in moft houfholds. If then it appear fo hard, and fo 
 little known how to govern a Houfe well, which is thought of fo eafy dif- 
 charge, and for every man's undertaking •, what Skill of Man, what Wifdom, 
 what Parts can be fufficient to give Laws and Ordinances to the elect Houf- 
 hold of God ? If we could imagine that he had left it at random without his 
 provident and gracious ordering, who is he fo arrogant, fo prefumptuous, 
 that durft difpofe and guide the living Ark of the Holy Ghoft, though he 
 fliould find it wandring in the Field of Bethfiemefh, without the confeious 
 warrant of fome high Calling ? But no profane Infolence can parallel that 
 which our Prelates dare avouch, to drive outragioufly, and fhatter the holy 
 Ark of the Church, not borne upon their fhoulders with pains and labour in 
 the Word, but drawn with rude Oxen their Officials, and their own brute In- 
 ventions. Let them make fhews of reforming while they will, fo long as the 
 Church is mounted upon the Prelatical Cart, and not as it ought, between the 
 hands of the Minifters, it will but fhake and totter •, and he that lets to his 
 hand, though with a good intent to hinder the fhogging of it, in this unlaw- 
 ful Waggonry wherin it rides, let him beware it be not fatal to him as it was 
 to Uzza. Certainly if God be the Father of his Family the Church, wherin 
 could he exprefs that Name more, than in training it up under his own ali- 
 wife and dear Oeconomy, not turning it loofe to the havock of Strangers and 
 Wolves, that would afk no better plea than this to do in the Church of Chrift, 
 Vol. I. G what-
 
 42 The Reafon of Church-Government $ Book I. 
 
 whatever Humour, Faction, Policy, or licentious Will would prompt them 
 to ? Again, if Chrift be the Church's Hufb.ir.d, expecting her to be preftnted 
 before him a pure unfpotted Virgin •, in what could he fliew his tender Love 
 to her more, than in prefcribing his own ways, which he beft knew would 
 be to the improvement of her health and beauty, with much greater care 
 doubtlefs than the Per/tan King could appoint for his Queen Ejlher, thofe 
 maiden dietings and fet prefcriptions of Baths and Odours, which may ren- 
 der her at laft the more amiable to his eye ? For of any Age or Sex, moft 
 unfitly may a Virgin be left to an uncertain and arbitrary Education. Yea, 
 though fhe be well inftructed, yet is fhe ftill under a more ftrait tuition, es- 
 pecially if betroth'd. In like manner the Church bearing the fame refem- 
 blance, it were not reafon to think fhe mould be left deftitute of that care 
 which is as neceffary and proper to her, as Inftruction. For publick Preach- 
 incr indeed is the Gift of the Spirit, working as beft feems tohis fecret Will ; 
 but Difcipline is the praftic work of preaching directed and apply'd, as is 
 moft requifite, to particular Duty •, without which it were all one to the be- 
 nefit of Souls, as it would be to the cure of Bodies, if all the Phyficians in 
 London fhould get into the feveral Pulpits of the City, and affembling all the 
 difeafed in every Parifh, fhouki begin a learned Lecture of Plcurifies, Pal- 
 fies, Lethargies, to which perhaps none there prelent were inclin'd ; and fo 
 without fo much as feeling one Pulfe, or giving the leaft order to any fkiliul 
 Apothecary, fhould difmifs them from time to time, fome groaning, fome 
 languifhing, fome expiring, with this only charge, to look well to them- 
 felves, and do as they hear. Of what excellence and necefilty then Church- 
 Difcipline is, how beyond the faculty of Man to frame, and how dangerous to 
 be left to Man's Invention, who would be every foot turning it to finifter 
 Ends ; how properly alfo it is the Work of God as lather, and of Chrift as 
 Hufband of the Church, we have by thus much heard. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 'That Church-Government is fet down in Holy Scripture, 
 a?id that to fay other wife is unt?~ue. 
 
 AS therfore it isunfound to fay, that God hath not appointed any fet Go- 
 vernment in his Church, fo is it untrue. Of the time of the Law there 
 can be no doubt ; for to let pafs the firft Inftitution of Priefts and Levites y 
 which is too clear to be infilled upon, when the Temple came to be built, 
 which in plain judgment could breed no efiential change either in Religion, 
 or in the Prieftly Government ; yet God, to fhew how little he could endure 
 that Men fhould be tampering and contriving in his Worfhip, though in 
 things of lefs regard, gave to David for Solomon, not only a pattern and model 
 of the Temple, but a direction for the courfes of the Priefts and Levites, and 
 for all the work of their Service. At the return from the Captivity, things 
 were only reftor'd after the Ordinance of Mofes and David ; or if the leaft 
 alteration be to be found, they had with them infpired Men, Prophets ; and it 
 were not fober tofiiy they did aught of moment without divine Intimation. 
 In the Prophecy of Ezekicl, from the 40th Chapter onward, after the deftructi- 
 on of the Temple, God by his Prophet feeking to wean the hearts of the 
 Jews from their old Law, to expect a new and more perfect Reformation un- 
 der Chrift, fets out before their eyes the ftately Fabric and Conftitution of his 
 Church, with all the Ecclefiaftical Functions appertaining ; indeed the De- 
 scription is as forted beft to the apprehenfion of thofe times, typical and 
 fhadowy, but in fuch manner as never yet came to pafs, nor never muft li- 
 terally, unlefs we mean to annihilate the Gofpel. But fo exquifite and lively 
 the defcription is in pourtraying the new ftate of the Church, and efpecially 
 in thofe points where Government feems to be moft active, that both Jews 
 and Gentiles might have good caufe to be aflur'd, that God, whenever he meant 
 to reform his Church, never intended to leave the Government therof de- 
 lineated here in fuch curious Architecture, to be patch'd afterwards, and var- 
 
 nifh'd 
 2
 
 Bbok fi urg\/ agair/ft ?rel at Y. 43 
 
 nifti'd over with the devices and imbellifhings of Man's Imagination. Did 
 Gad Elke inch delight in measuring out the Miliars, Arches, and Doors or" a 
 material Temple ? Was he lb punctual and circumipecl: in Lavers, Altars, 
 and Sacrifices loon after to be abrogated, left any of thei'e fhould have bin 
 made contrary to his mind? Is not a far more perfect work, more agreeable 
 to his perfection in the molt perfecf itate of the Church Militant, the new Al- 
 liance of God to Man ? Should not he rather now by his own prefcribed Dis- 
 cipline have caft his Line and Level upon the Soul of Man which is his rati- 
 onal Temple, and by the divine Square and Compafs tberof, form and rege- 
 nerate in us the lovely fhapes of Virtues and Graces, the fooner to edify and 
 aceomplim that immortal ftature of Chrift's Body, which is his Church, in all 
 her glorious Lineaments and Proportions ? And that this indeed God hath 
 done for us in the Golpel w<_ fhall fee with open eyes, not under a Vail. We 
 may pafsover the Hiitory of theAHis and other places, turning only to thofe 
 Epiftles of St. Paul to Timothy and Titus; where the fpiritual eye may difcern 
 more goodly and gracefully creeled, than all the magnificence of Temple or 
 Tabernacle, l'uch a heavenly Structure of Evangelic Difcipline, fo diffufive 
 of Knowledge and Charity to the profperous increafe and growth of the 
 Church, that it cannot be wonder'd if that elegant and artful Symmetry of the 
 promifed new Temple in Ezekiel, and all thofe fumptuous things under the 
 Law were made to fignify the inward beauty and fplendor of the Chriftian 
 Church thus govern'd. And whether this be commanded, let it now be judo-'d. 
 St. Paul after his Preface to the firft of Timothy, which he concludes in the 1 7 th 
 Vefffe with Amen, enters upon the fubject of his Epiftle, which is to eftablifh 
 iheCnurch-Government, with a command : This charge I commit to thee,SonTi- 
 mcthy •, according to the Prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by thou 
 mighteft war a good Warfare. Which is plain enough thus expounded : 
 This charge I commit to thee, wherin I now go about to inftruft thee 
 how thou ihak fet up Church-difcipline, that thou mighteft war a good War- 
 fare, bearing thyfelf conftantly and faithfully in the Miniftry, which in the 
 ift to the Corinthians is alfo called a Warfare ; and fo after a kind of Paren- 
 thefis concerning Hymenaus, he returns to his command, though under the 
 mild word of Exhorting, Chap, 2.ver. 1. / exhort therfore % as if he had 
 interrupted his former command by the occafional mention of Hymetueus. 
 More beneath in the i4thverfeofthe 3d Chapter, when he hath delivered the 
 Duties of Bifhops or Prefbyters, and Deacons, not once naming any other 
 Order in the Church, he thus adds •, Thefe things write I unto ihee, hoping 
 to come unto thee jkortly (fuch neceffity it feems there was) but if I tarry 
 long, that thou may eft know how thou ought eft to behave thyfelf in the Houfe 
 of God. From this place it may be juftly afk'd, whether Timothy by this here 
 written, might know what was to be known concerning the Orders of Church- 
 Governours or no ? If he might, then in fuch a clear Text as this may we 
 know too without further jangle ; if he might not, then did St. Paul write in- 
 fufficiently, and moreover laid not true, for he faith here he might know ; 
 and I perfuade myfelf he did know ere this was written, but that the Apo- 
 ftle had more regard to the inftruction of us, than to the informing of him- 
 In the fifth Chapter, after fome other Church-Precepts concerning Difcipline, 
 mark what a dreadful Command follows, Ver. 1 . 1 charge thee before God and the 
 Lord Jtfus thrift, and the eletl Angels, that thou obferve thefe things. Ar.d as if 
 all were not yet fure enough, heclofes up the Epiftle with an adjuring charge 
 thus ; I give thee charge in the fight of God, who quickneth all things, and before 
 Chrift J ejus, that thoukeep this commandment: that is, the whole Commandment 
 concerning Difcipline, being the main purpofe of the Epiftle : although Hook- 
 er would feign hive this denouncement refer'd to the particular Precept going 
 before, becaufe the word Commandment is in the fingular number, not re- 
 .membring that even in the firft Chapter of this Epiftle, the word Command- 
 ment is us'd in a plural Senfe, Ver. 5. Now the end of the Commandment is 
 Charity : And what more frequent than in like manner to fay the Law of Mo- 
 fes? So that either to refrain the fignificance too much, or too much to in- 
 large it, would make the Adjuration either not fo weighty, or not fo pertinent. 
 And thus we find here that the Rules of Church-difcipline are not only com- 
 manded, but hedg'd about with fuch a terrible impalement of Commands, 
 Vo l. I, G 2 as
 
 44 ^he Reafon of Church-Government, Book I. 
 
 as he that will break through wilfully to violate the leaft of them, muft ha- 
 zard the wounding of his Confcience even to death. Yet all this notwith- 
 standing, we fhall find them broken well nigh all by the fair pretenders even 
 of the next Ages. No lefs to the contempt of him whom they feign to be 
 the Arch-founder of Prelaty, St. Piter, who by what he writes in the 5th 
 Chapter of his firft Epiftle, mould feem to be far another Man than Tradi- 
 tion reports him : there he commits to the Prefby ters only full Authority, both 
 of feeding the Flock, and Epifcopating •, and commands that obedience be 
 given to them as to the mighty hand of God, which is his mighty Ordinance. 
 Yet all this was as nothing to repel the ventrous boldnefs of Innovation that 
 enfu'd, changing the Decrees of God that are immutable, as if they had bin 
 breath'd by Man. Neverthelefs when Chrift, by thole Vilions of St. John, 
 forelhews the Reformation of his Church, he bids them take his Reed, and 
 pete it out again after the firft Pattern, for he prefcribes him no other. 
 Arife, faid the Angel, and meafure the Temple of God, and the Altar, and them 
 that worfhip therin. What is there in the World can meafure Men but Difci- 
 pline? Our word Ruling imports no lefs. Doctrine indeed is the meafure, or 
 at leaft the reafon of the meafure, it's true •, butunlefs the meafure be appli- 
 ed to that which it is to meafure, how can it actually do its proper work ? 
 Whether therfore Difcipline be all one with Doctrine, or the particular Ap- 
 plication therof to this or that Pcrfon, we all agree that Doctrine muft be fuch 
 only as is commanded ; or whether it be fomething really differing from 
 Doctrine, yet was it only of God's appointment, as being the moft adequate 
 meafure of the Church and her Children, which is here the Office of a great 
 Evangelift, and the Reed given him from Heaven. But that part of the 
 Temple which is not thus meafur'd, fo far is it from being in God's tuition 
 or delight, that in the following Verfe he rejects it •, however, in fhew and 
 vifibihty it may feem a part of his Church, yet in as much as it lies thus un- 
 meafur'd, he leaves, it to be trampl'd by the Gentiles ; that is, to be polluted 
 with idolatrous and Gentilifti Rites and Ceremonies. And that the principal 
 Reformation here foretold, is already come to pals, as well in Difcipline as 
 in Doctrine, the ftatc of our neighbour Churches afford us to behold. Thus 
 through all the periods and changes of the Church, it hath been prov'd that 
 God hath ftill referved to himfelf the right of enacting Church-Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 l%at it is dangerous and unworthy the Go/pel, to hold that 
 Church-Government is to be pattern d by the L,aii\ as 
 Bifhop Andrews and the Primate of Armagh maintain. 
 
 WE may return now from this interpofing difficulty thus remov'd, to af- 
 firm, that fince Church-Government is fo ftrictly commanded in God's 
 Word, the firft and greateft reafon why we ffiould fubmit thereto, is be- 
 caufe God hath fo commanded. But whether of thefe two, Prelaty, or Pref- 
 bytery can prove itfelf to be fupported by this firft and greateft reafon, muft 
 be the next difpute : Wherin this Pofition is to be firft laid down, as grant- 
 ed ; that I may not follow a Chafe rather than an Argument, that one of 
 thefe two, and none other, is of God's ordaining; and if it be, that Ordinance 
 muft be evident in the Gofpel. For the imperfect and obfeure Inftitution of 
 the Law, which the Apoftles themfelves doubt not oft-times to vilify, can- 
 not give Rules to the compleat and glorious Miniftration of the Gofpel, 
 which looks on the Law as on a Child, not as on a Tutor. And that the Pre- 
 lates have no fure foundation in the Gofp-1, dieir ownguiltinefs doth manifeft •, 
 they would not elfe run quefting up as high as Adam to fetch their Original, 
 as 'tis faid one of them lately did in public. To which affertion, had I 
 heard it, becaufel fee they are fo infatiable of Antiquity, I ffiould have glad- 
 ly aflented, and confeft them yet more ancient : For Lucifer before Adam, 
 
 was
 
 Book I. urgd ' aiairiil PRELATY. 4.3 
 
 was the firft Prelate Angel ; and both he, as is commonly thought, and our 
 forefather .•/.'<?;•/?, as we all know, tor afpiring above their Orders, were sii- 
 ferably degraded. But others better advis'd, are content to receive their be- 
 ginning from/iaroit and his Sons, among whom B\(hbp/fndrews of late yearsj 
 and in thefe times the Prirnate of rirtftagh, for their learning, are reputed the 
 beft able to lay what may be faid in this Opinion. The Primate in his dif- 
 courfe about the original of Epifcopacy newly revis'd, begins thus : The 
 ground of Epifcopacy is fetch'd partly from the pattern prefcribed by God in 
 the Old Teftament, and partly from the imitation thereof brought in by the 
 Apoltles. Herin I muft entreat to be excus'dof the defire I have to be fatlf- 
 fy'd, how for example the ground of Epifcopacy is fetch'd partly from the ex- 
 ample of the Old Teftament, by whom next, and by whofe Authority. Se- 
 condly, how the Church-Government under the Gofpel, can be rightly call'd 
 an imitation of that in the Old Teftament •, for that the Gofpel is the cud and 
 fulfilling ot the Law, our liberty alio from the Bondage of the Law, I plain- 
 ly read. How then the ripe age of the Gofpel fhould be put to fchooi again, 
 and learn to govern herlell from the infancy of the Law, the ftronger to imi- 
 tate the weaker, the Freeman to follow the Captive, the learned to be lefTon'd 
 by the rude, will be a hard undertaking to evince from any of thofe principles 
 which either Art or Infpiration hath written. If any thing done by the A- 
 poftles may be drawn howfoevcr to a likenefs of fomething Mofaical, if it 
 cannot be prov'd that it was done ofpurpofe in imitation, as having the right 
 therof grounded in Nature, and not in Ceremony or Type, it will little a- 
 vail the matter. The whole Judaic Law is either political, and to take pat 
 tern by that, no Chriftian Nation ever thought itfelf oblig'd in Confidence ; 
 or moral, which contains in it the obfervation of whatfoever is hibftantially, 
 and perpetually true and good, either in Religion, or Courfe of Life. That 
 which is thus Moral, befides what we fetch from thofe unwritten Laws and 
 Ideas which Nature hath ingraven in us, the Gofpel, as ftands with her dig- 
 nity moft, lectures to us from her own authentic hand-writing and com- 
 mand, not copies out from theborrow'd Manufcript of a iubfervientferowl, 
 by way of imitating : As well might ftie be faid in her Sacrament of Water, 
 to imitate the Baptifm of John. What though fhe retain Excommunication 
 us'd in the Synagogue, retain the morality of the Sabbath ? fhe does not 
 therfore imitate the Law her underling, but perfect her.. All that 
 was morally deliver'd from the Law to the Gofpek in the Office of ths 
 Priefts and Levites, was, that there fhould be a Miniftry fet apart to teach 
 and difcipline the Church ; both which Duties the Apoftles thought good to 
 commit to the Prefbyters. And if any distinction of Honour were to be 
 macle among them, they directed it fhould be to thofe not that only rule well, 
 but efpecially to thofe that labour in the Word and Doctrine. By which we « Tim - f' 
 are taught, that laborious teaching is the moft honourable Prelaty that one 
 Minifter can have above another in the Gofpel : If therfore the Superiority 
 of Bifhopfhip be grounded on the Priefthood as a part of the Moral Law, it 
 cannot be faid to be an Imitation ; for It were ridiculous that Morality fhould 
 imitate Morality, which ever was the fame thing. This very word of pat- 
 terning or imitating, excludes Epifcopacy from the folid and grave Ethical 
 Law, and betrays it to be a mere Child of Ceremony, or likelier fome mif- 
 begotten thing, that having pluckt the gay Feathers of her obfolete bravery, 
 to hide her own deformed barrennefs, now vaunts and glories in her ftolen 
 Plumes. In the mean while, what danger there is againft the very Life of 
 the Gofpel, to make in any thing the Typical Law her Pattern, and howim- 
 poffible in that which touches the Prieftly Government, I (hall ufe fuch light 
 as I have receiv'd, to lay open. It cannot be unknown by what Expreffions 
 the holy ApoftleSt. Pw/fpares not to explain to us the nature and condition 
 of the Law, calling thofe Ordinances which were the chief and effential Of- 
 fices of the Priefts, the Elements and Rudiments of the World, both weak 
 and beggarly. Now to breed, and bring up the Children of the Promife, the 
 Heirs of Liberty and Grace, under fuch a kind of Government as is profeft 
 to be but an imitation of that Miniftry which engender'd to bondage the fbns 
 of Agar ; how can this be but a foul injury aad derogation, if not a cancel- 
 ling of that Birth : right and immunity which Chrift hath purchas'd for us 
 
 with
 
 a6 The Reafon of Church-Government > Book I. 
 
 with his blood ? For the miniftration of the Law confiftirg of carnal things, 
 drew to it fuch a Miniftry as confifted of carnal refpe&s, dignity, prece- 
 dence and the like. And fuch a Miniftry eftablifh'd in the Gofpel, as is 
 founded upon the points and terms of fuperiority, and nefts itfelf in world- 
 ly honours, will draw to it, and we fee it doth, fuch a Religion as runs back 
 a^ain to the old pomp and glory of the flefh : For doubtlefs there is a certain 
 attraction and magnetick force betwixt the Religion and the minifterial Form 
 therof. If the Religion be pure, fpiritual, fimple and lowly, as the Gofpel 
 moil truly is, fuch mult the face of the Miniftry be. And in like manner 
 if the Form of the miniftry be grounded in the worldly degrees of Authority, 
 Honour, temporal Jurifdi&ion, we fee with our eyes it will turn the in- 
 ward power and purity of the Gofpel into the outward carnality of the Law ; 
 evaporating and exhaling the internal worfhip into empty conformities, and 
 gay fhews. And what remains then but that we mould run into as dange- 
 rous and deadly Apoftacy as our lamentable neighbours the Papifts, who by 
 this very fnare and pitfall of imitating the Ceremonial Law, fell into that ir- 
 recoverable Superftition, as muft needs make void the Covenant of Salvation 
 to them that perfift in this blindnefs ? 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 That it is impojjible to make the Priefthood of Aaron, a pat- 
 tern whereon to ground Epifcopacy. 
 
 THAT which was promisM next, is to declare the impoffibility of ground- 
 ing Evangelic Government in the imitation of the Jewijh Priefthood ; 
 which will be done by confidering both the Quality of the Perlbns, and tta 
 Office itfelf. Aaron and his Sons were the Princes of their Tribe before 
 they were fanctify'd to the Priefthood : that perfonal eminence which they 
 held above the other Levites, they receiv'd not only from their Office, but 
 partly brought it into their Office ; and fo from that time forward the Priefts 
 were not chofen out of the whole number of the Levites, as our Bifhops, but 
 were born inheritors of the dignity. Therfore unlets we fhall chufe our 
 Prelates only out of the Nobility, and let them run in a blood, there can be 
 no poffible imitation of Lording over their Brethren in regard of their per- 
 fons altogether unlike. As for the Office, which was a Reprefentation of 
 Chrift's own Perfon more immediately in the High-Prieft, and of his whole 
 Prieftly Office in all the other, to the performance of which the Levites were 
 but as Servitors and Deacons, it was neceffary there mould be a diftinclion of 
 dignity between two Functions of fo great odds. But there being no fuch 
 difference among our Minifters, unlets it be in reference to the Deacons, it is 
 impoffible to found a Prelaty upon the imitation of this Priefthood : For 
 wherin, or in what work is the Office of a Prelate excellent above that of a 
 Paftor ? In Ordination, you'll fay, but flatly againft Scripture ; for there we 
 know Timothy receiv'd Ordination by the hands of the Prefbytery, notwith- 
 ftandino- all the vain delufions that are us'd to evade that Teftimony, and 
 maintain an unwarrantable Ufurpation. But wherfore fhculd Ordination be 
 a caufeof fetting up a fuperior degree in the Church? Is not that wherby 
 Chrift became our Saviour a higher and greater work, than that wherby 
 he did ordain Meffengers to preach and publifh him our Saviour? Every 
 Minifter fuftains the Perfon of Chrift in his higheft work of communicating 
 to us the Myfteries of our Salvation, and hath the power of binding and ab- 
 folving •, how fhould he need a higher dignity to reprefent or execute that 
 which is an inferior work in Chrift ? Why fhould the performance of Ordi- 
 nation, which is a lower Office, exalt a Prelate, and not the feldom difcharge of 
 a higher and more noble Office, which is preaching and adminiftring, much 
 rather deprefs him ? Verily, neither the nature, nor the example of Ordina- 
 tion doth any way require an imparity between the Ordainer and the Or- 
 dained :
 
 Book I. urgd againfl Prelaty. 47 
 
 d.iined : For what more natural than every like to produce his like, Man to 
 beget Man, Fire to propagate Fire ? And in examples of higheft opinion the 
 Ordaineris inferior to the Ordained; for the Pope is not made by the pre- 
 cedent Pop.", hut by Cardinals, who ordain and confecrate to a higher and 
 greater Office than their own. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 To the Arguments of BiJJjop Andrews, and the Primate. 
 
 IT follows here to attend to certain objections in a little Treatife lately 
 printed among others of like fort at Oxford, and in the Title faid to be 
 out of the rude draughts of Bifhop Andrews: And furely they be rude 
 draughts indeed, in fo much that it is marvel to think what his Friends meant 
 to let come abroad fuch fhallow reafonings with the name of a Man fo much 
 bruited for learning. In the 12 and 23 Pages he feems mod notorioufly in- 
 conftant to himfclf •, for in the former place he tells us he forbears to take 
 any argument of Prelaty from Aaron, as being the type of Chrift. In the 
 latter he can forbear no longer, but repents him of his rafh gratuity, affirm- 
 ing, that to fay, Chrift being come in the Flefh, his figure in the High-Prieft 
 ceaieth, is the fhift of an Anabaptift ; and ftiffiy argues, that Chrift being 
 as well King as Prieft, was as well fore-refembled by the Kings then, as by 
 the High-Prieft : So that if his coming take away the one Type, it mult alfo 
 the other. Marvellous piece of Divinity ! and well worth that the Land 
 mould pay fix thouland pounds a year for, in a Bifhoprick ; although I read 
 of no Sophifter among the Greeks that was fodear, neither Hippias nor Pro- 
 tagoras, nor any whom the Socratk School famoufly refuted without hire. 
 Here we have the type of the King few'd to the typet of the Bifhop, futt'ly 
 to caft a jealoufy upon the Crown, as if the right of Kings, like Meleager 
 in the Metamorphofis, were no longer-liv'd than the firebrand of Prelaty. 
 But more likely the Prelates fearing (for their own guilty carriage protefts 
 they do fear) that their fair days cannot long hold, praftife by pofTeffing the 
 King with this moft falfe dodtrine, to engage his power for them, as in his 
 own quarrel, that when they fall they may fall in a general ruin, juft as cruel 
 'Xiberius would wifh, 
 
 When I die, let the Earth be roll'd in Flames. 
 But where, O Bifhop, doth the purpofe of the Law fet forth Chrift to us as 
 a King ? That which never was intended in the Law, can never be abolifh'd 
 as part therof. When the Law was made, there was no King : if before 
 the Law, or under the Law, God by a fpecial type in any King would fore- 
 fignify the future Kingdom of Chrift, which is not yet vifibly come ; what 
 was that to the Law ? The whole ceremonial Law and Types can be in no 
 Law elfe, comprehends nothing but the propitiatory Office of Chrift's 
 Priefthood, which being in fubftance accomplifh'd, both Law and Priefthood 
 fades away of itfelf, and paffes into air like a tranfitory vifion, and the Right 
 of Kings neither ftands by any Type nor falls. We acknowledge that the 
 civil Magiftrate wears an Authority of God's giving, and ought to be obey'd 
 as his Vicegerent. But to make a King a Type, we fay is an abufive and un- 
 fkilful fpeech, and of a moral folidity makes it feem a ceremonial fhadow: 
 therfore your typical chain of King and Prieft muft unlink. But is not the 
 type of Prieft taken away by Chrift's coming ? No, faith this famous Prote- 
 ftant Bifhop of Winchefter, it is not •, and he that faith it is, is an Anabaptift. 
 What think ye, Readers, do ye not underftandhim ? What can be gather'd 
 hence, but that the Prelate would ftill facrifice ? Conceive him, Readers, he 
 would miffificate. Their Altars indeed were in a fair forwardnefs ; and by fuch 
 arguments as thefe they were fetting up the molten Calf of their Mafs again, 
 and of their great Hierarch the Pope. For if the Type of Prielt be not 
 taken away, then neither of the High-prieft, it were a ftrange beheading ; 
 and Pligh-prieft more than one there cannot be, and that one can be no lefs 
 
 than
 
 48 The Reafon of Church-Government, BGokl. 
 
 than a Pooe. And this doubtlefs was the bent of his career, though never 
 fo covertly. Yea, but there was fomething elfe in the High-Prieft befidesthe 
 fi<mre, as is plain by St. Paul's acknowledging him. 'Tistrue, that in the 17th 
 of Beat, whence this authority arifes to the Prieft in matters too hard tor the 
 fecular judges, as muft needs be many in the occafions of thole times, involv'd 
 fo with ceremonial Niceties, no wonder though it be commanded to enquire 
 atthemouthofthePriefts, who beiides the Magiftrates their Collegues, had 
 the Oracle of Urim to confult with. And whether the High-Prieft Ananias 
 had not incroach'd beyond the limits of his Prieftly Authority, or whether us'd 
 it rightly, was no time then for St. Paid to contcft about. But if this inftance 
 be able to'aflert any right of jurifdi&ion to the Clergy, it muft impart it in 
 common to all Minifters, fince it were a great tolly to feek tor Counfel in a 
 hard intricate fcruple from a Dunce Prelate, when there might be found a 
 fpeedier folution from a grave and learned Minifter, whom God hath gifted 
 with the judgment of "Urim more amply oft-times than all the Prelates toge- 
 ther and now in the Gofpel hath granted the privilege of this oraculous 
 Ephod alike to all his Minifters. The reafon therfore of imparity in the 
 Priefts beino-now, as is aforefaid, really annull'd both in their Perfon, and 
 in their representative Office, what right of jurifdi&ion foever can b: from 
 this place levitically bequeath'd, muft defeend upon the Minifters of the 
 Gofpel equally, as it finds them in all other points equal. Well then, he is 
 finally content to let. Aaron go-, Eleazar will ferve his turn, as being a Supe- 
 rior of Superiors, and yet no type of Chrift in Aaron's life-time. O thou that 
 would'ft wind into any Figment, or Phantafm, to lave thy Miter ! yet all this 
 will not fado-p, though it be cunningly interpolilh'd by fome fecond hand with 
 Crooks and° Emendations: Here then, the type of Chrift in fome one parti- 
 cular as of entrino- yearly into the Holy of Holies, and fuch like, refted up- 
 on the High-prieft only as more immediately perforating our Saviour: but 
 to refemble his whole fatisfaftory Office, all the lineage of Aaron was no more 
 than fufficient. And all, or any of the Priefts conlider'd feparately without 
 relation to the higheft, are but as a lifelefs trunk, and fignify nothing And 
 this fhews the excellence of Chrift's Sacrifice, who at once and in one Perfon 
 fulfill'd that which many hundreds of Priefts many times repeating had 
 enough to forefhew. What other imparity there was among themfelves, we 
 maylafely fuppofe it depended on the dignity of their Birth and Family, to- 
 gether with the circumftances of a carnal Service, which might afford many 
 Priorities. And this I take to be the fum of what the Bifhop had laid together 
 to make plea for Prelaty by imitation of the Law : Though indeed, if it may 
 ftand, it will infer Popedom all as well. Many other courfes he tries, en- 
 forcing himfelf with much oftentation of endlefs Genealogies, as if he were 
 the Man that St. Paul forewarns us of in Timothy, but fo unvigoroufly, that I 
 do not fear his winning of many to his Caule, but fuch as doting upon great 
 names are either over-weak, or over-fudden of Faith. I ftiall not refufe 
 therfore to learn fo much prudence as I find in the Roman Soldier that at- 
 tended the Crofs, not to ftand breaking of legs, when the breath is quite 
 out of the Body, but pais to that which follows. The Primate of Armagh at 
 the beginning of his Tractate feeks to avail himfelr or that place in the 66th 
 of Ifaiah, I will take of them for Priefts and Levites, faith the Lord, to up- 
 hold hereby fuch a form of Superiority among the Minifters of the Gofpel, 
 fucceedinc thofe in the Law, as the Lord's-day did the Sabbath. But certain 
 if this method may be admitted of interpreting thofe prophetical paflagts 
 concerning Chriftian times in a punctual correfpondence, it may with equal 
 probability be urg'd upon us, that we are bound to obferve fome monthly So- 
 lemnity anfwerable to the New Moons, as well as the Lord's-day which we 
 keep in lieu of the Sabbath : for in the 23d verfe the Prophet joins them in 
 the lame manner together, as before he did the Priefts and Levites, thus. A7id 
 itfhallcome to pafs that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath 
 to another, Jhall all ficfi come to wor /lip before me, faith the Lord. Undoubtedly 
 with as good confequence may it be alledg'd from hence, that we are to fo- 
 lemnize fome religious monthly meeting different Irom the Sabbath, as from 
 the other any diftinift formality of Ecclefiaftical Orders may be inferr'd. 
 This rather will appear to be the lawful and unconftrain'd fenfebF the Text, 
 2 that
 
 Book I . urg V againfl Pr e l a t y. 40, 
 
 that God in taking of them for Priefls and Levites, will not efleem them 
 unworthy, though Gentiles, to undergo any function in the Church, but will 
 make of them a full and perfect Minillry, as was that of the Priefls and Le- 
 vites in their kind. And Bifhop Andrews himfelf, to end the controverfy, 
 fends us a candid Expofition of this quoted verfe from the 24th page of his 
 faid book, plainly deciding that God by thofe legal names there of Priefls and 
 Levites means our Prefbyters and Deacons ; for which either ingenuous con- 
 feffion, or flip of his pen, we give him thanks, and withal to him that brought 
 thefe Treatifes into one volume, who fetting the contradictions of two 
 learned Men fo near together, did not forefee. What other deducements or 
 analogies are cited out of St. Paul to prove a likenefs between the Minifters 
 of the Old and New Teflament, having try'd their finews, I judge they may 
 pafs without harm- doing do our Caufe. We may remember then that Pre- 
 laty neither hath nor can have foundation in the Law, nor yet in th<? Goipel ; 
 which afTertion as being for the plainnefs therof a matter of eye-fig it, ra- 
 ther than of difquifition, I voluntarily omit, not forgetting to fpecify this 
 note again, that the earneft defire which the Prelates have to build their Hie- 
 rarchy upon the fandy bottom of the Law, gives us to fee abundantly the 
 little affurance which they find to rear up their high roofs by the authority 
 of the Gofpel, repuls'd as it were from the writings of the Apoflles, and 
 driven to take fanftuary among the Jews. Hence that open confeffion of the 
 Primate before mention'd ; Epifcopacy is fetch'd partly from the pattern of 
 the Old Teflament, and partly from the New as an imitation of the Old ; 
 though nothing can be more rotten in Divinity than fuch a pofuion as this, 
 and is all one as to fay, Epifcopacy is partly of divine inflitution, and partly 
 of man's own carving. Eor who gave the authority to fetch more from the 
 pattern of the Law than what the Apoflles had already fetcht, iftheyfetcht 
 any thing at all, as hath been prov'd they did not ? So was Jeroboam's Epifco- 
 pacy partly from the pattern of the Law, and partly from the pattern of 
 his own Carnality ; a parti-colour'd and a parti-member'd Epifcopacy : and 
 what can this be lefs than a monflrous ? Others therfore among the Prelates, 
 perhaps not fo well able to brook, or rather to juftify this foul relapfing to 
 the old Law, have condeicended at lafl to a plain confeffing that both the 
 names and offices of Bifhops and Prefbyters at firfl were the fame, and in 
 the Scriptures no where diilinguifh'd. This grants the Remonflrant in the 
 filth Section of his defence, and in the Preface to his lafc fhort anfwer. But 
 what need reipecl be had whether he grant or grant it not, whenas through 
 all Antiquity, and even in the loftiefl times of Prelaty, we find it granted? 
 Jerome the learned'fl of the Fathers hides not his opinion, that Cuflom only, 
 which the Proverb calls a Tyrant, was the maker of Prelaty ; before his 
 audacious workmanlhipthe Churches were rul'din common by the Prefbyters : 
 and fuch a certain truth this was efleem'd, that it became a Decree among 
 the Papal Canons compiled by Gratian. Anfehn alfo oi Canterbury, who to 
 uphold the points of his Prelatifm made himfelf a traytor to his Country, 
 vet commenting the Epiflles to 'Titus and the Philippians, acknowledges from 
 the clearnefs of the Text, what Jerome and the Church-Rubric hath before 
 acknowledg'd. He little dreamt then that the weeding-hook of Reforma- 
 tion would after two ages pluck up his glorious poppy from infultingover the 
 o-ood corn . Though fince fome of our Briti/lj Prelates, feeing themfelves prefl 
 to produce Scripture, try all their cunning, if the New Teftament will not 
 help them, to frame of their own heads as it were with wax a kind of Mimic 
 Bifhop limm'd out to the life of a dead Prieflhood : Or elfe they would . 
 flrain us out a certain figurative Prelate, by wringing the collective allegory of 
 thofe feven Angels into feven fingle Rochets. Howfoever, fince it thus ap- 
 pears that cuflom was the creator of Prelaty, being lefs ancient than the 
 government of Prefbyters, it is an extreme folly to give them the hearing 
 that tell us of Bifhops through fo many ages : and if againfl their tedious 
 mufter of Citations, Sees, and Succefiions, it be reply'd that wagers and 
 Church-antiquities, fuch as are repugnant to the plain dictate of Scripture, are 
 both alike the arguments of fools, they have their anfwer. W T e rather are 
 to cite all thofe ages to an arraignment before the Word of God, wherfore, 
 and what pretending, how preiuming they durft alter that divine Inflitution 
 Vo l. I. H of
 
 co The Reafon of Church-Government ', Book I. 
 
 ofPrefbyters, which the Apoftles who were no various and inconftant men 
 l'urely had fet up in the Churches ; and why they chute to live by cuilom and 
 catalogue, or as St. Paul faith by fight and viability, rather than by faith ? But 
 firft I conclude from their own mouths, that God's command in Scripture^ 
 which doubtlefs ought to be the firft and greateft reafon of Church-govern- 
 ment is wanting to Prelaty. And certainly we have plenteous warrant in 
 the doctrine of Chrift to determine that the want of this reafon is of it felf 
 Efficient to coufute all other pretences that may be brought in favour of 
 
 it. 
 
 CHAP. vr. 
 
 'That Prelaty was not fet up for prevention of Schifm, as is 
 pretended ; or if it ivere, that it performs not what it was 
 jirfi fet up for, but quite the contrary. 
 
 YET becaufe it hath the outfide of a fpecious reafon, and fpecious things 
 we know are apteft to work with human lightnefs and frailty, even 
 ^gainft the folideft truth that founds not plaufibly, let us think it worth the 
 examining for the love of infirmer Chriftians, of what importance this their 
 fecond reafon may be. Tradition they fay hath taught them, that for the 
 prevention of growing Schifm, the Bifhop was heav'd above the Prefbyter. 
 And muft Tradition then ever thus to the world's end be the perpetual can- 
 ker-worm to eat out God's Commandments ? Are his Decrees fo inconfiderate 
 and fo fickle, that when the Statutes of Solon or Lycurgus fhall prove durably 
 o-oodto many ages, his in forty years fhall be found defective, ill-contriv'd, 
 and for needful caufes to be alter'd ? Our Saviour and his Apoftles did not only 
 forefee, but foretel and forewarn us to look for Schifm. Is it a thing to be 
 imagin'd of God's wifdom, or at leaft of Apoftolic prudence, to fet up fuch 
 a Government in the tendernefs of a Church, as fhould incline, or not be 
 more able than any others to oppofe itfelf to Schifm ? it was well known what 
 a bold lurker Schifm was, even in the houfhold of Chrift between his own Dif- 
 ciples andthofe of John the Baptift about falling: and early in the Acts of the 
 Apoftles the noife of Schifm had almoft drown'd the proclaiming of theGo- 
 fpel ; yet we read not in Scripture that any thought was had of making Pre- 
 lates, no not in thofe places where difienfion was molt rife. If Prelaty had 
 been then efteem'd a remedy againft Schifm, where was it more needful than 
 in that great variance among the Corinthians which St. Paul fo labour'd to re- 
 concile ? and whofe eye could have found the fitteft remedy fooner than his ? 
 and what couldkave made the remedy more available, than to have us'd it 
 fpeedily ? Andlaftly, what could have bin more necelfary than to have writ- 
 ten it for our inftruftion ? yet we fee he neither commended it to us, nor us'd 
 it himfelf. For the fame divifion remaining there, or elfe burfting forth again 
 more than twenty years after St. Paul's death, we find in Clement's Epiftle of 
 venerable Authority, written to the yet factious Corinthians, that they were ftill 
 govern'd by Prefbyters. And the fame of other Churches out of Hernias, 
 and divers other the fcholars of the Apoftles, by the late induftry of the learn- 
 ed Salmafius appears. Neither yet did this worthy Clement, St. Paul's Difci- 
 ple, though writing to them to lay afide Schifm, in the leaft word advife them 
 to change the Pretbyterian Government into Prelaty. And therfore if God 
 afterward gave or permitted this infurreftion of Epifcopacy, it is to be fear'd 
 he did it in his wrath, as he gave the Ifraelites a King. With fo good a will 
 doth he ufe to alter his ownchofen Government once eftablifh'd. For mark 
 whether this rare device of man's brain, thus preferr'd before the Ordinance of 
 God, had better fuccefs than flefhly wifdom, not counfelling with God, is wont 
 to have. So far was it from removing Schifm, that if Schifm parted the Con- 
 - ;■ " 'tions before, now it rent and mangl'd, now it rag'd. Herefy begat He- 
 '*■ certain monftrous hafte of pregnancy in her birth, at once born 
 
 and
 
 Book I. urgd againft Prelaty. ;r 
 
 and bringing forth. Contentions, before brotherly, were now hoftiie. Mi. 
 went to choofe their Bifhop as they went to a pitcht field, and the lAyy of his 
 election was like the lacking of a City, fometimes ended with the blood oi 
 thoufands. Nor this among Heretics only, but men of the fafne belief, yea 
 Confeflbrs ; and that with fuch odious ambition, that Eufebius in his eighth 
 Book teftifies he abhorr'd to write. And the reafon is not bbfcufe, for the 
 poor dignity, or rather burden, of a Parochial Prcfbyter could hot engage any 
 great party, nor that to any deadly feud : but Prelaty was a power of that 
 extent and fway, that if her election were popular, it was feldom not the 
 caufe of fome faction or broil in the Church. But if her dignity came by fa 
 vour of fome Prince, fhe was from that time his creature, and obnoxious to 
 comply with his ends in date, were they right or wrong. So that inftead of 
 rinding Prelaty an impeacher of Schifm or Faction, the more I fearch, the more 
 I grow into all perfuafion to think rather that faction and (he, as with a fpoufal 
 ring, are wedded together, never to be divcre'd. But here let every one be- 
 hold the juft and dreadful judgment of God meeting with the audacious, pride 
 of man, that durft offer to mend the Ordinances ot Heaven. God out of the 
 ftrife of men brought forth by his Apoftles to the Church that beneficent and 
 ever diftributing office of Deacons, the Stewards and Mjnifters of holy alms : 
 Man, out ot the pretended care of peace and unity, being caught in the fnare of 
 his impious boldnefs to correct the will of Chriil. brought forth to himfelf 
 upon the Church that irreconcileable Schifm cf Perdition and Apoftacy, the 
 Roman Antichrift ; for that the Exaltation of the Pope arofe out of the reafon 
 of Prelaty, it cannot be deny'd. And as I noted before, that the pattern of 
 the High-Pricft pleaded for in the Gofpel (for take away the head Prieil, the 
 reft are but a carcafs) fets up with better reafon a Pope than an Archbifhop ; 
 for if Prelaty muft ftill rife and rife 'till it come to a Primate, why fhould it flay 
 there? whenas the Catholic Government is not to follow the divifiori of 
 Kingdoms, the Temple beft reprefenting the univerfal Church, and the High 
 Prieft the univerfal Head : fo I obferve here, that if to quiet Schifm there 
 muft be one head of Prelaty in a Land, or Monarchy, rifing from a provincial to 
 a national Primacy, there may upon better grounds of reprefling Schifm be let 
 up one Catholic Head over the Catholic Church. For the Peace and Good of 
 the Church is not terminated in the fchifmlefs eftate of one or two King- 
 doms, but fhould be provided for by the joint confultation of all reformed 
 Chriftendom : that all controverfy may end in the final pronounce or canon 
 of one Arch-primate or Proteftant Pope. Although by this means, for aught 
 I fee, all the diameters of Schifm may as well meet and be knit up in the cen- 
 ter of one grand falfhood. Now let all impartial men arbitrate what goodly 
 inference thefe two main reafons of the Prelates have, that by a natural league 
 of confequence make more for the Pope than for themfelves ; yea, to fay 
 more home, are the very womb for a new Sub-antichrift to breed in, if it be 
 not rather the old force and power of the fame man of fin counterfeiting Pro- 
 teftant. It was not the prevention of Schifm, but it was Schifm it frit, and 
 the hateful thirft of Lording in the Church, that firft beftow'd a being upon 
 Prelaty ; this was the true caufe, but the pretence is ftill the fame. The Pre- 
 lates, as they would have it thought, are the only mawls of Schifm. Forfooth 
 if they be put down, a deluge of innumerable Sects will follow ; we fhall be 
 all Browr.ills, Familifts, Anabiptifts. For the word Puritan feems to be 
 quaiht, and all that heretofore were counted fuch, are now Brownifts. And 
 thus do they rai'fe an evil report upon the expected reforming Grace that God 
 hath bid us hope for, like thole faithlefs fpies, whofe carcaffes fhall perifh in 
 the wildt rnefs of their own confufed ignorance, and never tafte the good of 
 Reformation. Do they keep away Schifm ? if to bring a numb and chill flu- 
 pidity of Soul, an unactive blindnefs of mind upon the people by their leaden 
 Doctrine, or no Doctrine at all ; if to perfecute all knowing and zealous 
 Chriftians by the violence of their Courts, be to keep away Schifm, they keep 
 away Schifm indeed : and by this kind of Difcipline all Italy and Sfain is as 
 purely and politically kept from Schifm as Enghndhxth. been by them. With 
 as good a plea might the dead-palfy boaft to a man, 'tis I that free you from 
 flitches and pains, and the troublefome feeling of cold and heat, of wounds 
 and ftrokes ; if I were gone, all thefe would moleft you. The winter might 
 Vol. I. H 2 as
 
 2 The Reafon of Church-Government l ? Book I. 
 
 as well vaunt it felfagainft the Spring, I deftroy all noifome and rank weeds* 
 I keep down all peftilent vapours -, yes, and all wholefomc herbs, and all frefh 
 dews, by your violent and hide-bound freft : but when the gentle welt winds 
 fhall'open the fruitful bofom of the Earth, thus over-girded by your irnprifon- 
 ment, then the flowers put forth and fpring, and then the Sun (hall fcatter the 
 mifts, and the manuring hand of the tiller fhall root up all that burdens the 
 foil without thank to your bondage. But far worie than any frozen captivity 
 is the bondage of Prelates ; for that other, if it keep down any thing which is 
 o-ood within the Earth, fo doth itlikewife that which is ill ; but thefe let out 
 freely the ill, and keep down the good, or elfe keep down the lefler ill, and 
 let out the greateft. Be afham'd at Iaft to tell the Parlament, ye curb Schif- 
 maticks, whenas they know ye cherifhand fide with Papifts, and are now as 
 it were one party with them, and 'tis faid they help to petition for ye. Can 
 we believe that your Government ftrains in good earneft at the petty gnats or 
 Schifm, whenas we fee it makes nothing to f wallow the camel Hereiy of 
 Rome, but that indeed your Throats are of the right Pharilaical ftrain ? Where 
 are thofe Schifmaticks with whom the Prelates hold fuch hot fkirmifh ? mew us 
 your Acts, thofe glorious Annals which your Courts of loathed memory lately 
 deceas'd have left us ? Thofe Schifmaticks I doubt me will be found the moft of 
 them fuch as whole only Schifm was to have fpoke the truth againft your high 
 abominations and cruelties in the Church ; this is the Schifm ye hate moft, 
 the removal of your criminous Hierarchy. A politic Government ol yours, 
 and of a pleafant conceit, let up to remove thofe as a pretended Schifm, that 
 would remove you as a palpable Herefy in Government. If the Schifm would 
 pardon ye that, the might go jagg'd in as many cuts and flafhes as fhe pleas'd 
 for you. As for the rending of the Church, we have many reafons to think 
 it is not that which ye labour to prevent, fo much as the rending of your pon- 
 tifical fleeves : that Schifm would be the foreft Schifm to you, that would be 
 Brownifm and Anabaptifm indeed. If we go down, fay you, as if Adrian's 
 wall were broke, a flood of Sects will rufh in. What Sects ? What are their 
 opinions ? give us the Inventory ; it will appear both by your former prole - 
 cutions and your prefent inftances, that they are only fuch to ipeakof, as are 
 offended with your lawlefs Government, your Ceremonies, your Liturgy, an 
 extract of the Mafs-book tranllated. But that they fhould be contemners of 
 publick prayer, and Churches us'd without fuperftition, I truftGod will ma- 
 nifeft it e'er long to be as falfe a flander, as your former flanders againft the 
 Scots. Noife it 'till ye behoarfe, that a rabble of Sects will come in •, it will 
 be anfwer'd ye, No rabble, Sir Prieft, but a unanimous multitude of good 
 Proteftants will then join to the Church, which now becaufe of you ftand fe- 
 parated. This will be the dreadful confequence of your removal. As for 
 thofe terrible names of Sectaries and Schifmaticks which ye have got together, 
 we know your manner of fight, when the quiver of your arguments, which is 
 ever thin, and weakly ftor'd, after the firft brunt is quite empty, your courfe 
 is to betake ye to your other quiver of (lander, wherin lies your belt archery. 
 And whom ye could not move by fophiftical arguing, them you think to con- 
 fute by fcandalous mifnaming ; therby inciting the blinder fort ol people 
 to miflike and deride found Doctrine and good Chriftianity, under two or three 
 vile and hateful terms. But if we could eafily endure and diiib'.ve your 
 doubtieft reafons in argument, we fhall more eafily bear the worft of your 
 unreafonablenefs in calumny and falfe report : Especially being foretold by 
 Chrift, that if he our Matter were by your predeceflbrs call'd Samaritan and 
 Belzebub, we muft not think it ftrange if his beft Difciples in the Reforma- 
 tion, as at firft by thofe of your Tribe they were cali'd Lollards -And Hujjites, 
 fo now by you be term'd Puritans and Brownifts. But my hope is, that the 
 people of England will not fuffer themlelves to be juggl'd thus out of their 
 Faith and Religion by a milt of names caft before their eyes, but will fearch 
 wifely by the Scriptures, and look quite through this fraudulent afperfion of a 
 difgraceful name into the things themfelves: knowing that the Primitive Chri^ 
 ftians in their times were accounted fuch as are now call'd Families and Ada- 
 mites, or worfe. And many on the PreLuic fide, like the Church of Sardis y 
 have a name to live, and yet are dead •, to be Proteftants, and are indeed Pa- 
 pifts in moft of their Principles. Thus perfuaded, this your old fallacy we 
 3 mail
 
 B ook I . urg V again ft Prelaty. ^3 
 
 fhall foon unmade, and quickly apprehend how you prevent Schifm, and who 
 are your Schematics. But what if ye prevent and hinder all good means oj 
 preventing Schilrn ? That way which the Apo.'lles us'd, was to call a Council : 
 from which by any thing that can be learnt from the fifteenth of the a'^s, no 
 faithful Christian was debarr'd, to whom knowledge and piety might give en- 
 trance. Of fuch a Council as this every parochial Confiftory is a right homo- 
 geneous and constituting part, being in it felf as it were a little Synod, and 
 towards a general AfTembly moving upon her own bafis in an even and firm 
 progrefhon, as thole fmaller Squares in battel unite in one great Cube, the 
 main Phalanx, an emblem of truth and ftedfaftnefs. Wheras en the other 
 fide Prelaty afcending by a gradual monarchy from Bifhop to Archbifhop, 
 from thence to Primate, and from thence, for there can be no reafon yielded 
 neither in Nature, nor in Religion, wherfore, if it have lawfully mounted 
 thus high, it fhould not be a Lordly Afcendant in the Horofcope of the 
 Church, from Primate to Patriarch, and fo to Pope : I fay, Prelaty thus afcend- 
 ing in a continual pyramid upon pretence to perfect, the Church's unity, if not- 
 withstanding it be found molt needful, yea the utmoft help to dearn up the 
 rents of Schifm by calling a Council, what does it but teach us that Prelaty is 
 of no force to effect this work which fhe boafts to be her mafter-piece ; and 
 that her pyramid afpires and Sharpens to ambition, not to perfection or unity? 
 This we know, that as often as any great Schifm difparts the Church, and Sy- 
 nods be proclaim'd, the Prefbyters have as great right there, and as fn e vote 
 of old, as the Bifhops, which the Canon-law conceals not. So that Pre'aty, 
 if flic will feek to dole up divifions in the Church, mult be forced to diflbfve 
 and unmake her own pyramidal figure, which fhe affirms to be of fuch uniting 
 power, whenas indeed it is the molt dividing and fchifmatical form that Geo- 
 metricians know of, and mull be fain to inglobe or incube her felf among the 
 Prefbyters •, which fhe hating to do, fends her haughty Prelates from all parts 
 with their forked Miters, the badge of Schifm, or the Stamp of his cloven foot 
 whom they ferve I think, who according to their Hierarchies acuminating (till 
 higher and higher in a Cone of Prelaty, inftead of healing up the gafhesofthe 
 Church, as it happens in fuch pointed bodies meeting, fall to gore one ano- 
 ther with their Sharp fpires for upper place and precedence, 'till the Council it 
 felf proves the greateft Schifm of all. And thus they are fo far from hindring 
 diSTenfion, that they have made unprofitable, and even noifome, the chiefeft 
 icdy we have to keep Chriftendom at one, which is by Councils : and thefe, 
 if we rightly confider Apoftolic example, are nothing elfe but general Pref- 
 byteries. This feem'd fo far from the Apoftles to think much of, as if hereby 
 their dignity were impai'-'d, that, as we may gather by thole Epiftles of Pe- 
 ter and John, which are likely to be lateft written, when the Church grew to 
 a fettling, like thofe heroic Patricians of Rome (if we may ufe fuch compari- 
 fon) halting to lay down their Dictatorship, they rejoie'd to call themfelves, 
 and to be as Fellow-elders among their Brethren •, knowing that their high 
 office was but as the fcaffolding of the Church yet unbuilt, and would be but a 
 troublcfome disfigurement, fo foon as the building was finifh'd. Bat the lofty 
 minds of an age or two after, Inch was their fmall difcerning, thought it a 
 poor indignity, that the high-rear'd Government of the Church fliould fo on a 
 Sudden, as it feem'd to them, fquatinto a Prefbytery. Next, or rather be- 
 fore Councils, the timelielt prevention of Schifm is to preach the Gofpel 
 abundantly and* powerfully throughout all the Land, to inftruft the Youth re 
 ligioufly, to endeavour how the Scriptures may be eafieft understood by all 
 men ; to all which the proceedings of thefe men have been on fet purpofe 
 contrary. But how, O Prelates, Should you remove Schifm ? and how fhould 
 you not remove and oppofe all die means of removing Schifm ? when Prelaty 
 is a Schifm itfelf from the molt reformed and molt flourifhing of cur neigh'- 
 bour Churches abroad, and a fad fubjeel cf difcerd and offence to the whole 
 nation at home. The remedy which you alledge, is the very difeafc we groan 
 under ; and never can be to us a remedy but by removing itfelf. Your pre- 
 deceffors werebeliev'd toafTume this pre-eminence above their brethren, only 
 that they might appealed iffenfion. Now God and the Church calls upon you, 
 for the fame reafon, to lay it down, as being to thoufands of good men olfen- 
 fiye, burdenforne, intolerable. Surrender that pledge, which, unlefs you foully 
 
 ufurpt
 
 54 The Re a fon of Church-Government ^ Book I. 
 
 trfurpt it, the Church gave you, and now claims it again, for the reafon fee 
 firft lent it. Diicharge the truit committed to yon, prevent Schifin -, and 
 that ye can never do, but by discharging your felves. That Government 
 which ye hold, we confefs, prevents much, hinders much, removes much -, 
 but what? the Schiims and Grievances of the Church? no, but all the peace 
 and unity, all the welfare not of the Church alone, but of the whole King- 
 dom. And if it be ftill permitted ye to hold, will caufe the moft fad, I know 
 not whether feparation be enough to fay, but fuch a wide gulph of diftracdion 
 in this Land, as will never cloie her difmal gap until ye be forc'd (for of your 
 felves ye will never do as that Roman Curtius nobly did) for the Church's 
 peace and your Country's, to leap into the midft, and be no more fecn. By 
 this we fhall knew whether yours be that ancient Prelaty which you Jay was 
 firft conftitured for the reducement of quiet and unanimity into the Church, 
 for then you will not delay to prefer that above your own preferment. \f 
 ■othtrwifc, we muft be confident that your Prelaty is nothing elfe but your 
 ambition, an infolent preferring of your felves above your brethren ■, and aH 
 your learned fcraping in antiquity, even todifturb the bones of old Aaron and 
 his fons in their graves, is but to maintain and fet upon our necks a ftateJyarid 
 fevere dignity, which you call iacrcd, and is nothing in very deed but a Brave 
 and reverent gluttony, a fanctimonious avarice ; in companion of which,' ail 
 the duties and dearneffes which ye owe to God or to his Church, to Law 
 Cuftom, or Nature, ye have refolv'd to fet at nought. I could put you in 
 mind what Counfel Clement a Fellow-labourer with the Apoitles gave to the 
 Prefbyters of Corinth, whom the people, though unjuiliy, fought to remove 
 Who among you, faith he, is noble-minded, who is pitiful, who is charitable ? 
 let him lay thus, If for me this fedition, this enmity, thefc differences be I 
 willingly depart, I go my ways •, only let the flock of Chrift be at peace w'irh 
 the Prefbyters that are i"ct over it. He that fhall do this, faith he, fhall get 
 him great honour in the Lord, and all places will receive him. This was 
 Clement's Counfel to good and holy men, that they mould depart rather from 
 their jufb office, than by their ftay to ravle out the feam.'efs garment of Con- 
 cord in the Church. But I have better counfel to give the Prelates, and far 
 more acceptable to their ears, this advice in my opinion is fitter for them : 
 Cling faft' to your Pontifical Sees, bate not, quit your felves like Barons 
 ftand to the utmoft for your haughty Courts and Votes in Parlament. Still 
 tell us, that you prevent Schifm, though Schifm and Combuftion be the very 
 iffue of your bodies, your firft-born •, and fet your Country a bleedino- jna 
 Prelatical mutiny, to fight for your pomp, and that ill-fa voui'd weed of 
 temporal honour that fits difhonourably upon your laic moulders, that ye 
 may be fat and fleihy, fwoln with high thoughts, and big with mifohievous de- 
 figns, when God comes to vifit upon you all this fourfcore years vexation of his 
 Church under your Egyptian Tyranny. For certainly of all thofe blelTed Souls 
 which you have perfecuted, and thofe miferable ones which you have loll the 
 juft vengeance does not deep. 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 That thofe many Seels and Schifms by fome fuppos d to he a- 
 mong usy and that Rebellion in Ireland, ouo-ht not to be a 
 hindrance, but a hafteni?ig of Reformation. 
 
 AS for thofe manySecds and Divifions rumour'd abroad to be amono-ft us, it 
 is not hard to perceive that they are partly the mere ficdions and falfe 
 alarms of the Prelates, therby to caff, amazements and panic terrors into the 
 hearts of weaker Christians, that they fhouki not venture to change the pre- 
 iVnt deformity of the Church for fear ofl know not what worfe inconveni- 
 encies. With the fame objected fears and fufpicions, weknow that futtle Pre- 
 late Gardner fought to divert the fir ft Reformation. Itmay fufficeus to be taught. 
 
 5 bv
 
 Book L urg\i aga/'v/l Prel at y. r^ 
 
 by St. Paul, that there muft be Sects for the manifefting of thofe that are - 
 iound-hearted. Theft- are but winds and flaws ro try the floating veiled ofour 
 Faith, whether it be ftanch and fail well, whether our ballaft be juft, our an- 
 chorage and c .ible ftrong. By this isfeen who lives by Faith and certain know- 
 ledge, and who by credulity and the prevailing opinion of the age j whofe 
 virtue is of an unchangeable grain, and whofe of a flight wafh. If God come 
 to try our conftancy, we ought not to lhrink or (land the Ids firmly for that, 
 but pafs on with more ltedtaft refolutionto eftabilfh the Truth, though it were 
 through a lane of Sects and Herefies on each fide. Other things men do to the 
 glory of God : but Seels and Errors, it feems, God fuffers to be for the glory of 
 good men, that the World may know and reverence their true fortitude and 
 undaunted conftancy in the Truth. Let us not therfore make thefe things an 
 incumbrance, or an excufe ofour delay in reforming, which God fends us as 
 an incitement to proceed with more honour and alacrity. For if there were 
 no oppofition, where were the trial of an unfeigned goodnefs and magnanimi- 
 ty ? Virtue that wavers is not virtue, but vice revolted from it felf, and after 
 a while returning. The actions ofjuft and pious men do not darken in their 
 middle courfe; but Solomon tells us, they are as the fhining light, that fhineth 
 more and more unto the perfect day. But if we fhall fufter the trifling doubts 
 and jealoufies of future Sects to overcloud the fair beginnings of purpos'd Re- 
 formation, let us rather fear that another proverb of the fame wife man be 
 not upbraided to us, that the way of the wicked is as darknefs, diey ftumble ar 
 they know not what. If Sects andSchifms be turbulent in the unfettled eftate 
 of a Church, while it lies under the amending hand, it beft befeems our 
 Chriftian Courage to think they are but as the throws and pangs that go before 
 the birth of Reformation, and that the work it felf is now in doing. For if 
 we look but on the nature of elemental and mixt things, we. know they can- 
 not fufter any change of one kind or quality into another, without theftruggle 
 of contrarieties. And in things artificial, feldom any elegance is wrought 
 without a fuperfluous wafte and refufe in the tranfaction. No marble ftatue can 
 be politely carv'd, no fair edifice built without almoft as much rubbilh and 
 f weeping. Infomuch that even in the fpiritual conflict of St. Paul's converfion, 
 there lell fcales from his eyes that were not perceiv'd before. No wonder 
 then in the reforming of a Church, which is never brought to effect without 
 the fierce encounter of truth and falfhood together, if, as it were the fplin- 
 tersand fhares of fo violent a joufting, there fall from between the ftiock many 
 fond errors and fanatic opinions, which when Truth has the upper hand, and 
 the Reformation fhall be perfected, will eafily be rid out of the way, or kept 
 fo low, as that they fhall be only the exercife of our knowledge, not the 
 difturbance or interruption of our faith. As for that which Barclay in his 
 image of Minds writes concerning the horrible and barbarous conceits of Eng- 
 liflmien in their Religion, I deem it fpoken like what he was, a fugitive Pa- 
 pift traducing the Iiland whence he fprung. It may be more judicioufly ga- 
 ther'd fromhence, that the Englifiman of many other Nations is leaft atheifti- 
 cal, and bears a natural difpofition of much reverence and awe towards the 
 Deity •, but in his weaknefs and want of better inftruction, which among us 
 too frequently is neglected, efpecially by the meaner fort, turning the bent of 
 his own wits, with a fcruDulous and ceafelefs care, what he mis;ht do to inform 
 himfelf aright of God and his Worftnp, he may fall net unlikely fometimes, as 
 any other Land-man, into an uncouth opinion. And verily if we look at his 
 native towardlinefs in the rough caft without breeding, fome Nation or other 
 may haply be better compos'd to a natural civility and right judgment than he. 
 But if he get the benefit once of a wife and well-rectify'd nurture, which muft 
 firft come in general from the godly vigilance of the Church, I fuppoie that 
 where-ever mention is made of Countries, Manners or Men, the Englijh 
 People among the firft that fhall be prais'd, may deferve to be accounted a 
 right pious, right honeft, and right hardy Nation. But thus while fomeftand 
 dallying and deferring to reform for fear of that which fhould mainly haften 
 them forward, left Schifm and Error fhould encreafe, we may now thank our 
 felves and our delays, it inftead of Schifm a bloody and inhuman rebellion be 
 ftrook in between our flow movings. Indeed againft violent and powerful op- 
 pofition there can be no juft blame of a lingring difpatch. But this I urge 
 
 againft
 
 c6 The Reafon of Church-Government, Book I. 
 
 againft thofethat difcourfe it for a maxim, as if the fwift opportunities of 
 eftablifliing or reforming Religion were ro attend upon the fleam of ftate-bufi- 
 ntfs. In State many things at firft are crude and hard to digeft, which only 
 time and deliberation can iupple and concoct. But in Religion, wherln is no 
 immaturity, nothing out of feaibn, it goes far otherwife. The door of 
 Grace turns upon fmooth hinges wide opening to fend out, but foon flatting 
 to recal the precious offers of mercy to a Nation : which unlefs watchrulnets 
 and zeal, two quick-fighted and ready-handed virgins, be there in our behalf 
 to receive, we lofe : and ft ill the ofter we lofe, the ftraiter the door opens, 
 and the lefs is offer'd. This is all we get by demurring in God's fervice^ 
 'Tis not rebellion that ought to be the hindrance of Reformation, but it is the 
 want of this which is the caufe of that. The Prelates which boaft themfelves 
 the only bridlers ofSchiim, God knows have been lb cold and backward both 
 there and with us to reprefs Herefy and Idolatry, that either through their 
 careleffnefs or their craft all this mifchief is befaln. What can the Iriflo Sub- 
 ject do lefs in God's juft difpleafure againft us, than revenge upon Englijb bo- 
 dies the little care that our Prelates have had of their Sculs? Nor hath their 
 negligence been new in that Ifland, but ever notorious in Queen Elizabeths 
 days, as Camden their known friend forbears not to complain!. Yet fo little 
 are they toucht with re mode of thefe their cruelties, for thefe cruelties arc 
 theirs, the bloody revenge of thofe Souls which they have familhM, that 
 whenas- againft our brethren the Scots, who by their upright and loyal deeds 
 have now bought themfelves an honourable name to poiterity, wh.itfoever 
 malice by flander could invent, rage in hollilky attempt, they greedily at- 
 tempted toward thefe murdrous Irijh y the enemies of God and Mankind, a 
 curfed off-fpring of their own connivance, no man takes notice bat that they 
 feem to be very calmly and indifferently affected. Where then fhould we 
 begin to extinguish a rebellion that hath its caufe from the mifgovernment of 
 the Church ? where, " but at the Church's reformation, and, the removal of 
 that Government which purfues and wars with all good Chriftrans under the 
 name of Schifmatics, but maintains and fofters all Papifts and Idolaters as to- 
 lerable Chriftians ? And if the ficred Bible may be our light, we are nei- 
 ther without example, nor the witnefs of God himfelf, that the corrupted 
 eftate of the Church ;s both the caufe of tumult and civii wars, and that to 
 ftint them, the peace of the Church muft firlt be fettle d. Now far a kr.gfeafon, 
 faith Azariah to King Afa, Ifrael hath been without the true God, and without a 
 teaching Priefi, and without Law : and in thofe times there was noplace to him that 
 went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were u;on all the inhabit a> 
 of the countries. And Nation was deftroy'd of Nation, and City of City, for God 
 did vex them with alladverfiiy. Beyejlrong thcrfore, faith he to the Reformers 
 of that age, and let not your tends be weak, for your work fhall be rewarded. And 
 in thofe Prophets that liv'd in the times of Reformation after the Captivity, 
 often doth God ftir up the People to confider that while eftablifliment of 
 Church-matters was neglected, and put off, there was no peace to him that : 
 
 Zech. 8. ou i or C ame in ; for I, faith God, had Jet all men every one againft his neighbour. 
 But from the very day forward that they went ferioufly and effectually about 
 
 H z the welfare of the Church, he tells them that they themfelves might perceive 
 
 the fudden change of things into a profperous and peaceful condition. Bat in 
 will here be fiid that the Reformation is a long work, and the miferies of Ire- 
 land are urgent of a fpeedy redrels. They be indeed •, and how fpeedy we 
 are, the poor afflicted remnant of our martyr'd Countrymen that fit thereon 
 the Sea-fhore, counting the hours of our delay with their fighs, and the mi- 
 nutes with their falling tears, perhaps with the diftilling of their bloody 
 wounds, if they have not quite by this time call off", and almoft curit the vain 
 hope of our founde/'d ihips and aids, can belt judge how fpeedy we are to 
 their relief. But let their fuccours be halted, as all need and reafon is •, and 
 let not thcrfore the Reformation, which is the chiefelt caufe of fuccefs and 
 viftory, be ft ill procraftinated. They of the Captivity in their greateft extre- 
 mities could find both counfel and hands enough at once to build, and to ex- 
 pect the enemies afiault. And we for our parts, a populous and mighty Nation, 
 muft needs be fain into a ftrange plight either of effeminacy or confufion, if* * 
 Ireland that was once the conqueft of one fingle Earl with his private forces, 
 
 * and
 
 Book II. urg\I again ft Pre l at y. 57 
 
 and the fnaall afliftahce of a petty Kcrnifh Prince, fhould row take up all the 
 Wifdom and Prowefs of this potent Monarchy, to quell a barbarous crew 
 of Rebels, whom if we take but the right courie to fiibdue, that is, begin- 
 ning at the Reformation of our Church, their own horrid Murders and Rapes 
 will lb fight agaihtf them, that the very Surtlers and Horfe-boys of the Camp 
 will be able to rout and chafe them without the ftaining of any noble Sword. 
 To proceed by other method in this Enterprize, be our Captains and Com- 
 manders never fo expert, will be as great an Error in ihe Art of War, as any 
 Novice in Soldierfhip ever committed. And thus I Lave it as a declared 
 Truth, that neither the fear of SecTs, no nor Rebellion^ can be a fit Pica to 
 ftay Reformation, but rather to pulh it forward with all poflible diligence 
 and ipeed. 
 
 H 
 
 THE SECOND BOOK, 
 
 OW happy were it for this hail, and as it may be truly call'd; 
 mortal Life of Man, fince all earthly things which have the name 
 of good and convenient in our daily ufe, are withal lb cumberiom; 
 and lull of trouble, if Knowledge, yet which is the beit and light- 
 fomeft. pofieffionofthe mind, were, as the common faying is, no burden -. 
 and that what it wanted of being a load to any part of the body, it did not 
 with a heavy advantage overlay upon the Spirit ? For not to ipeak of that 
 Knowledge that refts in the contemplation of natural Caufes and Dimeufions, 
 which muft needs be a lower Wifdom, as the ObjecT: is low, certain it is, 
 that he who hath obtain'd in more than the fcantieff. meaiure to know any 
 thing diftindtly of God, and of his true Worfhip, and what is infallibly good 
 and happy in the ftate of Man's Life, what in itfelf evil and miferable, 
 though vulgarly not fo efteem'd •, he that hath obtain'd to know this, the 
 only high valuable Wifdom indeed, remembring alio that God even to a 
 ftrictnefs requires the improvement of thefe his entrufted Gifts, cannot but 
 Ibftain a forer burden of mind, and more preffing than any fupportable toil 
 or weight which the Body can labour under : how and in what manner he 
 lhall difpofe and employ thole fums of Knowledge and Illumination which 
 God hath {ent him into this World to trade with. And that which aggravates 
 the burden more, is, that having receiv'd amongft his allotted parcels, cer- 
 tain precious Truths of fuch an orient luftre as no Diamond can equal ; which 
 neverthelefs he has in charge to put off at any cheap rate, yea, for no- 
 thing to them that will •, the great Merchants of this World fearing that this 
 courfe would foon difcover* and difgrace the falfe glitter of their deceitful 
 Wares wherwith they abufe the People, like poor Indians, with Beads and 
 GlafTes, praftife by all means how they may fupprefs the .venting of fuch 
 Rarities, and at fuch a cheapnefs as would undo them, and turn their Trafh 
 upon their hands. Therfore by gratifying the corrupt defires of Men in flefh- 
 ly Doctrines, they ftir them up to perfecute with hatred and contempt all 
 thofe that leek to bear themfelves uprightly in this their lpiritual fac- 
 tory : which they forefeeing, though they cannot but terrify of Truth, 
 and the excellency of that heavenly Traffick which they bring, againft 
 what Oppofition or Danger foever, yet needs mull it fit heavily upon 
 their Spirits, that being in God's prime Intention and their own, fe- 
 lected Heralds of Peace, and Difpcnfers of Treafure ineftimable, with- 
 out price to them that have no Pence, they find in ths difcharge of their 
 CommifTion, that they are made the greatelt Variance and Offence, a very 
 Sword and Fire both in Houfe and City over the whole Earth. This is that 
 which the fad Prophet Jeremiah laments,^ is me my Mother, that then haft born 
 me a Man of ft rife and contention ! And although div ine Infpiration muff, certain- 
 ly have bin fweet to thofe ancient Prophets, yet the irkfomnefs of that Truth 
 which they brought, was fo unpleafant unto them, that every where they call 
 it a Burden. Yea, that myfterious Book of Revelation, which the greatEvan- 
 Vol. I. I gehft
 
 r8 The Reafon of Church-Government^ Book IF. 
 
 gelift was bid to eat, as it had bin fome eye-brightning Electuary of Know-* 
 fed^e and Forefight, though it were fweet in his mouth, andin t: , m r , 
 it was bitter in his belly, bitter in the denouncing. Nor was this hid from the 
 wile Poet Sophocles, who in that place of his Tragedy, whcreTire/ias is call'd 
 to refolve K. CEdipus in a matter which he knew would be grievous, brings him 
 in bemoaning his lot, that he knew more than other Men. For furely to eve- 
 ry o-ood and peaceable Man, it muft in nature needs be a hateful thing to be 
 the^difpleafer and molefter of thoufands ■, much better would it like him doubt- 
 lefs to be the Mefienger of Gladnels and Contentment, which is his chief in- 
 tended bufinefs to all Mankind, but that they refift and oppofe their own true 
 happinefs. But when God commands to fake the Trumpet, and blow a do- 
 lorous or a jarring Waft, it lies not in Man's Will what he (hall fay, or what he 
 fhall conceal. If he mail think to be iilent, as Jeremiah did, becaufe of the re- 
 proach and derifionhe met with daily, and all his familiar Friends watch' d for 
 his halting, to be reveng'd on him for (peaking the Truth, he would be fore'd 
 to confefs as he confeft ; his Word was in my heart as a burning fire font tip in 
 my bones i I was weary -with forbearing, and could not flay. Which might teach 
 theie times not fuddenly to condemn all things that are fharply fpoken, or ve- 
 hemently written, as proceeding out of Stomach, Virulence, and Ill-nature ; 
 but to confider rather that if the Prelates have Lave to fay the worft that can 
 be faid, or do the worft that can be done, while they ftrive to keep to them- 
 felves, to their great plcafure and commodity, thole things which they ought 
 to render up, no man can be juftly offended with him that mail endeavour to 
 impart and beftow, without any gain to himfelf, thofe iharp but faving 
 words, which would be a terror and a torment ii him to keep back. For 
 me, I have determin'd to lay up as the beftTreafure, and folace of a good 
 old A°-e, if God vouchfafe it me, the honeft liberty of free lpeech from my 
 Youth^where I fhall think it available in fo dear a Concernment as the Church's 
 good. For if I be either by difpofition, or what otner caufe, too inqui- 
 fuve, or fufpicious of myfelf and mine own doings, who can help it ? But 
 this I forcfee, that mould the Church be brought under heavy opprefTion, and 
 God have given me ability the while to reafon againftthatMan that Ihould be 
 the Author of lb foul a deed •, or fhould fhe, by bleffing from above on the 
 induftry and courage of faithful Men, change this her diffracted eftate into 
 better days, without the leaft furtherance or contribution of thofe few Talents 
 which God at that prefent had lent me, I forefee what ftories I fhould hear 
 within myfelf, all my life after, of Difcourage and Reproach. Timorous and 
 ingrateful, the Church of God is now again at the foot of her infulting Ene- 
 mfes, and thou bewaileft ; what matters it for thee, or thy bewailing? When 
 time was, thou could'ft not find a fyllable of all that thou haft read, or ftudi- 
 ed, to utter in her behalf. Yet eafe and leifure was given thee for thy re- 
 tired Thoughts, out of the fweat of other Men. Thou hadft the diligence, 
 the parts, die language of a Man, if a vain Subject were to be adorn'd or 
 beautify'd ; but when the caufe of Godand his Church was to be pleaded, for 
 which purpofe that Tongue was given thee which thou haft, God liften'd if 
 he could hear thy voice among his zealous Servants, but thou wert dumb as a 
 beaft ; from henceforward be that which thine own brutifh filence hath made 
 thee. Or elfe I Ihould have heard on the other ear ; Slothful, and ever to be 
 fet light by, the Church hath now overcome her late Diftreffes after the. un- 
 wearied labours of many her true Servants that flood up in her defence ; thou 
 alfo would ft take upon thee to fhare amongft them of their joy : But where- 
 fore thou ? Where canft thou fhew any Word or Deed of thine which might 
 have haften'd her peace ? Whatever thou dofl now talk, or write, or look, is 
 the Alms of other Men's active prudence and zeal. Dare not now to fay, or do 
 any thing better than thy former floth and infancy ; or if thou dar'ft, thou doft 
 impudently to make ajthrifty purchafe ol boldnefs tothyfelf, out of the pain- 
 . ful Merits of other Men ; what before was thy Sin, is now thy Du:y, to be 
 abject and worthlefs. Thefe, and fuch like leflbns as thele, I know would 
 have bin my Matins duely, and my Even- long. But now by this lictle dili- 
 gence, mark what a privilege I have gain'd with good Men and Saints, to 
 claim my right of lamenting the tribulations of the Church, if fhe fhould 
 fuffer, when others that have ventur'd nothing for her fake, have notthe ho- 
 
 nour
 
 Book II. urg V ' againft Prelaty. eg 
 
 riour to be admitted Mourner';. But if fhe lift up her drooping head and 
 profper, among thofe that have fomething more than wifh'd her welfare, I 
 have my charter and freehold of rejoicing to me and my Heirs. Concerning 
 therfore this wayward Subject againft Prelaty, the touching wherofis !o 
 diftaftful and difquietous to a number of Men, as by what hath bin faid 
 I may deferve of charitable Readers to be credited, that neither Envy nur 
 Gall hath entred me upon this Controvrrly, but the enforcement ofConfci- 
 enceonly, and a preventive fear left the omitting, of this Duty fhould be a- 
 gainft me when I would ftore up to myfelf the good provifion of peaceful 
 hours: So left it mould be ftill imputed to me, as I have found it hath bin, 
 that fomefeif-pleafing humour of vain-glory hath incited me to conteft with 
 Men of high eftimation, now while green years are upon my head, from 
 this needlefs furmifal I ihall hope to difiuade the intelligent and equal Au- 
 ditor, if I can but fay fuccefsfully that which in this Exigent behoves me •, al- 
 though I would be heard only, if it might be, by the elegant and learned 
 Reader, to whom principally tor a while I ihall beg leave I may addrefs my 
 felf. To him it will be no new thing, though I tell him that if I hunted after 
 praife, by theofteiitation of Wit and Learning, I ihould not write thus out 
 of mine own feafon, when I have neither yetcompleated to my mind the full 
 Circle of my private lludies, although I complain not of any infufficieney to 
 the matter in hand ; or were I ready to my wifheSj it were a folly to commit- 
 any thing elaborately compos'd to r he carelefs and interrupted lifteriing of 
 thefe tumultuous times. Next, li I were wife only to my own ends, J would 
 ^ certainly take fuch a Subject as of itfelf might catch applauie, wheras this 
 hath all the Difadvantages on the contrary, and fuch a Subject as the publifh- 
 ingwherof might be delay 'd at pleafure, and time enough to pencil it over 
 with all the curious touches of Art, even to the perfection of a faultlefs Pic- 
 ture ; whenas in this Argument the not deferring is of great moment to the 
 good fpeeding, that if Solidity have leifure to do her office, Art cannot have 
 much. Laftly, I fhould not chufe this manner of writing, wherin knowing 
 myfelf inferior to myfelf, led by the genial Power of Nature to another 
 Talk, I have the ufe, as I may account it, but of my left hand. And though 
 I fhall be foolifh in faying more to this purpofe, yetfince it will be fuch a folly, 
 aswifeft Men go about to commit, have only confefs'd and fo committed, 
 I may truft with more reafon, becaufe with more folly, to have courteous par- 
 don. For although a Poet, foaring in the high Region of his Fancies, with his 
 Garland and finging Robes about him, might, without Apology, fpeak more 
 of himfelf than I mean to do •, yet for me fitting here below in the cool Ele- 
 ment of Profe, a mortal thing among many Readers of no Empyreal Conceit, 
 to venture and divulge unufual things of myfelf, I fhall petition to the gen- 
 tler fort, it may not be envy to me. I muft fay therfore, that after I had* 
 from my firft years, by the ceafelefs diligence and care of my Father, whom 
 God recompence, bin exercis'd to the Tongues, and fome Sciences, as my 
 Age would fuffer, by fundry Mafters and Teachers both at home and at the 
 Schools, it was found, that whether aught was impos'd me by them that had 
 the over-looking, or betaken to of mine own choice in Englija, or other 
 Tongue, profing or verfing, but chiefly this latter, the ftile by certain vital 
 Signs it had, was likely to live. But much latelier in the private Academies of 
 Italy, whither I was favour'd to refort, perceiving that fome Trifles which I 
 had in memory, compos'd at under twenty or therabout, (for the manner is, 
 that every one muft give fome proof of his wit and reading there) met with 
 acceptance above what was look'd for ;and other things which I had fhifted in 
 fcarcity of Books and Conveniences to patch up amongft them, were receiv'd 
 with written Encomiums, which the Italian is not forward to beftow on Men 
 of this fide the Alps, I began thus far to afTent both to them and divers of my 
 Friends here at home ; and not lefs to an inward prompting which now grew 
 daily upon me, that by labour and intent ftudy, (which I take to be my portion 
 in this Life) join'd with the ftrong propenfity of Nature, I might perhaps 
 leave fomething fo written to after-times, as they fhould not willingly let it 
 die. Thefe thoughts at once pofTefs'd me, and thefe other ; That if I were 
 certain to write as Men buy Leales, for three Lives and dovvnwardj there 
 ought no regard be fooner had than to God's glory, by the honour and in- 
 Vol. I. I 2 ftrudion
 
 6o ¥he Reafon of Church-Government^ Book I L 
 
 ftruftionof my Country. For which caufe, and not only for that I knew it 
 would be hard to arrive at the lecond Rank among the Latins, I apply'd my- 
 felf to that Refolution which Ari oft o follow'd againil the perfuafions of Bern- 
 bo, to fix all the Induftry and Art I could unite to the adorning of my native 
 Tongue ; nottomakeverbal Curiofuies the end, that were a toilfome Vanity, 
 but to be' an Interpreter and Relater of the beft and fageft things among mine 
 own Citizens throughout this Ifland in the mother dialect. That what the 
 gpeateft and choiceft Wits of Athens, Rome, or modern Italy, and thofe //<?- 
 bretos of old did for their Country, I, in my proportion, with this over and 
 above, of being a Chriitian, might do for mine ; not caring to be once nam'd 
 abroad, though perhaps I could attain to that, but content with thefe Britijb 
 Iflands as my World, whofe Fortune hath hitherto bin, that if the Athenians, 
 as fome fay, made their fmall Deeds great and renowned by their eloquent 
 writers, England hath had her noble Achievements made fmall by the un- 
 fkilful handling of Monks and Mechanics. 
 
 Time ferves not now, and perhaps I might fcem too profufe to give any 
 certain account of what the mind at home, in the fpaeious circuits of her mu- 
 fine hath liberty to propofe to herfelf, though of higheft hope, and hard- 
 eft attempting; whether that Epic Form wherof the two Poems of Homer, and 
 thofe other two of Virgil and Tajjo are a diffufe, and the Book of Job a brief 
 Model : or whether the Rules of Ariftotle herin are ftrictly to be kept, or Na- 
 ture to be follow'd, which in them that know Art, and ufe Judgment, is no 
 tranfnefiion, butan inriching of Art. And laftly, wliat King or Knight before 
 the Conqueft, might be chofen in whom to lay the pattern of a Chriftian Hero. 
 And as Taftb gave to a Prince of Italy his choice, whether he would command 
 him to write oi Godfrey's expedition againft the Infidels, or Belifarius againft 
 the Goths, or Charlemain againft the Lombards ; if to the inftinct of Nature 
 and the imboldning of Art aught may be truftcd, and that there be nothing 
 adverfe in our Climate, or the late of this Age, it haply would be no rafhnefs 
 from anequal diligence and inclination, to prefent the like offer in our own 
 ancient Stories. Or whether thofe Dramatic Conftitutions, wherin Sopho- 
 cles and Euripides reign, fha.ll be found more doctrinal and exemplary to a Na- 
 tion. The Scripture alio affords us a Divine paftoral Drama in the Song of 
 Solomon, confifting of two Pcrfons, and a double Chorus, as Origen rightly 
 judges. And the Apocalypfe of Saint John is the majeftic Image of a high 
 and ftately Tragedy, fhutting up and intermingling her folemn Scenes and 
 Acts with a fevenfold Chorus ofHalielujah's and harping Symphonies : and this 
 my opinion the grave authority of Parens, commenting that Book, is fufficient 
 to confirm. Or if occafion fhall lead, to imitate thofe magnific Odes and 
 Hymns wherin Pindarics and Callimachus are in moft things worthy, fome o- 
 thers in their frame judicious, in their matter moft an end faulty. But thofe 
 frequent Songs throughout the Law and Prophets beyond all thefe, not in their 
 divine Argument alone, but in the very critical Art of Compofition, may be 
 eafily made appear over all the kinds of Lyric Poefy, to be incomparable. 
 Thefe abilities, wherefoever they be found, are the infpired gift of God rare- 
 ly beftow'd, but yet to fome (though moft abufe) in every Nation : and are 
 of power, befide the Office of a Pulpit, to inbreed and cherifh in a great 
 People the feeds of Virtue, and public Civility, to allay the perturbations of 
 the Mind, and fet the affections in right tune •, to celebrate id glorious and 
 lofty Hymns the Throne and Equipage of God's Almightinefs, and what he 
 works, and what he fuffers to be wrought with high Providence in his Church ; 
 to fing victorious Agonies of Martyrs and Saints, the Deeds and Triumpiis 
 of juft and pious Nations, doing valiantly through Faith againft the Enemies 
 ofChrift-, to deplore the general relapfes of Kingdoms and States from 
 juftice and God's true worfhip. Laftly, whatfoever in Religion is holy and 
 fublime, in Virtue amiable or grave, whatfoever hath Paffion or Admiration 
 in all the changes of that which is called Fortune from without, or the wily 
 fubtleties and refluxes of Man's thoughts from within ; all thefe things with 
 a folid and treatable fmoothnefs to paint out and defcribe. Teaching over the 
 whole Book of Sanctity and Virtue, through all the inftances of Example, 
 with fuch delight to thofe, efpecially of foft and delicious Temper, who will 
 not fo much as look upon Truth herfelf, unlefs they fee her elegantly dreft ; 
 ■z that
 
 Book II. urgd agdinft Prelaty. 6i 
 
 that wheras the Paths of LTonefty and good Life appear now rugged and dif- 
 ficult, though they be indeed eafy and pleafant, they would then appear to 
 i Men both eafy and pleafant, though they were rugged and difficult indeed. 
 And what a benefit this would be to our Youth and Gentry, may be foon 
 it by what we know of the Corruption and Bane which they fuck in daily 
 from the writings and interludes of libidinous and ignorant Poetafters, who 
 having fcarce ever heard of that which is the main confiftence of a true Poem* 
 the choice of fuch Perfons as they ought to introduce, and what is moral and 
 decent to each one, do for the moft part lay up vicious Principles in fweet 
 Pills to be fwallow'd down, and make the tafte of virtuous Documents harm 
 and lour. Butbecaufe the Spirit of Man cannot demean itfelf lively in this 
 Body without fome recreating intermiffion of Labour, and ferious things, it 
 were happy for the Commonwealth, if our Magiftrates, as in thofe famous 
 Governments of old, would take into their care, not only the deciding of 
 our contentious Law-cafes and Brawls, but the managing of our public 
 Sports, and feftival Paftirnes, that they might be, not fuch as were authoriz'd 
 a while fince, the provocations of Drunkennefs and Lull, but fuch as may in- 
 ure and harden our Bodies by martial exercifes to all war-like fkill and per- 
 formance •, and may civilize, adorn, and make dilcreet our Minds by the 
 learned and affable meeting of frequent Academies, and the procurement of 
 wife and artful recitations, f.veeten'd with eloquent and graceful inticements 
 to the love and practice of Juftice, Temperance, and Fortitude, inftructih<* 
 and bettering the Nation at all opportunities, that the call of Wifdom and. 
 Virtue may be heard every where, as Solomon faith ; She cricth without, Jlje 
 uttereth her voice in the Streets, in the top of high places, in the chief cencourfe, and 
 in the openings of the Gates. Whether this may be not only in Pulpits, but after 
 another perfuafive method, at let and folemn Paneguries, in Theatres, Porch- 
 es, or what other place or way, may win moft upon the People to receive at 
 once both Recreation, and Inftruction ; let them in Authority confult. The 
 thing which I had to fay, and thofe Intentions which have liv'd within me ever 
 fince I could conceive myfelf any thing worth to my Country, I return to 
 crave excufe that urgent Reafon hath pluckt from me, by an abortive and 
 lore-dated difcovery. And the accomplifhment of them lies not but in a 
 power above man's topromife; but that none hath by more ftudious ways 
 endeavour'd, and with more unwearied Spirit that none mall, thatl darealmoft 
 aver of my felf, as far as life and free leifure will extend ; and that the Land 
 had once infranchis'd herfelf from this impertinent yoke of Prelaty, under 
 whole inquifitorious and tyrannical duncery, no free and fplendidWit can rlou- 
 rilh. Neither do I think it ihame to covenant with any knowing Reader, 
 that for fome few years yet I may go on truft with him toward the payment 
 of what I am now indebted, as being a work not to be rais'd from the heat 
 of Youth, or the vapours of Wine •, like that which flows at wafte from the 
 Pen of fome vulgar Amorift, or the trencher fury of a riming Parafite ; nor 
 to be obtain'd by the invocation of Dame Memory and her Siren Daughters, 
 but by devout Prayer to that eternal Spirit, who can enrich with all utter- 
 ance and knowledge, and fends out his Seraphim, with the hallow'd Fire of his 
 Altar, to touch and purify the Lips of whom he pleafes : to this muft be ad- 
 ded, induflrious and felect Reading, fteady Obfervation, infight into all feemly 
 and generous Arts and Affairs •, till which in fome meafure be compafs'd, at 
 mine own peril and coft, I refiife not to fuftain this expectation from as many 
 as are not loth to hazard fo much credulity upon the beft Pledges that I can 
 give them. Although it nothing content me to have dilclos'd thus much be- 
 fore hand, but that I truft hereby to make it manifeft with what fmall willing 
 nefs I endure to interrupt the purfuit of no lefs hopes than thefe, and leave a 
 calm and pleafing Solitarinefs, fed with chearful and confident thoughts, to 
 imbark. in a troubled Sea of Noifes and hoarfe Difputes, from beholding the 
 bright countenance of Truth in the quiet and ftill air of delightful Studies, 
 to come into the dim reflection of hollow Antiquitiesfold by the feemingbulk, 
 and there be fain to club quotations with Men whofe learning and belief lies 
 in marginal ftuffings •, who when they have, like good fumpters, laid ye down 
 their horfe-load of Citations and Fathers at your door, with a Rapfodv of 
 who and who were Bifhops here or there, ye may take off their Packfaddles, 
 
 their
 
 6 2 The Rcafon of 'Church-Government, Book 1L 
 
 their day's work is done, and Epifcopacy, as they think, ftoutly vindicated. 
 Let any gentle Apprehenfion that can diftinguifli learned Pains from unlearned 
 Drudgery, imagine what pleafure or profoundnefs can be in this, or what ho- 
 nour to deal againft fuch Adverfaries. But were it the meaneft under-fcrvice, 
 if God by his fecretary Confcience enjoin it, it were fad for me if I mould 
 drawback •, for me efpecialiy, now when all Men offer their aid to help, eafe 
 and lighten the difficult labours of the Church, to whofe fervice, by the in- 
 tentions of my Parents and Friends, I was deftin'd of a Child, and in mine 
 own relblutions, till coming to fome maturity of years, and perceiving what 
 Tyranny had invaded the Church, that he who would take Orders mull fub- 
 fcribe Slave, and take an Oath withal -, which unlefs he took with a Confci- 
 ence that would retch, he mull: either ftrait perjure, or fplit his Faith •, I 
 thought it better to prefer a blamelefs filence before the facred Office of fpeak- 
 ing, bought and begun with fervitude and forfwearing. Howlbever thus 
 Church-outed by the Prelates, hence may appear the right I have to meddle 
 in thefe matters, as before the neceffity and conftraint appear'd. 
 
 i 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 i That Prelaty oppofeth the reafon and end of the Gofpei three: 
 
 ways-, and jirjl in her outward Form. 
 
 AFTER this digreffion, it would remain that I mould fingle out fome 
 other reafon which might undertake for Prelaty to be a fit and lawful 
 Church-Government-, but finding none of like validity with thefe that have 
 already fped according to their fortune, I fhall add one reafon why it is not 
 to be thought a Church-Government at all, but a Church-Tyranny, and is 
 at hoftile Terms with the end and reafon of Chrift' s Evangelic Miniftry. Al- 
 beit I muft confefs to be half in doubt whether I fhould bring it forth or no, 
 it being fo contrary to the eye of the World, and the World id potent in moft 
 Men's Hearts, that I fhall endanger either not to be regarded, or not to be 
 underftood: For who is there almoft that meafures Wifdom by Simplicity, 
 Strength by Suffering, Dignity by Lowlinefs ? Who is there that counts it firft 
 to be laft, fomething to be nothing, and reckons himfelf of great command 
 in that he is a Servant ? Yet God when he meant to fubdue the World and 
 Hell at once, part of that to Salvation, and this wholly to Perdition, made 
 choice of no other Weapons, or Auxiliaries than thefe, whether to fave or to 
 deftroy. It had bin a fmall Maftery for him to have drawn out his Legions 
 into array, and flank'd them with his Thunder •, therfore he fent Foolifhnefs 
 to confute Wifdom, Weaknefs to bind Strength, Defpifednefs to vanquifh 
 Pride : And this is the great myftery of the Gofpei made good in Chrift him- 
 felf, who as he teftifies came not to be miniftred to, but to miniller •, and 
 muft be fulfill'd in all his Minifters till his fecond coming. To go a- 
 gainft thefe Principles St. Paul fo fear'd, that if he fhould but affecl: the Wif- 
 dom of words in his preaching, he thought it would be laid to his 
 charge, that he had made the Crofs of Chrift to be of none effeft. 
 Whether then Prelaty do not make of none effeft the Crofs of Chrift, 
 by the principles it hath fo contrary to thefe, nullifying the power and 
 end of the Gofpei, it fhall not want due proof, if it want not due 
 belief. Neither fhall I ftand to trifle with one that will tell me of Quid- 
 dities and Formalities, whether Prelaty or Prelateity in abftracl notion be this 
 or that •, it fuffices me that I find it in his Skin, fo I find it infeparable, or not 
 oftner otherwife than a Phenix hath bin feen ; although I perfuade me that 
 whatever faultinefs was but fuperficial to Prelaty at the beginning, is now by 
 the juft Judgment of God, long fince branded and inworn into the very ef- 
 fence therof. Firft therfore, if to do the work of the Gofpei, Chrift our Lord 
 took upon him the form of a Servant; how can his Servant in thisMiniftry take 
 upon him the form of a Lord ? I know Rilfon hath decypher'd us all the galan- 
 teries of Signore z\\^MonJjgnore. ) ^.n6.Monfjcm\ as circumftantially as any puncdu- 
 
 alift
 
 Book II. u/'g'dagafn/l Prelaty. 63 
 
 alift of Cafteel, Naples, or Fountain-Mean could have done: but this muft not 
 fo complement us out of our right minds, as to be to learn that the form of 
 a Servant was a mean, laborious, and vulgar Life apteit to teach ; which form 
 Chrift thought fitteft, that he might bring about his Will according to his 
 own Principles, chufing the meaner things of this World, that he might put 
 under the high. Now whether the pompous Garb, the lordly Life, the 
 Wealth, the haughty diftance of Prelaty be thofe meaner things of the World, 
 wherby God in them would manage the myftery of his Gofpel, be it the ver- 
 dict of common fenfe. For Chrift faith in St. John, The Servant is not great- 
 er than his Lord, nor he that is fent greater than he that fent him ; and adds 
 If ye know tbefe things, happy are ye if ye do them. Then let the Prelates well 
 ad vile, if they neither know, nor do thefe things, or if they know, and yet 
 do them not, wherin their Happinefs confifts. And thus is the Gofpel fruf- 
 trated by the lordly Form of Prelaty. 
 
 C H A P. II. 
 
 That the ceremonious DoSirine. of Prelaty oppofeth the rca- 
 fon and end of the Go/pel. 
 
 THAT which next declares the heavenly Power, and reveals the deep 
 myftery of the Gofpel, is the pure fimplicity of Doctrine, accounted the 
 foolifhnefs of this World, yet crofting and confounding the Pride and Wif- 
 dom of the Fleih. And wherin confifts this fleftily Wifdom and Pride ? In 
 being altogether ignorant of God and his Worfhip ? No fu rely, for Men are 
 naturally afham'd of that. Where then ? It confifts in a bold prefumption of 
 ordering the Worfhip and Service ol God after Man's own Will in Traditions 
 and Ceremonies. Now if the Pride and Wifdom of the Flefh Were to be de- 
 feated and confounded, no doubt but in that very point wherin it was proud- 
 eft, and thought itfelf wifeft, that fo the victory of the Gofpel might be the 
 more illuftrious. But our Prelates, inftead of exprefling the fpiritual Power of 
 their Miniftry, by warring againll this chief bulwark and ftrong-hold of the 
 Flefli, have enter'd into faft League with the principal Enemy againll whom 
 they were fent, and turn'd the ftrength of fleflily Pride and Wifdom a- 
 gainft the pure fimplicity offaving Truth. Firft, miftrufting to find the 
 Authority of their Order in the immediate Inftitution of Chrift, or his Apoilles, 
 by the clear evidence of Scripture, they fly to the carnal fupportment of 
 Tradition-, when we appeal to the Bible, they to the unwieldy Volumes of 
 Tradition : And do not fhame to reject, the Ordinance of him that is eternal, 
 for the perverfe iniquity of fixteen hundred years •, chufing rather to think 
 Truth itfelf a Lyar, than that fixteen Ages Ihould be rax'd with an error ; 
 not conlidering the general Apoftacy that was foretold, and the Church's 
 flight into the Wildernefs. Nor is this enough •, inftead of fhewing the reafon 
 of their lowly Condition from divine example and command, they feek to 
 prove their high pre-eminence from human Confentand Authority. But let 
 them chaunt while they will of Prerogatives, we fhall tell them ol Scripture ; 
 ofCuftom, we of Scripture; of Acts and Statutes, ftill of Scripture ; till 
 the quick and piercing Word enter to the dividing of their Souls, and the 
 mighty weaknefs ofthe Gofpel throw down the weak mightinefs of Man's rea- 
 foning. Now for their demeanor within the Church, how have they disfigur'd 
 and defac'd that, more than angelic brightnefs, tiie unclouded ferenity of 
 Chriftian Religion, with the dark overcafting of fuperftitious Copes and fla- 
 minical Veftures, wearing on their Backs, and I abhor to think, perhaps in 
 fome worfe Place, the unexpreflible Image of God the Father ? Tell me, ye 
 Priefts, wherfore this Gold, wherfore thefe Robes and Surplices over the 
 Gofpel ? Is our Religion guilty of the firft Trefpafs, and hath need of cloath- 
 ing to cover her nakednefs ? What does this elfe but caft an ignominy upon 
 the perfection of Chrift's miniftry, by feeking to adorn it with that which was 
 
 the
 
 6 a *fbe Reafin of Church-Government k , Book J I. 
 
 the poor remedy of our Shame ? Believe it, wondrous Doctors, all corporeal 
 refemblances of inward Holinefs and Beauty are now pad ; he that will cloach 
 the Gofpel now, intimates plainly, that the Gofpcl is naked, uncomely, that 
 I may not fay reproachful. Do' not, ye Church-rnalkers, while Chrift is 
 cloathing upon our Barrennefs with his righteous Garment, to make us accept- 
 able in Ins Father's fight •, do not, as ye do, cover am I hide his righteous verity 
 with the polluted clothing of your Ceremonies, to make it feem more decent 
 in your own eyes. Hcvj beautiful, faith Ifaiah, are the Feet cj him (bet bring* 
 eth good, tydings, that fublijhetb Salvation ! Are the feet fo beautiful, and is rhe 
 very bringing of thefe tydings fo decent of itfelf? What new Decency then 
 can'be added to this by your fpinftry ? Ye think by thefe gaudy glifterings to 
 ftir up the devotion of the rude Multitude -, ye thinkib, beeaule ye forfake the 
 heavenly teaching of St. Paul for the hellifh Sophiftry of Papiftn. Ifthe Mul- 
 titude be rude, the lips of the Preacher mull give Knowledge, and not Cere- 
 monies. And although fome Chriftians be new-born Babes comparatively to 
 feme that are ftronger, yet in refpect of Ceremony, which is but a rudiment 
 of the Law, the weakeft Chriftian hath thrown oh" the robes of his Minority ^ 
 and is a perfect Man, as to legal Rites. What children's food there is in the 
 Gofpel, we know to be no other than thzjincerily of /be Word, thai they may grow 
 therby. But is here the utmoft of your out-braving the ferviee of God ? No. 
 Ye have bin bold, not to fet your thrcfhold by hi* threihold, or your ports 
 by his polls •, but your Sacrament, your bign, call it what you will, by his 
 Sacrament, baptizing the Chriftian Infant with a folemn fprinkle, and un- 
 baptizing for your own part with a prophaneand impious Fore-finger : as if 
 when ye had laid the purifying element upon his Forehead, ye meant to can- 
 cel and crofs it out again with a character not of God's bidding. O but the In- 
 nocence of thefe Ceremonies ! O rather the fottifn abfurdity of this excufe! 
 What could be more innocent than the wafhing of a cup, a glafs, or hands be- 
 fore meat, and that under the Law when fo many Warnings were command- 
 ed, and by long tradition ? yet our Saviour detefted their Cuftoms, though 
 never fo feeming harmlefs, and charges them feverely that they had tranf- 
 grefs'dthe Commandments of God by their traditions, and worihip'd him in 
 vain. How much more then mufl thefe, and much groffer Ceremonies now 
 in force, delude the end of Chrift's coming in the flefh againft the flefh, and 
 ftifle the fincerity of our new Covenant, which hath bound us to forfake all 
 carnal Pride and Wifdom, efpecially in matters of Religion ? Thus we fee 
 again how Prelaty, failing in oppofition to the main end and power of the 
 Gofpel, doth not join in that myfterious Work of Chrift, by lowiinefs to con- 
 found height, by fimplicity of doctrine the wifdom of the world, but contra - 
 riwife hath made itfelf high in the world and the flefh, to vanquifh things by 
 the world accounted low, and made itfelf wife in tradition and rlefhly cere- 
 mony, to confound the purity of doctrine which is the Wifdom of God. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 That Prelatical Jurifdi&ion oppofeth the reafon and end -of 
 
 the Gofpel a?id of State. 
 
 THE third and laft Confederation remains, whether the Prelates in their 
 Function do work according to the Gofpel, praclifing to fubdue the 
 mighty things of this World by things weak, which St. Paulhnh fet forth to 
 be the power and excellence of the Gofpel ; or whether in more likelihood they 
 band themfelves with the prevalent things of this world, to over-run the weak 
 things which Chrift hath made choice to work by ; and this will fooneft be 
 difcern'd by the courfe of their Jurifdiction. But here again I find my thoughts 
 almoft in fufpenfe betwixt yea and no, and am nigh turning mine eye which 
 way .1 may beft retire, and not proceed in this fubject, blaming the ardency 
 of my mind that fix'd me too attentively to come thus far. For Truth, I 
 
 know
 
 Book H. urgd againft Prelatv. 6 c 
 
 know not how, hath this unhappinefs fatal to her, ere fhe can come to the 
 trial and inflection of the Underftanding ; being to pafs through many little 
 wards and limits of the feveral Affections and Defires, fhe cannot Jhift it, but 
 mult put on fuch colours and attire, as thofe pathetical handmaids of the Soul 
 pleafe to lead her in to their Queen : And if fhe find fo much favour with 
 them, they let her pafs in her own likenefs ; if not, they bring her into the 
 prefe nee habited and colour'd like a notorious Falfhood. And contrary, when 
 any Falfhood comes that way, if they like the errand fhe brings, they are fo 
 artful to counterfeit the very fhape and vifage of Truth, that the Under- 
 ftanding not being able to difcern the fucus which thefe InchantrefTes with 
 fuch cunning have laid upon the feature fometimes of Truth, fometimes of 
 Falfhood interchangeably, fentences for the moft part one for theocher at the 
 firft blufh, according to the fubtle impofhire of thefe fenfual MiftrefTes that 
 keep the ports and paffages between her and the objedt. So that were it not 
 for leaving imperfect that which is already laid, I fhould go near to relin- 
 quifh that which is to follow. And becaufe I fee that moft Men, as it happens 
 in this world, either weakly or falfly principled, what through ignorance, and 
 what through cuftom of licence, both in difcourfe and writing, by what hath 
 bin of late written in vulgar, have not feem'd to attain the decifion of this 
 point, I fhall likewife affay thole wily ArbitrefTes who in moft Men have, as 
 was heard, the fole ufhering of Truth and Falfhood between the Senfe and 
 the Soul, with what loyalty they will ufe me in convoying this Truth to my 
 underftanding •, the rather for that by as much acquaintance as I can obtain 
 with them, I do not find them engag'd either one way or other. Concerning 
 therfore Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction, I find ftill more controverfy, who fhould 
 adminifterit; than diligent enquiry made to learn what it is: for had the 
 pains bin taken to fearch out that, it had bin long ago. enroll'd to be nothino- 
 die but a pure tyrannical forgery of the Prelates ; and that jurifdictive power 
 in the Church there ought to be none at all. It cannot be conceiv'd that what 
 Men now call Jurifdiction in the Church, fhould be other thing than a 
 Chriftian Cenforihip •, and therfore is it moft commonly and truly nam'd 
 Ecclefiaftical Cenfure. Now if the Roman Cenfor, a civil function, to that 
 fevere affize of furveying and controlling the privateft and flieft manners of all 
 men and all degrees, had no Jurifdiction, no Courts of Plea, or Inditement, no 
 punitive force annex'd-, whether it were that to this manner of correction the 
 intanglement of (bits was improper, or that the notice of thofe upright In- 
 quifitors extended to fuch the moft covert and fpiritous vices as would flip 
 eafily between the wider and more material grafp of the Law ; or that it 
 flood more with the Majefty of that Office to have no other Serjeants or Maces 
 about them but thofe invifible ones of Terror and Shame: Or laftly, were it 
 their fear, left the greatnefsof this Authority and Honour, arm'd with Jurif- 
 diction, might ftep with eafe into a Tyranny : In all thefe reipects, with much 
 more reafon undoubtedly ought the cenfure of the Church be quite diverted 
 anddifintail'd of all Jurifdiction whatlbever. For if the courfe of Judicature 
 to a political Cenforihip feem either too tedious, or too contentious, much 
 more may it to the Difcipline of the Church, whofe definitive decrees are to 
 be fpeedy, but the execution of rigour flow, contrary to what in legal pro- 
 ceedings is moft ufual ; and by how much the lefs contentious it is, by fo 
 much will it be the more Chriftian. And if the Cenfor, in his moral Epifcopy, 
 being to judge moft in matters not anfwerable by writ or action, could not ufe 
 an inftrument fo grofs and bodily as Jurifdiction is, how can the Minifter of 
 the Gofpel manage the corpulent and fecular trial of Bill and Procefs in things 
 merely ipiritual ? Or could that Roman Office, without this juridical Sword 
 or Saw, ftrike fuch a reverence of itfelf into the moft uu Jaunted hearts, as 
 with one fingle dafh of ignominy to put all the Senate and Knighthood of 
 Rome into a tremble ? Surely much rather might the heavenly Miniftry of 
 the Evangel bind herfelf about with far more piercing beams of majefty 
 and awe, by wanting the beggarly help of halings and amercements in the 
 ufe of her powerful Keys. For when the Church without temporal fupport 
 is able to do her great works upon the unfore'd obedience of Men, it argues 
 a Divinity about her. But when fhe thinks to credit and better her fpiritual 
 efficacy, and to win herfelf refpect and dread by ftrutting in the falfe vizard 
 Vol. I. K of
 
 66 The Reafon of Church-Government ^ Book IL 
 
 of worldly Authority, 'tis evident that God is not there, but that her apofto- 
 lie virtue is departed from her, and hath left her Key cold: "Which fhe per- 
 ceiving as in a decay'd nature, feeks to the outward fomentations and chafings 
 of worldly help, and external flourifhes, to fetch, if it be poffible, forne 
 motion into her extreme parts, or to hatch a counterfeit life with the crafty 
 and artificial heat of Jurifdktion. But it is obfervable, that fo long as the 
 Church, in true imitation of Chrift, can be content to ride upon an Afs, car- 
 rying herfclf and her Government along in a mean and fimpie guife, me may 
 be, as he is, a Lion of the tribe of Judo, ; and in her humility all Men with 
 loud Hofanna's will confefs her greatnefs. But when defpifing the mighty 
 operation of the Spirit by the weak things of this world, fhe thinks to make 
 herfelf bigger and more confiderable, by ufing the way of civil force and 
 jurifdiction, as fhe fits upon this Lion fhe changes into an Afs, and inftead of 
 Hofanna's every Man pelts her with ftones and dirt. Laftly, if the wifdom 
 of the Romans fear'd to commit Jurifdiction to an Office offo high efteem 
 and dread as was the Cenfors, we may fee what a folecifm in the art of policy 
 it hath bin all this while through Chriftendom to give Jurifdiction to Eccle- 
 fiaftical Cenfure. For that Strength, jcin'd with Religion, abus'd and pre- 
 tended to ambitious ends, mud ofneceffity breed theheavieft and moft quel- 
 ling Tyranny not only upon the necks, but even to the fouls of Men : which 
 if Chriftian Rome had been fo cautelous to prevent in her Church, as Pagan 
 Rome was in her State, we had not had fuch a lamentable experience therof 
 as now we have from thence upon all Chriftendom. For although I faid be- 
 fore, that the Church coveting to ride upon the lionly form of Jurifdict ion, 
 makes a transformation of herfelf into an Afs, and becomes defpicable, 
 that is, to thofe whom God hathenlighten'd with true knowledge •, but where 
 they remain yet in the reliques of Superftition, this is the extremity of their 
 bondage and blindnefs, that while they think they do obeifance to the Lord- 
 ly vifige of a Lion, they do it to an Afs, that through the juft judgment of 
 God is permitted to play the dragon among them becaufe of their wilful ftu- 
 pidity. And let England here well rub her eyes, left by leaving Jurifdiction 
 and Church-Cenfure to the fame perfons, now that God hath bin fo long 
 medicining her eye-fight, fhe do not with her over-politic fetches mar all, 
 and bring herfelf back again to worfhip this Afs beftriding a Lion. Having 
 hitherto explain'd, that to Ecclefiaftical Cenfure no jurifdictive power can 
 be added, without a childifh and dangerous over-fight in Policy, and a perni- 
 cious contradiction in Evangelic Dilcipline, as anon more fully ; it wili be 
 next to declare wherin the true reafon and force of Church-Cenfure confifts, 
 which by then it fhall be laid open to the root ; fo little is it that I fear left 
 any crookednefs, any wrinkle or fpot fhouldbe found in Prefbyterial Govern- 
 ment, that if Bodin the famous French Writer, though a Papift, yet affirms, 
 that the Commonwealth which maintains this Dilcipline will certainly fiourifh 
 in Virtue and Piety ; I dare affuremyfelf that every true Proteftant will ad- 
 mire the Integrity, the Uprightnefs, the divine and gracious Purpofes therof, 
 and even for the reafon of it fo coherent with the doctrine of the Gofpel, 
 befide the evidence of command in Scripture, will confefs it to be the only 
 true Church-government ; and that contrary to the whole end and myfterv 
 of Chrift's coming intheflefh, a falfe appearance of the fame is exercis'd by 
 Prelaty. But becaufe fome count it rigorous, and that hereby Men fhall be 
 liable to a double Punifhment, I will begin fomewhat higher, and fpeak of 
 Punifhment. Which, as it is an evil, I efteem to be of two forts, or rather 
 two degrees only, a reprobate Confcience in this life, and Hell in the other 
 world. Whatever elfe Men call Punifhment or Cenfure, is not properly an 
 Evil, fo it be not an illegal violence, but a laving medicine ordain'd of God 
 both for the public and private good of Man ; who coniiitlngof two parts, the 
 inward and the outward, was by the eternal Providence left under two forts 
 of cure, the Church and the Magiftrate. The Magiftrate hath only to deal with 
 the outward part, I mean not of the Body alone, but of the Mind in all her out- 
 ward acts, which in Scripture is call'd the outward Man. So that it would be 
 helpful to us if we might borrow fuch Authority as the Rhetoricians by patent 
 may give us, with a kind of Promethean fkill to fhape and faihion this out- 
 ward Man into the fimilitude of a Body, and let him vifible before us ; 
 
 ? imagining
 
 Book IL urgd againJIPREL at y. 6 J 
 
 imagining the inner Man only as the Soul. Thus then the civil Magistrate 
 looking only upon the outward Man, (I fay as a Magiftrate, for what he doth 
 further, he doth it as a Member of the Church) if he find in his complexion, 
 fkin, or outward temperature the Signs and Marks, or in his doings the Ef- 
 fects of Injuftice, Rapine, Luft, Cruelty, or the like, fometimes he fhuts up 
 as in frenetick or infectious Difeafes ; or confines within doors, as in every 
 fickly eftate. Sometimes he fhaves by Penalty or Mulct, or elfe to cool and 
 take down thofe luxuriant Humours which Wealth and Excefs have caus'd to 
 abound. Otherwhiles he fears, he cauterizes, he fcarifies, lets blood ; and 
 finally, for utmoft remedy cuts off. The Patients, which molt an end are 
 brought into his Hofpital, are fuch as are far gone, and befide themfelves, 
 (unlefs they be falfly accus'd) fo that Force is neceffary to tame and quiet 
 them in their unruly fits, before they can be made capable of a more humane 
 cure. His general End is the outward Peace and Welfare of the Common- 
 wealth, and civil Happinefs in this Life. His particular End in every Man 
 is, by the infliction of pain, damage, and difgrace, that the Senfes and com- 
 mon perceivance might carry this MefTage to the Soul within, that it is nei^ 
 ther eafeful, profitable, nor praife-worthy in this Life to do evil. Which muft 
 needs tend to the good of Man, whether he be to live or die ; and be un- 
 doubtedly the firft means to a natural Man, efpecially an Offender, which 
 might open his eyes to a higher confideration of Good and Evil, as it is taught 
 in Religion. This is feen in the often penitence of thofe that fuffer, who, 
 had they efcap'd, had gone on finning to an immeafurable heap, which is one 
 of the extremeft punifhments. And this is all that the Civil Magiftrate, a3 
 fo being, confers to the healing of Man's mind, working only by terrifying 
 Plaifters upon the rind and orifice of the Sore ; and by all outward applian- 
 ces, as the Logicians fay, a pofteriori, at the Effect, and not from the Caufe; 
 not once touching the inward bed of Corruption, and that hectic difpofition to 
 evil, the fource of all Vice and Obliquity againft the Rule of Law. Which 
 how infufficient it is to cure the Soul of Man, we cannot better guefs than by 
 the Art of bodily Phyfic. Therfore God, to the intent of further healino- 
 Man's deprav'd Mind, to this Power of the Magiftrate, which contents itfelf 
 with the reftraint of evil doing in the external Man, added that which 
 we call Cenfure, to purge it and remove it clean out of the inmoft Soul. 
 In the beginning thisAuthority feems to have been plac'd, as all both civil and 
 religious Rites once were, only in each Father of a Family : Afterwards a- 
 mong the Heathen, in the wife Men and Philofophers of the Age •, but fo as 
 it was a thing voluntary, and no fet Government. More diftinctly amon°- 
 the Jews, as being God's peculiar, where the Priefts, Levites, Prophets, and 
 at laft the Scribes and Pharifees took charge of inftructing and overfeeino- the 
 Lives of the People. But in the Gofpel, which is the ftraiteft and the deareft 
 Covenant can be made between God and Man, we being now his adopted Sons, 
 and nothing fitter for us to think on than to be like him, united to him, and, as 
 he pleafes to exprefs it, to have fellowfhip with him ; it is all neceffity that 
 we fhould expeft this bleffed Efficacy of healing our inward Man to bemini- 
 ftred to us in a more familiar and effectual Method than ever before. God be- 
 ing now no more a Judge after the Sentence of the Law, nor, as it were, a 
 Schoolmafter of periihable Rites, but a moft indulgent Father, governing his 
 Church as a Family of Sons in their difcreet Age : and therfore in the fweet- 
 eft and mildeft manner of paternal Difcipline, he hath committed this other 
 Office of preferving in healthful conftitution the inner Man, which maybe 
 term'd the Spirit of the Soul, to his fpiritual Deputy the Minifterof each Con- 
 gregation ; who being beft acquainted with his own Flock, hath beft reafon to 
 know all the fecreteft Difeafes likely to be there. And look by how much the 
 internal Man is more excellent and noble than the external, by fo much is his 
 Cure more exactly, more throughly, and more particularly to be perfo.m'd. 
 For which caufe the Holy Ghoft by the Apoftles join'd to the Minifter, as 
 affiftant in this great Office, fometimes a certain number of grave and faithful 
 Brethren, (for neither doth the Phyfician doall in reftoring his Patient, he pre- 
 fcribes, another prepares the Medicine, fome tend, fome watch, fome vifit) 
 much more may a Minifter partly not fee all, partly err as a Man : Befides, that 
 nothing can be more for the mutual honour and love of the People to their 
 Vol. I. K 2 Paftor,
 
 68 The Reafon of * Church-Government, Book IL 
 
 Paftor, and his to them, than when in felect numbers and courfes they arc- 
 led! partaking, and doing reverence to the holy Duties of DifcipHne by their 
 ferviceable and folemn Prefence, and receiving honour again from their Em- 
 ployment, not now any more to be feparated in the Church by Vails and Par- 
 titions as Laics and unclean, but admitted to wait upon the Tabernacle as 
 the rightful Clergy of Chriil, a chofen Generation, a royal PriefthooJ, to of- 
 fer up fpiritual Sacrifice in that meet place to which God and the Congrega- 
 tion mall call and aflign them. And this all Chriftians ought to know, that the 
 Title of Clergy St. Peter gave to all God's People, till Pope Hhinus and the 
 fucceeding Prelates took it from them, appropriating that Name to them- 
 felves and their Priefts only ; and condemning the reft of God's Inheritance 
 to an injurious and alienate condition of Laity, they feparated from them by 
 local Partitions in Churches, through their grofs ignorance and pride imi- 
 tating the old Temple, and excluded the Members ofChrift from the pro- 
 perty of being Members, the bearing of orderly and fit Offices in the Eccle- 
 fiaftical Body, as if they had "meant to few up that Jevn/h Vail which Chrift 
 by his death on the Crofs rent in funder. Although thefe Ufurpers could not 
 foprefently over- m after the Liberties and lawful Titles of God's freeborn 
 Church •, but that Origen, being yet a Lay-man, expounded the Scriptures pub- 
 lickly, and was therin defended by Alexander of Jernfalem, and TheoBifius of 
 Cafarea, producing in his behalf divers Examples, that the privilege of teach- 
 ino- was anciently permitted to many worthy Lay-men : And Cyprian in his 
 Epiftles profefles he will do nothing without the advice and affent of his affi- 
 ftant Laics. Neither did the firft Nicene Council, as great and learned as it 
 was, think it any robbery to receive in, and require the help and prefenceof 
 many learned Lay-brethren, as they were then cal'l'd. Many other Authorities 
 to confirm this Aflertion, both out of Scripture and the Writings of next 
 Antiquity, Golartius hath collected in his Notes upon Cyprian -, wherby it will 
 be evident, that the Laity, not only by Apoftolic permilfion, but by confent 
 of many the ancienteft Prelates, did participate in Church-Offices as muchas is 
 defir'd any Lay-elder fhould now do. Sometimes alio not the Elders alone, 
 but the whole Body of the Church is interefted in the Work of Difcipline, 
 as oft as public Satisfaction is given by thofe that have given public Scandal. 
 Not to fpeak now of her right in Elections. But another reafon there is in 
 it, which though Religion did not commend to us, yet moral and civil Pru- 
 dence could not but extol. It was thought of old in Philofophy, that ihame, 
 or to call it better, the reverence of our Elders, our Brethren and Friends, 
 was the greateft Incitement to virtuous Deeds, and the greater!. diiTuafion 
 from unworthy Attempts that might be. Hence we may read in the Iliad, 
 where Hetlor being wifh'd to retire from the Battel, many of his Forces being 
 routed, makes anfwer, that he durft not for fhame, left the Trojan Knights 
 and Dames fhould think he did ignobly. And certain it is, that wheras Ter- 
 ror is thought fuch a great ftickler in a Commonwealth, honourable Shame is 
 a far greater, and has more reafon : for where Ihame is, there is fear ; but 
 where fear is, there is not prefently fhame. And if any thing may be done, 
 toinbreed in us this generous and chriftianly Reverence one of another, the 
 very Nurfe and Guardian of Piety and Virtue, it cannot fooner be than by 
 fuch a Difcipline in the Church, as may ufeus to have in awe the Affcmblies 
 of the Faithful, and to count it a thing mod grievous, next to the grieving of 
 God's Spirit, to offend thofe whom he hath put in Authority, as a healing fu- 
 perintendence over our Lives and Behaviours, both to our own happinefs,and 
 that we may not give offence to good men, who without amends by us made, 
 dare not, againft God's Command, hold Communion with us in holy things. 
 And this will be accompanied with a religious dread of being out-caft from the 
 company of Saints, and from the fatherly protection of God in his Church, 
 to confort with the Devil and'his Angels. But there is yet a more ingenuous 
 and noble degree of honefl fhame, or call it, if you will, an elleem, where- 
 by Men bear an inward Reverence toward their own Perfons. And if the 
 Love of God, as a Fire fentfrom Heaven to be ever kept alive upon the Altar 
 of our Hearts, be the firft Principle of all godly and virtuous Aciions in men, 
 this pious and juft honouring of ourfelves is the fecond, and may be thought 
 as the radical moifture and fountain-head, whence every laudable and wor- 
 thy
 
 Book II. urgd againjl PreLaty. 60 
 
 thy Enterprize iffues forth. And although I have given it the name of aJi- 
 quid thing, yet is it not incontinent to bound itfelf, as humid things are, but 
 hath in it a moft reftraining and powerful abftinence to Hart back, and glob 
 itfelf upward from the mixture of any ungenerous and unbefeeming mo- 
 tion, or any Soil wherwith it may peril to ftain itfelf. Something I confefs 
 it is to beafham'd of evil doing in the prefence of any ; and to reverence the 
 Opinion and the Countenance of a good Man rather than a bad, fearino- moft 
 in his fight to offend, goes fo far asalmoft to be virtuous •, yet this is butftill 
 the fear of Infamy, and many fuch, when they find themfclves alone, favin°- 
 their Reputation, will compound with other Scruples, and come to a clofe 
 treaty with their dearerVicesinfecrct. But he that holds himfelf in reverence 
 and due eftecm, both for the dignity of God's Image upon him, and for the 
 price of his Redemption, which he thinks is vifibly mark d upon his Forehead, 
 accounts himfelf both a fit Perfon to do the nobleft and godlieft Deeds, and 
 much better worth than to deject and defile, with fuch a debafement, and fuch 
 a pollution as Sin is, himfelf fo highly ranfom'd and enobled to anew Friend- 
 fhip and filial Relation with God. Nor can he fear fo much the offence and 
 reproach of others, as he dreads and would blufh at the reflection of his own 
 fevere and modeft eye upon himfelf, if it Ihould fee him doing or imagining 
 that which is finful, though in the deepeft fecrecy. Howfhall a Man knowto 
 do himfelf this right, how to perform this honourable duty of Eftimation 
 and Refpecl towards his own Soul and Body ? which way will lead him belt 
 to this Hill-top of Sanctity and Goodnefs, above which there is no higherafcent 
 but to the Love of God, which from this felf-pious regard cannot be afunder ? 
 No better way doubtlefs, than to let him duly underltand, that as he iscall'd 
 by the high Calling of God, to be holy and pure, fo is he by the fame appoint- 
 ment ordain'd, and by the Church's call admitted to fuch Offices of Difcipline 
 in the Church, to which his own fpiritual Gifts, by the Example of Apofto- 
 Jic Inftitution, have authoriz'd him. For we have learnt that the fcornful 
 term of Laic, the confecrating of Temples, Carpets, and Table-cloths, the 
 railing in of a repugnant and contradictive Mount Sinai in the Gofpel, as if 
 the touch of a Lay-chriftian, who is never the lefs God's living Temple, could 
 prophane dead Judaifms, the exclufion of Chrift's People from the Offices of 
 holy Difcipline through the pride of a ufurping Clergy, caufes the reft to 
 have an unworthy and abject Opinion of themfclves, to approach to holy 
 Duties with a flavifh fear, and to unholy doings with a familiar boldnefs. For 
 feeing fuch a wide and terrible diftance between religious things and them- 
 fclves, and that in refpect of a wooden Table, and the perimeter of holy 
 Ground about it, a flagon Pot, and a linen Corporal, the Prieft efteems 
 their Lay-fhips unhallow'd and unclean, they fear Religion with fuch a tear as 
 loves not, and think the purity of the Gofpel too pure for them, and that any 
 uncleannefs is more fuitable to their unconfecrated Eftate. But when every 
 good Chriftian throughly acquainted with all thofe glorious Privileges of Sanc- 
 tification and Adoption, which render him more iacred than any dedicated 
 Altar or Element, fhall be reftor'd to his right in the Church, and not ex- 
 cluded from fuch place of fpiritual Government, as his Chriftian Abilities, 
 and his approved good Life in the eye and teftimony of the Church fhall pre- 
 fer him to, this and nothing fooner will open his eyes to a wife and true valu- 
 ation of himfelf •, which is fo requifite and high a point ofChriftianity, and will 
 ftir him up to walk worthy the honourable and grave Employment wherwith 
 God and the Church hath dignify'd him •, not fearing left he Ihould meet with 
 fomc outward holy thing in Religion, which his Lay-touch or prefence might 
 profane ; but left fomething unholy from within his own Heart, fhoulddifho- 
 nour and prophane in himfelf that Prieftly Unction arid Clergy-right wherto 
 Chrift hath entitled him. Then would the Congregation of the Lord foon re- 
 cover the true likenefs and vifageof what fhe is indeed, a holy Generation, a 
 royal Priefthood, a faintly Communion, the Houfhold and City of God. And 
 this I hold to be another confiderable Reafon why the Functions of Church- 
 Government ought to be free and open to any Chriftian man, though never fo 
 laic, if his Capacity, his Faith and prudent Demeanor commend him. And 
 this the Apoftles warrant us to do. But the Prelates object, that this will bring 
 Prophanenefs into the Church: to whom may be reply'd, that none have 
 
 brought
 
 7G *The Reafon of Churchy-Government , Book I L 
 
 brought that in more than their own irreligious courfes, nor more driven Ho- 
 linefsout of living into lifelefs things. For wheras God, who hath cleans'd 
 every beaft and creeping worm, would not fuffer S. Peter to call them com- 
 mon or unclean, the Prelate Bifhops, in their printed Orders hung up in 
 Churches, have proclaim'd the beft of Creatures, Mankind* lb unpurify'd and 
 contagious, that for him to lay his Hat or his Garment upon the Chancel- 
 Table', they have defin'd it no lefs heinous, in exprefs words, than to pro- 
 phane 'theTable of the Lord. And thus have they by their Canaanitijh Doctrine* 
 (for that which was to the Jew but Jewijh, is to the Chriftian no better than 
 Canaanitijh) thus have they made common and unclean, thus have they made 
 prophane that nature which God hath not only cleans'd, but Chriftalfo hath af- 
 fum'd. And now that the equity and juft reafon is fo perfpicuous, why in 
 Ecclefiaftic cenfure the afiiftance Ihould be added of fuch, as whom not the 
 vile odour of Gain and Fees (forbid it God, and blow it with a Whirlwind 
 out of our Land) but Charity, Neighbourhood, and duty to Church-Govern- 
 ment hath call'd together, where could a wife Man wilh a more equal, gratu- 
 itous," and meek examination of any Offence that he might happen to commit 
 againft Chriftianity than here ? Would he prefer thofe proud limoniacal 
 Courts ? Thus therfore the Minilter affifted attends his Heavenly and Spiri- 
 tual Cure: where we lhall fee him both in the courie of his proceeding, and 
 firft in the excellency of his end, from the Magiftrate far different, and not 
 more different than excelling. His end is to recover all that is of Man, both 
 Soul and Body, to an everlafting Health : and yet as for Worldly Happinefs, 
 which is the proper Sphere wherin the Magiftrate cannot but confine his 
 motion without a hideous exorbitancy from Law, fo little aims the Minifter, 
 as his intended fbope, to procure the much Profperity of this Life, that oft- 
 times he may have caufe to wilh much of it away, as a Diet puffing up the 
 Soul with a flimy flelhinefs, and weakning her principal Organic parts. Two 
 heads of evil he has to cope with, Ignorance and Malice. Againlt the for- 
 mer he provides the daily Manna of incorruptible Doctrine, not at thofe fet 
 Meals only in public, but as oft as he lhall know that each Infirmity or 
 Conftitution requires. Againft the latter with all the branches therof, not 
 meddling with that reftraining and ftyptic Surgery which the Law ufes, noc 
 indeed a°-ainft the Malady, but againft the Eruptions, and outermoft Effects 
 therof-, he onthe contrary, beginning at the prime caufes and roots of the 
 Difeafe, fends in thofe two divine Ingredients of moll cleanfing power to the 
 Soul, Admonition and Reproof ; befides which two there is no Drug or An- 
 tidote that can reach to purge the mind, and without which all other Experi- 
 ments are but vain, unlefs by accident. And he that will not let thefe pals 
 into him, though he be thegreateft King, as Plato affirms, muff, be thought 
 to remain impure within, and unknowing of thofe things wherin his pure- 
 nefs and his knowledge Ihould moll appear. As foon therfore as it may be 
 difcern'd that the Chriftian Patient, by feeding otherwhere on Meats not al- 
 lowable, but of evil juice, hath difordered his Diet, andfpread an ill Humour 
 through his Veins, immediately difpofing to a Sicknefs, the Minifter, as be- 
 in°- much nearer both in Eye and Duty than the Magiftrate, fpeeds him be- 
 times to overtake that diffus'd Malignance with fomegentle Potion of Admo- 
 nifhment ; or if aught be obstructed, puts in his opening anddifcufiive Confec- 
 tions. This not fucceeding after once or twice, or oftner, in the prefence of 
 two or three his faithful Brethren appointed therto, he advifes him to be 
 more careful of his deareft Health, and what it is that he fo rafhly hath let 
 down into the divine Veffel of his Soul, God's Temple. If this obtain not, 
 he then, with the counfel of more Affiftants, who are inform'd of what 
 diligence hath been already us'd, with more fpeedy Remedies lays nearer fiege 
 to the entrench'd Caufes of his Diftemper, not fparing fuch fervent and 
 well-aim'd Reproofs as may beft give him to fee the dangerous eftate wherin 
 he is. Tothisalfo his Brethren and Friends intreat, exhort, adjure; and all 
 thefe Endeavours, as there is hope left, are more or lefs repeated. But if 
 neither the regard of himfelf, nor the reverence of his Elders and Friends 
 prevail with him, to leave his vitious Appetite; then as the time urges, fuch 
 Engines of Terror God hath given into the hand of the Mimifter, as to fearch 
 the tendereft Angles of the Heart : one while he fhakes his ftubbornnefs 
 2 with
 
 Book II. Wrg'd agamftPkwATY. 
 
 with racking convf,!fi:v,:. nigh defpair, otherwhiles with deadly cbrrofives he 
 gripes the very roots of his faulty liver to bring him to life through the entry 
 of death. Hereto the whole Church befeech him, beg of him, deplore him, 
 pray for him. Afrer all this perform'd with what patience and attendance is 
 poffible, and no relenting on his part, having done the utmoft of their cure, 
 in the name of God and of the Church they difiblve their felJowfhip with 
 him, and holding forth the dreadful fpongeofExcomrhuniori, pronounce him 
 wiped out of the lift of God's Inheritance, and in thecufiody of Satan till he 
 repent. Which horrid fentence, tho' it touch neither life nor limb, nor any 
 worldly poffeffion, yet has it fuch a penetrating force, that fwifter than any 
 chymical fulphur, or that lightning which harms not the ikin, and rifles the 
 entrails, it fcorchesthe inmoft Soul. Yet even this terrible denouncement is 
 left to the Church for no other caufe but to be as a rough and vehement 
 cleanfing medicine, where the malady is obdurate, a mortifying to life, a kind 
 of laving by undoing, And it may be truly laid, that as the mercies of 
 wicked Men are cruelties, fo the cruelties of the Church are mercies. For if 
 repentance fent from Heaven meet this loft wanderer, and draw him out of 
 that fteep journey wherin he was halting towards deitruftion, to come and 
 reconcile to the Church, if he bring with him his bill of health, and that he 
 is now clear of infection, and of no danger to the other fheep ; then with 
 incredible expreffions of joy all his brethren receive him, and fet before him 
 thofe perfumed bankets of Chriftian Confolation •, with precious ointments 
 bathing and fomenting the old, and now to be forgotten ftripes which terror 
 and fhame had inflicted ; and thus with heavenly folaces they cheer up his 
 humble remorfe, till he regain his firft health and felicity. This is the ap- 
 proved way which theGofpel prefcribes, thefe are the fpiritual weapons of holy 
 cenfure, and minifterial warfare, not carnal, but mighty through God to the pull- 
 ing down offirong holds, cqjling down imaginations, and every high thing that exalt - 
 eth itfelf againft the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to 
 the obedience of Chrift. "What could be done more for the healing and reclaim- 
 ing that divine particle of God's breathing, the Soul, and what could be done 
 lefs ? he that would hide his faults from fuch a wholefom curing as this, and 
 count it a two-fold punifhment, as fome do, is like a Man that having foul 
 difeafes about him, perifhes for fhame, and the fear he has ofa rigorous inci- 
 fion to come upon his flefh. We fhall be able by this time to difcern whether 
 Prelatical Jurifdiclrion be contrary to the Gofpel or no. Firft therfore the Go- 
 vernment of the Gofpel being ceconomical and paternal, that is, of fuch a fa- 
 mily where there be no fervants, but all fons in obedience, not in fervility, as 
 cannot be denied by him that lives but within the found of Scripture ; how can 
 the Prelates juitify to haveturn'd the fatherly orders of Chrift's houfhold, the 
 bleffed meeknefs of his lowly roof, thofe ever-open and inviting doors of his 
 dwelling-houfe, which delight to be frequented with only filial acceffes ; how 
 can they juftify to have turn'd thefe domeftic privileges into the bar of a 
 proud judicial Court, where fees and clamours keep fhop and drive a trade, 
 where bribery and corruption folicites, paltring the free and moneylefs power 
 of difcipline with a carnal fatisfaction by the purfe ? Contrition, humiliation, 
 confeffion, the very fighs of a repentant Spirit are there fold by the penny. 
 That undefloiu'd and unblemifhable fimplicity of the Gofpel, not fhe herfelf, 
 for that could never be, but a falfe-whited, a lawny relemblance of her, 
 like that air-born Helena in the fables, made by the forcery of Prelates, inftead 
 of calling her Difciples from the receit of cuftom, is now turn'd Publican her- 
 felf; and gives up her body to a mercenary whoredom under thofe fornicated 
 Arches which fhe calls God's houfe, and in the fight of thofe her altars which 
 fhe hath fet up to be ador'd, makes merchandize of the bodies and fouls of 
 Men. Rejecting Purgatory for no other reafon, as it feems, than becaufe her 
 greedinefs cannot deter, but had rather ufe the utmoft extortion of redeemed 
 penances in this life. But becaufe thefe matters could not be thus carried 
 without a begg'd and borrow'd force from worldly authority, therfore Prela- 
 ty flightingthe deliberate and chofen counfel of Chrift inhis fpiritual govern- 
 ment, vvhofe glory is in the weaknefs of flefhly things, to tread upon the creft 
 of the world's pride and violence by the power of fpiritual Ordinances, hath 
 on the contrary made thefe her friends and championswhich are Chrift's ene- 
 
 mies 
 
 2 Cor. x.
 
 7* 
 
 The Reafon of Church-Government^ Book II. 
 
 mies in this his high defign, (mothering and extinguifhing the fpiritual force 
 of his bodily weaknefs in the difcipline of his Church with the boiftrous and 
 carnal tyranny of an undue, unlawful, and ungofpel-like Jurifdiction. And 
 Ehus Prelaty both in her flefhly fupportments, in her carnal Doctrine of Ce- 
 remony and Tradition, in her violent and fecular power, going quite counter 
 to the prime end of Chrift's coming in the flefh, that is, to reveal his Truth* 
 his Glory, and his Might, in a clean contrary manner than Prelaty feeks to 
 do, thwarting and defeating the great myftery of God ; I do not conclude 
 that Prelaty is Antichriftian, for what need I ? the things themfelves con- 
 clude it. Yet if fuch like practices, and not many worfe than thefe of our 
 Prelates, in that great darknefs of the Roman Church, have not exempted 
 bothher and her prefent Members from being judg'd to be Antichriftian in 
 all orthodoxal efteem •, I cannot think but that it is the abiblute voice of Truth 
 and all her children to pronounce this Prelaty, and thefe her dark deeds in 
 the midft of this great Light wherin we live, to be more Antichriftian than 
 Antichrift himfelf. 
 
 The CONCLUSION. 
 
 The M;fchief that Prelaty does in the State. 
 
 I Add one thing more to thofe great ones that are fo fond of Prelaty : this is 
 certain, that the Gofpel being the hidden might of Chrift, as hath bin 
 heard, hath ever a victorious power join'd with it, like him in the Revelation 
 that went forth on the white Horfe with his bow and his crown conquering, 
 and to conquer. If we let the Angel of the Gofpel ride on his own way, he 
 does his proper bufinefs, conquering the high thoughts, andthe proud reafon- 
 inss of the flefh, and brings them under to give obedience to Chrift with the 
 Salvation of many Souls. But if ye turn him out of his road, and in a man- 
 ner force him to exprefs his irrefiftible power by a Doctrine of carnal might, 
 as Prelaty is, he will ufe that flefhly ftrength which ye put into his hands to 
 fubdue your Spirits by a fervile and blind Superftition ; and that again (hall 
 hold fuch dominion over your captive minds, as returning with an infatiate 
 greedinefs and force upon your worldly wealth and power, wherwith to deck 
 and magnify herfelf, and her falfe worfhips, (he mall fpoil and havock your 
 eftates, difturb your eafe, diminifh your honour, inthrall your liberty under 
 the (welling mood of a proud Clergy, who will not ferve or feed your Souls 
 with fpiritual food •, look not for it, they have not wherwithal, or if they 
 had, it is not in their purpofe. But when they have glutted their ingrateful 
 bodies, at leaft if it be poflible that thofe open Sepulchres fhould ever be glut- 
 ted, and when they have ftuff'd their idolifh Temples with the waftful pillage 
 of your eftates, will they yet have any companion upon you, and that poor 
 pittance which they have left you ; will they be but fo good to you as that 
 ravilher was to his filler, when he had us'd her at his pleafure ; will they but 
 only hate ye, and fo turn ye loofe ? No, they will not, Lords and Commons, 
 they will not favour ye fo much. What will they do then in the name of God 
 and Saints, what will thefe man-haters yet with more defpight and mifchief 
 do ? Pll tell ye, or at leaft remember ye, for mod of ye know it already. 
 That they may want nothing to make them true merchants of Babylon, as 
 they have done to your Souls, they will fell your Bodies, your Wives, your 
 Children, your Liberties, your Parlaments, all thefe things ; and if there be 
 aught elfe dearer than thefe, they will fell at an out-cry in their Pulpits to the 
 arbitrary and illegal difpofe of any one that may hereafter be call'd a King, 
 whofe mind (hall ferve him to liften to their bargain. And by their corrupt 
 and fervile Doctrines boring our ears to an everlafting flavery, as they have 
 done hitherto, fo will they yet do their bed to repeal and erafe every line 
 and claufe of both our great Charters. Nor is this only what they will do, 
 but what they hold as the main reafon and myftery of their advancement that 
 
 they
 
 Book II. urgdagainft Prelaty. yi 
 
 they mull do ; be the Prince never lb juit and equal to his Subjects, yet fuch 
 are their malicious and depraved eyes, that they lb look on him, and fo un- 
 derstand him, as if he requir'd no other gratitude, or piece of fervice from 
 them than this. And indeed they ftand fo opportunely for the difturbing or 
 the deftroying of a State, being a knot of creatures, whofe dignities, means, 
 and preferments have no foundation in the Gofpel, as they themfelves ac- 
 knowledge, but only in t h ■ .- Prince's favour, and to continue fo lono- to them 
 as by pleafing him they ilull deferye : whence it muft needs be they mould 
 bend all their intention, and fervices to no other ends but to his, that if it 
 ihould happen that a Tyrant (God turn fuch a fcourge from us to our ene- 
 mies) mould come to gralp the Scepter, here were his fpear-men and his 
 lances, here were his fire-locks ready, he fliould need no other Pretorian band 
 nor Penfionary than thefe, if they could once with their perfidious preach- 
 ments awe the people. For although the Prelates in time of Popery were 
 fometimes friendly enough to Magna Cbarta, itwasbecaufe they ftood upon 
 their own bottom, without their main dependance on the Royal Nod : but now 
 being well acquainted that the Protellant Religion, if Ihe will reform herfelf 
 rightly by the Scriptures, muft undrefs them of all their gilded vanities, and 
 reduce them, as they were at firft, to the lowly and equal order of Prefbyters, 
 they know it concerns them nearly to ftudy the times more than the text, and 
 to lift up their eyes to the hills of the Court, from whence only comes their 
 help; but if their pride grow weary of this crouching and obfervance, as ere 
 long it would, and that yet their minds climb ftill to a higher afcent of world- 
 ly honour, this only refuge can remain to them, that they muff of neceffity 
 contrive to bring themfelves and us back again to the. Pope's Supremacy, and 
 this we fee they had by fair degrees of late been doing. Thefe be the two 
 fair fupporters between which the ftrength of Prelaty is borne up, either of 
 inducing Tyranny, or of reducing Popery. Hence alio we may judge that 
 Prelaty is mere falfhood. For the property of Truth is, where lhe is public- 
 ly taught, to unyoke and fet free the minds and fpirits of a Nation firft from 
 the thraldom of Sin and Superftition, after which all honeft and legal freedom 
 of civil Life cannot be long abfent •, but Prelaty, whom the tyrant Cuftom 
 begot a natural tyrant in Religion, and in State the agent and minifter of Ty- 
 ranny, feems to have had this fatal gift in her nativity, like anotherMzdas, that 
 whatfoever llie fliould touch or come near either in ecclefial or political Go- 
 vernment, it fliould turn, not to Gold, though fhe for her part could with it 
 but to the drofs and fcum of flavery, breeding and fettling both in the Bodies 
 and the Souls of all fuch as do not in time, with the fovereign treacle of found 
 Doctrine, provide to fortify their hearts againft her Hierarchy. The fervice of 
 God who is Truth, her Liturgy confeffes to be perfect freedom •, but her works 
 and her opinions declare that the fervice of Prelaty is perfect flavery, and by 
 confequence perfect falfhood. Which makes me wonder much that many of 
 the Gentry, itudious Men, as I hear, Ihould engage themfelves to write, and 
 fpeak publicly in her defence ; but that I believe their honeft and ingenuou; 
 natures coming to the Univerfities to (tore themfelves with good and folid 
 Learning, and there unfortunately fed with nothing elfe but the fcragged 
 and thorny Lectures of monkifh and miferable Sophiftry, were lent home a- 
 gain with fuch a fcholaftical Bur in their throats, as hath ftopp'd and hinder'd all 
 true and generous Phiiofophy from entring, crack'd their voices forever with 
 meraphyfical Gargarifm?, and hath made them admire a fort of forma! out 
 Men prelatically addicted, whofe unchaften'd and unwrought minds were never 
 yet initiated or fubdu'd underthe true lore of Religion or moral Virtue, which 
 two are the belt and greateft points of Learning, but either (lightly trained 
 up in a kind of hypocritical and hackney courfe of literature to get their living 
 by, and dazle the ignorant, or elfe fondly overftudied in ulelefs controver- 
 fies, except thole which they ufe with all the fpecious and delufive futtlety 
 they are able, to defend their prelatical Sparta, having a Gofpel and Church- 
 government fet before their eyes, as a fair field wherin they might exercife 
 the greateft virtues and the greateft deeds of Chriftian Authority, in mean for- 
 tunes and little furniture of this world ; which even the fage Heathen Writers, 
 and thofe old Fabritii and Curii well knew to be a manner of working, than 
 which nothing could liken a mortal Man more to God, who delights moft to 
 Vol. I. L work
 
 74 The Reafon of 'Church-Government , Book IT* 
 
 work from within himfelf, and not by the heavy luggage of corporeal inftru- 
 ments, they underftand it not, and think no filch matter, but admire and dote 
 upon worldly riches and honours, with an eafy and intemperate life, to the 
 bane of Chriftianity : yea, they and their Seminaries fhame not to profefs, td 
 petition, and never lin pealing our ears, that unlefs we fat them like Boars, 
 and cram them as they lift with Wealth, with Deaneries, and Pluralities, 
 with Baronies andftately Preferments, all Learning and Religion will go un- 
 der foot. Which isfuch afhamelefs, fuch a beftial plea, and of that odious 
 impudence in Church-men, who fhould be to us a pattern of temperance and 
 frugal mediocrity, who fhould teach us to contemn this World, and the gaudy 
 things ther of, according to the promife which they themfelves require from 
 us in Baptifm, that mould the Scripture ftand by and be mute, there is not 
 that feci: of Philofophers among the Heathen fo diffolute, no not Epicurus, nor 
 Ariftippus with all his Cyrenaic rout, but would fhut his School- doors againft 
 fuch greafy Sophifters ; not any College of Mountebanks, but Would think 
 fcorn to difcover in themfelves with fuch a brazen forehead the outragious 
 defire of filthy lucre. Which the Prelates make fo little confidence of, that 
 they are ready to fight, and if it lay in their power, to maffacre all good 
 Chriftians under the names of horrible Schifmatics, for only finding fault 
 with their temporal dignities, their unconfcionable wealth and revenues, their 
 cruel authority over their Brethren that labour in the Word, while they 
 fnore in their luxurious excefs : Openly proclaiming themfelves now in the 
 fight of all men, to be thofe which for a while they fought to cover under 
 fheeps clothing, ravenous and favage wolves, threatening inroads and bloody 
 incurfions upon the flock of Chrift, which they took upon them to feed, but 
 now claim to devour as their prey. More like that huge Dragon of Egypt, 
 breathing outwafte and defolation to the Land, unlefs he were daily fatten'd 
 with Virgin's blood- Him our old Patron St. George by his matchlefs valour 
 flew, as the Prelate of the Garter that reads his Collect can tell. And if our 
 Princes and Knights will imitate the fame of that old Champion, as by their 
 order of Knighthood folemnly taken, they vow, fir be it that they fhould up- 
 hold and fide with this Englifo Dragon ; but rather to do as indeed their 
 oath binds them, they fhould make it their knightly adventure to purfue and 
 vanquifh this mighty fail-wing'd Monfter that menaces to fwallow up the Land, 
 unlefs her bottomlefs gorge may be fatisfy'd with the blood of the King's 
 daughter the Church •, and may, as fhe was wont, fill her dark and infamous 
 den with the bones of the Saints. Nor will any one have reafon to think this 
 as too incredible or too tragical to be fpoken of Prelaty, if he confider wejl 
 from what a mafs of flime and mud the flothful, the covetous and ambitious 
 hopes of Church-promotions and fat Bifhopricks, fhe is bred up and nuzzled 
 in, like a great Python from her youth, to prove the general pbifon both of 
 Doctrine and good Difcipline in the Land. For certainly fuch hopes and fuch 
 principles of earth as thefc wherin fhe welters from a young one, are the im- 
 mediate generation both of a flavifh and tyrannous life to follow, and a pef- 
 tiferous contagion to the whole Kingdom, till like that fen-born Serpent fhe 
 be fhot to death with the darts of the Sun, the pure and powerful beams of 
 God's Word. And this may ferve to defcribe to us in part, what Prelaty hath 
 bin, and what, if fhe ftand, fhe is like to be toward the whole body of peo- 
 ple in England. Now that it may appear how fhe is not fuch a kind of evil, 
 as hath any good or ufe in it, which many evils have, but a diftill'd quint- 
 efTence, a pure elixir of mifchief, peftilent alike to all, I fhall fhew briefly, 
 ere I conclude, that the Prelates, as they are to the fubjects a calamity, fo are 
 they the greateft underminers and betrayers of the Monarch, to whom they 
 feem to be moft favourable. I cannot better liken the ftate and perfon of a 
 King than to that mighty Nazarite Sampfon ; who being difciplin'd from his 
 birth in the precepts and the practice of temperance and fobriety, without 
 the ftrong drink of injurious and exceflive defires, grows up to a noble 
 ftrength and perfection with thofe his illuftrious and funny Locks, the Laws, 
 waving and curling about his god-like fhoulders. And while he keeps them 
 about himundiminifh'd and unfhorn, he may with the jaw-bone of an Afs, that 
 is, with the word of his meaneft officer, fupprefs and put to confufion thou- 
 fands of thofe that rife againft his juft power. But laying down his head 
 
 among
 
 " >ok 1 1. urg V againft Pr e l a t y. 
 
 among the (trumpet flatteries of Prelates, while he fleeps and thinks no harm, 
 i y wickedly fhaving ofFall thole brightand weighty trefies of his Laws, and 
 Prerogatives, which were his ornament and ftrength, deliver him over 
 to indirect and violent counfels, which as thofe Pbilijlines put out the fair and 
 far-fighted eyes of his natural difcerning, and make him grind in the prifon- 
 houfc of their finiiler ends and practices upon him : Till he, knowing this 
 Prelatica] Rafor to have bereft him of his wonted might, nouriih again hispu- 
 iflant hair, the golden beams of Law and Right: and they fternly fhook, 
 thunder with ruin upon the heads or thofe his evil Counfellors, but not with- 
 out gre.it affliction to himfelf. This is the fum of their loyal fervice to 
 Kings •, yet thefeare the men that ftill cry, The King, the King, the Lord's 
 Arointed. We grant it, and wonder how they came to light upon any thing 
 fo true •, and wonder more, if Kings be the Lord's Anointed, how they dare 
 thus oil over and befmear fo holy an Unction with the corrupt and putrid 
 ointment of their bale flatteries-, which while they fmooth the Ikin, ftrike 
 inward and envenom the life-blood. What fidelity Kings can expect from 
 Prelates, both examples paft, and our prefent experience of their doings at 
 this day, wheron is grounded all that hath bin faid, may fuffice to inform us. 
 And if they be fuch clippers of Regal Power, and fhavers of the Laws, how 
 they (land affected to the Law-giving Parlament, yourfelves, worthy Peers 
 and Commons, can bed teftify •, the current of whofe glorious and immor- 
 tal actions hath bin only oppos'd by the obfeure and pernicious defigns of the 
 Prelates, until their infolence broke out to fuch a bold affront, as hathjuftly 
 immur'd their haughty looks within ftrong walls. Nor have they done any 
 thing of late with more diligence, than to hinder or break the happy afiem- 
 bling of Parlaments, however needful to repair the fhattered and disjointed 
 frame of the Commonwealth ; or if they cannot do this, tocrofs, to diiinable, 
 and traduce all Parlamentary Proceedings. And this, if nothingelfe, plainly 
 accufes them to be no lawful Members of the Houfe, if they thus perpetually 
 mutiny againft their own body. And though they pretend, like Salomon's 
 harlot, that they have right therto, by the fame judgment that Salomon gave, 
 it cannot belong to them, whenas it is not only their aflent, but their endea- 
 vour continually to divide Parlaments in twain -, and not only by dividing, 
 but by all other means to abolifh and deftroy the free ufe of them to all pofte- 
 rity. For the which, and for all their former mifdeeds, wherof this Book 
 and manyVolumes more cannot contain the moiety, I fhallmoveye Lords in 
 the behalf I dare fay of many thoufand good Chriftians, to let your juftice 
 and fpeedy fentence pafs againft this great malefactor Prelaty. And yet in the 
 midft of rigour I would befeech ye to think of mercy ; and fuch a mercy, I 
 fearl fhall overfhoot with a defire to fave this falling Prelaty, fuch a mercy 
 fifl may venture tofay it) as may exceed that which for only ten righteous 
 Perfons would have fav'd Sodom. Not that I dare advife ye to contend with 
 God, whether he or you fhall be more merciful, but in your wife efteems to 
 ballance the offences of thofe peccant Cities with thefe enormous riots of un- 
 godly mif-rulethat Prelaty hath wrought both in the Church of Chrift, and in 
 the State of this Kingdom. And if ye think ye may with a pious prefumption 
 ftrive to go beyond God in mercy, I fhall not be one now that would difftiade 
 ye. Though God for lefs than ten juft Perfons would not fpare Sodom, yet if 
 you can find after due fearch, but only one good thing in Prelaty, either to 
 Religion or Civil Government, to King or Parliament, to Prince or People, 
 to Law, Liberty, Wealth, or Learning, fpare her, let her live, letherfpread 
 among ye, till with her fhadow all your Dignities and Honours, and all the 
 glory of the Land be darken'd and obfeur'd. But on the contrary, if fhe be 
 found to be malignant, hoftile, deftruclive to all thefe, as nothing can be 
 furer, then let your fevere and impartial Doom imitate the divine Vengeance ; 
 rain down your punifhing force upon this godlefs and oppreifing Government : 
 and bring fuch a dead Sea of fubverfion upon her, that fhe may never in this 
 Land rile more to afflict the holy reformed Church, and the elect People of 
 God. 
 
 Vol. I. L z ANIMAD. 
 
 75
 
 7 6 
 
 ANIMADVERSIONS 
 
 UPON THE 
 
 Remonftrants Defence aaainft Smectymnuus. 
 
 The PREFACE. 
 
 ALthough it be a certain Truth that they who undertake a religious Caufe 
 need not care to be Men-pie afers ; yet becaufe thefattsfaclion of tender and 
 mild Confciences is far different from that which is call'd Men-pleaftng, 
 to fatisfy fuch, I ft all addrefs myfelf in few words to give notice before- 
 hand offomething in this Book, which to feme Men perhaps may feem offenfive, 
 that when I have render' d a lawful reafon of what is done, I may truft to havt 
 fav'd the labour of defending or excufing hereafter. IVe all know that in private or 
 perfonal Injuries, yea in public Sufferings for the caufe of Chrift, his Rule and Ex- 
 ample teaches us to be fo far from a readinefs tofpeak evil, as not to anfwer there- 
 viler in his Language, though never fo much provok'd: yet in the detecling, and 
 convincing of any notorious Enemy to Truth and his Country's peace, efpecially that 
 is conceited to have a voluble and /mart fluence of Tongue, and in the vain confi- 
 dence of that, and out of a more tenacious cling to worldly refpetls, fiands up for 
 all the reft to jujlify a long Ufurpation and convitled Pfeudepifcopy of Prelates, 
 with all their Ceremonies, Liturgies, and Tyrannies which God and Man are now 
 ready to explode and hifs out of the Land; Ifuppofe, and more than fuppofe, it will 
 be nothing difagreeing from Chriftian Meeknefs, to handle fuch a one in a rougher 
 Accent, and to fend home his Haughtinefs well befpurted with his own Holy-water. 
 Nor to do thusarewe unautoritied either from the moral Precept of Salomon, to 
 anfwer himther after that prides him in his Folly ; nor from the example of Chrift, 
 end all his Followers in all Ages, who in the refuting of thofe that rejijled found 
 Doilrine, and by fubtile Diffimulations corrupted the minds of Men, have wrought 
 up their "zealous Souls into fuch vehemencies, as nothing could be more kiilingly fpo- 
 ken : for who can be a greater enemy to Mankind, who a more dangerous deceiver \ 
 than he who defending a traditional Corruption ufes no common Arts, but with a 
 wily Stratagem of yielding to the time a greater part of his Caufe, feeming to forgo 
 all that Man's Invention hath done therin, and driven from much of his hold in 
 Scripture ; yet leaving it hanging by a twin' 'd Thread, not from Divine Com;nand > 
 but from Apoftolical Prudence or Affent ; as if he had thefurety of fame rolling 
 Trench, creeps up by this means tohis relinqitifh' d fortrefs of divine Authority again, 
 andftill hovering between the Confines of that which he dares not be openly, and 
 that which he will not befincerely, trains on the eajy Chriftian infenjibly within 
 the clofe ambuflmient of worft Errors, a7id with a fly Jhuffie of counterfeit Principles, 
 chopping and changing till he have glean' d all the good ones cut of their Minds 
 leaves them atlaft, after a flight refemblance of fweeping and garnijhing, under the 
 fevenfold poffeffion of a defperate Stupidity ? And therfore they that love the Souls 
 of Men, which is the dear eft love, andftirs up the nobleft jealoufy, when they meet 
 with fuch Collujion, cannot be blam'd though they be tranjponed with the zeal of 
 Truth to a well-heated fervency ; efvecially, feeing they which thus offend againfi 
 the Souls of their Brethren, do it with delight to their great gain, eafe, and ad- 
 vancement in this World ; but they thatfeek to dij cover andoppofe their falfe trad* 
 of Deceiving, do it not without a fad and unwilling Auger, not without many Ha- 
 zards ; but without allprivate and perfonal fpleen,and without any thought of earth- 
 ly Reward, whenas this very courfe they take flops their hopes of often ding above a 
 lowly and unenviable pitch in this Life. And although in the ferious uncafing of a 
 grand Impofture (for to deal plainly with you Readers, Prelaty is no better) ihere 
 be mix'd here and there fuch a grim laughter, as may appear at the fame time in an 
 auftere Vifage, it cannot be taxt of Levity or Infolence : for even this vein of laugh- 
 ing (as I could produce out of grave Authors) hath oft-times aftrong andjinewy 
 force in teaching and confuting ; nor can there be a more proper objetl of Indignation 
 and Scorn together, than a falfe Prophet taken in the great eft^ dear eft > and moft dan- 
 gerous
 
 AnimadverfionSj &c. jy 
 
 gerous cheat, the cheat of Souls: in the difclofing wherof, if it be harmful to be an- 
 gry, and withal to cafl a lowring Smile, when the proper eft Objeil calls for both, 
 it will be long enough ere any be able to fay, why thofe two moft rational faculties 
 of human intelletl, Anger and Laughter, were firft feated in the breafl of Man. 
 Thus much (Readers) in favour of the fofter-fpirited Chriftian,for other exceptioners 
 there was no thought taken. Only if it bea/k'd, why this clofe and fuccincl man- 
 ner of coping with the Adverfary was rather chofen, this was the reafon chiefly, 
 that the ingenuous Reader, without further amufing himfelf in the Labyrinth of 
 controverfal Antiquity, may come to the fpeediefl way to fee the 'Truth vindicated, 
 and Sophiftry taken fhort at the firft falfe bound. Next, that the Remonftrant him- 
 felf, as oft as he pleafes to be frolick, and brave it with others, may find no gain of 
 Money, and may learn not to infult info bad a Caufe. But now he begins. 
 
 Sect. i. 
 
 Remonftrant. My fingle Remonftrance is encounter'd with a plural Adverfary. Pag. 
 
 Anfwer. Did not your fingle Remonftrance bring along with it a hot icent 
 of your more than lingular Affection to fpiritual Pluralities, your finglenefs 
 would be lefs fufpecled with all good Chriftians than it is. 
 
 Remonft. Their Names, Perfons, Qualities, Numbers, I care not to know. 
 
 Anfw. Their Names are known to the all-knowing Power above -, and in 
 the mean while doubtlefs they wreck not whether you or your Nomenclator 
 know them or not. 
 
 Remonft. But could they fay my name is Legion, for we are many ? 
 
 Anfw. Wherfore mould you begin with the Devil's Name, defcanting upon 
 the number of your Opponents ? wherfore that conceit of Legion with a by- 
 wipe ? Was it becaufe you would have Men take notice howyou efteem them, 
 whom through all your Book fo bountifully you call your Brethren ? we had 
 not thought that Legion could have furnifh'd the Remonftrant with fo many 
 Brethren. 
 
 Remonft. My caufe, ye Gods, would bid me meet them undifmay'd, fcV. . 
 
 Anfw. Ere a foot further we muft be content to hear a preambling boaft of 
 your Valour, what a St. Dunftan you are to encounter Legions, either infernal 
 or human. 
 
 Remonft. My caufe, ye Gods. 
 
 Anfw. What Gods ? uhlefs your Belly, or the God of this World be he ? 
 Shew us any one point of your Remonftrance that does not more concern Su- 
 periority, Pride, Eafe, and the Belly, than the Truth and Glory of God, or 
 the Salvation of Souls. 
 
 Remo7ift. My caufe, ye Gods, would bid me meet them undifmay'd, and 
 to fay with holy David, though an Hoft, &c. 
 
 Anfw. Do not think toperfuade us of your undaunted Courage, by mifap- 
 plying to yourfelf the words of holy David % we know you fear, and are 
 in an Agony at thisprefent, left you mould lofe that fuperfluity of Riches and 
 Honour which your party ufurp. And whofoever covets, and fo earneftly 
 labours to keep fuch an incumbring furcharge of earthly things, cannot but 
 have an Earthquake ftill in his Bones. You are not arm'd Remonftrant, nor 
 any of your Band •, you are not dieted, nor your Loins girt for fpiritual Va- 
 lour, and Chriftian Warfare, the luggage is too great that follows your 
 Camp ; your hearts are there, you march heavily : How mall we think you 
 have not carnal Fear, while we fee you fo fubjeel: to carnal Defires ? 
 
 Remonft. I do gladly fly to the Bar. 
 
 Anfw. To the Bar with him then. Gladly you fay. We believe you as Pa S- 
 gladly as your whole Faction wifh'd, and long'dforthe aflemblingof this Par- 
 lamcnt, as gladly as your Beneficiaries the Priefts came up to anfwer the 
 complaints and out-cries all of the Shires. 
 
 Remonft. The Areopagi ? who were thofe ? truly my Mafters, I had thought 
 this had bin the name of the Place, not of the Men. 
 
 Anfw. A Soar-Eagle would not ftoop at a Fly •, but fure fome Pedagogue 
 flood at your Elbow , and made it itch with this parlous Criticifm ; they urg'd 
 you with a decree of the fage and fevere Judges of Athens, and you cite them 
 to appear for certain Paragogical Contempts, before a capacious Pedanty of 
 hot- liver'd Grammarians. Miftake not the matter, courteous Remonftrant, 
 they were not making Latins ; if in dealing with an outlandifh Name, they 
 thought it beftnot to fcrew the Englifh Mouth to a harfh foreign Termina- 
 i tion,
 
 7 8 
 
 Animadverfwns upon the 
 
 tion, fo they kept the radical word, they did no more than *h# eleg 
 Authors among the Greeks, Romans, and at this day the Italians in i'corn o» 
 fuch afervilityufeto do. Remember how they mangle our liritijh Names 
 abroad ; what trefpafs were it, if we in requital fhou'd as mu ± negledt theirs ? 
 and our learned Chaucer did not ftick to do ib, writing Semyramus tor S&nira- 
 mis, Amphiorax for Amphiaraus, K. £*/'« for K. Cgw the. hufband of Alcyone^ 
 with many other names ftrangely metamorphos'd from true Orthography, it 
 he had made any account of that in thefe kind of words. 
 At the be™ Remonft. Left the World mould think the Prefs had of late (ergot to fpeak 
 ning of his any Language other than libellous, this honeft Paper hath broken through the 
 
 Remon- throng. 
 
 pance. ^^ Mj nce tne matter while you will, it fhew'd but green_ practice in the 
 
 Laws of difcreet Rhetorique to blurt upon the ears of a judicious Parlament 
 with fuch a prefumptuous and over-weening Proem : but you do well to be the 
 Sewer of your own mefTe. 
 
 Remonft. That which you mifcall the Preface, was- a too juft complaint of 
 the fhameful number of Libels. 
 
 Anfw. How long is it that you and the PrelaticalTroop have bin ;n fuch dii- 
 tafte with Libels? afk. your Lyfimachus Nicanor what detaining Invectives 
 have lately flown abroad' againft the Subjects of Scotland? and our poor ex- 
 pulfed Brethren of New-England, the Prelates rather applauding than (hewing 
 any diflike : and this hath bin ever fo, inlbmuch, that Sir Francis Bacon iu 
 one of hisDifcourfes complains of the Bifhops uneven hand over thefe Pam- 
 phlets, confining thofe againft Bifhops to darknefs, but licenfing thole a- 
 gainft Puritans to be utter'd openly, though with the greater mifchief of lead- 
 ing into contempt the exercife of Religion in the perfons of fundry Preachers, 
 and difgracing the higher matter in the meaner perfon. 
 
 Remonft. A point no lefs effential to that propofed Remonf ranee. 
 
 Anfw. We know where the fhoe wrings you, you fret, and are gali'd at the 
 quick ; andO what a Death it is to the Prelates to be thus un-vilarded, thus 
 uncas'd, to have the Periwigs pluck'd off that cover your Baldnefs, your in- 
 fide Nakednefs thrown open to publick view ! The Romans had a time once 
 every year, when their flaves might freely fpeak their minds ; ':were hard if 
 the free-born People of England, with whom the voice of Truth for thefe 
 many years, even againft the Proverb, hath not bin heard but in corners, 
 after all your Monkifh Prohibitions, and expurgatorious Indexes, your Gags 
 and Snaffles, your proud Imprimaturs not to be obtain'd without the (hallow 
 furview, but not (hallow hand of fome mercenary, narrow-foul'd, and illite- 
 rate Chaplain •, when liberty of fpeaking, than which nothing is more fweet 
 to Man, was girded, and ftreight-lac'd almoft to a broken-winded Tizzic, 
 ifnowatagood time, our time of Parlament, the very Jubilee and Refur- 
 reftion of the State, if now the conceal'd, the aggrieved, and long perfe- 
 cuted Truth, could not be fuffer'd to fpeak ; and though ihe burft out with 
 fome efficacy of words, could not be excus'd after fuch an injurious ftrangle 
 of filence, nor avoid the cenfure of Libeling, 'twere hard, 'twere fomething 
 pinching in a Kingdom of tree Spirits. Some Princes, and great Statifts, 
 have thought it a prime piece of neceflary Policy to thruft themfelves under 
 difguife into a popular throng, to ftand the night long under eaves of houles, 
 and low windows, that they might hear every where the free utterances of 
 private Breads, and amongft them find out the precious gem of Truth, as 
 amongft the numberlefs pebbles of the (liore •, wherby they might be the 
 abler to difcover, and avoid that deceitful and clofe-couch'd evil of Flattery 
 that ever attends them, and mifleads them, and might ikilfully know how to 
 apply the feveral Redreflesto each Malady of State, without trufting the dif- 
 loyal Information of Parafites and Sycophants : wheras now this pcrmiffiou 
 of free writing, were there no good elfe in it, yet at fome times thuslicenc'd, 
 is fuch an unripping, fuch an Anatomy of the (hieft and tendered particular 
 Truths, as makes not only the whole Nation in many points the wifer, but 
 alfo prefentsand carries home to Princes, and Men moil remote from vulg<i r 
 Concourfe, fuch a full infight of every lurking Evil, or reftrained G^od 
 among the Commons, as that they (hall not need hereafter in oid Cloak?, and 
 falfeBeards, to ftand to the courtefy of a night-walking Cudgeller for eaves- 
 dropping,
 
 Rcmonjlrants Defence, 8cc. 70 
 
 dropping, nor to accept quietly as a Perfume, the over-head emptying of 
 fome fait Lotion. Who could be angry therfbre, but thole that are guilty, 
 with there free-fpoken and plain-hearted Men that are the Eyes of their Coun- 
 try, and the Profpective-glafTes of their Prince ? But thefe are the Nettlers, 
 thefe are the blabbing Books that tell, though not halfy our fellows feats. You 
 love toothlefs Satyrs ; Jet me inform you, a toothlefs Satyr is as improper as 
 a toothed ileek-ftone, and as bullilh. 
 
 Remonft. I befeech you Brethren fpend your Logic upon your own works. 
 Anfw. The peremptory Analyfis that you call ir, I believe will be fo hardy 
 as once more to unpin your fpruce faftidious Oratory, to rumple her laces her 
 frizzles, and her bobins, tho' fhe wince, and fling never fopeevifhly. 
 
 Remonft. Thole verbal Exceptions are but light froth, and will fink alone. Pag. 4. 
 Anfw. O rare futtlety, beyond all that Cardan ever dreamt of ! when I be- 
 feech you, will light things link ? when will light froth fink alone ? Here in 
 yourphrafe, the fame day that heavy plummets will fwim alone. Truft this 
 Man, Readers, if you pleafe, whofe Divinity would reconcile England with 
 Rome, and his Philofophy make friends Nature with the Chaos-, fine pondere ba- 
 bentia pondus. 
 ■* Remonft. That fcum may be worth taking off which follows. 
 
 Anfw. Spare your Ladle, Sir, it will be as bad as the Bifhop's foot in the 
 broth •, the fcum will be found upon your own Remonft r ance. 
 
 Remonft. I iliall defireall indifferent eyes to judge whether thefe Men do not 
 endeavour to caff uniuft envy upon me. 
 Anfw. Agreed. 
 
 Remonft. I had faid that the civil Polity as in general Notion, hath fome- 
 times varied, and that the Civil came from Arbitrary Impofers; thefe ora- 
 cious Interpreters would needs draw my words to the prefent and particular 
 Government of our Monarchy. 
 
 Anfw. Anddefervedly have they done fo •, take up your Logic elfe and fee : 
 Civil Polity, fay you, hath fometimes varied, and came from Arbitrary Im- 
 pofers •, what Propofition is this ? Bilhop Downam in his Diale&ics will tell 
 you it is a general Axiom, though theuniverfal Particle be not exprefs'd, and 
 youyourfelr in your Defence fo explain in thefe words as in general notion. 
 Hence is juitly inferr'd, he that fays civil Polity is arbitrary, fays that the ci- 
 vil Polity of England is Arbitrary. The inference is undeniable, a thejiad 
 hypothefin, or from the general to the particular, an evincing Argument in 
 Logic. 
 
 Remonft. Brethren, whiles ye defire to' feem godly, learn to be lefs ma- p a «. c. 
 licious. 
 
 Anfw. Remonftrant, till you have better learnt your principles of Lo<ric, take 
 not upon you to be a Dodlor to others. 
 
 Remonsl. God blefs all good Men from fuch Charity. 
 
 Anfw. I never found that Logical Maxims were uncharitable before, yet 
 mould a Jury of Logicians pais upon you, you would never be fav'd by the 
 Book. 
 
 Remonft. And your facred Monarchy from fuch Friends. 
 Anfw. Add, as the Prelates. 
 
 Remonsl. If Epifcopacy have yoked Monarchy, it is the Infolcnce of the 
 Perfons, not the fault of the Calling. 
 
 Anfw. It was the fault of the Perfons, and of no Calling ; we do not count 
 Prelaty a Callings 
 
 Remonsl. The Teftimony of a Pope (whom thefe Men honour highly.) p g 
 
 Anfw. Thatilanderouslnfertion was doubtlefsa pang of your incredible Cha- 
 rity, the want wherof you lay fo often to their charge ; a kind token of your 
 favour lapt up in a parenthefis, a piece of the Clergy benevolence laid by to 
 maintain the Epifcopal broil, whether the ioooHorfe or no, time will dif- 
 cover : for certainly had thofe Cavaliers come on to play their parts, fuch a 
 ticket as this of highly honouring the Pope, from the hand of a Prelate, might 
 have bin of fpecial ufe and fafety to them that had car'd for fuch a ranfom. 
 Remonsl. And what fays Antichrift ? 
 
 Anfw. Afk your Brethren the Prelates that hold Intelligence with him, aflc 
 not us. But is the Pope Antichrift now ? good news ! take heed you be not 
 
 2 ihent
 
 So Animadverfions upon the 
 
 fhent for this ; for 'tis verily thought, that had this Bill bin put inagainft him 
 in your laft Convocation, he would have bin clear'd by moft voices. 
 
 Remonsl. Any thing ferves againft Epifcopacy. 
 
 Anfw. See the frowardnefs of this Man, he would perfuade us that the Suc- 
 ceffion and divine Right of Bifhopdom hath bin unqueftionable through all 
 A°es •, yet when they bring againft him Kings, they were irreligious ; Popes, 
 they are Antichrift. By what ./Era of Computation, through what Faery Land, 
 would the Man deduce this perpetual bead-roll of uncontradicted Epifcopacy ? 
 The Pope may as well boaft his ungainfaid Authority to them that will believe 
 that all hisContradicters were either irreligious or heretical. 
 P"I-7' Remonsl. If the Bifhops, faith the Pope, be declar'd to be of divine Right, 
 
 they would be exempted from regal Power-, and if there might be this danger 
 in thofe Kingdoms, why is this envioufly upbraided to thofe of ours ? who 
 do gladly profefs, i£c. 
 
 Anfw. Becaufe your diffever'd Principles were but like the mangled pieces of 
 a o-afh'd Serpent, that now begun to clofe, and grow together Popifh again. 
 "Whatfoever you now gladly profefs out of fear, we know what your drifts 
 were when you thought yourfelves fecure. 
 
 Remonsl. It is a foul (lander to charge the name of Epifcopacy with a Fac- 
 tion, for the Fact imputed to fome few. 
 
 Anfw. The more foul your Faction that hath brought a harmlefs name into 
 obloquy, and the Fact may juftly be imputed to all of ye that ought to have 
 withftood it, and did not. 
 
 Remonsl. Fie Brethren ! are ye the Prefbyters of the Church of England, and 
 dare challenge Epifcopacy of Faction ? 
 
 Anfw. Yes, as oft as Epifcopacy dares be factious. 
 
 Remonsl. Had you fpoken fuch a word in the time of holy Cyprian, what had 
 become of you ? 
 
 Anfw. They had neither bin hal'd into your Gehenna at Lambeth, nor ftrap- 
 pado'd with an Oath ex officio by your Bow-men of the Arches : and as for Cy- 
 prian'sume, the caufe was far unlike, he indeed fucceeded into an Epifco- 
 pacy that began then to prelatize ; but his perfonal Excellence like an Anti- 
 dote overcame the malignity of that breeding Corruption which was then a 
 Difeafethat lay hid for a while under fhew of a full and healthy Conftitution, 
 as thole hydropic humours not difcernable at firft from a fair and juicy fleflii- 
 nefs of body, or that unwonted ruddy colour which feems graceful to a cheek 
 otherwife pale •, and yet arifes from evil caufes, either of fome inward obftruc- 
 tion or inflammation, and might deceive the firft Phyficians till they had learnt 
 the fequel, which Cyprian's days did not bring forth ; and the Prelatifm of E- 
 pifcopacy which began then to burgeon and ipread, had as yet, efpecially in 
 famous Men, a fair, though a falfe imitation of flourifhing. 
 Pag. 8. Remonsl. Neither is the wrong lefs to make application of that which was 
 
 moft juftly charg'd upon the practices and combinations of libelling Separating, 
 whom I defervedly cenfur'd, i£c. 
 
 Anfw. To conclude this Section, ova Remonstrant we fee is refolv'd to make 
 good that which was formerly faid of his Book, that it was neither humble, 
 nor a Remonstrance, and this his Delence is of the fame complexion. When 
 he is conftrain'd to mention the notorious violence of his Clergy attempted 
 on the Church of Scotland, he nightly terms it a Fact imputed to fome tew ; 
 but when he fpeaks of that which the Parlament vouchhks to name the City 
 Petition, which I, faith he, (as if the State had made him public Cenfor) de- 
 fervedly cenfur'd. And how ? as before for a tumultuary and underhand way 
 of procured Subfcriptions, lb now in his Defence more bitterly, as the prac- 
 tices and combinations of libelling Separatifts, and the mifzealous Advocates 
 therof juftly to be branded for Incendiaries. Whether this be for the honour 
 of our chief City to be noted with fuch an Infamy for a Petition, which not 
 without fome of the Magiftrates, and great numbers offober and confiderable 
 Men, was orderly, and meekly prefented, although our great Clerks think 
 that thefe Men, becaufe they have a Trade, (as Christ himfeif, and St. Paul 
 had) cannot therfore attain to fome good meafure of knowledge, and to a 
 reafon of their Actions, as well as they that ipend their youth in loitering, 
 bezzling, and harlotting, their Studies in unprofitable Queftions and barba- 
 rous
 
 Remonftrants Defence, Sec. Si 
 
 rous Sophiftry, their middle Age in Ambition and Idlenefs, their old A<*e in 
 Avarice, Dotage, and Difeafes : And whether this reflect not with a Con- 
 tumely upon the Parlament it felf, which thought this Petition worthy, not 
 only of receiving, but of voting to a Commitment, after it had been advocated, 
 and mov'd for by fome honourable and learned Gentlemen of the Houfe, to 
 be call'd a Combination of libelling Separatilts, and the Advocates therof to 
 be branded for Incendiaries ; whether this appeach not the Judgment and 
 Approbation of the Parlament, I leave to equal Arbiters. 
 
 Sect. 2. 
 
 Remonft. After the overflowing of your Gall, you defcend to Liturgy and 
 Epifcopacy. 
 
 Anfw. The overflow being pair, you cannot now in your own Judgment 
 impute any Bitternefs to their following Difcourfes. 
 
 Remonft. Dr. Hall, whom you name, I dare fay for Honour's fake. Page 9. 
 
 Anfw. You are a merry Man, Sir, and dare fay much. 
 
 Remonft. And why fhould not I fpeak of Martyrs, as the Authors and 
 Ufers of this holy Liturgy ? 
 
 Anjw. As the Authors ! the Tranflators, you might perhaps have faid : for 
 Edward the Sixth, as Hayward hath written in his Story, will tell you upon 
 the word of a King, that the Order of the Service, and the ufe therof in the 
 Engli/b Tongue, is no other than the old Service was, and the fame words in 
 Engli/b which were in Latin, except a few things omitted, fo fond, that it 
 had been a fhame to have heard them in Englip ; thefe are his words : wher- 
 by we are left uncertain who the Author was, but certain that part of the 
 work was efteem'd fo abfurd by the Tranflators therof, as was to be afham'd 
 of in Englijh. O but the Martyrs were the Refiners of it, for that only is 
 left you to fay. Admit they were, they could not refine a Scorpion into a 
 Filh, though they had drawn it, and rine'd it with never fo cleanly Cookery, 
 which made them fall at variance among themfelves about the ufe either of 
 it, or the Ceremonies belonging to it. 
 
 Remonft. Slight you them as you pleafe, we blefs God for fuch Patrons of 
 our good Caufe. 
 
 Anfw. O Benedicite ! Qui color ater erat, nunc eft contrarius atro. Are not 
 thefe they which one of your Bifhops in print fcornfully terms the Foxian 
 Confeflbrs? Are not thefe they whole Acts and Monuments are not only fo 
 contemptible, but fo hateful to the Prelates, that their Story wasalmoft come 
 to be a prohibited Book, which for thefe two or three Editions hath crept into 
 the World by Health, and at times of advantage, not without the open Re* 
 gret and Vexation of the Bifhops, as many honeft Men that had to do in fet- 
 ting forth the Book will juftify ? And now at a dead lift for your Liturgies 
 you blefs God for them : out upon fuch Hypocrify. 
 
 Remonft. As if we were bound to make good every word that falls from p a ge ( o. 
 the mouth of every Bifhop. 
 
 Anfw. Your Faction then belike is a fubtile Janus, and has two faces : your 
 bolder face to fet forward any Innovations or Scandals in the Church, your 
 cautious and wary face to difavow them if they fucceed not, that fo the fault 
 may not light upon the Function, left it fhould fpoil the whole Plot by giving 
 it an irrecoverable wound. Wherfore elfe did you not long ago, as a good 
 Bifhop fhould have done, difclaim and protell againtt them ? wherfore have 
 you fate ftill, and comply'd and hood-wink'd, till the general Complaints of 
 the Land have fqueezedyou to a wretched, cold and hollow-hearted Confeffi- 
 on of fome prelatical Riots both in this and other places of your Book ? Nay, 
 what if you ftill defend them as follows? 
 
 Remonft. If a Bifhop have faid that our Liturgy hath been fo wifely and 
 charitably fram'd as that the Devotion of it yieldeth no caufe of offence to a 
 very Pope's ear. 
 
 Anfw. O new and never heard of Supererogative height of Wifdom and 
 Charity in our Liturgy ! Is the Wifdom of God or the charitable framing of 
 God's Word otherwife inoffenfive to the Pope's ear, than as he may turn it to 
 the working of his myfterious Iniquity? A little pulley would have ftretch'd 
 your wife and charitable frame it may be three Inches further, that the Devo- 
 tion of it might have yielded no caufe of offence to the very Devil's ear, and 
 
 Vol. I. ' M that
 
 g 2 Anuria dverfions ■ upon, the 
 
 that had been the fame wifdom and charity -farrhounting to the higheft .. t 
 o-ree. For Aniuhrift we know is but the Devil's Vicar, and therlcre pic. 
 him with your Liturgy, and you pkafe his Mailer. 
 
 Remonft. Would you think it requifite that we mould chide and quarrd 
 when we fpeak to the God of Peace ? 
 
 Anfw. Fie, no Sir, but forecaft our Prayers fo, that Satan and his Inftrumer.ts 
 may take as little exception againft them as may be, kit they iliould chide 
 and quarrel with us. 
 
 Remonft. It is no little advantage to our Caufe and Piety, that our Liturgy is 
 taught to fpeak feveral Languages for ufe and example. 
 
 Anfw. The Language of Aft.dod is one of them, and that makes fo mar,-/ 
 Engltjhmen have fuch a fmattering of their Rhiliftian Mother. And indeed 
 our Liturgy hath run up and down the World like an Englii}} galloping Nun 
 proffering her felf, but we hear of none yet that bids money for her. 
 
 Remdnji. As for that fharp Cenfure of learned Mr. Calvin, it might well 
 have been forborn by him in aliena Repv.blica. 
 
 Anfw. Thus this untheological Remonftrc.nt would divide rhe individual Ca- 
 tholic Church into feveral Republics : Know therfore that every worthy 
 Paftor of the Church ot'Cbrift hath a univerfal right to admonifh over ail the 
 world within the Church -, nor can that care be alien'd from him by any 
 diiiance or diftinction of Nation, fo long as in Chriit all Nations and Lan- 
 guages are as one houfho'd. 
 Pag. ii. Remonft. Neither would you think it could become any of our grcatefl Di- 
 
 vines to meddle with his charge. 
 
 Anfw. It hath ill become 'em indeed to meddle fo malicioufiy, as many of 
 them have done, though that patient and Chriftian City hath born hitherto 
 all their profane feoffs with filenee. 
 
 Remonft. Our Liturgy pail the Judgment of no lefs reverend heads than his 
 own. 
 
 Anfw. It brib'd their Judgment with worldly engagements, and fo pail it. 
 
 Remonft. As for that unparallel'ddifcourfe concerning the antiquity oi Litur- 
 gies ; I cannot help your wonder, but fhall juftify mine own afiertion. 
 
 Anfw. Your Justification is but a miferable fhifting off thofe teilimonies of 
 the ancienteft Fathers alledg'd againft you, and the authority of fome Synodal 
 Canons, which are no warrant to us. We proiefs to decide our Controver- 
 fies only by the Scriptures ; but yet to reprefs your vain-glory, there will be 
 voluntarily beitow'd upon you a iufficient conviction of your novelties out of 
 fucceeding antiquity. 
 Paz 12 ' Remonft. I cannot fee how you will avoid your own contradiction, fori 
 
 demand, is this order of praying and admin iitration let or no ? if it be not fet, 
 how is it an order ? and if it be a let order both formatter and form. 
 
 Anfw. Remove that Form, left you tumble over ir, while you make fuch* 
 haftetoclapa contradiction upon others. 
 
 Remonft. If the forms were merely arbitrary, to what ufe was the pre- 
 fcription of an order ? 
 
 Anfw. Nothing will cure this Man's Underitanding but fome familiar and 
 kitchen Phyfic, which, with pardon, mufl for plainnefs fake be adminiiter'd 
 to him. Call hither your Cook. The order of Brcakfait, Dinner, and Sup- 
 per, anfwer me, is it fet or no ? Set. Is a Man therfore bound in the 
 morning to poacht Eggs and Vinegar, or at noon to Brawn or Beef, or an 
 night to freih Salmon, and French Kickfhofe ? may he not make his meals 
 in order, though he be not bound to this or that viand ? Doubtlefs the ncat- 
 finger'd Artift will anfwer yes, and help us out of this great ControvenV 
 without more trouble. Can we not underitand an order in Church- AirembJi es 
 of praying, reading, expounding, and adminiitring, unlets our Prayers be 
 itill the fameCrambe of words ? 
 
 Remonft. What a poor exception is this, that Liturgies were compos'd by 
 fome particular Men ? 
 
 Anfw. It is a greater prefumption in any particular Men to arrogate to 
 themfelves that which God univerfally gives to all his Miniiters. A Miniiter 
 that cannot be trufted to pray in his own words without being chew'd to, and 
 felcu'd to a formal injunction of his Rotelefion, ihould as little be trufted to 
 
 preachy
 
 Remonjlrants Defence y &c. £3 
 
 preach, bcfidcs the vain babble of praying over the fame things immcd 
 again ; for there is a large difference in the repetition of fome pathetical Eja- 
 culation rais'd out of the hidden eameflnefs and vigour of the infl.im'd Sou! 
 (fuchas was that oi'Cbrift in the Garden) from the continual rehearfal of our 
 daily orifons ; which if a Man (hall kneel down in a morning, and fay over 
 and prefently in another part of theRoomkneel down again, and in other words 
 afk but ftiil for the lame things as it were out of one Inventory, I cannot fee how 
 he will efcape that heathenifh Battology of multiplying words, which Cbrift 
 himfelf that has die putting up of our Prayers, told us would not be acceptabJe 
 in Heaven. Well may Men of eminent Gifts frt forth as many forms and 
 helps to Prayer as they pleafe -, but to impofe them upon Minifters lawfully 
 cal'.'d, and fufficiently try'd, as all ought to be ere they be admitted, is a fu- 
 percilious Tyranny, impropriating the Spirit of God to themfclves. 
 
 Remonft. Do weabridge this liberty by ordaining a public form ? p a „ x , 
 
 Anfw. Your Bifhops have fet as fair to do it as they durft for that old Ph'arf- 
 faical fear that It ill dogs them, the fear of the People; thoughyou will fay you 
 are none of thofe, ftill you would feem not to have join'd with the worft 
 and yet keep aloof off from that which is heft. I would you would either 
 mingle, or part : mod true it is what Savonarola complains, that while he 
 endeavour'd to reform the Church, his greateft Enemies were ftill thefe 
 lukewarm ones. 
 
 Remonft. And if the Lord's Prayer be an ordinary, and ftinted form, why 
 not others ? 
 
 Anfw. Becaufe there be no other Lords that can flint with like Authority 
 Remonft. Ifjuftin Martyr faid that the Inftructor of the People pray'd (as Pag. 14. 
 they falfly turn it) according to his ability. 
 
 Anf. 'dm SSvKfMt «u7w will be fo render'd to the world's end by thofe that 
 are not to learn Greek of the Remonftrant, and fo Langus renders it to his face 
 if he could fee •, and this ancient Father mentions no Antiphonies, or Refpon- 
 fories of the People here, but the only plain acclamation of Amen. 
 
 Remonft. The Inftructor of the People pray'd according to his ability, 'tis 
 true, fodo ours •, and yet we have a Liturgy, and fo had they. 
 
 Anfw. A quick come-off. The Ancients us'd Pikes and Targets, and there- 
 fore Guns and great Ordnance, becaufe we ufe both. 
 
 Remonft. Neither is this liberty of pouring out our felves in our Prayers 
 ever the more impeacht by a public form. 
 
 Anfw. Yes the time is taken up with a tedious number of Liturgical Tauto- 
 logies, and Impertinencies. 
 
 Remonft. The words of the Council are full and affirmative. Pa<r x (, 
 
 Anfw. Set the grave Councils up upon their fhelves again, and firing them 
 hard, left their various and jangling opinions put their leaves into a Mutter. 
 1 (hall not intend this hot Seafon to bid you the Bafe through the wide and 
 thirty champaine of the Councils, but lhall take counfel of that which coun- 
 fel'd them, Reafon : and although I know there is an obfolete reprehenfion 
 now at your tongue's end, yet I fhall be bold to fay, that Reafon is the gift of 
 God in one Man as well as in a thoufand •, by that which we have tafted al- 
 ready of their Cifterns, we may find that Reafon was the only thing, and not 
 any divine Command that mov'd them to enjoin fet Forms of Liturgy. Firft, 
 left any thing in general might be miffaid in their public Prayers through ig- 
 norance, or want of care, contra -y to the Faith : and next, left the Arians 
 and Pelagians in particular fhould infect the People by theirhymns, and forms 
 of Prayer. By the leave of thefe ancient Fathers, this was nofoiid preven- 
 tion of fpreading Herefy, to debar the Minifters of God the ufe of their 
 nobleft talent, Prayer in the Congregation, unlefs they had forbid the life of 
 Sermons, and Lectures too, but fuch as were ready made to their hands as our 
 Homclies ; or elfe he that was heretically difpos'd, had as fair an opportunity 
 of infecting in his difcourfe, as in his Prayer or Hymn. As infufficiently, and 
 to fay truth, as imprudently did they provide by their contrived Liturgies, 
 left any thing fhould be crroncoufly pray'd through ignorance, or want of car* 
 in the Minifters. For if they were carelefs, and ignorant in their Prayers, 
 certainly they would be more carelefs in their preaching, and yet more care- 
 lefs in watching over their Flock ; and what prefcription could reach to bound 
 Vol. I. M 2 them
 
 84 Animadverfions upon the 
 
 them in both thefe ? What if Reafon, now illuftrated by the word of God* 
 fhall be able to produce a better prevention than thefe Councils have left us 
 acainft herefy, ignorance or want of care in the Miniftry, that fuch wifdom 
 and diligence be us'd in the education of thole that would be Minifters, and 
 fuch ftritt and ferious examination to be undergone ere their admiffion, as Saint 
 Paul to Timothy fets down at large* and then they need net carry fuch an un- 
 worthy fufpicion over the Preachers of God's word, as to tutor their unfound- 
 nefs with the Abcie of a Liturgy, or to diet their ignorance, and want of 
 care, with the limited draught of a Mattin, and even-fong drench. And this 
 may fuffice after all their labcurfome fcrutiny of the Councils. 
 p a „ 17 . Remonft. Our Saviour waspleas'd to make ufe in the celebration of his laft 
 
 and heavenly Banquet both of the fafliions, and words which were ufual in the 
 Jewj/h Feafts. 
 
 Anfvo. What he pleas'd to make ufe of, does not juftify what you pleafe to 
 
 force. 
 
 Remonft. The fet forms of Prayer at th&Mincha. 
 
 Anf We will not buy your Rabbinical fumes, we have one that calls us 
 to buy of him pure Gold try'd in the lire. 
 Remo7tft. In the Samaritan Chronicle. 
 
 Anfw. As little do we efteem your Samaritan trumpery, of which People 
 Chrifi himfelf teftifies, Ye worfhip ye know not what. 
 Pag. iS. Remonft. They had their feveral Songs. 
 
 Anfw. And fo have we our feveral Plalms for feveral occafions, without 
 gramcrcy to your Liturgy. 
 Pag. 19. Remonft. Thofe forms which we have under the names of Saint James, &c. 
 
 though they have fome interfertions which are plainly ipurious, yet the fub- 
 ftance of them cannot be taxt for other than holy and ancient. 
 
 Anfw. Setting afide the odd coinage of your phrafe, whichno mint-mafter of 
 Language would allow for fterling, that a thing fliould be taxt for no other 
 than holy and ancient, let it be fuppos'd the fubftance of them may favour of 
 fomething holy or ancient, this is but the matter •, the form, and the end of 
 the thing may yet render it either fuperftitious, fruitlefs, or impious, and fo 
 worthy to be rejected. The Garments of a Strumpet are often the fame ma- 
 terially, that clothe a chafte Matron, and yet ignominious for her to wear: the 
 fubftance of the Tempter's words to our Saviour were holy, but his drift no- 
 thing lefs. 
 
 Remonft. In what fenfe we hold the Roman a true Church, is fo clear'd that 
 this Iron is too hot for their fingers. 
 
 Anfw. Have a care it be not the iron to fear your own Conference. 
 Pag. 23- Remonft. Yeneednotdoubt but that the alteration of thcLiturgy will becoa- 
 
 fider'd by wifer heads than your own. 
 
 Anfw. We doubt it r.ot, becaufe we know ycur head looks to be one. 
 Remonft. Our Liturgy fymbolizeth not with Popiftj Mafs, neither as Mafs 
 nor as Popiftj. 
 
 Anfw. A pretty flip-fkin conveyance to fift Mafs into no Mafs, and Popi/h 
 into not Popifh ; yet faving this palling fine fophiftical boulting hutch, fo long 
 as fhe fymbolizes in form, and pranks herfelf in the weeds of Popiftj Mafs, 
 it may be juftly rear'd fire provokes the jealoufy of God, no otherwife than 
 a Wile affecting whorifh attire kindles a dillurbance in the eye of her dif- 
 cerning Huiband. 
 Pa? i± Remonft. If I find Gold in the Channel, lhall I throw it away becaufe it was 
 
 * + ' ill laid ? 
 
 Anfw. You have forgot that Gold hath been anathematiz'd for the idolatrous 
 ufe •, and to eat the good creatures of God once offer'd to Idols, is in Saint 
 Paul's account to have fellowfhip with Devils, and to partake of the Devil's 
 Table. And thus you throttle your felf with your own Similies. 
 
 Remonft. If the Devils confeft the Son of God, lhall I difclaim that truth ? 
 Anfw. You fifted not fo clean before, but you fhuffle as foully now ; as if 
 there were the like neccfiity of confeffing Chrift, and ufing the Liturgy : we 
 do not difclaim that truth ; becaufe we never believ'd it for his teftintany, 
 but we may well reject a Liturgy ; which had no being that we can know 
 of, but from the corrupter!: limes : if therfore the Devil mould be given 
 
 2 never
 
 Remonftrants Defence^ &c. 8% 
 
 never fo much to Prayer, I mould not therfore ceafe from that Duty, becaufe 
 1 learnt it not from him ; but if he would commend to me a new Pater-nofter, 
 though never fo feeming holy, he fhould excufe me the form which was his 
 but the matter, which was none of his, he could not give me, nor I be laid 
 to take it from him. 'Tis not the gcodnefs of matter, therfore which is not, 
 nor can be ow'd to the Liturgy, that will bear it out, if the form, which is 
 the EfTence of it, be fantaftic and fuperftitious, the End finifter, and the 
 Impofition violent.' 
 
 Remonft. Had it been compofed into this frame on purpofe to bring Papifts 
 to our Churches. 
 
 Anfw. To bring them to our Churches ? alas, what was that ? unlefs they 
 had been firft fitted by Repentance, and right Inftruction. You'll fay, the 
 Word was there preacht which is the means of Converfion -, you mould have 
 given fo much honour then to the Word preacht, as to have" left it to God's 
 working without the interloping of a Liturgy baited for them to bite at. 
 
 Remonft. The Project had been charitable and gracious. 
 
 Anfw. It was Pharilaical, and vain-glorious, a greedy defire to win Pro- 
 felytes by conforming to them unlawfully ; like the defire of Tamar, who to 
 raife up Seed to her Hufband, fate in the common Road dreft like a Courtezan, 
 and he that came to her committed Inceft with her. This was that which 
 made the old Chriftians paganize, while by their fcandalous and bafe conform- 
 ing to Heathenifm they did no more, when they had done their utmoft, but 
 bring fome Pagans to chriftianize ; for true Chriftians they neither were 
 themfelveSj nor could make other fuch in this fiihion. 
 
 Remonft. If there be found aught in Liturgy that may endanger a Scandal, p a „. 2 c. 
 it is under careful hands to remove it. 
 
 Anfw. Such careful hands as have mown themfelves fooner bent to remove 
 and expel the Men from the Scandals, than the Scandals from the Men, and 
 to lofe a Soul rather than a Syllable or a Surplice. 
 
 Re7nonft. It is idoliz'd they fay in England, they mean at Amfterdam. 
 
 Anfw. Be it idoliz'd therfore where it will, it is only idolatriz'd in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Remonft. Multitudes of People they fay diftafte it j more lhame for thofe 
 that have fo miftaught them. 
 
 Anfw. More fhame for thofe that regard not the troubling of God's Church 
 with things by themfelves confeft to be indifferent, fince true Charity is af- 
 flicted, and burns at the offence of every little one. As for the Chriftian 
 multitude which you affirm to be fo miftaught, it is evident enough, though 
 you would declaim never fo long to the contrary, that God hath now taught 
 them to deteftyour Liturgy and Prelacy ; God who hath promis'd to teach 
 all his Children, and to deliver them out of your hands that hunt and worry 
 their Souls : hence is it that a Man fhall commonly find more favoury know- 
 ledge In one Lay-man, than in a dozen of Cathedral Prelates ; as we read in 
 our Saviour's time that the common people had a reverend efteem of him, and 
 held him a great Prophet, whilft the gowned Rabbies, the incomparable, and 
 invincible Doctors were of opinion that he was a Friend of Beelzebub. 
 
 Remonft. If the multitude diftafte wholefome Doctrine, fhall we to humour p a . 2 g, 
 them abandon it ? 
 
 Anfw. Yet again ! as if there were the like neceflity of faving Doctrine, 
 and arbitrary if not unlawful, or inconvenient Liturgy : who would have 
 thought a Man could have thwackt together fo many incongruous Similitudes, 
 had it not been to defend the motley incoherence of a patch'd Miffal ? 
 
 Remonft. Why did not other Churches conform to us ? I may boldly fay 
 ours was, and is the more noble Church. 
 
 Anfw. O Laodicean, how vainly and how carnally doft thou boaft of noble- 
 nefs, and precedency ! more Lordly you have made our Church indeed, but 
 not more noble. 
 
 Remonft. The fecond qiucre is fo weak* that I wonder it could fill from the p 
 Pens of wife men. " s ' 
 
 Anfw. You're but a bad Fencer, for you never make a proffer againft another 
 Man's weaknefs; but you leave your own fide always open: mark what 
 follows. 
 
 Remonft, ,
 
 S6 Animadverfions upon the 
 
 Remonft. Brethren, can ye think that our Reformers had any other Inten- 
 tions than all the other Founders of "Liturgies, theleaft part of whofe care was 
 the help of the Minifter's weaknefs ? 
 Pay. 12. Anfw. Do you not perceive the noife you have brought your felf into 
 
 whilft you were fo brief to taunt other Men with weaknefs? Is it clean out 
 of your mind what you cited from among the Councils ; that the principal 
 fcope of thofe L«7«r£y-Founders was to prevent either the malice or the weak- 
 nefs of the Minifters, their malice of infufing Hcrefy in their Forms of 
 Prayer; their weaknefs, left fomething might be compofed by them through 
 ignorance or want of care contrary to the Faith ? Is it not now rather to be 
 wondred that fuch a weaknefs could fall from the Pen of fuch a wife Remon- 
 jlrant Man ? 
 
 Remonft. Their main drift was the help of the People's Devotion, that 
 they knowing before the matter that fhould be fued for. 
 
 Anfw. A foilicitous care, as if the People could be ignorant of the matter 
 to be pray'd for •, feeing the heads of public Prayer are either ever conftant, 
 or very frequently the fame. 
 
 Remcpft. And the words wherewith it fhould be cloth'd, might be the more 
 prepar'd, and be fo much the more intent, and lefs diffracted. 
 
 Anfw. As for the words, it is more to be fear'd left the fame continually 
 fhould make them carelefs or fleepy, than that variety on the fame known 
 Subject fhould diffract ; variety (as both Mufic and Rhetoric teacheth us) 
 erects and rouzes an Auditory, like the Mafterful running over many Cords 
 and Divifions ; wheras if Men fhotild ever be thumming the Drone of one 
 plain Song, it would be a dull Opiat to the moft wakeful attention. 
 Paz. 50. Remonft. Tell me, is this Liturgy good or evil ? 
 
 Anfw. It is evil : repair the Acheloian horn of your Dilemma how you can, 
 againft the next pufh. 
 
 Remonft. If it be evil, it is unlawful to be us'd. 
 
 Anfw. We grant you, and we find you have not your Sak/e about you. 
 
 Remonft. Were the Impofition amifs, what is that to the People ? 
 
 Anfw. Not a little, becaufe they bear an equal part with the Prieft in ma- 
 ny places, and have their Cues and Verfets as well as he. 
 p r Remonft. The ears and hearts of our people look for a fettled Liturgy. 
 
 Anfw. You deceive your felf in their ears and hearts, they look for no 
 fuch matter. 
 
 Remonft. The like anfwer ferves for Homelies, furely were they enjoin'd to 
 all, &c. 
 
 Anfw. Let it ferve for them that will be ignorant, we know that Hayward 
 their own Creature writes, that for defect of Preachers, Homilies were appoint- 
 ed to be read in Churches, while Edw. 6. reigned. 
 
 Remonft. Away then with the Book, whilft it may be fupply'd with a more 
 *' 3 profitable nonfenfe. 
 
 Anfw. Away with it rather, becaufe it will be hardly fupply'd with a 
 more unprofitable nonfenfe, than is in fome pafTages of it to be feen. 
 
 Sect. 3. 
 Pag. 32. Remonft. Thus their Cavils concerning Liturgy are vanifht. 
 
 Anfw. You wanted but Hey-paffe to have made yourtranfition like a myfti- 
 cal Man of St ur bridge. But for all your Height of hand, ourjuft exceptions 
 againft Liturgy are not vanifht, they ftare you ftill in the face. 
 
 Remonft. Certainly had I done fo, I had been no lefs worthy to be fpit 
 upon for my faucy uncharitablenefs, than they are now for their uncharitable 
 falfhood. 
 
 Anfw. We fee you are in choler, therfore 'till you cool a while we turn 
 us to the ingenuous Reader. See how this Remonfrant would inveft himfelf 
 conditionally with all the Rheum of the Town, that he might have fuffici- 
 ent to befpaul his Brethren. They are accus'd by him of uncharitable falf- 
 hood, wheras their only Crime hath been, that they have too creduloufljr 
 thought him, if not an over-logical, yet a well-meaning Man •, but now we 
 find him either grofly deficient in his Principles of Logic, or elfe purpoiely 
 bent to delude the Parlament with equivocal Sophiftry, fcattering among his 
 
 Periods
 
 Remonjlrants Defence, Sec. Sj 
 
 Periods ambiguous words, whofe interpretation he will afterwards difpenfe 
 according to his pleafure, laying before us univerfal Propofitions, and then 
 thinks when he will to pinion them with a limitation : for fay Remcnjlrant, 
 
 Remonft. Epifcopal Government is cry'd down abroad by either weak or 
 factious Perfons. 
 
 Anfw. Choofeyou whether you will have this Propofition prov'd to you to 
 be ridiculous, or fophiftical ; for one of the two it muff. be. Step again to 
 Biihop Do-wnam your Patron, and let him gently catechife you in the grounds 
 of Logic, he will fhew you that this Axiom, Epifcopal Government, is cry'd 
 down abroad by either weak or factious Perfons, is as much as to fay, they 
 that cry down Epifcopacy abroad, are either weak or faclious Perfons. He 
 will tell you that this Axiom contains a Diftribution, and that all fuch Axi- 
 oms are general ; and laftly, that the Diftribution in which any part is want- 
 ing, or abundant, is faulty, and fallacious. If therfore diftributing by the 
 adjuncts of Faction, weakens the Perfons that decry Epifcopacy, and you made 
 your diftribution imperfect for the nonce, you cannot but be guilty of fraud 
 intended toward the honourable Court, to whom you wrote. Ifyba had ra- 
 ther vindicate your honefty, and fufFer in your want of Art, you cannot con- 
 demn them of uncharitable falfhood, that attributed to you more fkill than 
 you had, thinking you had been able to have made a diftribution, as it oii"ht 
 to be, general, and full ; and fo any Man would take it, the rather as bein°-' 
 accompanied with that large word (Abroad) and fo take again either your 
 manifeft lefing, or manifeft ignorance. 
 
 Remonjl. Now come thefe brotherly Slanderers. P"g 34- 
 
 Anfw. Go on dxffzmbYmvJoab, as ftill your ufe is, call Brother and fmite ; 
 call Brother and fmite, 'till it be faidofyou, as the like was of Herod, a Man 
 had better be your Hog than your Brother. 
 
 Renwnjt. Which never came within the verge of my thoughts. 
 Anfw. Take a Metaphor or two more as good, the Precinct, or the Dio- 
 cefs of your thoughts. 
 
 Remonjl. Brethren, if you have any remainders of Modefty or Truth, cry 
 God mercy. 
 
 Anfvj. Remonflrant, if you have no ground-work of Logic, or plain-deal- 
 ing in you, learn both as faft as you can. 
 
 Remonft. Of the fame ftrain is their witty defcant of my confoundednefs. 
 ■ Anfw. Speak no more of it, it was a fatal word that God put into your 
 mouth when you began to fpeak for Epifcopacy, as boding confufion to it. 
 
 Remonft. I am ftill, and fhall ever be thus felf-confounded, as confidently to P<ig. 35.' 
 fay that he is no peaceable, and right-affected Son of the Church of England, 
 that doth not wifh well to Liturgy and Epifcopacy. 
 
 Anfw. If this be not that faucy uncharitablenefs, with which in the fore- 
 going Page you voluntarily invefted your felf with thought to have fhifted it 
 off", let the Parlament judge, who now thcmfelves are deliberating whether 
 Liturgy and Epifcopacy be to be well wifht to, or not. 
 
 Remonft. This they fay they cannot but rank amongft my notorious — fpeak 
 outMafters, I would not have that word flick in your Teeth, or in your Throat. 
 Anfw. Take your Spectacles, Sir, it flicks in the Paper, and was a pectoral 
 Roule we prepar'd for you to fwallow down to your Heart. 
 
 Remonft. Wanton Wits muft have leave to play with their own fterne. Pag. 36. 
 Anfw. A Meditation of yours doubtlefs obferv'd at Lambeth from one of 
 the Arcbiepifcopal Kittens. 
 
 Remonjl. As for that form of Epifcopal Government, furely could thofe Remonft. 
 look with my Eyes, they would fee.caufe to be afhamed of this their injuri- p - l8 - 
 ous mifconceit. 
 
 Anfw. We muft call the Barber for this wife Sentence ; one Mr. Ley the 
 other day writ a Treatife of the Sabbath, and in his Preface, puts the wifdom 
 of Baalam's Afs upon one of our Bijhops, bold Man for his labour; but we 
 fhall have more refpeft to our Remonjl rant, and liken him to the Afs's Mafter, 
 though the Story fays he was not fo quick-fighted as his Beaft. Is not this 
 Baalam the Son of Bear, the Man whofe Eyes are opehj that faid to the Parla~ 
 went, furely could thofe look with my Eyes ; boaft not of your Eyes, 'tis 
 fear'd you have Baalam's Difeafe, a pearl in your Eye, Mammon's Preftriction. 
 
 Rc?ncnft. 
 t
 
 88 Animadverfions upon ihe 
 
 Tag. i-]. Remonft. Alas we could tell you of China, Japan, Peru, Brazil, NewEng* 
 
 land, Virginia, and a thoufand others that never had any Bi/hcps to this da} . 
 
 Anfw. O do not foil your Caufe thus, and trouble Ortelius ; we can help 
 you, and tell you where they have been ever fince Conftantine's timeatleaft, in 
 a place call'd Mundus alter & idem, in the fpacious and rich Countries ot'Cra- 
 pulia, Pamphagonia, Yuronia, and in the Dukedom ofOrgilia, and Variana, and 
 their Metropolis oillcalegonimn. It was an overfight that none of your prime 
 Antiquaries could think of thefe venerable Monuments to deduce Epij'copacy by j 
 knowing: that Mercurius Britannicus had them forth-coming. 
 
 Sect. 4. 
 
 Remonft. Hitherto they have flourifh'd, now I hope they will ftrike. 
 
 Anfw. His former tranfition was in the Fair about the juglers, now he is 
 at the Pageants among the Whifflers. 
 Pag. 4> Remonft. As if Arguments were Almanacks. 
 
 Anfw.You will find ibme fuch as will prognosticate your Date, and tell you 
 that after your longSummer Solftice, the Mauator calls for you, to reduce you 
 to the ancient and equal Houfe of Libra. 
 
 Remonft. Truly Brethren, you have not well taken the height of the Pole. 
 
 Anfw. No marvel, there be many more that do not take well the height 
 of your Pole ; but will take better the declination of your Altitude. 
 Paz 44 Remonft. He that faid I am the Way, laid that the old way was the good 
 
 Way. 
 
 Anfw. He bids afk of the old Paths, or for the old Ways, where or which 
 is the good Way •, which implies that all old Ways are not good, but that 
 the good Way is to be fearcht with diligence among the old Ways, which is a 
 thing that we do in the oldeft Records we have, the Gofpel. And if other* 
 may chance to fpend more time with you in canvaffing later Antiquity, I fup- 
 pofe it is not for that they ground themfelves theron ; but that they endea- 
 vour by mewing the corruptions, incertainties, and difagreements of thofe 
 Volumes, and the eafinefs of erring, or overflipping in fuch a boundlefs and 
 vaftfearch, if they may not convince thofe that are fo ftrongly perfuaded 
 thereof •, yet to free ingenuous Minds from that over-awful Efteem of thole 
 more ancient than trufty Fathers, whom Cuftom and fond Opinion, weak 
 Principles, and the neglect of founder and fuperiour Knowledge hath exalted 
 lb high as to have gain'd them a blind Reverence •, whofe Books in bignefs, 
 and number fo endlefs and immeafurable, I cannot think that either God or 
 Nature, either divine or human Wifdom, did ever mean ihould be a rule 
 or reliance to us in the decifion of any weighty and pofitive Doclrine : For 
 certainly every Rule and Inftrument of neceflary Knowledge that God hath 
 given us, ought to be fo in proportion, as may be wielded and manag'd by 
 the Life of Man, without penning him up from the duties of human Society ; 
 and fuch a rule and inftrument of Knowledge perfectly is the Holy Bible. But 
 he that fhall bind himfelf to make Antiquity his Rule, if he read but part, 
 befides the difficulty of choice, his Rule is deficient, and utterly unfatisfying ; 
 for there may be other Writers of another mind, which he hath not ieen ; 
 and if he undertake all, the length of Man's Life cannot extend to give him a 
 full and requifite knowledge of what was done in Antiquity. Why do we 
 therfore ftand worfhipping and admiring this unaclive and lifelefs Colojfus, 
 that like a carved Gyant terribly menacing to children and weaklings, lifts 
 up his Club, but ftrikes not, and isfubject to the muting of every Sparrow r 
 If you let him reft upon his Bafts, he may perhaps delight the Eyes of fome 
 with his huge and mountainous Bulk, and the quaint Workmanfhip of 
 his mafiy Limbs : but if ye go about to take him in pieces, ye marr 
 him ; and if you think, like Pigmies, to turn and wind him whole as he is, 
 befides your vain Toil and Sweat, he may chance to fall upon your own Heads. 
 Go therfore, and ufe all your Art, apply your Sledges, your Levers, and 
 your Iron Crows, to heave and hale your mighty Polypbeme of Antiquity to the 
 delufion of Novices, and unexperienc'd Chriftians. We fhall adhere dole to 
 the Scriptures of God, which he hath left us as the juft and adequate mea- 
 fure of Truth, fitted and proportion'd to the diligent ftudy, memory, and 
 ufe of every faithful Man, whofe every part confenting and making up the 
 
 harmonies
 
 Remonftrants Defence, Sec. 8o 
 
 armonious Symmetry ofcompleat Inftruftioh, is able to fee out to us a perfect 
 Man of God, or Bijhop throughly furnifiVd to aJJ the good Works of his 2 Tim. iii. 
 Charge: and with this Weapon, without ftepping a foot further, we fhall not l6, '7* 
 doubt to batter and throw down your Nebuchadnezzar's Image, and crumble 
 it lik : the* haffof the Summer Threfhing- Floors, as well as the Gold of thofe 
 Apoltolic Succeffors that you boaft of, as your Conflantinian Silver, together 
 with the Iron, the Brafs, and the Clay of thofe muddy and ftrawy Ages that 
 1 . 
 
 'Rem ■?. Let the bolde'ft forehead of them all deny that Epifcopacy hath con- Pag. 45. 
 tinued thus long in our Illand, or that any till this Age contradicted it.' 
 
 Anfw. That bold Forehead you have cleanly put upon yourfelf, 'tis you 
 who deny tiiatany till this Age contradicted it ; no forehead of ours dares do 
 fo much : you have row'd yourfelf fairly between the Scylla and Charybdis, 
 either of impudence or nonfenfe, and now betake you to whether you pleafe. 
 
 Remonft. As for that fupply of acceflbry Strength which I not beg. 
 
 Anfw. Your whole Remonjlrance does nothing elfe but beg it, and your Fel- 
 lovr-Prelates do as good as whine to the Parian t heir Flefh-ppts 6f-Egypt, 
 
 making fad Orations at the Funeral of your dear Prelacy, like that doubty 
 Centurion Afranius in Lucian ; who to imitate the noble Ferities in his Epita- 
 ph! an Speech, ftepping up after the Battle to bewail the (lain Severianus, iixlh 
 into a pitiful Cqndolement, to think of thofe coftly Suppers, and drinking 
 Banquets which he muft now tafte of no more ; and by then he had done, 
 lack'd but little to lament the dear-loved Memory, and calamitous Lois of his 
 Capon and White Broth. 
 
 Remonft. But raife and evince from the light of Nature, and the rules ofjuft 
 Policy, for the continuance of thofe things which long Ufe, and many Laws 
 have firmly eftablifh'd as neceffary and beneficial. 
 
 Anfw. Open your eyes to the light of Grace, a better guide than Nature. 
 Look upon the mean Condition of Chrijl and his Apojlles, without that accef- 
 lbry ftrength you take fuch pains to raife from the light of Nature and Poli- 
 cy: take divine counfel, Labour not for the things that perifh ; you would be 
 the fait of the Earth, if that favour be not found in you, do not think much 
 that the time is now come to throw you out, and tread you under foot : Hark 
 how St. Paul, writing to Timothy, informs a true Bifhop ; Bifiops (faith he) 
 invfil not be greedy of filthy lucre -, and having food and reyment, let us be therwitb 
 content : but they (faith he, meaning more efpecially in that place Bijhops) that 
 will be rich, fall into temptation, and a fnare, and into many foolijb and hurtful 
 Lufls, which drown M drutlion and perdition : for the love of Money is 
 
 the root of all evil, which while fame coveted after, they have erred from the 
 Faith, How can we the rfore expect lound Doctrine, and the folution of this 
 our Controverfy from any covetous and honour- hunting Bifloop, that fhall plead 
 fo ftiffly for thefe things ? while St. Paul thus exhorts every Bijhop ; But thou, 
 O Man of Cod, flee tbcfe things. As for the juft Policy, that long Ufe and 
 Cuftom, and thofe many Laws which you lay have conferred thefe Benefits 
 upon you ; it hath been nothing elfe but the fuperftitious Devotion of Princes 
 and great Men that knew no better, or the bafe importunity of begging Fri- 
 ers, haunting and haraffing the death-beds of Men departing this .Lite, in a 
 blind and wretched Condition of hope to merit Heaven for the building of 
 Churches, Cloyfters, and Convents. The moft of your vaunted Poffeffions, 
 and thofe proud Endowments that ye as finfully wafte, what are they but the 
 black revenues of Purgatory, the price of abufed and murder'd Souls, the 
 damned Simony of Tren.'als, and Indulgences to mortal Sin ? How can ye chufe 
 but inherit the Curfe that goes along with fuch a Patrimony ? Alas ! if there 
 be any releafeinent, any mitigation, or more tolerable being for the Souls 
 of ourmifguided Anceftors -, could we imagine there might be any recovery 
 to fome degree of cafe left for as many of them as are loft, there cannot be 
 abetter wa than to talqe the mifb;ftowcd Wealth which they were cheated 
 of, from thefe our Prelates, who are the true Succefiors of thofe that popt 
 the other World, with this conceit of meriting by their Goods, 
 their final undoing ; and to bellow their beneficent Gifts upon 
 id Means of Chriftian Education, and the faithful Labourers in God's 
 II..- ft, that may inceffantly warn the pofterity of Dives, left they come 
 
 Vol. I. N where
 
 po Animadvcrftons upon the 
 
 where their miferable Forefather was fent by the coufenage and mifleading of 
 avaritious and worldly Prelates. 
 
 Remcnft. It will ftand long enough againft the battery of their paper-pellets. 
 Jnfw. That muft be try'd with a fquare Cap in the Council •, and if Pellets 
 will not do, your own Canons fhall be turn'd againft you. 
 
 Rcmonfl. They cannot name any Man in this Nation that ever contradicted 
 Epifcopacy, till this prefent Age. 
 
 Anfw. What an over-worn and bed-rid Argument is this, the laft Refuge 
 ever of old falfhood, and therfore a good iign I truft that your Caftle cannot 
 hold out long. This was the plea of Judaifm, and Idolatry againft Chrift and 
 his Apoflles, of Papacy againft Reformation ; and perhaps to the frailty of 
 Flefh and Blood in a Man deftituteof better enlightening, may for fome while 
 be pardonable : for what hasflcfhly apprehenfion other to lubfift by than Suc- 
 ceffion Cuftom, and Vifibility •, which only hold, if in his weaknefs and 
 blindnefs he be loth to lofe, who can blame ? But in a Proteflant Nation that 
 ftiould have thrown off thefe tatter'd Rudiments long ago, after the many 
 ftrivino-s of God's Spirit, and our fourfcore Years vexation of him in this our 
 Wildernefs fince Reformation began, to urge thefe ratten Principles, and twit 
 us with the prefent Age, which is to us an age of ages wherin God ismanifeft- 
 ly come down among us, to do fome remarkable good to our Church or State, 
 is as if a Man fliould tax the renovating and re-ingendring Spirit of God with 
 Innovation, and that new Creature for an upftart Novelty •, yea, the new Je- 
 rufalem, which without your admired link of Succefiion defcends from Heaven, 
 could not efcape fome fuchlikecenfure. If you require a further anfwer, it 
 will not mifbecomea Chriftian to be either more magnanimous, or more de^ 
 vout than Snpio was ; who inftead of other anfwer to the frivolous accufations 
 of Petilius the Tribune, This day Romans (faith he) I fought with Hanibal prof- 
 ■percujly ; let us all go and thank the Gods that gave us fo great a Vitlory : in like 
 manner will we now fay, not caring otherwife to anfwer this Un-proteftant- 
 like Objection •, In this age, Britains, God hath reform'd his Church after ma- 
 ny hundred years of Popijh corruption ; in this Age he hath freed us from the 
 intolerable yoke of Prelates and Papal Difcipline ; in this Age he hath renew- 
 ed our Proteftation againft all thofe yet remaining dregsof Superftition. Let us 
 all go, every true protefted Britain, throughout the three Kingdoms, and render 
 thanks to God the Father of Light, and Fountain of heavenly Grace, and to his 
 Son Christ our Lord •, leaving this Remonfirant and his Adherents to their 
 own Defi^ns. and let us recount evenhere without delay, the patience and long- 
 fufferinor that God hath ufed towards our blindnefs and hardnefs time after time. 
 For he being equally near to his whole Creation of Mankind, and of free pow- 
 er to turn his benefic and fatherly regard to what Region or Kingdom he p'eafes, 
 hath yet ever had this Ifland under the fpecial indulgent eye of his Providence : 
 and pitying us the firft of\all other Nations, after he had decreed to purify and 
 renew his Church that lay wallowing in Idolatrous Pollutions, fent firft to us 
 a healing Meffenger to touch foftly our Sores, and carry a gentle hand over 
 our Wounds : he knock'd once and twice and came again, opening our drow- 
 fy Eye lids leifurely by that glimmeringlight which Wicklef, and his Followers 
 difperfed ; and ftill taking off by degrees the inveterate fcales from our nigh 
 perifh'd fight, purg'd alio our deaf Ears, and prepared them to attend hisfe- 
 cond warning Trumpet in our Grandfires days. Flow elfe could they have 
 been able to have receiv'd the fudden affault of his reforming Spirit, warring 
 a"ainft human Principles, and carnal fenfe, the pride of Fleih that ftill cry'd 
 up Antiquity, Cuftom, Canons, Councils and Laws ; and cry'd down the 
 Truth for Novelty, Schifm, Prophanenefs and Sacrilege : whenas we that 
 have liv'd f > long in abundant Light, befides the funny reflection of all the 
 nci°hbouring Churches, have yet our hearts riveted with thofe old Opinions, 
 and fo obftracted and benumb'd with the fame flefhly reafonings, which in 
 our Forefathers foon melted and gave way, againft the morning-beam of 
 Reformation. If God hath left undone this whole work fo contrary to Flefh 
 and Blood, till thefe times •, how fliould we have yielded to his heavenly 
 Call, had we been taken, as they were, in the ftarknefs of our Ignorance ; 
 that yet after all thefe lpiritual Preparatives and Purgations, have our eaith-
 
 Remonftrants Defence , &£. p x 
 
 \y Apprehenfions fo clamm'd, and furr'd with the old Leven. Oifwe 
 freeze at noon after their early Thaw, let us fear left the Sun for ever hide him- 
 felf, and turn his orient fteps from our ingrateful Horizon, juftly condemn'd 
 to be eternally benighted. Which dreadful Judgment, O thou the ever-be- 
 gotten Light and perfect Image of the Father, intercede, may never come up- 
 on us, as we truft thou haft •, for thou haft open'd our difficult and fad times, 
 and given us an unexpected breathing after our long Oppreffions ; thou haft 
 done Juftice upon thole that tyrannized over us, while fome Men waver'd and 
 admir'd a vain fhadow of Wifdom in a Tongue nothing flow to utter Guile, 
 though thou haft taught us to admire only that which is good, and to count that 
 only praife-worthy which is grounded upon thy divine Precepts. Thou haft 
 difcover'd the plots, and fruftrated the hopes of all the wicked in the Land* 
 and put to fhame the Perfecutors of thy Church ; thou haft made our falfe 
 Prophets to be found a lye in the fight of all the People, and chaced them with 
 fudden Confufion and Amazement before the redoubled brightnefs of thy de- 
 fending Cloud, that now covers thy Tabernacle. Who is there that cannot 
 trace thee now in thy beamy Walk through the midft of thy Sanctuary, atnidft 
 thofe golden Candlejlics, which have long fuffered a dimnefs amongft us 
 through the violence of thofe that had feiz'd them, and were more taken with 
 the mention of their Gold than of their ftarry Light; teaching the Doctrine of 
 Balaam, to caft a ftumbling-block before thy fervants, commanding them to 
 eat things facrificed to Idols, and forcing them to Fornication ? Come there- 
 fore, O thou that haft the feven Stars in thy right hand, appoint thy chofen 
 Priefis according to their Orders and Courfes of old, to minifter before thee, 
 and duly to prefs and pour out the confecrated Oil into thy holy and ever-burn- 
 ing Lamps. Thou haft fentout the Spirit of prayer upon thy Servants overall 
 the Land to this effect, and ftirr'd up their vows as the found of many waters 
 about thy throne. Every one can fay, that now certainly thou haft vifited 
 this Land, and haft not forgotten the utmoft corners of the Earth, in a time 
 when Men had thought that thou waft gone up from us to the fartheft end of 
 the Heavens, and hadft left to do marvelloufly among the Sons of thefe laft 
 Ages. O perfect and accomplifh thy glorious Acts ; for Men may leave their 
 Works unfinifh'd, but thou art a God, thy Nature is Perfection : fhouldft 
 thou bring us thus far onward from Egypt to deftroy us in this Wildernefs, 
 though we deferve •, yet thy great Name would fufter in the rejoicing of thine 
 Enemies, and the deluded hope of all thy Servants. When thou haft fettled 
 Peace in the Church, and righteous Judgment in the Kingdom, then fhall all 
 thy Saints addrefs their voices of Joy and Triumph to thee, ftanding on the 
 fhore of that red Sea into which our Enemies had almoft driven us. And he 
 that now for hafte fnatches up a plain ungarnifh'd Prefent as a Thank-offer- 
 ingto thee, which could not be deferr'd in regard of thy fo many late deli- 
 verances wrought for us one upon another, may then perhaps take up a Harp, 
 and fing thee an elaborate Song to Generations. In that day it fhall no more 
 be faid as in fcorn, this or that was never held fo till this prefent Age, when 
 Men have better learnt that the times and feafons pafs along under thy feet, 
 to go and come at thy bidding : and as thou didft dignify our Father's days 
 with many Revelations above all the foregoing Ages, fince thou took'ft the 
 Flefh ; fo thou canft vouchfafe to us (though unworthy) as large a portion of 
 thy Spirit as thou pleafeft ; for who fhall prejudice thy all-governing Will ? 
 feeing the power of thy Grace is not paft away with the primitive times, as 
 fond and faithlefs Men imagine, but thy Kingdom is now at hand, and thou 
 ftanding at the door. Come forth out of thy Royal Chambers, O Prince of 
 all the Kings of the Earth, put on the vifible Robes of thy imperial Ma- 
 jefty, take up that unlimited Scepter which thy Almighty Father hath be- 
 queathed thee •, for now the voice of thy Bride calk thee, and all Creatures 
 figh toberenew'd. 
 
 Sect. 5. 
 
 Remonjl. Neglect not the Gift which was given thee by Prophecy, and by 
 laying on the hands of Presbytery. 
 
 Anfw. The Englijh Tranflation expreflfes the Article {the), and rer.d.TS it 
 the Presbytery, which you do injury to omit. 
 
 Vo l, I. N 2 Remonjl t
 
 p 2 Animadverfwns upon the 
 
 fag. 50. Removfi. Which I wonder ye can fo prcfs, when Calvin himfelf takes it of 
 
 the Office, and not of the Men. 
 
 Anfw. You think then you are fairly quit of this proof, becaufe Calv'm in- 
 terprets it for you, as if we could be put off with Calvin's name, unlefs we be 
 convinc'd with Calvin's reafon ; the word tifttftoiiatm is a collective Noun, 
 Signifying a certain number of Men in one order, as the word Privy-Council 
 wTth us, and fo Beza interprets, that knew Calvin's mind doubtlefs, with whom 
 he liv'd. If any amongft us mould fay the Privy-Council ordain'd it, and 
 therby conftrain us to underftand one Man's Authority, fhould we not laugh 
 at him ? And therfore when you have us'd all your cramping Irons to the 
 Text, and done your utmoft to cram a Prejbytery into the fkin of one Perfon, 
 'twill' be but a piece of frugal nonfenfe. But if your meaning be with a vio- 
 lent Hyperbaton to tranfpofe the Text, as if the words lay thus in order, neg- 
 lect not the gift of Prejbytery ; this were a conftruction like a Harquebuze fhoc 
 over a file of words twelve deep, without authority to bid them ftoop ; or to 
 make the word Gift, like the River Mole in Surrey, to run under the bottom of 
 a long line, and fo ftart up to govern the word Prejbytery, as an immediate 
 Syntaxis; a device ridiculous enough to make good that old wife's tale of a 
 certain Queen of England that funk at Charing- crofs, and rofe up at ^neenhithe. 
 No marvel though the ?>-<?/«/« be a troublefome Generation, and which wayfo- 
 ever they turn them, put all things into a foul difccmpofure, when to maintain 
 ' their domineering they feek thus to rout and dif- array the wife and well-couch'd' 
 order of Saint Paul's own words, ufmg either a certain textual Riot to chop 
 off the hands of the word Prejbytery, or elfe a like kind of Simony to clap the 
 word Gift between them. Befides, if the verfe ifiuft be read according to this 
 tranfpofition, ^. ffynEXsw a <w j^'V*™? n tt^j^t::!*, it would be improper 
 to call Ordination x^icr^a, whenas it is rather only x- : i- : '< T !^, an outward Tes- 
 timony of Approbation, unlefs they will make it a Sacrament, as the Papijfs 
 do : But furely the Prelates would have Saint Paul's words ramp one over a- 
 nother, as they ufe to climb into their Livings and Bifiopricks . 
 
 Remonjl. Neither need we give any other fatisfaction to the point, than from 
 Saint Paul Himfelf, 2 Timothy i. 6. Stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the 
 impofition of my hands ■, mine, and not others. 
 
 Anfw. Ye are too quick •, this laft place is to be understood by the former, 
 as the Law of Method, which bears chief fway in the Art of teaching, requires, 
 that cleareft and plaineft Expreffions be fet foremoft, to the end they may en- 
 lighten any following Obfcurity ; and wherfore we fhould not attribute a right 
 method to the teachablenefs of Scripture, there can be no reafon given : to 
 which Method, if we fhall now go contrary, befides the breaking of a logical 
 Rule, which the Remonftrant hitherto we fee hath made little account of, We 
 fhall alfo put a manifeft Violence and Impropriety upon a known word againft 
 his common Signification, in binding a collective to a Angular Perfon. But if 
 we fhall, as Logic (or indeed Reafon) inftrufts us, expound the latter place by 
 the former cited, and underftand, (by the Impofition of my hands) that is, of 
 mine chiefly as an Apoflle, with the joint Authority and Affiftance of the Pref- 
 bytery, there is nothing more ordinary or kindly in Speech, than fuch a Phrafe 
 as expreffes only the chief in any Action, and underftands the reft. So that 
 the Impofition of Saint Paul's hands, without more expreffion in this place, 
 cannot exclude the joint Aft of the Presbytery affirmed by the former 
 Text. 
 Pag. -6. Remonfi. In the mean while fee Brethren how you have with Simon fifh'd all 
 
 night, and caught nothing. 
 
 Anfw. If we fifhing with Simon the Apoftle can catch nothing, fee what you 
 can catch with Simon Magus; for all his hooks and fifhing Implements he be- 
 queathed among you. 
 
 Sect. 13. 
 Remonft.'We do again profefs, that if our Bifoops challenge any other Power 
 than was delegated to, and required of Timothy and Titus, we fhall yield them 
 Ufurpers. 
 
 Anfw. Ye cannot compare an ordinary Bifhop with Timothy, who was an ex-, 
 traordinary Man, foretold and promis'd to the Church by many Prophecies, 
 
 and
 
 Remonftrants Defence ', Sec. 03 
 
 dhis BBftns join' d as collateral with Saint Paul, in moft of his Apoftolic E- 
 piftles, even where he writes to the Biftjops of other Churches, as thofe in Phi- 
 lippi. Nor can you prove out of the Scripture that Timothy was BifJjop of any 
 particular place •, for that wherin it is laid in the third Verfe of the firft Epiftle^ 
 As Ibefought thee to abide ft HI at Epbefus, will be fuch a glofs to prove the con- 
 ftitution of a Bijhop by, as would not only be not fo good as a Bourdeaux glofs •, 
 but fcarcs be receiv'd to varnilh a Vizard of Modona. All that can be ga- 
 thered out of holy Writ concerning Timothy is, that he was either an Apojlle, or 
 an Apoftle's extraordinary Vicegerent, not confin'd to the charge of any place. 
 The like may be faid of Titus, (as thofe words import in the 5th verfe) that he 
 was for that caufe left in Crete, that he might fupply or proceed to fet in order 
 that which Saint Paul in Apoftolic manner had begun, lor which he had his 
 particular Commifiion, as thofe words found, {as I had appointed thee) So that 
 what he did in Crete, cannot fo much bethought the exercife of an ordinary 
 Function, as the direction of an infpired mouth. No lefs alio may be gather'd 
 from the 2 Cor. viii. 23. 
 
 Remonft. You defcend to the Angels of the feven Aftan Churches,,your fhift 
 is, that the word Angel is here taken collectively, not individually. 
 
 Anfw. That the Word is colledtive, appears plainly, Revel, ii. 
 
 Firft, Becaufe the Text itfelf expounds it fo •, for having fpoken all the while 
 as to the Angel, the feventh Verfe concludes that this was fpoken to the 
 Churches. Now if the Spirit conclude collectively, and kept the lame tenor 
 all the way, for we fee not where he particularizes •, then certainly he mult 
 begin collectively, elfe the Conftruction can be neither Grammatical nor Lo- 
 gical. 
 
 - Secondly, If the word Angel be individual, then are the faults attributed to 
 him individual : but they are fuch as for which God tbiv.ii.-ns to remove the 
 Candleftick out of his place, which is as much as to take away from thatChurch 
 the Light of his Truth : and we cannot think he would do fo for one Bijhop's 
 fault. Therfore thofe faults mull be underftood collective, and by confequence 
 the fubject of them collective. 
 
 Thirdly, an individual cannot branch itfelf into Subindividuals ; but this 
 word Angel doth in the tenth Verfe. Fear none of thofe things which thoufloalt 
 fuffer ; behold the Devil Jh all c aft fome of you into prifon. And the like from o- 
 ther places of this and the following Chapter may be obierved. Therfore it is 
 no individual word, but a collective. 
 
 Fourthly, In the 24th Verfe this word Angel is made capable of a Pronoun 
 plural, which could not be, unlels it were a Collective. As for the fuppofed 
 Manufcript of Tecla, and two or three other Copies that have expung'd the 
 Copulative, we cannot prefer them before the more receiv'd reading, and we 
 hope you will not againft the Tranflation of your Mother the Church of Eng- 
 land, that paft the revife of your chiefeft Prelates : Befides this, you will lay 
 an unjuft cenfure upon the much-praifed Bijhop ot'Thyatira, and reckon him 
 among thofe that had the Doctrine of Jefabel, when the Text fays, he only fuf- 
 fer' d her. Wheras, if you will but let in a charitable conjunction, as we know 
 your fo much calPd-for Charity will not deny, then you plainly acquit the 
 Bijhop, if you comprehend him in the name of Angel, otherwife you leave his 
 cafe very doubtful. 
 
 Remonft. Thou fuffer -ejl thy Wife Jesabel : was ihe Wife to the whole Compa- p ag . ,05. 
 ny, or to one Bijhop alone ? 
 
 Anfw. Not to the whole Company doubtlefs, for that had but worfe than to 
 have bin the Levite's Wife in Gibeah : but here among all thofe that conftantly 
 read it otherwife, whom you trample upon, your good Mother of England is 
 down again in the throng, who with the reft reads it, that Woman Jefabel : 
 but fuppofe it were Wife, a Man might as well interpret that word figurative- 
 ly, as her name Jefabel no Man doubts to be a borrow'd Name. 
 
 Remonft. Yet what makes this for a Diocefan Bijhop ? much every way. P , , ,. 
 
 Anfzv. No more than a fpecial Endorfcment could make to puff up the Fore- 
 man of a Jury. If we deny you more precedence, than as the Senior of any 
 Society, or deny you this priority to be longer than annual ; prove you th^ 
 contrary from hence, if you can. That you think to do from the title of e- 
 minence, Angel : alas your wings are too Ihurt. 'Tis not Ordination nor Ju- 
 2 rifdicuon
 
 P4 Ammadverfions upon the 
 
 rifdiction that is Angelical, but the heavenly Meffage of the Gofpel, which is 
 Mat. xi. the Office of all Minifters alike ; in which fenfe "John the Bafttfi is call'J an 
 Angel, which in Greek fignifiesa Meffenger* as oft as it is meant by a Man, 
 and micht be fo rendered here without treafon to the Hierarchy ; but that the 
 whole Book foars to a prophetic pitch in Types, and Allegories. Seeing, 
 then the reafon of this borrow'd Name is merely tofignify the preaching of the 
 Gofpel, and that this preaching equally appertains to the whole Minijiry -, 
 hence may be drawn a fifth argument, that if the reafon of this borrow'd Name 
 Angel be equally collective, and communicative to the whole preaching Mini- 
 ftry of the place, then muft the name be collectively and communicatively 
 taken ; but the reafon, that is to fay, the office of preaching and watching over 
 the Flock, is equally collective and communicative : Therfore the borrow'd 
 name itfelfis to be underftood as equally collective and communicative to the 
 whole preaching Miniftry of the place. And if you will contend ftill for a Su- 
 periority in one Perfon, you mull ground it better than from this Metaphor, 
 which you may now deplore as the Ax-head that fell into the water, and fay, 
 Alas Mafter, for it was borrow'd ; unlefs you have as good a faculty to make 
 Iron fwim, as you had to make light Froth fink, 
 Pag. 124; Remonft. "What is, if this be not Ordination and Jurifdiction ? 
 
 Anfw. Indeed in the Constitution, and founding of a Church, that fome Men 
 infpired from God fhould have an extraordinary Calling to appoint, to or- 
 der and difpofe, muft needs be. So Mafes, though himfelf no Prieft, fanc- 
 tify'd, and ordained Aaron and his Sons ; but when all needful things be fet, 
 and regulated by the Writings of the Apoftles, whether it be not a mere folly 
 to keep up a fuperior Degree in the Church only for Ordination and Jurif- 
 diction, it will be no hurt to debate a while. The Apoftles were the Build- 
 ers, and, as it were, the Architects of the Chnftian Church ; wherin con- 
 fifted their Excellence above ordinary Minifters ? a Prelate would fay in 
 commanding, in controuling, in appointing, in calling to them, and fending 
 from about them to all Countries their Biihops and Archbifhops as their De- 
 puties, with a kind of Legantine Power. No, no, vain Prelates, this was 
 but as the Scaffolding of a new Edifice, which for the time muft board, and 
 overlook the higheft Battlements ; but if the Structure once finifh'd, any 
 Pafieno-er mould fall in love with them, and pray that they might ftill ftand, 
 as being a fingular Grace, and ftrengthning to the Houfe, who would other- 
 wife think, but that the Man were prefently to be laid hold on, and fent to 
 his Friends and Kindred ? The Eminence of the Apoftles confided in their 
 powerful preaching, their unwearied labouring in the Word, their unquench* 
 able Charity, which above all earthly reipects like a working flame, had fpun 
 up to fuch a height of pure defire, as might be thought next to that Love 
 which dwells in God to fave Souls ; which, while they did, they were con- 
 tented to be the OfT-fcouring of the World, and to expofe themfelves wil- 
 lingly to all Afflictions, perfecting therby their hope through patience to a 
 Joyunfpeakable. As for Ordination, what is it, but the laying on of hands, 
 an outward fign or fymbol of Admiffion ? It creates nothing, it confers no- 
 thing •, it is the inward Calling of God that makes a Minifter, and his own 
 painful ftudy and diligence that manures and improves his minifterial Gifts. 
 In the Primitive times, many before ever they had receiv'd Ordination 
 from the Apoftles, had clone the Church noble fervice, as Apollos and others. 
 It is but an orderly form of receiving a Man already fitted, and commit- 
 ting to him a particular charge ; the employment of preaching is as ho- 
 ly, and far more excellent ; the care alio and judgment to be ufed in the 
 winning of Souls, which is thought to be fufficient in every worthy Minifter, 
 is an Ability above that which is required in Ordination : For many may be 
 able to judge who is fit to be made a Minifter, that would not be found fit to 
 be made Minifters themfelves ; as it will not be deny'd that he may be the 
 competent Judge of a neat Picture, or elegant Poem, that cannot limn the 
 like. Why therfore we fhould conftitute a fuperior Order in the Church 
 to perform an Office which is not only every Minifter's Function, bat infe- 
 rior alfo to that which he has a confeft right to ; and why this Superiority 
 fhould remain thus ufurp'd, fome wife Epimenides tell us. Now for Juris- 
 diction, this dear Saint of the Prelates, it will be heft to confider, firft, 
 
 "What
 
 Remonflrants Defence •, &c. p ? 
 
 what it is: That Sovereign Lord, who in the difcharge of his holy Anoint- 
 ment from God the Father, which made him fup re me Bifhop of our Souls, 
 was fo humble as to fay, Who made me a Judge, or a Divider over ye ? 
 hath taught us that a Churchman's Jurifdiftion is no more but to watch over 
 his Flock in feafon, and out of feafon, to deal by fweet and efficacious In- 
 ftructions, gentle Admonitions* and fometimes rounder Reproofs ; againft 
 negligence or obftinacy, will be required a roufing Volley of paftorly Threats 
 nings ; againft a perfifting ftubbornnefs, or the fear of a reprobate fenfe, a 
 timely f-paration from the Flock by that interdiclive Sentence, left his Con- 
 verfation unprohibited, or unbranded, might breathe a peitilential murrain in- 
 to the other Sheep. In fum, his Jurifdi&ion is to fee the thriving and 
 profpering of that which he hath planted : what other work the Prelates have 
 found for Chancellors and Suffragans, Delegates and Officials, with all the 
 hell-peftering rabble of Sumners and Apparitors, is but an invafion upon the 
 temporal Magiftrate, and affected by them as Men that are not afham'd of 
 the Enfign and Banner of Antichrift. But true Evangelical Jurifdi&ion or 
 Difcipline is no more, as was faid, than for a Minifter to fee to the thrivino- 
 and profpering of that which he hath planted. And which is the worthieft 
 work of thefe two, to plant, as every Minifter's Office is equally with the 
 Bifhops, or to tend that which is planted, which the blind and undifcernino- 
 Prelates call Jurifdiftion, and would appropriate to themfelves as a Bufinefs 
 of higher dignity ? Have patience therfore a little, and hear a Law-cafe : 
 A certain Man of large Poffeflions, had a fair Garden, and kept therin an 
 honeft and laborious Servant, whofe fkill and profeflion was to fet or fow 
 all wholefome Herbs, and delightful Flowers, according to every feafon, and 
 whatever elfe was to be done in a well-hufbanded Nurfery of Plants and Fruits; 
 now, when the time was come that he fhould cut his Hedges, prune his 
 Trees, look to his tender (lips, and pluck up the Weeds that hindered their 
 growth, he gets him up by break of day, and makes account to do what 
 was needful in his Garden ; and who would think that any other fhould know 
 better than he how the day's work was to be fpent ? Yet for all this there 
 comes another ftrange Gardener that never knew the Soil, never handled a 
 Dibble or Spade to fet the leaft Pot-herb that grew there, much lefs had en- 
 dur'd an hour's fweat or chilnefs, and yet challenges as his right the bindino- 
 or unbinding of every Flower, the clipping of every Bufh, the weeding and 
 worming of every Bed, both in that and all other Gardens therabout. The 
 honeft Gardener, that ever fince the day-peep, till now the Sun was grown 
 fomewhat rank, had wrought painfully about his Banks and Seed-plots, at his 
 commanding Voice turns fuddenly about with fome wonder ; and although he 
 could have well beteem'd to have thank'd him of the eafe he profer'd, yet 
 loving his own handy-work, modeftly refus'd him, telling him withal, that 
 for his part, if he had thought much of his own pains, he could for once have 
 committed the Work to one of his fellow-labourers, forasmuch as it is well 
 known to be a matter of lefs fkill and lefs labour to keep a Garden handfome, 
 than it is to plant it, or contrive it, and that he had already perform'd himlelf. 
 No, laid the Stranger, this is neither for you nor your fellows to meddle with, 
 but for me only that am for thispurpofe in dignity far above you ; and the 
 provifion which the Lord of the Soil allows me in this Office is, and that with 
 good reafon, ten-fold your Wages. The Gardener fmil'd and fhook his head ; 
 but what was determined I cannot tell you till the end of this Par- 
 lament. 
 
 Remonft. If in time you fhall fee wooden Chalices, and wooden Priefls, P*s- >*7. 
 thank yourfelves. 
 
 Anfw. It had been happy for this land, if your Priefts had been but only 
 wooden •, all England knows they have been to this Ifland not wood, but 
 wormwood, that have infected the third part of our waters, like that Apo- 
 ftate Star in the Revelation, that many Souls have died of their bitternefs •, 
 and if you mean by wooden, illiterate or contemptible, there was no want of 
 that fort among you ; and their number increaiing daily, as their lazinefs, their 
 Tavern-hunting, their neglect of all found Literature, and their liking of 
 'doltifh and monaftical School-men daily increas'd. What fhould I tell you 
 how the Univerfities, that Men look fhould be fountains of Learning and; 
 
 Knowledge,!
 
 r>5 Animadverfions upon the 
 
 Knowledge, have been poifon'd andchoak'd under your Governance ? And if 
 to be wooden, be to be bale, where could there be found among all the reform- 
 ed Churches, nay, in the Church of Rome itfelf, a baier brood of flattering and 
 time-ferving Priefts, according as God pronounces by Ifaiah, the Prophet that 
 teacheth lyes, he is the tail. As for your young Scholars that petition for 
 Bilhoprics and Deanaries to encourage them in their ftudies, and that many 
 Gentlemen elfe will not put their Sons to learning-, away with fuch young mer- 
 cenary Striplings, and their Simoniacal Fathers, God has no need of fuch, 
 they have no part or lot in his Vineyard : they may as well fue for Nun- 
 neries, that they may have fome convenient fiowage for their wither'd Daugh- 
 ters, becaufe they cannot give them portions anfwerable to the pride and 
 vanity they have bred them in. Tnis is the root of all our mifchief, that 
 which they alledge for the encouragement of their ftudies, fhould be cut 
 away forthwith as the very bait of pride and ambition, the very garbage that 
 draws together all the fowls of prey and ravin in the land to come and 
 o-oro-e upon the Church. How can it be but ever unhappy to the Church of 
 ^England, while ihe (hall think to entice Men to the pure iervice of God by 
 the fame means that were us'd to tempt our Saviour Co the fervice of the 
 Devil, by laying before him honour and preferment? Fit pro&ffors indeed 
 are they like to Iv, to teach others that Godlinefs with content is great gain, 
 whenas their godiinefs of teaching had not been but for worldly gain. The 
 heathen Philofoprrers thought that virtue was tor its own fake ineftimable, 
 and the crreateft gain of a Teacher to make a foul virtuous ; fo Xenophon 
 writes of Socrates, who never bargain'd with any for teaching them ; he fear'd 
 not left thofe who had receiv'd fo high a benefit from him, would not of their 
 own free will return him all poffible thanks. Was moral Virtue fo love- 
 ly, and fo alluring, and heathen Men fo enamour'd of her, as to teach and 
 ftudy her with greateft neglect and contempt of worldly profit and advance- 
 ment ? And is Chriftian Piety fo homely and fo unpleafant, and Chriftian 
 Men fo cloy'd with her, as that none will ftudy and teach her, but for lucre 
 and preferment ! O ftale-grown Piety ! O Gofpel raced as cheap as thy 
 Mafter, at thirty pence, and not worth the ftudv, unlefs thou canft buy thofe 
 that will f ll thee ! O race of Caperna'itar.s, fenfelefs of divine doctrine, and 
 capable only of loaves and belly-cheer ! But they will grant, perhaps, piety 
 may thrive, but learning will decay : I would fain afk thefe Men at whofe 
 hands they leek inferior things, as wealth, honour, their dainty fare, their 
 lofty houies ? No doubt but they will foon anfwer, that all thefe things they 
 feek at God's hands. Do they think then that all thefe meaner and fuper- 
 fluous things come from God, and the divine gift of Learning from the den 
 of Plutus, or the cave of Mammon ? Certainly never any clear fpirit nurs'd 
 up from brighter influences, with a foul enlarg'd to the dimenfions of fpacious 
 art and high knowledge, ever enter'd there but with fcorn, and thought it ever 
 foul difdain to make pelf or ambition the reward of his ftudies, it being the 
 greateft honour, the greateft fruit and proficiency of learned ftudies to de- 
 fpife thefe things. Not liberal fcience, but illiberal muft that needs be, that 
 mounts in contemplation merely for Money. And what would it avail us to 
 have a hireling Clergy, though never fo learned ? For fuch can have neither 
 true wifdom nor grace, and then in vain do Men truft in Learning, where 
 thefe be wanting. If in lefs noble and almoft mechanic Arts, according to 
 the definitions of thofe Authors, he is not efteem'd to defcrve the name of 
 a compleat Architect, an excellent Painter, or the like, that bears not a ge- 
 nerous mind above the peafantly regard of wages and hire ; much more 
 muft we think him a moll imperfect, and incompleat Divine, who is fo far 
 from being a contemner of filthy lucre, that his whole Divinity is moulded 
 and bred up in the beggarly, andbrutifh hopes of a fat Prebendary, Deanery, 
 or Bifhopric ; which poor and low-pitch'd defires, if they do but mix with 
 thofe other heavenly intentions that draw a Man to this ftudy, it, is juftly ex- 
 pected that they fhould bring forth a bafe-born iflue of Divinity, like that of 
 thofe imperfect, and putrid creature? that receive a crawling life from two 
 moft unlike procreants, the Sun and Mud. And in matters of Religion, there 
 is not any thing more intolerable than a learned Fool, or a learned Hypo- 
 crite ; the one is ever coopt up at his empty fpeculations, a fot, an ideot 
 2 for
 
 Remonflrants Defence , Sec. p y 
 
 for any ufe that Mankind can make of him, or elfe fowing the World with 
 nice and idle qucflions, and with much toil and difficulty wading to his audi- 
 tors up to the eye-brows in deep fhallows that wet not the inftep : a plain un- 
 learned Man that lives well by that light which he has, is better and wifcr, and 
 edifies others more towards a godly and happy life than he. The other is flill 
 ufing hisfophilticated arts, and bending all his ftudies how to make his ini- 
 tiate avarice and ambition feem pious and orthodoxal, by painting his lewd 
 and deceitful Principles with a finooth and glo/Ty varnifh in a doctrinal way, 
 to bring about his wickedeft purpofes. Inllead of the great harm therfore 
 that thefe Men fear upon the difiolving of Prelates, what an eafe, and hap- 
 pinefswill it be to us, when tempting rewards are taken away, that the' 
 cunningeft and in oft dangerous mercenaries will ceafe of themfl-Ives to fre- 
 quent the fold, whom otherwife fcarCe all the prayers of the faithful could 
 have kept back from devouring the flock ? But a true Pallor of Chrift's fend- 
 ing hath this efpecial mark, that for greateft labours, and greateft merits in 
 the Church, he requires either nothing, if he could lb fubfiif, or a very com- 
 mon and reafonable fupply of human neceffaries : We cannot therfore do 
 better than to leave this care of ours to God, he can eafily fend labourers 
 into his Harveft, that fh ill not cry, Give, give, but be contented with a mo- 
 derate and befeeming allowance •, nor will he fuffer true learning to be want- 
 ing, where true grace and our obedience to him abounds : for if he give us to 
 know him aright, and to pradife this our knowledge in right eftablifh'd difci- 
 pline, how much more will he replenifh us with all abilities in tongues and 
 arts, that may conduce to his glory, and our good ? He can ftir up rich 
 Fathers to beftow exquifite education upon their Children, and fo dedicate 
 them to the fcrvice of the Gofpel •, he can make the Sons of Nobles his Mi- 
 nifters, and Princes to be his Nazarites •, for certainly there is no employment 
 more honourable, more worthy to take up a great fpirit, more requiring a 
 generous and free nurture, than to be the Meffenger and Herald of heavenly 
 Truth from God to Man, and by the faithful work of holy doctrine, to pro- 
 create a number of faithful Men, making a kind of Creation like to God's, by 
 infufing his Spirit and Likenefs into them, to their falvation, as God did into 
 him •, ariling to what climate foever he turn him, like that Sun of righteouf- 
 nefs that fenthim, with healing in his wings, and new light to break in up- 
 on the chill and gloomy hearts of his hearers, raifing out of darkfome bar- 
 rennefs a delicious and fragrant fpring of faving knowledge, and good 
 works. Can a Man thus employ'd, find himfelf difcontented, or difhonoured 
 for want of admittance to have a pragmatical voice at SefTions, and Jail- 
 deliveries ? or becaufe he may not as a Judge fit out the wrangling noife of 
 litigious Courts to fhreeve the purfes of unconfeTng and unmortify'd finners, 
 and not their fouls, or be difcourag'd though Men call him not Lord, when- 
 as the due performance of his office would gain him even from Lords and 
 Princes, the voluntary title of Father ? Would he tug for a Barony to fit 
 and vote in Parlament, knowing that no Man can take from him the gift of 
 wifdom and found doctrine, which leaves him free, though not to be a mem- 
 ber, yet a teacher, and perfuader of the Parlament ? And in all wife ap- 
 prehenfions the perfuafive power in Man to win others to goodnefs by in- 
 ft ruction is greater, and more divine, than the compulfive power to re- 
 ftrain Men from being evil by terror of the Law-, and therfore Chrift left 
 Mofes to be the Law-giver, but himfelf came down amongft us to be a teach- 
 er, with which office his heavenly Wifdom was fo well pleafed, as that he 
 was angry with thofe that would have put a piece of temporal Judicature into 
 his hands, difclaiming that he had any Commilfion from above for fucli 
 matters. 
 
 Such a high Calling therfore as this, fends not for thofe droffy fpifits that 
 need the lure and whiftle of earthly preferment, like thofe animals that 
 fetch and carry for a morfel -, no. She can find fuch as therfore ftudy her 
 precepts, becaufe fhe teaches to defpife preferment. And let not thofe 
 wretched Fathers think they fhall impoverish the Church of willing and able 
 fupply, though they keep back their fordid f perm begotten in the luftinefs of 
 their avarice, and turn them to their making-kilns ; rather let them take 
 heed what lefibns they inftil into that lump of flelh which they are the caufe 
 Vol. I, O of,
 
 gg Ariimadverfwns upon the 
 
 of left thinking to offer him as a prefent to God, they difh him out for the 
 Devil. Let the Novice learn firft to renounce the world, and fo give himfelf 
 to God, and not therfore give himfelf to God that he may clofe the better with 
 the World, like that falfe Shepherd Palinode in the Eclogue of May, under 
 whom the Poet lively perfonates our Prelates, whofe whole life is a recantation 
 of their paftoral vow, and whofe profeffion to forfake the World, as they ule 
 the matter, bogs them deeper into the World : Thofe our admired Spencer 
 inveighs a°-ainft, not without fome prefage of thefe reforming times. 
 
 The time was once, end may again return, 
 {For oft may happen that hath been beforn) 
 When Shepherds had none inheritance, 
 Ne of land, nor fee in fufferance, 
 But what might arife of the bare fheep, 
 {Were it more or lefje,) whic h they did keep. 
 Well ywis was it with Shepherds, tho 
 Nought having, nought feared they to forgo : 
 For Pan himfelf e was their inheritance, 
 And little them ferv'd for their maintenance : 
 The Shepherds Godfo well them guided, 
 That of naught they were unprovided. 
 Butter enough, honey, milk, and whey, 
 And their flock fleeces them to array. 
 But trail of time, and long profperity 
 {That nttrfe of vice, this of infolency) 
 Lull'd the Shepherds infuch fecurity, 
 That not content with loyal obeyfance, 
 Some gan to gape for greedy governance, 
 And match themfelves with mighty Potentates, 
 'Lovers of Lord/hips, and troublers of States. 
 Tho gan Shepherds Swains to looke aloft, 
 And leave to live hard, and learne to lig foft. 
 Tho under colour of Shepherds fome while 
 There crept in Wolves full of fraud and guile , 
 That often devoured their own Sheep, 
 And often the Shepherd that did them keep. 
 This was the firft fource of Shepherds for row, 
 That now nill be quit with bale, nor borrow. 
 
 By all this we may conjecture, how little we need fear that the ungilding of 
 our Prelates, will prove the woodening of our Priefts. In the mean while, let 
 no Man carry in his Head either fuch narrow, or fuch evil eyes, as not to look 
 upon the Churches of Belgia and Helvetia, and that envied City Geneva : 
 Where in the Chriftian World doth Learning more flourifh than in thefe pla- 
 ces ? Not among your beloved Jefuits, nor their Favourers, though you take 
 all the Prelates into the number, and inftance in what kind of learning you 
 pleafe. And how in England all noble Sciences attending upon the train of 
 Chriftian Dodbrine may flourifh more than ever ; and how the able profeffbrs 
 of every Art may with ample ftipends be honeftly provided •, and finally, how 
 there may be better care had that their hearers may benefit by them, and all 
 this without the Prelates, the courfes are fo many and fo eafy, that I mall 
 pafs them over. 
 
 Sea. 14. Remonft. It is God that makes the Bifhop, the King that gives the Bifhopric ; 
 
 Pag. 129. What can you fay to this ? 
 
 ■ Anfw. What you fhall not long ftay for : We fay it is God that makes a 
 Bifhop, and the Devil that makes him take a prelatical Bifhopric ; as for the 
 King's gift, regal bounty may be excufable in giving, where the Bifhop's co- 
 vetoufnefs is damnable in taking. 
 
 Pag. 137. Remonft. Many eminent Divines of the Churches abroad have earneftly wifh- 
 
 ed themfelves in our condition. 
 Anfw. I cannot blame them, .they were not only eminent, but fupereminent 
 -• Divines,
 
 Remonflrants Defence, Sic. 99 
 
 Divines, and forftomach much like to Pompey the great, that could endure no 
 equal. 
 
 Remotift. The Babylonian note founds well in your Ears, down with it, down Pag. 139. 
 with it even to the ground. 
 
 Anfw. You miftake the matter, it was the Edomitifo note, but change it, 
 and if you be an Angel, cry with the Angel, It is fallen, ic is fallen. 
 
 Remonsl. But the God of Heaven will, we hope, vindicate his own Ordi- 
 nance fo long perpetuated to the Church. 
 
 Anfw. Go rather to your God of this World, and fee if he can vindicate 
 your Lordfnips, your temporal and fpiritual Tyrannies, and all your pelf; 
 tor the God of Heaven is already come down to vindicate his Ordinance from 
 your fo long perpetuated Ufurpation. 
 
 Remcnft. If yet you can blufh. ScJI _ 
 
 Anfw. This is a more Edcmitifl) conceit than the former, and muft be fi- Vag. 14':. 
 Iencedwitha cour.ter-quip of the fame Country. So often and fo unfavourily 
 has it been repeated, that the Reader may well cry, Down with it, down with 
 it for fhame. A Man would think you had eaten over-liberally of Efau's red 
 Porridge, and from thence dream continually of blufhing ; or perhaps, to 
 heighten your fancy in writing, are wont to fit in your Doctor's fcarlet, which 
 through your eyes infecting your pregnant imaginative with a red Suffufion, 
 Ivgets a continual thought of blufhing : That you thus perfecute ingenuous 
 Men over all your Book, with this one over-tired rubrical conceit ftill of blufh- 
 ing •, but if you have no mercy upon them, yet fpare yourfclf, left you bejade 
 the good Galloway, your own opinialler Wit, and make the very Conceit itfelf 
 blufh with fpur-galling. 
 
 Remonsl. The fcandals of our inferior Minifters I defired to have had lefs Se6l , 6 
 P'ablic. p a g, , 4 3. 
 
 Anfw. And what your fuperior Archbifhop or Bifhops ? O forbid to have 
 it told in Gatb ! fiiy you. O dauber ! and therfore remove not Impieties from 
 Ifrael. Conlfantine might have done morejuftly to have punifh'd thofe Cler- 
 gical faults which he could not conceal, than to leave them unpunifh'd, that 
 they might remain conceal'd : better had it been for him that the Heathen had 
 heard the fame of his Juftice, than of his wilful Connivance and Partiality ; 
 and fo the name of God and his Truth had been lefs blafphem'd among his 
 Enemies, and 'the Clergy amended, which daily, by this Impunity, grew worfe 
 and worfe.. But, O to publifh in the Streets of Afcalon ! Sure fome Colony of 
 Puritans have taken Afcalon from the Turk lately, that the Remonftrant is 
 fo afraid of Afcalon. The Papifts we know condole you, and neither Ccusfan- 
 tinople nor your Neighbours of Morocco trouble you. What other Afcalon can 
 you allude to ? 
 
 Remonsl. What a death it is to think of the fport and advantage thefe watch- 
 ful Enemies, thefe oppofite Spectators will be fure to make of our fin and *™A««'4 
 fhame ? *' 37 " 
 
 Anfw. This is but to fling and ftruggle under the inevitable net of God, that 
 now begins to inviron you round. 
 
 Remonsi. No one Clergy in the whole Chriftian World yields fo many emi- 
 nent Scholars, learned Preachers, grave, holy and accomplifh'd Divinej, as p^^™""' 
 this Church of England doth at this day. "*' J 
 
 Anfw. Ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 Remonjl. And long, and ever may it thus flourifh. 
 
 Anfw. O peftilent imprecation ! flourifh as it does at this day in the Pre- 
 lates ? 
 
 Removft. But oh forbid to have it told in Gatb ! 
 
 Anfw. Forbid him rather, facred Parlament, to violate the fenfe of Scrip- 
 ture, and turn that which is fpoken of the afflictions of the Church under her 
 Pagan Enemies, to a pargetted concealment of thofe preluical crying Sins : 
 for from thefe is prophanenefs gone forth into all the Land ; they have 
 hid their eyes from the Sabbaths of the Lord ; they have fed themfelves, and 
 not their Flocks; with force and cruelty have they ruled over God's People : 
 They have fed his Sheep (contrary to that which Saint Peter writes) not of a 
 ready mind, but for filthy lucre ; not as examples to the Flock, but as being 1 Pet. v. 
 Lords over God's heritage : and yet this Dauber would daub ltill with his 
 Vol. I. O > untem-
 
 ! 00 Anhnadverjions upon the 
 
 Ezck. xiii. untempered Mortar. But hearken what God lays by the Prophet Ezekiel, Say 
 unto them that daub this Wall with untcmper'd Mortar, that it fhal! fail } 
 there mall be an overflowing fliowcr, and ye O great halftones ihall fall, and a 
 ftorrny wind fliall rend it, and I will fay unto you, the Wall is no more, nei- 
 ther they that daub'd it. 
 Pag. 149. Remonft. Whether of us fliall give a better account of our Charity to the God 
 
 of Peace, I appeal. 
 
 Anfw. Your Charity is much to your fellow- offenders, but nothing to the 
 numberlefs Souls that have been loft by their falfe feeding : ufe notthcrrbre io 
 fiilily the name of Charity, as moft commonly you do, and the peaceful attri- 
 bute of God to a prepoftorous end. 
 to,?. 17. Remonft. In the next Section, like ill-bred Sons, you fpit in the face of your 
 
 Mother the Church of England. 
 
 Anfw.'Wha.t mould we do or fay to this Remonftrant? that by his idle and 
 fhallow reafonings, feems to have been converiant in no Divinity, but that 
 •- which is colourable to uphold Bifliopricks. We acknowledge, and believe 
 the Catholic reformed Church •, and if any Man be difpofed to ufe a trope or 
 ficuire, as Saint Paul once did in calling her the common Mother of us ail, let 
 him do as his own Rhetoric fliall perfuade him. If therfore we rauft needs 
 have a Mother, and if the Catholic Church only be, and mult be fhe, let all 
 Genealogy tell us, if it can, what we muft call the Church of England, unleis 
 we fliall make every Englijh Proteftant a kind of poetical Bacchus, to have two 
 Mothers : but mark, Readers, the crafty fcope of thefe Prelates, they endea- 
 vour to imprefs deeply into weak and fuperftitious Fancies, the awful notion of 
 a Mother, thatherby they might cheat them into a blind and implicite Obedi- 
 ence to whatfoever they fliall decree, or think fit. And if we come to aik a 
 reafon of aught from our dear Mother, fhe's invifible, under the lockand key of 
 the Prelates her fpiritual adulterers ; they only are the internuncio's, or the go- 
 betweens, of this trim devis'd mummery : whatfoever they fay, flie fays mult 
 be a deadly fin of difobedience not to believe. So that we, who by God's fpe- 
 cial Grace have lhaken off the fervitudeof a great male Tyrant, our pretend- 
 ed Father the Pope, fliould now, if we be not betimes aware of thefe wily 
 Teachers, fink under the flavery of a female notion, the cloudy conception 
 of a demy-Ifland Mother •, and while we think to be obedient Sons, fhould 
 make ourl'elves rather the Baltards, or the Centaurs of their fpiritual Forni- 
 cations. 
 
 Remonft. Take heed of the Ravens ofthe Valley. 
 
 Anfw. The Ravens we are to take heed on arc yourfelves, that would peck 
 out the Eyes of all knowing Chriftians. 
 
 Remonft. Sit you merry, Brethren. 
 
 Anfw. So we fliall when the Furies of Prelatical Confciences will not give 
 them leave to do fo. 
 Sea. iS. Queries. Whether they would not jeopard their Ears rather, &c. 
 
 Pag. 160. Anfw. A punifliment that awaits the merits of your bold accomplices, for the 
 
 lopping, and ftigmatizing of fo many free-born Chriftians. 
 Pag,\6t. Remonft. Whether the profeffed llovenlincfs in God's fervice, &c. 
 
 Anfiv.We have heard of Aaron and his linen Amice, but thofe days are 
 paft-, and for your Prieft under the Goipel, that thinks himfelf the purer, or 
 the cleanlier in his Office for his new-walh'd Surplice, we efteem him for Sanc- 
 tity little better than Apollonius Tbya>i<rns in his white Frock, or the Prielt of 
 Ifis in his lawn Sleeves, and they may all for Holinefs lie together in the Suds. 
 
 Remonft. Whether it were not molt lawful and juft to punifli your prefump- 
 tionand difobedience. 
 
 Anfw. The punifliing of that which you call our prefumption and difobe- 
 dience, lies not now within the execution of your flings ; the merciful God 
 above, and our juft Parlament will deliver us from your Ephcftan Beafts, your 
 cruel Nimrods, with whom we fliall be ever fearlefs to encounter. 
 
 Remonft. God give you wifdom to fee the Truth, and Grace to follow it. 
 
 Anfw. I wifh the like to all thofe that refift not the Holy Gholt ; for officii 
 God commands Jeremy, fliying, Pray not thou for them, neither lift up cry or 
 prayer for them, neither make interceffion to me, for I will not hear thee ; and 
 of fuch St.Jobn faith, He thatbidsthem God Ipeed, is partaker of their evil Deeds. 
 
 2a
 
 Remonftrants Defence, &c. 101 
 
 To the Pojlfcript. 
 
 Rmonfi. A goodly j'afquin borrow'd for a great part out of Sion's Plea, or the 
 
 Breviate confuting of a Rhapfody of Hiftories. 
 
 Jnfw. How wittily you tell us what your wonted courfe is upon the like oc- 
 cafion : the Colle&ion was taken, be it known to you, from as authentic Au- 
 thors in this kind, as any in a Biftiop's Library ; and the Collector of it fays 
 moreover, that if the like occafion come again, he mall lefs need the help of 
 Breviates, or hiftorical Rhapfodies, than your Reverence to eke out your fermon- 
 ings mail need repair to Pojiils, or Poliantkea's. 
 
 Remonft. They were Bifhops, you fay, true, but they were Potifi Bifhops. p ag ,6. 
 Jnfw. Since you would bind us to your JurifdicTrion by their Canon-law, 
 fince you would inforce upon us the old riff-raff of Sarum, and other monafti- 
 cal reliques ; fince you live upon their unjuft purchafes, alledge their autho- 
 rities, boaftof their fucceffion, walk in their fteps, their pride, their titles, 
 their covetoufnefs, their perfecuting of God's people ; fince youdifclaim their 
 aftions, and build their fepulchres, it is moft juft, that all their faults fhouldbe 
 imputed to you, and their iniquities vifited upon you. 
 
 Remonft. Could you fee no Colleges, no Hofpitals built ? Pag. 166. 
 
 Jnfw. At that primero of Piety, the Pope and Cardinals are the better Game- 
 fters, and will cog a Die into Heaven before you. 
 Remonft. No Churches re-edify'd ? 
 
 Jnfw. Yes, more Churches than Souls. 
 
 Remonft. No learned Volumes writ ? 
 
 Jnfw. So did the mifcreant Bifhop of Spalatto write learned Volumes againft 
 the Pope, and run to Rome when he had done ; ye write them in your Clofets 
 and unwrite them in your Courts •, hot Volumifts and cold Bifhops ; a fwalh- 
 buckler againft the Pope, and a dormoufe againft the Devil, while the whole 
 Diocefe be fown with tares, and none to refill the enemy, but fuch as let him 
 in at the Poftern ; a rare fuperintendent at Rome, and a cypher at home. 
 Hypocrites, the Gofpel faithfully preach'd to the poor, the delblate Parifhes 
 vifited and duly fed •, Loiterers thrown out, Wolves driven from the fold 
 had been a better confutation of the Pope and Mafs, than whole Hecaton- 
 tomesof Controverfies •, and all this careering with Spear in reft, and thun- 
 dring upon the fteel Cap of Baronius or Bellarmine . 
 
 Remonft. No feduced Perfons reclaim'd ? 
 
 Jnfw. More reclaim'd Perfons fedue'd. 
 
 Remonft. No Hofpitality kept ? 
 
 Jnfw. Bacchanalias good ftore in every Biftiop's Family, and good "Ieekin°-. 
 
 Remonft. No great offenders punifh'd ? 
 
 Jnfw. The trophies of your High Commiffion are renown'd. 
 
 Remonft. No good Offices done for the Public ? 
 
 Jnfw. Yes, the good Office of reducing Monarchy to Tyranny, of breaking 
 pacifications, and calumniating the People to the King. 
 
 Remonft. No care of the Peace of the Church ? 
 
 Jnfw. No, nor of the Land ; witnefs the two Armies in the North, that 
 now lies plunder'd, and over-run by a Liturgy. 
 
 Remonft. No diligence in preaching ? 
 
 Jnfw. Scarce any preaching at all. 
 
 Remonft. No holinefs in living? 
 
 Jnfw. No. 
 
 Remonft. Truly, Brethren, I can fay no more, but that the fault is in your 
 Lyes. 
 
 Jnfw. If you can fay no more than this, you were a proper Remonftrant to 
 ftand up for the whole Tribe. 
 
 Remonft. Wipe them, and look better. 
 
 Jnfw. Wipe your fat Corpulencies out of our light. 
 
 Remonft. Yea, I befeech God to open them rather that they may fee good. 
 
 Jnfw. If you mean good Prelates, let be your prayer, afk not Impoflibilities. 
 
 Remonft. As for that Proverb, the Biftiop's foot hath been in it, it were more 
 fit for a Scurra in Trivio, or fome Ribald upon an Ale-bench. 
 
 Jnfw, 
 t
 
 102 
 
 Animadverfions upon the 
 
 Anfiv. The fitter for them then of whom it was meant. 
 Fag. 167. Remonft. I doubt not but they will fay, the Bifhop's foot hath been in youf 
 
 Book, ior I am fure it is quite fpoil'd by this juft confutation ; for your P/o- 
 verb, Sapit Ollam. 
 
 Anfw. Spoil'd, quoth ye ? indeed it is fo fpoil'd, as a good Song is fpoil'd by 
 a lewd Singer, or as the faying is, God fends meat, but the Cooks work their 
 wills : in that fenfe we grant your Bifhop's foot may have fpoil'd it, and made 
 it Sapere ollam, if not Sapere aulam ; which is the fame in old Latin, and per- 
 haps in plain Englifh. For certain your confutation hath atchieved nothing a- 
 o-ainltit, and left nothing upon it, but afoul tafte of your fkillet foot, and a 
 more perfect, and diftinguifhable odour of your Socks, than of your Night-cap. 
 And how the Bifhop fhould confute a Book with his Foot, unlefs his Brains 
 were dropt into his great Toe, I cannot meet with any Man that can refolve 
 me, only they tell me that certainly fuch a Confutation muft needs be gouty. 
 So much for the Bifhop's foot. 
 
 Renwnft. You tell us of Bonner's Broth ; it is the fafhion in fome Countries 
 to fend in their Keal in the laft Service, and this it feems is the manner amongft 
 our Smeclymnuans. 
 
 Anfw. Your latter Service at the high Altar you mean; but foft Sir, the 
 Feaft was but begun, the Broth was your own, you have been inviting the 
 Land to it thisfourfcore years -, and fo long we have been your fiaves to ferve 
 it up for you, much againftour wills : we know you have the Beef to it, ready 
 in your Kitchens, we are fure it was almoft fod before this Parlament begun ; 
 what direction you have given fince to your Cooks to ftt it by in the Pantry 
 till fome fitter time, we know not, and therfore your dear Jeft is loft •, this 
 Broth was but your firft Service : Alas, Sir, why do you delude your Guefts ? 
 Why do not thole goodly Flanks and Brifkets march up in your ib.tely Char- 
 ters ? Doubtlefs, if need be, the Pope that owes you for mollifying the mat- 
 ter fo well with him, and making him a true Church, will furnifh you with all 
 the fat Oxen of Italy. 
 
 Remonft. Learned and worthy Doctor Moulin fhall tell them. 
 Anfw. Moulin fays in his Book of the calling of Pallors, that becaufe Bi- 
 fhops were the Reformers of the Englifi Church, therfore they were left re- 
 maining : This Argument is but of fmall force to keep you in your Cathe- 
 drals. For firft it may be. deny'd that Bifhops were our firft Reformers, for 
 JVickliffe was before them, and his egregious Labours are not to be neglected -, 
 befides, our Bifhops were in this work but the Difciples of Priefts, and began 
 the Reformation before they were Bifhops. But what though Luther and other 
 Monks were the Reformers of other places? does it follow therfore that Monks 
 ou^ht to continue ? No, though Luther had taught fo. And laftly, Moulin's 
 Argument directly makes againft you -, for if there be nothing in it but this, 
 Bifhops were left remaining becaufe they were the Reformers of the Church, 
 by as good a Confequence therfore they are now to be remov'd, becaufe they 
 have been the moft certain deformers and miners of the Church. Thus you 
 fee how little- it avails you to take Sanctuary among thofe Churches which in 
 the general fcope of your actions formerly you have difregarded, and defpifed , 
 however, your fair words would now fmooth it over otherwife. 
 
 Remonft. Our Bifhops, fome wherof being crown'd with Martyrdom, fub- 
 Pa£m ,6S ' fcrib'd the Gofpel with their Blood. 
 
 Anfw. You boaft much of Martyrs to uphold your Epifcopacy •, but if you 
 would call to mind whatEufebius in his 5th Book recites IromApollinarius ox Hi- 
 erapolis, you fhould then hear it efteemed no other than an old heretical Argu- 
 ment, to prove a Pofition true, becaufe fome that held it were Martyrs : This 
 was that which gave boldnefs to the Marcionifts and Cataphryges to avouch 
 their impious Herefies for pious Doctrine, becaufe they could reckon many 
 Martyrs of their Sect ; and when they were confuted in other Points, this was 
 ever their lalt and ftouteft Plea. 
 
 Remonft. In the mean time I befeech the God of Heaven to humble you. 
 Anfiv. We fhall befeech the fame God to give you a more profitable and per- 
 tinent Humiliation than yet you know, and a lefs miltaken charitablentfs, 
 with that peace which you have hitherto fo perverfely mifaffected. 
 
 AN
 
 io 3 
 
 A N 
 
 APOLOGY 
 
 FOR 
 
 SMECTYMNUUS. 
 
 IF, Readers, to that fame great difficulty of well-doing what we certainly 
 know, were not added in moil Men as great a careleffiiefs of knowing 
 what they and others ought to do, we had bin long ere this, no doubt but 
 all of us, much farther on our way to fome degree of Peace and Happinefs in 
 this Kingdom. But fince our finful neglect of praclifing that which we know 
 to be undoubtedly true and good, hath brought forth among us, through 
 God's juft Anger, fo great a difficulty now to know that which otherwife might 
 be foon learnt, and hath divided us by a Controverfy of great importance 
 indeed, but of no hard folution, which is the more our Punifhment; I refolv'd 
 (of what final I moment foever I might be thought) to ftand on that fide where 
 I faw both the plain Authority of Scripture leading, and the Reafon of Juftice 
 and Equity perfuading ; with this Opinion, which efteems it more unlike a 
 Chriflian to be a cold neuter in the caufe of the Church, than the Law of So- 
 lon made it punifhable after a Sedition in the State. And becaufe I obferve 
 that Fear and dull Difpofition, Lukewarmnefs and Sloth, are not feldomer 
 wont to cloak themfelves under the affected name of Moderation, than true 
 and lively Zeal iscuftomably difparag'd with the term of Indifcretion, Bit- 
 ternefs, and Choler, I could not to my thinking honour a good Caufe more 
 from the heart, than by defending it earneftly, as oft as I could judge it to be- 
 hoove me, notwithstanding any falfe name that could be invented to wrong 
 or undervalue an honeft meaning. Wherin although I have not doubted to 
 fingle forth more than once fuch of them as were thought the chief and mofb 
 nominated Oppofers on the other fide, whom no Man elfe undertook ; if I 
 have done well cither to be confident of the Truth, whofe force is beft feen 
 againft the ablefl Refiftance, or to be jealous and tender of the hurt that might 
 be done among the weaker by the intrapping Authority of great Names titled 
 to falfe Opinions; or that it be lawful to attribute fomewhat to Gifts of God's 
 imparting, which I boafl not, but thankfully acknowledge, and fear alfo left 
 at my certain account they be reckon'd to me many rather than few ; or if 
 laftly it be but Jufiice not to defraud of due efteem the wearifome labours 
 and fludious watchings, wherin I have fpent and tir'd out almoft a whole 
 Youth, I fhall not diftruft to be acquitted of prefumption : knowing, that if 
 heretofore all Ages have receiv'd with favour and good acceptance the earlieft 
 induftry of him that hath bin hopeful, it were but hard meafure now, if 
 the freedom of any timely Spirit fhould be opprefs'd merely by the big and 
 blunted fame of his elder adverfary •, and that his fufficiency muft be now fen- 
 tenced, not by pondering the reafon he fhews, but by calculating the years he 
 brings. However, as my purpofe is not, nor hath been formerly, to look 
 on my Adverfary abroad, through the deceiving glafs of other Men's great 
 opinion of him, but at home, where I may find him in the proper light of his 
 own worth; fo now againft the rancour of an evil tongue, from which I ne- 
 ver thought fo abfurdly, as that I of all Men fhould be exempt, I muft be 
 forc'd to proceed from the unfeigned and diligent inquiry of mine own Con- 
 fidence at home (for better way I know not, Readers) to give a more true ac- 
 count of myfelf abroad than this modeft Confuter, as he calls himfelf, hath 
 given of me. Albeit, that in doing this I fhall be fenfible of two things which 
 to me will be nothing pleafant ; the one is, that not unlikely I fhall be thought 
 too much a Party in mine own Caufe, and therin to fee leaft : the other, 
 that I fhall be put unwillingly to moleft the public view with the vindication 
 of a private name ; as if it were worth the while that the People fhould care 
 whether fuch a one were thus, or thus. Yet thofe I intreat who have found 
 
 the
 
 104 -An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 theleifure to read that Name, however of fmal! repute, unworthily defam'd, 
 would be focrood and fo patient as to hear the fame Perfon not unneedfully 
 defended. I'will not deny but that the befl Apology againft falfe Accufers is 
 filence and fufFerance, and honeft deeds fet againft difhonell words. And thai 
 I could at this time moft eafily and fecurely, with the leaft lofs of Reputa- 
 tion, ufe no other defence, I need notdefpair to win belief; whether I confi- 
 derboth the fool ifh contriving and ridiculous aiming of thefe his flanderous 
 bolts, mot fo wide of any fufpicion to be faften'd on me, that I have oft with 
 inward contentment perceived my friends congratulating themfelves in my in- 
 nocence, and my Enemies afham'd of their partners folly: Or whether I look 
 at thefe prefent times wherin moft Men, now fcarce permitted the liberty to 
 think over their own concernments, have remov'd the feat of their thoughts 
 more outward to the expectation ot public events. Or whether the examples 
 of Men, either noble or religious, who have fat down lately with a meek fi- 
 lence and fufFerance under many libellous Endorfements, may be a rule to o- 
 thers, I mio-ht well appeafe myfelf to put up any reproaches in fuch an honour- 
 able Society of fellow- fufferers, ufing no other Defence. And were it that 
 Slander would be content to make an end where it firft fixes, and not feek tc* 
 caft out the like infamy upon each thing that hath but any relation to the Per- 
 fon tradue'd, I mould have pleaded againft this Confuter by no other Advo- 
 cates than thofe which I firft commended, Silence and Sufferance, and fpeak- 
 inf deeds againft faltering words. But when I difcern'd his intent was not fo 
 much to finite at me, as through me to render odious the Truth which I had 
 written, and to ftain with ignominy that Evangelic Doctrine which oppofes the 
 tradition of Prelaty ; I conceiv'd myfelf to be now not as mine own Perfon, 
 but as a Member incorporate into that Truth wherof I was perfuaded, and 
 wherofl haddeclar'd openly to be a partaker. "Wherupon I thought it my 
 duty, if not to myfelf, yet to the religious Caufe I had in hand, not to 
 leave on my garment the leaft fpotor blemifh in good name fo long as God 
 ihould give me to fay that which might wipe it off". Left thofe difgraccs 
 which I ought to fuffer, if it fo befall me, for my Religion, through my de- 
 fault Religion be made liable to fuffer for me. And, whether it might not 
 fomething reflect upon thofe reverent Men whofe Friend I may be thought 
 in writing the Animadverfions, was not my laft care to confider ; if I mould 
 reft under thefe reproaches, having the fame common Adverfary with them, 
 it might be counted fmall credit for their caufe to have found fuch an affiftant 
 as this babbler hathdevis'd me. What other thing in his Book there is of dif- 
 pute or queftion, in anfwering therto I doubt not to be juftify'd ; except there 
 be who will condemn me to have wafted time in throwing down that which 
 could not keep itfelfup. As for others, who notwithftanding what I can al- 
 ledge have yet decreed to mif-interpret the intents of my Reply, I fuppofe 
 they would have found as many caufes to have mif-conceiv'd the reafons of my 
 filence. 
 
 TO begin therfore an Apology for thofe Animadverfions which I writ 
 againft the Remonftrant in defence of SmeSjmnuus ; fince the Preface, 
 which was purpofely kt before them, is not thought apologetical enough, it 
 will be beft to acquaint ye, Readers, before other things, what the meaning 
 was to write them in that manner which I did. For I do not look to be alk'd 
 wherfore I writ the Book, it being no difficulty to anfwer that I did it to thole 
 ends which the beft Men propofe to themfelves when they write : But wher- 
 fore in that manner neglecting the main bulk of all that fpecious Antiquity, 
 which might ftun Children, but not Men, I chofe rather to obferve lb me 
 kind of military advantages to await him at his forragings, at his waterings, 
 and whenever he felt himfelf fecure, tofolacehis vein in derifion of his more 
 ferious opponents. And here let me have pardon, Readers, if the Remem- 
 brance of that which he hath licenced himfelf to utter contemptuoufly of thofe 
 reverend Men provoke me to do that over again which fome expect I fhould 
 excufe as too freely done ; fince I have two provocations, his lateft iniiiking 
 in his fhort anfwer, and their final patience. I had no fear but that the Au- 
 thors of SmeSjmnuus., to all the fhew of folidity which the Remonftrant could 
 bring, were prepared both with Ikill and purpofe to return a fuffjeing anfwer, 
 and were able enough to lay the duft and pudder in antiquity, which he and 
 
 i his,
 
 An Apology for Smectymnuus. i o 
 
 his, out of ftratagem* are wont to raife ; but when I taw his weak A rgil- 
 ments headed with fharp taunts, and that his defign was, if he could no: re» 
 fute themi yet at leaft with quips and fnapping Adagies to vapour them outj 
 which they bent only upon the bufinefs were minded to Jet pafs, by how 
 much I faw them taking little thought for their own Injuries, I muft confefs 
 I took it as my part the lels to endure that my refpcded Friends, through 
 their own unrieceflary patience, ihould thus lie at the mercy of a coy flurtirg 
 ftile ; to be girded with frumps and curtail gibes, by one who makes fentences 
 by the Statute, as if all above three inches long were confifcate. To me it 
 feem'd an indignity, that whom his whole wifdom could not move from tlieir 
 place, them his impetuous Folly ihould prefume to ride over. And if I were 
 more warm than was meet in any paffage of that Book, which yet I do not 
 yield, I might ufe therin the patronage of no worfe an Author than Gregory 
 NyJJen, who mentioning his fharpnefs againft Euhomiiis in the defence of his 
 Brother Baft!, holds himfelf irreprovable in that it was not for himfelf, but in 
 the caufe of his Brother ; and infuch cafes, faith he, perhaps it is worthier par- 
 don to be angry than to be cooler. And wheras this Confater taxes the whole 
 Difcourie of Levity, I ihal! lhew ye, Readers, wherfoever it mall be objected 
 in particular, that I have aniwer'd with as little lightnefs as the Remonftrant 
 hath given example. I have not been fo light as the palm of a Bifhop, which 
 is the lighted: thing in the world when he brings out his Book of Ordination : 
 For then, contrary to that which is wont in releaftng out of prifon, any one 
 that will pay his fees is laid hands on. Another reafon, it would not be 
 amifs though the Remonftrant were told, wherfore he was in that unufual 
 manner beleaguer'd ; and this was it, to pluck out of the heads of his Ad- 
 mirers the conceit that all who are not Prelatical, are grofs-headed, thick- 
 witted, illiterate, ihallow. Can nothing then but Epifcopacy teach Men to 
 fpeak good EngliJIo, to pick and order a fet of words judicioufly ? Muft we 
 learn from Canons and quaint Sermonings, interlin'd with barbarous Latin, to 
 illumine a period, to wreath an Enthymema with maflerous dexterity ? I ra- 
 ther incline, as I have heard it obferv'd, that a Jefuit's Italian when he writes, 
 is ever naught, though he be born and bred a Florentine ; fo to think that 
 from like caufes we may go near to obferve the fame in the ftile of a Prelate. 
 For doubtlefs that indeed according to Art is molt eloquent, which returns 
 and ajjproaches neareft to Nature from whence it came ; and they exprefs 
 Nature beft, who in their lives leaft wander from her fafe leading, which 
 may be call'd regenerate Reafon. So that how he ihould be truly eloquent 
 who is not withal a good Man, I fee not. Neverthelefs, as oft as is to be 
 dealt with Men who pride themfelves in their fuppofed Art, to leave them 
 unexcufable wherin they will not be bettered ; there be of thofe that efteem 
 Prelaty a figment, who yet can pipe if they can dance, nor will be unfur- 
 nifh'd to ihew that what the Prelates admire and have not, others have and ad- 
 mire not. The knowledge wherof, and not of that only, but of what the 
 Scripture tcacheth us how we ought to withftand the perverters of the Gofpel, 
 were thofe other motives which gave the Animadverfions no leave to remit a 
 continual vehemence throughout the Book. For as in teaching doubtlefs the 
 fpirit of meeknefs is moft powerful, fo are the meek only fit perfons to be 
 taught : as for the proud, the obftinate, and falfe Doctors of Men's devices, 
 be taught they will not, but difcovered and laid open they muft be. For how 
 can they admit of teaching, who have the Condemnation of God already upon 
 them for refilling divine Inftruclion ? Thatis, to befll'd with their own devices*, 
 as in the Proverbs we may read : therfore we may fafely imitate the method 
 that God ufes ; with thefroward to be froward, and to throw f corn upon the [corn- 
 er, whom, if any thing, nothing elfe will heal. And if the righteous Jhall laugh 
 at the deftruSiion of the ungodly, they may alio laugh at their pertinacious and in- 
 curable obftinacy, and at the fame time be mov'd with deteftation of their fe- 
 ducing malice, who employ all their wits to defend a Prelaty uiurp'd, and to 
 deprave that juft Government which Pride and Ambition, partly by fine fetches 
 and pretences, partly by force, hath ihouldered out of the Church. And 
 againft fuch kind of deceivers openly and earneftly to proteft, left any one 
 fhould be inquihtive wherfore this or that Man is forwarder than others, lec 
 him know that this Office goes not by Age or Youth, but to whomfoever God 
 fhall give apparently the Will, the Spirit, and the Utterance. Ye have heard 
 Vol. I. P the 
 
 J
 
 1 06 Art Apology for S m e c t y m n u u s. 
 
 the reafons for which I thought not myfelf exempted from afibciating with 
 trood Men in their labours toward the Church's welfare : to which, if any 
 one brought oppofition, I brought my beft refiftance. If in requital of this* 
 and for that I have not been negligent toward the reputation of my friends, I 
 have o-ain'd a name beftuck, or as I may fay, bedeck'd with the reproaches and 
 reviles of this rnodeft Confuter, it mall be tome neither flrange nor unwel- 
 come, as that which could not come in a better time. 
 
 Having render'd an account what induc'd me to write thofe Animadverfl- 
 ons in that manner as I writ them, I come now to fee what the Confutation 
 hath to fay againil them ■, but io as the Confuter ihall hear firfl what I have 
 to fay againft his Confutation. And becaufe he pretends to be a great Conjeftor 
 at other Men by their Writings, I will not tail to give ye, Readers, a pre- 
 fent tafte of him from his title, hung out like a toling fign-poft to call 
 PafTeno-ers, notfimplya Confutation, but a rnodeft Confutation, with a Lauda- 
 tory or itfelf obtruded in the very firft word. Wheras a modeft title mould 
 only inform the buyer what the Book contains without further infinuation j 
 this officious Epithet fo haftily afiumingthe modefty which others are to judge 
 of by reading, not the Author to anticipate to himfelf by foreftalling, is a 
 ftrong prefumption that his modefty fet there to falein the froritupiece, is not 
 much addicted to blufh. A furer fign of his loft fhame he could not have 
 given, than feeking thus unfeafonably to prepoffcfs Men of his modefty. And 
 ieein°- he hath neither kept his word in the fequel, nor omitted any kind of 
 boldnefs in flandering, 'tis manifeft his purpofe was only to rub the forehead 
 of his title with this word modeft, that he might not want colour to be the 
 more impudent throughout his whole Confutation. Next, what can equally 
 favour of Injuftice and plain Arrogance, as to prejudice and forecon emn 
 his Adverfary in the title for Jlanderous and fcurrilous , and as the Remonftrants 
 fafhion is, for frivolous, tedious, and falfe, not ftaying till the Reader can rear 
 him prov'd fo in the following Difcourfe ; which is one caufe of a fufpicion 
 that in fetting forth this Pamphlet the Remonftrant was not unconfulted with : 
 thus his firft addrefs was an humble Remonftrance by a dutiful Son of the Churchy 
 almoft as if he had faid her white-boy. His next was a Defence (a wonder 
 how it efcap'd fomepraifing adjunct) againft the frivolous and falfe Exceptions of 
 Smetlymnuus, fitting in the chair of his Title-page upon his poor caft Ad- 
 verfaries both as a Judge and Party, and that before the Jury of Readers can 
 be impannell'd. His laft was ajhort Anfwer to a tedious Vindication ; fo little 
 can he fuffer a Man to meafure either with his eye or judgment, what is 
 fhort or what is tedious, without his preoccupying direction : and from hence is 
 begotten this modeft Confutation againft a Jlanderous and fcurrilous Libel. I con- 
 ceive, Readers, much may be guefs'd at the Man and his Book, what depth 
 there is, by the framing of his Title ; which being in this Remonftrant fo raih 
 and unadvifed as ye fee, I conceit him to be near a-kin to him who iet forth a 
 Paffion Sermon with a formal Dedicatory in great Letters to our Saviour. Al- 
 though I know that all we do ought to begin and end to his Praife and Glory, 
 yet to infcribe him in a void place with flourifhes, as a Man in compliment 
 ufes to trick up the name of fome Efquire, Gentleman, or Lord Par.nnont at 
 Common Law, to be his Book-Patron, with the appendant form of a ceremo- 
 nious prefentment, will ever appear among the judicious to be but an infuk 
 and frigid affectation. As no lefs was that before his Book againft the Brown* 
 ifts, to write a Letter to a Profopopceia, a certain rhetoriz'd Woman whom he 
 calls Mother, and complains of fome that laid Whoredom to her charge ; 
 and certainly had he folded his Epiftlewith a Superfcription to be deliver'd to 
 that female figure by any Poft or Carrier who were not a Ubiquitary, it had 
 been a moft miraculous greeting. We find the Primitive Doctors as oft as 
 they writ to Churches, fpeaking to them as to a number of faithful Brethren 
 and Sons, and not to make a cloudy Tranfmigration of Sexes in fuch a familiar 
 way of writing as an Epiftle ought to be, leaving the track of common addrefs, 
 to run up, and tread the Air in metaphorical Compellations, and many 
 fond utterances better let alone. But I ftep again to this Emblazoner of his 
 Title-page, (whether it be the fame Man or no, I leave it in the midft) and 
 here I find him pronouncing, without reprieve, thofe Animadverfions to be a 
 Jlanderous and fcurrilous Libel. To which I, Readers, that they are neither 
 ilanderous, nor fcurrilous, will anfwer in what place of his Book he fhall be 
 
 found
 
 An Apology for Smect ymnuus. 107 
 
 found with reafon, and not ink only in his mouth. Nor can it be a Libel 
 more than his own, which is both namelefs and full of flanders ; and if in this 
 that it freely fpeaks of things ami fs in Religion, but efbblifh'd by Act of State, 
 I fee not how Wickleffe and Luther, with all the firft Martyrs and Reformers, 
 could avoid the imputation of libelling. I never thought the human frailty 
 of erring in cafes of Religion, Infamy to a State, no more than to a Council: 
 it had therfore been neither civil nor chriftianly, to derogate the Honour 
 of the State for that caufe, efpecially when I law the Parlament itftfpioufly 
 and magnanimoufly bent to fupply and reform the defects and overfights of 
 their Fore-fathers, which to the godly and repentant ages of the Jews w< re 
 often matter of humble confeffing and bewailing, not of confident aflerting 
 and maintaining. Of the State therfore I found good reafon to fpeak all ho- 
 nourable things, and to join in petition with good Men that petition'd : but 
 againft the Prelates who were the only feducers and mif- leaders of the State to 
 conftitute the Government of the Church not rightly, methought I had no* 
 vehemence enough. And thus, Readers, by the example which he hath let 
 me, I have given ye two or three notes of him out of his Title-page •, by 
 which his firftlings fear not to guefs boldly at his whole lump, for that 
 gucfs will not fail ye ; and although I tell him keen truth, yet he may bear 
 with me, fince I am like to chafe him into fome good knowledge, and others, 
 I truft, fhall not mif-fpend their leifure. For this my aim is, if I am forc'd 
 to be unpleafing to him whofe fault it is, I fhall not forget at the fame time to 
 be ufeful in fome thing to the ftander-by. 
 
 As therfore he began in the Title, fo in the next leaf he makes it his firft 
 bufinefsto tamper with his Reader by fycophanting and mif-naming the work 
 of his adverfary. He calls it a Mime thruft forth upon the ft age to make up the 
 breaches of thofefolcmn Scenes between the Prelates and the Smeclymnuans. Wher- 
 in while he is fo over-greedy to fix a name of ill found upon another, note 
 how ftupid he is to expofe himfelf or his own friends to the fame ignominy ; 
 likening thofe grave Controverfies to a piece of Stagery, or Scene-work, 
 where his own Remonftrant, whether inBufkin or Sock, muft of all right be 
 counted the chief Player, be it boafting Thrafo, or Davits that troubles all 
 things, or one who can fhift into any fhape, I meddle not ; let him explicate 
 who hath refembled the whole Argument to a Comedy, for Tragical, he 
 fays, were too ominous. Nor yet doth he tell us what a Mime is, wherofwe 
 have no pattern from ancient writers, except fome fragments, which contain 
 many acute and wife fentences. And this we know in Laertim; that the Mimes 
 of Sophron were of Inch reckoning with Plato, as to take them nightly to read 
 on, and after make them his pillow. Scaliger defcribes a Mime to be a Poem 
 imitating any action to itir up laughter. But this being neither Poem, nor 
 yet ridiculous, how is it butabufively tax'd to be a Mime ? For if every Book 
 which may by chance excite to laugh here and there, muft be term'd thus, 
 then may the Dialogues of Plato, who for thofe his writings hath obtain'd the 
 furname of Divine, be efteemed as they are by that Detractor in Athemeus, no 
 better than Mimes. Becaufe there is fcarce one of them, efpecially wherin 
 fome notable Sophifter lies fweating and turmoiling under the inevitable and 
 mercilefs Dilemma's of Socrates, but that he who reads, were it Saturn 
 himfelf, would be often robb'd of more than a fmile. And wheras he tells 
 us that fcurrilous Mime was a perfonated grim lozvring Fool, his foolifh language 
 unwittingly writes Fool upon his own friend, for he who was there perfo- 
 nated, was only the Remonftrant ; the Author is ever diftinguifh'd from the 
 pcrfon he introduces. But in an ill hour hath his unfortunate rafhnefs (tum- 
 bled upon the mention of miming, that he might at length ceafe, which he 
 hath not yet fince he ftept in, to gall and hurt him whom he would aid. 
 Could he not beware, could he not bethink him, was he fo uncircumfpect, as 
 not to forefee, that no fooner would that word Mime be fet eye on in the Pa- 
 per, but it would bring to mind that wretched Pilgrimage over Afiujheic's 
 Dictionary call'd Mundus alter & idem, the idleft and the paltrieft Mimethat 
 ever mounted upon bank ? Let him aik the Anther of thofe toothlefs Satyrs who 
 was the maker, or rather the anticreator of that univerfal foolery, who he 
 was, who like that other principle of the Manicbces the Arch evil-one, when he 
 had look'd upon all that he had made and mapt out, could lay no other but 
 contrary to the Divine Mouth, that it was all very foolilh. That grave and 
 
 Vo l.I. P 1 noble
 
 1 08 An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 noble invention which the greateft and fublimeft Wits infundry ages, Plato In 
 Critias, and our two famous Countrymen, the one in his Utopia, the other in 
 his new Atlantis chofe, I may not fay as a Field, but as a mighty Continent, 
 wherin to difplay the largenefs of their Spirits, by teaching this our World 
 better andexacler things than were yet known or us'd : this petty Prevarica- 
 tor of America, the Zany of Columbus (for fo he muft be till his world's end) 
 having rambled over the huge topography of his own vain thoughts, no mar- 
 vel if he brought us home nothing but a mere tankard drollery, a venereous 
 parjetory for a flews. Certainly, he that could endure with a fober Pen to fit 
 and devife Laws for Drunkards to caroufe by, I doubt me whether the very 
 fobernefs of fuch a one, like an unlicour'd Silenus, were not ftark drunk. Let 
 him go now and brand another Man injurioufly with the name of Mime, being 
 himfelf the loofeft and molt extravagant Mime that hath bin heard of, whom 
 no lels than almoft half the world could ferve for ftage-room to play the Mime 
 in. And let him advife again with Sir Francis Bacon, whom he cites to con- 
 fute others, what it is to turn the fins of Chrijlendom into a mimical mockery, to 
 rip up thefaddeft vices with a laughing countenance, efpecially where neither re- 
 proof nor better teaching is adjoin'd. Nor is my meaning, Readers, to fhift 
 off a blame from myfelf, by charging the like upon my accufer, hut fhall only 
 defire that Sentence may be refpited, till I can come to fome inftance wherto 
 I may give anfwer. 
 
 Thus having fpent his firft Onfet, not in confuting, but in a reafonlefs de- 
 faming of the Book, the method of his Malice hurries him to attempt the like 
 againft the Author -, not by Proofs and Teftimonies, but having no certain 
 notice of me, as he profeffes, further than what he gathers from the Animadver- 
 fions, blunders at me for the reft, and flings out flray Crimes at a venture, which 
 he could never, though he be a Serpent, fuck from any thing that I have writ- 
 ten, but from his own fluffed magazine, and hoard of fhnderous Inventions, o- 
 ver and above that which he converted to venom in the drawing. To me, 
 Readers, it happens as a lingular contentment ; and let it be to good Men no 
 flight fatisfadlion, that the Slanderer here confeffes, he has no further notice of 
 me than his own conjetlure. Although it had been honefl to have inquir'd, 
 before he uttered fuch infamous words, and I am credibly inform'd he did in- 
 quire •, but finding fmall comfort from the intelligence which he receiv'd, 
 wheron to ground the Falfities which he had provided, thought it his like- 
 liefl courfe under a pretended ignorance to let drive at random, left he fhould 
 lofe his odd Ends, which from fome penurious Book of Characters he had 
 been culling out and would fain apply. Not caring to burden me with thofe 
 "Vices, wherof, among whom my Converfation hath been, I have been ever 
 leaft fufpecled •, perhaps net without fome futtlety to caft me into envy, by 
 bringing on me a neceffity to enter into mine own praifes. In which Argu- 
 ment I know every wife Man is more unwillingly drawn to fpeak, than the 
 moft repining ear can be averfe to hear. Neverthelefs, fince I dare not wifli to 
 pafs this Life unperfecuted of flanderous tongues, for God hath told us that 
 to be generally prais'd is woful, I fhall rely on his Prcmife to free the in- 
 nocent from caufelefs Afperfions : wherof nothing fooner can afTure me, 
 than if I fhall feel him now aflifling me in the juit vindication of myfelf, 
 which yet I could defer, it being more meet that to thofe other matters of 
 public debatement in this Book, I fhould give attendance firft, but that I 
 fear it would but harm the Truth for me to reafon in her behalf, fo long as 
 I fhould fuffer my honefl eflimation to lie unpurg'd from thefe infolent fuipi- 
 cions. And if I fhall be large, or unwonted in juflifying myfelf to thofe 
 who know me not, for elfe it would be needlefs, let them confider that a 
 fhort Slander will oft-times reach further than a long Apology •, and that he 
 who will do juflly to all Men, muft begin from knowing how, if it fo happen, 
 to be not unjuft to himfelf. I muft be thought, if this Libeller (for now he 
 fhews himfelf to be fo) can find belief, after an inordinate and riotous 
 Youth fpent at the Univerjity, to have bin at length vomited out thence. For 
 which commodious Lye, that he may be encourag'd in the trade another 
 time, I thank him, for it hath given me an apt occaiion to acknowledge pub- 
 licly with all grateful mind, that more than ordinary favour and refpect 
 which I found above any of my Equals at the hands of thofe courteous and 
 learned Men, the Fellows of that College, wherin I fpent fome Years : who 
 
 at
 
 An Apology for Smectymnuus. i oq 
 
 .it my parting, after I had taken two Degrees, as the manner is, fignify'd many 
 ways, how much better it would content them that I would ftay ; as by ma- 
 ny. Letters full of kindnefs and losing refpect, both before that time, and lono 
 after, I was affur'd of their fingular good affection towards me. Which being 
 likewife propenfe to all fuchas as were for their ftudious and civil Life wor- 
 thy of eiteem, I could not wrong thtir Judgments, and upright Intentions, ib 
 much as to think I had that regard from them for other caufe than that I mi°ht 
 be ftill encouraged to proceed in the honeft and laudable courfes, of which they 
 apprehended I had given good proof. And to thole ingenuous and friendly 
 Men, who were ever the countenancers of virtuous and hopeful Wits, I wifhthe 
 beft and happieft things that Friends in abfence wilh one to another. As for 
 the common approbation or diflike of that place, as now it is, that I mould 
 efteem or difefteem myfelf, or any other the more for that •, too fimple and too 
 credulous is the Confuter, if he think to obtain with me, or any right Difcern- 
 er. Of fmall practice were that Phyfician, who could not judge by what both 
 ihe or her Sifter hath of long time vomited, that the worfer fluff Ihe ftron°-ly 
 keeps in her ftomach, but the better fhe is ever kecking at, and is queafy. She 
 vomits now out of ficknefs •, but ere it be well with her, Ihe mull vomit by 
 ftrong Phyfic. In the mean while that Suburb fink, as this rude Scavenger calls 
 it, and more than fcurriloufly taunts it with the plague, having a worfe plague 
 in his middle Entrail, that Suburb wherin I dwell, fliali be in my account a 
 more honourable place than his Univerhty. Which as in the time of her bet- 
 ter health, and mine own younger judgment, I never greatly admired, fo now 
 much lefs. But he follows me to the City, ftill ufurping and forging beyond 
 his Book notice, which only he affirms to have had ; and where my morning 
 haunts are, he wiffes not . 'Tis wonder, that being fo rare an Alchymift of dan- 
 der, he could not extract that, as well as the Univerfity vomit, and the Suburb 
 fink which his Art could diftill ib cunningly; but becaufe his Limbec fails 
 him, to give him and envy the more vexation, 111 tell him. Thofe mornino- 
 haunts are where they fhould be at home, not fleeping, or concodling the fur- 
 feits of an irregular Feaft, but up and ftirring, in Winter often ere the found 
 of any Bell awake Men to labour, or to devotion ; in Summer as oft with the 
 Bird that firft roufes, or not much tardier, to read good Authors, or caufe them 
 to be read, till the Attention be weary, or Memory have its full fraught : 
 Then with ufeful and generous labours preserving the Beiiy'j health and har- 
 dinefs -, to render lightfome, clear, and not lumpifh. obedience to the mind, 
 to the caufe of Religion, and our Country's liberty, when it ihall require 
 firm hearts in found Bodies to ftand and cover their (lations, rather than to fee 
 the ruin of our Proteftation, and the inforcement of aflavifh Life. Thefe are 
 the morning Practices, proceed now to the afternoon •, in Playhoufes, he fays, 
 and the Bordelloes. Your intelligence, unfaithful Spy of Canaan : he gives in 
 his evidence, that there he hath trae'dme. Take him at his word, Readers, but 
 let him bring good Sureties ere ye difmifshim, that while he pretended to doo- 
 others, he did not turn in for his own pleafure : for fo much in effect he con- 
 cludes againft himfelf, not contented to be caught in every other Gin, but he 
 muft be fuch a novice, as to be ftill hampered in his own Hemp. In the Ani- 
 madverfions, faith he, I find the mention of old Cloaks, falfe Beards, Night- 
 walkers, and fait Lotion ; therfore the Animadverter haunts Playhoufes and 
 Bordelloes ; for if he did not, how could he fpeak of fuch Gear ? Now that 
 he may know what it is to be a Child, and yet to meddle with edg'd tools, I 
 turn his Antifirephon upon his own head •, the Confuter knows that thefe things 
 are the furniture; of Playhoufes and Bordelloes, therfore by the fame reafon the 
 Confuter himfelf hath been trae'd in tbofe places. Was it fuch a diffolute Speech, 
 telling of fome Politicians who were wont to eavefdrop indifguifes, to fay they 
 were often liable to a night-walking Cudgeller, or the emptying of a Urinal ? 
 What if I had writ as your Friend the Author of the aforefaid Mime, 
 Mundus alter & idem, to have been ravifh'd like fome young Cephalus or Hy- 
 las, by a troop of camping Houfewives in Viraginea, and that he was there for- 
 ced to fwear himfelf an uxorious Varlet •, then alter along fervitude to have 
 come into Aphrodifia that pleafant Country, that gave fuch a fweet fmell to 
 his Noftrils among the fhamelefs Courtezans of Defvergonia? Surely he 
 would have then concluded me as conftant at the Bordello, as the Galley -flave at 
 
 his
 
 no An Apology for S M ecty m n u u s. 
 
 his Oar. But fince there is fuch necefiityto the hear- fay of a Tire, a Peri- 
 v/io- or a Vizard, that Plays muft have bin feen, what difficulty was there 
 inthat ? when in the Colleges fo many of the young Divines, and thofe in 
 next aptitude to Divinity, have bin feen fo otten upon the Stage, writhing 
 and unbonino- their Clergy- limbs to all the antic and difhoneit geftures of 
 Trinculo's, Buffoons, and Bawds •, proftituting the fhame of that Miniftry, 
 which either they had, or were nigh having, to the eyes of Courtiers and 
 Court-Ladies, with their Grooms and Madamoifellaes. There while they 
 atted, and over-acted, among other young Scholars, I was a Spectator •, they 
 thought themfelves gallant Men, and I thought them fools ; they made fport, 
 and I Iatigh'd -, they mif-pronounc'd, and I miflik'd; and to make up the At- 
 ticifin, they were out, and Ihift. Judge now whether fo many good Text- 
 Men were not fufficient to inftruct me of falfe beards and vizards, without 
 more Expofitors : and how can this Coniuter take the face to object to me the 
 feeino- of that which his reverend Prelates allow, and incite their young Dif- 
 ciples to aft ? For if it be unlawful to fit and behold a mercenary Comedian 
 perfonating that which is leaft unfeemly for a hireling to do, how much more 
 blameful is it to endure the fight of as vile things acted by Perfons either en- 
 ter'd, orprefently to enter into the Miniftry, and how much more fou! and 
 ignominious for them to be the Actors ? 
 
 °Butbecaufe as well by this upbraiding to me the Bordello's, as by other 
 fufpicious glancings in his Book, he would feem privily to point me out to 
 his Readers, as one whole cuftom of Lite were not honeft, but licentious ; 
 I fhall intreatto be born with, though I digrefs ; and in a way not often trod, 
 acquaint ye with the fum of my thoughts in this matter, through the 
 courfe of my Years and Studies. Although I am not ignorant how ha- 
 zardous it will be to do this under the nofe of the Envious, as it were 
 in ikirmifh to change the compact Order, and inftead of outward Actions, to 
 bring inmoft thoughts into front. And I muft tell ye, Readers, that by this 
 fort of Men I have bin already bitten at ; yet fhall they not for me know how 
 flightly they are efteemed, unlets they have fo much learning as to read what 
 in Greek ATmfoxaAw is, which together with envy, is the common difeafe 
 of thofe who cenfure Books that are not for their reading. With me it fares 
 now, as with him whofe outward garment hath bin injur'd and ill-bedighted ; 
 for having no other ihift, what help but to turn the -infide outwards, efpe- 
 cially if the lining be of the fame, or, as it isfometiir.es, much better? So if 
 my name and outward demeanor be not evident enough to defend me, I muft 
 make trial, if the difcovery of my inmoft thoughts can : Wherin of two 
 purpofes both honeft, and bothfincere, the one perhaps I fhall not mifs ; al- 
 though I fail to gain belief with others, of being fuch as my perpetual 
 thoughts fhall here difclofe me, I may yet not fail of fuccefs in perfuading 
 fome to be fuch really themfelves, as they cannot believe me to be more 
 than what I fain. I had my time, Readers, as others have, who have good 
 learning beftow'd upon them, to be fent to thofe Places, where the opinion 
 was, it might be fooneft attain'd •, and as the manner is, was not unftudied in 
 thofe Authors which are moft commended ; wherof fome were grave Ora- 
 tors and Hiftorians, whofe matter methought I lov'd indeed, but as my Age 
 then was, fo I underftood them •, others were the fmooth Elegiac Poets, 
 wherof the Schools are not fcarce, whom both for the pleafing found of 
 theirnumerous Writing, which in imitation I found moft eafy, and moft a- 
 greeable to nature's part in me, and for their matter, which what it is, there 
 be few who know not, I was fo allur'd to read, that no recreation came to 
 me better welcome : For that it was then thofe Years with me which areex- 
 cus'd, though they be leaft fevere, I may be fav'd the labour to remember ye\ 
 Whence having obferv'd them to account it the chief glory of their wit, in 
 > that they were ableft to judge, to praife, and by that could elteem them- 
 felves worthier!: to love thofe high perfections, which under one or other name 
 they took to celebrate ; I thought with myfelf by every inftinct and prefage 
 of Nature, which is not wont to be falfe, that what imboldned them to this 
 tafk, might with fuch diligence as they us'd imbolden me •, and that what 
 Judgment, Wit, or Elegance was my fhare, would hcrin beft appear, and 
 belt value itfelf, by how much more wifely, and with more love of Vertue 
 
 I
 
 An Apology for S M ectymnuus. i r i 
 
 I (hould chufe (let rude ears be abfent) the object of not Unlike praifes : 
 For albeit thefe thoughts to fome will feem virtuous and commendable, to 
 others only pardonable, to a third fort perhaps idle ; yet the mentioning of 
 them now will end in ierious. Nor blame it, Readers, in thofe Years to pro- 
 pofe tothemfelves fuch a reward, as the nobleft DiJpofitions above other things 
 in this Life have fometimes preferr'd : wherof not to be fen/ible, when 
 good and fair in one Perfon meet, argues both a grofs and mallow judge- 
 ment, and withal an ungentle, and fwainifhBreaft. For by the linn lettlino- 
 of thefe perfuafions, I became, to my belt memory, fo much a proficient, 
 that if I found thofe Authors any where fpeaking unworthy things of them- 
 'felves, or unchaite of thofe Names which before they had extoll'd ; this ef- 
 fect it wrought with me, from that time forward their Art I ftill applau Jed* 
 but the Men I deplor'd •, and above them all, preferred the two famous re- 
 nowners of Beatrice and Laura, who never write but honour of them to 
 whom they devote their Verfe, diiplaying fublime and pure thoughts* with- 
 out tranfgreffion. And long it was not after, when I was confirmed in this 
 opinion, that he who w 7 ould not be fruftrate of his hope to write well here- 
 after in laudable things, ought himfelf to be a true Poem ; that is, a com- 
 pofition and pattern of the beft and honourable!!: things ; not prefumino- lo 
 fing high praifes of heroic Men, or famous Cities, unlels he have in him elf 
 the experience and the practice of all that which is praife-worthy. Thefe 
 reafonings, together with a certain nicenefs of Nature, an honeft hau^hti- 
 nefs, and felf-efteem either of what I was, or what I might be, (which let 
 envy call pride) and lallly that Modefty, wherof though not in the Title- 
 page, yet here I may be excus'd to make fome befeeming prof effion ; all thefe 
 uniting the fupply of their natural aid together, kept me Hill above thofe 
 low defcents of Mind, beneath which he muft deject and plunge himfe'f, 
 that can agree to faleable and unlawful proftitutions. Next, (for hear me 
 out now Readers) that I may tell ye whither my younger feet wander' J •, I 
 betook me among thofe lofty Fables and Romances, which recount in folemn 
 Canto's, the deeds of Knighthood founded by our victorious Kings^ and 
 from hence had in renown over all Chriftendom : There I read it in the 
 Oath of every Knight, that he fhould defend to the expence of his beft Blood, 
 or of his Life, if it fo befel him, the honour and chaftity of Virgin or Ma- 
 tron : From whence even then I learnt what a noble virtue Chaftity fure muft 
 be, to the defence of which fo many Worthies by fuch a dear adventure 
 of themfelves had fworn ; and if I found in the ftory afterward, any of 
 them byword or deed, breaking that Oath, I judg'd it the fame fault of the 
 Poet, as that which is attributed to Homer, to have written undecent things 
 of the Gods : Only this my mind gave me, that every free and gentle fpirit, 
 without that Oath, ought to be born a Knight, nor needed to expect the 
 gilt Spur, or the laying of a Sword upon his Shoulder to ftir him up both by 
 hiscounfel and his arm, to fecure and protect the weaknefs of any attempt- 
 ed Chaftity. So that even thofe Books, which to many others have been the 
 fuel of wantonnefs and loofe living, I cannot think how, unlefs by divine 
 indulgence, prov'd to me fo many incitements, as you have heard, to the love 
 and ftedfaft obfervation of that Virtue wdiich abhors the fociety of Bor- 
 dello's. Thus from the Laureat fraternity of Poets, riper years, and the 
 ceafelefs round of ftudy and reading, led me to the fhady fpaces of Philofo- 
 phy ; but chiefly to the divine Volumes of Plato, and his equal Xenophon ; 
 where if I fhould tell ye what I learnt cf Chaftity and Love, I mean that 
 which is truly fo, who fe charming cup is only Virtue, which fhe bears in her 
 hand to thofe who are worthy •, the reft are cheated with a thick intoxicating 
 potion, which a certain Sorcerefs, the abufer of Love's name carries about, 
 and how the firlt and chiefeft office of Love begins and ends in the Soul, 
 producing thofe happy twins of her divine generation, Knowledge and Virtue*.-, 
 with fuch abftracted fublimities as thefe, it might be worth your liftning, 
 Readers, as I may one day hope to have ye in a ftill time, when there mall be 
 no chiding ; not in thefe noifes, the Adverfary, as ye know, barking at the 
 door, or fearching fur me at the Bordello's, where it may be he has loft 
 himfe'f, and raps up without pity the fage and rheumatic old Prdatrfs, 
 with all her young Corinthian Laity, to inquire for fuch a one. Laft of all, 
 
 not
 
 ill An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 not in time, but as perfection is lafl, that care was ever had of me, with my 
 earlieft capacity, not to be negligently train'd in the precepts of Chriftiari 
 Religion : This that I have hitherto related, hath bin to fhew, that though 
 Chriftianity had bin but flightly taught me, yet a certain refervednefs of na- 
 tural difpofition, and moral difcipline, learnt out of the nobleft Philofophy* 
 was enough to keep me in difdain of far lefs incontinences than this of the 
 Bordello. But having had the doctrine of Holy Scripture, unfolding thofe: 
 chafte and high Myfteries, with timelieft care infus'd, that the body is for the 
 Lord, and the Lord for the body ; thus alio I argu'd to myfelf} that if tinchafti- 
 ty in a Woman, whom Saint Paul terms the glory of Man, be fuch a fcandai 
 and difhonour, then certainly in a Man, who is both the image and glory of 
 God, it mull, though commonly notfo thought, be much more deflouring and 
 di {honourable ', in that he fins both againft his own body, which is the per- 
 fefler Sex, and his own glory which is in the Woman ; and that which is worfL, 
 againft the image and glory of God which is in himfelf. Nor did I dumber 
 over that place, expreffing fuch high rewards of ever accompanying the Lamb, 
 with thofe celeftial Songs to others inapprehensible, but not to thofe who 
 were not defiled with Women, which doubtlefs means Fornication : For 
 Marriage muft not be call'd a defilement. Thus large I have purpofely bin* 
 that if I have been juftly tax'd with this Crime, it may come upon me after all 
 this my confeffion, with a ten-fold fhame : Bat if I have hitherto deferv'd 
 no fuch opprobrious word, or fufpicion, I may hereby engage myfelf now 
 openly to the faithful obfervation of what I have profeft. I go on to fhew 
 you the unbridled impudence of this loofe railer, who having once begun his 
 race, regards not how far he flies out beyond all truth and fhame •, who 
 from the fingle notice of the Animadverfions, as he protefts, will undertake 
 to tell ye the very cloaths I wear, though he be much miftaken in my Ward- 
 robe : And like a fon of Belial, without the hire of Jefabel, charges me of 
 blafpheming God and the King, as ordinarily as he imagines me to drink Sack and 
 fwear, merely becaufe this was a ihred in his Common-place Book* and 
 feem'd to come off roundly, as if he were fome Empiric of falfe Accufa- 
 tions to try his poifons upon me, whether they would work or no. Whom 
 what fhould I endeavour to refute more, whenas that Book which is his only 
 Teftimony returns the lye upon him ; not giving him the leaft hint of the 
 Author to be either a Swearer, or a Sack-drinker. And for the Readers, if 
 they can believe me, principally for thofe reafons which I have alledg'd, to 
 be of Life and Purpofe neither difhoneft, nor unchafte, they will be eafily 
 induc'd to think me fober both of wine, and of word; but if I have bin al- 
 ready fuccefflefs in perfuading them , all that I can further fay, will be but 
 vain •, and it will be better thrift to fave two tedious labours, mine of excufing, 
 and theirs of needlefs hearing. 
 
 Proceeding further, I am met with a whole ging of words and phrafes not 
 mine, for he hath maim'd them, and like a fly depraver mangled them in 
 this his wicked Limbo, worfe than the ghoft of Deiphobus appear'd to his 
 friend JEneas. Here I fcarce know them, and he that would, let him re- 
 pair to the place in that Book where I fet them : For certainly this tor - 
 menter of Semicolons is as good at difmembring and flitting Sentences, as his 
 grave Fathers the Prelates have bin at ftigmatizing and flitting Nofes. By 
 fuch handy-craft as this what might he not traduce ? Only that odour which 
 being his own muft needs offend his fenfe of fmelling, fince he will needs be- 
 ftow his foot among us, and not allow us to think he wears a Sock, I fhall 
 endeavour it may be offencelefs to other Men's ears. The Remonftrant 
 having to do with grave and reverend Men his adverfaries, thought it became 
 him to tell them in fcorn, that the Bifljop's foot had been in their Bcok and 
 confuted it ; which when I faw him arrogate, to have done that with his heels 
 that furpaft the beft confideration of his head, to fpurn a confutation among re- 
 fpefted Men, I queftioned not the lawfulnefs of moving his jollity to bethink 
 him, what odour a Sock would have in fuch painful bufinefs. And this may 
 have chane'd to touch him more nearly than I was aware; for indeed a Bifhop's 
 foot that hath all his toes mauger the Gout, and a linen Sock over it, is the 
 apteft emblem of the Prelate himfelf; who being a Plural iff, may under 
 one Surplice, which is alfo linen, hide four Benefices, befides the metropo- 
 
 2 litan
 
 An Apology for Smecty m n u u s. 113 
 
 litan toe, and fends a fouler ftench to Heaven, than that which this yoiuicr 
 queafinefs retches at. And this is the immediate reafon here why our enrao-'d 
 Confuter, that he may be as perfect an hypocrite as Caiphas, ere he be a High 
 Pried, cries out, Horrid blafphemy ! and like a recreant Jew, calls for Stones. 
 I befeech ye, friends, ere the brick-bats fly, refolve me and yourfelves, is it 
 blafphemy, or any whit difagreeing from Chriftian meeknefs, whenas Chrift 
 himfelf fpeaking of unfavory traditions, fcruples not to name the Dun°-hill 
 and the Jakes, for me to anfwer a flovenly wincer of a confutation, that, i 
 he would needs put his foot tofuch a fweaty fervice, the odour of his Sock wa« 
 like to be neither Mufk, nor Benjamin? Thus did thatfoolifh Monk in a bar- 
 barous Declamation accufe Petrarch of blafphemy for difpraifing the French 
 Wines. But this which follows is plain Bedlam fluff, this is the Demoniac 
 Legion indeed, which the Remonftrant fear'dhad been againft him, and now he 
 may fee is for him: You that love Chrift, faith he, and know this mifcreant wretch 
 ft one him to death, left you /mart for his impunity. What thinks the Remonftrant? 
 does he like that fuch words as thefe fhould come out of his fhop, out of his 
 Trojan horfe ? to give the watch-word like a Guifian of Paris to a mutiny or 
 maflacre ; to proclaim a Crufada againft his Fellow-Chrirtian now in this trou- 
 blous and divided time of the Kingdom ? If he do, I fha'l fay that to be the 
 Remonftrant, is no better than to be a Jefuit ; and that if he and his accom- 
 plices could do as the Rebels have done in Ireland to the Proteftants, they 
 would do in England the fame to them that would no Prelates. For a more 
 feditious and butcherly Speech no Cell of Loyola could have belch'd againft 
 one who in all his writing fpake not, that any Man's fkin fhould be rais'd. 
 And yet this curfing Sbimei, a hurler of ftones, as well as a railer, wants not 
 the face inftantly to make as though he defpair'd of viclory unlefs a modeft defence 
 would get it him. Did I err at all, Readers, to foretel ye, when firft I met 
 with his title, that the epithet of modeft there, was a certain red portending 
 fign, that he meant ere long to bemoft tempeftuoufly bold, and (hamelefs ? 
 Neverthelefs he dares not fay hut there may be hid in his nature as much venomous 
 Atheifm and Prophanation, as he thinks hath broke out at his adverfary's lips ; 
 but he hath not the fore running upon him, as he would intimate I have. Now 
 truft me not, Readers, if I be not already weary of pluming and footing this 
 Sea-gull, fo open he lies to ftrokes, and never offers at another, but brings 
 home the dorre upon himfelf. For if the fore be running upon me, in all judo-. 
 ment I have fcap'd the difeafe ; but he who hath as much infection hid in 
 him, as he hath voluntarily confeft, and cannot expel it, becaufe he is dull, for 
 venomous Atheifm were no treafure to be kept within him elfe, let him take 
 the part he hath chofen, which muft needs follow, to f.vell and burft with his 
 own inward venom. 
 
 Section i. 
 But mark, Readers, there is a kind of juftice obferv'd among them that do 
 evil, but this Man loves injuftice in the very order of his malice. For having 
 all this while abus'd the good name of his adverfary with all manner of li- 
 cence in revenge of his Remonftrant, if they be not both one perfon, or as I 
 am told, Father and Son, yet after all this he calls for Satisfaction, when as 
 he himfelf hath already taken the utmoft farthing. Violence hath been done 
 fays he, to the perfon of a holy and religious Prelate. To which, fomethino- in ef- 
 fect to what St. Paul anfwer'd of Ananias^ I anfwer, I<wift not brethren that he 
 was a holy and religious Prelate •, for evil is written of thofe who would be Pre- 
 lates. And finding him thus in difguife without his fuperfcription or Phylaclery 
 either of holy or Prelate, it were no fin to ferve him as Longchamp Bifhop of 
 Ely was ferv'd in his difguife at Dover: he hath begun the meafure namelds, 
 and when he pleafes we may all appear as we are. And let him be then whathe 
 will, he fhall be to me fo as I find him principl'd. For neither muft Prelate or 
 Arch-Prelate hope to exempt himfelf from being reckon'd as one of the vul- 
 gar, which is for him only to hope whom true wifdom and the contempt of vul- 
 gar opinions exempts, it being taught us in the Pfalms, that he who is in ho- 
 nour and undcrftandeth not, is as the beafts that perifh. And now firft the 
 manner of handling that Caufe which I undertook, he thinks is fufpicious, as if 
 the wifeft, and the beft words were not ever to fome or other fufpicious. 
 But where is the offence, the diiagree ment from Chriftian meeknefs, or the 
 Vol. I. Q_ precept
 
 i 1 4 An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 precept of Solomon in anfwering folly ? When the Remonftrant talks of froth 
 andfcum, I tell him there is none, and bid him fpare his ladle : when he brings 
 in the mefs with Keai, Beef, and Brewefs, what ftomach in England could 
 forbear to call for flanks and brifkets ? Capon and white Broth having bin 
 likely fometimes in the fame room with Chrift and his Apoftles, why does it 
 trouble him that it fhould be now in the fame leaf, efpeciallyj where the dif- 
 courfe is not continued, but interrupt ? And let him tell me, is he wOntto fay 
 grace, doth he not then name holieft names over the fteam of coftlieft Su- 
 perfluities ? Does he judge it foolifh or dilhoneft to write that among religious 
 things, which when he talks of religious things, he can devoutly chew ? 
 Is he afraid to name Chrift where thofe things are written in the fame leaf, 
 whom he fears not to name while the fame things are in his mouth ? Doth not 
 Chrift himfelf teach the higheft things by the fimilitude of old Bottles andpatch- 
 ed Cloaths? Doth he not illuftrate beft things by things moft evil ? his own 
 coming to be as a thief in the night, and the righteous Man's wifdom to that of 
 an utijuft Steward? He might therfore have done better to have kept in his 
 canting Beggars, and heathen Altar, to facrifice his thread-bare criticifm of 
 Bomolochus to an unfeafonable Goddefsfit for him cali'd Importunity, and have 
 referved his Greek derivation till he lecture to hisfrefh Men, for here his itch- 
 ing pedantry is but flouted. 
 
 But to the end that nothing may be omitted which may further fatisfy any 
 confcionable Man, who notwithftanding what I could explain before the 
 Animadverfions, remains yet unfatisfy'd concerning that way of writing which 
 I there defended, but this confuter whom it pinches, utterly difapproves; I 
 fhall aflay once again, and perhaps with more fuccefs. If therfore the 
 queftion were in oratory, whether a vehement vein throwing out indignation 
 or fcorn upon an object that merits it, were among the apteft Ideas of fpeech 
 tobeallow'd, it were my work, and that an eafy one, to make it clear both 
 by the rules of beft Rhetoricians, and the famoufeft examples of the Greek 
 and Roman Orations. But fince the Religion of it is difputed, and not the 
 Art, I fhall make ufe only of fuch reafons and authorities, as Religion cannot 
 except againft. It will be harder to gainfay, than for me to evince that in the 
 teaching of Men diverfly-temper'd different ways are to be try'd. The Bap- 
 tift, we know, was a ftrict Man, remarkable for aufterity and {et order of life. 
 Our Saviour who had all gifts in him, was Lord to exprefs his indoctrinating 
 power in what fort him beft feem'd ; fometimes by a mild and familiar con- 
 verfe, fometimes with plain and impartial home-fpeaking, regardlefs of thofe 
 whom the auditors might think he fhould have had in more refpect ; other- 
 whiles with bitter and ireful rebukes, if not teaching, yet leaving excufe- 
 lefs thofe his wilful Impugners. What was all in him, was divided among 
 many others the teachers of his Church ; fome to be fevereand ever of a fad 
 gravity, that they may win fuch, and check fometimes thofe who be of nature 
 over-confident and jocond •, others were fent more chearful, free, and ftill 
 as it were at large, in the midft of an untrefpafting honefty; that they who 
 are fo tempered, may have by whom they might be drawn to falvation, and 
 they who are too fcrupulous, and dejected of fpirit, might be often ftrengthen'd 
 with wife confolations and revivings : no Man being forc'd wholly to diflblve 
 that ground-work of nature which God created in him, thefanguine to empty 
 out all his fociable livelinefs, the choleric to expel quite the unfinning pre- 
 dominance of his anger ; but that each radical humour and paflion wrought 
 upon and corrected as it ought, might be made the proper mould and foun- 
 dation of every Man's peculiar gifts and virtues. Some alfo were indued 
 with a ftaid moderation, and foundnefs of argument, to teach and con- 
 vince the rational and fober-minded ; yet not therfore that to be thought 
 the only expedient courfe of teaching, for in times of oppofition, when either 
 againft new herefies arifing, or old corruptions to be reform'd, this cool un- 
 paflionate mildnefs of pofitive wifdom is not enough to damp and aftonifh the 
 proud refiftance of carnal and falfe Doctors, then (that I may have leave to 
 foar a -while as the Poets ufe) then Zeal, whofe fubftance is ethereal, arming 
 in compleat diamond, afcends his fiery Chariot drawn with two blazing Mete- 
 ors figur'd like beafts, but of a higher breed than any the Zodiac yields, re- 
 fembling two of thofe four which Ezekiel and St. Joh?i faw, the one vifag'd 
 
 like
 
 An Apology for Smectymn'uus. 115 
 
 like a Lion to exprefs Power, high Authority, and Indignation ; the other of 
 countenance like a Man tocafl derifion and fcorn upon perverfe and fraudu- 
 Ie t feducers : with thefe the invincible warrior Zeal fhaking loofiy the 
 flack reins drives over the heads of fcarlet Prelates, and fuch as are infolent 
 to maintain traditions, bruifing their ftifF necks under his flaming wheels. 
 Thus did the true Prophets of old combat with the falfe ; thus Chrift himfelf 
 the fountain ofmeeknefs found acrimony enough to be ftill galling and vexing 
 the Prelatical Pharifees. Rut ye will fay thefe had immediate warrant from 
 God to be thus bitter ; and I lay, fo much the plainlier is it prov'd, that there 
 may be a fanctify'd bitternefs againflthe enemies of truth. Yet that ye may 
 not think Infpir.ition only the warrant therof, but that it is as any other ver- 
 tue, of moral and general obfervation, the example of Luther may ftand forall, 
 whom God made choice of before others to be of higheft eminence and 
 power in reforming the Church -, who, not of revelation, but of judgment- 
 writ fo vehemently againft the chief defenders of old untruths in the Romijb 
 Church, that his own friends and favourers were many times offended with 
 the fiercencfs of his fpirit ; yet he being cited before Charles the Fifth to 
 anfwer for his Books, and having divided them into three forts, wherof one 
 was of thofe which he had fharply written, refus'd, though upon deliberation 
 given him, to retract or unfiy any word therin, as we may read in Sleidan, 
 Yea, he defends his eagernefs, as being of an ardent fpirit, and one who could 
 not write a dull Jt He : and affirmed, be thought it God's will to have the inventions 
 of Men thus laid open, feeing that matters quietly handled were quickly forgot . Anil 
 herewithal how ufeful and available God had made this tart Rhetoric in the 
 Church's caufe, he often found by his own experience. For when he betook 
 himfelf to lenity and moderation, as they call it, he reap'd nothing but con- 
 tempt both from Cajetan and Erafmus, from Cocleus, from Ecchius, and others ; 
 infomuch that blaming his friends who had fo counfeli'd him, he refolv'd ne- 
 ver to run into the like error : if at other times he feem to excufe his vehe- 
 mence, as more than what was meet, I have not examined through his works, 
 to know how far he gave way to his own fervent mind ; it fhall luffice me to 
 look to mine own. And this I fhall eafdy aver, though it may feem a hard 
 faying, that the fpirit of God, who is purity itfelf, when he would reprove 
 any fault feverely, or but relate things done or fiid with indignation by others, 
 abftains not from fome words not civil at other times to be fpoken. Omitting 
 that place in Numbers at the killing of Zitnri and Cofbi, done by Pbineas in 
 the height of zeal, related, as the Rabbins expound, not without an obfeene 
 word, we may find in Deuteronomy and three of the Prophets, where God 
 denouncing bitterly the punifhments of Idolaters, tells them in a term im - 
 modeft to be uttered in cool blood, that their Wives fhall be defil'd openly. 
 But thefe, they will fay, were honeft words in that age when they were fpoken. 
 "Which is more than any Rabbin can prove ; and certainly had God been fo 
 minded, he could have pick'd fuch words as mould never have come into 
 abufe. What will they fay to this ? David going againft Nabal, in the very 
 fame breath when he had but jufl before nam'd the name of God, he vows not 
 to leave any alive of Nabal* s houfe that piffeth againflthe Wall. But this was 
 unadvifedly fpoke, you will anfwer, and ftt down to aggravate his infirmity. 
 Turn then to the firfb of Kings, where God himfelf ufes the phrafe, I will cut 
 offfrom Jeroboam him that pijfeth againft the Wall. Which had it been an un- 
 feemly fpeech in the heat of an earneft expreffion, then we muff conclude 
 that Jonathan or Onkelos the Targumijls were of cleaner language than he that 
 made the tongue ; for they render it as briefly, I will cut of all who are at years 
 of difcretion, that is to fiy, fo much difcretion as to hide nakednefs. Wheras 
 God, who is the Author both of purity and eloquence, chofe this phrafe as fit- 
 teft in that vehement character wherin he fpake. Otherwife that plain word 
 might have eafily bin forborn ': which the Maforeths and Rabbinical Schcliafls 
 not well attending, have often us'd to blur the margent with Keri inftead of 
 Ketiv, and gave us this infulfe rule out of their 'Talmud, That all words which in 
 the Law are writ obfeene ly, muft be changed to more civil words : Fools who would 
 teach Men to read moxe decently than God thought good to write. And 
 thus I take it to be maniftft, that indignation againft Men and their actions 
 r.ororioully bad, hath leave and authority oft-times to utter fuch words and 
 Yo i.. I. Q^2 phrales
 
 n6 j4% Jpology for Sue ctym^u us. 
 
 phrafes as in common talk were not fo mannerly to ufe. That ye may know* 
 not only as the Hiftorian fpeaks, that all thofe things for which Men plough, 
 build, or fail, obey vertue, but that all words, and whadbever may be fpoken, 
 fhall at fome time in an unwonted manner wait upon her purpofes. 
 
 Now that theConfutantmay alfo know as he defires, what force of teach- 
 ing there is fometimes in laughter ; I fhall return him in fhort, that Laugh- 
 ter beino- one way of anfwering a Fool according to his folly, teaches two forts 
 of Perfons, firft, the Fool himfelf not to be wife in his own conceit, as Solomon 
 affirms ; which is certainly a great document, to make an unwife Man know 
 himfelf. Next, it teacheth the Hearers, in as much as fcorn is one of thofe 
 » Puhifhments which belong to Men carnally wife, which is oft in Scripture de- 
 clar'd ; for when fuch are punifh'd, the fimple are therby made wife, if Solo- 
 mon's rule be true. And I would alk, to what end Eliah mock s d the falfe Pro- 
 phets ? was it to fhew his wit, or to fulfil his humour ? doubtlefs we can- 
 not imagine that great fervant of God had any other end in all which he there 
 did, but to teach and inftrudt the poor milled People. And we may fre- 
 quently read, that many of the Martyrs in the midft of their troubles, were 
 not fparing to deride and feoff their fuperltitious perfecutors. Now may the 
 Confutant ad vife again with Sir Francis Bacon, whether Eliah and the Martyrs 
 did well to turn Religion into a Comedy or Satyr ; to rip up the wounds of Ido- 
 latry and Superftition with a laughing Countenance : So that for pious gravity 
 his Author here is match'd and over-match'd, and for wit and morality in one 
 that follows. 
 
 —laughing to teach the truth 
 What hinders ? as fome teachers give to Boys 
 Junkets and knacks, that they may learn apace. 
 Thus Flaccus in his firll Satyr, and his tenth : 
 — Jefling decides great things 
 Stronglier, and better oft than earnefl can. 
 
 I could urge the fame out of Cicero and Seneca, but he may content him 
 with this. And henceforward, if he can learn, may know as well what are 
 the bounds, and objects of Laughter and vehement Reproof, as he hath 
 known hitherto how to deferve them both. But left fome may haply think, 
 or thus expoftulate with me after all this debatement, who made you the bufy 
 Almoner to deal about this dole of laughter and reprehenfion, which no Man 
 thanks your bounty for ? To the urbanity of that Man, I mould anfwer much 
 after this fort : That I, friend Objecter, having read of Heathen Philofophers, 
 fome to have taught, that whofoever would but ufe his ear to liften, might 
 hear the voice of his guiding Genius ever before him, calling, and as it were 
 pointing to that way which is his part to follow ; others, as the Stoics, to 
 account reafon, which they call the Hegemonicon, to be the common Mercuby 
 conducting without error thofe that give themfelves obediently to be led ac- 
 cordingly : having read this, I could not efteem fo poorly of the Faith which 
 I profefs, that God had left nothing to thofe who had forfaken all other 
 doctrines for his, to be an inward witnefs and warrant of what they have to 
 do, as that they fhould need to meafure themfelves by other Men's meafures, 
 how to give fcope or limit to their proper actions ; for that were to make us 
 the moft at a ftand, the moft uncertain and accidental wanderers in our do- 
 ings, of all Religions in the World. So that the queftion ere while mov'd, 
 who he is that fpends thus the benevolence of laughter and reproof fo li- 
 berally upon fuch Men asthe Prelates, may return with a more juft demand, 
 who he is not of place and knowledge never fo mean, under whofe contempt 
 and jirk thefe Men are not defervedly fallen ? Neither can Religion receive a- 
 ny wound by difgrace thrown upon the Prelates 5< fince Religion and they furely 
 were never in fuch amity. They rather are the Men who have wounded Re- 
 ligion, and their ftripes muft heal her. I might alfo tell them, what Eleclra 
 in Sophocles, a wife Virgin anfwered her wicked Mother, who thought herfelf 
 too violently reprov'd by her the Daughter. 
 
 "Tis you that fay it, not I ; you do the deeds. 
 And your ungodly deeds find me the words. 
 
 2 If
 
 An Apology for Smect ymn'uus. 117 
 
 If therfore the Rcmonflrant complain of Libels, it is becaufe he feels them 
 to be right aim'd. Fori afkagain, as before in the Animadverfions, how long 
 is it fince he hath difreliih'd Libels ? We never heard the leaft mutter of his 
 voice againft them while they flew abroad with cqntroul or check, defaming 
 the Scots and Puritans. And yet he can remember of none but L\fimachus Ni- 
 canor, and that he mifliked and cenfur'd. No more but of one can the Remon- 
 ftrant remember ? What if I put him in mind of one more ? What if of one 
 more wherof the Remonftrant in many likelihoods may be thought the Au- 
 thor ? Did he never fee a Pamphlet intitled after his own fafhion, A Survey of 
 that fooli/h, /editions, fcandalous, prophane Libel, the Proteftation protefted ? The 
 Child doth not more exprefly refigure the vifageof his Father, than that Boole 
 refembles the ftile of the Remonftrant, in thofe idioms of fpeech, wherin 
 he leems mod to delight : and in the feventeenth Page three lines together 
 taken out of the Remonftrance word for word, not as a Citation, but as an 
 Author borrows from himfelf. Whoever it be, he may as juftiy be fa-id to 
 have libell'd, as he againft whom he writes : there ye fhall find another Man 
 than here is made fhew of, there he bites as fail as this whines. Vinegar in the 
 Ink is there the antidote of Vipers. Laughing in a religious Controverfy is there 
 a thrifty Phyfic to expel his Melancholy. In the mean time the Teftimony of 
 Sir Francis Bacon was not mifalledged, complaining that Libels on the Bifhops 
 part were uttered openly ; and if he hoped the Prelates bad no intelligence with 
 the Libellers, he delivers it but as his favourable opinion. But had he contra- 
 dicted himfelf, how could I affoil him here, more than a little before, where I 
 know not how, by entangling himfelf, he leaves an afperfion upon Job, which 
 "by any elfe I never heard laid to his charge ? For having affirmed that there is 
 no greater confufion than the confounding ofjeftandearneft, prefently he brings 
 the example of Job glancing at conceits of mirth, -when h: fit among the people 
 with the gravity of a Judge upon him. If Jeft and Earned be fuch a confufion, 
 then were the people much wifer than Job, for he fmil'd, and they believed him 
 not. To defend Libels, which is that wherof I am next accus'd, was far from 
 my purpofe. I had not fo little fhare in good name, as to give another that 
 advantage againft. myfelf. The fum of what I faid was, that a more free per- 
 miflion of writing at fome times might be profitable, in fuch a quettion efpeci- 
 ally wherin the Magistrates are not fully refolv'd ; and both fides have equal 
 liberty to write, as now they have. Not as when the Prelates bore iway, in 
 whofe time the Books of fome Men were confuted, when they who fhould 
 have anfwer'd were in clbfe prifon, deny'd theufe of pen or paper. And the 
 divine Right of Epifcopacy was then valiantly afTerted, when he who would have 
 bin refpondent muft have bethought himfelf withal how he could refute the 
 Clink or the Gatehoufe. It now therfore they be purfu'd with bad words, who 
 perfecuted others with bad deeds, it is a way to leflen tumult rather than toen- 
 creafe it ; whenas anger thus freely vented, fpends itfelf ere it break out into 
 action, though Machiavcl, whom he cites, or any Machiavilian Prieft think 
 the contrary. 
 
 Sect. 3. 
 
 Now, Readers, I bring ye to his third Section; wherin very cautioufly 
 and no more than needs, left I fhould take him for fome Chaplain at 
 hand, fome Squire of the body to his Prelate, one that ferves not at the Altar 
 only, but at the Court Cup-board, he will beftowonus a pretty model of him- 
 felf; and fobs me out half a dozen ptizical Motto's wherever he had them, 
 hopping fhort in the meafureof Convuliion-fits ; in which labour the a^onv 
 of his Wit having fcap'd narrowly, inftead of well-fiz'd periods, he greets us 
 with a quantity of thumb-ring pofies. He has a fortune therfore good, becaufe 
 he is content vjith it. This is a piece of fapience not worth the brain of a fruit- 
 trencher ■, as if Content were the meafure of what is good or bad in the gift 
 of Fortune. For by this rule a bad Man may have a good fortune, becaufe he- 
 may be oft-times content with it for many reafons which have no affinity with 
 Virtue, as love of eafe, wantoffpirit to ule more, and the like. And ther- 
 fore content, he fays, becaufe it neither goes before, nor comes behind his merit. Be- 
 like then if his fortune fhould go before his merit, he would not be content, 
 but re(ign ? if we believe him, which I do the lefs, becaufe he implies, that 
 if it came behind his merit, he would be content as little. Wheras if a wife 
 
 Man's
 
 1 1 8 An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 Man's content fhould depend upon fuch a Therfore, becaufe his fortune came 
 not behind his merit, how many wife Men could have content in this world ? 
 In his next pithy fymbol I dare not board him, for he paries all the feven wife 
 Matters of Greece, attributing to himfelf that which ^n my life Salomon durffc 
 not; to have affeclions fo equally temper'd, that they neither too haftily adhere to 
 the truth before it be fully examined, nor too lazily afterward. Which unlefs he 
 only were exempted out of the corrupt mafs of Adam, born without Sin ori- 
 ginal, and living without a&ual, is impoffible. Had Salomon (for it behoves 
 me to inftance in the wifeft, dealing with fuch a tranfeendent Sage as this) had 
 Salomon affections fo equally temper'd, as not adhering too lazily to the truth,\vha\ 
 God warn'd him of his halting in Idolatry ? do we read that he repented hafti- 
 ly ? did not his affections lead him haftily from an examin'd truth, how much 
 more would they lead him flowly to it ? Yet this Man beyond a Stoic Apathy, 
 fees truth as in a rapture, and cleaves to it ; not as through the dim glafs of 
 his affections, which in this frail manfion of fffh, are ever unequally temper'd, 
 pufhincr forward to error, and keeping back from truth oft-times the belt 
 of Men. But how far this boafter is from knowing himfelf, let his Preface 
 fpeak. Something I thought it was that made him lb quick-fighted to gather 
 fuch ftran^e things out of the Animadverfions, wherof the leaft conception 
 could not be drawn from thence, of Suburb-Jinks, fometimes cut of wit and 
 cloaths, fometimes in new Serge, drinking Sack, and fwearing ; now I know it 
 was this equal temper of his affections that gave him to fee clearer than any 
 fennel-rub'd Serpent. Laftly, he hasrefolv'd that neither perfon nor caufe Jhall 
 improper him. I may miftake his meaning, for the word ye hear is improper. 
 But whether if not a Perfon, yet a good Parfonage or Impropriation bought 
 out for him would not improper him, becaufe there may be a quirk in the word, 
 I leave it for a Canonift to refolve. 
 
 Sect. 4. 
 And thus ends this Section, or rather diffection of himfelf, fhort ye 
 will fay both in breath and extent, as in our own praifes it ought to be, un- 
 lefs wherin a good name hath bin wrongfully attainted. Right, but if ye 
 look at what he afcribes to himfelf, that temper of his affeclions which cannot 
 any where be but in Paradife, all the judicious Panegyrics in any language ex- 
 tant are not half fo prolix. And that well appears in his next removal. For 
 what with putting his fancy to the tiptoe in this defcription of himfelf, and 
 what with adventuring preiently to ftand upon his own legs without the crutches 
 of his margent, which is the fluce moft commonly that feeds the drowth 
 of his Text, he comes fo lazily on in a Simily, with his arm full of weeds^ 
 and demeans himfelf in the dull exprefhon ib like a dough-kneaded thing, 
 that he has not fpirit enough left him fo far to look to his Syntaxis, as 
 to avoid nonfenfe. Fork muft be underftood there that the Stranger, and not 
 he who brings the bundle, would be deceiv'din cenfuring the field, which this hip- 
 Ihot Grammarian cannot fet into right frame of conftruftion, neither here m 
 the Similitude, nor in the following Reddition therof ; which being to this 
 purpofe, that the faults of the bejl pickt out, and prefented in grofs, feem monflrons, 
 this, faith he, you have done, in pinning on his Jleeve the faults of others ; as if 
 to pick out his own faults, and to pin the faults of others upon him, were to do 
 the fame thing. To anfwer therfore how I have cull'd out the evil actions of 
 the Remonftrantfrom his Vertues, I am acquitted by the dexterity and con- 
 veyance of his nonfenfe, lofing that for which he brought his parable. But 
 what of other Men's faults I have pinn'd upon his fleeve, let him (hew. For 
 whether he were the Man who term'd the Martyrs Foxian Confefibrs, it 
 matters not •, he that lhall ftep up before others to defend a Church-Govern- 
 ment, which wants almoft no circumftance, but only a name to be a plain 
 Popedom, a Government which changes the fatherly and ever-teaching Difci- 
 pline of Chrift into that lordly and uninftructing Jurifdiction which properly 
 makes the Pope Antichrift, makes himfelf an acceffory to all the evil commit- 
 ted by thofe, who are arm'd todomifchief by that undue Government ; which 
 they by their wicked deeds, do with a kind of paflive and unwitting Obedience 
 to God deltroy. But he by plaufible words and traditions againft the Scrip- 
 ture obftinately feeks to maintain. They by their own wickednefs ruining 
 their own unjuft authority, make room for good to fucceed. But he by a fhew 
 I of
 
 Jn Apology for Smectymnuus. Ho 
 
 of good upholding the evil which in them undoes itfelf, hinders the °-ood 
 which they by accident let in. Their manifeft crimes ferve to bring forth an 
 enfuinggood, and haften a remedy againft themfelves ; and his feeminggood 
 tends to reinforce their felf-punifhing crimes and his own* by doing his^beftto 
 delay all redrefs. Shall not all the mifchief which other Men do be laid to his 
 charge, if they do it by that unchurch-like power which he defends ? Chrift 
 faith, he that is not with me, is againft me, and be that gathers not with me fcat- 
 ters. In what degree of enmity to Chrift mail we place that Man then, who fo 
 is with him, as that it makes more againft him, and fo gathers with him that 
 kfcatters more from him ? Shall it avail that Man to Jay he honours the*Mar- 
 tyrs memory, and treads in their fteps ? No ; the Pbarifees confefs*d as much 
 of the holy Prophets. Let him, and fuch as he, when they are in their belt 
 actions, even at their prayers, look to hear that which the Pha-ifees heard from 
 "John the Baptift, when they leaft expected, when they rather look'd for praife 
 from him ; Generation of Vipers, who hath warned ye to flee from the wrath to 
 come? Now that ye have ftarted back from the purity of Scripture, which is 
 the only rule of Reformation, to the old vomit of your traditions ; now that 
 ye have either troubled or leven'd the people of God, and the Doctrine of the 
 Gofpel with fcandalous Ceremonies and Mafs-borrow'd Lituroies, do ye turn 
 the ufe of that truth which ye profefs, to countenance that fallhood which ye 
 gain by? We alfo reverence the Martyrs* butrely only upon the Scriptures. 
 And why we ought not to rely upon the Martyrs, I fhall be content with fuch 
 reafons as my Confuter himfelf affords me •, who is, I muft needs fay for him 
 in that point as officious an Adverfary as I would wifh to any Man. For, firfi 
 faith he, there may be a Martyr in a wrong Caufe, and as couragious in j Offer- 
 ing as the left ; fame tunes in a good Caufe with a forward ambition difplea/in? to 
 Cod. Other whiles they that ftory of 'them out of blind zeal or malice, may write 
 many things of them untruly. If this be fo, as ye hear his own confeflion, with 
 what fafety can the Remonftrant rely upon the Martyrs as Patrons of his Caufe 
 whenas any of thofe who are alledg'd for the approvers of our Liturgy or Pre- 
 laty, might have bin, though not in a wrong Caufe, Martyrs ? yet whether 
 not vainly ambitious of that honour^ or whether not mifreported or mifunder- 
 ftood in thofe their opinions, God only knows. The Teftimony of what we 
 believe in Religion muft be fuch as the Confcience may reft on to be infallible 
 and incorruptible, which is only the Word of God. 
 
 Sect. 5. 
 His fifth Section finds itfelf aggrieved that the Remonftrant ihould betax'd 
 with the illegal proceeding of the High Commiffion, and Oath ex officio: And 
 firft, whether they were illegal or no, 'tis more than he knows. See this malevo- 
 lent Fox •, that Tyranny which the whole Kingdom cry'd out againft as ftung 
 with Adders and Scorpions, that Tyranny which the Parlament in companion 
 of the Church and Commonwealth hath diffolv'd and fetch'd up by the roots 
 for which it hath receiv'd the public Thanks and Bleffings of thoufands ; this 
 obfcure thorn-eater of Malice and Detraction, as well as of Quodlibets and So- 
 phifms, knows not whether it were illegal or not. Evil, evil, would be your 
 reward, ye Worthies of the Parlament, if this Sophifter and his Accomplices 
 had the cenfuring or the founding forth of your labours. And that the Re- 
 monftrant cannot wafhhis hands of all the cruelties exercis'd by the Prelates 
 is paft doubting. They fcourged the Confeflbrs of the Gofpel, and he held 
 the Scourgers garments. They executed their rage; and he, ifhedid nothino- 
 elfe, defended the Government with the Oath that did it, and the Ceremonies 
 which were the caufe of it: does he think to be counted guiltlefs ? 
 
 Sect. 6. 
 In the following Section I muft foretel ye, Readers, the doings will be rou^h 
 and dangerous, the baiting of a Satyr. And if the work Teem more trivial or 
 boifterous than for this Difcourfe, let the Remonftrant thank the folly of this 
 Confuter, who could not let a private word pafs, but he muft make all this 
 blaze of it. I had laid, that becaufe the Remonftrant was fo much offended 
 with thofe who were tart againft the Prelates, fure he lov'd toothlefs Satyrs, 
 which I took were as improper as a toothed Sleekftone. This Champion from 
 behind the Arras cries out, that thofe toothlefs Satyrs were of the Remon- 
 ftrant's making j and arms himfelf here tooth and nail, and horn to boot, to 
 
 fupply
 
 i 20 An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 fupply the want of teeth, or ratherof gums in the Satyrs. And for an on- 
 fet tells me, that the fimily of a Skekftonc/hews I can be as bold with a Prelate 
 as familiar with a Laundrefs. But does it not argue rather the lafcivious prompt- 
 nefs of his own fancy, who from the harmltfs mention of a Sleekftone could 
 neigh out the remembrance of his old converfation among the ViraginianxxoX- 
 lops ? Forme, ifhemoveme, I fhall claim his own Oath, the Oath ex officio 
 a^ainft any Prieft or Prelate in the Kingdom, to have ever as much hated fuch 
 pranks as the beft and chafteft of them all. That exception which I made 
 ao-ainft toothlefs Satyrs, the Confuter hopes I had from the Satyrift, but is far 
 deceiv'd : neither had I ever read the hobbling DiJIch which he means. For 
 this o-ood hap I had from a careful education, to be inur'd and feafon'd betimes 
 with the bcft and eleganteft Authors of the learned Tongues, and therto 
 brought an ear that could meafure a juft cadence, and fcan without articu- 
 lating •, rather nice and humorous in what was tolerable, than patient to read 
 every drawling Verfifier. Whence lighting upon this title of toothlefs Satyrs, 
 I will not conceal ye what I thought, Readers, that fure this mull be fome 
 lucking Satyr, who might have done better to have us'd his coral, and made an 
 end of breeding, ere he took upon him to wield a Satyr's whip. But when I 
 heard him talk of fc ozcering the rufty fwords of elviflo Knights, do not blame 
 me, if I chang'd my thought, and concluded him fome defperate Cutler. Buc 
 why hisfcornfulmufe could never abide with tragic fhoes her ancles for to hide, the 
 pace of the verfetold me that hermaukin knuckles were never fhapen to that 
 royal bufkin. And turning by chance to the fixth Satyr of his fecond Book, 
 I was confirm'd ; where having begun loftily in Heaven's v.niverfal Alphabet, he 
 falls down to that wretched poornefs and frigidity, as to talk of Bridge-ftreet in 
 Heaven, and the OJller of Heaven ; and there wanting other matter to catch 
 him a heat, (for certain he was in the frozen Zone miferably benumb'd) with 
 thoughts lower than any Beadle betakes him to whip the fign-pofts of Cam- 
 bridge Alehoufes, the ordinary fubjec~t of frefhmens tales, and in a ftrain as 
 pitiful. Which for him who would be counted thefirfl Engliih Satyr, to abafe 
 himielfto, who might have learnt better among the Latin and Italian Sa- 
 tyrifts, and in our own tongue from the Vifion and Creed of Tierce Plowman, 
 befides others before him, manifefted a prefumptuous undertaking with weak 
 and unexamin'd moulders. For a Satyr at it was born out of a Tragedy, fo 
 ought to refemble his parentage, to ftrike high, and adventure dangeroufly 
 at the molt eminent vices among the greateft perfons, and not to creep into 
 every blind Taphoufe that fears a Conftable more than a Satyr. But that fuch 
 a Poem mould be toothlefs, I ftill affirm it to be a bull, taking away the ef- 
 fence of that which it calls itfelf. For if it bite neither the perfons nor the vices, 
 how is it a Satyr? and if it bite either, how is it toothlefs ? fo that toothlefs 
 Satyrs are as much as if he had laid toothlefs teeth. What we mould do ther- 
 fore with this learned Comment upon Teeth and Horns, which hath brought 
 this Confutant into his pedantic Kingdom of Cornucopia, to reward him for 
 glofling upon Horns even to the Hebrew root, I know not unlefs we mould 
 commend him to be Lecturer in Eaft-cheap upon St. Lake's day, when they 
 fend their Tribute to that famous Haven by Deptford. But we are not like 
 to'fcape him fo. For now the worm of Criticifm works in him, he will tell us 
 the derivation of German Rutters, of Meat, and of Ink, which doubtlefs, right- 
 ly apply'd with fome gall in it, may prove 'good to heal this tetter of Pedago- 
 guifm that befpreads him, with fuch a Tenafmus of originating, that if he be 
 an Arminian, and deny original Sin* all the Etymologies of his Book fhall wit- 
 nefs that his brain is not meanly tainted with that infe&ion. 
 
 Sect. y. 
 His feventh Section labours to cavil out the flaws which were found in the 
 Remonftrant's Logic •, who having laid down for a general propofition, that 
 civil Polity is variable and arbitrary, from whence was inferr'd logically upon 
 him that he had concluded the Polity of England to be arbitrary, for general 
 includes particular •, here his Defendant is notafhamed to confefs that the Re- 
 monftrant's propofition was fophiftical by a Fallacy call'd, ad plures interro- 
 gationes : which founds to me fomewhatftrange that a Remonftrantof that pre- 
 tended fincerity fhould bring deceitful and double-dealing Propofitions to the 
 Parlament. The truth is, he had let flip a fhrewd paflage ere he was aware, 
 
 not
 
 jin Apology for Smectym n u u s. 
 
 not thinking the conclusion would turn upon him with fuel) a terrible edge, and 
 not knowing how to wind out of the briars, he or his fubftitute feems more 
 willing to lay the integrity of his Logic to pawn, and grant a fallacy in his 
 own Major where none is, than to be fore'd to uphold the Inference. For that 
 diftinction of poffible and lawful is ridiculous to be fought for in that propofi- 
 tion ; no Man doubting that it is poffible to change the form of civil Polity ; 
 and that it is held lawful by that Major, the word arbitrary implies. Nor will 
 this help him, to deny that it is arbitrary at anytime, or by any undcrtak rs, 
 (which are two limitations invented by him fince) for when it Hands as he will 
 have it now by his fecond Edition, civil Polity is variable, but not at any time, 
 or by any undertakers, it will refult upon him, belike then at fome time, and 
 by fome undertakers it may. And fo he goes on mincing the matter, till fie 
 meets with fomething in Sir Francis Bacon, then he takes heart again, and 
 holds his Major at large But by and by, as foon as the fhadow of Sir Francis 
 hath left him, he falls off again warping and warping, till he come to contra- 
 dict himfelf in diameter ; and denies flatly that it 'neither variable or arbitrary, 
 being once fettled. Which third fhift is no lefs a piece of laughter : For before 
 the Polity was fettled, how could it be variable, whenas it was no Polity at 
 all, but either an Anarchy or a Tyranny ? That limitation therfore, cf after 
 fettling, is a mere Tautology. So that in fine his former affertion is now recant- 
 ed, and civil Polity is neither variable nor arbitrary . 
 
 Sect. 8. 
 
 Whatever elfe may perfuade me that this Confutation was not made with- 
 out foine afliftance or advice of the Remonftrant, yet in this eighth Section 
 that his hand was not greatly intermix'd, I can eafily believe. For it begins 
 with this furmife, that;;o/ having to accufe the Remonjtrant to the King, I do it to 
 the Parlament ; which conceit of the Man cleanly fhoves the King out of the 
 ParJament, and makes two bodies of one. Wheras the Remonftrant in the 
 Epiftle to his hftfhort anfver, gives his fuppofal that they cannot be fever' din the 
 Rights of their feveral Concernments. Mark, Readers, if they cannot be fe- 
 ver'd in what is feveral (which cafts a Bull's eye to go yoke with the toothlefs 
 Satyrs) how fhould they be fever'd in their common concernments, the wel- 
 fare of the Land, by due accufation of fuch as are the common grievances, 
 among which I took the Remonftrant to be one ? And therfore if I accus'd 
 him to the Parlament, it was the fame as to accufe him to the King. Next he 
 cafts it into the difh of I know not whom, that they flatter fome of the Houfe, 
 and libel others whofe Confciences made them vote contrary to fome proceedings. 
 Thofe fome proceedings can be underftood of nothing elfe but the Deputy's ex- 
 ecution. Andean this private Concocter of Male-content, at the very inftant 
 when he pretends to extol the Parlament, afford thus to blur over, rather 
 than to mention that public triumph of their juftice and conftancy fo high, 
 fo glorious, fo reviving to the fainted Commonwealth, with fuch a fufpicious 
 and murmuring exprefllon as to call it fome proceedings ? and yet immediately 
 he falls to glozing, as if he were the only Man that rejoie'd at thefe times. 
 But I fliall difcover to ye, Readers, that this his praifing of them is as full of 
 nonfenfe and fcholaftic foppery, as his meaning he himfelf difcovers to be full 
 of clofe malignity. His firft Encomium is, that the Sun looks not upon a braver, 
 nobler Convocation than is that of King, Peers, and Commons. One thin°- 1 bef 
 of ye Readers, as ye bear any zeal to Learning, to Elegance, and that which 
 is call'd Decorum in the writing of Praife, efpecially on fuch a noble Argu- 
 ment, ye would not be offended, though I rate this cloifter'd Lubber accord- 
 ing to his deferts. Where didft thou learn to be fo aguifh, fo pufillanimous, 
 thou lozel Batchelor of Art, as againft all Cuftom and ufe of Speech to term 
 the high and fovereign Court of Parlament, a Convocation ? Was this the flow; r 
 of all thy Synonyma's and voluminous Papers, whofe beft Folio's are pre 
 ftin'd to no better end than to make winding Sheets in Lent for Pilch • 
 Could'ft thou prefume thus with one word's ipeaking to clap as it were under 
 hatches the King with all his Peers and Gentry into fquare Caps, and Monkifh 
 Floods? how well doft thou now appear to beachip of the old block, that could 
 find Bridge-flreet and Alehoufes in Heaven ? why didft thou not, to be his perfect 
 imitator, liken the King to the Vice-Chancellor, and the Lords to the Doctors 2 
 Neither is this an indignity only but a reproach, to call that inviolable Refi ■ 
 
 Vol. I. R dence
 
 122 An Apology for S M ectymnuus. 
 
 dence of Juftice and Liberty, by fuch an odious name as now a Convocation is 
 become, which would be nothing injured, though it were ftii'd the houle of 
 bondage, wherout fo many cruel talks, fo many unjuft burthens have been 
 liden °upon the bruifed confeiences of fo many Chriftians throughout the land. 
 But which of thofe worthy deeds, wherof we and our pofterity muft confefs 
 this Parlament to have done fo many and fo noble, which of thofe memorable 
 acts comes firft into his praifes ? none of all, not one. What will he then 
 praife them for? not for any thing doing, but for deferring to do, for de- 
 ferring to chaftife his lewd and infolent Compriefts : Net that they have de- 
 ferred all, but that he hopes they will remit what is yet behind. For the 
 reft of his Oratory that follows, fo juft is it in the language of ftall-cpiftle 
 nonfenfe, that if he who made it can underftand it, I deny not but that he 
 may deferve for his pains a caft Doublet. When a Man would look he fliould 
 vent fomething of his own, as ever in a fet fpeech the manner is with him 
 that knows any thing, he, left we mould not take notice enough of his bar- 
 ren ftupidity, declares it by Alphabet, and refers us to odd remnants in his 
 Topics. Nor yet content with the wonted room of his margent, but he 
 muft cut out large flocks and creeks into his text to unlade the foolifh frigate 
 of his unfealbnable Authorities, not therwith to praife the Parlament, but 
 to tell them what he would have them do. What elfe there is, he jumbles 
 together in fuch a loft conftruction, as no Man either letter'd or unletter'd, 
 will be able to piece up. I mail fpare to tranferibe him, but if I do him 
 wrong, let me be fo dealt with. 
 
 Now although it be a digreffion from the enfuing matter, yet becaufe it fhali 
 not be faid I am apter to blame others than to make trial myfelf, and that 1 
 may after this harfh difcord touch upon a fmoother ftring a- while to entertain 
 myfelf and him that lift, with fome more pleafing fit, and not the leaft to 
 teftify the gratitude which I owe to thofe public Benefactors of their Coun- 
 try, for the fhare I enjoy in the common peace and good by their inceflant 
 labours ; I fhall be fo troublefome to this Declaimer for once, as to fhew him 
 what he might have better faid in their praife : Wherin I muft mention only 
 fome few things of many, for more than that to a digreffion may not be grant- 
 ed. Although certainly their actions are worthy not thus to be ipoken of by the 
 way, yet if herafter it befall me to attempt fomething more anfwerable to 
 their crreat Merits, I perceive how hopelefs it will be to reach the height of 
 their praifes at the accomplishment of that expectation that waits upon 
 their noble Deeds, the unfinifhing wherof already ksrpafles what others be- 
 fore them have left enacted with their utmoft performance through many ages. 
 And to the end we may be confident that what they do, proceeds neither 
 from uncertain opinion, nor fudden counfels, but from mature wifdom, deli- 
 berate vertue, and dear affection to the public good, I fhall begin at that 
 which made them likelieft in the eyes of good Men to effect thofe things for 
 the recovery of decay'd Religion and the Commonwealth, which they who 
 were beft minded had long wifh'd for, but few, as the times then were despe- 
 rate, had the courage to hope for. Firft, therfore, the moft of them being 
 either of ancient and high Nobility, or at leaft of known and well reputed 
 Anceftry, which is a great advantage towards Vertue one way, but in refpect 
 of wealth, eafe and flattery, which accompanies a nice and tender educa- 
 tion, is as much a hindrance another way ; the good which lay before them 
 they took, in imitating the worthieft of their Progenitors ; and the evil which 
 alTaulted their younger years by the temptation of riches, high birth, and 
 that ufual bringing up, perhaps too favourable and too remiis, through the 
 ftrength of an inbred goodnefs, and with the help of divine Grace, that had 
 mark'd them out for no mean purpofes, they nobly overcame. Yet had they 
 a greater danger to cope with ; for being train'd up in the knowledge of 
 learning, and fent to thofe places which were intended to be the feed-plots 
 of Piety and the Liberal Arts, but were become the nurfcries of Super- 
 ftition and empty Speculation, as they were profperous againlt thofe vices 
 which grow upon youth out of idlenefs and fuperiluity, fo were they liappy 
 in working off the harms of their abufed ftudies and labours, correcting by 
 the clearnefs of their own judgment the errors of their mif-inftruction, and 
 were as David was, wifer than their teachers. And although their lot fell into 
 
 fuch
 
 An Abo!o?y for S M ect y m n uus. 
 
 fircfh times, an 1 to be bred in fuch places, where if they chane'd to be tan 
 any thing good, or of their own accord had learnt it, they might fee that 
 prefently untaught th m by the cuftoni and ill example of their Elders ; i'o fat 
 in all probability was their youth from being muled by the /ingle power of 
 Example, as their riper years were known to be unmov'd with the baits of 
 preferment, and undaunted for any difcouragement and terror which appear'd 
 often to thofe that Iov'd Religion and their native Liberty : which two thiivs 
 God hath infeparably knit together, and hath difclos'd to us, that they who 
 feek to corrupt our Religion, are the fame that would enthrall our civil Liber 
 ty. Thus in the midft of all difadvantages and difrefpecls (tome alfo at laft not 
 without imprifonment and open difgraces in the caufe of their Country; 
 having given proof of themfeives to be better made and fram'd by nature 
 to the love and practice of Vertue, than others under the holieft precepts 
 and beft examples have been headftrong and" prone to vice ; and having in all 
 the trials of a firm ingrafted honefty not oftner buckled in the conflict than 
 given every oppofirion the foil, this moreover was added by favour from 
 Heaven, as an ornament and happinefsto their Vertue, that itfhould be nei- 
 ther obfeure in the opinion of Men, nor eclipfed for want of matter equal toil- 
 luftrate itfclfj God and Man confenting in joint approbation to chufe them out 
 as worthieft above others to be both the great reformers of the Church, and 
 the restorers of the Commonwealth. Nor did they deceive that expectation 
 which with the eyes and defiresof their Country was fixt upon them ; for no 
 fooner did the force of fo much united Excellence meet in one globe of bright- 
 nefs and efficacy, but encountering the dazled refiftance of Tyranny, they gave 
 not over, though their enemies were ftrong and futtle, till they had laid her 
 grovelingupon the fatal block ; with one ftroke winning again our loft Li- 
 berties and Charters, which our Forefathers after fo many battles could fcarce 
 maintain. And meeting next, as I may fo refemble, with thefecond Life of 
 Tyranny (for (he was grown an ambiguous monfter, and to be flain in two 
 fhapes) guarded with Superftition which hath no fmall power to captivate the 
 minds of Men otherwife moft wife, they neither were taken with her miter'd 
 hypocril'y, nor terrify'd with the pufh of her beftial horns, but breaking 
 them immediately fore'd her to unbend the pontifical brow, and recoil : 
 Which repulfe only given to the Prelates (that we may imagine how happy 
 their removal v/ould be) was the producement of fuch glorious effects and con- 
 fequences in the Church, that if I fhould compare them with thofe exploits of 
 higheft fame in Poems and Panegyrics of old, I am certain it would but di- 
 minifh and impair their worth, who are now my Argument : For thofe ancient 
 Worthies delivered Men from fuch Tyrants as were content to inforce only an 
 outward obedience, letting the Mind be as free as it could ; but thefe have 
 freed us from a doctrine of Tyranny that offered violence and corruption even 
 to the inward perfuafion. They fet at liberty Nations and Cities of Men 
 good and bad mix'd together ; but thefe opening the prifons and dungeons, 
 call'd out of darknefs and bonds the elect Martyrs andWitneffes of theirRe- 
 deemer. They reftor'd the Body to eafe and wealth ; but thefe the opprefs'd 
 Confcience to that freedom which is the chief prerogative of the Gofpel, 
 taking off thofe cruel burthens impos'd not by neceffity, as other Tyrants are 
 wont for the fife-guard of their lives, but laid upon our necks by the ltrange 
 wihulnefsand wantonnefs of a needlefs and jolly perfecutor call'd Indifference. 
 Laftly, fome of thofe ancient Deliverers have had immortal praifes for pre- 
 ferving their Citizens from a famine of corn. But thefe by this only repulfe 
 of an unholy Hierarchy, almoft in a moment replenifh'd with faving knowledge 
 their Country nigh famifh'd for want of that which fhould feed their fouls. 
 All this being done while two Armies in the field flood gazing on, the one in 
 reverence of fuch Noblenefs quietly gave back and diflodg'd ; the other, fpight 
 of the unrulinefs, and doubted fidelity in fome Regiments, was either per- 
 fuaded or compell'd to difb and and retire home. With fuch a Majefty had 
 their Wifdom begirt itfelf, that wheras others had levied war to fubdue a 
 Nation that fought for peace, they fitting here in peace, could fo many miles 
 extend the force of their fingle words as to overawe the diffblute ftoutnefs of 
 an armed Power fecretly ftirr'd up and almoft hir'd againft them. And having 
 by a folemn proteftation vow'd themfeives and the Kingdom anew to God and 
 Vol. I. R 2 his 
 
 1 ~J>
 
 1 24. An Apology for Smectym n u u s. 
 
 hisf-rvice, and by a prudent forefight above what their Fathers thought on, 
 prevented' the diffolution and fruftrating of their defigns by an untimely break- 
 ing up, notwithstanding all the treafonous Plots againft them, all the ru- 
 mours either of Rebellion or Invafion, they have not bin yet brought to change 
 their conftant refolution, ever to think fearlefly of their own fafeties, and 
 hopefully of the Commonwealth •, which hath gain'd them fuch an admira- 
 tion from all good Men, that now they hear it as their ordinary iurname, to 
 be fainted the 'Fathers of their Country, and fit as Gods among daily Petiti- 
 ons and public Thanks flowing in upon them. Which doth fo little yet exalt 
 them in their own thoughts, that with all gentle affability, and courteous ac- 
 ceptance they both receive and return that tribute of thanks which is render'd 
 them ; teftifying their zeal and defire to fpend themfelves as it were piece- 
 meal upon the grievances and wrongs of their diftreffed Nation : infomuch 
 that the meaneft Artizans and Labourers, at other times alfo Women, and 
 often the younger fort of Servants affembling with their complaints, and that 
 fometimes in a lefs humble guife than for Petitioners, have gone with confi- 
 dence, that neither their meannefs would be rejected, nor their fimplicity 
 contemn'd; nor yet their urgency diftafted either by the dignity, wifdom, or 
 moderation of that fupreme Senate ; nor did they depart unfatisfy'd. And 
 indeed, if we confider the general ccncourfe of Suppliants, the free and ready 
 admittance, the willing and fpeedy redrefs in what is poffible, it will not feeni 
 much otherwife, than as if fome divine Comrniffion from Heaven were de- 
 fcended to take into hearing and commiferation the long remedilefs afflicti- 
 ons of this Kingdom •, were it not that none more than themfelves labour 
 to remove and divert fuch thoughts, left Men fhould place too much confi- 
 dence in their Perfons, ftill referring us and cur Prayers to him that can 
 o-rant all, and appointing the monthly return of public rafts and Supplica- 
 tions. Therfore the more they feek to humble themfelves, the more does 
 God by manifeft Signs and Teftimonies, vifibly honour their proceedings ; 
 and fets them as the Mediators of this his Covenant, which he oifers us to re- 
 new. Wicked Men daily confpire their hurt, and it comes to nothing ; Re- 
 bellion rages in our Irijh Province* but with miraculous and loislefs victo- 
 ries of few againft many, is daily difcomfked and broken •, if we neglect: not 
 this early pledge of God's inclining towards us, by the ilacknefs of our need- 
 ful aids. And wheras at other times we count it ample honour when God 
 vouchfafes to make Man the inftrument and fubordinate worker of his gra- 
 cious Will, fuch acceptation have their Prayers found with him, that to them 
 he hath bin pleas'd to make himfelf the Agent, and immediate Performer of 
 their defires ; diffolving their difficulties when they are thought inexplica- 
 ble, cutting out ways for them where no paffage could be feen ; as who is 
 there fo regardlcfs of Divine Providence, that from late occurrences will not 
 confefs? If therfore it be fo high a grace when Men are preferr'd to be but 
 the inferior Officers of good things from God, what is it when God himfelf 
 condefcends, and works with his own hands to fulfil the requefts of Men ? 
 Which I leave with them as the greateft praife that can belong to human Na- 
 ture : Not that we fhould think they are at the end of their glorious Pro- 
 grefs, but that they will go on to follow his Almighty leading, who feems to 
 have thus covenanted with them •, that if the Will and the Endeavour fhal! be 
 theirs, the performance and the perfecting fhall be his. Whence only it is 
 that I have not fear'd, though many wife Men have mifcarried in prailing 
 great defigns before the utmoft event, becaufe I fee who is their affiftant, 
 who is their confederate, who hath engag'd his omnipotent Arm to fupport 
 and crown with fuccefs their Faith, their Fortitude, their juft and magnani- 
 mous Actions, till he hath brought to pafs all that expected good which bis 
 Servants truft is in his thoughts to bring upon this Land in the full and per- 
 fect Reformation of his Church. 
 
 Thus far I have digrefs'd, Readers, from my former Subject ; but into fuch 
 a Path, as I doubt not ye will agree with me, to be much fairer, and more de- 
 lightful than the road-way I was in. And how to break off fuddenly in- 
 to thofe jarring notes which this Confutcr hath let me, I muit be wary, un- 
 Jefs I can provide againft offending the Ear, as fome Muficians are wont fkil- 
 fully to fall out of one key into another, without breach of Harmony. By 
 
 good
 
 An Apology for Smectymn^uu?. 125 
 
 good luck therfore his ninth Section is fpent in mournful Elegy, certain pafiio- 
 nate Soliloquies •, and two whole pages of interrogatories that praife the Remon- 
 drant even to the fonneting of his firefly Cheeks, quick Eyes, round Tongue, agil 
 Hand, and nimble Invention. 
 
 In his tenth Section he will needs erect Figures, and tell Fortunes; I am no 
 Bifljop, he fays, I was never born to it : Let me tell therfore this Wizard, fmce 
 he calculates fo right, that he may know there be in the World, and I anion"- 
 thofe, who nothing admire his Idol a Bifhopric, and hold that it wants fo 
 much to be a Bleffing, as that I rather deem it the mereft, the failed, the 
 mod unfortunate gift of Fortune. And were the punifhment and mifery of 
 being a Prelate Bifhop, terminated only in the Perfon, and did not extend to 
 the affliction of the whole Diocefe, if I would wifh any thing in the bitternefs 
 of Soul to mine enemy, I would wifh him the biggeft and fatted Bifhopric. 
 But he proceeds •, and the Familiar belike informs him, that a rich Widow or 
 a LeiJure, or both, would content me: wherby I perceive him to be more io-no- 
 rant in his art of divining than any Gipfy. For this I cannot omit without 
 ingratitude to that Providence above, who hath ever bred me up in plenty 
 although my Life hath not bin unexpenfive in Learning, and voyaging about •, 
 fo long as it fhall pleafe him to lend me what he hath hitherto thought o-ood 
 which is enough to ferve- me in all honed and liberal occasions, and Something 
 over befides, I were unthankful to that higheit Bounty, if I mould make my 
 felf fo poor, as tofolicit needily any fuch kind of rich hopes as this Fortune- 
 teller dreams of. And that he may further learn how his Aflrology is wide all 
 the houfes of Heaven in fpel'ling Marriages, I care not if I tell him thus much 
 profedly, thoughit be to the lofing of my rich hopes, as he calls them, that I 
 think with them who both in prudence and elegance of Spirit, would chufe 
 a Virgin of mean fortunes honeftly bred, before the wealthier!: Widow. The 
 Fiend therfore that told our Chaldean the contrary, was a lying Fiend. His 
 next venom he utters againft a Prayer which he found in the Animadverfions, 
 angry it feems to find any prayers but in the Service-book ; he diflikes it, and 
 I therfore like it the better. It was theatrical, he fays ; and yet it confided 
 mod of Scripture language ; it had no Rubric to be lung in an antic Cope 
 upon the Stage of a High Altar. // was big-mouth' d, he lays ; no marvel, if 
 it were fram'd as the Voice of three Kingdoms : neither was it a Prayer {o 
 much as a Hymn in prole, frequent both in the Proph; ts, and in human Au- 
 thors ; therfore the dile was greater than tor an ordinary Prayer. It was an 
 cftonifting Prayer. I thank him for that condition, fo it was intended to af- 
 tound and to adonifh the guilty Prelates •, and this Confuter confclfes tiiat with 
 him it wrought that effect. But in that which follows, he does not play the 
 Soothfayer, but the diabolic flanderer of Prayers. // was made, he lays, not 
 fomuch to pleafe God, or to benefit the Weal public (how dares the Viper judo-e 
 that ?) but to intimate, faith he, your good abilities to her that is your rich hopes, 
 your Maronilla. How hard is it when a Man meets with a Fool to keep his 
 Tongue from folly ? That were miferable indeed to be a Courtier of Maronil- 
 la, and withal of fuch a haplefs invention, as that no way fhould be left me 
 to prefentmy meaning, but to make my felf a canting Probationer of orifons. 
 The Remondrant, when he was as young as I, could 
 
 Toothlefs Teach each hollow Grove to found his love, 
 Satyrs, Wearying echo with one changelefs word. 
 
 And fo he well might, and all his Auditory befides with his teach each. 
 
 Toothlefs TVhether fo me lift my lovely Thoughts tofing, 
 Satyrs, Come dance ye nimble Dryads by my fide, 
 
 Whiles I report my Fortunes or my Loves. 
 
 Delicious ! he had that whole Bevie at command whether in Morrice or at 
 May-pole •, whild I by this figure-cader mud be imagin'd in fuch d'idrefs 
 as to die to Maronilla, and yet left fo impoverifh'd of what to fay, as to turn 
 my Liturgy into my Lady's Pfalter. Believe it Graduate, I am not altogether 
 fo rudic, and nothing fo irreligious, but as far didant fro n a Lecturer, as 
 
 1 the
 
 An Jpokgyfcr 5 u e c t y w n u u s. 
 
 the mereft Laic, for any confecratiug hand of a Prelate that fhall ever touch 
 me Yet I fhall not decline the more for that, to ipeak my opinion in the 
 Controverfy next mov'd, Whether the People may be allowed for competent Judges 
 of a Minifter'i ability. For how elfe can be fulfill'd that which God hath pro- 
 mis'd, to pour out fuch abundance of knowledge upon all forts of Men in the 
 times 'of the Gofpel ? how mould the People examine the Doctrine which is 
 taught them, as Chrift and his Apoftles continually bid them do ? how fhould 
 they difcern and beware of ' fmall Prophets, and try every Spirit, if they muff, be 
 thought unfit to judge of the Minifter's abilities ? The Apoftles ever labour'd 
 to perfuade the Chriftian flock that they -were call'd in Chrift to all perfeclnefs of 
 fpiritual knowledge, and full affurance of underfl aiding in the myftery of Cod. But 
 the non-refident and plurality-gaping Prelates, the gulphs and whirlpools of 
 Benefices, but the dry pits of all found Doftrine, that they may the better 
 preach what they lift to their fheep, are ftill pofiefling them that they are. 
 fheep indeed, without j.idgment, without underftanding, the very Beafts of 
 Mount Sinai, as this Confuter calls them ; which words of theirs may ferve 
 to condemn them out of their own mouths, and to fhew the grofs contrari- 
 eties that are in their opinions : For while none think the People fo void of 
 knowledge as the Prelates think them, none are fo backward and malignant 
 as they to beftow knowledge upon them ; both by fuppreffing the frequency of 
 Sermons, and the printed explanations of the EngUJh Bible. No marvel if 
 the people turn beafts, when their Teachers themfelves, as Ifaiab calls them, 
 are dumb and greedy dogs, that can never have enough, ignorant, blind, and can- 
 not undetftand ; who while they all look their own way, every one for his gain from 
 his quarter, how many parts of the Land are fed with windy Ceremonies in- 
 ftead of fincere Milk ; and while one Prelate enjoys the nourifhmentand right 
 of twenty Minifters, how many wafte places are left as dark as Galilee of the 
 Gentiles, fitting in the region and fhadow of death, without preaching Minifter, 
 without light. So little care they of Beafts to make them Men, that by their 
 forcerous doctrine of Formalities, they take the way to transform them out 
 of Chriftian Men into Judaizing Beafts. Had they but taught the Land, or 
 fuffered it to be taught, as Chrift would it fhould have bin, in all plenteous 
 difpenfation of the Word, then the poor Mechanic might have fo accuftom'd 
 his ear to good teaching, as to have difcern'd between faithful teachers and 
 falfe. But now with a moft inhuman cruelty they who have put out the 
 peoples eyes, reproach them of their blindnefs •, juft as the Pharifees their true 
 Fathers were wont, who could not indure that the People fhould be thought 
 competent judges of Chrift's doftrine, although ,we know they judg'd far bet- 
 ter than thofe great Rabbies : yet this People, faid they, that knows not the law 
 is eccurft. We need not the authority of Pliny brought to tell us, the People 
 cannot judge of a Minifter: yet that hurts not. For as none can judge of a 
 Painter, or Statuary, but he who is an Artift, that is, either in the Pratlic or 
 Theory, which is often feparated from the Praclic, and judges learnedly with- 
 out it •, fo none can judge of a Chriftian Teacher, but he who hath either the 
 practice, or the knowledge of Chriftian Religion, though not fo artfully di- 
 gefted in him. And who almoft of the meaneft Chriftians hath not heard the 
 Scriptures often read from his Childhood, befides fo many Sermons and 
 Lectures more in number than any Student hath heard in Philoibphy, where- 
 by he may eafily attain to know when he is wifely taught, and when weakly? 
 Wherof three ways I remember are fet down in Scripture : The one is to 
 read often that beft of Books written to this purpofe, that not the wife only, 
 but the fimple and ignorant may learn by them ; the other way to know of a 
 Minifter, is by the life he leads, wherof the meaneft underftanding may be 
 appiL-henfive. The laft way to judge aright in this point, is, when he who 
 judges, lives a Chriftian Life himfelf. Which of thefe three will the Confu- 
 ter affirm to exceed the capacity of a plain Artizan ? And what reafon then 
 is there left wherfore he fhould be deny'd his voice in the election of his Mi- 
 nifter, as not thought a competent difcerner ? It is but arrogance therfore, 
 and the pride of a metaphyseal fume, to think that the mutinous rabble (for fo 
 he calls the Chriftian Congregation) would be fo mijtakenin a Clerk of the Uni- 
 verfity that were to be their Minifter. I doubt me thofe Clerks that think fo, 
 are more mifta ken in themfelves •, and what with truanting and debauchery, 
 
 what
 
 yin Apology for Smectymnuus. t%* 
 
 what with falfe grounds and the weaknels of natural faculties in many of them 
 (it being a Maxim in fome Men to fend the fimpleft of their Sons thither) 
 perhaps there would be found among them as many unfolid and corrupted 
 judgments both in doctrine and life, as in any other two Corporations of like 
 bignefs. This is undoubted, that if any Carpenter, Smith, or Weaver, were 
 fuch a bungler in his Trade, as the greater number of them are in their Pro- 
 \ flion, he would ftarve for any Cuftorn. And fliould he exercife his Manu- 
 facture as little as they do their Talents, he would forget his Art: and fhould 
 he miftake his Tools as they do theirs, he would marr all the work he took 
 in hand. Hew few among them that know to write, or fpeak in a pure ftile, 
 much lefs to diftinguifh the ideas, and various kinds of ftile •, in Latin bar- 
 barous, and oft not whhoutfokcifms, declaiming in rugged and mifcellaneous 
 gear blown together by the four winds, and in their choice preferring the o- a y 
 ranknefs of Apuleius, Arnobiui, or any modern Fuftianift, before the native 
 Zfatifiifms of Cicero. In the Greek tongue moil: of them unletter'd, or ra^ 
 enter 3 A to any found proficiency in tbofe Attic Mafters of moral JVifdom and Elo- 
 ce. In the Hebrew Text, which is fo neceiTary to be underftood, except 
 it be fome few of them, their lips are utterly uncircumcis'd. No lefs are 
 they out of the way in Phi'ofophy, peftering their heads with the faplefs do- 
 tages of old Paris and Salamanca. And that which is the main point, in their 
 Sermons affecting the Comments and Poftils of Friars and Jefuits, but fcorn- 
 ingand flighting the reformed Writers : Infomuch that the better fort amono- 
 them will confefs it a rare matter to hear a true edifying Sermon in either 
 of their great Churches ; and that fuch as are moil: humm'd and applauded 
 there, would fcarce be fuffered thefecond hearing in a grave Congregation of 
 pious Chriftians. Is there caufe why thefe Men ihould overwean, and be fo 
 queafy of the rude Multitude, left their deep worth fhould be undervalu'd 
 for want of fit Umpires ? No, my matriculated Confutant, there will not want, 
 in any Congregation of this Ifland, that hath not been altogether famifh'd, or 
 wholly perverted with Prelatifh leaven ; there will not want divers plain and 
 folid Men, that have learnt by the experience of a good Confcience, what it 
 is to be well taught, who will foon look through and through both the lofty 
 nakednefs of your latinizing Barbarian, and the finical goofery of your neat 
 Sermon-actor,. And fo I leave you and your fellow Stars, as you term them, 
 cf either Horizon, meaning I fuppofe either Hemifphere, unlefs you will be ri- 
 diculous in your Aflronomy : For the rational Horizon in Heaven is but one, 
 and the fenfible Horizons in Earth are innumerable ; fo that your Allufion was 
 as erroneous as your Stars. But that you did well to prognofticate them all at 
 loweft in the Horizon •, that is, either feeming bigger than they are through 
 the mift and vapour which they rife, or elfe finking, and wafted to the fnuff 
 in their Weftern Socket. 
 
 S E C T. I I. 
 
 His eleventh Section intends I know not what, unlefs to clog us with the 
 refidue of his phlegmatic floth, difcuding with a heavy pulfe the expedience 
 effet forms : which no queftion but to fome, and for fome time may be per- 
 mitted, and perhaps there may be ufefully fet forth by the Church a common 
 DireSiory of public Prayer, elpecially in the adminiftration of the Sacraments. 
 But that it fhould therfore be infore'd where both Minifter and People pro- 
 fefs to have no need, but to be fcandaliz'd by it, that, I hope, every fenfible 
 Chriftian will deny : And the reafons of fuch denial the Confuter himfelf, as 
 his bounty ftill is to his Adverfary, will give us out of his affirmation. Firft, 
 faith he, God in his Providence hath chofenfome to teach others, and pray for others, 
 as Minifter s and Paftors. Whence I gather, that however the faculty of o- 
 thersmaybe, yet that they whom God hath kt apart to his Miniftry, are 
 by him endu'd with an ability of Prayer ; becaufe their OfEce is to pray for 
 others, and not to be the lip-working Deacons of other Men's appointed 
 words. Nor is it eafily credible, that he who can preach well, fhould be un- 
 able to pray well ; when as it is indeed the fame ability to fpeak affirmatively, 
 or doctrinally, and only by changing the mood, to fpeak prayingly. In vain 
 therfore do they pretend to want utterance in prayer, who can find utterance 
 to preach. And if prayer be the gift of the fpirit, why do they admit thofe 
 to the Miniftry, who want a main gift of their Function, and prefcribe gifted 
 
 Men 
 
 V
 
 1 28 An Apology for S m ecty m n 1 u s. 
 
 Men ro ufe that which is the remedy of another Man's want •, fetting them 
 their talk to read, whom the Spirit of God Hands ready to affift in his Ordi- 
 nance with the gift of free conceptions ? What if it he granted to the infir- 
 mity of fome Minifters (though fuch feem rather to be half Minifters.) to help 
 themfelves with a let form, fhall it therfore be urg'd upon the plenteous 
 graces of others ? And let it be granted to fome people while they are Babes, 
 in Chriftian Gifts, were it not better to take it away loon after, as we do 
 loitering Books, and interlinear) Tranflations from Children •, to ftir up and 
 exereife°that portion of the Spirit which is in them, and not impofe it upon 
 Congregations who not only deny to need it, but as a thing troublefome and 
 offensive, refute it? Another reafon which he brings for Liturgy, is the pre- 
 ferring of Order, Unity, and Piety ; and the fame (hall be my reafon agamit Li- 
 turgy. For I, Readers, fhall always be of this opinion, that obedience to the 
 Spirit of God, rather than to the fair feeming pretences of Men, is the bell 
 and moil dutiful Order that a Chriftian can obferve. If the Spirit of God ma- 
 nifeft the Gift of Prayer in his Minifter, what more feemly order in the Con- 
 gregation, than to go along with that Man in our devouteft affections ? For 
 hinfto abridge himfelf by reading, and to foreftal himfelf in thofe petitions, 
 which he muft either omit, or vainly repeat, when he comes into the Pulpit 
 under a fhew of order, is the greateft diforder. Nor is Unity lefs broken, 
 efpecially by our Liturgy, though this Author would almoft bring the Com- 
 munion of Saints to a Communion of Liturgical words. For what other re- 
 formed Church holds Communion with us by our Liturgy, and does not ra- 
 ther diflike it ? and among ourfelves, who knows it not to have bin a perpetu- 
 al caufe of difunion ? 
 
 Laftly, it hinders Piety rather than lets it forward, being more apt to 
 weaken the fpiritual faculties, if the people be not wean'd from it in due 
 time; as the daily pouring in of hot waters quenches the natural heat. For 
 not only the body and the mind, but alfo the improvement of God's Spirit is 
 quickned by ufing. Wheras they who will ever adhere to Liturgy, bring 
 themfelves in the end to fuch a pals by over-much leaning, as to lofe even the 
 legs of their devotion. Thefe inconveniences and dangers follow the com- 
 pelling of fet Forms : but that the toleration of the Englifo Liturgy now in 
 ufe, is more dangerous than the compelling of any other which the reformed 
 Churches ufe, thefe reafons following may evince. To contend that it is fan- 
 taftical, if not fenfelefs in fome places, were a copious Argument, efpecially 
 in the Refponfories. For fuch Alternations as are there us'd, muft be by feveral 
 perfons •, but the Minifter and the People cannot lb fever their interefts, as 
 to fuftain feveral perfons ; he being the only mouth of the whole body which 
 he prefents. And if the People pray, he being filent, or they afk one thing, 
 and he another, it either changes the property, making the Prieft the People, 
 and the People the Prieft by turns, or elle makes two Perfons and two Bodies 
 Reprefentative where there fhould be but one. Which if it be nought elfe, 
 muft needs be a ftrange quaintnefs in ordinary prayer. The like, or woric, 
 may be laid of the Litany, wherin neither Prieft nor People fpeak any entire 
 fenfe of themfelves throughout the whole, I know not what to name it -, only 
 by the timely contribution of their parted ftakes, clofing up as it were the 
 Scbifm of a flie'd Prayer, they pray not in vain, for by this means they keep 
 Life between them in a piece of gaining fenfe, and keep down the (aucinels 
 of a continual rebounding nonfenfe. And hence it is, that as it hath bin far 
 from the imitation of any warranted Prayer, lb we all know it hath bin ob- 
 vious to be the pattern of many a Jig. And he who hath but read in good 
 Books of Devotion and no more, cannot be fo either of ear or judgment un- 
 pradtis'd to diftinguifh what is grave, pathetical, devout, and what not, but 
 will prefently perceive this Liturgy all over in conception lean and dry, of 
 affections empty and unmoving, of paflion, or any height wherto the Soul 
 might foar upon the wings of zeal, deftitute and barren ; belides Errors, 
 Tautologies, Impertinences, as thofe thanks in the Woman's Churching for her 
 delivery from Sun-burning and Moon-blafting, as if the had bin travailing 
 not in her bed, but in the deferts of Arabia. So that while fome Men ceaie 
 not to admire the incomparable frame of our Liturgy, I cannot but admire as 
 faft what they think is become of judgment and tafte in other Men, that they 
 
 can 
 3
 
 An Apology for S'm e c t y m n u u s. i 2,9 
 
 en hope to be heard without laughter. And if this were all, perhaps it 
 Were a compliable matter. But when we remember this our Liturgy where 
 we found it, whence we had it, and yet where we left it, ftill ferving to all 
 the abominations of the antichriftian Temple, it may be wonder'd how we 
 can demur whether it mould be done away or no, and not rather fear we have 
 highly offended inufing itfo long. It hath indeed been pretended to be more 
 ancient than the Mai's, but fo little provM, that wheras other corrupt*Litur • 
 gies have had withal fuch a feeming Antiquity, as that their publishers have 
 ventur'dto afcribe them with their worft corruptions either to St. Peter St. 
 "James, St. Mark, or at leaft to Chryfojlome or Bqfil, ours hath been never able' 
 to find either Age or Author allowable, on whom to lather thole things ther- 
 in which are leaft orrenfive, except the two Creeds, for Te Deum has a frratch 
 in it of Limbics Patrum: As if Chrift had not opened the Kingdom of 'Heaved 
 before he had overcome the Jharpnefs of Death. So that having received it from 
 the Papal Church as an original Creature, for aught can be ihewn to the con- 
 trary, form'd and fafhion'd by work-mafters ill to be trufted, we may be 
 aiTLir'd that if God loath the belt of an Idolater's prayer, much more the con- 
 ceited fangle of his prayer. This Confuter himfelf confefles that a Commu- 
 nity of the lame i'ct form in prayers, i; that which makes Church and Church 
 truly one ; we then ufing a Liturgy far more like to the Mais-book than to any 
 Proteftant fet Form* by his own words mull have more Communion with the 
 Romif/j Church, than with any of the Reformed. How can we then partake 
 with them the curfe and vengeance of their fuperftition, to whom we come 
 $a near in the fame fet form and drefs of our devotion ? Do we think to lift the 
 matter finer than we are fure God in his jealoufy will, who deteiied both the 
 Gold and the Spoil of idolatrous Cities, and forbid the eating of things olfcr'd 
 to Idols ? Are we ftronger than he, to brook that which his heart cannot 
 brook ? It is not furely becaufe we think that prayers are no where to be had 
 but at Rome ; that were a foul fcorn and indignity call upon all the reformed 
 Churches, and our own : If we imagine that all the godly Miniflers of England 
 are not able to new-mould a better and more pious Liturgy than this which 
 was conceiv'd and infanted by an idolatrous Mother, how bafely were that to 
 efteem of God's Spirit, and all the holy bleffings and privileges of a true 
 Church above a falfe r Heark ye Prelates, is this your glorious Mother of Eng- 
 land, who whenas Chrift hath taught her to pray, thinks it not enough unlefs 
 fhe add therto the teaching of Antichrift ? How can we believe ye would re- 
 fufe to take the ltipend of Rome, when ye fliame not to live upon the alms- 
 balket of her prayers ? Will ye perfwade us that ye can curfe Rome from your 
 heartSj when none but Rome mull teach ye to pray ? Abraham difdain'd to 
 take fo much as a thread or a fhoe-latchet from the King of Sodom, though no 
 foe of his, but a wicked King ; and fhall we receive our prayers at the bounty 
 of our more wicked Enemies, whole gifts are no gifts, but the inftruments 
 of our bane ? Alas, that the Spirit of God ihould blow as an uncertain wind, 
 fhould fo miflake his infpiring, fo mifbeitow his gifts promis'd only to the 
 elect, that the idolatrous fhould find words acceptable to prefent God with,; 
 and abound to their neighbours, while the true profelTors of the Gofpel can 
 find nothing of their own worth the conftituting, wherwith to worlhip God 
 in public. Confider if this be to magnify the Church of England, and not 
 rather to difplay her nakednefs to all the world. Like therfore as the retain- 
 ing of this Romifh Liturgy is a provocation to God, and a difhonour to our 
 Church, fo is it by thofe ceremonies, thofe purifyings and offerings at the Al- 
 tar, a pollution and difturbance to the Gofpel it fell ; and a kind of driving us 
 with the foolilh Galatians to another Gofpel. For that which the Apoltles 
 taught hath freed us in Religion from the Ordinances of Men, and commands 
 that burdens be not laid upon the Redeemed of Chrift ; though the Formalift will 
 fay, what no decency in God's worihip ? Certainly Readers, the worihip of 
 God fingly in it felf, the very act of prayer and thankigivirig, with thofe free 
 and unimpos'd expreffions which from a fincere heart unbidden come into the 
 outward gefture, is the greatelt decency that can be imagin'd. Which to 
 drefs up and garnifh with a devis'd bravery abolifh'd in the Law, and difclaim'd 
 by the Gofpel, adds nothing but a deformed uglinefs ; and hath ever afford- 
 ed a colourable pretence to bring in all thofe traditions and carnalities that are 
 Vot. I. S fo
 
 le 
 
 o An Apology for Smectymnuus. 
 
 ]"o killing ro the power and virtue of the Gofpel. What was that which made 
 ; i gur'd under the names of Aholah and Aholibah, go a whoring after 
 
 all" the i ventions", but' that they faw a Religion gorgeoufly attir'd 
 
 and defirable to the eye? What was all that the falfe Doctors of the primi- 
 tive Church, and ever fince have done, but to make a fairjheiv in the fleflj, as 
 St. Paul's words arc? If we have indeed given a biil of Divorce to Popery 
 and Superftition, why do we not fay as to a divorc'd wife •, Thofe things which 
 are yours take them ail with you, and they fliall fweep after you ? Why were 
 not we thus wife at our parting from Rome? Ah! like a crafty Adulterefs flie 
 forgot not all her fmooth looks and inticing words at her parting •, yet keep 
 thefe letters, thefe tokens, and thefe few ornaments •, I am not all fo greedy 
 of what is inin.:, let them preferve with you the memory, of what I am ? No, 
 but of wii.it I was, once fair and lovely in your eyes. Thus did thofe tender- 
 hearted Reformers dotingly fuffer themfelves to be overcome with Harlots 
 ,uage. And flie like a Witch, but with a contrary policy, did not take fome- 
 thing of theirs, th.u ihe might ftill have power to bewitch them, but tor the 
 fame intent left fomethir.g of her own behind her. And that her whorilh 
 cunning mould prevail to work upon us her deceitful ends, though it be fad to 
 fpeak, yet fuch is our biindneis, that we deferve. For we are deep in dotage. 
 We cry out Sacrilege and Mificvotion againft thofe who in zeal have demolifh'd 
 the dens and cages of her unclean wallow ings. We ftand for a Popifh Litur- 
 gy as for the Ark of our Covenant. And fo little does it appear our Prayers 
 are from the heart, that multitudes of us declare, they know not how to pray 
 but by rote. Yet they can learnedly invent a prayer of their own to the Par- 
 lament, that they may Hill ignorantly read the prayers of other men to God. 
 They object, that if we muft forlake all that is Rome's, we muff, bid adieu to 
 our Creed •, and I had thought our Creed had been of the Apoftles, for fo it 
 bears title. But if it be hers, let her take it. We can want no Creed, fo 
 long as we want not the Scriptures. We magnify thofe who in reforming our 
 Church have inconiiderately and blamefully permitted the old leven to remain 
 and four our whole lump. But they ivere Martyrs ; true, and he that lodes 
 well into the book of God's providence, if he read there that God for this 
 their negligence and halting, brought all that following perfecution upon 
 this Church, and on themfelves, perhaps will be found at the Lift day not to 
 have readamifs. 
 
 Sect. 12. 
 But now, Readers, we have the Port within fight ; his Lift Section, which is 
 no deep one, remains only to be forded, and then the wifh'd fhore. And 
 here firft it pleafes him much, that he had defcry'd me, as he conceives, to be 
 unread in the Councils. Concerning which matter it will not be unnecefTary 
 tofhapehim this anfwer-, That fome years I had fpent in theftories of thofe 
 Greek and Rowan Exploits, wherin I found many things both nobly done, 
 and worthily fpoken : when coming in the method of time to that age wher- 
 in the Church had obtain'd a Chriftian Emperor, I fo prepar'd my felf, as be- 
 ing now to read examples of wifdom and goodnefs among thole who were 
 foremoft in the Church, not elfewhere to be paralleled : but to the amaze- 
 ment of what I expected, Readers, I found it all quite contrary •, excepting in 
 fome very few, nothing but Ambition, Corruption, Contention, Combuftion : 
 infomuch that I could not but love the Hiftorian Socrates, who in the proem 
 to his fifth Book profeffes, He was fain to intermix affairs of State, for that it 
 would be elfe an extream annoyance to hear in a continued Difcourfe the endlefs 
 brabbles and counterplot tings of the Bifhops. Finding therfore the moft of their 
 actions in fingle to be weak, and yet turbulent ; full of ftrife, and yet flat of 
 fpirit ; and the fum of their beft Councils there collected, to be moft common- 
 ly in queftions either trivial and vain, or elfe offhort and eafy decifion; with- 
 out that great buttle which they made -, I concluded that if their fingle ambi- 
 tion and ignorance was fuch, then certainly united in a Council it would be 
 much more ; and if the compendious recital of what they there did was fo 
 tedious and unprofitable, " then furely to fit out the whole extent of their tat- 
 tle in a dozen volumes, would be a iofs of time irrecoverable. Befides that 
 which I had read of St. Martin, who for his laft fixteen years could never be 
 perfwaded to be at any Council of the Bifhops. And Gregory Nazianzen be- 
 took
 
 An Apology for Smect ymnuus. 131 
 
 took him to the fame refolution, affirming to Procopius, that of any Council or 
 Meeting of Bifaops he never fata good end ; nor any remedy therby of evil in the 
 Church, but rather an Increafe. For, faith he, their Contentions and defire of 
 Lording 710 Tongue is able to exprefs. I have not therfore, I confefs, read more 
 of the Councils favc here and there •, I fhould be forry to have been fuch a pro- 
 digal of my time: but that which is better, I can afTure this Confuter, I have 
 read into them all. And if I want any thing yet, I mail reply fomething to- 
 ward that which in the defence oi~Mur<ena was anfwer'd by Cicero to Sulpitius 
 the Lawyer. If ye provoke me (for at no hand elfe will I undertake fuch a 
 frivolous labour) I will in three months be an expert Councilifl. For be not 
 deceiv'd, Readers, by men that would overawe your ears with big Names 
 and huge Tomes that contradict and repeal one another, becaufe they can 
 cram a margent with Citations. Do but winnow their chaff from their wheat, 
 ye fhall fee their great heap fhrink and wax thin paft belief. From hence he 
 paffes to enquire wherfore I fhould blame the vices of the Prelates only, fee^ 
 ing the inferior Clergy is known to be as faulty. To which let him hear in 
 brief •, that thofe Priefts whofe vices have been notorious, are all Prelatical, 
 which argues both the impiety of that opinion, and the wicked remiffnefs of 
 that government. We hear not of any which are call'd Nonconformifts, that 
 have been accus'd for fcandalous living •, but are known to be pious, or at 
 leaft fober men. Which is a great good argument that they are in the truth, 
 and Prelates in the error. He would be refolv'd next, What the Corruptions of 
 the Univerjities concern the Prelates ? and to that let him take this, That the Re- 
 monftrant having fpoken as if Learning would decay with the removal of Pre- 
 lates, I fhew'd him that while Books were extant and in print, Learning could 
 not readily be at a worfe pafs in the Univerfities than it was now under their 
 government. Then he feeks to juftify the pernicious Sermons of the Clergy, 
 as if they upheld Sovereignty, whenas all Chriftian Sovereignty is bylaw, and 
 to no other end but to the maintenance of the common good. But their Doc- 
 trine was plainly the diffolution of Law, which only fets up Sovereignty, and 
 the erecting of an arbitrary fway according to private will, to which they 
 would enjoin a flavifh obedience without Law ', which is the known definition 
 of a Tyrant, and a tyranniz'd people. A little beneath he denies that great 
 riches in the Church are the baits of pride and ambition : of which error to 
 undeceive him, I fhall allege a reputed divine Authority, as ancient as Con- 
 ftantine, which his love to Antiquity muft not except againft ; and to add the 
 more weight, he fhall learn it rather in the words of our old Poet Gotaer than 
 in mine, that he may fee it is no new opinion, but a truth deliver'd of old 
 by a voice from Heaven, and ratify'd by long experience. 
 
 Ctris Confiiinttne fofjt'cO M Fjatfj fatmD* 
 ceiitjjtn Koine anon let fotmo 
 Cido Cfjurcfjcst lDljicl) Ije oto make 
 if or Peter ano fat pmt(0 fake : 
 fiDf iDijom Ije (jaD a ktfion, 
 AnD wife tDcfta poffcfnoit 
 £>f Ho^Ofljip ano of tiJ0?I0S trooti ; 
 "But jjolu fo that f)!0 tofll tuns goon 
 Cctoaro tfje pope ano $10 Jf rancfjife, 
 Fet hatlj it pioueo otfrctttrife 
 Co fee tije toothing of tfje oceo : 
 lor in Crontck tljus 3 reao, 
 anon as fie fjatlj maoe tfje peft. 
 3 toiice toas Ijeatn oit fjifffj tfje left* 
 ©ftofjtclj all Kome tragaorao, 
 3fino fiuu, Cljts oap tiemm is fljao 
 an nofu Ctjurcl), oftemporafl 
 Cfcat meoietlj toitfj tfje fpttttual^ 
 
 Vol. I. S 2 ^tttl
 
 152, An Apology for Smectymnuu s. 
 
 3Cno fjoto it (font in tfjat Ucsyrec, 
 fzt map a man tfje foot!) fee 
 <Soo atnenu it Mjan ijc brill, 
 31 can tljeitto none otfjee sMU- 
 
 But there were beafts of prey, faith he, before wealth was beftow'd on 
 the Church. What though ? becaufe the Vultures had then but fmall pickings, 
 fhall we therfore go and fling them a full gorge? if they for lucre ufe to 
 creep into the Church undilcernably, the more wifdom will it be fo to pro- 
 vide that no revenue there may exceed the golden mean : For fo, good Pallors 
 will be content, as having need of no more, and knowing withal the pre- 
 cept and example of Chrift and his Apoftles, and alio v/ill be lefs tempted to 
 ambition. The bad will have but fmall mutter wheron to let their mifchicr 
 awork : And the worft and futtl'ft heads will not come at all, when they fhall 
 fee the crop nothing anfwerable to their capacious greedinefs : For fmall 
 temptations allure but dribling offenders ; but a great purchafe will call fuch 
 as both are moll able of themfelves, and will be moll enabled hereby to com- 
 pafs dangerous projects. But faith he, A widow's houfe will tempt as well as a 
 Bijhop's Palace. Acutely fpoken ! Becaufe neither we nor the Prelates can 
 abolifh widows houfes, which are but an occafion taken of evil without the 
 Church, therfore we fhall fet up within the Church a Lottery of fuch prizes 
 as are the direct inviting caufes of avarice and ambition, both unneceffary 
 and harmful to be propos'd, and molt eafy, mod convenient and needful to 
 be remov'd. Tea but they are in a wife Difpenfer's band : Let them be in whole 
 hand they will, they are moft apt to blind, to puff up and pervert the moll 
 feeming good. And how they have been kept from Vultures, whatever the 
 difpenfer's care hath been, we have learn'd by our mileries. But this which 
 comes next in view, I know not what good vein or humour took him when he 
 let drop into his paper : I that was ere while the ignorant, the loyterer, on the 
 hidden by his permiflion am now granted to know fomelhing. And that/^,6 a 
 'volley of expreffions he hath met withal, as he would never defire to have them 
 better cloth' d. For me, Readers, although I cannot fay that I am utterly un- 
 train'd in thofe rules which beft Rhetoricians have given, or unacquainted 
 with thofe examples which the prime authors of eloquence have written in 
 any learneel tongue •, yet true eloquence I find to be none, but the ferious and 
 hearty love of truth : And that whofe mind foever is fully poflefl with a fer- 
 vent defire to know good things, and with the dearetl charity to infufe the 
 knowledge of them into others, when fuch a man would ipeak, his words 
 (by what I can exprefs) like fo many nimble and airy fervitors trip about 
 him at command, and in well-order'd files, as he would wifh, fall aptly into 
 their own places. But now to the remainder of our difcourfe. Chrift 
 refus'd great riches, and large honours at the Devil's hand. But why, 
 faith he, as they were tender' d by him from whom it was a fin to receive them. 
 Timely remember'd : why is it not therfore as much a fin to receive a Li. 
 turgy of the mafies' giving, were it for nothing elfe but the giver ? But 
 he could make no ufe of fuch a high eftate, quoth the Confuter ; opportunely. 
 For why then fhould the fervant take upon him to ufe thofe things which his 
 mailer had unfitted himfelf to ufe, that he might teach his minilters to fol- 
 low his fteps in the fame miniftry ? But they were offer 'd him to a bad end: So 
 they prove to the Prelates, who after their preferment moft ufually change 
 the teaching labour of the Word, into the unteaching eafe of Lordihip over 
 confeiences and purfes. But he proceeds, Cod entic\l the Ifraelites with the pro- 
 mife of Canaan. Did not the Prelates bring as flavifh minds with them, as the 
 Jews brought out of Egypt ? they had left out that inflance. Befides that it 
 was then the time, whenas the belt of them, as Saint Paul faith, was Jhut up 
 unto the faith under the Law their School-mafter, who was fore'd to intice them 
 as children with childifh enticements. But the Gofpcl is our manhood, and 
 the Miniftry fhould be the manhood of the Gofpel, not to look after, much 
 lefs fo bafely to plead for earthly Rewards. But Cod incited the wifeft man 
 Solomon with thefe means. Ah Confuter of thy ft If, this example hath undone 
 thee » Salomon afk'd an underftanding heart, which the Prelates have little 
 
 4 care
 
 An Apology for Smectymnuus. 135 
 
 care to afk. He ask'd no riches, which is their chief care ; therfore was the 
 prayer of Solomon pleafing to God ; he gave him wifdom at his requeft, and 
 riches without afking, as now he gives the Prelates riches at their feeking, and 
 no wifdom becaufe of their perverfe asking. But he gives not over yet, Mofes 
 had an eye to the Reward. To what Reward, thou man that look'ft with Balaam's 
 eyes ? to what Reward had the faith of Mofes an eye ? He that had forlaken all 
 the greatnefs of Egypt, and ■choiea troubJefome journey in his old age through 
 the Wildernefs, and yet arriv'd not at his journey's end: His faithful eyes were 
 fix'd upon that incorruptible Reward, promis'd to Abraham and his feed in 
 the Meffah ; he fought a heavenly Reward which could make him happy, and 
 never hurt him, and to fuch a Reward every good man may have a re'fpect : 
 But the Prelates are eager of fuch Rewards as cannot make them happy, but 
 can only make them worfe. Jacob, a Prince born, vow'd, that if God would 
 but give him bread to eat, and raiment to put on, then the Lordjhould be his God. 
 But the Prelates of mean birth, and oft-times of loweft, making fhew as if 
 they were call'd to the fpiritual and humble miniftry of the Goipel, yet 
 murmur, and think it a hard fcrvice, unlefs, contrary to the tenour of their 
 ProfeMion, they may eat the bread and wear the honours of Princes : So much 
 more covetous and baie they are than Simon Magus, for he proffer'd a Re- 
 ward to be admitted to that work, which they will not be meanly hir'u to. 
 But faith he, Are not the Clergy members of Chrijl, why fhould not each member 
 thrive alike? Carnal Textman ! As if worldly thriving were one of the pri- 
 vileges we have by being in Chrift, and were not a providence oft-times ex- 
 tended more liberally to the Infidel than the Chriftian. Therfore mult the 
 Minifters of Chrift not be over-rich or great in the World, becaufe their Cal- 
 ling is fpiritual, not fecular •, becaule they have a fpecial Warfare, which is 
 not to be entangled with many impediments ; becaufe their Mafter Chrift 
 gave them this Precept, and fet them this Example, told them this was the 
 myftery of his coming, by mean things and perfons to fubdue mighty ones : 
 and laftly, becaufe a middle eftate is moft proper to the office of teaching, 
 wheras higher dignity teaches far lefs, and blinds the Teacher. Nay, faith 
 the Confuter, fetching his laft endeavour, The Prelates will be very loth to let go 
 their Baronies, and Votes in Parliament, and calls it God's Caufe, with an unluf- 
 ferable impudence. Not that they love the Honours and the Means ; good men 
 and generous, but that they would not have their Country made guilty of fuch afacri- 
 lege and injuftice. A worthy Patriot for his own corrupt ends! That which he 
 imputes a facrilege to his Country, is the only way left them to purge that 
 abominable facrilege out of the Land, which none but the Prelates are guilty 
 of: Who for the difcharge of one fingle duty receive and keep that which 
 might be enough to fatisfy the labours of many painful Minifters better de- 
 ferving than themfelves : Who pofiefs huge Benefices for lazy Performances, 
 great Promotions only for the execution of a cruel difgofpelling Jurifdidlion : 
 Who ingrofs many pluralities under a non-refident and fiubbring difpatch of 
 Souls : Who let hundreds of Parifhes famifh in one Diocefs, while they the 
 Prelates are mute, and yet enjoy that wealth that would furnifh all thofe dark 
 .places with able fupply ; and yet they eat, and yet they live at the rate of 
 Earls, and yet hoard up : They who chafe away all the faithful Shepherds 
 of the flock, and bring in a dearth of fpiritual food, robbing therby the 
 Church of her deareft treafure, and fending herds of fouls itarveling to Hell, 
 while they feaft and riot upon the labours of hireling Curates, confuming 
 and purloining even that which by their foundation is allow'd, and left to the 
 poor, and to reparations of the Church. Thefe are they who have bound 
 the Land with the fin of Sacrilege, from which mortal engagement we fhall 
 never be free, till we have totally remov'd with one labour, as one individual 
 thing, Prelaty and Sacrilege. And herein will the King be a true Defender 
 of the Faith, not by paring or lefiening, but by diftributing in due propor- 
 tion the maintenance of the Church, that all parts of the Land may equally 
 partake the plentiful and diligent preaching of the Faith, the fcandal of 
 Ceremonies thrown out that delude and circumvent the Faith ; and the ufur- 
 pation of Prelates laid level, who are in words the Fathers, but in their 
 deeds the oppugners of the Faith. This is that which will beft confirm him 
 in that glorious title. Thus ye have heard, Readers, how many fhifts and 
 
 wiles
 
 134 An Apology for Smect ymnuu s. 
 
 wiles the Prelates have invented to fave their ill-got booty. And if it be 
 true, as in Scripture it is foretold, that pride and covetoufnris are the fure 
 marks of thofe falfe Prophets which are to come, then boldly conclude thefe 
 to be as great feducers as any of the latter times. For between this and the 
 Judgment-day do not look for any arch Deceivers, who in fpite of Refor- 
 mation will ufe more craft, or lefs fhame to defend their love of the world 
 and their ambition than thefe Prelates have done. And if ye think that found- 
 nefs of reafon, or what force of Argument foever will bring them to an in- 
 genuous fdence, ye think that which will never be. But if ye take that courie 
 which Erafmus was wont to fay Luther took againft the Pope and Monks, if 
 ye denounce war againft their Miters and their Bellies, ye fliall foon difcern 
 that Turbant of pride which they wear upon their heads, to be no Helmet of 
 Salvation, but the meer mettle and horn-work of papal JurifdicTrion ; and 
 that they have alfo this gift, like a certain kind of fome that are porTeft, to 
 have their voice in their Bellies, which being well drain'd and taken down, 
 their great Oracle, which is only there, will foon be dumb, and the Divine 
 Right of Epifcopacy forthwith expiring, will put us no more to trouble with 
 tedious antiquities and difputes. 
 
 F
 
 O F 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 To Majler Samuel Hartlib. 
 
 Mafter Hartlib, 
 
 IAtn long fmce perfwaded, that to fay or do aught worth memory and imi- 
 tation, nopurpofe or refpeft mould fooner move us than limply the love 
 of God, and of mankind. Neverthelefs to write now the reforming of 
 Education, though it be one of thegreateft and nobleft defigns that'can 
 be thought on, and for the want wherof this Nation perifhes, I had not yet 
 at this time been induc'd, but by your earnefl entreaties, and ferious conjure- 
 ments v as having my mind for the prefent half diverted in the purfuarice of 
 fome other affertions, the knowledge and the ufe of which cannot but be a 
 great furtherance both to the enlargement of truth, and honeft living with 
 much more peace. Nor mould the laws of any private friend/hip have pre- 
 vail'd with me to divide thus, or tranfpofe my former thoughts, but that Ffec 
 thofe aims, thofe actions which have won you with me the efteem of a perfon 
 fent hither by fome good providence from a far Country to be the occafion and 
 the incitement of great good to this Ifland. And, as I hear, you have obtain'd 
 the fame repute with men of mod approved wifdom, and fome of the higheftau* 
 thority among us •, not to mention the learned correfpondence which you hold 
 in foreign parts, and the extraordinary pains and diligence which you have us'd 
 in this matter both here and beyond the Seas ; either by the definite will of God 
 fo ruling, or the peculiar fway of nature, which alio is God's working. Neither' 
 can I think that lb reputed, and fo valu'd as you are, you would to the forfeit of 
 your own difcerning ability, impofe upon me an unfit and over-ponderous argu- 
 ment •, but that the fatisfa&ion which you profefs to have receiv'dfrom thofe 
 incidental Difcourfes which we have wander'd into, hath preft and almoft con- 
 ftrain'd you into aperfwafion, that what you require from me in this point, I 
 neither ought, nor can in confeience defer beyond this time both of fo much 
 need at once, andfo much opportunity to try what God hath determin'd. I 
 will not refill therfore whatever it is, either of divine or human obligement, 
 that you lay upon me ; but will forthwith fet down in writing, asyourequeft 
 me, that voluntary Idea, which hath long in filence prefented it felf to me, of 
 a better Education, in extent and comprehenfion far more large, and yet of 
 time far fhorter, and of attainment far more certain, than hath been yet in 
 practice. Brief I fhall endeavour to be ; for that which I have to fiiy, af- 
 furedly this Nation hath extream need fhould be done fooner than fpoken. 
 To tell you therfore what I have benefited herin among old renowned Au- 
 thors, I fhall fpare -, and to fearch what many modern Janna's and Didattics 
 more than ever I fhall read, have projected, my inclination leads me not. 
 But if you can accept of thefe few Obfervations which have flowr'd off, and 
 are as it were the burnifhing of many frudious and contemplative years alto- 
 gether fpent in the fearch of religious and civil knowledge, and fuch as pleas'd 
 you fo well in the relating, I here give you them to difpofeof. 
 
 The end then of Learning is to repair the ruins of our firft Parents by 
 regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to 
 imitate him, to be like him, as we may the neareft by poffeffing our fouls 
 of true vertue, which being united to the heavenly Grace of Faith, makes 
 up the higheff. perfection. But becaufe our underftanding cannot in this 
 body found it felf but on fenfible things, nor arrive fo clearly to the 
 knowledge of God and things invifible, as by orderly conning over the vi- 
 fible and inferior creature, the fame method is neceffarily to be follow'd 
 in all difcreet teaching. And feeing every Nation affords not experience 
 and tradition enough for all kind of Learning, therfore we are chiefly 
 5 taught 
 
 *35
 
 j « 5 Cy Education. 
 
 taught the Languages of tbofe people who have at any time been moft indu- 
 ftrious after wifdom ; fo that Language is but the Inftrument conveying to us 
 things ufeful to be known. And though a Linguill fhould pride himfelf to have 
 ail the Tongues that Babel cleft the world into, yet it he have not ftudied the 
 folid things in them as well as the Words and Lexicons, he were nothirig 
 much to be efteem'd a learned man, as any Yeoman or Tradefman compete i 
 wife in his Mother-Dialect only. Hence appear the many miftakes which have 
 made Learning generally fo unpleafing and fo unfuccefsful ; firft we do amifs 
 to fpend feven or eight years meerly in fcraping together fo much miferable 
 Latin and Greek, as might be learn'd otherwife eafily and delightfully in one 
 year. And that which cafts our proficiency therin fo much behind, is our 
 time loft partly in too oft idle vacancies given both to Schools and Univerfities, 
 partly in a prepofterous exaction, forcing the empty wits of Children to com- 
 pofe Themes, Verfes and Orations, which are the acts of ripeft judgment, and 
 the final work of a head fill'd by long reading and obfervmg, with elegant 
 maxims, and copious" invention. Thefe are not matters to be wrung from poor 
 ftriplings, like blood out of the nofe, or the plucking of untimely fruit: befit 
 the ill habit which they get of wretched barbarizing againft the Latin and G 
 Idiom, with their uhtutorM Anglicifms^ odious to be read, yet not to be avoided 
 without a well-continued and j udicious converfing among pure Authors digefted, 
 which they fcarce tafte •, wheras, if after fome preparatory grounds of fpeech by 
 their certain forms got into memory, they were led to the praxis therof in fome 
 chofen flrort book leffon'd thoroughly tothem, they mightthen forthwith proceed 
 to learn the fubftance of good things, and Arts in due order, which would bring 
 the whole language quickly into their power. This I take to be the moll ratio- 
 nal and molt profitable way of learning Languages, and wherby we may beft 
 hope to give account to God of our youth fpent herin. And for the ufual 
 method of teaching Arts, I deem it to be an old error of Univerficies, not yet 
 well recover'd from the Scholaftic groffnefs of barbarous ages, that inftead of 
 beginning with Arts molt eafy, and thofe be fuch as are moil obvious to ths 
 fenfe, they prefent their young untnatriculated Novices at firft coming with 
 the moft intellective abftractions of Logic and Metaphyfics : fo that they 
 having but newly left thofe Grammatic Flats and Shallows where they {tack 
 unreafbnably to learn a few words with lamentable conltruction, and now on 
 the hidden tranfported under another climate to be tofs'd and turmoil'd with 
 their unballafted wits in fathomlefs and unquiet deeps of Controverfy, do for the 
 moft part grow into hatred and contempt of Learning, mock'd and deluded 
 all this while with ragged Notions and Babblements, while they expected wor- 
 thy and delightful knowledge •, till poverty or youthful years call them impor- 
 tunately their feveral ways, and haften them with the fway of friends either to 
 an ambitious and mercenary, or ignorantly zealous Divinity ; fome allur'd to 
 the trade of Law, grounding their purpofes not on the prudent and heavenly 
 Contemplation of Juftice and Equity which was never taught them, but on the 
 promifingand pleafing thoughts ot litigious terms, fat contentions, and flow- 
 ing fees -, others-betake them to Scate- affairs, with fouls fo unprincipl'd in vir- 
 tue, and true generous breeding, that Flattery and Court-fhifts and tyrannous 
 Aphorifms appear to them the higheft points of wifdom ; inftilling their bar- 
 ren Hearts with a confeientious flavery, if, as I rather think, it be not feign'd. 
 Others laftly of a more delicious and airy fpirit, retire themfelves, knowing no- 
 better, to the enjoyments of cafe and luxury, living out their days in feaft and 
 jollity -, which indeed is the wifeft and the fafeft courfe of all thefe, unlels 
 they were with more integrity undertaken. And thefe are the fruits of mifpend- 
 ing our prime youth at the Schools and Univerfities as we do, either in learn- 
 ing meer words, or fuch things chiefly as were better unlearnt. 
 
 I (hall detain you no longer in the demonftration of what we fhould not do, 
 butftrait conduct you to a hill-fide, where I will point you out the right path of 
 a virtuous and noble Education •, laborious indeed at the firft afcent, but elfe fo 
 fmooth, fo green, fo full of goodly profpect, and melodious founds on every fide, 
 that the harp of Orpheus was not more charming. I doubt not but ye fhall have 
 more ado to drive our dulleft and lazieft youth, our flocks and flubs, from the 
 iniinite defire of fuch a happy nurture, than we have now to hale and drag 
 our choiceft and hopcfulleft wits to that afinine feaft of fowthiftles and bram- 
 
 4 blc.
 
 Of Education. 137 
 
 brambles which is commonly let before them, as all the food and entertainment 
 of their tendereft and moil: doable age. I call therfore a compleat and generous 
 Education, that which fits a man to perform juftly, ikilfully and magnanimoufly 
 all the offices both private and public of Peace and War. And how all this 
 may be done between twelve, and one and twenty, lefs time than is now be- 
 ftow'd in pure trifling at Grammar and Sophiftry, is to be thus order'd. 
 
 Firfl to find'out a fpacious houfe and ground about it fit for an /icademy, and 
 big enough to lodge a hundred and fifty perfons, wherof twenty or therabout may 
 be attendants^ all under the government of one, who fliall be thought of de- 
 fert fufficient, and ability either to do all, or wifely to direct and overfee it 
 done. This place fhould be at once both School and Univerfity, not needing 
 a remove to any other houfe of Scholarfhip, except it be fome peculiar CoU 
 lege of Law, or Phyfic, where they mean to be Practitioners ; but as for thofe 
 general ftudies which take up all our time from Lilly to the commencin°-, as 
 they term it, Matter of Art, it fhould be abfolute. After this pattern, as ma- 
 ny Edifices may be converted to this ufe as fliall be needful in every City 
 throughout this Land, which would tend much to the encreafe of Learning and 
 Civility every where. This number, lefs or more thus collected, to the conve- 
 nience of a foot Company, or interchangeably two Troops of Cavalry, fhould 
 divide their day's work into three parts as it lies orderly : Their Studies, their 
 Exercife, and their Diet. 
 
 For their Studies. Firfl: they fhould begin with the chief and neceflarv rules of 
 fome good Grammar, either that nowus'd, or any better : and while this is do- 
 ing, their Speech is to be fafhion'd to a diftinct and clear pronunciation, as near 
 as may be to the Italian, efpecially in the Vowels. For we Engli/hmen beino- far 
 Northerly, do not open our mouths in the cold air, wide enough to grace a 
 Southern Tongue •, but are obferv'd by all other Nations to fpeak exceeding 
 clofe and inward : lb that to fmatter Latin with an Englifh mouth, is as ill a 
 hearing as law -French. Next, to make them expert in the ufefulleft points of 
 Grammar, and withal to feafon them and win them early to the love of Virtue 
 and true Labour, ere any flattering feducement, or vain principle feize them 
 wandering, fome eafy and delightful Book of Education would be read to 
 them •, wherof the Greeks have ftore, as Cebes, Plutarch, and other Socratic 
 Difcourfcs. But in Latin we have none of claflic authority extant, except the 
 two or three firfl Books of Quintilian, and fome felect pieces elfewhere. But 
 here the main fkill and ground-work will be, to temper them fuch Lectures and 
 Explanations upon every opportunity, as may lead and draw them in willing 
 obedience, enflam'd with the ftudy of Learning, and the admiration of Vir- 
 tue ; ftirr'd up with high hopes of living to be brave Men, and worthy Patriots, 
 dear to God, and famous to all Ages. That they may defpife and fcorn all their 
 childifli and ill-taught qualities, to delight in manly and liberal Exercifes : which 
 he' who hath the Art and proper Eloquence to catch them with, what with mild 
 and effectual perfwafions, and what with the intimation of fome fear, if need be, 
 but chiefly by his own example, might in afhort fpace gain them to an incredible 
 diligence and courage: infilling into their young breafts fuch an ingenious and no- 
 ble ardour, as would not fail to make many of them renowned and matchJefs men. 
 At the fame time,fome other hour of the day, might be taught them the rules of 
 Arithmetic, and foon after the Elements of Geometry, even playing, as the old 
 manner was. After evening repaft, till bed-time, their thoughts would be beft 
 taken up in the eafy grounds of Religion, and the ftory of Scripture. The 
 next ftept would be to the Authors of Agriculture, Cato, Varro, and Columella^ 
 for the matter is moft eafy •, and if the language be difficult, fo much the better 
 it is not a difficulty above their years. And here will be an occaflon of inciting 
 and inabling them hereafter to improve the tillage of their Country, to recover 
 the bad Soil, and to remedy the walle that is made of good ; for this was one 
 ot Hercules's praifes. Ere half thefe Authors be read (which will loon be with 
 plying hard and daily) they cannot chufe but be mafters of any ordinary profe. 
 So that it will be then feafonable for them to learn in any modern Author the ufe 
 ol the Globes, and all the Maps •, firfl. with the old names, and then with the 
 new, or they might be then capable to read any compendious method of natural 
 philofophy. And at the fame time might be entring into the Greek tongue, 
 after the fame manner as was before prefcrib'd in the Latin ; wherby the diffi- 
 culties of Grammar being foon overcome, all the FTiftorical Phyfiology ofJri- 
 
 Vol. I. T fiotls
 
 I 
 
 3 Of Education. 
 
 flotle and fheopbraftus are open before them, and as I may fay, under contribu- 
 tion. The like accefs will be to Vitruvius, to Seneca's natural queftioris, to 
 Mela, Cclfus, Pliny, or Solims. And having thus paft the principles of Arith- 
 metic, Geometry, Ajhonomy, and Geography with a general compact of Phyfics, 
 they may defcend in Mathematics to the inftrumental Science of Trigmmetry, 
 and from thence to Fortification^ Architecture, Enginry, or Navigation. 
 And in natural Philolbphy they may proceed leifurely from the Hiftory of Me- 
 teors, Minerals, Plants and living Creatures as fir as Anatomy. Then alio in 
 couri'e might be read to them out of fome not tedious Writer the Inftitutiori 
 of Phyiic •, that they may know the tempers, the humours, the feafons, and 
 how to manage a Crudity : which he who can wifely and timely do, is not only a 
 great Phyfician to himfelfand to his friends, but alio may at fome time or other, 
 five an Army by this frugal and expenflefs means only •, and not let the heal- 
 thy and flout bodies of young men rot away under him for want of this Difci- 
 pHne; which is a great pity, and no lefs a fhame to the Commander. To fet 
 forward all thefe proceedings in Nature and Mathematics, what hinders but 
 that they may procure, as oft as ihall be needful, the helpful experiences of 
 Hunters, Fowlers, Fifhermen, Shepherds, Gardeners, Apothecaries; and in 
 the other Sciences, Architects, Engineers, Mariners, Anatomiits ; who 
 doubtlefs would be ready, fome for reward, and fome to favour fuch a hope- 
 ful Seminary. And this will give them fuch a real tinelure of natural know- 
 ledge, as they mall never forget, but daily augment with delight. Then alio 
 thofe Poets which are now counted moil hard, will be both iacil and pleaiant, 
 Orpheus, Ilefwd, Theocritus, Aratus, Nicander, Oppian, Dionyfius, and in 
 Latin Lucretius, Manilius, and the rural part of Virgil. 
 
 By this time, years and good general precepts will have hirnifh'd them more 
 diftinctly with that act of reafon which in Ethics is call'd Proairefis : that they 
 may with fome judgment contemplate upon moral good and evil. Then will 
 be requir'd a fpecial reinforcement of conftant and found endoctri rating to fet 
 them right and firm, inftructing them more amply in the knowledge of Virtue 
 and the hatred of Vice : while their young and pliant affections are led 
 through all the moral works of Plato, Xenophon, Cicero, Plutarch, Laertius, and 
 thofe Locrian remnants ; but flill to be redue'd in their nightward ftudics wher- 
 with they clofe the day's work, under the determinate, fentence of David or 
 Salomon, or the Evangels and Apoftolic Scriptures. Being perfect in the 
 knowledge of perfonal duty, they may then begin the ftudy ot Oeconomics. And 
 either now or before this they may have eafily learn'd at any odd hour the Ita- 
 lian Tongue. And foon after, but with warinefs and good antidote, it would be 
 wholefome enough to let them tafte fome choice Comedies, Greek, Latin, or I- 
 talian : Thofe Tragedies alfo that treat of Houfhold matters, asTrachinis, Al- 
 eeftis, and the like. The next remove muff, be to the ftudy of Politics-* to know 
 the beginning, end, and reafons of Political Societies ; that they may not in a 
 dangerous fit of the Commonwealth be fuch poor, fhaken, uncertain Reeds 
 of fuch a tottering Confcience, as many of our great Counfellors have lately 
 fhewn themfelves, but ftedfafl Pillars of the State. After this they are to dive 
 into the grounds of Law, and legal Juftice ; deliver'd firft and with beft war- 
 rant by Mofes ; and as far as human prudence can be trufted, in thofe extoll'd 
 remains of Grecian Law-givers, I.ycurgus, Solon, Zaleucus, Charondas, and 
 thence to all the Roman Ediils and Tables with their Juftiuian ; and fo down to 
 the&zxwiand common Laws of England, and the Statutes. Sundaysalfo and eve- 
 ry evening may be now underftandingly fpent in the higheft matters of Theology, 
 a nd Church-Hiftory antient and modern : and ere this time the Hebrew Tongue 
 at a fet hour might have been gain'd, that the Scriptures may be now read in 
 their own original •, wherto it would be no impoffibility to add the Chaldee, and 
 thcSvrian Dialect. When all thefe employments are well conquer'd, then will the 
 choice Hiftories, Heroic Poems, and Attic Tragedies of ftatelieft and moil regal 
 Argument, with all the famous Political Orations, offer themfelves •, which if they 
 were not only read, but fome of them got by memory, and folemnly pronoune'd 
 with right accent and grace, as might be taught, would endue them even with 
 the i'pirit and vigour ofDemofthenes or Cicero, Euripides, ox Sophocles. And now 
 laflly will be the time to read with them thofe organic Arts which inable men 
 to difcourfe and write perfpicuoufly, elegantly, and according to the fitted 
 
 ftile
 
 Of Education. 13^ 
 
 ftlle of lofty, mean, or lowly. Logic therfore, fo much as is ufeful, is to bere- 
 ferr'J to this due place with all her well-coucht Heads and Topics, until it 
 be time to open her contracted palm into a graceful and ornate Rhetoric 
 taught out of the rule of Plato, Ariftotle, Phalereus, Cicero, Hermogenes, 
 Longinus. To which Poetry would be made fubfequent, or indeed rather 
 precedent, as being lefs futtle and fine, but more fimple, fenfuous, and 
 paffionate. I mean not here the profody of a verfe, which they could non 
 but have hit on before among the rudiments of Gramma;- -., but that iublime Art 
 which in Ariftotlc's Poetics, in Horace, and the Italian Commentaries of Caftle- 
 -oetro, Tajfo, Mazzoni, and others, teaches what the Laws are of a true Epic 
 Poem, what of a Dramatic, what of a Lyric, what Decorum is, which is the 
 grand mafter-piece to obferve. This would make them loon perceive what de- 
 ipicable Creatures our common Rimers and Play-writers be, and fhew them 
 what religious, what glorious and magnificent ufe might be made of Poetry both 
 in divine and human things. From hence, and not till now, will be the right iea- 
 fon of forming them to be able Writers and Compofers in every excellent matter, 
 when they fhall be thus fraught with an univerfal infight into things. Or whe- 
 ther they be to fpeak in Parlament or Council, honour and attention would 
 be waiting on their lips. There would then alio appear in Pulpits other vif iges, 
 other geftures, and fluff otherwife wrought than what we now fit under, oftimes 
 to asgreat a trial of our patience as any other that they preach to us. Thefe are 
 the Studies wherin our noble and our gentle Youth ought to bellow their time 
 in a difciplinary way from twelve to one and twenty, unlefs they rely more upon 
 their anceftors dead, than upon themfelves living. In which methodical courle 
 it is fo fuppos'd they muft proceed by the fteddy pace of Learning onward, as 
 at convenient times for memory's fake to retire back into the middle ward, 
 and fometimes into the rear of what they have been taught, until they have con- 
 firm'd and folidly united the whole body of their perfected knowledge, like 
 the laft embattelling of a Roman Legion. Now will be worth the feeing, 
 what Exercifes and Recreations may bell agree, and become thefe Studies. 
 
 Their Exercife. 
 
 The courfe of Study hitherto briefly defcrib'd, is what I can guefs by reading 
 liked to thofe antientand famous Schools of Pythagoras, Plato, Ifocrates, Ari- 
 fiotle and fuch others, out of which were bred Inch a number of renowned Phi- 
 lofophers, Orators, Hiflorians, Poets and Princes all over Greece, Italy and 
 AJia, befides the flourifhing Studies of Cyrene and Alexandria. But herein it 
 fhall exceed them, and fupply a defect as great as that which Plato noted in 
 the Commonwealth of Sparta ; wheras that City train'd up their Youth mod 
 for War, and thefe in their Academies and Lyceum, all for the Gown, this 
 inflitution of breeding which I here delineate fhall be equally good both for 
 Peace and War. Therfore about an hour and a half ere they eat at Noon fhould 
 be allow'd them for exercife, and due reft afterwards; but the time for this 
 may beenlarg'd at pleafure, according as their rifing in the morning fhall be 
 early. The Exercife which I commend firft, is the exact ufe of their Weapon, 
 to guard, and to ftrike fafely with edge or point ; this will keep them 
 healthy, nimble, ftrong, and well in breath, is alfo the likelieft means to 
 make them grow large and tall, and to infpire them with a gallant and fear- 
 lefs Courage, which being temper'd with feafonable Lectures and Precepts to 
 them of true Fortitude and Patience, will turn into a native and heroic Valour, 
 and make them hate the cowardife of doing wrong. They muft be alfo prac- 
 tis'd in all the Locks and Gripes of Wreftling, wherin Englifcmen were wont 
 to excel, as need may often be in fight to tug or grapple, and to clofe. And 
 this perhaps will be enough, wherin to prove and heat their fingle ftrength. 
 The interim of unfweating themfelves regularly, and convenient reft before 
 meat, may both with profit and delight be taken up in recreating and compofing 
 their travail'd fpirits with the folemn and divine harmonies of Mufic heard or 
 learn'd ; either while the fkilful Organift plies his grave and fancied defcant in 
 lofty Fugues, or the whole Symphony with artful and unimaginable touches a- 
 dorn and grace the well-ftudied chords of fome choice Compofer ; fometimes the 
 Lute, or foft Organ flop waiting on elegant Voices either to religious, marti- 
 al or civil Ditties, which, if wife Men and Prophets be not extreamly out, 
 have a great power over Difpofitions and Manners to fmooth and make them 
 Vol. I. T 2 gentle
 
 i^o Of Education. 
 
 o-entk From milk harfhnefs and diftemper'd pafiions. The like alfd would 
 not be unexpedient after Meat to affift and cherifh Nature in her firft concoc- 
 tion, and fend their minds back to ftudy in good tune and fatisfaftion. Where 
 havino- follow'd it clofe under vigilant eyes, til! about two hours before fup- 
 per, they are by a hidden alarm or watch-word to be call'd out to their mili- 
 tary motions, under sky or covert, according to the feafon, as was the Roman 
 wont, firft on foot, then as their age permits, on horfe-back, to all the Art 
 of Cavalry •, that having in fport, but with much exa&nefs and daily mufter, 
 ferv'd out the rudiments of their Soldierfhip in all the fkill of embattelling, 
 marching, encamping, fortifying, befieging, and battering, with all the helps 
 of antient and modern Stratagems, Taffies, and warlike Maxims, they may 
 as it Were out of a long War come forth renowned and perfect Commanders in 
 the fervice of their Country. They would not then, if they were trufted with 
 fair and hopeful Armies, fuffer them for want of juft and wife difcipline to 
 fhed away from about them like fick Feathers, though they be never fo oft 
 fupply'd : they would not fuffer their empty andunrecruitable Colonels of twen- 
 ty men in a Company to quaff out, or convey into fecret hoards, the wages 
 of a delufive lift, and a miferable remnant •, yet in the mean while to be over- 
 mafter'd with a fcore or two of drunkards, the only foldiery left about them, 
 or elfe to comply with all rapines and vio ences. No certainly, if they knew 
 aught of that knowledge that belongs to good men or good Governours, they 
 would not fuffer thefe things. But to return to our own Inftitute, befides 
 thefe conftant exercifes at home, there is another opportunity of gaining ex- 
 perience to be won from pleafure itfelt abroad ; in thole vernal feafons of the 
 year, when the air is calm and pleafant, it were an injury and fullennefs a- 
 gainft nature not to go out and fee her riches, and partake in her rejoicing 
 with Heaven and Earth. I fliould not therfore be a perfwadep to them of flu- 
 dying much then, after two or three years that they have well laid their grounds, 
 but to ride out in 'companies with prudent and ftaid Guides to all the quar- 
 ters of the Land ; learning and obferving all places of flrength, all commo* 
 dities of building and of foil, for Towns and Tillage, Harbours and Ports for 
 Trade. Sometimes taking Sea as far as to our Navy, to learn there alfo what 
 they can in the practical knowledge of Sailing and of Sea-fight. Thefe ways 
 would try all their peculiar gifts of Nature, and if there were any fecret ex- 
 cellence among them would fetch it out, and give it fair opportunities to ad- 
 vance itfelf by, which could not but mightily redound to the good of this 
 Nation, and bring into fafhion again thofe old admir'd Virtues and Excellen- 
 cies with far more advantage now in this purity of Chriftian Knowledge. Nor 
 fhall we then need the Monfieurs of Paris to take our hopeful Youth into their 
 flight and prodigal cuftodies, and fend them over back again transform'd into 
 Mimics, Apes, and Kecfhofe. But if they defire to fee other Countries at 
 three or four and twenty years of age, not to learn Principles, but to enlarge 
 Experience, and make wife obfervation, they will by that time be fuch as 
 fhall deferve the regard and honour of all men where they pafs, and the fo- 
 ciety and friendfhip of thofe in all places who are beft and moft eminent. 
 And perhaps then other Nations will be glad to vifit us for their breeding, or 
 elfe to imitate us in their own Country. 
 
 Nowlaflly for their Diet, there cannot be much to fay, five only that it 
 would be beft in the fame Houfe •, for much time elfe would be loft abroad, 
 and many ill habits got : and that it fliould be plain, healthful, and moderate, 
 I fuppofeis out of controverfy. Thus, Mr. Hart lib, you have a general view 
 in writing, as your defire was, of that which at feveral times I had difcours'd 
 with you concerning the beft and noblefl way of Education ; not beginning, 
 as fome have done, from the Cradle, which yet might be worth many consi- 
 derations, if brevity had not been my fcope : many other circumftances alfo 
 I could have mention'd, but this to fuch as have the worth in them to make 
 trial, for light and direction may be enough. Only I believe that this is not 
 a Bow for every man to flioot in, that counts himfelf a Teacher ; but will re- 
 quire finews almofl equal to thofe which Homer gave UlyJJes : yet I am withal 
 perfwaded that it may prove much more eafy in the aflay than it now feems 
 at diflance, and much more illuftrious ; howbeit, not more difficult than I 
 imagine, and that imagination prefents me with nothing but very happy, 
 and very poffible according to beft wiflies, if God have fo decreed, and this 
 Age have ipirit and capacity enough to apprehend. 
 
 ftrco-
 
 A S P E E C H for the Liberty of Unlicensed 
 PRINTING, 
 
 To the PARLAMENTof ENG LAN<D. 
 
 TxXeuQipov <T ty.iTvo, a ti? 5-jAii ttoXh 
 
 Xpwfov ti j3xAfJ|(/. £if fxi&ov (pipea, rj^WK. 
 
 K21 t<xv6 o P£fi?£yv, XocfA-us-jios sV(T, o ^ .S-iAwii, 
 
 2ij/a, ti'tk'toiv Erin jVanVspou 7roAa ; Euripid. Hicetid^ 
 
 "This is true Liberty, when free-born Men, 
 
 Having to advife the -public, may [peak free, 
 
 Which he who can, and will, deferves high praife ; 
 
 Who neither can nor will, may hold his peace ; 
 
 What can bejujler in a State than this ? Euripid. Hicetid. 
 
 141 
 
 THEY, who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their 
 Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting fuch accefs in a private 
 condition, write that which they forefee may advance the public good ; 
 I fuppofe them as at the beginning of no mean endeavour, not a little alter'd 
 and mov'd inwardly in their minds : Some with doubt of what will be the fuc- 
 cefs, others with fear of what will be the cenfure ; fome with hope, others with 
 confidence of what they have to fpeak. And me perhaps each of thefe difpo- 
 fitions, as the fubject was wheron I enter'd, may have at other times varioufly 
 affected-, and likely might in thefe foremoft expreflions, now alfodifclofe which 
 of them fway'd moft, but that the very attempt of this addrefs thus made, and 
 the thought of whom it had recourfe to, hath got the power within me to a paf- 
 fion, far more welcome than incidental to a Preface. Which though I ftay not 
 to confefs ere any afk, I fhall be blamelefs, if it be no other, than the joy and 
 gratulation which it brings to all who wifh and promote their Country's Liberty; 
 wherof this whole Difcourfe propos'd will be a certain Teftimony, if not a Tro- 
 phy. For this is not the Liberty which we can hope, that no grievance ever 
 mould arife in the Commonwealth, that let no man in this World expect ; but 
 when complaints are freely heard, deeply confider'd, and fpeedily reform'd, 
 then is the utmofl bound of civil Liberty attain'd, that wife men look for. To 
 which if I now manifeft, by the very found of this which I fhall utter, that we are 
 already in good part arriv'd, and yet from fuch a fteep diiadvantage of tyranny 
 and fuperftition grounded into our principles, as was beyond the manhood of a 
 Roman recovery, it will be attributed firft, as is moft due, to theftrong alfiftance of 
 God, our Deliverer; next, to your faithful guidance andundaunted Wildom, Lords 
 and Commons of England. Neither is it in God's efteem, the diminution of his 
 glory, when honourable things are fpoken of good men, and worthy Magiftrates ; 
 which if I now firft fhould begin to do, after fo fair a progrefs of your iaudable 
 deeds, and fuch a long obligement upon the whole Realm to your indefatigable vir- 
 tues, I might be juftly reckon'd among the tardieft, and the unwillingcft of them 
 that praife ye. Neverthelefs there being three principal things, without which all 
 praifing is but courtfhip and flattery, Firft, when that only is prais'd which is fo- 
 lidly worth praife; next, when greateft likelihoods are brought, that fuch things 
 are truly and really in thole perfons, to whom they are afcrib'd; the other, when 
 he who praifes, by fhewing that fuch his aclual perfwafion'isof whom he writes* 
 can demonftrate that he flatters not : the former two of thefe I have heretofore en- 
 deavour'd, refcuing the employment from him who went about to impair your 
 merits, with a trivial and malignant Encomium ; the latter as belonging chiefly 
 to mine own acquittal, that whom I foextoll'd I did not flatter, hath been re- 
 ferv'd opportunely to this occafion. For he who freely magnifies what hath 
 been nobly done, and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives 
 
 ye
 
 142 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 ye the beft covenant of his fidelity •, and that his loyaleft affection and his hops 
 waits on your proceedings. His higheft praifing is not flattery, and his plained: ad- 
 vice is a kind of praifing •, for though I fhould affirm and hold by argument, that 
 it would fare better with Truth, with Learning, and the Commonwealth, if one of 
 your publifh'd Orders which I fhould name, were call'd in, yet at the fame time it 
 could not but much redound to the luftre of your mild and equal Government, 
 whenas private perfons are hereby animated to think ye better pleas'd with public 
 advice, than other Statifts have been delighted heretofore with public flattery. And 
 men will then fee what difference there is between the magnanimity of a triennial 
 Parlament, and that jealous haughtinefs of Prelatesand cabin Counfellorsthatufurp'd 
 of late, whenas they fhall obferve ye in the midft of your Victories andSucceffes 
 more o-ently brooking written exceptions againft a voted Order, than other Courts, 
 which had produc'd nothing worth memory but the weak orientation of wealth, 
 would have endur'd the leait fignify'd diflike at any hidden Proclamation. If f 
 fhould thus far prefume upon the meek demeanour of your civil and gentle great- 
 nefs, Lords and Commons, as what your publifh'd Order hath directly faid, that 
 to tnunfay, I might defend myfelf with eafe, if any fhould accufe me of being 
 new or infolent, did they but know how much better I find ye elleem it to imitate 
 the old and elegant humanity of Greece, than the barbaric pride of a Hunnijh and 
 Norwegian ftatelinefs. And out of thofe ages, to whofe polite wifdom and letters 
 we owe that we are not yet Goths and Jutlanders, I could name him who from 
 his private houfe wrote that difcourfe to the Parlament of Athens, that perftvades 
 them to change the form of Democraty which was then eftablifh'd. Such honour 
 was done in thofe days to men who profeft the ftudy of Wifdom and Eloquence, 
 hot only in their own Country, but in other Lands, that Cities and Signiories heard 
 them gladly, and with great refpect, if they had aught in public to admonifh the 
 State. Thus did Dion Prufsus, a Stranger, and a private Orator, counill the Rho- 
 dians againft a former Edict : and I abound with other like examples, v.hich to 
 let here would be fuperfluous. But if from the induftry of a life wholly dedicated 
 to iludious labours, and thofe natural endowments haply not the worft for two 
 and fifty degrees of northern latitude, fo much muft be derogated, as to count 
 me not equal to any of thofe who had this privilege, I would obtain to be thought 
 not fo inferior, as yourfelves are fuperior to the moft of them who receiv'd their 
 counfel: and how far you excel them, be affur'd, Lords and Commons, there 
 can no greater teftimony appear, than when your prudent fpirit acknowledges 
 and obeys the voice of reafon, fFom what quarter foever it be heard lpeaking ; 
 and renders ye as willing to repeal any Act of your own fetting forth, as any fet 
 forth by your PredecefTors. 
 
 If ye be thus relolv'd, as it were injury to think ye were not, I know not what 
 fhould withhold me from prefenting ye with a fit inftance wherinto ihew both that 
 love of truth which ye eminently profefs, and that uprightnefs of your judgment 
 which is not wont to be partial to yourfelves •, by judging over again that Order 
 which ye have ordain'd to regulate Printing : Tlmt no Book, Pamphlet, or Paper 
 Jhall be henceforth printed, unlefs the fame be firfi approv' 'd and licens'J by fiich, or at 
 leait one of fuch, as fhall be therto appointed. For that part which preferves juft- 
 ly every man's Copy to himfllf, or provides for the poor, I touch not; only wifh 
 they be not made pretences to abufe and perfecute honeft and painful Men, who 
 offend not in either of thefe particulars. But that other claufeof Licenfing Books, 
 which we thought had died with his brother quadr age/anal and matrimonial when 
 the Prelates expir'd, I fhall now attend with fuch a Homily, as fhall lay before 
 ye, firft the Inventors of it to be thofe whom ye will be loth to own; next, what 
 is to be thought in general of reading, whatever fort the Books be ; and that 
 this Order avails nothing to the fuppreffing of fcandalous, feditious, and libel- 
 lous Books, which were mainly intended to be fuppreft. Laft, that it will be prime- 
 ly to the difcouragement of all Learning, and the (top of Truth, not only by difexer- 
 cifingand bluntingour abilities, in what we. know already, but by hindring and crop- 
 ping the difcovery that might be yet further made, both in religious and civil 
 Wifdom. 
 
 I deny not, but that it is of greateft concernment in the Church and Common- 
 wealth, to have a vigilant eye how Books demean themfelves as well as Men ; and 
 therafter to confine, imprifon, and do fharpeft juftice on them as malefactors: For 
 Books are not abfolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them fo be 
 as active as that foul was whofe progeny they are •, nay, theydopreferve as in a vial 
 
 4 t.ie
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. 143 
 
 the pu reft efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know 
 they are as lively, and as vigoroufly productive, as thofe fabulous Dragons teeth ; 
 and being fown up and down, may chance to fpring up armed Men. And yet on the 
 other hand, unlefs warinefs be us'd, as good almoft kill a Man as kill a good 
 Book: who kills a Man kills a reafonable Creature, God's Image ; but he who de- 
 ftroys a good Book, kills Reafon itfelf, kills the Image of God, as it were in the 
 eye. Many a Man lives a burden to the Earth ; but a good Book is the precious 
 life-blood of a mafter-fpirit, imbalm'd and treafur'd up on purpoie to a life be- 
 yond life. It is true, no age can reftore a life, wherof perhaps there is no great 
 lofs ; and revolutions of ages do not oft recover the lofs of a rejected Truth, for 
 the want of which whole Nations fire the worfe. We fhould be wary therfore what 
 Perfecution we raife againft the living Labours of public Men, how we fpill 
 that feafon'd life of Man, preferv'd and ftor'd up in Books •, fince we fee a kind 
 of Homicide may be thus committed, fometimes a Martyrdom ; and if it extend 
 to the whole impreffion, a kind of maffacre, wherof the execution ends not in 
 the flaying of an elemental life, but ftrikes at that ethereal and fifth offence, the 
 breath of Reafon itfelf, flays an immortality rather than a life. But left I mould 
 be condemn'd of introducing Licence, while I oppofe Licenfing, I refufe not 
 the pains to be fo much hiftorical, as will ferve to fhew what hath been done 
 by ancient and famous Commonwealths, againft this diforder, till the very time 
 that this project of Licenfing crept out of the Inquifition, was catcht up by our 
 Prelates, and hath caught fome of our Prefbyters. 
 
 In Athens where Books and Wits were ever bufier than in any other part of 
 Greece, I find but only two forts of Writings which the Magiltrate car'd to take 
 notice of-, thofe either Blafphemousand Atheiftical, or Libellous. Thus the Books 
 of Protagoras were by the Judges of 'Areopagus, commanded to be burnt, and him- 
 felf banifh'd the Territory for a difcourfe, begun with Ids confefling not to know, 
 •whether there were Gods, or whether net. And againft Defaming, it was decreed 
 that none fhould be tradue'd by name, as was the manner of Fetus Comtxdia, wher- 
 by we may guefs how they cenfur'd Libelling: And this courfe was quick e- 
 nough, as Cicero writes, to quell both the defperate Wits of other Atheifts, and 
 the open way of Defaming, as the event fhew'd. Of other Seels and Opinions^ 
 though tending to Voluptuoufnefs, and the denying of divine Providence, they 
 took no heed. Therfore we do not read that either Epicurus, or that Libertine 
 School of Cyrene, or what the Cynic impudence utter'd, was ever queftion'd by 
 the Laws. Neither is it recorded, that the Writings of thofe old Comedians were 
 fuppreft, though the afting of them were forbid ; and that Plato commended the 
 reading of Ariftophanes, the loofeft of them all, to his Royal Scholar Dionyfius, is 
 commonly known, and may be excus'd, if holy Chryfoftom, as is reported, nightly 
 ftudied fo much the fame Author, and had the Art to cleanfe a fcurrilous Vehe- 
 mence, into the ftile ofaroufing Sermon. That other leading Citvof Greece, La- 
 cedamon, confidering that Lycurgus their Law-giver was fo addicted to elegant 
 Learning, as to have been the firft that brought out of Ionia the fcatter'd Works 
 of Homer, and fent the Poet 'Thales from Crete to prepare and mollify the Spartan 
 furlinefs with his fmooth Songs and Odes, the better to plant among them Law 
 and Civility, it is to be wonder'd how mufelefs and unbookifh they were, mind- 
 ing nought but the feats of War. There needed no Licenfing of Books among 
 them, for they diflik'd all but their own Laconic Apothegms, and took a flight oc- 
 cafion to chafe Archilocus out of their City, perhaps for compofing in a higher 
 ftrain than their own foldierly Ballads and Roundels could reach to: Or if it were 
 for his broad Verfes, they were not therin fo cautious, but they were as diffolute 
 in their promifcuous converfing ', whence Euripides affirms in Andromache, that 
 their Women were all unchafte. Thus much may give us light after what fort of 
 Books were prohibited among the Greeks. The Romans alfo for many Ages 
 train'd up only to a military roughnefs, refembling molt the Lacedamonian guile, 
 knew of Learning little but what their twelve Tables, and the Pontific College 
 with their Augurs and Flamins taught them in Religion and Law, fo unacquaint- 
 ed with other Learning, that when Carneades and Critolaus, with the Stoic Dioge~ 
 nes coming Embaffadors to Rome, took therby occafion to give the City a tafte of 
 their Philofophy, they were fufpecled for Seducers by no lefs a man than Cato the 
 Cenfor, who mov'd it in the Senate to difmifs theiri fpeedily, and to banifli all 
 fuch Attic Bablers out of Italy. But Scipio and others of the nobleft Senators with- 
 ftood him and his old Sabin aufterity ; honour'd and admir'dthe Menj and the- 
 
 Cenfor 
 4
 
 j 44 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 Cenfor himfelfat laft inhis old age fell to the ftudy of that wherof before fie was fo 
 fcrupulous. And yet at the fame time, Navius and Plantus, the firft Latin Come- 
 dians had fill'd the City with all the borrow'd Scenes ot Menander and Philemon. 
 Then beo-an to be conlider'd there alio what was to be done to libellous B )oks and 
 Authors ; for N<evius was quickly caft into Prifon for his unbridled Pen, and re- 
 leas'd by the Tribunes upon his Recantation : We read alio that Libels were burnt, 
 and the makers punifh'd by Augujtus. The like feverity, no doubt, was us\I, if 
 ailght were impioufly written againft their efteem'd Gods. Except in thofe two 
 points, how the World went in Books, the Magiftrate kept no reck'ning. And 
 therfore Lucretius, without impeachment, verMes his Epicurifm to Memr4ius y 
 and had the honour to be let forth the fecond time by Cicero, fo great a Father of 
 the Commonwealth; although himfelf difputes againft that Opinion inhis own 
 Writings. Nor was the Satirical fharpnefs, or naked plainnefs of Lut ilius, or Ca- 
 tullus, or Flaccus, by any Order prohibited. And for matters of State, the ftory 
 of Titus Livius, though it extollM that part which Pompey held, was not therfore 
 fuppreft by Oclavius Co-far, of the other Faction. But that Nafo was by him ba- 
 nifh'd in his Old Age, for the wanton Poems of his Youth, was but a meer covert 
 of State overfome fecretCaufe: and btlides, the Books were neither banifh'd nor 
 call'd in. From hence we ihall meet with little elie but Tyranny in the Roman 
 Empire, that we may not marvel, if not fo often bad, as good Books were li- 
 lenc'd. I ihall therfore deem to have been large enough, in producing what a-« 
 mong the Ancients was punifhable to write, fave only which, all other Argu- 
 ments were free to treat on. 
 
 By this time the Emperors were become Chriftians, whofe difcipfine in thi 
 point I do not find to have been morefevere than what was formerly in practice. 
 The Books of thofe whom they took to be grand Heretics were examin'd, refuted, 
 and condemn'd in the general Councils; and not til! then were prohibited, or 
 burnt by Authority of the Emperor. As for the Writings of Heathen Authors, 
 unlefsthey were plain invectives againft Chriftianity, as thole of Porphyrins and 
 Proclus, they met with no interdict that can be cited, till about the Year 400, in 
 a Carthaginian Council, wherin Biftiopsthemfelves were forbid to read the Books 
 of Gentiles, but Herefies they might read: while others long before them on the 
 contrary fcrupled more the Books of Heretics, than of Gentiles. And that the pri- 
 mitive Councils and Bifhops were wont only to declare what Books were not 
 commendable, palling no further,but leaving it to each one's confeience to read or 
 to lay by, till after the Year 800, is obferv'd already by Padre Paolo the great 
 unmafker of the Trentine Council. After which time the Popes of Rome engrailing 
 what they pleas'd of political rule into their own hands, extended their dominion 
 over men's eyes, as they had before over their judgments, burning and prohibit- 
 ing to be read what they fancied not ; yet fparing in their cenfures, and the Books 
 not many which they fo dealt with : till Martin the 5th, by his Bull not only pro- 
 hibited, but was the firft that excommunicated the reading of heretical Books ; 
 for about that time Wicklef and HuJJe growing terrible, were they who firft drove 
 the Papal Court to a ftricter policy of prohibiting. Which courfe Leo the 10th, 
 and his SuccefTors follow'd, until the Council of Trent, and the Spanijh Inquifi- 
 tion engendring together, brought forth, or perfected thofe Catalogues, and ex- 
 purging Indexes that rake through the entrails of many an old good Author, 
 with a violation worfe than any could be offer'd to his Tomb. Nor did they 
 ftay in matters Heretical, but any fubject that was not to their palate, they either 
 condemn'd in a Prohibition, or had it ftrait into the new Purgatory of an Index. 
 To fill up the meafure of encroachment, their laft invention was to ordain that 
 no Book, Pamphlet or Paper, fhould be printed (as if St. Peter had bequeath'd 
 them the Keys of the Prefs alfo, as well as of Paradife ) unlefs it were approv'd 
 and licens'd under the Hands of two or three gluttonous Friers. For example : 
 
 Let the Chancellor Cini be pleas'd to fee if in this prefent Work becontain'd 
 aught that may withftand the Printing ; 
 
 Vincent Rabbata, Vicar of Florence. 
 
 I have feen this prefent Work, and find nothing athwart the Catholic Faith 
 and Good Manners : In witnefs wherof I have given, &c. 
 
 Nicolo Cini, Chancellor of Florence. 
 
 Attending
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. It ,.- 
 
 Attending th: precedent Relation; it is allow'd that this prefent Work of Da- 
 vanzati may be Printed, 
 
 Vincent Rabat t a, &c. 
 It may be Printed, July 15. 
 
 Friar Simon Mompei d* Amelia Chancellor of the holy Office in Florence. 
 
 Sure they have a conceit, if he of the bottom lefs pit had not long fince broke 
 prifon, that this quadruple Exorcifm would bar him down. I fear their next 
 defign will be to get into their cuftody, the Licenfing of that which they fay *Quoveni« 
 * Claudius intended, but went not through with. Vouchfafe to fee another of their am dara fla " 
 forms the Roman ftamp : tum cre P'- 
 
 1 tumquv ven- 
 
 | j tris in convi- 
 
 Imprimatur, If it feem good to the Reverenu Mailer of the holy Palace, vio emitten- 
 
 Belcajlro Vicegerent. di . Sttet «»- »* 
 Imprimatur, c *''"'" 
 
 Friar Nichclo Rodolphi Mailer of the holy Palace. 
 
 . Sometimes five Imprimaturs are feen together dialogue-wife in the Piatza of one 
 Title-page, complementing and ducking each to other with their (haven Reveren- 
 ces, whether the Author, who ftands by in perplexity at the foot of his Fpiftle, 
 fhall to the Prefs or to the Spungc. Thefe arc the pretty Refponfones, thefe are 
 the dear Antiphonies thatfo bewitch'd of late our Prelates, and their Chaplains 
 with the goodly Echo they made; and befotted us to the gay imitation of a 
 lordly Imprimatur-, one from Lamhtb-boufe, another from the Weft-end of Paul's ■, 
 fo apilhly Romanizing, that the word of Command (fill was fet down in Latin ■ 
 as if the learned Grammatical Pen that wrote it, would call no Ink without La- 
 tin : or perhaps, as they thought, becaufe no vulgar tongue was worthy to exprefs 
 the pure conceit of an Imprimatur ; but rather, as I hope, for that our Englijh, 
 the language of Men ever famous, and foremoftin the atchievements of Liberty,' 
 will not eafily find fervile Letters enow to fpell fuch a dictatory prefumption 
 Engli/b'd. And thus ye have the Inventors, and the Original of Book-licenfing 
 ript up, and drawn as lineally as any Pedigree. We have it not, that can be heard 
 of, from any ancient State, or Polity, or Church, nor by any Statute left us by our 
 Anceftors elder or later ; nor from the modern Cuftom of any reform'd City or 
 Church abroad •, but from the moft Antichriftian Counfel, and the moft tyran- 
 nous Inquifition that ever inquir'd. Till then Books were ever as freely admitted 
 into the World as any other birth ; the iffue of the Brain was no more ftifled than 
 theiffueof the Womb: No envious Juno fate crofs-legg'd over thenativity of any 
 Man's intellectual offspring •, but if it be prov'd a Monfterj who denies, but that 
 it was juftly burnt, or funk into the Sea. But that a Book in worfe condition than 
 a peccant Soul, fhould be to Hand before a Jury ere it be born to the World and 
 undergo yet in darknefs the judgment ol Radamanth and his Collegues, ere it can 
 pals the Ferry backward into light, was never heard before, till that myfterious 
 Iniquity, provok'd and troubled at the firft entrance of Reformation, fought out 
 new Limbo's and new Hells wherin they might include our Books alio within the 
 number of their damned. And this was the rare morfel fo officioufly fnatch'd up, 
 and fo ill-favour'dly imitated by our inquifiturient Bifhops, and the attendant 
 Minorities their Chaplains. That ye like not now thefe moft certain Authors of this 
 Licenfing Order, and that all finifter intention was far diftant from your thoughts, 
 when ye were importun'd the paffing it, all Men who know the integrity of your 
 actions, and how ye honour Truth, will clear yc readi'.y. 
 
 But fome will fay, What though the Inventors were bad, the thing for ail that 
 may be good? It may fo ; yet if that thing be no fuch deep invention, but obvi- 
 ous and eafy tor any Man to light on, and yet belt and wifeft Commonwealths 
 through all ages and occafions have forborn toufe it, and falfeft Seducers and Op- 
 preflbrs of Men were the firft who took it up, and to no other purpofe butto ob- 
 ftrucl and hinder the firft approach of Reformation ; I am of thofe who believe, 
 it will be a harder Alchymy than Lullius ever knew, to fublimate any good ufe 
 out of fuch an Invention.' Yet this only is what I requeft to gain from this rea- 
 fon, that it may be held a dangerous and fufpicious fruit, as certainly it tklerves, 
 for the tree that bore it, until I can di fleet one by one the properties it has. But I 
 have firft to finifii, as was propounded, what is to be thought in general of read- 
 ing Books, whatever fort they be, and whether be more the benefit or the harm 
 that thence proceed'; ? 
 
 Vol. I tJ Not
 
 j a 6 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 Not to infift upon the examples ofMo/es, Daniel and Paul, who were flcilfui 
 in all the Learning of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, andGreeks, which could nor pro- 
 bably be without reading their Books of all forts, in Paul efpecially, who thought 
 it no defilement to infers into holy Scripture the fentences of three Greek Poets, 
 and one of them a Tragedian ; the Qiieftion was notwithitanding, ibmetimes -con- 
 troverted among the Primitive Doctors, but with great odds on that fide which af- 
 firm'd it both lawful and profitable, as was then evidently perceiv'd, when JmUan 
 the Apoftate, and futtleft enemy to our Faith, made a decree, forbidding Chri- 
 ftians the ftudy of heathen learning: for, faid he, they wound us with our own 
 weapons, and with our own Arts and Sciences they overcome us. And indeed the 
 Chriftians were put fo to their fhifts by this crafty means, and lb much in danger to 
 decline into all ignorance, that the two Apollinarii were fain, as a Man may fay, 
 to coin all the feven liberal Sciences out of the Bible, reducing it into divers forms 
 of Orations, Poems, Dialogues, even to the calculating of a new Chriftian Gram- 
 mar. But, faith the Hiftorian Socrates, the providence of God provided better than 
 the induftry of Apollinarius and his Son, by taking away that illiterate Law with 
 the Life of him who devis'd it. So great an injury they then held it to be deprivM 
 of Hellenic learning; and thought it a perfecution more undermining, andfecret- 
 ly decaying the Church, than the open cruelty of Decius or Dioclefian. And per- 
 haps it was the fame politic drift that the Devil whipt St. Jerome in a lenten dream, 
 for reading Cicero ; or elfe it was a phantafm, bred by the fever which had then 
 feized him. For had an Angel bin his difcipliner, unlefs it were for dwelling too 
 much upon Ciceronianifms, and had chaftiz'd the reading, not the vanity, it had bin 
 plainly partial •, firft to correct, him for grave Cicero, and not for fcurril Plautus, 
 whom he confeffes to have bin reading not long before ; next to correcl him only, 
 and let fo many more ancient Fathers wax old in thofe pleafant and florid fludies 
 without the lain, of fuch a tutoring apparition •, infomuch that Bafil teaches how 
 fome o-ood ufe may be made of Margites a fportful Poem, not now extant, writ 
 by Homer ; and why not then of Morganie an Italian Romance much to the fame 
 purpofe ? But if it be agreed, we fhall be try'd by Vifions, there is a Vifion re- 
 corded by Eufebius, farancienter than this Tale of Jerom, to the Nun Euftocbium 9 
 and befides, has nothing of a fever in it. Diony/ius Alexandrinus was, about the 
 year 240, a perfon of great name in the Church, for Piety and Learning, who had 
 wont to avail himfelf much againft Heretics, by being converfant in their Books ; 
 until a certain Prefby ter laid it fcrupuloufly to his confeience, how he durft venture 
 himfelf among thofe defiling volumes. The worthy Man, loth to give offence, fell 
 into a new debate with himfelf, what was to be thought ; when Suddenly a Vifion 
 fent from God, it is his own Epiftle thatfo avers it, confirm'd him in thefe words: 
 " Read any Books whatever come to thy hands, for thou art fufficient both to 
 " juds;e aright, and to examine each matter." To this Revelation he affented 
 the fooner, as he confefles, becaufeit was anfwerable to that of the Apoftle to the 
 3 hejjalonians, Prove all things, hold jeft that which is good. And he might have 
 added another remarkable faying of the fame Author ; To the pure, all things are 
 pure, not only meats and drinks, but all kind of knowledge, whether of good or 
 evil ; the Knowledge cannot defile, nor confequently the Books, if the Will and 
 Confeience be not defil'd. For Books are as Meats and Viands are ; fome of good, 
 fome of evil fubfiance •, and yet God in that unapocryphal Vifion, faid without ex- 
 ception, Rife Peter, kill and eat -, leaving the choice to each Man's difcretion. 
 Whoiefome meats to avitiated ftomach, differ little or nothing fromunwholefome; 
 and beft Books to a naughty mind are not unappliabie to occafions of evil. Bad 
 Meats will fcarce breed good nourifhment in the healthieft concoction •, but herin 
 the difference is of bad Books, that they to a difcreet and judicious Reader ferve 
 in many refpects to difcover, to confute, to forewarn, and to illuftrate. Wherof 
 what better witnefs can ye expect I fhould produce, than one of your own now 
 fitting in Parlament, the chief of learned Men reputed in this Land, Mr. Selden, 
 whofe Volume of natural and national Laws proves, not only by great authorities 
 brought together, but by exquifite reafons and theorems almoft mathematically 
 demonftrative, that all opinions, yea errors, known, read and collated, are of 
 main fervice and afliftance toward the fpeedy attainment of what is trueft. I con- 
 ceive therfore, that when God did enlarge the univerfal diet of man's body, faving 
 ever the rules of temperance, he then alio, as before, left arbitrary thedieting and re- 
 pafting of our minds ; as wherin every mature Man might have to exercife his own 
 leading capacity. How greata vertue isTemperance, how much of moment thro' the 
 whole life of Man ? yet God commits the managing fo great a truft without parti-
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. i±j 
 
 lar Law or Prefcription, wholly to the demeanor of every grown Man. And ther- 
 fore when he himfelf tabled the Jews from Heaven, that Omer which was every 
 Man's daily portion of Manna, is computed to have bin more than rnight have well 
 fuffic'd the heartieft feeder thrice as many meals. For thofe aftions which enter 
 into a Man, rather than ilTue out of him, andtherfore defile not, God ufes not to 
 captivate under a perpetual childhood of prefcription, but trufts him with the 
 gift of Reafon to be his own chu'fer •, there were but little work left for Preachino- 
 if Law and Compulfion fhould grow fo faft upon thofe things which heretofore 
 were govern'd only by exhortation. Salomon informs us, that much reading is a 
 wearinefs to the flefh ; but neither he, nor other infpir'd author tells us that fuch 
 or fuch reading is unlawful : yet certainly had God thought good to limit us here- 
 in, it had bin much more expedient to have told us what was unlawful, than what 
 was wearifome. As for the burning of thofe Epbejian Books by St. Paul's Con- 
 verts, 'tis reply'd, the Books were magic, the Syriac fo renders them. It was a 
 private aft, a voluntary aft, and leaves us to a voluntary imitation : the Men in 
 remorfe burnt thofe Books which were their own ; the Magiftrate by this exam- 
 ple is not appointed : thefeMen praftis'd the Books, another might perhaps have 
 read them in fome fort ufefully. Good and evil we know in the field of this 
 World grow up together almoft infeparably : and the knowledge of good is fo 
 involv'd and interwoven with the knowledge of evil, and in fo many cunnin°- re- 
 femblances hardly to be difcern'd, that thofe confufed feeds which were impos'd 
 on Pfycbezs an inceflant labour to cull out, and fortafunder, were not more in- 
 termix'd. Itwas from outthe rind of one apple tailed, that the knowledge of pood 
 and evil, as two twins cleaving together, leap'd forth into the World. And per- 
 haps this is that doom which Adam fell into of knowing good and evil, that is to 
 fay, of knowing good by evil. As thcrfore the ftate of Man now is; what wifdom 
 can there be to chufe, what continence to forbear without the knowledge of evil ? 
 He that can apprehend and coniider vice with all her baits and feeming pleafures, 
 and yet abftain, and yet diftinguifh, and yet prefer that which is truly better, he 
 is the true way-faring Chriftian. I cannot praiie a fugitive and cloifter'd vertue, 
 unexercis'd and unbreath'd, that never failles out and fees her adverfary, but flinks 
 out of the race, where that immortal Garland is to be run for, not without dull 
 and heat. Alfuredly we bring not innocence into the World, we bring impurity 
 much rather : that which purifies us is trial, and trial is by what is contrary. 
 That vertue therfore which is but a youngling in the contemplation of evil, and 
 knows not the utmoft that vice promifes to her followers, and rejects it, is but a 
 blank vertue, not a pure ; her whitenefs is but an excremental whitenefs : which 
 was the reafon why our fage and ferious Poet Spenfer, whom I dare be known to 
 think a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas, defcribing true temperance under 
 theperfon of Gition, brings him in with his palmer through the cave 01 Mammon, 
 and the bower of earthly blifs, that he might fee and know, and yet abftain. Since 
 therfore the knowledge andfurvey of Vice is in this World fo neceffiry to the con- 
 ftituting of human Vertue, and the fcanning of error to the confirmation of truth, 
 how can we more fafely, and with lefs danger fcout into the regions of fin and 
 falfity, than by reading all manner of Tractates, and hearing all manner of reafon ? 
 And this is the benefit which may be had of Books promifcuoufly read. But of 
 the harm that may refult hence, three kinds are ufually reckon'd. Firft, is feared 
 the infection that may fpread ; but then all human Learning and Controverfy in 
 religious points, mult remove out of the World, yea, the Bible ufe f •, for that oft- 
 times relates blafphemy not nicely, it defcribes the carnal fenis of wicked Men 
 not unelegantly, it brings in holieft Men paffionately murmuring againft Provi- 
 dence through all the arguments of Epicurus; in other great difputes it anfwers 
 dubioufiy and darkly to thecommon reader: And afk a Talmudifi what ails the 
 modefty of his marginal Kerf, that Mofes and all the Prophets cannot perluadehim 
 to pronounce the textual Cbetiv. For thefecaufes we all know, the Bible itfeii put 
 by the Papift into the firft rank of prohibited Books. The ancienteft Fathers mult 
 be next remov'd, as Clement of Alexandria, and that Eufebiau Book of Evangelic 
 Preparation, tranfmitting our ears through a hoard of htathenilh Obfcenities to 
 receive the Gofpel. Who finds not that Iren^us, hpiphanius, Jerome, and 
 others difcover more herefies than they well confute, and that oft for he- 
 refy which is the truer opinion ? Nor boots it to fay for thefe, and all the 
 heathen Writers of greateft infeftion , if it mult be thought fo, with 
 whom is bound up the life of human learning, that they writ in an un- 
 known tongue, fo long as we are fure thofe languages are known as well to tiie 
 worftofMen, who are both molt able, and molt diligent to infr.il the poifon they 
 Vol. I. U z hick,
 
 ja.8 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 fuck, firft into the Courts of Princes, acquainting them with the choiceft d 
 and criticifms of fin. As perhaps did that Petronius, whom Nero call'd his Ad.. 
 the M after of his Revels •, and that notorious ribald oi Arezzo, dreaded, and yet 
 dear to the Italian Courtiers. I name not him for pofterity'sfake, whom Henry 
 8th nam'd in merriment his Vicar of Hell. By which compendious way all the con- 
 tagion that foreign Books can infufe, will find a pafiage to the People far eafi ;r ajul 
 ihorter than an Indian voyage, tho' it could be fail'd either by the North of Ca- 
 taio Eaftward, or of 'Canada Weftward, while our ty*^ licenfing gags the j. 
 iilh Prefs never fo feverely. But on the other fide, thatinfection which is from Bcoks 
 of controverfy in Religion, is more doubtful and dangerous to the learned, than 
 to the ignorant •, and yet thofe Books muft be permitted untouch'd by the Licen- 
 fer. Tt will be hard to inftance where any ignorant Man hath bin ever fedue'd by 
 any Papiftical Book in Englijh, unlefsit were commended and expounded to him 
 by fome of that Clergy : and indeed all fuch tractates, whether falfe or true, are 
 as the Prophecy of Ifaiab was to the Eunuch, not to be underftood without a guide. 
 But of our Priefts and Doctors, how many have bin corrupted by ftudying the com- 
 ments of Jefuits and Sorbonifts, and how faft they could transfufe that corruption 
 into the People, our experience is both late and fad. It is not forgot, fince the a- 
 cute and diftinct Arminius was perverted merely by the perufing of a namelefs 
 difcourfe written at Delft, which at firfthe took in hand to confute. Seeing therfore 
 that thofe Books, and thofe in great abundance which are likelieft to taint both 
 life and doctrine, cannot be fuppreft without the fall of Learning, and of all ability 
 in difputation, and that thefe Books of either fort are moftand fooneft catching 
 to the learned, from whom to the common People whatever is heretical or difib- 
 lute, may quickly be convey'd, and that evil manners are as perfectly learnt with- 
 out Books a thoufand other ways which cannot be ftopt, and evil doctrine noc 
 with Books can propagate, except a teacher guide, which he might alio do without 
 writing, and fo beyond prohibiting ; I am not able to unfold, how this cautelous 
 enterprife of Licenfing can be exempted from the number of vain and impoffible 
 attempts. And he who were pleafantly difpos'd, could not well avoid to liken ic 
 to the exploit of that gallant Man who thought to pound up the crows by fhutting 
 his Park-gate. Befides another inconvenience, if learned Men be the firft receivers 
 out of Books, and difpreaders both of vice and error, how fhall theLicenfers them- 
 felves be confided in, unlefs we can confer upon them, or they afhime to themfclves 
 above all others in the Land, the grace of infallibility, and uncorruptednefs ? And 
 again, if it be true, that a wife Man, like a good refiner, can gather Gold out of 
 the droflieft volume, and that a fool will be a fool with the beft Book, yea, or 
 without Book; there is no reafon that wefhould deprive a wileMan of any advan- 
 tage to his wifdom, while we feek to reftrain from a fool, that which being re- 
 ftrain'd will be no hindrance to his folly. For if there fliould be fo much cxact- 
 nefs always us'd to keep that from him which is unfit for his reading, we fhould in 
 the judgment of Arifiotle not only, but of Solomon, and of cur Saviour, not vouch- 
 fafe him good precepts, and by confequence not willingly admit him to good 
 Books ; as being certain that a wife Man will make better ufe of an idle Pam- 
 phlet, than a Fool will do offacred Scripture. 
 
 'Tis next alledg'd, we muft not expofe ourfelves to temptations without neccf- 
 fity, and next to that, not employ our time in vain things. To both thefe objections 
 one anfwer will ferve, out of the grounds already laid, that to all Men fuch Books 
 are not temptations, nor vanities ; but ufeful drugs and materials wherwith to 
 temper and compofe effective and itrong medicines, which Man's life cannot v. - . 
 The reft, as Children and childifhMen, who have not the art to qualify and pre- 
 pare thefe working Minerals, well may be exhorted to forbear, but hir.dcr'd for- 
 cibly they cannot be, by all the licenfing that Sainted Inquintion ccu'd ever yet 
 contrive ; which is what I promis'd to deliver next: That this Order of Licenfing 
 conduces nothing to the end for which it was fram'd ; and hath almoft prevented 
 me by being clear already while thus much hath bin explaining. See the ingenuity 
 of Truth, who when fhe gets a free and willing hand, opens hcrfeif fafter than the 
 pace of method and difcourfe can overtake her. It was the tafk which I began with, 
 to fhew that no Nation, or well-inftituted State, if they vaiu'd Books at ail, did 
 ever ufe this way of licenfing •, and it might be anfwered, that this is a piece of 
 prudence lately difcover'd. To which I return, that as it was a thing flight and ob- 
 vious to think on, fo if it had bin difficult to find out, there wanted not among 
 them long fince, who fuggefted fuch a courfe ; which they not following, leave 
 hs a pattern of their judgment, that it was not the not knowing, but the not 
 approving, which was the caufe of their not ufing it. Plato, a Man of high 
 
 audio-
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. i ^g 
 
 authority indeed, but leaft of all for his Commonwealth, in the Book of his Laws 
 which no City ever yet receiv'd, fed his fancy with making many Edicts to his 
 airy Burgomafters, which they who otherwife admire him, with had bin rather 
 buried and excus'd inthe genial cups of an Academic night-fitting. By which Laws 
 he feems to tolerate no kind of Learning, but by unalterable Decree, confiftino- 
 moft of practical Traditions, to the attainment wherof a Library of fmaller bulk 
 than his own Dialogues would be abundant. And there alfo enacts, that no Poet 
 fhould fo much as read to any private Man what he had written, until the Judges 
 and Law-keepers had feen it, and allow'd it : But xhitPlato meant this Law pe- 
 culiarly to that Commonwealth which he had imagin'd, and to no other, is evi- 
 dent. Why was he not elfe a Law-giver to himfeif, but a Tranfgreffor, and to be 
 expel'd by his own Magistrates, both for the wanton Epigrams and Dialogues 
 which he made, and his perpetual reading of Sophron, Mimus, and Arifiophanes y 
 Books of groffeft infamy, and alfo for commending the latter of them, though 
 he were the malicious Libeller of his chief friends, to be read by the Tyrant Dio- 
 nyjius, who hadlitttle need of fuch tralh to fpend his time on ? But that he knew 
 this licenfing of Poems had reference and dependance to many other ffb's 
 
 there let down in his fancied Republic, which in this World cculd have no place : 
 and fo neither he himfeif, nor any Magiftrate or City ever imitated that courfe, 
 which taken apart from thofe other collateral Injunctions, mull needs be vain a 
 fruitlefs. For if they fell upon one kind of ftrictnefs unlefs their care were equal to 
 regulate all other things of like aptnefs to corrupt the mind, that fingle endeavour 
 they knew would be but a fond labour ; to fliut and fortify one Gate againft Cor- 
 ruption, and be necefiitated to leave others round about wide open. If we think to 
 regulate Printing, therby to rectify Manners, we muft regulate all Recreations and 
 Paltimes, all that is delightful to Man. No Mufic muft be heard, no Song be fst 
 or fung, but what is grave and Doric. There muft be licenfing Dancers, that no 
 Gefture, Motion, or Deportment be taught our Youth, but what by their allow- 
 ance fhall be thought honeft ; for fuch Plato was provided of : It will afk more 
 than the work of- twenty Licenfers to examine all the Lutes, the Violins, and the, 
 Ghittars in every houfe ; they muft not be fuffer'd to prattle as they do, but muft 
 be licens'd what they may fay. And who fhall fiience all the Airs and Madrigals 
 that whifper foftnefs in Chambers ? The Windows alfo, and the Balconies muft 
 be thought on •, there are fhrewd Books, with dangerous Frontifpieces, fet to falej 
 who fhall prohibit them, fhall twenty Licenfers ? The Villages r.rfo muft have 
 their vifitors to enquire what Lectures the Bagpipe, and the Rebbec reads, even 
 to the Ballatry and the Gammuth of every municipal Fidler, for thefe are the Coun- 
 tryman's Arcadia's, and his Monte Mayors. Next, what more National Corrup- 
 tion, for which England hears ill abroad, than houfhold gluttony ; who fhall be 
 the rectors of our daily rioting ? and what fhall be dcr.e to inhibit the multitudes 
 that frequent thofe houfes where drunkennefs is fold and harbour'd ? Our garments 
 alfo fhould be referr'd to the licenfing of fome more fober work- matters, to fee 
 them cut into a lefs wanton garb. Who fhall regulate all the mix'dconverfation 
 of our youth, male and female together, as is the fafhion of this Country ? Who 
 fhall ft ill appoint what fhall be difcourfed, what prefum'd, and no further ? Laft- 
 ly, who fhall forbid and feparate all idle refort, all evil company ? Thefe things 
 will be, and muft be •, but how they fhall be leaft hurtful, how leaft enticing, here- 
 in confifts the grave and governing Wifdom of a State. To fequefter out of the 
 World into Atlantic and Eutopian Polities, which never can be drawn into ufe, 
 will not mend our condition •, but to ordain wifely as in this World of evil, in the 
 midft wherof God hath plac'd us unavoidably. Nor is it Plate's licenfing of Books 
 will do this, which neceffarily pulls along with it fo many other kinds of licenfing, 
 as will make us all both ridiculous and weary, and yet fruftrate; but thofe unwritten, 
 or at leaft unconftraining Laws of virtuous education, religic: ivil nurture, 
 
 which Plato there mentions, as the bonds and ligaments of the Commonwealth, 
 the pillars and the fuftainers of every written Statute ; thefe they be which v, ill 
 bear chief fway in fuch matters as thefe, when all Licenfing will be eafily eluded. 
 Impunity and remiffhefs for certain arethe bane of a Commonwealth; but here the 
 great art lies to difcern in what the Law is to bid reftraint and puniihment, z 
 in what things perfuafion only is to work. If every action which is good or evil in 
 Man at ripe years, were to be under pittance, prescription, and compuifion, what 
 were Vertue but a name, what praife could be then due to well-doing, what gram- 
 mercy to be fober, jult or continent ? Many there be that complain of divine Provi- 
 dence for flittering Adam to tranfgrefs. Foolifh tongues ! when God gave him reafon, 
 
 he 
 1
 
 i r o A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 he crave him freedom tochufe, for reafon is but chufing-, he had bin clfe a mere 
 artificial Adam, fuch an Adam as he is in the motions. We ourfelves efteem not of 
 that obedience, or love, or gift, which is of iorce : God therfore left him free, fet 
 before him a provoking object, ever almoft in his eyes •, herein confifted his merit, 
 herein the right of his reward, the praife of his abftinence. Wherfore did he cre- 
 ate paffions within us, pleafures round about us, but that thefe rightly temper'd are 
 the very ingredients of vertue ? They are not fkilful confiderers of human things 
 who imagine to remove fin by removing the matter of fin ; for, befides that it is a 
 huge heap increafing under the very act of diminifhing, though fome part of it 
 may for a time be withdrawn from fome Perfons, it cannot from all, in fuch a 
 univerfal thing as Books are ; and when this is done, yet the fin remains entire. 
 Though ye take from a covetous Man all his treafure, he has yet one jewel left, 
 ye cannot bereave him of his Covetoufnefs. Banifh all objects of luff, jhut up all 
 youth into the fevereft difcipline that can be exercis'd in any hermitage, ye can- 
 not make them chatte, that came not thither lb : fuch great care and wildom is 
 required to the right managing of this point. Suppofe we could expel fin by this 
 means •, look how much we thus expel of fin, fo much we expel of vertue : for the 
 matter of them both is the fame •, remove that, and ye remove them both alike. 
 This juftifies the high Providence of God, who though he commands us Tempe- 
 rance, Juftice, Continence, yet pours out before us even to a profufenefs all defi- 
 rable things, and gives us minds that can wander beyond all limit andfatiety. 
 Why fnould we then affect a rigor contrary to the manner of God and of Nature, 
 by abridging or fcanting thofe means, which Books, freely permitted, are, both to 
 the trial of Vertue, and the exercife of Truth ? It would be better done to learn 
 that the Law rauft needs be frivolous which goes to reflrain things, uncertainly 
 and yet equally working to good, and to evil. And were I the chufer, a dram of 
 well-doino- ihould beprefer'd before many times as much the forcible hindrance 
 of evil-doing. For God fure efteems the growth and compleating of one verruous 
 Perfon, more than the reftraint often vitious. And albeit, whatever thing we hear 
 or fee, fitting, walking, travelling, or converting, may be fitly call'd our Book, 
 and is of the fame effect that Writings are ; yet grant die thing to be prohibited, 
 were only Books, it appears that this Order hitherto is far infufHcierit to the end 
 which it intends. Do we not fee, not once or oitner, but weekly, that continued 
 Court-libel againlt the Parlament and City, printed, as the wet fheets can witnefs, 
 and difpers'd among us, for all that Licenfing can do ? Yet this is the prime fer- 
 vicea Man would think, wherin this Order fh- uld give proof of itfelf. If it were 
 executed, you'll fay. But certain, if execution be remifs or blind- fold now, and in 
 rhis particular, what will it be hereafter, and in other Books ? If then the Order 
 fhall not be vain and fruftrate, behold a new labour, Lords and Commons, ye mult 
 repeal and profcribe all fcandalous and unlicens'd Books already printed and di- 
 vulg'd •, after ye have drawn them up into a Lift, that all may know which are 
 condemn'd, and which not •, and ordain that no foreign Books bv. delivered out of 
 cuftody, till they have bin read over. This office will require the whole time of 
 not a few Overfeers, and thofe no vulgar Men. There be alio Books which are 
 partly ufeful and excellent, partly culpable and pernicious ; this work will afk as 
 many more Officials, to make expurgations and expunctions, that the Common- 
 wealth of Learning be not damnify'd. In fine, when the multitude of Books en- 
 creafeupon their hands, ye muff, be fain to catalogue all thofe Printers who are 
 found frequently offending, and forbid the Importation of their whole fufpected 
 Typography. In a word, that this your Order may be exact, and not deficient, ye 
 muft reform it perfectly according to the model of Trent and Seyil, which I know 
 ye abhor to do. Yet though ye fhould condefcend to this, which God forbid, the 
 Order itill would be butfruitlefs and defective to that end wherto ye meant it. If 
 to prevent Sects and Schifms, who is fo unread or fo uhcatechiVd in ftory, that 
 hath not heard of many Sects re fufing Books as a hindrance, and preferring their 
 doctrine unmix'd for many Ages, only by unwritten Traditions ? The Chriitian 
 Faith, for that was once a Schifm, is not unknown to have fpread ah over .4Jia y 
 ere any Goipel or Epiftle was feen in writing. If the amendment of manners be 
 aim'd at, look into Italy and Spain, whether thofe places be one fcruple the bet- 
 ter, the honefler, the wifer, the chaffer, fince all the inquifitional rigor that hath 
 bin executed upon Books. 
 
 Another reafon, wherby to make it plain that this order will mifs the end it feeks, 
 confiderby the quality which ought to be in everyLicenfer. It cannot be deny'd but 
 that he who is made judge to fit upon the birth, or death of Books, whether they may 
 
 be
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. r ^ T 
 
 be wafted into this world, or not, had need to be a Man above the common mea- 
 fure, both ftudious, learned, and judicious ; there may be elfe no mean miftakes 
 in the cenfure of what is paffable or not ; which is alfo no mean injury. If he be 
 of fuch worth as behoves him, there cannot be a more tedious and unpleafin^ 
 Journey-work, a greater lofs of time leviedupon his head, than to be made the per° 
 petual reader of uichofen Books and Pamphlets, oftimes huge Volumes. There is 
 r.o Book that is acceptable, unlefs at certain feafons ; but to be enjoin'd the read- 
 ing of that at all times, and in a hand fcarce legible, wherof three paces would 
 not down at any time in the faireft Print, is an impofition which I cannot believe 
 how he that values time, and his own ftudies, or is but of a fenfible noflril, ihould 
 be able to endure. In this one thing I crave leave of the prefent Licenfers to be 
 pardon'd for fo thinking : who doubtlefs took this office up, looking on it thro' 
 their obedience to the Parlament, whofe command perhaps made all things fc cm 
 eafy and unlaborious to them ; but that this fhort trial hath wearied them out al- 
 ready, their own expreffions and excufes to them who make lb many journeys to 
 folicit their licence, are teftimony enough. Seeing therfore thofe who now poffeix 
 the employmeut, by all evident figns with themielves well rid of it, and that no 
 Man of worth, none that is not a plain unthrift of his own hours, is ever likely to 
 fucceed them, except he mean to put himfelf to the falary of a Prefs-Correclor, 
 we may eafily forefee what kind of Licenfers we are to expeel hereafter, either ig- 
 norant, imperious, and remifs, or bafely pecuniary. This is what I had to fhew, 
 wherin this order cannot conduce to that end, wherof it bears the intention. 
 
 I laftly proceed from the no good it can do, to the manifeft hurt it caufes, in be- 
 ing firft the greater! difcouragement and affront that can be offer'd to Learning, 
 and to learned Men. It was the complaint and lamentation of Prelates, upon eve- 
 ry leaf! breath of a motion to remove Pluralities, and diftributc more equally 
 Church- Revenues, that then all Learning would be for ever dalh'd and dilcou- 
 rag'd. But as for that opinion, I never found cauie to think that the tenth part of 
 learning flood or fell with the Clergy : nor could I ever but hold it for a fordid 
 and unworthy fpeech of any Churchman, who had a competency left him. If 
 therfore ye be loth to difhearten utterly and difcontent, not the mercenary crew of 
 falfe pretenders to learning, but the free and ingenious fort of fuch as evidently 
 were born to ftudy and love Learning for itielf, not for lucre, or any other end, 
 but the fervice of God and of Truth, and perhaps that lafting fame and perpetu- 
 ity of praife which God and good Men have confented fhall be the reward of thofe 
 whofe publifh'd Labours advance the good of Mankind-, then know, that fo far 
 to diftruft the judgment and the honefty of one who hath but a common repute in 
 Learning, and never yet offended, as not to count him fit to print his mind with- 
 out a Tutor and Examiner, left he ihould drop a fchifm, or fomething of corrup- 
 tion, is the greater! difpleafure and indignity to a free and knowingSpirit that can 
 be put upon him. What advantage is it to be a Man, over it is to be aBoy atSchool, 
 if we have only efcap'd the Ferular, to come under the Fefcue of an Imprimatur ? 
 If ferious and elaborate Writings, as if they were no more than the theme of a 
 Grammar-lad under his Pedagogue, muft not be utter'd without the curibry eyes 
 of a temporizing and extemporizing Licenfer ? He who is not trufted with his 
 own acfions, his drift not being known to be evil, and ftanding to the hazard of 
 Law and Penalty, has no great argument to think himfelf reputed in the Common- 
 wealth wherin he was born, for other than a fool or a foreigner. When aMan writes 
 to the world, he fummons up all his reafon and deliberation to affift him ; he 
 fearches, meditates, is induftrious, and likely coniults and confers with his judici- 
 ous friends •, after all which done, he takes himfelf to be inform'd in what he 
 writes, as well as any that writ before him-, if in this the mof! confummate acfof 
 his fidelity andripenefs, no years, no induftry, no former proof of his abilities 
 can bring him to that ftate of maturity, as not to be ftill miftruiled and fufpecled, 
 unlefs he carry all his considerate diligence, all his midnight watchings, and ex- 
 pence of Palladian oil, to the hafty view of an unleifur'd Licenfer, perhaps much 
 his younger, perhaps far his inferior in judgment, perhaps one who never knew 
 the labour of Book-writing •, and if he be not repuls'd, or flighted, muft appear 
 in print like a Puny with his Guardian, and his Cenfor's hand on the back ot his 
 title 10 be his bail and lurety, that he is no Idiot, or Seducer ; it cannot be but a 
 difhonour and derogation to the Author, to -the Book, to the privilege and 
 dignity of Learning. And what if the Author fhall be one fo copious of fancy, 
 as to have many things well worth the adding, come into his mind after licenfing, 
 whibthe Book is yet under the Prefs, which notfeldom happens to the Deft and 
 dili^enteft writers ; and that perhaps a dozen times in one Book : The Printer dares 
 
 not
 
 *5 2 
 
 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 not oo beyond his Hcetre'd copy ; fo often then muft the Author trudge to his 
 leave-giver, that thofe his new infertions may beview'd •, and many a jaunt will 
 be made, ere that Licenfer, for it muft bethe fame Man, can either be found, or 
 found at'leifure •, meanwhile either thePrefs mud ftanu ftill, which is no fmall 
 damage, or the author lofe his accurateft thoughts, and fend the Book forth worfe 
 than'he had made it, which to adiligent writer is thegreatcft melancholy and vex- 
 ation that can befal. And how can a Man teach with Authority, which is the life 
 of teaching ; how can he be a Doclor in his Book as he ought to be, or elfe had 
 better be filent, when'as all he teaches, all he delivers; is but under the tuition, 
 under the correction oi his patriarchal Licenfer, to blot or alter what precifely 
 accords not with liie hide-bound humour which he calls hi* judgment ? When e- 
 very acute Reader upon the firft fight of a pedantic Licence, will be ready with 
 thefe like words to ding the B'jok a coit's diftance from him, I hate a pupil 
 Teacher, 1 endure not an ir.ftruftor that comes to me under the wardihip of an 
 overfeeins lift. I know nothing of the Licenfer, but that I have his own hand 
 here for his 1 arrogance •, who fhall warrant me his judgment ? The State, Sir, re- 
 plies the Stationer; but has a quick return, the State fhall be my Governors, but 
 not my Critics •, they may be miftaken in the choice of a Licenfer, as eafdy as this 
 Licenfer may be miftaken in an author. This is fome common fluff; and he 
 might add from Sir Francis Bacon, that fuch authorized Books are but the language 
 of the times. For though a Licenfer ftiould happen to be judicious more than or- 
 dinary, which will be a great jeopardy of the next fucceffion, yet his very office, 
 and his cominiffion enjoins him to let pals nothing but what is vulgarly receiv'd 
 already. Nay, which is more lamentable, if the work of any deceafed author, 
 though never fo famous in his life-time, and even to this day, comes to their 
 hands for licence to be printed, or reprinted, if there be found in his Book, one 
 fentence of a ventrous edge, uttered in the height of zeal, and who knows whether 
 it might not be the dictate of a divine Spirit, yet not Anting with every low de- 
 crepit humour of their own, though it were Knox himfelf, the Reformer of a 
 Kino-dom that fpake it, they will not pardon him their dafli : the fenfe of that 
 great Man fhall to all pofteritybe loft, for the fearfulnefs, or the prefumptuous 
 rafhnefs of a perfunctory Licenfer. And to what an Author this violence hath bin 
 lately done, and in what Bookof greateft confequence to be faithfully publifh'd, 
 I could now inftance, but fhall forbear till a more convenient feafon. Yet if thefe 
 things be not relented ferioufly and timely by them who have the remedy in their 
 power, but that fuch iron-moulds as thefe fhall have authority to gnaw out the 
 choiceif periods of exquifiteft Books, and to commit fuch a treacherous fraud a- 
 "ainft the orphan remainder, of worthieft Men after death, the more forrow will 
 beiori"- to that haplefs race of Men, w hole misfortune it is to have underftanding. 
 Henceforth let no Man care to learn, or care to be more than worldly wife ; for 
 certainly in higher matters to be ignorant and flothlul, to be a common ftedfaft 
 dunce, will be theonly pleafant liie, and only in requeft. 
 
 And as it is a particular difeftecm of every knowing perfon alive, and mod in- 
 jurious to the written labours and monuments o\ the dead, lo to me it teems anun- 
 dervaluing and vilifying of the whole Nation. I cannot let fo light by all the in- 
 vention, the art, the wit, the grave and folid judgment which is in England, as 
 that it can be comprehended in any twenty capacities how good fosver, much lefs 
 that it fhoukl not pais except their Superintendence be over it, except it be fifted 
 and ftrain'd with their ftrainers, that it ihould be uncurrent without their manual 
 ftamp. Truth and Underftanding are not fuch wares as to be monopoliz'J and 
 traded in by tickets and features, and ftandards. We muft not think to make a 
 ftaple commodity of all the knowledge in the Land, to mark and Iicenfe it like 
 our Broad-cloth, andour Wool-packs. What is it but a fervitude like that im- 
 pos'd by the PhiliJIines, not tobeallow'd the fharpening of our own taxes and coul- 
 ters, but we muft repair from all quarters to twenty licenfing forges ? Had any one 
 written and divulg'd erroneous things and feandalousto honeft life, mifufing and 
 forfeiting the efteem had of his rcalon among Men, if after eonviclion this only cen- 
 fure wereadjudg'd him, lhathe ihould never henceforth write, but what were firft 
 examin'd by an appointed Offker, whole hand ihould be annex r d to pafs his cre- 
 dit for him, that now he might be fafely read, it could not be apprehended lefs 
 than a diigraceful punilhment. Whence to include the whole Nation, and thofe that 
 never yet thus offended, under fuch a diffident and fufpeftful prohibition, may 
 plainly be underilcod wh.ua difparagement it is. Somuch the more whenas Deb- 
 tors and Delinquents may wa'k abroad without a Keeper, but unoffenfive Books 
 muft not ftir forth without a vifible Jay 'or in their title. Nor is it to the com- 
 mon People lefs than a Reproach; tor il we be fo jealous over them, as that we dare 
 
 3 not
 
 of UnUcensd Printing, 153 
 
 &ot truft them with an Englijh pamphlet, what do we but cenfure them for a 
 giddy, vitious, and ungrounded people ; in fuch a fickand weak estate of faith 
 and difcretion, as to be able to take nothing down but through the pipe of a 
 Licenfer ? That this is care or love of them, we cannot pretend, whenas in thofe 
 Popifh places where the Laity are moft hated and defpis'd, the fame ftrictnefs is 
 over them. Wifdom we cannot calJ it, becaufe it flops but one breach of licence, 
 nor that neither : whenas thofe corruptions which it leeks to prevent, break in 
 fafterat other doors which cannot be ihut. 
 
 And in conclufion it reflects to the difrepute of our Minifters alfo, of whofe 
 labours we fhould hope better, and of the proficiency which their flock reaps by 
 them, than that after all this light of the Gofpel which is, and is to be, and all 
 this continual Preaching, they ihould be ftill frequented with fuch an unprin- 
 cipl'd, unedify'd, and laic rabble, as that the whiff" of every new pamphlet 
 fhculc] dagger them out of their Catechifm, and Chriftian walking. This may 
 have much reafon to difcourage the Minifters, when fuch a low conceit is had of 
 all their exhortations, and the benefiting of their hearers, as that they are not 
 thought fit to be turn'd loofe to three lheets of paper without a Licenfer ; that 
 all the Sermons, all the Lectures preach'd, printed, vented in fuch numbers, and 
 fuch volumes, as have now well-nigh made all other Books unfalable, fnou ! d 
 not be armour enough againft one fingle Enchiridion, without the Caftle St. 
 Angela of an Imprimatur. 
 
 And left fome ihould pcrfwade ye. Lords and Commons, that thefe arguments 
 of learned men's difcouragement at this your Order, are meer flourilhes, and not 
 real, I could recount what I have feen and heard in other Countries, where this 
 kind of inquifition tyrannizes ; when I have fat among their learned men* for that 
 honour I had, and been counted happy to be born in fuch a place of 'philosophic 
 freedom, as they fuppos'd England was, while themfelves did nothing but be- 
 moan the fervil condition into which Learning amongft them was brought ; 
 that this was it which had dampt the glory of Italian wits; that nothing had 
 been there written now thefe many years but flattery and fuftian. There it was 
 that I found, and vifited the famous Galileo grown old, a prifoner to the Inqui- 
 fition, for thinking in Aftronomy othervvife than the Francilcan and Dominican 
 licenfers thought. And though I knew that England then was groaning loudeft 
 under the Prelaticai yoak, neverthelefs I took it as a pledge of future happinefs, 
 that other Nations were foperfwaded of her liberty. Yet was it beyond my hope, 
 that thofe Worthies Were then breathing in her air, who Ihould be her leaders 
 to fuch a deliverance, as fhall never be forgotten by any revolution of time that 
 this world hath tofinifh. When that wasonce begun, it was as little in my fear, that 
 what words of complaint I heard among learned men of other parts utter'd againft 
 the Inquifition, the fame I fhould hear by as learned men at home*"utter'd in time 
 of Parlament againft an Order of Licenfing; and that fo generally, that when I 
 haddifclos'dmy felf a companion of their difcontent, I might fay, if without en- 
 vy, that he whom an honeft QuceflorJJjip had indear'd to the Sicilians,\v?.s not more t 
 by them importun'd againft Verres, than the favourable opinion which I had a- 
 mong many who honour ye, and are known and refpected by ye, loaded me with 
 entreaties and perfwafions, that I would not defpair to lay together that which 
 juft reafon fhould bring into my mind, toward the removal of an undeferved 
 thraldom upon Learning. That this is not therfore thedifburdening of a parti- 
 cular fancy, but the common grievance of all thofe who had prepared their minds 
 and ftudies above the vulgar pitch to advance truth in others* and from others to 
 entertain it, thus much may fatisfy. And in their name I fhall for neither friend nor 
 foe conceal what the general murmur is; that if it cometoinquifitioning again, and 
 licenfing, and that we are fo timorous of our I elves, and fufpicicus of all men, as to 
 fear each Book,and the fhakingof every leaf,before we know what the contentsare; 
 if fome who but of late were littlebetterthan filenc'dfrom preaching, fhall come 
 now to filence us from reading, except what they pleafe, it cannot be gueft what 
 is intended by fome but a lecond tyranny over Learning : and will foon put it out 
 of controverfy that Bifhops and Prefbyters are the fame to us both name and thing. 
 That thofe evils of Prelaty which before from five or fix and twenty Sees were 
 diftributively charged upon the whole people, will now light wholly uponLearning, 
 is not obfeure to us : whenas now the Paftor of a fmall unlearned Parifh, on thefud- 
 den fhall be exaltedArchbifhop over a large diocefs of Books, and yet not remove, 
 but keep his other Cure too, a myftical Pluralift. He who but of late cry'd down 
 the lole ordination of every novice Batchelor of Art, and deny'd idle jurifdic- 
 tion over the fimpleft Pariihioner, fhall now at home in his private chair aflume 
 
 Vol.. I. X both
 
 *S4 
 
 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 both thefe over worthieft and excellenteft Books, and ableft Authors that write 
 them. This is not, ye Covenants and Proteftations that we have made •, this is 
 not to put down Prelaty -, this is but to chop an Epifcopacy ; this is but to 
 tranflate the Palace Metropolitan from one kind of dominion into another •, this 
 is but an old canonical flight of commuting our penance. To ftartle thus betimes 
 at a meer unlicens'd Pamphlet, will, after a while, be afraid of every Conven- 
 ticle, and a while after will make a Conventicle of every Chriftian meeting. 
 But I am certain that a State govern'd by the rules of Juftice and Fortitude, or 
 a Church built and founded upon the Rock of Faith and ^ true Knowledge, can- 
 not be fo pufillanimous. While things are yet not conftituted in Religion, that 
 freedom of Writing ihould be reftrain'd by a difcipline imitated from the Pre- 
 lates, and learnt by them from the Inquifition to fhut us up all again into the 
 breaft of a Licenfer, muft needs give caufe of doubt and difcouragement to all 
 learned and religious Men. Who cannot but difcern the finenefs of this politic 
 drift, and who are the contrivers ; that while Biihops were to be baited down, 
 then all Prefles might be open ; it was the people's birth-right and privilege 
 in time of Parlament, it was the breaking forth of light. But now the Bifhops 
 abrogated and voided out of the Church, as if our Reformation fought no more, 
 but to make room for others into their Seats under another name ; the Epifco- 
 pal Arts begin to bud again •, the Cruife of Truth muft run no more Oil ; li- 
 berty of Printing muft be ' enthrall'd again under a Pr'elatical Commiflion of 
 twenty •, the privilege of the People nullify'd •, and which is vrorfe, the free- 
 dom of Learning muft groan again, and to her old fetters: all this the Parla- 
 ment yet fitting. Although their own late Arguments and Defences againft the 
 Prelates might remember them that this obftructing Violence meets for the mole 
 part with an event utterly oppofite to the end which it drives at : inftead of iup- 
 preffing Sects and Schifms, it raifes them and inverts them with a reputation : 
 The paniflAng of Wits enhances their authority, faith the Vifcount St. Albans ; 
 and a forbidden writing is thought to be a certain f park of truth that flies up in the 
 faces of them who feck "to tread it out. This Order therfore may prove a nurfing 
 Mother to Sects, but I fhall eafily fhew how it will be a ftep-dame to Truth: 
 and firft by difinabling us to the maintenance of what is known already. 
 
 Well knows he who ufes to confider, that our Faith and Knowledge thrive; 
 by Exercife, as well as our Limbs and Complexion. Truth iscompar'din Scrip- 
 ture to a fir earning fountain; if her waters flow not in a perpetual progreffion, 
 they ficken into a muddy pool of Conformity and Tradition. A man may be a 
 Heretic in the Truth ; and if he believe things only becaufe his Paftor fays lb, 
 or the AfTembly fo determines, without knowing other reafon, though his be- 
 lief be true, y§t the very truth he holds, becomes his herefy. There is not any 
 burden that fome Would gladlier poft off to another, than the charge and care 
 of their Religion. There be, who knows not that there be of Proteftants and 
 Profeflbrs who live and die in as errant an implicite Faith, as any Lay-Papiftof 
 Loretto. A wealthy man, addicted to his pleafure and to his profits, finds Reli- 
 gion to be a traffic fo entangled, and of fo many piddling accounts, that of all 
 myfteries he cannot fkill to keep a ftock going upon that trade. What ihould 
 he do ? fain he would have the name to be religious, fain he would bear up with 
 his neighbours in that. What does he therfore, but refolves to give over toil- 
 ing, and to find himfelf out fome Factor, to whofe care and credit he may com- 
 mit the whole managing of his religious affairs ; fome Divine of note and efti- 
 mation that muft be. To him he adheres, refigns the whole Warehoufe of his 
 Religion, with all the Locks and Keys into his cuftody, and indeed makes the 
 very Perfon of that Man his Religion ; efteems his aflbciating with him a fuf- 
 ficient evidence and commendatory of his own Piety. So that a man may fay 
 his Religion is now no more within himfelf, but is become a dividual move- 
 able, and goes and comes near him, according as that good man frequents the 
 houfe. He entertains him, gives him gifts, feafts him, lodges him •, his Reli- 
 gion comes home at night, prays, is liberally fupt, and fumptuoufly laid to deep; 
 rifes, is faluted, and after the malmfey, or fome well-fpic't bruage, and better 
 breakfafted, than he whofe morning appetite would have gladly fed on green 
 figs between Bethany and Jerufnlem ; his Religion walks abroad at eight, and 
 leaves his kind entertainer in the fhop trading all day without his Religion. 
 
 Another fort there be, who when they hear that all things fhall be order'd, all 
 things regulated and fettled -, nothing written but what paffes through the Cuftom- 
 houfc of certain Publicans that have the tunnaging and poundaging of all free 
 Ipoken Truth, will ftrait give themfelves up into your hands, make 'em and 
 cut 'em out what Religion ye pleafe ; there be delights, there be recreation's 
 
 and
 
 of Unlicensed Printing. ice 
 
 And jolly paftimesthat will fetch the day about from Sun to Sun, and rock the 
 tedious year as in a delightful dream. What need they torture their heads with 
 that which others have taken fo ftrictly, and fo unalterably into their own pur- 
 veying? Thefe are the fruits which a dull eafe and cefTation of our knowledge 
 will bring forth among the people. How goodly, and how to be wifht were 
 fuch an obedient unanimity as this ? what a fine conformity would it ftarch us 
 all into ? doubtlcfs a ftanch and folid piece of frame-work, as any January could 
 freeze together. 
 
 Not much better will be the confequence even among the Cleroy themfelves; 
 it is no new thing never heard of before, for a Parochial Minifter, who has his 
 reward, and is at his Herades Pillars in a warm Benefice, to be eafily inclinable 
 if he having nothing elfe that may roufe up his ftudies, to finifhhis circuit in an 
 Engliflo Concordance and a topic Folio, the gatherings and favino-s of a fober 
 Graduateihip, a Harmony and a Catena, treading the conftant round of certain 
 common doctrinal Heads, attended with their Uies, Motives, Marks and Means- 
 c.:t of which, as out of an Alphabet or Sol fa s by forming and transform ino-, 
 joining and dif-joining varioully a little bookcraft, and two hours meditation 
 might furnifh him unlpeakably to the performance of more than a weekly charge 
 of fermoning : not to reckon up the infinite helps of interlinearies, breviaries, 
 fynopfes, and other loitering gear. But as for the multitude of Sermons ready 
 printed and pil'd up* on every text that is not difficult, our London tradino- St. 
 Thomas in his Veftry, and add to boot St. Martin and St. Hugh, have not with- 
 in their hallow'd limits more vendible ware of all forts ready made : fo that pe- 
 nury he never reed fear of Pulpit-provifion, having where fo plenteoufiy to re- 
 frefhhis magazine. But if his rear and flanks be notimpal'd, if his back-door be 
 hot fecur'd by the rigid Licenfer, but that a bold Book may now and then iffiie 
 forth, and give the aflault to fome of his old Collections in their Trenches, it 
 ■Will concern him then to keep waking, to Hand in watch, to fet good guards 
 and fentinels about hisreceiv'd Opinions, to walk the round and counter-round 
 with his fel'ow-infpeftors, fearing left any of his flock be fedue'd, who alfo then 
 would be better inftructed, better exercis'd and difciplin'd. And God fend that 
 the fear of this diligence which rhuft then be ustl, do not make us affect the 
 lazinefs of a licenfing Church. 
 
 For if we be fure we are in the right, and do not hold the truth guiltily, which 
 becomes not, if we our felves condemn not our own weak and frivolous teach- 
 ing, ftod the people for an untaught and irreligious gadding rout, what can be 
 more fair, than when a man judicious, learned, and of a confeience, for aught we 
 know, as good as theirs that taught us what we know, fhall not privily from 
 houfe to houfe, which is more dangerous, but openly by writing publifh to the 
 World what his Opinion is, what his Reafons, and wherfore that which is now 
 thought cannot be found. Chrift urg'd it as wherewith to jaftify himfelf, that he 
 preacht in public ; yet writing is more public than preaching ; and more 
 eafy to refutation, if need be, there being fo many whofe bufinefs and profeffion 
 fheerly it is to be the champions of Truth •, which if they neglect, what can be 
 imputed but their floth or unability ? 
 
 Thus much we are hinder'd and dif-inur'd by thiscourfe of licenfing toward 
 the true knowledge of what we feem to know. For how much it hurts and hin- 
 ders the Licenfers themfelves iri the calling of their Miniftry, more than any 
 fecular employment, if they will difcharge that office as they ought, fo that of 
 neceflity they muff, neglect either the one duty or the other ; I infill not, becaufe 
 it is a particular, but leave it to their own confeience, how they will decide it 
 there. 
 
 There is yet behind of what I purpos'd to lay open, the incredible lofs and 
 detriment that this plot of Licenfing puts us to, more than if fome enemy at 
 Sea fhouldflop up all our Havens, and Ports, and Creeks •, it hinders and retards 
 the Importation of ourricheft Merchandize, Truth: nay, it was firft eftabliiht 
 and put in practice byAntichriftian malice and myftery on fet purpofe toextin- 
 guifh, if it were poflible, the light of Reformation, and to fettle falfhood ; little 
 differing from that policy wherwith the Turk upholds hfs Alcoran, by the prohi- 
 biting of Printing. 'Tis not deny'd, but gladly confeft, we are to fend our 
 Thanks and Vows to Heaven, louder than moll: of Nations, for that great mea- 
 fure of Truth which we enjoy, efpeciallyin thofe main Points between us and 
 the Pope, with his appertinences the Prelates : but he who thinks we are to 
 pitch our Tent here, and have attain'd the u'tmoft profpect of Reformation, 
 that the mortal glafs wherin we contemplate can fhew us, till we come to bea- 
 tific Vilion, that man by this very Opinion declares, that he is yet far fhort of 
 the Truth.
 
 I q 6 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 Truth indeed came once into the world with her divine Mafter,andwas a perfect 
 fhape moft glorious to look on : but when heafcended, and his Apoftles after 
 him were laid afleep^ then tlrait arofe a wicked race of deceivers, who as that 
 ftory goes of the Egyptian Tyption with his confpirators, how they dealt with the 
 uood Ofiris, took the virgin Truth, hew'd her lovely form into a thoufand pieces, 
 and fcatter'd them to the four winds. From that time ever fince, the fad friends 
 of Truth, fuch as durft appear, imitating the careful fearch that IJis made for the 
 mangled body of O/sris, went up and down gathering up limb by limb ftill as they 
 could find them. We have not yet found them all, Lords and Commons, nor ever 
 fhall do, till her Matter's fecond coming ; he fhall bring together every joint and 
 member,and fhall mould them into an immortal feature of lovelinefsand perfection. 
 Surfer notthefe licenftng prohibitions to ftand at every place of opportunity for- 
 biddinganddifturbing them that continue feeking,that continue todoourobfequies 
 to the torn body of our martyr'd Saint. We boaft our light •, but if we look not 
 wifely on the Sun it felf, it fmites us into darknefs. Who can difcern thofe planets 
 that are oft c ombttjl, and thofe ftarsofbrightefl magnitude that rife and fet with the 
 „ Sui!,until the oppof te motion of their orbsbring them to fucha place in the firma- 
 ment, where they may be ken evening or morning? The light which we have 
 gain'd, was given us, not to ever hearing on, but by it to difcover onward things 
 more remore from our knowledge. It is not the unfrocking of a Prieft, the unmi- 
 tring ofaBifhop, and the removing him from off the Presbyterian ihoulders, that 
 will make us a happy Nation; no, if other things as great in the church, and in 
 the rule of life both '©economical and political be not lookt into and reform'd, we 
 have lookt fo long upon the blaze that Zuinglius and Calvin have beacon'd up to 
 us, that we are ftark blind. There be who perpetually complain of fchifms and 
 feels, and make it fuch a calamity, that any man diflents from their maxims. 
 'Tis their own pride and ignorance which caufes the difturbing, who neither 
 will hear with meeknefs, nor can convince, yet all mull be fuppreft which is 
 not found in their Syntagma. They are the troublers, they are the dividers of u- 
 nity, who neglect and permit not odiers to unite thofe diffever'd pieces which 
 are yet wanting to the body of Truth. To be ftill fearching what we know not, 
 by what we know, ftill clofing up truth to truth as we find it, (for all her body 
 is homogeneal, and proportional) this is the golden rule in Theology as well as iii 
 Arithmetic, and makes up the beft harmony in a Church •, not the fore'd aod 
 outward union of cold, and neutral, and inwardly divided minds. 
 
 Lords and Commons of England, confider what Nation it is wherof ye are, 
 and wherof ye are the Govemours: a Nation not (low and dull, but of a quick, 
 ingenious, and piercing fpirit, acute to invent, futtle and finewy to difcourfe, not 
 beneath the reach of any point the higheil that human capacity can foar to. There- 
 fore the fludies of Learning in her deepeft Sciences have been fo ancient, and fo 
 eminent among us, that Writers of good antiquity, and able- judgment, have been 
 perfwaded that even the fchool of Pythagoras, and t\\tPerfian wifdom, took be- 
 ginning from the old philofophy of this Ifland. And that wife and civil Ro- 
 man, 'Julius //griccla, who govern'd once here for C<rfar, preferred the natural 
 Wits of Britain, before the labour'd ftudies of the French. Nor is it for nothing 
 that the grave and frugal Tranfilvanian fends out yearly from as far as the moun- 
 tainous borders of Ruffla, and beyond the Hercynian wildernefs, not their youth, 
 but their ftay'd men, to learn our language, and our Theologic arts. Yet that 
 which is above all this, the favour and the love of Heaven, we have great argu- 
 ment to think in a peculiar manner propitious andpropending towards us. Why 
 elfe was this Nation cho fen before any other, that out of her as outof &'<?» fhould 
 beproclaim'd and founded forth the firft tidings and trumpet of Reformation to 
 all Europe? And had it not been the obftinate perverfenefs of our Prelates againft 
 the divine and admirab'e fpirit of IVicklef, to fuppreis him as a fchifmatic and 
 innovator, perhaps neither the Bohemian Hujfe and Jerom, no nor the name of 
 Luther, or of Calvin, had been ever known .- the glory of a reforming all our 
 neighbours had been compleatly ours. But now, as our obdurate Clergy have 
 with violence demean'd the matter, we are become hitherto the lateft and the 
 backwardeft Scholars, of whom God offer'd to have made us the Teachers. Now 
 once again by all concurrence of figns, and by the general inftir.ct of holy and 
 devout men, as they daily and folemnly exprefs their thoughts, God is decreeing 
 to begin fome new and great period in his Church, even to the reforming of Re- 
 formation it felf-, what does he then but reveal Himfelf to Ids fervants, and as 
 his manner is, firft to his Englijh-men? I lay as his manner is, firft to us, though 
 we mark not the method of his counfels, and are unworthy. Behold now this vaft 
 
 City;
 
 of Unlk ens d Printing. icj 
 
 City, a City of refuge, the manfion-houfe of liberty, encompaft and furrounded 
 with his protection •, the fliop of War hath not there more anvils and hammers 
 waking, to faihion out the plates and inftruments of armed Juftice in defence of 
 beleaguer'd Truth, than there be pens and heads there, fitting by their ftudious 
 lamps, mufing, fearching, revolving new notions and idea's wherewith to prefenc 
 as with their homage and their fealty the approaching Reformation : others as 
 fail reading, trying all things, afTentingto the force of reafonand convincement. 
 What could a man require more from a Nation fo pliant and fo prone to feek 
 after knowledge? What wants there to fuch a towardly and pregnant foil, but wife 
 and faithful Labourers, to make a knowing People, a Nation of Prophets, of Sao-es 
 and of Worthies? We reckon more than five months yet to harveft ; there need 
 not be five weeks, had we but eyes to lift up, the fields are white already. Where 
 there is much defire to learn, there of neceffity will be much arguing much wri- 
 ting, many opinions •, for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the rriaking. 
 Under thefe fantaftic terrours of feci andfchifm, we wrong the earneft and zea- 
 lous thirft after knowledge and underftanding which God hath ftirr'd up in this 
 City. What fome lament of, we rather fhould rejoice at, fiiould rather praife 
 this pious forwardnefs among men, to reafiume the ill deputed care of their Reli- 
 gion into their own hands again. A little generous prudence, a little forbearance 
 of one another, and fome grain of charity might win all thefe diligencies to join 
 and unite into one general and brotherly fearch after Truth ; could we but foro-o 
 this Prelatical tradition of crouding free Confciences and Chriftian Liberties in- 
 to canons and precepts of men. I doubt not, if fome great and worthy ftran°- e r 
 fhould come among us, wife to difcern the mould and temper of a people, arid 
 how to govern it, obfervingthe high hopes and aims, the diligent alacrity of our 
 extended thoughts and reafonings in the purfuance of truth and freedom, but that 
 he would cry out as Pyrrhus did, admiring the Roman docility and courage ; If 
 fuch were my Epirots, I would not defpair the greateft defign that could be at- 
 tempted to make a Church or Kingdom happy. Yet thefe are the men cry'd out 
 againft for fchifmatics and fectaries, as if, while the Temple of the Lord was 
 building, fome cutting, fome fquaring the Marble, others hewing the Cedars, 
 there fhould be a fort of irrational men who could not confider there muft be 
 many fchifms and many directions made in the quarry and in the timber ere 
 the Houfe of God can be built. And when every ftone is laid artfully together, 
 it cannot be united into a continuity, it can but be contiguous in this world : 
 neither can every piece of the Building be of one form ; nay rather the perfection 
 confifts in this, that out of many moderate varieties and brotherly diffimilitudes 
 that are not vaftly difproportional, arifes the goodly and the graceful fymmetry 
 that commends the whole pile and ftructure. Let us therfore be more confiderate 
 Builders, more wife in fpiritual Architecture, when great Reformation is expect- 
 ed. For now the time feems come, wherin Mofes the great Prophet may fit in 
 Heaven rejoicing to fee that memorable and glorious wilh of his fulfill'd, when 
 not only our feventy Elders, but all the Lord's people are become Prophets. No 
 marvel then though fome men, and fome good men too perhaps, but young in 
 goodnefs, as Jojhua then was, envy them. They fret, and out of their own weak- 
 nefs are in agony, left thefe divifions and fub-divifions will undo us. The adver- 
 fary again applauds, and waits the hour, when they have brancht themfelves 
 out, faith he, fmall enough into parties and partitions, then will be our time. 
 Fool! he fees not the firm root, out of which we all grow, though into branches; 
 nor will beware until he fee our fmall divided maniples cutting throuo-h at eve- 
 ry angle of his ill-united and unwieldy brigade. And that we are to hope better 
 of all thefe fuppofed fects and fchifms,and that we fhallnot need that folicitude, 
 honeft perhaps, though over-timorous, of them that vex in this behalf, but 
 ihall laugh in the end at thofe malicious applauders of our differences, I have 
 thefe reafons to perfwade me. 
 
 Firft, when a City Ihall be as it were befieg'd and blockt about, her navigable 
 river infefted, inrodes and incurfions round, defiance and battel oft rumour'd to 
 be marching up even to her walls and fuburb trenches, that then the people, or 
 the greater part, more than at other times, wholly taken up with the ftudy of 
 higheft and moft important matters to be reform'd, fhould be difputino-, rea- 
 ibning, reading, inventing, difcourfing, even to a rarity, and admiration, things 
 not before difcourft or written of, argues firft a fingular good will, contentednefs 
 and confidence in your prudent forefight, and fafe government, Lords and Com- 
 mons; and from thence derives it felf to a gallant bravery and well grounded 
 contempt of their enemies, as if there were no fmall number of as great fpirits
 
 1^8 A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 "among us, as his was, who when Rome was nigh befieg'd by Ha-niba 1 , being !ri 
 the City, bought that piece of ground at no cheap rate, whereon Hanibal him- 
 felf encampt his own regiment. Next, it is a lively and cheerful preiage of our 
 happy fuccefs and victory. For as in a body, when the blood is frefh, the fpirits 
 pure and vigorous, not only to vital, but to rational faculties, and thofe in the 
 acuteft, and the perteft operations of wit and futtlety, it argues in what good 
 plight and conftitution the body is •, fo when the cheerfulnefs of the people i i fd 
 iprightly up, as that it has not only wherewith to guard well its own freedom 
 and fafety, but to fpare, and to beftow upon the folideft and fublimeft points of 
 controverfy, and new invention, it betokens us not degenerated, nor drooping 
 to a fatal decay, but calling off the old and wrinkl'd /kin of corruption to out- 
 live thefe pangs, and wax young again, entring the glorious ways of Truth and 
 profperous Vertue, deftin'd to become great and honourable in thefe latter ages. 
 Methinks I fee in my mind a noble and puiffant Nation roufing her felf like a 
 ftrong man after fleep, and making her invincib'e locks: Methinks I fee her as 
 an Eagle muing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazi'd eyes at the full 
 mid-day beam-, purging and unfcaling her long-abufed fight at the fountain it 
 felf of heavenly radiance; while the whole noife of timorous and flocking birds 
 with thofe alfo that love the twilight, flutter about, amaz'd at what /lie means* 
 and in their envious gabble would prognofticate a year of Setts and Schifms. 
 
 What /hould ye do then, fhould ye fupprefs all this flowry crop of knowledge 
 and new light fprung up and yet fpringing daily in this City? /hould ye it 
 Oligarchy of twenty ingroflers over it, to bring a /amine upon our minds again* 
 when we /hall know nothing but what ismeafur'd to us by dieir bu/hel? Belie\ e 
 it, Lords and Commons, they who counfel ye toiuch a fupprefling, do as good 
 as bid ye fupprefs your felves •, and I will foon /hew how. If it be defir'd to know 
 the immediate caufe of all this free writing and free /peaking, there cannot be af- 
 fign'd a truer than your own mild, and Zree, and humane government; it is tlie 
 liberty, Lords and Commons, which your own valorous and happy Counfcls 
 have purchas'd us, Liberty which isthe nurfe of all greatWits : this is that which 
 hath rarify'd and enlighten'd our fpirits like the influence of Heaven ; this is that 
 which hath enfranchis'd, enlarg'd and li/ted up our apprehcnfions degrees above 
 themfelves. Ye cannot make us now lefs capable, lefs knowing, lefs eagerly 
 purfuing of the truth, unlefs ye firft make your felves, that made us fo, lefs the 
 lovers, lefs the founders of our true liberty. We can grow ignorant again, 
 bruti/h, formal, and flavi/h, as ye found us ; but you then mult firft become that 
 which ye cannot be, opprefiive, arbitrary, and tyrannous, as they were from 
 whom ye have freed us. That our hearts are now more capacious, our thoughts 
 more erected to the fearch and expectation of greateft and exacieft things, h 
 the i/Tue of your own virtue propagated in us; ye cannot fupprefs that, unlefs ye 
 reinforce an abrogated and mercilefs Law, that Fathers may diipatch at will 
 their own Children. And who /hall then ftick clofeft to ye, and excite others? 
 not he who takes up arms for Cote and Conduct, and his four nobles of Dane- 
 gelt. Although I difpraife not the defence of juft immunities, yet love my peace 
 better, if that were all. Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue 
 freely according to confeience, above all liberties. 
 
 What would be beft advis'd then, if it be found fo hurtful and fo unequal to 
 fupprefs Opinions for the newnefs, or the unfuitablenefs to a cuftomary accep- 
 tance, will not be my talk to fay ; I only /hall repeat what I have learnt from 
 one of your own honourable number, a right noble and pious Lord, who had 
 he not iacrifie'd his life and fortunes to the Church and Commonwealth, we had 
 not now mift and bewail'd a worthy and undoubted Patron of this argument. 
 Ye know him, I am fure; yet I for honour's fake, and may it be eternal to him, 
 /hall name him, the Lord Brock. He writing o/ Epilcopacy, and by the way 
 treating of Sects and Schifms, left ye his Vote, or rather now the laft Words of 
 his dyingCharge,which I know will ever be of dear and honour'd regard with Ye, 
 fo full of Meeknefs and breathing Charity, that next to his laft Teftament, who 
 bequeath'd Love and Peace to his Difciples, I cannot call to mind where I have 
 read or heard words more mild and peaceful. He there exhorts us to hear with 
 patience and humility thofe, however they be mifcall'd, that defire to live 
 purely, in fuch a ufe of God's Ordinances, as the beft guidance of their con- 
 feience gives them, and to tolerate them, though in fome difconformity to our 
 felves. The Book it felf will tell us more at large, being publifht to the World, 
 and dedicated to the Parlament by him who both /or his life and for his death 
 deferves, that what advice he left, be not laid by without perufal, 
 
 And
 
 of Untie en id Printing, xeg 
 
 And now the time in fpecial is, by privilege to write and fpeak what may help 
 to the further difcuffing of matters in agitation. The Temple of Janus, with his 
 two controverfal faces, might now not unfignificantly be fet open. And though 
 all the winds of doctrine were let loofe to play upon the earth, fo Truth bt\n 
 the field, we do injurioufly by licenfing and prohibiting to mifdoubt her ftrenoth. 
 Let her and Falfhood grapple i whoever knew Truth put to the worfe, in a free 
 and open encounter ? Her confuting is the beft and fureft fuppreflino-. He who 
 hears what praying there is for light and clear knowledge to be fent down a- 
 mong us, would think of other matters to be conftituted beyond the difcipline 
 of Geneva, fram'd and fabrie'd already to our hands. Yet when the new lio-fit 
 which we beg for, fhines in upon us, there be who envy and oppofe, if it conie 
 not firft in at their cafements. What a collufion is this, whenas we are exhort- 
 ed by the wife man toufe diligence, tofeekforwifdom as for hidden treasures ear- 
 ly and late, that another Order fhall enjoin us, to know nothing but by ftatute? 
 When a man hath been labouring the hardeft labour in the deep mines of Know- 
 [ge, hath furnifht out his findings in all their equipage, drawn forth his reafons 
 as it were a battel rang'd, fcatter'd and defeated all objections in his way, calls 
 out his adverfary into the plain, oilers him the advantage of wind and fun, if he; 
 pleafe, only that he may try the matter by dint of argument ; for his opponents 
 then to fculk, to lay ambuihments, to keep a narrow bridge of licenfing where 
 the challenger ihould pais, though it be valour enough in foldierlhip, is but 
 weaknefs and cowardice in the wars of Truth. For who knows, not that Truth 
 is ftror.g, next to the Almighty •, fhe needs no policies, nor ftratagems, nor li- 
 cenfings to make her victorious, thofe are the fhifts and the defences that error 
 ules ag linft her power : give her but room, and do not bind her when me fleeps, 
 for then ilie fpeaks not true, as the old Proteus did, who fpake Oracles only when 
 he was caught and bound, but then rather fhe turns her felf into all fhapes, except 
 her own, and perhaps tunes her voice according to the time,as Micaiab did before 
 Akab, until fhe be adjur'd into her own likenefs. Yet is it not impoffible that 
 fhe may have more fhapes than one ? What elfe is all that rank of things indif- 
 ferent, wherin Truth may be on this fide, or on the other, without bein°- un- 
 like her felf? What but a vain fliadow elfe is the abolition of thofe Ordinances^ 
 that Hand-writing nail'' d to the crofs? what great purchafe is this Chriftian Liber- 
 ty which JWfo often boafts of? His doctrine is, that he who eats or eats not, 
 regards a day or regards it not, may do either to the Lord. How many other 
 things might be tolerated in peace, and left to confeience, had we but charity, 
 and were it not the chief ftrong hold of our hypocrify to be ever jud°-ino- one ano- 
 
 ? I fear ye? this iron yoke of outward conformity hath left a flavifh print 
 upon our necks ; the ghoft of a linen decency yet haunts us. We ftumble and 
 
 impatient at the leaft dividing of one vifible Congregation from another 
 though it be not in fundamentals ; and through our forwardnefs to fupprefs, and 
 our backwardnefs to recover any enthral'd piece of truth out of the o-ripe of 
 cuftom, we care not to keep truth feparated from truth, which is the fierceft rent 
 and difanion of all. We do not fee that while We ilill affect by all means a rio-id 
 external formality, we may as foon fall again into agrofs conforming ftupidity, 
 a ftark and dead congealment of wood and hay and fiubble forced and frozen to- 
 gether, which is more to the fudden degenerating of a Church than many fub 'di- 
 chotomies of petty fchifms. Not that I can think well of every light reparation ; 
 or that all in a Church is to be expected gold and filver and precious flones : it is 
 not poffible for man to fever the wheat from the tares, the s;ood fifli from the o- 
 ther fry •, that muff be the Angels miniffry at the end of mortal things. Yet if all 
 cannot be of one mind, as who looks they fhould be ? this doubtlefs is more 
 wholefome, more prudent, and more chriftian, that many be tolerated, rather 
 than all compel'd. I mean not tolerated Popery, and open Superftition, which 
 as it extirpates all Religions and civil Supremacies, fo it felf fhould be extirpate, 
 provided firft that all charitable and companionate means be us'd to win and 
 regain the weak and the mifled : that alfo which is impious or evil abfolutely 
 either againft Faith or Manners, no Law can poffibly permit, that intends not 
 to unlaw it felf : but ihofe neighbouring differences, or rather indifferences, 
 are what I fpeak of, whether in fiome point of doctrine or of difcipline, which 
 though they may be many, yet need not interrupt the unity of Spirit, if we could 
 but find among us the bond of peace. In the mean while, if any one would write, 
 and bring his helpful hand to the flow-moving Reformation which we labour 
 under, if Truth have fpoken to him before others, or but feem'd at leaft to fpeak, 
 who hath fo bejefuited us that we fhould trouble that man with afking licence to 
 do fo worthy a deed ; and not confider this, that if it come to prohibiting, there 
 
 13
 
 j6q A Speech for the Liberty 
 
 isnotpuo-htmorelikely to be prohibited than Truth it felf: whofefirftappearance 
 tooureyes, blear'd and dimm'd with prejudice andcuftom,is moreunfightly and 
 unplaufible than many errors, even as the perfon is of many a great man flight and 
 contemptibletofeeto. And what do they tell us vainly of newopinions, when this 
 very opinion of theirs, that none muft be heard but whom they like, is the word 
 and neweft opinion of all others ; and is the chief caufe why feds and fchifras do 
 lb much abound, and true knowledge is kept at diftance from us •, befides yet a 
 greater danger which is in it ? For when God makes a Kingdom, with firong 
 and healthful Commotions, to a general reforming, 'tis not untrue that many 
 Sectaries and falfe Teachers are then bufieft in ieducing ? But yet more true it is, 
 that God then raifes to his own work men of rare abilities, and more than com- 
 mon induftry, not only to look back and revile what hath been taught hereto- 
 fore, but to gain further and go on, fome new enlighten'd fteps in the difcovery 
 of Truth. For fuch is the order of God's enlightening hisChurch,to difpenfe and 
 deal out by degrees his beam, lb as our earthly eyes may bell fuftainit. Neither is 
 God appointed and confin'd, where and out of what place thefe his Chofen fhall 
 be firft heard to fpeak; for he fees not as man fees, choofes not as man choofes, 
 left we fhould devote ourfelves again to fet places, and affemblies, and outward 
 callings of men; planting our faith one while in the old Convocation-houfe, and 
 another while in the Chapel at Wejlmir.fter; when all the faith and religion that 
 fhall be there canoniz'd, is not fufficient without plain convincement, and the 
 charity of patient inftruetion,to fupple theleaftbruifeof confcience, to edify the 
 meaneft Chriftian, who defires to walk in the Spirit, and not in the letter of hu- 
 man truft, for all the number of voices that can be there made; no, though Harry 
 the 7th himfelf there, with all his liege tombs about him, faould lend them voices 
 fiom the dead, to fwell their number. And it the men be erroneous who appear 
 to be the leading Schifmatics, what withholds us but our floth, our fell-will, 
 and diftruft in the right caufe, that we do not give them gentle meetings and 
 gentle difmiflions, that we debate' not and examine the matter throughly with 
 liberal and frequent audience ; if not for their lakes, yet for our own? feeing 
 no man who hath tailed Learning, but will confefs the many ways of profiting 
 by thofe who, not contented with ftale receipts, are able to manage and fet forth 
 new pofitions to the world. And were they but as the dull and cinders of our feet, 
 fo long as in that notion they may yet ferve to polifh and brighten the armory of 
 Truth, even for that reipect they were not utterly to be call away. But if they be 
 of thofe whom God hath fitted for the fpecial ufe of thefe times with eminent and 
 amplegifts,and thofe perhaps neither among the Priefls,nor among the Pharifees, 
 and we in the hafte of a precipitant zeal fhall make no diftinction, but refolve to 
 flop their mouths, becaufe we fear they come with new and dangerous opinions, 
 as we commonly fore-judge them ere we underftand them ; no lefs than woe to 
 us, while thinking thus to defend the Gofpel, we are found the perfecutors. 
 
 There have been not a few fince the beginning of this Parlament, both of the Pref- 
 bytery and others, who by their unlicens'd Books to the contempt of an Imprimatur 
 firft broke that triple ice clung about our hearts, and taught the people to fee day : 
 I hope that none of thofe were the perf waders to renewupon us thisbondage which 
 they themfelves have wrought fo much good by contemning. But if neither the 
 check that Mofes gave to young Jojbua, nor the countermand which our Saviour 
 gave to young John, who was fo ready to prohibit thofe whom he thought unli- 
 cens'd, be not enough to admonilh our Elders how unacceptable toGod their telly 
 mood of prohibiting is ; ifneither theirown remembrance what evil hath abounded 
 in the Church by this lett of licenfing,and what good they themfelves have begun 
 by tranfgreffing it, be not enough, but that they will perfwade, and execute the 
 moll Dominican part of the Inquifition overus,and are already with one foot in the 
 ftirrup fo active at lupprefling, it would be no unequal diftribution in the firilplace 
 to fupprefs the fuppreflbrs themfelves-, whom the change of their condition hath 
 puft up, more than their late experience of harder times hath made wife. 
 
 And as for regulating the Prefs, let no man think to have the honour of 
 advifing ye better than your felves have done in that Order publifh'd next be- 
 for< this, That no Book be printed, unlefs the Printer's and the Author's 
 name, or at leaft tie Printer's be regifler'd. Thofe which otherwife come 
 forth, if they be foind mifchievous and libellous, the fire and the executioner 
 will be the timelieft and the mod effectual remedy that man's prevention can 
 life. For this authentic Spanijh policy of licenfing Books, if I have faid 
 ht, will prove the moft unlicens'd Book it felf within a lhort while; and 
 was the immediate image of a Star-chamber Decree to that purpofe made 
 
 in
 
 of Unlicensed Prinh i6r 
 
 in thofe very times when that Court did the fed of thofe her pious works, for 
 which fhe is now fallen from the Stars with Lucifer, Wherby ye may guefs 
 
 what kind of State-prudence, what love of the People, what care of Religion, 
 or Good-manners, there was at the contriving, although with lingular hypo, ri - 
 it pretended to bind Books to their good Behaviour. And how it got the upper 
 hand of your precedent Order fo well conllituted before, if we may believe thofe 
 men whofc profeffion gives them caufe to enquire mofc, it may be doubted 
 there was in it the fraud of fome old Patentees and Monopolizers in the Trade of 
 Book-felling ; who under pretence of the Poor in their Company not to be de- 
 frauded, and the juft retaining of each man his feveral copy, which God fori id 
 mould be gainiaid, brought divers gloiling colours to the Houfe, which were 
 indeed but colours, and ferving to no end except it be to exercife a fuperiority 
 over their neighbours : Men who do not theriore labour in an honeft profeffion, 
 to which Learning is indebted, that they ihould be made other men's valla's. 
 Another end is thought was aim'd at by fome of them in procuring by petition 
 this Order, that having power in their hands, malignant Books might the ea- 
 fier fcape abroad, as the event fhews. But of thele Sopbijins and Elenchs of mer- 
 chandize I fkill not : This I know, that errors in a good Government and in a 
 bad are equally aimoft incident ; for what Magistrate may not be mif-inform'd, 
 and much the fooner, if liberty of Printing be redue'd into the power of a few? 
 But to redrefs willingly and fpeedily what hath been erred, and in highelt Au- 
 thority to efteem a plain Advertifement more than others have done a fump- 
 tuous Bride, is a Virtue (honour'd Lords and Commons) anfwerable to your 
 higheft Actions, and wherof none can participate, but greateft and wifeit men. 
 
 Vol. I. T PI E
 
 l62 
 
 THE 
 
 Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce-, 
 
 Reftored to the good of both Sexes, from the Bon- 
 dage of Canon Law, and other Miftakes- to 
 the true Meaning of Scripture in the Law and 
 Gofpel compar'd. 
 
 Wherein alfo are fet down the bad Confequences of abo- 
 lifhing or condemning of Sin, that which the Law of 
 God allows, and Christ abolifh'd not. 
 
 Now the fccond time Revis'd, and much Augmented, in two Books : 
 To the Parlament of England, with the Aflembly. 
 
 Matth. 13. 52. Every Scribe inftrutled in the Kingdom of Heaven, is like 
 the Mafter of a Houfe which bringeth out of his Treafury things new and old. 
 
 Prov. 18.13. He that anfwereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and 
 Jhame unto him. 
 
 «■ .. m i . 1111 ■ — 
 
 To the Parlament of England, with the AJ[e?nbly, 
 
 IF it were ferioufly aflk'd, and it would be no untimely Queftion, Renowned 
 Parlament, Select Aflembly, who of all Teachers and Mafters that have ever 
 taught, hath drawn the moft Difciples after him, both in Religion and in 
 Manners? it might be not untruly anfwer'd, Cuftom. Though Virtue be 
 commended for the moft perfwafive in her Theory, and Confcience in the plain de- 
 monftration of the Spirit finds moft evincing-, yet whether it be the fecret of Di- 
 vine Will, or the original Blindnefs we are born in,fo it happens for the moft part, 
 rhatCuftom ft ill isfilentlyreceiv'dforthe beft inftrudtor. Except it be, becaufe the 
 method is fo glib and eafy, in fome manner like to that Vifion of Ezekiel, rowl- 
 ingup her fudden book of implicite Knowledge, for him that will, to take and fwal- 
 low down at pleafure ; which proving but of bad nourifhment in the concoction, 
 as it was heedlefs in the devouring, puffs up unhealthily a certain big face of pre- 
 tended learning,miftaken amongcredulous men for the wholefome habit of found- 
 nefs and good conftitution, but is indeed no other than that fwoln vifige of coun- 
 terfeit knowledge and literature, which not only in private mars ou* Education, 
 but alfo in public is the common Climber into every chair, where either Religion 
 is preach'd, or Law reported, filling each eftate of Life and Profeflion with abjeft 
 and feryile principles, deprefling the high and heaven-born fpirit of man, far 
 beneath the condition wherin either God created him, or Sin hath funk him". "To 
 purfue the Allegory, Cuftom being but a meer face, as Echo is a meer voice, 
 refts not in her unaccompliftiment, until by fecret inclination ihe accorporate her 
 felf with Error, who being a blind and ferpentine body without a head, willingly 
 accepts what he wants, and fupplies what her Incompleatnefs went feeking. 
 Hence it is, that Error fupports Cuftom, Cuftom countenances Error : and 
 thefe two between them would perfecute and chafe away all truth and folid 
 wifdom out of human Life, were it not that God, rather than Man, once in 
 many Ages, calls together the prudent and religious Counfels of men, deputed 
 to reprels the incroachments, and to work off the inveterate blots and obfeuri- 
 ties wrought upon our minds by the fubtle infinuating of Error and Cuftom •, 
 who with the numerous and vulgar train of their Followers, make it their 
 chief defign to envy and cry down the induftry of free reaioning, under the 
 terms of humour and innovation ; as if the Womb of teeming Truth were to 
 
 be
 
 To the Par lament of England. 1 63 
 
 be clos'd up, if flic prefume to bring forth aught that forts not with their un- 
 chew'd notions and fuppofitions. Againft which notorious injury, and abufe of 
 man's free foul, to teftify andoppofe the utmoft that iludy and true labour can 
 attain, heretofore the incitement of men reputed grave, hath led me among o- 
 thers ; and now the duty and the right of an inftrucled Chriflian calls me thro' 
 the chance of good or evil report, to be the fole Advocate of a difcountenane'd 
 truth; a high enterprife, Lords and Commons, a high enterprife and a hard, 
 and fuch as every 7th Son of a 7th Son does not venture on. Nor have I amidft 
 the clamour of fo much envy and impertinence, whither to appeal, but to the 
 concourfe offo much Piety andWifdom here aflembled. Bringing in my hands an 
 ancient and mod neceffary, mod charitable, and yet mollin]ur'd Statute of Mo- 
 fes; not repea''d ever by him who only had the Authority, but thrown afide with 
 much inconfi derate Neglect, under the Rubbifh of Canonical Ignorance, as once 
 the whole Law was by fomefuch like conveyance injo/iah's time. And he who 
 fhall endeavour the amendment of any old neglected Grievance in Church or 
 State, or in the daily courfe of Life, if he be gifted with abilities of mind that 
 may raife him to fo high an undertaking, I grant he hath already much wherof 
 not to repent him ; yet let me arreed him, not to be the foreman of any mif- 
 judg'd Opinion, unlefs his Refolutions be firmly feated in a fquare and conftant 
 mind, not confeious to it feJf of any delerved blame, and regardlefs of unground- 
 ed fufpicions. For this let him be fure he fhall be boarded prefently by the ru- 
 der fort, but not by difcreet and well-nurtur'd men, with a thoufand idle De- 
 fcants and Surmifes. "Who when they cannot confute the leaft joint or finew of 
 any pafTage in the Book ; yet God forbid that truth fhould be truth, becaufe 
 they have a boifterous conceit of fome pretences in the Writer. But were they 
 not more bufy and inquifitive than the Apoflle commends, they would hear him 
 at leaft, rejoicing fo the truth be preach' 'd, whether of envy or other pretence what- 
 foever : for Truth is as iinpomble to be foil'd by any outward touch, as the Sun- 
 beam •, though this ill hap wait on her Nativity, that fhe never comes into the 
 World, but like a Baftard, to the ignominy of him that brought her forth ; till 
 Time, the Midwife rather than the Mother of Truth, have waflit and faked the 
 Infant, declar'd her legitimate, and church'd the Father of his young Minerva , 
 from the needlefs caufesof his Purgation. Your felves can beft witnels this, wor- 
 thy Patriots, and better will, no doubt, hereafter : for who among ye of the 
 foremoft that have travail'd in her behalf to the good of Church or State, hath 
 not been often tradue'd to be the Agent of his own by-ends, under pretext of 
 Reformation ? So much the more I ihall not be unjuft to hope, that however 
 Infamy or Envy may work in other men to do her fretful Will againft this 
 Difcourfe, yet that the experience of your own uprightnefs mif-interpreted, will 
 put ye in mind to give it free Audience and generous Conftru&ion. What though 
 the blood of Belial, the draffe of men, to whom no Liberty is pleafing, but un- 
 bridled and vagabond Luft without pale or partition, will laugh broad per- 
 haps, to fee fo great a ftrength of Scripture muftering up in favour, as they fup- 
 pofe, of their Debaucheries ; they will know better when they fhall hence learn, 
 that honeft Liberty is the greateft foe to difhoneft Licence. And what though 
 others, out of a waterifh and queafy Confcience, becaufe ever crazy and never 
 yet found, will rail and fancy to themfelves, that Injury and Licence is the beft 
 of this Book? Did not the Diftemper of their own Stomachs affect them with a 
 dizzy Megrim, they would foon tie up their Tongues, and difcern themfelves, 
 like that Afjyrian Bkfphemer, all this while reproaching not Man, but the Al- 
 mighty, the Holy-One of Ifrael, whom they do not deny to have belawgiv'n his 
 own facred People with this very allowance, which they now call Injury and Li- 
 cence, and dare cry ihame on, and will do yet a while, till they get a little cor- 
 dial Sobriety to fettle their qualming Zeal. But thisQaeftion concerns notusper- 
 haps: indeed man's difpofition, though prone to fearch after vain Curiofities, yet 
 when points of difficulty are to be difcuft, appertaining to the removal of unreafon- 
 able wrong and burden from the perplextlife of our Brother, it is incredible how 
 cold, how dull, and far from all fellow-feeling we are, without the fpur of felf- 
 concernment. Yet if the Wifdom, the Juftice, the Purity of God be to be clear'd 
 from fouleft Imputations, which are not yet avoided-, if Charity be not to be de- 
 graded and trodden down under a civil Ordinance ; if Matrimony be not to be ad- 
 vane'd like that exalted Perdition written of to the Thejfalonians, above all that is 
 called God, or Goodnefs, nay againft them both ; then I dare affirm there will be 
 Vol. I. Y 2 found
 
 164 To the Parlament of England, 
 
 found in the Contents of this Book, that which may concern us all. You it con- 
 cerns chiefly, Worthies in Parlament, on whom, as on our Deliverers, all our 
 Grievances andCares,by the merit of your eminence and fortitude, are devolved. 
 Meit concerns next, having with much labour and faithful diligencefirftfound out, 
 or at leaft with a fearlefs and communicative candor firft publifh'd to themanifeft 
 o-cod of Chriftendom, that which calling to witnefs every thing mortal and im- 
 mortal, I believe unfeignedly to be true. Let not other men think their Confcience 
 bound to fearch continually after truth, to pray for enlighi'ning from above, topub- 
 lifh what they think they have foobtain'd, and debar me from conceiving my fell" 
 ty'dby the fame duties. Ye have now,doubtlefs,by the favour and appointment of 
 God, ye have now in yourhandsagreat and populous Nation to reform ; from what 
 corruption, whatblindnefs in Religion, ye know well ; in what a degenerate and 
 fallenSpirit from the apprehenfion of nativeLiberty,and true Manlinefs,Iam fure 
 ye find ; with what unbounded licence ruffling to Whoredoms and Adulteries, 
 needs not long enquiry: infomuch that the Fears which men have of too ftricta 
 Difcipline, perhaps exceed the Hopes that can be in others, of ever introducing it 
 with any great fuccefs. What if Ifhould tell ye now of Difpenfations and Indulgen- 
 ces, to give a little the reins, to let them play and nibble with the bait a while; 
 a People as hard of heart as that Egyptian Colony that went to Canaan. This is the 
 common Doctrine that adulterous and injurious Divorces were notconniv'd only, 
 but with eye open allow'd of old for hardnefs of heart. But that Opinion, I truft, 
 by then this following Argument hath been well read, will be left for one of the 
 Myfterics of an indulgent Antichrift, to farm out Inceft by, and thofe his other 
 tributary Pollutions. What middle way can be taken then, may fome interrupt, 
 if we muft neither turn to the right, nor to the left, and that the People hate to 
 be reform'd? Mark then, Judges and Law-givers, and ye whole Office it is to 
 be our Teachers, for I will utter now a Doctrine, if ever any other, though neg- 
 lected or not underftood, yet of great and powerful importance to the governing 
 of Mankind. He who wifely would reftrain the reafonable Soul of Man within 
 due bounds, muft firft himfelfknow perfectly, how far the Territory and Domi- 
 nion extends of juft and honeft Liberty. As little muft he offer to bind that which 
 God hath loofen'd, as to loofen that which he hath bound. The ignorance and 
 miftake of this high point, hath heapt up one huge half of all the mifery that hath 
 been [met Adam. In the Gofpel we fhall read a fupercilious crew of Mailers, whofe 
 Holinefs, or rather whofe evil eye, grieving that God ftiould be fo facil to Man, 
 was to fet ftraiter limits to Obedience than God had let, to enflave the dignity of 
 Man, to put a garifon upon his neck of empty and over-dignify 'd Precepts : And 
 we fhall read our Saviour never more griev'd and troubl'd, than to meet with fuch 
 a peevifh Madnefs among men againft their own freedom. How can we expect 
 him to be Iefs offended with us, when much of the fime folly fhall be found yet 
 remaining where it leaft ought, to the perifhingof thoufands? The greateft bur- 
 den in the world is Superftition, not only of Ceremonies in the Church, but of 
 imaginary and icarecrow Sins at home. What greater weakening, what more fubtle 
 ftratagem againft our Chriftian Warfare, when befides the grofs body of real Tranf- 
 greffions to incounter, we fhall be terrify'd by a vain and fhadowy menacing of 
 faults that are not: When things indifferent fhall be fet to over- front us under the 
 Banners of Sin, what wonder if we be routed, and by this art of our Adverfary, 
 fall into the fubjection of worft and deadlieft Offences ? The Superftition of the 
 Papift is, touch not, tajlenot, when God bids both ; and ours is, part not, fep urate 
 not, when God and Charity both permits and commands. Let all your things be 
 done with charity, faith St. Paul; and his Mailer faith, She is the fulfilling of the 
 Law. Yet now a civil, an indifferent, a fometime diffwaded Law of Marriage, 
 muft be fore'd upon us to fulfil, not only without Charity, but againft her. No 
 place in Heaven or Earth, except Hell, where Charity may not enter : yet Mar- 
 riage, the Ordinance of our Solace and Contentment, the Remedy of our Loneli 
 nefs, will not admit now either of Charity or Mercy, to come in and mediate, or 
 pacify the fiercenefs of this gentle Ordinance, the unremedied Lonelinefs of this 
 Remedy. Advife ye well, fupreme Senate, if Charity be thus excluded and ex- 
 pulft, how ye will defend the untainted Honour of your own Actions and Pro- 
 ceedings. He who marries, intends as little to confpire his own ruin, as he that 
 fwears Allegiance : and as a whole People is in proportion to an ill Government, 
 foisone Man to an ill Marriage. If they, againft any Authority, Covenant, or 
 Statute,may by the fovereign Edict of Charity, lave not only their Lives, but honeft 
 Liberties from unworthy Bondage, as well may he againft any private Covenant, 
 
 which
 
 with the Ajfembly. ! <5 ^ 
 
 which he never enter'd to his mifchief, redeem himfelf from unfupportable Dif- 
 turbances to honeft Peace, and jutt Contentment: And much the rather, for that 
 to refill the higheft Magiltrate though tyrannizing, God never gave us expreSs al- 
 lowance, only he gave usReafon, Charity, Nature, and good Example to bear 
 us out; but in this Oeconomical misfortune thus to demean ourfelves,befidesthe 
 Warrant of thole four great Directors, which doth as juftly belono- hither, we 
 have an exprefs Law of God, and fuch a Law, as wherof our Saviour with a fo- 
 lemn Threat forbid the abrogating. For no effect of Tyranny can fit more heavy 
 on the Common-wealth, than this houlhold unhappinefs ontheFamily. And fare- 
 wel all hope of true Reformation in the State, while fuch an evil as this liesundif- 
 cern'd or unregarded in the houfe. On the redrefs wherof depends not only the fpi- 
 ritful and orderly lite of our grown men, but the willing and careful education of 
 our Children. Let thistherfore be new examin'd, this tenure and freehold of man- 
 kind, this native and domeftic Charter given us by a greater Lord than that Saxon 
 King the ConfefTor. Let the Statutes of God be turn'ci over, be fcann'd anew, and 
 considered not altogether by the narrow intellectuals of Quotationifts and com- 
 mon Places, but (as was the ancient right of Councils) by men of what liberal pro- 
 feSfion foever, of eminent fpirit and breeding, join'd with a diffufeand various 
 knowledge of divine and human things; able to ballance and define good and 
 evil, right and wrong, throughout every ftate of life; able to fhew us the ways 
 of the Lord Strait and faithful as they are, not full of cranks and contradictions, 
 and pit-falling difpenfes, but with divine infight and benignity meafured out to 
 the proportion of each mind and fpirit, each temper and difpofition created fo 
 different each from other, and yet by the fkill of wife conducting, all to become 
 uniform in virtue. To expedite thefe knots, were worthyalearnedandmemorable 
 Synod ; while our enemies expect to fee the expectation of the Church tir'd out 
 with dependencies and independencies how they will compound, and in what 
 Calends. Doubt not, worthy Senators, to vindicate thefacred Honour and Judg- 
 ment of Mofes your predecefibr, from the fhallow commenting of Scholastics 
 and Canonifts. Doubt not after him to reach out your Steady hands to the mif- 
 inform'd and wearied life of man; to reftorethis his loft heritage, into the houf- 
 hold ftate ; wherwith be fure that peace and love* the beft fubfiStance of a Chri- 
 ftian family, will return home from whence they are now banifht; places of pro- 
 stitution will be lefs haunted, the neighbour's bed lefs attempted, the yoke of pru- 
 dent and manly difcipline will be generally Submitted to; fober and well-order'd 
 livingwillfoon Spring up in the Commonwealth. Yehavean Author great beyond 
 exception, Mofes ; and one yet greater, he who hedg'd in from abolifhing every 
 lmalleft jotandtittleof preciousequity contain'dinthatLaw,withamoreaccurate 
 and lafting Maforeth,than either the Synagogue of Ezra or the GaliLean School at 
 Tiberias hath left us. Whatever el fe ye can enact, will Scarce concern a third part of 
 the Britijh name : but the benefit and good of this your magnanimous example, 
 will eafily fpread far beyond the banks of Tweed and the Normanldes. It would 
 not be the firit, or Second time, Since our ancient Druids^ by whom the Ifland 
 was the Cathedral of philofophy to France, left off their Pagan Rites, that Eng~ 
 land hath had this honour vouchfaft from Heaven, togive out Reformation to the 
 world. Who was it but our Englijh Conjlantine that baptiz'd the Roman Empire? 
 Who but the 'Northumbrian IVillibrode, and Winifride of Devon, with their fol- 
 lowers, were the firft ApoStles of Germany? Who but Alcuin and IVicklef our 
 Countrymen open'd the eyes of Europe, the one in Arts, the other in Religion? 
 Let not England forget her precedence of teaching Nations how to live. 
 
 Know Worthies, know and exercife the privilege of your honour'd Country. 
 A greater title I here bring ye, than is either in the power or in the policy of 
 Rome to give her Monarchs ; this glorious Act will Stile ye the defenders of Cha- 
 rity. Nor is this yet the higheft inscription that will adorn fo religious and fo 
 holy a defence as this, behold here the pure and Sacred Law of God, and his yet 
 purer and more Sacred Name offering themfelves to you firft, of all Christian 
 Reformers, to be acquitted from the long-fuSfer'd ungodly attribute of patroni- 
 zing Adultery. Defer not to wipe off inftantly thefe imputative blurrs and 
 Stains caft by rude fancies upon the throne and beauty it felf of inviolable Ho- 
 linefs; left Some other people more devout and wife than we bereave us this 
 offer'd immortal glory,our wonted prerogative, of being the firft affertors in eve- 
 ry great vindication. For me, as far as my part leads me, I have already my great- 
 est gain, affurance, and inward Satisfaction to have done in this nothing unwor- 
 thy of an honeft life, and Studies well employ'd. With whac event among the 
 
 wife
 
 1 66 The Doctrine and 
 
 wife and right understanding handful of men, I am fecure. But how among the 
 drove of Cuftom and Prejudice this will be relifht by fuch whofe capacity fincc 
 their youth run ahead into the eafy creek of a Syftem or a Medulla, fails there 
 at will under the blown Phyliognomy of their unlabour'd rudiments; for them. 
 what their tafte will be, I have alfo furety fufficient, from the entire league that 
 hath been ever between formal ignorance and grave obftinacy. Yet when I re- 
 member the little that our Saviour could prevail about this doctrine of Charity 
 agair.ft the crabbed Textuiftsof his time, I make no wonder, but reft confident 
 that whofo prefers eifher Matrimony or other Ordinance before the good of man 
 and the pi.. in exigence of Charity, let him profefs Papift or Proteftant or what 
 he will, he is no better than a Pharifee, and understands not the Gofpel : whom 
 as a mifinterpreter of Chrift I openly proteft againft ; and provoke him to the 
 trial of this troth before all the world : and let him bethink him withal how he 
 will foderupthe fhifting flaws of his ungirt permiffions, his venial and unvenial 
 difpenfes, wherewith the Law of God pardoning and unpardoning hath been 
 lhamefully branded for want of heed in gloffing, to have eluded and baffled out 
 all Faith and Chaitity from the Marriage-bed of that holy Seed, with politic and 
 judicial Adulteries. I feek not to feduce the fimple and illiterate-, my errand is to 
 find out the choiceftand the learnedeft, who have this high gift of wifdom toan- 
 lwer folidly, or to be convine'd. I crave it ifom the piety, the learning, and the 
 prudence which is hous'd in this place. It might perhaps more fitly have been 
 written in another tongue: and I had done fo, but that the efteem I have of my 
 Country's judgment, and the love I bear to my native language to ferve it firltwith 
 what I endeavour, made me ipeak it thus, ere I allay the verdict of ourlandifh 
 Readers. And perhaps alfo here 1 might have ended namelefs, but that the ad- 
 drefs of thefe lines chiefly to theParlament of England might have feem'd ingrate- 
 ful not to acknowledge by whole religious Care, unwearied Watchfulnefs, cou- 
 ragious and heroic Reioiutions, I enjoy the peace and ftudious leifure to remain, 
 
 The Honourer and Attendant of their Noble Worth and Virtues. 
 
 The Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorcer 
 reftor'd to the good of both Sexes. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 "That Man is the occafion of his own Miferies, in mojl of thofe Evils which he imputes 
 to Goo's infliclmg. The abfuraity of our Canonijis in their Decrees about Divorce. 
 The Chriftian Imperial Laws framed with more Equity. The Opinion of Hugo 
 Grotius and Paulus Fagius : And the Purpofe in general of this Difcourfe. 
 
 MANY men, whether it be their fate, or fond opinion, eafily perfwade 
 themfelves, if God would but be pleas'd a while to withdraw his 
 juft punilhments from us, and to reltrain what power either the 
 Devil or any earthly enemy hath to work us woe, that then man's 
 Nature would fifid immediate reft and releafement from all Evils. But verily 
 they who think fo, if they be fuch as have a mind large enough to take into 
 their thoughts a general furvey of human things, would foon prove themfelves 
 in that Opinion far deceiv'd. For though it were granted us by divine Indul- 
 gence to be exempt from a'l that can be harmful to us from without, yet the 
 perverfenefs of our Folly is fo bent, that we lhould never lin hammering out 
 of our own hearts, as it were out of a flint, the feeds and fparkles of new Mife- 
 ry to our felves, till all were in a blaze again. And no marvel if out of our own 
 hearts, for they arc evil •, but even out of thofe things which God meant us, ei- 
 ther for a principal Good, or a pure Contentment, we are ltill hatching and con- 
 
 triving
 
 Difcipline of Divorce. 167 
 
 triving upon our felves matter of continued forrow and perplexity. What great- 
 er good to man than that revealed Rule, wherby God vouchfafts to fhew us how 
 he would be worlhipt ? And yet that not rightly underftood, became the caufe 
 that once a famous man in Ifrael could not but oblige his Confcience to be the 
 Sacrificer ; or if not, the Jaylor of his innocent and only Daughter : And was 
 the caufe oftimes that Armies of valiant men have given up their Throats to 
 a heathenifli enemy on the Sabbath-day •, fondly thinking their defenfive refif- 
 tanceto be as then a work unlawful. What thing more inftituted to the folace 
 and delight of man than Marriage ? and yet the mifinterpreting of fome Scrip- 
 ture directed mainly againft the abufers of the Law for Divorce given by Mofes y 
 hath chang'dthe blefilng of Matrimony not feldom into a familiar and co-inha- 
 biting mifchief •, at leaft into a drooping and difconfolate houfhold Captivity, 
 without refuge or redemption. So ungovern'd and lb wild a race doth Superfti- 
 tion run us, from one extreme of abufed Liberty into the other of unmerciful 
 Reftraint. For although God in the firft ordaining of Marriage, taught us to what 
 end he did it, in words exprefly implying the apt and chearful Converfation of 
 Man with Woman, to comfort and refrefh him againft the evil of folitary life, 
 not mentioning the purpofe of Generation till afterwards, as being but a fecon- 
 dary end in dignity, tho' not in neceffity, yet now, if any two be but once hand- 
 ed in the Church, and have tafted in any fort the nuptial Bed, let them find them- 
 felves never fo miftaken in their difpofitions through any Error, Concealment, 
 or Mifadventure, that through their different Tempers, Thoughts, andConfti- 
 tutions, they can neither be to one another a remedy againft Lonelinefs, nor live 
 in any Union or Contentment all their days, yet they fhall, fo they be but found 
 fuitably weapon'd to the leaft poffibility of fenfual Enjoyment, be made, fpight 
 of Antipathy , to fadge together, and combine as they may to their unfpeakable 
 wearifomenefs, and defpair of all fociable delight in the Ordinance which God 
 eftablihYd to that very end. What a calamity is this, and as the Wife-man, if he 
 were alive, would figh out in his own Phrafe, what a fore evil is this under the 
 Sun! All which we can refer juftly to no other Author than the Canon Law and 
 her Adherents, not confulting with Charity, the Interpreter and Guide of our 
 Faith, but refting in the meer element of the Text; doubtlefs by the policy of 
 the Devil to make that gracious Ordinance become unfupportable, that what 
 with men not daring to venture upon Wedloc, and what with men wearied out 
 of it, all inordinate Licence might abound. It was for many Ages that Mar- 
 riage lay in difgracc with moft of the ancient Doctors, as a work of the fiefh, 
 almoft a defilement, wholly deny'd to Priefts, and the fecond timedifiwaded to 
 all, as he that reads Tertullian or Jerom may fee at large. Afterwards it was 
 thought fo Sacramental, that no Adultery or Defertion could diflblve it; and 
 this is the fenfe of our Canon Courts in England to this day, but in no other re- 
 formed Church elfe : yet there remains in them alfo a burden on it as heavy as 
 the other two were disgraceful or fuperftitious, and of as much iniquity, croffing 
 a Law not only written by Mofes, but chara&er'd in us by nature, of more anti- 
 quity and deeper ground than Marriage it felf ; which Law is to force nothing 
 againft the faultlefs proprieties of Nature : yet that this may be colourably 
 done, our Saviour's Words touching Divorce, are as it were congeal'd into a 
 ftony rigor, inconfiftent both with his Doctrine and his Office ; and that which 
 hepreach'd only to the Confcience, is by Canonical Tyranny fnatch'd into the 
 compulfive Cenfure of a Judicial Court, where Laws are impos'd even againft 
 the venerable and fecret power of Nature's impreffion, to love, whatever caufe 
 be found to loath. Which is a heinous barbarifm both againft the honour of 
 Marriage, the dignity of Man and his Soul, the goodnefs of Chriftianity, and 
 all the human refpects of civility. Notwithftanding that fome the wifeft and 
 graveft among the Chriftian Emperors, who had about them, to confult with, 
 thofeof the Fathers then living ; who for their Learning and Holinefs of Life, 
 are ftill with us in great renown, have made their ftatutes and edicts concerning 
 this Debate far more eafy and relenting in many neceflary cafes, wherin the 
 Canon is inflexible. And Hugo Grotius, a man of thefe times, one of the bed 
 learned, feems not obfeurely to adhere in his perfwafion to the equity of thole 
 Imperial Decrees, in his notes upon the Evange'.ijh; much allaying the outward 
 roughnefs of the Text, which hath for the moft part bin too immoderately 
 expounded ; and excites the diligence of others to inquire further into this quef- 
 tion, as concerning many points that have not yet been explain'd. W^hich ever 
 likely to remain intricate and hopelefs upon the fuppofitions commonly ftuck to, 
 ' the authority of Paulus Fagius, one fo learned and fo eminent m Engl and once, if it 
 
 might
 
 x63 ST& DoBritie and 
 
 tnic-^l j le, would ftrr. i- acquaint us with a foiution of fchefe differences, no 
 
 ian compendious. He in his Comment on the Pen!,. loubted 
 
 not to maintain that Divorces might be as lawfully permitted by the Magiftrate 
 to Chriftians, as they were to the Jews. But becauie he is but brief, and theft 
 things of great confequence not to be kept obfeure, 1 ihall conceive it nothing 
 above my duty, either lor the difficulty or the cenfure that may pafs theron, to 
 communicate fuch thoughts as I alio have had, and do offer them now in this 
 general labour of Reformation to the candid view both of Church and Magiftrate, 
 efpecialiy becaufe I fee it the hope of good men, that thofe irregular and un- 
 fpiritual Courts have fpun their utmolt date in this Land, and fome better courfe 
 muft now be conftituted. This therfere ihall be the talk and period of this dif- 
 courfe to prove, firft, that other reaions of Divorce, befides Adultery, were by 
 the Law of Mofes, and are yet to be aliow'd by the Chriftian Magiftrate as a 
 oiece of Juftice, and that the words of Chrift are not hereby contraried. Next, 
 that to prohibit abfolutely any Divorce whatfoever, except thole which Mofes 
 exceDted. is a°-ainft the reafon of Law, as in due p'ace I ihall fhew out of Fa- 
 eius with many additions. He therfore who by adventuring, mall be fo happy 
 as with fuceefs to light the way of fuch an expedient Liberty and Truth as this, 
 frail reftorethe much-wrong'd and over-forrow'd ftate of Matrimony, not only 
 to thofe merciful and life-giving remedies of Atefet, but as much as may be, to 
 that ferene and blifsful condition it was in at the beginning, and fhali deferve 
 of all apprehenfive men, (confiderirg the troubles and diltempers which for 
 want of this infight have been fo oft in Kingdoms, in States and Families) ihall 
 deferve to be rcckon'd among the public Benefactors ot civil and human lire, 
 above the Inventors of Wine and Oil •, for this is a far dearer, far nobler, 
 and more definable cherifhing to man's life, unworthily expoied to Sad* 
 nefs and Miftake, which he fliall vindicate. Not that licence, and levity, and 
 unconfented breach of Faith fhould herein be countenane'd, but that fome con- 
 fcionable and tender pity might be had of thofe who have unwarily, in a thing 
 they never praclis'd before, made themfelves the Bondmen of a luckleis and 
 helplefs Matrimony. In which Argument, he whofe courage can ferve him to 
 give the firft onfet, muft look for two feveral oppofitions ; the one from thofe 
 who having fworn themfelves to long Cuitom, and the letter of theText, will not 
 out of the road : the other from thofe whofe grofs and vulgar Apprehenfions con- 
 ceit but low of matrimonial purpofes, and in the work oi Male and Female think 
 they have all. Neverthelefs, it Ihall be here fought by due ways to be made ap- 
 pear, that thofe Words of God in the Inftitution, promifinga meet help againft 
 Lonelineis, and. thofe Words of Chrift, That bis yoke is eaf\\ and bis burden 
 light, were not Spoken in vain ; for if the knot of Marriage may in no cafe be ' 
 diiiblv'd but for Adultery, all the burdens and ftrvices or the Law are not fo 
 intolerable. This only is deiir'd of them who are minded to judge hardly of 
 ttu s maintaining, that they would beftill, and hear all out, nor think it equal to 
 aniwer deliberate reafon with fuciden he it and noife ; remem bring this, that 
 many Truths now of reverend efteem and credit, had their birth and beginning 
 once from fingular and private thoughts, while the moit of men were otherwise 
 poffeft, and had the rate at firft to be generally exploded and txclaim'd on by- 
 many violent oppofers : yet I may err perhaps in foothing my felf, that this 
 prefent truth reviv'd, will deferve on ail hands to be not finifterly receiv'd, in 
 that it undertakes the cure of an inveterate dileafc crept into the beft part of 
 human Society ; and to do this with no (marring corrofive, but with a imooth 
 and pleating leffon, which receiv'd, hath the virtue to foften and difpel rooted 
 and knotty forrows, and without incluntment, it that be fear'd, or fpell us'd, 
 hath regard at once both to ferious pity and upright honefty ; that tends to the re- 
 deeming and reftoring of none but fuch as are the object of compaftion, having 
 in an ill hourhamper'd themfelves, to the utter difpatch of all their moll beloved 
 Comforts and Repofe for this life's term. But if we fliall obftinately diflike this 
 new overture of unexpected Eafe and Recovery, what remains but to deplore the 
 frowanlncfs of our hopelefs condition, which neither can indure the eftate we are 
 in, nor admit of remedy either lharp or fweet. Sharp we our felves diftafte •, and 
 fweet, under whofe hands we are, is fcrup.'d and ilnpected as coo lufcious. In 
 liich a pofture Chrift found the Jesas, who were neither won with the Aufterity 
 of 'John the Bi'ptijl, and thought it too much licence to follow freely the charm- 
 ing pipe of him who founded and proclaimed Liberty and Reliei to all Diftref- 
 ies : yet Truth in fome Age or other will find herwirnels, and fhall be juftify'd 
 at laft by her own children. C H A P.
 
 Difcipline ^Divorce* 169 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 The Pojit'1071 provd by the Law of Mo fes. 'That Law ex- 
 pounded and ajjerted to a moral and charitable life, firji 
 by Paulus Fagius, ?iext with other Additio?is. 
 
 TO remove therfore, if it bepoflible', thisgreatandfad Opprefiion which thro s 
 the ftriclnefs of a literal interpreting had invaded and difturb'dthe deareft 
 and moft peaceable eftate of houfhold Society, to the over-burthening, if not the 
 over-whelming of many Chriftians better worth than to be fo defcrted of the 
 Church's confiderate care, this Pofition fhall be laid down, firft proving, then 
 anfwering what may be objected either from Scripture or Light of Reafon. 
 
 That indifpqfition, unfitnefs i or contrariety of mind, arifing from a caufein nature 
 unchangeable, hindering, and ±ever likely to hinder the main benefits of conjugal So- 
 ciety, which are Solace and Peace, is a greater reafon of Divorce than natural Fri- 
 gidity, efpecially if there be no Children, and that there be mutual confent. 
 
 This I gather from the Law in Deut. 24. 1. When a man hath taken a wife 
 arried her, and it come to pafs that flje find no favour in his eyes, becaufe he 
 hath found fomc ui. : in her, let him write her a bill of Divorcement, and give 
 
 it in her band, and fend her cut of his houfe, &c. This Law, if the Words of 
 Chriftinay be admitted into our belief, fhall never while the World (lands, for 
 him be abrogated. Firft therfore I here fet down what learned Fagius hath ob- 
 ierv'don this Law; The Law of God, faidhe, -permitted Divorce for the help of hu- 
 man we 'chiefs. For every one that of neceffiiy feparates, cannot live Jingle. That 
 Chrift denfd Divorce to his own, hinders not ; for what is that to the unregenerate, 
 who hath not attained fitch Perfection ? Let not the remedy be defpis'd which was 
 given to weaknefs. And -when Chrift faith, who marries the Divorc'd commits a- 
 dultery, it is to be underftood if he had any plot in the Divorce. The reft I referve 
 until it be difputed, how the Magiltrate is to do herein. From hence we may 
 may plainly difcern a two-fold Confideration of this Law* firft the End of the 
 Law-giver, and the proper Acl of the Law, to command or to allow fome- 
 thing juft and honeft, or indifferent. Secondly, his fufferance from fome acci- 
 dental refultofevil by this allowance, which the Law cannot remedy. For if 
 this Law have no other End or Acl: but only the allowance of Sin, though never 
 to fo good Intention, that Law is no Law, but Sin muffl'd in the robe of Law, 
 or Law dilguis'd in the loole garment of Sin. Both which are two foul Hypo- 
 thefes, to fave the Phenomenon of our Saviour's anfwer to the Pharifees a- 
 bout this matter. And I truft anon by the help of an infallible guide to perfect 
 fuch Prutenic Tables as fhall mend the Aflronomy of our wide Expofitors. 
 
 The caufe of Divorce mention'd in the Law, is tranflatedyiwjt' uncleannefs, but 
 in the Hebrew it founds nakednefs of ought, or any real nakednefs : which by all the 
 learned Interpreters is referr'd totheMind as well as theBody. And what greater 
 nakednefs or unfitnefs of mind than that which hinders ever the folace and peace- 
 ful fociety of the married couple •, and what hinders that more than the unfitnefs 
 and defeclivenefs of an uncon jugal Mind ? The caufe therfore of Divorce expreft 
 inthePoiitioncannotbutagreewith that defcrib'd in the belt and equalleft ienfe 
 of R'lcfes's Law. Which being a matter of pure Charity, is plainly moral, and 
 more now in force than ever, therfore furely lawful. For if under the Law 
 fuch was God's gracious Indulgence, as not to fuffer the Ordinance of his good- 
 neis and favour through any error to be fear'd and ftigmatiz'd upon his Servants 
 ro their mifery and thraldom ; much lefs will he fuffer it now under the Cove- 
 nant of Grace, by abrogating his former grant of remedy and relief. But the 
 firit inftitution will be objefted to have ordain'd Marriage unfeparable. To 
 that a little patience until this firft part have amply difcours'd the grave and 
 pious Reafons of this divorcive Law ; and then I doubt not but with one gen- 
 tle ftroaking to wipe away ten thoufand Tears out ofthelifeof Man. Yet thus 
 much I fhall now infifton, that whatever the Inftitution were, it could not be 
 fo enormous, nor fo rebellious againft both Nature and Reafon, as to exalt 
 itfelf above the End and Perfon for whom it was inftituted. 
 
 Vol. I. Z CHAP.
 
 J70 
 
 The Do&rwe and 
 
 C H A P. II. 
 
 *The firjl Reafon of this Law grounded o?i the prime Re a Jon of 
 Matrimony. That no Covenant whatfoever obliges againft 
 the main End both of it f elf and of the Parties covenant- 
 ing. 
 
 FOR all Senfe and Equity reclaims that any Law or Covenant, how folemri 
 or ftrait foever, either between God and Man, or Man and Man, though 
 or' God's joining, mould bind againft a prime and principal fcope of its own in- 
 ftitution, and of both or either Party covenanting : neither can it be of force 
 to ingage a blamelefs Creature to his own perpetual Sorrow, miftaken for his 
 expected folace, without fuffering Charity to ftep in and do a confeft good work 
 of parting thofe, whom nothing holds together but this of God's joining, falfiy 
 iuppos'd againft the exprefs end of his own Ordinance. And what this chief end 
 was of creating Women to be join'd with Man, his own ihftitutirig words 
 declare, and are infallible to inform us what is Marriage, and what is no 
 Marriage ; unlefs we can think them fet there to no purpofe : It is riot good, 
 faith he, that man pould be alone, I will make hifri a help-meet for him. From 
 which words fo plain, lefs cannot be concluded, nor is by any learned Interpre- 
 ter, than that in God's intention a meet and happy Conversion is the chit 
 and the nobleft end of Marriage : for we find here no Expfeffon fo necel iril 
 implying carnal Knowledge, as this prevention of Lcnelinefs to the mind 
 fpiritofMan. To this, Fagius, Calvin, Parens, Rlvelus, as willingly an! 
 largely afient as can be wifht. And indeed it is a greater bleffing from God, 
 more worthy fo excellent a Creature as Man is, and a higher end to honour and 
 fmcd'ify the league of Marriage, whenas the folace and fatisfaclion of the Mind 
 is regarded and provided for before the fenfitive pfeafing 6f the Body. And 
 with all generous perfons married thus it isj that where the Mind and FbYlbfl 
 pleafes aptly, there fome unaccomplifhment of the Body's delight may be better 
 born with, than when the Mind hangs off in an unclofing dilproportion, though 
 the Body be as it ought •, lor there all corporal delight will foon become an- 
 favoury and contemptible. And the folitarinefs of Man, which God had name- 
 ly and principally order'd to prevent by Marriage, hath no remedy, but lies un- 
 der a worfe condition than thelonelieft fingle life j for in fingle life the ahf- 
 and remotenefs of a Helper might inure him to expect his own comforts out of 
 himfelf, or to feek with hope: but here the continual fight of his deluded 
 thoughts without cure, muft needs be to him, if efpecially his complexion in- 
 cline him to Melancholy, a daily trouble and pain of lofs, in fome degree like 
 that which Reprobates feel. Left therefore fo noble a creature as Man fhould 
 be fhut up incurably under a worfe evil by an eafy miftake in that Ordinance 
 which God gave him to remedy a lefs evil, reaping to himfelf Sorrow while he 
 went to rid away Solitarinefs, it cannot avoid to be concluded, that if the 
 Woman be naturally fo of difpofition, as will not help to remove, but help to 
 increafc that firme God-forbidden lonelinefs, which will in time draw on with 
 it a general difcomfort and dejection of mind, not befeeming either Chriftian 
 profefiion, or Moral converfition, unprofitable and dangerous to the Common- 
 wealth, when the houfhold eftate, out of which muft flourilh forth the vigoc 
 and fpirit of all public enterprizes, is fo ill contented and procur'd at home, 
 and cannot be fupported : fuch a Marriage can be no Marriage, whereto the 
 mod honeft End is wanting-, and the aggrieved perfon fhall do more manly, to 
 be extraordinary and fingular in claiming the due right whereof he is fraftrated, 
 than to piece up his loft contentment by vifiting the Stews, or ftepping to his 
 neighbour's Bed-, which is the common fhift in this misfortune : or elfe by fuf- 
 fering his ufeful life to wafte away, and be loft under a fecret Affliction of an 
 unconfcionable fize to human ftrength. Againft all which Evils, the Mercy 
 of this Mofaic Law was gracioufiy exhibited. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 Difcipline 0/ Divorce, 171 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 The Ignorance and Iniquity of Canon Law> providing for the 
 right of the Body i?i Marriage^ but nothing for the wrongs 
 and grieva?ices of the Mind. An Objeclion, That the Mind 
 fljould be better lookt to before Contracl, anfwered. 
 
 HOW vain therfore is it, and how prepofterous in the Canon Law, to have 
 made fnch careful provifion againft the impediment of carnal performance, 
 and to have had no care about the unconverfing inability of Mind, fo defective 
 to the pureft and mod facred end of Matrimony ; and that the VefTel of volup- 
 tuous enjoyment muft be made good to him that has taken it upon truft, without 
 any caution •, whenas the Mind, from whence muft flow the acts of Peace and 
 Love, a far more precious mixture than the quinteflence of an excrement, though 
 it be found never fo deficient and unable to perform the bcft duty of Marriage 
 in a chearful and agreeable Converfation, fhall be thought good enough, however 
 flat and melancholious it be, and muft ferve, though to the eternal difturbance 
 and languishing of him that complains? Yet Wifdom and Charity weighing 
 God's own Inftitution, would think that the pining of a fad Spirit wedded to 
 Lonelinefs, mould deferve to be freed, as well as the Impatience of a fenfual De- 
 fire fo providently reliev'd. 'Tis read to us in the Liturgy, that we muft not mar- 
 ry to fatisfy the fiejhly appetite, like brute bea/ls, that have no under]} anding: but the 
 Canon fo runs, as if it dreamt of no other matter than fuch an appetite to be fa- 
 tisfy'd; for if it happen that Nature hath ftopt or extinguifht the veins of Senfua- 
 lity, that Marriage is annull'd. But though all the Faculties of the understand- 
 ing and converging part after trial appear to be fo ill and fo averfely met through 
 Nature's unalterable working, as that neither Peace,nor any fociable Contentment 
 can follow, 'tis as nothing, the Contract fhall ftand as firm as ever, betide what 
 will. What is this but fecretly to inftrtict us, that however many grave Reafons 
 are pretended to the married life, yet that nothing indeed is thought worth re- 
 gard therin, but the prefcrib'd fatisfatftiort of an irrational Heat? Which cannot 
 be but ignominious to the ftate of Marriage, difhonourable to the undervalu'd 
 Soul of Man, and even to Cnriltian Doctrine it felf : While it feems more 
 mov'd at the difappointing of an impetuous Nerve, than at the ingenuous griev- 
 ance of a Mind unreafonably yoakt •, and to place more of Marriage in the Chan- 
 nel of Concupiscence, than in the pure influence of Peace and Love, wherof the 
 Soul's lawful Contentment'is the one only fountain. 
 
 But fome are ready to object, That the Difpofition ought ferioufiy to be con- 
 sidered before. But let them know again, that for all the warinefscan be us'd, it 
 may yet befa! a difcreet man to be miftaken in his Choice, and we have plenty 
 of Examples. The fobereft and beft-govern'd men are leaft practis'd in thefe 
 Affairs; and who knows not that the bafhful mutenefs of aVirgin may oft-times 
 hide all the unlivelinefs and natural (loth which is really unfit for Converfation; 
 nor is there that freedom of accefs granted or prefum'd, as may fufiice to a per- 
 fect difcerning till too late : and where any Indilpofition is fufpected, what 
 more ufual than the perfwafion of Friends, that Acquaintance as it increafes, will 
 amend ail ? And laitly, it is not ftrange though many who have fpent their 
 Youth chaftely, are in fome things not fo quick-fighted, while they hafte fo ea- 
 gerly to light the nuptial Torch; nor is it therfore that for a modeft Error a man 
 ihould forfeit lb givat a happinels, and no charitable means to releafe him : Since 
 they-who have liv'd moft loofely by reafon of their bold accuftoming, prove molt 
 iuccefsful in their Matches, becauie their wild Affections unfettling at will, have 
 been as fo many Divorces to teach them experience. Whenas the fober Man 
 honouring the appearance of Modefty, and hoping well of every focial virtue 
 under that vail, may eafily chance to meet, if not with a Body impenetrable, yet 
 often with a Mind to all other due Converfation inacceffible, and to all the more 
 eftimable and fuperiour purpofes of Matrimony ufelefs and almoft livelefs : and 
 what a folace, what a fit help fuch a Confort would be through the whole life 
 of a Man, is lefs pain to conjecture than to have experience. 
 Vol. I. Z 2 CHAP.
 
 I 7 Z 
 
 The Doctrine and 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 7?je fecond Reafon of this Law, becaufe without it, Mar- 
 riage as it happens oft is not a remedy of that which it 
 promifes, as any rational creature would expeSl. That 
 Marriage, if we pattern from the beginning, as our Sa- 
 viour bids, was not properly the re??iedy of Lufl, but the 
 fulfilling of conjugal Love a?id Helpfulnefs. 
 
 AND that we may further fee what a violent cruel thing it is to force the 
 continuing of thofe together, whom God and Nature in the gentlcll end 
 of Marriage never join'd, divers evils and extremities that iollow upon iuch a 
 compulfion, fhall here be let in view. Of evils, the firft and greatelt is, that 
 hereby a moft abfurd and rafh imputation is fixt upon God and his holy Laws, 
 of conniving and difpenling with open and common Adultery among 'his cho- 
 feri people ; a thing which the ranked politician would think it flume and 
 difworfhip that his Laws mould countenance : how arid in what mariner that 
 comes to pals, I fhall referve till thecourfe of method brings on the uniukiing 
 of many Scriptures. Next, the LawandGofpcl are hereby made liable to more. 
 than one contradiction, which I refer alio thither. Lallly, the fupreme dictate 
 of Charity is hereby many ways negledted and violated ; which 1 lhall forth- 
 with addrefs to prove. Firlt, we know St. Paul faith, // is better to marry 
 than to burn. Marriage therlore was given as a remedy ot that trouble ; but 
 what might this burning mean ? Certainly not the meer motion of carnal lull, 
 not the meer goad of a fenfitive defire, God does not principally take care for 
 iuch Cattle* What is it then but that defire which God put into ShUiin in Para- 
 dife before he knew the fin of Incontinence ; that defire which God law it was 
 not good that Man mould be left alone to burn in, the defire and longing to 
 put off an unkindly folitarincfs by uniting another body, but not without a fit 
 foul, to his in the chearful fociety of Wedloc ? Which if it were fo needful be- 
 fore the fall, when Man was much more periecl in himfelf, how much more 
 is it needful now againft all the forrows and cafuaities of this life, to have an in- 
 timate and fpeakinghelp, a ready and reviving afTociate in marriage ? wherof 
 wtio miffes, by chancing on a mute and fpiritlels mate, remains more alone 
 than before, and in a burning Icfs to t* contain'd than rjial which is rleihlyv 
 and more to be confider'd, as being more deeply rooted even in the faultlefs inno- 
 cence of nature. As for that other burning, which is but as it were the* venom 
 of a lufty and over-abounding concoction, Uriel: life and labour, with the abate- 
 ment of a full diet, may keep that low and obedient enough : but this pure and 
 more inbred defire of joining to it felf in conjugal fellov, fhip a fit convcrfmg foul 
 (which defire is properly called love.) is ftrongcr than death, as the fpoufe of 
 Chrift thought ; many waters cannot quench it y neither can the floods drowy it. 
 Tins is that rational burning that Marriage is to remedy, not to be allay'd with 
 failing, nor with any penance to be fubdu'd ; which how can he aflwage who 
 by mi-hap hath met the moft unmeet and unfuitable mind ? Who hath the pow- 
 er to ftruggle with an intelligible flame, not in Paradife to be refilled, become 
 now more ardent by being tail'd of what in reafon it lookt for ; and even then 
 moll unquencht, when the importunity of a provender- burning is well enough 
 as*d •, and yet the foul hath obtained nothing of what it jultly defires. Cer- 
 tainly fuch a one forbidden to divorce, is in effect forbidden to marry, and com- 
 pell'd to greater difficulties than in a fingie life : for if there be not a more hu- 
 mane burning which Marriage mult fatisfy, or elfe may be diffolv'd, than that 
 ot copulation, Marriage cannot be honourable for the meet reducing and termi- 
 nating lull between two : feeing many beatts in voluntary and chofeii couples, 
 live together as unadulteroufly, and are as truly married in that refped. But all 
 ingenuous Men will fee that the dignity and blefling of Marriage is plac'd ra- 
 ther in the mutual enjoyment of that which the wanting foul needfully feeks, 
 man ot that which the plenteous body would joyfully give away. Hence it is 
 (feat Plato in his Feftival difcourfe brings in Socrates ielating what he feign'd to 
 have learnt from the Prophetefs D.otima, how Love was the lbn of Penury, be- 
 got of Plenty in the Garden ofjufiter. Which divinely lorts with that whka 
 
 i
 
 Difciptine of Divorce. 173 
 
 in effect Mpfes tells us, that Love was the fon of Lonelinefs, begot in Paradife 
 by that fociabJe and helpful aptitude which God implanted between Man and 
 Woman toward each other. The fame alfo is that burning mentioned by St. Paul, 
 syherof Marriage ought to be the remedy ; die Flefii hath other mutual and eafy 
 curbs which are in the power of any temperate Man. When thcrfore this origi- 
 nal and finlefs Penury or Lonelinefs of the foul cannot lay it felf down by the 
 fide of fuch a meet and acceptable union as God ordain'd in Marriage, at leaft 
 in fome proportion, it cannot conceive and bring forth Low, but remains utterly 
 unmarried under a formal Wedloc, and ftill burns in the proper meaning of St. 
 Paul. Then enters Hate, not that Hate that fins, but that which only is natural 
 difiatisfaction, and the turning afide from a miftaken obje& : if that miilake have 
 done injury, it fails not to difmifs with recompence •, for to retain ftill, and not 
 be able to love, is to heap up more injury. Thence this wife and pious Law of 
 Difmiffion now defended took beginning : He therfore who lacking of his due 
 in the moil native and humane end of Marriage, thinks it better to part than to 
 live ladly and injuriofly to that cheerful Covenant (for not to be belov'd, and 
 yet retain'd, is the greateft injury to a gentle fpirit) he I fay, who therfore feeks 
 to part, is one who highly honours the married life, and would not ftain it: 
 and the realbns which now move him to divorce, are equal to the beft of thofe 
 that could firft warrant him to marry -, for, as was plainly ihewn, both the hate 
 which now diverts him, and the lonelinefs which leads him ftill powerfully to 
 feek a fit help, hath not the leaft grain or a fin in it, if he be worthy to under- 
 ftand himfelf. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 The third Reafon of this Law, becaufe without it, he who h&s 
 happen d where he finds nothing but remedilefs Offences and 
 D if contents, is in mote a?id greater Temptations than ever 
 before. 
 
 THlrdly, Yet it is next to be fear'd, if he muft be ftill bound without rea- 
 fon by a deaf rigor, that when he perceives the juft expectance of his mind 
 defeated, he will begin even againft Law to caft about where he may find his 
 fatisfaction more compleat, unlefs he be a thing heroically virtuous, and that are 
 not the common lump of Men, for whom chiefly the Laws ought to be made •, 
 though not to their fins, yet to their unfinning weaknefies, it being above their 
 ftrength to endure the lonely cftate, which while they fhunn'd, they are fallen 
 into. And yet there follows upon this a worfe temptation •, for if he be fuch as 
 hath fpent his youth unblameably, and laid up his chiefeft earthly comforts in 
 the enjoyments of a contented Marriage, nor did neglect, that furtherance which 
 was to be obtained therein by conftant prayers, when he fhall find himfelf bound 
 faft to an uncomplying difcord of nature, or, as it oft happens, to an Image 
 of Earth and Fleam, with whom he lookt to be the Copartner of a fweet and 
 gladfome fociety, and fees withal that his bondage is now inevitable ; though 
 he be almoft the ftrongeft Chriftian, he will be ready to defpair in virtue, and 
 mutiny againft Divine Providence •, and this doubtlefs is the reafon of thofe 
 lapfes and that melancholly defpair which we fee in many wedded perfons, 
 tho' they underftand it not, or pretend other caufes, becaufe they know no re- 
 medy, and is of extreme danger : therfore when human frailty furcharg'd, is 
 at fuch a lofs, charity ought to venture much, and ufe bold Phyfick, left an 
 over-toft faith indanger to fhipwrack. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 l -j a The Docirine and 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 The fourth Reafon of this Law, that God regards Love and 
 Peace in the Family, more than a compuljive performance 
 of Marriage, which is more broke by a grievous Conti- 
 nuance, than by a needjul Divorce. 
 
 Fourthly, Marriage is a Covenant, the Very being wherof confifts not in a 
 forc'd cohabitation, and counterfeit performance of duties, but in unfeigned 
 love and peace: And of Matrimonial love, no doubt but that was chiefly meant, 
 which by the ancient Sages was thus parabl'd ; That Love, if he be not twin- 
 born, yet hath a brother wondrous like him, call'd Anteros; whom while he feeks 
 all about, his chance is to meet with many falfe and feigning defi res that wander 
 finely up and down in his likenefs: By them in their borrow'd garb, Love 
 though not wholly blind, as Poets wrong him, yet having but one eye, as being 
 born an Archer aiming, and that eye not the quickeft in this dark Region here 
 below, which, is not Love's proper Sphere, partly out of the fimplicity and cre- 
 dulity which is native to him, often deceiv'd, imbraces and conforts him with 
 thefe obvious and l'uborned Striplings, as if they were his Mother's own Sons-, 
 for fo he thinks them, while they fubtilly keep themfelves molt on his blind 
 fide. But after a while, as his manner is, when foaring up into the high Tower 
 of his Apogaum, above the fhadow of the Earth, he darts out the direct rays of 
 his then moft piercing eye-fight upon the impoftures, and trim difguizes that 
 wereus'd with him, and difcerns that this is not his genuine brother, as he ima- 
 gin'd. He has no longer the power to hold feliowfhip with fuch a perlbnated Mate; 
 for ftrait his arrows lofe their golden heads, and fhed their purple feathers, his 
 fil ken Braids untwine, and flip their knots, and that original and fiery virtue 
 o-iven him by Fate all on a fudden goes out, and leaves him undeified and de- 
 fpoil'd of all his force, till finding Anteros at laft, he kindles and repairs the al- 
 moft faded ammunition of his Deity by the reflection of a coequal and bomogeneal 
 fire. Thus mine Author lung it to me-, and by the leave of thofe who would be 
 counted the only grave ones, this is no meer amatorious novel (though to be 
 wife and fkilful in thefe matters, Men heretofore of greateft name in virtue, have* 
 cftccmedit one of the higheftArcs that human Contemplation circling upwards, 
 can make from the globy Sea wheron fhe ftands:) but this is a deep and ferious 
 verity, fhewingus that Love in Marriage cannot live nor fubfifb unlels it be-mu- 
 tual ; and where Love cannot be, there can be left of Wedloc nothing but the 
 empty hulk of anoutfide Matrimony, as undelightful and unpleafing to God, as 
 any other kind of hypocrify. So far is his Command from tying Men to die ob- 
 servance of Duties which there is no help for, but they muft be diffembled. If 
 Sc!omo?i's advice be not over- frolic, Live joyfully, faith he, with the Wife whom 
 ihoulovejl, all thy days, for thai is thy portion. How then, where we find it im- 
 poflible to rejoice or to love, can we obey this Precept ? How miferably do we de- 
 fraud our felves of that comfortable portion which God gives us, by ftriving vain- 
 ly to glue an error together, which God and Nature will not join, adding but more 
 vexation and violence to that blifslul fociety by our importunate fuperftition, that 
 will not hearken to St. Paul, i Cor. 7. whofpeaking of Marriage and Divorce, 
 determines plain enough in general, that God therin hath call'd us to peace, and 
 not to bondage. Yea, God himfelf commands in his Law more than once, and by 
 his Prophet Malady, as Calvin and the beft Tranflations read, that he who bates, 
 let him divorce, that is, he who cannot love. Hence is it that the Rabbins, and 
 Maimonides famous among the reft in a Book of his fet forth by Buxtorfius, tells 
 us, that Divorce -was permitted by Mofes to preftrve peace in Marriage, and quiet 
 in the Family. Surely the^mr had their laving Peace about them as well as we, 
 yet care was taken that this wholefome provilion for houfhold Peace Ihould alfo 
 be allow'd them •, and muft this be deny'd to Chriftians ? O perverfenefs! that 
 the. Lav/ ihould be made more provident of peace-making than the Gofpelt 
 • riiarthe Gofpel ihould be put to beg a moft neceflury heip of Mercy from the 
 1 „iw, but muft not have it; and that to grind in the Mill of an undelighted and 
 fervile copulation, mull be the only forced work of a Chi iftian Marriage oft-times 
 with fuch a yoke-fellow, from whom both Love and Peace, both Nature and 
 Religion mourns to be feparated. I cannot therfore be fo diffident, as not fe- 
 
 curely
 
 T)ijcipline 0/ Divorce. 17; 
 
 [y to conclude, that he who can receive nothing of the moil important helps 
 in Marriage, being thereby difinabled to return that duty which is his, with a 
 clear and hearty countenance •, and thus continues to grieve whom he would not, 
 and is no lefs gricv'd, that Man ought even for Love's fake and Peace to move 
 Djvprce upon good and liberal conditions to the divore'd. And it is a lefs breach 
 of Wedlce to part with v. ife and quiet confent betimes, than full to foil and. 
 propria,. t th.it myftery of joy and union with a polluting fadnefs and perpetual 
 dtftemper ; for it is not the outward continuing of Marriage that keeps whole 
 that Co\ en int, but whatfoevcr doesmoft according to Peace and Love, whether 
 in Marriage or in Divorce, he it is that breaks Marriage leaft ; it being fo of- 
 ten written, that hove only is the fulfilling of every Commandment . 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 'The fifth Reafon, that nothing more hinders a?id dijlurhs the 
 whole Lif& of a Chrifiian y than a Matrimony jound to be 
 imcurably unfit, and doth the fame in effeSi that a?i Ido- 
 latrous Match. 
 
 Fifthly, As thrfe Priefts of old were not to be long in forrow, or if they were, 
 they could not rightly execute their function •, io every true Chriftian in a 
 higher order of Priefthood is aperfon dedicate to joy and peace, offering hirnlelf 
 a lively ficHfice of prail'e and. tpjanklgiving, and there is no Chriftian duty that 
 is not to be feafon'd and fet off with chearifhnefs ; which in a thoufand outward 
 and intermitting croffes may yet be done well, as in this vale of teats: but in 
 fuch a boibm-arflicnon as tins, crulhing the very foundation of his inmoft na- 
 ture, when he mail be fore'd to love againft a poffibility, and to ufe a diffimu- 
 lation againft his foul in the perpetual and ceafelefs duties of a Hufbmd, doubt- 
 I. fs 1 is whole duty of fcrvingGod muft needs be blurr'd and tainted with a fad. 
 . p irednefs and dejection of fpirit, wherein God has no delight. Who fees 
 w 1 tluifore how much more Chriftianity it would be to break by divorce that 
 ivhich is more broken by undue and forcible keeping, rather than to cover the 
 Alter of the Lord with continual tears ,- fo that he regardeth not the offering any 
 more; rather than that the whole Worihip of a Chriftian man's life ihould lan- 
 guifh and fade away beneath the weight of an immeasurable grief and difcourage- 
 ment? And becaufe fome think the Children of a fecond Matrimony fucceeding 
 .1 Divorce, would not be a holy Seed, it hinder'd not the Jews from being fo ; 
 and why fhould we not think them more holy than the off-fpring of a former 
 ill-twifted Wcdlcc, begotten only out of a beftial necefiity, without any true 
 love or contentment, or joy to their Parents ? So that in fome fenfe we may 
 call them, the Children of wrath and anguifh, which will as little conduce to their 
 fanctifying, as if they had been Baftards: for nothing more than difturbance of 
 mil ' ' nds us from approaching to God, fuch a difturbance efpecially, as 
 both aflaults our faith ard truft in God's providence, and ends, if there be not 
 a miracle of virtue on either fide, not only in bitterne'fs and wrath, the Canker 
 of Devotion, but in a defperate and vicious careleffnefs, when he fees hirnlelf 
 without fault of his, tr.iin'J by a deceitful bait into a fnare of mifery, betray'd 
 by an alluring Ordinance, and then made the thrall of heavinefs and difcom- 
 fort by an tfndivorcing Law of God, as he erroneouQy thinks, but of Man's 
 iniquity, as the truth is : for that Gad prefers the free and chearful Worfhip of a 
 Chriftian, before the grievous and exacted obfervance of an unhappy Marriage, 
 feefides that the general maxims of Religion affure us, will be more manifeft by 
 drawing a parallel Argument from the ground of divorcing an Idolatrefs, which 
 v. .•'., left he Ihould alienate his heart from the true worfhip of God: and what 
 ( rence is there whether fhe pervert him to fuperltition by her inticing Sor- 
 er-,', or ilifinable him in the whole iervice of God through the difturbance of 
 her unhelpful and unlit fociety, and lb drive him at laft, through murmuring 
 and defpair, to thoughts of Atheifm ? Neither doth it leffen the caufe of fepa- 
 fatine, in that the one willingly allures him from the Faith, the other perhaps 
 Gfnwillingfy drives him ; for in the account of God it comes all toone, that the 
 .Wife loofes him a fervant ■, and therefore by all the united force of the Deca- 
 l "/.'. fh ought to be difbanded, unlefs we muft iet Marriage above God and 
 Charity, which is the Doftrine of Devils, no lefs than foibidding to marry. 
 
 " C H A P.
 
 / 
 
 j *g %fte DoElrine and 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 'That an Idolatrous Heretic ought to be divorcd after a con^ 
 venient fpace give?2 to hope of Co?iverjio?i. That place of 
 i Cor. 7. reflor d from a two-fold erroneous Expoftion ; and 
 that the common Expofi tors flatly contradiSl the Moral Law, 
 
 AND here by the way, to iiluftrate the whole queftion of Divorce, ere this 
 Treatife end, I fhall not be loth to fpend a few lines in hope to give a full 
 refolve of that which is yet fo much controverted, whether an Idolatrous Here- 
 tic ought be divorc'd. To the refolving wherof we muft firft know, that \\\tfews 
 were commanded to divorce an unbelieving Gentile for tv/o caufes : Firft, be- 
 caufe all other Nations, efpecially the Canaanites, wereto them unclean. Second- 
 ly, to avoid Inducement. That other Nations were to the Jews impure, even to 
 the feparating of Marriage, will appear out of Exod. 34. i§. Deut. 7.3, 6. 
 compar'd with Ezra 9. 2. alfo Chap. 10. 10, n. Nehem. 13. 30. This was the 
 ground of that doubt raised among the Corinthians by fome of die Circumcifion - T 
 "Whether an Unbeliever were not ftill to be counted an unclean thing, fo as. that 
 they ought to divorce from fuch a perfon. This doubt of theirs S. Paid removes 
 by an Evangelical reafon, having refpect tothatVifion oi'S. Peter, wherinthe 
 diftinction of clean and unclean being aboliftit, all living Creatures were fanctified 
 to a pure and Chriftian ufe, and mankind efpecially, now invited by a gene- 
 ral call to the Covenant of Grace. Therfore faith S. Pan!, Tbe unbelieving 
 Wife is fanclified by the Hujhand; that is, made pure and lawful to his ufe, io 
 that he need not put her away for fear left her unbelief fhould defile him; but 
 that if he found her love ftill towards him, he might rather hope to win her. 
 The fecond reafon of that Divorce was to avoid Inducement, as is proved by 
 comparing thofe two places of the Law, to thatjwhich Ezra and Nehemiah did by 
 Divine Warrant in compelling the Jews ro forgo their Wives. And this reafon 
 is moral and perpetual in the rule of Chriftian Faith without evafion ; therfore 
 faith the Apoftle, 2 Cor. 6. Mif-yoke not together with Infidels, which is inter- 
 preted of Marriage in the firft place. And although the former legal pollution 
 be now done off, yet there is a fpiritual contagion in Idolatry as much to be 
 fhun'd ; and though Inducement were not to be fear'd, yet where there is no 
 hope of converting, there always ought to be a certain religious averfation and 
 abhorring, which can no way fort with Marriage : Therfore faith S. Paul, What 
 fcllowfhip hath righteoufncfs with unrighteoufnefs ? what communion hath light with 
 darknefs ? what concord hath Chriji with Belial ? what part hath he that, be- 
 litveth with an Infidel ? And {he next verfe but one he moralizes, and makes us 
 liable to that command oflfaiah ; Whcrforc come out from among them, and be ye 
 feparate, faith the Lord ; touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive ye. And 
 this Command thus gofpelliz'dto us, hath the fame force with that wheron £2- 
 ra grounded the pious neceffity of divorcing. Neither had he other commifiion 
 for what he did, than fuch a general command in Deut. as this, nay not fo di- 
 rect ; lor he is bid there not to marry, but not bid to divorce, and yet we fee 
 with whata Zealand confidencehe was the Author of a general Divorce between the 
 faithful and the unfaithful feed. The Gofpel is more plainly on hisfide, according 
 to three of the Evangelifts, than the words of the Law ; for where the cafe of 
 Divorce is handled with fuch a feverity, as was fitteft toaggravate the fault of un- 
 bounded licence, yet ftill in the fame Chapter, when it comes into queftion af- 
 terwards, whether any civil refpect, or natural relation which isdeareft, may be 
 our plea to divide, or hinder or but delay our duty to Religion, we hear it deter- 
 min'J, that Father, and Mother, and Wife alfo, is not only to be hated, butfor- 
 faken, if we mean to inherit the great Reward there promifed. Nor will it fuf- 
 fice to be put off by faying we muft forlake them only by not confenting or not 
 complying with them, for that were to be done, and roundly too, though being 
 of the fame faith, they fhould butfeek out of a flefhly tendernefsto weaken our 
 Chriftian fortitude with worldly perfwafions, or buttounfettle ourconftancy with 
 timorous and foftning fuggeftions ; as we may read with what a vehemence 
 Jeb t the patienteft of Men, rejected the defperate counfels of his Wife ; and 
 
 4. Mcfes >
 
 DifcipUne 'o/Divorce* 177 
 
 Mofes, the meekeft, being throughly offended with the prophane fpceehes ofZip- 
 pcra, Tent her back to her father. But if they fhall perpetually at our elbow fedu e 
 us from the true Worlhip of God, or defile and daily fcandalize our Conference by 
 their hopelefs continuance in inifbelief, then even in the due progrefs of Reafon, 
 and that ever-equal proportion which Juftice proceeds by, it cannot beimagin'd 
 that this cited place commands lefs than a total and final feparation from fuchan 
 Adherent, at leaft that no force Ihould beufedto keep them together ; while we 
 remember that God commanded Abraham to fend away his irreligious Wife and 
 herSonfor the offences which they gave in. a pious family. And it maybegueftthat 
 David for the like caufe difpos'd of Michal in fuch a fort, as little differ'd from 
 a difmifiion. Therfore againft reiterated fcandals and feducements, which never 
 ceafe, much more can no other remedy or retirement be found but abfolute de- 
 parture. For what kind of matrimony can that remain to be, what one duty be- 
 tween fuch can he perform'd as it fhould be from the heart, when their thoughts 
 and fpirits fly afunder as far as Heaven from Hell, especially if the time that 
 hope mould fend forth her expected bloffoms be paft in vain ? It will eafily be true, 
 that a Father or a Brother may be hated zealouOy, and lov'd civilly or naturally ; 
 for thofe duties may be performed at diltance, and do admit of any long abfence : 
 but how the peace and perpetual cohabitation of Marriage can be kept, how that 
 benevolentand intimate communion of Body can be held with one that muft be 
 hated with a moft operative hatred, muft be forfaken and yet continually dwelt with 
 and accompanied, he who can diftinguilh, hath the gift of an affection very oddly di- 
 vided and contriv'd •, while others both juft and wife, and Solomon among thereft, if 
 they may not hate and forfake as Mofes enjoins, and the Gofpel imports, will find 
 it impoffiblenot to love otherwife than will fort with fhelove of God, whole jea- 
 louly brooks no corrival. And whether is more likely, that Chrift-bidding to for- 
 fakeWifefor Religion, meant it by divorce as Mofes meant it, whole Law groun- 
 ded on moral Reafon, was both his office and his elfence to maintain j or that he 
 ihould bring a new Morality into Religion, not only new, but contrary to an un- 
 changeable Command, and dangeroufly derogating from our love and worlhip of 
 God? As if when Mofes had bid Divorce abfolutely, and Chrift had laid, lute and 
 forfake, and his Apoftle had laid, no communication withChrift and Belial ; yet 
 that Chrift after all this could be underftood to lay, Divorce not, no not for Re- 
 ligion, feduce, or feduce not. What mighty and invifibleRemorais this in Ma- 
 trimony able to demur, and to contemn all the divorcive engines in Heaven or 
 Earth ! Both which may now pafs away, if this be true, for more than many 
 jots or tittles, a whole moral Law is abolifht. But if we dare believe it is not, 
 then in the method of Religion, and to fave the honour and dignity of our Faith, 
 we are to retreat and gather up our felves from the obfervance of an inferior and 
 civil Ordinance, to the ftridl maintaining of a general and religious Command, 
 which is written, Thou J, halt make no Covenant with them, Deut. 7. 2, 3. and that 
 Covenant which cannot be lawfully made, we hatfe directions and examples 
 lawfully todilfolve. Alfo 2 Chron. 19. 2. Shouldeft thou love them that hate the 
 Lord? Nodoubtlefs: for there is a certain fcale of Duties, there is a certain 
 Hierarchy of upper and lower commands, which for want of ftudying in ri^ht 
 order, all the world is in confufion. 
 
 Upon thefe principles I anfwer, that a right believer ought to divorce an ido- 
 latrous Heretic, unlefs upon better hopes : however, that it is in the Believer's 
 choice to divorce or not. 
 
 The former part will be manifeft thus; firft, that an apoftate Idolater, whe- 
 ther Hufband or Wifefeducing, was to die by the decree of God, Deut. 13.6,9. 
 that Marriage therfore God himfelf disjoins : for others born Idolaters, the mo- 
 ral reafon of their dangerous keeping, and the incommunicable antagony that is 
 between Chrift and Belial, will be fufficient to enforce the Commandment of 
 thofe two infpir'd Reformers Ezra and Nehemiah, to put an Idolater away as 
 well under the Gofpel. 
 
 The latter part, thataltho' there benofeducementfear'd,yet if there be nohope 
 given, the Divorce is lawful, will appear by this, that idolatrous Marriage is ftill 
 hateful toGod, therfore ftill itmay be divore'd by the pattern of thatWarrant that 
 Ezra had, and by the fameeverlafting Reafon: Neither can any man give anaccount 
 wherfore, if thofe whom God joins no man can feparate, it Ihould not follow, that 
 whom he joins not, but hates to join, thofe men ought to feparate. But faith the 
 Lawyer,That which ought not to have been done, oncedone, avails. Ianfwer, this 
 is but a Crotchet of the Law, but that brought againft it is plain Scripture. As for 
 Vol. I. A a what
 
 178 ^The T>ocirifie and 
 
 what Chrift fpake concerning divorce, 'tis confeft by all knowing men, he meant 
 only between them of the famefaith. But what fhallwe lay then to S. Paul, who 
 ieems tobid us notdivorce an Infidel willing to ftay ? We may lately lay thus, that 
 wrong Collections have been hitherto madeout of thofe words by modern Divines. 
 His drift, as was heard before, is plain -, not to command our ftay in marriage with 
 an Infidel, that had been a flat renouncing of the religious and moral law ; butto 
 inform the Corinthians that the Body of an unbeliever was not defiling, if his de- 
 fire to live in Chriftian Wedlcc fhew'd any likelihood that his heart was ope- 
 ning to the faith ; and therfore advifes to forbear departure fo long till nothing 
 have been neglected to fet forward a converfion : this I fay he advifes, "and 
 that with certain cautions not commands, if we can take up fo much credit for 
 him, as to get him believ'd upon his own word : for what is this eife but his 
 counfel in a thing indifferent, to the reft [peak I, not the Lord ? for tho' it be 
 true that the Lord never fpake it, yet from S. Paul's mouth we fhould have 
 took it as a command, had not himfelf forewarn'd us, and difclaim'd, which 
 notwithftanding if we ftiall ftiil avouch to be a command, he palpably de- 
 nying it, this is not to expound S.Paul, but to outface him. Neither doth it fol- 
 low, that the Apoftle may interpofe his judgment in a cafe of Chriftian liberty, 
 without the guilt of adding to God's word. How do we know Marriage or 
 fingleLife to be of choice, but byfuch like words as thefe, lfpeakthisbypei 
 fion, not of commandment ; I have no command of the Lord, yet I give my judgment ? 
 Whyihall not the like words have leave to fignify a freedom in this ourprefenc 
 queftion, though Beza deny ? Neither is the Scripture hereby lefs infpir'd, be- 
 < aufe S. Paul confefles to have written therin what he had not of command ; 
 lor we grant that the Spirit of God led him thus to exprefs himfelf to Chri- 
 ftian prudence, ina matter which Gcd thought beft to leave uncommanded. Be- 
 za therfore mud be warily read, when he taxes S. Auftin of Blcfphemy, for hold- 
 ing that S. Paul fpake here as of a thing indifferent. But if it muft be a com- 
 mand, Ifhall yet the more evince it to be a command that we mould herein be- 
 left free, and that out of the Greek word ufed in the 12. v. which inltructs us 
 plainly, there muft be a joint alfent and good liking on both fides ; he that will 
 not deprave the Text muft thus render ft ; If a brother have an unbelieving JFife, 
 and foe join in confcnt to dwell with him (which cannot utter lei's to us than a mutu- 
 al agreement) let him not put her away for the meer furmize of Judaical un- 
 cleannefs : and the reafon follows, for the body of an Infidel is not polluted, nei- 
 ther to benevolence, nor to procreation. Moreover, this note of mutual compla- 
 cency forbids all offer of feducement, which to a Perfon of zeal cannot be at- 
 tempted without great offence : if therfore feducement be fear'd, this place hin- 
 ders not Divorce. Another caution was put in this fuppofed command, of not 
 bringing the believer huobondage hereby, which doubtlefs might prove extreme 
 if Chriftian liberty and confcience were left to the humor of a Pagan ftayino- at 
 pleafure to play with, and to vex and wound with a thoufand fcandals and bur- 
 dens, above ftrength to bear : If therfore the conceived hope of gaining a 
 foul come to nothing, then Charity commands that the believer be not wearied 
 out with endlefs waiting under many grievances fore tohisfpirit, but that re- 
 fpecl be had rather to the prefent fuffering of a true Chriftian, than the uncertain, 
 winning of an obdur'd Heretic. The council we have from S. Paul to hope, 
 cannot countermand the moral and evangelic charge we have from God to fear 
 feducement, to feparate from the mifbeliever, the unclean, the obdurate. The 
 Apoftle wifueth us to hope, but does not fend us a wool-gathering after vain 
 hope •, he faith, How knowej} thou, O Man, whether thou fbalt fave.thy fVife? that 
 is, till he try all due means, and fet fome reafonable time to himfelf, after which 
 he may give over wafliing an Etbiope, if he will hear the advice of the Gof- 
 ] 1 ! ; Cajl not Pearls before Swine, faith Chriil himfelf. Lit him be to thee as a Hea- 
 then. Shake the dufl off thy feet. If this be not enough, hate and forfake, what re- 
 lation foever. And this alio that follows muft appertain to the Precept, Let eve- 
 ry man wherein he is called, therein abide with God, v. 24. that is, fo walkino- i n 
 hisinferior calling Marriage, as by fome dangerous fubjection to that Ordinance, 
 to hinder and difturb the higher calling oi his Chriftianity. Laft,and never too 
 oft remembrcd, whether this be a Command, oran Advice, wemuft look that itbe 
 fo underftood as not to contradict the leaft point ofmoral Religion that God hath 
 formerly commanded, otherwife what do we but fet themoralLaw and the Gofpel 
 at civil War together ? and who then ftiall be able to fervc thefe two Mafters ? 
 
 CHAP
 
 DifcipHne c/Divorce. 179 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 That Adultery is not the greatefi breach of Matrimony, that 
 there may be other Violations as griat. 
 
 NOW whether Idolatry or Adultery be the greateft violation of Marriage, if 
 any demand, let him thus confider, that among Chriftian Writers touch- 
 ing Matrimony, there be three chief ends therof agreed on ; godly fociety, next 
 civil, and thirdly, that of the marriage-bed. Of thefe the firft in name to be 
 the highefl and moft excellent, no baptized Man can deny, nor that Idolatry 
 imites directly againft this prime End •, nor that fuch as the violated End is, 
 fuch is the Violation : but he who affirms Adultery to be the highefl breach, 
 affirms the Bed to be the highefl of Marriage, which is in truth a grofs and 
 boorifh Opinion, how common foever •, as far from the countenance of Scripture, 
 as from the light of all clean Philofophy, or civil Nature. And out ofquef- 
 tion the chearful help that may be in marriage toward fanctity of life, is the 
 pureft, and fo the noblefb end of that contract,: but if the particular of each per- 
 fon be confider'd, then of thofe three ends which God appointed, that to him is 
 greateft which is moft neceffary ; and Marriage is then moll broken to him, 
 when he utterly wants the fruition of that which he moft fought therin, whether 
 it were religious, civil, or corporal fociety. Of which wants to do him right 
 by Divorce only for the laft and meaneft, is a perverfe injury, and the pretend- 
 ed reafon of it as frigid as Frigidity itfelf, which the Cede and Canon are only 
 fenfible of. Thus much ofthis controverfy. I now return to the former argument. 
 And having fhewn thatdiiproportion, contrariety or numbnefsof mind may juft- 
 ly be divore'd, by proving already the prohibition therof oppofes the exprefs 
 end of God's inftitution, fuffers not Marriage to fatisfy that intellectual and 
 innocent defire which God himfelf kindled in Man to be the bond ofWedloc, 
 but only to remedy a fublunary and beftial burning, which frugal Diet, without 
 Marriage, would eafdy chaften. Next, that it drives many to tranfgrefs the 
 Conjugal Bed, while the foul wanders after that fatisfaclion which it had hope to 
 find at home, but hath mift ; or elfe it fits repining, even to Atheifm, finding 
 itfelf hardly dealt with, but mifdeeming the caufe to be in God's Law, which is 
 in man's unrighteous ignorance. I have fhewn alfo how it unties the inward 
 knot of Marriage, which is Peace and Love (if that can be unty'd which was ne- 
 ver knit) while it aims to keep faft the outward formality} how it lets perifh 
 the Chriftian Man, to compel impoffibly the married Man, 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 Ihefxth Reafon ofthis Law ; that to prohibit Divorce fought 
 for natural cajes, is againfl Nature. 
 
 TH E fixth place declares this prohibition to be as refpecllefs of human Na- 
 ture, as it is of Religion, and therfore is not of God. He teaches, that 
 an unlawful Marriage may be lawfully divore'd ; And that thofe who having 
 throughly difcern'd each other's diipofition, which oft-times cannot be till after 
 Matrimony,- fhall then find a powerful reluctance and recoil of nature on either 
 fide, blafting"all the content of their mutual fociety, that fuch Perfons are not 
 lawfully married, (to ufe the Apoftle's Words) Say I thefe things as a Man, or 
 faith not the Law alfo the fame ? for it is written, Deut. 22. Thoufhalt not [aw thy 
 Vineyard with different feeds, left thou defile both. Tboufoalt not plow with an Ox 
 end an Afs together ; and the like. I follow the pattern of S. Paul's reafoning ; 
 Doth God care for Ajfes and Oxen, how ill they yoke together, or is it not fa id 
 altogether for our fakes ? for our fakes no doubt this is written. Yea the Apoftle 
 himfelf, in the forecited 2 Cor. 6. 14. alludes from that place of Deut. to forbid 
 mifyoking Marriage, as by the Greek word is evident ; though he inftance but 
 Vol. I. ■ A a 2 in
 
 jgo The Docirinc and 
 
 in one Example ofmifmatching with an Infidel, yet next to that, what can be 
 a fouler incongruity, a greater violence to the reverend fecret of Nature, than to 
 force a mixture of Minds diat cannot unite, and to few the forrow of Man's Na- 
 tivity with feed of two incoherent and incombining difpofitions : which act be- 
 ing kindly and voluntary, as it ought, the Apoftle in the Language he wrotfc 
 cafled Eunoia, and the Latins, Benevolence, intimating the original therof to be 
 in the underftanding, and the will ; if not, furely there is nothing which might 
 more properly be called a malevolence rather, and is the mod injurious and un- 
 natural Tribute that can be extorted from a Perfon endu'd with reafo'n, to be 
 made pay out the beft fubftance of his body, and of his foul too, as fome think, 
 when either for juft and powerful caufeshe cannot like, or from unequal cayfes 
 finds not recompence. And that there is a hidden efficacy oflove and hatred inMan 
 as well as in other kinds, not moral, but natural, which though not always in the 
 choice, yet in the fuccefsof Marriage will ever be moft predominant, befides daily 
 experience, the Author of Ecclefiafticus, whofewifdom hath fet him next the Bible, 
 acknowledges, 13. 16. A Man, faith he, will cleave to his like. But what might 
 be the caufe, whether each one's allotted Genius or proper Star, or whether the 
 fupernal influence of Schemes and angular Afpecls, or this elemental C; 
 here below, whether all thefe jointly or fingly meeting friendly, or unfriendly 
 in either party, I dare not, with the men I am like to clalh, appear fo much a 
 Philofopher as to conjecture. The antient Proverb in Homer lefs abftrufe entitles 
 this work of leading each like perfon to his like, peculiarly toGod hirrifelf: which 
 is plain enough alio by his naming of a meet or like help in the firftEfpoufal in- 
 ftituted •, and that every Woman is meet for every Man, none foabfurd as to affirm. 
 Seeing then there is a two-fold Seminary, or Stock in nature, from whence are 
 deriv'd the ifTues oflove and hatred, diftinclly flowing throughthe whole mafsof 
 created things, and that God's doing ever is to bring the due likeneffes and harmo- 
 nies of his works together, except when out of two contraries met to their own 
 deftruction, he moulds a third exiftence •, and that it is error, or fome evil Angel 
 which either blindly or malicioufly hath drawn together, in two perfons ill im- 
 barkt in Wedloc the fleeping difcords and enmities of Nature lull'd on purpofe 
 with fome falfe bait, that they may wake to agony and ftrife, later than pre- 
 vention could have wifht, if from the bent of juft and honeft intentions be- 
 ginning what was begun and fo continuing, all that is equal, all that is fair 
 and poflible hath been try'd, and no accommodation likely to fucceed ; what fol- 
 ly is it ftill to ftand combating and battering againft invincible caufes and ef- 
 fects, with evil upon evil, till either the beft of our days be lingered out, or 
 ended with fome fpeeding forrow. The wife Ecclefiafticus advifes rather, 37.27. 
 My fon prove thy foul in thy life, fee what is evil for it, and give not that unto it. 
 Reafon he had to fay fo ; for if the noifomnefs or disfigurement of body 
 can foon deftroy the fympathy of Mind to Wedloc duties, much more will the 
 annoyance and trouble of mind infufe itfelf into all the faculties and acts of the 
 body, to render them invalid, unkindly, and even unholy againft the funda- 
 mental Law-book of Nature, which Mofes never thwarts, but reverences : ther- 
 fore he commands us to force nothing againft fympathy or natural order, no not 
 upon the moft abject Creatures •, to fhew that fuch an indignity cannot be offered 
 to Man without any impious Crime. And certainly thofe divine meditating words 
 Of finding out a meet and like help to Man, have in them a confideration of more 
 than the indefinite likenels of Womanhood ; nor are they to be made wafte- 
 paper on, for the dulnefs of Canon-Divinity, no, nor thofe other Allegoric 
 Precepts of Beneficence fetcht out of the Clofet of Nature, to teach us goodnefs 
 and compafiion in not compelling together unmatchable Societies ; or if they 
 meet through mifchance, by all confequence to disjoin them, as God and Na- 
 ture fio-nifies, and lectures to us not only by thofe recited Decrees, but even by 
 the firft and laft of all his vifible works ; when by his divorcing Command the 
 W r orld firft rofe out of Chaos, nor can be renewed again out of confufion, but 
 by the feparating of unmeet Contorts. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 Difcipline o/Divorce i£r 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 The feventh Reafon, Thatfometimes continuance in M'arriagS 
 may be evidently the portnitig or endangering of Life to 
 either party ; both Law and Divinity concluding, that 
 Life is to be preferrd before Marriage, the intended fo- 
 lace of Life. 
 
 SEventhly, The Canon-Law and Divines content, that if either party be found 
 contriving againft another's life, they may be fever'd by Divorce : for a fin 
 gainftthelife of Marriage, is greater than a fin againft the Bed ; the onedeftroys, 
 the other but defiles. The fame may befaid touching thole perfons who being 
 of a penfive nature and courfe of life, have fum'd up all their folace in that free 
 and lightfome converfation which God and Man intends in Marriage; wherof 
 when they fee themfelves depriv'd by meeting an unsociable confort, they oft- 
 times refent one another's miftake fo deeply, that long it is not ere grief end one 
 of them. "When therfore this danger is forefeen, that theLife is in peril by 
 living together, what matter is it whether helplefs grief or wilful practice be the 
 caufe? This is certain, that the prefervation of life is more worth than the com - 
 pullbry keeping of Marriage •, and it is no lefs than cruelty to force a Man to 
 remain in that ltate at the folace of his life, which he and his friends know 
 will be either the undoing or the difheartning of his life. And what is life 
 withour the vigour and fpiritual exercifeof life? how can it beufeful either to 
 private or public imployment ? Shall it therfore be quite dejected, tho' ne- 
 ver fo valuble, and left to moulder away in heavinefs, for the iuperftitious and 
 impofnble performance of an ill-driven bargain ? Nothing more inviolable 
 than vows made to God ; yet we read in Numbers, that if a "Wife had made fuch 
 a vow, the meer will and authority of her Hufband might break it : how much 
 more then may he break the error of his own bonds with an unfit and miftakeri 
 Wife, to the faving of his welfare, his life, yea his faith and virtue, from the hazard 
 ofover-ftrong temptations ? For if man beLord of the Sabbath, tothecuringof 
 a Fever, can he be lefs than Lord of Marriage in fuch important caufes as thel'e ? 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Ihe eighth Rea/on, It is probable or rather certain, that 
 every one who happens to marry, hath not the calling 5 
 and therfore upon imfitnefs found and co7tfder V, force ought 
 not to be usd. 
 
 Eighthly, It is molt fure that fome even of thofe who are not plainly defective 
 in body, yet are deflitute of all other marriageable gifts, and confequently 
 have not the calling to marry, unlefs nothing berequifite therto but a meer in- 
 ftrumental body ; which to affirm, is to that unanimous Covenant a reproach : 
 yet it is as fure that many fuch, not of their own defire, but by the perfwafion of 
 friends, or not knowing themfelves, do often enter into "Wedloc ; where find- 
 ing die difference at length between the duties of a married life, and the gifts 
 of a fingle life, what unfitnefs of mind, what wearifomnefs, what fcruples and 
 doubts to an incredible offence, and difpleafure are like to follow between, may- 
 be foon imagin'd •, whom thus to fhut up, and immure, and fliut up together, the 
 one with a mifchofen Mate* the other in a miftaken Calling, is not a courfe that 
 Chriftianwifdom and tendernefs ought to ufe. As for the cuftom that fome Pa- 
 rents and Guardians have of forcing Marriages, it will be better to fay nothing of 
 fuc h a lavage inhumanity, but only thus, that theLaw which gives not all freedom 
 of Divorce to any creature endued with reafon, fo aiTafiinated, is next in cruelty. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 $ z Ihe DoBrine and 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 The ninth Reafon ; Becaufe Marriage is not a meer carnal Co- 
 ition, but a human Society : where that cannot reafonably 
 be had, there can be no true Matrimony. Marriage corn- 
 par d with all other Covenants a?id Vows warra?itably 
 broken for the good of Man. Marriage the Papifts Sacra- 
 ment) and unft Marriage the Protefla?its Idol. 
 
 Ninthly, I fuppofe it will be allow'd us that Marriage is a human Society, and 
 that all human fociety mufl proceed from the mind rather than the body, 
 elfeit would be but a kind of animal or beaftifh meeting •, it the mind therfore can- 
 not hare that duecompany by marriage that it may reafonabiy and humanly defire, 
 that Marriage can be no human fociety, but a certain formality ; or gilding overof 
 little better than a brutifh congrefs, and fo in very wifdom and purenefs to be 
 diflblv'd. 
 
 But Marriage is more than human, the Covenant of God, Prov. 2.17. therforc 
 Man cannot diffolve it. I anfwer, if it be more than human, fo much the more, 
 it argues the chief fociety therof to be in the foul rather than in the body, and the 
 greateft breach therof to be unfitnefsof mind rather than defect of body : for 
 the body can have leaft affinity in a Covenant more than human, fo that the 
 reafon of diffolving holds good the rather. Again, I anlwer, that the Sabbath 
 is a higher Inftitution, a Command of the firft Table, for the breach wherof God 
 hath tar more and oftener teftify'd his anger, than for Divorces, which from 
 Mofes to Malachy he never took difpleafure at, nor then neither if we mark the 
 Text ; and yet as oft as the good of Man is conccern T d, he not only permits, 
 but commands to break the Sabbath. What Covenant more contracted with God, 
 and lefs in man's power, than the Vow which hath once paft his lips ? yet if ic 
 be found rafh, if offenfive, if unfruitful either to God's glory or the good of 
 Man, our Doctrine forces not error and unwillingnefs irkfomly to keep it, 
 but counfels Wifdom and betterThoughts boldly to break it ; therfore to enjoin 
 the indiffoluble keeping of a Marriage found unfit againftthe good of Man both 
 foul and body ,'as hath beenevidene'd, is to make an Idol ot Marriage, to advance 
 itabovetheWorfhipof God and the good of Man, to make it a tranl'cendent Com- 
 mand, above both the fecond and firft Table, which is a moft prodigious DocTxine. 
 
 Nrxt,whereas they cite out of the Proverbs, that it is the Covenant of God, and. 
 therfore more than human, that Confequence is manifeftly falfe : for fo the Co- 
 venant which Zedckiab made with the Infidel King of Babel, is call'd thtCovenant 
 of Cod, Ezek. 17. 19. which would be ftrange to hear counted more than a human 
 Covenant. So every Covenant between Man and Man, bound by Oath, may be 
 call'd the Covenant of Gcd, becaufe God therin is attefted. So of Marriage he 
 is the author and the witnefs •, yethence will not follow any divine aftriction more 
 than what is fubordinate to the glory of God, and the main good of either party : 
 for as the glory of God and their efteemed fitnefs one for the other, was the motive 
 which led them both at firft to think without other revelation that God had join'd 
 them together ; fo when it fhall be found by their apparent unfitnefs, that their 
 continuing to be Man and Wife is againft the glory of God and their mutual 
 happineis, it may afTure them that God never join'd them, who hath reveal'd his 
 gracious Will not tofct the Ordinance above the Man for whom it wasordain'd; 
 not to canonize Marriage either as a Tyrannefs or a Goddeis ever the enfran- 
 chise life atid foul of Man : For wherin can God delight, wherin be worfhip'd, 
 wherin be glorified by the forcible continuing of an improper and ili-yokin°- 
 couplc ? He that loved nctto fee the difparity of feveral cattle at the Plow, cannot 
 be pleafed withvait unmeetnefs in Marriage. Where can be the peace and love 
 which muft invite God to fuch a houfe ? May it not be fear'd that the not di- 
 vorcing of fuch a helplefs difagreement, will be the divorcing of God finally 
 horn Inch a place ? But it is a trial of our patience, they fay : I grant it ; but 
 whiohoty^'safflictionswtrefenthimwiththatLaw, that hemight not ufe means 
 to remove any of them if he could ? And what if it fubvert our patience and our 
 faith too? Who fhall anfwer for the perifhing of all thole fouls, perifhing by 
 ftubborn expofitions of particular and inferior precepts againft the general and 
 
 4 fupreme
 
 Difcipline of D i vo rce. 185 
 
 fupreme rule of Charity ? They dare not affirm that Marriage is either a Sacra- 
 ment or a Myftery, though all thofe facred things give place to Man ; and yet 
 they inveft it with fuch an awful fanctity, and give fuch adamantine chains to 
 bind with, as if it were to be worfhip'd like fome Indian Deity, when it can con- 
 fer no b'effingupon us, but works more and more to our rnifery. To fuch teach- 
 ers the faying or S. Peter at the Council oVJerufalem will do well to be applied : 
 Why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the necks of Chriftian men, which neither 
 the Jews, God's antient people, nor ive are able to bear ; and nothing but un- 
 wary expounding hath brought upon us ? 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Confederations concerning Fami/ifm, Anti?tomia?iifm ; and 
 why it may be though t that fuch Opinions may proceed from 
 the undue, rejlraint of fo?m juft liberty , than which no 
 greater caujc to co?itemn Difcipline. 
 
 TO thefe Confidcrations this alfo may be added as no improbable con* 
 jecture, feeing that fort of men who follow shiabaptifm^ Familifm, An- 
 tirtomianifm, and other fanatic dreams (if we underftand them not amifs) be 
 fuch moft commonly as are by nature addicted to Religion, of Life alfo not 
 debaucht, and that their Opinions having full fwinge, do end in fatisfaction of 
 the flefh, it may be come withreafon into the thoughts of a wife man, whether all 
 this proceed not partly, if not chiefly, from the reftraint of fome lawful liberty 
 which ought to be given Men, and is deny'd them. As by phyfic we learn in 
 menftruous bodies, where Nature's current hath been ftopt, that thefuffocation and 
 upward forcing of fome lower part, affects the head and inward fenfe with do- 
 tage and idle fancies. And on the other hand, whether the reft of vulgar men 
 not fo religioufly profefling, do not give themfelves much the more to Whoredom 
 and Adulteries, loving the corrupt and venial Difcipline of Clergy-Courts, but 
 hating to hear of perfect Reformation ; whenas they forefee that then Fornica- 
 tion fhall be aufterely cenfur'd, Adultery punifh'd, and Marriage the ap- 
 pointed refuge of nature, tho' it hap to be never fo incongruous and difpleaf- 
 ing, muft yet of force be worn out, when it can be to no other purpofe 
 but of ftrife and hatred, a thing odious to God. This may be worth the ftu- 
 dy of fkilful Men in Theology, and the reaibn of things. And laftly, to exa- 
 mine whether fome undue and ill-grounded ftrictnefs upon the blamelefs Na- 
 ture of Man, be not the caufe in thofe places where already Reformation is, 
 that theDifcipline of the Church, fo often, and fo unavoidably broken, is brought 
 into contempt and derifion. And if it be thus, let thofe who are ftill bent to hold 
 this obftinate Literatity, fo prepare themfelvesjas tofhare in the account for all 
 thefe tranfgreffions, when it fhall be demanded at the laft day, by one who 
 will fcan and fhift things with more than a literal wifdom of equity : for if 
 thefe reafons be duly ponder'd, and that the Gofpel is more jealous of laying 
 on exceftive burdens than ever the Law was, left the foul of a Chriftian, which 
 is ineftimable, fhould be over-tempted and caft away ; confidering alfo that 
 many properties of Nature, which the power of Regeneration itfelf never alters, 
 may caufe diflike of converfing, even between the moft fanctified ; which con- 
 tinually grating in harfh tune together, may breed fome jar and difcord, and that 
 end in rancor and ftrife, a thing fo oppofite both to Marriage and to Chriftiani- 
 ty, it would perhaps be lefs fcahdal to divorce a natural difparity, than to link 
 violently together an unchriftian dilTenfion, committing two infnared Souls in- 
 evitably to kindle one another, not with the fire of love, but with a hatred irre- 
 concilable ; who, were they difiever'd, would be ftraight friends in any other 
 relation. But if an alphabetical fervility muft be ftill urged, it may fo fall out, 
 that the true Church may unwittingly ufe as much cruelty in forbidding to di- 
 vorce, as the Church of Antichrift doth wilfully in forbidding to marry. 
 
 BOOK
 
 j 84 Wbe DoBrine and 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 %he Ordinance, of Sabbath and Marriage compared. Hyper- 
 bole no tinfrequent figure in the Go/pel. Excefs curd by 
 contrary-excefs. Chrift neither did nor could abrogate the 
 Law of Divorce, but Q7ily reprieve the abufe therof. 
 
 Hitherto the Pofition undertaken hath been decfar'd,and prov'd by a Law 
 of God, that Law proved to be moral, and unabolifhable, for many 
 reafons equal, honeft, charitable, juft, annext thereto. It follows now, 
 
 * that thofe places of Scripture which have a leeming to revoke the prudence of 
 Mofcs, or rather that merciful Decree of God, be forthwith explained and re- 
 concile. For what are all thefe reafonings worth, will iorne reply, whenas the 
 words of Chrift are plainly againft all Divorce, except in cafe of Fornication? To 
 whom he whofe mind were to anfwer no more but this, except alfo in cafe of Cha- 
 rity, might fafely appeal to the more plain words of Chrift in defence of lb ex- 
 cepting. 7'houjhaltdono manner of Work, faith the Commandment of the Sab- 
 bath. Yes, faith Chrift, Works of Charity. And fhall we be more fevere in 
 paraphrafing theconfiderate and tender Gofpel, thanhe wasinexpounding the rigid 
 and peremptory Law ? What was ever in all appearance lefs made for Man, and 
 more for God alone, than the Sabbath ? yet when the good of man comes into the 
 Scales, we hear that voice of infinite goodnefs and benign ity, that Sabbath was m, xde 
 for Man, not Man for Sabbath. What thing ever was more made for Man a- 
 lone and lefs for God than Marriage ? And {hall we lead it with a cruel and 
 fenfelefs bondage utterly againft both the good of Man, and the glory of God ? Let 
 whofo will now liften, I want neither Pall nor Mitre, I ftay neither for Ordina- 
 tion nor Induction ; but in the firm faith of a knowing Chriftian, which is the 
 beft and trueft endowment of the Keys, I pronounce, the Man who fhall bind 
 fo cruelly a good and gracious Ordinance of God, hath not in that the lpirit of 
 Chrift. Yet that every text of Scripture feeming oppofke may be attended with 
 a due expofition, this other part eniues, and makes account to find no ilender ar- 
 guments for this affertion, out of thofe very Scriptures, which are commonly 
 urged againft it. 
 
 Firft therfore let us remember, as a thing not to be deny'd, that all places of 
 Scripture wherin juft reafon of doubt arifes from the latter, are to be expounded 
 by confidering upon what occafion every thing is fet down, and by comparing 
 other Texts. The occafion which indue'd our Saviour to fpeak of Divorce, was 
 either to convince the extravagance of the Pharifees in that point, or to o-ive a 
 fharpand vehement anfwer to a tempting queftion. And in fuch cafes that we 
 are not to repofe all upon the literal terms of Jo many words, many inftances 
 will teach us : Wherin we may plainly difcover how Chrift meant not to be 
 taken word for word, but like a wife phyfician, adminiftring one excefs a- 
 gainft another, to reduce us to a permifs ; where they were too remifs, he Jaw 
 it needful to feem moft fevere : in one place he cenfures an unchafte look to be 
 adultery already committed ; another time he paJTes over actual adultery with 
 lefs reproof than for an unchafte look; not fo heavily condemning fecret weak- 
 nefs, as open malice : So here he may be juftly thought to have given this rigid 
 fentence againft Divorce, not to cut off all remedy from a good man who finds 
 himfelf confuming away in a difconfolate and uninjoin'd Matrimony, but to 
 lay a bridle upon the bold abufes of thofe over-weening Rabbies ; which he 
 could not more effectually do, than by a counterfway of reftraint curbino- their 
 wild exorbitance aJ moft into the other extreme-, as when we bow things the con- 
 trary way, to make them come to their natural ftraitnefs. And that this was 
 the only Intention of Chrift is moft evident, if we attend but to his own words 
 
 , and protcltation made in the lame Sermon, not many verfes before he treats of 
 Divorcing,th.vthecame not to abrogate from the Law one jot or tittle, and de- 
 nounce againft them that ihall fo teach. 
 
 But 
 4
 
 DJfcipUne ^Divorce. i8q 
 
 But S. Luke the verfe immediately before-going that of Divorce, inferts the fame 
 caveat, as it' the latter could not be underftood without the former ;and asawitnefs 
 to produce againft this our wilful miftake of abrogating^ huh muff, needs confirm us 
 that whatever elfe in the political Law of more ipecial relation to the Jews might 
 ceafe to us ; yet that oi thofe Precepts concerning Divorce, not one of them was 
 repeal'd by the Doctrine of Chrift, unlefs we have vow'd not to believe his own 
 cautious and immediate protellion : for if thefe our Saviour's words inveigh againft 
 all Divorce, and condemn it as Adultery, except it be for Adultery, and be not 
 rather underftood againft the abufe of thole Divorces permitted in the Law, then 
 is that Law of Mofes, Deut. 24. 1. not only repeal'd and whollv annul'd againft 
 the promife of Chrift, and his known profefiion not to meddle, in matters ju- 
 dicial •, but that which is more ftrange, the very fubftance and purpofe of that 
 Law is contradicted and convine'd both of ir.juftice and impurity, as having au- 
 thoriz'd and maintain'd legal Adultery by ftatute. Mofes alio cannot fcape to be 
 guilty of unequal and unwife decrees, pur.ifhing one act of fecret Adultery by 
 death, and permitting a whole Life of open Adultery by Law. And albeit Law- 
 yers write that fome political Edicts, tho' not approv'd, are yet allow'd to the 
 leum of the people, and the neceflity of the times-, thefe excufes have but a weak 
 pulfe: For nrft,we read, not that the fcoundrel People, but thechoiceft, the wifeft, 
 the holieft of that Nation have frequently us'd thefe Laws, or fuch as thefe, in the 
 beft and holieft times. Secondly, be it yielded, that in matters not very bad or 
 impure, a human Lawgivermay flacken fomething of that which is exactly good, to 
 the difpofition of the people and the times : but if the perfect, the pure, the righ- 
 teous Law of God, for fo are all his ftatutes and his judgments, be found to have 
 allow'd fmoothly, without any certain reprehenfion, that which Chrift afterward 
 declares to be Adultery, how can we free this Law from the horrible inditement 
 of being both impure, unjuft, and fallacious ? 
 
 CHAP. II, 
 
 How Divorce was pennitted for hardnefs of hearty ca?mot he 
 tender flood by the common Expofltion. That the Law cannot 
 permit^ much lefs enaEi a permijjion of Jin. 
 
 N Either will it ferve to fay this was permitted for the hardnefs of their hearts, 
 in thatfenfeas it isufually explain'd ; for the Law were then but a corrupt 
 and erroneous School- matter, teaching us to dafh againft a vital Maxim of Reli- 
 gion, by doing foul evil in hope of fome certain good. 
 
 This only Text is not to be matcht again throughout the whole Scripture, wher- 
 by God in his perfect Law ftiould feem to have granted to the hard hearts of his 
 holy People under his own hand, a civil immunity and free charter to live and die 
 in a long fucceflive Adultery, under a covenant of works, till the Meffiah, and 
 then that indulgent permiffion to be ftrictly deny'd by a covenant of grace ; be- 
 fides the incoherence of fuch a doctrine, cannot, muft not be thus interpreted, to 
 the raifing of a Paradox never known till then, only hanging by the twin'd thread 
 of one doubtful Scripture, againft fo many other rules and leading principles of 
 religion, of juftice, and purity of life. For what could be granted more either 
 to the fear, or to the luft of any Tyrant or Politician, than this authority of Mofes 
 thus expounded •, which opens him a way at will to damm up juftice, and not only 
 to admit of any Romiflj or Auftrian difpenfes, but to enact a ftatute of that which 
 he dares not feem to approve, even to legitimate vice, to make fin it felf, the 
 ever alien and vaflal fin, a free Citizen of the Commonwealth, pretending only 
 thefe, or thefe plaufible reafons ? And well he might, all the while that Mofes 
 fhall be alledged to have done as much without fhewing any reafon at all. Yet this 
 could not enter into the heart of David, Pfal. 94. 20. how any fuch authority 
 as endeavours to fafnonwickednefs by a Law, mould derive itfelf from God. And 
 Ifaiah lays woe upon them that decree unrighteous decrees, chap. 10. 1. Now which 
 • of thefe two is the better Law-giver, and which defer ves molt a woe, he that gives 
 ■out an edict fingly unjuft, or he that confirms to generations a fixt and unmo- 
 lefted impunity of that which is not only held to be unjuft, but alfo unclean, and 
 both in a high degree, not only as they themfelvcs affirm, an injurious expullion 
 Vol. I. B b of
 
 x 86 The Doctrine and 
 
 of one Wife, but alfo an unclean freedom by more than a patent to wed another a- 
 dulteroufly ? How can we therfore with fafety thus dangeroufiy confine the free 
 fimplicityofour Saviour's meaning to that which merely amounts from fo many 
 Letters, whenas it can confift neither with his former and cautionary Words, nor 
 with other more pure and holy Principles, nor finally with the fcope of Charity, 
 commanding by his exprefs commillion in a higher (train. But all rather of neceffi- 
 ty muft be underftoodas only againft the abui'eof that wife and ingenuous liberty 
 which Mofes gave, and to terrify a roving Confcience from finning under that 
 pretext. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 That to allow Sin by Law, is againft the nature of Law, the 
 e?id of the Law-giver, and the good of the People. Impof- 
 fible therfore in the Law of God. That it makes God the 
 Author of Sin more than any thing obj tiled by the Jefuits 
 or Arminians againft Predejlination. 
 
 BUT letusyet further examine upon what Confideration aLaw of Licence could 
 be thus given to a holy People for the hardnefs of Heart. I fuppofe all will 
 anfwer, that for fome good end or other. But here the contrary fhall be proved. 
 Firft, that many ill effects, but no good end of fuch a fufferance can be fhewn ; next, 
 that a thing unlawful can for no good end whatever be either done or allow'd by 
 a pofitive Law. If there were any good end aim'd at, that end was then good ei- 
 ther as to the Law or to the Lawgiver licencing •, or as to the perfon licenc'd. That 
 it could not be the end of the Law, whether Moral or Judicial, to licenfe a Sin, I 
 proveeafily out of Rom. 5. 20. The Law entered, that the offence might abound, that 
 is, that Sin might be made abundantly manifeft to be heinous and diipleafing to 
 God, that fo his offer'd Grace might be the more efteem'd. Now if the Law, 
 inftead of aggravating and terrifying Sin, fhall give out Licence, it foils it felf, and 
 turns recreant from its own end : it foreflalls the pure Grace ol Chrift, which is 
 through Righteoufnefs, with impure indulgences, which are through Sin. And 
 inftead of difcovering Sin, for by the Law is the knowledge therof, faith S. Paul, 
 and that by certain and true light for Men to walk in fafety, it holds out falfe and 
 dazling fires to ftumble Men •, or like thofe miferable flies to run into with delight 
 and be burnt : for how many Souls might eafily think that to be lawful whichthe 
 Law and Magi Urate allow'd them? Again, we read 1 Tim. 1. 5. The end of 
 the Commandment is charity out of a pure heart , and of a good Confcience, and of Faith 
 unfeigned. But never could that be Charity to allow a People what they could not 
 ufe with a pure Heart, but with Confcience and Faith both deceiv'd, or elfe 
 defpis'd. The more particular end of the Judicial Law is fet forth to us clearly 
 Rom. 1 3 . That God hath given to that Law a Sword not in vain, but to be a ter- 
 ror to evil works, a revenge to execute wrath upon him that doth evil. If this terrible 
 Commiffion fhould but forbear to punifh wickednefs, were it other to be account- 
 ed than partial and unjuft ? but if it begin to write indulgence to vulgar unclean- 
 nefs, can it do more to corrupt and fhame the end of its own being ? Laftly, if 
 the Law allow Sin, it enters into a kind of Covenant with Sin ; and if it do, 
 there is not a greater Sinner in the World than the Law itfelf. The Law, 
 to ufe an Allegory fomething different from that in Philo fudaus concer- 
 ning Amalek, though haply more fignificant, the Law is the Ifaelhe, and 
 hath this ablolute charge given it, Deut. 25. To blot out the memory of Sin, 
 the Amalekite, from under heaven, not to forget it. Again, the Law is the Ifraelite, 
 and hath this exprefs repeated command to make no Covenant with Sin, the 
 Carmaanite, but to expel him, left he prove a fnare. And to fay truth, it 
 were too rigid and reafonlefs to proclaim fuch an enmity between Man and Man, 
 were it not the type of a greater enmity between Law and Sin. I fpeak even now, 
 as if Sin were condemn'd in a perpetual villenage never to be free by Law, never 
 to be manumitted : but fure Sin can have no tenure by Law at all, but is rather an 
 eternal Outlaw, and in hoftility with Law paft all atonement : bothdiagonial Con- 
 traries, as much allowing one another, as Day and Night together in one He- 
 mifphere. Or if it bepofiible, that Sin with his darknefe may come to compofition. 
 
 it
 
 lyifcipline of D i vorce. 187 
 
 it cannot be without a foul eclipfe and twilight to the Law, whofe brightnefs ought 
 to furpafs the Noon. Thus we fee how this unclean permittance defeats the facred 
 and glorious end both of the Moral and Judicial Law. 
 
 As little good can the Lawgiver propofe to equity by fuch a lavifh remifThefs as 
 this ; if to remedy hardnefs of heart Parous and other Divines confefs, it more in 
 ereafes by this Liberty, than is leffen'd : and how is it probable that their hearts 
 were more hard in this, that it mould be yielded to, than in any other Crime ? 
 Their hearts were fet upon Ufury, and are to this day, no Nation more ; yet that 
 which was the endamaging only of their Eftates was narrowly forbid ; this which 
 is thought the extreme injury and dilhonour of their Wives and Daughters, with 
 the defilement alio of themfelves, is bounteoufly allow'd. Their hearts were as 
 hard under their belt Kings to offer in high places, tho' to the true God -, yet that 
 but a fmall thing, is ilricily forewarn'd ; this accounted a high offence againft one 
 of the greateft moral Duties, is calmly permitted and eftablifh'd. How can it bee- 
 vaded but that the heavy cenfure of Chrilt fhould tall worle upon this Lawgiver 
 of theirs, than upon all the Scribes and Pharifees ? For they did but omit Judgment 
 and. Mercy to trifle in Mint and Cummin, yet all according Law ; but this their 
 Law-giver, altogether as punctual in fuch niceties, goes marching onto Adulteries, 
 through the violence of Divorce by Law againft Law. If it were fuch a curfed 
 act of Pilate a fubordinate Judge to Cafar, over-fway'd by thole hard hearts with 
 much ado tofuffer one tranfgreffion of Law but once, what is it then with lefs ado 
 to publiih a Law by tranfgrelfion for many Ages ? Did God for this come down 
 and cover the Mount of 'Sinai with his Glory, uttering inThunder thole his facred 
 Ordinances out of the bottomlefs Treafures of his Wifdom and infinite Purenefs, 
 to patch up an ulcerous and rotten Commonwealth with ftrict and ftern Injunctions, 
 to walh the ikin and garments for every unclean touch, and fucheafy permiffion given 
 to pollute the foul with Adulteries by public authority,withoutdifgrace or queftion ? 
 No, it had been better that man had never known Law or Matrimony, than that 
 fuch foul iniquity fhould be faften'd upon the Holy-one oflfrael, the Judge of all 
 the Eardi, and fuch a piece of folly a.s Belzebub would not commit, to divide a- 
 gainft himfelf, and prevent his own ends ; or if he to compafs more mifchief, 
 might yield perhaps to feign fome good deed, yet that God fhould enact a Li- 
 cence of certain evil lor uncertain good againft his own glory and purenefs, 
 is abominable to conceive. And as it is deftructive to the end of Law, and blafphe- 
 rtlous tothe honour of the Law-giver licenfing, fo it is as pernicious to the perfon 
 licenced. If a private friend admonifh not, the Scripture i\\\th, he hates his Brother, 
 and lets him peri/h ; but if he footh him and allow him in his faults, the Proverbs 
 teach us he fpreads a net for his Neighbour's feet, and worketh ruin. If the Magif- 
 trate or Prince forget to adminifter due Juftice, and reftrain not Sin ; Eli him- 
 felf could fay, it made the Lord's People to tranfgrefs. But if he countenance them 
 againft Law by his own example, what havoc it makes both in religion and Vir- 
 tue among the People.; may be gueft by the anger it brought upon Hophni and Phi- 
 neas not to be appeas'd with facrifice nor offering for ever. If the Law be filent to de- 
 clare Sin, the People muft needs generally go aftray,for theApoftle himfelf faith, he 
 had not known lv.fi but by the Law : and furely fuch a Nation feems not to be under the 
 illuminating guidance of God'sLaw, but under the horrible doom rather of fuch as 
 del pile theGofpel ; he that is filthy, let him be filthy fi ill. But where the Law itfelf 
 gives a warrant for Sin, I know not what condition of mifery to imagine miferable 
 enough for fuch a People, unlefs that portion of the wicked, or rather of the dam- 
 ned, on whom God threatens in nPfabn, to rainfnares : but that queftionlefs cannot 
 be by any Law, which the Apoftle faith is a miniflfy ordain' d of God for our good, 
 and not fo many ways and in fohigha degree to our deft ruction, as we have now 
 been graduating. And this is all the good, can come to the Perfon licenced in his 
 hardnefs of heart. 
 
 I am next to mention that, which becaufe it is a ground in Divinity.; Rom. g.will 
 fave the labour ofdemonftrating, unlefs her given Axioms be more doubted than in 
 other Arts (altho' it be no lefs firm in the precepts of Philofophy) that a thingun- 
 lawful can for no good whatfoever be done, much lefs allow'd by a pofitive Law. 
 And this is the matter why Interpreters upon thatpaflage in Hofeawill notconfentit 
 to be a true ftory, that theProphettooka Harlot to wife, becaufe God being a pure 
 Spirit, could notcommandathingrepugnanttohis own nature, no not for fogoodan 
 endastoexhibitmoretotheliieawholefomeandperhapsacOnvertingparabletomany 
 an Ij'raelite. Yetthat he commanded theallowance of adulterous and injuriousDivorces 
 forhardnefsofheart, a reafonobfeureand inawrongfenfe, they can very favourily per- 
 Vol. I, B b 2 fuade
 
 j gg *Ihe Doctrine and 
 
 i'uade themfclves ; fo tenacious is the leven of -ah old conceit. But they fliift il 
 permitted only. Yet filence in the Law is content, and content is acceflbry ; why 
 then is not the Law being filent, or not active againft a crime, acceflbry to its own 
 conviction, it felt" judging? For tho' we thou Id grant, that it approves nor, yet 
 it wills -, and the Lawyers Maxim is, that the iniU compell'd is yet the will. And tho' 
 Ariftotle in his Ethics call this a mixt Atlion, yet he concludes it to be voluntary 
 and inexcufable, if it be evil. How juftly then might human Law and Philofophy 
 rife up againft the righteoufnefs of Mcfes, if this be true which our vulgar Divinity 
 fathers upon him, yea upon God himfelf, notfilentlyandonly negativelyto permit, 
 but in his Law to divulge a written and general privilege to commit and perfift in 
 unlawful Divorces with a high hand, with fecurity and no ill fame: for this is more 
 than permitting and contriving, this is maintaining : this is warranting, this is pro- 
 tecting yea this is doing evil, and fuch an evil as thatreprobate Law-giverdid, whofe 
 laftino- infamy is ingraven upon him like a lurname, he who made Ijraeltofui. This 
 is the°lo .ve ; l pitch contrary to God that public fraud and injuftice can defcend. 
 
 If it be affirm'd, that God, as being Lord, may do what he will ; yet we muft 
 know that God hath not two Wills, but one Will, much lefs two contrary. If he 
 oncewi'l'd Adultery fhould be finful, and tobepunifht with Death, all his Omni- 
 potence will not allow him to will the allowance that his holieft People might as 
 it were by his own Anlincmie, or counter-ftatute, liveunreprov'd in che fame fact 
 as he himfelf efteem'd it, according to our common explainers. The bidden ways 
 of his Providence we adore and fearch not, but the Law is his revea-led Will, his 
 compleat, his evident and certain Will ; herein he appears to us as it were in hu- 
 man lhapc, enters into Covenant with us, fwears to keep it, binds himfelf like a 
 juft Law-giver to his own Prefcriptions, gives himfelf to be underftood by Men, 
 judges and is judg'd, meafures and is commenfurate to right reafon ; cannot 
 require lefs of us in one cantle of his Law than in another, his legal Juftice cannot 
 be fo fickle and fo variable, fometimes like a devouring fire, and by and by con- 
 nivent in the Embers, or, if I may fo fay, ofcitant and lupine. The vigor of his 
 Law could no more remit, than the hallowed fire on his Altar could be let go out. 
 The Lamps that burnt before him might need fnuffing,but the Light of his Law 
 never. Of this alio more beneath, in difcuflingaSoludon of Rivetus. 
 
 The Jefuits, and that Seft among us which is nam'd of Arminms, are wont to 
 charge us of making God the Author of Sin, in two degrees efpecially, not tofpeak 
 of his permiflions : i . Becaufe we hold that he hath decreed iome to Damnation, and 
 confequentlytoSin, fay they; next, becaufe thofe means which are ot iavingknow- 
 ledge to others, he makes to them an occafion of greater Sin. Yet confidering the 
 perfection wherin Man was created, andmighthave ftood, no Decree neceffitating 
 his Free-will, but fubfequent, tho' not in time, yet in order to Caufes, which were 
 in his own po*ver, they might methinks be perfuadedto abfolve both God and us. 
 Whenas the doctrine of Plato and Chryfippus, with their Followers, the Academies 
 and the Stoics, who knew not what a conlummate and moil adorned Pandora was 
 beftow'dupon^/<7»z to be theNurfeand Guide of his arbitrary happinefs andperfeve- 
 rance, I mean his native innocence and perfection, which might have kepthim from 
 being our true Epimetheus ; and though they taught of Virtue and Vice to be both 
 the gift of divine Dejiiny, they could yet give reafonsnot invalid, to juftify the Coun- 
 cils of God and Fate from the infulfity of mortal tongues : That Man's own free-will 
 felf-corrupted, is the adequate and furficient caufe of his Difobedience lefidesFate ; 
 as Homer alio wanted not to exprefs, both in his Iliad and Odyffee. And Manillas 
 the Poet, although in his fourth Book he tells of fome created both to Sin and Pu- 
 ntfhment ; yet without murmuring, and with an induftroius chearfulnefs he acquits the 
 Deity. They were not ignorant in their Heathen Lore, that it is moft God -like to 
 punifti thofe who of his Creatures became his enemies with the greateft punifhment; 
 and they could attain alfo to think that the greateft, when Godhimfelfthrows a man 
 fartheft from him ; which then they held he did, when he blinded, hardned, and 
 ftirr'd up his Offenders, tofinifhand pile up their defperateworkfince they had 
 undertaken it. To banifti for ever into a local Hell, whether in the Air or in the 
 Center, or in that uttermoft and bottomlefs gulph ot Chaos, deeper from holyBlifs 
 than the World's Diameter multiply'd ; they thought not a punifhing fo proper 
 and proportionate for God to inflict, as to punifhSin withSin. Thuswerethe com- 
 mon fort of Gentiles wont to think, without any wry thoughts call upon divne Go- 
 vernance. Andihzrlorc Cicero, notin hlsTufculan or Campanian retirements among 
 
 the
 
 Difciplhie ^/"Divorce. 189 
 
 the learned Wits of that Age, but even in the Senate to a mixt Auditory (though 
 he were fparing otherwife to broach his Philofaphy among Stalifts and Lawyers,) yet 
 as to this point both in his Oration againft Pifo, and in that which is about the An- 
 fwers of the Sooth-fayers againft Clodius, he declares it publicly as no paradox 
 to ommon Ears, That Got! cannot punifh Man more, nor make him more miferable, 
 than ftill by making him more iinful. Thus we fee how in this Controverfy the 
 Juitice of God flood upright even among HeathenDifputers. But if any one be truly, 
 and not pretendedly zealous for God's honour, here I call him forth before Men and 
 Angels, to ufe his beft and moft advifed fkill, left God more unavoidably than e- 
 ver yet, and in the guiltieft manner, be made the Author of Sin : if he fhall not 
 only deliver over and incite his enemies by rebuke to Sin as a punifhment, but fhall 
 by patent under his own broad-feal allow his friends whom he would fanctify and 
 lave, whom he would unite to himfelf, and not disjoin, whom he would correct 
 by wholefome chaftening, and not punifh as he doth the damned by lewd fin- 
 ning, if he fhall allow thefe in his Law the perfect rule of his own pureft Will, 
 and our moft edify'd Confcience, the perpetrating of an odious and manifold Sin 
 without the leaftcontefting. 'Tis wonder'd how there can be in God a fecret and 
 reveal'd Will ; and yet what wonder, if there be in Man two anfwerable Caufes. 
 But here there muft be two revealed Wills grappling in a fraternal war with one 
 another without any reafbnable caufe apprehended. This cannot be lefs than to 
 ingraft Sin into the fubftance of the Law, which Law is to provoke Sin by crofting 
 and forbidding, not by complying with it. Nay this is, which I tremble in ut- 
 tering, to incarnate Sin into the unpunifhing and well-pleas'd Will of God. To 
 avoid thefe dreadful confequences that tread upon the heels of thofe allowances to 
 fin, will be a tafk of far more difficulty than to appeafe thofe minds which per- 
 haps out of a vigilant and wary Confcience except againft Predeftination. Thus 
 finally we may conclude, that a Law who'ly giving licence cannot upon any good 
 confideration be given to a holy People, for hardnefs of heart in the vulgar fenfe. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Tljat if Divorce be no Command-, no more is Marriage. That 
 Divorce could be no Difpetifation if it were Jinful. "The So- 
 lution c'/'Rivetus, That God difpe?ifed byfome unknown way, 
 ought not to fat is fy a Chrijlian Mind. 
 
 OThers think to evade the matter by not granting any Law of Divorce, but 
 only a Dilpenfation, which is contrary to the words of Chrift, who him- 
 felf calls it a Law, Mark 10. 5. or if we fpeak of a command in the ftrifteft De- 
 finition, then Marriage itfelf is no more a Command than Divorce, but only a free 
 Permiffion to him who cannot contain. But as to difpenfation I affirm, the fame 
 as before of the Law, that it can never be given to the allowance of Sin : God can- 
 not give it neither in refpect of himfelf, nor in refpect of man ; not in refpect of 
 himfelf, being a moft pure EfTence, the juft avenger of Sin ; neither can he make 
 that ceafe to be a Sin, which is in itfelf unjuft and impure, as all Divorces they 
 fay were, which were not for Adultery. Not in refpect of Man, for then it muft 
 be either to his good or to his evil. Not to his good; for how can that be ima- 
 gined any good to a Sinner, whom nothing but rebuke and due correction can fave, 
 to hear the determinate Oracle of Divine Law louder than any reproofdifpenfing 
 and providing for the impunity, and convenience of Sin •, to make that doubtful, 
 or rather lawful, which the end of the Law was to make moft evidently hateful ? 
 Nor to the evil of man can a Difpenfe be given ; for if t be Law were ordain' d un- 
 to life, Rom. 7. 10. how can the fame God publifh Difpenfes againft that Law, 
 which muft needs be unto death? Abfurd and monftrous would that Difpenfe be, 
 if any Judge or Law fhould give it a man to cut his own throat, or to damn 
 himfelf. Difpenfe therfore prefuppofes full Pardon, or elfe it is not a Difpenfe, 
 but a moft baneful and bloody fnare. And why fhould God enter Covenant with 
 a People to be holy, as the Command is holy, and juft, and good, Rom. 7. 12. and 
 yet fuffer an impure and treacherous Difpenfe to miflead and betray them under 
 the vizard of Law to a legitimate Practice of uncleannefs ? God is no Covenant- 
 breaker ; he cannot do this. Rivetus,
 
 j go The Do&rinc and 
 
 Rivetus, a diligent and learned Writer, having well weighed what hath beers 
 written by thofe Founders of Difpenfe, and finding the fmall Agreement among 
 them would fain work himfelfaloof thei'e Rocks and Quick-fands, and thinks it belt 
 to conclnde that God certainly did difpenfe, but by fome way to us unknown, and 
 fo to leave it. But to this I oppofe, that a Chriftian by no means ought relt him- 
 felf in fuch an ignorance •, wherby fo may Abfurdities will ftrait reflect both againft 
 the Purity, Juftice, and wifdom of God, the end alfo both of Law and Gofpel, 
 and the comparifon of them both together. God indeed in fome ways of his Pro- 
 vidence is high and fecret, paft finding out: but in the delivery and execution of 
 his Law, efpecially in die managing of a duty fo daily and fo familiar as this is 
 wherofwe reafon, hath plain enough revealed himfelf, and requires the obfer- 
 vance therof not otherwife, than to the Law of nature and equity imprinted in us 
 feems correfpondent. And he hath taught us to love and to extol his Laws, not 
 only as they are his, but as they are juft and good to every wife and fober un- 
 derftandino-. Therfore Abraham, even to the face of God himfelf, feem'd 
 to doubt of divine Juftice, if it fhould fwerve from the irradiation wherwith it had 
 enlio-htned the mind of man, and bound it felf to obferve its own rule •, Wilt thou 
 deftroy the righteous with the wicked? that be far from thee ;fhall not the Judge of the 
 earth do right ? Therby declaring, that God hath created righteoufnefs in right 
 it felf, againft which he cannot do. So David, Pfalm. 119. The teftimonies wbiek 
 thou haft commanded are righteous and very faithful ; thy word is very pure, therfore thy 
 fervant loveth it. Not only then for the Author's lake, but for its own purity. He is 
 faithful, faith S. Paul, he cannot deny himfelf; that is, cannot deny his own Pro- 
 mifes, cannot but be true to his own Rules. He often pleads with men the upright- 
 nefs of his ways by their own Principles. How mould we imitate him elfe, to be 
 ferfecl as he is perfeel ? If at pleafure he can difpenfe with golden Poetic Ages of 
 fuch pleafing licence, as in the fabled Reign of old Saturn, and this perhaps be- 
 fore the Law might have fome covert, but under fuch an undifpenfing Covenant 
 as Mofes made with them, and not to tell us why and wherfore, indulgence can- 
 not give quiet to the breaft of an intelligent man ? We mult be reiolved how the 
 Law can be pure and perfpicuous, and yet throw a polluted fkirt over thefe Eleii- 
 Jinian Myfteries, that no man can utter what they mean: worfe in this thjn the 
 worft Obfcenities of Heathen Superftition; for their filthinefs was hid, but the 
 rnyftic reafon therof, known to their Sages. But this Jewifh imputed filthinefs 
 was daily and open, but the reafon of it is not known to our Divines. We know 
 of no defign the Gofpel can have to impofe new righteoufnefs upon works, but 
 to remit the old by faith without works, if we mean juftifying works : We 
 know no myftery our Saviour could have to lay new Bonds upon Marriage in the 
 Covenant of Grace which himfelf had loofen'd to the feverity of Law. So that 
 Rivetus mzy pardon us, if we cannot be contented with his non-folution, to remain 
 in fuch a peck of uncertainties and doubts, fo dangerous and ghaftly to the funda- 
 mentals of our faith. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 What a Difpenfatio?i is, 
 
 THerfore to get fome better fatisfaction, we muft proceed to inquire as diligent- 
 ly as we can what a Difpenfation is, which I find to be either properly fo cal- 
 led, or improperly. Improperly fo call'd, is rather a particular and excep- 
 tive Law, abfolving and difobliging from a more general command for fome 
 juft and reafonable caufe. As Numb. 9. they who were unclean, or in a Journey, 
 had leave to keep the Paffover in the fecond Month, but otherv/ife ever in the iirft. 
 As for that in Leviticus of marrying the brother's wife, it was a penal ftatute ra- 
 ther than a difpenfe •, and commands nothing injurious or in it felf unclean, only 
 prefers a fpecial reafon of charity before an inftitutive Decency, and perhaps is 
 meant for life-time only, as is expreft beneath in the prohibition of taking two 
 filters. What other Edict of Mofes, carrying but the femblance of a Law in a- 
 ny other kind, may bear the name of a Difpenfe, I have not readily to inftance. 
 But a Dilpenfation moft properly is fome particular accident rarely happening, 
 and therfore not fpecified in the Law, but left to the decifion of Charity, even 
 under the bondage of Jewifh Rites, much more under the liberty of the Gofpel. 
 
 Thus 
 4
 
 Diftipline c/DivorcE. ipi 
 
 Thus did David enter into the. boufe of God, and did eat the Shewbread, he and his fol- 
 lowers, which was ceremonially unlawful. Of fuch difpenfes as thefe it was that Ver- 
 dune thcFrench Divine lb gravely difputed in theCouncil of Trent againft Friaiv&W- 
 an, who held that the Pope might difpenfe with any thing, ft is a fondperfuafion, 
 faith Ferdune, that difpenfing is a favour ; nay, it is as good dijlributivejuftice as what 
 is moft, and the Priejtjins if he gives it not, for it is nothing elfe but a right interpre- 
 tation of haw. Thus far that I can learn touching this matter wholefom'y decreed. 
 But that God, who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, Jam. i. mould give 
 out a rule and directory to fin by, mould enact a Difpenfation aslong-liv'das a Law, 
 wherby to live in privileg'd Adultery for hardnefs of heart ■, and yet this obdurate dif* 
 eafe cannot be conceivedhow it was the moreamended by thisunclean remedy, is the 
 moft deadly and Scorpion-like gift that the enemy of mankind could have given to 
 any miferable finner,andis rather fuch a Difpenfe as that waswhich theSerpent gave 
 to our firft parents. God gave Quails in his wrath, and Kings in his wrath, yet nei- 
 ther of thefe things evil in themlelves; but that he whofe eyes cannot behold impu- 
 rity, fhould in the book of his holy Covenant, his moft unpaffionate Law, give li- 
 cence and ftatute for uncontrolled Adultery, altho' it go for the receiv'd Opinion, 
 I fhall ever difTuade my foul from fuch a Creed, fuch an indulgence as the Ihop of 
 Antichrift never forg'd a bafer. 
 
 C H A P. VI. 
 
 That the Jew had no ifiore right to this fuppofed Difpe?7fe than 
 the Chriftian hath, and rather not Jo much. 
 
 BUT if we muft needs difpenfe, let us for a while fo far difpenfe with Truth) as 
 to grant that fin may be difpens'd ; yet there will be copious reafon found to 
 prove that the Jew had no more right to fuch a fuppos'd indulgence than the Chrifti- 
 an, whether we look at the clear knowledge wherin he liv'd, or the ftrict perfor- 
 mance of works wherto he was bound. Beftdes Vifions and Prophecies, they had 
 the Law of God, which in the Pfalms and Proverbs is chiefly prais'd for furenefs 
 and certainty, botheafy and perfect to the enlightning of thefimple. How could 
 it be fo obfeure then, or they fo fottifhly blind in this plain, moral, andhoulhold 
 duty ? They had the fame precepts about Marriage ; Chrift added nothing to their 
 clearnefs, for that had argued them imperfect •, he opens not the Law, but re- 
 moves the Pharifaic mills rais'd between the Law and the Peoples Eyes : the on- 
 ly fentence which he adds, What God hath join' d, let no man put afunder, is as ob- 
 feure as any claufe fetch'd out of Gene/is, and hath increafed a yet undecided Ccn- 
 troverfy of clandeftine Marriages. If we examine over all his Sayings, we fhall 
 find him not fo much interpreting the Law with his words, as referring his own 
 words to be interpreted by the Law, and oftener obfeures his mind in fhort, and 
 vehement, and compact fentences, to blind and puzzle them the more who would 
 not underftand the Law. The Jews therfore were as little to be difpens'd with 
 for lack of moral knowledge as we. 
 
 Next, none I think will deny, but that they we re as much bound to perform theLaw 
 as any Chriftian. That fevere and rigorous knife not fparing the tender forefkin of 
 any male infant, to carve upon his flefh the mark of that ftrict and pure Covenant 
 wherinto he entered, might give us to underftand enough againft the fancy of dif- 
 penfing. S. Paul teftifies, that every circumcis'd Man is a debtor to the whole Law, 
 Gal. 5. or elfe circumcifion is invain,Rom. 2. 25. How vain then, and how prepofte- 
 rous muft it needs be to exact a circumcifion of the flefh from an infant unto an 
 outward fign of purity,and to difpenfe an uncircumcifion in the Soul of a grown man 
 to an inward and real impurity ? How vain again was that Law to impofe tedious 
 expiations for every flight fin oi ignorance and error, and toprivilege without penance 
 or difturbance an odious crime whetherof ignorance or obftinacy ? How unjuft alio 
 inflicting death and extirpation for the markofcircumftantialpurenefsomitted, and 
 proclaiming all honeft and liberal indemnity to the act of afubftantial impurenefs 
 committed, making void the Covenant that was made againft it ? Thus if we con- 
 fider the tenor of the Law, to be circumcis'd and to perform all , not pardoning fo much 
 as the fcapes of error and ignorance, and compare this with the condition of the Gof- 
 
 pel,
 
 ! q 2 The Docirine and 
 
 pel, Believe and be baptized, I fuppofe it cannot be long ere we grant that the Jew 
 was bound as ftrictly to the performance of every duty, as was poffible, and ther- 
 fore could not be difpens'd with more than the Chriftian, perhaps not fo much. 
 
 CHAR VII. 
 
 That the Go/pel is apter to difpenfe than the Law. Paraeus 
 
 anfweredy 
 
 IF then the Law will afford no reafon why the Jew mould be more gently dealt 
 with than the Chriftian, then furely the Gofpelcan afford as little why the Chri- 
 llian mould be lefs gently dealt with than the Jew. The Gofpel indeed exhorts to 
 hio-heft perfection, bur bears with weakeft infirmity more than the Law. Hence 
 thofe indulgences, All cannot receive this faying, Every man hath his proper gift, 
 with exprels charges not to lay on yokes which our fathers could not bear. The 
 nature of man {till is as weak, and yet as hard •, and that weaknefs and hardnefs 
 as unfit and as unteachable to be harfhly ufed as ever. Ay but, faith Parous, there 
 is a greater portion of fpirit poured upon the Gofpel, which requires from us per- 
 fecter obedience. I anfwer, this does not prove that the Law therfore might 
 give allowance to fin more than the Gofpel •, and if it were no fin, we know it 
 the work of the Spirit to mortify our corrupt defires and evil concupifcence ; but not 
 to root up our natural affections and difaffections, moving to and fro even in wi- 
 feft Men upon jult and neceffary reafons, which were the true ground of that Mo- 
 faic Difpenfe, and is the utmoft extent of our pleading. What is more or lefs 
 perfect we difpute not, but what is fin or no fin. And in that I (till affirm the Law 
 required as perfect obedience as the Gofpel ; befides, that the prime end of the 
 Gofpel is not fo much to exact our obedience, as to reveal Grace, and the fatif- 
 faction of our difobedience. What is now exacted from us, it is the accufing Law 
 that does it, even yet under the Gofpel -, but cannot be more extreme to us now than to 
 the Jews of old -, for the Law ever was of Works, and the Gofpel ever was of Grace. 
 Either then the Law by harmlefs and needful Difpenfes,which the Gofpel is now 
 made to deny, muff have anticipated and exceeded the Grace or the Gofpel, or elfe 
 mutt be found to have given politic and fuperficial Graces without real pardon, 
 faying in general, Do this and live, and yet deceiving and damning under-hand 
 with unfound and hollow permiffions,which is utterly abhorring from theendofall 
 Law, as hath been fhewed. But it thofe indulgences were fife and finlefs, out of 
 tendernefs and compaffion, as indeed they were, and yet fhall be abrogated by the 
 Gofpel, then the Law, whofe end is by rigor to magnify Grace, fhall itlelf give 
 Grace, and pluck a fair plume from the Gofpel, inftead of haftening us thither, allu- 
 ring us from it. And wheras the tenor of the Lav/ was a fervant to amplify and 
 illuilratethemildnefs of Grace ;now theunmildnefs of EvangelicGrace fhall turn fer- 
 vant, to declare the Grace and Mildnefs of the rigorous Law. The Law washarfh 
 to extol the Grace of the Gofpel,and now the Gofpel by anew affected ftrictnefs of 
 her own fhall extenuate the Grace which herielf offers. For by exacting a duty 
 which the Law difpens'd, if we perform it, then is Grace diminifh'd, by how 
 much performance advances, unlets the Apoflle argue wrong : itwe perform knot, 
 and perifh for not performing, then are the conditions of Grace harder than thofe 
 of Rigor. If through Faith and Repentance we perifh not, yet Grace ftill re- 
 mains the lefs, by requiring that which Rigor did not require, or at leaft notfo 
 ftrictly. Thus much therfore to Parous, that if the Gofpel require perfecter O- 
 bedience than the Law as a Duty, it exalts the Law, and debates itfelf, which is 
 difhonourable to the work of our redemption. Seeing therfore that all the caufes 
 of any allowance that the Jews might have, remain as well to the Chriftians ; this 
 is a certain rule, that fo long as the caufes remain, the allowance ought. And ha- 
 ving thus at length inquired the truth concerning Law and Difpenie, their ends, 
 their ufes, their limits, and in what manner both Jew and Chriftian ftand liable 
 to the one or capable of the other, we may lately conclude, that to affirm the giv- 
 ing of any Law or lawlike Difpenfe to fin for hardnefs of heart, is a doctrine 
 of that extravagance from the fage principles of Piety, that whofo confiders 
 throughly, cannot but admire how this hath been digefted all this while. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 Difciplitie ^Divorce. ip 5 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 7$£ truefenfe how Mofes fuffered Divorce for hardnefs 
 
 cf Heart. 
 
 WHAT may we do then to falvethis Teeming inconfiftence ? I muft not ciif- 
 femble that I am confident it can be done no other way than this : 
 Mofes, Deut. i\. i. eflabliih'd a grave and prudent Law, full of moral equity, 
 full of due confideration towards Nature, that cannot be refifted, a Law confenting 
 with the Laws of wil'eft Men and civileft Nations; that when a man hath married 
 a Wife, if it come to pafs that he cannot love her by reafon of fome difpleafmg na- 
 tural quality or unfitnefs in her, let him write her a Bill of Divorce. The intent 
 of which Law undoubtedly was this, that if any good and peaceable Man mould 
 dilcover fome helplefs disagreement or diflike either of mind or body, wherby 
 he could not chearfully perform the duty of a Hufband without the perpetual dif- 
 fembling of offence and difturbance to his fpirit ; rather than to live uncomforta- 
 bly and unhappily both to himlelf and to his Wife, rather than to continue un- 
 dertaking a duty which he could not poflibly dilcharge, he might difmifs her 
 whom he could not tolerably and lb not confeionably retain. And this Law 
 the Spirit of God by the Mouth of Solomon, Prov. 30. 21, 23. teltifies to be a 
 good and a necefTary Law, by granting it that a haled Woman (for lb the Hebrew 
 word hgnifies, rather than odious, though it come all to one) that a hated Woman, 
 when/he is married, is a thing that the earth cannot bear. What follows then but 
 that the charitable Law muft remedy what Nature cannot undergo ? Now that 
 many licentious and hard-hearted Men took hold of this Law to cloke their bad 
 purpofes, is nothing ftrange to believe. Andthefe were they, not lor whom Mo- 
 fes made the Law, God forbid, but whofe hardnefs of heart taking ill advantage 
 by this Law, he held it better to fuffer as by accident, where it could not be de- 
 tected, rather than good Men mould lofe their juft and lawful privilege of remedy : 
 Chrift therfore having to anfwer thefe tempting Pharifees, according ashiscuftom 
 was, not meaning to inform their proud ignorance what Mofes did in the true intent 
 of the Law,which they had ill cited, fupprefling the true caufe for which Mofes gave 
 it, and extending it to every flight matter, tells them their own, what Mofes was 
 fore'd to fufFer by their abuleof his Law. Which is yet more plain if we mark 
 that our Saviour in Mat. 5. cites not the Law of Mofes, but the pharifaical tradi- 
 tion falfly grounded upon that Law. And in thole other places, chap. 19. and 
 Mark 10. the Pharifees cite the Law, but conceal the wile and human reafon 
 there expreft •, which our Saviour corrects not in them, whofe pride deferv'd not 
 his inftruction, only returns them what is proper to them; Mofes for the hardnefs 
 of your heart fuffered you, that is fuch as you, to -put away your wives ; and to you be 
 wrote this precept for that caufe, which {to you) mull be read with an imprefflon, and 
 underftoodlimitedly of fuch as cover'd ill purpofes under that Law : for it was 
 leafonable that they fhould hear their own unbounded licence rebuk'd, but not 
 feafonable for them to hear a good Man's requifite liberty explain'd. But 
 us he hath taught better, if we have ears to hear. He himfelf acknowledg'd it to 
 be a Law, Mark 10. and being a Law ofGod, it muft have an undoubted end of 
 charity, which may be us'dzvith a pure Heart, a good Confcience, and Faith unfeigned, 
 as was heard : it cannot allow lin, but is purpofely to refill fin, as by the fame 
 chapter to Timothy appears. There we learn alfo, that the Law is good, if a man 
 v.fe it lawfully. Oat of doubt then there muft be a certain good in this Law, which 
 Mofes willingly allow'd, and there might be an unlawful ufe made therof by hy- 
 pocrites ; and that was it which was unwillingly fuffer'd, forefeeingit in general, 
 but not able to difcern it in particulars. Chrift therfore mentions not here what 
 Mofes and the Law intended, for good Men might know that by many other rules : 
 and the fcornful Pharifees were not fit to be told, until they could imploy that 
 knowledge they had lefs abufively. Only he acquaints them with what Mofes by 
 them was put to fuffer. 
 
 Vol. I. C c CHAP.
 
 IQ& The Doctrine and 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The words of the Inftitution how to be under flood ; and of our 
 Saviour s Anfwer to his Difciples. 
 
 AN D to entertain a little their overweening arrogance as beft'befitted, and to 
 amaze them yet further, becaufe they thought it no hard matter to fulfil the 
 Law, he draws them up to that unfeparable inftitution which God ordain'd in the 
 beginning before the fall, when Man and Woman were both perfect, and could have 
 no caufe to feparate : juft as in the fame Chapter he ftands not to contend with the 
 arrogant young Man, who boafted his obfervance of the whole Law, whether he 
 had indeed kept it or not, but fkrews him up higher to a talk of that perfection, 
 which no man is bound to imitate. And in like manner that pattern of the firft in- 
 ftitution he fet before the opinionative Pharifees,to dazle them, and not to bind us. 
 For this is a folid rule, that every command given with reafon, binds our obedience 
 no otherwife than that reafon holds. Of this fort was that command in Eden ; Ther- 
 forejhalla Man cleave to hisWife, and they Jhall be oneflefi ; which we fee is no ab- 
 folute command, but with an inference, Therfore : the reafon then muft be firft 
 confider'd, that our obedience be not mifobedience. The firft is, for it is not fingle, 
 becaufe the Wife is to the Hufband fefj ofhisfleflo, as in the verfe going before. 
 But this reafon cannot be fufficient of itlelf : for why then fhould he for his Wife 
 leave his Father and Mother, with whom he is far more flefh offlefto, and bone of bone, 
 as being made of their fubftance ? And befides, it can be but a lorry, and igno- 
 ble fociety of life, whofe infeparable injunction depends meerly upon flefii and 
 bones. Therfore we muft look higher, fince Chrift himfelf recals us to the begin- 
 ning, and we fhall find that the primitive reafon of never divorcing, was that 
 facred and not vain promife of God to remedy man's Lonelinefs by making him a 
 meet help for him, tho' not now in perfection, as at firft ; yet ftill in proportion as 
 things now are. And this is repeated verfe 20. when all other creatures were fit- 
 ly affociated and brought to Adam, as if the divine power had been in fome care 
 and deep'thought, becaufe there was not yet found an help-meet for Man. Andean we 
 fo flightly deprefs the all- wife purpofeof a deliberating God, as if his confultation 
 had produced no other good forMan but to Join him with an accidental companion 
 of propagation, which his fudden word had already made for every beaft ? nay a 
 far lefs good to Man it will be found, if fhe muft at all adventures be faftned upon 
 him individually. And therfore even plain fenfe and equity, and, which is above 
 them both, the all-interpreting voice of Charity herfelf cries loud that this pri- 
 mitive reafon,'' this confulted promife of God to make a meet help, is the only caufe 
 that gives authority to this command of not divorcing, to be a command. And it 
 might be further added, that if the true definition of a Wife were alk'd in good 
 earneft,this claufe of being a meet help would fhew itfelf foneceilary, and fo eifen- 
 tial in that demonftrative argument, that it might be logically concluded : therfore 
 fhe who naturally and perpetually is no meet help, can be no Wife ; which clearly 
 takes away the difficulty of difmiffing of fuch a one. If this be not thought enough, 
 I anfwer yet further, that Marriage, unlefs it mean a fit and tolerable Marriage, 
 is not infeparable neither by nature nor inftitution. Not by nature, for then 
 thofe Mofaic Divorces had been againft nature, if feparable and infeparable 
 be contraries, as who doubts they be ? and what is againft nature is againft Law, 
 if foundeft Philofophy abufe us not : by this reckoning Afo/« fhould be moftfl»/»^z/V, 
 that is moft illegal, not to fay moft unnatural. Nor is it infeparable by the firft in- 
 ftitution : for then no fecond inftitution of the fame Law for fo many caules 
 could diffolve it ; it being moft unworthy a human, (as Plato's judgment is 
 in the fourth book of his Laws) much more a divine Lawgiver to write two 
 feveral Decrees upon the fame thing. But what could Plato have deemed if 
 one of thefe were good, and the other evil to be done ? Laftly, fuppofe it be 
 infeparable by inftitution, yet in competition with higher things, as Religion and 
 Charity in maineft matters, and when the chief end is fruftrate for which it was 
 ordained, as hath been fhewn, if ftill it muft remain infeparable, it holds a ftrange 
 and lawlels propriety from all other works of God under Heaven. From thefe 
 anany confiderations, we may fafely gather, thatfo much of the firft inftitution as 
 our Saviour mentions, for he mentions not all, was but to quell and put to nonplus 
 
 . the
 
 Difeipline ^Divorce. 19- 
 
 th? tempting Pharifees, and to lay open their ignorance andlhallowunderftanding 
 of the Scriptures. For, faith he, Have ye not read that he which made them at the 
 beginning, made them male and female, and laid, for this caufe fiall a man cleave to 
 his wife ? which thefe blind ufurpers of Mofes' Chair could not gainfay : as if this 
 fingle refpect of male and female were fufficientagainft a thoufand inconveniences 
 and mifchiefs, to clog a rational creature to his endlels forrow unrelinquifhably, 
 under the guileful fuperfcription of his intended folace and comfort. What if they 
 had thus anfwer'd ? Mafter, if thou mean to makeWedloc as infeparable as from 
 the beginning, let it be made a fit fociety, as God meant it, which we mail foon 
 underftand it ought to be, if thou recite the whole reafon of the Law. Doubt - 
 lefs our Saviour had applauded their juft anfwer. For then they had expoundedhis 
 command of Paradile, even as Mofes himfelf expounds it by his Laws of Divorce, 
 that is, with due and wife regard to the Premifes and Reafons of the firft com- 
 mand ; according to which, without unclean and temporizing Permiffions, he in- 
 ftructs us in this imperfect ftate what we may lawfully do about Divorce. 
 
 But if it be thought that the Difciples, offended at the rigor of Chrift's anfwer, 
 could yet obtain no mitigation of the former fentence pronoune'd to the Pharifees, 
 it may be fully anfwer'd, that ourSaviour continues the fame reply tohis Difciples, 
 as men leavened with the fame cuftomary licence which the Pharifees maintain'd, 
 and difph-afedat the removing of a traditional abufe, wherto they had fo long not 
 unwillingly been ufed : it was no time then to contend with their flow and preju- 
 dicial belief, in a thing wherein an ordinary meafure of light in Scripture, with 
 jbme attention, might afterwards inform them well enough. And yet ere Chrift 
 had finifhed this argument, they might have pick'd out of his own concluding 
 words an anfwer more to their minds, and in effect the fame with that which hath 
 been all this while intreating audience : All men, faith he, cannot receive this fay- 
 ing, fave they to whom it is given ; he that is able to receive it, let him receive it. 
 What faying is thiswhichis left toa man's choice to receive, or not receive? What 
 but the married life ? Was our Saviour fo mild and fo favourable to the weaknefs 
 of a fingle Man, and is he turn'd on the fudden fo rigorous and inexorable, to the 
 diftrefles and extremities of an ill-wedded Man ? Did he fo gracioufly give leave 
 to change the better fingle life for the worfe married life ? Did he open fo to us 
 this hazardous and accidental door of marriage, to fhut upon us like the gate of 
 death, without retracting or returning, without permitting to change the worft, 
 mod infupportable, moll unchriftian mifchance of Marriage for all the mifchiefs 
 and forrows that can enfue, being an Ordinance which was efpecially given as a 
 Cordial and exhilarating Cup of folace, the better to bear our other croflfes and af- 
 flictions ? Queftionlefs this was a hard-heartednefs of divorcing, worfe than that 
 in the Jews, which they fay extorted the allowance from Mofes, and is utterly dif- 
 fonant from all the Doctrine of our Saviour. After thefe conflderations therfore, 
 to take a Law out or Paradile given in time of original perfection, and to take it 
 barely without thofe juft and equal inferences and reafons which mainly eftablifli 
 it, nor fo much as admitting thofe needful and fafe allowances wherewith Mofes 
 himfelf interprets it to the fallen condition of Man, argues nothing in us but rafh- 
 nefsand contempt ofthofe means that God leftusin his pure and chafte Law, with- 
 out which it will not be poflible for us to perform the ftrict impofition of this 
 command: or if we ftrive beyond our ftrength, we fhall ftrive to obey it otherwife 
 than God commands it. And lamented Experience daily teaches the bitter and 
 vain fruits of this our prefumption, forcing Men in a thing wherin we are not 
 able to judge either of their ftrength or of their fufferance. Whom neither one 
 vice nor other by natural addiction, but only Marriage ruins, which doubtlefs is 
 not the fault of that Ordinance, for God gave it asablefling, nor always of man's 
 mifchufing, it being an error above wifdom to prevent, as examples ofwifeft 
 Men fo miftaken manifeft: It is the fault therfore of a perverfe Opinion that will 
 have it continued in defpite of Nature and Reafon, when indeed it was never 
 truly join'd. All thofe Expofitors upon the firft of Matthew confefs the Law 
 of Mofes to be the Law of theLord, wherin no addition or diminution hath place; 
 yet coming to the point of Divorce, as if they fear'd not to becall'd leaft in the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, any flight evafion will content them, to reconcile thofe con- 
 tradictions which they make between Chrift and Mofes ^ between Chrift and Chrift. 
 
 Vol. I. Cc 2 CHAP,
 
 o6 
 
 The DoElrine and 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 The vain Shift ofthofe who make the Law of Divorce to be 
 only the Premifes of a fucceeding Law. 
 
 SOME will have it no Law, but the granted Premifes of another Law following, 
 contrary to the words of Chrift, Mark 10. 5. and all other Tranflations of gra- 
 veft Authority, who render it in form of a Law, agreeable to Mai. 1. 16. as it is 
 moft anciently and modernly expounded. Beftdes, the Bill of Divorce, and the 
 particular occafion therin mentioned, declares it to be orderly and legal. And 
 what avails this to make the matter more righteous, if fuch an adulterous condi- 
 tion fhall be mention'd to build a Law upon without either punifhment or fo 
 much as forbidding ? They pretend it is implicitly reprov'd in thele words, 
 Deut. 24. 4. after Jhe is defiled; but who fees not that this defilement is not only in 
 refpedt of returning to her former Hufband after an intermixt Marriage ? elfe why 
 was not the defiling condition firfl forbidden, which would have faved the labour 
 of this After- Law ? Nor is itfeemly or pioufly attributed to thejuftice of God and 
 his known hatred of Sin, that fuch a heinous fault as this through all the Law 
 Ihould be only whip'd with an implicit and oblique touch, (which yet is falfly 
 fuppos'd) and diat his peculiar People mould be let wallow in adulterous Marri- 
 ages almoft two thouland years, for want of a direct Law to prohibit them : 'tis 
 rather to be confidently afium'd that this was granted to apparent neceffities, as 
 being of unqueftionable right and reafon in the Law of nature, in that it ftill 
 pafies without inhibition, even when the greateft caufe is given to us to expect it 
 ihould be dire&ly forbidden. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 "The other Shift of faying Divorce was permitted by Law, but 
 not approvd. More of the Inflitution. 
 
 BUT it was not approv'd. So much the worfe that it was allow'd; as if Sin 
 had overmafter'd the Word of God, to conform her fteddy and ftrait rule 
 to Sin's crookednefs, which is impoffible. Befides, what needed a pofitive grant 
 cf that which was not approv'd ? It reftrain'd no liberty to him that could but ufe 
 a little fraud, it had been better filenced unlefs it were approved in fome cafe 
 or other. But ftill it was not approv'd. Miferable Excufers ! He who doth evil 
 that good may come therby, approves not what he doth ; and yet the grand Rule 
 forbids him, and counts his damnation juft if he do it. The Sorcerefs Medea did not 
 approve her own evil doings, yet look'd not to be excufed for that : and it is the 
 conftant Opinion of Plato in Protagoras, and other of his Dialogues agreeing with 
 that Proverbial Sentence among zheGreeks, thatiVo man is kicked willingly. Which 
 alfo the Peripatetics do rather diftinguifh than deny. What great thank then if 
 any man, reputed wife and conftant, will neither do, nor permit others under his 
 charge to do that which he approves not, efpecially in matter of Sin ? But for a 
 Judge, but for a Magiftrate, the Shepherd of his People, to furrenderup his appro- 
 bation againft Law and his own Judgment, to the obftinacy of his herd, what 
 more Un- judge-like, more Un-magiftrate-like, and in War more Un-commander- 
 like ? Twice in a fhort time it was the undoing of the Roman State, firft when Pcm- 
 pey, next when Marcus Brutus, had not magnanimity enough but to make fo poor 
 a refignation of what they approv'd, to what the boifterous Tribunes and Soldiers 
 bawl'd for. Twice it was the favingof two the greateft Commonwealths in the World, 
 of Athens by Themijiocles at the Sea fight of Salamis ; of Rome by Fabius Maximus 
 in the Punic War, for that thefe two matchlefs Generals had the fortitude at home 
 againft the rafhnefs and the clamours of their own Captains and Confederates, to 
 withftand the doing or permitting of what they could not approve in their duty of 
 their great command. Thus far of civil Prudence. But when we fpeak of Sin, 
 let us look again upon the old reverend Eli ; who in his heavy Punifhment 
 found no difference between the doing and permitting of what he did not 
 
 approve.
 
 ifcipline p/Divorce. 197 
 
 approve. If hardnefs of heart in the people may be an excufe, why then is Pi- 
 late branded through all memory? He approv'd not what he did, he openly pro- 
 tected, he wafh'd his hands, and labour'd not a little ere he would yield to the 
 hard hearts of a whole People, both Princes and Plebeans, importuning and ru- 
 multing even to the fear of a revolt. Yet is there any will undertake his caufe ? 
 If therfore Pilate for fuffering but one act of cruelty againft Law, though with 
 much unwillingnefs teftify'd, at the violent demand ofa whole Nation, fhall (land 
 fo black upon record to all posterity •, alas for Mofes ! what fhall we fay for him, 
 while we are taught to believe he fuffer'd not one act only both of cruelty andun- 
 cleannefs in one Divorce, but made it a plain and lafting Law againft Law, wher- 
 by tenthoufand acts accounted both cruel and unclean, might be daily committed, 
 and this without the leaftfuit or petition of the People that we can read of. 
 
 And can we conceive without vile thoughts, that the Majefty and Holinefs of 
 God could endure fo many Ages to gratify a ftubborn people in the practice ofa 
 foul polluting Sin ? and could he expect they fhould abftain, he not fignifying his 
 mind in a plain command, at iuch time efpecially when be was framing their Laws 
 and them to all poffible perfection ? But they were to look back to the firft infti- 
 tution ■, nay rather why was not that individual inftitution brought out of Para- 
 dife, as was that of the Sabbath, and repeated in the body of the Law, that men 
 might have underftood it to be a command ? for that any fentence that bears the 
 refemblance ofa precept, fet there fo out of place in another World, at fuch a 
 di fiance from the whole Law, and not once mentioned there, fliou Id be an obli- 
 ging command to us, is very difputable, and perhaps it might be deny'd to be a 
 command without further diipute : however, it commands not abfolutely, as hath 
 been clear'd, but only with reference to that precedent promife of God, which is 
 the very ground of his inftitution ; if that appear not in fome tolerable fort, how 
 can we affirm fuch a matrimony to be the fame which God inftituted ? In fuch 
 an accident it will beft behoove our fobernefs to follow rather what moral Sinai 
 prefcribes equal to our ftrength, than fondly to think within our ftrength of ail 
 that loft Paradile relates. 
 
 chap. xn. 
 
 The third Shift of them who ejleem it a meer "Judicial Law* 
 Provd again to be a Law of moral Equity. 
 
 ANother while it fhall fuffice them, that it was not a moral but a judicial Law, 
 and fo was abrogated : nay rather abrogated becaufe judicial; which 
 Law the Miniftry of Chrift came not to deal with. And who put it in Man's 
 power to exempt, where Chrift fpeaks in general of not abrogating the leaf: jot or 
 tittle, and in fpecial not that of Divorce, becaufe it follows among thofe Laws 
 which he promis'd exprefly not to abrogate, but to vindicate from abufive Tra- 
 ditions ? which is moft evidently to be feen in the i6tb of Luke, where this cauti- 
 on of not abrogating is inferted immediately, and not otherwife than purpofely, 
 when no other pointof the Law istouch'd but that of Divorce. And if we mark the 
 31/? verfe of Mat. 5. he there cites not the Law of Mofes, but the licentious Glofs 
 which tradue'd the Law ; that therfore which he cited, that he abrogated, and not 
 only abrogated, but difallow'd and flatly condemned, which could not be the Law 
 of Mofes, for that had been foully to the rebuke of his great Servant. To abro- 
 gate a Law made with God's allowance, had been to tell us only that fuch a 
 Law was now to ceafe : but to refute it with an ignominious note of civilizing 
 Adultery, cafts the reproof which was meant only to the Pharilees, even upon him 
 who made the Law. But yet if that be judicial which belongs to a Civil Court, 
 this Law is lefs judicial than nine of the ten Commandments : for Antiquaries af- 
 firm, that Divorces proceeded among the Jews without knowledge of the Magif- 
 trate, only with Hands and Seals under the teftimony of fome Rabbi's to be then 
 prefent. Perkins, in a Treatife ofConfcience, grants, that what in the judicial Law 
 is of common equity, binds alio the Christian : and how to judge of this, pre- 
 fcribes two ways •, If wife Nations have enacted the fame Decree : Or if it main- 
 t the good of Family, Church, or Commonwealth. This therfore is a pure 
 moral economical Law, too haftily imputed of tolerating Sin ; being rather fo 
 
 clear
 
 1 9 8 The DoElrine and 
 
 clear in nature and reafon, that it was left to a man's own arblcrernerit ro be deter- 
 mined between God and his own confeience •, not only among the Jews, but in e- 
 very wile Nation ; the reftraint wherof, who is not too thick-fighted, may fee 
 how hurtful and diftractive it is to the Houfe, the Church, and Commonwealth. 
 And that power which Chrift never took from the Mafter of a Family, but recti- 
 fied only to a right and wary ufe at home-, that power the undifcerning Canonift 
 hath improperly ufurpt in his Court-leet, and befcribbled with athoufmd trifling, 
 impertinencies, which yet have fill'd the life of man with llrious trouble and cala- 
 mity. Yet grant it were of old a judicial Law, it need not be the lefs moral for 
 that, being converfant as it is about Virtue or Vice. And our Saviour difputes 
 not here the Judicature, for that was not his Office, but the morality of Divorce, 
 whether it be Adultery or no ; if therfore he touch the Law of Mofes at all, he touches 
 the moral part therof, which is abfurd to imagine, that the Covenant of Grace 
 mould reform the exact and perfect Law of Works, eternal and immutable ; or 
 if he touch not the Law at all, then is not the Allowance therof difallow'd to us. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 The ridiculous Opinion that Divorce was permitted from the 
 Cufiom ill iEgypt. ThatMoksgave not this Law unwilling- 
 ly. Perkins confejfes this Law was not abrogated. 
 
 O 
 
 Thers are fo ridiculous as toalledge that this Licence of divorcing was given 
 them becaufe they were foaccuftom'd in Mgyp. As if an ill Cuftom were 
 to be kept to all pofterity, for the Difpenfation is both univerfal and of time unli- 
 mited, and fo indeed no Difpenfation at all : for the over-dated Difpenfation of a 
 thing unlawful, ferves for nothing but to increafe hardnefs of heart, and makes 
 men but wax more incorrigible, which were a great reproach to be laid of any Law 
 or Allowance that God fhould give us. In thefe Opinions it would be more Reli- 
 gion to advife well, left we make our felves jufter than God, by cenfuring rafhly 
 that for Sin which his unfpotted Law without rebuke allows, and his People with- 
 out being confeious of difpleafing him have ufed, and if we can think fo of Mo- 
 fes, as that the Jewifo obftinacy could compel him to write fuch impure permiffi- 
 6ns againft the Word of God and his own Judgment, doubtlefs it was his part to 
 have protefted publicly what ftraits he was driven to, and to have declar'd his 
 Confeience, when he gave any Law againft his mind : for the Law is the Touch- 
 ftone of Sin and of Confeience, and muft not be intermix'd with corrupt Indul- 
 gences ; for then it lofes the greateft praife it has of being certain, and infallible, 
 not leading into error as all thejeivs were led by this Connivance of Mofes, if it were 
 a Connivance. But ftill they fly back to the primitive Inftitution, and would have 
 us re-enter Paradife againft the Sword that guards it. Whom I again thus re- 
 ply to, that the place in Genejis contains the defcription of a fit and perfect Mar- 
 riage, with an interdict of ever divorcing fuch a Union ; but where nature is dif- 
 cover'd to have never joined indeed, but vehemently feeks to part, it cannot be 
 there conceived that God forbids it, nay, he commands it both in the Law and in 
 the Prophet Malachy, which is to be our rule. And Perkins upon this Chapter of 
 Matthew deals plainly, that our Saviour here confutes not Mofes' Law, but the 
 falfe Gloffes that deprav'd the Law ; which being true, Perkins muft needs grant, 
 that fomething then is kit to that Law which Chrift found no fault with ; and 
 what can that be but the confcionable ufe of fuch liberty, as the plain words im- 
 port? So that by his own Inference, Chrift did not abfolutely intend to rertrain 
 all Divorces to the only caufe of Adultery. This therfore is the true febpe of our 
 Saviour's will, that he who looks upon the Law concerning Divorce, mould alfo 
 look back upon the Inftitution, that he may endeavour what is perfected: and he 
 that looks upon the Inftitution mall notrefufeas finful and unlawful thofe allow- 
 ances which God affords him in his following Law, left he make himfelf purer 
 than his Maker, and prefuming above ftrength, flip into temptations irrecover- 
 ably. For this is wonderful, that in all thofe Decrees concerning Marriage, God 
 fhould never once mention the prime Inftitution to diifuade them from divor- 
 cing, and that he fhould forbid fmaller Sins as oppofite to the hardnefs of their 
 hearts, and let this adulterous mattef of Div&rce pais ever unreproved. 
 
 This 
 
 c
 
 Dtfcipline ^Divorce. 199 
 
 This is alio to be marvelled, that feeing (Thrift didn.ot condemn whatever it w« s 
 that Mcfcs fuffered, and thatthernpon the Chriftian Magiftrate permits Ufury an ' 
 opcnStews, and here with us Adultery to be Co flightly punifhed, which waspu- 
 nilhed by death to thefe hard-hearted Jews, why we fhould drain thus at the matter 
 of Divorce, v, hich may ftand fomuch with Charity to permit, and make no fcru] i 
 to allow Ufury efteem'd tobefomuchagainft Charity. Bur this it is to embroil 
 our felves againft the righteous and all-wile Judgments and Statutes of God ; 
 which are not variable and contrarious, as we would make them, one while per- 
 mitting, and another while forbidding, but are moft conftantand mod harmoni- 
 ous each to other. For how can the uncorrupt and majeftic Law of God, bear- 
 ing in her hand the wages of life and death, harbour fuch a repugnance within her 
 felf, as to require an unexempted and impartial Obedience to all her Decrees, either 
 from us or from our Mediator, and yet debafe her felf to foulter fomanyAges with 
 circumcis'd Adulteries by unclean and Qubbering Permiflions ? 
 
 C H A P. XIV. 
 
 'That BczaV Opinion of regulating Sin by Apofiolic Last 
 
 caniiot be found. 
 
 YET Beza's Opinion is, that a politic Law, (but what politic Law, I know 
 not, unlefsone of Machiavelh) may regulate Sin •, may bear indeed, I grant, 
 with imperfection for a time, as thofe Canons of the Apoftles did in Ceremonial 
 thing*! but as for Sin, the effence of it cannot confift with rule J and if the Law 
 fail to regulate Sin, and not to take it utterly away, it necefiarily confirms and 
 eftablifhes Sin. To make a regularity of Sin by Law, either 'the Law muft ftreigh- 
 ten Sin into no Sin, or Sin muft; crook the Law into no Law. The Judicial Law 
 can ferve to no other end than to be the Protector and Champion of Religion and 
 honeft Civility, as is fet down plainly Rom. 13 and is but the arm of Moral Law, 
 which can no more be feparate from Juftice, than Juftice from Virtue. Their of- 
 fice alio, in a different manner, fleers the fame courfej the one teaches what is 
 good by precept, the other unteaches what is bad by punifhment. But if 
 we give way to public Difpenfuions of lewd Uncleannefs, the firft good confe- 
 rence of fuch a relax will be the justifying ofPapalStews, join'dwith a toleration 
 of epidemic Whoredom. Juftice muft revolt from the end of her Authority, 
 and become the Patron of that wherof Ihe was created the Punifher. The exam- 
 ple of Ufury, which is commonly alledged, makes againft the Allegation which 
 it brings, as I touched before. Befides that Ufury, fo much as is permitted by the 
 Magiftrate, and demanded by common equity, is neither againft the word of 
 God, nor the rule of Charity, as hath been often difcufs'd by men of eminent Lear- 
 ning and Judgment. There muft be therfore fome other example found out to fhew 
 us wherein civil Policy may with warrant from God fettle Wickednefs by Law, 
 and make that lawful which is lawlefs. Although I doubt not but upon deeper 
 consideration, that which is true in Phytic will be found as true in Policy, that as 
 of bad Pulfes thofe that beat moft in order, are much worfe than thofe that keep 
 the moft inordinate circuit ; fo of popular Vices thofe that may be committed le- 
 gally, will be more pernicious than thofe that are left to their own courfe at 
 peril, not under a ftinted privilege to fin orderly and regularly, which is an im- 
 plicite contradiction, but under due and fearlefs execution of punifhment. 
 
 The political Law, fince it cannot regulate Vice, is to reftrain it by ufing all means 
 to root it out. But if it fuffer the weed to grow up to any pleafurable or contented 
 height upon what pretext foever, it faftensthe root, it prunes and dreffes Vice, as 
 if it were a good Plant. Let no man doubt therfore to affirm, that it is notfo hurtful 
 ordifhonourable to a Commonwealth, nor fomuch to the hardening of hearts, when 
 thofe worfe faults pretended to be feared are committed, by whofo dares under ftrict 
 and executed Penalty, as when thofe lefs faults tolerated for fear of greater harden 
 their faces, not their hearts only, under the protection of public Authority. For 
 what lefs indignity were this, than as if Juftice herfelf, the Queen of Virtues (de- 
 fending from her fcepter'd Royalty) inftead of conquering fhould compound and 
 treat with Sin, her eternal Adverfary and Rebel, upon ignoble terms ? or as if the 
 
 Judicial 
 4
 
 200 The Dotlrine and 
 
 Judicial Law were like that untrufty Steward in the Gofpel, and in/lead of calling 
 in the debts of his moral Mailer, mould give out iubtile and fly Acquittances tt 
 
 ■y 
 
 to 
 keep himfelf from begging ? Or let us perfon him likefome wretched Itinerary 
 Judo-e, who to gratify his Delinquets before him, would let them balely break his 
 head, left they fhould pull him from the Bench, and throw him over the Bar. Un- 
 lelswe had rather think both Moral and Judicial, full of malice and deadly pur- 
 pofe, confpir'd to let the Debtor Ifraelite, the Seed of Abraham, run on upon a 
 bankrout i'core, flatter'd with infufficient ,_and enfnaring Difcharges, that lo he 
 might be haled to a more cruel forfeit for all the indulgent arrears which thole Ju- 
 dicial Acquitments had engaged him in. No no, this cannot be, that the Law, 
 whofe integrity and faithfulnefs is next to God, mould be either the fhamelefs bro- 
 ker of our impunities, or the intended inftrument of our deftruction. The me- 
 thod of holy correction, fuch as became the Commonwealth of Ifrael, is not to 
 bribe fin with fin, to capitulate and hire out one crime with another ; but with 
 more noble and graceful feverity than Popilius the Roman Legate ufed with Anti- 
 cchus, to limit and level out the direct way from vice to virtue, with ftraightcft 
 and exacteft lines on either fide, not winding or indenting fo much as to the right 
 hand of fair pretences. Violence indeed and Infurrection may force the Law to 
 f uffer what it cannot mend •, but to write a Decree in allowance of fin, as foon 
 can the hand of Juftice rot off. Let this be ever concluded as a truth that will 
 outlive the faith of thofe that feek to bear it down. 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 That Divorce was not given for Wives o?ily> as Beza and Pa- 
 rous write. More of the biflitution. 
 
 LAftly, If Divorce were granted, as Beza and others fay, not for men, but to 
 releafe afflicted Wives-, certainly it is not only a Difpenfarion, but a moft 
 merciful Law ; and why it fhould not yet be in force, being wholly as needful, I 
 know not what can be in caufe but fenfelefs cruelty. But yet to fay, Divorce 
 was granted for relief of Wives rather than of Hufbands, is but weakly conjectu- 
 red, and is manifeftly the extreme fhiit of a huddled expofition. Whenas it 
 could not be found how hardnefs of heart fhould be leflen'd by liberty of Di- 
 vorce, a fancy was devis'd to hide the flaw, by commenting that Divorce was 
 permitted only for the help of Wives. Palpably uxorious ! who can be igno- 
 rant that Woman was created for Man, and not Man for Woman, and that a Huf- 
 band may be injur'd as infufferably in Marriage as a Wife ? What an injury is it 
 .ifterWedloc not to be beloved ? what to be flighted ? what to be contended with in 
 point of houfe-rule who fhall be the head ; not for any parity of wifdom, for that 
 were fomething reafonable, but out of a female pride ? Ifuffer not, faith S. Paul, 
 the Woman to ufurp authority over the Man. If the Apoftle could not fuffer it, in- 
 to what mould is he mortified that can ? Solomon faith, That a bad Wife is to her 
 Ihfband as rottennefs to his bones, a continual dropping. Better dwell in the corner 
 of a houfe-top, or in the wildernefs, than with fuch an one. Whofo hidetb her, hi- 
 deth the wind, and one of the four mifebiefs which the earth cannot bear. If the Spi- 
 rit of God wrote fuch Aggravations as thefe, and (as may be gueft by thefe fimili- 
 tudes) counfels the Man rather to divorce than to live with fuch acollegue ; and 
 yet on the other fide expreffes nothing of the Wife's fuffering with a bad Huf- 
 band : Is it not moft likely that God in his Law had more pity towards Man thus 
 wedlock'd, than towards the Woman that was created for another ? The fame 
 Spirit relates to us the courie which the Medes and Perjians took by occafion of 
 Vafhti, whofe meer denial to come at her Hufband's fending, loft her die being 
 Queen any longer, and kt up a wholefome Law, that every man fhould bear rule 
 in his own houfe. And the Divine Relater lhews us not the leaft fign of difliking 
 what was done •, how fhould he, if Mofes long before was nothing lefs mindful 
 of the honour and pre-eminence due to Man ? So that to fay Divorce was grant- 
 ed for Woman rather than Man, was but fondly invented. Efteeming therfore 
 to have afferted thus an injur'd Law of Mofes, from the unwarranted and guilty 
 name of a Difpenfation, to be again a moft equal and requifite Law, we have the 
 Word of Chrift himfelf, that he came not to alter the leaft tittle of it ; and figni- 
 
 fies
 
 DifcipHne ^Divorce. 2,0 i 
 
 fi es no fmall difpleafure againft him that fhall teach to dofo. On which relying, I 
 mail not much waver to affirm, that thofe words which are made to intimate as if 
 they forbad all Divorce, but for Adultery, (tho'M^have conftituted otherwife) 
 thofe words taken circumfcriptly, without regard to any precedent Law ofMofes t 
 or atteftation of Chrift himfelf, or without care to preferve thofe his fundamen- 
 tal and fuperiour Laws of Nature and Charity, to which all other Ordinances give 
 up their Seals, are as much againft plain Equity and the Mercy of Religion, as thofe 
 words of "Take, eat, this is my Body, elementally underftood, are againft Nature 
 and Senfe. 
 
 And furely the reftoring of this degraded Law hath well recompenc'd the dili- 
 .gence was us'd by enlightning us further to find out wherfore Chrift took off the 
 Pharifees from alledging the Law, and referr'd them to the firft inftitution ; not ' 
 condemning, altering, orabolifhingthis preceptofDivorce,which isplainly moral, 
 for that were againft his Truth, his Promife, and his prophetic Office ; but know- 
 ing how fallacioufly they had cited and conceal'd the particular and natural reafon 
 of the Law that they might juftify any froward reafon of their own, he lets go that 
 Sophiftry unconvine'd, lor that had been to teach them elfe, which his purpofe was 
 not. And fince they had taken a liberty which the Law gave not, he amufes and 
 repels their tempting pride with a perfection ofParadife, which the Law re- 
 quired not •, not therby to oblige our performance to that wherto the Law never 
 enjoin'd the fallen eftate of Man : for if the firft inftitution muft makeWedloc, 
 whatever happen, infeparable to us, itmuft make it alfoas perfect as meetly helpful, 
 and as comfortable as God promis'd it fhould be, at lead in fome degree ; otherwife 
 it is not equal or proportionable to the ftrength of Man, that he fhould be redu- 
 ced into fuch indiifoluble bonds to his aflured mifery, if all the other conditions of 
 that covenant be manifeftly alter'd. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 How to he imder flood that they muflbeoneflefh\ and how that 
 thofe whom God hath join V, Man JJjou 'Id 'not J under, 
 
 NEXT he faith, they muft he one flejh ; which, when all conjecturing is done, 
 will be found to import no more but to make legitimate and good the carnal 
 a£t, which elfe might feem to have fomething of pollution in it ; and infers thus 
 much over, that the fit union of their Souls be fuch as may even incorporate them 
 to love and amity: but that can never be where no correfpondence is of the mind*, 
 nay inftead of being one flefh, they will be rather two carcafes chain'd unnaturally 
 together ■, or, as it may happen, a living foul bound to a dead corpfe, a punifhment 
 too like that inflicTtecl by the Tyrant Mezentius, fo little worthy to be received as 
 that remedy of lonelinefs which God meant us. Since we know it is not the join- 
 ing of another body will remove lonelinefs, but the uniting of another compliab'e 
 mind •, and that it is no bleffing but a torment, nay a bafe and brutiffi condition 
 to be one flefti, unlefs where nature can in fome meafure fix a unity of difpofition. 
 The meaning therfore of thefe words, For this caufe Jhall a Man leave his Father 
 and his Mother, andftoall cleave to his Wife, was firft to fhew us the dear affection 
 which naturally grows in every not unnatural Marriage, even to the leaving of 
 Parents, or other familiarity whatfoever. Next, it juftifies a man in fo doing, that 
 nothing is done undutifully to Father or Mother. But he that fhould be here 
 flernly commanded to cleave to his error, a difpofition which to his he finds will never 
 cement, a quotidian of forrow and difcontent in his houfe •, let us be excufed to 
 paufe a little, and bethink us every way round ere we lay fuch a fiat Solecifm 
 upon the gracious, and certainly not inexorable, not rufhlefs and flinty Ordi- 
 nance of Marriage. For if the meaning ofthefe words muft be thus block'd up with- 
 in their own letters from all equity and fair deduction, theywill fervethen well in- 
 deed theirturn, who affirm Divorce to have been granted only forWives ; whenaswe 
 fee no word of this Text binds Women, but Men only, what it binds. No marvel 
 then if Salcmith (Sifter to Herod) lent a Writ of Eafe to Coftobarus her Hufband, 
 which (as Jofepbus there attefts) was lawful only to Men. No marvel tho' Placid/a, 
 the Sifter of Honorius, threatned the like to Earl Conftantius for a trivial caufe, as 
 Photius relates from Olympiodorus. No marvel any thing, if Letters muft be turn'd 
 into Paliiadoes, to ftakeout allrequifitefenfe fromentering totheirdueenlargement. 
 Vol. I. Dd Laftly,
 
 202 The Doctrine and 
 
 Laftly, Chrift himfelf tells who fhould not beputafunder, namely, thofe whom 
 God hath join'd. A plain folution of this great controveriy, if men would but 
 ufe their eyes; for when is it that God may be faidtojoin ? when the parties and 
 their friends confent ? No furely, for that may concur to lewdelt ends. Or is it 
 when Church-Rites are finifh'd? Neither •, for the efficacy of thofe depends upon 
 the prefuppofed fitnefs of either party. Perhaps after carnal knowledge : Leaft of 
 all ; for that may join perfons whom neither Law nor Nature dares join. 'Tis left, 
 that only then when the minds are fitly difpofed and enabled to maintain achear- 
 ful converfation, to the folace and love of each other, according as God intended 
 and promifed in the very firft foundation of Matrimony, Iztill make him a help-meet 
 for him ; for furely what God intended and promifed, that only can be thought 
 to be his joining, and not the contrary. So likewife the Apoftle witnrfieth, 
 i Cor. y. 15. that in Marriage God hath called us to peace. And doubtlefs in what 
 refpect he hath called us to marriage, in that alfo he hath join'd us. The reft, whom 
 either difproportion or deadnefs of fpirit, or fomething diftafteful and averfe in 
 the immutable bent of Nature renders conjugal, Error may have join'd, but God 
 never join'd againfl the meaning of his own Ordinance. And if he join'd them 
 not, then is there no power above their own confent to hinder them from unjoin- 
 ing, when they cannot reap the fobereft ends of being together in any tolerable 
 fort. Neither can it be faid properly that fuch twain were ever divore'd, but only 
 parted from each other, as two perfons unconjunctive are unmarriable together. 
 But if, whom God hath made a fit help, frowardnefs or private injuries hath 
 made unfit, that being the fecretof Marriage, God can better judge than Man, 
 neither is Man indeed fit or able to decide this matter : however it be, undoubt- 
 edly a peaceful Divorce is a lefs evil, and lefs in fcandal than hateful, hard-heart- 
 ed, and deftruftive continuance of Marriage in the judgment of Mofes and of 
 Chrifl, that juftifies him in chufing the lefs evil ; which if it were an honeft- 
 and civil prudence in the Law, what is there in the Gofpel forbidding fuch a 
 kind of legal wifdom, though we mould admit the common Expofitors ? 
 
 CHAP. XVJI 
 
 The Sentence of Chrift concerning Divorce how to be expounded. 
 What Grotius hath obfervd. Other Additions. 
 
 HAving thus unfolded thofe ambiguous Reafons, wherwith Chrifl: (as his wont 
 was) gave to the Pharifees that came to found him fuchananfwer astheyde- 
 i'erved, it will not be uneafy to explain the Sentence itfelf that now follows-, Who- 
 foever jhall put away his Wife, except it be for fornication, and fhall merry ano- 
 ther, committeth adultery. Firft therfore I will fct down what is obferv'd by Gro- 
 tius upon this point, a Man of general learning. Next, I produce what mine own 
 thoughts gave me before I had feen his Annotations. Origen, faith he, notes that 
 Chrifl; nam'd Adultery rather as one example of other like cafes, than as one only 
 exception ; and that is frequent not only in human but in divine Laws, to cx- 
 prefs one kind of fact, wherby other caufes of like nature may have the like pie.', 
 as Exod. 2-1. 18, 19, 20, 26. Dent. 19. 5. And from the Maxims of Civil Law 
 he fhews, that even in fharpeft penal Laws the fame reafon hath the lame right ; 
 and in gentler Laws, that from like caufes to like the Law interprets rightly. 
 But it may be objected, faith he, that nothing deftroysthe end of Wedlocfo much 
 as Adultery. To which he anfwers, that Marriage was not ordain'd only for co- 
 pulation, but for mutual help and comfort of life : and if we mark diligently the 
 nature of our Saviour's commands, we ihall find that both their beginning and 
 their end confifts in charity ; whofe will is that we fhould fo be good to others, as 
 that we be not cruel to ourfelves : aad hence it appears why Mark and Luke, and 
 S. Paul to the Corinthians, mentioning this precept of Chrift, add no exception, 
 becaufe exceptions that arife from natural equity are included filently under 
 general terms : it would be confidered therfore whether the fame equity may not 
 have place in other cafes lefs frequent. Thus far he. From hence is what I add: 
 Firft, that this faying of Chrift, as it is ufually expounded, can be no Law 
 at all, that a Man far no caufe fhould feparatc but for Adultery, except it be a 
 
 fispei-
 
 Difcip line ^Divorce. 20^ 
 
 fupernatural Law, not binding us as we now are; had it been the Law of nature, either 
 the- Jews, or Tome other wife and civil nation would have prefs'd it : or let it be 
 fo, yet that Law, Dent. 24. 1. wherby a Man hath leave to part, whenas for juft 
 and natural caufe difcover'd he cannot love, is a Law ancienter and deeper engraven 
 in blame'efs nature than the other : therfore the infpired Lawgiver Mofes took care 
 that this ihould be fpecify'd and allow'd ; the other he let vanifh in filence, nor 
 once repeated in the Volume of his Law, even as the reafon of it variiih'd with Pa- 
 radife. Secondly, this can be no new command, for the Gofpel enjoins no new 
 morality, fave only the infinite enlargement of Charity, which in this refpect is cal- 
 led the Nav Commandment by S. John, as being the accomplishment of every con: 
 mand. Thirdly, it ismo command of perfection further than it partakes of Charity, 
 which is the bond of perfection. Thole commands therfore which compel us to 
 felf-cruelty above our Strength, fo hardly will help forward to perfection, that 
 they hinder and fet backward in all the common rudiments of Christianity, as was 
 prov'd. It being thus clear that the words of Christ can be no kind of command 
 as they are vulgarly taken, we Shall now fee in what fenfe they mav be a command, 
 and that an excellent one, the fame with that 'of Mofes, and no other. Mofes had 
 granted, that only for a natural annoyance, defect, ordiflike, whether in body cr 
 mind, (Sorfo the Helrela word plainly notes) which a man could not force hffhfelf 
 to live with, he might give a bill of Divorce,' thcrby forbidding any btrler caufe 
 wherin amendment or reconciliation might have place. This Law the Pharifees 
 depraving, extended to any flight contentious caufe whatsoever. Chrift ther- 
 fore Seeing where they halted, urges the negative part of the Law, which is necel- 
 farily understood (for the determinate permifTion of Mofes binds them from further 
 licence) and checking their mperdilious drift, declares that no accidental, tempo- 
 rary, or reconcilable offence (except fornication) can jultify a Divorce. He touches 
 not here thoSe natural and perpetual hindrances of fociety, whether in body or mind, 
 which are not to be re'mov'd ; for fuch, as they are apteft tocaule an unchangeable 
 offence, fo are they not capable of reconcilement, becaufenot of amendment : they 
 do not break indeed, but they annihilate thebands of Marriage more than Adultery. 
 For that fault committed argues not always a hatred either natural or incidental a- 
 gainit whom it is committed-, neither does it infer adifability of all future helpfulnels, 
 or loyalty, or loving agreement, being once palt and paraon'dj where it can be par- 
 don'd : but that which naturally diftaites, ^wlfinds no favour in the eyes of Matri- 
 mony, can never be conceal'd,- never appeased, never intermitted, but proves a per- 
 petual nullity of love and contentment, a Solitude and dead vacation of all accep- 
 table converllng. Mofes therfore permitsDivorce, but in cafes only that have no hands 
 to join, and more need Separating than Adultery. ChrUt forbids it, but in mat- 
 ters only that may accord, and thofe lefs than Fornication. . Thus is Mofes Lav/ 
 here plainly confirm'd, and thofe caufes which he permitted not a jot gainfaid. 
 And that this is the true meaning of this place I. prove by no lefs an Author tha/a S. 
 P/?«7hrmfelf, 1 Cor. 7. 10, 11. "upon which Text Interpreters agree, that the" Apbftle 
 only repeatsthepreceptof Chrift: where whilehefpeaks ofthe Wife's reconcilement to 
 kcr Hujland, he puts it out of corftroverfy, that our Saviour meant chiefly matter:-; 
 of Strife and reconcilement ; of which fort he would not that any. difference ihould 
 be the occafion of Divorce, except Fornication. And that we may learn better 
 how to value a grave and prudent Law of Mofes, and how Uriadviledly we fmattcr 
 with our lips, when we talk of Christ's abolishing any Judicial Law of Ids great 
 Father, except in fome circumstances which are Judaical rather than Judicial, and 
 need no abolishing, but ceafe ofthcmlelves ; I Say again, that this recited Law of 
 Mofes contains a caufe of Divorce greater beyond compare' than that for Adultery : 
 anel whofb cannotfo conceive it, errs andwrongs exceedingly a Law of deep wiidoih 
 for want of well fathoming. For let him mark,' no man urges thejuit divorcing of 
 Adultery as it is a fin, but as it is an injury to Marriage; and tho' it be but once- 
 committed, and that without malice, whether through importunity or opportuni- 
 ty, theGofpeldoes not therfore difluadc him whowould therfore divorce ; but that 
 natural hatred, whenever it arifes, is a greater evil in Marriage than the. accident 
 of Adu'tery, a greater defrauding, a greater, injuftice, and yet not bhimeable, lie 
 who underltands not after all this reprefenting, I doubt his Will like a hard Spleen 
 draws latter than his Understanding canfanguify. Nor" did that man ever know or 
 feel what it is to love truly, nor ever yet comprehended in his thqughts what the 
 trde intent of Marriage is. And this alfo will be Somewhat above his reach, but 
 yet no lefs a truth for lack of his perspective, that as no man apprehends 
 . what vice is fo well as he who is truly virtuous, no man knows Hell like him 
 Vol. I. D d 2 who
 
 £04 
 
 The DoBrine and 
 
 who converfes mod in Heaven •, fo there is none that can eftimate the evil and the 
 affliction of a natural hatred in Matrimony, unlefs he have a Soul gentle enough 
 and ipacious enough to contemplate what is true love. 
 
 And the reafonwhy men fo difefteem this wife- judging Law of God, and count 
 hate or the not finding of 'favour ', as it is there term'd, a humorous, a difhoneft, and 
 flight caufe of Divorce, isbecaufe themfelves apprehend fo little of what true con- 
 cord means: for if they did, they would be jufter in their balancing between na- 
 tural hatred and cafual adultery; this being but a tranfient injury, and foon amen- 
 ded, I mean as to the party againll whom the trefpafs is : but the other being an 
 unfpeakable and unremitting lorrow and offence, wherof no amends can be made, 
 no cure, no ceafing but by Divorce, which like a divine touch in one moment 
 heals all, and (like theWord of God) in one inftant hufhes outrageous tempefts in- 
 to a fudden ftillnefs and peaceful calm. Yet all this fo great a good of God's own 
 enlarging to us, is by the hard reins of them that fit us, wholly diverted and im- 
 bezell'd from us. Malignersof mankind ! But who hath taught you to mangle 
 thus, and make more games in the miferies of a blamelefs creature, with the leaden 
 daggers of your literal Decrees, to whole eafe you cannot add the tithe of one fmall 
 atom, but by letting alone your unhelpful Surgery. As for fuch as think wand- 
 ring concupifcence to be here newly and more precifely forbidden than it was be- 
 fore, if the Apoftle can convince them, we know that we are to know luft by the 
 Law, and not by any new difcovery of the Gofpel. The Law of Mofes knew what 
 it permitted, and the Gofpel knew what it forbid; he that under a peevifh conceit 
 of debarring concupifcence, fhall go about to make a Novice of Mofes, (not to fay 
 a worfe thing, for reverence fake) and fuch a one of Godhimlelf as is a horror to 
 think, to bind our Saviour in the default of a downright promife- breaking, and 
 to bind the difunions of complaining nature, in chains together, and curb them 
 with a Canon Bit, 'tis he that commits all the whoredom and adultery which him- 
 felf adjudges, befides the former guilt fo manifold that lies upon him. And if 
 none of thefe confiderations, with all their weight and gravity, can avail to the 
 difpoflefllnghimofhispreciousLiteralifm, letfomeone orother entreat himbutto 
 read on in the fame ityh of Matth. till he come to that place that fays, Some make 
 themfelves Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's fake. And if then he pleafe to make 
 ufe of Origen's Knife, he may do well to be his own Carver. 
 
 CHAP. XVIII. 
 
 Whether the Words of our Saviour be rightly expounded only 
 of aBual Fornication to be the caufe of Divorce. The Opi- 
 nion 0/* Grotius, with other Reafons. 
 
 BU T becaufe we know that Chrift never gave a Judicial Law, and that the 
 word Fornication is varioufly fignificant in Scripture, it will be much right 
 tlone to our Saviour's words, to confider diligently whether it be meant here that 
 nothing but actual fornication prov'd by witnefs can warrant a Divorce, for fo 
 our Canon Law judges. Neverthelefs, as I find that Grotius on this place hath 
 obferv'd the Chriftian Emperors, Theodqfius the fecond and Juftinian, Men of high 
 Wifdom and reputed Piety, decreed it to be a divorcive Fornication, if the 
 Wife attempted either againft the knowledge, or obftinately againft the will of 
 her Hufband, fuch things as gave open fufpicion of adulterizing, as the wilful 
 haunting of Feafts, and Invitations with men not of her near Kindred, the lying 
 forth of her Houfe, without probable caufe, the frequenting of Theatres againft 
 her Hufband's mind, her endeavour to prevent or deftroy Conception. Hence 
 that ofjerom, where Fornication is fufpetled, the Wife may lawfully be divorced: not 
 that every motion of a jealous mind fhould be regarded, but that it mould not 
 be exacted to prove all things by the vifibility of Law witneffing, or elfe to hood- 
 wink the Mind : for the Law is not able to judge of thefe things but by the rule 
 of Equity, and by permitting a wife man to walk the middle way of prudent 
 circumfpedtion, neither wretchedly jealous, nor ftupidly and tamely patient. To 
 this purpofe hath Grotius in his Notes. He fhews alfo that Fornication is taken 
 in Scripture for fuch a continual headftrong Behaviour, as tends to plain con- 
 tempt of the Hufband, and proves it out of Judges 19. 2. where the Lm'/^sWife 
 
 is
 
 Difcipline ^Divorce. 205 
 
 is faid to have plaid the whore againft him ; which Jofephus and the Septuagint* 
 with the Chaldean, interpret only of Stubbornnefs and Rebellion againft her Huf- 
 band: and to this I add, that Kimchi, and the two other Rabbies who glofs theText, 
 are in the fame Opinion. Ben Gerfom reafons, thac had it beenWhoredom, a Jew 
 and a Levite would have difdain'd to fetch her again. And this I fliall contri- 
 bute, that had it been Whoredom, fhe would havechofen any other place to run 
 to than to her Father's houfe, it being fo infamous for an Hebrew Woman to play 
 the Harlot, and fo opprobrious to the Parents. Fornication then in this place of 
 the Judges is underftood for ftubborn Difobedience againft the Hufband, and not 
 for Adultery. A Sin of that hidden activity, as to be already committed when 
 no more is done, but only look'd unchaftly : which yet I fhould be loth to judge 
 worthy a Divorce, though in our Saviour's Language it be called Adultery. Ne- 
 ver thelefs when palpable and frequent figns are given, the Law of God, Num. 5. 
 fo far gave way to the Jealoufyofa Man, as that the Woman, fet before the Sanc- 
 tuary with her head uncover'd, was adjur'd by thePrieft to fwear whether lhe were 
 falle or no, and conftrain'd to drink that bitter water with an undoubted curfe of 
 rottennefs and tympany to follow, unlefs fhe were innocent. And the jealous man 
 had not been guiltlefs before God, as feems by the laft Verfe, if having fuch a 
 fufpicion in his head, he fhould neglect his trial ; which if to this day it be not to be 
 us'd, or be thought as uncertain of effect as our antiquated Law of Ordalium, yet 
 all equity will judge that many adulterous demeanours, which are of lewd fuf- 
 picion and example, may be held fufHcient to incur a Divorce, though the Aft it 
 felf hath not been prov'd. And feeing the Generofny of our Nation is fo, as 
 to account no reproach more abominable than to be nick-nam'd the Hufband of an 
 Adulterefs, that our Law fhould not be as ample as the Law of God, to vindi- 
 cate a Man from that ignoble fufferance, is our barbarous unfkilfulnefs, not con- 
 fidering that the Law fhould be exafperated according to our eftimation of the 
 injury. And if it muft befuffer'd till the aft be vifibly prov'd, Solomon himfelf, 
 whofe judgment will be granted to furpafs the acutenefs of any Canonift, confeffes, 
 Prov. 30. 19, 20. that for the aft of Adultery it is as difficult to be found as the 
 track of an eagle in the air, or the way of a flnp in the fea ; fo that a Man maybe 
 put to unmanly indignities ere it be found out. This therfore may be enough to 
 inform us, that divorcive Adultery is not limited by our Saviour to the utmoft aft, 
 and that to be attefted always by eye-witnefs, but may be extended alfo to di- 
 vers obvious aftions, which either plainly lead to Adultery, or give fuch preemp- 
 tion wherby fenfible men may fulpeft the deed to be already done. And this the 
 rather may be thought, in that our Saviour chofe to ufe the word Fornication , 
 which word is found to fignify other matrimonial Tranfgreffions of main breach 
 to that Covenant befides aftual Adultery. For that Sin needed not the riddance 
 of Divorce, but of Death by the Law, which was active even till then by the ex- 
 ample of the Woman taken in Adultery ; or if the Law had been dormant, our 
 Saviour was more likely to have told them of their negleft, than to have let a 
 capital crime fdently fcape into a Divorce ; or if itbe faid, his bufinefs was not to tell 
 them what was criminal in the civil Courts, but what wasfintul at the Bar of Con- 
 fcience, how dare they then, having no other ground than thefe our Saviour's words, 
 draw that into the trial of Law, which both by Mofes and our Saviour was left to 
 the jurifdiftion of Confluence ? But we take from our Saviour, fiy they, only that 
 it was Adultery, and our Law of itfelf applies the Punifhment. But by their 
 leave that fo argue, the great Lawgiver of all the World, who knew belt what 
 was Adultery, both to the Jew and to the Gentile, appointed no fuch applying, 
 and never likes when mortal men will be vainly prefuming to outftrip his Juilice. 
 
 CHAP
 
 20 6 The Doctrine and 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 Chrift" s manner of teaching. S. Paul adds to this matter of 
 Divorce without command, to Jhew the matter to be of e- 
 quity, not of rigour. I'hat the Bondage of a Chrift i an may 
 be as much, a?id his Peace as little, in fame other Marriages 
 befdes Idolatrous. If thofe argume?tts therfore be good i7t that 
 one cafe, why not in thofe other f Therfore the Apoftle him- 
 Jelf adds h to?s toivtois. 
 
 THUS at length we fee both by this and other places, that there is fcarce 
 any one faying in the Gofpel but mult be read with limitations and dif- 
 tinctions to ■ be rightly u'ndcrftood ; for Chrift gives no full Comments or conti- 
 nued Dilcouries, but (as Demetrius the. Rhetorician phrafes it) ipeaksoftin Mo- 
 nofyllables, like a Mailer fcattering the heavenly grain of his Doctrine like Pearls 
 here and there, which requires a fkilful and laborious Gatherer, whomuft compare 
 the words he finds with other precepts, with the end of every Ordinance, and with 
 the general Analogy of Evangelic Doctrine : otherwife many particular Sayings 
 would be but itrange repugnant Riddles, and the Church would offend in granting 
 Divorce for Frigidity, which is not here excepted with Adultery, but by them ad- 
 ded. And this was it undoubtedly, which gave reafon to S. Paul ot his own Au- 
 thority, as he profetTes, and without command from the Lord, to enlarge the 
 fejining construction of thofe places in the Gofpel, by adding a cafe wherin a 
 perfon defeated, which is fomething lefs than divore'd, may lawfully marry again. 
 And having declar'd his Opinion in one cafe, he leaves a further liberty for Cliri- 
 ftian prudence to determine in cafes of like importance, words fo plain as not to be 
 Jhifted off, that a brother or ajtftet is not under bondage in fueh cafes ; adding alfo, 
 that God hath called us to peace in Marriage. 
 
 Now it it be plain that a Chriltian may be brought into unworthy bondage, and 
 his religious peace rot only interrupted now and then, but perpetually and finally 
 hindred inWedloc, by mif-yoking with a diverfity of Nature as well as of Re- 
 ligion, the rcafonsofS. Paid cannot be made fpecial to thatonecafe of Infidelity, 
 but are ol equal moment to a Divorce, wherever Chriltian Liberty and Peace are 
 without fault equally obstructed : That the Ordinance which God gave to our 
 comfort may not be pinned upon us to our undefcrved thraldom, to be coop'd up 
 as it were in mockery of Wedloc, to a perpetual betroth'd Lonelinefs and Dif- 
 content, if nothing worfe enfue. There being nought die of Marriage left be- 
 tv. c-en fuch, but a'difplcaiing and fore'd remedy againft the (ting of a brute defire : 
 which rlefhly accuftoming without the Soul's union and commixture of intellectual 
 delight, as it is rather a foiling than a fulfilling of Marriage-Rites, fo it is enough 
 to abafe the mettle of a generous fpirit, and links him to a low and vulgar pitch 
 ol endeavour in all his actions, or (which is worfe) leaves him in a defpairing 
 plight of abject and hardned thoughts : which condition rather than a good man 
 fhould fall into, a man ulllul in the fervice of God and Mankind, Chrift himfelf 
 hath taught us todifpenfe with the molt facred Ordinance of his Worfhip, even 
 lor a bodily healing to dilpenfc with that holy and fpeculative Relt of Sabbath, 
 much more then with the erroneous obfervance of an ill-knotted Marriage, for 
 the fuitaining of an overcharged faith ami perfeverance. 
 
 C II A P,
 
 DifcipUne ^/Divorce. 207 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 The meaning ofS. Paul, that Charity believeth all things. What is 
 to be J aid to the Licence which is vainly fear d will grow here- 
 by. IVhat tothofe who never have do?ie prefer ibing patience in 
 this cafe. 'The Papijl mofl fever e againfl Divorce, yet moft 
 eafy to all Lice?tce. Of all the miferies in Marriage God is to 
 be cleared, and the faults to be laid on Mans unjufl Laws. 
 
 AND tho' had caufes would take licence by this pretext, if that cannot be 
 remedied, upon their Confciencebe it whofhall lb do. This was that hard - 
 ne'fs of heart, and abufe of a good Law, which Mofes was content to fuffer, rather 
 than good men fhould not have it at all to ufe needfully. And he who to run af- 
 ter one loft fheep left ninety nine of his own flock at random in the wildernefs, 
 would little perplex his thoughts for the obduring of nine hundred and ninety fuch. 
 as will daily take worfe liberties, whether they have permilfion or not. To con- 
 clude, as without charity God hath given no commandment to men, fo without it 
 neither ran men rightly believe any commandment given. For every aft of true 
 Faith, as well that wherby we believe the Law, as that wherby we endeavour the 
 Law, is wrought in us by Charity, according to that in the Divine Hymn of 
 S. Paul, 1 Cor. 13. Charity believeth all things ; not as if fhe were fo credulous, 
 which is the Expofition hithertocurrent, for thatwerea trivial Praife, but to teach 
 us that Charity is the high Govemefs of our Belief, and that we cannot fafely af- 
 fent to any precept written in the Bible, but as Charity commends it to us. Which 
 agrees with that of the fame Apoftle to the Eph. 4. 14, 15. where he tells us, that 
 the way to get a fure undoubted knowledge of things, is to hold that for Truth 
 which accords moft with Charity. Whofe unerring guidance and conduct having 
 follow'd as a Load-ftar, with all diligence and fidelity, in this queftion, I truft 
 (through the help of that illuminating Spirit which hath favour'd me) to have done 
 no every day's work, in afferting after many Ages the words of Chrift, with other 
 Scriptures of great concernment, from burdenfome and remorfelefs obfeurity, 
 tangled with manifold repugnancies, to their native luftre and confent between each 
 other ; hereby alfo diffolving tedious and Gordian difficulties, which have hitherto 
 molefted the Church of God, and arc nowdecided not with the Sword of Alexander, 
 butwiththc immaculate hands of Charity, to the unfpeakable good of Chriftendom. 
 And let the extreme Literaliftfitdown now, and revolve whether this in all neceifity 
 be not the due refill t of our Saviour's words, or if he perfiftto beotherwife opinion 'd, 
 let him well advife, left thinking to gripe fall the Gofpel, he be found inftead with 
 the Canon Law in his lift : whofe boifterous Edicts tyrannizing the bleffed Or- 
 dinance of Marriage into the quality of a moft unnatural and unchriftianly yoke, 
 have given the flefh this advantage to hate it, and turn afide, oftimes unwilling- 
 ly, to all diflbluteuncleannefs, even till punifhment itfelf is weary of and overcome 
 by the incredible frequency of trading Luft and uncontroll'd Adulteries. Yet Men 
 whofe Creed is Cuftom, I doubt will be ftill endeavouring to hide the floth ot 
 their own timorous Capacities with this pretext, that for all this 'tis better to en- 
 dure with patience and filer.ee this Affliction which God hath fent. And I agree 
 'tis true, if this be exhorted and not enjoin'd •, but withal it will be wilely done to 
 be as fure as may be, that what man's iniquity hath laid on be not imputed to God's 
 fending, left under the colour of an affected patience we detain our felves at the 
 gu'ph's mouth of many hideous Temptations, not to be withftood without proper 
 gifts, which (as Perkins well notes) God gives not ordinarily, no not to moft ear- 
 neft Prayers. Therfore we pray, Lead us not into Temptation ; a vain Prayer, it ha- 
 ving led our felves thither, we love to ftray in that perilous condition. God fends 
 remedies as well as evils,under which he who lies and groans, that may lawfully ac- 
 quit himfelf, is acceflbry to his own ruin •, nor will it excufe him tho' he fuffer 
 thro' a fluggifh fearfulnefs to fearch throughly what is lawful, for fear of difqui- 
 etingthe fecure falfity of an old Opinion. "Who doubts not but that it maybe pioufly 
 iaid, to him who would clifmifs his frigidity, Bear your trial, take it as if God 
 would have you live this life of continence? if he exhort this, I hear him as an 
 
 Angel
 
 .08 The Doctrine and 
 
 Angel, tho' he fpake without warrant •, but if he would compel me, I know him 
 for Satan. I'o him who divorces an Adutterels, Piety might fay, Pardon her ; you 
 may mew much mercy, you may win a Soul : yet the Law both ot God and Man 
 leaves it freely to him ; for God loves not to plow upon the hearts ot our endeavours 
 with over-hard and fad talks. God delights not to make a drudge of Virtue,whofe 
 Actions muft be all elective and unconftrained. Forc'd Virtue is as a bolt over- 
 mot, it goes neither forward nor backward, and does no good as it ftands. Seeing 
 therfore that neither Scripture nor Reafon hath laid this unjufh aufterity upon Di- 
 vorce, we may refolve that nothing elfe hath wrought it but that letter-bound Ser- 
 vility of the Canon Doctors, fuppofing Marriage to be a Sacrament, and out of the 
 art they have to lay unneceflary burdens upon all Men, to make a fair fhew in the 
 flefhly oblervance of Matrimony, though Peace and Love with all other conju- 
 gal refpects fire never fo ill. And indeed the Papifts, who were the ftricteft fbr- 
 bidders of Divorce, are the eafieft Libertines to admit of grofTer uncleannefs •, as 
 if they hadadefignby making Wedloc a fupportlefs yoke, to violate it moft,under 
 colour of prelerving it moft inviolable ; and withal delighting (as their myftery is) 
 to make men theday-labourersof their own afflictions, asif there were fuch afcarcity 
 of miferies from abroad, thatwe mould be made to melt our choiceft homeBlefTings, 
 and coin them into CrofTes, for want wherby to hold commerce with patience. 
 If any therfore whofhall hap to read this Difcourfe, hath been through mifadven- 
 ture ill engaged in this contracted evil here complain'd of, and finds the fits and 
 workings of a high impatience frequently upon him, of all thole wild words which 
 men in mifery think to eafe themfelves by uttering, let him not open his lips a- 
 gainft the Providence of Heaven, or tax the ways of God and his divine Truth v 
 for they are equal, eafy, and not burdenfome •, nor do they ever crofs the juftand 
 reafonable defires of men, nor involve this our portion of mortal life into a ne- 
 ceflity of fadnefs and malecontent, by Laws commanding over the unreducible 
 Antipathies of Nature, fooner or later found, but allow us to remedy and ihake 
 off thole evils into which human error hath led us through the midft of our belt 
 intentions, and to fupport our incident extremities by that authentic precept of 
 Sovereign Charity, whofe grand Commifiion is to do and to difpofe over all the 
 Ordinances of God to Man, that love and truth may advance each other to ever- 
 lafting. While we, literally fuperftitious through cuftomary faintnefs of heat, 
 not venturing to pierce with our free thoughts into the full latitude of Nature and 
 Religion, abandon ourfelves to ferve under the tyranny of ufurp'd Opinions, fuf- 
 fering thofe Ordinances which were allotted to our folaceand reviving, to trample 
 over us, and hale us into a multitude offorrows, which God never meant us. And 
 where he fets us in a fair allowance of way, with honeft liberty and prudence to 
 our guard, we never leave fubtilizing and cafuiftingtill we have ftraitned and pared 
 that liberal path into aRazor'sedge to walk on, between a precipice of unneceflary 
 mifchief on either fide •, and ftarting at every falfe Alarm, we do not know which 
 way to fet a foot forward with manly Confidence and Chriftian Refolution, thro' 
 the confufed ringing in our ears of panic fcruples and amazements. 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 TIjat the Matter of Divorce is not to be try d by Law y but by 
 Confcie7Ke i as many other Sins are. The Magiflrate can 
 only fee that the condition of Divorce bejufl and equal. The 
 Opinion of Fagius, and the Reafons of this Affertion. 
 
 ANother act of Papal Encroachment it was, to pluck the power and arbitrement 
 of Divorce from the Mafter of the Family, intowhofe handsGod and the Law 
 otall Nations had putit,andChriftfoleftit,preachingonlytotheConfcience,andnot 
 authorizing a Judicial Court to tofs about and divulge the uncaccountable and fecret 
 reafon of difaffection between ManandWife, asathing moft improperly anfwerable 
 toany fuch kind of trial. But thePopes of Rome, perceiving the great Revenue and 
 high Authority itwouldgive themeven over Princes, to havethe judgingand deci- 
 ding of fuchamain confequence inth« life of man as was Divorce, wrought lb upon 
 
 the
 
 Difcipline of Divorce. 209 
 
 the Supcrftition of thofe Ages, as to diveft them of that right which God from the 
 beginning had entrufted to the Hufband: by which means they fubjecled that an- 
 cient and naturally domeftic Prerogative to an external and unbefitting Judica- 
 ture. For although differences in Divorce about Dowries, Jointures, and the like, 
 befides the punifhing of Adultery, ought not to pafs without referring, if need be, 
 to the Magistrate ; yet that the abfolute and final hindring of Divorce cannot be- 
 long to any civil or earthly power, againft the will and confent of both parties, 
 or of the Hufband alone, fome reafons will be here urg'd as fhall not need to de- 
 cline the touch. Butfirft I fhall recite what hath been already yielded by others in 
 favour of this Opinion. Grotitts and many more agree, thatnotwithttandino- what 
 Chrift fpake therin to the Confcience, the Magiftrate is not therby cnjoin'd atight 
 againft the prefervation of civil peace, of equity, and of convenience. Among 
 tlide Fagias is moft remarkable, and gives the fame liberty of pronouncino- Divorce 
 to the Cbriftian Magiftrate as the Mofaic had. For whatever (faith he) Cbrijl fpake 
 to the regenerate, the Judge bath to deal with the vulgar: if therfore any through bard- 
 nefs of heart will not be a tolerable Wife to her Hufband, it will be lawful as well 
 now as of old to pafs the bill of Divorce, not by private, lui by public authority. 
 Nor doth Man feparate them then, but God by his Law of Divorce given by Moles. 
 What car. hinder the Magiftrate from fo doing, to whofe government all outward things 
 are; ' to feparate and remove from perpetual vexation, and no fmall danger, 
 thojc bodies whofe minds are already feparate ; it being his office to procure peaceable 
 an j. convenient living in the Commonwealth; and being as certain alfo, that they fo 
 wcejfarily feparated cannot all receive a Jingle life? And this I obferve, that our 
 Divines do generally condemn reparation of bed and board, without the liberty 
 of fecond choice: if that therfore in fome cafes be moft purely necefTary, as who 
 fo blockifh to deny, then is this alfo as needful. Thus far by others is already 
 well ftept, to inform us that Divorce is not a matter of Law, but of Charity: if 
 there remain a furlong yet to end the queftion, thefe following reafons may ferve 
 to gain it with any apprehenfion not too unlearned or too wayward. Firft becaufe 
 oft-times the caufes of feeking Divorce refide fo deeply in the radical and inno- 
 cent affedtions of Nature, as is not within the diocefe of Law to tamper with. O- 
 thef relations may aptly enough be held together by a civil and virtuous love: but 
 the duties of Man and Wife arc fuch as are chiefly converfant in that love, which 
 is moft ancient and meerly natural, whofe two prime ftatutes are to join itfelf to 
 that which is good, and acceptable, and friendly •, and to turn afide and de- 
 part from what is difagreeable, difpleafing, and unlike : of the two this lat- 
 ter is the ftrongeft, and moft equal to be regarded ; for although a Man may often 
 be unjuft in feeking that which he loves, yet he can never beunjuftor blameable 
 in retiring from his endlefs trouble and diftaftc, whenas his tarrying can redound 
 to no true content on either fide. Hate is of all things the mightielt divider, nay 
 is divifion it felf. To couple hatred therfore, though wedloc try a'l her golden 
 links, and borrow to her aid all the iron manacles and fetters of Law, it does 
 but feek to twill a rope of land, which was a tafk they fay that pos'd the Devil : 
 and that fluggifh fiend in hell, Ocnns, whom the Poems tell of, brought his 
 idle cordage to as good effect, which never ferv'd to bind with, but to feed the 
 Afs that ftood at his elbow. And that the reftriclive Law againft Divorce attains 
 as little to bind any thing truly in a disjointed Marriage, or to keep it bound, 
 but ferves only to feci the ignorance and definitive impertinence of a doltilh Ca- 
 non, were no abfurd allufion. To hinder therfore thofe deep and ferious regreiTes 
 of Nature in a reafonable foal, parting from that miftaken help which he juftly 
 feeks in aperfon created for him, recollecting himfelf from an unmeet help which 
 was never meant, and to detain him by compulfion in fuch an unpredeftin'd mi- 
 fery as this, is in diameter againft both Nature and Inftitution: but to interpofe 
 a Jurildiclive Power over the inward and irremediable difpofition of Man, to 
 command love and fympathy, to forbid difiike againft theguiltlefsinftinct of Na- 
 ture,, is not within the Province of any Law to reach, and were indeed an uncom- 
 modious rudenefs, not a juft power: for that Law may bandy with Nature, 
 and traverfeher fage motions, was an error in Collides the Rhetorician, whomSo- 
 t rates from high principles confutes in Plato's Gorgias. II therfore Divorce may be 
 fo natural, and that Law and Nature are not to go contrary; then to forbid Di- 
 vorce compulfively, is not only againft Nature, but againft Law. 
 
 Next, it muft be remembred that all Law is for fome good that may be frequent- 
 ly attained without the admixture of a worie inconvenience; and therfore many 
 grofs faults, as ingratitude and the like, which are too far within the foul to be 
 Voi. I. cur'd
 
 ^o The DoSirine and 
 
 cur'd by conftraint of Law, are left only to be wrought on by confcience and 
 perfuafion. Which made Arijlotle, in the iothof his Ethics to Nicomachus, aim 
 at a kind of divifion of Law into private or perfwafive, and public or compulfive. 
 Hence it is that the Law forbidding Divorce, never attains to any good end of 
 fuch Prohibition, but rather multiplies evil. For if Nature's refiftlefs Tway in 
 love or hate be once compell'd, it grows carelefs of it felf, vicious, ufelefs to 
 friends, unferviceable and fpiritlefs to the Commonwealth. Which Mofes right- 
 ly forefaw, and all wife Lawgivers that ever knew Man, what kind of creature 
 he was. The Par lament alfo and Clergy of England were not ignorant of this* 
 when they confented that Harry the 8th might put away his Queen Anne of Cleve, 
 whom he could not like after he had been wedded half a year-, unlefs it were that,, 
 contrary to the Proverb, they made a neceffity of that which might have been a 
 virtue in them to do : for even the freedom and eminence of Man's creation gives, 
 him to be a Law in this matter to himfelf, being the head of the other fex which 
 was made for him •, whom therfore though he ought not to injure, yet neither 
 mould he be forc'd to retain in focicty to his own overthrow, nor to hear any 
 Judge therin above himfelf. It being alfo an unfeemly affront to the fequeftred 
 and veiled modefty of that Sex, to have her unpleafingnefs and other concealments 
 bandied up and down, and aggravated in open Court by thofe hir'd matters of 
 Tongue-fence. Such uncomely exigencies it befel no lefs a Majefty than Henry 
 the VIII. to be redue'd to, who finding juft reafon in his confcience to forgo his 
 brother's Wife, after many indignities of being deluded, and made a boy of by 
 thofe his two Cardinal Judges, was conftrain'd at laft, for want of other proof, that 
 fhe had been carnally known by Prince Arthur, even to uncover the nakednefs of 
 that virtuous Lady, and to recite openly the obfeene evidence of his Brother's 
 Chamberlain. Yet it pleas'd God to make him fee all the Tyranny of Rome, by 
 difcovering this which they cxercis'd over Divorce, and to make him the begin- 
 ner of a Reformation to this whole Kingdom, by firft afTerting into hisfamiliqry 
 Power the Right of juft Divorce. 'Tis true,, an Adulterefs cannot be fhamed e- 
 nough by any public proceeding-, but that Woman whole honour is not appeach'd, 
 is lefsinjur'd by a filent difmiffion, being otherwife not illiberally dealt with, than- 
 to endure a clamouring debate of utter lefs things, in a bufinefs of that civil fe- 
 crecy and difficult difcerning, as not to be over-much queftion'd by neareft Friends. 
 Which drew that anfwer from the greateft and worthier! Roman of his time, 
 Paulus Emilius, being demanded why he would put away his Wife for no vifible 
 reafon? This Shoe (faid he, and held it out on his foot) is a neat Jhoe, a nezvjhoe, 
 and yet none of you know where it wrings me : much lefs by the unfami iar cognizance 
 of a fee'd Gamefter can fuch a private difference be examin'd, neither ought it. 
 Again, if Law aim at the firm eftablifhment and prefervation of matrimonial 
 faith, we know that cannot thrive under violent means, but is the more violated. 
 It is not when two unfortunately met are by the Canon forc'd to draw in that yoke 
 an unmerciful day's work of forrow till death unharnels 'em, that then the Law 
 keeps Marriage moft unviolated and unbroken -, but when the Law takes order 
 that Marriage be accountant and refponfible to perform that fociety, whether it 
 be religious, civil, or corporal, which may be confeionably requir'd and claim'd 
 therin, or elfe to be diflblv'd if it cannot be undergone. This is to make Mar- 
 riage moft indiflbluble, by making it a juft and equal dealer, a performer of 
 thole due helps which inftituted the Covenant, being otherwife a moft unjuft con- 
 tract, and no more to be maintain'd under tuition of Law than the vileft fraud, 
 or cheat, or theft that maybe committed. But becaufe this is fuch a fecret kind 
 of fraud or theft, as cannot be difcern'd by Law, but only by the Plaintiff" him- 
 felf; therfore to divorce was never counted a political or civil offence neither to 
 few nor Gentile, nor by any judicial intendment of Chrift, further than could be 
 difcern'd to tranfgrefs the allowance of Mofes, which was of neceffity fo large, that 
 it doth all one as if it lent back the matter undeterminable at Law, and intracta- 
 ble by rough dealing, to have inftrudtions and admonitions beftow'd about it by 
 them whole ipiritual office is to adjure and to denounce, and fo left to the Con- 
 fcience. The Law can only appoint the juft and equal conditions of Divorce, and 
 is to look how it is an injury to thedivore'd, which in truth it can be none, as a 
 meer reparation; for if fhe confent, wherin has the Law to right her? or confent 
 not, then is it either juft, and fo deferved ; or if unjuft, fuch in all likelihood was 
 the Divorcer: and to part from an unjuft Man is a luppinefs, and no injury to be 
 lamented. But fuppole it be an injury, the Law is not able to amend it, unlefs 
 flic think it other than a miferable redrefs to return back from whence fhe was 
 
 expell'd.
 
 D if upline of Divorce. 
 
 expell'd, or but intreated to be gone, or elfc to live apart ftill married without Mar- 
 riage*, a married Widow. Laft, if it be to chaften the Divorcer, what Law punifh- 
 es a deed which is not moral but natural, a deed which cannot certainly be found to 
 bean injury? or howcanitbe punifli'dbyprohibitingtheDivorce,but thatthe In- 
 nocent mufl: equally partake both in the (name and in the fmart ? So that which way 
 foever we look, the Law can to no rational purpofe forbid Divorce, it can only 
 take care that the conditions of Divorce be not injurious. Thus then we fee the 
 trial of Law how impertinent it is to this quell ion of Divorce, how helplefs next, 
 and then how hurtful. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 The lafl Reafon why Divorce is ?iot to be reftramed by Law, 
 it being again/} the Law of Nature a?id of Nations. The 
 .Jarger proof whereof referred to Mr. Selden'j- Book De 
 Jure Naturali & Gentium. An Objection of Parous an- 
 fwered. How it ought to be ordered by the Church. That 
 this will not breed any warfe inconvenience, nor fo bad as is 
 now fuffered. 
 
 THerfore the lafl: Reafon why it fhould notbc,isthe example we have,not on- 
 ly from the noblefl and wifeft: Commonwealths, guided by the cleared light 
 of human knowledge, but alfo from the divine Ted imonies of God himfelf, law- 
 giving in perfon to a fanctiricd people. That all this is true, whofodefires to know 
 at large with'leafr. pains,and expects not here over-long rehearfals of that which is 
 by others already fo judicioufly gather'd,let him haft-en to be acquainted with that 
 nobleVolume written by our he.\medSelden,Of the Law of Nature and. of Nations, 
 a Work more ufeful and more worthy to be perus'd by whofoever ftudies to be 
 a great Man in wifdom, equity, and juftice, than all thofe Decretals and fumlefs 
 Sums, which the Pontifical Clerks have doted on, ever fince that unfortunate Mo- 
 ther famoufly finn'd thrice, and died impenitent of her bringing into the World 
 thofe two mifbegotten Infants, and for ever Infants, Lombard and Gratian, him 
 the Compiler of Canon iniquity, t'other the Tubalcain of Scholaftic Sophiftry, 
 whofe overfpreading Barbarifm hath not only infus'd their own baftardy upon the 
 fruitfulleft part of human Learning, not only diflipated and dejected the clear 
 light of Nature in us, and of Nations, but hath tainted alfo the fountains of Di- 
 vine Doctrine, and render'd the pure and folid Law of God unbeneficial to us by 
 their calumnious Dunceries. Yet this Law which their unfkilfulnefs hath made 
 liable to all ignominy, the purity and wifdom of this Law fhall be the buckler 
 of our difpute. Liberty of Divorce we claim not, we think not but from this 
 Law •, the dignity, the fiuth, the authority therof is now g.own among Chriftiaris. 
 O aftonifhment ! a labour of no mean difficulty and envy to defend. That it 
 mould not be counteda faltring difpenfe, a flattering permiflion of fin, the bill of 
 Adultery, a fnare, is the expence of all thisApolbgy. And all that we folicitis, 
 that it may be fuffered to ftand in the place where God fet it, amidfl the Firma- 
 ment of his holy Laws, to fhine, as it was wont, upon the weakriefTes and errors 
 of Men, perifhing elfe in thefincerity of their honeit purpofes : for certain there 
 is no memory of Whoredoms and Adulteries left amo ow, when this war- 
 
 ranted freedom of God's own giving is made dangerous and difcai a fcrole 
 
 of licence. It muff, be your fufltages and votes, Englifbmen, that this exploded 
 Decree of God and Mofes may fcape and come off fair, without the cenfure of a 
 fhameful abrogating : which, if yonder Sun ride fure, and means no: to break 
 word with us to-morrow, was never yet abrogated by our Saviour. Give fentei 
 if you pleafe, that the frivolous Canon may reverie the infallible judgment ol 
 Mofes and his great Director. Or if it be the reformed Writers whofe Doctrine 
 perl wades this rather, their Reafons I dare affirm are al! filenc'd, unlefs it be 
 oniy this. Parkas on the Corinthians would prove that hardni fs of heart in 
 Divorce is no more now to be permitted, but to be amere'd w ith Tine and Irn- 
 prifonment. I am not willing to difcover the forgettings of Reverend Men, \ 
 here I mull : What article or claufe of the whole new Coven ;nt can Parous bi ii 
 to exafperate the Judicial Law, upon any infirmity unci l l G fpel? (I fay 
 Vol. I. E e 2 infirm; 
 
 211
 
 21 
 
 T'he Doctrine and 
 
 infirmity, For if it were the high hand of fin, the Law as little would have en- 
 dur'd it as the Goipel) it would not ftretchto the dividing of an Inheritance-, ic 
 refus'd to condemn Adultery, not that thefe things fhould not be done at Lav/, 
 but to fhew that the Goipel hath not the leaft influence upon Judicial Courts, much 
 lefs to make them fharper and more heavy, leaft of all to arraign before a tempo- 
 ral Judge that which the Law without Summons acquitted. But (faith he) the 
 Law was the time of youth, under violent affections ; the Gofpel in us is mature! 
 ao-e, and ought to fubdue affections. 'True, and fo ought the Law too, if they be 
 found inordinate, and not meerly natural and blamelefs. Next I difringuifn, that 
 the time of the Law is compar'd to Youth and Pupillage in refpecf. ol the Cere- 
 monial part, which led the Jiws as children through corporal and gariih rudi- 
 ments, until the fulnefs of time fhould reveal to them the higher leffons of Faith 
 and Redemption. This is not meant of the moral part, thef in it foberly concern'd 
 them not to be Babies, but to be Men in good earneft : the fad and awful Ma- 
 jelly of that Law was not to be jelled with : to bring a bearded Nonage with laf- 
 civious Difpenfations before thatThrone,had been a lewd affront,as it is now a grofs 
 miftake. But what Difcipline is this, Paraus, to nouriih violent affeftions in 
 Youth, by cockering and wanton Indigencies, and to chaftife them in mature 
 age with a boyifh rod of correction ? How much more coherent is it to Scripture, 
 that the Law as a ftrict Schoolmafter fhould have punifiVd every trefpafs with- 
 out indulgence fo baneful to Youth, and that the Gofpel fhould now correct that 
 by admonition and reproof only, in free and mature Age, which was puniuVd with 
 ftripes in the childhood and bondage of the Law? What therfore it allow'd then 
 fo fairly, much lefs is to be whipp'd now,eipecially inPenalCourts : and if ic ought 
 now to trouble the Confcience, why did that angry accufer and condemnor Law' 
 reprieve it? So then, neither from Mofes nor from Chriff hath the Magiftrate any 
 authority to proceed againft it. But what, fhall then the difpofal of that po 
 turn again to the Mafter of a Family ? Wherfore not, fince God there put it, and 
 theprelumptuous Canon thence bereft it? This only muft be provided, that the 
 ancient manner be obferv'd in the prefence of the Minifter and other | 
 Elders, who after they fhall have admonifh'd and prefs'd upon him the words of 
 our Saviour, and he fhall have protefted in the Faith of the eternal Goipel, and 
 hope he has of happy Refurreclion, that otherwife than thus he cannot do, and 
 thinks himfelf and this his cafe notcontain'd in that Prohibition of Divorce which 
 Chrift pronoune'd, the matter not being of malice, but of nature, and fo not ca- 
 pable of reconciling; to cenftrain him further were to unchriften him, to unman 
 him, to throw the Mountain of Sinai upon him, with the weight of the whole 
 Law to boot, fiat againft the liberty and elTence of the Gofpel, and yet nothing 
 available either to the fanctity of Marriage, the good of Hufband, Wife, or 
 Children, nothing profitable either to Church or Commonwealth, but hurtful 
 and pernicious in all thefe refpects. But this will bring in confufion : yet thefe 
 cautious miftrufters might confider, that what they thus object lights not u 
 this Book, but upon that which I engage againft them, the Book of God and 
 Mofes, with all the wifdom and providence which had fcrecaft the word of con- 
 fufion that could fucceed, and yet thought fit of fuch a permilTion. But let them 
 be of good cheer, it wroughtfo little diforder among the Jews, that from Mofes 
 till after the Captivity, not one of the Prophets thought it worth the rebuking ; 
 for that of Malachy well lcok'd into will appear to be not againft divorcing, but 
 rather againft keeping ftrange Concubines, to the vexationof the ir Hebreio*Wvrt%. 
 If therfore we Chriftians may be thought as good and tractable as the Jezvs were, 
 and certainly the Prohibiters of Divorce prefume us to be better, then lefs con- 
 ion is to be fear'd for this among us than was among them. Ifwe be worle, or 
 but as bad, which lamentable examples confirm we are, then have we more, or 
 at leaft as much, need of this permitted Law, as they to whom God therfore gave 
 it (as they fay) under a harfher Covenant. Let not therfore the frailty of man 
 go on thus inventing needlefs troubles to it fell", to groan under the falfe imagi- 
 i ion of a ftrictnefs never impos'd from above; enjoining that for duty which 
 is an impoffible and vain fupererogating. Be not righteous overmuch, is the coun- 
 fel ol I (ies-, why fhouldft thou deftroy thy felf? Let us not be thus over-cu- 
 
 rious to drain at atoms, and yet to flop every vent and cranny of permiffive li- 
 berty, left Nature wanting thofe needful pores and breathing-places which God 
 hath not debarred our weal , either fuddenly break out into fome wide rup- 
 ture of open Vice and frantic Herefy, or ( Ife inwardly fefter with repining and 
 blafphemous thoughts, under an unreafonable and fruitless rigor ol unwarranted 
 
 j .A".'.
 
 Difcipline 0/ Divorce. 21 
 
 Law. Againft which evils nothing can more befeem the Religion of the Church, 
 or the Wifdom of the State, than to confider timely and provide. And in fo do- 
 ing let them not doubt but they fhall vindicate the mifreputed Honour of God 
 and his great Lawgiver, by fuffering him to give his own Laws according to the 
 condition of man's nature beft known to him, without the unfufFerable imputation 
 of difpenfing legally with many ages of ratified Adultery. They ihall recover the 
 mifattended words of Chrift to the fincerity of their true fen-fe from manifold 
 Contradictions, and fhall open them with the key of Charity. Many helplefs 
 Chriftians they Hull raife from the depth of fadnefs and diftrefs, utterly unfitted 
 as they are toferve God or Man : many they fhall reclaim from obfeure and gid- 
 dy Sefts, many regain from difTolute and brutifh Licence, many from defperate 
 hardnefs, if ever that were juftly pleaded. They fhall fet free many Daughters of 
 IJrael, not wanting much of her fad plight whom Satan had bound eighteen years. 
 Man they fhall reftofe to his juft Dignity and Prerogative in Nature, preferring 
 the Soul's free peace before the promifcuous draining of a carnal rage. Marriage 
 from a perillous hazard and fnare, they fhall reduce to be a more certain haven 
 and retirement of happy Society •, when they fhall judge according to God and 
 Mofes, and how not then according to Chrift? when th'ry fhall judge it mora wif- 
 dom and goodnefs to break that Covenant feemingly, and keep it really, than by 
 compulfion of Law to keep it feemingly, and by compulfion ofblamelefs Nature 
 to break it really, at lead if it were ever truly join*d. The vigor of Difcipline 
 they may then turn with better fuccefs upon the proftitute loofenefs of the times, 
 when men finding in themfelves the infirmities of former Ages, fhalinot be con- 
 flrain'd above the gift of God in them, to unprofitable and impofiible Obfervan- 
 ces, never required from the civileft, the wifeft, theholieft Nations, whofe other 
 Excellencies in moral virtue they never yet could equal. Laft of all, to thofe 
 whofe mind is ft ill to maintain textual reftriftions, wherof the bare found cannot 
 confift fometimes with Humanity, much lefs with Charity, I would ever anfwer 
 by putting them in remembrance of a Command above all Commands, which they 
 feem to have forgot, and who fpake it •, in companion wherof, this which they 
 fy cxa't is but a petty andfubordinate Precept. Let the;:;, go therfore with whom 
 I am loth to couple them, yet they will needs run into the fame blindnefs with 
 the Pharifees; let ihem go therfore and confider well what this leffon means, I will 
 have mercy and not facrifice ; for on that faying all the Lr 'rophets depends, 
 
 much more the Golpel, whofe end and excellence is mercy and peace. Or if they 
 cannot learn that, how will they hear this ? which yet I fhall not doubt to leave 
 with them as a Conclusion, That God the Son hath put all other things under his 
 own feet, but his Commandments he hath left all under the feet of Charity, 
 
 J 
 
 CctracijorDon:
 
 EXPOSITIONS 
 
 UPON 
 
 The four chief Places in Scripture which treat 
 of Marriage, or Nullities in Marriage. 
 
 tGen.1. 27, 28. compar'd and explain'd by Gen. ii. 18, 22, 24. 
 JDeut.XXIV. 1, 2. 
 
 1 Matth. V. 3 1, 32. with Matth. xix. from ver. 3, to 1 1. 
 li Cor. VII. from ver. 10, to 16. 
 
 Wherein the Do&rine and Difcipline of Divorce, as was lately pub- 
 lifli'd, is confirm'd by Explanation of Scripture, by Tcftimony of an- 
 cient Fathers, of civil Laws in the Primitive Church, offamoufeft re- 
 formed Divines ; and laftly, by an intended Act of the Parlament and 
 Church of England in the laft year of Edward the Sixth. 
 
 Twi/ J'aJ JoXBUTWV tlSivai TJ 7T0IXiA(!V, 
 
 KoejWwv v<>tM<r$i\; h 7toAjj, Au7rjof (puvn. Euripid. Medea. 
 
 To the Parlament. 
 
 THAT which I knew to be the part of a good Magiftrate, aiming at 
 true liberty through the right information of religious and civil life, 
 and that which I faw, and was partaker of, your Vows and iblemn 
 Covenants, Parlamentiof England, your actions alio manifeflly tending 
 to exalt the Truth, and to deprefs the tyranny of Error, and ill Cuftom, with more 
 conftancy and prowefs than ever yet any, iince that Parlament which put the 
 firft Scepter of this Kingdom into his hand whom God and extraordinary Virtue 
 made their Monarch, were the caufes that mov'd me, one elfe not placing much 
 in the eminence of a Dedication, to prefent your high notice with a Diicourle, 
 confeious to it felf of nothing more than of diligence, and firm affection to the 
 public good. And that ye took itfoas wife and impartial men, obtaining lb great 
 power and dignity, are wont to accept, in matters both doubtful and important, 
 what they think offer'd them well meant, and from a rational ability, I had no 
 than to perfwade me. And on that perfwafion am returned, as to a famous 
 and free port, my felf alfo bound by more than a maritime Law, to expofe as 
 freely what fraughtage I conceive to bring of no trifles. For although it be gene- 
 rally known, how and by whom ye have been inftigated to a hard cenfureof that 
 former book entitl'd, The Doffrine and Difcipline of Divorce, an opinion held by 
 fome of the beft among reformed Writers without fcandal or confute merit, tho* 
 now thought new and dangerous by fome of our fevere Guo/Ucs, whofe little reai I 
 ing, and lei's meditating holds ever with hardeft obftinacy that which it took up 
 with eafieft credulity •, I do not find yet that aught, for the furious incitement! 
 which have been us'd, hath iffu'd by your appointment, that might give die 
 
 Icaft
 
 Expoftiom on four places of Script ure^ Sec. 215 
 
 leaft interruption or difrepute either to the Author, or to the Book. Which he 
 who will be better advis'd than to call your neglect, or connivance at a thing ima- 
 gined fo perilous, can attribute it to nothing more juftly, than to the deep and 
 quiet dream of your direct and calm deliberations, that gave not way either to the 
 fervent rafhnefs, or the immaterial gravity of thole who ceas'd not to exalperate 
 without caufe. For which uprightnels and incorrupt refufal of what ye were in- 
 cens'd to, Lords and Commons, (though it were done to juftice, not to me, and 
 was a peculiar demonftration how far your ways are different from the rafh vul- 
 gar) befides thole allegiances of Oath and Duty, which are my public debt to your 
 public Labours, I have yet a ftore of gratitude laid up, which cannot be exhauft- 
 ed ; and fuch thanks perhaps they may live to be, as fhall more than whifper to 
 the next ages. Yet that the Author may be known to ground himfelf upon his own 
 innocence, and the merit or his caufe, not upon the favour of a diverfion, or a de- 
 lay to any juft cenfure, but wiihes rather he might feethofe his defrayers at any 
 fair meeting, as learned debatements are privileg'd with a due freedom under e- 
 qual Moderators, I mall here briefly fingle one or them (becaufe he hath oblig'd 
 me to it) who I perfwade me having fcarce read the book, nor knowing him who 
 writ it, or at leaft feigning the latter, hath not forborn to fcandalize him, uncon- 
 ferr'd with, unadmoniih'd, undealt with by any paftorly or brotherly convince - 
 ment, in the molt open and invective manner, and at the moft bitter opportuni- 
 ty that drift or let defign could have invented. And this; whenas the Canon 
 Law, though commonly moft favouring the boldnefs of their Priefts, punilhes the 
 naming or traducing or any perfon in the Pulpit, was by him made no fcruple. If 
 I fhall therfore take licence by the right of nature, and that liberty wherin I was 
 born, to defend my felf publicly againft a printed Calumny, and do willingly ap- 
 peal to thofe Judges to whom I am accus'd, it can be no immoderate, or unal- 
 lowable courfc of feeking fo juft and needful reparations; Which I had done long 
 iince, had not thefe employments, which are now vifible, deferr'd me. It was 
 preach'd before ye, Lords and Commons, in Augufl laft upon a fpecial day of 
 Humiliation, that there was a wicked Book abroad, and ye were taxt of fin that it 
 was yet uncetifur'd, the Book deferring to be burnt], and Impudence alio wascharg'd 
 upon the Author, whodurftytY his name to it, and dedicate it to your felves. Firft, 
 Lords and Commons, I pray to that God, before whom ye then were proftrate, 
 fo to forgive ye thofe omiffions and trefpalTes, which ye defire moft fhould find 
 forgivenefs, as I fhall foon fliew to the world how eafily ye abfolve your felves 
 of that which this man calls your Sin, and is indeed your Wifdom, and your 
 Noblenefs, wherof to this day ye have done well not to repent. He terms it a 
 wicked Book, and why but for a/lo.wing other Caufes of Divorce, than Chrift and his 
 Apoftles mention? and with the fame cenfure condemns of wickednefs not only 
 Martin Bucer, that elect Inftrument of Reformation, highly honour'd and had in 
 reverence by Edward the fixth, and his whole Parlament, whom alfo I had pub- 
 lifhed in Engliflj by a good providence, about a week before this calumnious di- 
 greffion was preach'd ; fo that if he knew notBucer then, as he ought to have known, 
 he might at leaft have known him fome months after, ere. the Sermon came in 
 print, wherin notwithstanding he perfifts in his former fentence, and condemns a- 
 gain of wickednefs, either ignorantly or wilfully, not dnly .Martin Bucer, and all 
 thechoiceft and holieft of our Reformers, but the whole Parlament and Church 
 of England in thofe beft and pureft times of Edward the fixth. All which I fhall 
 prove with good evidence, at the end of thofe Explanations. And then let it be 
 judged and ferioufly confider'd with what hope the affairs of our Religion are 
 committed to one among others, who hath now only left him which of the twain 
 he will choofe, whether this fhall be his palpable ignorance, or the fame wicked- 
 nefs of his own Book, which he fo lavifhly imputes to the writings of other men : 
 and whether this of his, that thus peremptorily defames and attaints of wickednefs 
 unlpotted Churches, unblemiih'd Parlamcnts, and the moft eminent Reftorers of 
 Chriftian Doctrine, deferve not to be burnt firft: And if his heat hadburft out only 
 ao-ainft theOpinion,his wonted paffion had no doubt been filently borne with wont- 
 ed patience. But fince, againft the charity of- that folemn place and meeting, it 
 ferv'd him further to inveigh opprobrioufly againft the perfon, branding him 
 with no lefs than impudence, only for letting his name to what he had written; I 
 muft be excus'd not to be fo wanting to the defence of an honeft Name, or to the 
 reputation of thole good Men who afford me their fociety, but to be fenfible of 
 fuch a foul endeavour'd diigrace: not knowing aught either in mine own deferts, 
 or the Laws of this Land, why I fhould be fubjeft, in fuch a notorious and ille- 
 gal manner, to the intemperances of this man's preaching choler. And indeed 
 
 to
 
 2i 6 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture y 
 
 to be fo prompt and ready in the midft of his humblenefs, to tofs reproaches of 
 this bulk and iize, argues as if they were the weapons of his exercife, I am fure 
 not of his Miniftry, or of that day's work. Certainly to fubfcribe my name at 
 what I was to own, was what the State had order'd and requires. And he who 
 bits not to be malicious, would call it ingenuity, clear confcience, willingnefs to 
 avouch what might be queftion'd, or to be better inftru&ed. And if God were fo 
 difpleas'd with thole, Ifa. 58. who ok the folemn fall were wont to finite with the fijt 
 of wickednefs, it could be no lignof his own humiliation accepted, which difpos'd 
 him to fmite fo keenly with a reviling tongue. But if only to have writ my name 
 muft be counted impudence, how doth this but juftify another, who might affirm 
 with as good warrant, that the late Difcourfe of Scripture and Reafon, which is 
 certain to be chiefly his own draught, was publifh'd without a name, out of bafe 
 fear, and the fly avoidance of what might follow to his detriment, if the par- 
 ty at Court mould hap to reach him? And I, to have fet my name, where he 
 accufes me to have let it, am fo far from recanting, that I offer my hand alfn if 
 need be, to make good the fame opinion which I there maintain, by inevitable 
 confequences drawn parallel from his own principal arguments in that of Scrip- 
 ture and Reafon: which I fhall pardon him, if he can deny, without making his 
 own composition to pieces. The impudence therforc, fince he weigh'd lb little 
 what a grofs revile that was to give his equal, I fend him back again for a phy- 
 .laclery to ftitch upon his arrogance, that cenfures not only before conviction fo 
 bitterly without fo much as one reafon given, but cenfures the Congregation of 
 his Governors to their faces, for not being fo hafty as himfelf to cenfure. 
 
 And wheras my other crime is, that I addrefs'dthe Dedication of what I had 
 ftudied, to the Parlament, how could I better declare the loyalty which I owe to 
 that fupreme and majeftic Tribunal, and the opinion which I have of the high- 
 entrutted judgment, and perfonal worth affembled in that place? With the fame 
 affections therfore, and the fame addicted fidelity, Parlament of England, I here 
 a^ain have brought to your perufal on the fame argument thefe following Expo- 
 fitions of Scripture. The former Book, as pleas'd fome to think, who were thought 
 judicious, had of reafon in it to a fufficiency •, what they requir'd, was that the 
 Scriptures there alledg'd might be difcufs'd more fully. To their defires, thus 
 much further hath been labour'd in the Scriptures. Another fort alfo who wanted 
 more authorities, and citations, have not been here unthought of. If all this at- 
 tain not to fatisfy them, as I am confident that none of thofe our great controver- 
 fies at this day hath had a more demonftrative explaining, I mull confefs to ad- 
 mire what it is; for doubtlefs it is not reafon now-a-days that fatisfies, or fuborns 
 the common credence of men, to yield fo eafily, and grow fo vehement in mat- 
 ters much more difputable, and far lefs conducing to the daily good and peace of 
 life. Some whole necefiary fhifts have long enur'd them to cloak the defects of 
 their unftudied years, and hatred now to learn, under the appearance of a grave 
 folidity, which eftimation they have gain'd among weak perceivers, find the eafe 
 of flighting what they cannot refute, and are determin'd, as I hear, to hold it 
 not worth the anfwering. In which number I muft be fore'd to reckon that Doc- 
 tor, who in a late equivocating Treatife plaufibly fet afloat againft the Dippers, 
 diving the while himfelf with a more deep prelatical malignance againft the pre- 
 fent State and Church-government, mentions with ignominy the Tratlate of 
 D.vcrce ; yet anfwers nothing, but inftead therof (for which I do not commend 
 his marmalling) lets Mofes alio among the crew of his Analeptics, as one who 
 to a holy Nation, the Commonwealth of Ifrael, gave Laws breaking the bonds of 
 Marriage to inordinate luft. Thefe are no mean furges of blafphemy, not only 
 dipping Mofes the divine Lawgiver, but dafhing with a high hand againft the 
 juftice and purity of God himfelf ; as thefe enfuing Scriptures plainly and freely 
 handled fhall verify to the launcing of that eld apojlemated error. Him therfore 
 I leave now to his repentance. 
 
 Others, which is their courtefy, confefs that wit and parts may do much to make 
 that feern true which is not (as was objected to Socrates by them who could not 
 refift his efficacy, that he ever made the worft caufe feem the better) and thus 
 thinking themfelves difcharg'd of the difficulty, love not to wade further into the 
 fear of aconvincement. Thefe will be their excufes to decline the full examining 
 of this ferious point. So much the more I prefs it and repeat it, Lords and Com- 
 mons, that ye beware while time is, ere this grand fecret, and only art of igno- 
 rance affecting tyranny, grow powerful, and rule among us. For if found argu- 
 ment and reafon fhall be thus put off, either by an undervaluing filence, or the 
 
 maftcrly
 
 which treat of Nullities /^Marriage. 
 
 mafterly ccnfure of a railing word or two in the Pulpit, or by rejecting the Force 
 of truth, as the meer cunning of Eloquence and Sophiftry, what can be'the end of 
 this, but that all good learning and knowledge will fuddenly decay ? Ignorance, 
 and illiterate preemption, which is yet but our difeafe, will turn at length into 
 our very conftitution, and prove the hefiic evil of this age : worfe to be fear'd, 
 if it get once to reign over us, than any fifth Monarchy. If this ihall be the courfe, 
 that what was wont to be a chief commendation, and the ground of other men's 
 confidence in an Author, his diligence, his learning, his elocution whether by- 
 right, or by ill meaning granted him, ihall be turn'd now to a difadvantafe and 
 fuipicion againft him, that what he writes, though unconfuted, muft thertore be 
 miftrufted, therfore not receiv'd for the induftry, the exadtnefs, the labour in it, 
 confefs'd to be more than ordinary; as ifwifdom had now forfaken the thirfty 
 and laborious inquirer to dwell againft her nature with the arrogant and lhallow 
 babler, to what purpofe all thofe pains and that continual fearching requir'd of 
 us by Solomon to the attainment of underftanding; why are men bred up with 
 fuch care and expence to a life of perpetual ftudies, why do your felves withfuch 
 endeavour leek to wipe off the imputation of intending to difcourage the progrefs 
 and advance of learning ? He therfore whole heart can bear him to the high pitch 
 of your noble enterprizes, may eafily allure himfelf that the prudence and far- 
 judging circumfptctnefs of lb grave a Magiftracy fitting in Parlament, who have 
 before them the prepar'd and purpos'd Ad of their mod religious predecefibrs 
 to imitate in this queftion, cannot reject the clearnefs of thefe reafons, and thefe al- 
 legations both here and formerly ofter'd them ; nor can over-look the neceffity 
 of ordaining more wholefomly and more humanly in the cafualties of Divorce, 
 than our Laws have yet eftablifh'd : if the moft urgent and exceffive grievances 
 happening in domeftic life, be worth the laying to heart, which, unlefs Charity 
 be far from us, cannot be neglected. And that thefe things both in the right con- 
 ititution, and in the right reformation of a Commonwealth call for fpeedieft re- 
 drefs, and ought to be the firft confider'd, enough was urg'd in what was prefae'd 
 to that monument of Bucer which I brought to your remembrance, and the other 
 time before. Henceforth, except new caufe be given, I Ihall fay lefs and 
 leis. For if the Law make not timely provifion, let the Law, as reafon 
 is, bear the cenfure of thofe confequences, which her own default now more evi- 
 dently produces. And if men want manlinefs to expoftulate the right of their due 
 ranfom, and to fecond their own occafions, they may fit hereafter and bemoan 
 themfelves to have neglected through faintnefs the only remedy of their fufferings, 
 which a feafonable and well-grounded fpeaking might have purchas'd them. 
 And perhaps in time to come, others will know how to efteem what is not eve- 
 ry day put into their hands, when they have mark'd events, and better weigh'd 
 how hurtful and unwife it is, to hide a fecret and pernicious rupture under the ill 
 counfel of a balhful filence. But who would diftruft aught, or not be ample in his 
 hopes of your wife and Chriftian determinations ? who have the prudence to con- 
 fider, and fhould have the goodnefs like Gods, as ye are call'd, to find out 
 readily, and by juft Law to adminifter thofe redrefTes which have of old, not 
 without God ordaining, been granted to the adverfities of mankind, ere they 
 who needed, were put to afk. Certainly, if any other have enlarg'd his thoughts 
 to expect: from this Government fo juftly undertaken, and by frequent affiftances 
 from Heaven fo apparently upheld, glorious changes and renovations both in 
 Church and State, he among the foremoft might be nam'd, who prays that the 
 fate of England may tarry for no other Deliverers. 
 
 l 7 
 
 Vol. i. £f Cttracljor&on^
 
 2l8 
 
 Cttracfwwm: 
 
 Expofitions upon the four chief Places in Scripture 
 which treat of Marriage, or Nullities in Marriage. 
 
 Gen. I. 27. 
 So God created Man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male 
 
 and female created he them. 
 28. And God bleffed them, and God faid unto them, Be fruitful, &c. 
 
 Gen. II. 18. 
 
 And the Lord God f aid, It is not good that Man Jhould be alone, I will make him a 
 help-meet for him. 
 
 23. And Adam faid, This is now bone of my bones, and fiefi of my fiefh ; Jhe Jhall 
 be called Woman, becaufe fie was taken out of Man. 
 
 24. Therfore Jhall a Man leave his Father and his Mother, and Jhall cleave unto his 
 Wife, and they fh all be one flejfj. 
 
 Gen. I. 27. 
 
 SO God created Man in his own image.'] To be inform 'd aright in the whole 
 Hiftory of Marriage, that we may know for certain, not by a forc'd yoke, 
 but by an impartial definition, what Marriage is, and what is not Mar- 
 riage; it will undoubtedly be fafeft, faireft, and mod with our obedience, to en- 
 quire, as our Saviour's direction is, how it was in the beginning. And that we be- 
 oin lb high as Man created after God's own Image, there want not earneft caufes. 
 For nothing now-a-days is more degenerately forgotten, than the true dignity of 
 Man, almoft in every refpeclj but efpecially in this prime inftitution of Matri- 
 mony, wherin his native pre-eminence ought moft to mine. Although if we con- 
 fider thatjuft and natural privileges men neither can rightly feek, nor dare fully 
 claim, unlefs they be ally'd to inward goodnefs, and ftedfaft knowledge, and 
 that the want of this quells them to a fervilefenfe of their own confcious unwor- 
 thinefs, it may fave the wondring why in this age many are fo oppofite both to 
 human and to Chriftian liberty, either while they underfland not, or envy others 
 that do •, contenting, or rather priding themfelves in a fpecious humility and 
 ftriflnefs bred out of low ignorance, that never yet conceiv'd the freedom of the 
 Gofpel ; and is therfore by the Apoftle to the Colcffians rank'd with no better 
 company, than Will-worihip and the meer {hew of wifdom. And how injurious 
 furin they are, if not to themfelves, yet to their neighbours, and not to them 
 only, but to the all-wife and bounteous Grace offer'd us in our redemption, will 
 orderly appear. 
 
 In the Image of God created he him.'] It is enough determin'd, that this Image 
 of God wherin Man was created, is meant Wifdom, Purity, Juftice, and Rule 
 over all creatures. All which being loft in Adam, was recover'd with gain 
 by the merits of Chrift. For albeit our firft parent had Lordihip over Sea, 
 and Land, and Air, yet there was a Law without him, as a guard let over 
 him. " Rut Chrift having cancell'd the hand-writing of Ordinances which was 
 againft us, Coloff.z.ij^. and interpreted the fulfilling of all through charity, 
 hath in that refpect fct us over Law, in the free cuftody of his love, and left us 
 victorious under the guidance of his living Spirit, not under the dead letter ; 
 to follow that which moft edifies, moft aids and furthers a religious life, makes 
 us'holicft and likeft to his immortal Image, not that v/hich makes us moft 
 conformable and captive to civil and fubordinate precepts ; wherof the ftrifteft 
 obfervance may oft-times prove the dellruction not only of many innocent 
 perlbns and families, but of whole Nations. Although indeed no Ordinance hu- 
 man or from heaven can bind againft the good of Man; fo that to keep them 
 4 ftrictly
 
 which treat of Nullities /# Marriage. 219 
 
 ftrictiy againft that end, is all one with to break them. Men of moft renowned 
 virtue have fometimes by tranfgreffing, moft truly kept the Law ; and wifeft 
 Magiftrates have permitted anddifpenfed it-, while they lookt not peevifhly at 
 the letter, but with a greater fpiritat the good of mankind, if always not written 
 in the characters of Law, yet engraven in the heart of Man by a divine impreffion. 
 This Heathens could fee, as the well-read in ftory can recount of Solon and Epa- 
 mincv.das, whom Cicero in his firft Book of Invention nobly defends. All law, 
 faith he, zve ought to refer to the common good, and interpret by that, not by the 
 Jcrowl of letters. No man obferves Law for Law's fake, but for the good of them for 
 whom it was made. The reft might ferve well to lecture thefe times, deluded 
 through belly -doctrines into a devout flavery. The Scripture alfo affords us Da- 
 vid in the fhew-bread, Hezekiah in the paffover, found and fife tranfgreffors of 
 the literal command, which alfo difpens'd not feldom with it felf ; and taught 
 us on what juft occafions to do fo : until our Saviour, for whom that great and 
 God-like work was referv'd, redeem'd us to a ftate above prefcriptions, by dif- 
 folving the whole Law into Charity. And have we not the foul to underftand this, 
 and muft we againft this glory of God's tranfeendent Love towards us beftill the 
 fervan:s of a literal indightment ? 
 
 Created he him.] It might be doubted why he faith, In the Image of God cre- 
 ated he him, not them, as well finale and female them ; efpecially fince that Image 
 might bs common to them both, but male and female could not, however thzjews 
 fable, and pleafe themfclves with the accidental concurrence of Plato's wit, as if 
 Man at firft had been created Hermaphrodite : but then it muft have been male 
 and female created he him. So had the Image of God been equally common to 
 them both, it had no doubt been faid, In the Image of God created he them. 
 But St. Paul ends the controverfy, by explaining that the Woman is not prima- 
 rily and immediately the Image of God, but in reference to the Man. The head 
 of the Woman, faith he, I Cor. 1 1 . is the Man : he the image and glory of God, Jhe 
 the glory of the Man; he not for her, but fhe for him. Therfore his precept is, 
 Wives be fubjeel to your Husbands as is fit in the Lord, ColofT. 3. 18. In everything, 
 Eph. 5. 24. Neverthelefs man is not to hold her as a fervant, but receives her 
 into a part of that empire which God proclaims him to, though not equally, yet 
 largely, as his own image and glory : for it is no fmall glory to him, that a crea- 
 ture folike him, fhould be made fubjeel to him. Not but that particular excep- 
 tions may have place, if fhe exceed her Hufband in prudence and dexterity, and 
 he contentedly yield ; for then a fuperiour and more natural Law comes in, 
 that the wifer fhould govern the lefswife, whether male or female. But that which 
 far more eafily and obediently follows from this verfe, is that, feeing Woman was 
 purpofe'y made for Man, and he her head, it cannot ftand before the breath of 
 this divine utterance, that Man the portraiture of God, joining to himfelf for his 
 intended good and folace an inferiour fex, fhould fo become her thrall, whofe wil- 
 fulnefs or inability to be a wife fruftrates the occafional end of her creation, but 
 that he may acquit himfelf to freedom by his natural birth-right, and that inde- 
 lible character of priority which God crown'd him with. If it be urg'd that fin 
 hath loft him this, the anfwer is not far to feek, that from her the fin firft proceed- 
 ed, which keeps her juftlyin the fame proportion ftill beneath. She is not to gain 
 by being firft in the tranfgreffion, that Man fhould further lofe to her, becaufe 
 already he hath loft by her means. Oft it happens that in this matter he is with- 
 out fault; fo that his punifhment herein is caufelefs: and God hath the praife in 
 our fpeeches of him, to fort his punifhment in the fame kind with the offence. 
 Suppofe he err'd •> it is not the intent of God or Man, to hunt an error fo to the 
 death with a revenge beyond all meafure and proportion. But if we argue thus, 
 this affliction is befaln him for his fin, therfore he muft bear it, without feeking 
 the only remedy ; firft it will be fa lie that all affliction comes for fin, as in the cafe 
 of Job, and of the Man born blind, Job. 9. 3. was evident: next by thatreafon, all 
 miferies coming for fin, we muft let them all lie upon us like the vermin of an In- 
 dian Catharift, which his fond Religion forbids him to moleft. Were it a parti- 
 cular punifhment inflicted through the anger of God upon a perfon, or upon a 
 land, no Law hinders us in that regard, no Law but bids us remove it if we can*. 
 much more if it be a dangerous temptation withal; much more yet, if it be cer- 
 tainly a temptation, and not certainly a punifhment, though a pain. As for what 
 they fay we muft bear with patience; to bear with patience, and to leek effectual 
 remedies, implies no contradiction. It may no lefs be for our difobedience, our 
 unfaithfulnefs, and other fins againft God, that wives become adulterous to the 
 bed ; and queftionlefs we ought to take the affliction as patiently as Chriftian 
 Vol. I, F f 2 pru-
 
 220 Expositions on the four chief places in Scripture y 
 
 prudence would wifli; yet hereby is not loft the right of divorcing for adultery. 
 No you fay, becaufe our Saviour excepted that only. But why, if he were fo bent 
 to punifh our fins, and try our patience in binding on us a difaftrous Marriage, 
 why did he except Adultery ? Certainly to have been bound from Divorce in that 
 cafe alfo had been as plentiful a punilhment to our Sins, and not too little work 
 for the patienteft. Nay, perhaps they will fay it was too great a fufferance, 
 and with as flight a reafon, for no wife man but would fooner pardon the act of 
 Adultery once and again committed byaperfon worth pity and forgivenefs, than 
 to lead a wearifome life of unloving and unquiet converfation with one who neither 
 affects nor is affected, much lefs with one who exercifesall bitternefs, and would 
 commit Adultery too, but for envy left the perfecuted condition fhould therby 
 c;et the benefit of his freedom. 'Tis plain therfore, that God enjoins not this iup- 
 poled ftrictnefs of not divorcing either to punifh us, or to try our patience. 
 
 Moreover, if Man be the image of God, which confifts in holincfs, and Woman 
 ought in the fame refpectto be the image and companion of Man,, in fuch wife to 
 be lov'das the Church is belov'dof Chrift -, and it, as God is the head of Chrift, 
 and Chrift the head of Man, fo Man is the head of Woman ; I cannot fee by this 
 golden dependance of headfhip and fubjection, but that Piety and Religion is the 
 main tie of Chriltian Matrimony: fo as if there be found between the pair a no- 
 torious difparity cither of wickednefs or herefy, the Hufband by all manner of 
 right is difingag'd from a creature, not made and inflicted on him to the vexation 
 of his righteouinefs •, the Wife alfo, as her fubjection is terminated in the Lord, 
 being her felf the redeemed of Chrift, is not ftill bound to be the vaffal of him, 
 who is the bond-flave of Satan: fhe being now neither the image nor the glory of 
 fuch a perfon, nor made for him, nor left in bondage to him ; but hath recourfe 
 to the wing of Charity, and protection of the Church, unlefs there be a hope oa 
 either fide •, yet fuch a hope muft be meant, as may be a rational hope, and not 
 an endlefs fervitude. Of which hereafter. 
 
 But ufually it is objected, that if it be thus,, then there can be no true Marriage 
 between mi /believers and irreligious perfons. I might anfwer, let them fee to that 
 who are fuch ; the Church hath no commifiion to judge thole without, i Cor. 5. 
 But this they will fay perhaps, is but penurioufly to refolve a doubt. I anfwer 
 therfore,that where they are both irreligious,the Marriage may be yet true enough 
 to them in a civil relation. For there are left fome remains of God's image in man, 
 as he is merely man ; which reafon God gives againft the fhcdding of man's 
 blood, Gen. 9. as being made in God's image, without expreffion whether he were 
 a good man or a bad, to exempt the flayer from punilhment. So that in thofe 
 Marriages where the parties are alike void of Religion, the Wife owes a civil 
 homage and fubjection, the Hufband owes a civil loyalty. But where the yoke 
 is mif-yoke'd, heretic with faithful, godly with ungodly, to the grievance and 
 manifeft endangering of a brother or fifter, reafons of a higher ftrain than ma- 
 trimonial bearfway; unlefs the Gofpel inftead of freeing us, debafe it felf to 
 make us bondmen, and fuffer evil tocontroul good. 
 
 Male and female created be them.'] This contains another end of matching Man 
 and Woman, being the right and lawfulnefs of the Marriage-bed -, though much 
 inferior to the former end of her being his image and help in religious fociety. 
 And who of weakeft inlight may not fee that this creating of them Male and Fe- 
 male, cannot in any order of Reafon, or Chriftianity, be of fuch moment againft 
 the better and higher purpofes of their creation, as to enthral Hufband or Wife 
 to duties or to fufferings, unworthy and unbefeeming the image of God in them? 
 Now whenas not only men, but good men, do ftand upon their right, their efti- 
 rnation, their dignity, in all other actions and deportments, with warrant enough 
 and good Confcience, as having the image of God in them, it will not be diffi- 
 cult to determine what is unworthy and unfeemly for a man to do or fuffer in 
 Wedloc-, and the like proportionally may be found for woman, if we love not to 
 ftand dilputing below the principles of humanity. He that laid, Male and fe- 
 male created he them, immediately before that laid alfo in the fame verfe, In the 
 image of God created he him, and redoubled it, that our thoughts might not be fo 
 lull or dregs as to urge this poor cOnfideration of male and female, without re- 
 membring the noblenefs of that former Repetition ■, left when God fends a wife 
 eye to examine our trivial gloffes, they be found extremely to creep upon xlrc 
 ground : efpecially fince they confefs that what here concerns Marriage is but a 
 brief touch, only preparative to the Inftitution which follows more exprefiy in 
 the next Chapter; and that Chrift fo took it, as deliring to be hriefeft with 
 them who came to tempt him, account fhall be given in due place. 
 
 Ver. 2S.
 
 which treat of Nullities in M a r r i a g e . 221 
 
 Ver. 28. An! God blefj'ed them, and God /aid unto them, Be fruitful and mul- 
 tiply^ and rcplenifh the earth, &c. 
 
 This declares another end of Matrimony, the propagation of Mankind; and is 
 again repeated to Noah and his fons. Many things might be noted on this place 
 not ordinary, nor unworth the noting; but I undertook not a general Comment. 
 Hence therfore we fee the defire of children is honeft and pious ; if we be not lefs 
 zealous in ourChriftianity, than Plato was in his heathen ifm ; who in the fixth 
 of his Laws, counts off-fpring therfore defirable, that we may leave in our (lead 
 fons of our fons, continual fervants of God: a religious and prudent defire, if peo- 
 ple knew as well what were requir'd to breeding as to begetting ; which defire 
 perhaps was a caufe why the Jews hardly could endure a barren wedloc : and 
 Philo in his book of fpecial Laws, efteems him only worth pardon that fends not 
 barrennefs away. Carvilius, the firft recorded in Rome to have fouo-ht Divorce, 
 had it granted him for the barrennefs of his Wife, upon his oath that he married 
 to the end he might have Children ; as Dionyjius and Gellius are authors. But to dif- 
 mifs a wife only for barrennefs, is hard: and yet in fome the defire of children is 
 fo great, and fo jult, yea fometime fo neceffary, that to condemn fuch a one to a 
 childiefs age, the fault apparently not being in him, might feem perhaps more 
 itrift thin needed. Sometimes inheritances, crowns, and dignities are fo interefted 
 and annext in their common peace and good to fuch or fuch lineal defcent, that it 
 may prove of great moment both in the affairs of Men and of Religion, to confider 
 throughly what might be done herein, notwithstanding the waywardnefs of our 
 School Doctors. 
 
 Gen. II. 18. 
 And the Lord f aid, It is not good that man fhould be alone; I will make him a help- 
 meet for him. 
 Ver. 23. And Adamfaid, &c. Ver. 24. Therfore f jail a man leave, &c. 
 
 THis 2^ Chapter is granted to be a Commentary on the if, andthefe verfes 
 granted to be an expofition of that former verfe, Male and female created 
 be them : and yet when this male and female is by the explicite words of God him- 
 felf here declar'd to be not meant other than a fit help, and meet fociety, fome 
 who would ingrofs to themfelves the whole trade of interpreting, will not fuffer 
 the clear text of God to do the office of explaining it felf. 
 
 And the Lord God faid, It is not good.] A man would think that the confideration 
 of who (pake, fhould raife up the intention of our minds to enquire better,and o- 
 bey the purpofe of fo great a Speaker: for as we order the bufinefs of Marriage, 
 that which heherefpeaksis all made vain; and in the decifion of matrimony, or not 
 matrimony, nothing at all regarded. Our prefumption hath utterly chang'd the 
 ftate and condition of this ordinance: God ordain'd it in love and helpfulnelstobe 
 indiffoluble, and we in outward aft and formality to be a fore'd bondage ; fo that 
 being fubjeft to a thoufand errors in the beft men, if it prove a bleifing to any, 
 it is of meer accident, as man's Law hath handled it, and not of inftitution. 
 
 7/ is not good for man to be alone.'] Hitherto all things that have been nam'd, were 
 appro v'd of God to be very good: lonelinefs is the firft thing which God's eye nam'd 
 not good : whether it be a thing, or the want of fomething, I labour not ; let it be 
 their tendance, who have the art to be induftrioufly idle. And here alone is 
 meant alone without woman; otherwife Adam had the company of God himfelf, 
 and Angels to converfe with ; all creatures to delight him ferioufly, or to make 
 him fport. God could have created him out of the fame mould a thoufand friends 
 and brother Adams to have been his conforts; yet for all this till Eve was given 
 him, God reckon'd him to be alone. 
 
 7/ is not good.] God here prefents himfelf like to a man deliberating ; both 
 to (hew us that the matter is of high confequence, and that he intended to 
 found it according to natural reafon, not impulfive command ; but that the 
 duty fhould arii'e from the reafon of it, not the reafon be fwallow'd up in a 
 reafonlefs duty. Not good, was as much to Adam before his fall, as not 
 pleafing, not expedient ; but fince the coming of Sin into the world, to 
 him who hath not receiv'd the continence, it is not only not expedient to 
 be alone, but plainly finful. And therfore he who wilfully abftains from Mar- 
 riage, not being fupernaturally gifted, and he who by making the yoke of 
 Marriage unjuft and intolerable, caufes men to abhor it, are both in a diabolical 
 
 fin,
 
 222 
 
 Expoftions on the four chief places of Scripture, 
 
 fm, equal to that of Antichrift who forbids to marry. For what difference at ali 
 whether he abftain men from marrying, or reftrain them from Marriage hapning 
 totally difcommodious, diftafteful, diihoneft and pernicious to him without the 
 appearance of his fault ? For God does not here precifely fay, I make a female 
 to this male, as he did before ; but expounding himfelf here onpurpofe, he faith, 
 becaufe it is not good for man to be alone, I make him therfore a meet help. 
 God fupplies the privation of not good, with the perfect, gift of a real and pofi- 
 tive crood; it is man's perverfe cooking who hath turn'd this bounty of God into 
 a Scorpion, either by weak and fhallow conftructions, or by proud arrogance and 
 cruelty to them who neither in their purpofes nor in their actions have offended 
 againft the due honour of Wedloc. 
 
 Now wheras the Apoftle's fpeaking in the Spirit, i Cor. 7. pronounces quite 
 contrary to this word of God, It is good for a man not to touch a woman, and God 
 cannot contradict himfelf; it inftructs us that his commands and words, efpecial- 
 ly fuch as bear the manifeft title of fome good to man, are not to be fo ftrictly 
 wrung, as to command without regard to the molt natural and miferable ne- 
 ceffities of mankind. Therfore the Apoftle adds a limitation in the 26verfe of 
 that chapter for the prefent necefiity it is good ; which he gives us doubtlefs as a 
 pattern how to reconcile other places by the general rule of Charity. 
 
 For man to be alone.'] Some would have the lenfe hereof to beinrefpect of pro- 
 creation only : and Auflin contefts that manly friendftiip in all other regards had 
 been a more becoming folace for Adam, than to fpend fomany fecret years in an 
 empty world with one woman. But our Writers defervedly reject this crabbed 
 opinion •, and defend that there is a peculiar comfort in the married ftate befide the 
 genial bed, which no other fociety affords. No mortal nature can endure either 
 in the actions of Religion, orftudy ofWifdom, without fometime flackening the. 
 cords of intenfe thought and labour : which left we mould think faulty, God him- 
 felf conceals us not his own recreations before the World was built-, I was, faith 
 the eternal Wifdom, daily his delight, playing always before him. And to him in- 
 deed Wifdom is as a high tower of pleafure, but to us a fteep hill, and we toiling 
 ever about the bottom : he executes with eafe the exploits of his Omnipotence, 
 as eafy as with us it is to will : but no worthy enterprife can be done by us with- 
 out continual plodding and wearifomenefs to our faint and fenfitive abilities. We 
 cannot therfore always be contemplative, or pragmatical abroad, but have need 
 of fome delightful intermiffions, wherin the enlarg'd foul may leave off a while 
 her fevere fchooling ; and like a glad youth in wandring vacancy, may keep her 
 holidays to joy and harmlefs paftime : which as fhe cannot well do without com- 
 pany, fo in no company lb well as where the different fex in mod refembling 
 unlikenefs, and moft unlike refemblance, cannot but pleafe beft, and be pleas'd 
 in the aptitude of that variety. Wherof left we fhould be too timorous, in the 
 awe that our flat Sages would form us and drefs us, wifeft Solomon among his 
 graveft Proverbs countenances a kind of raviihment and erring fondnefs in the 
 entertainment of wedded leifures •, and in the Song of Songs, which is generally 
 fceliev'd, even in the jollieft expreffions,to figure the Spoufals of the Church with 
 Chrift, fings of a thoufand raptures between thofe two lovely ones far on the hi- 
 ther fide of carnal enjoyment. By thefe inftances, and more which might be 
 brought, we may imagine how indulgently God provided againft man's Loneli- 
 nefs ; that he approv'd it not, as by himfelf declar'd not good; that he approv'd 
 the remedy therof, as of his own ordaining, confequently good: and as he or- 
 dain'd it, fo doubtlefs proportionably to our fallen eftate he gives it; elfe were 
 his ordinance at leaft in vain, and we for all his gifts ftill empty handed. Nay, 
 fuch an unbounteous giver we fhould make him, as in the Fables Jupiter was 
 to Ixion, giving him a cloud inftead of Juno, giving him a monftrous iffue by 
 her, the breed of Centaurs, a neglected and unlov'd race, the fruits of a delu- 
 five Marriage ; and laftly, giving him her with a damnation to that wheel in 
 Hell, from a life thrown into the midft of temptations and diforders. But 
 God is no deceitful giver, to beftow that on us for a remedy of Lonelinefs, 
 which if it bring not a fociable mind as well as a conjunctive body, leaves us 
 no lefs alone than before ; and if it bring a mind perpetually averfe and dif- 
 agreeable, betrays us to a worfe condition than the moft deferted Lonelinefs. 
 God cannot in the juftice of his own promife and inftitution fo unexpectedly 
 mock us, by forcing that upon us as the remedy of Solitude, which wraps us 
 in a mifery worfe than any Wildernefs, as the Spirit of God himfelf 
 judges, Prov. 19. efpecially knowing that the beft and wifeft men amidft 
 the fincqre and moft cordial defigns of their heart, do daily err in choofing. 
 
 We
 
 which treat of Nullities /#MarriAge. 223 
 
 We may conclude therfore, feeing orthodoxal Expofitors confefs to our hands, 
 that by Lonelinefs is not only meant the want of Copulation, and that Man is 
 not lefs alone by turning in a body to him, unlefs there be within it a mind an- 
 fwerable, that it is a work more worthy the care and confultation of God to pro- 
 vide for the worthieft part of man which is his Mind, and not unnaturally to fet 
 it beneath the formalities and refpecls ot the body, to make it a fervant of its own 
 vafTal ; I fay, we may conclude that fuch a Marriage, wherin the mind is fo dif- 
 grac'd and vilify'd below the body's intereft, and can have no juft or tolerable 
 contentment, is not of God's inftitution, and therfore no Marriage. Nay,in con- 
 cluding this, I fay we conclude no more than what the common Expofitors them- 
 felves give us, both in that which I have recited, and much more hereafter. But 
 the truth is, they give us, in fuch a manner, as they who leave their own mature 
 pofitions like the eggs of an Oftrich in the dud ; I do but lay them in the fun; 
 their own pregnancies hatch the truth ; and I am taxt of novelties and ftrange 
 producemcnts, while they, like that inconfiderate bird, know not that thefe are 
 their own natural breed. 
 
 I will make him a help-meet for him. .] Here the heavenly Infiitutor, as if he la- 
 bour'd not to be miftaken by the fupercilious hypocrify of thole that love to 
 miller their brethren, and to make us lure that he gave us not now a fervile yoke, 
 but an amiable knot, contents not himfelfto fay, I will make him a wife-, but re- 
 folving to give us firft the meaning before the name of a wife, faith graciouily, 
 I will make him a help-meet for him. And here again, as before, I do not require 
 more full and lair deductions than the whole conlent of our Divines ulually raife 
 from this text, that in Matrimony there mult be firfta mutual help to Piety, next 
 to civil fellowfhip of Love and Amity, then to Generation, lb to houlhold Affairs, 
 laftly the remedy of Incontinence. And commonly they reckon them in fuch or- 
 der, as leaves generation and incontinence to be laftconfidered. This I amaze me 
 at, that though all the fuperior and nobler ends both of Marriage and of the mar- 
 ried perfons be abfolutely fruftrate, the matrimony ftirs nor, lofes no hold, re- 
 mains as rooted as the center: but if the body bring but in a complaint of frigi- 
 dity, by that cold application only, this adamantine Alp of Wedloc has leave to 
 difiblve; which elfe all the machinations of religious or civil Reafon at the fuitof 
 a diffrefied mind, either for divine worfhip or human converfation violated, 
 cannot un fatten. What courts of concupifcence are thefe, wherin flettily appetite 
 is heard before right reafon, lull before love or devotion ? They may be pious 
 Chriftians together, they may be loving and friendly, they may be helpful to 
 each other in the family,but they cannot couple, thatlhall divorce them, tho' ei- 
 ther party would not. They can neither ferve God together, nor one be at peace 
 with the other, nor be good in the Family one to other, but live as they were 
 dead, or live as they were deadly enemies in a cage together; 'tis all one, they 
 can couple, they Ihall not divorce till death, no though this fentence be their death. 
 What is this, befides tyranny, but to turn nature upfide down, to make both re- 
 ligion, and the mind of man wait upon the flavilh errands of the body, and not 
 the body to follow either the fanctity, or the fovereignty of the mind, unfpeak- 
 ably wrong'd, and with all equity complaining? What is this but to abufe the 
 f icred and myllerious bed of Marriage to be the compulfive ftye of an ingrateful 
 and malignant lull, ftirr'd up only from a carnal acrimony, without either love 
 or peace, or regard to any other thing holy or human. This I admire how pofli- 
 bly it lhould inhabit thus long in the fenfe of lb many difputing 'Theologians, un- 
 lefs it be the loweft lees of a canonical infection liver-grown to their fides ; which 
 perhaps will never uncling, without the ttrong abfterlive of fome heroic Magi- 
 ftrate, whofeMind, equal to his high Office, dares lead him both to know and 
 do without their frivolous cafe-putting. For certain he mall have God and this 
 Inftitution plainly on his fide. And if.it be true both in Divinity and Law, that 
 conlent alone, though copulation never follow, makes a Marriage, how can they 
 difiblve it for the want of that which made it not, and not difiblve it for that not 
 continuing which made it, and lhould prcferve it in love and reafon, and diffe- 
 rence it from a brute conjugality ? 
 
 Meet for him.'] The original here is more exprefiive than other languages 
 word for word can render it ; but all agree effectual conformity of difpofition 
 and affection to be hereby fignify'd ; which God as it were, not fatisfy'd 
 with the naming of a help, goes on defcribing another felf, a fecond felf, 
 a very felf it felf Yet now there is nothing in the life of man, through our 
 mifconftruetion, made more uncertain, more hazardous and full of chance 
 than this divine blcfiing with fuch favourable fignificance here conferr'd upon 
 us ; which if we do but err in our choice, the moll unblameable error that 
 
 c«m
 
 2,24 Expofitions on the four chief places in Scripture -, 
 
 can be, err but one minute, one moment after thofe mighty Syllables pronoune'd, 
 which take upon them to join Heaven and Hell together unpardonably till Death 
 pardon: this divine Bleffing that look'd but now with fuch a humane fmileupon us, 
 and fpoke fuch gentle reafon, ftrait vanifhes like a fair Sky, and brings on fuch a 
 fcene of Cloud andTempeft,as turns all to fhipwrack without haven or more, but 
 to a ranfomlefs Captivity. And then they tell us it is our fin : but let them be told 
 again, that fin through the mercy of God hath not made fuch wafte upon us, as to 
 make utterly void to our ufe any temporal benefit, much leis any fo much avail- 
 ing to a peaceful and fanctify'd life, meerly for a mod incident error which no 
 wearinefs can certainly fhun. And wherfore ferves our happy redemption, and 
 the liberty we have in Chrift, but to deliver us from calamitous yokes, not to be 
 liv'd under without the endangerment of our fouls, and to reftore us in fome com- 
 petent meafure to a right in every good thing both of this life, and the orher ? 
 Thus we fee how treatably and diftinctly God hath here taught us what the prime 
 ends of Marriage are, mutual folace and help. That we are now, upon the moft 
 irreprehenfible miftake in chufing, defeated and defrauded of all this original be- 
 nignity, was begun firft through the fnare of Antichriftian Canons long iince ob- 
 truded upon the Church of Rome, and not yet fcoured off by Reformation, out of 
 a lingring vain-glory that abides among us to make fair mews in formal Ordi- 
 nances, and to enjoin Continence and bearing of Crofles in fuch a garb as no 
 Scripture binds us, under the thickeft Arrows of temptation, where we need not 
 fland. Now we fhall fee with what acknowledgment and afTent Adam receiv'd 
 this new aflbciate which God brought him. 
 
 Ver. 23. And Adam /aid, This is now bone of my bones, andfiejh of ray fiefo ; Jhe 
 Jhall be called Woman, becaufejhe was taken out of Man. 
 
 That there was a nearer Alliance between Adam and Eve, than could be ever 
 after between Man and Wife, is vifible to any. For no other Woman was ever 
 moulded out of her Hufband's Rib, but of meer Strangers for the moft part they 
 come to have that confanguinity which they have by Wedloc. And it we look 
 nearly upon the matter, though Marriage be moft agreeable to holinefs, to puri- 
 ty and juftice, yet is it not a natural, but a civil and ordain'd relation. For if it 
 were in nature, no law or crime could difannul it, to make a Wife, or Hufband, 
 otherwife than ftill a Wife or Hufband, but only Death-, as nothing but that can 
 make a Father no Father, or a Son no Son. But Divorce for Adultery or Defer- 
 tion, as all our Churches agree but England, not only feparates, but nullifies, and 
 extin°~uifhes the relation it felf of Matrimony, fo that they are no more Man and 
 Wife-, otherwife the innocent party could not marry elfewhere, without the guilt 
 of Adultery. Next, were it merely natural,why was it here ordain'd more than the 
 reft of moral Law to Man in his original rectitude, in whole breaft all that was 
 natural or moral was engraven without external Confti tut ions and Edicts ? A- 
 dam therfore in thefe words does noteftablifh an indiflbluble bond of Marriage in 
 the carnal ligamentsof flefh and bones; for if he did, it would belong only to him- 
 felf in the literal fenfe, every one of us being nearer in flefh of flefh, and bone of 
 bones to our Parents than to a Wife ; they therfore were not to be left for her in 
 that refpect. But Adam, who had the wifdom given him to know all creatures, 
 and to name them according to their properties, no doubt but had the gift to 
 difcern perfectly that which concern'dhim much more-, and to apprehend at firft 
 fight the true fitnefs of that Confort which God provided him. And therfore fpake 
 in reference to thofe words which God pronoune'd before; as if he had faid, This 
 is fhe by whole meet help and fociety I fhall no more be alone ; this is ftie who was 
 made my image, even as I the Image of God ; not fo much in body, as in unity of 
 mind and heart. And he might as eafily know what were the words of God, as he 
 knew fo readily what had been done with his Rib, while he flept fo foundly. He 
 mi<mt well know, if God took a Rib out of his infide, to form of it a double good 
 to him, he would far fooner disjoin it from his outfide, to prevent a treble mifchief 
 to him; and far fooner cut it quiteofffrom all relation for his undoubted eafe,than 
 nail it into his body again, to flick for ever there a thorn in his heart. Whenas 
 Nature teaches usto divide any limb from thebodytothefavingof its fellows,though 
 it be the maiming and deformity of the whole ; how much more is it her doctrine 
 to fever by incifion, not a true limb fo much, though that be lawful, but an adhe- 
 rent, a fore, the gangrene of a limb, to the recovery of a whole Man ? But if in thefe 
 words we fhall make Adam to erect a new eftablifhment of Marriage in the meer 
 4 flefh,
 
 bid treat of Nullities /^Marriage. 2 25 
 
 ti God fo lately had inftituted, and founded in the fweet and mild fa* 
 
 and folace, and mutual fitnefs ; what do we but life the mouth of 
 
 parent, the firft time it opens, to an arrogant oppofition and correct- 
 
 \ wifer Ordinance ? Theft words therfore cannot import any thing new 
 
 , but either that which belongs to Adam only, or to us in reference 
 
 to the in'tituting words of God, which made a meet help againft lonejinefs. 
 
 A (V,n fpake like Adam the words of flefh and bones, the lhell and rind of Marri- 
 
 rnofty; but God fpake like God, of love and folace and meet help, the foul both 
 
 of Adam's words and of Matrimony. 
 
 V. 24. Therfore fhall a man leave his father and his mother ', and fiatt cleave unto 
 his wife ; and they fhall be one fleflo. 
 
 Thisverfe, as our common herd expounds it, is the great knot-tier, which hath 
 undone by tying, and by tangling, millions of guiltlefs confeiences : this is thatgrifly 
 Porter, who having drawn men and wiftft men by futtle allurement within the train 
 of an unhappy matrimony, claps the dungeon-gate upon them, as irrecoverable as 
 the grave. But if we view him well, and hear him with not too hafly and prejudi- 
 cant ears, we fhall find no fuch terror in him. For firft, it is not here faid abfoluiely 
 without all reafon he fhall cleave to his wite, be it to his weal or to his deftruction as 
 it happens, but he fhall do this upon the premifes and confiderations of that meet 
 help and fociety before mention'd. Therfore he fhall cleave to his wife, no otherwife 
 a wife than a fit help. He is not bid to leave the dear cohabitation of his father, 
 mother, brothers and filters, to link himfelf infeparably with the mere carcafs of a 
 Marriage, perhaps an enemy. This joining particle Therfore is in all equity, nay 
 in all necefTity of conftruftion to comprehend firft and molt principally what God 
 fpake concerning the inward elTence of Marriage in his inftitution, that we may 
 learn how far to attend what Adam fpake of the outward materials therof in his 
 approbation. For if we fhall bind theft words of Adam only to a corporal meaning, 
 and that the force of this injunction upon all us his fons to live individually with a- 
 ny woman which hath befaln us in the moft miftaken wedloc, fhall confift not in 
 thoft moral and relative caufes oi' Eve's creation, but in the meer anatomy of a rib, 
 and that Adam's infight concerning wedloc reach'd no further, we fhall make him as 
 very an idiot as the Socinians make him ; which would not be reverently done of us. 
 Let us be content to allow our great fore-father fo much wifdom, as to take the in- 
 ftituting words of God along with him into this fentence, which if they be well 
 minded, will afTure us that flefh and ribs are but of a weak and dead efficacy to 
 keep Marriage united where there is no other fitnefs. The rib of Marriage, to all 
 fince Adam, is a relation much rather than a bone •, the nerves and finews therof 
 are love and meet help, they knit not every couple that marries, and where they knit 
 they feldom break-, but where they break, which for the moft part is where they 
 never truly join'd, to fuch at the fame inftant both flefh and rib ceafe to be in 
 common : fo that here they argue nothing to the continuance of a falfe or violated 
 Marriage, but muft be led back again to receive their meaning from thoft infti- 
 tutive words of God which give them all the life and vigour they have. 
 
 Therfore fhall a man leave his father, &c.~\ What to a man's thinking more plain 
 by this appointment, that the fatherly power fhould give place to conjugal prero- 
 gative ? Yet it is generally held by reformed writers againft the Papift, that though 
 in perfons at difcretion the Marriage in it felf be never fo fit, though it be fully 
 accomplifht with benediction, board and bed, yet the father not confenting, his 
 main Will without difpute fhall diffolve all. And this they affirm only from col- 
 lective reafon, not any direct law ■, for that in Exod. 22. 17. which is moft parti- 
 cular, fpeaks that a father may refuft to marry his daughter to one who hath de- 
 flour'd her, not that he may take her away from one who hath foberly married her. 
 Yet becauft the general honour due to parents is great, they hold he may, and 
 perhaps hold not amifs. Bat again, when the queftion is of liarlh and rugged pa- 
 rents, who defer to beftow their children feafonably, they agree jointly that the 
 Church or Magiftrate may beftow them, though without the Father's confent : and 
 tor this they have no exprefs authority in Scripture. So that they may fee by their 
 own handling of this very place, that it is not the ftubborn letter muft govern us, 
 but the divine and foftning breath of charity which turns and winds the dictate of 
 every pofirive command, and fhapes it to the good of mankind. Shall the out- 
 ward acccflbry of a Father's will wanting, rend the iitteft and moft affectionate 
 Marriage in twain, after all nuptial confummations j and fhall not the want of 
 
 Vol. I. G g love
 
 z6 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture y 
 
 love and the privation of all civil and religious concord, which is the inward ef- 
 fence of Wedloc, do as much to part thofe who were never truly wedded ? Shall 
 a Father have this power to vindicate his own wilful honour and authority to the 
 utter breach of a molt dearly-united Marriage, and fhall not a man in his own 
 power have the permiflion to free his Soul, his Life, and all his comfort of life 
 from the difafter of a no-marriage? Shall fatherhood, which is but man, for his 
 own pleafuFe dilTolve matrimony •, and fhall not matrimony, which rs God's Or- 
 dinance, for its own honour and better confervntion, diiTolve it felf, when it is 
 wrong, and not fitted to any of the chief ends which it owes us ? 
 
 And they Jhall be onefleflj.] Thefe words alfo infer that there ought to be an 
 individualty in Marriage •, but without all queilion prefuppofe the joining caufes. 
 Not a rule yet that we have met with, fo univerfal in this whole inftitution, but 
 hath admitted limitations and conditions according to human neceffity. The very 
 foundation of Matrimony, though God laid it deliberately, that it is net good for 
 man to be alone, holds not always, if the Apoftle canfecureus. Soon after we are 
 bid leave Father and Mother, and cleave to a Wife, but muft underftand the Fa- 
 ther's confent withal, elfe not. Cleave to a Wife, but let her be a wife, let her be 
 a meet help, a folace, not a nothing, not an adverfary, not a defertrice ; can any 
 law or command be fo unreafonable as to make men cleave to calamity, to ruin, to 
 perdition ? In like manner here, They fhall be one flefu ; but let the caufes hold, and 
 be made really good, which only have the poffibility to make them one flefh. We 
 know that flefh can neither join, nor keep together two bodies of it felf; what is ii: 
 then muft make them one flefh, but likenefs, but fitnefs of mind and difpofition, 
 which may breed the Spirit of concord, and union between them ? If that be not in 
 the nature of either, and that there has bin a retnedilefs miftake, as vain we go 
 about to compel them into one flefh, as if we undertook to weave a garment of dry 
 land. It were more eafy to compel the vegetable and nutritive power of nature to 
 alTimilations and mixtures which are not alterable each by other ; or force the con- 
 coftive ftomach to turn that into flefh which is fo totally unlike that fubftance, as 
 not to be wrought on. For as the unity of mind is nearer and greater than the u- 
 nion of bodies, fodoubtlefs is the diffimilitude greater and more dividual, as that 
 which makes between bodies all difference and diftinftion. Efpecially whenas 
 befides the Angular and fubftantial differences of every Soul, there is an intimate 
 quality of good or evil, through the whole Progeny of Adam, which like a radical 
 heat, or mortal chillnefs, joins them, or disjoins them irrefiftibly. In whom ther- 
 fore either the will, or the faculty is found to have never join'd, or now not to con- 
 tinue fo, 'tis not to fay, they fhall be one flefh, for they cannot be one flefh. God 
 commands not impoffibilities ; and all the Ecclefiaftical glue, that Liturgy or Lay- 
 men can compound, is not able to foder up two fuch incongruous Natures into the 
 one flefh of a true befeeming Marriage. Why did Mofes then fet down their uniting 
 into one flefh ? And I again ask, why the Gofpel fo oft repeats the eating of our Sa- 
 viour's flefh, the drinking of his blood ? That ice are one body ivith him, the members 
 of his body, fleflj of 'his flefh, and bone of his bone, Ephef. 5. Yet left we fhould be 
 Capemaitans, as we are told there, that the flefh profiteth nothing •, fo we are told 
 here, if we be not as deaf as Adders, that this union of the flefh proceeds from the 
 union of a fie help and folace. We know that there was never a more fpiritual myfte- 
 ry than this Gofpel taught us under the terms of body and flefh ; yet nothing lefs in- 
 tended than that we fhould flick there. What a ftupidnefs then is it, that in Mar- 
 riage, which is the neareft refemblance of our union with Chrift, we fhould dejeft 
 our felves to fuch a fluggifh and underfoot Philofophy, as to efteem the validity of 
 Marriage meerly by the flefh, though never fo broken and disjointed from love and 
 peace, which only can give a human qualification to that aft of the flefh, and dif- 
 tinguifh it from beftial. The Text therfore ufes this phrxife, that they fhall be one 
 fleflj, tojuftify and make legitimate the rites of Marriage-bed •, which was not un- 
 needful, if for all this warrant they were fufpefted of pollution by fome fefts of 
 Philofophy, and Religions of old, and latelier among the Papifts, and other He- 
 retics elder than they. Some think there is a high myftery in thofe words, from 
 that which Paul faith of them, Ephef. 5. This is agreat 'myftery, but Ifpeak ofChrift 
 and the Church : and thence they would conclude Marriage to be infeparable. For 
 me I difpute not now whether Matrimony be a myftery or no -, if it be ofChrift and 
 his Church, certainly it is not meant of every ungodly and mifwedded Marriage, but 
 then only myfterious, when it is a holy, happy, and peaceful match. But when a 
 Saint is join'd with a Reprobate, or both alike wicked with wicked, fool with fool, 
 4 a
 
 which treat of Nullities /# Marriage. 227 
 
 a he-drunkard with a fhe -, when the bed hath bin nothing elfe for twenty years or 
 more, but an old haunt of luft and malice mixt together, no love, no goodnefs, 
 no loyalty, but counterplotting* and fecret wifhing one another's diffolution \ this 
 is to me the greatefl myftery in the world, if fuch a Marriage as this can be the 
 myftery of aught, unlefs it be the myftery of iniquity : According to that which 
 Parous cites out of Chryfoflom, that a bad Wife is a help for the Devil, and the 
 like may be faid of a bad Hufband. Since therfore none but a fit and pious Ma- 
 trimony can fignify the union of Chrift and his Church, there cannot hence bea- 
 ny hindrance of divorce to that Wedloc wherin there can be no good myftery. 
 Rather it might to a Chriftian Confcience be matter of finding it felf fo much lefs 
 latisfy'd than before, in the continuance of an unhappy yoke, wherin there can 
 be no reprefentation either of Chrift, or of his Church. 
 
 Thus having enquir'd the Inftitution how it was in the beginning, both from the 
 1 Chap, of Gen. where it was only mention'd in part, and from the fecond, where it 
 was plainly and evidently inftituted ; and having attended each claufe and word ne- 
 ceffary with a diligence not droufy, we fhall now fix with fome advantage, and by a 
 ihort view backward gather up the ground we have gone, and i'um up the ftrength 
 we have, into one argumentative Head, with that organic force that Logic proffers 
 us. All Arts acknowledge that then only we know certainly, when we can define ; 
 for Definition is that which refines the pure effence of things from the circumftance. 
 If therfore we can attain in this our Controverfy to define exactly what Marriage is, 
 we fhall foon learn when there is a nullity therof, and when a divorce. 
 
 The part therfore of this Chapter which hath bin here treated, doth orderly and 
 readily relblve it felf into a definition of Marriage, and a con feftary from thence. 
 To the definition thefe words chiefly contribute -, It is not good, &c. I will make, &c. 
 Where the confeftary begins this connexion, Therfore informs us, Therfore fhall a 
 Man, &c. Definition is decreed by Logicians to confift only of caufesconftituting 
 the effence of a thing. What is not therfore among the caufes conftituting Marriage, 
 muft not flay in the definition. Thofe caufes are concluded to be Matter, and, as 
 the Artift calls it, Form. But inafmuch as die fame thing may be a caufe more ways 
 than one, and that in relations and inftitutions which have no corporal fubfiftence, but 
 only a refpeftive being, the Form by which the thing is what it is, is oft fo flender 
 and undiftinguifhable, that it would foon confute, were it not fuftain'd by the effi- 
 cient and final caufes, which concur to make up the form invalid otherwife of it 
 felf, it will be needful to take in all the four Caufes into the definition. Firft ther- 
 fore the material caufe of Matrimony is Man and Woman •, the Author and Effici- 
 ent, God and their confent ; the internal Form and Soul of this relation, is con- 
 jugal love arifing from a mutual fitnefs to the final caufes of Wedloc, help and fo- 
 ciety in religious, civil and domeftic converfation, which includes as an inferior 
 end the fulfilling of natural defire, and fpecifical increafe ; thefe are the final caufes 
 both moving the efficient, and perfecting the form. And although copulation be 
 confider'd among the ends of Marriage, yet the aft therof in a right efteem can no 
 longer be matrimonial, than it is an effect of conjugal love. When love finds it 
 felf utterly unmatcht, and juftly vanifhes, nay rather cannot but vanifh, the flefhly 
 aft indeed may continue, but not holy, not pure, not befeeming the facred bond 
 of Marriage •, being at beft but an animal excretion, but more truly worfe and 
 more ignoble than that mute kindlinefs among the herds and flocks : in that pro- 
 ceeding as it ought from intellective principles, it participates of nothing rationa 
 but that which the field and the fold equals. For in human actions the foul is the 
 agent, the body in a manner paffive. If then the body do out of fenfitive force, 
 what the foul complies not with, how can Man, and not rather fomething beneath 
 Man, be thought the doer ? 
 
 But to proceed in the purfuit of an accurate definition, it will avail us fomething, 
 and whet our thoughts, to examine what fabric hereof others have already rear'd. 
 Parous on Gen. defines Marriage to be an indiffoluble conjunction of one Man and one 
 Woman to an individual and intimate converfation, and mutual benevolence, &c. 
 Wherin is to be markt his placing of intimate converfation before bodily benevo- 
 lence •, for bodily is meant, though indeed benevolence rather founds will than body. 
 Why then fhall divorce be granted for want of bodily performance, and not for want 
 of fitnefs tointimate converfation, whenascorporalbenevolencecannotin any human 
 fafhion be without this? Thus his definition places the ends of Marriage in one order, 
 and efteems them in another. HisTautology a.\fo of indiffoluble and individual is not 
 to be imitated ; efpecially fince neither indiffoluble nor individual hath aught to do 
 Vol. I. Ge 2 in 
 
 » 
 
 >
 
 2 8 Expoftions on the four chief pkces in Scripture ', 
 
 in the exact definiton, being but a confectary flowing from thence, as appears by 
 plain Scripture, "Therfore fh all a Man leave, &c. For Marriage is pot true Marriage 
 by being individual, but therfore individual, if it be true Marriage. No argument 
 but caufes enter the definition ; a Confectary is but the effect of thofe caufes. Be- 
 fides, that Marriage is indiflbluble, is not Catholicly true •, we know it diflbluble 
 for Adultery, and forDefertion by the verdict of all Reformed Churches. Dr. Ames 
 defines it an individual conjuntlion of one man and one woman, to communion of body and 
 mutual fociety of life : But this perverts the Order of God, who in the inftitution 
 places meet help and fociety of life before communion of body. And vulgar efti- 
 mation undervalues beyond companion all fociety of life and communion of mind 
 beneath the communion of body •, granting no divorce, but to the want, or mifcom- 
 municating of that. Hemingius, an approved Author, Melani-ktdtfS Scholar, and 
 who, next to Bucer and Erafmus, writes of Divorce mod like a Divine, thus com 
 prifes, Marriage is a conjunction of one man and one woman lawfully confenting, into 
 oneflefh, for mutual help's fake, ordain'dofGod. And in his explanation ilands punc- 
 tually upon the conditions of confent, that it be not in any main matter deluded, 
 as being the life of Wedloc, and no true Marriage without a true confent. Into one 
 fleflj he expounds into one mind, as well as one body, and makes it the formal 
 caufe : Herein only miffing, while he puts the effect into his definition inftead of 
 the caufe which the Text affords him. For one fiejh is not the formal effence of 
 Wedloc, but one end, or one effect of« meet help : The end oft-times being the ef- 
 fect and fruit of the form, as Logic teaches : Elfe many aged and holy Matrimo- 
 nies, and more eminently that of Jojeph and Mary, would be no true Marriage. 
 And that maxim generally receiv'd, would be falfe, that confent alone, tho' copulation 
 never follow, makes the Marriage. Therfore to confent lawfully into one flefh, is 
 not the formal caufe of Matrimony, but only one of the effects. The Civil Lawyers, 
 and firft Juftinian or Tribonian defines Matrimony a conjuntlion of man and woman 
 containing individual accuftom of life. Wherin firft, individual is not fo bad as indif- 
 foluble put in by others : And altho' much cavil might be made in the diftinguifh- 
 ing between indivifible and individual, yet the one taken for poffible, the other 
 for actual, neither the one nor the other can belong to the efience of Marriage ; efpe- 
 cially when a Civilian defines, by which Law Marriage is actually divore'd for ma- 
 .ny caufes, and with good leave, by mutual confent. Therfore where conjuntlion is 
 faid, they who comment thelnftitutes, agree that conjunction of mind is by the Law 
 . meant, not neceflarily conjunction of body. That Law then had good reafon at- 
 tending to its own definition, that divorce mould be granted for the breaking of 
 . that conjunction which it holds neceflary, fooner than for the want of that con- 
 junction which it holds not neceflary. And wheras Tuningus a famous Lawyer 
 excufes individual as the purpofe of Marriage, not always the fuccefs, it fuffices not. 
 Purpofe is not able to conftitute the efience of a thing. Nature her felf, the univer- 
 fal Mother, intends nothing but her own perfection and prefervation •, yet is not 
 the more indiflbluble for that. The Pandeils out ofModeftinus, tho' not define, yet 
 well defcribe Marriage, the conjuntlion of male and female, the fociety of all life, the 
 communion of divine and human right : which Bucer ulfo imitates on the fifth to the 
 Ephefums. But it feems rather to comprehend the feveral ends of Marriage than 
 to contain the more conftituting caufe that makes it what it is. 
 
 That I therfore among others (for who fings not Hylas) may give as well as take 
 matter to be judg'd on, it will be look'd I ihould produce another definition than 
 thefe which have not flood the trial. Thus then I iuppofe that Marriage by the 
 natural and plain order of God's inftitution in the Text may be more demonftra- 
 . tively and eflentially defin'd. Marriage is a divine inflitution, joining man and wo- 
 man in a love fitly difpos\l to the helps and comforts ofdomejiic life. A divine inftitution. 
 This contains the prime efficient caufe of Marriage : as for confent of Parents and 
 Guardians, if feems rather a concurrence than a caufe •, for as many that marry 
 are in their own power as not ; and where they are not their own, yet are they 
 not fubjefted beyond reafon. Now tho' efficient caufes are not requilite in a de- 
 finition, yet divine inftitution hath fuch influence upon the Form, and is lb acon- 
 . ferving caufe of it, that without it the Form is not fufficient tp diftinguiih matri- 
 mony irom other conjunctions of male and female, which are not to be counted 
 Marriage. Joining man and woman in a love, &c. This brings in the parties con- 
 fent •, until which be, the Marriage hath no true being. When I fay conjent, I 
 mean not error, for error is not properly confent: And why fhould not confent 
 be here underftood with equity and good to either part, as in all other friendly 
 
 Co.
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 229 
 
 Covenants, and not be ftrain'd and cruelly urg'd to the mifchief and dcftruftion 
 ot both ? Neither do 1 mean that lingular act of eonient which made the contract, 
 for that may remain, and yet the Marriage not true nor lawful ; and that may 
 ceafe, and yet the Marriage both true and lawful, to their fin that break it. So 
 that either as no efficient at all, or but a tranfitory, it comes not into the defini- 
 tion. That eonient I mean which is a love fitly difpos'd to mutual help and com- 
 fort of life: this is that happy Form of Marriage naturally arifingfrom the very 
 heart of divine inftitution in the Text, in all the former definitions either obfeure- 
 !y, and under miftaken terms expreft, or not at all. This gives Marriage all her 
 due, all her benefits, all her being, all her diftinft and proper being. This 
 makes a Marriage not a bondage, a bleffing not a curfe, a gift of God not a fnare. 
 Unlcfs there be a love, and that love born of fitnefs, how can it laft ? unlefs it 
 kill, how can the bed and fweeteft purpofes of Marriage be attain'd, and they not 
 attain'd, which are the chief ends, and with a lawful love conftitute the formal 
 caufe it felf of Marriage ? How can the efience therof fubfift ? How can it be in- 
 ' what it goes for? Conclude therfore by all the power of Reafon, that where 
 this efience of Marriage is not, there can be no true Marriage ; and the Parties, 
 either one of them or both, are free, and without fault, rather by a Nullity than 
 by a Divorce, may betake them to a fecond choice, if their preJ'ent condition be 
 not tolerable to them. If any fhall ask, why domejiic in the definition ? I anfwer, 
 .that becaufe both in the Scriptures, and in the graved: Poets andPhilofophers, I 
 find the properties and excellencies of a wife fet out only from domeftic vertuesi 
 if they extend further, it diffufes them into the notion of fome more common du- 
 ty than matrimonial. 
 
 Thus far of the definition ; the ConfeiJary which flows from thence, and altoge- 
 ther depends theron, is manifeftly brought in by this connexive particle Therfore ; 
 and branches it felf into a double confequence ; Firft individual Society, therfore 
 fhall a man leave father and mother : Secondly, conjugal benevolence, and they fhall 
 be onefleflj. Which, as was fhewn, is not without caufe here mention'd, to prevent 
 and to abolifh the fufpeft of pollution in that natural and undefiled aft. Thefe 
 confequences therfore cannot either in Religion, Law, or Reafon be bound, and 
 polled upon Mankind to his forrow and mifery, but receive what force they have 
 from the meetnefs of help and folace, which is the formal caufe and end of that de- 
 finition that fuftains them. And altho' it be not for theMajefty of Scripture to 
 humble her felf in artificial Theorems, and Definitions, and Corollaries, like a pro- 
 fefior in the Schools, but looks to be analysed, and interpreted by the logical in- 
 duftry of her Difciples and Followers, and to be redue'd by them as oft as need is, 
 into thofe Sciential rules, which are the implements of inftruftion ; yetMofes, as if 
 forefeeing the mifcrable work that man's ignorance and pufillanimiry would make 
 in this matrimonious bufinefs, and endeavouring his utmoft to prevent it, conde- 
 fcends in this place to fuch a methodical and fchool-like way of defining, and 
 confequencing, as in no place of the whole Law more. 
 
 Thus we have feen, and if we be not contentious, may know what was Marriage 
 in the beginning, to which in the Gofpel we are referr'd •, and what from hence to 
 judge of Nullity, or Divorce. Here I efteem the work done •, in this field the con- 
 rroverfy decided •, but becaufe other places of Scripture feem to look averfiy. upon 
 this our decifion, altho' indeed they keep all harmony with it, and becaufe it is a 
 better work to reconcile the feeming diverfities of Scripture, than the real dif- 
 fenfions of neareft friends, I fhall allay in three following Difcourfes to perform 
 that Offic e. 
 
 Deut. XXIV. i, 2. 
 
 1 . TFhen a man hath taken a Wife, and married her, and it come topafs that foe find no 
 favour in his eyes, becaufe he hath found fome uncle annefs in her, then let him write 
 her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and fend her out of his houfe, , 
 
 2 . And ivhenjhe is departed out of his houfe, fije may go and be another {nan's wife. 
 
 THAT which is the only difcommodity of fpeaking in a clear matter, the abun- 
 dance of argument that prefTes to be utter'd, and the fufpenfe of judgment what 
 to choofe, and how in the multitude of reafon to be not tedious, is the greateft dif- 
 ficulty which I expeft here to meet with. Yet much hath bin faid formerly con- 
 cerning this Law in the Doclrine of Divorce. Wherof I fhall repeat no more than 
 what is necefiary. Two things are here doubted : Firft, and that but of late, whe- 
 ther this be a Law or no ; next, what this reafon of umleannefs might mean, for 
 
 which
 
 230 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 which the Law is granted. That it is a plain Law no man ever queftion'd, till 
 Patabliis within thefe hundred years profefs'd Hebrew at Paris, a man of no Reli- 
 gion, as SfZtf decyphers him. Yet fome there be who follow him, not only againft 
 the current of all Antiquity both Jewifh and Chriftian, but the evidence of Scrip- 
 ture alfo, Malach. 2. 16. Let him who hatcih pit away ', faith the Lord God of Jfrael. 
 Altho' this place alfo hath bin tamper'd with, as if it were to be thus render'd, 
 The Lord God faith, that he haleth pitting away. But this new interpretation refts 
 only in the Authority of Junius; for neither Calvin, nor Vatablus himfelf, nor any 
 other known Divine fo interpreted before. And they of beft note who have trani- 
 lated the Scripture fince, and Diodati for one, follow not his reading. And per- 
 haps they might reject it, if for nothing elfe, for thefe two Reafons: Firft, it intro- 
 duces in a new manner the perfon of God fpeaking lefs Majeftic than he is ever 
 wont: When God fpeaks by his Prophet, he ever fpeaks in the firft perfon, ther- 
 by fignifying his Majefty and Omniprefence. He would have faid, I hate putting 
 • away, faith the Lord ; and not fent word by Malachi in a fudden fal'n ftile, The 
 Lord Gcd faith that he hateth flitting away : that were a phrafe to fhrink the glori- 
 ous Omniprefence of God fpeaking, into a kind of circumfcriptive abfence. And 
 were as if a Herald in the Achievement of a King, fhould commit the indecorum to 
 fct his helmet fideways and clofe, not full-fac'd and open in the pofture of direction 
 and command. We cannot think therfore that this laft Prophet would thus in a 
 new fafhion abfent the perfon of God from his own words, as if he came not along 
 with them . For it would alfo be wide from the proper fcope of his place : he that 
 reads attentively will foon perceive, that God blames not here the Jews for putting 
 away their wives, but for keeping ftrange Concubines, to the profaning of Judo's 
 holinefs, and the vexation of their Hebrew wives, v. 1 1, and 14. Judah hath mar- 
 ried the daughter of a ftrange God: And exhorts them rather to put their wives away 
 whom they hate, as the Law permitted, than to keep them under fuch affronts. 
 And it is receiv'd that this Prophet liv'd in thole times of Ezra and Nehemiah (nay 
 by fome is thought to be Ezra himfelf) when the People were forc'd by thefe two 
 Worthies to put their ftrange wives away. So that what the ftory of thofe times, 
 and the plain context of the 1 1 verfe, from whence this rebuke begins, can give 
 us to conjecture of the obfcure and curt Ebraifms that follow, this Prophet does 
 not forbid putting away, but forbids keeping, and commands putting away ac- 
 cording to God's Law, which is the plaineft Interpreter both of what God will, 
 and what he can beft fuffer. Thus' much evinces that God there commanded Di- 
 vorce by Malachi, and this confirms that he commands it alfo here by Mofes. 
 
 I may the lefs doubt to mention by the way an Author, tho' counted Apocryphal, 
 yet of no fmall account for Piety and Wifdom, the Author of Ecckfiafticus. Which 
 Book, begun by theGrand-fatherofthat 7</w whoiscall'dtheSon ot'Sirach, might 
 have bin written in part, not much after the time when Malachi liv'd ; if we com- 
 pute by the Reign of Ptolematts Euergetes. It profefies to explain the Law and the 
 Prophets ; and yet exhorts us to Divorce for incurable caufes, and to cut off from 
 the fiefh thofe whom it there defcribes, Ecclefiaftic. 25. 26. Which doubtlefs that 
 wife and ancient Writer would never have advis'd, had either Malachi fo lately for- 
 bidden it, or the Law by a full precept not left it lawful. But I urge not this for 
 want of better proof ; our Saviour himfelf allows Divorce to be a command, Mark 
 10. 3, 5. Neither do they weaken this afTertion, who fay it was only a fufferance, 
 as mall be prov'd at large in that place of Mark. Butfuppofe it were not a written 
 Law, they never can deny it was a cuftom, and fo effect nothing. For the fame 
 reafons that induce them why it fhould not be a Law, will ftraiten them as hard 
 why it fhould be allow'd a cuftom. All cuftom is either evil or not evil ; if it be 
 evil, this is the very end of Lawgiving, toabolifhevilcuftomsby wholefom Laws; 
 unlefs we imagine M<?/?.j weaker than every negligent and ftartling Politician. If it 
 be, as they make this of Divorce to be, a cuftom againft nature, againft juftice, a- 
 gainft charity, how, upon this moft impure cuftom tolerated, could theGod of pure- 
 nefs ereft a nice and precife Law, that the Wife married after Divorce could not re- 
 turn to her former Husband, as being defiled ? What was all this following nice- 
 nefs worth, built upon the lewd foundation of a wicked thing allow'd ? In few 
 words then, this cuftom of Divorce either was allowable or not allowable ; if not 
 allowable, how could it be allow'd ? if it were allowable, all who underftand Law 
 will confent, that a tolerated cuftom hath the force of a Law, and is indeed no 
 other but an unwritten Law, as Juftinian calls it, and is as prevalent as any written 
 ftatute. So that their fhift of turning this Law into a cuftom wheels about, and 
 4 g ive »
 
 ivhkh treat of Nullities in Marriage. 231 
 
 gives the onfet upon their own flanks ; not difproving, but concluding it to be the 
 more firm Law, becaufe it was without controverfy a gran ted cuftom ; as clear in the 
 reafon of common life, a i ven rules wheron Euclides builds his propofitions. 
 
 Thus being every way a Law of God, who can without hlafphemy doubt it to be 
 a juft and pure Law ? Mofes continually difavows the giving them any ftatute, or 
 judgment, but what he learnt of God ; of whom alfo in his Song lie faith, Deut. 3 2 . 
 He is the rock, his work is perfect, all his ways are judgment, a God of truth andwith- 
 out iniquity, juft and right is he. And David teftifies, the judgments of the Lord are 
 true and righteous altogether. Not partly right and partly wrong, much lefs wrong 
 altogether, as Divines of now-a-days dare cenfure them. Mofes again, of that peo- 
 ple to whom he gave this Law, faith, Deut. 14. Ye are the children of the Lord your 
 God, the Lord hath chofen thee to be a peculiar people to himfelf above all the nations up- 
 on the earth, that thou fhculdeft keep all his Commandments, and be high in praife, in 
 , and in honour, holy to the Lord, Chap. 26. And in the fourth, Beheld Ih:;ve 
 taught you jl at ute s and judgments, even as the Lord my God c led me, keep ther- 
 
 fore and do them. For this is your wifdom and your underf ':■: the fight of Nations 
 
 that pall hear all thefe Statutes, and fay, ft • is a wife and under- 
 
 ft anding people. For what Nation is there fo great, who hath God fo nigh to them ? and 
 t Nation that hath St a. i Judgments fo righteous as all t). > Ifet 
 
 before you this day ? Thus whether we look at the purity and juftjee of God himfelf, 
 the jealoufy of his honour among other Nations, the holinefs and moral perfection 
 which he intended by his Law to teach this people, we cannot poffibly think how he 
 could indure to let them flugand grow inveterately wicked, under bafe allowances, 
 and whole adulterous lives by difpenfition. They might not eat, they might not 
 touch an unclean thing ; to v. hat hypocrify then were they train'd up, if by prefcrip- 
 tion of the fame Law, they might be unjuft, they might be adulterous for term of 
 life ? forbid to foil their garments with a coy imaginary pollution, but not forbid, 
 but countenanced and animated by Law to foil their Souls with deeped defilements. 
 What more unlike to GoJ, what more like that God fliould hate, than that hisLaw 
 mould be fo curious to wafn vcflels, and veftures, and fo carelefs to leave unwafh'd, 
 unregarded, lo foul a fcab of Egypt in their Souls ? what would we more ? the 
 Statutes of the Lord arc all pure and juft : and if all, then this of Divorce. 
 
 Becaufe he hath found fame uncleannefs in her.'] That we may not efteem this Law 
 to be a mecr authorizing of licence, as the Pharilees took it, Mofes adds the rea- 
 fon, for fome uncleannefs found. Some hertofore have bin fo ignorant, as to have 
 thought, that this uncleannefs means Adultery. But Erafmus, who for having writ 
 an excellent Treadle of Divorce, was wrote againft by fome burly ftandard Divine 
 perhaps of Cullen, or of Lovain, who calls himfelf Fhimoftomus, fhews learnedly 
 out of the Fathers, with other Teftimonies and Reafons, that uncleannefs is not 
 here fo underftood ; defends his former work, though new to that age, and per- 
 haps counted licentious, and fears not to ingage all his fame on the Argument. 
 Afterward, when Expofitors began to underftand the Hebrew Text, which they 
 had not done of many ages before, they tranflated word for word not uncleannefs, ' 
 hut the nakednefs of any thing -, and confidering that nakednefs is ufually referr'd in 
 Scripture to the mind as well as to the body, they conftantly expound it any de- 
 fect, annoyance, or ill quality in nature, which to be join'd with, makes life tedi- 
 ous, and fuch company worfe than folitude. So that here will be no caufe to vary 
 from the general confent of expofition, which gives us freely that God permitted 
 divorce, for whatever was unalterably diftaftful, whether in body or mind. But 
 h tliis admonifhment, that if the Roman Law, efpecially in contracts and dow- 
 , le ft many things to equity with thefe cautions, ex fide bond, quod teqiiius melius 
 erit, ul . ,os bene agitur, we will not grudge to think that God intended not 
 
 licence here to every humour, but to fuch remedilefs grievances as might move a 
 good and honeft and faithful man then to divorce, when it can no more be peace 
 or comfort to either of them continuing thus join'd. And although it could not 
 be avoided, but that Men of hard hearts would abufe this liberty, yetdoubtlefs in 
 was intended, as all other 'privileges in Law are, to good men principally, to bad 
 only by accident. So that the Sin was not in the permifTion, nor limply in the 
 action of Divorce (for then the permitting alfo had bin fin) but only in the abufe. 
 But that this' Law fhould, as it were, be wrung from God and Mofes, only to 
 ferve the hardheartednefs, and the luft of injurious men, how remote it is from all 
 fenfe, and law, andhonelty, and therfore furely from the meaning of Chrift, fhall 
 abundantly be manifeft in due order. 
 
 Now
 
 7*7 
 
 Expcftions on the four chief places in Scripture ', 
 
 Now although Mofes needed not to add other reafon of this Law than that one 
 there expreft, yet to thefe ages wherin Canons, and Scotifms, and Lombard Laws, 
 havedull'dj and aJmoft obliterated the lively Sculpture of ancient reafon, and hu- 
 manity, it will berequifit to heap reafon upon reafon, and all little enough to vin- 
 dicate the whitenefs and the innocence of this divine Law, from the calumny it finds 
 at this day, of being a door to licence andconfufion. Whenas indeed there is not 
 a judicial point in all Mofes, confuting of more true equity, high wifdom, and god- 
 like pity than this Law ; not derogating, but preferring the honour and peace of 
 Marriage, and exactly agreeing with the {cnl'e and mind of that institution in Genefis. 
 
 For firft, if Marriage be but an ordain'd relation, as it feems not more, it can- 
 not take place above the prime dictates of nature ; and if it be of natural right, yet 
 it muft yield to that which is more natural, and before it by elderfhip and prece- 
 dence in nature. Now it is not natural that Hugh marries Beatrice, or Thomas Re- 
 becca, being only a civil contract, and full of many chances •, but that thefe men 
 feek them meet helps, that only is natural, and that they efpoufe them fuch, that 
 only is Marriage. But if they find them neither fit helps nor tolerable fociety, 
 what thing more natural, more original anci firft in nature than to depart from 
 that which is irkfom, grievous, actively hateful, and injurious even to hoftility, 
 efpecially in a conjugal refpect, wherin antipathies are invincible, and where the 
 fore'd abiding of the one can be no true good, no real comfort to the other ? For 
 if he find no contentment from the other, how can he return it from himfelf ? or 
 no acceptance, how can he mutually accept ? What more equal, more pious than 
 to untie a civil knot for a natural enmity held by violence from parting, to dif- 
 foivc an accidental conjunction of this or that Man and Woman, for the mo ft na- 
 tural and moft necefTary disagreement of meet from unmeet, guilty from guiltlefs, 
 contrary from contrary ? It being certain that the myftical and bleiTed unity pf 
 Marriage can be no way more unhallow'd and profan'd, than by the forcible li- 
 nking of fuch difunions andfeparations. Which if we fee oftimes they cannot 
 join or piece up to a common friendfhip, or to a willing converfation in the fame 
 houfe, how fhould they poffibly agree to the moft familiar and united amity of 
 ^\ edloc ? Abraham and Lot, though dear friends and brethren in a ftrange Country, 
 chofe rather to part afunder, than to infect their friendfhip with the ftrife of their 
 lervants : Paul and Barnabas, join'd together by the Holy Ghoft to a fpiritual work, 
 thought it better to feparate when once they grew at variance. If thefe great Saints, 
 join'd by Nature, Friendfliip, Religion, high Providence, and Revelation, could 
 not fo govern a cafual difference, a fudden paffion, but muft in wifdom divide from 
 the outward duties of a Friendfhip, or a Colleguefhip in the fame family, or in the 
 fame journey, left it fhould grow to a worfe divifion ; can any thing be more abfurd 
 and barbarous, than that they whom only Error, Cafualty, Art, or Plot, hath join- 
 ed, fhould be compell'd, not againft a fudden paffion, but againft the permanent and 
 radical difcords of Nature, to the moft intimate and incorporating duties of Love 
 and Imbracement, therin only rational and human, as they are free and voluntary ; 
 being eife an abject and fervile yoke, fcarce not brutifh? And that there is in man 
 fuch a peculiar lway of liking or difiiking in the affairs of Matrimony, is evidently 
 feen before Marriage among thofe who can be friendly, can refpect each other, yet 
 to marry each other would not for any perlwafion. If then this unfitnefs and difpari- 
 ty be not till afterMarriagedifcover'd, through manyGaufes, and Colours, and Con- 
 ce alments, that may overfhadow ; undoubtedly it will produce the lame effects, and 
 perhaps with more vehemence, that fuch a miftaken pair would give the world 
 to be unmarried again. And their condition Solomon to the plain juftification of 
 Divorce exprefies, Prov.^o. 21,23. where he tells us of his own accord, that a 
 hated, or a hateful Woman, whenjhe is married, is a thing for which the earth is 
 difquieted, and cannot bear it : thus giving divine teftimony to this divine Law, 
 which bids us nothing more than is the firft and moft innocent lefibn of Nature, 
 to turn away peaceably from what afflicts, and hazards our deftruction ; efpeci- 
 ally when our flaying can do no good, and is expos'd to all evil. 
 
 Secondly, It is unjuft that any Ordinance, ordain'd to the good and comfort of 
 Man, where that end is miffing, without his fiiult, fhould be fore'd upon him to 
 an unfufferable mil'ery and difcomfort, if not commonly ruin. All Ordinances are 
 eftablifht in their end ; the end of Law is the vertue, is the rightebufnefs of Law: 
 and therfore him we count an ill Expounder who urges Law againft the intention 
 therof. The general end of every Ordinance, of every fevereft, every divined, even 
 of Sabbath, is the good of Man ; yea his temporal good not excluded. But Marriage 
 
 is
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 233 
 
 is one of the benigneft ordinances of God toman, wherof both thegeneral and parti- 
 cular end is the peace and contentment of man's mind, as the inltitution declares. 
 Contentment of body they grant, which if it be defrauded, the plea of frigidity (hall 
 divorce : But here lies the fathomlefs abfurdity, that granting this for bodily defect, 
 they will not grant it for any defect of the mind, any violation of religious or civil 
 fociety. Whenas, if the argument of Chrift be firm againft the ruler of the Syna- 
 gogue, Luke 13. Thou hypocrite, doth not each of you on the Sabbath-day loofen his Ox 
 or his Afs from the flail, and lead him to watering, and JJiould not I unbind a daughter 
 of Abraham from this bond of Satan? It (lands as good here ; ye have regard in Mar- 
 riage to the grievance of body, fhould you not regard more the grievances of the 
 mind, feeing the Soul as much excels the body, as the outward man excels the Afs, 
 and more? for that animal isyetalivingcreature, perfect in itfelf; butthe body with- 
 out the Soul is a meer fenfelefs trunk. No ordinance therfore given particularly to 
 the good both fpiritual and temporal of man, can be urged upon him to his mif- 
 chief : and if they yield this to the unworthierpart, the body, whereabout are they 
 in their principles, that they yield it notto the more worthy, the mind ofa good man? 
 
 Thirdly, As no Ordinance, fo no Covenant, no not between God and Man, much 
 Jefs between Man and Man, being, as all are, intended to the good of both Parties, 
 can hold to the deluding or making miferable of them both. For Equity is un- 
 derftood in every Covenant, even between enemies, tho' the terms be not expreft. 
 If Equity therfore made it, Extremity may diffolveit. But Marriage, they ufe to 
 fay, is the Covenant of God. Undoubted : and fo is any Covenant frequently cal- 
 led in Scripture, wherin God is call'd to witnefs : The Covenant of Friendfhip 
 between David and Jonathan, is call'd the Covenant of the Lord, i Sam. 20. The 
 Covenant of.Zedekia'h with the King of Babel, a Covenant to be doubted whether 
 lawful or no, yet in refpeft of God invok'd therto is call'd the Oath, and the Co- 
 venant of God, Ezek. 17. Marriage alfo is call'd the Covenant of God, Prov. 2. 17. 
 Why, but as before, becaufeGod is the witnefs therof, Mai. 2. 14. So that this de- 
 nomination adds nothing to the Covenant of Marriage, above any other civil and fo- 
 lemn contract : nor is it more indiflbluble for this reafon than any other againft the 
 end of its own Ordination ; nor is any Vow or Oath to God exacted with fuch a 
 rigour, where fuperftition reigns not. For look how much divine the Covenant is, 
 fo much the more equal, fo much the more to be expected that every Article ther- 
 of fhould be fairly made good •, no falfe dealing, or unperforming fhould be thruft 
 upon men without redrefs, if the covenant be fo divine. But Faith, they fay, muft 
 be kept in Covenant, tho' to our damage. I anfwer, that only holds true, where 
 the other fide performs ; which failing, he is no longer bound. Again, this is true, 
 when the keeping of Faith can be of any ufe or benefit to the other. But in Mar- 
 riage, a league of Love and Willingnefs, if Faith be not willingly kept, it fcarce is 
 worth thekeeping; norcan beanydelight toa generous mind, with whom it is forci- 
 bly kept: and thequeftion ft ill fuppofes the one brought to an impoffibility of keep- 
 ing it as he ought, by the other's default; and to keep it formally, not only with 
 a thoufand fhifts and diffimulations, but with open anguifh, perpetual fadneis and 
 difturbance, no willingnefs, no cheerfulnefs, no contentment, cannot be any good 
 to a mind not bafely poor and fhal low, with whom the contract of Love is fo kept. 
 A Covenant therfore brought to that pafs, is on the unfaulty fide without injury 
 difiblv'd. 
 
 Fourthly, The Law is not to neglect men under greateft fufferances, but to fee 
 Covenants of greateft moment faithfulleft perform'd. And what injury comparable 
 to that fuflain'd in a fruftrate and falfe-dealing Marriage, to lofe, for another's fault 
 againft him, the befl portion of his temporal comforts, and of his fpiritual too, as it 
 may fall out ? It was the Law, that for man's good and quiet,reduc'd things to pro- 
 priety, which were at firft in common •, how much more Law -like were it to affift 
 Nature in difappropriating that evil which by continuing proper becomes deilruc- 
 tive ? But he might have bewar'd. So he might in any other Covenant, wherin the 
 Law does not conitrain Error to fo dear a forfeit. And yet in thefe matters wherin 
 the wifeftare apt to err, all the warinefs that can be, ofttimes nothing avails. But 
 the Lawcan compel the offending party to be more duteous. Yes, if all thefe kind 
 of offences were fit in public to be complain'd on, or being compell'd were any fa- 
 tisfaction to a mate not fottifh, or malicious. And thefe injuries work fo vehement- 
 ly, that if the Law remedy them not, byfeparatingthe caufe when no way elle will 
 pacify, the perfonnotreliev'd betakeshimeitherto fuchdiforderly courfcs,or toiuch 
 a dull dejection as renders him either infamous, or ulclefs to the fervice of God and 
 
 Vol.' I. Hh his
 
 234 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 his Country. Which the Law ought to prevent as a thing pernicious to the Com- 
 monwealth •, and what better prevention than this which Mofes us'd ? 
 
 Fifthly, The Law is to tender the liberty and the human dignity of them that 
 live under the Law, whether it be the man's right above the woman, or the woman's 
 juft appeal againft wrong and fervitude. But the duties of Marriage contain in them 
 a duty of Benevolence, which to do by compulfion againft the Soul, where there can 
 be neither peace, nor joy, nor love, butancnthralmenttoor.e who either cannot, or 
 will not be mutual in the godlieft and the civileft ends of that fociety, is the igno- 
 bleft, and the loweft flavery that a human fhapecan be put to. This Law therfore 
 iuftly and pioufly provides againft fuch an unmanly tafk of bondage as this. Tlie 
 Civil Law, tho' it favoured the letting free of a (lave, yet if he pro v'd ungrateful ro 
 his Patron, redue'd him to a fervile condition. If that Law did well to reduce from 
 liberty to bondage for an ingratitude not the greateft, much more became it the 
 Law of God to enact thereftorement of a free-born man from an unpurposed, and 
 unworthy bondage, to a rightful liberty, for the moft unnatural fraud and ingratitude 
 that can be committed againft him. And ifthat Civilian Emperor in his title of Do- 
 nationSy permit the giver to recall his gift from him who proves unthankful towards 
 him ; yea, tho' he had fubferib'd and fign'd in the deed of his gift, not to recall it, 
 though for this very caufe of ingratitude ; with much more equity doth Mofes per- 
 mit here the giver to recall no petty gift, but the gift of himfeli from one who moft 
 injurioufly and deceitfully ufes him againft the main ends and conditions of his gi - 
 ving himfelf, expreft in God's inftitution. 
 
 Sixthly, Altho' there be nothing in the plain words of this Law, that feems to 
 regard the afflictions of a Wife, howgreat foever; yet Expofitors determine, and 
 doubtlefs determine rightly, that God was not uncompaflionate of them alfointhe 
 framing of this Law. For fhould the refcript o£ Antoninus in the Civil Law give 
 releafe to fervants flying for refuge to the Emperor's ftatue, by giving leave to 
 change their cruel Matters ; and fhould God, who in his Law alfo is good to 
 injur'd fervants, by granting them their freedom in divers cafes, not conlider the 
 wrongs and miferies of a wife, which is no fervant ? Tho' herin the counter- fenfe 
 of our Divines, to me, I mull confefs feems admirable •, who teach that God gave 
 this as a merciful Law, not for Man whom he here names, and to whom by name 
 he gives this power; but for the Wife, whom he names not, and to whom by name 
 he gives no power at all. For certainly if Man be liable to injuries in Marriage, 
 as well as Woman, and Man be the worthier Perfon, it were a prepoflerous Law 
 to refpe£t only the lefs worthy, her whom God made for Marriage, and not him 
 at all for whom Marriage was made. 
 
 Seventhly, The LawofMarriagegivesplacetothepowerofparents: forwehold, 
 that confent of Parents not had, may break the Wedloc, tho'elfe aocompliftit. It 
 gives place to mafterly Power, for the Maftcr might take away from an Hebrew 
 fervant the wife which he gave him, Exod. 2 1 . If it be anfwer'd, that the Marriage 
 of Servants is no Matrimony : 'tis reply'd, That this in the ancient Roman Law 
 is true, not in the Mofaic. If it be added, fhewas a Stranger, not an Hebrew, ther- 
 fore eafily divore'd •, it will be anfwer'd, That Strangers not being Canaaniies, and 
 they alfo being Converts, might be lawfully married, as Rahab was. And her 
 converfion is herefuppos'd ; for an Hebrew matter could not lawfully give an Hea- 
 then wife to an Hebrew fervant. However, the divorcing of an Ifraelitijh woman 
 was as eafy by the Law, as the divorcing of a Stranger, and almoft in the fame 
 words permitted, Deut. 24. and Deut. 21. Laftly, it gives place to the rightof War, 
 for a captive Woman lawfully marry 'd, and afterwards not belov'd, might bedif- 
 mifs'd, only without ranfom, Deut. 21. If Marriage be diflblv'd by fo many exte- 
 rior powers, not fuperior, as we think, why may not the power of Marriage it 
 felf, for its own peace and honour, diflblve it felf, where the perfons wedded be 
 freeperfons ? Why maynot agreaterand more natural power complaining diflblve 
 Marriage? For the ends why Matrimony was ordain'd, are certainly and by all 
 Logic above all the Ordinance it felf; why may not that diflblve Marriage, with- 
 out which that inftitution hath no force at all ? For the prime ends of Marriage, 
 are the whole ftrength and validity therof, without which Matrimony is like on 
 Idol, nothing in the world. But thofe former allowances were all for hardnefsof 
 heart. Be that granted, until we come where to underiiand it better: if the Law 
 fuffer thus far the obftinacy of a bad man, is it not more righteous here, to do wil- 
 lingly what is but equal, to remove in feafon the extremities of a good man ? 
 
 Eighthly,
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 235 
 
 ithly, If a man had deflowr'daVirgin, or brought an ill name on his Wife that 
 fhc came not a Virgin to him, he was amere'd in certain (hekels ofSilver, and bound 
 never to divorce her all his days, Dent. 22. which (hews that the Law gai 1 no li- 
 berty to divorce, where the injury was palpable-, and that the abfolute forbidding 
 todivorce, was in part the punifhment of a deflowerer, and a defamer. Yet not lb 
 butthatth qu ftionlefs might depart when fhepleafed. Otherwifethiscourfe 
 
 had ■ hi righted her, as delivered her up to more fpight and cruel ufage. 
 
 This Law the rfore doth jullly diftinguifh the privilege of an lionclt and blamelefs 
 man in the matter of divorce from the punifhment ofa notorious offender. 
 
 Ninthly, Suppofe itiliould be imputed to a manthathe wastooralhin hischoice, 
 and why he took not better he< d, let him now fmart, and bear his folly as he may •, 
 altho'theLawofGod, that terrible Law, do not thus upbraid the infirmities and un- 
 willing miftakes of man in his integrity: But fuppofe thefe and the like proud ag- 
 gravations of fome Hern hypocrite, more mercilefs in his mercies, than any literal 
 Law in the vigour of feverity, mull be patiently heard; yet all Law, and God's 
 Law especially grants cvery-where to error eafy remitments, even where theut- 
 nioft penalty exacted were no undoing. With great reafon therfore and mercy 
 doth it here not torment an error, if it be lb, with the indurance ofa whole life Jolt 
 to all houfhold comfort and fociety, a punifhment of too vaft and huge dimenfi- 
 on for an error, and the more unreafonable for that the like objection majf be op- 
 pos'd againft the plea of divorcing for Adultery •, he might have lookt better be- 
 fore toher breeding under religious parents: why did he not more diligently in- 
 quire into her manners, into what company , fhc kept? every glance of her eye, e- 
 very ftcp of her gait would have prophefy'd adultery, if the quick fcent of thefe 
 dilcerner.s had been took along; .they had the divination to have foretold you all this, 
 as they have now the divinity to punifh an error inhumanly. As good reafon to 
 be content, and fore'dtobe content with your Adulterefs, if thefe objeclers might 
 be the judges of human frailty. But God, more mild and good to man, than man 
 to his brother, in all this liberty given to divorcement, mentions not a word of 
 our pad errors and miftakes, if any were, which thefe men objecting from their 
 own inventions, profecute with all violence and iniquity. For if theonebc to look 
 fo narrowly what he takes, at the peril of ever keeping, why fhould not the other 
 be made as wary what is promis'd, by the peril of lofing ? for without thofe pro- 
 mifes the treaty of Marriage had not proceeded. Why fhould his own error bind 
 him, rather than the other's fraud acquit him ? Let the buyer beware, faith the old 
 Law-beaten termer. Belike then there is no more honefty, nor ingenuity in the 
 bargain of a Wedloc, than in the buying ofa Colt : We muft it feems drive it on 
 as craftily with thofe whole affinity we leek, as if they were a pack of fale-men 
 and complotters. But the deceiver deceives himfelf in the unprofperous Marri- 
 age, and therin is fufficiently punifht. I anfwer, that the moft of thofe who de- 
 ceive, are fuch as either underftand not, or value not the true purpofes of Marri- 
 age ; they have the prey they feck, not the punifhment: yet lay it prove to them 
 fome crofs, it is not equal that error and fraud fhould be linkt in the fame 
 degree of forfeiture, but rather that error mould be acquitted, and fraud bereav'd 
 Iiis morfel, if the miftake were not on both fides ; for then on both fides the acquit- 
 ment will be reafonable, if the bondage be intolerable ; which this 1 .aw gracioufly 
 determines, not unmindful of the wife, as was granted willingly to the common Lx- 
 pofitors, tho' beyond the letter of this Law, yet not beyond the fpirit of charity. 
 
 Tenthly, Marriage is a folemn thing, fome fay a holy, the refemblance of 
 Chrift and his Church ? and fo indeed it is where the perfons are truly religi- 
 ous ; and we know all iacred things not perform'd fincerely as they ought, are no 
 way acceptable to God in their outward formality. And that wherin it differs 
 from perfonal duties, if they be not truly done, the fault is in our felves ; but 
 Marriage to be a true and pious Marriage is not in the fingle power of any per- 
 fon ; the effence wherof, as of all other Covenants, is in relation to another, the 
 making and maintaining caufes therof are all mutual, and muft be a commu- 
 nion of fpiritual and temporal comforts. If then either of them cannot, or ob- 
 ftinately will not be anfwerable in thefe duties, fo as that the other can have no 
 peaceful living, or endure the want of what he jullly feeks, and fees no hope, then 
 ftrait from that dwelling love, which is the foul of Wedloc, takes his flight, 
 leaving only fome cold performances of civil and common refpefts ; but the 
 true bond of Marriage, if there were ever any there, is already built like a rot- 
 ten thread. Then follows dillimulation, lufpicion, falfe colours, falfe pretences, 
 
 Vol. I. II h 2 and
 
 2. 3 6 Expofnions on the four chief places in Scripture ; 
 
 and worfe than thefe, difturbance, annoyance, vexation, forrow, temptation even 
 in the faultlefs perfon, weary of himfelf, and of all actions public or domcftic; 
 then comes diforder, neglect, hatred, and perpetual ftrife, all thefe the enemies of 
 Holinefs and Chriftianity, and every one perfifted in, a remedilefs violation of 
 Matrimony. Therfore God who hates all feigning and formality, where there 
 mould be all faith and fincerenefs, and abhors the inevitable difcord, where there 
 fhould be °reater concord, when thro' another's default, faith and concord cannot 
 be, counts it neither juft to punifh the innocent with the Tranfgreffor, nor holy, 
 nor honourable for the fanctity of Marriage, that mould be the union of peace and 
 love to be made the commitment, and clofe fight of enmity and hate. And 
 therfore doth in this Law, what belt agrees with his goodnefs, loofning a facred 
 thing to peace and charity, rather than binding it to hatred and contention ; loof- 
 ning^only the outward and formal tie of that which is already inwardly and really 
 broken, or elfe was really never join'd. 
 
 Eleventhly, One of the chief matrimonial ends isfaid to feek a holy feed ; but 
 where an unfit Marriage adminifters continual caufe of hatred and diftemper, there, 
 as was heard before, cannot choofe but much unholinefs abide. Nothing more un- 
 hallows a man, moreunprepares him to the fervice of God in any duty, thanahabk 
 of wrath and perturbation, arifing from the importunity of troublous caufes never 
 abfent/ And where the houfhold ftands in this plight, what love can there be to 
 the unfortunate iffue, what care of their breeding, which is of main conducement 
 to their being holy ? God therfore knowing how happy it would be for children 
 to be born in fiich a family, gives this Law either as a prevention, that being an 
 unhappy pair, they fhould not add to be unhappy parents, or elfe as a remedy that 
 if there be children, while they are feweft, they may follow either parent, as fhall 
 be agreed, or judg'd, from the houfe of hatred and difcord to place of more holy 
 and peaceable education. 
 
 Twelfthly, All Law is available to fome good end, but the final prohibition of 
 Divorce avails to no good end, caufing only the endlefs aggravation of evil, 
 and therfore this permiffion of divorce was given to the Jews by the wifdom 
 and fatherly providence of God ; who knew that Law cannot command love,wirh- 
 out which Matrimony hath no true being, no good, no folace, nothing of God's 
 inftituting, nothing but fo fordid and folow, as to be difdain'd of any generous per- 
 fon. Law cannot inable natural inability either of body, or mind, which gives the 
 grievance •, it cannot make equal thofe inequalities, it cannot make fit thofe unfit- 
 nefi.es •, and where there is malice more than defect of nature, it cannot hinder ten 
 thoufand injuries, and bitter actions of defpight, too futtle and too unapparentfor 
 Law to deal with. And while it feeks to remedy more outward wrongs, it ex- 
 pofes the injur'd perfon to other more inward and more cutting. All thefe evils 
 unavoidably will redound upon the children, if any be, and upon thewhole family. 
 It degenerates and diforders the beft fpirits, leaves them to unfettled imaginations, 
 and degraded hopes, carelefs of themfelves, their houfholds and their friends, un- 
 active to all public fervice, dead to the Commonwealth ; wherirf they are by one 
 mifhap, and no willing trefpafs of theirs, outlaw'd from all the benefits and com- 
 forts of married life and pofterity. It confers as little to the honour and inviola- 
 ble keeping of Matrimony, but fooner ftirs up temptations and occafions to fecret 
 adulteries and unchafte roving. But it maintains public honefty. Public folly ra- 
 ther ; who fhall judge of public honefty ?The Law of God and of ancienteft Chri- 
 ftians, and all Civil Nations, or the illegitimate Law of Monks and Canonifts, the 
 moft malevolent, moft unexperienc'd, molt incompetent Judges of Matrimony ? 
 
 Thefe reafons, and many more that might be alleg'd, afford us plainly to perceive, 
 both what good caufe this Law had to do for good men in mifchances, and what 
 necefilty it had to fuffer accidentally the hard-heartednefs of bad men, which could 
 not certainly difcover, or difcovering, could not fubdue, no nor endeavour to re- 
 ftrain without multiplying forrow to them, for whom all was indeavour'd. The 
 guiltlefs therfore were not depriv'd their needful redreifes, and the hard hearts of 
 others unchaftifable in thofe judicial Courts, were fo remitted there, as bound over 
 to the higher Sefiion of Conicience. 
 
 Notwithstanding all this, there is a loud exception againftthis Law of God, nor 
 can the holy Author five his Law from this exception, that it opens adoor to all li- 
 cence and confufion. But this is the rudeft, I was almoft faying the moft graceJefs 
 objection, and with the leaft reverence to God and Mofes, that could be devis'd: This. 
 is to cite God before man's Tribunal, to arrogate a wifdom and holinefs above him. 
 
 Did
 
 tohich treat of Nullities in M a r r i a g e\ 23 
 
 Did nut God then forefee what event of licence or confufion could follow? Did not 
 he know how to ponder thefe abufes with more prevailing refpects, in the moft e- 
 ven baliar.ee of his juftice and purenefs, till thefe correctors came up to fhew him 
 better? The Law is, if it ftir up fih any way, to ftir it up by forbidding, as one 
 contrary excites another, Rom. 7. but if it once come to provoke fin, by granting li- 
 cence to fin, according to Laws that have no other hontft end, but only to permit 
 the fulfilling of obftinate luft, how is God not made the contradicler of himfelf? 
 No man denies that bed things may be abus'd: but it is a Rule refulting from ma- 
 ny pregnant experiences, that what doth moft harm in the abufing, us'd rightly 
 doth moft good. And i'uch a good to take away from honeft men, for beino- abus'd 
 by fuch as abufeall things, is the greateft abufe of all. That the whole Law is no 
 further ufeful, than as a man ufes it lawfully, S. Paul teaches 1 Tim. 1. And that 
 Chriftian liberty may be us'd for an occafion to the flefh, the fame Apoftlecon- 
 letfes, Gal. 5. yet thinks not of removing it for that, but bids us rather Jland faft in 
 tbe liberty wherwith Chrift hath freed us, end not be held again in the yoke cf bondage. 
 The v.'ry permiffion which Chrift gave to Divorce for Adultery, may be foul- 
 ly abus'd, by any whofe hardnefs of heart can either feign Adultery, or dares com- 
 mit, that he may divorce. And for this caufethe Pope, and hitherto the Church 
 of England, forbidall divorce from the bond of Marriage, tho' for opened Adultery. 
 If then it be righteous to hinder for the fear of abufe, that which God's Law, not- 
 withftanding that caution, hath warranted to be done, doth not our righteoufnefs 
 come fhort of Antichrift ? or do we not rather herein conform our felves to his un- 
 righteoufhefs in this undue and unwife fear ? For God regards more to relieve by 
 this Law the juft complaints of good men, than to curb the licence of wicked men, 
 to thecrufhing withal, and the overwhelming of his afflicted fervants. He loves more 
 that his Law fhould look with pity upon the difficulties of his own, than with ri- 
 gor upon the boundlefs riots of them who ferve another Mafter, and hinder'd here 
 by theftrictnefs, will break another way to worfe enormities. If this Law therfore 
 have many good reafons for which God gave it, and no intention of giving fcope 
 to lewdnefs, but as abufe by accident comes in with every good Law, and every good 
 thing, it cannot be wifdom in us, while we can content us with God's wifdom, nor 
 can be purity, if his purity will fuffice us, to except againft this Law, as if it fo- 
 fter'd licence. But if they affirm this Law had no other end, but to permit obdu- 
 rat luft, becaufe it would be obdurat, making the Law of God intentionally to 
 proclaim and enact Sin lawful, as if the will of God were become finful, or Sin 
 ftronger than his direct and law-giving will, the men would be admonifiVd to 
 look well to it, that while they are fo eager to fhut the door againft licence, they 
 do open a worfe door to blafphemy. And yet they fhall be here further fhewn 
 their iniquity ; what more foul common fin among us than drunkennefs ? And 
 who can be ignorant, that if the importation of Wine, and the ufe of all ftrong 
 drink,were forbid, it would both clean rid the poffibility of committing that odious 
 vice, and men might afterwards live happily and healthfully without the ufe of 
 thofe intoxicating liquors. Yet who is there the fevereftof them all, that ever pro- 
 pounded to Iofehis Sack, his Ale, toward the certain abolifhing of fogreat a Sin ? 
 Who is there of them, the holieft, that lefs loves his rich canary at meals, tho' 
 it be fetcht from places that hazard the Religion of them who fetch it, and tho' it 
 make his Neighbour drunk out of the fame Tun ? While they forbid not therfore 
 the ufe of that liquid Merchandize, which forbidden would utterly remove a moft 
 loathfome fin, and not impair either the health or the refrefhment of mankind, 
 fupply'd many other ways ; why do they forbid a Law of God, the forbidding 
 wherof brings into exceffive bondage oftimes the beft of men, and betters not the 
 worfe ? He to remove a national vice, will not pardon his cups, nor think it con- 
 cerns him to forbear the quaffing of that outlandifh Grape, in his unnecefiary ful- 
 nefs, tho' other men abufe itneverfo much; nor is he fo abftemious as to intercede 
 with the Magiftrate that all matter of drunkennefs be banifh'd the Commonwealth ; 
 and yet for the fear of a lefs inconvenience unpardonably requires of his brethren, 
 in their extreme neceffity, to debar themfelves the ufe of God's permiffive Law, 
 tho' it might be their faving, and no man's indangering the more. Thus this per- 
 emptory ftrictnefs we may difcern of what fort it is, how unequal and how un juft. 
 But it will breed confufion. What confufion it would breed, God himfelf took 
 the care to prevent in the fourth verfe of this Chapter, that the divore'd being married 
 to another, might not return to her former hufband. And Juftinian'% Law coun- 
 
 fels 
 
 7
 
 ^8 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 fels the fame in his Title of Nuptials. And what confufion elfe can there be in repa- 
 ration, to feparate upon extreme urgency, the religious from the irreligious, the 
 fit from the unfit, the willing from the wilful, theabus'd from the abufer ? Such a 
 feparation is quite contrary to confufion. But to bind and mix together holy 
 with atheift, heavenly with hellifh, fitnefs with unfitnefs, light with darknefs, 
 antipathy with antipathy, the injur'd with the injurer, and force them into the moft 
 inward hearnefs of a deterred union, this doubtlefs is the moft horrid, the moft un- 
 natural mixture, the greateft confufion that can be confus'd. 
 
 Thus by this plain and Chriftian 'Talmud, vindicating the Law of God from ir- 
 reverent and unwary expofitions, I truft, where it fhall meet with intelligible per- 
 ufers, fome flay at leaft of men's thoughts will beobtain'd, to confider thefe ma- 
 ny prudent and righteous ends of this divorcing permiflion : That it may have, 
 for the o-reat Author's fake, hereafter fome competent allowance to be counted a 
 little purer than the prerogative of a legal and public ribaldry, granted to that 
 holy feed. So that from hence, we mail hope to find the way ftill more open to 
 the reconciling of thofe places which treat this matter in the Gofpel. And thi- 
 ther now without interruption the courfe of method brings us. 
 
 Ma t t h. V. 31, 32. 
 31.// hath been f aid, whofoever (hall pit away his Wife, let him give her a writing 
 
 of Divorcement. 
 
 32. But I fay unto you, that whofoever fball pit away his Wife, Sec. 
 
 Matth. XIX. 3, 4, Sec. 
 3. Ana* the Pharifees alfo came unto him, tempting him, See. 
 
 IT hath heenfaid.] What hitherto hath been fpoke upon the Law of God touch- 
 ing Matrimony or Divorce, he who will deny to have been agru'd according 
 to reafon and all equity of Scripture, I cannot edify how, or by what rule 
 of proportion that man's virtue calculates, what his elements are, nor what 
 his analytics. Confidently to thofe who have read good books, and to thofe whofe 
 reafon is not an illiterate book to themfelves, I appeal, whether they would not 
 confefs all this to be the commentary of truth and juftice, were it not for thefe re- 
 cited words of our Saviour. And if they take not back that which they thus grant, 
 nothing fooner might perfuadethem that Chrift here teaches no new precept, and 
 nothing fooner might direct them to find his meaning, than to compare andmea- 
 fure it by the rules of nature and eternal righteoufnefs, which no written Law ex- 
 tinguifhes, and the Gofpel leaft of all. For what can be more oppofite and difpa- 
 raging to the covenant of love, of freedom, and of our manhood in grace, than to 
 be made the yoking pedagogue of new feverities, the fcribe of fyllables and rigid 
 letters, not only grievous to the belt of men, but different and ftrange from the 
 light of reafon in them, fave only as they are fain to ftretch and diftort their ap- 
 prehenfions, for fear ofdifpleafing the verbal ftraitnefs of a text, which our own 
 fervile fear gives us not the leifure to underftand aright? If the Law ofChrift fhallbe 
 written in our hearts, as was promis'd to the Gofpel, Jer. 3 1 . how can this in the 
 vulgar and fuperficial fenfe be a Law of Chrift, fo far from being written in our 
 hearts, that it injures and difallows not only the free dictates of Nature and moral 
 Law, but of Charity alfo andReligion in our heart? OurSaviour's doctrine is,tha£the 
 end, and the fulfilling of every command is charity; no faith without it, no truth 
 without it, no worfhip, no works pleafing to God but as they partake of charity. 
 He himfelf lets us an example, breaking the folemneft and ftricteft ordinance of 
 religious reft, and juftify'd the breaking, not to cure a dying man, but fuch whofe 
 cure might without danger have been deicrr'd. And wherfore needs muft the fick 
 man's bed be carried homeonthatday by his appointment? And why were theDifciples, 
 
 who
 
 which treat of Nullities in Marriage. 239 
 
 who cou'd not forbear on that day to pluck, the corn, fo induftrioufly defended, but 
 to (hew us thatif he preferr'd the flighteft occafions ol Man's good before the obfer- 
 ving of higheft and fevereft ordinances, he gave us much more eafy leave to break 
 the intolerable yoke of a never vvell-join'dWedloc for the removing of our heavieft 
 afflictions? Therfore it is that the molt evangelic precepts are given us in proverbial 
 forms, to drive us from the letter, tho' we love ever to be flicking there. For no 
 other caufe did Chrift allure us that whatfoever things we bind, or flacken on earth, 
 are fo in heaven, but to fignily that the chriftian arbitrement of charity is fupreme 
 decider of all controverfy, and fupreme refolverof all Scripture ; not as the Pope 
 determines for his own tyranny, but as the Church ought to determine for its own 
 true liberty. Hence Eufebius, not far from the beginning of his Hiftory, compares 
 the ftate of Chrift ians to that of AW^and the Patriarchs before the Law. And 
 this indeed was the reafon why Apoflolic tradition in the ancient Church was coun- 
 ted nigh equal to the written word, tho' it earned them at length awry, for wart 
 of confidering that tradition was not left to be impos'd as Law, but to be a pattern 
 of that Chriftian prudence, and liberty which holy men by right aflum'd of old •, 
 which truth was lb evident, that it found entrance even into the Council of Trent, 
 when the point of Tradition came to be difcuft. And Marmara, a learned Car- 
 melite, for approaching too near the true caufe that gave efteem to Tradition, that 
 is to fay, the difference between the Old and NewTeftament, the one punctually pre- 
 ferring written Law, the other guiding by the inwardSpirit, was reprehended by 
 Cardinal Pw/asone that had fpoken more worthy aGerman Colloquy, than a General 
 Council. I omit many inftances, many proofs and arguments of this kind, which 
 alone would compile a juft volume, and mail content me here to have fliewn brief- 
 ly that the great and almoft only commandment of the Gofpel, is to command 
 nothing againft the good of man, and much more no civil command againft his 
 civil good. If we underftand not this, we are but crackt cimbals, we do but 
 tinkle, we know nothing, we do nothing, all the fweat of our toilfomeft obedience 
 will but mock us. And what we fufter fuperftitioudy, returns us no thanks. 
 Thus med'eining our eyes, we need not doubt to fee more into the meaning of 
 thefe our Saviour's words, than many who have gone before us. 
 
 It hath been J aid, whofoever fh 'all put away bis wife .] Our Saviour was by the 
 Doctors of his time fufpedted of intending to diflolve the Law. In this Chapter 
 he wipes off" this afperfion upon hisAccufers, andfhews, how they were the Law- 
 breakers. In every Commonwealth, when it decays, Corruption makes two main 
 fleps ; firft,whenmenceafetodo accordingto the inward anduncompell'd actions of 
 Virtue, caring only to live by the outward conftraintof Law, and turn the fimpli- 
 city of real good into the craft of feemingfo by Law. To this hypocritical honefty 
 was Rome declin'd in that Age wherin Horace liv'd, and difcover'd it to Quintius. 
 
 Whcm do we count a good man, whom but he 
 Who keeps the laws andftatutes of the Senate ? 
 Who judges in great fuits and controverfies, 
 Whofe witnefs and opinion wins the caufe ? 
 But his own houfe, and the whole neighbourhood 
 Sees his foul infide through his wbitedjkin. 
 
 The next declining is, when Law becomes now too ftrait for the fecular 
 Manners, and thole too loofe for the cincture of Law. This brings in falfe and 
 crooked interpretations to eke out Law, and invents the futtle encroachment 
 of obfeure Traditions hard to be difprov'd. To both thefe defcents thePharifees 
 themfelves were fallen. Our Saviour therfore fliews them both where they broke the 
 Law, in not marking thedivine Intent therof, but only the Letter ; and where they 
 depraved the Letter alio with fophiftical Expofitions. This Law of Divorce 
 they had deprav'd both ways : firft, by teaching that to give a Bill of Divorce 
 was all the duty which that Lav/ requir'd, whatever the caufe were •, next by 
 running to Divorce for any trivial, accidental caufe •, whenas the Law evidently 
 flays in the grave caufes of natural and immutable diflike. It hath been faid, 
 faith he. Chrift doth not put any contempt ordifefteem upon the Law of Mo- 
 fes, by citing it fo briefly; for in the fame manner God himfelf cites a Law of 
 greateft caution, Jcr. 3. They fay if a man put away his Wife,foall he return to her 
 again ? &c. Nor doth he more abolifh it than the Law offwearing, cited next with 
 the fame brevity, and more appearance of contradicting : for Divorce hath an ex- 
 ception left it ; but we are charg'd there, as abfolutely as words can charge us,not 
 
 to
 
 240 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 to/wear at all : yet who denies the lawfulnefs of an Oath, tho' here it be in no 
 cafe permitted ? And what fhall become of" his folemn Protcftation not to abolifh 
 one Law, or one tittle of any Law, efpecially of thofe which he mentions in this 
 Chapter? And that he meant more particularly the not abolifliingofMy^v Divorce, 
 is beyond all cavil manifeft in Luke 16. 17, iS. where this Claufe againft abroga- 
 ting is inferted immediately before thefentence againft Divorce, as if it were call'd 
 thither on purpofe to defend the equity of this particular Law againft the forefeen 
 raftmefs of common Textuaries, who abolifh Laws, as the Rabble demolifh I- 
 mages, in the zeal of their hammers oft violating the Sepulchers of good men; 
 like Pentheus in the Tragedies, they fee that for Thebes which is not, and take 
 that for Superftition, as thefe men in the heat of their annulling perceive not how 
 they abolifh Right, and'Equal, and Juftice, under the appearance of judicial. And 
 yet are confefling all the while, that thefe layings of Chrift ftand not in contradic- 
 tion to the Law of Mofes, but to the falfe Doctrine of the Pharifees rais'd from thence ; 
 that the Law of God is perfect, not liable to additions or diminutions : and Pare- 
 ns accufes the Jefuit Maldonatus of greateft falfity for limiting the perfection of 
 thatLawonlytotherudenefs of the Jews. He adds, That the Law promifethlife to the 
 performers therof, therfore needs not perfecler precepts than fuch as bring to life ; that 
 if the corrections of Chrift ftand oppojite, not to the corrupt ious of the Pharifees, but to 
 the Law it felf of God, the herefy of Manes would follow, one God of the Old Tcfta- 
 nient, and another of the New. That Chrift faith not here, Except your righteoufnefs. 
 exceed the righteotinfefs of Mofes Law, but of the Scribes and Pharifees. That all 
 this may be true: whether is common fenfe flown afquint, if we can maintain that 
 Chrift forbid the Mofaic Divorce, utterly, and yetabolifh'd not the Law that permits 
 it ? For if the Confcience only were checkt, and the Law not repeal'd, what means 
 the Fanatic boldnefs of this Age, that dares tutor Chrift to be more ftrict than he 
 thought fit ? Ye fhall have the evafion, it was a judicial Law. What could infan- 
 cy and (lumber have invented more childifh ? Judicial or not judicial, itwasoneof 
 thofe Laws exprefly which he forewarn'd us with protcftation, that his mind was, 
 not to abrogate : and if we mark the fteerage of his words, what courfe they hold, 
 we may perceive that what he protefted not to diflblve (that he might faithfully 
 and notdeceitfully remove a fufpicion from himfelf) was principally concerning the 
 judicial Law ;for of that fort are all thefe here which he vindicates, except the laft. 
 Of the Ceremonial Law he told them true, that nothing of it fhould pais until all 
 were fulfil I'd. Of the Moral Law he knew the Pharifees did not fufpect he meant 
 to nullify that : for fo doing would foon have undone his authority, and advanced 
 theirs. Of the judicial Law therfore chiefly this Apology was meant: For how is 
 that fulfill'd longer than the common equity therof remains in force ? And how 
 is this our Saviour's defence of himfelf not made fallacious, if the Pharifees chief fear 
 be left he fhould abolifh the judicial Law, and he to fatisfy them, protefts his good 
 intention to the Moral Law ? It is the general grant of Divines that what in the Ju- 
 dicial Law is not meer]y judicial, but reaches to human equity in common, was 
 never in the thought of being abrogated. If our Saviour took away aught of 
 the Law, it was the burthenfome of it, not the eafe of burden ; it was the bondage, 
 not the liberty of any divine Law, that he remov'd : this he often profeft to be the 
 end of his coming. But what if the Law of Divorce be a Moral Law, as moft 
 certainly it is fundamentally, and hath been fo prov'd in the reafons therof? For 
 tho' the giving of a Bill may be judicial, yet the act of Divorce is altogether con- 
 verfant in good and evil, and fo abfolutely moral. So far as it isgood, it never can 
 be abolifht, being moral; and fo far as it is fimply evil, it never could be judicial, 
 as hath been fhewn at large in theDoclrine of Divorce, and will be reaffum'd anon. 
 Whence one of thefe two neceflities follow, that either it was never eftablifht, or never 
 abolifht. Thus much may be enough to have faid on this place. The following 
 Verfe will be better unfolded in the 19th Chapter, where it meets us again, after 
 a large debatement on the Queftion between our Saviour and his Adverfanes. 
 
 Mat. XIX. 3, 4, &c. 
 
 V. 3. And the Pharifees came unto him, tempting him, and faying unto him. 
 
 CJ-'Empting him.] The mannerof thefe men coming to our Saviour, not to learn, but 
 
 to tempt him, may give us to expect that their Anfwer will be fuch as is rittcft 
 
 for them ; not ib much a teaching, as an intangling. No man, though never fo 
 
 willing or fo well enabled to inftruct, but if he difcern his willingnefs and candor 
 
 made 
 
 $
 
 which treat of Nullities /# Marriage. ±±i 
 
 made ufe of to intrap him, will fuddenly draw inhimfelf, and laying afide the facil 
 vein of perfpicuity, will know his time to utter Clouds and Riddles ; if he be not 
 lefs wife than that noted Fifh, whenas he mould be not unwifer than the Serpe 
 OurSaviouratnotime expreft any great defire, to teach the obftinate anduntea'chable 
 Pharifees ; but when they came to tempt him, then leaft of all. As now about the 
 liberty of Divorce, fo another time about the punifhment of Adultery, they came to 
 found him •, and what fatisfaclion got they from his anfwer, either to themfelves or 
 to us, that might direct a Law under the Gofpel new from that of Mofes, unlefs we 
 draw his abfolution of Adultery into an Edkt? So about the Tribute,who is there can 
 pick out a full Solution, what and when we muft give to C<?far, by the anfwer which 
 he gave the Pharifees ? If we muft give to Cefar, that which is CW_/rzr's,andall be Ca- 
 far\ which hath his Image, we muft either new ftamp our Coin, or we may go new 
 ftamp our foreheads with the fuperfcription of Slaves inftead of Freemen. Befides, 
 it is a general Precept not only of Chrift, but of all other Sages, not to hftrucl: the 
 unworthy and the conceited, who love Tradition more than Truth, but to perplex 
 and ftumble them purpofely with contrived obfeurities. No wonder then if they 
 who would determine of divorce by this place, have ever found it difficult, and nn- 
 fatisfying through all the Ages of the Church, as Attjlin himfelf and other greatWri- 
 ters confefs. Laftly, it is manifeft to be the principal fcope of our Saviour, both 
 here, and in the $tb of Matthew, to convince the Pharifees of what they beino- evil 
 did licentioufly, not to explain what others being good and blamelefs men mi°-ht 
 be permitted to do in cafe of extremity. Neither was it reafonable to talk of 
 honeftand confeientious liberty among them, whohadabufed legal and civil liber- 
 ty to uncivil licence. We do not fay to a Servant what we fay to a Son ; nor was 
 it expedient to preach Freedom to thofe who had tranfgreffed in Wantonnefs. 
 "When we rebuke a Prodigal, we admonifli him of Thrift, not of Magnificence, or 
 Bounty. And to fchool a proud man we labour to make him humble, not magna- 
 nimous. So Chrift to retort thefe arrogant Inquifitors their own, took the courfe 
 to lay their Haughtinefs under a feverity which they deferv'd ; not to acquaint 
 them, or to make them Judges either of the juft man's Right and Privilege, or of 
 the afflicted man's Neceffity. And if we may have leave to conjecture, there is 
 a likelihood ofFer'd us by Tertullian in his \th againft Marcion, wherby it may 
 feem very probable that the Pharifees had a private drift of Malice againft our Sa- 
 viour's life in propofing this Queftion ; and our Saviour had a peculiar aim in the 
 rigor of his anfwer, both to let them know the freedom of his fpirit, and the fharp- 
 nefs of his difcerning. This I muft now fhew, faith 'Tertullian, whence our Lord de- 
 duced thisfentence, and which way he direcled it, wherby it will mere fully appear that 
 he intendednot to diffolve Mofes. And thereupon tells us, that the vehemence of 
 this our Saviour's fpeech was chiefly darted againft Herod and Herodias. The Sto- 
 ry is out ofjofephus ; Herod had been a long time married to the Daughter of Are- 
 tas King of Petra, till happening on his journey towards Rome to be entertain'd at 
 his brother Philip's, houfe, he caft his eye unlawfully and ungueftlike upon Herodi- 
 as there, the wife of Philip, but Daughter to Ariftobulus their common Brother, and 
 durft make words of marrying her his Neice from his Brother's bed. She afiented, 
 upon agreement he fhould expel his former Wife. All was accompli fh'd, and by 
 the Baptifl- rebuk'd with the lofs of his head. Though doubtlefs that ftay'd not the 
 various difcourfes of men upon the fact, which while the Herodian flatterers, and not 
 a few perhaps among the Pharifees, endeavour'd to defend by wrefting the Law, it 
 might be a means to bring the Queftion of Divorce into a hot agitation among the 
 People, how far Mofes gave allowance. The Pharifees therfore knowing our Sa- 
 viour to be a friend of John the Baptifl, and no doubt but having heard much of his 
 Sermon in the mount, wherin he fpake rigidly againft the licence of Divorce, 
 they put him this Queftion, both in hope to find him a Contradicler of Mofes, and 
 a Condemner of Herod; fo to infnare him within compafs of the fame accufation 
 which had ended his friend ; and our Saviour fo orders his Anfwer, as that they 
 might perceive Herod and his Adulterefs, only not nam'd : fo lively kconcern'd 
 them both what he fpake. No wonder then if the fentence of our Saviour found- 
 ed ftricter than his cuilom was ; which his confeious attempters doubtlefs appre- 
 hended fooner than his other Auditors. Thus much we gain from hence to inform 
 us, that what Chrift intends to fpeak here of Divorce, will be rather the forbidding 
 of what we may not do herein pallionately and abufively, as Herod and Herodias' 
 did, than the difcufling of what herein we may do reafonably and neceflarily. 
 
 Vol. I. Ii
 
 2,42 Expofitions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 Is it lawful for a man to put away his Wife ?] It might be rendered more exactly 
 from the Greek, to loofen or to fet free ; which tho' it feem to have a milder figni- 
 fication than the two Hebrew words commonly us'd for divorce, yet interpreters 
 have noted, thattheGn?e£alfo is read in the Septuagint, for an ad which is not without 
 conftraint. As when AchifJj drove from his prefence David, counterfeiting madneis. 
 Pfal. 34. the Greek word is the fame with this here, to put away. And Era/mis 
 quotes Hilary rendering it by an expreflion not fo foft. Whence may be doubted, 
 whether the Pharifees did not ftate this queftion in the ftrict right of the man, not 
 tarryino- for the wife's confent. And if our Saviour anfwer directy according to 
 what was afkt in the term of putting away, it will be queftionable, whedier the 
 rigor of his fentence did not forbid only fuch putting away as is without mutual 
 confent, in a violent and harih manner, or without any reafon but will, as the 
 Tetrarch did. Which might be the caufe that thofe chriftian Emperors fear'd 
 not in their conftitutions to diffolve Marriage by mutual confent ; in that our Sa- 
 viour feems here, as the cafe is moft likely, not to condemn all divorce, but all in- 
 jury and violence in divorce. But no injury can be done to them, who feek it, as 
 the Ethics of Arifiotle fufficiently prove. True it is, that an unjuft thing may be 
 done to one tho' willing, and fo may juftly be forbidden : But divorce being in 
 itfelf no unjuft or evil thing, but only as it is join'd with injury, or luft ; injury 
 it cannot be at law, if confent be, and Arifiotle err not. And luft it may as fre- 
 quently not be, while charity hath the judging of fo many private grievances in a 
 misfortun'd'Wedloc, which may pardonably feek a redemption. But whether it 
 be or not, the Law cannot difcern, or examine luft, fo long as it walks from one 
 lawful term to another, from Divorce to Marriage, both in themfelves indifferent. 
 For if the Law cannot take hold topunifh many actions apparently covetous, am- 
 bitious, ingrateful, proud, how can it forbid and punifti that for luft, which is 
 but only furmis'd fo, and can no more be certainly prov'd in the divorcing now, 
 than before in themarrying? Whence if Divorce beno unjuft thing, but through luft, 
 a caufe not difcernable by Law, as Law is wont to difcern in other cafes, and can 
 be no injury, where confent is; there can be nothing in the equity of Law, why 
 Divorce by confent may not be lawful: leaving fecrecies to confeience, the thing 
 •which our Saviour here aims to rectify, not to revoke the ftatutes of Mofes. In the 
 mean while the word to put away, being in the Greek to loofen or diffolve, utterly 
 takes away that vain papiftical diftinction of divorce from bed, and divorce from 
 bond, evincing plainly, that Chrift and the Pharifees mean here that divorce which 
 finally diffolves the bond, and frees both parties to a fecond Marriage. 
 
 For every caufe.'] This the Pharifees held, that for every caufe they might divorce, 
 For every accidental caufe, and quarrel of difference that might happen. So both 
 Jcfcphus and Philo, men who liv'd in the fame age, explain •, and the Syriac tranfla- 
 tor, whofe antiquity is thought parallel to the Evangelifis themfelves, reads it con- 
 formably upon any occajion or pretence. Divines alio generally agree that thus the 
 Pharifees meant. Cameron a late Writer, much applauded commenting this place not 
 undiligently, affirms that the Greek prepofition xa7« tranflated unufually (for) hath 
 a force in it implying the fuddennefs ofthofe Pharifaic divorces; and that their que- 
 fton was to this effect, whether for any caufe whatever it chanced to be, firaight as it 
 rofe, the divorce might be lawful. This he freely gives, whatever mov'd him, and I 
 as freely take, nor can deny his obfervation to be acute andlearn'd. If therfore we 
 infift upon the word of putting away, that it imports a conftraint without confent, as 
 might be infifted, and may enjoy what Cameron beftows on us, that for every caufe 
 is to be underftood, according as any caufe may happen, with a relation to the fpeedi- 
 nefs of thofe divorces, and that Herodian act efpecially, as is already brought us, 
 the fentence of our Saviour will appear nothing fo ftrict a prohibition as hath been 
 long conceiv'd, forbidding only to divorce for caiual and temporary caufes, that 
 may be foon ended, or ibon remedied ; and likewife forbidding to divorce rafhly, 
 and on the hidden heat, except it be for adultery. If thefe qualifications may be 
 admitted, as partly we offer them, partly are offered them by fome of their own 
 opinion, and that where nothing is repugnant, why they mould not be admitted, 
 nothing can wreft them from us, the fevere fentence of our Saviour will ftraight un- 
 bend the feeming frown into that gentlenefs and compaffion which was fo abundant 
 in all his actions, his office and his do&rine, from all which otherwife it ftands 
 off at no mean diftance. 
 
 Ver.
 
 which treat of Nullities /^Marriage. 243 
 
 Ver. 4. And he anfivered and [aid unto them, have ye not read that he which mads 
 them at the beginnining, made them Male and Female ? 
 
 Ver. 5. And /aid, for this caufe Jhall a man leave Father and Mother, and Jhall 
 cleave to his Wife, and they twain Jhall be one flcflo. 
 
 Ver. 6. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one fieflo : What therfore God hath 
 joined together, let no man put afunder. 
 
 4, and 5. Made them male and female; And faid, for this caufe, &c] We fee it 
 here undeniably, that the Law which our Saviour cites to prove that divorce was for- 
 bidden, is not an abfolute and tyrannical command without reafon, as now-a-days 
 we make it little better, but is grounded upon fome rational caufe not difficult to be 
 apprehended, being in a matter which equally concerns the meaneft and the plaineft 
 fort of perfons in a houfhold life. Our next way then will be to enquire if there be 
 not more reafons than one ; and if there be, whether this be the belt and chiefcfh 
 That we fhall find by turning to the firft inftitution, to which Chrift refers our own 
 reading: He himfelf having to deal with treacherous affailants, ufeth brevity, and 
 lighting on the firft place in Gene/is that mentions any thing tending to Marriage 
 in the firft chapter, joins it immediately to the 24th verfe of the 2d chapter, omit- 
 ting all the prime words between, which create the inftitution, and contain the no- 
 bleft and pureft ends of Matrimony ; without which attain'd, that conjunction hath 
 nothing in it above what is common to us with beafts. So likewife beneath in this 
 very chapter, to the young man who came not tempting him, but to learn of him, 
 afking him which commandments he fhould keep ; he neither repeats the firft Ta- 
 ble, nor all the fecond, nor that in order which he repeats. If here then being 
 tempted, he defire to be the fhorter, and the darker in his Conference, and omit to 
 cite that from the fecond of Gene/is, which all Divines confefs is a Commentary to 
 what he cites out of die firft, the making them Male and Female: what are we to do, 
 but to fearchthe inftitution ourfelves ? And we fhall find there his own authority, gi- 
 ving other manner of reafons whyfuch firm union is to be in Matrimony ; without 
 which reafons, their being male and female can be no caufe of joining them unfepa- 
 rably : for if it be, then no Adultery can fever. Therfore the prohibition of Di- 
 vorce depends not upon this reafon here expreft to the Pharifees, but upon the 
 plainer and more eminent caufes omitted here, and referr'd to the inftitution ; 
 which caufes not being found in a particular and cafual Matrimony, this fenfitive 
 and materious caufe alone can no more hinder a divorce againft thofe higher and 
 more human reafons urging it, than it can alone without them to warrant a copula- 
 tion, but leaves arbitrary to thofe who in their chance of Marriage find not why 
 Divorce is forbid them, but why it is permitted them ; and find both here and 
 in Genejis, that the forbidding is not abfolute, but according to the reafons there 
 taught us, not here. And that our Saviour taught them no better, but ufes the moft 
 vulgar, moftanimal and corporal argument to convince them, is firft to fhew us, that 
 as thro' their licentious Divorces they made no more of Marriage than, as if to marry 
 were no more than to be male and female, fo he goes no higher in his confutation, 
 deeming them unworthy to betalk'd with in a higher ftrain, but to be ty'd in Mar- 
 riage by the meer material caufe therof, fince theirown licence teftify'd that nothing 
 matrimonial was in their thought, but to be male and female. Next, it might be done 
 todifcover the brute ignorance of thefe carnal doctors, who taking on them to dif- 
 pute of Marriage and Divorce, were put to filence with fuch a flender oppofition as 
 this, and outed from their hold with fcarce one quarter of an argument. That we 
 may believe this, his entertainment of the young man foon after may periuade us. 
 Whom, tho' he came to preach eternal life by faithonly, he difmilfes with a falvation 
 taught him by his works only. On which place Paraus notes, That this man was to be 
 convinced by afalfe perfuafion ; and that Chrift is wont otherwife to anfwer hypocrites, 0- 
 therwife thofe that arc docible. Much rather then may we think that in handling thefe 
 tempters he forgot not fo to frame his prudent ambiguities and concealments, as was 
 to the troubling of thofe peremptory difputants moft wholefome. When therfore we 
 would know what right there may be, in ill accidents, to divorce, we muft repair 
 thither where God profeftes to teach his Servants by the prime inftitution, and not 
 where we fee him intending to dazle Sophifters : we muft not read, he made them Male 
 and Female, and not underft.ind he made them more intendedly a meet help to remove 
 the evil of being alone. We muft take both thefe together, and then we may inter 
 compleatly, as from the whole caufe, why a man fhall cleave to his wife, and 
 
 Vol. I. Ii 2 they
 
 44 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture y 
 
 they twain fhall be one flefh : but if the full and chief caufe why we may not di- 
 vorce be wanting here, this place may fkirmifh with the Rabbies while it will, but 
 to the true Chriftian it prohibits nothing beyond the full reafon of its own prohi- 
 biting, which is heft known by the inftitution. 
 
 Ver. 6. Wherfore they art no msre twain, but one fief j.] This is true in the general 
 right of Marriage, but not in the chance-medley of every particular match. For if 
 they who were once undoubtedly one flefh, yet become twain by adultery, then fure 
 they who were never one flefh rightly, never helps meet for each other according 
 to the plain prefcript of God, may with lefs ado than a volume be concluded ftill 
 twain. And fo long as we account a Magiftrate no Magiitrate, if there be but a 
 flaw in his election, why fhould we not much rather count a Matrimony no Matri- 
 mony, if it cannot be in any reafonable manner according to the words of God's in- 
 ftitution ? 
 
 What tberfore God hath joined, let no man -put a/under.] But here the Chriftian 
 prudence lies to confider what God hath join'd ; fhall we fay that God hath join'd 
 error, fraud, unfknefs, wrath, contention, perpetual lonelinefs, perpetual diicord j 
 whatever luft, or wine, or witchery, threat, or inticement, avarice, or ambition 
 hath joined together, faithful with unfaithful, Chriftian with Antichriftian, hate 
 ■with hate, or hate with love, fhall we fay this is God's joining? 
 
 Let not man put a/under. ] That is to fay, what God hath join'd ; for if it be, as 
 how oft we fee it may be, not of God's joining, and his Law tells us he joins not 
 unmatchable things, but hates to join them, as an abominable confufion, then the 
 divine law of Mofes puts them afunder, his own divine will in the inftitution puts 
 them afunder, as oft as therealbnsbe not extant, for which only God ordain'd their 
 joining. Man only puts afunder when his inordinate defires, his paiTion, his vio- 
 lence, his injury makes the breach : not when the utter want of that which lawfully 
 was the end of his joining, when wrongs and extremities and unfupportable grie- 
 vances compel him to disjoin : when fuch as Herod and the Pharifees divorce beiide 
 law, or againft law, then only man feparates, and to fuch only this prohibition be- 
 longs. In a word, if it be unlawful for man to put afunder that which God hath 
 join'd, let man take heed it be not deteftable to join that by compulfion which God 
 hath put afunder. 
 
 Ver. 7. They fay unto hint, Why did Mofes then command to give a writing of di- 
 vorcement, and to put her away ? 
 
 Ver. 8. He faith unto them, Mofes becaufe of the hardnefs of your hearts fuffer'd 
 you to put away your wives ; but from the beginning it was notfo. 
 
 Mofes becaufe of the hardnefs of your hearts fuffe^d you.'] Hence the Divinity now 
 current argues that this judicial Mofes is abolifh'd. But fuppofe it were fo, tho* 
 it hath been prov'dotherwife, the firmnefs of fuch right to divorce as here pleads 
 is fetch'd from theprime inftitution, does not ftand or fall with the judicial Jew, but 
 is as moral as what is moraleft. Yet as I have fhewn pofuively that this law cannot be 
 abrogated, both by the words of our Saviour pronouncing the contrary, and by that 
 unabolifhable equity which itconveystous; folfhall now bring to view thofe appear- 
 ances of ftrength which are levied from this text to maintain the moft grofs and maffy 
 paradox that ever did violence to reafon and religion, bred only under the fhadow 
 of thefe words, to all other Piety orPhilolbphyftrangeand infolent, that Godbyaft 
 of law drew out a line of Adultery almoft two thouland years long : altho' to detect 
 the prodigy of this furmife, the former book fet forth on this argument hath already 
 been copious. I fhall not repeat much, tho' I might borrow of mine own ; but fhall 
 endeavour to add fomethingeitheryet untouch'd, or not largely enough explain'd. 
 Firft,it fhall be manifeit thatthe common expofition cannotpofTiblyconlift with chri- 
 ftian doctrine: next, a truer meaning of thisour Saviour's reply fhall be left in the room. 
 The receiv'd expofition is, that God, tho' not approving, did enacta law to per- 
 mit adultery by divorcement Amply unlawful. And this conceit they feed with fond 
 fuppofals that have not the leaft footing in Scripture: As that the Jews learnt this 
 cuftom of divorce in Egypt, and therfore God would not unteach it them till Chrift 
 came, but let itftick as a notorious botch of deformity inthemidft of his moft per fed: 
 and fevere law. And yet he faith, Levit. the 1 8th, After the doings of Egypt ye pall 
 not do. Another while they invent a flander (as what thing more bold than teaching 
 Ignorance when he fhifts to hidehis nakednels ?) diat the Jews were naturally to their 
 
 wives
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 245 
 
 wives the cruellefl men in the world ; would poifon, brain, and do I know not what 
 if they might not divorce. Certain, if it were a fault heavily pusiifh'd, to bring an 
 evil report upon the land which God gave, what is it to raife aground'efs calumny 
 againft the people which God made choice of ? But that this bold interpretament, 
 how commonly foever fided with, cannot ftand a minute with any competent reve- 
 rence to God or his Law, or his People, nor with any other maxim of religion, or 
 good manners, might be prov'd thro' all the heads and theTopics of argumentation ; 
 but I mail willingly be as concife aspoffible. Firftthe Law, not only the moral, 
 but the judicial, given by Mofes, is juft and pure •, for fuch is God who gave it. 
 Hearken O Ifrael, faith Mofes, Deut. 4. unto the llatutes and the judgments which I 
 teach you, to do them, that ye may live, &c. Te floall not add unto the word which I 
 command you, neither Jhall ye diminijh aught from it, that ye may keep the command- 
 ments of theLordyour Godwhicb I command you. And onward in the chapter, Behold, 
 I have taught you flatutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me. 
 Keep therfore and do them, for this is your wifdom and your underfianding. For what 
 nation hath God fo nigh unto them, and what nation hath flatutes and judgments fo righ- 
 teous as all this law which Ifet before ye this day ? Is it imaginable there ihould be 
 among thefe a law which God allow'd not, a law giving permiffions laxative to un- 
 marry a wife and marry a lull, alaw tofuffera kind of tribunal adultery ? Many o- 
 ther Scriptures might be brought to afTert the purity of this judicial Law, and ma- 
 ny I have alledg'd before ; this law therfore is pure and juft. But if it permit, if it 
 teach, if it defend that which is both unjuftand impure,as by the common doctrine 
 it doth, what think we ? The three general doctrines of Juftinian's'Ls.w, are To live in 
 honejiy, To hurt no man, To give every one his due. Shall thcRoman Civil law obferve 
 thefethreethings,asthe only end of law, andfhallaftatutebe foundin the civil lawof 
 God, enacted amply andtotallyagainftallthefethreepreceptsof nature and morality ? 
 
 Secondly,ThegiftsofGodareall perfect, and certainly the Law is of all his other 
 gifts one of the perfecteft. But if it give that outwardly which it takes away really, 
 and give that feemingly, which, if a man take it, wraps him into fin and damns 
 him •, what gift of an enemy can be more dangerous and deftroying than this ? 
 
 Thirdly, Mofes every- where commends his Laws, prefers them before all of other 
 Nations, and warrants them to be the way of Life and Safety to all that walk therin, 
 Levit. 18. But if they contain Statutes which God approves not, and train men un- 
 weeting to commit injuftice and adultery under the ftielter of Law ; if thofe things 
 be fin, and death fin's wages, what is this Law but the fnare of death ? 
 
 Fourthly, The Statutes and Judgments of the Lord, which, without exception, 
 are often told us to be fuch, as doingwe may live by them, are doubtlefs to becount- 
 ed the ruleof knowledge and of confcience. Fori hadnot known /«//, faith the Apo- 
 ftle, but by the law. But if the Law come down from the ftate of her incorruptible 
 Majefty to grant luft his boon, palpably it darkens and confounds both knowledge 
 and confcience ; it goes againft the common office of all goodnefs and iriendlinefs, 
 which is at leaft to counfel and admonifh -, it fubverts the rules of all fober educa- 
 tion, and is itfelf a moft negligent and debauching Tutor. 
 
 Fifthly, If the Law permits a thing unlawful, it permits that which elfe-where it 
 hath forbid ; fo that hereby it contradicts it fell, and tranlgreffes it felf. But if the 
 Law become a tranfgrefibr, itftands guilty to itfelf, and how then fhall it five ano- 
 ther ? It makes a confederacy with fin, how then can it juftly condemn a finner ? 
 And thus reducing itfelf to the ftate of neither fiving nor condemning, it will not 
 fail to expire folemnly ridiculous. 
 
 Sixthly, The Prophets in Scripture declare feverely againft the decreeing of that 
 which is unjuft, Pfal. 94. 20. Ij'aiah the 10th. But it was done, they fay, for hard- 
 nefs of heart : To which objection the Apoftle's rule, not to do evil that good may 
 cvmetherby, gives an invincible repulfe ; and here efpecially, where it cannot be fhewn 
 how any good came by doing this evil, how rather more evil did not hereon abound; 
 for the giving way to hardnefs of heart hardens the more, and adds more to the 
 number. God to an evil and adulterous generation would notgraut afign ; much lefs 
 would he for their hardnefs of heart pollute his Law with adulterous permiffion. 
 Yea, but to permit evil, isnotto do evil. Yes, it is in a moft eminent manner to 
 do evil : where elfe are all our grave and faithful fayings, that he whole office is to 
 forbidand forbids not, bids, exhorts, encourages? Why hath God denounced his anger 
 againft Parents, Mafters, Friends, Magiftrates neglectful of forbidding what they 
 ought, if Law, the common Father, Mafter, Friend, andperpetual Magiftrate (hall not 
 
 only
 
 246 Kxpofitions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 only not forbid, but enact, exhibit, and uphold with countenance and protection, a 
 deed every way difhoneft, whatever the pretence be. If it were of thofe inward 
 vices, which the Law cannot by outward constraint remedy, but leaves to conicience 
 and perfuafion, it had been guiltlefs in being filent : but to write a Decree of thar 
 which can be no way lawful, and might with eafe be hinder'd, makes Law by the 
 doom of Law it felf acceffory in the higheft degree. 
 
 Seventhly, It makes God the direct Author of Sin : For altho' he be not made 
 the Author of what he filentlypermits in his Providence, yet in his Law, the image 
 of hisWill, when in plain expreffion he conftitutes and ordains a fact utterly unlaw- 
 ful ; what wants he to authorize it, and what wants that to be the author ? 
 
 Eighthly, To efhblifh by Law a thing wholly unlawful and difhoneft, is an af- 
 firmation was never heard of before in any Law, Reafon, Philofophy, or Religion, 
 till it was rais'dby inconfiderate Gloffifts from the miftake of this Text. And tho* 
 the Civilians have been contented to chew this opinion, after the Canon had fub- 
 du'd them, yet they never could bring example or authority either from divine 
 Writ, or human Learning, or human Practice in any Nation, or well-form'd Re- 
 public, but only from the cuftomary abufe of this text. Ufually they allege the 
 Epiftle of Cicero to Atticus ; wherin Cato is blam'd for giving fentence to the fcum 
 of Romulus, as if he were in Plato's Commonwealth. Cato would have call'd fome 
 great one into judgment for Bribery ; Cicero, as the time flood, advis'd againft it. 
 Cato, not to endamage the public Treafury, would not grant to the Roman Knights, 
 that the Afian Taxes might be farm'd them at a lefs rate. Cicero wifh'd it grant- 
 ed. Nothing in all this will be like the eftablifhing of a Law to fin : Here are no 
 Laws made, here only the execution of Law is crav'd might be fufpended: be- 
 tween which and our queftion is a broad difference. And what if human Law- 
 givers have confeft they could not frame their Laws to that Perfection which they 
 defir'd ? We hear of no fuch confeffion from Mofes concerning the LawsofGod,but 
 rather all praife and high teftimony ofperfection given them. And altho' man's 
 raturecannotbearexactefl Laws,yetftill within the confinesof good it may and muff, 
 folongas lefs good is far enough from altogether evil. As for what they inftanceof 
 Ufury, let them firft prove Ufury to be wholly unlawful, as the Law allows it •, which, 
 learned Men as numerous on the other fide will deny them. Or if it be altogether 
 unlawful, why is it tolerated more than Divorce ? He who faid, Divorce not, faid 
 alfo, Lend, hoping for nothing again, Luk. 6. 35. But then they put in, that Trade 
 could not ftand, andfo to i erve the commodity of infatiable trading, Ufury fhall 
 be permitted ; but Divorce, the only means oftimes to right the innocent and out- 
 ragioufly wrong'd, fhall be utterly forbid. This is egregious doctrine, and for 
 which one day Charity will much thank them. Beza not finding how to falve 
 this perplexity, and Cameron fince him, would fecure us ; although the latter con- 
 fefTes, that to permit a wicked thing by law, is a wickednefs which God abhors ; yet to 
 limit Jin, and prefcribe it a certain meafure, is good. Firft, this evafion will not help 
 here ; for this Law bounded no man -, he might put away whatever found not fa- 
 vour in his eyes. And how could it forbid to divorce, whom it could not forbid 
 to diflike, or command to love ? If[thefe be the limits of Lawto reftrain fin, who 
 fo lameafinner but may hop over them more eafily than over thofe Romulean cir- 
 cumfcriptions, not as Remus did with hard fuccefs, but with all indemnity ? Such a 
 limiting as this were not worth the mifchief that accompanies it. This Law ther- 
 fore not bounding the fuppofed fin, by permitting enlarges it, gives it enfran- 
 chiiement. And never greater confufion, than when Law and Sin move their Land- 
 marks, mix theirTerritories, and correipond, have intercourfe and traffic together. 
 When Law contracts a kindred and hofpitality with Tranfgreffion, becomes 
 the Godfather of Sin, and names it lawful ; when fin revels, and goffips within the 
 Arfenal of Law, plays and dandles the Artillery of Juftice that fhould be bent againft 
 her, this is a fair limitation indeed. Befides, it is an abfurdity to fay that Law cart 
 meafure fin, or moderate fin ; fin is not in a predicament, to be meafur'd and mo- 
 diiy'd, but is always an excefs. Theleaft fin that is, exceeds the meafure of the larg- 
 er!: Law that can be good; and is as boundlefs as that vacuity beyond the world. If 
 once it fquare to the meafure of Law, it ceafes to be an excefs, and confequently 
 ceafes to be a fin •, or elfe Law conforming itfelf to the obliquity of fin, betrays itfelf 
 to be not ftreight, but crooked, and fo immediately no Law. And the improper 
 conceit of moderating fin by Law, will appear, if we can imagine any Law-giver fo 
 fenflefs as to decree that fo far a man may fteal, and thus far be drunk, that mode- 
 rately he may couzen,and moderately commit adultery. To the fame extent it would 
 
 be
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 247 
 
 be as pithily abfurd to pubifh that a man may moderately divorce, if to do that be 
 intirely naught. But to end this moot, the Law of Mofesh manifeft to fix no limit 
 rherin at all, or fuch at leait as impeaches the fraudulent abufer no more than if it 
 were not fet ; only requires the difmiffive writing without othercaution, leaves that 
 to the inner man, and the bar of Confcience. But it ftopt other fins. This is as 
 vain as the reft, and dangerouQy uncertain : the contrary to be fear'd rather, that 
 one fin admitted courteoully by Law, open'd the gate to another. However, evil 
 mult not be done for good. And it were a fall to be lamented, and indignity un- 
 fpeakablc, if Law fhould become tributary to fin her flave, and forc'd to yield up 
 intohis hands her awful Minifter,Punifliment,fhould buy out her peace with fin for fin, 
 paying as it were her fo many Philiftian forefkins to the proud demand of Tranf- 
 grcffion. But fuppofe it any way poffible to limit Sin, to put a girdle about that 
 Chaos, fuppofe it alio good ; yet if to permit fin by Law be an abomination in 
 the eyes of God, as Cameron acknowledges, the evil of permitting will eat out the 
 good of limiting. For though fin be not limited, there can but evil come out of 
 evil ; but if it be permitted and decreed lawfully by divine Law, of force then 
 fin muft proceed from the infinite Good, which is a dreadful thought. But if the 
 feftraining of fin by this permiffion being good, as this author teftifies, be more 
 good than the permiffion of more fin by the reftraint of Divorce, and that God 
 weighing both thefe like two ingots, in the perfect fcales of his Juitice and Pro- 
 vidence, found them fo, and others coming without authority from God, fhall change 
 this counterpoife, and judge it better to let fin multiply by fetting a judicial re- 
 ftraint upon divorce, which Chrift never fet •, then to limit fin by this permiffion, 
 as God himlelf thought beft to permit it, it will behove them to confult betimes 
 whether thefe their ballances be not falfe and abominable ; and this their limiting 
 thatwhichGodloofen'd, and their loofening thefins that he limited, which they con- 
 fefs was good to do : and were it poffible to do by Law, doubtlefs it would bemoft 
 morally good ; and they fo believing, as we hear they do, and yet abolilhinga 
 Law fo good and moral, the limiter of fin, what are they elfe but contrary to them- 
 felves ? For they can never bring us to that time wherin it will not be good to li- 
 mit fin, and they can never limit it better than fo as God prefcribed in his Law. 
 
 Othersconceiveitamoredefencible retirement to fiy this permiffion to divorce fin- 
 fully for hardnefs of heart was a difpenfation. But furely they either know not or at- 
 tend not to what a difpenfation means. A difpenfation is for no long time, is parti- 
 cular to fome perlbns, rather than general to whole people •, always hath Charity the 
 end, is granted to neceffities and infirmities, not to obftinate luft. This permiffion 
 is another creature, hath all thofe evils and abfurdities following the name of a difpen* 
 iation, as when it was nam'd a Law ; and is the very antarclic -pole againft Charity, 
 nothing more adverfe, enfnaringand ruining thofe that truft in it, or ufe it ; fo leud 
 and criminous as never durft enter into the head of any Politician, Jew, or Profelyte t 
 till they became the apt Scholars of this Canoniftic Expofition. Aught in it, that 
 can allude in the leaft manner to Charity, or Goodnefs, belongs with more full right 
 to the Chriftian under Grace and Liberty, than to the Jew under Law and Bondage. 
 To Jewijh ignorance it could not be difpenfed, without a horrid imputation laid 
 upon the Law, to difpenfe foully, inftead of teaching fairly; like that difpenfation 
 that firft polluted Chriftendom with Idolatry, permitting to laymen Images inftead 
 of Books and Preaching. Sloth or malice in the Law would they have this call'd ? 
 But what ignorance can be pretended of the Jews, who had all the fame Precepts 
 about Marriage, that we now ? for Chrift refers all to the inftitution. It was as 
 reafonable for them to know then as for us now, and concern'd them alike : for 
 wherin hath the Gofpel alter'd the nature of Matrimony ? All thefe confiderations, 
 or many of them, have been further amplify 'd in the Doclrine of Divorce. And what 
 Rivclus and Parous have obje&ed, or given over as paft cure, hath been there dif- 
 cufs'd. Wherby it may be plain enough to men of eyes, that the vulgar ex- 
 pofition of a permittance by Law to an entire fin, whatever the colour may be, is 
 an opinion both ungodly, impolitic, unvirtuous,andvoidofallhonefty and civil fenfe. 
 It appertains therfore to every zealous Chriftian both for the honour of God's 
 Law, and the vindication of our Saviour's Words, that fuch an irreligious deprave- 
 ment no longer* may be footh'd and flatter'd through cuftom, but with all diligence 
 and fpeed folidly refuted, and in the room a better explanation given j which is 
 now our next endeavour, 
 
 Mofes 
 4
 
 248 Expeditions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 Mofes fuffered you to put away, &c] Not commanded you, fays the common ob- 
 ferver, and therfore car'd not how foon it were abolifh'd, beingbut fuffer'd 5 herein 
 declaring his annotation to be flight, and nothing law-prudent. For in this place 
 commanded and fuffer'd are interchangeably us'd in the fame fenfe both by our Savi- 
 our and the Pharifees. Our Saviour, who here faith* Mcfes fuffer'd you, in the 10th 
 of Mark faith, Mofes wrote you this Command. And the Pharifees who here fay, 
 Mofes commanded, and would mainly have it a command, in that place of Mark 
 fay Mofes fuffer'd, which had made againft them in their own mouths, if the word 
 otfuffering had weaken'd the command. So that fuffer'd and commanded is here 
 taken for the fame thing on both fides of the controverfy : as Cameron alfo and o- 
 thers on this place acknowledge. And Lawyers know that all the precepts of Law 
 are divided into obligatory and permiflive, containing either what we mud do, or 
 what we may do ; and of this latter fort are as many precepts as of the former, and 
 all as lawful. Tutelage, an ordainment than which nothing more ju ft, being for the 
 defence of Orphans, the Infiitutes ofjuftinian fay is ghen and permitted by the Ci- 
 vil Law : and to Parents it is permitted to ckoofe and appoint by will the Guardians 
 of their Children. What more equal, and yet the Civil Law calls this permiffion\ 
 So likewife to manumife, to adopt, to make a Will, and to be made an Heir, is 
 calkd permiffwn by Law. Marriage itfelf, and this which is already granted, to 
 divorce for Adultery, obliges no man, is but a permiflion by Law, is but fuffer'd. 
 By this we may [fee how weakly it hath been thought that all Divorce is utterly 
 unlawful, becaufe the Law is faid to fuffer it : whenas to fuffer is but the legal phrafe 
 denoting what by Law a Man may door not do. 
 
 Becaufe of the hardnefs of your hearts.] Hence they argue that therfore he allow'd 
 it not; and therfore it mull: be abolifht. But the contrary to this will fooner follow, 
 that becaufe he fuffer'd it for a caufe, therfore in relation to that caufe he allow'd it. 
 Next, if he in his wifdom, and in the midft of his feverity allow'd it for hardnefs of 
 heart, it can be nothing better than arrogance and prefumption to takeftrictercourfes 
 againft hardnefs of heart, than God ever fetan example; and that under the Gofpel, 
 which warrants them to no judicial act of compulfion in this matter, much lefs to be 
 more fevereagainft hardnefs of extremity, than God thought good to be againft hard- 
 nefs of heart. He fuffer'd it, rather than worle inconveniences ; thefe men wifer, as 
 they make themfelves, will fuffer the worft and heinoufeft inconveniences to follow, 
 ratherthan they will fufferwhatGodfuffer'd. Altho' they can know when they pleafe, 
 that Chrift fpake only to the Confcience, did not judge on the civil bench, but al- 
 ways difavow'd it. What can be more contrary to the ways of God than thefe 
 their doings? If they be fuch enemies to hardnefs of heart, altho' this groundlefs 
 rigor proclaims it to be in themfelves, they may yet learn, or confider that hardnefs 
 of heart hath a twofold acceptation in the Gofpel. One, when it is in a good man 
 taken for infirmity, and imperfection, which was in all the Apoftles, whofe weaknefs 
 only, not utter want of belief, is call'd hardnefs of heart, Mark 1 6. Partly for this 
 hardnefs of heart, the imperfection and decay of man from original righteoufnefs, 
 it was that God fuffer'd not Divorce only, but all that which by Civilians is term'd 
 the fecondary haw of Nature and of Nations. He fuffer'd his own People to wafte and 
 fpoil and flay by War, to lead captives, to be fome mafters, fome fervants, fome to 
 be Princes, others to be Subjects; he fuffered propriety to divideallthingsby feveral 
 poffefiion, trade and commerce, not without ufury; in his commonwealth fome to 
 be undefervedly rich, others to be undefervedly poor. All which till hardnefs of 
 heart came in, wasmoft unjuft; whenas prime Nature made us all equal, made us 
 equal coheirs by common right and dominion over all creatures. In the fame manner, 
 and for the fame caufe he fuffer'd Divorce as well as Marriage, our imperfect and de- 
 generate condition of neceffity requiring this Law amongthe reft, as a remedy againft 
 intolerable wrong and fervitude above the patience of man to bear. Nor was it given 
 only becaufe our infirmity, or if it muft be fo call'd, hardnefs of heart could not en- 
 dure all things ; but becaufe the hardnefs of another's heart might not inflict all things 
 upon an innocent perfon, whom far other ends brought into a league of love, and not 
 of bondage and indignity. If therfore we abolifli Divorce asonly fuffer'd for hardnefs 
 of heart, we may as well abolifh the whole Law of Nations, as only fuffer'd for the 
 fame caufe, it being fhewn us by S. Paul, 1 Cor. 6. that the very feeking of a man's 
 right by Law, and at the hands of a worldly Magiftrate, is not without the hardnefs of 
 our hearts. For why do ye not rather take wrong, faith he, why fuffer ye not rather 
 yourfehes to be defrauded? If nothing now muft be fuffer'd for hardnefs of heart, I fay 
 die very profecution of our rightby way of civil Juftice can no morebe fuffer'd among 
 4 Chri-
 
 which treat of Nullities in Ma rriage. 249 
 
 Chriftians, for the hardnefs of heart wherwith moft men purfue it. And that 
 would next remove all our judicial Laws, and this reftraint of Divorce alfo in 
 the number ; which would more than half end the controverfy. But if it be plain 
 that the whole juridical Law and Civil Power is only fuffer'd under the Gofpel, 
 for the hardnefs of our hearts, then wherfore ihould not that which Mofes fuffer'd, 
 be fuffer'd ftill by the fame reafon? 
 
 In aiecond fignification hardnefs of heart is takenfor a ftubborn refolution to do 
 evil. And that God ever makes any Lawpurpofely to fuch, I deny; for he vouch- 
 fafes not to enter Covenant with them, but as they fortune to be mixt with good 
 men, and pafs undifcover'd; much lefs that he mould decree an unlawful thin" 
 only to ferve their licentioufheis. But that God fuffers this reprobate hardnefs of 
 heart I affirm, not only in this law of Divorce, but throughout all his belt and 
 pureft Commandments. He commands all to worfhip in finglenefs of heart accord- 
 ing to all his Ordinances ; and yet fuffers the wicked man to perform all the rites 
 of Religion hypocritally,and in the hardnefs of his heart. He gives us general fta- 
 tutes and privileges in all civil matters, juft and good of themfelves, yet fuffers un- 
 worthieft men to ufe them, and by them toprofecute their own right, or any co- 
 lour of right, tho' for the moft part malicioufly, covetoufly, rigoroufly, revenge- 
 fully. He allow'd by law the difcreet Father andHufband to forbid, if he thought 
 tit, the religious vows of his wife or daughter, Numb. 30. and in the fame law fuf- 
 fer'd the hard-heartednefs of impious and covetous lathers or hufbands abufing this 
 law to forbid their wives or daughters in their offerings and devotions of greateft 
 zeal. If then God fuffer hardnefs of heart equally in the belt Laws, as in this of 
 Divorce, there can be no reafon that for this caufe this Law fhould be abolilh'd. But 
 other Laws, they object, may be well us'd, this never. How often fhall I anfwer 
 both from the inftitution of Marriage, and from other general rules in Scripture, 
 that this Law of Divorce hath many wife and charitable ends befides the being fuf- 
 fer'd for hardnefs of heart; which is indeedno end, but an accident hapning through 
 the whole Law; which gives to good men right, and to bad men, whoabufe right 
 under falfe pretences, gives only fufferance. Now although Chrilt exprefs no other 
 reafons here, but only what was fuffer'd, it nothing follows that this Law had no 0- 
 ther reafon to be permitted but for hardnefs of heart. The Scripture feldom or never 
 in one place fetsdown all the reafons of what it grants or commands, efpecially when 
 it talks to enemies and tempters. St. Paul permitting Marriage, 1 Cor. 7. feems to 
 permit even that alfo for hardnefs of heart only, left we fhould run into fornication ; 
 yet no intelligent man thence concludes Marriage allow'd in the Gofpel only to a- 
 void an evil, becaufe no other end is there expreft. Thus Mofes of neceflity fuffer'd 
 many to put away their wives for hardnefs of heart; butenacted theLaw of Divorce 
 doubtlefs for other good caufes, not for this only fufferance. He permitted not Di- 
 vorce by law as an evil, for that was impoffible to divine Law, but permitted by 
 accident the evil of them whodivorc'd againft the Law's intention undifcoverably. 
 This alfo may be thought not improbable, that Chrilt, ltirr'd up in his fpirit againft 
 thefe tempting Pharifees, anfwer'd them in a certain form of indignation ufual a- 
 mong good authors ; wherby the queftion, or the truth is not directly anfwer'd, 
 but fomething which is fitter for them, who afk, to hear. So in the Ecclefiaftical 
 ftories, one demanding how God imploy'd himfelf before the world was made? 
 had anfwer, that he was making hell for curious queftioners. Another (and Liba- 
 nius the Sophift,a.s I remember) afking in derifion fome Chriftian, What theCar- 
 pentcr,meaning our Saviour, was doing, now that "Julian lb prevail'd? had ic re- 
 turn'd him, that the Carpenter was making a coffin for the Apoflate. So Chrilt 
 being demanded malicioufly why Mofes made the Law of Divorce, anfwers them 
 in a vehement fcbeme, not telling them the caufe why he made it, but what was fit- 
 teft to be told them, that/cr the hardnefs of their ^r/j he fuffer'd them toabufe it. 
 And albeit Mark fay not he fuffer'd you, but to you be wrote this precept; Mark 
 may be warrantably expounded by Matthew the larger. And whether he fuffer'd, 
 or gave precept, being all one as was heard, it changes not the trope of indigna- 
 tion, fitteft account for fuch afkers. Next, for the hardnefs oiyour hearts, to you he 
 wrote this precept, infers not therfore for this caufe only he wrote it, as was pa- 
 ralleled by other Scriptures. Laltly, It may be worth the obferving, that Chrilt 
 fpeaking to the Pharifees, does not fay in general that for hardnefs of heart he 
 gave this precept, but you he fuffer'd, and to you he gave this precept for your hard- 
 nefs of heart. It cannot be eafily thought that Chrilt here included all the chil- 
 dren of Ifrael under the perfon of thefe tempting Pharifees, but that he conceals ; 
 wherfore he gave the better fort of them this Law, and expreffls by faying em- 
 Vol. I. K k phatically
 
 250 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 piratically To you how he gave it to the worfer, fuch as the Pharifees bed reprefent- 
 ed, that is to fay, for the hardnefs of your hearts: as indeed to wicked men and 
 hardned hearts he gives the whole Law and the Gofpel alfo, to harden them the" 
 more. Thus many ways it may orthodoxally be underdood how God or Mofes 
 fuffer'dfuch as the demanders were, to divorce for hardnefs of heart. Wherasthe 
 vulvar Expofitor, befet with contradictions and abfurdities round, and refolving 
 at any peril to make an expofition of it, as there is nothing more violent and 
 boifterous than a reverend ignorance in fear to be convicted, rufhes brutely and 
 impetuoufly againft all the principles both of Nature, Piety, and moral Good- 
 nefs-, and in the fury of his literal expounding overturns them all. 
 
 But from the beginning it was not fo.] Not how from the beginning ? Do they fup- 
 pofe that men might not divorce at all, notnecefiarily, not deliberately, except for 
 Adultery, but that fome law, like canon law, prefently attachtthem both before and 
 after the flood, till drifter Mofes came, and with law brought licence into the 
 world? that were a fancy indeed to fmile at. Undoubtedly as to point of judicial 
 Lav/, Divorce was more permiffive from the beginning before Mofes than under 
 Mofes. But from the beginning, that is to fay, by the inftitution in Paradife, it was 
 not intended that Matrimony fhould diflblve for every trivial caufe, as you Pha- 
 rifees accuftom. But that it was not thus fufFer'd from the beginning ever fince the 
 race of men corrupted, and Laws were made, he who will affirm, mull have found 
 out other antiquities than are yet known. Befides, we muft confider now, what can 
 be fo as from the beginning, not only what fhould be fo. In the beginning, had 
 men continu'd perfect, it had been jud that all things fhould have remain'd, as 
 they began to Adam and Eve. But after that the Sons of Men grew violent and 
 injurious, it alter'd the lore of juftice, and put the government of things into a 
 new frame. While man and woman were both perfect each to other, there need- 
 ed no Divorce j but when they both degenerated to imperfection, and oft-times 
 grew to be an intolerable evil each to other, then Law more judly did permit the 
 alienating of that evil which miftake made proper, than it did the appropriating 
 of that good which Nature at firfb made common. For if the abfence of outward 
 good be not fo bad as the prefence of a clofe evil, and that propriety, whether 
 by covenant or pofTefTion, be but the attainment of fome outward good, it is more 
 natural and righteous that the Law fhould fever us from an intimate evil, than 
 appropriate any outward good to us from the Community of nature. The Gofpefr 
 indeed tending ever to that which is perfected, aim'd at the reftorement of all 
 things as they were in the beginning, and therfore all things were in common to 
 thofe primitive Chriftians in the Acts, which Ananias and Sapphira dearly felt. 
 That cuftom alfo continu'd more or lefs till the time of Juft in Martyr, as may 
 be read in his fecond Apology, which might be writ after that act of communion 
 perhaps fome forty years above a hundred. But who will be the man that fhall in- 
 troduce this kind of Commonwealth, as Chriftianity now goes ? If then Marriage 
 mult be as in the beginning, the perfons that marry mult be fuch as then were; 
 the inftitution muft make good, in fome tolerable fort, what itpromifes to either 
 party. If not, it is but madnefs to drag this one Ordinance back to the begin- 
 ning, and draw down all other to the prefent neceffity and condition, far from 
 the beginning, even to the tolerating ol extortions and oppreflions. Chrift only- 
 told us that from the beginning it was not fo •, that is to fay, not fo as the Pha- 
 rifees manur'd the bufinefs •, did not command us that it fhould be forcibly fo a- 
 gain in all points, as at the beginning ; or foat lead in our intentions and defires, 
 but fo in execution, as rcafon and prefent nature can bear. Although we are not 
 to leek, that the inftitution it fell from the firft beginning was never but condi- 
 tional, as all Covenants are : becaufe thus and thus, therfore fo and fo; if not thus, 
 then not fo. Then moreover was perfected to fulfil each Law in it felf; now is 
 perfected in this edate of things, to afk of charity how much law may be ful- 
 fill'd: elfe the fulfilling oft-times is the greated breaking. If any therfore demand, 
 which is now mod perfection, to eafe an extremity by Divorce, or to enrage and 
 feder it by the grievous obferyance of a miferable Wedloc, I am not deditute to 
 fay which is mod perfection, (although fome who believe they think favourably of 
 Divorce, edeem it only venial to infirmity.) Him I hold more in the way to perfec- 
 tion who forgoes an unfit,ungodly,and difcordant Wedloc, tolive according to peace 
 and love, and God's inditution in a fitter choice, than he who debars himfelf the 
 happy experience of all godly, which is peaceful converfation in his family, to. 
 live a contentious, and unchridian life not to be avoided, in temptations not to he 
 liv'd in, only for the. falfe keeping of a mod unreal nullity, a Marriage that hath no 
 
 affinity
 
 which i } eat of Nullities in M a r r i a g e . 251 
 
 affinity with God's intention, a daring phantafm, a meer toy of terror awing weak 
 fenfes, to the lamentable fuperftition of ruining themfelves ; the remedy wherof 
 God in his Law vouchfafes us. Which not to dare ufe,he warranting, is not our per- 
 fection, is our infirmity, our little faith, our timorous and low conceit of Charity : 
 and in them who force us, it is their mafking pride and vanity, to feem holier 
 and more circumfpect than God. So far is it that we need impute to him infirmi- 
 ty, who thus divorces : fince the rule of perfection is not fo much that which was 
 done in the beginning, as that which now is neareft to the rule of charity. This 
 is the greateit, the perfefteft, the higheft commandment. 
 
 Ver. 9. And I fay unto you, Whofo fhall put away his wife, except it be for Forni- 
 cation, and Jhall marry another, committeth adultery ; and whofo marrieth her 
 which is put away, doth commit adultery. 
 
 And I fay unto you.'] That this reitridive denouncement of Chrift contradicts 
 and refutes that permiflive precept of Mofes, common Expofitors themfelves dis- 
 claim: and that it does not traverfe from the Clofet of Confcience to the Courts 
 of Civil or Canon Law, with any Chriftian rightly commenc'd, requires not 
 long evincing. If Chrift then did not here check permiflive Mofes, nor did reduce 
 Matrimony to the beginning more than all other things, as the reafon of man's 
 condition could bear, we would know preciiely what it was which he did, and 
 what the end was of his declaring thus aufterely againft Divorce. For this is a con- 
 feft Oracle in Law, that he who looks not at the intention of a Precept, the more 
 fuperftitious he is of the letter, the more he mifinterprets. Was it to fhame Mo- 
 fes? that had been monftrous : or all thole pureft Ages of Ifrael, to whom the Per- 
 miffion was granted ? that were as incredible. Or was it that he who came to 
 abrogate the burden of Law, not the equity, fhould put this yoke upon a blame- 
 lefs perfon, to league himfelf in chains with a begirting mifchief, not to feparate 
 till death? He who taught us that no man puts a piece of new cloth upon an old 
 garment, nor new wine into old bottles, that he mould few this patch of ftriclnefs 
 upon the old apparel of our frailty, to make a rent more incurable, whenas in all 
 other amendments his dodtrine ftill charges, that regard be had to the garment, 
 and to the vefiel, what it can endure; this were an irregular and fingle piece of 
 rigour, not only founding diiproportion to the whole Gofpel, but outstretching 
 the moft rigorous nerves of Law and Rigour it felf. No other end therfore can 
 be left imaginable of this excefiive reftraint, but to bridle thofe erroneous and li- 
 centious poftillers the Pharifees ; not by telling them what may be done in neceffi- 
 ty, but what cenfure they deferve who divorce abufively, which their Tetrarch had 
 done. And as the offence was in one extreme, fo the rebuke, to bring more effi- 
 cacioufly to a rectitude and mediocrity, ftands not in the t middle way of duty, but 
 in the other extreme. Which art of powerful reclaiming, wifeft men have alio 
 taught in their ethical Precepts and Gnomologies, refembling it, as when we bend 
 a crooked wand the contrary way; not that it fhould Hand fo bent, but that the 
 overbending might reduce it to a ftraitnefs by its own reluftance. And as the 
 Phyfician cures him who hath taken down poilon, not by the middling temper 
 of nourifhment, but by the other extreme of Antidote, fo Chrift adminifters here a 
 lharp and corrofive fentence againft a foul and putrid licence; not to eat into the 
 flefh, but into the fore. And knowing that our Divines through all their Com- 
 ments make no fcruple, where they pleafe, to foften the high and vehement 
 fpeeches of our Saviour, which they call Hyperboles; why in this one Text fhould 
 they be fuch crabbed Maforites of the letter, as not to mollify a tranfcendance of 
 literal rigidity, which they confefs to find often elfewhere in his manner of delive- 
 ry, but muft make their expofition here fuch an obdurate Cyclops, to have but one 
 eye for this Text, and that only open to cruelty and enthralment, fuch as no di- 
 vine or human Law before ever heard of? No, let the foppifh Canonilt, with his 
 fardel of matrimonial cafes, go and be vendible where men be fo unhappy as 
 to cheapen him : the words of Chrift Jhall be aiTerted from fuch elemental No- 
 taries, and refolv'd by the now-only lawgiving mouth of charity; which may be 
 done undoubtedly by underftanding them as follows. 
 
 Whofoever fliall put away his wife .] That is to fay, fhall fo put away as 
 the Propounders of this queftion, the Pharifees, were wont to do, and covert- 
 ly defended Herod for fo doing ; whom to rebuke, our Saviour here mainly 
 intends, and not to determine all the cafes of Divorce, as appears by St. 
 Paul. Whofoever fhall put away, either violently without mutual confent for 
 urgent reafons, or conipiringly by plot of luft, or cunning malice, fhall put 
 away for any fudden mood, or contingency of difagreement, which is 
 
 Vol. I. K k 2 not
 
 25 2 Expofitions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 not daily practice, but may blow foon over, and be reconcil'd, except it be F >r 
 nication- whofcever fhall put away raflily,as his choler prompts him, without due 
 time of deliberating, and think his Confcience difcharg'd only by the bill of Di- 
 vorce given, and the outward Law fatisfy'd ; whofoever, laftly, ih'al] put away 
 his Wife, that is a Wife indeed, and not in name only, fuch a one who both can 
 and is willing to be a meet help toward the chief ends of Marriage both civil and 
 fanc'tifv'd, except Fornication be the caufe, that Man, or that Pair, commit Adul- 
 tery. Not he who puts away by mutual confent, with all the confiderations and 
 refpects of humanity and gentlenefs, without malicious or luftful drilt. Not he 
 who after fober and cool experience, and long debate within himfelf, puts away,, 
 whom though he cannot love or fuffer as a Wife, with that fincere affection that 
 Marriage requires, yet loves at leaft with that civility and goodnefs,as not to keep 
 her under a neglected and unwelcome refidence, where nothing can be hearty, 
 and not being, it muft needs be both un joyous, and injurious to any perceiving 
 perfon fo detain'd, and more injurious than to be freely, and upon good terms 
 difmift. Nor doth he put away adulteroufly who complains of caufes rooted in 
 immutable nature, utter unfitnefs, utter difconformity, not conciliable, becaule 
 not to be amended without a miracle. Nor he who puts away an unquenchable 
 vexation from his bofom, and flies an evil, than which a greater cannot befall hu- 
 man fociety. Nor he who puts away with the full fuffrage and applauie of his con- 
 fcience, not relying on the written bill of Law, but claiming by faith andfulneis 
 of perfwafion the rights and promifes of God's inftitution, of which he finds him- 
 felf in a miftaken wedloc defrauded. Doubtlefs this man hath bail enough to be no 
 Adulterer, giving Divorce for thefe caufes. 
 
 His Wife.] This word is not to be idle here, a meer word without a fenfe, much 
 lefs a fallacious v/ord fignifying contrary to what it pretends; but faithfully figni- 
 fies a Wife, that is, a comfortable help and fociety, as God inftituted ; does not 
 fignify deceitfully under this name, an intolerable adverlary, not a helplefs, un- 
 affectionate and fullen mafs, whofe very company reprefents the vifible and ex- 
 acted figure of lonelinefs it felf. Such an affociate he who puts away, divorces 
 not a wife, but disjoins a nullity which God never join'd, if fhe be neither wil- 
 ling, nor to her proper and requifite duties fufficient, as the words of God infti- 
 tuteher. And this alfo is Bucer's explication of this place. 
 
 Except it he for fornication, or faving for the caufe of fornication, as Matt. 5.] 
 This declares what kind of caufes our Saviour meant-, fornication being no natural 
 and perpetual caufe, but only accidental and temporary ; therfore fhews that head 
 of caufes from whence it is excepted, to be meant of the lame fort. For exceptions 
 are not logically dedue'd from a divers kind, as to fay whofo puts away for any 
 natural caufe except Fornication, the exception would want fait. And it they un- 
 derftand it, whofo for any caufe whatever, they call themfelves ; granting Di- 
 vorce for frigidity a natural caufe of their own allowing, though not here expreft, 
 and for defertion without infidelity, whenas he who marries, as they allow him 
 for defertion, deferts as well as is deferted, and finally puts away for another 
 caufe befides Adultery. It will with all due reai'on therfore be thus better under- 
 ftood, whofo puts away for any accidental and temporary caufes, except one of 
 them, which is fornication. Thus this exception finds out the caufes from whence 
 it is excepted, to be of the fame kind, that is cafual, not continual. 
 
 Saving for the caufe of fornication.} The New Tefbament, though it be faid ori- 
 ginally writ in Greek, yet hath nothing near fo many Atticifms as Hebraifms, and 
 Syriacifms, which was the Majefty of God, not fitting the tongue of Scripture to 
 a Gentilifh Idiom, but in a princely manner offering to them as to Gentiles and 
 Foreigners grace and mercy, though not in foreign words, yet in a foreign Mile 
 that might induce them to the fountains; and though their calling were high and 
 happy, yet ftill to acknowledge God's ancient people their betters, and that lan- 
 guage the Metropolitan language. He therfore who thinks to Scholiaze upon the 
 Gofpel, though Creek, according to his Greek Analogies, and hath not been Audi- 
 tor to the Oriental dialects, fhall want in the heat of his Analyfis no accommoda- 
 tion to Humble. In this place, as the 5th of Matth. reads it, Saving for the caufe 
 of fornication, the Greek, fuch as it is, founds it, except for the tiord," report , jpcech, 
 or proportion of fornication. In which regard, with other inducements, many an- 
 cient and learned Writers have underflood this exception, as comprehending any 
 fault equivalent and proportional to fornication. But truth is, the Evangelift here 
 Hebraizes, taking word or fpeech for caufe or matter in the common Eaftern phrafe, 
 meaning perhaps no more than if he had laid for fornication, as in this 19//J chap- 
 ter. And yet the word is found in the §t& of Exodus alio fignifying Proportion; 
 
 where
 
 which treat of Nullities in M a r r i a g e . 2 r 
 
 where the Israelites are commanded to do their tafks, the matter of each day in his 
 day. A talk we know is a proportion of work not doing the fame thing ablblute- 
 ly every day, but fo much. "Wherby it may be doubtful yet, whether here be not 
 excepted not only fornication it felf,but other caufesequipollent,and proportional 
 to fornication. Which very word alio to understand rightly, we muttof neceffity 
 have recourse again to the Hebrew. For in the Greek and Latin fenfe by fornica- 
 tion is meant the common prostitution of body for file. So that they who are fo 
 evaft for the letter, fhall be dealt with by the Lexicon, and the Etymohgicon too if 
 they pleafe, and mult be bound to forbid Divorce for adultery alfo, until it come 
 to open whoredom and trade, like that for which Claudius divorc'd MeJJalina. 
 Since therfore they take not here the word fornication in the common Significance, 
 for an open exercife in the (tews, but grant Divorce for one fingle aft of privateft 
 iiltery, notwithstanding that the word ("peaks a public and notorious frequency 
 of fact, not without price; we may reafon with as good leave, and as little (train- 
 ing to the tsxt, that our Saviour on fet purpofe chole this word Fornication, im- 
 properly apply'd to the lapfe of Adultery, that we might not think our felves 
 bound from ail Divorce, except when that fault hath been aftually committed. 
 For the language of Scripture Signifies by fornication (and others befides St. Auftin 
 fo expounded it) not only the trefpafs of Body, nor perhaps that between mar- 
 ried perfons, unlefs in a degree or quality as fharnelefs as the Bordello; but fignifies 
 alfo any notable difobedience, or intractable carriage of the Wife to the Hufband, 
 as Judg. 19. 2. wherof at large in the Dotlrine of Divorce, 1. 2. c. 18. Secondly, 
 fignifies the apparent alienation of mind not to Idolatry, (which mayfeemto an- 
 fwer the aft of Adultery) but far on this fide, to any point of will-worihip, though 
 to the true God; fometimes it notes the love of earthly things, or worldly plea- 
 sures, though in a right Believer, fometimes the leait fufpicion of unwitting Ido- 
 latry. As-Numb. 15. 39. wilful difobedience to any the leaft of God's Command- 
 ment is call'd fornication, Pfal. 73. 26, 27. A diftrutt only in God, and with- 
 drawing from that nearnefs of zeal and confidence which ought to be, is call'd for- 
 nication. We may be fure it could not import thus muchlefs than Idolatry in the- 
 borrow'd metaphor between God and Man, uniefs it fignify'd as much lefs than 
 Adultery in the ordinary acceptation between Man and Wife. Add alfo, that there 
 was no need our Saviour fhould grant divorce for Adultery , it being death by Law, 
 and Law then in force. Which was the caufe why Jofepb fought to put away his 
 betrothed Wife privately, left he fhould make her an example of capital punifh- 
 ment, as learnedeft Expounders affirm, Herod being a great zealot of the Mofaic 
 Law, and the Pharifees great mafters of the Text, as the woman taken in Adultery 
 ■doubtlefs had caufe to fear. Or if they can prove it was neglected, which they 
 cannot do, why did our Saviour fhape his Anfwer to the corruption of that a°e, 
 and not rather tell them of their negleft? If they fay he came not to meddle with 
 their Judicatures, much lefs then was it in his thought to make them new ones, 
 or that Divorce fhould be judicially reftrain'd in a ftrifter manner by thefe his 
 words, more than Adultery judicially acquitted by thofe his words to the Adul- 
 trefs. His fentence doth no more by Law forbid Divorce here, than by Law it 
 doth abfolve Adultery there. To them therfore who have drawn this yoke up- 
 on Chriftians from his words thus wrefted, nothing remains but die guilt of a 
 prefumption and perverfenefs, which will be hard for them to anfwer. Thus 
 much that the word Fornication is to be understood as the Language of Chrift un- 
 derstands it, for a conftant alienation and difaffeftion of mind, or for the con- 
 tinual practice of difobedience and croffhefs from the duties of love and peace; 
 that is in fum, when to be a tolerable Wife is either naturally not in their power, 
 or obftinately not in their will: and this Opinion alfo is St. Auftin's, left it Should 
 hap to be fufpefted of novelty. Yet grant the thing here meant were only Adul- 
 tery, the reafon of things will afford more to our afiertion, than did the reafon of 
 words. For why is Divorce unlawful but only for Adultery? becaufe, fay diey, 
 that crime only breaks the Matrimony. But this, I reply, the Institution it Self 
 gainfays: for that which is moil contrary to the words and meaning of the Insti- 
 tution, that molt breaks the Matrimony; but a perpetual unmeetnefs and unwil- 
 lingnefs to all the duties of Help, of Love, and Tranquillity, is moft contrary to 
 the words and meaning of the Institution; that therfore much more breaks Ma- 
 trimony than the aft of Adultery, though repeated. For this, as it is not felt, nor 
 troubles him who perceives it not, So being perceiv'd, may be Soon repented, 
 foon amended, foon, if it can be pardon'd, may be redeem'd with the more ardent 
 love and duty in her who hath the pardon. But this natural unmeetnefs both can- 
 not be unknown long, and ever after cannot be amended, if itbenatural, and will 
 
 not,. 
 
 ^^
 
 254 Ex portions on the four chief places in Scripture y 
 
 not, if it be far gone obftinate. So that wanting aught in the inftant to be as great 
 a breach as adultery, it gains it in the perpetuity to be greater. Next, Adultery 
 does not exclude her other fitnefs, her other pkafingnefs ; fhe may be otherwife 
 both lovino- and prevalent, as many Adultereffes be; but in this general unfitnefs 
 or alienatkon fhe can be nothing to him that can pleate. In Adultery nothing is 
 given from the Hufband, which he mififes, or enjoys the lefs, as it maybe futtly 
 given : but this unfitnefs defrauds him of the whole contentment which is fought 
 in Wedloc. And what benefit to him, though nothing be given by the ftealth of 
 Adultery to another, if that which there is to give, whether it be folace, or focie- 
 ty, be not fuch as may juftly content him ? and fo not only deprives him of what 
 it fhould give him, but gives him forrow and affliction, which it did not owe him. 
 B, fides, is Adultery the greateft breach of Matrimony in refpeft of the offence to 
 God or of the injury to Man ? If in the former, then other fins may offend God 
 more, and fooner caufe him to difunite his fervant from being oneflefh with fuch 
 an offender. If in refpeft of the latter, other injuries are demonftrated therin more 
 heavy to man's nature than the iterated act of Adultery. God therfore, in his 
 wifdom, would not fo difpofe his remedies, as to provide them for the lefs inju- 
 ries, and not allow them for the greater. Thus is won both from the word For- 
 nication, and the reaibn of Adultery, that the exception of Divorce is not limited 
 to that aft, but enlarg'd to the caufes above fpecify'd. 
 
 Aifdwhofo marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery^ By this Claufe 
 alone, if by nothing elfe, we may afTure us, that Chrift intended not to deliver 
 here the whole doftrine of Divorce, but only to condemn abufes. Otherwife to 
 marry after Defertion, which the Apoftle, and the reformed Churches at this day 
 permit, is here forbid, as Adultery. Be fhe never fo wrongfully deferted, or put 
 away, as the Law then fuffer'd, if thus forfaken and expulft, fhe accept the refuge 
 and proteftion of any honcfter man who wouldlove her better, and give herfelf in 
 Marriage to him, by what the letter guides us, it fhall be prefent Adultery to 
 them both. This is either harfh and cruel, or all the Churches teaching as they do 
 the contrary, are loofe and remifs; befides that the Apoftle himfelf Hands deeply 
 fin'd in a contradiction againft our Saviour. What fhall we make of this? what 
 rather the common interpreter can make of it, for they be his own markets, let 
 him now try ; let him try which way he can wind in his Vertumnian diftinftions 
 and evafions, if his canonical Gabardine of text and letter do not now fit too clofe 
 about him, and pinch his aftivity; which if I err not, hath here hamper'd it felf in 
 a fpring fit for thofe who put their confidence in Alphabets. Spanheim a writer of 
 Evangelic Doubts, comes now and confeffes that our Saviour's words are to be li- 
 mited beyond lhe limitation there expreji, and excepted beyond their own exception, 
 as not i peaking of what happen'd rarely, but what moft commonly. Is it fo rare, 
 Spanheim, to be deferted ? or was it then fo rare to put away injurioufly, that a per- 
 fon fo hatefully expell'd, fhould to the heaping of more injuiy be turn'd like an 
 infectious thing out of all Marriage-fruition upon pain of Adultery, as not consi- 
 derable to the brevity of this half fentence? Of what then fpeaks our Saviour? 
 of that collufion, faith he,which was then moft frequent among the Jews of changing 
 wives and husbands, through inconftancy and unchajh defires . Colluders your felves, 
 as violent to this Law of God by your unmerciful binding, as the Pharifees by their 
 unbounded loofening ! Have thoufands of Chriftian fouls perilh'd as to this life, 
 and God knows what hath betided their Confciences, for want of this healing ex- 
 planation ; and is it now at laft obfcurely drawn forth, only to cure a fcratch, 
 and leave the main wound fpouting? Whofoever putteth away his wife, except for 
 fornication, committeth adultery. That lhall be fpoke of all ages, and all men, 
 though never fo juftly otherwife mov'd to Divorce : In the very next breath, And 
 • whofo marrieth her which is put away, committeth adultery : the men are new and 
 miraculous, they tell you now you are to limit it to that age, when it was in fafoicn 
 to chop matrimonies; and mujl be meant of him who puts away with his wife's confent 
 through the lightnefs andleudnefs of them both. By what rule of Logic, or indeed 
 of Reaibn, is our commiflion to underftand the Antecedent one way and the Confe- 
 quent another? for in that habitude this whole verfe may be confidered: or at leaft 
 to take the parts of a copulate axiom, both abfolutely affirmative, and to lay, the 
 firft is abfolutely true, the other not, but muft be limited to a certain time and 
 cuftom •, which is no lefs than to fay they are both falfe? For in this compound axiom t 
 be the parts never fo many, if one of them do but falter, and be not equally abfo- 
 lute and general, the reft are all falfe. If therfore that he who marries her which is 
 put away commits adultery, be not generally true, neither is it generally true that be 
 commits adultery who puts away for other caufe (ban fornication. And if the marrying 
 
 her
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 255 
 
 her which is put away, muft be understood limited, which they cannot but yield 
 it mull, with the fame limitation muft beundcrftood the putting away. Thus doth 
 the common expofition confound it felf, and juftify this which is here brought; 
 that our Saviour as well in the firft part of this fentence as in the fecond, prohi- 
 bited only luch Divorces as the Jews then made through malice or through plotted 
 licence, not thofe which are for neceffary and juft caufes ; where charity and wif- 
 dom disjoins, that which not God, but Error and Difafter join'd. 
 
 And there is yet to this our expofition, a ftronger fiding friend, than any can 
 be an adverlary, unlefs St. Paul be doubted, who repeating a command concern- 
 ing Divorce, i Cor. y. which is- agreed by Writers to be the fame with this of our 
 Saviour,and appointing that the wife remain unmarried, or be reconciled to ber huf- 
 band, leaves it infallible that our Saviour fpake chiefly againft putting away for 
 cafual and choleric difagreements, or any other caufe which may widi human pa- 
 tience and wifdom be reconcil'd; not hereby meaning to hale and dalfi together 
 the irreconcileable averfations of nature, nor to tie up a faultlefs perfon like a 
 Parricide, as it were into one fack with an enemy, to be his cauflefs tormenterand 
 executioner the length of a long life. Laftly, let this fentence of Chriit be under- 
 stood how it will, yet that it was never intended for a judicial Law, to be en- 
 fore'd by the Magistrate, befides that the office of our Saviour had no fuch pur- 
 pofe in the Gofpel, this latter part of the fentence mayafTure us, And whofo mar- 
 rieth ber who is put away, commits adultery. Shall the exception for Adultery be- 
 long tothisclaufe or not? If not, it would be ftrange, that he who marries a Wo- 
 man really divore'd for Adultery, as Chrift permitted, fhould become an Adul- 
 terer by marrying one who is now no other man's Wife,himfelf being alfo free, 
 who might by this means reclaim her from common Whoredom. And if the excep- 
 tion muft belong hither, then it follows that he who marries an Adultrefs divore'd 
 commits noAdultery ; which would foon difcover to us what an abfurd andfenflefs 
 piece of injuftice this would be to make a civil Statute of in penal Courts : wher- 
 by the Adultrefs put away may marry another fafely, and without a crime to him 
 that marries her; but the innocent and wrongfully divore'd fhall not marry again 
 without the guilt of Adultery both to her felf and to her fecond hufband. This 
 faying of Chrift therfore cannot be made a temporal Law, were it but for this 
 reafon. Nor is it eafy to fay what coherence there is at all in it from the letter,to 
 any perfect fenfe not obnoxious to fome abfurdity, and feemsmuch lefs agreeable 
 to whatever elfe of the Gofpel is left us written ; doubtlcfs by our Saviour fpoken 
 in that fiercenefs and abftrufe intricacy, firft to amule his tempters, and admoniih 
 in general the abufers of that Mofaic Law; next, to let Herod know a fecond 
 knower of his unlawful act, though the Baptift were beheaded ; laft, that his 
 Difciples and all good men might learn to expound him in this place, as in all o- 
 ther his precepts, not by the written letter, but by that unerring paraphrafe of 
 Chriftian Love and Charity, which is the fum of all commands, and the perfection. 
 
 Vef. 10. His Difciples fay unto him, If the cafe of the man be fa with his Wife, 
 it is not good to marry. 
 
 This verfe I add, to leave no objection behind unanfwer'd: for fome may think, 
 if this our Saviour's fentence be fo fair, as not commanding aught that patience 
 or nature cannot brook, why then did the difciples murmur and fay, it is not good 
 to marry? I anfwer, that the Difciples had been longer bred up under the Phari- 
 fasan Doctrine, than under that of Chrift, and fo no marvel though they yet re- 
 tain'd the infection of loving old licentious cuftoms ; no marvel though they thought 
 it hard they might not for any offence that throughly anger'd them, divorce a 
 Wife, as well as put away a Servant, fince it was but giving her a Bill, as they 
 were taught. Secondly, it was no unwonted thing with them not to underftand 
 our Saviour in matters far eafier. So that be it granted their conceit of this text 
 was the lame which is now commonly conceiv'd, according to the ufual rate of 
 their capacity then, it will not hurt a better interpretation. But why did not 
 Chrift, feeing their error, inform them ? for good caufe ; it was his profeft method 
 not to teach them all things at all times, but each thing in due place and feafon. 
 Chrift faid, Luke 22. that he who had no Jword fhould fell his garment and buy 
 one : the Difciples took it in amanifeft wrong fenfe, yet our Saviour did not there 
 inform them better. He told them /'/ was eafier for a Camel to go through a needle's 
 eye, than a rich man in at heaven-gate. They were amaz'd exceedingly : he ex- 
 plain'd himfelf to mean of thofe who truft in riches, Mark 10. They were ama- 
 zed
 
 2 r 6 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture ', 
 
 ^ed than out of meafure, for fo Mark relates it; as if his explaining had increased 
 Their amazement in fuch a plain cafe, and which concern'd io nearly their calling 
 to be inform'd in. Good reafon therfore, if Chrift at that time did not Hand am- 
 plifying, to the thick prejudice and tradition wherin they were, this queftion of 
 more difficulty, and lefs concernment to any perhaps of them in particular. Yet 
 did he not omit to low within them the feeds of a fufficient determining,againft the 
 time that his promis'd Spirit mould bring all things to their memory. He had 
 declar'd in their hearing not long before, how diftant he was from aboiifhing the 
 Law it felf of Divorce-, he had referr'd them to the inftitution; and after all this, 
 gives them a fet anfwer, from which they might collect what was clear enough, 
 that all men cannot receive all fayings, ver. 1 1 . If fuch regard be had to each man's 
 receiving of Marriage or fingle life, what can arife that the fame chriftian re- 
 oard fhould not be had in molt neceffary Divorce? All which inftructed both 
 Them and us, that it befeem'd his Difciples to learn the deciding of this queftion, 
 which hath nothing new in it, firft by the inftitution, then by the general grounds 
 of Religion, not by a particular laying here or there, temper'd and levelled only 
 to an incident occafion, the riddance of a tempting alTault. For what can this be 
 but weak and fliallow apprehenlion, to forfake the ftandard principles of inftitu- 
 tion, faith, and charity ; then to be blank and various at every occurrence inScrip- 
 ture, and in a cold Spafm of fcruple, to rear peculiar doctrines upon the place, that 
 fhall bid the gray authority of moft unchangeable and fovereign Rules to ftand by 
 and be contradi&ed? Thus to this Evangelic precept of famous difficulty, which for 
 thefe many ages weakly underftood, and violently put in practice, hath made a 
 ihambles rather than an ordinance of Matrimony, I am firm a truer expofuion cannot 
 be o-iven. If this or that argument here us'd, pleafe not every one, there is no fcarcity 
 of arguments, any half of them will fuffice. Or fhould they all fail, as Truth it felf 
 can fail as foon, I fhould content me with the inftitution alone to wage this contro- 
 verfy, and not diftruft to evince. If any need it not, the happier ; yet Chriftians 
 ought to ftudy earneftly what may be another's need. But if, as mortal mifchances 
 are, fome hap to need it, let them be fure they abufe not, and give God his thanks, 
 who hath reviv'd this remedy, not too late for them, and fcower'd off an invete- 
 rate mifexpofition from the Gofpel : a work not to perifh by the vain breath or 
 doom of this age. Our next induftry lhall be, under the fame guidance, to try with 
 what fidelity that remaining paffage in the Epijlles touching this matter, hath been 
 commented. 
 
 i Cor. VII. io, &c. 
 
 io. And unto the married I command, &c. 
 1 1 . And let not the hujband put away his wife. 
 
 THIS intimates but what our Saviour taught before, that Divorce is not rafh- 
 ly to be made, but reconcilement to be periwaded and endeavour'd, as oft 
 as the caufe can have to do with reconcilement, and is net under the dominion of 
 blamelefs nature •, which may have reafon to depart, though feldomeft and laft 
 from charitable love, yet fometimes from friendly, and familiar, and fomething 
 oftner from conjugal love, which requires not only moral, but natural caufes to 
 the making and maintaining; and may be warrantably excus'd to retire from the 
 deception of what it jurtly feeks, and the ill requitals which unjuftjy it finds. 
 For Nature hath her Zodiac alfo, keeps her great annual circuit over human 
 things, as truly as the Sun and Planets in the firmament; hath her anomalies, hath 
 her obliquities in afcenfions and declinations, accefles and recefTes, as blamelefly 
 as they in Heaven. And fitting in her planetary Orb with two reins in each hand, 
 one ftrait, the other loofe, tempers the courfe of minds as well as bodies to feveral 
 conjunctions and oppofitions, friendly or unfriendly afpects, confenting ofteft 
 with reafon, but never contrary. This in the effect no man of meaneft reach but 
 daily fees; and though to every one it appear not in the caufe, yet to a clear ca- 
 pacity, well nurtur'd with good reading and obfervation, it cannot but be plain 
 andvifible. Other expofition therfore then hath been given to former places that 
 give light to thefe two fummary verfes, will not be needful: fave only that thefe 
 precepts are meant to thole married who differ not in Religion. 
 
 But to the reft fpeak I, not the Lord; if any brother hath a wife that believetb 
 not, andftie be pleafed to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 
 
 Now follows what is to be done, if the perfons wedded beof adifferentfaith. The 
 common belief is, that a Chriftian is here commanded not to divorce, if the Infidel 
 
 pleafe
 
 which treat of Nullities /^Marriage. 257 
 
 pleafe to (lay, though it be but to vex, or to deride, or to feduce the Chriftian. 
 This Doctrine will be theeafy work of a refutation. The other opinion is, that 
 a Chriftian is here conditionally permitted to hold Wedloc with a mifbeliever on- 
 ly, upon hopes limited by Chriftian prudence, which without much difficulty fhall 
 be defended. That this here fpoken by Paul, not by the Lord, cannot be a Com- 
 mand, thefereafons avouch. Firft, the Law of Mofcs, Exod. 34.16. Deut. 7. 3, 
 6. interpreted by Ezra and Nebemiah, two infallible authors, commands to di- 
 vorce an Infidel not for the fear only of a ceremonious defilement, but of an irre- 
 ligious feducement, fear'd both in refpect of the Believer himfelf, and of his Chil- 
 dren in danger to be perverted by the mifbelieving parent, Nehem. 13. 24, 26. 
 And Peter Martyr thought this a convincing reaibn. If therfore the legal pollu- 
 tion vanifhing, have abrogated the ceremony of this Law, fo that a Chriftian may 
 be permitted to retain an Infidel without uncleannefs, yet the moral reaibn of di- 
 vorcing ftands to eternity, which neither Apoftle nor Angel from heaven can 
 countermand. All that they reply to this, is their human warrant, that God will 
 preferve us in our obedience to this command againft the danger of feducement. 
 And fo undoudtedly he will, if we underftand his commands aright ; if we turn 
 not this evangelic permiflion into a legal, and yet illegal command; if we turn 
 not hope into bondage, the charitable and free hope of gaining another, into the 
 fore'd and fervile temptation of lofing our felves: but more of this beneath. Thus 
 thele words of Paul by common doctrine made a command, are made a contra- 
 diction to the moral Law. 
 
 Secondly, Not the Law only, but the Gofpel from the Law, and from it felf, 
 requires even in the fame chapter, where Divorce between them of one Religion 
 is fo narrowly forbid, rather than our Chriftian love fhould come into danger of 
 backfiiding, to forfake all relations how near foever, and the Wife exprefly, 
 with pro.mife of a high reward, Mat. 19. And he who hates not Father or Mo- 
 ther, Wife or Children, hindering his Chriftian courfe, much more if they defpife 
 or afiault it, cannot be a Difciple, Luke 14. How can the Apoftle then command 
 us to love and continue in that matrimony, which our Saviour bids us hate, and 
 forfake ? They can as foon teach our faculty of refpiration to contract and to di- 
 late it felf at once, to breathe and to fetch breath in the fame inftant,as teach our 
 minds how to do fuch contrary acts as thefe towards the fame object, and as they 
 mud be done in the fame moment. For either the hatred of her Religion, and her 
 hatred to our Religion will work powerfully againft the love of her fociety, or 
 the love of that will by degrees flatter out all our zealous hatred and forfaking, 
 and foon enfnare us to unchriftianly compliances. 
 
 Thirdly, In Marriage there ought not only to be a civil love, but fuch a love 
 as Chrift loves his Church ; but where the Religion is contrary without hope of 
 conversion, there can be no love, no faith, no peaceful fociety, (they of the other 
 opinion confefs it) nay there ought not to be, further than in expectation of gain- 
 ing a foul ; when that ceafes, we know God hath put an enmity between the feed 
 of the Woman, and the feed of the Serpent. Neither fhould -we love them that 
 hate the Lord, as the Prophet told Jehofaphat, 2 Chron. 19. And this Apoftle 
 himfelf in another place warns us that we be not unequally yoke'd with Infidels, 2 
 Cor. 6. for that there can be no fellowlhip, no communion, no concord between 
 fuch. Outward commerce and civil intercourfe cannot perhaps be avoided ; but 
 true friendftiip and familiarity there can be none. How vainly therfore, not to 
 fay how impioufly would the moft inward and dear alliance of Marriage or con- 
 tinuance in Marriage be commanded, where true friendftiip is confeft impofiible? 
 For fay they, we are forbid here to marry with an Infidel, not bid to divorce. 
 But to rob the words thus of their full fenfe, will not be allow'd them : it is not 
 faid, enter not into yoke, but be not unequally yoke'd; which plainly forbids the 
 thing in prefent act, as well as in purpofe : and his manifeft conclufion is, not 
 only that we JJjould not touch, but that having touch'd, wejhould come out from a- 
 mong them, and be feparate ; with the promife of a bleffing therupon, that God will 
 receive us, will be our father, and we hisfons and daughters, ver. 17, 18. Why we 
 fhould ftay with an Infidel after the expence of all our hopes, can be but for a ci- 
 vil relation •, but why we fhould depart from a feducer, fetting afide the mifcon- 
 ftruction ofthis place, is Irom a religious neceffity of departing. The worle caufe 
 therfore of ftaying (if it be any caufe at all, for civil Government forces it not) 
 muft not overtop the religious caufe of feparating, executed with fuch an urgent 
 zeal, and fuch a proftrate humiliation by Ezra and Nebemiah. What GuJ hates 
 to join, certainly he cannot love fhould continue join'd : it being all one in 
 matter of ill confequence, to marry, or to continue married with an Infidel, lave 
 
 Vol. I. LI only
 
 2C 8 Expofitions on the four chief places in Scripture , 
 
 only fo long as we wait willingly, and with a fate hope. St. Paul therfore citing 
 here a command of the Lord Almighty, for fo he terms it, that we ihou]d foparate, 
 cannot have bound us with that which he calls his own, whether command or coun- 
 fel, that we fhould not feparate. 
 
 Which is the fourth Reafon, for he himfelf takes care left we fhould miftake 
 him, {But to the reft /peak I, not the Lord.] If the Lord fpake not, then Man 
 fpake it, and Man hath no Lordfhip to command the confcience: yet modern In- 
 terpreters will have it a command, maugre St. Paul himfelf, they will make him 
 him a Prophet like Caiaphas, to (peak the word of the Lord, not thinking, nay 
 denying to think ; though he difavow to have receiv'd it from the Lord, his 
 word fhall not be taken ; though an Apoftle, he fhall be borne down in his own 
 Epiftle, by a race of Expofitors who prefume to know from whom he fpake, 
 better than he himfelf. Paul depofes that the Lord fpeaks not this •, they, that the 
 Lord fpeaks it: Can this be lefs than to brave him with a full-fac'd contradic- 
 tion? Certainly to fuch a violence as this, for I cannot call it an expounding, what 
 a man fhould anfwer I know not, unlefs that if it be their pleafure next to put a 
 gag into the Apoftle's mouth, they are already furnifh'd with a commodious au- 
 dacity toward the attempt. Bcza would feem to ihun the contradi&ory, by telling 
 us that the Lord fpake it not in perfon, as he did the former precept. But how 
 many other Doclxines doth St. Paul deliver, which the Lord fpake not in per- 
 fon, and yet never ufes this preamble but in things indifferent? So long as we receive 
 him for a meffenger of God, for him to ftand forting Sentences what the Lord 
 fpake in perfon, and what he, not the Lord in perfon, would be but a chili tri- 
 fling, and his Readers might catch an Ague the while. But if we fhall f upply the 
 Grammatical Ellipjis regularly, and as we muft in the fame ten/e, all will be then 
 clear, for we cannot fupply it thus, to the reft I fpeak ; the Lord fpake not, but I 
 fpeak, the Lord fpeaks not. If then the Lord neither fpake in perlbn, nor fpeaks 
 it now, the Apoftle teftifying both, it follows duly, that this can be no command. 
 Forfooth the fear is, left this not being a command, would prove an evangelic 
 counfel, and fo make way for fupererogations. As if the Apoftle could not fpeak 
 his mind in things indifferent, as he doth in four or five feveral places of this 
 chapter with the like preface of not commanding, but diat the doubted inconve- 
 nience of fupererogating muft needs rufh in. And how adds it to the Word of 
 the Lord, (for this alio they objeci:) whenas the Apoftle by his chriftian pru- 
 dence guides us in the liberty which God hath left us to, without command? 
 Could not the Spirit of God indraft us by him what was free, as well as what was 
 not ? But what need I more, when Cameron an ingenuous writer, and in high ef- 
 teem, fol idly confutes thefurmife of a command here, and among other words 
 haththefe ; That when Paul /peaks as an Apoftle, he u/es this form, The Lord faith, 
 not I, ver. 10. but as a private man he/aith, I fpeak, not the Lord. And thus al- 
 io all the prime fathers, Auftin, Jerom, and the reft underftood this place. 
 
 Fifthly, The very ftating of the Queftion declares this to be no Command; 
 If any Brother hath an unbelieving Wife, and foe be plea/ed to dwell with him, let 
 him not put her away. For the Greek word <rwu£<»u7 does not imply only her being 
 pleas'd to ftay, but his being pleas'd to let her ftay ; it muft be a confent of them 
 both. Korean the force of this word be render'd lefs, without either much neg- 
 ligence or iniquity of him that otherwife tranflates it. And thus the Greek Church 
 alio and their Synods underftood it, who beft knew what their own language 
 meant, as appears by Matthaus Monacbus, an Author fet forth by Leunclavius, 
 and of antiquity perhaps not inferior to Bal/amon, who writes upon the Canons 
 of the Apoftles : this Author in his chap. That Marriage is not to be made with 
 Heretics, thus recites the fecond Canon of the 6th Synod: As to the Corinthians, 
 Paul determines ; 1/ the believing Wife chu/e to live with the unbelieving Husband, 
 or the believing Husband with the unbelieving Wife. Mark, faith he, how the Apo- 
 ftle here conde/cends, i/ the Believer plea/e to dwell with the Unbeliever ; fo that if he 
 plea/e not, out o/ doubt the Marriage is dijfolv'd. And I am per/waded it was fo in 
 the beginning, and thus preach'd. And therupon gives an example of one, who 
 though not deferted, yet by the Decree of Theodotus the Patriarch divore'd an un- 
 believing Wife. What therfore depends in the plain ftateof this queftion on the 
 confent and well liking of them both, muft not be a command. Lay next the 
 latter end of the nth verfe to the 12th (for wherfore elfe is Logic taught us) in a 
 di/creet axiom, as it can be no other by the phrafe ; The Lord Jaith, Let not the 
 Husband put away his Wife : but I /ay, Let him not put away a misbelieving Wife, 
 I his founds as if by the judgment of Paul, a man might put away any Wife but the 
 mifbelieving ; or elfe the parts are not di/creet, or dijjentany, for both conclude not
 
 which treat of Nullities /'# Marriage. 2 c q 
 
 putting away, and confequently in fuch a form the propofition is ridiculous. Of 
 necefiity therfore the former part of this fentence mult be conceiv'd, as underftood, 
 and filently granted, that although the Lord command to divorce an infidel, yet 
 I, not the Lord command you? No, but give my judgment, that for fome evan- 
 gelic reafons a Chriilian may be permitted not to divorce her. Thus while we re- 
 duce the brevity of St. Paul to a plainer fenfe, by the needful fupply of that which 
 was granted between him and the Corinthians, the very logic of his fpeech ex- 
 tracts him conferring that the Lord's command lay in a leaning contrariety to this 
 his counfel : and that he meant not to thruft out a command of the Lord by a new 
 one of his own, as one nail drives another, but to releafe us from the rigour of it, 
 by the right of the Gofpel, fo far forth as a charitable caufe leads us on in the hope 
 of winning another foul without the peril of lofing our own. For this is the glory 
 of the Gofpel, to teach us that the end of the commandment is charity, i Tim. 1. not 
 the drudging out a poor and worthlefs duty fore'd from us by the tax and tale of 
 fo many letters. This doftrine therfore can be no command, but it muil contra- 
 dict the moral Law, the Gofpel, and the Apoftle himiclf, both elfewhere and here 
 alfo even in the aft of fpeaking. 
 
 If then it be no command, it mult remain to be a permiffion, and that not ab- 
 folute, for fo it would be (till contrary to the law, but with fuch a caution as breaks 
 not the Law, but as the manner of the Gofpel is, fulfils it through Charity, The 
 Law had two reafons, the one was ceremonial, the pollution that all Gentiles were 
 to the Jews; this the vifion of Peter had abolifh'd, Acts 10. and cleans'd all 
 creatures to the ui'e of a Chriftian. The Corinthians underftood not this, but fear'd 
 left dwelling in matrimony with an unbeliever, they were defil'd. The Apoftle 
 difcufies that fcruple with an Evangelic reafon, fhewing them that although God 
 heretofore under the Law, not intending the converfion of the Gentiles, except 
 fome fpecial ones, held them as polluted things to the Jew, yet now purpofino- 
 to call them in, he hath purify'd them from that legal uncleannefs wherin they 
 flood, to ufe and to be us'd in a pure manner. 
 
 For faith he, The unbelieving husband isfantliffd by the wife, and the unbelieving 
 wife isfancliffd by the husband, elfe were your children unclean ; but now they are 
 holy. That is, they are fanftify'd to you, from that legal impurity which you fo 
 fear; and are brought into a near capacity to be holy, if they believe, and to have 
 free accefs to holy things. In the mean time, as being God's creatures, a Chriftian 
 hath power to ufe them according to their proper ufe ; in as much as now, all things 
 to the pure are become pure. In this legal refpeft therfore ye need not doubt to con- 
 tinue in Marriage with an unbeliever. Thus others alfo expound this place, and 
 Cameron efpecially. This reafon warrants us only what we may do without fear 
 of pollution, does not bind us that we mult. But the other reafon of the Law to 
 divorce an infidel was moral, the avoiding of enticement from the true Faith. 
 This cannot fhrink ; but remains in as full force as ever, to fave the aftual Chriftian 
 from the fnare of a mifbeliever. Yet if a Chriftian full of grace and fpiritual gifts, 
 finding the mifbeliever not frowardly aftefted, fears not a feducing, but hopes 
 rather a gaining, who fees not this moral Reafon is not violated by not divorcing, 
 which the Law commanded to do, but better fulfill'd by the excellence of the 
 Gofpel working through Charity ? For neither the faithful is fedue'd, and the un- 
 faithful is either fav'd, or with all difcharge of love, and evangelic duty fought to 
 be fav'd. But contrary- wife if the infirm Chriftian fhall be commanded here a- 
 gainft his mind, againft his hope, and againft his ftrength, to dwell with all the 
 fcandals, the houlhold perfections, or alluring temptations of an Infidel, how is 
 not the Gofpel by this made harfher than the Law, and more yoking ? Therfore 
 the Apoftle ere he delivers this other reafon why we need not in all hafte put a- 
 way an Infidel, his mind mifgiving him, left he fhould feem to be the impofer of 
 a new command, ftays not for method, but with an abrupt fpeed inlerts the de- 
 claration of their liberty in this matter. 
 
 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart ■, a brother or a Jifier is not under 
 bondage in fuch cafes : but God hath called us to peace. 
 
 But if the unbelieving depart.] This cannot be reftrain'd to local departure 
 only ; for who knows not that an offenfive fociety is worfe than a forfaking. If 
 his purpofe of cohabitation be to endanger the life, or the conicience, Bezahim- 
 felf is half perfuaded, that this may purchafe to the faithful perfon the fame 
 freedom that a defertion may ; and fo Gerard and others whom he cites. If 
 therfore he depart in afreftion ; if he depart from giving hope of his conver- 
 fion; ifhedifturb, or feoff at Religion, feduce, or tempt; if he rage, doubt- 
 lefs not the weak only, but the ftrong may leave him ; if not for fear, yet 
 
 Vol. I. L 1 2 for
 
 260 Expofitions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 for the dignity's fake of Religion, which cannot be liable to all bafe affronts, 
 meerly for the worfhipping of a civil Marriage. I take therfore departing to be- 
 as laro-e as the negative of being well pleas'd : that is, if he be not pleas'd for the 
 pre'fent to live lovingly, quietly, inoffenfively, fo as may give good hope; which 
 appears well by that which follows. 
 
 A brother cr a fifter is not under bondage in fitch cafes.'] If St. Paul provide fe- 
 rioudy againft the bondage of a Chriftian, it is not the only bondage to live unmar- 
 ried for a deferring Infidel, but to endure his prefence intolerably, to bear Indig- 
 nities ao-ainft his Religion in words or deeds, to be wearied with inducements, to 
 have idolatries and fuperftitions ever before his eyes, to be tormented with im- 
 pure and prophane converfation ; this muft needs be bondage to a Chriftian : is 
 this left all unprovided for, without remedy, or freedom granted ? Undoubtedly 
 no ; for the Apoftle leaves it further to be confider'd with prudence, what bon- 
 dage a brother or fifter is not under, not only in this cafe, but as he fpeaks him- 
 fe!f plurally, in fetch cafes. 
 
 But God hath called us to peace. ,] To peace, not to bondage, not to brabbles and 
 contentions with him who is not pleas'd to live peaceably, as Marriage and Chri- 
 ftianity require. And where ftrifearifes from a caafe hopelefs to be allay'd, what 
 better way to peace than by feparating that which is ill join'd ? It is not Divorce 
 that firft breaks the peace of a family, as fome fondly comment on this place, 
 but it is peace already broken, which, when other cures fail, can only be rcftor'd 
 to the faultlefs perlbn by a neceffary Divorce. And St. Paul here warrants us to 
 feek peace, rather than to remain in bondage. If God hath call'd us to peace, why 
 Ihould we not follow him? why Ihould we miferably flay in perpetual difcord 
 under a fervitude not requir'd? 
 
 For what knoweft thou, Wife, whether thou fhalt fave thy Husband, &c] St. 
 Paul having thus clear'd himfelf, not to go about the mining of our Chriftian, 
 liberty, not to cafe afnare upon us, which to do he fo much hated, returns now to 
 the fecond reafon of that Law, to put away an Infidel for fear of inducement, which 
 he does not here contradict with a Command riow to venture that ; but if neither 
 the infirmity of the Chriftian, nor the ftrength of the Unbeliever be fear'd, but 
 hopes appearing that he may be won, he judges it no breaking of that Law, 
 though the Believer be permitted to forbear Divorce, and can abide, without the 
 peril of feducement, to offer the charity of a falvation toWife or Hufband, which 
 is the fulfilling, not the tranfgrefling of that Law, and well worth the underta- 
 king with much hazard and patience. For what knoweft thou whether thou fhalt 
 i\\v& thy Wife, that is, till all means convenient and pofiible with difcretion and 
 probability, as human things are, have been us'd. For Chrift himfelf fends not 
 bur hope on pilgrimage to the World's end-, but fets it bounds, beyond which we 
 need not wait on a Brother, much lefs on an Infidel. If after fuch a time we may 
 count a profeffing Chriftian no better than a Heathen, after lefs time perhaps we 
 may ceafe to hope of a Heathen, that he will turn Chriftian. Otherwise, to bind 
 us harder than the Law, and tell us we are not under Bondage, is meer mockery. 
 If till the unbeliever pleafe to part, we may not ftir from the houfe of our bon- 
 dage, then certain this our liberty is not grounded in the purchafe of Chrift, but 
 in the pleafure of a Mifcreant. What knows the loyal Hufband, whether he may 
 not fave the Adultrefs ? he is not therfore bound to receive her. What knows the 
 Wife, butfhemay reclaim her Hufband who hath deferted her? Yet the reform- 
 ed Churches do not enjoin her to wait longer than after the contempt of an Ec- 
 clefiaftical Summons. Beza himfelf here befriends us with a remarkable Speech, 
 What could be firmly conflituted in human matters, if under pretence of expecling 
 grace from above, it fjould be never lawful for us to feek our right ? And yet in other 
 cafes not lefs reaibnable to obtain a molt j uft and needful remedy by Divorce, he 
 turns the innocent party to a talk of prayers beyond the multitude of Beads and 
 Rofaries, to beg the gift of Chaftity in recompence of an injurious Marriage. But 
 the Apoftle is evident enough, we are not under bondage, trufting that he writes to 
 thole who are not ignorant what Bondage is, to let fupercilious determiners cheat 
 them of their freedom. God hath call'd us to peace, and fo doubtlefs hath left in 
 our hands how to obtain it feafonably j if it be not our own choice to fit ever 
 like novices wretchedly fervile. 
 
 Thus much the Apoftle in this queftion between Chriftian and Pagan, tons now 
 of little ufc ; yet fuppofing it written for our inftruftion, as it may be rightly ap- 
 ply'd, J doubt not but that the difference between a true believer and a heretic, 
 or any one truly religious either deferted or feeking Divorce from any one grofly 
 erroneous or prophane, may be referr'd hither. For St. Ptfw/leaves us here the fo- 
 4 lution
 
 which treat of Nullities //^Marriage. %6i 
 
 lution not of this cafe only, which little concerns us, but of fuch like cafes, which 
 may occur to us. For where the realons directly fquare, who can forbid why the 
 verdict lhould not bethe fame ? But this the common Writersallow us not. And yet 
 from this Text, which in plain words gives liberty to none, unlefs deferted by an 
 Infidel, they collect the fame freedom, though the defertion be not for Religion, 
 which, as I conceive, they need not do; but may, without draining, reduce it to 
 the caufe of Fornication. For firft, they confers that defertion is feldom without 
 a juft fufpicion of Adultery : next, it is a breach of Marriage in the fame kind, 
 and in ibme fort worfe : for Adultery, though it give to another, yet it bereaves 
 not all; but the deferter wholly denies a!l right, and makes one flefh twain, which 
 is counted the abfoluteft breach of Matrimony, and caufes the other, as much as in 
 him lies, to commit fin, by being lb left. Neverthelefs, thofe reafons which they 
 bring of eftablifhing by this place the like liberty from any delertion, are fair and 
 folid : and if the thing be lawful, and can be prov'd lb, more ways than one, fo 
 much the fafer. Their arguments I fhall here recite, and that they may not come 
 idle, fhall ufe them to make good the like freedom to Divorce for other caufes; 
 and that we are no more under Bondage to any heinous default againft the main 
 ends of Matrimony, than to a Delertion : Firit they ailedge that to i Tim. 5. b\ 
 If any provide not for thofe of his own houfe, be hath deny'd the faith, and is worfe 
 than an Infidel. But a deferter, fiy they, can have no care of them -who are moft his 
 own ; therfore ihe deferted party is not lefs to be righted againfl fuch a one, than againji 
 an Infidel. With the fime .evidence I argue, that Man or Wife who hates in 
 Wedloc, is perpetually unfociab'.e, unpeaceful, or unduteous, either not being 
 able, or not willing to perform what the main ends ot Marriage demand in help 
 and folace, cannot be laid to care for whofhould be deareft in the houfe; therfore 
 is woffe than an Infidel in both regards, either in undertaking a duty which he 
 cannot perform, to the undeferved and unfpeakable injury of the other party fo 
 defrauded and betray'd, or not performing what he hath undertaken, whenas he 
 may or might have, to the perjury ofhimfelf, more irreligious than heathenifm. 
 The blamelefs perfon therfore hath as good a plea to fue out his delivery from 
 this bondage, as from the defertion of an Infidel. Since moft Writers cannot but 
 grant that delertion is not only a local abfence, but an intolerable fociety; or if they 
 grant it not, the reafons of St. Paul grant it, with as much leave as they grant to 
 enlarge a particular freedom from paganifm, into a general freedom from any de- 
 fertion. Secondly, they reafon from the likenefs of either t~a.8:,thefame lofs redounds 
 to the deferted by a Chrifiian, as by an Infidel, the fame peril of temptation. And I in 
 like manner affirm, that if honelt and free perfons may be allow'd to know what 
 i > moft to their own lofs, the fame lofs and difcontent, but worfe difquiet,with con- 
 tinual mifery and temptation, refides in the company, or better call'd the perfe- 
 cuiion of an unfit, or an unpeaceable Confort, than by his defertion. For then the 
 deferted may enjoy himfelf at leaft. And he who deferts is more favourable to the 
 party whom his prefence afflicts, than that importunate thing which is and will 
 be ever converfant before the eyes, a loyal and individual vexation. As for thofe 
 who ftill rudely urge it no lofs to Marriage, no Defertion, fo long as the Fleih is 
 prefent, and offers a Benevolence that hates, or is juft y hated ; I am not of that 
 vulgar ami low perfuafion, to think fuch fore'd embracements as thele worth 
 the honour, or the humanity of Marriage, but far beneath the foul of a rational 
 and free-born Man. Thirdly, they fay, It is not the Infidelity of the deferter, but 
 , lion of the Infidel, from which the Apojlle gives this freedom ; and I join, that 
 the Apoftle could as little require our fubjection to an unfit and injurious Bondage 
 prefent, as to an Infidel abfent. To free us from that which is an evil by being 
 diftant, and not from that which is an inmate, and in the bofom evil, argues an 
 improvident and carelefs Deliverer. And thus all occalions, which way foever 
 they turn, are notunofficious to adminifter fomething which may conduce to ex- 
 plain, or to defend the alfertion of this book touching Divorce. I complain of 
 nothing, but that it is indeed too copious to be the matter of a ditpute, or a de- 
 fence, rather to be yielded, as in the bell Ages, a thing of common Reafon, not 
 of Controverfy. What have I left to lay ? I fear to be more elaborate in fuch a per- 
 fpicuity as this ; left I fhould feem not to teach, but to upbraid the dulnefs of an 
 Age ; not to commune with reafon in men, but to deplore the lofs of reafon from 
 among men : this only, and not the want of more to fay, is the limit of my difcourfe. 
 
 Who among the Fathers have interpreted the words of Chrift concerning Divorce, 
 as is here interpreted; and what the Civil La-j* of Chrifiian Emperors in the 
 primitive Church determin'd. 
 
 Although
 
 2.62 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture, 
 
 Although teftimony be in Logic an argument rightly call'd inartificial, and 
 doth not folidly fetch the truth by multiplicity of Authors, nor argue a thing falfe 
 bv the few that hold fo ; yet feeing molt men from their youth fo accuftom, as 
 not to fcan reafon, nor clearly to apprehend it, but to truft tor that the names and 
 numbers of fuch, as have got, and many times undefervedly, the reputation among 
 them to know much •» and becaufe there is a vulgar alio of teachers, who are us 
 blindly by whom they fancy led, as they lead the people, it will not be amifs for 
 them who had rather lift thcmfelves under this weaker fort, and follow authori- 
 ties, to take notice that this opinion which I bring, hath been favour'd, and by 
 fome of thofe affirm'd, who in their time were able to carry what they taught, 
 had they urg'd it, through all Chriftendom; or to have left it fuch a credit with 
 all <*ood men, as they who could not boldly ufe the opinion, would have fear'd to 
 ceniure it. But fince by his appointment on whom the times and feafons wait, 
 every point of doctrine is not fatal to be throughly fifted out in every age, it wi 1 
 be enough for me to find, that the thoughts of wifeft heads heretofore, and hearts 
 no lefs reverene'd for devotion have tended this way, and contributed their lot in 
 fome o-ood meafure towards this which hath been here attained. Others of them, 
 and modern efpecially, have been as full in the aflertion, though not fo full in 
 the reafon •, fo that either in this regard, or in the former, I fhall be manifeft in 
 a middle fortune to meet the praife or difpraife of being fomething firft. 
 
 But I defer not what I undertook to fhew, that in the Church both primitive 
 and reformed, the words of Chrift have been underftood to grant Divorce for o- 
 thcr caufes than Adultery, and that the word fornication in Marriage hath a larger 
 fenfe than that commonly fuppos'd. 
 
 Juftin Martyr in his firft Apology, written within 50 years after St. John died, 
 relates a ftory which Eufebius mnienbts, that a certain Matron of Rome, tiie Wife 
 of a vicious Hufband, her felf alio formerly vicious, but converted to the Faith, 
 and perfuading the fame to her Hufband, at lead the amendment of his wicked 
 life upon his not yie'diig to her daily entreaties and perfuafions in this behalf, 
 pro'cur'd by Law to be divore'd from him. This was neither for Adultery, nor 
 Defertion, but as the relation fays, efteeming it an ungodly thing to be the confort of 
 bed with him, who againfi the Law cf 'Nature and of Right fought out voluptuous 
 ways. Suppofe he endeavour'd fome unnatural abufe, as the Greek admit; that 
 meaning it cannot yet be call'd Adultery ; ittherfore could be thought worthy 
 of Divorce no otherwife than as equivalent, or worfe; and other vices will ap- 
 pear in other refpedts as much divorcive. Next, 'tis faid her friends advis'd her to 
 itay a while; and what reafon gave they? not becaufe they held unlawful what/he 
 purpos'd, but becaufe they thought Die might longer yet hope his repentance. 
 She obey'd, till the man going to Alexandria, and from thence reported to grow 
 ftill more impenitent, not for any Adultery or Defertion, wherof neither can be 
 gather'd, but faith the Martyr, and fpeaks it like one approving, left fhe fhould be 
 far taker of his unrighteous and ungodly deeds, remaining in IVedloc, the communion of 
 bed and board with fuch a perfon,jhe left him by a lawful Divorce. Tins cannot but 
 give us the judgment of the Church in thofe pure and next to Apoftolic times. 
 For how elfe could the Woman have been permitted, or here not reprehended? 
 and if a Wife might then do this without reproof, a Hufband certainly might no 
 lefs, if not more. 
 
 Tertullian in the fame Age, writing his 4th Book againft Marcion, witneffes that 
 Chrift by his anfwer to the Pharifees, protecled the cenfitution of Moles as his own, 
 and diretledthe inftitution of the Creator, for I alter not his Carthaginian phrafe-, 
 he excus'd rather than deftrofd the conftitution o/Mofes ; I fay, he forbid conditional- 
 ly, if any one therfore put away, that he may marry another: fo that if he prohibited 
 conditionally, then not wholly ; and what he forbad not wholly, he permitted ether- 
 wife, where the caufe ceafes for which he prohibited : that is, when a man makes it 
 not the caufe of his putting away, meerly that he may marry again. Chrift teaches 
 not contrary to Mofes, the juftice of Divorce hath Chrift the after ter: he would not 
 have Marriage feparate, nor kept .with ignominy, permitting then a Divorce ■, and 
 gueffes that this vehemence of our Saviour's fentence was chiefly bent againft He- 
 rod, as was cited before. Which leaves it evident how "Tertullian interpreted this 
 prohibition of our Saviour: for wheras the Text is, I'/hofoever putteth away, and 
 marrieth another; wherfore fhould Tertullian explain it, Whofoever putteth away 
 that he may marry another, but to fignify his opinion, that our Saviour did not 
 forbid Divorce from an unworthy Yoke, but forbid the Malice or the Luft of a 
 needlefs Change, and chiefly thofe plotted Divorces than in ufe? 
 
 4 Origer.
 
 which treat of Nullities //^Marriage. 26" 
 
 Origcn in the next century teftifies to have known certain who had the govern.- 
 ipent of Churches in his time, who permitted fome to marry, while yet their for- 
 mer hufbands liv'd, and excufes the deed, as done not without caufe, though without 
 Scripture, which confirms that caufe not to be Adultery ; for how then was it a- 
 gainft Scripture that they married again? And a little beneath, for I cite his yth 
 homily on Matthew, faith he, To endure faults worfe than adultery and fornication, 
 fcems a thing unreasonable; and difputes therfore that Chrift did not fpeak by way 
 of precept, but as it were expounding. By which, and the like fpeeches, Origen de- 
 clares his mind, far from thinking that our Saviour confin'd all the caufes of Di- 
 vorce to actual adultery. 
 
 Laclantius of the age that fucceeded, fpeaking of this matter in the 6tb of his 
 Infiitutions, hath thefe words : But left any think he may circumfcribe divine precepts 
 let this be added, that all mi/interpreting, and occafion of fraud or death may be re* 
 mov'd, he commits adultery who marries the divore'd wife ; and, befides the crime of 
 adultery, divorces a wife that he may marry another . To divorce and marry another 
 and to divorce that he may marry another, are two different things ; and imply 
 that Laclantius thought not this place the forbidding of all neceffary Divorce, but 
 fuch only as proceeded from the wanton defire of a future choice, not from the 
 burden of a prefent affliction. 
 
 About this time the Council of Eli 'bcr is in Spain decreed the humand excommu- 
 nicate, if he kept his wife being an adultrefs; but if he left her, be might after ten 
 years be receiv'd into communion, if he retain' d her any while in his houfe after the a- 
 ditltery known. The Council of Neoc<cfarea in the year 314, decreed, That 
 if the wife of any Laic were convicted of adultery, that man could not be admit- 
 ted into the Miniilry : if after ordination it were committed, he was to divorce 
 her; if not, he could not hold his Miniftry. The Council of Nantes condemned 
 in feven years penance the hufband that would reconcile with an adultrefs. Bur 
 how proves this that other caufes may divorce? It proves thus: There can be but 
 two caufes why thefe Councils enjoin'd fo ftrictly the divorcing of an adultreK 
 either as an offender againft God, or againit the hufband; in the latter refpect 
 they could not impofe on him to divorce ; for every man is the mafter of his own 
 forgivenefs; who fhall hinder him to pardon the injuries done againft himfelf? 
 It follows therfore, that the divorce of an adultrefs was commanded by thefe three 
 Councils, as it was a fin againft God; and by all confequence they could not but 
 believe that other fins as heinous might with equal juftice be the ground of a di- 
 vorce. 
 
 Bafil in his 73d Rule, as Chamier numbers it, thus determines; That divorce 
 ought not to be, unlels for adultery, or the hindrance to a godly life. What 
 doth this but proclaim aloud more caufes of divorce than adultery, if by other fins 
 befides this, in wife or hufband, the godlinefs of the better perfon may be cer- 
 tainly hinder'd and endanger'd? 
 
 Epiphanius no lefs ancient, writing againft Heretics, and therfore fliould him- 
 felf be orthodoxal above others, acquaints us in his fecond book, Tom. 1. not that 
 his private perfuafion was, but that the whole Church inhistime generally thought 
 other caufes of divorce lawful befides adultery, as comprehended under that name: 
 If, faith he, a divorce happen for any caufe, either fornication, or adultery, or any 
 heinous fault, tlje word of God blames not either the man or wife marrying again, nor 
 cuts them off from the congregation, or from life, but bears with the infirmity ; not 
 thai he may keep both wives, but that leaving the former he may be lawfully joined to 
 the latter : the holy Word, and the holy Church of God commifcrates this man, efpe- 
 cially if be be otherwife of good converfation, and live according to God's Law. This 
 place is clearer than expolition, and needs no comment. 
 
 Ambrofe on the 16th of Luke, teaches that all wedloc is not God's joining : and 
 to the ia.th of Prov. That a wife is prepar'd of the Lord, as the old L0.U11 tram 
 lates it, he anfwers, that the Septuagint renders it, a wife is fitted by the Lord, 
 and temper' d to a kind of harmony ; and where that harmony is, there God joins ; 
 where it is not, there diffenfion reigns, which is not from God, for God is Love. 
 This he brings to prove the marrying of Chriftian with Gentile to be no mar- 
 riage, and confequcntly divore'd without fin: but he who fees not this Argu- 
 ment how plainly it ferves to divorce any untunable, or unatonable matrimo- 
 ny, fees little. On the \ft to the Cor. 7. he grants a woman may leave her 
 hufband not for only Fornication, but for Apojtacy, and inverting nature, though 
 not marry again ; but the man may : here are caufes of divorce ailien'd o- 
 ther than adultery. And going on, he affirms, that the caufe of God i .; eat- 
 er than the caufe of matrimony ; that the reverence of wedloc is not due to him 
 
 who
 
 264 Expoftions on the four chief places in Scripture *, 
 
 who hates the author therof; that no matrimony is firm without devotion to God; 
 that difioncur done to God acquits the other being defer ted from the bond of matrimo- 
 77v, that the faith of marriage is not to be kept with fitch . If thefe contorted fen- 
 tences be aught worth, it is not the dcfertion that breaks what is broken, but the 
 impiety ; and who then may not for that caufe better divorce, than tarry to be 
 deferted? or thefe grave fayings of St. Ambrofe are but knacks. 
 
 Jerom on the 19th of Matthew explains, that for the caufe of fornication, or 
 the fufpicion therof , a man may freely divorce. What can breed that fufpicion, but 
 fundry faults leading that way? by Jerom's confent therfore Divorce is free not 
 only for actual adultery, but for any caufe that may incline a wife man to the 
 juft fufpicion therof. 
 
 Auftin alio muft be remember'd among thofe who hold that this inftance of 
 fornication gives equal inference toother faults equally hateful, for which to di- 
 vorce: and therfore in his Books to Poilentius he difputes that Infidelity, as being 
 a greater fin than Adultery ', ought fo much the rather caufe a divorce. And on the 
 Sermon in the Mount, under the name of fornication will have idolatry, or any 
 harmful fuperftition contain'd, which are not thought to difturb Matrimony fo di- 
 rectly as fome other obftinacies and difaffections, more againft the daily duties of 
 that covenant, and in the Eaflern tongues not unfrequently call'd fornication, as 
 hath been fhewn. Hence is underftood, faith he, that not only for bodily fornication, 
 but for that which draws the mind from Goa's law, and foully corrupts it , a man 
 may without fault put away his wife, and a wife her husband, becaufe the Lord ex- 
 cepts the caufe of fornication, which fornication we are conftrairfd to interpret in a 
 general fenfe. And in the firft book of his Retraclations, chap. 16. he retracts not 
 this his opinion, but commends it to ferious confideration •, and explains that he 
 counted not there all fin to be fornication, but the more deteftable fort of fins. 
 The caufe of Fornication therfore is not in this difcourfe newly interpreted ta 
 fignify other faults infringing the duties of Wedloc, befides Adultery. 
 
 Laftly, the Council of Agatha in the year 506, Can. 25. decreed, that if Lay- 
 men who divorc'd without fome great fault, or giving no probable caufe, therfore di- 
 vorc'd, that they might marry fome unlawful perfon, or fome other man' 's, if before the 
 provincial Bifhops were made acquainted, or judgment pafi, they prefam'd this, Ex- 
 communication was the penalty. Whence it follows, that if the caufe of Divorce 
 were fome great offence, or that they gave probable caufes for what they did, and 
 did not therfore divorce that they might prefume with fome unlawful perfon, or 
 what was another man's, the cenfure of Church in thofe days did not touch them. 
 Thus having alledg'd enough to fhew, after what manner the primitive Church 
 for above 500 years underftood our Saviour's words touching Divorce, I fhall now, 
 with a labour lefs difperft, and fooner difpatch'd, bring under view what the ci- 
 vil Law of thofe times conftituted about this matter: I fay the civil Law, which 
 is the honour of every true Civilian to ftand for, rather than to count that for 
 Law, which the Pontificial Canon had enthrall'd them to, and inftead of inter- 
 preting a generous and elegant Law, made them the drudges of a blockifh 
 Rubric. 
 
 Theodofius and Valentinian, pious Emperors both, ordain'd that as by confent 
 lawful Marriages were made,fo by confent, but not without the bill of Divorce, they 
 might be diffoltfd ; and to diffolve was the 'more difficult, only in favour of the chil- 
 dren. We fee the Wifdom and Piety of that age, one of the pureft and learn- 
 edeft fince Chrift, conceiv'd no hindrance in the words of our Saviour, but that 
 a Divorce mutually confented, might be fufter'dby the Law, efpecially if there 
 were no children, or if there were, careful provifion was made. And further 
 faith that Law (fuppofing there wanted the confent of either,) We defign the 
 caufes of Divorce by this moft wholefome Law ; for as we forbid the diffolving of 
 Marriage without juft caufe, fo we defire that a husband or a wife diflreft by fome 
 adverfe neceffity, fhould be freed, though by an unhappy, yet a necejfary relief. 
 What dram of Wifdom or Religion (for Charity is trueft Religion) could there 
 be in that knowing age, which is not virtually fum'd up in this moil: juft Law? 
 As for thofe other Chriftian Emperors, from Conftantine the firft of them, 
 finding the Roman Law in this point fo anfwerable to the Mofaic, it might be 
 the likelieft caufe why they alter'd nothing to reftraint ; but if aught, rather to 
 liberty, for the help and confideration of the weaker fex, according as the 
 Gofpel feems to make the wife more equal to her hufband in thefe conjugal 
 refpefts than the law of Mofes doth. Therfore if a man were abfent from his 
 wife four years, and in thatfpace not beard of, though %one to war in the fervice of 
 
 the
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 26 J 
 
 the Empire, fhe might divorce, and marry another by the edict of Conftantine to 
 Dalmatius, Co. I. 5. tit. ij. And this was an age of the Church, both ancient and 
 cry'd up ftill for the moft flourifhing in knowledge and pious government fince 
 the Apoftles. But to return to this Law ofTbeodo/tus, with this obftrrvation by the 
 way, that ftill as the Church corrupted, as the Clergy grew more ignorant, and 
 yet more ufurpingon the Magistrate, who alio now declin'd, fo ftill Divorce °tcw 
 more reftrain'd ; though certainly if better times permitted the thing that work 
 times reftrain'd, it would not weakly argue that tliepcrmiffion was better, and the 
 reftraint worfe. This law therfore oCTbeodofus, wiferin this than the moft of his 
 fucceffors, though not wifer than God and Mofes, reduc'd the caufes of Divorce 
 to a certain number, which by the judicial law of God, and all recorded humani- 
 ty, were left before to the breaft of each hufband, provided that the difmifs was 
 not without reafonable conditions to the Wile. But this was a reftraint not yet 
 come to extremes. For befides Adultery, and that not only actual, but fufpected 
 by many figns there fet down, any fault equally punifhable with Adultery, or e- 
 qually infamous, might be thecaufe of a Divorce. Which informs us how the 
 feft of thofe ages underftood that place in the Gofpel, wherby, not the pilferino- 
 of a Benevolence was confider'd as the main and only breach of wedloc, as is now 
 thought, but the breach of love and peace, a more holy union than that of the 
 flefh ; and the dignity of an honeft perfon was regarded, not to be held in bon- 
 dage with one whofe ignominy was infectious. To this purpofe was conftituted 
 Cod. 1. 5. tit. 17. and Authent. coliat. 4. tit. 1. Novell. 22. where Juftinian added 
 three caufes more. In the 117 Novell, moft of the fame caufes are allow'd, but 
 the liberty of divorcing by confent is repeal'd : but by whom ? by Jujlinian, not 
 a wifer, not a more religious Emperor than either of the former, but noted by ju- 
 dicious writers for his fickle head in making and unmaking Laws ; and how Pro- 
 copius, a good Hiftorian, and a Counfellor of State then living, decyphers him in 
 his other actions, I willingly omit. Nor was the Church then in better cafe, but 
 had the corruption of a hundred declining years fwept on it, when the ftatute of 
 Confent was call'd in ; which, as I faid, gives us every way more reafon to fufpect 
 this reftraint, more than that liberty : which therfore in the reign of Juftin, the 
 fucceeding Emperor, was recall'd, Novell. 140, and eftablifh'd with a preface 
 more wife and chriftianly than for thofe times, declaring the neceffity to reftore 
 that Theodojian Law, if no other means of reconcilement could be found. And 
 by whom this Law was abrogated, or how long after, I do not find; but that 
 thofe other caufes remain'd in force as long as the Greek Empire fubfifted, and 
 were aflented to by that Church, is to be read inthe Canons and Edicts compar'd 
 by Pbotins the Patriarch, with the avertiments of Balfamon and Mattbaus Mona- 
 chus theron. 
 
 But long before thofe Days, Leo, the Son of Bafilius Macedo, reigning about the 
 year 886, and for his excellent wifdom furnam'd the Pbilofopher, conftituted, that 
 in cafe of 'madnefs, the Hv.Jbo.nd might divorce after three years, the Wife after five. 
 Conftitut. Leon, m, 112. This declares how he expounded our Saviour, and de- 
 rived his reafons from the Inftitution, which in his Preface with great eloquence are 
 letdown-, wherofa pafTageor two may give fome proof, though better not di- 
 vided from the reft. There is not, faith he, a thing more neceffary to preferve Man- 
 kind, than the help given him from his own rib ; both God and Nature fo teaching us : 
 which being fo, it was requijite that the providence of Law, or if any other care be to 
 the good of Man, JJjouid teach and ordain thofe things which are to the help and comfort 
 cf married perfons, and confirm the end of Marriage purpofed in the beginning, not thofe 
 things which ajjiicl and bring perpetual mifery to them. Then anfwers the Objection, 
 that they are 'one flefh •, If Matrimony had held fo as Gcd ordain 'd if, he were 
 wicked that would dijfolve it. But if we refpeel this in Matrimony, that it be con trail- 
 ed to the good of loth, how Jh all he, who for fome great evil feared, perfuades not to 
 marry though contracted, nor perfuade to unmarry, if after Marriage a calamity be- 
 fall ? Should we bid beware left any foil into an evil, and leave him helplefs who by hu- 
 man error is fallen therin ? This were as if wejhould ufe remedies to prevent a difeafe, 
 but let thefick die without remedy. The reft will be worth reading in the Author. 
 And thus we have the judgment firft of primitive fathers;next of the imperial Law 
 notdifallow'dby theuniverfal Church in ages ofherbeft authority •, and laftly, of the 
 whole Greek Church and civil State, incorporating their Canons and Edicts together, 
 that Divorce was lawful for other caufes equivalent to Adultery, contain'd under 
 the word Fornication. So that theexpofition of our Saviour's Sentence herealledg'd 
 
 Vol. I. M m hath
 
 266 Expofitions on the four ctief places in Scripture, 
 
 hath all thefe ancient and great afferters, is therfore neither new nor licentious, as 
 fome' would perfuade the Commonalty ; although it be nearer truth that nothing 
 is more new than thofe teachers themfelves, and nothing more licentious than 
 ibme known to be, whole hypocrify yet ihames not to take offence at this Doc- 
 trine for Licence ; whenas indeed they fear it would remove Licence, and leave 
 them but few Companions. 
 
 Ihat the Pope's Canon Laiv encroaching upon civil Magiftracy, abolijlfd all Divorce 
 even for Adultery. What the reformed Divines have recover 'd ; and that the fa- 
 mov.fejl of them have taught according to the affertion of this Book. 
 But in thefe IFeJlern parts of the Empire, it will appear almoft unqueftionable 
 that the cited Law of Theodofius and Valentinian ftood in force until the blindeft 
 and corrupteft times of Popedom difplac'd it. For, that the Volumes oijujlini- 
 an never came into Italy, or beyond Illyricum, is the Opinion of good Antiqua- 
 ries. And that only Manufcript therof found in Apulia, by Lothanus the Saxon, 
 and given to the States of'Pifa, for their aid at Sea againft the Normals of Sicily, 
 was receiv'd as a rarity not to be match'd. And altho' the Goths, and after them 
 the Lombards and Franks, who over-run the moft of Europe, except this Ifland, 
 (unlefs we make our Saxons and Normans a limb of them) brought in their own 
 cuftoms, yet that they followed the Roman Laws in their Contracts and Marria- 
 ges, Agathias the Hiftorian is alledg'd. And other teftimonies relate that Alari- 
 cus and Theodoric their Kings, writ their Statutes out of this Theodofian Code, which 
 hath the recited Law oi Divorce. Nevertheleis, while the Monarchs of Chriften- 
 dom were yet barbarous, and but half-chriftian, the Popes took this advantageof 
 their weak Superftition, to raife a corpulent Law out of the Canons and Decretals 
 of audacious Priefts •, and prefum'd alio to let this in the front ; That the Conftitu- 
 tions of Princes are not above the Conftitutions of Clergy, but beneath them. Ufing this 
 very inf.ance of Divorce as the firft prop of their tyranny •, by a falfe confequence 
 drawn from a pafiage of Ambrofe upon Luke, where he faith, tho' Man's laiv grant 
 it, yet God's laiv prohibits it : whence Gregory the Pope, writing to Theoclijla, infers 
 that Ecclefiaftical Courts cannot be dilfolv'd by the Magiftrate. A fair conclufion 
 from a double error. Firft, inlaying that the Divine Law prohibited Divorce, for 
 what will he make of Mofes ? Next, iuppofingthat itdid, how will it ft How, that 
 whatever Chrift forbids in his Evangelic Precepts, fhould be hal'd in o a judicial ccn- 
 itraint againft the pattern of a Divine Law ? Certainly the Goipel came not to 
 enadt fuch compullions. In the mean while we may note here, that the rellraint of 
 Divorce was one of the firft fair feeming pleas which the Pope had, to ftep into 
 fecular Authority, and with his Ar.tichriilian rigour to abolilb the permiffive Law 
 of Chriftian Princes conforming to a facred Lawgiver. Which if we conlider, this 
 papal and unjuft reftridtion of Divorce need not be lb dear tous, fince the plaufible 
 rdlraining of that was in a manner the firft loofening of Antichrift, and as it were, 
 the fubftance of his eldeft horn. Nor do we lefs remarkably owe the firft means of 
 his fall here in England, to the contemning of that reftraint by Henry theSth, 
 whofe Divorce he oppofed. Yet was not that rigour executed anciently in fpiritu- 
 al Courts, until Alexander the third, who trod upon the neck of Frederic Barbaroffa 
 the Emperor, and fummon'd our Henry II. into Mmrmajiay, about the death of Bec- 
 ket. He it was, that the worthy Author may be known, who firft actually repeal- 
 ed the imperial Law of Divorce, and decreed this tyrannous Decree, that Matri- 
 mony for no caufe fhould be difTolv'd, tho' for many caufes it might feparate -, as 
 may be fecn Derre t. Gregor.l. 4.///. 19. and in other placesof the canonical Tomes. 
 The main good of which invention, wherin it confifts, who can tell ? but that it 
 hath one virtue incomparable, to fill all Chriftendom with Whoredoms and Adul- 
 teries, beyond the art of Balaams, or of Devils. Yet neither can thefe, though fo 
 perverfe, but acknowledge that the words of Chrift, under the name of Fornica- 
 tion, allow putting away for other caufes than Adultery, both from Bed and 
 Board, but not from the Bond ; their only reafon is, becaqfe Marriage they be- 
 lieve to be a Sacrament. But our Divines, who would feem long fince to have 
 renoune'd that reafon, have fo forgot themfdves, as yet to hold the abfurdity, 
 which but for that reafon, unlefs there be ibme myftcry of Satan in it, perhaps 
 the rapift would not hold. 'Tis true, we grant Divorce for actual and 
 prov'd Adultery, and not for lefs than many tedious and unrepairable Years 
 of Defertion, wherin a Man fhall lofe all his hope of pofterity, which great 
 and holy Men have bewail'd, ere he can be righted •, and then perhaps on 
 the confines of his old age, when all is not worth the while. But grant this were 
 feafonably done ; what are thefe two cafes to many other, which afflicl the ftate of 
 
 1 Marriage
 
 which treat of Nullities ///Marriage. 267 
 
 Marriage as bad, and yet find no redrefs ? What hath the foul of Man defer v'd 
 if it be in the way ofSalvation, that it fhould be mortgaged thus, and may not re- 
 deem itfelf according to confeience, out of the hands of fuch ignorant and flothful 
 teachers as thefe, who are neither able nor mindful to give due tendance to that 
 precious cure which they rafhly undertake ; nor have in them the noble goodnefs 
 to confider thefe diltrefies and accidents of Man's life, but are bent rather to fill 
 their mouths with Tithe and Oblation ? Yet if they can learn to follow, as well 
 as they can feck to be follow'd, I fhall direct them to a fair number of renowned 
 Men, worthy to be their leaders, who will commend to them a doctrine in this 
 point wifer than their own •, and if they be not impatient, it will be the fame doc- 
 trine which this Treatife hath defended. 
 
 IVicklef, that Englijbman honour'd of God to be the firfl Preacher of a General 
 Reformation to all Europe, was not in this thing better taught of God than to 
 teach among his chiefeft recoveries of Truth, that Divorce is lawful to the Chri- 
 stian for many other caufes equal to Adultery. This Book indeed, through the po- 
 verty of our Libraries, I am fore'd to cite from Arnifaus of "Halberfi 'ad on the Rite 
 tf Marriage, who cites it from Corafms of Toloufe, c. 4. Cent.Sil. and he from 
 Wicklef, I. 4. Dial. c. 2 1 . So much the forrier, for that I never look'd into an Au- 
 thor cited by his Adverfary upon this occafion, but found him more conducible 
 to the queftion than his quotation render'd him. 
 
 Next, Luther, how great a fervant of God, in his book of conjugal Life quoted 
 by Gerard out of the Dutch, allows Divorce for the obflinate denial of conjugal 
 duty -, and that a Alan may fend away a proud Vafthi, and marry an EJlher in her 
 JieaJ. It feems, if this example fhall not be impertinent, that Luther meant not 
 only the refufal of benevolence, but a ftubborn denial of any main conjugal duty; 
 or if he did not, it will be evine'd from what he allows. For out of queftion, with 
 Men that are not barbarous, love and peace, and fitnefs, will be yielded as efien- 
 tial to marriage, as corporal benevolence. Though I give my Body to be burnt, faith 
 St. Paul, and have not charity, it profits me nothing. So though the body proftitute 
 itfelf to whom the mind affords no other love or peace, but conftant rnalice and 
 vexation, can this bodily benevolence deferve to be call'd a Marriage between 
 Chriftians and rational Creatures ? 
 
 Melantlon, the third greatluminary ofReformation, in his book cbhcifiRngMar- 
 ria K e -> grants Divorce forcruel Ufage, and danger of life, urging the authority of 
 that Theodrfian Law, which he efteems written with the grave deliberation of god- 
 ly Men ; and that they who rejeel this law, and think it difagrceing from the Gofpel y 
 undcrftand net the difference of Law and Gofpel ; that the Magiftrate ought not only to 
 defend life, but to fuccour the weak confeience; left broke with grief and indignation, it 
 rclinquijlj Prayer, and turn to fome unlawful thing. What if this heavy plight of 
 delpair arife from other dilcontents in Wedloc, which may go to the foul of a 
 good Man more than the danger of his Life, or cruel ufing ? which a Man cannot 
 be liable to, fuppofe it be ingrateful ufage, fuppofe it be perpetual fpio-ht, and 
 difobedience, fuppofe a hatred ; fhall not the Magiftrate free him from this difquiet 
 which interrupts his prayers, and difturbs the courfe of his fervice to God and his 
 Country all as much, and brings him fuch a mifery, as that he more defires to leave 
 his life, than fears to lofe it ? Shall not this equally concern the office of civil 
 protection, and much more the charity of a true Church to remedy ? 
 
 Erafmus, who for Learning was the wonder of his Age, both in his Notes on 
 Matthew, and on the firft to the Corinthians, in a large and eloquent Difcourfe 
 and in his anfwer to Phimoftomus, a Papift, maintains (and no Proteftant then liv- 
 ing contradicted him) that the words of Chrift comprehend many other caufes of 
 Divorce under the name of Fornication. 
 
 Bucer, (whom our famous Dr. Rainolds was wont to prefer before Calvin) in his 
 Comment on Matthew, and in his fecond book of the Kingdom of Chrift, treats of 
 Divorce at large, to the fame effect as is written in the Doclrine and Difciplint of Di- 
 vorce lately publifh'd, and the Translation is exant : whom, left I fhould be thought 
 to have wrefted to mine own purpofe, take fomething more out of his 49th Chap- 
 ter, which I then for brevity omitted. // will be the duty of pious Princes, and all 
 who govern Church or Commonwealth, if any, whether Hujland or Wife, Jhall affirm 
 tbHr want of fuch who either will, or can tolerably perform the neceffary duties of mar- 
 ried life, to grant that they may feck them fuch, and marry them ; if they make it appear 
 that fuch they have not. This Book he wrote here in England, where he liv'd the 
 greatcft admir'd Man ; and this he dedicated to Edxvard the fixth. 
 
 Vol. I. Mm 2 Fagim y
 
 war 
 in 
 
 268 Expofitions on the four chief places in Script u re , 
 
 Fagius, r.ink'd among the famous Divines of Germany, whom Frederic, at that 
 time the Palatine, fent ior to be the Reformer of his Dominion, and whom after- 
 
 rds England fought to, and obtain'd of him to come and teach her, differs .not 
 
 this opinion from Buccr, as his Notes on the Chaldee Paraphraft well teftify. 
 
 The whole Church of Strafburgh in her moft flourifhingtime, when Zcllius, Me- 
 dio Capito, and other great Divines taught there, and thole two renowned Magis- 
 trates Farrerus and Sturmius govern'd that Commonwealth and Academy to the 
 admiration of all Germany, hath thus in the 21ft Article : IFe teach, that if accord- 
 ing to the ivord of God, yea, or againft it, Divorces happen, to do according to God's 
 word, Deut. xxiv. 1. Mat. xix. 1 Cor. vii. and the obfervation of the primitive 
 Church, and the Chriftian conftitution of pious Cefars. 
 
 Peter Martyr kerns in word our eafy adverfary, but is in deed for us : toward 
 which, though it be fomethingwhen he faith of this opinion, that it is not wicked-, 
 av.d can hardly be refuted, this which follows is much more-, / /peak not here, 
 faith he, of natural Impediments, which may fo happen, that the Matrimony can 719 
 longer hold: but adding, that he often wonder' d, how the ancient and moft Chri-^ 
 ftian Emperors eftablijh d thofe Laws of Divorce, and neither Ambrofe, who hadfuch 
 influence upon the Laws of Theodofius, nor any of thofe holy Fathers found fault, 
 nor any of the Churches, why the Magiftrates of this day Jhould be fo loth to eonfti- 
 tute the fame. Perhaps they fear an inundation of Divorces, which is not likely ■$ 
 whenas we read not either among the Hebrews, Greeks, or Romans, that they 
 were much frequent where they were moft permitted. If they judge Chriftian Men, 
 worfe than Jews or Pagans, they both injure that name, and by this reafon will be 
 conftrain'd to grant Divorces the rather ; becaufe it was permitted as a remedy 'of 
 evil, for who would remove the medicine, while the difeafe is yet fo rife ? This 
 beino- read both in his common places, and on the firft to the Corinthians, with what 
 we fhall relate more of him yet ere the end, fets him abfolutely on this fide. Not 
 to infift that in both thefe, and other places of his commentaries, he grants Di- 
 vorce not only forDefertion, but for the Inducement and fcandalous demeanor of 
 a heretical Confort. 
 
 MufculitSj a Divine of no obfeure fame, diftinguifhes between the religious and 
 the civil determination of Divorce ; and leaving the civil wholly to the Lawyers, 
 pronounces a confcionable Divorce for impotence not only natural, but acciden- 
 tal, if it be durable. His equity, it feems, can enlarge the words of Chrift, to one 
 Caufe more than Adultery ; why may not the reafon of another Man as wife, en- 
 large them to another Caufe ? 
 
 Gualter of Zuric, a well-known judicious Commentator, in his Homilies on 
 Matthew, allows Divorce for Lepr'ofy, or any other caufe which renders unfit for 
 wedloc, and calls this rather a Nullity of Marriage than a Divorce. And who, that 
 is not himfelf a mere body, can reftrain all the unfitnefs of Marriage, only to a 
 corporeal defect ? 
 
 Hemingius, an Author highly efteem'd, and his works printed at Gnieva, writing 
 of Divorce, confeffes that learned Men vary in this Qttejlicn, fome granting three 
 Caufes therof, fome five, others many more ; he himfelf gives us fix, Adultery, Defer- 
 tion, Inability, Error, Evil-ufage, and Impiety, ufing argument that Chrift under 
 one fpecial contains the whole kind, and under the name and example of Fornication, 
 he includes other caufes equipollent. This difcourfe he wrote at the requeft of ma- 
 ny who had the judging of thefe caufes in Denmark, and Norway, who by all 
 likelihood follow'd his advice. 
 
 Hunnius, a Doctor of Wittenberg, well known both in Divinity and other Arts, 
 on the 19th of Matth. affirms, That the exception of Fornication exprefs'd by our 
 Saviour, excludes not other caufes equalling Adultery, or dcftruclive to the fubftantials 
 of Matrimony ; but was opposed to the cuftom of the Jews, who made Divorce for 
 every light caufe. 
 
 Felix Bidenbachius, an eminent Divine in the Dutchy of Wirtemberg, affirms, 
 That the obftinate refufal of conjugal due, is a lawful caufe of Divorce-, and gives an 
 inftance, that the Conjiftory of that State fo judg'd. 
 
 Gerard cites Harbardus, an Author not unknown, and Am ij'aus cites Wigandus, 
 both yielding Divorce in cafe of cruel ufage ; and another Author, who teitifies j^ 
 have feen, in a Dukedom of Germany, Marriages disjoined for fome implacable enmities 
 arifing. 
 
 Beza, one of the ftrictcft againfl Divorce, denies it not for danger of life from 
 a Heretic, or importunate felicitation to do aught againft Religion : and counts it 
 
 all
 
 which treat of Nullities ^Marriage. z6g 
 
 all one whether the Heretic defer t, or would flay upon intolerable conditions. But 
 this decifion well examin'd, will be found of no iblidity. For Beza would be 
 afk'd why, iT God lb llrictly exact our flay in any kind of Wedlock, we had 
 not better ftay and hazard a murdering for Religion at the hand of a Wife or Huf- 
 band, as he and others enjoin us to ftay and venture it for all other caufts bur 
 that ? and why a Man's Life is not as well and warrantably fav'd by divorcing 
 from an orthodox Murderer, as a heretical? Again, if defertion be confefs'd by 
 him to confift not only in the forfaking, but in the unfufferable conditions of Hav- 
 ing, a Man may as well deduce the lawfulnefs of divorcing from any intolerable 
 conditions ("if his grant be good, that we may divorce thereupon from a Heretic) 
 as he can deduce it lawful to divorce from any deferter, by finding it lawful to 
 divorce from a deferting Infidel. For this is plain, if St. Paul's, permiffion to di- 
 vorce an Infidel deferter, infer it lawful lor any malicious defertion, then doth Be- 
 za's definition of a deferter, transfer itfelf with like facility from the caufe of Re- 
 ligion, to the caufe of Malice, and proves it as good to divorce from him who in- 
 tolerably ftays, as from him who purpofely departs ; and leaves it as lawful to de- 
 part from him who urgently requires a wicked thing, though profefling the fame 
 Religion, as from him who urges a heathenifh or fuperftitious compliance in a dif- 
 ferent faith. For if there be fuch neceffity of our abiding, we ought rather to a- 
 bidethe utmoft for Religion, than for any other caufe •, feeing both the caufe of 
 our ftay is pretended our Religion to Marriage, and the caufe of our fufferingis 
 fuppofed our conftant Marriage to Religion. Beza therfore, by his own definition 
 of a deferter, juftifies a divorce from any wicked or intolerable conditions rather 
 in the fame Religion than in a different. 
 
 Aretius, a fimous Divine of Bern, approves many caufes of divorce in his Pro- 
 blems, and adds, that the laws and conftftories of Switzerland approve them alfo. 
 As firft, Adultery, and that not atlual only, but intentional; allcdgmgA'fatthew 5. 
 Whofoever looketh to lufi, hath committed Adultery already in his heart. Wherby, faith 
 he, our Saviour fhews that the breach of Matrimony may be not only by outward ail, 
 but by the heart and defire ; when that hath once poffefs'd, it renders the converfatiott 
 intolerable, and commonly the fail follows. Other caufes to the number of nine or 
 ten, confenting in moft with the imperial Laws, may be read in the Author him- 
 felf, who avers them to be grave and weighty. All thefe are Men of name in Di- 
 vinity ; and to thefe, if need were, might be added more. Nor have the Civili- 
 ans bin all fo blinded by the Canon, as not to avouch the juftice of thofe old per- 
 miffions touching Divorce. 
 
 . Alciatnf Millan, a Man of extraordinary Wifdom and Learning, in the fixth 
 Book of his Parerga, defends thofe imperial Laws, not repugnant to theCofpel, as 
 the Church then interpreted. For, faith he, the ancients underftood him feparate by 
 A'ldH, -whom paffions and corrupt affeclions divore'd, not if the provincial Bifoops firft 
 heard the matter, and judged, as the Council of Agatha declares : and on iome part 
 of the Code he names Ifnlorus Hifpalenjis, the firft computer of Canons, to be in the 
 fame mind. And in the former place gives his opinion that Divorce might be more 
 lawfully permitted than Ufury. 
 
 Corafius, recorded by Hclvicus among the famous Lawyers, hath bin already 
 cited of the fame judgment. 
 
 Wefcmbechius, a much-nam'd Civilian, in his Comment on this Law defends it, 
 and affirms, That our Saviour excluded not other faults equal to Adultery ; and that 
 the word Fornication fignifics larger among the Hebrews than with us, comprehending 
 every fault which alienates from him to whom obedience is due, and that the primitive 
 Church interpreted fo. 
 
 Grotius, yet living, and of prime note among learned Men, retires plainly 
 from the Canon to the ancient Civility, yea, to the Mofaic Law, as being moftjujt 
 and undeceivable. On the 5th of Matth. he faith, That Chrift made no civil Laws, 
 but taught us how to ufe Law : That the Law fent not a hufband to the Judge about 
 this matter of Divorce, but left him to his own confeience ; that Chrift therfore can- 
 not be thought to fend him ; that Adultery may be judged by a vehement fufpicion ; that 
 the exception of Adultery fe ems an example of other like offences; proves it from the 
 manner of fpeech, the maxims of Law, the reafon of Charity, and common Equity. 
 
 Thefe Authorities, without long fearch, I had to produce, all exellent Men, 
 feme of them fuch as many ages had brought forth none greater : almoft the 
 meaneft of them might deferve to obtain credit in a Angularity ; what might 
 
 nflt
 
 270 Expeditions on four chief places in Scripture, Sic. 
 
 not then all of them joined in an opinion fo confonant to reafon? For although fome 
 fpeak of this caufe, others of that, why Divorce may be, yet all agreeing in the ne- 
 ceflary enlargement of that textual ftraknefs, leave the matter to equity, not to lite- 
 ral bondage; and fo the Opinion doles. Nor could I have wanted more refti mo- 
 nies had the caufe needed a more folicitous enquiry. But herein the fatisfaction of 
 others hath bin ftudied, not the gaining of more alTurance to mine own perfualibn : 
 although authorities contributing reafon withal, be a good confirmation and a we! 
 come- But God, I folemnly atteft him, with-held trom my knowledge the con - 
 fentincr judgment of thefe Men fo late, until they could not be my instructors, but 
 only my unexpected witnefies to partial Men, that in this work I had not given the 
 worft experiment of an induftry join'd with integrity, and the free utterance, tho' 
 of an unpopular truth. Which yet to the people of England may, if God fo pleafe, 
 prove a memorable informing ; certainly a benefit which was intended them long 
 fince by Men of higheft repute for Wifdom and Piety, Bucer and Erafrmts. Only 
 this one authority more, whether in place or out oi place, I am not to omit; which 
 if anv can think a final] one, I muft be patient, it is no i mailer than the v\ hole af- 
 fembled Authority of England both Church and State ■, and in thofe times which 
 are on record for the pureft and fincereft that ever fhone yet on the reformation of 
 this Kland, the time of Edward the 6th. That worthy Prince having utterly abo- 
 lifh'd the Canon Law out of his Dominions, as his Father did before him, appoint- 
 ed by full vote of Parlament, a Committee of two and thirty chofen Men, Di- 
 vines and Lawyers, of whom Cranmer the Archbifhop, Peter Martyr, and Wal- 
 ter Haddon (not without the affiitance of Sir John Cheeke the King's Tutor, a Man 
 at that time counted the learnedeft of Englijhmen, and for Piety not inferior) were 
 the chief, to frame a-newfome Ecclefiaftical Laws that might be inftead of what 
 was abrogated. The work with great diligence was finifh'd, and with as great ap- 
 probation of that reforming age was receiv'd, and had bin doubtlefs, as the learn- 
 ed Preface therof teftifies, eftablifh'd by aft of Parlament, had not the good King's 
 death fofoon enfuing, arrefted the further growth of Religion alio, from that- fea- 
 fon to this. Thofe Laws, thus founded on the memorable Wifdom and Piety of 
 that religious Parlament and Synod, allow Divorce and fecond Marriage not only 
 for Adultery or Defer lion, but for any capital enmity or plot laid againft the other's life y 
 and like-wife for evil and fierce ufage : nay the 12th Chapter of that title by plain 
 confequence declares, thatleffer contentions, if they be -perpetual, may obtain Divorce : 
 which is all one really with the pofition by me held in the former Treatife publish- 
 ed on this argument, herinonly differing, that there the caufe of perpetual flrife 
 was put for example in the unchangeable difcord of fome natures •, but in thefe 
 Laws intended us by the beft of our anceftors, the effect of continual flrife is deter- 
 mined no unjuft plea of Divorce, whether the caufe be natural or wilful. Wherby 
 the warinefs and deliberation from which that difcourfe proceeded, will appear, 
 and thatGod hath aided us to make no bad conclufion of this point ; feeingthe O- 
 pinion which of late hath undergone ill cenfures among the vulgar, hath now 
 prov'd to have done no violence to Scripture, unlefs all thefe famous Audiors alledg- 
 ed have done the like ; nor hath affirmed aught more than what indeed the moll 
 nominated Fathers of the Church, both ancient and modern, are unexpectedly af- 
 firming, the Laws of God's peculiar People, and of primitive Chriftendom found 
 to have practis'd, reformed Churches and States to have imitated, and efpecially 
 the moft pious Church-times of this Kingdom to have fram'd and publifh'd, and 
 but for fad hindrances in the fudden change of Religion, had enacted by the Par- 
 lament. Henceforth let them who condemn, the afTertion of this book for new and 
 licentious, be forry ; left, while they think to be of the graver fort, and take on 
 them to be teachers, they expofe themfelves rather to be pledg'd up and down by 
 Men who intimately know them, to the difcovery and contempt of their igno- 
 rance and prefumption. 
 
 THE
 
 2jr 
 
 THE 
 
 JUDGMENT 
 
 O F 
 
 Martin Bucer 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 DIVORCE: 
 
 WRITTEN 
 
 To Edward the Sixth, in his Second Book 
 of the Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 5 
 And now Englifh'd. 
 
 Wherein a late Book, reftoring the Doclrine and 
 
 Difcipline of Divorce, is here confirm'd and juftify'd by 
 the Authority of Martin Bucer. 
 
 To the Parlament of England. 
 
 John III. 10. 
 Art thou a Teacher of Ifrael, and knowefl not ihefe Things ? 
 
 ~— • i __ ■ 
 
 Publifh'd by Authority. 
 
 Teftirnonies of the high Approbation which Learn- 
 ed Men have given o/Martin Bucer. 
 
 Simon Grineus, 1533. 
 
 AMong all the Germans, I give the Palm to Bucer for Excellence 
 in the Scriptures. Melanchton in human Learning is wondrous 
 fluent; but greater knowledge in the Scripture, I attribute K.o Ra- 
 cer-, and fpeak it unfeignedly. 
 
 yoJm Calvin 1539. 
 
 _ Martin Bucer, a moft faithful Doctor of the Church of Chrift, be- 
 fides his rare Learning, and copious knowledge of many things, be- 
 iides his clearnefs of Wit, much Reading, and other . many and vari- 
 ous Vertues, wheria he is almoft by none now living excell'd, hath 
 
 few
 
 %1 % The Judgment of Martin Bucer, 
 
 few Equals and excels moft ; hath this praiie peculiar to himfelf, that 
 none in this Age hath ufed exacler diligence in the Expoimon of Scrip- 
 ture. , ,. , , ; 
 
 And a little beneath. 
 
 Bucer is more large than to be read by over-bufied Men, and too 
 high to be ealily underftood by unattentive Men, and of a low ca- 
 pacity. 
 
 Sir John Cheek, Tutor to K. Edward VI. 155!. 
 
 We have loft our Mafter, than whom the World fcarce held a greater, 
 whether weconfider his knowledge of true Religion, or his integrity and 
 innocence of Life, or his mediant ftudy of holy things, or his matchlels 
 labour of promoting Piety, or his authority and amplitude of teaching, or 
 whatever elfe was praiie- worthy and glorious in him. Script. Anglican. 
 pag. 864. 
 
 John Sturmius of Strasburgh. 
 
 No man can be ignorant what a great and conftant opinion and elii-* 
 mation of Bluer there is in Italy, France and England. Whence the fay- 
 in* of Quint Hi an hath oft come to my mind, that he hath well profited 
 in Eloquence whom Cicero pleafes. The lame fay I of Bucer, that he 
 hath made no fmall progrefs in Divinity, whom Bucer pleafes ; for in his 
 Volumes, which he wrote very many, there is the plain impreflion to be 
 difcerned of many great Virtues, of Diligence, of Charity, of Truth, of 
 Acutenefs of judgment, of Learning. Wherin he hath a certain proper 
 kind of writing, wherby he doth not only teach the Reader, but affects 
 him with the fweetnefs of his Sentences, and with the manner of his ar- 
 guing, which is fo teaching, and fo logical, that it may be perceiv'd how 
 learnedly he feparates probable Reafons from necellary, how forcibly he 
 confirms what he has to prove, how futt'ly he refutes, not with iharpnefs, 
 but with truth. 
 
 Theodore Beza, on the Portraiture of M. Bucer. 
 
 This is that countenance of Bucer, the mirror of mildnefstemper'd with 
 Gravity ; to whom the City of Strajburgh owes the Reformation of her 
 Church. Whole lingular Learning, and eminent Zeal,join'd with excel- 
 lent Wifdom, both his learned Books, and public Dilputations in the gene- 
 ral Diets of the Empire, Ihall witnefs to all ages. Him the German Per- 
 fection drove into England ; where honourably entertain'd by Edward 
 the 6th, he was for two years chief ProfelTor of Divinity in Cambridge, 
 with greateft frequency and applaufe of all learned and pious Men until 
 his death, 1551- Beza Jcones. 
 
 Mr. Fox's Book of Martyrs, Vol. 3. p. 763. 
 
 Bucer, what by writing, but chiefly by reading and preaching open- 
 ly, wherin being painful in the Word of God, he never fpar'd him- 
 lelf, nor regarded his Health, brought all Men into fuch an admira- 
 tion of him, that neither his Friends could furhciently praife him, 
 nor his Enemies in any point find fault with his lingular Life, and 
 lincere Doctrine. A molt certain token wherof may be his fump- 
 tuous burial at Cambridge, folemnized with fo great an aliillance of 
 
 all
 
 concerning Divorce. 273 
 
 all the Univcrfity, that it was not poflible to devifc more to the fetting out 
 and amplifying of the fame. 
 
 Dr. Pern, the Popifo Vice-Chancellor o/T'ambridge, bit Adverfary. 
 
 Cardinal Pool, about the fourth year of Queen Mary, intending to re- 
 duce the Univerfity of Cambridge to Popery again, thought no way fo ef- 
 fectual, as tocaufe the Bones of Martin Buccr and Paulus Fagius, which 
 had been four years in the Grave, to be taken up and burnt openly 
 with their Books, as knowing that thofe two worthy Men had bin of 
 greateft moment to the Reformation of that place from Popery, and 
 had left fuch powerful Seeds of their Doctrine behind them, as would 
 never die, unlefs the Men themfelves were digg'd up, and openly con- 
 demn'd for Heretics by the Univerfity itfelf. This was put in execution, 
 and Doctor Pern, Vice-Chancellor, appointed to preach againft Bucer: 
 Who, among other things, laid to his charge the Opinions which he 
 held of the Marriage of Priefts, of Divorcement, and of Ufury. But im- 
 mediately after his Sermon, or fomewhat before, as the Book of Martyrs 
 for a truth relates, Vol. ^.p. 770. the faid Doctor Pern fmiting himfelf 
 on the Breaft, and in manner weeping, wifh'd with all his heart, that 
 God would grant his Soul might then prefently depart, and remain with 
 Bucer's ; for he knew his Life was fuch, that if any Man's Soul were wor- 
 thy of Heaven, he thought Sneer's in fpecial to be moft worthy. Hi/lor. 
 deCombuJl. Buceii & Fagii. 
 
 Acworth the Univerjity-Orator. 
 
 Soon after that Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown, this condemnation 
 of Bucer and Fagi us by the Cardinal and his Doctors, was folemnly re- 
 pealed by the Univerfity ; and the Memory of thole two famous Men ce- 
 lebrated in an Oration by Acworth the Univeriity-Orator, which is yet ex- 
 tant in the Book of Martyrs, Vol. 3.^. 773. and in Latin, Script a Anglic. 
 
 Nicholas Carre, a learned Man; Walter II addon, Mafterof the Requefts 
 to Queen Elizabeth ; Matthew Parker, afterwards Primate of England, 
 with other eminent Men, in their funeral Orations and Sermons, exprefs a- 
 bundantly how great a Man Martin Bucer was ; what an incredible lofs 
 England fuftained in his death ; and that with him died the hope of a per- 
 fect Reformation for that Age. Ibid. 
 
 Jacobus Verheiden 0/" Grave, in his Elogies of famous Divines. 
 
 Though the Name of Martin Bucer be famous, yet thou Martin Bu- 
 cer, for Piety, Learning, Labour, Care, Vigilance, and Writing, art not 
 to be held inferior to Luther. Bucer was a fingular inftrument of God, 
 fo was Luther. By the death of this moft learned and moft faithful Man, 
 the Church of Chrift fuftained a heavy lofs, as Calvin witneffeth ; and 
 they who are ftudiousof Calvin, are not ignorant how much he afcribes 
 to Bucer ; for thus he writes in a Letter to Viretus : What a manifold 
 lofsbefel the Church of God in the Death of Bucer, as oft as I call to 
 mind, I feel my heart almoft rent afunder. 
 
 Vo l. I, N n Peter
 
 2J4 ^e J u dg ment °f Martin Bucer, 
 
 Peter Martyr EpiH. to Conradus Hubertus. 
 
 He is dead who hath overcome in many Battles of the Lord. God 
 lent us for a time this our Father, and our Teacher, never enough prais'd. 
 Death hath divided me from a moft unanimous Friend, one truly accord- 
 in" to mine own heart. My Mind is over-prefs'd with Grief, infomuch 
 that I have not power to write more. I bid thee in Chrift firewel, and 
 wifhthou may ft be able to bear the lofs of Bucer> better than I can bear it. 
 
 Ttftimsnies given by Learned Me?i to Paulus Fagius, who held the fame 
 Opinioti with Martin Bucer, concerning Divorce. 
 
 Btz* Lone:. paulus Fagius, born in the Palatinate, became moft fkilful in the He- 
 brew Tongue. Being called to the Miniftry at I/ha r he publifh'd many an- 
 cient and profitable Hebrew Books, being aided in the expences by a Se- 
 nator of that City, as Origen fometime was by a certain rich Man call'd 
 Ambrofius. At length invited to Strajburgh, he there famoufly difchar- 
 eed the Office of aTeacher ; until the lame Persecution drove him. and£«- 
 cer into England, where he was preferr'd to a Profeffor's place in Cam- 
 bridge, and foon after died. 
 
 Melchior Adcvnus writes his Life among the famous German Divines. 
 Sleidan and Thuanus mention him with honour in their Hiftory : And 
 
 Verhciden in his Elogies. 
 
 To the Parlament. 
 
 m m < a H E Book which, among other great and high points of Reformation, 
 contains as a principal part therof, this Treatife here prefented, Su- 
 preme Court of Parlament, was by the famous Author Mcrtin Buccr, 
 fl dedicated to Edward the fixth : whofe incomparable Youth doubtiefs 
 
 Sad brought forth to the Church of England, fuch a glorious Manhood, had his 
 Life reach'd it, as would have left in the affairs of Religion, nothing without an 
 excellent pattern for us now to follow. But fince the fecret purpoie of divine 
 Appointment hath referved no lefs perhaps than the juft half of fuch a facred 
 Work to be accomplihVd in this Age, ; and principally, as wc truft, by yourfuc- 
 cefsful Wifdom and Authority, religious Lords and Commons, what wonder if 
 I feek no other, to whofe exatfteft judgment and review I may commend thefe Jaft 
 and worthieft Labours of this renow ned Teacher ? whom living, all the pious 
 Nobility of thofe reforming Times, yourtrueft and beft-imitated Anceftors, reve- 
 rene'd and admir'd. Nor was he wanting to a recompence as great as was himfelf \ 
 when both at many times before, and efpecially among his laft Sighs and Prayers, 
 teftifying his dear and fatherly affeclion to the Church and Realm of England, 
 he fincerely wifh'd in the hearing of many devout Men, That what he had in this 
 Nicol de obit .his I 'aft Book written to King Edward concerning Difcipline, might have place in this 
 Edceri. Kingdom. His hope was then, that no calamity, no confufion, or deformity would 
 
 happen to the Commonwealth ; but otherwife he feared, left in the midft of all this 
 ardency to know Cod, yet by the neglecl of Difcipline, our good Endeavours would not 
 fucceed. Thefe remarkable words of fo godly and fo eminent a Man at his death, 
 as they are related by a fufEcient and well-known witnefs, who heard them, and 
 infertcd by 'Thuanus into his grave and ferious Hiftory ; fo ought they to be 
 chiefly confidercd by that Nation for whofe fake they were uttered, and 
 more efpecially by that general Council which reprefents the Body of thaE 
 Nation. If therfore the Book, or this part therof, for neceflary caufes, 
 be now reviv'd and recommended to the ufc of this undifciplin'd Age ; it 
 I hence
 
 concerning Divorce. 275 
 
 hence appears, that thefe Reafons have not err'd in the choice ofa fit Patronage for 
 a dilcourie of i'uch importance. But why the whole Tractate is not here brought 
 entire, but this matter of Divorcement felected in particular, to prevent the full 
 fpeed of fome mif-interpreter, I haften todifclofe. Firft, it will befoon manifeft 
 to them who know what wife Men fhould know, that the conltitution and refor- 
 mation ofa Commonwealth, if Ezra and Nebcmiab did not mif-reform, is, like 
 a building, to begin orderly from the foundation therof, which is Marriage and 
 the Family, to fet right firft whatever is amifs therin. How can there elih grow 
 up a race of warrantable Men, while the houfe and home that breeds them, is 
 troubled and difquieted under a bondage not of God's conftraining with a nature- 
 lefs conftraint (if his moll: righteous judgments may be ourrulcj but laid upon us 
 imperioufly in the worft and weaken: Ages of Knowledge, by a canonical tyranny 
 of ftupid and malicious Monks : who having rafhly vow'd themfelves to a fingle 
 Life, which they could not undergo, invented new Fetters to throw on Matrimo- 
 ny, that the World therby waxing more diflblute, they alfo in a general loofenefs 
 might fin with more favour. Next, there being yet among many, fuch a ftran^e 
 iniquity and perverfenefs againft all necelTary Divorce, while they will needs ex- 
 pound the Words of our Saviour, not duly by comparing other places, as they 
 mull do in the refolving ofa hundred other Scriptures, but by perfilling chiefly 
 in the abrupt and papiftical way ofa literal apprehenfion againft the divz&i Analo- 
 gy of Senfe, Reafon, Law, and Gofpel ; it therfore may well feem more than 
 time to apply the found and holy Perfuafions of this Apoftolic Man, to that part 
 in us, which is not yet fully difpoiTeft of an error as abfurd, as moft that we de- 
 plore in our blindeft Adverfaries ; and to let his Authority and unanfwerable Rea- 
 fons be vulgarly known, that either his Name, or the force of his Doctrine may 
 work a wholefome effect. Lalliy, I find it clear to be the Author's intention, that 
 this point of Divorcement mould be held and receiv'd as a molt neceffary and 
 prime part of difcipline in every Chriftian Government. And therfore having re- 
 due'd his model of Reformation to fourteen heads, he beftowsalmoft as much time 
 about this one point ofDivorce, as about all the reft ; which alfo was the judg- 
 ment of his Heirs and learned Friends in Germany, heft, acquainted with hismean- 
 ing -, who firft publifhing this his Book by Oporinusat Bafil, (a City for Learning 
 and Conftancy in the true Faith, honourable among the firft) added a fpecialnote 
 in the title, that there the Reader fiould find the Dotlrine of Divorce handled Jo folid- 
 ly, and fo fully, as fcarce the like in a Writer of that Age : and with this particular 
 commendation they doubted not to dedicate the Book, as a moft profitable and 
 exquifite Difcourfe, to Chriftian the 3d, a worthy and pious King of Denmark, as 
 the Author himfelf had done before to our Edward the fixth. Yet did not Bucer in 
 that Volume only declare what his conftant opinion was herin, but alfo in his Com- 
 ment upon Matthew, written at Strajburgh divers years before, he treats diftinctly 
 and copioufly the fame Argument in three feveral places ; touches it alfo upon the 
 7th to the Romans, and promifes the fame Solution more largely upon the ift to 
 the Corinthians, omitting no occafionto weed out thislaft and deepeft mifchief of 
 the Canon-Law,fown into the opinions of modern Men, againft the Laws and Prac- 
 tice both of God's chofen People, and the beft primitive Times. Wherin his 
 faithfulnefs and powerful evidence prevail'd lo far with all the Church of Straf- 
 burgh, that they publiih'd this doctrine ofDivorce, as an Article of their Confef- 
 fion, after they had taught fo eight and twenty years, through all thofe times, when 
 that City flourifh'd, and excell'd moft, both in Religion, Learning, and Govern- 
 ment, under thofe firft reftorers of the Gofpel there, Zelius, Hedio, Capito, Fagius, 
 and thofe who incomparably then govem'd the Commonwealth, Farrerus and 
 Suirmius. If therfore God in the former Age found out a Servant, and by whom he 
 had converted and reformed many a City, by him thought good to reftore the moft 
 needful Doctrine of Divorce from rigorous and harmful miftakes onthe right hand, 
 it can be no ftrange thing, if in this age he ftir up by whatfoever means whom it 
 pleafes him, to take in hand and maintain the fame affertion. Certainly if it be in 
 man's difcerning to fever Providence from Chance, I could alledge many inllan- 
 ces, wherin there would appear caufe toefteem of me no other than a paffive in- 
 ftrument under fome power and counfel higher and better than can be human, 
 working to a general good in the whole courfe of this matter. For that I owe no 
 light, or leading receiv'd from any Man in the difcovery of this Truth, what 
 time I firft undertook it in the Dotlrine and Difcipline of Divorce, and had on- 
 ly the infallible grounds of Scripture to be my guide; he who tries the in- 
 moft heart, and faw with what fevere induftry and examination of myfelf, I fet 
 down every period, will be my witnefs. When I had almoft finifh'd the firft Edi- 
 Voi.. I. Nn 2 tion,
 
 2-7 6 The yudgment of Martin Bucer, 
 
 tion, I chanc'd to read in the Notes of Hugo Grotius upon the 5th of Matth. whom 
 I ftraitunderftood inclining to reaibnable terms in this Controverfy : andfomething 
 he whifper'd rather than difputed about the Law of Charity, and the true end of 
 Wedloc. Gladtherfore of fuchan able affiftant, however at muchdiftance, I refol- 
 ved at length to put off into this wild and calumnious World. For God, itfeems, 
 intended to prove me, whether I durft alone take up a rightful Caufe againft a 
 World of difefteem, and found I durft. My Name I did not publilh, as not wil- 
 ling it fhould fway the Reader either for me or againft me. But when I was told, 
 that the ftile, which what it ails to be lb foon diltinguifhable, I cannot tell, was 
 known by moft Men, and that fome of the Clergy began to inveigh and exclaim 
 on what I was credibly inform'd they had not read •, I took it then for my proper 
 feafon, both to fliew them a Name that could eafily contemn fuch an indifcreet 
 kind of Cenfure, and to reinforce the qucftion with a more accurate diligence : 
 that if any of them would be lb good as to leave railing, and to let us hear lb 
 much of his Learning and Chriftian Wifdom, as will be ftriclly demanded of him 
 in his anfwering to this Problem, care was had he fhould not fpendhis Prepara- 
 tions againft a namelefs Pamphlet. By this time I had learnt that Paalus Fagius., 
 one of the chief Divines in Germany, lent for by Frederic the Palatine, to reiorm 
 his Dominion, and after that invited hither in King Edward's days, to be a Pro- 
 feffor of Divinity in Cambridge, was of the fame Opinion touching Divorce, which 
 thefe Men folavifhly tradue'd in me. What I found, I inferted where fitteft 
 place was, thinking fure they would refpedl fo grave an Author, at leaft to the 
 moderating of their odious Inferences. And having now perfected a fecond E- 
 dition, I referr'd the judging thcrof to your high and impartial Sentence, ho- 
 nour'd Lords and Commons. For I was confident, if any thing generous, anything 
 noble, and above the Multitude, were left yet in the Spirit of England; it could 
 be no where fooner found, and no where fooner underftood, than in that Houfeof 
 Juftice and true Liberty where ye fit in Council. Ncr doth the Event hitherto, 
 for fome reafons which I fhall not here deliver, fail me of what I conceiv'd k> 
 highly. Neverthelefs, being far otherwife dealt with by fome, of whofe Profef- 
 fion and fuppofed Knowledge I had better hope, and efteem'd the devifer of a new 
 and pernicious Paradox, I felt no difference within me from that peace and firm- 
 nefs of Mind, which is of' neareft kin to Patience and Contentment : both for that 
 I knew I had divulg'd a truth link'd infeparably with the moft fundamental rules 
 of Chriftianity, to ftand or fall together, and was not un-inform'd that divers 
 learned and judicious Men teftify'd their daily Approbation of the Book. Yet at 
 length it hath pleafed God, who had already given me fatisfaclion in myfelf, to 
 afford me now a means wherby I may be fully juftify'd alio in the eyes of Men. 
 When the Book had bin now the fecond time let forth well-nigh three Months, as 
 I beft remember, I then firft came to hear that Martin Bucer had written much con- 
 cerning Divorce : whom earneftly turning ever, I foon perceiv'd, but not with- 
 out amazement, in the fame Opinion, confirm'dwith the fame Reafons which in 
 that publifh'd Book, without the help or imitation of any precedent Writer, I had 
 labour'dout, and laid together. Not but that there is fome difference in the hand- 
 ling, in the order, and the number of Arguments, but ftill agreeing in the fame 
 Conclufion. SoasI may juftly gratulate mineown mind with due acknowledgment 
 of affiftance from above, which led me, not as a learner, but as a collateral Teacher, 
 to a fympathy of judgment with no lefsa Man than Martin Bucer. And he, if our 
 things here below arrive him where he is, does not repent him to fee that point of 
 Knowledge which he firft, and with an uncheck'd freedom preach'd to thole more 
 knowing times of England, now found fo neceffary, though what he admonilh'd 
 Were loft out of our memory •, yet that God doth now again create the fame doc- 
 trine in another unwrittenTable, and raifes it up immediately out of his pure Oracle 
 to the convincement of a perverfe Age, eager in the reformation of Names and 
 Ceremonies, but in Realities as traditional and as ignorant as their Forefathers. 
 I would afk now the foremoft of my profound Accufers, Whether they dare af- 
 firm that to be licentious, new, and dangerous, which Martin Bucer fo often, 
 and fo urgently avouch'd to be moft lawful, moft neceffary, and moft Chri- 
 ftian, without the leaft blemifh to his good Name, among all the worthy 
 Men of that Age, and fir.ee, who teftify fo highly of him? If they dare, they 
 muft then fet up an Arrogance of their own againft all thofe Churches and Saints 
 who honoured him without this exception : If they dare not, how can they 
 now make that licentious Doctrine in another, which was never blam'd or 
 confuted in Bucer, or in Fagius ? The truth is, there will be due to them for this 
 their unadvifedrafhnefs, the beft Donative that can be given them, I mean around 
 
 Reproof;
 
 concerning Divorce. 277 
 
 Reproof, not that where they thought to be moft magisterial, they have difplay'd 
 their own want, both of reading, and of judgment. Firft, to be lo unacquainted in 
 the Writings of Bluer, which are fo obvious and ib ufeful in their own faculty - y 
 next, to be fo caught in a prejudicating weaknefs, as to condemn that for lewd, 
 which (whether they knew or not) thefe elect Servants of Chrift commended for 
 lawful ; and for new, that which was taught by thefe almoft the firft and greateft 
 Authors of Reformation, who were never tax'd for fo teaching ; and dedicated 
 without fcruple to a royal Pair of the firft reforming Kings in Chriftendom, and 
 confeft in the public Confeffion of a moft Orlhodoxal Church and State in Germany. 
 This isalfo another fault which I mult tell them •, that they have ftood now al- 
 moft this whole year clamouring afar off, while the Book hath bin twice printed, 
 twice bought up, and never once vouchfafed a friendly Conference with the Au- 
 thor, who would be glad and thankful to be fhewn an Error, either by private dif- 
 pute, or public Anfwer, and could retracl, as well as wife Men before him ; 
 might alio be worth the gaining, as one who heretofore hath done good fervice 
 to the Church by their own confeffion. Or if he be obftinate, their Confutation 
 would have render'd him without excufe, and reclaim'd others of no mean parts, 
 who incline to his Opinion. But now their work is more than doubl'd ; and how 
 they will hold up their heads againft the fudden afpect of thefe two great and re - 
 verend Saints whom they havedefam'd, how they will make good the cenfuring 
 of that, for a novelty of licence, which Bucer conftantly taught to be a pure and 
 holy Law of Chrift's Kingdom, let them advife. For againft thefe my Adverfa- 
 ries, who before the examining of a propounded truth in a fit time of Reforma- 
 tion, have had the confcience to oppofe naught elfe but their blind reproaches and 
 furrnifes, that a fingle innocence might not be opprefs'd and overborn by a crew 
 of mouths, for the reftoring of a Law and Doctrine falfly and unlearnedly repu- 
 ted new and fcandalous, God, that I may ever magnify and record this his Go^d- 
 nefs, hath unexpectedly rais'd up as it were from the dead, more than one famous 
 Light of the firft Reformation to bear witnefs with me, and to do me honour in 
 that very thing, wherin thefe Men thought to have blotted me : And hath given 
 them the proof of a capacity which they defpis'd, running equal, and authentic 
 withfome of their. chiefeft Mafters unthought of, and in a point of fageft mo- 
 ment. However, if we know at all when to afcribe the Occurrences of this Life to 
 the work of a fpecial Providence, as nothing is moreufual in the talk of good 
 Men, what can be more like to a fpecial Providence of God, than in the firft Re- 
 formation of England, that this queftion of Divorce, as a main thing to be re- 
 ftor'd to juft freedom, was written, and ferioufly commended to Ed-ward the fixth, 
 by a Man call 'd from another Country to be the inftruclor of our Nation ; and now 
 inthisprefent renewing ofthe Church and Commonweakh, which we pray may 
 be more lafting, that the fame Queftion fhould be again treated and prefented 10 
 this Parlament, by one enabled to ufe the fame reafons without the leaft fight or 
 knowledge of what was done before. It were no trefpafs, Lords and Commons, 
 though fomething of lefs note were attributed to the ordering of a heavenly Pow- 
 er ; this queftion therfore offuch prime concernment-both to Chriftian and Civil 
 Welfire, in fuch an extraordinary manner^ not recover'd, but plainly twice born 
 to thefe latter Ages, as from a divine hand I tender to your Acceptance, and moft 
 confiderate Thoughts. Think not that God rais'd up in vain a Man of greateft 
 Authority in the Church, to tell a trivial and licentious Tale in the ears of that 
 good Prince, and to bequeath it as his laft Will and Teftament, nay rather as the 
 Teftament and Royal Law of Chrift to this Nation ; or that it fhould of itfelf af- 
 ter fo many years, as it were in a new Field where it was never fown, grow up a- 
 gain as a vicious plant in the mind of another, who had fpoke honefteft things to 
 the Nation ; though he knew not that what his Youth then reafoned without a 
 pattern, had bin heard already, and well allow'd from the Gravity and Worth of 
 Martin Bucer : till meeting with the envy of Men ignorant in their own under- 
 taken Calling, God directed him to the forgotten Writings of this faithful Evan. 
 gelift, to be hisdefence and warrant againft the grofs impuration oi broaching Li- 
 cence. Ye are now in the glorious way to high Virtue, and niatch'efs Deeds, 
 trufted with a moft ineftimable Trult, the afierting of our juft Liberties. Ye 
 have a Nation that experts now, and from mighty fufferings afpire's to be the 
 example of all Chriftendom to a perfected reforming. Dare to be as great, 
 as ample, and as eminent in the fair progrefs of your noble defigns, as the full 
 and goodly ftature of Truth and Excellence itfelf ; as unlimited by petty Prece- 
 dents and Copies, as your unquefiionable Calling from Keaven gives ye 
 power to be. What are all our public Immunities and Privileges worth ? and 
 how ihall it be judg'd that we fight for them with Minds worthy to enjoy them, 
 
 if 
 •t
 
 
 78 The Judgment cf Martin Bucer, 
 
 if we fufrer otirfelvesin the mean while notto underftand the moil imporunt free- 
 dom that God and Nature hath given us in the family •, which no wife Nation- 
 ever wanted, till the Popery and Superftition of lbme former Ages attempted to- 
 remove and alter divine and moll: prudent Laws for human and moft imprudent 
 Canons : wherby good men in the beft portion of their lives, and in that Ordi- 
 nance of God, which entitles them from the beginning to moft juft and requilke 
 contentments, arecompell'd to civil Indignities, which by theLaw of Mojes bad 
 Men were not compelled to ? Be not bound about, and ftraiten'd in die lpacious 
 Wifdomofyour free Spirits, by thefcanty and unadequate andinconfiftentPrin-- 
 ciples of fuch as condemn others for adhering to Traditions, and are themfelves 
 the proftrate Worfhippersof Cuftom -, and of fuch a tradition as they can deduce 
 from no antiquity, but from the rudeft, and thickeft Barbarifm of Antichriftian 
 times. But why do I anticipate the more acceptable, and prevailing voice of 
 learned Bucer himfelf, the Paftor of Nations ? And O that 1 could itt him liv- 
 ing before ye in that Doctoral Chair, where once the learnedeft of E ng land, thought 
 it no difparagement to fit at his feet! He would be fuch a Pilot, and fuch a Fa- 
 ther to ye, as ye would foon find the difference of his hand and ikill upon the helm 
 of Reformation. Nor do I forget that faithful Alfociate of his Labours, Paulus 
 Fagius ; for thefe their great Names and Merits, how precious foever, God hath 
 now join'd with me neceffarily, in the good or evil report of this doctrine which 
 I leave with.you. It was written to a religious King of this Land ; written earneft- 
 ly, as a mam matter wherin this Kingdom needed a reform, if it purpos'd to 
 be the Kingdom of Chrift : Written by him, who if any, fince the Days of Lu- 
 ther, merits to be counted the Apoftle of our Church : whofe unwearied pains and 
 watching for our fakes, as they fpent him quickly here among us, fo did they, du- 
 ring the fhortnefs of his Life, incredi-bly promote the Gofpel throughout this 
 Realm. The Authority, the Learning, theGodlinefs of this Man confuktd with, 
 is able to out-ballance all that the ■Kghtncis of a vulgar oppofition can bring to> 
 counterpoife. I leave him alfo as my compleat Surety and Teftimonia!, if Truth 
 be not the beft witnefs to itfelf, that what I formerly preiented . to your reading 
 on this Subject, was good, and juft, and honeft, not licentious. Not that I have 
 now more confidence by the addition of thefe great Authors to my party -, for 
 what I wrote was not my Opinion, but my Knowledge ; even then when I could 
 trace nofootftep in the way I went: nor that I think to win upon your apprehen- 
 iions with Numbers and with Names, rather than with Reafons ; yet certainly the 
 worft of my detractors will not except againftfo good a bail of my integrity and 
 judgment, as now appears for me. They muft elfe put in the Fame of Bucer and 
 otFapius, as my Accomplices and Confederates, into the fame Indictment j 
 they muftdi°- up the good Name of thefe prime Worthies [if their Names could 
 be ever buried) they muft dig them up and brand them as the Papifts did their 
 Bodies ; and thofe their pure unblamable Spirits, which live not only in Hea- 
 ven but in their Writings, they muft attaint with new Attaintures, which no Pro- 
 teftant ever before afpers'd them with. Or if perhaps we may obtain to get our 
 Appeachment new drawn, a Writ of Error, not of Libertifm, that thofe two 
 principal Leaders of Reformation may not now come to befued in a Bill of Li- 
 cence, to the fcandal of our Church •, the brief refult will be, that for the Error,, 
 if their own Works be not thought fufficient to defend them, there lives yet, who 
 will be ready, in a fair and chriftianly difcuffive way, to debate and lift this mat- 
 ter to the utmoft ounce of Learning and Religion, in him that mail lay it as an 
 Error, either upon Martin Bucer, or any other ot his Opinion. If this be not e- 
 nouo-hto qualify my Traducers, and that they think it more for the Wifdom of 
 their Virulence, not to recant the Injuries they have befpoke me, I mail not for 
 much more difturbance than they can bring me, intermit the profecution of thofe 
 Thoughts which may render me beft ferviceable, either to this Age, or if it fo 
 happen, toPofterity •, following the fair path which your illuftrious Exploits, ho- 
 nour'd Lords and Commons, againftthe breaft of Tyranny haveopen'd ; and de- 
 pending fo on your happy fucceffes in the hopes that I have conceiv'd either of 
 myfelf, or of the Nation, as muft needs conclude me, who moft affectionately 
 wifhesand awaits the profperous iffue of your noble and valorous Counfels. 
 
 THE
 
 279. 
 
 THE 
 
 JUDGMENT of MARTIN BUCER, 
 
 TOUCHING 
 
 DIVORCE. 
 
 Taken out of the Second Book entitled, Of the Ki7igdom of 
 Chrift ; written by M a r t i n Bucer to Edward the 
 Sixth, King of Engla?td. 
 
 ■ 
 
 CHAP. XV 
 
 The yth Law of the fanSlifing and ordering of Marriage. 
 
 
 BEfides thefe things, Chrift our King, and his Churches require from T^ 1 tne or * 
 your Sacred Majefty, that you would take upon you the juft care of denn ?° f . 
 Marriages. For it Is unspeakable how many good Confciences are here- j^"^^!^ 
 by entangled, afflicted, and in danger, becaufe there are no juft Laws, Civil Power, 
 nofpeedy way conftituted according to God's Word, touching this holy Society 
 and Fountain of Mankind. For feeing Matrimony is a civil thing, Men, that they 
 may rightly contract, inviolably keep, and not without extreme neceffity dilTolve 
 Marriage, are not only to be taught by the Doctrine and Difcipline of the Church, 
 but alio are to be acquitted, aided, andcompell'd by Laws and Judicature of the 
 Commonwealth. Which thing pious Emperors acknowledging, and therin fram- 
 ing themfelves to the Law of Nations, gave Laws both of contracting and pre- 
 serving, and alfo where an unhappy need requir'd, of divorcing Marriages. As 
 may be feenin the Code of Jnflinian, the 5th Book, from the beginning through 
 twenty-four titles. And in the Authentic of Juflinian the 22d, and fome others. 
 
 But the Antichrifts of Rome, to get the Imperial Power into their own hands, The Popes 
 firft by fraudulent perfuafion, afterwards by force drew to themfelves the whole have invaded 
 authority of determining and judging as well in matrimonial caufes, as in moft o- by trau [J and 
 ther matters. Therfore it hath bin long believ'd, that the care and government derin^of *" 
 therof doth not belong to the Civil Magiftrate. Yet where the Gofpel of .Chrift Marriage, 
 is receiv'd, the Laws of Antichrift fhould be rejected. If therfore Kino-s and Go- 
 vernors take not this care, by the power of Law and Juftice to provide that Mar- 
 riages be pioufly contracted, religioufly kept, and lawfully diffolv'd, if need re- 
 quire, who fees not what confufion and trouble is brought upon this holy Society ; 
 and what a rack is prepar'd, even for many of the belt Confciences, while they 
 have no certain Laws to follow, no Juftice to implore, if any intolerable thino- 
 happen. And how much it concerns the honour and fafety of the Commonwealth, 
 that Marriages, according to theWill of Chrift, be made, maintained, and not with- 
 out juft caufe diiTolv'd, who underftands not ? For unlefs that firft and holieft 
 Society of Man and Woman be purely conftituted, that houfhold Difcipline may 
 beupheidby them according to God's Law, how can we expect a race of good 
 Men ? Let your Majefty therfore know that this is your duty, and in the firft 
 place, to reafiurne toyourfelf the juft ordering of Matrimony, and by firm Laws 
 to eftablifh and defend the Religion of this firft and divine Society among Men, 
 as all wife Law-givers of old, and Chriftian Emperors have carefully done. 
 
 The two next Chapters, becaufe they chiefly treat about the Degrees of Confanguinity 
 and Affinity, I omit ; only fating down a pajfage or two concerning the Judicial Laws 
 of Mofes, how fit they be for Chriftian s to imitate rather than any other. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 3,80 The Judgment of Martin Buce*, 
 
 CHAP. XVlI. toward the end. 
 
 IConfefs that we being free in Chrift, are not bound to the Civil Laws ofMc- 
 fes in every circumftance •, yet feeing no Laws can be more honeft, juft, and 
 wholefome, than thofe which God himfelf gave, who is eternalWifdom and Good- 
 nefs I fee not why Chriftians, in things which no lefs appertain to them, ought 
 not to follow the Laws of God, rather than of any Men. We are not to uie Cir - 
 cumcifion, Sacrifice, and thofe bodily Warnings prefcrib'd to the jews; yet by 
 thefe things we may rightly learn, with what purity and devotion both Baptifm 
 and the Lord's Supper mould be adminifter'd and receiv'd. How much more is 
 it our duty to obierve diligently what the Lord hath commanded, and taught by 
 the Examples of his People concerning Marriage, wherof we have the ufe no left 
 
 than they ? • 
 
 And becaufe this fame worthy Author hath mother pajfage to this purpofe, in his 
 Comment upon Matthew, Chap. 5.19. I here 'infer -tit from p. 46. 
 
 Since we have need of Civil Laws, and the power of punifhing, it will be wifeft 
 not to contemn thofe given by Mofes ; but ferioufly rather to confider what the, 
 meaning of God was in them, what he chiefly requir'd, and how much it might 
 be to the °-ood of every Nation, if they would borrow thence their manner of go- 
 verning the Commonwealth •, yet freely all things and with the Spirit of Chrift. 
 For what Solon, or Plato, or Ariflotle, what Lawyers or Ceefirs could make bet- 
 ter Laws' than God ? And it is no light argument, that many Magiftrates at this 
 day, do not enough acknowledge the Kingdom of Chrift, though they would feem 
 moft Chriftian, in that they govern their States by Laws fo diverfe from thofe of 
 
 Mofes. 
 
 The iSth Chapter I only mention as determining a thing not hers in quejfion, that 
 Marriage without confent of Parents ought not to be held good ; yet with this qualify 
 tat ion fit to be known. 
 
 That if Parents admit not the honeft defires of their Children, but fhall perfift 
 to abufe the power they have over them ; they are to be mollify'd by Admoni- 
 tions, Entreaties, and Perfuafions, firfl of their Friends and Kindred, next of the 
 Church- Elders. Whom if ftill the hard Parents refufe to hear, then ought the 
 Ma<dftrate to interpofe his Power : left any by the evil mind of their Parents be 
 detain'd from Marriage longer than is meet, or forc'd to an unworthy match : in 
 which cafe the Roman Laws alfo provided. C. de nupt. I. 11, 13, 26. 
 
 CHAP. XIX. 
 
 ' Whether it may be permitted to revoke the Promife of Marriage. 
 
 HERE arifeth another Queftion concerning Contracts, when they ought to 
 be unchangeable ? for religious Emperors decreed that the Contract was 
 not indiflbluble, until the Spoufe were brought home, and the Solemnities per- 
 form'd. They thought it a thing unworthy of divine and human Equity, and the 
 due confideration of Man's infirmity in deliberating and determining, when fpace 
 is o-iven torenounce other Contracts of much lefs moment, which are not yet con- 
 firm'd before the Magiftrate, to deny that to the moft weighty Contract of Mar- 
 riage, which requires the greateft care and confultatkm. Yet left fuch a Cove- 
 nant fhould be broken for no juft caufe, and to the injury of that perfon to whom 
 Marriage was promifed, they decreed a Fine, that he who deny'd Marriage to 
 whom he had promis'd, and for fome caufe not approv'd by the Judges, fhould 
 pay the double of that pledge which v/as given at making fure, or as much as the 
 Judo-e fhould pronounce might fatisfy the damage, or the hindrance of either 
 party. It bein^ moft certain, that oft-times after contract, juft and honeft caufes 
 of departing from promife, come to be known and found out, it cannot be other 
 than the duty of pious Princes to give Men the fame liberty of unpromifing in 
 thefe cafes, as pious Emperors granted : efpecially where there is only a promife, 
 and not carnal knowledge. And as there is no true Marriage between them, who 
 agree not in true confent of Mind ; fo it will be the part of godly Magiftrates to 
 procure that no Matrimony be among their Subjects, but what is knit with loveand 
 confent. And tho' your Majelty be not bound to the Imperial Laws, yet it is the 
 .duty of a .Chriftian King to embrace and follow whatever he knows to be anywhere 
 piouflyandjuftly conftituted,andto be honeft, juft, and well-pleafing tohisPeople, 
 
 But
 
 concerning Divorce. 281 
 
 But why in God's Law and the Examples of his Saints, nothing herof is read ; no 
 marvel, feeing his ancient People had power, yea a precept, that whofo could not 
 bend his mind to the true love of hisWife, fhould give her a Bill of Divorce, and 
 fend her from him, though after carnal knowledge and long dwelling together. 
 This is enough to authorize a godly Prince in that indulgence which he gives to 
 the changing of a Contract •, both becaufe it is certainly the invention of Anti- 
 chrift, that the promife of Marriage deprafenti, as they call it, fhould be indiflblu- 
 ble, and becaufe it mould be a Prince's care that Matrimony be fo join'd, as God 
 ordain'd ; which is, that everyone fhould love his Wife with fuch a love as Adam 
 txprefs'd to Eve : So as we may hope that they who marry may become oneflefh, 
 and one alio in the Lord. 
 
 CHAP. XX. 
 
 Concerns only the Celebration of Marriage, 
 
 CHAP. XXI. 
 
 "The Means of preferring Marriage holy and pure. 
 
 NO W fince there ought not to be lefs care that Marriage be religioufly kepf, 
 than that it be piouflyand deliberately contracted, it will be meet that to 
 every Church be ordained certain grave and godly Men, who may have this care 
 upon them, to obferve whether the Hufband bear himfelf wifely toward the Wife, 
 loving, and inciting her to all Piety, and the other duties of' this life ; and whe- 
 ther the Wife be fubjecl: to her Hufband, and ftudy to be truly a meet help to him, 
 as firft to all Godlinefs, fo to every other ufe of life. Andifthey fhall find each to 
 other failing of their duty, or the one long abfent from the other without juft and 
 urgent caufe, or giving fufpicion of irreligious and impure life, or of living in ma- 
 niteft Wickednefs, let it be admonifh'd them in time. And if their Authority be 
 contemn'd, let the names of fuch contemners be brought to the Magiftrate, who 
 may ufe punifhment to compel fuch Violators of Marriage to their duty, that they 
 may abftain from all probable fufpicion of tranfgreffing-, and if they admit of fuf- 
 pedted company, the Magiftrate is to forbid them ; whom they not therin obey- 
 ing, are to be punifh'd as Adulterers, according to the Law of Juftinian, Authenl. 
 117. For if holy Wedloc, the fountain and feminary of good Subjects, be not vi- 
 gilantly preferved from all blots and difturbances, what can be hop'd, as I faid be- 
 fore, of the fpringing up of good Men, and a right Reformation of the Common- 
 wealth ? We know it is not enough for Chriftians to abftain from foul deeds, but 
 from the appearance and fufpicion therof. 
 
 CHAP. XXII. 
 
 Of lawful Divorce, what the ancient Churches have thought. 
 
 NOW we fhall fpeak about thatdiflblving of Matrimony which may beap- 
 prov'd in the fight of God, if any grievous neceffity require. In which thing 
 the Roman Antichrifts have knit many a pernicious entanglement to diftrefled Con- 
 fciences : for that they might here alfo exalt themfelves above God, as if they 
 would be wifer and chafter than God himfelf, is, for no caufe, honeft or neceffary, 
 will they permit a final Divorce-, in the mean while,Whoredoms and Adulteries, 
 and worfe things than thefe, noronly tolerating in themfelves and others, but che- 
 rifiiing and throwing Men headlong into thefe evils. For although they alio disjoin 
 married perfons from Board and Bed, that is, from all conjugal Society and Com- 
 munion, and this not only for Adultery, but for ill Ufage, and matrimonial Duties 
 deny'd ; yet they forbid thofe thus parted, to join in Wedloc with others, but, as I 
 faid before, anydifhoneft afibciating they permit. And they pronounce the Bond 
 of Marriage to remain between thofe whom they have thus feparated. As if the 
 Bond of Marriage, God fo teaching and pronouncing, were not fuch a league as 
 binds the married couple to all fociety of life, and communion in divine and hu- 
 man things ; and {o aftociated keeps them. Something indeed out of the 
 later Fathers they may pretend for this their Tyranny, efpecially out of 
 Aujlin and fome others, who were much taken with a prepoiterous ad- 
 miration of fingle life ; yet though thefe Fathers, from the wards of 
 Vol. I. O o Chrift
 
 $ i The Judgment of Martin Bucer, 
 
 Chrift not rightly underftood, taught that it was unlawful to marry again, while 
 die former Wife liv'd, whatever caufe there had bin either of Defertion or Di- 
 vorce- yet if we mark the cuftom of the Church, and the common judgment whii 
 both in this time and afterward prevail'd, we fhall perceive that neither thefe Fa 
 thers did ever caft out of the Church any one for marrying after a Divorce, ap- 
 prov'd by the Imperial Laws. _ 
 
 Nor only the firft Chnftian Emperors, but the latter alio, even to jHftmian, 
 ind after him, did grant for certain caufes approv'd by judges, to make a true 
 Divorce-, which made and confirm'd by Law, it might be lawful to marry again : 
 which if it could not have bin done without difpleafing Chrift and his Church, 
 furely it would not have bin granted by Chriftian Emperors, nor had the Fathers 
 then wink'd at thofe doings in the Emperors. Hence ye may feeftiat JeromaKo, 
 though zealous offingle life more than enough, and fuch a condemner of fecond 
 Marriage, though after the death of either party, yet fore'd by plain equity, de- 
 fended Fabiola; a noble Matron of Rome, who having refus'd her Hufband for 
 iuft Caufes, was married to another. For that the fending of a Divorce to her 
 Hufband w'as not blame-worthy, he affirms, becaufe the Man was heinoufly virions:, 
 and that if an adulterous Wife may be difcarded, an adulterous Hufband is not to 
 be kept. But thatfhe married again, while yet her Hufband was alive •, he de- 
 fends in that the Apoftle hath laid, It is better to marry than to burn ; and that 
 youno- Widows fhould marry, for fuch was Fabiola, and could not remain in Wi- 
 dow-hood, -jj-j/i 
 
 But fome one will object that Jerome there adds, Neither did pe know the vigour 
 oftheGofpcl, wherin all caufe of marrying is debarred from Women, while their tiuf- 
 bands live ; and again* while Jhe avoided many wounds of Satan, fhe receiv'd one ere 
 foe was aware. But let the equal Reader mind alio what went before; Becaufe, 
 faith he, foon after the beginning, there is a rock and form of flanderers oppofed a- 
 gainft her, I will not praife her converted, unlefs Ifirftabfolve her guilty. For why 
 does he call them flanderers who accus'd Fabiola of marrying again, if he did not 
 iud^e itamatter of Chriftian Equity and Charity, to pafs by and pardon that fad, 
 though in his own opinion he held it a fault ? And what can this mean ? I will not 
 praife her, unlefs I firft abfolve her. For how could he abfolve her, but by proving 
 that Fabiola, neither in rejecting her vitious Hufband, nor in marrying another, 
 had committed fuch a fin", as could be juftly condemned ? Nay, he proves both by- 
 evident reafon, and clear teftimonies of Scripture, that fhe avoided Sin. 
 
 This alfo is hence underftood, that Jerome by the vigour of the Gofpel, meant 
 that height and perfection of our Saviour's precept, which might be remitted to 
 thole that burn -, for he adds, But if foe be accufed in that Jhe remained not unmarried, 
 Ifoall confefs the fault, Jo I may relate the neceffity. If then he acknowledg'd a ne- 
 oeffity, as he did, becaufe fhe was young, and could not live in Widowhood, cer- 
 tainly he could not impute her fecond Marriage to her much blame : but when he 
 excufes her out of the Word of God, does he not openly declare his thoughts, that 
 the fecond Marriage of 'Fabiola was permitted her by the Holy Ghoft himfelf,for 
 the neceffity which he fuffer'd, and to fhun the danger of Fornication, though fhe 
 went fomtwhat afide from the vigourof the Gofpel ? But if any urge that Fabiola 
 did public penance for her fecond Marriage, which was not impofed but for great 
 faults •, 'tis anfwer'd, fhe was not enjoin'd to this penance, but did it of her own 
 accord, and not till after her fecond Hufband*s death. As in the time of Cyprian, 
 we read that many were wont to do voluntary penance for fmall faults, which were 
 not liable to excommunication. 
 
 CHAP. XXIII. 
 
 That Marriage was granted by the ancient Fathers, even after the Vow of 
 
 Jingle Life. 
 
 I omit his Teftimonies out of Cyprian, Gelafius, Epiphanius, contented only to re- 
 late what he thence collet! s to the prefent purpefe. 
 
 SOmewill fayperhaps, Wherforeall this concerning Marriage after vow offingle 
 • life, whenas the queftion was of Marriage after Divorce? For this reafon, that 
 they whom it fo much moves, becaufe fome of the Fathers thought Marriage after 
 any kind of Divorce, to be condemned of our Saviour, may fee that this conclufion 
 follows not. The Father* thought all Marriage after Divorce to be forbidden of our 
 
 Saviour.
 
 concerning Divorce. 283 
 
 Saviour, therfore they thought. fuch Marriage was not to be tolerated in a Chri- 
 ftian. For the fame Fathers judg'd it forbidden to marry after vow; yet fuch Mar 
 riages they neither diffolved nor excommunicated : For thefe words of our Sa- 
 viour, and of the Holy Ghofl, flood in their way •, All cannot receive this faying, 
 but they to whom it is given. Every one hath his proper gift from God, one after this 
 manner, another after that. It is better to marry than to bum. I will that younger 
 Widows marry; and the like. 
 
 So there are many Canons and Laws extant, wherby Priefts, if they married, 
 were remov'd from their office, yet is it not read that their Marriage was diffolv'd, 
 as the Papifts now-a-days do, or that they were excommunicated, nay exprefly they 
 mightcommunicate as Laymen. If the confederation of human infirmity, and 
 thole teftimonies of divine Scripture which grant Marriage to every one that wants 
 it, perfuaded thole Fathers to bear themfelves fo humanely toward them who had 
 married with breach of vow to God, as they believed, and with Divorce of that 
 Marriage wherin they were in a manner join'd to God •, who doubts but that the 
 fame Fathers held the like humanity was to be afforded to thofe who after Divorce 
 and Faith broken with Men, as they thought, entered into a fecond Marriage ? 
 For among fuch are alfo found no lels weak, and no lefs burning. 
 
 CHAP. XXIV. 
 
 Who of the ancient Fathers have gra?ited Marriage after Divorce. 
 
 TH I S is clear both by what hath bin faid, and by that which Origen relates 
 of "certain Bifhops in his time, Homil. 7. in Matth. I know fame, faith he, 
 which are over Churches, who without Scripture have permitted the Wife to marry 
 while her former Hujband liv'd. And did this againft Scripture, which faith, The 
 Wife is bound to her Hujband fo long as he lives ; and fhefi ball be call'd an Adultrefs, 
 if, her Hujband living, jhe take another Man ; yet did they not permit this without 
 caufe, perhaps for the infirmity of fuch as had not continence, they permitted evil to a- 
 void worfe. Ye fee Origen and the Doctors of his Age, not without all caufe, per- 
 mitted Women after Divorce to marry, though their former Hufbands were living; 
 yet writes that they permitted againft Scripture. But what caufe could they have 
 to do fo, unlefs they thought our Saviour in his precepts of Divorce had fo forbid- 
 den, as willing to remit fuch perfection to his weaker ones, call into danger of 
 worfe faults ? 
 
 The fame thought Leo, Bifhop of Rome, Ep. 85. to the African Bifhops of Mau- 
 ritania defarienfis, wherin complaining of a certain Prieft, who divorcing his 
 Wife, or being divore'd by her, as other copies have it, had married another, nei- 
 ther diffolves the Matrimony, nor excommunicates him, only unpriefts him. The 
 Fathers therfore, as we fee, did not fimply and wholly condemn Marriage after 
 Divorce. 
 
 But as for me, this remitting of our Saviour's precepts, which thefe Ancients 
 allow to the infirm in marrying after Vow and Divorce, I can in no ways admit j 
 for whatfoever plainly conlents not with the Commandment, cannot, I am certain, 
 be permitted, or fuffered in any Chriftian : for heaven and earth fhall pafs away, 
 but not a tittle from the Commands of God among them who expect: life eternal. 
 Let us therfore confider, and weigfrthe words of our Lord concerning Marriage 
 and Divorce, which he pronounced both by himfelf, and by his Apoftle, and let 
 us compare them with other Oracles of God ; for whatfoever is contrary to thefe, 
 I fhall not perfuade the leaft tolerating therof. But if it can be taught to agree 
 with the Word of God, yea to be commanded that moft Men may have permif- 
 fion given them to divorce and marry again, I muft prefer the Authority of God's 
 Word before the Opinion of Fathers and Doctors, as they themfelves teach. 
 
 Vol. I. O o 2 CHAP.
 
 2 g a The Judgment 0^ Martin Bucer, 
 
 B T 
 
 CHAP. XXV. 
 
 The words of our Lord, and of the Holy Ghojl, by the Apoftle Paul concerning 
 
 Divorce^ are explained. 
 
 >U T the words of our Lord, and of the Holy Ghoft, out of which Auftin and 
 I fome others of the Fathers think it concluded that our Saviour forbids Mar- 
 riage after any Divorce, are thefe •, Mai. v. 31, 32. It hath bin /aid, &c. And 
 Mat. xix. 7. They fay unto him, why did Mofcs then command? &c. And Mark 
 x.and Luke xvi. Rom.vn. 1,2,3. 1 Cor. vii, 10, 11. Hence therfore they con- 
 clude that all Marriage after Divorce is call'd Adultery ; which to commit, be- 
 ino- no ways to be tolerated in any Chriftian, they think it follows that fecond Mar- 
 riage is in no cafe to be permitted either to the Divorce, or to the Divorced. 
 The 1. ax- But that it may be more fully and plainly perceiv'd what force is in this kind of 
 iom that reafoning, it will be the beftcourfe to lay down certain grounds wherof no Chri- 
 Chriil could ^ m ^ doubt the truth. Firft, itisa Wickedhefi tofufptct that our Saviour brand- 
 Sf AMtery," ed that; for Adultery, which himfelf, in his own Law which he came to fulfil, and 
 that which' not todifiblve, did not only permit, but alfo command; for by him the only 
 he once com- Mediator, was the whole Law of God given. But that by this Law of God, Mar- 
 riage was permitted after any Divorce, is certain by Dent. xxiv. 1. 
 
 CHAP. XXVI. 
 
 That God in his Law did not only grant, but alfo command Divorce to cer- 
 tain Men. 
 
 vEut. xxiv. 1. When a Man hath taken a Wife, &c. But in Mai. ii. 15, 16. is 
 J read the Lord's command to put her away whom a Man hates, in thefe 
 words: Take heed to your Spirit, and let none deal in jurioufly againjl the wife of his 
 youth. If he hate, let him put away, faith the Lord God pf Ifrael. And he jhall 
 hide thy violence with his garment, that marries herdivorc'd by thee, faith the Lord 
 ofhofts ; but take heed to your Spirit,- and do no injury. By thefe Teftimonies of the 
 divine Law, we fee that the Lord did not only permit, but alfo exprefly and ear- 
 neftly commanded his people, by : whom he would that all holinefs and faith of 
 Marriage -covenant fhould be obferved, that he who could not induce his mind to 
 love his Wife with a true conjugal love, might difmifs her that fhe might marry 
 to another. 
 
 manded. 
 
 D 
 
 CHAP. XXVII. 
 
 That what the Lord permitted and commanded to his antient people concern- 
 ing Divorce belongs al/o to CLrifians. 
 
 NO W what the Lord permitted to his firft-born people, that certainly lie 
 could not forbid to his own among the Gentiles, whom he made coheirs, and 
 into one body with his people ; nor could he ever permit, much lefs command 
 auo-ht that was not good for them, at leaft fo us'd as he commanded. For being 
 God, he is not chang'd as Man. Which thing who ferioufly coniiders, how can 
 he imagine that God would make that wicked to them that believe, and ferve him 
 under Grace, which hegranted and commanded to them that ferv'd him under the 
 Law? Whenasthe fame caufes require the fame permiffion. And who that knows 
 but human matters, and loves the truth, will deny that many Marriages hang as 
 ill together now, as ever they di.l among the jejtps ? So that fuch Marriages are 
 liker to Torments than true Marriages. As therfore the Lord doth always fuc- 
 cour and help the oppreffed, fo he wou'd ever have it provided for injur'd Huf- 
 bandsand Wives, that underpretence of the marriage-bond, they be not fold to 
 perpetual vexations, inftead of the loving and comfortable marriage-duties. 
 And laftly, as God doth always detelt hypocrify and fraud, fo neither doth 
 he* approve that among his people", that fhould be counted Marriage, 
 wherin none of thole duties remain, wherby the league of wedloc is chief- 
 ly preferved. What inconfiderate negleclthen of God's Law is this, that I may not 
 
 call
 
 concerning Divorce. 28 - 
 
 call it worfe, to hold that Chrift our Lord would not grant the fame remedies both 
 of Divorce and fecond Marriage to the weak, or to. the evil, if they will .needs 
 have it fo, but efpecially to the innocent and wro'ngM; whenas the fame urgent 
 caufes remain as before, when the difcipline of the Church and Magiltratc hath 
 try'd what may be try'd? 
 
 CHAP. XXVIII. 
 
 That our Lord Chrij} intended not to make new Laics oj Marriage and 
 Divorce, or of any civil matters. 
 
 IT is agreed by all who determine of the Kingdom and Offices of Chrift by the Axiom i 
 holy Scriptures, as all godly Men ought to do, that our Saviour upon Earth 
 took not on him either to give new Laws in civil affairs, or to changethe old. But 
 it is certain that Matrimony and Divorce are civil things. Which the Chriftian 
 Emperors knowing, gave conjugal Laws, andreferv'd the adminiftrationofthem 
 to their own Courts ; which no true ancient Bifhop ever condemn'd. 
 
 Our Saviour came to preach Repentance and Remiffion : feeing therfore thofe 
 who put away their "Wives without any juft caufe, were not touch'd with confei- 
 ence of the fin, through mifunderrtanding of the Law, he recall'd them to a right 
 interpretation, and taught that the Woman in the beginning was fo join'd to the 
 Man, that there fhould be a perpetual union both in body and fpirit : where this 
 is not, the Matrimony is already broke, before there be yet any divorce made, or 
 fecond Marriage. 
 
 CHAP. XXIX. 
 
 That it is wickedtoftrainthe words of Chrift beyond their purpofe. 
 
 This is his third Axiom, wherof there needs no explication here. 
 
 CHAP. XXX. 
 
 That all places of Scripture about the fame thing are to be joined and Axiom 4. 
 
 compared, to avoid Contradictions. 
 
 This he demonftrates at large out offundry places in the Go/pel, and principally by that 
 precept againft /wearing, which compared with many places of the Law and Pro- 
 phets, is aflat contradiction of them all, if we follow fuperftitioufly the letter. The* U ' V ' ' 
 having repeated briefly his four Axioms, he thus proceeds, 
 
 Thefe things thus pre-admonifh'd, let us enquire whatthe undoubted meanino- j s 
 of our Saviour's words, and enquire according to the rule which is obferv'd by^ll 
 learned and good men in their expofitions •, that praying firft to God, who is the 
 only opener of our hearts, we may firft with fear and reverence confider well the 
 words of our Saviour touching this queftion. Next, that we may compare them 
 with all other places of Scripture treating of this matter, to fee how they conf«nt 
 with our Saviour's words, and thofe of his Apoftle. 
 
 CHAP. XXXI. 
 
 This Chapter difputes againft Auftin and the Papifls, who deny fecond Marriage 
 even to them who divorce in cafe of Adultery ; which becaufe it is not controverted a- 
 mong true Prot eft ants, but that the innocent perfon is eafily allowed to marry, I fpare 
 the tranflating. 
 
 CHAP
 
 286 ^the Judgment of Martin Bucer, 
 
 CHAP. XXXII. 
 
 "That a manifejl Adultrefs ought to be divorc'd, and cannot lawfully be re- 
 tained in Marriage by any true Chriftian. 
 
 This though he prove fufficiently, yet I let pafs, becaufe this quefiion was not han- 
 dled in the Doclrine and Difcipline of Divorce ; fv which book I bring fo much of this 
 Treatifs as runs parallel. 
 
 CHAP. XXXIII. 
 
 That Adultery is to bepunijlfd by Death. 
 This Chapter alfo I omit for the reafonlafi alledg'd, 
 
 CHAP. XXXIV. 
 
 That it is lawful for a Wife to leave an Adulterer \ and to marry another 
 
 Husband. 
 
 This is generally granted, and therfore excufesme the writing out. 
 
 CHAP. XXXV. 
 
 Places in the Writings of the Apojlle Paul, touching Divorce explained. 
 
 LET us confider theanfwerof the Lord given by theApoftle feverally. Con- 
 cerning the firft, which is Rom vii. i. Know ye not \ brethren for I fpeak to 
 them that know the law, Sec. Ver. 2. The woman is bound by the law to berHufband 
 fo long as he liveth. Here it is certain that the Holy Ghoft had no purpofe to de- 
 termine aught of Marriage, or Divorce, but only to bring an example from the 
 common and ordinary law of Wedloc, to fhew that as no covenant holds either 
 party being dead, fo now that we are not bound to the law, but to Chrift our 
 Lord, feeing that through him we are dead to fin, and to the law; and fo join- 
 ed to Chrift that we may bring forth fruit in him from a willing godlinefs, and not 
 by the compulfion of law, wherby our fins are more excited, and become more 
 violent. "What therfore the holy Spirit here fpeaks of Matrimony, cannot be ex- 
 tended beyond the general rule. 
 
 Befides it is manifeft, that the Apoftle did alledge the law of Wedloc, as it 
 was deliver'd to the Jews ; for, faith he, I fpeak to them that know the law. 
 They knew no law of God but that of Mofes, which plainly grants divorce for fe- 
 veral reafons. It cannot therfore be faid that the Apoftle cited this general exam- 
 ple out of the law, to abolifh the feveral exceptions of that lav/, which God him- 
 felf granted by giving authority to divorce. 
 
 Next, when the Apoftle brings an example out of God's law concerning Man and 
 Wife* it muft be necefiary that we underftand fuch for Man and Wife, as are fo 
 indeed according to the fame law of God ; that is, who are fo difpofed as that they 
 are both willing and able to perform the necefiary duties of marriag e ; not thofe 
 who under a falfe title of marriage, keep themfelves mutually bound to injuries 
 and difgraces •, for fuch twain are nothing lefs than lawful Man and Wife. 
 
 The like anfwer is to be given toall the other places both of the Gofpel and the 
 Apoftle, that whatever exception may be prov'd out of God's law, be not exclu- 
 ded from thofe places. For the Spirit of God doth not condemn things formerly 
 granted and allowed, where there is like caufe and reafon. Hence Ambrofe, upon 
 that place, i Cor. vii. 15. A brother or ajifter is not under bondage in fuch cafes , 
 thus expounds •, The reverence of marriage is not due to him who abhors the author of 
 Marriage ; nor is that Marriage ratify 1 d which is without devotion to God : he fins 
 not therfore who is put away for God's caufe, though he join bimfelf to ano- 
 ther. For the difionour of the Creator diffolves the right of Matrimony to him who 
 is deferted, that he be not accus'd, though marrying to another. The faith of 
 wedloc is not to be kept with him who departs, that he might not hear the 
 God of Chrift ians to be the author of wedloc. For if Ezra caufed the mif- 
 believing Wives end llujbands to be divorced, that God might br appeaf- 
 ed, and not offended, though they took others of their own faith, bow much 
 
 more
 
 concerning Divorce. 2 8 ? 
 
 morejhall it be free, if the mi/believer depart, to marry one of our own Religion, for 
 this is not to be counted Matrimony, which is agairfl the law of God. 
 
 Two things are here to be obferved toward the following Difcourfe, which 
 truth itfelf, and the force of God's word hath drawn from this holy Man. For 
 thole words are very large, Matrimony is not ratify'd, without devotion to God. And 
 the difhonour of the Creator diffolves the right of Matrimony, For devotion is far 
 off, and difhonour is done to God by all who perfift in any wickednefs and heinous 
 crime. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVI. 
 
 That although it feem in the Gofpcl, as if our Saviour granted Divorce only 
 for Adultery, yet in very deed he granted it for other caufes al/o. 
 
 NO W is to be dealt with this queftion, Whether it be lawful to divorce and 
 marry again for other caufes befides Adultery, fince our Saviour exorefs'd 
 that only ? To this queftion, if we retain our principles already laid, and rouft ac- 
 knowledge it to be a curled blafphemy, if we fay that the words of God do con- 
 tradict one another, of neceflity we muft confefs that our Lord did grant Divorce 
 and Marriage after that, for other caufes befides Adultery, notwitManding what 
 he laid in Matthew. For firft, they who consider but only that place, i Cor. vii. 
 which treats of believers and mifbelievers match'd together, mult of force confefs, 
 That our Lord granted juft Divorce, and fecond Marriage in the caufe of Defer- 
 tion, which is other than the caufe of Fornicadon. And if there be one other 
 caufe found lawful, then is it moft true, that Divorce was granted not only for For* 
 nication. 
 
 Next, it cannot be doubted, as I fhew'd before, by them to whom it is giveii 
 to know God and his Judgments out of his own word, but that, what means of 
 peace and fafety God ever granted and ordain'd to his elected people, the fame he 
 gran::, andordains to Men of all ages who have equally need of the fame rem -dies. 
 And who, that is but a knowing Man, dares fay there be not Hufbands and Wives 
 now to be foundinfuchahardnefs of heart, that they will not perform either con- 
 jugal affection, or any requifite duty therof, though it be moft deferv'd at their 
 hands ? 
 
 Neither can any one defer to confefs, but that God whofe property it is to jud<*e 
 the caufe of them that fuffer injury, hath provided for innocent and honeft perfons 
 wedded, how they might free themfelves by lawful means of Divorce, from the 
 bondage and iniquity of thofe whoarefalfly term'd their Hufbands or their Wives. 
 This is clear out of Dcut. xxiv. i. Malach. ii. Matth. xix. i Cor. vii. and out of 
 thofe principles which the Scripture every where teaches, That God changes not 
 hismind, diffents not from himfelf, is no accepter of perfons •, but allows the 
 fame remedies to all Men opprefs'd with the fame neceffities an,d infirmities ; yea, 
 requires that we fhould ufe them. This he will eafily perceive, who confiders theft- 
 things in the Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 Laftly, it is moft certain, that the Lord hath commanded us to obey the civil 
 Laws everyone of his own Commonwealth, if they be not againft the Laws ol 
 God. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVII. 
 
 For what caufes Divorce is permitted by the civil Law ex 1. Confenfu 
 
 Codic. de Repudiis. 
 
 IT is alfo manifeft that the Law of Theodo/ins and Valentiman, which begins Con- 
 fenfu, &c. touching Divorce, and many other Decrees of pious Emperors agree- 
 ing herewith, are not contrary to the word of God •, and therfore may be recalled 
 into ufe by any Chriftian Prince or Commonwealth-, nay, ought to be with due 
 refpecthad to every nation. For whatfoever is equal and juft, that in everything 
 is to be fought andufed by Chriftians. Hence it is plain that Divorce is granted 
 by divine approbation, both to Hufbands and to Wives, if either party can con- 
 vict the other of thefe following offences before the Maaiftrate. 
 
 If the Hufbandcan provetheWifetobe an Adultrefs,aWitch, a Murdrefs, to have 
 bought orfold to fiavery anyone free-born, to have violated Sepulchres, committed 
 Sacrilege, favour'tl thieves and robbers,defirous of feaftingwithftrangers, the hufband 
 not knowing, or not willing, if fhe lodge forth without a juftand probable caufe, or 
 
 fre- 
 3
 
 2 gS The Judgment of Martin Bucer, 
 
 frequent theatres and fights, he forbidding; if fhe be privy with thofe that plot a- 
 eainft the State, or if fhe deal falfly, or offer blows. And it the wife can prove 
 her Hufband guilty of any thofe forenamed crimes, and frequent the company of 
 lewd women in her fight ; or if he beat her, fhe had the like liberty to quit her- 
 felf 3 with this difference, that the Man after Divorce might forthwith marry a- 
 crain'- the Woman not till a year after, left fhe might chance to have conceiv'd. 
 
 CHAP. XXXVIII. 
 
 ' An Expo ft ion of thofe places wberin God declares the nature of holy Wcdhc. 
 
 NO W to the end it may feem that this agrees with the divine law, the firft in- 
 ftitution of Marriage is to be confidered, and thofe texts in which God ef- 
 ilifh'd the joining of male and female, and defcrib'd the duties of them both. 
 "When God had determined to make Woman, and give her as a Wife to Man, 
 he fpake thus, Gen. ii. 18. It is not good for Man to be alone, I will make him a 
 help-meet for him. And Adam faid, but in the fpirit of God, v.2g, 24. This is neta 
 bone of my bone, andflejh ofmyflejh; Therfore fljall a Man leave his Father and Mo- 
 ther, and fljall cleave to his Wife, and they fljall be onefiejh. 
 
 To this firft inftitution did Chrift recall his own ; when anfwering the Pkarijees, 
 he condemn'd the licence of unlawful Divorce. He taught therfore by his example, 
 that we, according to this firft inftitution, and what God hath fpokentherof, ought 
 to determine what kind of Covenant Marriage is, how to be kept, and how far •, 
 and laftly, for what caufes to bediflblv'd. To which Decrees of God thefe alio 
 are to be join'd, which the Holy Ghoft hath taught by his Apoftle, that neither 
 the Hufband nor the Wife hath power of their own body, but mutually each of cither's. 
 Tb&ttbe Hufband Jhall love the Wife as his own body, yea as Chrift loves his Church \ 
 and that the Wife ought to be fubjetl to her Hufband, as the Church is to Chrift. 
 
 By thefe things the nature of holy Wedloc is certainly known ; wherof if only 
 one be wanting in both or either party, and that either by obftinate malevolence, 
 or too deep inbred weaknefs of mind, or laftly, through incurable impotence of Bo- 
 dy, it cannot then be faid that the covenant of Matrimony holds good between 
 fuch ; if we mean that covenant which God inftituted and call'd Marriage, and 
 that wherof only it muft be underftood that our Saviour faid, Thofe whom God hath 
 join'd, let no Manfeparate. 
 
 And hence is concluded, that Matrimony requires continual cohabitation and 
 livino- together, unlefs the calling of God be othcrwife evident •, which union if 
 the parties themfelves disjoin either by mutual confent, or one againft the other's 
 will depart, the Marriage is then broken. W T herin the Papifts, as in other things, 
 oppofe themfelves againft God •, while they feparate for many caufes from bed 
 and board, and yet will have the bond of Matrimony remain, as if this covenant 
 could be other than the conjunction and communion not only of bed and board, 
 but of all other loving and helpful duties. This we may fee in thefe words ; I will 
 make him a help-meet for him ; bone of his bone, and fieftj of hi s ficjh : for this caufe Jhall 
 he leave Father and Mother, and cleave to his Wife, and they twain fljall be onefiejh. 
 By which words who difecrns not, that God requires of them both fo to live toge- 
 ther, and to be united not only in body but in mind alfo, with fuch an affection as 
 none may be dearer and more ardent among all the relations of Mankind, nor of 
 more efficacy to the mutual offices of love and loyalty. They muft communicate 
 and confent in all things both divine and human, which have any moment to well 
 and happy living. The Wife muft honour and obey her Hufband, as the Church 
 honours and obeys Chrift her head. The Hufband muft love and cherifh his Wife, 
 as Chrift his Church. Thus they muft be to each other, if they will be true Man 
 and Wife in the fight of God, whom certainly the Churches ought to follow in 
 their judgment. Now the proper and ultimate end of Marriage is not copulation, 
 or children, for then there was not true Matrimony between Jofepb and Mary the 
 Mother of Chrift, nor between many holy p'erfonsmore -, but the full and proper 
 and main end of Marriage, is the communicating of all duties, both divine and hu- 
 man, each to other with utmoft benevolence and affection. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAP.
 
 concerning Divorce, 2S9 
 
 CHAP. XXXIX. ' 
 
 The Prefer ties 'of a True and Chrijlian Marriage more dijlinEtly repeated. 
 
 BY which definition we may know that God efteems and reckons upon thefe 
 four neceffary properties to be in every true Marriage, i. That they fhould 
 live together, unlefs the calling 6f God require otherwife for a time. 2. That they 
 fhould loveone anotherto the height of dearnefs, and that in the Lord, and in the 
 communion of true Religion. 3. That the Hufband bear himfelf as the head and 
 preferver of his Wife, inflrucling her to all godlinefs and integrity of Life-, that 
 the Wife alio be to her Hufband a help, according to her place, efpecially fur- 
 thering him in the true worfhip of God, and next in all the occafions of civil life. 
 And 4. That they defraud not each other of conjugal benevolence, as the Apoflle 
 commands, 1 Cor. vii. Hence it follows, according to the fentence of God, 
 which all Chriftians ought to be rul'd by, that between thofe who either through 
 obftinacy, or helplefs inability, cannot or will not perform thefe repeated duties, 
 between thofe there can be no true Matrimony, nor ought they to be counted Man 
 and Wile. 
 
 CHAP. XL. 
 
 Whether thofe Crimes recited Chap, xxxvu.out of the Civil Law, diffohe 
 
 Matrimony in God's account. 
 
 NO W if a Hufband or Wife be found guilty of any of thofe crimes, which by 
 the Law confenfu are made caufes of Divorce, 'tis manifefl thatfuch a Man 
 cannot be the head and preferver of his Wife, nor fuch a Woman be a meet help 
 to her Hufband, as the divine Law in true Wedloc requires ; for thefe faults are 
 punifh'd either by death, or deportation, or extreme infamy, which are directly 
 oppofitc to the covenant of Marriage. If they deferve death, as Adulterv and the 
 like, doubtlefs God would not that any fhould live in Wedloc with them whom he 
 would not have to live at all. Or if it be not death, but the incurring of noto- 
 rious infamy, certain it is neither juft, nor expedient, nor meet that an honefl 
 Man fhould be coupled with an infamous Woman, nor an honefl Matron with an 
 infamous Man. The wife Roman Princes had fo great regard to the equal honour 
 of either wedded perfon, that they counted thofe Marriages of no force which 
 were made between the one of good repute, and the other of evil note. How much 
 more will all honefl regard of Chriflian expedience and comelinefs befeem and 
 concern thofe who are kt free and dignified in Chrifl, than it could the Roman Se- 
 nate, or their Sons, for whom that Law was provided ? 
 
 And this all godly Men will foon apprehend, that he who ought to be the head 
 and preferver not only of his Wife, but alfo of his Children and Family, as 
 Chriil is of his Church, had need be one of honefl name : folikewife the Wife, 
 which is to be the meet help of an honefl and good Man, the Mother of an honefl 
 Offspring and Family. The Glory of the Man, even as the Man is the G'cry of 
 Chrifl, fhould not be tainted with ignominy ; as neither of them can avoid to be, 
 having bin juflly appeach'd of thofe forenamed crimes ; and therfore cannot be 
 worthy to hold their place in a Chriflian Family : yea, they themf-lves turn out 
 themlclves and dilTolve that holy covenant. Andthey who are true Brethren and 
 Sillers in the Lord, are no more in bondage to fuch violaters of Marriage. 
 
 Tint here the patrons of wickednefs and diffolvers of Chriflian difcipline will ob- 
 ject, that it is the part of Man and Wife tobear one another's crofs, whether in 
 calamity or infamy, that they might gain each other, if not to a good name, yet 
 to repentance and amendment. But they who thus object, fee k the impunity of 
 wickednefs, and the favour of wicked Men, not the duties of true charity ; 
 which prefers public honefly before private interefl, and had rather the remedies 
 of wholefome punifhment appointed by God fhould be in ufe, than that by remifT- 
 nefs, the licence of evil doing fhould encreafe. For if they who, by committing fuch 
 offences, have made void the holy knot of Marriage, be capable of repentance, 
 they will be fooner mov'd when due punifhment is executed on them, than when 
 it is remitted. 
 
 We mull ever beware, left in contriving what will be befl for the foul's health of 
 Delinquents, we make ourfelves wiier and difcreeter than God. He that religioufiy 
 
 Vol I. Pp weighs
 
 Z go T/je Jtidgihtnt of Martin Bpcer, 
 
 weighs his Oracles concerning Marriage, cannot doubt that they who have con; 
 mitced the forefaid tranfgreffions; have loft the right pf Matrimony, and are un- 
 worthy to hold their dignity in an honeft and chriftian Family. 
 
 But if any Huiband or Wife fee filth figrisof repentance in their tranfgreflbr, 
 as that they doubt not to regain them by continuing with them, and partaking of 
 their miferics and attaintures, they may be left to their own hopes, and their own 
 mind, laving ever the right of Church and Commonwealth, that it receive no 
 fcandal by the neglect of due fevericy, and their Children no harm by this invita- 
 tion 10 licence, and want of good education. 
 
 From ail thefii considerations, if they be thought on, as in rhe prefence of God, 
 and out of his word, any one may perceive, who defires to determine of thefe 
 thinc-s by the Scripture, that thofe caufes of lawful Divorce, which the moil reli- 
 gious Emptors Tbeodcjias and Valent'mian fet forth in the forecited place, are ac- 
 cording to the law of God, and the prime ir.ftitution of Marriage; and were ftill 
 more and mere Jlraitetfd, as the Church and State of the Empire Jtill more and more 
 corrupted and degenerated. Therfore pious Princes and Commonwealths both may 
 and ought eftablifli them again, if they have a mindtoreftore the honour, fanctity, 
 andreli.ion ofholywedloc to their people, and difentangle many consciences 
 from a miferab'.e and perilous condition, to a chafte and honeit life. 
 
 To thofe recited caufes wherforea "Wife might fend a Divorce to her Hufband, 
 Juftinian added four more, Conjlit. ny. And four more, for which a Man might 
 put away his Wife. Three other caufes were added in the Code de repudiis, 1. 
 Jubemus. All which caufes are fo clearly contrary to the firft intent of Marriage, 
 that they plainly diffolvc it. I fet them not down, king eafy to be found in the body 
 of the civil Law. 
 
 It was permitted alfo by Chriftian Emperors, that they who would divorce bv 
 mutual confent, might without Impediment. Or if there were any difficulty at all 
 in it, the law exprejfes thereof on., that it was only in favour of the children ; fothat 
 if there were none, the law of thofe godly Emperors made no other difficulty of a Di- 
 vorce by confent. Or if any were minded without confent of the other to divorce, 
 and without thofe caufes which have bin nam'd, the Chriftian emperors laid no 
 other punifhment upon them, than that the Huiband wrongfully divorcing his 
 Wife, fhould give back her dowry, and the ufe of that which was called Donatio 
 propter nuptias ; or if there were no dowry nor no donation, that he fhould then 
 give her the fourth part of his goods. The like penalty was inflicted on the Wife 
 departing without juft caufe. But that they who were once married, fhould be 
 compell'd to remain fo ever againft their wills, was not exacted. Wherin thofe 
 pious Princes follow'd the Law of God in Deut.xxW. i. and his exprefs charge by 
 the Prophet Malachi to difmifs from him the Wife whom he hates. For God 
 never meant in Marriage to give to Man a perpetual torment inftead of a meet-help. 
 Neither can God approve that to the violation of this holy league (which is viola- 
 ted as foon.as true affection ceafesand is loft) fhould be added murder, which is 
 already committed by either of them whorefolvedly hates the other, as I fhew'd 
 out of i John xv. Whofo hateth his Brother is a Murderer. 
 
 CHAP. XLI. 
 
 Whether the Htijband orlVife deferted, may ?narry to another. 
 
 TH E Wife's defertion of her Huiband, the Chriftian Emperors plainly decreed 
 to be a juft caufe of Divorce, whenas they granted him the right therof, if 
 (he had but lain out one Night againft his will without probable caufe. But of the 
 Man deferting his Wife they did not fo determine : Yet if we look into the word 
 of God, we fliall find, that he who though but for a year without juft caufe for- 
 fakes his Wife, andneither provides for her maintenance, r.or fignifies his purpofe 
 of returning, and good-will towards her, whenas he may, hath forfeited his right 
 in her fo forfaken. For the Spirit of God fpeaks plainly, that both Man and Wife 
 havefuch power over one another's perfon, as that they cannot deprive each other 
 of living together, but by confent, and tor a time. 
 
 Hither may be added,thatthe holy Spirit grants defertion to be a caufe of Divorce, 
 in thofe Anf. vers given to the Corinthians concerning a Brotheror Sifter deferted by a 
 mifbeliever. If he depart, let him depart, a Brother or a Sifter is not under Bondage in 
 
 fucb
 
 concerning Divorce. 291 
 
 fitch cafes. In which words, who fees not that the Holy Ghoft openly pronoun- 
 ced, that the party without caufe defertcd, is not bound for another's wilful defer- 
 tion ? 
 
 But foine will fay, that this is fpoken of a mi/believer departing. But I befeech 
 ye, doth not he reject the faith of Chrift in his deeds, who rafhly breaks the holy 
 Covenant of Wedloc inftituted by God ? And befides this, the holy Spirit does 
 not make the mifbelieving or him who departs, but the departing of him who mif- 
 believes, to be the juft caufe of freedom to the Brother or Sifter. 
 
 Since therfore it will be agreed among Chriftians, that they who depart from 
 "Wedloc without juft caufe, do not only deny the faith of Matrimony, but of Chrift 
 alfo, whatever they profefs with their Mouths-, it is but reafon to conclude, that the 
 party deferted is not bound in cafe of cauflefs defertion, but that he may lawfully 
 feek another confort, if it be needful to him, toward a pure and blamelefs con- 
 version. 
 
 CHAP. XLII. 
 
 'That Impotence of Body, Leprojy, Madnefs, Sec. are juft caufes of Divorce. 
 
 G 
 
 F this, becaufe itwas not difputedin the Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce 
 him that would know further, I commend to the Latin original. 
 
 CHAP. XLIII. 
 
 That to grant Divorce for all the caufes which have bin hitherto brought 
 dij agrees not from the words of Chrift, naming only the cauje of Adultery. 
 
 NO W we muft fee how thefe things can ftand with the words of our Saviour, 
 who feems directly to forbid all Divorce except it be for Adultery. To the 
 underftanding wherof, we muft ever remember this : That in the words of our Sa- 
 viour there can be no contrariety : That his words and anfwers are not to be 
 ftretch'd beyond the queftion propos'd : That our Saviour did not there purpofe 
 to treat of all the caufes for which it might be lawful to divorce and marry a<*ain ; 
 for then that in, the Corinthians of marrying again without guilt of Adultery could not 
 be added. That it is not good for that Man to be alone, who hath not the fpecial 
 gift from above. That it is good for every fuch one to be married, that he may 
 ihun Fornication. 
 
 With regard to thefe principles, let us fee what our Lord anfwer'd to the tempt- 
 ing Pharifees about Divorce, and fecond Marriage, and how far his anfwerdoth, 
 extend. 
 
 Firft, no Man who is not very contentious, will deny that the Pharifees afk'd 
 our Lord whether it were lawful to put away fuch a Wife, as was truly, and ac- 
 cording to God's law, to be counted a Wife ; that is, fuch a one as would dwell 
 with her Hufband,and both would and could perform thenecelTary duties of Wed- 
 loc tolerably. But me who will not dwell with her Hufband, is not put away by 
 him, but goes of herfelf : and flie who denies to be a meet-help, or to be fo hath 
 made herfelf unfit by open Mifdemeanors, or through incurable Impotencies can- 
 not be able, is not by the Law of God to be efteemed a Wife ; as hath bin fhewn 
 both from the firft inftitution, and other places of Scripture. Neither certainly 
 would the Pharifees propound a queftion concerning fuch an unconjugal Wife ; 
 for their depravation of the Law had brought them to that pajs, as to think a Man 
 had right to pit away his Wife for any caufe, though never fo flight. Since therfore 
 it is manifeft that Chrift anfwer'd the Pharifees concerning a fit and meet Wife ac- 
 cording to the Law of God, whom he forbid to divorce for any caufe but Forni- 
 cation ; who fees not that it is a Wickednefs fo to wreft and extend that Anfwer 
 of his, as if it forbade to divorce her who hath already forfaken, or hath loft the 
 place and dignity of a Wife, by deferved infamy, or hath undertaken to be that 
 which jhe hath not natural ability to be ? 
 
 Th'is truth is fo powerful, that it hath mov'd the Papifts to grant their kind of 
 Divorce forother caufes befides Adultery, as for ill ufage, and the not perform- 
 ing of conjugal duty ; and to feparate from bed and board for thefe caufes, which 
 is as much Divorce, as they grant for Adultery. 
 
 , But forne perhaps will object, that though it be yielded that our Lord oranted Di- 
 vorce not only for Adultery, yet it is not certain that he permitted Marriage after 
 
 Vol. I. Pp 2 Divorce,
 
 2p2 "The Judgment of Martin Buctr, 
 
 Divorce, unlcfs for that only caufe. I anfwer, firft, that the Sentence of Divorce. ' 
 and fecond Marriage, is one and the fame. So that when the right of Divorce is 
 evine'd to belong not only to the caufe of Fornication, the power of fecond Marri-* 
 a°-e is alfo prov'd to be not limited to that caufe only ; and that moft evidently, 
 •whenas the Holy Ghoft, i Cor. vii. lb frees the deferted party from Bondage, as 
 that he may not only fend a juft Divorce in cafe of Defertion, but may feek an- 
 other Marriage. 
 
 Laftly, Seeing God will not that any mould live in danger of Fornication and 
 utter ruin for the default of another, and hath commanded the Hufband to fend 
 away with a Bill of Divorce her whom he could not love ; it is impoflible that the 
 charo-e of Adultery mould belong to him who for lawful caufes divorces and mar- 
 ries or to her who marries after (he hath bin unjuftly rejected, or to him who re- 
 ceives her without all fraud to the former wedioc. For this were a horrid blafphe- 
 my againft God, fo to interpret his words, as to make him difTent from himlelf; 
 for who fees not a fiat contradiction in this, to enthral bkmekfs Men and Women 
 to miferies and injuries, under a falfe and foothing title of Marriage, and yet to 
 declare by his Apoftle, that a Brother or Sifter is not under bondage in fuch cafes ? 
 No lefs do thefe two things conflict with themfelves, to enforce the innocent and 
 faultlefs to endure the pain and mifery of another's perverfenefs, or elfe to live in 
 unavoidable temptation •, and to affirm elfewhere that he lays on no Man the bur- 
 den of another Man's fin, nor doth conftrain any Man to the endangering of his 
 
 Soul. 
 
 CHAP. XLIV. 
 
 I7jat to thofe alfo who arejuftly divore'd, fecond Marriage ought to be per- 
 mitted. 
 
 \H I S although it be well prov'd, yet becaufe it concerns only the Offender, 
 I leave him to fearch out his own Charter himlelf in the Author. 
 
 CHAP. XLV. 
 
 That fomeperfons are fo ordain d to Marriage, as that they cannot obtain the 
 gift of Continence, no not by earneji Prayer; and that therin every one is to 
 be left to his cwn 'Judgment and Confcience, and not to have a burden laid 
 upon him by any other. 
 
 CHAP. XLVI. 
 
 I7je Words of the Apoftle concerning the praife of : Jingle Life unfolded. 
 
 IHESE two Chapters not fo immediately debating the right of Divorce, 
 I chofe rather not to infert. 
 
 CHAP. XLVII. 
 
 The Ccnclufion of this Treatife. 
 
 H E S E things, moft renowned King, I have brought together, both to ex- 
 plain for what caufes the unhappy, but fometimes moft neceflary help of 
 Divorce ought to be granted, according to God's Word, by Princes and Rulers : 
 as alfo to explain how the words of Chrift do confent with fuch a grant. I 
 have bin large indeed both in handling thofe Oracles of God, and in lay- 
 ing down thofe certain principles, which he who will know what the mind of 
 God is in this matter, mult ever think on and remember. But if we confider what 
 mift and obfeurity hath bin pour'd out by Antichrift upon this queftion, and 
 how deep this pernicious contempt of Wedioc, and admiration of fingle 
 life, even in thofe who are not call'd therto, hath funk into many Men's 
 perfuafions, I fear left all that hath bin laid, be hardly enough to perfuade 
 fuch that they would ceafe at length to make themfelves wifer and holier than God 
 
 himfelf, 
 
 T
 
 comer mug Divorce. 203 
 
 •himfelf, in being fo fc-vere to grant lawful Marriage, and fo eafy to connive ac 
 all, not only whoredoms,* but deflowcrings and adulteries : Whenas amorro- the 
 peopleofGod, no whoredom was to be tolerated. 
 
 Our Lord Jefus Chrift, who came to deftroy the works of Satan, fend down 
 his Spirit upon all Clinicians, and principally upon Chriftian Governors both in 
 Church and Commonwealth (for of the clear judgment of your royal Majefty I 
 nothing doubt, revolving the Scripture fo often as ye do) that they may acknow- 
 ledge how much they provoke the anger of God againft us, whenas all kind of 
 unchaftity is tolerated, fornications and adulteries wink'd at : But holy and honour- 
 able Wedloc is oft with-held by the mere perfuafion of Antichrift, from fuch as 
 without this remedy, cannot preferve themfelves from damnation ! For none who 
 hath but a fpark of honefty will deny that Princes and States ought to ufe dili- 
 gence toward the maintaining of pure and honeft life among all Men, without 
 which all Juftice, all fear ot God, and true Religion decays. 
 
 And who knows not that chaftity and purenefs of life can never be reftor'd, or 
 continued in the Commonwealth, unlefs it be firft eftablifh'd in private houfes, 
 from whence the whole breed of Men is to come forth ? To effect this, no wife 
 Man can doubt that it is neceffary for Princes and Magiftrates firft with feverity 
 to punifh Whoredom and Adultery ; next to fee that Marriages be lawfully con- 
 tracted, and in the Lord ;then that they be faithfully kept ; and laftly, when that 
 unhappinefs urges, that they be lawfully diffolv'd, and other Marriage granted, 
 according as the law of God, and of Nature, and Conftitutions of pious Princes 
 have decreed •, as I have lliewn both by evident authorities of Scripture, together 
 with the writings of the ancient Fathers, and other teftimonies. Only the Lord 
 grant that we may learn to prefer his ever juft and faving Word, before the Com- 
 ments of Antichrift, too deeply rooted in many, and the falfe and blafphemous 
 Expofuion of our Saviour's words. Amen. 
 
 A Postscript. 
 
 THUS far Martin Bucer : Whom, where I might without injury to either 
 part of the caufe, I deny not to have epitomized ; in the reft obferving a 
 well-warranted rule, not to give an Inventory of fo many words, but to wei«-h 
 their force. I could have added that eloquent and right Chriftian difcourfe, writ- 
 ten by Erafmus on' this Argument, not difagreeing in effect from Bucer. But this 
 I hope, will be enough to excufe me with the mere EngUjhman, to be no forger 
 of new and loofe opinions. Others may read him in his own phrafe on the firft to 
 the Corinthians, and eafe me who never could delight in long citations, much lefs 
 in whole traductions ; whether it be natural difpofition or education in me, or that 
 my Mother bore me a fpeaker of what God made mine own, and not a tranflator. 
 There be others a'.fo whom I could reckon up, of no mean account in the Church 
 (and Peter Martyr among the firft) who are more than half our own in this Con- 
 rroverfy. But this is a providence not to be flighted, that as Bucer wrote this trac- 
 tate of Divorce in England and for England, fo Erafmus profeffes he begun here 
 among us the fame fubject, efpecially out of companion, for the need he law this 
 Nation had of iome charitable redrefs herein ; and ferioufly exhorts others to ufe 
 their belt induftry in the clearing of this point, wherin cuftom hath a greater fway 
 than verity. That therfore which came into the mind of thefe two admired Arran- 
 gers to do for England, and in a touch of higheft prudence which they took to be 
 not yet rccover'd from monaftic fuperftition, if I a native am found to have done 
 for mine own Country, altogether fuitably and conformly to their fo large and 
 clear understanding, yet without the leaft help of theirs, I fuppofe that hence- 
 forward among confcionable and judicious perfons, it will no more be thought 
 to my difcredit, or at all to this Nation's difhonour. And if thefe their 
 Books, the one mail be printed often with beft allowance in mod religious 
 Cuies, the other with exprefs authority of Leo the tenth, a Pope, fhall for 
 the propagating of truth, bepublifh'd and republifh'd, though againft the re ceiv'd 
 opinion of that Church, and mine containing but the fame thing, fhall in a 
 time of reformation, a time of free fpeaking, free writing, not find a per- 
 miffion to the Prefs ; I refer me to wifeft Men, whether truth be fufter'd to be 
 truth, or liberty to be liberty now among us, and be not again in danger of new 
 
 fetters 
 t
 
 294 Sfik Judgment of Martin Bucer, &c. 
 
 fetters and captivity after all our hopes and labours loft : and whether Learning \y? 
 not (which our enemies too prophetically fear'd) in the way to be trodden down 
 ao-ainby ignorance. Wherof while time is, out of the faith owing to God and 
 my Country, I bid this Kingdom beware ; and doubt not but God who hath dig- 
 nify'd this Parliament already to fo many glorious degrees, will alio give them 
 (which is a Angular blefling) to inform themfelves rightly in the midft of an un- 
 principled age •, and to prevent this working myftery of ignorance and ecclefi- 
 aftical thraldom, which under new fhapes and difguifes begins a-frefh to grow 
 upon us. 
 
 €oU=
 
 -95 
 
 A Reply to a Namelefs Answer againft the 
 Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce. 
 
 Wherin the trivial Author of that Anfwer is discovered, the 
 Licenfer conferr'd with, and the Opinion which they tra- 
 duce, defended. 
 
 P R O V. xxvi. t, 
 
 Anfwer a Fool according to his Folly, left he be wife in his own Conceit. 
 
 AFTER many Rumours of Confutations and Convictions, forth-coming 
 againft the Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce, and now and then a 
 by-blow from the Pulpit, feather'd with a cenfure ftrict indeed, but 
 how true, more beholden to the Authority of that devout place which 
 it borrow 'd to be uttered in, than to any found reafon which it could oracle j 
 while I ftill hoped as for a bleffingto fome piece of diligence, or learned difcretion 
 come from them, it was my hap at length, lighting on a certain parcel of Que- 
 ries, that feekand find not, to find not feeking, at the tail of Anabaptiftical, An- 
 tinomian, Heretical, Atheifiical Epithets, a jolly Slander, called Divorce at plea- 
 furc. I ftood a- while and wonder'd, what we might do to a Man's heart, or what 
 Anatomy ufe, to find in it fincerity ; for all our wonted Marks every day fail us, 
 and where we thought it was, we fee it is not, for alter and change refidence it 
 cannot fure. And yet I fee no good of Body or of Mind fecure to a Man for all 
 his paft labours, without perpetual watchfulnefs and perfeverance. Whenas one 
 above others, who hath fuffer'd much and long in the defence of Truth, fhall af- 
 ter all this, give her caufe to leave him fo deltitute and fo vacant of her defence, 
 as to yield his Mouth to be the common road of Truth and Falfhood, and fuch 
 Falfhood as is joined with a rafh and heedlefs Calumny of his Neighbour. For 
 what Book hath he ever met with, as his complaint is, Printed in the City, main- 
 taining either in the title, or in the whole purfuance, Divorce at pkafure ? 'Tis 
 true, that to divorce upon extreme necefiity, when through the perverfenefs, or 
 the apparent unfitnefs of either, the continuance can be to both no good at all, but 
 an intolerable injury and temptation to the wrong'd and the defrauded, to divorce 
 then there is a Book that writes it lawful. And that this Law is a pure and whole- 
 fome national Law, not to be with-held from good Men, becaufe others likely 
 enough may abufe it to their pleafure, cannot be charged upon that Book, but 
 muft be entred a bold and impious Accufation againft God himfelf ; who did not 
 for this abufe with-hold it from his own people. It will be juft therfore, and beft 
 for the reputation of him who in his Subitanes hath thus cenfured, to recall his 
 Sentence. And i I out of the abundance of his Volumes, and the readinefs of his 
 Quill, and the vaftnefs of his other Employments, efpecially in the great Audit 
 for Accounts, he can fpare us aught to the better underftanding of this point, he 
 (hall be thank'd in public ; and what hath offended in the Book, fhall willingly 
 Cubmit to his correction. Provided he be fure not to come with thofe old and ftale 
 Suppofitio'ns, unlefs he can take away clearly what that Difcourfe hath urged a- 
 gainft them, by one Who will expect other Arguments to be perfuaded the good 
 health of a found Anfwer, than the Gout and Dropfy of a big Margent, litterM 
 and overlaid with crude and huddled Quotations. But as I ftill was waiting, 
 when thefe light-armed Refuters would have done pelting at their three Lines ut- 
 tered with a f.ige delivery of no Reafon, but an impotent and worfe than Bonner- 
 Iike Cenfure, to burn that which provokes them to a fairdifpute; at length a Book 
 was brought to my hands, entitled, An Anfwer to theDottrine cvd Difcipline of 'Divorce ; 
 
 Gladly
 
 20 5 A Re p l y to an Anfucer again fl the 
 
 Gladly I received it, and very attentively compofed myfeff to read ; hoping that 
 now fome good Man had vouchfafed the pains to inftruct me better, than I could 
 yet learn our. of all the Volumes which for this purpofe I had vifited. Only rhis I 
 marvell'd, and other Men have fince, whenas I, in a fubjedt fo new to this Age, 
 jfnd fo hazardous to pleafe, concealed not my Name, why this Author, defend- 
 ing that part which is fo creeded by the People, would conceal his. But ere I could 
 enter three leaves into the Pamphlet, (for I defer the pleafant rutlenefs, which by 
 the licenfer's leave I met with afterwards) my fatisfaclion came in abundantly, that 
 it could be nothing why he durft not name himfelf, but the guilt of his own 
 wrctchednefs. For firft, not to fpeakof his abrupt; and bald beginning, his very 
 firft Page notorioufly bewrays him an illiterate and arrogant prefu-mer in that 
 which heunderftandsnot, bearing us in hand as if he knew both Greek and He- 
 brew, and is not able to fpell it •, which had he been, it had been either written as. 
 it ought, or l'cor'd upon the Printer. If it be excufed as the careleflhefs of his de- 
 putyfbe it known, the learned Author himfelf is inventoried, and fumm'd up to 
 the utmoft value of his Livery-Cloak. Whoever he be, though this to fome may 
 feem a flight Conteft, I mail yet continue to think that Man full of other fecret 
 injuftice, and deceitful pride, who {hall offer in public to afiume the fkilf, though* 
 it be but of a Tongue which he hath not, and would catch his Readers to believe 
 of his ability, that which is not in him. The Licenfer indeed,, as his Authority 
 now ftands, may licenfe much •, but if thefe Greek Orthographies- wene of his Li- 
 cenftng, the Boys, at School might reckon with him at his Grammar. Nor did f find 
 this his want of the pretended Languages alone, but accompanied with fuch a low 
 and home-ipun Expreflion of his Mother- Englifi all along, without joint orframe, 
 as made me ere I knew further of him, often Hop and conclude, that this Author 
 could for certain be no other than fome Mechanic. Nor was the ft He flat andrude, 
 and the matter grave and folid, for then there had bin pardon ;. but fb iliallow and 
 founwary was that alibi as gave fufEciently the character of a grofs and fluggifh, 
 yet a contentious' and over-weaning pretender. For firft, it behoving him to {hew, 
 as he promifes, what Divorce is, and what the true Doctrine and Difcipline therof, 
 and this being to. do by fuch principles and proofs as are receiv'd on both fides, he 
 performs neither of thefe; but {hews it firft from the Judaical practice, which he • 
 himfeif difallows, and next from the practice of Canon Law, which the Book he 
 would confute utterly rejects* and all Laws depending theron •, Which this puny 
 CJerk calls the Laws of England, and yet pronounceth them by an Ecclefiaftical" 
 Judge : as if that were to.be accounted the Law of England, which dependeth on 
 she Popery of England ; or if it were, this Parlament he might know hath now 
 danhn'd that Judicature. So that whether his meaning, were to inform his own 
 Party, or to confute his Adverfary, inftead of mewing us the true Doctrine and 
 Difcipline of Divorce, he {hews us nothing but his own contemptible Ignorance. 
 For what is the Mofaic Law to his Opinion? And what is the Canon, utterly now 
 antiquated, either to that, or to mine I Yefee already what a faithful Definer we 
 have of him. From fuch a wind Egg of definition as. this, they who expect any of 
 his other Arguments to be well hatch'd, let them enjoy the virtue of their worthy 
 Champion. But one thing more Iobferv'd, a Angular note of his ftupidity, and that 
 his trade is not to meddle with Books, much lefs with Confutations; whenas the 
 Doctrine of Divorce had now a whole Year bin publifh'd the fecond time, with 
 many Arguments added,, and the former ones bettered and confirmed, this idle 
 Pamphlet comes reeling forth againft the firft Edition only, as may appear toany 
 by the Pages quoted ; which put me in mind of what by chance I had notice of 
 to this purpofe the laft Summer, as nothing fo ferious but happens oft-times to be 
 attended with a ridiculous accident : It was then told me that the Doctrine of Di- 
 vorce was anfwered, and the Anfwer half printed againft the firft Edition, not by 
 one, but by a pack of Heads ; of whom the chief, by circumftance, was intimated 
 to me, andfince ratified to be no other, if any can hold laughter, and I am fure 
 none will guefs him lower than an actual Serving-man. This Creature, for 
 the ftory mull on, (and what though he be the loweft perfon of an Inter- 
 lude, he may deferve a canvafling) tranfplanted himfelf, and to the improve- 
 ment of his Wages, and your better notice of his Capacity, turned Soli- 
 citor. And having converfed much with a {tripling Divine or two of thefe 
 ncwly-fledg'd Probationers, that ufually come lcouting from the Univerfity, 
 and lie here no lame Legers to pop into the Retbejda of fome Knight's Chapiainfhip, 
 where they bring Grace to his good Cheer, but no Peace or Benediction elfe to his 
 Houfe ; thefe made the Cham-party, he contributed the Law, and both joined in, 
 the Divinity. V/hichmade me intend, following the advice alfo of friends, to lay afide 
 
 the
 
 Do&rine and Difcipline o/Divorce. 29 7 
 
 the thought of mifpending a Reply to the Buz of fucha Drone's neft. But finding 
 that it lay, whatever was the matter, half a year after unfinifhed in the Prefs, and 
 hearing for certain that a Divine of note, out of his good-will to the Opinion, had 
 taken it into his Revife, and fomethinghad putout, fomething put in, and ftruck 
 it here and there with a clove of his own Calligraghy to keep it from tainting : And 
 farther, when I faw the Stuff, though very coarfe and threadbare, garnifli'd and 
 trimly faced with the commendations of a Licenfer, I refolv'd, fo foon as leifure 
 granted me the recreation, thatmy Man of Law fhould not altogether lofe his So- 
 liciting. Although I impute a fhare of the making to him whofe Name I find in 
 the Approbation, who may take, as his Mind ferves him, this Reply. In the 
 mean while it fhall be feen, I refufe no Occafion, and avoid no Adversary, either 
 to maintain what I have begun, or to give it up for better reafon. 
 
 To begin then with the Licenfer and his Cenfure. For a Licenfer is not content- 
 ed now to give his fingle Imprimatur, but brings his Chair into the Title-leaf ; there 
 fits and judges up, or judges down what Book he pleafes : If this be fuffered, 
 what worthlefs Author, or what cunning Printer will not be ambitious of fucJi a 
 ftaletoput off the heavieft geer •, which may in time bring in round Fees to the 
 Licenfer, and wretched misleading to the People ? But to the matter : he approves 
 the publifhing of this Book, to preferve the ftrength and honour of Marriage a- 
 gainft thole fad breaches and dangerous abufes of it. Belike then the wrongful 
 fufFering of all thofc fad breaches and abufes in Marriage to a remedilefs thral- 
 dom, is the ftrength and honour of Marriage -, a boifterous and beftial Strength, 
 a difhonourable Honour, an infatuated Doctrine, worfe than the Salvo jure of 
 tyrannizing, which we all fight againft. Next he faith, that common Difcontents 
 make thefe Breaches in unftaid Minds, and Men given to change. His words may 
 be apprehended, as if they difallowed only to divorce for common Difcontents, 
 in unftaid Minds, having no caufe, but a defire of change, and then we agree. 
 But if he take all Difcontents on this fide Adultery, to be common, that is to fay, 
 not difficult to endure, and to aftecT: only unftaid Minds, it might adminifter juft 
 caufe to think him the unfitteft Man that could be, to offer at a * Comment upon, 
 Job -, as feeming by this to have no more true fenfe of a good Man in his afflicti- r ' ar ^ ' 
 ons, than thofe Edomiti/h friends had, of whom Job complains, and againft whom 
 God teftifies his anger. Shall a Man of your own Coat, who hath efpoufed his 
 Flock, and reprefents Chrift more, in being the true Hufband of his Congrega- 
 tion, than an ordinary Man doth in being the Hufband of his Wife, and yet this 
 reprefentment is thought a chief caufe why Marriage muft be infeparable ; fhall 
 this fpiritual Man ordinarily for the increafeof his maintenance, or any flight caufe, 
 forfake that wedded Cure of Souls, that fhould bedeareft to him, and marry ano- 
 ther and another? And fhall not a Perfon wrongfully afflicled, and perfecuted 
 even to extremity, forfake an unfit, injurious, and peftilent Mate, tied only by 
 a civil andflefhly Covenant? If you be a Man fo much hating Change, hate that 
 other Change ; if yourfelf be not guilty, counfel your Brethren to hate it ; and 
 leave to be the fupercilious Judge of other Men's Miferies and Changes, that your 
 own be not judged. The reafonsof your licenfed Pamphlet, you fay, are good ; 
 they muft be better than your own then, I fhall wonder elfe how fuch a trivial 
 fellow was accepted and commended, to be the confuter of fo dangerous an Opi- 
 nion as ye give out mine. 
 
 Now therfore to your Attorney, fince no worthier an Adverfary makes his Ap- 
 pearance, nor this neither hisAppearance, but lurking under the fafety of his name- 
 lefs obfcurity ; fuch as ye turn him forth at the Poftern, I muft accept him, and 
 in a better temper than Jjax, do mean to fcourge this Ram for yt, till I meet with 
 his Ulyjfes. 
 
 He begins with Law, and we have it of him as good, cheap as any Huckfter at 
 Law, newly fetup, can poffibly afford, and as impertinent; but for that he hath 
 receiv'd his hanfel. He prefumes alio to cite the Civil Law, which I perceive, 
 by his citing, never came within his Dormitory ; yet what he cites, makes but 
 againft himfeif. 
 
 His fecond thing therfore, is to refute the adverfe Pofuion, and very methodi- 
 cally, three Pages before he lets it down ; and fets his own in the place, That dif- 
 agreement of Mind or Difpofition, though fhewing itfelf in much fharpnefs, is 
 not by the Law of God or Man a juft caufe of Divorce. 
 
 To this Pofition Ianfwer ; That it lays no battery againft mine, no nor fomuchaj 
 faces it, but tacks about long ere it come near, like a harmlefs and refpectful Con- 
 futement. For I confefs that difagreement of Mind or Difpofition, though in much 
 
 Vol. I. Q_ °i fliarpnejs,
 
 20 8 A R e p l Y to an Anfaer again ft the 
 
 fharpnefs, is not always a juft caufe of Divorce ; for much may be endured. But 
 what if the fharpnefs be much more than his much ? To that point it is our mif- 
 hap we have not here his grave decifion. He that will contradict the Pofition 
 which I alledg'd, muft hold that no difagreement of Mind or Diipofition can di- 
 vorce, though ftiewn in moft fharpnefs •, otherwife he leaves a place for Equity 
 to appoint limits, and fo his following Arguments will either not prove his own 
 Pofition, or not difprove mine. 
 
 His firft Argument, all but what hobbles to no purpofe, is this ; Where the 
 Scripture commands a thing to be done, it appoints when, how, and for what, as 
 in the cafe of Death, or Excommunication. But the Scripture direfts not what mea- 
 fure of difagreement or contrariety may divorce ; Therfore the Scripture allows 
 not any Divorce for difagreement. 
 
 • Anfw. Firft, I deny your Major ; the Scripture appoints many things, and yet 
 leaves the circumftance to Man's difcretion, particularly in your own Examples; 
 Excommunication is not taught when, and for what to be, but left to the Church. 
 How could the Licenfer let pafs this childifh ignorance, and call it good ? Next, 
 in matters of Death, the LaWs of England, wherof you have intruded to bean 
 opiniaftrous Sub-advocate, and are bound to defend them, conceive it not enjoin- 
 ed in Scripture, when or for what caufe they fhall put to death, as in Adultery, 
 Theft, and the like. Your Minor alio is falfe, for the Scripture plainly fets 
 down for what meafure of difagreement a Man may divorce, Deut. xxiv. i. Learn 
 better what that phrafe means, if foe find no favour in bis eyes. 
 
 Your fecond Argument, without more tedious fumbling, is briefly thus : If 
 Diverfity in Religion, which breeds a greater diflike than any natural difagree- 
 ment, may not caufe a Divorce, then may not the lefler difagreement : But diver- 
 fity of Religion may not ; Ergo. 
 
 Anfw. Firft, I deny in the Major, that diverfity of Religion breeds a greater 
 diflike to Marriage-duties, than natural Difagreement. For between Ifraelite, or 
 Chriftian and Infidel, more often hath been feen too much love : but between them 
 who perpetually clafh in natural Contrarieties, it is repugnant that there fliould be 
 ever any married Love or Concord. Next, I deny your Minor, that it is com- 
 manded not to divorce in diverfity of Religion, if the Infidel will flay : for that 
 place in St. Paul commands nothing, as that Book at large affirmed, though you 
 over-fkipt it. 
 
 Secondly, If it do command, it is but with condition that the Infidel be content, 
 and well-pleafed to ftay, which cuts off the fuppofal of any great hatred or dif- 
 qtiiet between them, feeing the Infidel had liberty to depart atpleafure ; and fo 
 this companion avails nothing. 
 
 Your third Argument is from Deut. xxii. If a Man hate his Wife, and raife an 
 ill report, that he found her no Virgin ; if this were falfe, he might not put her 
 away, though hated never fo much. 
 
 Anfvoer. This was a malicious hatred, bent againft her Life, or to fend her out 
 of doors without her Portion. Such a hater lofes by due punifhment that privilege, 
 Deut. xxiv. i. to divorce for a natural Diflike •, which though it could not love 
 conjugally, yetfent away civiliy, and with juft conditions. But doubtlefs the Wife 
 in that former cafe had liberty to depart from her falfe Accufer, left his hatred 
 fliould prove mortal; elfe that Law peculiarly made to right the Woman, had 
 turned to her greateft mifchief. 
 
 Your fourth Argument •, One Chriftian ought to bear the infirmities of another, 
 but chiefly ofhis Wife. 
 
 Ankver. I grant infirmities, but not outrages, nor perpetual defraudments of 
 trueft conjugal fociety, not injuries and vexations as importunate as fire. Yet to 
 endure very much, might do well an Exhortation, but not a compulfive Law. 
 For the Spirit of God himfelf, by Solomon, declares that fuch a Confort the 
 Earth cannot bear, and better dwell in a corner of the Houfe-top, or in the Wil- 
 dernefs. Burthens may be borne, but ftill with confideration to the ftrength 
 of an honeft Man complaining. Charity indeed bids us forgive our Enemies, 
 yet doth not force us to continue friendfhip and familiarity with thofe friends 
 who have been falfe or unworthy towards us ; but is contented in our peace 
 with them, at a fair diftance. Charity commands not the Hufband to re- 
 ceive again into his Bofom the adulterous Wife, but thinks it enough, if he dif- 
 mifs her with a beneficent and peaceful Difmiffion. No more doth Charity com- 
 mand ; nor can her Rule compel, to retain in neareft Union of Wcdlcc, one whofe 
 other grofTeft faults, or difabilities to perform what was covenanted, are the juft cau- 
 
 fes
 
 Docfrine and DifcipBnc o/Divorce. 200 
 
 fesof as much grievance anddiffenfion in a Family, as the private Acl: of Adulte- 
 ry. Let not therfore, under the name of fulfilling Charity, fuch an unmerciful 
 and more than legal Yoke, be padlock'd upon the Neck of any Chriftian. 
 
 Your fifth Argument : If the Hufband ought to love his Wife, as Chrift his 
 Church, then ought fhe not to be put away for contrariety of Mind. 
 
 Anfwer. This Similitude turns againft him: For if the Hufband muft be as 
 Chrift to the Wife, then mult the Wife be as the Church to her Hufband. If 
 there be a perpetual contrariety of Mind in the Churchtoward Chrift, Chrift him- 
 felf threatens to divorce fuch a Spoufe, and hath often done it. If they uro-e this 
 was no true Church, I urge again that was no true Wife. 
 
 His fixth Argument is from Matth. v. 32. which he expounds after the old 
 fafhion, and never takes notice of what I brought againft that Expedition ; let him 
 therfore feek his Anfwer there. Yet can he not leave this Argument, but he muft 
 needs fir ft fhew us a curvet of his madnefs, holding out an Objection, and Tun- 
 ing himfeif upon the point. For, faith he, if Chrift except no Caufe but Adultery, 
 then all other Caufes, as Frigidity, inceftuous Marriage, &c. are no Caufes of 
 Divorce •, and anfwers, That the Speech of Chrift holds univerfally, as he intend- 
 ed it ; namely, to condemn fuch Divorce as was groundlefly praftifed amono the 
 Jezvs, for every caufe which they thought fufficient, not checking the Law of 
 Confanguinities or Affinities, or forbidding other Caufe which makes Marriage 
 void, ipfofafio. 
 
 Anfta. Look to it now, you be not found taking Fees on both fides •, for if 
 you once bring Limitations to the univerfal Words of Chrift, another will do as 
 much with as good Authority ; and affirm, that neither did he check the Law, 
 Deut. xxiv. 1. nor forbid the Caufes that make Marriage void actually ; which if 
 any thing in the World doth, Unfitnefs doth, and Contrariety of Mind ; yea, 
 more than Adultery, for that makes not the Marriage void, not much more un- 
 fit, but for the time, if the offended Party forgive. But Unfitnefs and Contrari- 
 ety fruftrat.es and nullifies for ever, unlefs it be a rare chance, all the good and 
 peace of wedded Converfation -, and leaves nothing between them enjoyable, but 
 a prone and favage Necefiity, not worth the name of Marriage, unaccompanied 
 with Love. Thus much his own Objection hath done againft himfeif. 
 
 Argument 7th. He infifts, that Man and W 7 ife are one flefh, therfore muft not 
 feparate. But muft be fent to look again upon the * 35th Page of that Book, * p 
 where he might read an Anfwer, which he ftirs not. Yet can he not abftain, buthe Edition' 
 muft do us another pleafure ere he goes ; although I call the Common Pleas to 
 witnefs, I have not hired his Tongue, whatever Men may think by his arguing. 
 For befides Adultery, he excepts other Caufes which diflblve the Union of being; 
 one flefh, either directly, or by confequence. If only Adultery be excepted by our 
 Saviour, and he voluntarily can add other Exceptions that diflblve that Union 
 both directly and by confequence, thefe Words of Chrift, the main Obftacle of 
 Divorce, are open to us by his own Invitation, to include whatever Caufes diffolve 
 that Union of Flefh, either directly or by confequence. Which, till he name o- 
 ther Caufes more likely, I affirm to be done fooneft by Unfitnefs and Contrariety 
 of Mind •, for that induces Hatred, which is the greateft Diflblver both of fpiri- 
 tual and corporal Union, turning the Mind, and confequently the Body, to other 
 Objedts. Thus our doughty Adverfary, either directly or by confequence, yields 
 us the queftion with his own Mouth ; and the next thing he does, recants it aouin. 
 
 His 8th Argument fhivers in the uttering, and he confefieth to be not over-con- 
 fident of it; but of the reft it may be fworn he is. St. Paul, iCor. vii. faith, that 
 the married have trouble in theflejh ; therfore we muft bear it, though never ib into- 
 lerable. 
 • I anfwer, If this be a true confequence, why are not all Troubles to be born 
 alike ? Why are we fuffered to divorce Adulteries, Defertions, or Frigidities ? 
 Who knows not that Trouble and Affliction is the Decree of God upon every 
 ftate of Life ? Follows it therfore, that though they grow exceflive and infuppor- 
 table, we muft not avoid them ? If we may in all other Conditions, and not in 
 Marriage, the doom of our fuffering ties us not by the Trouble, but by the Bond 
 of Marriage ; and that muft be proved infeparable from other Reafons, not from 
 this place. And his own Confeflion declares the weaknefs of this Argument, yet 
 his ungovern'd Arrogance could not be difluaded from venting it. 
 
 Vol. I. O^q 2 His
 
 a 
 
 J 
 
 oo A R E p L Y ta an A n s w e r againft the 
 
 His 9th Argument is, that a Hufband muft love his Wife as himfelf ; therfore 
 he may not divorce for any Difagreement, no more than he may feparate Ids Soul 
 from his Body. 
 
 I anfwer : If he love his Wife as himfelf, he muft love her fo far as he may pre- 
 fervehim to her in a cheerful and comfortable manner, and not fo as to ruin him- 
 felf by Angui 111 and Sorrow, without any benefit to her. Next, if the Hufband 
 muft love his Wife as himfelf, fhe muft be underftood a Wife in fome reafonable 
 meafure, willing and fufficient to perform the chief Duties of her Covenant, elfe 
 by the hold of this Argument, it would be his great Sin to divorce either for Adu - 
 tery or Defertion. The reft of this will run circuit with the Union of one Flefh, 
 which was anfwered before. And that to divorce a Relative and Metaphorical 
 Union of two Bodies into one Flefh, can't be liken'd in all things to the dividing 
 of that natural Union of Soul and Body into one Perfon, is apparent of itfeJ'f. 
 
 His Lift Argument he fetches from the inconvenience that would follow upon 
 this freedom of Divorce, to the corrupting of Men's minds, and the overturnino- 
 of all human Society. 
 
 But for me, let God and Mofes anfwer this Blafphemer, who dares bring in fuch 
 a foul Indictment againft the Divine Law. Why did God permit this to his peo- 
 pe the Jews, but that the Right and Good which came directly therby, was more 
 in his eltcem, than the Wrong and Evil which came by accident ? And lor thofe 
 weak Suppofes of Infants that would be left in their Mothers Belly (which muft 
 needs be good News for Chamber-maids to hear a Serving-man grown io provi- 
 dent for great Bellies) and Portions and Jointures likely to incur imbezlement 
 hereby, the ancient Civil Law inftrueds us plentifully how to award, which our 
 profound Oppofite knew not, for it was not in his Tenures. 
 
 His Arguments are fpun ; now follows the Chaplain with his Antiquities, wi- 
 fer if he had refrained, tor his very touching aught that is learned, foils it, and 
 lays him ftill more and more open, a confpicuous Gull. There being both Fa- 
 thers and Councils more ancient, wherwith to have ferved hispurpofe better than 
 with what he cites, how may we do to know the fubtle drift that moved him to 
 begin firft with the twelfth' Council of Toledo ? I would not undervalue the depth 
 of his Notion ; but perhaps he had heard that the Men of Toledo had ftore of good 
 Blade Mettle, and were excellent at Cutling: Who can tell but it might be the 
 reach of his policy, that thefe able Men of Decifion would do beft to have the 
 prime ftroke among his Teftimonies in deciding this caufe ? But all this craft a- 
 vails him not •, for feeing they allow no cauie of Divorce but Fornication, what 
 do thefe keen Doctors here, but cut him over the Sinews with their Toledo's, for 
 holding in the precedent Page other Caufes of Divorce befides, both directly and 
 by confequence ? As evil doth that Saxon Council, next quoted, beftead him. For 
 if it allow Divorce precifely for no caufe but Fornication, it thwarts his own Ex- 
 pofition : and if it underftand Fornication largely, it fides with whom he would 
 confute. However, the Authority of that Synod can be but final], beino- under 
 Theodorus, the Canterbury Bifhop, a Grecian Monk of Tarfus> revolted from his 
 own Church to the Pope. What have we next ? The Civil Law fluffed in between 
 two Councils, as if the Code had been fome Synod ; forthathe underftood him- 
 felf in this Quotation, is incredible; where the Law, Cod. I. 3. tit. 38. leg. 11. 
 fpeaks not of Divorce, but againft the dividing of Pofleffions to divers Heirs 
 wherby the married Servants of a great Family were divided, perhaps into dif- 
 tant Countries and Colonies ; Father from Son, Wife from Hufband, fore againft 
 their will. Somewhat lower he confefieth, that the Civil Law allows many Rea- 
 fons of Divorce, but the Canon Law decrees otherwife ; a fair credit to his caufe * 
 And I amaze me, though the fancy of this Doubt be as obtufe and fad as anv 
 Mallet, how the Licenier could deep out all this, and fuft'er him to uphold his O- 
 piiuon by Canons and Gregorial Decretals ; a Law which not only his Adverfary, 
 but the whole Reformation of this Church and State hath branded and rejected. 
 As ignorantly, and too ignorantly to deceive any Reader but an unlearned, he talks 
 of Juftin Martyr's Apology, not telling us which of the twain •, for that pafia»- e in 
 the beginning of his firft, which I have cited elfcwhere, plainly makes a°-ainft 
 him : So cloth Tertullian, cited next, and next Erafarus, the one againft Marcion 
 the other in his Annotations on Matthew, and to the Corinthians. And thus ye have 
 the Lift of his choice Antiquities, as pleafantly chofen as ye would wifh from a 
 Man of his handy Vocation, puffed up with no luck at all, above the flint of his 
 capacity. 
 
 Now
 
 Doctrine and Difcipline o/Divorce. 301 
 
 Now he comes to the Pcfition, whichl fee down whole ; and like an able Text- 
 man, fiirs it into four, that he may the better come at it with his Barber-Surgery, 
 and his Sleeves turned up. Wherin firft, he denies that any Difpofition, Unfit- 
 nefs, or Contrariety of Mind, is unchangeable in Nature, but that by the help of 
 Diet and Phyfic, it may be altered. 
 
 I mean not to difpute Philofophy with this Pork, who never read any. But I 
 appeal to all Experience, though there be many drugs to purge thefe redundant 
 Humours and Circulations, that commonly impair Health, and are not natural 
 whether any Man ran with the fafety of his life bring a healthy Conftitution into 
 Phyfic with this defign, to alter his natural temperament and difpofition of Mind. 
 How much more vain and ridiculous would it be, by altering and rooting up the 
 Grounds of Nature, which is inoft likely to produce Death or Madnefs, to hope 
 the reducing of a Mind to this or that fitnefs, or two difagreeing Minds to a mu- 
 tual Sympathy ? Nuppofe tin y might, and that with great danger of their Lives 
 and right Senfes, alter one temperature, how can they know that the fucceedino- 
 Difpofition will not be as far from Fitnefs and Agreement ? They would perhaps 
 change Melancholy into Sanguine ; but what if Phlegm and Choler in as great 
 a meafurecome inftead, the Unfitnefs will be ftill as difficult and troublefome ? 
 But lallly, whether thefe things be changeable or not, Experience teaches us, and 
 our Pofuion fuppofes that they feldom do change in any time commenfurable to 
 the Neceffities of Man, or convenient to the Ends of Marriage ; and if the fault be 
 in the one, fhall the other live all his days in Bondage and Mifery for another's 
 perverfenefs, or immedicable difaffecdion ? To my friends, of which may feweft 
 be fo unhappy, I have a Remedy, as they know, more wife and manly to pre- 
 fer i be : but for his Friends and Followers (of which many may deferve juftly to 
 feel themfelves the unhappinefs which they confider not in others) I fend them by 
 his advice to fit upon the Stool and (train, till their crofs Difpofitions and Contra- 
 rieties of Mind fhall change to a better correfpondence, and to a quicker apprehen- 
 fion of common fenfe, and their own good. 
 
 Hisfecond Reafon is as heedlefs •, becaufe that Grace may change the Difpofi- 
 tion, therfore no Indifpofitionmay caufe Divorce. 
 
 Jnfw. Firft, it will not be deniable that many perfons, gracious both, may yet 
 happen to be very unfitly married to the great difturbance of either. Secondly, 
 What if one have Grace, theother not, and will not alter, as the Scriptures teftify 
 there be of thofe, in whom we may expect a change, when the Black-a-moor chan- 
 ges his colour, or the Leopard his Spots, Jer. xiii. 23. Shall the gracious therfore 
 dwell in torment all his life for the ungracious ? We fee that holieft Precepts, than 
 which there can no better Phyfic be adminiftred to the mind of Man, and fet on 
 with powerful preaching, cannot work this cure, no not in the Family, not in the 
 Wile of him that preaches day and night to her. What an unreafonable thino- it 
 is, that Men, and Clergymen efpecially, fhould exact flich wondrous changes in 
 another Man's Houfe, and are ieen to work fo little in their own ? 
 
 To the fecond Point of the Pofition, That this Unfitnefs hinders the main Ends 
 and Benefits of Marriage ; he anfwers, if I mean the Unfitnefs of Choler, or fullen 
 Difpofition, that/0// words, according to Solomon, pacify wrath. 
 
 Bat I reply, That the faying of Solomon is a Proverb, frequently true, not uni- 
 verially, as both the Event fhevvs, and many other Sentences written by the fame 
 Author, particularly of an evil Woman, Prov. xxi. 9, 19. and in other Chapters, 
 that (he is better fhunn'd than dwelt with, and a Defert is preferr'd before her So- 
 ciety. What need the Spirit of God put this choice into our heads, if foft words 
 could always take effect with her ? How frivolous is not only this Difputer, but 
 he that taught him thus, and let him come abroad ? 
 
 To his fecond Anfwer I return this, That although there be not eafily found fuch 
 an Antipathy, as to hate one another like a Toad or Poifon -, yet that there is oft 
 fuch a diflike in both, or either, to conjugal Love, as hinders all the comfort of 
 Matrimony, fcarceanycan be fo fimp'eas not to apprehend. And what can be 
 that favour, found or not found, in the eyes of the Hufband, but a natural Likino- 
 orDifiiking •, wherof the Law of God, Deut. xxiv. bears witnefs, as of an ordinary 
 Accident, and determines wifely and divinely therafter. And this dilfatisfaclion 
 happening to be in the one, not without the unfpeakable difcorrifort of the other, 
 mult he be left like a thing confecrated to Calamity and Defpair, without re- 
 demption? 
 
 Againft
 
 302 A R e P L y to an A n s w e r agahijl the 
 
 A°-ainft the third Branch of the Pofition, he denies that Solace and Peace, which 
 is contrary to Difcord and Variance, is the main end of Marriage. What then ? 
 He will have it the Solace of Male and Female. Came this Doctrine out of fome 
 School or fome Sty ? Who but one forfaken of all Senfe and civil Nature, and 
 chiefly of Chriftianity, will deny that Peace, contrary to Difcord, is the Calling 
 and the General End of every Chriftian, and of all his Actions, and more especial- 
 ly of Marriage, which is the deareft. League of Love, and the deareft Refem- 
 blance of that" Love which in Chrift is deareft to his Church ? How then can Peace 
 and Comfort, as it is contrary to Difcord, which God hates to dwell with, not be 
 the main end of Marriage ? Difcord then we ought to fly, and to purfue Peace, 
 far above the obfervance of a civil Covenant already broken, and the breaking 
 daily iterated on the other fide. And what better Tefiimony than the words of the 
 Inftitution itfelf, to prove that a converting Solace and peaceful Society, is the 
 prime end of Marriage, without which noother Help or Office can be mutual, be- 
 feemina the Dignity ofreafonable Creatures, that fuch as they fhould be coupled in 
 the Rites of Nature by the mere compulfion of Luft, without Love or Peace, worfe 
 than wild Beafts ? Nor was it half fo wifely fpoken as fome deem, though Auftin 
 ipake it, that if God had intended other than Copulation in Marriage, he would 
 for Adam have created a Friend, rather than a Wife, to converfe with, and our 
 own Writers blame him for this opinion': for which and the like paffages, con- 
 cerning Marriage, he might be juftly taxed of Rufticity in thefe affairs. For this 
 cannot but be with t afe conceived, that there is one fociety of grave Friendffiip, 
 and another amiable and attractive Society of conjugal Love, befides the deed of 
 Procreation, which of itfelf foon cloys, and is defpifed, unlefs it be cherifh'd and 
 re- incited with a pleafing Converiation. Which if ignoble and fwainifh Minds 
 cannot apprehend, fhall fuch merit therfore to be the Cenfurers of more generous 
 and vertuous Spirits ? 
 
 Againft the laft Point of the Pofition, to prove that Contrariety of Mind is not 
 a greater caufe of Divorce than corporal Frigidity, he enters into fuch a tedious 
 and drawling tale of Burning, and Burning, and Luft and Burning, that the dull 
 Argument itfelf burns too for want of ftirring -, and yet all this Burning is not able 
 to expel the Frigidity of his Brain. So long therfore as that Caufe in the Pofition 
 fhall be proved a fufficient caufe of Divorce, rather than fpend words with this 
 fieamy Clod of an Antagonift, morethan of neceffity and a little merriment, I will 
 not now contend whether it be a greater Caufe than Frigidity or no. 
 
 His next attempt is upon the Arguments which I brought to prove the Pofition. 
 And for the firft, not finding it of that ftrufture as to be fcaled with his fhort Lad- 
 der he retreats with a Bravado, that it deferves no Anfwer. And I as much won- 
 der what the whole Book deferved, to be thus troubled and folicited by fuch a 
 paltry Solicitor. I would he had not calt the gracious Eye of his Duncery upon 
 the fmall Deferts of a Pamphlet, whofe every Line meddled with, uncafes him to 
 Scorn and Laughter. 
 
 That which he takes for the fecond Argument, if he look better, is no Argu- 
 ment, but an Induction to thofe that follow. Then he ftumblesthat I fhould fay, 
 the o-entleft ends of Marriage, confeffing that he underftands it not. And I believe 
 him heartily : For how fhould he, a Serving-man both by Nature and by Function, 
 an Idiot by breeding, and a Solicitor by Prefumption, ever come to know or feel 
 within himfelf what the meaning is of gentle? He blames it for a neat Phrafe, for 
 nothing angers him more than his own proper Contrary. Yet altogether withour 
 Art lure he is not •, for who could havedevifed to give us more briefly a better 
 defcriptionof his own Servility ? 
 
 But what will become now of the Bufinefs I know not •, for the Man is fudden- 
 ly taken with a Lunacy of Law, and fpeaks Revelations out of the Attorney's A - 
 cademy only from a lying Spirit : For he fays, that where a thing is void ip/o fac- 
 to, there needs no legal Proceeding to make it void ; which is falfe, for Marriage 
 is void by Adultery or Frigidity, yet not made void without legal Proceeding. 
 Then afks my Opinion of John-a-Noaks and Jobn-a Stiles : And I anfwer him, 
 that I, for my part, think John Dory was a better Man than both of them ; for 
 certainly they were the greateft Wranglers that ever lived, and have fill'd all our 
 Law-books with the obtunding Story of their Suits and Trials. 
 
 After this he tells a miraculous piece of Antiquity, how two Romans, Titus 
 andSemproitius, made Feoffments, at Rome fure, and levied Forces by the Common 
 Law. But now his fit of Law paft,yet hardly come to himfelf, he maintains,thatifMar- 
 riage be void, as being neitherof God nor Nature, there needs no legal proceedingto 
 
 part
 
 Doctrine and Difcipline (/Divorce. 305 
 
 part it, and I tell him that offends not me ; Then, quoth he, this is nothino- to 
 your Book, being the Doctrine and Difcipline of Divorce. But that I deny htm • 
 for all Difcipline is not Legal, that is to fay, Juridical* but fome is Perfonal, fome 
 CEconomicaJ, and fome Ecclefiaftical. 
 
 Laftly, If I prove that contrary Difpofitions are joined neither of God nor Na- 
 ture, and fo the Marriage void, he will give me the controverfy. I have proved 
 it in that Book to any wife Man, and without more ado the Inftitution proves it 
 
 Where I anfwer an objection ufually made, that the Difpofuion ou»ht to be 
 known before Marriage, and mew how difficult it is to chufe a fit Confort and 
 how eafy to miftake •, the Servitor would know what I mean by Converfation de- 
 claring his Capacity nothing refined fince his Law-puddering, but ftill the fame 
 it was in the Pantry, and at the Dreffer. Shall I argue of Converfiuion with this 
 Hoyden, to go and praftife at his opportunities in the Larder ? To Men of Qua- 
 lity I have faid enough; and Experience confirms by daily Example that wifeftj 
 fobereft, jufteft Men are fometimes miferably miftaken in their choice. Whom 
 to leave thus without remedy, toft and tempeftcd in amoft unquiet Sea of Afflic- 
 tions and Temptations, I fay is moft unchriftianly. 
 
 But he goes on to untrufs my Arguments, imagining them his Matter's Points. 
 Only in the paffage following, I cannot but admire the ripenefs, and the pre°-- 
 nance of his native treachery, endeavouring to be more a Fox than his wit will fuf- 
 fer him. Wheras I briefly mentioned certain Heads of difcourfe, whichlreferr'd to 
 a place more proper according to my Method, to be treated there at full with all their 
 Reafons about them, this Brain-worm againft all the Laws of difpute, will needs 
 deal with them here. And as a Country Hind, fometimes ambitious to fhewhis bet- 
 ters that he is not fo Ample as you take him, and that he knows his advantages 
 will teach us a new trick to confute by. And would you think to what a pride he 
 fwells in the Contemplation of his rare ftratagem, offering to carp at the Lan- 
 guage of a Book, which yet he confelfes to be generally commended ; while him- 
 felf will be acknowledged by all thatread him, the bafeft andthehunoreft indio-h- 
 ter, that could take the boldnefs to look abroad. Obferve now the Arrogance of 
 a Groom, how it will mount. I had written that common Adultery is a thino- 
 which the rankeft politician would think it fhame and difworfhip, that his Law 
 fliould countenance. Firft, it offends him, that rankeft fhould fignify au^ht but 
 his own fmcll ; who that knows EngliJJj would not underftand me, when I fay a 
 rank Serving-man, a rank Pettifogger, to mean a mere Serving-man, a mere 
 and arrant Pettifogger, who lately was fo hardy, as to lay afide his Buckram-wal- 
 let, and make himfelf a Fool in Print, with confuting Books which are above 
 him ? Next, the word Politician is not ufed to his Maw, and therupon he plays 
 the moft notorious Hobby-borfe* jefting and frifking in the Luxury of his Non- 
 fenfe with fuch poor fetches to cog a laughter from us, that no antic Hob-nail at 
 a Morris, but is more handfomely facetious. 
 
 Concerning that place Dent. xxiv. i . which he faith to be the main Pillar of my 
 Opinion, though I rely more on the Inftitution than on that : Thefe two Pillars I 
 do indeed confefs are to me as thofe two in the Porch of the Temple, Jachin and 
 Boaz, which names import Eftablifliment and Strength ; nor do I fear who can 
 fhake them. The Expofition of Dent, which I brought, is the received Expofi- 
 tion, both ancient and modern, by all Learned Men, unlefs it be a Monkifh Pa- 
 pift here and there : and the Glofs which he and his obfeure Affiftant would per- 
 fuade us to, is merely new and abfurd, prefuming out ofhis utter ignorance in the 
 Hebrew, to interpret thefe words of the Text; firft, in a miftaken fenfe of unciean- 
 nefs, againft all approved Writers. Secondly, in a limited fenfe, whenas the Ori- 
 ginal fpeaks without limitation, fome uncleannefs or any : and it had been a wife 
 Law indeed to mean itfelr particular, and not to exprefs the cafe which this a- 
 cute Rabbi hath all this while been hooking for ; wherby they who are moft par- 
 tial to him may guefs that fomething is in this Doctrine which I alledge, that for- 
 ces the Adversary to fuch a new and ftrained Expofuion : Wherin he does nothino- 
 for above four Pages, but founder himfelf to and fro in his own Objections ; one 
 while denying that Divorce was permitted, another while affirming that it was per- 
 mitted for the Wife's fiike, and after all, diftrufts himfelf. And for his fureft re- 
 tirement, betakes him to thofe old Suppofitions, that Chrift abolifh'd the Mofaic 
 Law of Divorce ; that the Jews had not fufficient knowledge in this point, thro' 
 the darknefs of the Difpentation of heavenly things ; that under the plenteous 
 Grace oftheGofpel, we are tied by cruelleftcompulfion to live in Marriage till death, 
 with the wickedeft, thewcrft,the moft perfecting Mate. Thefe ignorant and dotin'->- 
 
 furmifes
 
 * OA ^ Re P L Y /0 ## Anfwer again fl the 
 
 furmifes he might have read confuted at large, even in the firft Edition, but found 
 it fafer to pafs that part over in filence. So that they who fee not the fottifhnels 
 of this his new and tedious Expofition, are worthy to love it dearly. 
 
 His Explanation done, he charges me with a wicked Glofs, and almoft Blaf- 
 phemy, for faying that Chrift in teaching, meant not always to be taken word 
 for word; but like a wife Phyfician, adminiftring one Excef againft another, to 
 reduce us to a perfect mean. Certainly to teach us, were no difhoneft Method: 
 Chrift' hi fnfelf hath often ufed Hyperboles in his teaching ; and graved: Authors, 
 both Ariftotle in the fecond of his Ethics to Nichomachus, and Seneca in his feventh 
 de Beneficiis, advife us toftretch out the Line of Precept oft-times beyond mea- 
 fure, that while we tend further, the mean might be the eafier attained. And who- 
 ever comments that 5th of Matthew, when he comes to the turning of Cheek after 
 Cheek to blows, and the parting both with Cloak and Coat, if any pleafe to be 
 the rifler, will be forced to recommend himfelf to the fame Expofition, though 
 this chattering Law- monger be bold to call it wicked. Now note another precious 
 piece of him -, Chrift, faith he, doth not fay that an unchajle Look is Adultery, but 
 the Lufting after her ; as if the looking unchaftely could be without lulling. This 
 gear is licenfed for good reafon, Imprimatur. 
 
 Next he would prove that the Speech of Chrift is not uttered in excefs againft 
 the Pharifees, firft, becaufe he fpeaks it to his Difciples, Matth. 5. which is falfe, 
 for he fpake it to the Multitude, as by the firft Verfe is evident, among which in 
 all likelihood were many Pharifees, but out of doubt, all of them Pharifean Difci- 
 ples, and bred up in their Doctrine ; from which extremes of Error and Falfity, 
 Chrift throughout his whole Sermon labours to reclaim the People. Secondly, faitJi 
 he, becaufe Chrift forbids not only putting away, but marrying her who is put a- 
 way. Acutely, as if the Pharifees might not have offended as much in marrying 
 the Divorc'd, as in divorcing the Married. The Precept may bind all, rightly 
 underftood •, and yet the vehement manner of giving it, may be occafioned only 
 by the Pharifees.. 
 
 Finally, he winds up his Text with much doubt and trepidation ; for it may be 
 his Trenchers were not fcrap'd, and that which never yet afforded Corn of Savour 
 to his Noddle, the Salt-feller was not rubb'd : and therfore in this hafte eafily 
 granting, that his Anfwers fall foul upon each other, and praying, you would not 
 think he writes as a Prophet, but as a Man, he runs to the Black Jack, fills his 
 Flaggon, fpreads the Table, andferves up Dinner. 
 
 After waiting and voiding, he thinks to void my fecond Argument, and the 
 contradictions that will follow both in the Law and Gofpel, if the Mofaic Law 
 were abrogated by our Saviour, and a compulfive Prohibition fix'd inftead : and 
 fino-s his old Song, that the Gofpel counts unlawful that which the Law allow M, 
 inftancing in Circumcifion, Sacrifices, Warnings. But what are thefe ceremonial 
 thing? to the changing of amoral point in houfliold Duty, equally belonging to 
 Jew and Gentile ? Divorce was then right, now wrong ; then permitted in the 
 rigorous time of Law, now forbidden by Law, even to the moll extremely af- 
 flicted, in the favourable time of Grace and Freedom. But this is not for an un- 
 buttoned fellow to difcufs in the Garret at his Treffle, and dimenfion of Candle by 
 the Snuff; which brought forth his fcullionly Paraphrafe on St. Paul, whom he 
 brings in, riifcourfing fuch idle ftuff to the Maids and Widows, as his own fervile 
 Inurbanity forbears not to put into the Apoftle's mouth, of the Soul's converfing : 
 and this he prefumestodo, being a Bayard, who never had the foul to know what 
 converfing means, but as his Provender, and the familiarity of the Kitchen 
 fchooled his conceptions. 
 
 He pafies to the third Argument, like a Boar in a Vineyard, doing naught elfe; 
 butftill as he goes champingand chewing over, what I could mean by this Chi- 
 maeraof a fit converfing Soul, Notions and Words never madelforthofe chops ; but 
 like a generousWine, only by over-working the fettled Mud of his fancy, to make 
 him drunk, and difgorge his vilenefs the more openly. All perfons of gentle 
 Breeding (I lay gentle, though this Bairow grunt at the word) I know will appre- 
 hend, and be fatisfied in what I fpake, how unpleafing and difcontenting the So- 
 ciety of Body muft needs be between thofe whole Minds cannot be fociable. But 
 what fhould a Man lay more to a Snout in this pickle ? What Language can be 
 low and degenerate enough ? 
 
 The fourth Argument which I had, was, That Marriage beinga Covenant, the ve- 
 ry being wherof conlifts in the performance of unfeigned Love and Peace; if that 
 werenot tolerably perforrrTd,the Covenantbecame broke and revocable. Whichhow 
 can any, inwhofe mind the principles of right Reafon and Juftice are not cancell'd, 
 
 deny.'
 
 Doffirine and Difcipline of Divorce. 305 
 
 deny ? For how can a thing fubfift, when the true Effence therof is diffolved ? Yet 
 this he denies, and yet in fuch a manner as alters my afTertion ; for he puts in, 
 though the main end be not attained in full meafure : but my Pofition is, if it be 
 not tolerably attained, as throughout the whole Difcourfe is apparent. 
 
 Now for his Reafons ; Neman found not that Peace and Solace which is the 
 main end of Communion with God, fhouldhe therfore break off that Communion ? 
 
 I anfwer, That if Hem an found it not, the fault was certainly his own : but in 
 Marriage it happens far otherwife : fometimes the , fault is plainly not his who 
 feeks Divorce : fometimes it cannot be difcern'd whofe fault it is ; and therfore 
 cannot in Reafon or Equity be the matter of an abfolute Prohibition. 
 
 His other inftance declares, what a right handy- crafts Man he is of petty Cafes, 
 and how unfit to be aught elfe at higheft, but a Hackney of the Law. I change 
 Houfes with a Man ; it is fuppofed I do it for my own ends ; I attain them not in 
 this Houfe ; I fhall not therfore go from my Bargain. How without fear mi°-ht 
 the young Charinus in Andria now cry out, What likenefs can be here to a Marri- 
 age ? In this Bargain was no Capitulation, but the yielding of Poffeffion to one 
 another, wherin each of them had his feveral end apart ? In Marriage there is a 
 folemn Vow of Love and Fidelity each to other : this Bargain is fully accomplifh'd 
 in the change ; in Marriage the Covenant ftill is in performing. If one of them 
 perform nothing tolerably, butinftead of Love, abound in Difaffeclion, Difobe- 
 dience, Fraud, and Hatred ; what thing in the nature of a Covenant fhall bind the 
 other to fuch a perdurable mifchief ? Keep to your Problems often groats, thefe 
 matters are not for Pragmatics, and Folk- mooters to babble in. • 
 
 Concerning the place of Paul, that God hath called us to peace, i Cor. vii. and 
 therfore certainly, it any where in this World, we have a right to claim it rea- 
 fonably in Marriage -, it is plain enough in the fenfe which I gave, and confeft by 
 Parous, and other Orthodox Divines, to be a good fenfe, and this Anfwerer doth 
 not weaken it. The other place, that he who hateth, may put away, which, if I 
 fhew him, he promifes to yield the whole Controverfy, is, befides Deut. xxiv. i. 
 Deut. xxi. 14. and before this, Exod.xxi. 8. Of Malachi I have fpoken more in 
 another place •, and fay again, that the beft Interpreters, all the Ancient, and 
 moft of the Modern tranflate it, as I cite it, and very few otherwife, wherof per- 
 haps Junius is the chief. 
 
 Another thing troubles him, that Marriage is called the Myftery of Joy. Let it 
 ftill trouble him ; for what hath he to do either with joy or with myftery? He 
 thinks it frantic Divinity to fay, it is not the outward continuance of Marriage 
 that keeps the Covenant of Marriage whole ; but whofoever doth moft according 
 to peace and love, whether in Marriage or Divorce, he breaks Marriage leaft. If 
 1 fhall fpell it to him, he breaks Marriage leaft, is to fay, he difhonours not Mar- 
 riage -, for leaft is taken in the Bible, and other good Authors, for, not at all. 
 And a particular Marriage a Man may break, if for a lawful Caufe, and yet not 
 break, that is, not violate, or difhonour the Ordinance of Marriage. Hence thefe 
 two Queftions that follow, are left ridiculous •, and the Maids at Aldgate, whom 
 he flouts, are likely to have more Wit than the Serving-man at Addle-gate. 
 
 Wheras he taxes me of adding to the Scripture, in that I faid Love only is the 
 fulfilling of every Commandment, I cited no particular Scripture, but fpake a ge- 
 neral fenfe, which might be collected from many places. For feeing Love in- 
 cludes Faith, what is there that can fulfil every Commandment but only Love ? 
 And I meant, as any intelligent Reader might apprehend, every pofitive and ci- 
 vil Commandment, wherof Chrift hath taught us that Man is the Lord. It is not 
 the formal Duty of Worfhip, or the fitting ftill, that keeps the holy Reft of Sab- 
 bath •, but whofoever doth moft according to Charity, whether he works or works 
 not, he breaks the holy Reft of Sabbath leaft. So Marriage being a Civil Ordi- 
 nance, made for Man, not Man for it •, he who doth that which moft accords with 
 Charity, firft to himfelf, next to whom he next owes it, whether in Marriage or 
 Divorce, he breaks the Ordinance of Marriage leaft. And what in religious Pru- 
 dence can 'be Charity to himfelf, and what to his Wife, either in continuing, or 
 in diffolving the Marriage-knot, hath bin already oft enough difcourfed. So that 
 what St. Paul faith of Circumcifion, the fame I flick not to fay of a Civil Ordi- 
 nance, made to thegcod and comfort of Man, not to his ruin ; Marriage is no- 
 thing, and Divorce is nothing, but Faith which worketh by Love. And this I 
 truft none can miftake. 
 
 Vol. I. R r Againfl
 
 304 A Reply to an Anjvoer again ft the 
 
 Againft the fifth Argument, That a Chriftian in a higher Order of Priefthood 
 than°hat Levitica), is a Perfon dedicate to Joy and Peace ; and therfore needs 
 not in fubjedtion to a Civil Ordinance, made to no other end but for his good, 
 (when without his fault he finds it impoffible to be decently or tolerably obferved; 
 to plunge himfelf into immeafurable Diftra&ions and Temptations, above his 
 ftrength ; againft this he proves nothing, but gads into filly conjectures of what 
 Abufes would follow, and with as good reafon might declaim againft the beft 
 things that are. 
 
 Againft the fixth Argument, That to force the Continuance of Marriage be- 
 tween Minds found utterly unfit and difproportional, is againft Nature, and feems 
 forbid under that allegorical Precept of Mofes, not to low a Field with divers- 
 Seeds, left both be defiled; not to plough with an Ox and an Afs together, 
 which I deduced by the pattern of St. Paul's reafon ing what was meant by not 
 muzling the Ox 5 he rambles over a long Narration, to tell us that by the Oxen 
 are meant the Preachers : which is not doubted. Then he demands, if this my 
 realbnino- be like St. Paul's: And I anfwer him, Yes. He replies, that fure St. 
 Paul wo° Id be afham'd to reafon thus. And I tell him, No. He grants that place 
 which I alledg^d, 2 Cor. 6. of unequal yoking, may allude to that of Mojes, but 
 fays, I cannot prove it makes to my purpofe, and mews not firft how he can dif- 
 prove it. Weigh Gentlemen, and confider, whether my Affirmations, back'd 
 with Reafon, may hold balance againft the bare Denials of this ponderous Con- 
 futer, elected by his ghoftly Patrons to be my Copes-mate. 
 
 Proceeding on tofpeak of myfterious things in Nature, I had occafion to fit the 
 Language therafter, matters not ; for the reading of this odious Fool, who thus 
 everwhen he meets with aught above the cogitation of his Breeding, leaves the 
 noifomeftench of his rude Slot behind him, maligning that anything fhould be 
 fpoke or underftood above his own genuine bafenefs ; and gives fentence that his 
 confuting hath bin employed about a frothy, immeritous, and undeferving Dif- 
 courfe. Who could have believed fo much Infolence durft vent itfelf from out the 
 Hide of a Varlet, as thus to cenfure that which Men of mature judgment have ap- 
 plauded to be writ with good Reafon ? But this contents him not, he falls now to 
 rave in his barbarous abufivenefs; and why? A reafon befitting fuch an Artificer, 
 becaufe he faith the Book is contrary to all human Learning ; whenas the World 
 knows, that all, both human and divine Learning, till the Canon-Law, allow'd 
 Divorce by confent, and for many Caufes without confent. Next, he dooms it as 
 contrary to Truth ; whenas it hath been difputable among learned Men, ever fmce 
 it was prohibited : and is by Peter Martyr thought an Opinion not impious, but 
 hard to be refuted •, and by Erafmus deem'd a Doctrine fo charitable and pious, as, 
 if it cannot be ufed, were to be wifhed it could •, but is by Martin Bucer, a Man 
 of deareft and moft religious Memory in the Church, taught and maintained to be 
 either moft lawfully ufed, or moft lawfully permitted. And for this, for I affirm 
 no more than Bucer, what cenfure do you think, Readers, he hath condemned the 
 Book to ? To a death no lefs impious than to be burnt by the Hangman. Mr. Li- 
 cenfer for I deal not now with this Caitiff, never worth my Earneft, and now 
 not fcafonable for my Jeft, you are reputed a Man difcreet enough, religious e- 
 nough, honeft enough, that is, to an ordinary competence in all thefe. But now 
 your turn is, to hear what your own hand hath earned ye ; that when you fuffered 
 this namelefs Hangman to caft into public fuch a defpiteful Contumely upon a 
 Name and Perfon deferving of the Church and State equally to yourfelf, and one 
 who hath done more to the prefent advancement of your own Tribe, than you or 
 many of them have done for themfelves ; you forgot to be either honeft, reli- 
 oious or difcreet. Whatever the State might do concerning it, fuppofed a matter 
 to expect Evil from, I fhould not doubt to meet among them with wife, and ho- 
 nourable, and knowing Men. But as to this brute Libel, fomuch the more impu- 
 dent and. lawlefs for the abufed Authority which it bears 3 I fay again, that I a- 
 bominate the Cenfure of Rafcals and their Licenfers. 
 
 With difficulty I return to what remains of this ignoble Talk, for the difdain I 
 have to change a period more with the filth and venom of this Gourmand, fwell'd 
 into a Confater ; yet, for the fatisfaction of others, I endure all this. 
 
 Againft the fcyentfi Argument, That if the Canon Law and Divines allow 
 Divo°ce for Confpirncy of Death, they may as well allow it to avoid the lam e 
 confequencc from the likelihood of natural Caufes. 
 
 Firft,
 
 Docfrinc and JDifcipline of Divorc e . 307 
 
 Firft, he denies that the Canon fo decrees. 
 
 lanfwer, Th.it it decrees for danger of Life, as much as for Adultery, Decr'et 
 Gregor. 1. 4. tit. 10. and in other places : And the beft Civilians who cite the Ca • 
 non-law, fo collect, as Scbneidewin in Inftitut. tit, 10. p. 4. de Divort. And in- 
 deed, who would have denied it, but one of a reprobate Ignorance in all he 
 meddles with ? 
 
 Secondly, he faith, the cafe alters-, for there the Offender, who feeks the 
 Life, doth implicitly at lead act a Divorce. 
 
 And I atifwer, that here Nature, though no Offender, doth the fame. But if 
 an Offender by acting a Divorce, fhall releafe the offended, this rs an ample grant 
 againft himfelf. He faith, Nature teaches to lave life from one who feeks it . 
 And I fay, (he teaches no lefs to lave it from any other Caufe that endangers it. 
 He faith, that here they are both Actors. Admit they were, it would not be un- 
 charitable to part them ; yet fometimes they are not both Actors, but the one of 
 them mod lamentcdly paffive. So he concludes, we muff not take advantage of 
 our own Faults and Corruptions to releafe us from our Duties. But fhall we take 
 no advantage to lave ourfelves from the faults of another, who hath annuli'd his 
 right to our Duty ? No, faith he, let them die of theSullens, and try who will pity 
 them. Barbarian, thejhame of all honefi Attorneys, why do they not hoife him over 
 the Bar, and blanket him ? 
 
 Againft the eighth Argument, That they who are deftitute of all marriageable 
 Gifts, except a Body not plainly unfit, have not the calling to marry, and conie- 
 quently marrjed and fo found, may be divore'd : This, he faith, is nothing to the 
 purpofe, and not fit tobeanfwer'd. Heave it therfore to the judgment of his Mafters. 
 
 Againft the ninth Argument, That Marriage isahuman Society, and fochiefly 
 feated in Agreement and Unity of Mind: If therfore the Mind cannot have that 
 due Society by Marriage, that it may reafonably and humanly defire, it can be no 
 human Society, and fo not without reafon divorcible : here he falfifies, and turns 
 what the Pofition required of a reafonable Agreement in the main matters of So- 
 ciety into an Agreement in all things, which makes the Opinion not mine, and fo 
 he leaves it. 
 
 At laft, and in good hour, we are come to his farewel, which is to be a concluding 
 tafte of his Jabberment in Law, the flafhieft and the fuftieft that ever corrupted 
 in fuch an unfwill'd Hoglhead. 
 
 Againft my tenth Argument, as he calls it, but as I intended it, my other Po- 
 fition, That Divorce is not a thing determinable by a compuliive Law, for that 
 all Law is for fome good that may be frequently attained without the admixture 
 of a worle inconvenience : But the Law forbidding Divorce, never attains to any 
 good end of fuch Prohibition, but rather multiplies evil ; therfore the Prohibi- 
 tion of Divorce is no good Law. Now for his Attorney's prize : but firft, like 
 a right cunning and fturdy Logician, he denies my Argument, not mattering 
 whether in the major ox minor ; and faith, there are many Laws made for Good, 
 and yet that Good is not attained, through the defaults of the Party, but a greater 
 inconvenience follows. 
 
 But I reply, That this Anfwer builds upon a fliallow foundation, and moft un- 
 fitly luppoles every onein default, who feeks Divorce from the mod injurious 
 Wedloc. The default therfore will be found in the Law itfelf •, which is neither 
 able to punilh the Offender, but the Innocent muft withal fiiffer ; nor can right 
 the Innocent in what is chiefly fought, the obtainment of Love or Quietnels. His 
 Inftancesoutof the Common Law, arc all fo quite befide the matter which he 
 would prove, as may be a Warning to all Clients how they venture their bufinefs 
 with fuch a cock brain'd Solicitor. For being to fhew fome Law of England, at- 
 taining to no good end, and yet through nb detank of the party, who is therby 
 debarr'dall remedy, he fhews us only how fome do lofe the benefit of good Laws 
 through their own default. His lirft example faith, it is a juft Law that every one 
 ihall peaceably enjoy his Eftate in Lands or otherwife. Docs this Law attain to 
 no good end? The Bar will blufh at this moft incogitant Woodcock. But fee if a 
 draft of Littleton will recover him to his Senfes. IfthisMan having Fee limple 
 in his Lands, yet will take a Leafe of his own Lands from another, this fhall be 
 an Eftoppleto him in an Affize from the recovering of his own Land. 
 
 Mark now and regifter him ! How many are there of ten thoufand who have fuch 
 a Fcc-fimple in their Sconce, as to take a Leafe oi their own Lands fromanother? 
 So that this inconvenience lights upon fcarceone in an Age, arid by hisown default; 
 and the Law of enjoying each Man his own, is good to all others. But on the con- 
 trary, this Prohibition of Divorce is good tonone, and brings inconvenience toNum- 
 Bers, whoiie under intolerable Grievances vvi irown default, through the 
 
 Vol. I. R r 2 wicked-
 
 J 
 
 08 ^4 Reply to art An fixer ^ &c. 
 
 wickednefs or folly of another •, and all this iniquity the Law remedies not, but in. 
 a manner maintains. His other Cafes are directly to the fame purpofe, and might 
 have been fpared, but that he is aTradefman of the Law, and tnuft be borne with 
 at his firft fetting up, to lay forth his beft Ware, which is only Gibberifh. 
 
 I have now done that, which for many Caufes I might have thought, could not 
 likely have been my fortune, to be put to this under-work of fcouring and unrub- 
 bifhin? the low and fordid Ignorance of fuch a prefumptuons Lozel. Yet Hercules 
 had the labour once impofed upon him to carry Dung out of the Augean Stable. At 
 any hand I would be rid of him : for I had rather, fince the life of Man is liken'd 
 to a Scene, that all my Entrances and Exits might mix with fuch Perfons only, 
 whofe Worth erects them and their Actions to a grave and tragic Deportment, 
 and not to have to do with Clowns and Vices. But if a Man cannot peaceably walk 
 into the World, but mult be infefted; fometimes at his face with Dorrs and Horfe- 
 rlies, fometimes beneath with bawling Whippets and Shin-barkers, and thefe to 
 be fet on by Plot and Confultation with a Junto of Clergymen and Lianfers, com- 
 mended alfo and rejoiced in by thofe whole partiality cannot yet forgo oldpapif- 
 tical Principles •, have I not caufe to be in fuch a manner defenfive, as may pro- 
 cure me freedom to pafs more unmolefted hereafter by thofe Incumbrances, not 
 fo much regarded for themfelves, as for thofe who incite them ? And what defence 
 can properly be ufed in fuch a defpicable Encounter as this, but either the Slap or 
 the Spurn ? If they can afford me none but a ridiculous Advcrfary, the blame be- 
 longs not to me, though the whole difpute be ftrew'd and fcattered with Ridicu- 
 lous ? And if he have fuch an ambition to know no better who are his Mates, but 
 among thefe needy thoughts, which, though his two Faculties of Serving-man and 
 Solicitor mould compound into one Mongrel, would be but thin and meagre, if 
 in this penury of Soul he can be poffible to have the luftinefs to think of Fame, let 
 him but fend me how he calls himfelf, and I may chance not fail to indorfe him 
 on the backfide of Pofterity, not a golden, but a brazen Afs. Since my fate extorts, 
 from me a Talent of Sport, which I had thought to hide in a Napkin, he fhall be 
 my Batrachomuomachia, my Bavius, my Calandrino, the common Adagy of igno- 
 rance and over-weening : Nay, perhaps, as the provocation may be, I may be 
 driven to curl up this gliding Profe into a rough Sotadic, that fhall rhyme him into 
 fuch a condition, as inftead of judging good Books to be burnt by the Executioner, 
 he fhall be readier to be his own Hangman. Thus much to this Nufance. 
 
 But as for the Subject itfelf which I have writ and now defend, according as the 
 oppofition bears •, if any Man equal to the matter, fhall think it appertains him to 
 take in hand this Controverfy, either excepting againfl aught written, orperfua- 
 ded he can fhew better how this Queftion, of fuch moment to be throughly known, 
 may receive a true determination, not leaning on the old and rotten Suggeftions 
 whereon it yet leans ; if his Intents be fincere to the public, and fhall carry him 
 on without bitternefs to the opinion, or to the perfon diffenting, lethim not, I en- 
 treat him,guefs by the handling, which meritorioufly hath been beftowed on this 
 object of contempt and laughter, that I account it any difpleafure done me to be 
 contradicted in Print : But as it leads to the attainment of any thing more true, 
 fhall efteem it a benefit •, and fhall know how to return his Civility and fair Ar- 
 gument in fuch a fort, as he fhall confefs that to do fo is my Choice, and to have 
 done thus was my Chance. 
 
 THE
 
 THE TENURE OF J ° 9 
 
 Kings and Magiftrates : 
 
 PROVING 
 
 That it is Lawful, and hath been held fo through 
 all Ages, for any, who have the Power, to call to account 
 a T yr ant, or wicked King, and after due Conviction, 
 to depofe, and put him to Death ; if the ordinary Magis- 
 trate have negledted, or deny'd to doit. 
 
 And that they, who of late fo much blame Depofing, are the 
 
 Men that did it themfelves. 
 i 
 
 IF Men within themfelves would be govern'dby reafon, and not generally give 
 up i their underftanding to a double tyranny, of cuftom from without, and 
 blind affections within, they would difcern better what it is to favour and 
 uphold the Tyrant of a Nation. But being Slaves within doors, no wonder 
 that they ftrive fo much to have the public State conformably govern'd to the 
 inward vitious rule, by which they govern themfelves. For indeed none can love 
 freedom heartily, but good Men : the reft lovenot freedom, but licence ; which 
 never hath more fcope, or more indulgence than under Tyrants. Hence is it that 
 Tyrants are not oft offended, nor ftand much in doubt of bad Men, as beino- all 
 naturally fervile ; but in whom virtue and true worth moft is eminent, them they 
 fear in earneft, as by right their Matters, againft them lies all their hatred and fuf- 
 picion. Confequently neither do bad Men hate Tyrants, but have been always 
 readied, with the falfify'd names ofLoyalty and Obedience, tocolour over their bale 
 compliances. And although fometimes for fhame, and when it comes to their own 
 grievances, of Purfe efpecially, they would feem good Patriots, and fide with the 
 better caafe, yet when others for the deliverance of their Country, endued with for- 
 titude and heroic virtue, to fear nothing but the curfe written againft thofe that do 
 the work of the Lord negligently, would go on to remove, not only the calamities Jer. 4 S. t. 
 and thraldoms of a People, but the roots and caufes whence they fpring ; ftrait 
 thefe Men, and fure helpers at need, as if they hated only the miferies, but not 
 the mifchiefs, after they have juggljd and palter'd with the World, bandied and 
 born arms againft their King, diverted him, difanointed him, naycurfed him all 
 over in their Pulpits, and their Pamphlets, to the ingaging of fincere and real Men, 
 beyond what is pofTible or honeft to retreat from, not only turn Revolters from thofe 
 Principles, which only could at firft move them, but lay the (lain of difloyalty, 
 and worfe, on thofe proceedings, which are the neceffary confequences of their own 
 former actions ; nor diflik'd by themfelves, were they manag'd to the entire ad- 
 vantages of their own Faction •, not confidering the while that he toward whom they 
 boafted their new fidelity, counted them acceffory, and by thofeStatutes and Laws 
 which they fo impotently brandifh againft others, would have doomed them to a 
 Traytor's death for what they have done already. 'Tis true, that moft Men arc- 
 apt enough to civil Wars and Commotions as a novelty, and for a flafh, hot and 
 active •, but thro' floth or inconftancy, and weaknefs of Spirit, either fainting ere 
 their own pretences, though never fojuft, be half attained, or thro' an inbred falfe- 
 hood and wickednefs, betray oftimes to destruction with themfelves, Men of no- 
 bleft temper joined with them for caufes which they in their raih undertakings, 
 were not capable of. It God and a good Can fe give them Victory, the profe- 
 cution v/herof for the moft part, inevitably draws after it the alteration of 
 
 Laws, 
 
 3
 
 « i o ?&<? ^tenure 0/ K i N cs, 
 
 Laws, change oT Government, downfall of Princes with their Families ; then 
 comes the talk to thofe Worthies which are the Soul of that Enterprize, to be 
 fwett and laboiir'd out aniidll the throng and noifes ot vulgar and irrational 
 Men. Some contefting for Privileges, Cuftoms, Forms, and that old entangle- 
 ment of Iniquity, their gibberifh Laws, though the badge of their ancient fla- 
 very. Others who have 'been fierceft againft their Prince, tinder the notion of 
 a Tyrant, and no mean Incendiaries of the War againft him, when God out 
 of his providence and high diipofal hath delivered him into the hand of their 
 Brethren, on a hidden and in a new garb of Allegiance, which their doings 
 have long fince cancel I'd ; they plead for him, pity him, extol him, proteft a- 
 erainft thole that talk of bringing him to the trial of Juftice, which is the 
 Sword of God, fuperior to all mortal things, in whole hand foever by appa- 
 rent fi^-ns his teftificd will is to put it. But certainly, it we confider who and 
 what they are, on a hidden grown fo pitiful, we may conclude their pity- 
 can be no true and Chriftian commiferation, but either levity and ftiallownefs 
 of mind, or elfe a catnal admiring of that worldly pomp and greatnefs, 
 from whence they fee him fallen •, or rather laftly, a diflembled and {editions 
 pity, feign'd of induftry to beget new commotions. As for Mercy, if it be to 
 a Tyrant, under which name they themfelves have cited him fo oft in the hearing 
 of God,' of Angels, and the holy Church affembled, and there charged him 
 with the fpilling of m&re innocent blood by far, than eve/ Nero did, un- 
 doubtedly the Mercy which they pretend, is the Mercy oi~ wicked Men, and 
 their mercies, we read, are cruelties ; hazarding the welfare of a whole Na- 
 Vovxlllo ' r ion, to have laved one whom fo oft they have term'd Jgag, and vilifying 
 the blood of many Jonathans that have fav'd Ifrael ; infilling with much nice- 
 nefs on the unneceffarieft claufe of their Covenant, wherein the fear of change, 
 and the abfurd contradiction of a flattering hoftility had hampered them, but not 
 fcrupling to give away for compliments, to an implacable revenge, the heads of 
 many thoufand Chriftians more. 
 
 Another fort there is, who coming in the courfe of thefe affairs, to have 
 their fhare in great actions above the form of Law or Cuftom, at lead to give 
 their voice and approbation, begin to fwerve and almoft Ihiver at the majefty 
 and grandeur of fome noble deed, as if they were newly entered into a great 
 fin ; difputing precedents, forms, and circumftances, when the Commonwealth 
 ni^h perifhes for want of deeds in fubftance, done with juft and faithful expedi. 
 tion. To thefe I wifh better inftruftion, and vertue equal to their calling ; the 
 former of which, that is to fay Inftruftion, I lhall endeavour, as my duty is, 
 to bellow on them •, and exhort them not to ftartle from the juft and pious refo- 
 lution of adhering with all their affiftanc.e to the prelent Parliament and Army, 
 in the glorious way wherin Juftice and Viclory hath let them ; the only war- 
 rants through all ages, next under immediate Revelation, to exercife fupreme 
 power •, in thole proceedings which hitherto appear equal to what hath beerv 
 done in any Age or Nation heretofore, jullly or magnanimoufly. Nor let them 
 bedifcourag'd or deterr'd by any newApoftate Scare-crows, who under fhow 
 of living Counfel, fend out their barking Monitories and Memento's, empty of 
 aught elfe but the fpleen of a fruftrated Faction. For how can that pretended 
 Counfel, be either found or faithful, when they that give if, fee not for mad- 
 nefs and vexation of their ends loll, that thofe Statutes and Scriptures which 
 both falfly and fcandaloufly they wreft againft their Friends and Aflbciates, 
 would by fentence of the common adverfary, fall firft and heavicft upon their 
 own heads ? Neither let mild and tender dilpofuions be foolifhly foften'd from 
 their duty and perfeverance with the unmafculine Rhetoric of any puling 
 Prieft or Chaplain, fentas a friendly Letter of Advice, for iafhion-fake in pri- 
 vate, and forthwith publifn'd by the Sender him felt, that we may know how 
 much of Friend there was in it, to call an odious envy upon them to whom it 
 was pretended to be fent in charity. Nor let any Man be deluded by either 
 the ignorance, or the notorious hypocrify and felf-repugnance of our dancing 
 Divines, v. ho have the conference and the boldnefs, to come with Scripture in 
 their Mouths, .glofled and fitted for their turns with a double contradictory 
 ieni'e, transforming the (acred verity of God, to an Idol with two faces, look- 
 ingat oiuc two feveral ways, and with the lame quotations to charge others, 
 which in the fame cafe thi y made ferve to juftify themfelves. For while the hope
 
 ^Magistrates. ^xj 
 
 to be made Gallic and Provincial Lords led them on, while Pluralities greas'd 
 them thick and deep, to the fhame and fcandal of Religion, more than all 
 the Seels and Herefies they exclaim againft; then to fight againft the King's per- 
 fon, and no lefs a party of his Lords and Commons, or to put force upon both 
 the Houfes was good, was lawful was no refilling of Superior Powers; they 
 only were powers not to be refilled, who countenane'd the good and punifiVd 
 the evil. But now that their cenforious domineering is not fuffer'd to be uni- 
 verfal, truth and confeience to be freed, Tithes and Pluralities to be no more 
 though competent allowance provided, and the warm experience of large 
 gifts, and they fo good at taking them ; yet now to exclude and feize on im- 
 peached Members, to bring Delinquents without exemption to a fair Tribunal 
 by the common national Law againft Murder, is now to be no lefs than Corab 
 Dathan, and Abiram. He who but ere-while in the Pulpits was a curfed 
 Tyrant, an enemy to God and Saints, laden with all the innocent blood fpilt 
 in three Kingdoms, and fo to be fought againft; is now, though nothing pe- 
 nitent or alter'd from his firft principles, a lawful Magiftrate, a Sovereign Lord, 
 the Lord's Anointed, not to be touch'd, though by themfelves imprifon'd. As 
 if this only were obedience, to preferve the mere ufelefs bulk of his perfon, 
 and that only in prifon, not in the field, and to difobey his commands, deny 
 him his dignity and office, every where to refill his power, butwhere they think 
 it only Surviving in their own faction. 
 
 But who in particular is a Tyrant, cannot be determined in a general difcourfe, 
 otherwife than by fuppofition ; his particular charge, and the fufficient proof 
 of it muft determine that: which I leave to Magiftrates, at leafttothe upright* 
 er fort of them, and of the people, though in number lefs by many, in whom 
 Faction leaft hath prevail'd above the Law of nature and right reafon, to judge 
 as they find caufe. But this I dare own as part of my faith, that if fuch a one 
 there be, by whofe Commiffion, whole MalTacres have bin committed on his 
 faithful Subjects, his Provinces offered to pawn or alienation, as the hire of 
 thofe whom he had folicited to come in and deftroy whole Cities and Countries ; 
 be he King or Tyrant, or Emperor, the Sword of Juftice is above him ; in 
 whofe hand foever is found fufficient power to avenge the effufion, and fo great a 
 deluge of innocent blood. For if all human power to execute, not accidentally 
 but intendedly, the wrath of God upon evil-doers without exception, be of God ; 
 then that power, whether ordinary, or if that fail, extraordinary, fo executing 
 that intent of God, is lawful, and not to be refilled. But to unfold more at 
 large this whole Queftion, though with all expedient brevity, I fhall here fet 
 down, from firft beginning, the Original of Kings ; how and wherfore exalted 
 to that dignity above their Brethren ; and from thence fhall prove, that turning 
 to tyranny they may be as lawfully depofed and punifh'd, as they were at firft 
 elected: This I fhall doby authorities and reafons, not learnt in corners among 
 Schifms and Herefies, as our doubling Divines are ready to calumniate, but fetch'd 
 out of the midft of choiceft and moft authentic' learning, and no prohibited Au- 
 thors; nor many Heathen, but Mofaical, Chriftian, Orthodoxal, and which muft 
 needs be more convincing to our Adverfaries, Prefbyterial. 
 
 No Man who knows aught, can be fo ftupid to deny that all Men naturally 
 were born free, being the image and refemblance of God himfelf, and were 
 by privilege above all the creatures, born to command and not to obey : and 
 thai they liv'd fo, till from the root of Adam's tranfgrefCon, falling among them- 
 felves to do wrong and violence, and forefeeing that fuch courfes muft needs 
 tend to the deftructionof them all, they agreed by common league to bind each 
 other from mutual injury, and jointly to defend themfelves againft any that 
 gave dilturbance or opposition to fuch agreement. Hence came Cities, Towns, 
 and Commonwealths. And becaufe no faith in all was found fufficiently bind- 
 ing, they law it needful to ordain fome Authority, that might reftrain by 
 force and punifhment what was violated againft peace and common right : This 
 authority and power of felf-defence and preservation being originally and natu- 
 rally in every one of them, and unitedly in them all, for eafe, for order ; and 
 left each Mm fhould be his own partial judge, they communicated and de- 
 rived either to one, whom for the eminence of his wifdom and integrity, they 
 chofe above the reft, or to more than one whom they thought of equal defer- 
 ring : The firft was called a King ; the other Magiftrates. Not to be their Lords 
 
 3 • and
 
 q 1 1 The Tenure <?/Kings, 
 
 and Matters (though afterward thofe names in fome places were given volunta* 
 rily to fuch as had bin authors of ineftimable good to the people) but to be 
 their Deputies and Commiflioners, to execute, by virtue of their intrufted pow- 
 er thatjuftice which elfe every Man by the bond of Nature and_ of Covenant 
 muft have executed for himfelf, and for one another. And to him that fhall 
 confider well why among free perfons, one Man by civil right fhould bear au- 
 thority and jurifdidlion over another, no other end or reafon can be imaginable. 
 Thefe for a while govern'd well, and with much equity decided all things at 
 their own arbitrement : till the temptation of fuch a power left abfolutein their 
 hands, perverted them at length to injuftice and partiality. Then did they 
 who now by trial had found the danger and inconveniences of committing ar- 
 bitrary power to any, invent Laws either fram'd or contented to by all; that 
 fhould confine and limit the authority of whom they chofe to govern them: that 
 fo Man of whofe failing they had proof, might no more rule over them, but 
 Law and Reafon abftracted as much as might be from perfonal errors and frail- 
 ties. "When this would not ferve, but that the Law was either not executed, 
 or mifapply'd, they were conftrained from that time, the only remedy left 
 them, to put Conditions and take Oaths from all Kings and Magiftrates at their 
 firft i'nftallment to do impartial juftice by Law : who upon thofe terms and no 
 other, receiv'd Allegiance from the people, that is to fay, Bond or Covenant to 
 obey them in execution of thofe Laws which they the people had themfelves 
 made or affentedto. And this oft-times with exprefs warning, that if the King 
 or Magiftrate prov'd unfaithful to his truft, the people would be difengag'd. 
 They added alio Counfellors and Parlaments, not to be only at his beck, but 
 with him or without him, at fet times, or at all times, when any danger 
 threaten'd, to have care of the public Safety. Therfore faith Claudius Sef ell, a 
 French Statefman, The Parlament was fet as a bridle to the King ; which I inftance 
 rather, becaufe that Monarchy is granted by all to be a far more abfolute than 
 ours. That this and the reft of what hath hitherto been fpoken is molt true, 
 might be copioufly made appear throughout all Stories Heathen and Chriftian ; 
 even of thofe Nations where Kings and Emperors have fought means to abo- 
 lifh all ancient memory of the people's right by their encroachments and ufurpa- 
 tions. But I fpare long infertions, appealing to the German, French, Italian* 
 Arragonian, Englijh, and not leaft the Scottijh Hiftories: not forgetting this 
 only by the way, that William the Norman, though a Conqueror, and not un- 
 fworn at his Coronation, was compell'd a fecond time to take Oath at St. Al- 
 bans, ere the people would be brought to yield obedience. 
 
 It being thus manifeft that the power' of Kings and Magiftrates is nothing 
 elfe, but what is only derivative, transferr'd and committed to them in truft 
 from the People to the common good of them all, in whom the power yet re- 
 mains fundamentally, and cannot be taken from them, without a violation of 
 their natural Birthright ; and feeing that from hence Arijlotle, and the beft of 
 Political Writers have defin'd a King, him who governs to the good and profit 
 of his People, and not for his own ends ; it follows from necefiary caufes, that 
 the Titles of Sovereign Lord, Natural Lord, and the like, are either arro- 
 gancies, or flatteries, not admitted by Emperors and Kings of beft note, and 
 diflik'd by the Church both of Jews, Ifai. xxvi. J3. and ancient Chriftians, as 
 appears by Tertullian and others. Although generally the People of Afia, and 
 with them the Jews alfo,efpecially fince the time they chofe a King, againft the 
 advice and counfel of God, are noted by wife Authors much inclinable to 
 Slavery. 
 
 Secondly, that to fay, as is ufual, the King hath as good right to his Crown 
 and Dignity, as any Man to his Inheritance, is to make the SubjecT: no better 
 than the King's Slave, his Chattel, or his Poflefiion that may be bought and 
 fold : And doubtlefs, if hereditary Title were fufficiently inquir'd, the beft 
 foundation of it would be found but either in courtefy or convenience. But 
 fuppofe it to be of right hereditary, what can be more ju ft and legal, if a Sub- 
 jecT: for certain crimes be to forfeit by Law from himfelf and Pofterity, all his 
 Inheritance to the King, than that a King for crimes proportional, fhould forfeit 
 all his Title and Inheritance to the People? Unlefs the People muft be thought 
 created all for him, he not for them, and they all in one body inferior to him 
 Angle i which were a kind of treafon againft the dignity of Mankind to affirm. 
 
 Thirdly,
 
 and Magistrates. 
 
 Thirdly, it follows, that to fay Kings are accountable to none but God, h 
 the overturning of all Law and Government. For if they may refufe to give ac- 
 count, then all Covenants made with them at Coronation, all Oaths arc in vain, 
 and meer mockeries j all Laws which they fwear to keep, made to no purpoie : 
 for if the King fear not God, as how many of them do not ? we hold then our 
 lives and eftates by the tenure of his meer grace and mercy, as from a God, 
 rota mortal Magiftrate; a Pofition that none but Court- parafites or Men bc- 
 ibtted would maintain. And no Chriftian Prince, not drunk with hio-h Mind, 
 and prouder than thofe Pagan Cafars that deify'd themlelves, would arrogate 
 founrcafonably above human condition, or derogate fo bafcly from a whole 
 Nation of men his brethren, as if for him only fubfifting, and to ferve his glory, 
 valuing them in companion of his own brute will and pleafure no more than lo 
 many beafts, or vermin under his feet, not to be reaibn'd with, but to be in- 
 jur'dj among whom there might be found fo many thoufand men for wifdom, 
 virtue, noblenefs of mind, and all other refpects but the fortune of his dig- 
 nity, far above him. Yet fome would perfwade us that this abfurd opinion was 
 King David's, becaufe in the 51 Pfalm he cries out to God, Againft thee only have 
 I finn'd; as if David had imagin'd that to murder Uriah and adulterate his Wife 
 had been no fin againft his Neighbour, whenas that law of Mofes was to the 
 King exprefly, Dent. 1 7. not to think fo highly of himfelf above his Brethren. 
 David therfore by thofe words could mean no other, than either that the depth 
 of his guiltinefs was known to God only, or to fo few as had not the will or 
 power to queftion him, or that the Sin againft God was greater beyond com- 
 pare than againft Uriah. Whatever his meaning were, any wife man will fee 
 that the pathetical words of a Pfalm can be no certain decifion to a point that 
 hath abundantly more certain ruicstogo by. How much more rationally fpake 
 the Heathen King Demophoon in a Tragedy of Euripides t\\a.n thefe interpreters 
 would put upon King David ? I rule not my People by Tyranny, as if they were 
 Barbarians, but am my felf liable, if I do unjujlly, to fuffer juftly . Not unlike was 
 the fpeech of Trajan the worthy Emperor, to one whom he made General of 
 his Praetorian Forces: Take this drawn fword, faith he, to ufe for me, if I 
 reign well ; if not, to ufe againft me. Thus Dion relates. And not Trajan on- 
 ly, but Thecdofius the younger, a Chriftian Emperor,and one of the beft,caufed 
 it to be enacted as a rule undeniable and fit to be acknowledg'd by all Kings 
 and Emperors, that a Prince is bound to the Laws •, that on the authority of 
 Law the authority of a Prince depends, and to theLaws oughttofubmit. Which 
 Edict of his remains yet unrepeal'd in the Code of Juftinian, I. i.tit. 24. as a 
 facred conftitution to all the fucceeding Emperors. How then can any King 
 in Europe maintain and write himfelf accountable to none but God, when Em- 
 perors in their own imperial Statutes have written and decreed themfelves ac- 
 countable to Law ? And indeed where fuch account is not fear'd, he that bids 
 a man reign over him above Law, may bid as well a favage beaft. 
 
 It follows laftly, that fince the King or Magiftrate holds his authority of 
 the people, both originally and naturally for their good in the firft place, 
 and not his own, then may the people as oft as they fhall judge it for the 
 beft, either chufe him or reject him, retain him or depoie him though no 
 Tyrant, meerly by the liberty and right of free-born men to be govcrn'd as 
 feems to them beft. This, though it cannot but ftand with plain reafon, 
 fhall be made good alfo by Scripture, Deut.iy. 14. When thou art come 
 into the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and Jhall fay I will fet a 
 King over me, like as all the Nations about me. Thefe words confirm us that 
 the right of chufing, yea of changing their own Government, is by the grant 
 of God himfelf in the people. And therfore when they defir'd a King, 
 though then under another Form of Government, and though their changing 
 dilpleafed him, yet he that was himfelf their King, and rejected by them, 
 would not be a hindrance to what they intended, further than by perlwafion, 
 but that they might do therein as they faw good, 1 Sam. 8. only he referv'd 
 to himfelf the nomination of who fliould reign over them. Neither did that 
 exempt the King as if he were to God only accountable, though by his 
 efpecial command anointed. Therfore David firft made a Covenant with 
 the Elders of Ifrael, and fo was by them anointed King, 1 Chron. 1 1. And 
 ~Jeboiada the Prieft making Jehoajl) King, made a Covenant between him and 
 the people, 2 Kings 11. 17. Therfore when Roboam at his coming to the 
 
 Vol. I. S ( Crown, 

 
 314 ''fe Tenure o/Kings, 
 
 Crown, rejected thofe conditions which the lfraelites brought him, hear what 
 they anfwer him, What portion have we in David, or inheritance in the Son of 
 Jefe ? See to thine own Hoafe David. And for the like conditions not perform'd, 
 all Ifrael before that time depofed Samuel; not for his own default, but for the 
 mifgovernment of his Sons. But fome will fay to both thefe examples, it was 
 evilly done. I anfwer, that not the latter, becaufe it was exprefly allow'd 
 them in the Law to fet up a King if they pleas'd •, and God himfelf join'd 
 with them in the work ; though in fome fort it was at that time difpleafing 
 to him, in refpecl: of old Samuel who had govern'd them uprightly. As Livy 
 praifes the Romans who took occafton from Tarquinius a wicked Prince to 
 gain their liberty, which to have extorted, faith he, from Numa or any of 
 the good Kings before, had not been feafonable. Nor was it in the former 
 example done unlawfully ; for when Roboam had prepared a huge Army to 
 reduce the Ifraelites, he was forbidden by the Prophet, 1 Kings 12. 24. 
 Thus faith the Lord, yejhall not go up, nor fight againfi your brethren, for this 
 thing is from me. He calls them their Brethren, not Rebels, and forbids to be 
 proceeded againft them, owning the thing himfelf, not by fingle providence, 
 but by approbation,and that not only of the adl,asin the former example, bur 
 of the fit feafon alfo •, he had not otherwife forbid to moleft them. And thofe 
 grave and wife Counfellors whom Rehoboam firft advis'd with, fpake no fuch 
 thing, as our old grey-headed Flatterers now are wont, ftand upon your birth- 
 right, fcorn to capitulate, you hold of God, and not of them -, for they knew 
 no fuch matter, unlefs conditionally, but gave him politic Counfel, as in a 
 civil tranfaclion. Therfore Kingdom and Magiftracy, whether fupreme or fub- 
 ordinate, is called a human Ordinance, 1 Pet. 2. 13, &c. which we are there 
 taught is the will of God we Ihould fubmit to, fo far as for the puniftiment of 
 evil doers, and the encouragement of them that do well. Submit, faith he, as 
 free men. And there is no power but of God, faith Raul, Rom. 13. as much as to 
 fay, God put it into man's heart to find out that way at firft for common peace 
 and prefervation, approving the exercife therof j elfe it contradicts Peter, who 
 calls the fame authority an Ordinance of man. It muft be alfo underftood of 
 lawful and juft power, elfe we read of great power in the Affairs and King- 
 doms of the World permitted to the Devil: for faith he to Chrift, Luke 4. 6. 
 all this power will I give thee and the glory of them, for it is delivered to me, and 
 to whomfoever I will, I give it: neither did he lye, or Chrift gainfay what he af- 
 firm'd ; for in the thirteenth of the Revelation we read how the Dragon gave to 
 the Beaft his power, his feat, and great authority : which Bsaft fo authoriz'd moft 
 expound to be the tyrannical Powers and Kingdoms of the Earth. Therfore 
 Saint Paul in the forecited Chapter tells us, that fuch Magiftrates he means, 
 as are not a terror to the good but to the evil, fuch as bear not the fword in 
 vain, but to punifh offenders, and to encourage the good. If fuch only be 
 mention'd here as powers to be obey'd, and our fubmiffion to them only re- 
 quir'd, then doubtlefs thofe powers that do the contrary, are no powers or- 
 dain'd of God ; and by confequence no obligation laid upon us to obey or not 
 to refift them. And it may be well obferved that both thefe Apoftles, when- 
 ever they give this Precept, exprefs it in terms not concrete, but abflraS, as 
 Logicians are wont to fpeak ; that is, they mention the ordinance, the power, 
 the authority, before the perfons that execute it; and what that power is, left 
 we Ihould be deceived, they defcribe exactly. So that if the power be not fuch, 
 or the perfon execute not fuch power,neither the one nor the other is of God, 
 but of the Devil, and by confequence to be refilled. From this expofitiou 
 Chryfqftom alfo on the fame place diffents not ; explaining that thefe words were 
 not written in behalf of a Tyrant. And this is verify'd by David, himfelf a 
 King, andlikelieft to be Author of the Pfalm 94. 20. which faith, Shall the 
 throne of iniquity have fellow/hip with thee f And it were worth the know- 
 ing, fince Kings, and that by Scripture, boaft the juitnefs of their Title, 
 by holding it immediately of God, yet cannot fhow the time when God e- 
 ver fet on the Throne them or their forefathers, but only when the peo- 
 ple chofe them •, why by the fame reafon, fince God afcribes as oft to him- 
 felf the calling down of Princes from the Throne, it Ihould not be thought 
 as lawful, and as much from God when none are feen to do it but the peo- 
 ple, and that for juft caufes. For if it needs muft be a fin in them to depofe, 
 it may as likely be a fin to have elected. And contrary, if the people's act in 
 
 election
 
 and Magistrates. 315 
 
 election h pleaded by a King, as the aft of God, and the moft juft title toen- 
 thro \t him, why may not the people's aft of rejection be as well pleaded by the 
 people as the act of God, and the mod juft reafon to depofe him ? So that we 
 fee the title and juft right of reigning or depofing in reference to God, is 
 found in Scripture to be all one •, vifible only in the people, and depending 
 meerly upon juftice and demerit. Thus far hath been confidered chiefly the 
 power of Kings and Magiftrates; how it was,andis originally the people's,and 
 by them conferr'd in miff, only to be employ'd to the common peace and bene- 
 fit •, with liberty therfbre and right remaining in them to reaflume it to them- 
 ielves, if by Kings or Magiftrates it be abus'd ; or to difpofe of it by any al- 
 teration, as they fhall judge moft conducing to the public good. 
 
 We may from hence with more eafe, and force of argument determine what 
 a Tyrant is, and what the people may do againft him. A Tyrant whether by 
 wrong or by right coming to the Crown, is he who regarding neither Law 
 nor the common Good, reigns only for himfelf and his Faftion: Thus St.PaJil 
 among others defines him. And btcaufe his power is great, his will bouudlefs 
 and exorbitant, the fulfilling wherof is for the moftpart accompanied with m- 
 numerab e wrongs and oppreffions of the people, Murders, Maflacres, Rapes, 
 Adulteries, Defolation, and Subverfioii of Cities and whole Provinces; look 
 how great a good and happinefs a juft King is, fo great a mifchief is a Ty- 
 rant ; as he the public Father of his Country, fo this the common Enemy. A- 
 gainft whom what the people lawfully may do, as againft a common peft, and 
 deftroyer of mankind, I fuppofe no man of clear judgment need go further 
 to be guided than by the very principles of nature in him. But becaufe is is 
 the vulgar folly of men to defect their own reafon, and ftiutting their eyes to 
 think they fee beft with other mens, I fhall fhew by liich examples as ought 
 to have moft weight with us, what hath been done in this cafe heretofore. 
 The Greeks and Romans, as their prime Authors witnefs, held it not only law- 
 ful, but a glorious and heroic Deed, rewarded publicly with Statues and Gar- 
 lands, to kill an infamous Tyrant at any time without trial ; and but reafon,, 
 that he who trod down all Law, ftiould not be vouchfaf'd the benefit of Law. 
 Infomuch that Seneca the Tragedian brings in Hercules the grand fuppreffbr of 
 Tyrants thus fpeaking; 
 
 Viilima handulla amplior 
 
 Pot eft, magifque epima maclari Jovi 
 £huim Rex iniquus- 
 
 -Thcre can be Jlain 
 
 No facrifice to God more acceptable 
 
 Than an unjujl and wicked King —— 
 
 But of thefe I name no more, left it be objefted they were Heathen ; and 
 come to produce another fort of men that had the knowledge of true Religion. 
 Among the Jews this cuftom of Tyrant-killing was not unufuaJ. Firft Ehud, 
 a man whom God had rais'd to deliver Ifrael from Eglon King of Moab, who 
 had conquer'd and rul'd over them eighteen Years, being fent to him as an 
 Ambafiador with a prefent, flew him in his own Houfe. But he was a fo- 
 reign Prince, an Enemy, and Ehud befides had fpecial warrant from God. To 
 the firft I anfwer, it imports not whether foreign or native : For no Prince 
 fo native but profefles to hold by Law -, which when he himfelf overturns, 
 breaking all the Covenants and Oaths that gave him title to his dignity, and 
 were the bond and alliance between him and his people, what differs he from 
 an outlandifh King or from an Enemy? For look how much right the King of 
 Spain hath to govern us at all, fo much right hath the King of England to go- 
 vern us tyrannically. If he, though not bound to us by any league, coming 
 from Spain in perfon to fubdue us, or to deftroy us, might lawfully by the peo- 
 ple of England either be flain in Fight, or put to death in Captivity, what hath 
 a native King to plead, bound by fo many Covenants, Benefits and Honours to 
 the welfare of his people? why he through the contempt of all Laws and Parla- 
 nunts, the only tie of our obedience to him, for his own will's fake,and a boaft- 
 ed Prerogative unaccountable, after ieven Years warring and deftroying of 
 his beft Subjefts, overcome 3 and yielded prifoner, fliould think to fcape unque- 
 Vol. I. Sf 2 ftionable,
 
 3 i 6 The Tenure of K i n g 
 
 s * 
 
 ftionable, as a thing divine, in refpect' of whom fo many thou fa nd Chriftiar.s 
 deftroy'd mould lie unaccounted for, polluting with their flaughterM Cue: 
 all the Land over, and crying for vengeance againft the living that mould have 
 righted them? Who knows not that there is a mutual bond of amity and bro- 
 therhood between man and man over all the World; neither is it the Ehg 
 Sea that can fever us from that duty and relation : a ftreighter bond yet there is 
 between fellow-fubjects, neighbours, and friends. But when any of thefe do 
 one to another fo as hoftility could do no worfe, what doth the Law decree 
 lefs againft them, than open enemies and invaders ? or if the Law be not pre- 
 fent or too weak, what doth it warrant us to lefs than fingle defence or civil 
 War ? and from that time forward the Law of civil defenfive War differs no- 
 thing from the Law of foreign hoftility. Nor is it diftance of place that makes 
 enmity, but enmity that makes diftance. He therfore that keeps peace with 
 me near or remote, of whatfoever Nation, is to me as far as all civil and human 
 Offices an Engl 'ijlrman and a Neighbour: but if an Englijhman forgetting all 
 LawSj human, civil and religious, offend againft life and liberty, to him offend-' 
 ed and to the Law in his behalf, though born in the fame Womb, he is no I ■ 
 ter than a Turk, a Saracen, a Heathen. This is Goipel, and this was ever Law 
 among equals-, how much rather then in force againft any King whatfoever, 
 who in refpect of the people is coniefb'd inferior and not equal: to diftinguifii 
 therfore of a Tyrant by Outlandifh, or Domeftic is a weak evafion. To the fe- 
 cond that he was an Enemy, I anfwer, what Tyrant is not? yztEglon by the 
 Jews had been acknowledg'd as their Sovereign, they had ferv'd him eighteen 
 years, as long almoft as we our William the Conqueror, in all which time he 
 could not be fo unwife a Stateiman but to have taken of them Oaths of F. 
 and Allegiance-, by which they made themfelves his proper iubjects, as tl 
 homage and prefent fent by EhudtzR.\{y&. To the third, that he had ipecial 
 warrant to kill Eglon in that manner, it cannot be granted, becaufe not ex- 
 prefs'd ; it is plain that he wasrais'd by God to be a Deliverer, and went on 
 juft principles, fuch as were then and ever held allowable to deal fo by a Ty- 
 rant that could no otherwife be dealt with. Neither did SamueI,tkoiugh a Pro- 
 phet, with his own hand abftain from Agag; a foreign enemy no doubt -, but 
 mark the reafon, As thy Sword bath made women cbildlefs ; a caufe that by the 
 fentence of Law itfelf nullifies all relations. And as the Law is between Bro- 
 ther and Brother, Father and Son, Mafter and Servant, wherfore net between 
 King or rather Tyrant and People? And wheras Jehu had fpecial command 
 to flay Jehoram a fucceffive and hereditary Tyrant, it feems not the lefs insta- 
 ble for that ; for where a thing grounded fo much on natural reafon hath the 
 addition of a command from God, what does it but eltablifh the lawfulnefs of 
 fuch an act ? Nor is it likely that God, who had fo many ways of puniming the 
 houfe oi Ahab, would have fent a Subject againft his Prince, if the fa£t in it- 
 felf as done to a Tyrant had been or bad example. And if David refusM to 
 lift his hand againft the Lord's Anointed, the matter between them was nor 
 tyranny, but private enmity, and David as a private perfon had been his own 
 revenger, not fo much the people's ; but when any Tyrant at this day can fhew 
 to be the Lord's Anointed, the only mention'd reafon why David withheld 
 his hand, he may then, but not till then, prefume on the fame privilege. 
 
 We may pais therfore hence to Chriftian Times. And firft our Saviour him- 
 felf, how much he favour'd Tyrants, and how much intended they mould be 
 found or honour'd among Chriftians, declares his mind not obfeurely ; account- 
 ing their abfolute authority no better than Gentilifm, yea though they flourifh'd 
 it over with the fplendid name of Benefactors ; charging thofe that would be 
 his Difciples to ufurp no fuch dominion; but that they who were to be of moft 
 authority among them, fliould efteem themfelves Minifters and Servants to the 
 public. Mai. 20, 25. The Princes of the Gentiles exercife Lordjhip over them ; and 
 Mark 10. 4.2. They that feem tortile, faith he, either flighting or accounting them 
 no lawful rulers; butyejhallnotbefo, but the great eft among you foall be your Ser- 
 vant. And although he himfelf were the meekeft, and came on Earth to be fo, 
 yet to a Tyrant we hear him not vouchfafe an humble word : but Tell that Fux, 
 Luk. 13. And wherfore did his Mother the Virgin Mary give fuch praife to God 
 in her prophetic Song, that he had now by the coming of Chrift, cut down 
 Dynafta's, or proud Monarchs fromthz Throne, if the Church, when God mani- 
 
 fefts
 
 and Magistrates. 
 
 fefls his power in them to do fo, mould rather choofe all mifery and vaflalao- e 
 to ferve them, and let them ftill fit on their potent feats to be ador'd for doino- 
 mifchief. Surely it is not for nothing that Tyrants by a kind of natural inftincT 
 both hate and fear none more than the true Church and Saints of God, as the 
 moil dangerous enemies and fubverters of Monarchy, though indeed of Tyran 7 
 ny ; hath not this been the perpetual cry of Courtiers, and Court- Prelates ? 
 wherof no likelier caufe can be alledg'd, but that they well difcern'd the mind 
 and principles of molt devout and zealous men, and indeed the very difcip.'ine 
 of Church, tending to the difiblution of all Tyranny. No marvel then if fince 
 the Faith of Chrift receiv'd, in purer or impurer times, to depofe a Kino- and 
 put him to death for Tyranny hath been accounted fo juft and requifite, that 
 neighbour Kings have both upheld and taken part with Subjects in the action. 
 And Ludovicus Pint, himfelf an Emperor, and Son of Charles the Great, beino- 
 made Judge, Du Haitian is my author, between Milegaft King of the Vulfzes 
 and his Subjects who had depos'd him, gave his verdict for the Subjects, and 
 for him whom they had ohofen in his room. Note here that the right of electing 
 whom .hey pleafe, is by the impartial tcftimony of an Emperor in the people 
 For, laid he, A juft Prince might to be prefer;-' J before an iwjuji, and the End cf 
 Government before the Prerogative . And Conftantinus Leo, another Emperor in 
 theByzahtineL.a.\vs hkh,That the end of a King is for the general good,whieh he not 
 performing^* but the counterfeit of a King. And to prove that fome of our own Mo- 
 narchy have acknowledg'd that their highoffice exempted them not from punifh- 
 ment, they had the Sword of St. Edward borne before them by an Officer who 
 was call'd Earl of the Palace even at the times of their higheil pomp and folern- 
 nity, to mind them, faith Matthew Paris, the belt of our Hiftorians,that if they 
 err'd, the Sword had power to reitrain them. And what reitraint the Sword 
 comes to at length, having both edge and point, if any Sceptic will needs doubt, 
 let him feel. It is alio affirm'd from diligent fearch made in our antientBooks 
 of Law, that the Peers and Barons of England had a legal right to judge the 
 King : which was the caufe mod likely, for it could be no flight caufe, that 
 they were call'd his Peers, or Equals. This however may ftand immovable, fo 
 long as man hath to deal with no better than man •, that if our Law judge all 
 men to the lowefl by their Peers, itihould in all equity afcend alio, and jud°-e 
 the higheil. And fo much I find both in our own and foreign Story, that Dukes, 
 Earls, and MarquefleS were at firil not hereditary, not empty and vain titles, 
 but names of truil and office, and with the office ceafing; as induces me to be 
 of opinion, that every worthy man in Parlament, for the word Baron imports 
 no more, might for the public good be thought a fit Peer and Judge of the King -, 
 without regard had to petty Caveats, and Circumftances, the chief impediment 
 in high affairs, and ever flood upon moil by circumftantial men. Whence 
 doubtlefs our Anceilors, who were not ignorant with what rights either Nature 
 or ancient Conftitution had endow'd them, when Oaths both at Coronation, 
 and renew'd in Parlament would not ferve, thought it no way illegal to depofe 
 and put to death their Tyrannous Kings. Infomuch that the Parlament drew 
 up a charge againfl Richard the Second, and the Commons requeiled to have 
 judgment decreed againil him, that the Realm might not be endanger'd. And 
 Peter Martyr a Divine of foremofl rank, on the third of Judges approves their 
 doings. Sir Thomas Smith alio, a Proteflant and a Statefman, in his Common- 
 wealth of England putting the Queftion, whether it be lawful to rife againft 
 a Tyrant? anfwers, that the vulgar judge of it according to the event, and the 
 learned according to the purpofe of them that do it. But far before thofe days 
 Gildas the moil ancient of all our Hiflorians, fpeaking of thofe times wherin 
 the Roman Empire decaying, quitted and relinquifh'd what right they had by 
 conqueil to this Ifland, and refign'd it all into the people's hands, Eeftifi.es that 
 the people thus re-invefted with their own original right, about the year 446, 
 both elected them Kings, who they thought beft (the firft Chriftian Britifh 
 Kings that ever reign'd here fince the Romans) and by the fame right, when 
 they apprehended caufe, ufually depos'd and put them to death. This is the 
 moil fundamental and ancient tenure that any King of England can produce or 
 pretend to •, in comparifon of which, all other titles and pleas are but of ye- 
 ilerday. If any object that Gildas condemns the Britains for fo doing, the 
 anlwer is as ready ; that he condemns them no more for fo doing, than he did 
 
 before 
 
 317
 
 3 1 8 The Tenure ^/Kings, 
 
 before for chilling fuch, for faith he, They anointed them Kings, not of God, 
 but fetch as -were more bloody than the reft. Next he condemns them not at all for 
 depoftng or putting them to death, but fordoing it over-haftily, without trial 
 or well examining the caufe, and for electing others worfe in their room. Thus 
 we have here both domeftic and moft ancient Examples that the people of Bri- 
 tain have depos'd and put to death their Kings in thofe primitive Chriftian 
 -times. And to couple reafon with example, if the Church in all Ages, Primi- 
 tive, Romifh, or Proteftant, held it ever no lefs their duty than the power of 
 their Keys, though without exprefs warrant of Scripture, to bring indifferently 
 both King and Peafant under the utmoft rigor of their Canons and Genfures 
 Ecclefiaftical, even to the fmiting him withafinal Excommunion, if he periift 
 impenitent, what hinders but that the temporal Law both may and ought, 
 though without a fpecial Text or Precedent, extend with like indifference the 
 civil Sword, to the cutting off, without exemption, him that capitally offends ? 
 feeing that Juftice and Religion are from the lame God, and works of Juftice 
 oft-times more acceptable. Yet becaufe that fome lately with the Tongues and 
 Arguments of Malignant Backfliders have written that the proceedings now in 
 Parlament againft the King, are without Precedent from any Proteftant State 
 or Kingdom, the Examples which follow mall be all Proteftant, and chiefly 
 Prefbytemn. 
 
 In the Year 1546, the Duke of Saxony, Lantgrave of Heften, and the whole 
 Proteftant League rais'd open War againft Charles the Fifth their Emperor, 
 fent him a Defiance, renoune'd all Faith and Allegiance toward him, and de- 
 bated long in Council whether they fhould give him fo much as the title of 
 C<cfar. Sleidan. I. 17. Let all men judge what this wanted of depofing or of 
 killing, but the power to do it. 
 
 In the Year 1559, the Scotch Proteftants claiming promife of their Queen- 
 Regent for Liberty of Confcience, fhe anfwering that promifes were not to be 
 claim'd of Princes beyond what was commodious for them to grant, told her 
 to her face in the Parlament then at Sterling, that if it were fo, they renoune'd ' 
 their obedience ; and foon after betook them to Arms. Buchanan Hift. I. 16. 
 Certainly when Allegiance is renoune'd, that very hour the King or Queen 
 is in effect, depos'd. 
 
 In the Year 1564, John Knox a moft famous Divine, and the Reformer of 
 Scotland to the Prefbyterian Difcipline,at a general Affembly maintain'd openly 
 in a difpute againft Lethington the Secretary of State, that Subjects might and 
 ought to execute God's Judgments upon their King ; that the Fact of Jehu and 
 others aganft their King,having the ground of God's ordinary Command to put 
 fuch and fuch offenders to death, was not extraordinary, but to be imitated of 
 all that preferr'd the honour of God to the affection of Flefh and wicked Prin- 
 ces; that Kings, if they offend, have no privilege to be exempted from the pu- 
 nifhments of Law more than any other l'ubject : fo that if the King be a Mur- 
 derer, Adulterer, or Idolater, he fhould fuffcrnotas a King, but as an offender; 
 and thisPofition he repeats again and again before them. Anfwerable was 
 the opinion of John Craig another learned Divine, and that Laws made by the 
 tyranny of Princes, or the negligence of People, their Pofterity might abrogate, 
 and reform all things according to the original inftitution of Commonwealths. 
 And Knox being commanded by the Nobility to write to Calvin and other learn- 
 ed men for their judgments in that Queftion, refus'd-, alledging that both him- 
 felf was fully reiblv'd in Confcience, and had heard their Judgments, and had 
 the fame opinion under hand-writing of many the moft godly and moft learned 
 that he knew in Europe ; that if he fhould move the Queftion to them again, 
 what fhould he do but fhew his own forgetfulnefs or inconftancy. All this is far 
 more largely in the Ecclefiaftic Hiftory of Scotland I. 4. with many other paf- 
 fages to this effect all the Book over, fet out with diligence by Scotchmen of bed 
 repute among them at the beginning of thefe Troubles; as if they labour'd to 
 inform us what we were to do, and what they intended upon the like occafion. 
 
 And to let the world know that the whole Church and Proteftant State of 
 Scotland in thofe pureft times of Reformation were of the fame belief, three 
 years after, they met in the field Mary their lawful and hereditary Queen, 
 took her Prifoner, yielding before Fight, kept her in Prifon, and the fame 
 year depos'd her. Buchan. Hift. I. 18. 
 
 And four years after that, the Scots in juftification of their depofing Queen 
 
 Mary,
 
 and Magistrates. 
 
 Mary, fent Embaffadors to Queen Elizabeth, and in a written Declaration al- 
 ledg'd that they had us'd towards her more lenity than fhe deferv'd ; that their 
 Anceftors had heretofore punifh'd their Kings by death or banifhmcnt; that 
 the Scots were a free Nation, made King whom they freely chole, and with tin- 
 fame freedom un-king'd him if they faw caufe, by right of ancient Laws and 
 Ceremonies yet remaining, and old Cuftoms yet among the High-landers in 
 chufmg the head of their Clans, or Families; all which, with many other 
 arguments, bore witnefs that Regal power was nothing el fe but a mutual Cove- 
 nant or Stipulation between King and People. Buch. Rift. I. 20. Thefe were 
 Scotchmen and Prefbyterians : but what meafure then have they lately offered, 
 to think fuch liberty iefs befeeming us than themfelves, prefumino- to put him 
 upon us for a Mailer, whom their Law fcarce allows to be their own equal ? 
 If now then we hear them in another ftrain than heretofore in the pureft times 
 of their Church, we may be confident it is the voice of Faction fpeakino- in 
 them, not of Truth and Reformation. 
 
 In the Year 15S 1, the States of 'Holland in a general AfTembly at the H'agtit , 
 abjur'd all obedience and fubjeftion to Philip King of Spain 5 and in a Declara- 
 tion juftify their fo doing ; for that by his tyrannous Government, againft Faith 
 fo often given and broken , he had loft his right to all the Belgic Provinces ; that 
 therfore they depos'd him, and declar'd it lawful to chufe another in his ftead. 
 Thuan. I. 74. From that time to this, no State or Kingdom in the World hath 
 equally profpered: But let them remember not to look with an evil and pre- 
 judicial eye upon their neighbours walking by the fame rule. 
 
 But what need thefe examples to Prefbyterians, I mean to thofe who now of 
 late would feem fo much to abhor depofing, whenas they to all Chriftendom 
 have given the lateft and livelieft example of doing it themfelves. I queftion 
 not the lawfulnefs ofraifing War againft a Tyrant in defence of Religion, or 
 civil Liberty •, for no Proteftant Church from the firfl IValdenfes of Lyons and 
 Langucdoc to this day, but have done it round, and maintained it lawful. But 
 this I doubt not to affirm, that the Prefbyterians, who now fo much condemn 
 depofing, were the men themfelves that depos'd the King, and cannot with all 
 their fhifting and relapfing, wafh off the guiltinefs from their own hands. For 
 they themfelves, by thefe their late doings have made it guiltinefs, and turned 
 their own warrantable actions into Rebellion. 
 
 There is nothing that fo actually makes a King of England, as rightful Pof- 
 feflion and Supremacy in allCaufes both Civil and Ecclcfiaftical: and nothing 
 that fo actually makes a Subject of England, as thofe two Oaths of Allegiance 
 and Supremacy obferved without equivocating, or any mental refervation. Out 
 of doubt then when the King fhall command things already conftituted in 
 Church or State, Obedience is the true efTence of a Subject, either to do, 
 if it be lawful, or if he hold the thing unlawful, tofubmit to that Penalty 
 which the Law impofes, fo long as he intends to remain a Subject. Ther- 
 fore when the people, or any part of them, fhall rife againft the King and 
 his Authority, executing the Law in any thing eftablifh'd, Civil or Eccle- 
 fiaftical, I do not fay it is Rebellion, if the thing commanded though efta- 
 blifh'd be unlawful, and that they fought firft all due means of redrefs (and no 
 man is further bound to Law) but I fay it is an abfolute renouncing both of 
 Supremacy and Allegiance, which in one word is an actual and total depofing 
 of the King, and the fetting up another fupreme Authority over them. And 
 whether the Prefbyterians have not done all this and much more, they will not 
 put me, I fuppofe, to reckon up a feven years ftory frefh in the memory of all 
 men. Have they not utterly broke the Oath of Allegiance, rejecting the 
 King's Command and Authority fent them from any part of the Kingdom 
 whether in things lawful or unlawful ? Have they not abjur'd the Oath of Su- 
 premacy, by fetting up the Parlament without the King, fupreme to all their 
 Obedience •, and though their Vow and Covenant bound them in general to the 
 Parlament, yetfometimes adhering to the leffer part of Lords and Commons 
 that remain'd faithful, as they term it, and even of them, one while to the Com- 
 mons without the Lords, another while to the Lords without the Commons ? 
 Have they not ftill declar'd their meaning, whatever their Oath were, to hold 
 them only for fupreme whom they found at any time moft yielding to what 
 they petition'd? Both thefe Oaths which were the ftreighteft bond of an Englifu 
 Subject in reference to the King, being thus broke and made void; it follows 
 
 undeniably 
 
 19
 
 .320 The Tenure o/Kings, 
 
 undeniably that the King from that time was by them in fad' abfolutely de- 
 pos'd, and they no longer in reality to be thought his Subjects, notwithfland- 
 ino- their fine Claufe in the Covenant to preferve his Peribn, Crown and Dig- 
 nity, fet there by fome dodging Cafuift with more craft than fincerky, to mi- 
 tigate the matter in czi'e of ill fuccefs, and not taken I fuppofe by any honeft 
 man, but as a Condition fubordinate to every the leaft Particle that might 
 more concern Religion, Liberty, or the public Peace. 
 
 To prove it yet more plainly that they are the Men who have depos'd the 
 King, I thus argue. We know that King and Subject are Relatives, and Rela- 
 tives have no longer being than in the Relation ; the relation between King and 
 Subject can be no other than Regal Authority and Subjection. Hence I infer 
 part their defending, that if the Subject who is one relative, takes away the 
 Relation, of force he takes away alio the other relative : but the Prelbytenans 
 who were one Relative, that is to fay Subjects, have for this feven years ta- 
 ken away the Relation ; that is to fay the King's Authority, and their Sub- 
 jection to it •, therfore the Prefbyterians for thefe feven years have remov'd 
 and extinguifh'd the other Relative, that is to fay the King ; or to lpeak more 
 in brief, have depos'd him ; not only by depriving him the execution of his 
 Authority, but by conferring it upon others. If then their Oaths of Subjec- 
 tion broken, new Supremacy obey'd, new Oaths and Covenants taken, not- 
 withftanding frivolous evafions, have in plain terms unking'd the King, much 
 more then hath their feven years Wars, not depos'd him only, but outlaw'd 
 him, and defy'd him as an Alien, a Rebel to Law, an Enemy to the State. 
 It muft needs be clear to any man not averfe from Reafon, that Hoftility and 
 Subjection are two direct and pofitive Contraries, and can no more in one 
 Subject ftand together in refpect of the fame King, than one perfon at the 
 fame time can be in two remote places. Againft whom therfore the Subject 
 is in aft of Hoftility,we may be confident that to him he is in no Subjection: 
 and in whom Hoftility takes place of Subjection, for they can by no means 
 confift together, to him the King can be not only no King, but an Enemy. So 
 that from hence we fhall not need difpute whether they have depos'd him, or 
 what they have defaulted towards him as no King, butfhew manifeftly how 
 much they have done toward the killing him. Have they not levied all thefe 
 Wars againft him whether offenfive or defenfive (for defence in War equally 
 offends, and moft prudently before-hand) and given Commiffion to flay where 
 they knew his Perfon could not be exempt from danger? And if chance or 
 flight had not laved him, how often had they kill'd him, directing their Ar- 
 tillery without blame or prohibition to the very place where they faw him 
 ftand ? Have they not converted his Revenue to other ufes, and detain'd 
 from him all means of livelihood, fo that for them long fince he might have 
 perifh'd, or have ftarv'd ? Have they not hunted and purfu'd him round a- 
 bout the Kingdom with fword and fire ? Have they not formerly deny'd to 
 treat with him, and their now recanting Minifters preach'd againlt him, as a 
 Reprobate incurable, an Enemy to God and his Church, mark'd for deftruc- 
 tion, and therfore not to be treated with ? Have they not befieg'd him, and to 
 their power forbid him Water and Fire, fave what they fhot againft him to 
 the hazard of his life ? Yet while they thus afiaulted and endanger'd it with 
 hoftile deeds, they fvvore in words to defend it with his Crown and Dignity ; 
 not in order, as it feems now, to a firm and lading Peace, or to his repentance 
 after all this blood; but fimply, without regard, without remorfe or any com- 
 parable value of all the miferies and calamities fuffered by the poor peop'c, 
 or to fuller hereafter through hisobftinacy or impenitence. No undcrftanding 
 man can be ignorant that Covenants are ever made according to the prefent 
 ftate ofperfons and of things-, and have ever the more general Laws of Nature 
 and of Reafon included in them, though not exprefs'd. If I make a voluntary 
 Covenant as with a man to do him good, and he prove afterward a Monfter 
 to me, I fhould conceive a difobligement. If I covenant, not to hurt an enemy, 
 in favour of him and forbearance, and hope of his amendment, and he, after 
 that,fhall do me tenfold injury and mifchicf to what he had done when I fo co- 
 venanted ,and ftill be plotting what may tend to my deftruction, I queftionnot 
 but that hisaftcr-actionsreleafemejnorknow I Covenant fo facred that with- 
 holds me from demanding Juftice on him. Howbeit, had not their diftruil in 
 a good Caufe, and the fall and loofe of our prevaricating Divines overfway \1, it 
 had been doubtlefs better, not to have inferted in a Covenant unneccflary obli- 
 gations,
 
 and Magistrates. %ii 
 
 
 gations, and words, not works of a fupererogating Allegiance to their enemy ; 
 no way advantageous to themielves, had the King prevails, as to their coll ma- 
 ny would have felt ; but fall of fnare and diffraction to our Friends, ufefal on- 
 ly, as we now find, to our adverfaries, who under fuch a latitude and fhelter 
 of ambiguous interpretation have ever fince been plotting and contriving new 
 opportunities to trouble all again. How much better had it bin, and more be- 
 coming an undaunted Virtue, to have declared openly and boldly whom and 
 what power the people were to hold Supreme, as on the like occafion Prote- 
 ilants have done before, and many confeientious men now in thefe times have 
 more than once befought the Parlament to do, that they might go on upon a 
 lure foundation, and not with a ridling Covenant in their mouths, feeming to 
 fwear counter, almoft in the fame breath, Allegiance and no Allegiance •, which 
 doubtlefs had drawn off all the minds of fincere men from fiding with them, had 
 they not difcern'd their actions far more depofing him than their words uphold- 
 ing him •, which words made now the fubject of cavillous interpretations, flood 
 ever in the Covenant, by judgment of the more difcerning fort, an evidence or 
 their fear, not of their fidelity. What, fhould I return to fpeak on, of thofe at- 
 tempts for which the King himfelf hath often charg'd the Prcfbyterians of feek- 
 ing his life, whenas in the due eftimation of things they might without a fallacy 
 be laid to have done the deed outright "Who knows not that the King is a name 
 of dignity and office, not of perfon ? Who therfore kills a King, mull kill 
 him while he is a King. Then they certainly who by depofing him have long 
 fince taken from him the life of a King, his office and his dignity, they in the 
 trueft fenfe may be laid to have kill'd the King: not only by their depofing and 
 waging War againft him, which befides the danger to his perfonal life, fet him 
 in the farther! oppofite point from any vital function of a King, but by their 
 holding him in prifon vanquifhed and yielded into their abfolute and dejpotic 
 power, which brought him totheloweil degradementand incapacity of the Regal 
 name. I fay not, by whofe matchlefs valour next under God, leil the ffcory of 
 their ingratitude therupon carry me from the purpofe in hand, which is to con- 
 vince them that they, which I repeat again, were the men who in the trueft fenfe 
 killed the King, not only as is prov'd before, but by deprefiing him their King 
 far below the rank of a Subject to the condition of a Captive, without intention 
 to reflore him, as the Chancellor of Scotland in a fpeech told him plainly at 
 Newcajlle, unlefs he granted fully all their Demands, which they knew he never 
 meant. Nor did they treat, or think of treating with him, till their hatred to 
 the Army that delivered them, not their love or duty to the King, joined thera 
 fecretly with men fentene'd fo oft for Reprobates in their own months, by whofe 
 futtle infpiring they grew mad upon a moll tardy and improper Treaty. 
 Wheras if the whole bent of their actions had not been againft the King himfelf, 
 but againft his evil Council, as they feign'd, and publifh'd, wherfore did they 
 not reflore him all that while to the true life of a King, his Office, Crown and 
 Dignity, when he was in their power, and they themielves his neareflCounfellors ? 
 The truth therfore is, both that they would not, and that indeed they could 
 not without their own certain deftruclion, having reduced him to luch a final 
 pafs, as was the very death and burial of all in him that was regal, and from 
 whence never King oi England yet reviv'd, but by the new re-inforcement of his 
 own party, which was a kind of refurrection to him. Thus having quite ex- 
 tinguifht all that could be in him of a King, and from a total privation clad 
 him over like another fpecifical thing with forms and habitudes dellruclive to 
 the former, they left in his perfon dead as to Law and all the civil right either 
 of King or Subject, the Life only of a Prilbner, a Captive and a Malefactor : 
 Whom the equal and impartial hand of Juftice finding, was no more to fpare 
 than another ordinary man •, not only made obnoxious to the doom of Lav/ by 
 a charge more dian once drawn up againft him, and his own confefiion to the 
 firft Article at Newport, but fummon'dand arraign'd in the fight of God and his 
 people, curft and devoted to perdition worfe than any Abab, or Antiochus, with 
 exhortation to curfe all thofe in the Name of God that made not War againlt 
 him, as bitterly as Meroz was to be curs'd, that went not out againft a Canaani- 
 t'tfl} King, almoft in all the Sermons, Prayers, and Fulminations that have bin 
 utter'd this feven vears by thole cloven Tongues of falfhood and difTenfion, who 
 now, to the ftirring up of new difcord, acquit him •, and againft their own dii- 
 V ci, I. T t cipline.
 
 322 The 'Tenure of K i n g s, 
 
 cipline, which they boaft to be the Throne and Scepter of Chrift, abfolve him., 
 unconfound him, though unconverted, unrepentant, unfenfible of all their pre- 
 cious Saints and Martyrs whofe blood they have fo oft laid upon his head : and 
 now again with a new fovereign anointment can walh it all off, as if it were as 
 vile, and no more to be reckon'd for than the blood of fo many Dogs in a time 
 of Peftilence : giving the moft opprobrious lye to all the acted zeal that for 
 thefe many years hath fill'd their bellies, and fed them fat upon the fool ifh Peo- 
 ple. Minifters of Sedition, not of the Gofpel, who while they faw it mani- 
 ieftly tend to civil War and Bloodfhed, never ceas'd exafperating the people a- 
 gainft him ; and now that they fee it likely to breed new commotion, ceafe not 
 to incite others againft the people that have fav'd them from him, as if Sedi- 
 tion were their only aim whether againft him or for him. But God, as we have 
 caufe to truft, will put ether thoughts into the people, and turn them from look- 
 ing after thefe firebrand?, of whole iury, and falfe prophecies, we have enough 
 experience ; and from the murmurs of new difcord will incline them to hearken 
 rather with erected minds to the voice of our fupreme Magiftracy, calling us to 
 liberty, and the flourifhing deeds of a reform'd Commonwealth •, with this 
 hope, that as God was heretofore angry with the Jews who rejected him and 
 his form of Government to choofe a King, fo that he will blefs us, and be pro- 
 pitious to us who reject a King to make him only our Leader, and fupreme Go- 
 vernor in the conformity as near as may be of his own ancient Government ; 
 if we have at leaft but lb much worth in us to entertain the fenfe of our future 
 happinefs, and the courage to receive what God vouchfafes us : wherin we have 
 the honour to precede other Nations, who are now labouring to be our follow- 
 ers. For as to this queftion in hand, what the people by their juft right may 
 do in change of Government, or ol Governor, we fee itclear'd Tficiently ; be- 
 fides other ample Authority, even from the mouths of Princes themfelves. And 
 lurely they that fhall boaft, as we do, to be a free Nation, and not have in 
 themfelves the power to remove, or to abolilh any Governor fupreme, or fubor- 
 dinate, with the Government it felf upon urgent caufes, may pleafe their fancy 
 with a ridiculous and painted freedom, fit to cozen babies ; but are indeed un- 
 der tyranny and fervitude ; as wanting that power, which is the root and fource 
 of all liberty, to difpofe and (economize in the Land which God hath given them, 
 as Mafters of Family in their own Houfe and free Inheritance. Without which 
 natural and effential power of a free Nation, though bearing high their heads, 
 they can in due efteem be thought no better than flaves and vaffals born, in the 
 tenure and occupation of another inheriting Lord. Whofe, Government, 
 though not illegal, or intolerable, hangs over them as a Lordly fcourge, not 
 as a free Government •, and therfore to be abrogated. How much more juftly 
 then may they fling off Tyranny, or Tyrants ? who being once depos'd can be 
 no more than private men, as fubject to the reach of Juftice and Arraignment 
 as any other TranfgrefTors ? And certainly if men, not to fpeak of Heathen, 
 both wife and religious, have done juftice upon Tyrants what way they could 
 fooneft, how much more mild and humane then is it to give them fur and open 
 tryal ? To teach lawlefs Kings, and all that fo much adore them, that not mor- 
 tal man, or his imperious Will, but Juftice is the only true fovereign and fu- 
 preme Majefty upon Earth. Let men ceafe therfore out of Faction and Hypo- 
 crify to make outcrys and horrid things of things fo juft and honourable. And if 
 the Parlament and Military Council do what they do without precedent, if it ap- 
 pear their duty, it argues the more wifdom, virtue, and magnanimity, that 
 they know themfelves able to be a precedent to others. Who perhaps in future 
 ages, if they prove not too degenerate, will look up with honour and afpire to- 
 ward thefe exemplary and matchlefs deeds of their Anceftors, as to the higheft 
 top of their civil glory and emulation. Which heretofore in the purfuance of fame 
 and foreign dominion, fpent it felf vain-glorioudy abroad ; but henceforth may 
 learn abetter fortitude to dare execute higheft Juftice on them that fhall by force 
 of Arms endeavour the oppreffing and bereaving of Religion and their Liberty at 
 home : that no unbridled Potentate or Tyrant, but to his forrow for the future, 
 may prefume fuch high and irrefponfible licence over mankind, to havoc and 
 turn upfide-down whole Kingdoms of men, as though they were no more in re- 
 fpect of his perverfe Will than a Nation of Pifmires. As for the party call'd 
 Prefbyterian, of whom I believe very many to be good and faithful Chriftians, 
 
 though
 
 and Magistrates. 323 
 
 though mifled by fomc of turbulent Spirit, I wiih them carneftly and calmly 
 not to fall off from their firft Principles, nor to affect rigor and fuperiority over 
 men not under them ; not to compel unforcible things in Religion efpecially, 
 which if not voluntary, becomes a fin ; nor to affift the clamor and malicious 
 drifts of men whom they themfelves have judg'd to be the worft of men, the 
 obdurate enemies of God and his Church : nor to dart againft the actions of their 
 brethren, for want of other argument, thofe wrefted Laws and Scriptures thrown 
 by Prelates and Malignants againft their own fides, which though they hurt not 
 ctherwife, yet taken up by them to the condemnation of their own doings give 
 fcandal to all men, and difcover in themfelves either extreme pafiion or apoftacy. 
 L.et them not oppofe their belt friends and aflbciates who mol eft them not at all, 
 infringe not the leaft of their Liberties, linlefs they call it- their Liberty to bind 
 other mens Confidences, but are ftill feeking to live at peace with them and bro- 
 therly accord. Let them beware an old and perfect Enemy, who though he hope 
 by foxing Difcord to make them his Inftruments, yet cannot forbear a minute 
 the open threatning of his deftin'd Revenge upon them when they have ferv'd his 
 purpofes. Let them fear therfore, if they be wife, rather what they have done 
 already, than what remains to do, and be warned in time they put no confi- 
 dence in Princes whom they have provok'd, left they be added to the Examples 
 of thofe that miferably have tafted the event. Stories can inform them how 
 Cbrifticrn the fecond, King of Denmark, not much above a hundred years paft 
 driven out by his Subjects, and receiv'd again upon new Oaths and Conditions, 
 broke through them all to his mod bloody Revenge, flaying his chief Oppofers 
 when he faw his time, both them and their children invited to a feaft for that 
 purpofe. How Maximilian dealt with thofe of Bruges, though by mediation 
 of the German Princes reconciled to them by folemn and public writings drawn 
 and feal'd. How the Maffacre at Paris was the effect of that credulous Peace 
 which the French Proteftants made with Charles the Ninth their King : and that 
 the main vifible caufe which to this day hath faved the 'Netherlands from utter 
 ruin, was their final not believing the perfidious cruelty which as a conftant max- 
 im of State hath bin us'd by the Spanifo Kings on the ir Subjects that have taken 
 arms and after trufted them ; as no latter age but can teftify, heretofore in 
 Belgia it felf, and this very year in Naples. And to conclude with one paft Ex- 
 ception, though far more ancient, David after once he had taken arms, never 
 after that trufted Saul, though with Tears and much relenting he twice promifed 
 not to hurt him. Thefe Inftances, few of many, might admonifh them, both 
 Englijh and Scotch, not to let their own ends, and the driving on of a Faction, be- 
 tray them blindly into the fnare of thofe Enemies whofe .Revenge looks on them 
 as the men who firft begun, fomented, and carry'd on beyond the cure of any 
 found or iafe accommodation, all the evil which hath fince unavoidably befallen 
 them and their King. 
 
 I have fomething alfo to the Divines, though brief to what were needful ; 
 not to be diftui bers of the civil affairs, being in hands better able and more be- 
 longing to manage them ; but to ftudy harder, and to attend the office of good 
 Paftors, knowing that he whofe Flock is leaft among them, hath a dreadful 
 charge, not perform'd by mounting twice into the chair with a formal Preach- 
 ment huddl'd up at the odd hours of a whole lazy week, but by incelTant pains 
 and watching in feafon and out of feafon, from houfe to houfe, over the Souls of 
 whom they have to feed. Which if they ever well confider'd, how little lei- 
 fure would they find to be the moft pragmatical Sidefmen of every popular Tu- 
 mult and Sedition ? And all this while are to learn what the true end and real on 
 is of the Gofpel which they teach ; and what a world it differs from the cenfo- 
 rious and fupercilious lording over Confcience. It would be good alfo they 
 liv'd fo as might perfuade the people they hated Covetoufnefs, which worfe than 
 Herefy, is Idolatry-, hated Pluralities, and all kind of Simony ; left rambling 
 from Benefice to Benefice, like ravenous Wolves feeking where they may devour 
 the biggeft. Of which if fome, well and warmly feated from the beginning, 
 be not guilty, 'twere good they held not converfation with fuch as are : let them 
 Be forry that being call'd to affemble about reforming the Church, they fell to 
 progging and foliciting the Parlament, though they had renoune'd the name of 
 Priefts, for a new fettling of their Tithes and Oblations ; and double lin'd them- 
 felves with fpiritual places of commodity beyond the polTible difcharge of their 
 Vol. I. T t 2 duty
 
 324 %% e Tenure o/Kings. 
 
 duty. Let them affemble in Confiftory with their Elders and Deacons, accord- 
 ing to ancient Ecclefiaftical Rule, to the preferving of Church-difcipline, each 
 in his feveral charge, and not a pack of Clergy- men by themfelves to belly-chear 
 in their prefumptuous Sion, or to promote defigns, abufe and gull the fimple 
 Laity, and ftir up Tumult, as the Prelates did, for the maintenance of their pride 
 and avarice. Thefe things if they obferve and wait with patience, no doubt but 
 all things will go well without their importunities or exclamations : and the Print- 
 ed Letters which they fend fubfcrib'd with the oftentation of great Characters 
 and little, moment, would be more confiderable than now they are. But if they 
 be the Minifters of Mammon inftead of Chrift, and fcandalize his Church with 
 the filthy love of Gain, afpiring alfo to fit the clofeft and the heavier! of all Ty- 
 rants, upon the Confcience, and fall notorioufly into the fame Sins, wherof 
 fo lately and fo loud they accus'd the Prelates -, as God rooted out thofe imme- 
 diately before, fo will he root out them their imitators : and to vindicate his 
 own Glory and Religion, will uncover their hypocrify, to the open world •, and 
 vifit upon their own heads that curfe ye Meroz, the very Motto of their Pulpits, 
 wherwith fo frequently, not as Meroz, but more like Atheifts, they have mock'd 
 the vengeance of God, and the zeal of his People. 
 
 O B S E R-
 
 3^5 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 
 O N T H E 
 
 Articles of Peace 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 JAME S Earl of O r m o n d for King Charles 
 the Firft on the one hand, and the Irijh Rebels 
 and Papifts on the other hand : 
 
 And on a Letter fent by Ormond to Colonel 
 yO NE S Governor of Dublin. 
 
 And a Reprefentation of the Scots Presbytery at Belfafi 
 
 in Ireland. 
 
 To which the faid Articles, Letter, with Col. Jones's Anfwer to it, 
 and Reprefentation, &c. are prefix'd. 
 
 A Proclamatio 
 
 N. 
 
 ORMONT> y 
 
 WHEREAS Articles of Peace are made, concluded, accord- 
 ed and agreed upon, by and between Us, J AMES Lord 
 Marquefs of ORMOND, Lord Lieut. General, and General 
 Governor of His Majefty's Kingdom of Ireland, by virtue of 
 the Authority wherwith We are intruded, for, and on the be- 
 half of His Moft Excellent Majefty of the one Part, and the General Afiem- 
 bly of the Roman Catholics of the faid Kingdom, for and on the behalf of His 
 Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of the fame, on the other Part ; a true Copy 
 of which Articles of Peace are hereunto annexed : We the Lord Lieut, do by 
 this Proclamation, in his Majefty's Name publifh the fame, and do in his Ma- 
 jefty's Name ftrictly charge and command all His Majefty's Subjects, and all 
 others inhabiting or refiding within His Majefty's faid Kingdom of Ireland to 
 take notice therof, and to render due Obedience to the fame in all the Parts 
 therof. 
 
 And as his Majefty hath been induced to this Peace, out of a deep fenfe of 
 the Miferiesand Calamities brought upon this his Kingdom and People, and out 
 of Hope conceived by His Majefty, that it may prevent the further Effufion 
 of His Subjects Blood, redeem them out of all the Miferies and Calamities 
 under which they now fuffer, reftore them to all Quietnefs and Happinefs 
 under His Majefty's moft Gracious Government, deliver the Kingdom in ge- 
 neral from thofe Slaughters, Depredations, Rapines and Spoils which always 
 accompany a War, encourage the Subjects and others with Comfort to betake 
 themfelves to Trade, Traffic, Commerce, Manufacture and all other things, 
 
 which
 
 326 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 which uninterrupted, may increafe the Wealth and Strength of the Kingdom, 
 beget in all Hi:, Majefty's Subjects of this Kingdom a perfeft Unity amongft 
 trfeffifeires; after the too long continued Divifion amongft them: So his Maje- 
 fty aiTures himfelfthat all His Sub j efts of this His Kingdom (duly confidering the 
 great and ineftimable Benefits which they may find in this Peace) v/ill with all 
 Duty render due Obedience therunto. And We in his Majefty's Name, do 
 hereby declare, That all Perfons fo rendering due Obedience to the faid Peace, 
 mail be protected, cherifhed, countenanced and fupported by his Majefty, and 
 his Royal Authority, according to the true Intent and Meaning of the faid Ar- 
 ticles of Peace. 
 
 Given at our c*fll* G O D S A V E THE KING. 
 
 of Kilkenny, Ja- 
 nuary 17, 164.8. 
 
 Articles of Peace, made, concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by 
 and between His Excellency JAMES Lord Marqneis of O R- 
 M O N T), Lord Lieutenant General, and General of His Ma- 
 jefty's Kingdom of Ireland, for, and on the behalf of his Mod 
 Excellent Majefty, by Virtue of the Authority wherewith the faid 
 Lord Lieutenant is intruded, on the one Part : And the General 
 Aflcmbly of Roman Catholics of the faid. Kingdom, for, and on 
 the behalf of His Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of the fame, 
 on the other Part. 
 
 HIS Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjefis, as therunto bound by Allegiance, 
 Duty and Nature, do moft humbly and freely Acknowledge and Recognize their 
 Sovereign Lord King Charles to be lawful and undoubted King of this Kingdom tf 
 Ireland, and other His Highnefs's Realms and Dominions : And His Majefty's faid 
 Roman Catholic Subjects, apprehending with a deep fenfe the fad Condition wher- 
 unto His Majefty is reduced, as a further Teftimony of their Loyalty, do declare, 
 that they and their Pofterity for ever, to the utmoft of their Power, even to the Ex- 
 pence of their Blood and Fortunes, will maintain and uphold His Majefty, His Heirs 
 and lawful Succejfors, their Rights, Prerogatives, Government and Authority, and 
 therunto freely and heartily will render all due Obedience. 
 
 Of which Faithful and Loyal Recognition and Declaration fo feafonably made by 
 the faid Roman Catholics, His Majefty is gracioufly pleas' J to accept, and accord- 
 iwly to own them His loyal and dutiful Subjecls : And is further gracioufly pleas' d ta 
 extend unto them the following Graces and Securities. 
 
 I. T M P R I MIS, It is concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 X. tween the faid Lord Lieutenant, for, and on the behalf of His Moft Ex- 
 cellent Majefty, and the faid General Affemby, for, and on the behalf of 
 the faid Roman Catholic Subjefts •, and His Majefty is gracioufly pleas'd, That 
 it fhall be enafted by AC T to be paffed in the next Parlament to be held in this 
 Kingdom, that all and every the Profeffors of the Roman Catholic Religion with- 
 in the faid Kingdom, fhall be free and exempt from all Mulcts, Penalties, Re- 
 ftraints and Inhibitions, that are or may be impos'd upon them by any Law, 
 Statute, Ufage or Cuftom whatfoever, for, or concerning, the free Exercife of 
 the Roman Catholic Religion : And that it fhall be likewife Enafted, That the 
 faid Roman Catholics, or any of them, fhall not be queftion'd or molefted in 
 their Perfons, Goods or Eftates, for any Matter or Caufe whatfoever, for, 
 concerning, or by reafon of the free Exercife of their Religion, by Virtue 
 of any Power, Authority, Statute, Law or Ufage whatfoever : And that it 
 fhall be further Enafted, That no Rowan Catholic in this Kingdom fhall be 
 compelled to exercife any Religion, Form of Devotion, or Divine Service, other 
 than fuch as fhall be agreeable to their Confcience •, and that they fhall not 
 be prejudiced or molefted in their Perfons, Goods, or Eftates for not obferving, 
 ufing or hearing the Book of Common-Prayer, or any other Form of Devo- 
 tion
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Irifti. 327 
 
 tion or Divine Service by virtue of any Colour or Statute made in the fecond 
 year of Queen Elizabeth, or by virtue or Colour of any other Law, Declara- 
 tion of Law, Statute, Cuftom, or Ufage whatlbever, made or declared, or to 
 be made or declared : And that it fhall be further enacted, that the Profeftbrs 
 of the Roman Catholic Religion, or any of them, be not bound or obliged to 
 take the Oath commonly call'd, the Oath of Supremacy exprefTed in the Statute 
 of 2 Elizabeth, c. i. or in any other Statute or Statutes: And that the faid 
 Oath ihall not be tendered unto them, and that the Refufal of the faid Oath 
 mall not redound to the Prejudice of them, or any of them, they taking the 
 Oath of Allegiance in h<ec verba> viz. / A. B. do hereby acknowledge, profefs, 
 teftify and declare in my Confcience, before God and the World, that our Sovereign 
 Lord King C H A R L E S is Lawful and Rightful King of this Realm, and of o- 
 ther his Majefty's Dominions and Countries ; and twill bear Faith and true Allegi- 
 ance to His Majefty, and His Heirs and Sitcceffors, and Him and them will defend to 
 the uttermoft of my power againft all Confpiracies and Attempts whatfoever which fhall 
 be : ainft His or their Crown and Dignity; and do my befi endeavour to dif- 
 
 clofi to His Majefty, His Heirs and SucceJJors, or to the Lord Deputy, 
 
 or t r Majefty's Chief Governor or Governors for the time beings allTreafon 
 
 or t - (j Confpiracies which I fhall know or hear to be intended againft His Ma- 
 
 jefty, or any of them: and I do make this Recognition and Acknowledgment, heartily, 
 ■:c . \glyand truly, upon the true Faith of a Chriflian ; fo help me God, &c. Never- 
 thelefs, the laid Lord Lieutenant doth not hereby intend th.it any thing in thefe 
 Conceflions contained fhall extend, or be conftrued to extend to the granting of 
 Churches, Church-Livings, or the Exercife of Jurifdiction, the Authority of 
 the laid Lord Lieutenant not extending fo far ; yet the faid Lord Lieutenant is 
 authoriz'd to give the faid Roman Catholics full AfTurance, as hereby the faid 
 Lord Lieutenant doth give unto the faid Roman Catholics full AfTurance, that 
 they or any of them fhall not be molefted in the PofTefiion which they have 
 at prefent of the Churches or Church-Livings, or of the Exercife of their 
 refpeclive Jurifdiclions, as they now exercife the fame, until fuch time as His 
 Majefty upon a full Confideration of the Defires of the faid Reman Catholics in 
 a free Parliament to beheld in this Kingdom fhall declare His further Pleafure. 
 
 II. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed upon by and between the faid 
 Parties, and His Majefty is further graciouily plealed that a free Parlamenc 
 fhall be held in this Kingdom within fix Months after the Date of thefe Arti- 
 cles of PEACE, or as foon after as Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Ccflo'.ogb 
 Lord Prefidentof Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mufkerry, Francis Lord Ba- 
 ron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efquire, Sir Lucas Dillon Knighr, 
 Sir Nicholas Plunkct Knight, Sir Richard Barn-wall Barone:, Jeffery Brown, Don- 
 nogh Callaghan, Tyrlab O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell, Efquires, 
 or the major part of them will defire the fune, fo that by poffibility it may be 
 held -, and that in the mean time, and until the Articles of thefe Prefents, 
 agreed to be pafs'd in Parlament, be accordingly pafs'd, the lame fhall be invio- 
 lably obferv'd as to the Matters therin contain'd, as if they were enacted in 
 Parlament : And that in cafe a Parlament be not call'd and held in this King- 
 dom within two years next after the Date of thefe Articles of Peace, then 
 His Majefty's Lord Lieutenant, or odier His Majefty's chief Governor or Go- 
 vernors of this Kingdom for the time being, will at the requeft of the faid 
 Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Ccjlologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Don- 
 
 \h Lord Vi'count Mufkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander 
 Mac-Donnel Efquire, Sir Lucas Dillon Knight, Sir Nicholas Plunket Knight, 
 Sir Richard Barnwell Baronet, Jeffery Brown, Donncgh Callaghan, Tyrlab O 
 Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or the major part of them, 
 call a General Aftembly of the Lords and Commons of this Kingdom, to at- 
 tend upon the faid Lord Lieutenant or other His Majefty's chief Governor or 
 Governors of this Kingdom for the time being, in fuch convenient Place, for 
 the better fettling of the Affairs of the Kingdom. And it is further conclu- 
 ded, accorded and agreed upon by and between the faid Parties, that all Matters 
 that by thefe Articles are agreed upon to be paiVd in Parlament, fhall be 
 tranfmitted into ENGLAND, according to the ufual Form, to be pal- 
 lid in the laid Parlament, and that the faid Afts fo agreed upon, and fo 
 to be pafs'd, fhall receive no Disjunction or Alteration here or in England', 
 
 provided
 
 328 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 provided that nothing fhall be concluded by both or either of the faid Houfes 
 of Parlament, which may bring prejudice to any of His Majefty's Proteftant 
 Party, or their Adherents, or to his Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects or their 
 Adherents, other than fuch things as upon this Treaty are concluded to be 
 done, or fuch things as may be proper for the Committee of Privileges ot 
 either or both Houfes to take Cognizance of, as in fuch Cafes heretofore hath 
 been accuftom.'d -, and other than fuch Matters as His Majefty will be gracioufly 
 pleafed to declare His further pleafure in, to be pafs'd in Parlament for the 
 Satisfaction of his Subjects ; and other than fuch things as fhall be propounded to 
 cither or both Houfes by his Majefty's Lord Lieutenant or other chief Gover- 
 nor or Governors of this Kingdom for the time being, during the faid Parla- 
 ment, for the Advancement of his Majefty's Service, and the Peace of the King- 
 dom ; which Claufe is to admit no Conftruction which may trench upon the Ar- 
 ticles of Peace or any of them ; and that both Houfes of Parliament may con- 
 fider what they fhall think convenient touching the Repeal or Sufper.fion of 
 the Statute commonly called, Poynings ACT, entitled, An ACT tliat 
 no Parliament be hoiden in that Land, until the ACTS be certify'd into 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 III. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Partie?', and his Majefty is gracioufly pleafed, That all Ads, 
 Ordinances and Orders made by both or either Houfes of Parlament, to the 
 blemifh, difhonour, or prejudice of his Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of this 
 Kingdom, or any of them fince the yth of Augttft 1641, fhall be vacated; and 
 that the lame and all Exemplifications and other Acts which continue the me- 
 mory of them be made void by Act to be pafs'd in the next Parlament to be 
 held in this Kingdom •, and that in the mean time the faid Ads or Ordinances, 
 or any of them, fhall be no Prejudice to the faid RomanCatholics, or any of them. 
 
 IV. Item, It is alfo concluded, and agreed upon, and his Majefty is likewife 
 gracioufly pleafed, That all Indictments, Attainders, Outlawries in this King- 
 dom, and all the Procefles and other Proceedings thereupon, and all Letters 
 Patents, Grants, Leafes, Cuftoms, Bonds, Recognizances, and all Records, 
 Act or Acts, Office or Offices, Inquifitions, and all other things depending up- 
 on, or taken by reafon of the faid Indictments, Attainders or Outlawries, 
 fince the yth day of Aiiguft, 1641, in prejudice of the faid Catholics, their 
 Heirs, Executors, Adminiftrators or Afligns, or any of them, or the Widows 
 of them, or any of them, fhall be vacated and made void in fuch fort as no 
 Memory fhall remain therof, to the blemifh, difhonour or prejudice of the 
 faid Catholics, their Heirs, Executors, Adminiftrators or Afligns, or any of 
 them, or the Widows of them, or any of them -, and that to be done when 
 the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cojlologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, 
 Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, Francis Lord Baron of Alhunry, Alexander 
 Mac-Dcnnel Efquire, Sir Lucas Dillon Knight, Sir Nicholas Plunket Knight, 
 Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jcffery Brown, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O 
 Neal, Miles Reilie and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or the major part of them fhall 
 defire the fame, fo that by poflibility it may be done : and in the mean time 
 that no fuch Indictments, Attainders, Outlawries, Procefles, or any other Pro- 
 ceedings thereupon, or any Letters Patents, Grants, Leafes, Cuftodiums, 
 Bonds, Recognizances, or any Record or Acts, Office or Offices, Inquifitions, 
 or any other thing depending upon, or by reafon of the faid Indictments, At- 
 tainders or Outlawries, fhall in any fort prejudice the laid Roman Catholics, or 
 any of them, but that they and every of them fhall be forthwith, upon Perfection 
 of thefe Articles, reftor'd to their refpective Poffeflions and Llereditaments refpe- 
 ctively ; provided, that no Man fhall be queftion'd by reafon hereof, for Meafne 
 Rates or Waftes, faving wilful Waftes committed after the firft day of May 
 laft paft. 
 
 V. Item, It is likewife concluded, accorded and agreed, and his Majefty is 
 gracioufly pleafed, That asfoon as poflible may be, all Impediments which may 
 hinder the laid Roman Catholics to fit or vote in the next intended Parlament, 
 or to choofe, or to be chofen Knights and Burgcfles, to fit or vote there, fhall 
 be removed, and that before the faid Parlament. 
 
 VI. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his Majefty is fur- 
 ther gracioufly pleafed, That all Debts fhall remain as they were upon the 23^ 
 
 of
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Irifh. 320 
 
 of Oclobcr, 1 64 1. Notwithftanding any Difpofition made or to be made, by 
 Virtue or Colour of any Attainder, Outlawry, Fugacy, or other Forfeiture; 
 and that no Difpofition or Grant made, or to be made of any fuch Debts, by 
 Virtue of any Attainder, Outlawry, Fugacy, or other Forfeiture, fhall be of 
 force •, and this to be puffed as an Aft in the next Parlament. 
 
 VII. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his Maje- 
 fty is gracioufly pleafed,That for the fecuringof the Eftates or reputed Eftates of 
 the Lords, Knights, Gentlemen and Freeholders, or reputed Freeholders, as well 
 of Connaght and County of Clare, or Country of Thomond, as of the Counties 
 of Limerick and Tipperary, the fame to be fecured by Aft of" Parlament, accord- 
 ing to the Intent of the 25th Article of the Graces granted in the fourth year 
 of his Majefty's Reign, the Tenor wherof for fo much as concerneth the 
 fame, doth enfue in thei'e words, viz. We are gracioufly pleafed, that for 
 the Inhabitants of Connaght and Country of Thsmond and County of Clare, that 
 their feveral Eitates fhall be confirmed unto them and their Heirs againft Us, 
 and our Heirs and SuccefTors, by Aft to be pafled in the next Parlament to be 
 holden in Ireland, to the end the fame may never hereafter be brought into any 
 further queftion by Us, or our Heirs and SuccefTors. In which Aft of Parla- 
 ment fo to be pafled, you are to take care that, all Tenures in Capite, and all 
 Rents and Services as are now due, or which ought to be anfwered unto us out 
 of the faid Lands and Premifes, by any Letters Patent pan: therof fince the 
 firft year of King HENRT VIII. or found by any Office taken from the 
 faid firft year of King HENRT VIII. until the 21JI of July 1645, wher- 
 by our late dear Father, or any his Predecefiors aftually received any Profit 
 byWardfhip, Liveries, Primer-feifins, Meafne Rates, Oufterlemains or Fines 
 of Alienations without Licence, be again referved unto Us, our Heirs and 
 SuccefTors, and all the reft of the Premifes to be holden of our Caftle of Athlone 
 by Knights Service, according to our faid late Father's Letters, notwithftand- 
 ing any Tenures in Capite found for Us by Office, fince the lift of July 16 15, 
 and not appearing in any fuch Letters Patent, or Offices ; within which Rule 
 His Majefty is likewife gracioufly pleafed, That the faid Lands in the Counties 
 of Limerick and '■Tipperary be included, but to be held by fuch Rents and Te- 
 nures only, as they were in the fourth year of his Majefty's Reign; provided 
 always, that the faid Lords, Knights, Gentlemen and Freeholders of the faid 
 Province of Connaght, County of Clare, and Country of Thomond, and Coun- 
 ties of Tipperary and Limerick, fhall have and enjoy the full Benefit of fuch 
 Compofition and Agreement which fhall be made with his moft Excellent Ma- 
 jefty, for the Court of Wards, Tenures, Refpits and Iffues of Homage, any 
 Claufe in this Article to the contrary notwithftanding. And as for the Lands 
 within the Counties of Kilkenny and Wickloe, unto which his Majefty was in- 
 titled by Offices, taken or found in the time of the Earl of Strafford's, Govern- 
 ment in this Kingdom, Flis Majefty is further gracioufly pleafed, That the State 
 therof fhall be confidered in the next intended Parlament, where his Majefty 
 will aflfent unto that which fhall be juft and honourable; and that the like Aft 
 of Limitation of his Majefty's Titles, for the Security of the Eftates of his 
 Subjects of this Kingdom bepafTed in the faid Parlament as was enafted in the 
 21/ year of his late Majefty King JAMES his Reign in ENGLAND. 
 
 Vlil. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his 
 Majefty is further gracioufly pleafed, that all Incapacities impofed upon the 
 Natives of this Kingdom or any of them, as Natives, by any Aft of Parla- 
 ment, Provifos in Patents or otherwife, be taken away by Aft to be pafTed in. 
 the faid Parlament -, and that they may be enabled to ereft one or more Inns of 
 Court in or near the City of Dublin or elfewhere, as fhall be thought fit by his 
 Majefty's Lord Lieutenant, or other Chief Governour or Governours of this 
 Kingdom for the time being ; and in cafe the faid Inns of Court fhall be erefted 
 before the firft day of the next Parlament, then the fame fhall be in fuch 
 Places as his Majefty's Lord Lieutenants or other Chief Governour or Gover- 
 nours of this Kingdom for the time being, by and with the Advice and Con- 
 tent of the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cojlologh Lord Prefident of 
 I nnaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, 
 Alexander Mac-Donnell Efquire, Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket 
 Knight, Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh Qallaghan, Tyr- 
 
 Vol. I. U u hk
 
 
 o Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 lab Neile Miles Rei-y, G err aid Fenncll Efquires, or any feven or more of 
 them fhall think fit -, and that fuch Students, Native's of this Kingdom, as ftiail 
 be therin, may take and receive the ufual Degrees accuftom'd in any Inns 
 of Court, they taking the eniuing Oath; viz. I A. B. do hereby acknow- 
 ledge, profefs, teftify and declare in my Confcience before God and the World, that our 
 Sovereign Lord King Charles is Lawful and Rightful King of this Realm, and of 
 ether his Majefifs Dominions and Countries ; and I will bear Faith and true Alle- 
 giance to his Mo.je ■ v, and his Heirs and Succeffors, and him and them will defend to 
 the utmofi of my Power againll all Conspiracies and Attempts whatfoever, which 
 Jhall be made o.gainft his or their Crown and Dignity ; and do my beft endeavour 
 to difclofe and make known to his Maje/ty, his Heirs and Succeffors, or to the Lord 
 Deputy, or other his Majefifs Chief Governour or Govemours for the time being, i 
 Treafon or traitorous Conjpiracies which Ifhall know or hear to be intended agairift 
 hisMajefty or any of them. And I do here make this Recognition and Acknowledgement 
 heartily, willingly and truly, upon the true Faith of a. Chrijlian ; fo help me God, 
 &c. And his Majefty is further gracioufly pleafed, that his Majelty's Roman Ca- 
 tholic Subjects may erect and keep free Schools for Education of Youths in this 
 Kingdom, any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithftanding-,_ and that all 
 the matters affented unto in tliis Article be paffed as Acts of Parliament in the 
 faid next Parliament. 
 
 IX. Item, It is further concluded, accorded, and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufly pleafed, that Places of 
 Command, Honour, Profit and Truit in his Majefty's Armies in this Kingdom 
 fhai! be upon Perfection of thefe Articles actually and by particular Inltances 
 conferred upon his Roman Catholic Subjects of this Kingdom; and that upon 
 the diftribution, conferring and difpohng of the Places of Command, Ho- 
 nour, Profit and Truft in his Majefty's Armies in this Kingdom, for the future 
 no Difference fhall be made between the faid Roman Catholics, and other his 
 Majefty's Subjects •, but that fuch Diftribution fhall be made with equal Indiffe- 
 rency according to their refpective Merits and Abilities : and that all his Ma- 
 jefty's Subjects of this Kingdom, as well Roman Catholics as others, may for his 
 Majefty's Service and their own Security, arm themfelves the beft they may, 
 wherin they fhall have all fitting Encouragement. And it is further concluded, 
 accorded and agreed upon, by and between the faid Parties, and his Majefty is 
 further gracioufly pleas'd, That Places of Command, Honour, Profit and 
 Truft in the Civil Government in this Kingdom, fhall be upon paffing of the 
 Bills in thefe Articles mentioned in the next Parlament, actually and by par- 
 ticular Inftances conferred upon his Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of this 
 Kingdom ; and that in the diftribution, conferring and difpofal of the Places of 
 Command, Honour, Profit and Truft in the Civil Government, for the future 
 no Difference fhall be made between the faid Roman Catholics, and other hisMa- 
 jefty's Subjects, but that fuch Diftribution fhall be made with equal Indifferen- 
 cy, according to their refpective Merits and Abilities ; and that in the Diftri- 
 bution of Minifterial Offices or Places, which now are, or hereafter fhall be 
 void in this Kingdom, equality fhall be us'd to the Roman Catholic Natives of 
 this Kingdom, as to other his Majefty's Subjects ; and that the Command of 
 Forts, Caftles, Garifon-Towns, and other Places of Importance of this King- 
 dom, fhall be conferred upon His Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of this King- 
 dom upon Perfection of thefe Articles actually and by particular Inftances 1 ; 
 and that in the diftribution, conferring and difpefal of the Forts, Caftles, 
 Garifon-Towns, and other Places of Importance in this Kingdom, no diffe- 
 rence fhall be made between his Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects of this King- 
 dom, and other his Majefty's Subjects, but that fuch diftribution fhall be made 
 with equal Indifferency, according to their refpective Merits and Abilities ; and 
 that until full Settlement in Parlament fifteen thoufand Foot, and two thou- 
 fand and five hundred Horfe of the Roman Catholics of this Kingdom fhall be of 
 the Standing Army of this Kingdom: And that until full Settlement in Par- 
 lament as aforefaid, the faid Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governour or 
 Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, and the laid Thomas Lord Vile. 
 Billon of Cojlologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifc. Mufherry, 
 Francis Lord Baron ofAthunry, Alexander Mac-Donnell Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. 
 Sir Nicholas Phoiket Kt, Sir Richard Barmvall Bar. Jeffery Brown, Donnogh Cal~ 
 
 /agban,
 
 between the Karl of Ormond and the Irifti. 
 
 laghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efq; or any feven or 
 more of them, the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cojlologh Lord Prefider.t 
 of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry t 
 Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir 
 Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Gallagban,Tyrla& O Neile, 
 Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, fhall diminifh or add unto the laid 
 Number, as they fhall fee caufe from time to time. 
 
 X. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and between 
 the laid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, that his Majelty 
 will accept of the yearly Rent, or annual Sum of twelve thoufand pounds- 
 Sterling, to be applotted with Indifferency and Equality, and confented to be 
 paid to his Majelty, his Heirs and Succefibrs in Parlament, for and in lieu of 
 the Court of Wards in this Kingdom, Tenures in Capite, Common Knights- 
 Service, and all other Tenures within the Cognizance of that Court, and for, and 
 in lieu of all Wardlhips, Primer-feizins, Fines, Oufterlemains, Liveries, Intru- 
 fions, Alienations, Meafne Rates, Releafes and all other Profits, within the Cog- 
 nizance of the laid Courts or incident to the faid Tenures, or any of them, 
 or Fines to accrue to his Majefty by reafon of the faid Tenures or any of 
 them, and for and in lieu of Refpits and Ifiues of Homage and Fines for the 
 fame. And the faid yearly Rent being fo applotted and confented unto in 
 Parlament as aforefaid, then a Bill is to be agreed on in the faid Parlament to 
 be parTed as an Act for the fecuring of the faid yearly Rentj or annual Sum of 
 twelve thoufand Pounds to be applotted as aforefaid, and for the Extinction and 
 taking away of the faid Court, and other Matters aforefaid in this Article 
 contained. And it is further agreed, that reafonable Compofitions fhall be ac- 
 cepted for Wardlhips fallen fince the 23d oiOElober 1641, and already granted; 
 and that no Wardlhips fallen and not granted, or that fhall fell, fhall be paffed 
 until the Succefs of this Article fhall appear ; and if his Majefty be fecured as 
 aforefaid, then all Wardlhips fallen fince the faid 23a of Qclober, are to be in- 
 cluded in the Argument aforefaid, upon Compofition to be made with fuch as 
 have Grants as aforefaid ; which Compofition to be made with the Grantees fince 
 the time aforefaid, is to be left to indifferent Perfons, and the Umpirage to the 
 faid Lord Lieutenant. 
 
 XI. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon,- by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That no 
 Nobleman or Peer of this Realm, in Parlament, fhall be hereafter capable of 
 more Proxies than two, and that blank Proxies fhall be hereafter totally dif- 
 allowed -, and that if fuch Noblemen or Peers of this Realm, as have no E- 
 ftates in this Kingdom, do not within five years, to begin from the conclufion of 
 thefe Articles, purchafe in this Kingdom as followeth, viz. a Lord Baron 200/. 
 per annum, a Lord Vifcount 400/. per annum, and an Earl 600/. per annum, a 
 Marquefs 800/. per annum, a Duke 1000/. per annum, fhall lofe their Votes 
 in Parlament until fuch time as they fhall afterwards acquire fuch Eftates refpec- 
 tively ; and that none be admitted in the Houfe of Cqmmons, but fuch as fhall 
 be eftated and refident within this Kingdom. 
 
 XII. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majelty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That as 
 for and concerning the Independency of the Parlament of Ireland on the Parla- 
 ment of England, his Majefty will leave both Houfes of Parlament in this 
 Kingdom to make fuch Declaration therin as fhall be agreeable to the Laws of 
 the Kingdom of Ireland. 
 
 XIII. Item, It is further concluded and agreed upon, by and between the 
 feid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That the Council- 
 Table fhall contain it felf within its proper Bounds, in handling Matters of 
 State and Weight fit for that Place ; amongft which the Patents of Planta- 
 tion, and the Offices wherupon thofe Grants are founded, to be handled, as Mat- 
 ters of State, and to be heard and determined by his Majefty's Lord Lieute- 
 nant, or other Chief Governour or Governours for the time being, and the 
 Council publicly at the Council-Board, and not otherwife ; but Titles between 
 Party and Party grown after thefe Patents granted, are to be left to the or- 
 dinary Courfe of Law, and that the Council-Table do not hereafter intermed- 
 dle with common Bufinefs, that is within the Cognizance of the ordinary 
 Courts, nor with the altering of PoffefTions of Lands, nor make, nor ufe, pri- 
 
 Vol. I. U u 2 vate 
 
 2 <■> t
 
 3 3 ^ Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 vate Orders, Hearings or References concerning any fuch matter, nor grant anv 
 Injunction or Order for flay of any Suits in any Civil Caufe: And that Parties 
 griev'd for or by realbn of any Proceedings formerly had there, may com- 
 mence their Suits, and profecute the fame in any of his Majefty's Courts of Juf- 
 tice or Equity for remedy of their pretended Rights, without any Reftraint or 
 Interruption from his Majefty, or othenvife, by the Chief Governour or Go- 
 vernours and Council of this Kingdom : And that the Proceedings in the re- 
 fpeftive Precedency Courts iball be purfuant, and according to his Majefty's 
 printed Book of Inftruftions, and that they fliaU contain themfelves within the 
 Limits prefcribed by that Book, when the Kingdom fhall be reftored to fuch a 
 degree of Quietnefs, as they be not neceffarily enforced to exceed the fame. 
 
 XIV. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufiy pleas'd, That as 
 for and concerning one Statute made in this Kingdom, in the eleventh year of 
 the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, intitled, An ACT for ftaying of Wool- 
 Flocks, Tallow and other Neceffaries within this Realm : And another Statute 
 made in the faid Kingdom in the twelfth year of the Reign of the faid Queen, 
 intitled, An ACT 
 
 And one other Statute made in the faid Kingdom, in the lph year of the 
 Reign of the faid late Queen, intitled, An Exemplanation of the Aft made in 
 a Seffion of this Parlament for the ftaying of Wool-Flocks, Tallow, and other 
 Wares and Commodities mention'd in the faid Aft, and certain Articles added 
 to the fame Aft, all concerning ftaple or native Commodities of this Kingdom, 
 fhall be repealed, if it fhall be fo thought fit in the Parliament (excepting for 
 Wool and Wool-fells) and that fuch indifferent Perfons as fhall be agreed on 
 by the faid Lord Lieutenant, and the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dilloyi of 
 Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry^ Francis 
 Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq ; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir 
 Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Brown, Donnogh O 
 Callagban, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any fe- 
 ven or more of them fhall be authorized by CommilTion under the Great Seal, to 
 moderate and afcertain the Rates of Merchandize to be exported or imported 
 out of, or into this Kingdom, as they mall think fit. 
 
 XV. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed, by and between the faid 
 Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufiy pleas'd, That all and every Perfon and 
 Perfons within this Kingdom, pretending to have furTered by Offices found of 
 feveral Countries, Territories, Lands and Hereditaments in the Province of 
 Uljler, and other Provinces of this Kingdom, in or fince the firft year of King 
 James his Reign s or by Attainders or Forfeitures, or by Pretence and Colour 
 therof, fince the faid firft year of King James, or by other Afts depending on 
 the faid Offices, Attainders and Forfeitures, may petition his Majefty in Par- 
 lament for Relief and Redrefs •, and if after examination it fhall appear to his 
 Majefty, the faid Perfons, or any of them have been injured, then his Majefty 
 will prefcribe a Courfe to repair the Perfon or Perfons lb luffering according to 
 Juftice and Honour. 
 
 XVI. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufiy pleas'd, That as to the par- 
 ticular Cafes of Maurice Lord Vifcount de Rupe and Fermoy, Arthur Lord Vifc. 
 Iveagh, Sir Edward Fitz-Gerrald of Cloanglijlo Baronet, Charles Mac-Carty Reag y 
 Roger Moore, Anthony Mare, William Fitz-Gerrald, Anthony Linch, John Lacy, 
 Collo Mac-Brien Mac-Mahowne, Daniel Caftigni, Edmond Fitz-Gcrrald of Balli- 
 martir, Lucas Keating, Theobald Roch Fitz-Miles, Thomas Fitz-Gcrrald of the 
 Vally, John Bourke of Loghmajke, Edmond Fitz-Gerrald of Ballimallo, James Fitz- 
 William Gerrald ol : Glinane, and Edward Sutton, they may petition his Majefty 
 in the next Parlament, wherupon his Majefty will take fuch Confideration of 
 them as fhall be juft and fit. 
 
 XVII. Item, It is likewife concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufiy pleas'd, That the Citizens. 
 Freemen, Burgefles and former Inhabitants of the City of Cork, Towns of 
 Toughall and Downegarven fhall be forthwith, upon Perfection of thefe Articles, 
 reftored to their relpeftive PofTeiTions and Eftates in the faid City and Towns 
 
 refpeftively,
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Irifri. 
 
 refpe&ively, where the fame extends not to the endangering of the faid Ga- 
 rifons in the faid City and Towns. In which cafe fo many of the faid Citi- 
 tizens and Inhabitants, as fhall not be admitted to the prefent Pofleffion of their 
 Houi'cs within the faid City and Towns, (hall be afforded a valuable annual 
 Rent for the fame, until Settlement in Parlament, at which time they fhall 
 be reftor'd to thofe their PoiTeflions. And it is further agreed, and his Majef- 
 ty is gracioufly pleas'd, That the faid Citizens, Freemen, BurgefTes and Inha- 
 bitants of the faid City of Cork, and Towns of Toughall and Doivnegarven, 
 reflectively, fhall be enabled in convenient time before the next Parlament 
 to be held in this Kingdom, tochufeand return BurgefTes into the fame Parla- 
 ment. 
 
 XVIII. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That an 
 ACT of Oblivion be pari in the next Parlament, to extend to all his Maje- 
 fty's Subjects of this Kingdom, and their Adherents, of all Treafons and Of- 
 fences, capital, criminal and perfonal, and other Offences of what nature, 
 kind or quality foever, in fuch manner, as if fuch Treafons or Offences had 
 never been committed, perpetrated or done : That the faid A6t$o extend to 
 the Heirs, Children, Kindred, Executors, Adminiftrators, Wives, Widows, 
 Dowagers, or AfTigns of fuch of the faid Subjects and their Adherents who died 
 on, before, or fince, the 23d of October, 1641. That the faid Aft do relate to 
 the firft day of the next Parlament ; that the faid Act do extend to all Bodies 
 Politic and Corporate, and their refpective Succeffors, and unto all Cities, Bur- 
 roughs, Counties, Baronies, Hundreds, Towns, Villages, Thitlings, and every 
 of them within this Kingdom, for and concerning all and every or the faid Of- 
 fences, or any other Otlcnce or Oirencti in them, or any of them committed 
 or done by his Majefty's laid Subjects, or their Adherents, or any of them, be- 
 fore, in, or fince the 2 3^of 0£: "r, 164.1. Provided this Act fhall not extend 
 to be conftrued to pardon any Offence or Offences, for which any Perfonor Per- 
 fons have been convicted or attainted on Record at any time before the 23^ day 
 of Qffober, in the year of our Lord 1641. That this Ad fhall extend to Pi- 
 racies, and all other Offences committed upon the Sea by his Majefty's faid 
 Subjects, or their Adherents, or any of them ; that in this Act of Oblivion, 
 Words of releafe, acquittal and difcharge be inferted, that no Perfon or Per- 
 fons, Bodies Politic or Corporate, Counties, Cities, Burroughs, Baronies, 
 Hundreds, Towns, Villages, Thitlings, or any of them within this Kingdom, 
 included within the faid Act, be troubled, impeached, fued, inquieted or mo- 
 Jefted, for, or by reafon of any Offence, Matter or Thing whatfoever, com- 
 prifed within the faid Act: And the faid Act fhal! extend to all Rents, Goods 
 and Chattels taken, detained or grown due to the Subjects of the one Party 
 from the other fince the 23 d of Oclober, 1641. to the Date of thefe Articles of 
 Peace; and alfo to all Cuftoms, Rents, Arrears of Rents, to Prizes, Recogni- 
 zances, Bonds, Fines, Forfeitures, Penalties, and to all other Profits, Perqui- 
 fits and Dues which were due, or did, or mould accrue to his Majefty on, 
 before, or fince the 23^ of Oclober, 1641. until the Perfection of thefe Ar- 
 ticles, and likewife to all Meafne Rates, Fines of what nature foever, Recog- 
 nizances, Judgments, Executions therupon, and Penalties whatfoever, and to 
 all other Profits due to his Majefty fince the faid 23^ of October and before, un- 
 til the Perfection of thefe Articles, for, by reafon, or which lay within the 
 Surveyor Recognizance of the Court of Wards ; and alfo to all Refpits, Iffues 
 of Homage and Fines for the fame : Provided this fhall not extend to difcharge 
 or remit any of the King's Debts or Subsidies due before the faid 23J of October, 
 1641. which were then or before levied, or taken by the Sheriffs, Commif- 
 fioners, Receivers or Collectors, and not then or before accounted for, or 
 fince difpofed to the public Ufe of the faid Roman Catholic Subjects, but that 
 fuch Perfons may be brought to account for the fame after full Settlement in 
 Parlament, and not before, unlefs by and with the Advice and Confent of the 
 faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Co/?<?/<Jg£ Lord Prefident of Connaght, Dcn- 
 nogh Lord Vifcount Mufkcrry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac- 
 Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall 
 Baronet, Jeffery Brown, Donncgh Callagban, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and 
 (S err aid Fennel! Efquires, or any fevefl or more of them, as the faid Lord Lieu- 
 tenant 
 
 n f) />>
 
 3^4 Obfervations on the Articles x>f Peace 
 
 tenant otherwife fhall think fit •, provided, that inch barbarous and inhuman 
 Crimes as fhall be particulariz'd and agreed upon by the laid Lord Lieutenant, 
 and the faid Thomas Lord Vii count Dillon of Cofiologh Lord Prelident of Con- 
 tmht*> Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alex- 
 ander Mac- Dowel Ei'q; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard 
 Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Mites 
 Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of them, as to the Ac- 
 tors and Procurers therof, be left to be tried and adjudged by fuch indifferent 
 Commifiioners as Hull be agreed upon by the laid Lord Lieutenant •, and the 
 laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon ol Cofiologh Lord Prefident olGcnnaght, Don- 
 nogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac- 
 Donnel Elq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall 
 Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and 
 Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of them ; and that the Power of 
 the faid Commifiioners fhall continue only for two years next enfuingthe Date 
 of their Commifiion, which Commifiion is to ifiue within fix Months after the 
 Date of thefe Articles ; provided alfo that the Commifiioners to be agreed on for 
 trial of the faid particular Crimes to be excepted, fhall hear, order and determine 
 all Cafes of Trull, where relief may or ought in equity to be afforded againll all 
 manner of Perfons, according to the Equity and Circumilances of every fuch 
 Cafes -, and his Majeily's Chief Governour or Governours, and other Magi- 
 ftrates for the time being, in all his Majefty's Courts of Jullice, and other his 
 Majefty's Officers of what Condition or Qua ity foever, be bound and re- 
 quir'd to take notice of, and purfue the laid Act of Oblivion without pleading 
 or fuit to be made for the fame ; and that no Clerk or other Officers do make 
 out or write out any manner of Writs, Proceffes, Summons or other Piecepr, 
 for, concerning, or by reafon of any Matter, Caufe or Thing whatfoever re- 
 leafed,- forgiven, difcharged, or to be forgiven by the faid Act, under pain of 
 20/. Sterling, and that no Sheriff or other Officer, do execute any fuch Writ, 
 Procels, Summons or Precept ; and that no Record, Writing or Memory, do 
 remain of any Offence or Offences, releafed or forgiven, or mentioned to be 
 forgiven by this Act •, and that all other Claufes ufually inferted in Acts of Gene- 
 ral Pardon or Oblivion, enlarging his Majefty's Grace and Mercy, not herein 
 particularized, be inferted and comprized in the faid Act, when the Bill fhall 
 be drawn up with the Exceptions already exprefied, and none other. Provided 
 always, that the faid Act of Oblivion Hull not extend to any Treafon, Felony or 
 other Offence or Offences, which fhall be committed or done from or after the Date 
 of thefe Articles, until the firft Day of the before-mentioned next Parlament, 
 to be held in this Kingdom. Provided alfo, that any Act or Acts which fhall 
 be done by Virtue, Pretence or in Purfuance of thefe Articles of Peace agreed 
 upon, or any Act or Aits which fhall be done by V irrue, Colour or Pretence 
 of the Power or Authority ufed or exercifed by and amongft the Confederate 
 Roman Catholics after the Date of the faid Articles, and before the faid Publi- 
 cation, fhall not be accounted, taken, confirmed, or to be, Treafon, Felony, 
 or other Offence to be excepted out of the faid Act of Oblivion ; provided 
 likewife, that the faid Ac! of Oblivion fhall not extend unto any Perfon or 
 Perfons, that will not obey and fubmit unto the Peace concluded and agreed on 
 by thefe Articles ; provided further, that the faid Act of Oblivion, or any 
 thin" in this Article contained, fhall not hinder or interrupt the laid Thomas 
 Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cofiologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord 
 Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donncl Efq; 
 Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jef- 
 fery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald 
 Fennell, Efquires, or any feven or more ol them, to call to an Account, and 
 proceed againfl the Council and Congregation, and the refpective fupream 
 Councils, Commifiioners general, appointed hitherto from time to time by 
 the Confederate Catholics to manage their Affairs, or any other Perfon or Per- 
 fons accountable to an Accompt for their refpective Receipts and Difburfe- 
 ments, fince the beginning of their refpective Employments under the faid Con- 
 federate Catholics, or to acquit or releafe any Arrears of Excifes, Cuftoms, or 
 public Taxes to be accounted for fince the 23^ of OElober 1641, and not dif- 
 pos'd of hitherto, to the public Ufe, but that the Parties therin concern'd 
 4 may
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Iriili. 
 
 may becall'd to an Account for the fame as aforefaid, by the f.iid Thomas Lord 
 Viicount Dillon of Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connagbt, Donnogh Lord Vile. 
 Mujl-erry, Francis Lord Baron of Alhunry, Alexander Ma;-Donnel Efquire, 
 Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunkct Kt. Sir Richard Barnivall Baronet^ 
 Jeffery Browne, Donnagh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald 
 Fennell, Efquires, or any feven or more of them, the laid ACT or any thing 
 therm contain'd to the contrary notwithftanding. 
 
 XIX. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween thefaid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufly pleas'd, that an ACT be 
 pais'd in the next Parlament, prohibiting, That neither the Lord Deputy, or 
 other Chief Governour or Governours, Lord Chancellor, Lord Hi°-h Treafu- 
 rer, Vice-Treafurer, Chancellor, or any of the Barons of the Exchequer, Privy 
 Council, or Judges of the four Courts, be Farmers of his Majefty's Cuftoms 
 within this Kingdom. 
 
 XX. Item, It is likewife concluded, accorded and agreed, and his Majefty is 
 gracioufly plens'd, That an ACT of Parlane.,: pais in this Kingdom againft 
 Monopolies, fuch as was enacted in England 21 Jacobi Regis, with a further 
 Claufe of repealing of all Grants of Monopolies in this Kingdom; and that 
 Commiffioners be agreed upon by the laid Lord Lieutenant, and the faid 'Tho- 
 mas Lord Viicount Dillon oi Ccftolcgh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord 
 Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel 
 Efq-, Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall Bar. 
 Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald 
 Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of them, to let down the Rates for the 
 Cuftom and Impofition to be laid on Aquavit*, Wine, Oil, Tarn and Tobacco. 
 
 XXI. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed, and his Majefty is gra- 
 cioufly pleas'd, that fuch Peribns as ihall be agreed on by the faid Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, and the laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologh Lord Prefident 
 oi Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Jvlujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athun- 
 ry, Alexander Alae-Donnel Efquire, Sir Lucas Dillon Knight, Sir Nicholas 
 Plunket Knight, Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Brown, Donnogh Cal- 
 laghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any feven 
 or more of them, fhall be as foon as may be authoriz'd by Commiffion under 
 the Great Seal to regulate the Court of Caftle-chamber, and fuch Caufes as 
 fhall be brought into, and cenfur'd in the faid Court. 
 
 XXII. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his Majefty is 
 gracioufly pleas'd, that two Acts lately pafs'd in this Kingdom, one prohibit- 
 ing the plowing with Horfes by the Tail, and the other prohibiting the burn- 
 ing of Oats in the Straw, be repeal'd. 
 
 XXIII. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, for as 
 much as upon Application of Agents from this Kingdom unto his Majefty in the 
 fourth year of his Reign, and lately upon humble Suit made unto his Majefty, 
 by a Committee of both Houles of the Parlament of this Kingdom, order 
 was given by his Majefty for redrefs of feveral Grievances, and for lb many 
 of thofe as are not exprefs'd in the Articles, wherof both Houfes in the next 
 enfuing Parlament fhall defire the benefit of his Majefty's laid former Directi- 
 ons for Redrefs therin, that the fame be afforded them ; yet fo, as for preven- 
 tion of Inconveniences to his Majefty's Service, that the Warning mention'd 
 in the 24.1b Article of the Graces in the fourth year of his Majefty's Reign be 
 fo understood, that the Warning being left at the Perfon's Dwelling-houies be 
 held fufficient Warning ; and as to the 2 2d Article of the laid Graces, the 
 Procefs hitherto us'd in the Court of Wards do ftill continue, as hitherto it 
 hath done in that, and hath been us'd in other Englijh Courts ; but the Court 
 of Wards being compounded for, fo much of the aforefaid Anfwer as concerns 
 Warning and Procefs fhall be omitted. 
 
 XXIV. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, ThatMari- 
 tine Caufes may be determin'd in this Kingdom, without driving of Merchants 
 or others to appeal and feek Juftice elfewhere: and if it fhall fall out that there 
 be Caufe of an Appeal, the Party griev'd is to appeal to his Majefty in the 
 Chancery of IRELAND ; and that Sentence therupon to be given by the 
 
 5 Delegates, 
 
 ^ rs w* 
 
 335
 
 o 
 
 36 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 Delegates, to be definitive, and not to be queftion'd upon any further Appeal, 
 except" it be in the Parlament of this Kingdom, if the Parlament fhall then be 
 fittino-, otherwife not, this to be by ACT of Parlament •, and until the laid 
 Parlament, the Admiralty and Maririne Caufes fhall be order'd and fettl'd by 
 the laid Lord Lieutenant, or other Chief Governour or Governours of this 
 Kinodom for the time being, by and with the Advice and Confent of the laid 
 Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Don- 
 nogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac - 
 Donnel Efq-, Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall 
 Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnagh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile-, Miles Reily and 
 Gerrald Fennell, Efquires, or 'any feven or more of them. 
 
 XXV. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the laid Parties, and his Majefty is graciouily pleas'd, That his Majefty's 
 Subjects of this Kingdom be eas'd of allRentsand Increafe of Rents lately rais'd 
 on the CommilTion or defective Titles in the Earl of Strafford's Government, 
 this to be by ACT of Parlament •, and that in the mean time the faid Rents or 
 Increafe of Rents fhall not be written for by any Procefs, or the payment ther- 
 of in any fort procur'd. 
 
 XXVI. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, that by 
 ACT to be pafs'd in the next Parlament, all the Arrears of Intereft-Money, 
 which did accrue and grow due by way of Debt, Mortgage or otherwife, and 
 yet not lb fatisfy'd fince the 23J of Ockober 164.1, until the Perfection of thefe 
 Articles, fhall be fully forgiven and be releas'd ; and that for and during the ipace 
 of three years next enfuing, no more fhall be taken for Ufe or Intereft of Mo- 
 ney than five Pounds per Centum. And in Cafes of Equity arifing through Dif- 
 ability, occaiion'd by the Diftempers of the Times, the Confiderations of Equi- 
 ty to be like unto both Parties ; but as for Mortgages contracted between his 
 Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects and others of that Party, where Entry hath 
 been made by the Mortgagers againft Law, and the Condition of their Mort- 
 gages, and detain'd wrongfully by them without giving any Satisfaction to the 
 Morto-ao-ees, or where any fuch Mortgagers have made Profit of the Lands 
 mortgag'd above Country Charges, yet anfwer no Rent, or other Confidera- 
 tion to the Mortgagees, the Parties griev'd reflectively to be left for relief to 
 a Courfe of Equity therin. 
 
 XXVII. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his 
 Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, that immediately upon Perfection of 
 thefe Articles, the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh Lord Prefi- 
 dent of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of 
 Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq-, Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plun- 
 ket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyr- 
 lah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, fhall be authoriz'd by the 
 faid Lord Lieutenant to proceed in, hear, determine and execute, in and 
 throughout this Kingdom, the enfuing Particulars, and all the Matters therup- 
 on depending ; and that fuch Authority and other the Authorities hereafter 
 mention'd fhall remain of force without revocation, alteration or diminution, 
 until Acts of Parlament be pafs'd, according to the purport and intent of thefe 
 Articles j and that in cafe of Death, Mifcarriage, Difability to ferve by reafon 
 of Sicknefs or otherwife of any the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh 
 Ld Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Ld Vifc. Mujkerry, Francis Ld Bar. of Athun- 
 ry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir 
 Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, 
 Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, and his Majefty's Lord Lieutenant, or 
 other Chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, 
 fhall name and authorize another in the Place of fuch as fhall be fo dead or 
 fhall mifcarry himfelf, or be fo difabled, and that the lame fhall be fuch Perfon 
 as fhall be allow'd of by the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh, Lord 
 Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, Francis Lord Baron 
 of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnell Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plun- 
 ket Kt.Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyr- 
 lah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of 
 diem then living. And that the, laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cojiologb 
 
 Lord
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Iriih. 
 
 Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount MuAerry, Francis Lord 
 Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel E{q; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicho- 
 las Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnzz'al!B,ironct:,JefferyBroz::!;e,D;nnagb Callaghan, 
 Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fcnne.il Efquires, or any feven or more 
 of them, mail have Power to applot, raife and levy Means with Indiffcrency 
 and Equality by way of Excife or otherwifc, upon all his Majefty's Subjects 
 within the faid Kingdom, their Perfons, Eftates and Goods, towards the 
 Maintenance of fuch Army or Armies as fhall be thought fit to continue, and 
 be in Pay for his Majefty's Service, the Defence of the Kingdom, and other the 
 neceflary public Charges therof, and towards the Maintenance of the Forts 
 Caftles, Garifons and Towns, until there fhall be a Settlement in Par'ament of 
 both or cither Party, other than fuch of the faid Forts, Garifons and Caftles, as 
 from time to time fhall be thought fit, by his Majefty's Chief Governour or Go- 
 vernours of this Kingdom for the time being, by and with the Advice and Con- 
 fent of the hidTbomas Lord Vifc. Dillon of Ccftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, 
 Donnogh Lord Vifc. Mujkerry, Francis Ld Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Don- 
 nelEfq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Bamivall Baro- 
 net, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah O Neile, Miles Reily and Ger- 
 rald Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of them, not to be maintained at 
 the Charge of the Public; provided that his Majefty's Lord Lieutenant or 
 other Chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, 
 be firft made acquainted with fuch Taxes, Levies and Excifes as fhall be made, 
 and the manner of levying therof, and that he approve the fame ; and to the 
 end that fuch of the Proteftant Party as fhall fubmit to the Peace, may in the 
 feveral Countries where any of their Eftates lie, have Equality and Indif- 
 fcrency in the Afleffments and Levies that fhall concern their Eftates in the faid 
 feveral Counties. 
 
 It is concluded, accorded and agreed upon, and his Majefty is gracioufly 
 pleafed, That in the Directions which fhall iffue to any fuch County, for the 
 applotting, fubdividing and levying of the faid public AffefTments, fome of 
 the laid Proteftant Party fhall be joined with others of the Roman Catholic Par- 
 ty to that purpofe, and for effecting that Service •, and the fuel Thomas Lord 
 Vifcount Dillon of Ccfiolcgh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount 
 Mujkcrry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas 
 Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwall Baronet, Jeffery Broiaie, 
 Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fenn ell Efqs; or 
 any feven or more of them, fhall have power to levy the Arrears of all Exci- 
 fes and other public Taxes impofed by the Confederate Roman Catholics, and 
 yet unpaid, and to call Receivers and other Accomptants of all former Taxes 
 and all public Dues to a juft andftrict Account, either by themfelves, or by 
 fuch as they or any feven or more of them fhall name or appoint ; and that the 
 faid Lord Lieutenant, or any other Chief Governour or Governours of this 
 Kingdom for the time being, fhall from time to timeiffueCommiffions to fuch 
 Peribn or Perfons as fhall be named and appointed by the faid Thomas Lord 
 Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vif- 
 count Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Ath'uhry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; 
 Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnt^dll Baronet, 
 Jeffery Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald 
 Fennell Efquires, or any feven or more of them, for letting, fetting, and improv- 
 ing the Eftates of all fuch Perfon and Perfons, as fhall adhere to any Party op- 
 pofing his Majefty's Authority, and not fubmitting to the Peace •, and that the 
 Profits of fuch Eftates fhall be converted by the faid Lord Lieutenant, or other 
 Chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, to the 
 Maintenance of the King's Army and other neceflary Charges, until Settlen 
 by Parlament ; and that the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologb 
 Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord 
 Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicho- 
 las Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Bamivall Bwvonet, Jeffery Broivne, Donnogh O Calla- 
 ghan, Tyrlah Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or any feven or 
 more of them, fhall have power to applot, raife and levy Means with Indiffe- 
 rency and Equality, for the buying of Arms and Ammunition, and for the en- 
 tertaining of Frigates in fuch proportion as fhall ba thousht fit bv his M.i- 
 
 Vol. I. Xx jefb 
 
 1^1 
 33/
 
 " 8 Qbfervatiom on the Articles of Peace 
 
 j>j 
 
 iefty's Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governours of this Kingdom for the 
 time beino-, by and with the Advice and Content of the faid Thomas Lord Vil- 
 count Dilfon of Ccftologb Lord Prefident of Ccnnaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount 
 Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Elq; Sir Lu- 
 cas Dillon Kt. Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Barnwatt Baronet, Jeffery 
 Browne, Donnogh O Callaghan, Tyrlah Neile, Miles Keily and Gerrald tennetl 
 Efquires, or any feven or more of them -, the laid Arms and Ammunition to be 
 laid up in fuch Magazines, and under the Charge of fuch Perfons as fhall be 
 agreed on by the faid Lord Lieutenant, and the laid Thomas Lord Vifcount £>//- 
 hn of Ccftologb Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mt/kerry, 
 Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, Alexander Mac-Donnel Efq; Sir Lucas Dillon Kr. 
 Sir Nicholas Plunket Kt. Sir Richard Banrzvall Baronet, Jeffery Browne, Donnogh 
 O Callaghan, Tyrlah Neile, Miles Reily and Gerrald Fennell Efquires, or anyie- 
 ven or more of them, and to be difpofed of, and the laid Frigats to be employ- 
 ed for his Majefty's Service, and the public Ufe and Benefit of this Kingdom 
 of Ireland; and that the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologb Lord 
 Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskcrry, Francis Lord Baron oi 
 Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them, fhall have power to applot, raiie 
 and levy Means with Indifferency and Equality, by way of Excife or otherwise, 
 in the feveral Cities, Corporate Towns, Counties and part of Counties, 
 now within the Quarters and only upon the Eftates of the faid Confederate 
 Roman Catholics, all fuch Sum and Sums of Money as fhall appear to the laid 
 Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologb Lord Prefident ol Connaght, Donnogh 
 Lord Vifcount Mujkerry, Francis Lord Baron oi Athunry, &c. or any feven or 
 more of them, to be really due, for and in the difcharge of the public Engage- 
 ments of the faid Confederate Catholics, incurred and grown due before the 
 Conclufion of thefe Articles ; and that the laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon. 
 of Coflologb Lord Prefident oi Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Mujkerry^ Fran- 
 cis Lord Baron oi Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them, fhail be autho- 
 riz'd to appoint Receivers, Collectors and all other Officers, for fuch Monies as 
 fhall be aiTefTed, taxed or applotted, inpuriuance of the Authorities mention'd 
 in this Article, and for the Arrears of all former Applotments, Taxes and 
 other public Dues yet unpaid: And that the laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon 
 of Cofiologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Musketry, 
 Francis Lord Baron oi Athunry, Sec. or any feven or more of them, in cafe of 
 Refractories or Delinquency, may diftrain and imprifon, and caufe fuch De- 
 linquents to be diftrained and imprifoned. And the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount 
 Dillon oi Ccftologb Lord Prefident oi Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskcrry, 
 Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them make per- 
 fect Books of all fuch Monies as fhall be applotted, raifed or levy'd, out of 
 which Books they are to make feveral and refpective Abftrafts, to be de- 
 livered under their hands, or the hands of any feven or more of them, to 
 the feveral and refpective Collectors, which fhall be appointed to levy and 
 receive the fame. And that a Duplicate of the faid Books, under the hands 
 of the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Ccftologb Lord Prefident of Connaght, 
 Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskcrry, Francis Lord Baron oi Athunry, &c. or any 
 feven or more of them, be delivered unto his Majefty's Lord Lieutenant, or 
 other Chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, 
 wherby a perfect Account may be given -, and that the faid Thomas Lord Vif- 
 count Dillon of Coflologb Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount 
 Muskcrry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them, 
 fhall have Power to call the Council and Congregation, and the refpective 
 fupream Councils, and Commifiioners General, appointed hitherto from time 
 to time, by the faid Confederate Roman Catholics, to manage their public Af- 
 fairs, and all other Perfons accountable, to an Account, for all their Receipts 
 and Difburfements fince the beginning of their refpective Employments, under 
 the Confederate Roman Catholics. 
 
 XXVIII. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed, by and between the 
 faid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufly pleas'd, That for the Prefervation of 
 the Peace and Tranquillity of the Kingdom, the faid Lord-Lieutenant, and the 
 faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologb Lord Prefident of Connaght, Don- 
 nogh Lord Vifcount Muskcrry, Francis Lord Baron oi Athunry, &fr. or any feven 
 
 or
 
 between the Karl of Ormond and the Irifh. 339 
 
 or more of them, mall for the prefent agree upon fuch Perfons, who are to 
 be authorized by Commifiion under the Great Seal, to be CommifTioners of 
 the Peace, Oyer and 'Terminer, Affizes and Go^Z-delivery, in, and throughout 
 the Kingdom, to continue during pleafure, with fuch Power as Juftices of the 
 Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Ajfiz.es and G<W-delivery in former time of Peace 
 have ufually had, which is not to extend unto any Crime or Offence commit- 
 ted before the firft of May laft paft, and to be qualify'd with Power to hear 
 and determine all Civil Caufes coming before them, not exceeding ten Pounds-, 
 provided that they (hall not intermeddle with Titles of Lands ; provided like- 
 wife, the Authority of fuch CommifTioners fhall not extend to queftion any 
 Perfon or Perfons, for any Shipping, Cattle or Goods, heretofore taken by 
 either Party from the other, or other Injuries done contrary to the Articles 
 of Ceflation, concluded by and with the laid Roman Catholic Party in, or fince 
 May laft, but that the fame fhall be determined by fuch indifferent Perfons, 
 as the Lord Lieutenant, by the Advice and Confent of the faid Thomas Lord 
 Vifcount Dillon of Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh LordVif- 
 count Muskerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of 
 them fhall think fit, to the end that fpeedy and equal Juflice may be done to 
 all Parties grieved ; and the faid CommifTioners are to make their Eftreats as 
 accuftomed of Peace, and fhall take the enfuing Oath, viz. You fhall fwear, 
 That as Juftice of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Affizes and Goa /-delivery in 
 the Counties of A. B. in all Articles to the Commifiion to you dire&ed, you 
 fhall do equal Right to the Poor, and to the Rich after your Cunning and Wit 
 and Power, and after the Laws and Cuftoms of the Realm, and in purfuance 
 of thefe Articles ; and you fhall not be of Counfel of any Quarrel hanging 
 before you •, and the Ifiues, Fines and Amerciaments which mall happen to be 
 made, and all Forfeitures which fhall happen before you, you fhall caufe to be 
 entred without any concealment or imbezling, and fend to the Court of Ex- 
 chequer, or to fuch other Place as his Majefty's Lord-Lieutenant, or other 
 Chief Governour or Governours of this Kingdom fhall appoint, until there 
 may be accefs unto the faid Court of Exchequer : You fhall not lett for Gift or 
 other Caufe, but well and truly you fhall do your Office of Juftice of Peace., 
 Oyer and Terminer, Afizes and GW-delivery in that behalf ; and that you take 
 nothing for your Office of Juftice of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, Affizes and 
 Gorf/-delivery to be done, but of the King, and Fees accuftomed •, and you fhall 
 not direct, or caufe to be directed, any Warrant by you, to be made to the 
 Parties, but you fhall direct them to the Sheriffs and Bailiffs of the faid Coun- 
 ties reflectively, or other the King's Officers or Minifters, or other indifferent 
 Perfons to do execution therof. So help you God, &c . 
 
 And that as well in the faid Commifiion, as in all other CommifTions, and 
 Authorities to be iffued in purfuance of the prefent Articles, this Claufe fhall 
 be inferted, viz. That all Officers, Civil and Martial, fhall be required to be 
 aiding and affifting and obedient unto the faid CommifTioners, and other Per- 
 fons, to be authorized as aforefaid in the execution of their refpeclive Powers. 
 
 XXIX. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That his 
 Majefty's Roman Catholic Subjects do continue the PofTeffion of fuch of his Ma- 
 jefty's Cities, Garifons, Towns, Forts and Caftles which are within their now 
 Quarters, until Settlement by Parlament, and to be commanded, ruled and 
 governed in chief, upon occafion of neceffity (as to the Martial and Military 
 Affairs) by fuch as his Majefty, or his Chief Governour or Governours of this 
 Kingdom for the time being, fhall appoint ; and the faid Appointment to be 
 by and with the Advice and Confent of the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon 
 of Coftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, 
 Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or any {even or more of them •, and his 
 Majefty's Chief Governour, or Governours, is to iflue CommifTions according- 
 ly to fuch Perfons as fhall be fo named and appointed as aforefaid, for the 
 executing of fuch Command, Rule or Government, to continue until all the 
 Particulars in thefe prefent Articles agreed on to pafs in Parlament, fhall be 
 accordingly paiTed ; only in cafe of Death or Mifbehaviour, fuch dther Perfon 
 or Perfons to be appointed for the faid Command, Rule and Government, to 
 
 Vol. I. X x z be
 
 " ao Obfervalions on the Articles of Peace 
 
 be named and appointed in the place or places, of him. or them, who fhall fo 
 die cr mifb^have themfelves, as the Chief Governour or Governours for the 
 time beino-, by the Advice and Confentof the faid Thomas Lord VifcountD//- 
 lon of Cojfologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, 
 Francis Lord Baron of Atbunry, &c. or any feven or more of them fhall think 
 fit and to be continued until a Settlement in Parlament as aforefaid. 
 
 XXX. Item, It is further concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and be- 
 tween the faid Parties, and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleafed, That all 
 Cuftoms and Tenths of Prizes belonging to his Majefty, which from the Per- 
 fection of thefe Articles fhall fall due within this Kingdom, fhall be paid un- 
 to his Majefty's Receipt, or until recourfe may be had therunto in the ordi- 
 nary leo-al Way, unto fuch Perfon or Perfons, and in fuch place or places, 
 and under fuch Controuls as the Lord Lieutenant fhall appoint to be difpofed 
 of, in order to the Defence and Safety of the Kingdom, and the defraying 
 of other the neceffary public Charges therof, for the Eafe of the Subje&s in 
 other their Levies, Charges and Applotments. And that all and every Per- 
 fon or Perfons, who are at prefent intrufted and employed by the faid Roman' 
 Catholics, in the Entries, Receipts, Collections, or otherwiie, concerning the 
 faid Cuftoms and Tenths of Prizes, do continue their refpecli ve Employments in 
 the fame, until full Settlement in Parlament, accountable to his Majefty's 
 Receipts, or until recourfe maybe had therui.to ; as the faid Lord Lieute- 
 nant iball appoint as aforefaid, other than to fuch, and fo many of them, 
 as to the Chief Governour or Governours for the time being, by and with 
 the Advice and Confent of the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Cojlclogh 
 Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifc. Muskerry, Francis Lord Ba- 
 xon pf Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them, fhall be thought fit to be 
 altered ; and then, and in fuch cafe, or in cafe of Death, Fraud or Mifbeha- 
 viour, of other Alteration of any fuch Perfon or Perfons, then fuch other 
 Perfon or' Perfons to be employed therin, as fhall be thought fit by the 
 Chief Governour or Governours for the time being, by and with the Advice 
 and Confent of the faid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Ccftologb Lord Prefi- 
 dent of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, Francis Lord Baron of 
 Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them ; and when it fhall appear that 
 any Perfon or Perfons, who fhall be found faithful to his Majefty, hath right 
 to any of the Offices or Places about the faid Cuftoms, wherunto he or they 
 may not be admitted until Settlement in Parlament as aforefaid, that a reafon- 
 able Compenfation fhall be afforded to fuch Perfon or Perfons for the fame. 
 
 XXXI. Item, As for and concerning his Majefty's Rents, payable at Eajler 
 next, and from thenceforth to grow due, until a Settlement in Parlament, it 
 is concluded, accorded and agreed upon, by and between the faid Parties, 
 and his Majefty is gracioufly pleas'd, That the faid Rents be not written for, 
 or levied, until a full Settlement in Parlament ; and in due time upon Appli- 
 cation to be made to the faid Lord Lieutenant, or other Chief Governour or 
 Governours of this Kingdom, by the laid Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Co- 
 ftologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Donnogh Lord Vifcount Muskerry, Francis 
 
 Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or any feven or more of them, for remittal 
 of thofe Rents, the faid Lord Lieutenant, or any other Chief Governour or 
 Governours of this Kingdom for the time being, fhall intimate their Defires, 
 and the Reafon therof to his Majefty, who upon confideration of the prefent 
 Condition of this Kingdom will declare his gracious Pleafure therin, as 
 fhall be juft and honourable, and fatisfaclory to the reafonable Defires of his 
 Subjects. 
 
 XXXII. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed, by and between the 
 faid Parties, and his Majefty is gracioufly pleas'd, That the Commiffioners of 
 Oyerand Terminer and Goal-deYivery to be named as aforefaid, fhall have Power to 
 hear and determine all Murders, Manflaughters, Rapes,Stea'ths, burning of Hou- 
 fes and Corn in Rick or Stack, Robberies, Burglaries, forcible Entries, Detain- 
 ers of Poffeffions, and other Offences committed or done, and to be'eommit- 
 ted and done fince the firft day of May laft paft, until the firft day of the next 
 Parlament, thefe prefent Articles, or any thing therin contained to the con- 
 trary notwithftanding •, provided, that the Authority of the faid Commiffi- 
 oners fhall not extend to queftion any Perfon or Perfons, for doing or com- 
 mitting
 
 between the Earl of Or mofid and the Irifli. «a T 
 
 mitting any Aft whatfoevcr, before the Conclufion of this Treaty, by Virtue or 
 Colour V\ arrant or Direction from thofe in public Authority amono- the 
 
 Confed( - oman Catholics, nor unto any Aft which fhall be done afte°the 
 
 perfecting .in. I concluding of thefe Articles, by Virtue or Pretence of any Au- 
 thority which is now by thefe Articles agreed on ; provided alfo that the faid 
 CommiiTion fhall not continue longer than thefirftday of the next Parlament. 
 
 XXXIII. Item, It is concluded, accorded by and between the faid Parties, 
 and his Majefty is further gracioufly pleas'd, That for the determining fuch 
 differences which may arife between his Majefty's Subjefts within this King- 
 dom, and the prevention of Inconvenience and Difquiet which through want 
 of due Remedy in feveral Caufes may happen, there mail be Judicatures efta- 
 blilh'd in this Kingdom, and that the Perfons to be authorized in them, fhall have 
 Power to do all fuch things as fhall be proper and necefTary for them to do ; 
 and the faid Lord Lieutenant, by and with the Advice and Confent of the faid 
 Thomas Lord Vifcount Dillon of Coflologh Lord Prefident of Connaght, Bonnogh 
 Lord Vifcount Mufkerry, Francis Lord Baron of Athunry, &c. or anyfeven or 
 more of them, fhall name the faid Perfons fo to be authorized, and do all 
 other things incident unto, and neceflary for the fettling of the faid intended 
 Judicatures, 
 
 XXXI V. Item, At the Inflance, humble Suit and earneft Defire of the Gene- 
 ral Affembly of the Confederate Reman Catholics, it is concluded, accorded 
 and agreed upon, that the Roman Catholic Regular Clergy of this Kincdom 
 behaving themfelves conformable to thefe Arricles of Peace, fhall not ba mo- 
 lefted in the Poffeflions which at prefent they have of, and in the Bodies, Sites 
 and Precinfts of fuch Abbeys and Monafteries belonging to any Roman Ca- 
 tholic within the faid Kingdom, until Settlement by Parlament; and that the 
 faid Clergy fhall not be molefted in the enjoying fuch Penfions, as hitherto 
 
 .- fince the Wars they enjoyed for their refpeftive Livelihoods from the faid 
 Roman Catholics : and the Sites and Precinfts hereby intended, are declared to 
 be the Body of the Abbey, one Garden and Orchard to each Abbey, if any there 
 be, and what elfe is contained within the Walls, Meers or ancient Fences or 
 Ditch, that doth fupply the Wall therof, and no more. 
 
 XXXV. Item, It is concluded, accorded and agreed, by and between the 
 faid Parties, that as to all other Demands of the faid Roman Catholics, for or 
 concerning all or any the matters propofed by them, not granted oraffented un- 
 to in and by the aforefaid Articles, the faid Roman Catholics be referred to his 
 Majefty's gracious Favour and further Conceffions. In Witnefs wherof the faid 
 Lord Lieutenant,for and on the behalf of his moft Excellent Majefty, to the one 
 Part of thefe Articles remaining with the faid Roman Catholics, hath put his 
 Hand and Seal : And Sir Richard Blake Kt. in the Chair of the General Af- 
 fembly of the faid Roman Catholics, by Order, Command and unanimous Con- 
 fent of the faid Catholics in full Affembly, to the other Part therof remainino- 
 with the faid Lord Lieutenant, hath put to his Hand and the Public Seal hitherto 
 ufed by the faid Roman Catholics, the lyth of January 1648, and in the 2A.th 
 Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord CHARLES, by the Grace of God 
 King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, &c. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 I HA VE not thus long forborn to invite you with thofe under 
 your Command^ to a SubmiJJion to his Majefty's Authority in me y 
 and a Conjunction with me, in the ways of his Service, out of any 
 the leaf Averfon I had to you, or any of them, or out of any dif- 
 efteem I had to your 'Power, to advance or impede the fame ; but out 
 of my Pear, whiles thofe that have of late ufurped Power over the 
 Subjefts of England, held forth the leaf colourable Shadow of Mode- 
 ration in their Intentions towards the Settlement of Church or State, 
 and that in fome tolerable IVay with relation to Religion, the Inter efl 
 
 4
 
 34 2 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 of the King and Crown, the Freedom of Tar lament, the Liberties of the 
 Subject, any Addreffes from me propofing the withdrawing of that Tarty 
 from thofe thus prof effing, from whom they have received fome, and ex- 
 petted further fupport, would have been but coldly received, and any 
 'Determination thereupon deferred in hope and expectation of the fore- 
 mentioned Settlement ; or that you your felf, who certainly have not 
 wanted a fore fight of the fad Confufion now covering the Face of Eng- 
 land, would have declared with me, the Lord Inchequeen, and the Pro- 
 teftant Army in Munftcr, in prevention therof; yet my fear was, it 
 would have been as difficult for you, to have carried with you the main 
 Body of the Army under your Command (not fo clear fight ed as your felf ) 
 as it would have been dangerous to you, and thofe with you well in- 
 clined to have attempted it without them ; but now that the Mask of 
 Hypocrify, by which ^Independent Army hath enfnared and enflaved 
 all Eflates and Degrees of Men, is laid afide, now that barefaced, they 
 evidently appear to be the Subvert ers of true Religion, and to be the Tro- 
 tettors and Inviters not only of all falfe Ones, but of lr religion and A- 
 theifm, now that they have barbaroufly and inhumanly laid violent., 
 facrilegious hands upon, and murthered God's Anointed, and our King* 
 not as heretofore fomeT at ricides have done, to make room for fame Uf'ur- 
 per, but in away plainly mam fefling their Intentions, to change the Mo- 
 narchy of England into Anarchy, unlefs their Aim be firft to conflitute 
 an elective Kingdom; and CROMWEL or fome fuch John of Leiden 
 being elected, then by the fame Force, by which they have thus far com- 
 paffed their Ends, to ejlablijh a perfect Turkifti Tyranny -, now that of 
 the three Eflates of King, Lords and Commons, whereof in all Ages Tar- 
 laments have confifled, there remains only a fmall number, and they the 
 Dregs and Scum of the Houfe of Commons, pick'd and a-Jd by the 
 ARMT, a wicked Remnant, left for no other end, than yet further if 
 it be poffible to delude the Teople with the Name of a Tar lament : The 
 King being murthefd, the Lords and the reft of the Commons being by 
 unheard of violence at fever al times fore' d from the Houfes, and jbme 
 imprifond. And now that there remains no other Liberty in the Sub- 
 ject but to profefs blafphemous Opinions, to revile and tread under foot 
 Magiftracy, to murther Magiftrates, and opprefs and undo all that are 
 not like-minded with them. Now I fay, that 1 cannot doubt but that you 
 and all with you under your command will take this Opportunity to act 
 and declare againftfomonflrous and unparallel'd a Rebellion, and that 
 you and they will chearfully acknowledge, and faithfully ferue and obey 
 our Gracious King CHARLES II. undoubted Heir of his Father's 
 Crown and Virtues } under whofe Right and Conduct we may by God's 
 Affiflance reflore Troteflant Religion to Turity, and therin fettle it, 
 Tar laments to their Freedom, good Laws to their Force, and our Fellow- 
 Subjects to their juft Liberties ; w her in how glorious and ble (fed a thing 
 it will be, to be fo confiderably inftrumental, as you may now make your 
 felf, I leave to you now to confider. And though I conceive there are not 
 any Motives relating to fome particular Jnterefi to be mentioned after 
 thefe fo weighty Confider at ions, which are fuch as the /Tor Id hath not 
 been at any time furnijb'd with ; yet Iholdit my part to affure you, that 
 as there is nothing you can reafonably propofe for the fafety,fatisf action 
 or advantage of your felf, or of any that fiall adhere to you in what 1 
 defire, that Ifhallnot to the utter mofl of my power provide for ;fo there 
 is nothing I would, norjhall more indujlrioufly avoid, than thofe Necef- 
 fities ari/ing from my Duty to God and Man, that may by your rejecting 
 this Offer force me to be a fad Injirument of fie d ding Englifh Blood, 
 + which
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Irifti. 343 
 
 which in fuch Cafe muft on both fides happen. If this Overture find place 
 with you, as I earneflly wijh it may, let me know with what poffible 
 fpeed you can, and if you plea fe by the Bearer in what way you defire, it 
 jhall be drawn on to a conclufion. For in that, as well as in the Subfiance, 
 you jhall find all ready compliance from me, that defire to be 
 
 cakrick, Your affectionate Friend to ferve you. 
 
 March 9. J » 
 
 K>j.8. 
 
 ORMOND* 
 
 For Colonel Michael Jones Go* 
 
 vernourof <DU B LIN. 
 
 My LORD, 
 
 YO U R Lordfhip's of the ninth, I receiv'dthe twelfth in /I ant, and 
 therin have I your Lordfoips Invitation to a Conjunction with 
 your felf{I fuppofe) as Lord Lieutenant ^Ireland, and with others now 
 united with the lrifh, and with the Irifh themfelves alfo. 
 
 As I underfiand not how your Lordfhip fhould be invefted with that 
 'Power pretended, fo am I very well affur d, that it is not in the power 
 of any without the Tar lament of England to give and affur e pardon to 
 thofe bloody Rebels, as by the ACT to that end pafs'd may appear more 
 fully. I am alfo well affur 'd, that the Tar lament of England would ne- 
 ver ajfent to fuch a PEACE {fuch as is that of your Lordfhip's with the 
 Rebels) wherin is little or no Trovifion made either for the Troteftants 
 or the Troteftant Religion. Nor can I underfiand how the Troteftant 
 Religion flwuld be fettled and reftor'd to its Turity by an Army of 
 Tapifls, or the Troteftant Inter efts maintain 'd by thofe very Enemies 
 by whom they have been fpoil'd and there fiaughter'd : And very evi- 
 dent it is, that both the Troteftants and Troteftant Religion are in that 
 your Lordfhip's Treaty, left as in the power of the Rebels, to be by 
 them borne down and rooted out at pleafure. 
 
 As for that Confideration by your Lordfiip offer d of the pre fent and 
 late Proceedings in England, I fee not how it may be afufficient Motive 
 to me (or any other in like Truft for the Tar lament ^England in the 
 Service of the Kingdom) to join with thofe Rebels upon any the pretences 
 in that your Lor drip's Letter mention d; for therin were there a ma- 
 7iifefl betraying that Truft repos'd in me, in defecting the Service and 
 Work committed to me, in joining with thofe I Jhall oppofe, and in oppo- 
 sing whom I am oblig'd to ftrve. 
 
 Neither conceive I it any part of my Work and Care to take notice of 
 any whatfoever Troceedings of STATE, foreign to my Charge and 
 Trull here, efpecially they being found hereunto apparently deftruclive. 
 
 Mofl certain it is, and former Ages have approved it, that the inter- 
 meddling ofGovernours andTarties in this Kingdom, with Sidings and 
 Tar ties in ENGLAND, have been the very betraying of this Kingdom to 
 the Irifh, whiles the Britifh Forces here had been therupon call' doff, and 
 the Tlace therin laid open, and as it were given up to the common 
 ENEMT. 
 
 It is what your Lordfhip might have obferv 'din your former Treaty 
 with the Rebels, that upon your Lordfhip's therupon withdrawing, and 
 fending hence into England themoft confider able part of the Englifh Army 
 then commanded by you ; t her by was the remaining Britifh Tarty not long 
 after overpower d, and your Quarters by the Irifh over-run to the Gates 
 ^/"DUBLIN, your fe If alfo reduced to that low Condition, as to be be- 
 
 fieg'd 
 4
 
 6 
 
 44 Ohfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 (teg'd in this very City {the Metropolis and principal Citadel of the King- 
 dom} and that by thofe Rebels, who till then could never jtand before 
 you : and what the end hath been of that Tarty, alfo fo fent by your Lord- 
 fhip into England (although the Flower and Strength of the Englifh. 
 Army here, both Officers and Soldiers) hath been very obfervable. 
 
 And how much the "Dangers are at prefent [more than informer Ages) 
 of 'hazarding the Englifh Inter eft in this Kingdom, by fending any Tar- 
 ties hence into any other Kingdom upon any Tretenceswhatfoever, is very 
 apparent, aS in the generality of the Rebellion, now more than formerly ; 
 fo considering your Lordfhifs prefent Conclufions with, and Concejfions to 
 the Rebels, wherinthey are allow d the continued To ffejfion of all the 
 Cities, Forts and T laces of Strength, wherof they food poffefi'd at the 
 time vf their Treaty with your Lord flip, and that they are to have a 
 Standing Force {if I we'll remember) of 15000 Foot and zsco Horfe 
 (all of their own Tarty, Officers and Soldiers) and they (with the 
 whole Kingdom) to be regulated by a major part of Irifh Truftees, cho- 
 fen by the Rebels themfelves, as Terfons for their Inter ejls and Ends, 
 to be by them confided in, without whom nothing is to be ailed. Ther- 
 in I cannot but mind your Lordfhip of what hath been fome times by your 
 f elf delivered, as your fen fe in this particular - y That the Englifh Inter eji 
 in Ireland mufl be prefervd by the Englifh, and not by Irifh ; and upon 
 that ground (if I be not deceiv'd) did your Lordfiip then capitulate with 
 the Tar lament of ENGLAND, from which clear Trinciple 1 am 
 forry to fee your Lordfhip now receding. 
 
 As to that by your Lordfhip menae'd us here, of Blood and Force, if 
 diffenting from your Lordfhip's Ways and T>efigns, for my particular I 
 pjall(my Lord) much rather chufe'to ftjfer in fo doing {for t her in fliali 
 I do what is becoming, and anfwerable to my Truf) than to pur chafe 
 my felf on the contrary the ignominious Brand of Tcrfidy, by any Al- 
 lurements of what foever Advantages offer d me. 
 
 But very confident 1 am of the fame "Divine Tower which hath fill 
 followed me in this IV O R K, and will flill follow me ; and in that 
 Trufl doubt nothing of thus giving your Lordfhip plainly this my Rcfo- 
 lution in that T articular : do I remain, 
 
 DUBLIN, Your Lordfhip's humble Servant. 
 
 March 14. 
 
 l6 ^' Signed, MIC. JONES, 
 
 For the Lord u/ORMOND thefe. 
 
 H
 
 between the Ear/ of Qvmond and the Irifn. \±* 
 
 BY Til E 
 
 Lord Lieutenant General 
 
 O F 
 
 I R E L A 
 
 O R MONT). 
 
 WHERAS our late Sovereign Lord king. CHARLES of 
 happy Memory hath been lately by a 'Party of bis rebellious 
 Sub i eels of ENGLAND mojl traitoroufiy, maliciouflv, and inhumanly 
 ■put to death and murthered ; and forafmuch as his Majefly that now 
 is, Charles by the Grace of GOT) King of England, Scotland, France? 
 and Ireland, is Son and Heir of his faid late Majefly, and thtrfore 
 by the Laws of the Land, of force-, and praclis'd in all Ages, is to in- 
 herit. We t her fore m difcharge of the 'Duty we owe unto God, our 
 Allegiance and Loyalty to our Sovereign, holding it fit him fo to proclaim 
 in and through this his Majejty's Kingdom, do by this our prefent 
 'Proclamation declare and man if eft to the World, 'That Charles- If. 
 Son and Heir of our Sovereign Lord King Charlesl. of happy Me~ 
 tnory, is, by the Grace of GOT), the undoubted KING of England, 
 Scotland, France and Ireland, 'Defender of the FAIT PI, &c. 
 
 Given at CAR RICK, Feb. 26. 1648. 
 
 GOD SAVE THE KING. 
 
 Vol. I. Y y A
 
 «±6 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 A neceffary Reprefentation of the prefent Evils ^ and 
 imminent Dangers to Religion haws and Liber* 
 ties, arifingfrom the late and prefent P rati ices 
 of the Sc&mzn Party in EN GLAND: To- 
 get her with an Exhortation to Duties relating to 
 the Covenant j unto all within our Charge 7 and 
 to all the Well-affecled within this Kingdom, 
 by the Presbytery at BELFAST, February 
 the i^th, 1649. 
 
 WHEN we ferioufly confider the great and many Duties which we 
 owe unto God and his People, over whom he hath made us Over- 
 feers, and for whom we muit give an Account ; and when we be- 
 hold the laudable Examples of the worthy Minifters of the Province of London ^ 
 and of the Commiffioners of the General AfTembly of the Church of Scotland^ 
 in their free and faithful Teftimonies againft the Infolencies of the SeHari- 
 an Party in England: Confidering a'fo the Dependency of this Kingdom upon 
 the Kingdom of England, and remembring how againfl ftrong Oppofitions we 
 were afliited by the Lord the laft year in difcharge of the like Duty, and how 
 he punifh'd the Contempt of our Warning upon the Defpifers therof : We 
 find our felves as neceffitated, fo the more encouraged to call in our Mite in the 
 Treafury, left our Silence mould involve us in the Guilt of Unfaithfulnefs, and 
 our People in fecurity and neglecl ot Duties. 
 
 In this Difcharge of the Truft put upon us by God, we would not be 
 looked upon as Sowers of Sedition, or Broachers of national and divifive 
 Motions ; our Record is in Heaven, that nothing is more hateful unto us, nor 
 lefs intended by us, and therfore we fhall not fear the malicious and wicked 
 Afperfions which we know Satan by his Instruments is ready to caft, not 
 only upon us, but on all who fincerely endeavour the Advancement of Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 What of late have been, and now are, the infolent and prefumptuous Prac- 
 tices of the Sectaries in England, is not unknown to the World : For, Firfi, 
 notwithftanding their fpecious Pretences for Religion and Liberties, yet their 
 late and prefent Actings being therwith compar'd, do clearly evidence that 
 they love a rough Garment to deceive ; fince they have with a high Hand 
 defpis'd the OATH, in breaking the Covenant, which is fo ftrong a Foun- 
 dation to both, whilft they load it with flighting Reproaches, calling it a 
 bundle of particular and contrary Interefts, and a Snare to the People ; and 
 likewife labour to eftablifh by Laws an univerfal Toleration of all Religions, 
 which is an Innovation overturning of Unity in Religion, and fo diredtly re- 
 pugnant to the Word of God, the two firft Articles of our folemn Covenant, 
 vhich is the greateft Wickednefs in them to violate, fince many of the chiefeft 
 of themfelves have, with their hands tcftify'd to the moft Fligh God, l'worn and 
 feal'd it. 
 
 Moreover, their great DifafFection to the Settlement of Religion, and fo 
 their future breach of Covenant, doth more fully appear by their ftrong oppofi- 
 tions to Presbytertal Government (the Hedge and Bulwark of Religion) whilft 
 they exprefs their hatred to it more than to the worft of Errors, by excluding it 
 under the name of Compulfion ; when they embrace even Paganifm and Judaifm 
 in the Arms of Toleration. Not to fpeak of their Afperfions upon it, and 
 the AfTertors therof as Antichriftian and Popijh, though they have deeply 
 
 fworn
 
 between the Ear/ of Ormond and the Irifn. 347 
 
 fworn to maintain the fame Government in the firft Article of the Covenant, 
 as it is eftablifhed in the Church of SCOTLAND, which they now fo defpite 
 and fully blafpheme. 
 
 Again, It is more than manifeft, that they feek not the Vindication, but the 
 Extirpation of Laws and Liberties, as appears by their feizing on the Per- 
 fon of the King, and at their pleafures removing him from place to place, not 
 only without the Confent, but (if we miftake not) againft a direct Ordi- 
 nance of Parlament : Their violent furprifing, imprifoning and fecluding ma- 
 ny of the molt worthy Members of the Honourable Houfe of Commons, di- 
 rectly againft a declared Privilege of Parlament, (an Action certainly with- 
 out Parallel in any Age) and their Purpofesof abolifhing Parlamentary Pow- 
 er for the future, and eftablifhing of a Reprefentative (as they call it) inftead 
 therof. Neither hath their Fury ftay'd here, but without all Rule or Exam- 
 ple, being but private Men, they have proceeded to the Trial of the King, 
 againft both Intereft and Proteftation of the Kingdom of Scotland, and ths 
 former public Declarations of both Kingdoms (befides the violent hafte, re- 
 jecting the hearing of any Defences) with cruel Hands have put him to death ; 
 an Act fo horrible, as no Hiftory, divine or human, hath laid a Precedent of 
 the like. 
 
 Thefe and many other their deteftable Infolencies, may abundantly convince 
 every unbyafs'd Judgment, that the prelent Practice of the Sectaries and their 
 Abettors, do directly overturn the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdoms, roor 
 out lawful and fupream Magiftracy (the juft Privileges wherof we have fworn 
 to maintain) and introduce a fearful Confufion and lawlefs Anarchy. 
 
 The Spirit of God by Solomon tells us* Prov. 30. 21. That a Servant foreign, 
 is one of the four things for which the Earth is difquieted, and which it cannot bear: 
 We wonder nothing that the Earth is difquieted for thefe things ; but we won- 
 der greatly, if the Earth can bear them. And albeit the Lord fo permit, that 
 Folly be fet in great Dignity, and they which fit in low place ; That Servants 
 ride upon Horfes, and Princes walk as Servants upon the Earth, Ecclef. 10. ver. 6, 
 7. Yet the fame wife Man faith, Prov.ic). 10. Delight is not feemly for a Fool, 
 much lefsfor a Servant to have Rule over Princes. 
 
 When we confider thefe things, we cannot but declare and manifeft our 
 utter diflike and deteftation of fuch unwarrantable Practices, directly fubvert- 
 ing our Covenant, Religion, Laws and Liberties. And as Watchmen in SION 
 warn all the Lovers of Truth and well-affected to the Covenant, carefully to 
 avoid Compliance with, or not bearing witnefs againft horrid Infolencies, 
 left partaking with them in their Sins, they alfo be Partakers of their Plagues. 
 Therfore in the Spirit of Meeknefs, we earneftly intreat, and in the Authority 
 of Jefus Chrift (whole Servants we are) charge and obteft all who relblve to ad- 
 here unto Truth and the Covenant, diligently to obferve and confcientiouQy 
 to perform thefe following Duties. 
 
 Firfl, That according to our folemn Covenant; every one ftudy more to 
 the Power of Godlinefs and perfonal Reformation of themfelves and Families; 
 becaufe for the great Breach of this part of the Covenant, God is highly of- 
 fended with 'hjefe Lands, and juftly provoked to permit Men to be the Inltru- 
 ments of our Mifery and Afflictions. 
 
 Secondly, That every one in their Station and Calling earneftly contend for 
 the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints, J tide 3. And feek to have 
 their Hearts elf ablifhed with Grace, that they be not unftable and wavering, 
 carried about with every Wind of Doctrine ; but that they receive the Truth 
 in Love, avoiding the Company of fuch as withdraw from and vilify the 
 public Ordinances ; fpeak evil of Church-Government •, invent damnable Er- 
 rors, under the fpecious Pretence of a Gofpel-way and new Light ; and high- 
 ly exto' the Perfons and Courfes of notorious Sectaries, left God give them 
 over to ftrong Delufions (the Plague of thefe Times) that they may believe 
 Lyes, and be damned. 
 
 Vol. L Y y 3 Thirdly,
 
 d$ Obfervations on the Articles of Peace , Sec. 
 
 Thirdly, That they would not be drawn by Counfel, Command or Example, 
 to fhake off the ancient and fundamental Government of thefe Kingdoms by 
 King and Parlament, which we are fo deeply inagaged to preferve by our fo- 
 lemn Covenant, as they would not be found guilty of the great Evil of thefe 
 Times (condemned by the Holy Ghoft) the defpifing of Dominion, and ipeak- 
 ing Evil of Dignities. 
 
 Fourthly, That they do cordially endeavour the Prefervation of the Union 
 amongft the well-affected in the Kingdoms, not being fwayed by any Natio- 
 nal Refpecl : Remembring that part of the Covenant •, That we /ball not fu.ffer 
 our felves direSily nor indirectly, by whatfoever Combination, Perfwajton, or Ter- 
 ror, to be divided, or withdrawn from this blejjed Union and Conjunction. 
 
 And Finally, Albeit there be moreprefent Hazard from the Power of Secta- 
 ries (as were from Malignants the laft year) yet we are not ignorant of the 
 evil Purpofes of Malignants, even at this time, in all the Kingdoms, and par- 
 ticularly in this •, and for this Caufe, we exhort every one with equal Watchful- 
 nefs to keep them felves free from affociating with fuch, or from fwerving in 
 their Judgments to malignant Principles ; and to avoid all fuch Perfons as 
 have been from the beginning known Oppofers of Reformation, Refufers of 
 the Covenant, combining themfelves with Papifts and other notorious Ma- 
 lignants, efpecially fiich who have been chief Promoters of the late Engage- 
 ment againft England, Calumniators of the Work of Reformation, in repu- 
 ting the Miferies of the prefent Times unto the Advancers therof ; and that 
 their juft hatred to Sectaries incline not their Minds to favour Malignants, or to 
 think, thatbecaufe of the Power of Sectaries, the Caufe of God needs the more 
 to fear the Enmity, or to Hand in need of the help of Malignants. 
 
 O B S E R-
 
 OBS ERVATIONS 
 
 UPON 
 
 The Articles of Peace with the Irifb Rebels, on 
 the Letter of Ormond to Col. yones, and the 
 Reprefentation of the Prefbytery at Belfafti 
 
 ALthough it be a Maxim much agreeable to wifdom, that juft deeds are 
 the belt anfwer to injurious words, and a&ions, of whatever fort, 
 their own plainer! interpreters ; yet fince our enemies can find the 
 leifure both ways to offend us, it will be requifite we fhould be found 
 in neither of thofe ways neglectful of our juft defence : To let them know, 
 that iincere and upright intentions can certainly with as mucheafie deliver them- 
 felves into words as into deeds. 
 
 Having therfore feen of late thofe Articles of Peace granted to the Papfft 
 Rebels of Ireland, as fpecial graces and favours from the late King, in reward, 
 moft likely, of their work done, and in his name and authority conrirm'd and ra- 
 tify 'd by James Earl of Ormond ; together with his Letter to Col. Jones, Go- 
 vernour of Dublin, full of contumely and difhonour, both to the Parlament 
 and Army : And on the other fide, an infolent and feditious Reprefentation 
 . from the Scotch Prefbytery at Belfajl in the North of Ireland, no lefs difhonour- 
 able to the State, and much about the fame time brought hither ; there will be 
 needful as to the fame flanderous afperfions but one and the fame Vindication a- 
 gainft them both. Nor can we fever them in our notice and reftntment, though 
 one part intitled a Presbytery, and would be thought a Protectant AflembJ ,', fince 
 their own unexampled virulence hath wrapt them into the fame guilt,made them 
 accomplices and affiftantstothe abhorred IriJ/j Rebels, and with them atpreient 
 to advance the fame intereft : if we confider both their Calumnies, their Hatred, 
 and the pretended Reafons of their hatred to be the fame ; the time alfo, and 
 the place concurring, as that there lacks nothing but a few formal words, which 
 may be eafily difTcmbled, to make the perfecteft conjunction •, and bet. 
 them to divide that Ifiand. 
 
 As for thefe Articles of Peace made with thofe inhuman Rebels and Papiits of 
 Ireland by the late King, as one of his laft Mailer-pieces, we may be confi- 
 dently perfwaded, that no true-born Englifaman can fo much as barely read 
 them without indignation and difdain, that thofe bloody Rebels, and io pro- 
 claim'd and judg'd of by the King himfclf, after the merciiefs and barbar )us 
 Maffacre of fo many thoufand Engli/h, (who had us'd their right and title to that 
 Country with fuch tendernefs and moderation, and might otherwife have fe- 
 cur'ci themfelves with eafe againft their Treachery) fhould be now graced and 
 rewarded with fuch freedoms and enlargements, as none of their Anceftors could 
 ever merit by their beft obedience, which at beft was always treacherous; to be 
 infranchiz'd with full liberty equal to their Conquerors, whom the juft revenge 
 of ancient Pyracies, cruel Captivities, and thecauflefs infeftation of our Coaft, had 
 warrantably call'd over, and the long prefcription of many hundred years; 
 befides what other titles are acknowledg'd by their own Irijh Parlaments, had 
 fix*: and feated in that Soil with as good a right as the mcereft Natives. 
 
 Thefe therfore by their own foregoing demerits and provocations juftly maJ • 
 our vaffais, are by the fir ft Article of this Peace advane'd to a Condition of 
 freedom fuperior to what any Englijh Proteftants durft have demanded. For 
 what clfe can be the meaning to dilcharge them the common Oath of Suprema- 
 cy, efpecially being Papifts (for whom principally that Oath was intended) 
 but either to refign them the more into their own Power, or to tet a mark of dif- 
 honour upon the Briti/b Loyalty ; by milling Irijh Rebels for one fmgle Oath 
 of Allegiance, as much as all his Subjects of Britain for the double iwearing 
 
 349 
 
 both of Allegiance and Supremacy r 
 
 The.
 
 * 
 
 to Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 The fecond Article puts it into the hands of an Irijh Farlafnent to repeal, or 
 to fufpend, if they think convenient, the Act ufually call'd Poyning's ASf, 
 which was the main, and yet the civileft and moft moderate acknowledgment 
 impos'd of their dependance on the Crown of England; wherby no Parlament 
 could be fummon'd there, no Bill be paft, but what was firft to be tianfmitted 
 and allow'd under the great Seal of England. The recalling of which Act, 
 tends openly to invert them with a Law-giving power of their own, enables 
 them by degrees to throw oft all fubjection to this Realm, and renders them, 
 who by their endlefs treafons and revolts have deferv'd to hold no Parlament at 
 all but to be o-overn'd by Edicts andGarifons, asabfoluteandfupreme in that 
 AfTembly as the People of England in their own Land. And the 12 th Article 
 orants them in exprefs words, that the Irijh Parlament lhall be no more depen- 
 dent on the Parlament of England, than the Irijh themfelves lhall declare agree- 
 able to the Laws of Ireland. 
 
 The two and twentieth Article, more ridiculous than dangerous, coming e- 
 fpecially from fuch a ferious knot of Lords and Politicians, obtains that thofe 
 Acts prohibiting to plow with Horfes by the Tail, and burn Oats in the Straw, 
 be repeal'd 5 enough, if nothing elfe, to declare in them a difpofition not only 
 fottilh, but indocible, and averfe from all Civility and Amendment : and what 
 hopes they give for the future, who rejecting the ingenuity of all other Nati- 
 ons to improve and wax more civil by a civilizing Conqueft, though all thefe 
 many years better mown and taught, prefer their own abfurd and lavage Cu- 
 ftoms before the moft convincing evidence of reafon and demonftration : a 
 Teftimony of their true Barbarifm and obdurate wilfulnefs, to be expected no 
 lefs in other matters of greateft moment. 
 
 Yet fuch as thefe and thus affected, the ninth Article entrufts with the Mili- 
 tia • a Truft which the King fwore by God at Nezv-Market, he would not com- 
 mit to his Parlament of England, no not for an hour. And well declares the 
 confidence he had in Irijh Rebels, more than in hisLoyalleft Subjects. He grants 
 them moreover, till the performance of all thefe Articles, that 15000 Foot and 
 2500 Horfe lhall remain a ftanding Army of Papifts at the beck and command 
 of Dillon, Musketry and other Arch-Rebels, with power alio of adding to that 
 number as they lhall fee caufe. And by other Articles allows them the conftitu- 
 tins of Magiftrates and Judges in all Caufes, whom they think fit : and till a fet- 
 tlement to their own minds, the poffeflion of all thofe Towns and Countries 
 within their new Quarters, being little lefs than all the Ifland, befides what their 
 Cruelty hath difpeopled and laid waite. And laftly, the whole managing both 
 of Peace and "War is committed to Papifts, and the chief Leaders of that Re- 
 bellion. 
 
 Now let all men judge what this wants of utter alienating and acquitting the 
 whole Province of Ireland from all true fealty and obedience to the Common- 
 wealth of England. Which act of any King againft the Confent of his Parla- 
 ment, thouo-h no other Crime were laid againft him, might of it felf ftrongly 
 conduce to the dif-inthroning him of all. In France, Henry the Third, de- 
 manding leave in greateft exigencies to make Sale of fome Crown-Lands only, 
 and that to his Subjects, was anfwered by the Parlament then at Blois, that a 
 King in no cafe, though ofextremeft neceffity, might alienate the Patrimo- 
 ny of his Crown, wherof he is but only Uju-jrutluary, as Civilians term it, the 
 propriety remaining ever to the Kingdom, not to the King. And in our own 
 Nation, Kino- John, for refigning though unwillingly his Crown to the Pope's 
 Leo-ate,' witfTlittle more hazard to his Kingdom than the payment of 1000 
 Marks, and the unfightlinefs of fuch a Ceremony, was depos'd by his Barons, 
 and Lewis the French King's Son elected in his room. And to have carried only 
 the Jewels, Plate, and Treafure into Ireland without confent of the Nobility, 
 was one of thofe impeachments that condemn'd Richard the Second to lofe his 
 
 Crown. 
 
 But how petty a Crime this will feem to the alienating of a whole Kingdom, 
 which in thefe Articles of Peace we fee as good as done by the late King, not to 
 Friends, but to mortal Enemies, to the accompliihment of his own interefts 
 and ends, wholly feparate from the People's good, may without aggravation be 
 eafily conceiv'd. Nay, by the Covenant it felf, fince that fo cavilloufly isurg'd 
 againft us, we are enjoin'd in the fourth Article, with all faithfulnefs to endea- 
 
 4 ruov
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Irifri. 3 c r 
 
 vour the bringing all fuchto public Trial and condign Punifhment, as fhali di- 
 vide one Kingdom from another. And what greater dividing than by a perni- 
 cious and hoftile Peace, to difalliege a whole Feudary Kingdom from the an- 
 cient Dominion of England? Exception we find therof no perfon whatsoever ; 
 and if the King, who hath actually done this, or any for him claim a privilege 
 above Juftice,it is again demanded by what exprefs Law either of God or Man; 
 and why he whole office is to execute Law and Juftice upon all others, fhould 
 fit himfelf like a Demigod in lawlefs and unbounded Anarchy ; refufing to be ac- 
 countable for that Authority overmen naturally his Equals, which God himfelf 
 without a reafon given is not wont toexercife over his Creatures? And if God 
 the nearer to be acquainted with mankind and his frailties, and to become our 
 Prieft, made himfelf a Man, and fubjeft to the Law, we gladly would be in- 
 ftrufted why any mortal man for the good and welfare of his brethren being 
 made a King, fhould by a clean contrary motion make himfelf a God, exalted 
 above Law ; the readieft way to become utterly unfenfible, both of his human 
 condition, and his own duty. 
 
 And how fecurely, howfmoothly, with how little touch or CenCc of any corri- 
 mileration, either princely or fo much as human, he hath fold away that juftice 
 fo oft demanded, and fooft by himfelf acknowledg'd to be due for the blood of 
 more than 200000 of his Subjects, that never hurt him, never difobey'd him, 
 alTaifinated and cut in pieces by thofe Irifo Barbarians, to give the firft promo- 
 ting, as is more than thought, to his own tyrannical defigns in England, will ap- 
 pear by the 1 8th Article of his Peace; wherin without the leali regard of 
 Juftice to avenge the dead, while he thirfts to be aveng'd upon the living} to 
 all the Murders, Maffacres, Treafons, Pyracies, from the very fatal day wher- 
 in that Rebellion firft broke out, he grants an Aft of Oblivion. If this can be 
 juftified, or not punifh'd in whomfoever, while there is any Faith, any Religion, 
 any Juftice upon Earth, there can no reafon be alledg'd why all things are not 
 left to Confufion. And thus much be obferv'd in brief concerning thele Articles 
 of Peace made by the late King with his Irifo Rebels. 
 
 The Letter of Ormond fent to Col. Jones Governour of Dublin, attemptino- 
 his fidelity, which the difcretion and true worth of that Gentleman hath fo 
 well anfwer'd andrcpuls'd, and pafs'd here without mention, but that the other 
 part of it not content to do the errand of Treafon, roves into a long dia;reffion 
 of evil and reproachful Language to the Parlament and Army of England. 
 "Which though not worth their notice, as from a Crew of Rebels whole inhu- 
 manities are long fince become the horror and execration of all that hear them, 
 yet in the purluance of a good endeavour, to give the world all due fatisfaftion 
 of the prefent doings, no fit opportunity lhall be omitted. 
 
 He accufed firft, That we are the Subvert ers of 'Religion, the Protetlcrs and Inci- 
 ters not only of all falfe ones, but oflrreligion andAthdfm. An Accufation that no 
 man living could more unjuftly ufe than our Accufer himfelf; and which without 
 a ftrange befottednefs, he could not expeft but to be retorted upon his own 
 head. All men who are true Proteftants, of which number he gives out to be 
 one, know not a more immediate and killing Subverter of all true Religion than 
 Antichrift, whom they generally believe to be the Pope and Church of Rome; 
 he therfore who makes Peace with this grand Enemy and Perfecutor of the true 
 Church, he who joins with him, ftrengthens him, gives him root to grow up and 
 fpread his Poilbn, removing all Oppolition againft him, granting him Schools, 
 Abbeys, and Revenues, Garifons, Fortrefles, Towns, as in fo many of thofe 
 Articles may be feen, he of all Proteftants may be callM molt juftly the Subverter 
 of true Religion, the Proteftor and Inviter oflrreligion and Atheifm, whether 
 it be Ormond, or his Matter. And if it can be no way prov'd, that the Parla- 
 ment hath countenane'd Popery or Papifts, but have every where broken their 
 temporal Power, thrown down their public Superftitions, and confin'd them 
 to the bare enjoyment ot that which is not in our reach, their Confciences ; if 
 they have encourag'd all true Minifters of the Gofpel, that is to fay, afforded 
 them favour and protection in all places where' they preach'd, and although they 
 think not Money or Stipend to be the beft encouragement of a true Palter, yet 
 therinalfohave not been wanting nor intend to be, they doubt not then to affirm 
 themlelves, not the Subverters, but the Maint.iiners and Defenders of true Reli- 
 gion ; which of it felf and by confequence is the Jureft and the ftrongeft Sub- 
 
 verlion,
 
 3C 2 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 verfion, not only of all falfe ones, butof Irreligion and Atheifm. For the Wea- 
 pons of that Warfare, as the Apoftle teftifies, who beft knew, are not carnal, but 
 mighty through God to the pulling down ofjlrong-ho'ds, and all reafonings , and every 
 high thingexalled againft the knowledge of God, jurprijing every thought unto the obe- 
 dience of Chrifl, and eafily revenging all difobedience, 2 Cor. id, What Minifter or 
 Clergy-man that either understood his high calling, or fought not to erect a fe- 
 cular and carnal Tyranny over fpiritnal things^ would neglect this ample and 
 fublime power conferred upon him, and come a begging to the weak hand of 
 Magiftracy for that kind of aid which the Magiftrate hath no Commiffion 
 to afford him, and in the way he feeks it hath been always found helplefs and 
 unprofitable. Neither is it unknown, or by wifeft Men unobferv'd, that the 
 Church began then mod apparently to degenerate, and go to ruin, when fhe 
 borrow'dof the Civil Power more than fair encouragement and protection; 
 more than which Chrifthimfelf and his Apoftles never requir'd. To fay thcr- 
 fore, that We protect and invite all falfe Religions, with Irreligion alfo and A- 
 theifm, becaufe we lend not, or rather mifapply not the temporal power to help 
 out, though in vain, the floth, the fpleen, the infufficiency of Church-men, 
 in the execution of fpiritual difcipline, over thofe within their Charge, or t hole 
 without, is an imputation that may belaid as well upon the beft-regulated States 
 and Governments through the World. Who have been fo prudent as never to 
 employ the civil Sword further than the edge of it could reach, that is, to Ci- 
 vil Offences only •, proving always againft objects that were fpiritual a ridicu- 
 lous weapon. Our protection therfore to men in Civil Matters unoffenfive we 
 cannot deny ; their Confciences we leave, as not within our Cognizance, to the 
 proper cure of inftruction, praying for them. Neverthelefs, if any be found 
 among us declar'd Atheifts, malicious Enemies of God, and of Chrift ; the 
 Parlament, I think, profeffes not to tolerate fuch, but with all befitting endea- 
 vours to fupprefs them. Otherways to protect none that in a larger fenfe may 
 be tax'd of Irreligion or Atheifm, may perhaps be the ready way to exclude 
 none fooner out of protection, than thole themfelves that moft accufe it to be fa 
 general to others. Laftly, that we invite fuch as thefe, or incourage them, is- 
 a meer fiander without proof. 
 
 He tells us next, that they have murther'd the King. And they deny not to have 
 juftly and undauntedly, as became the Parlament of England, for more Blood- 
 jhed and other heinous Crimes than ever King of this Land was guilty of, after 
 open trial, punifh'd him with death. A matter which to men whole ferious 
 confideration therof hath left no certain precept, or example undebated, is fo 
 far from giving offence, that we implore and befeech the Divine Majefty fo to 
 uphold and fupport their fpirits with like Fortitude and Magnanimity, that all 
 their enfuing actions may correfpond and prove worthy that impartial and noble 
 piece of Juftice, wherin the Hand of God appear'd fo evidently on our fide. 
 We ftiall not then need to fear what all the rout and faction of men bafely 
 principl'd can do againft us. 
 
 The end of our proceedings, which he takes upon him to have difcover'd, 
 The changing forfooth of Monarchy into Anarchy, founds fo like the finattering 
 of fome raw Politician, and the overworn objection of every trivial Talker, 
 that we leave him in the number. But feeing in that which follows he contains 
 not himfelf, but contrary to what a Gentleman fhould know of Civility, pro- 
 ceeds to the contemptuous naming of a Perfon, whofe valour and high merit 
 many enemies more noble than himfelf have both honour'd and fear'd, to af- 
 fert his good name and reputation, of whofe fervice the Commonwealth re- 
 ceives fo ample fatisfaction, 'tis anfwered in his behalf, that Cromwell whom he 
 couples with a name of fcorn, hath done in few years more eminent and remark- 
 able Deeds wheron to found Nobility in his Houfe, though it were wanting, 
 and perpetual Renown to Poflerity, than Ormond and all his Anceftors put to- 
 gether can fhew from any Record of their Irifh Exploits, the wideft Scene of 
 their Glory. 
 
 He paries on his groundlefs conjectures, that the aim of this Parlament may be 
 perhaps to fet up firft an elective Kingdom, and after that a perfect Turkifh Ty- 
 ranny. Of the former, we fuppofe the late act againft Monarchy will fuffice to 
 acquit them. Of the latter, certainly there needed no other pattern than that 
 Tyranny which was fo long modelling by the late King himfelf, with Strafford^ 
 4 and
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Iriih. 
 
 that Arch-Prelate of Canterbury* his chief Iriftrurrients ; whofe defigns God 
 
 pated. Neither is it any new project of the Monarchs, and their 
 
 Courtiers in thefe days, though Chriftians they would be thought, to endea- 
 
 tntroducing df aplkin Twkifla Tyranny. Witnefs that Confultation 
 
 had in the Court of France under Charles the Ninth at Blots, whCrin Pcncet, a 
 certain Court-projector, brought in fecretly by the Chancellor Biragha, after 
 many praifes of the Ottoman Government, propofes means and ways at large, 
 in prefence of the King, the Queen Regent, and Anjou the King's Brother, how 
 with beft, expedition, and leaft noile the Turkijh Tyranny might be let up in 
 :e. It appears therfore that the defign of bringing in that Tyranny, is 
 a Monarchical defign, and not of thole who have dillblved Monarchy. 
 
 As for Parlaments b/ three Estates **t know that a Parlament fignifies no 
 mote than the Supreme and General Council of a Nation, con fitting of whom- 
 foeverchofen and afiembled for the public good ; which was ever practis'd, and 
 in all forts of Government, before the Word Parlament, or the formality, or the 
 poifibiiity of thole three Eftates, or fuck a thing as a Titular Monarchy had ei- 
 ther name or being in the World. The Original of all which we could pro- 
 to be far newer than thole all Ages which he vaunts of, and by fuch firft in- 
 id contriv'd, whofe authority, tho' it were Charles Mar**//, ftands not fo 
 high in oar repute, either for himfelf, or the age he liv'd in, but that with as good 
 warrant we may recede from what he ordain'd, as he ordain what before was not. 
 But wheras betides he is bold to alledge that of the three Eftates there re- 
 maims only a fmall number, and" they the Dregs and Scum of the Houfe of Com- 
 mom ; this reproach, and in the mouth of an Irijh Man, concerns not them only, 
 but redounds to apparent dithonour of the whole Englifh Nation. Doubtlefs 
 there muft be thought a great fcarcity in England of perfons honourable and. de- 
 ferving, or elfe of Judgment, or fo much as Honefty in the People, if thofe 
 whom theyefteem worthy to fit in Parlament be no better than Scum and Dregs 
 in the Irifh Dialect. But of fuch like fluff we meet not any where with more 
 excrefcence than in his own lavifh Pen •, which feeling it felf loofe without the 
 reins of difcretion, rambles for themoft part beyond all Sobernefs and Civility. 
 In which Torrent he goes on negotiating and cheapning the Loyalty of our 
 Faithful Governour of Dublin, as if the known and try'd Conftancy of that 
 valiant Gentleman were to be bought with Court-fumes. 
 
 He lays before him, that there remains now no other Liberty'-in the SubjetJ but to 
 prefefs blafpbenious opinions, to revile and tread under foot Magifiracy, to murther Ma- 
 gift rates, to Opprefs and undo all that are not like -minded with us. Forgetting in the 
 mean while hi mil If to be in the head of a mixt Rabble, part Papirts, part Fu- 
 gitives, and part Savages, guilty in the higheft degree of all thefe Crimes. 
 \\ hat more blafphemous, not Opinion, but whole Religion, than Popery, plung'd 
 into Idolatrous and Ceremonial Superftition, the very death of all true Reli- 
 gion; figur'd to us by the Scripture it felf in the thape of that Beaft, ///// of the 
 names of Blafpbemy, which we mention to him as to one that would be counted 
 Proteftant, and had his breeding in the houfe of a Bifhop ? And who are thofe 
 that have trod under foot Magiftracy, murdered Magiftrates, opprefs'd and un- 
 done all that fi led not with them, but the Irifh Rebels, in that horrible Con- 
 fpiracy, for which Ormond himfelf hath either been or feem'd to be their Enemy, 
 though now their Ringleader. And let himafk the Jefuits about him, whether 
 it be not their known Doctrine and alfo Practice, not by fair and due procefsof 
 Juftice to punifh Kings and Magiftrates, which we difavow not, but to murder 
 them in the bafeftand moft affafiinous manner, if their Church- intereftfo require. 
 There will not nee! more words to this windy Railer, convicted openly ot all 
 thofe Crimes -which he fo confidently, and yet faltly charges upon others. 
 
 We have now to deal, though in the fame Country, with another fort of Ad- 
 verfaries, in (how tar different, in fubftance much-what the lame. Thefe write 
 themfelves the Prefbytery of Bclfaft, a place better known by the name of a 
 late Barony, than by the Fame of thefe Men's Doctrine or Ecclefiaftical Deeds ; 
 whofe oblcurity tillnow never came to our hearing. And furely we lhould think 
 this their Reprefentment far beneath conlidcrable, who have neglected and paft 
 over the like unadvifednefi of their fellows in other places more near us, were it 
 not to obferve in fome particulars the Sympathy, good Intelligence, and joint 
 pace which they go in the North of Ireland, with their Copartning Rebels in the 
 
 Vol. I. Zz South, 
 
 f> m *
 
 354 Obfervatiom on the Articles of Peace 
 
 South, driving on the fame Intereft to lofe us that Kingdom, that they may- 
 gain it themfelves, or at leaft fnare in the lpoil : though the other be open Ene- 
 mies, thefe pretended Brethren. 
 
 The Introduction or" their Manifeft out of doubt muft be zealous ; Their Du- 
 /v, they fay, to God and his People, over whom be hath made them Overfeers, and 
 for whom they muft give account. What mean thefe Men ? Is the Prefbytery of 
 Belfajl, a fmall Town in Ulfter, of fo large extent, that their Voices cannot 
 ferve to teach Duties in the Congregation which they overfee, without fpread- 
 ing and divulging to all parts far beyond the Diocefs of Patrick or Colum- 
 ba, their written Reprefentation, under the futtle pretence of feeding their own 
 Flock ? Or do they think to overfee or undertake to give an account for all to 
 whom their Paper fends greeting ? S.$aul to the Elders of Ephefus thinks it fuf- 
 licieht to give charge, That they take heed to themfelves and to the Flock over which 
 they were made Overfeers ; beyond thole Bounds he enlarges not their Commif- 
 fion. And furely when we put down Bifhops and put up Prefbyters, which 
 the moft of them have made life of to enrich and exalt themfelves, and turn the 
 firft heel againft their Beneiaclors, we did not think that one Clafiic Fraternity 
 fo obfeure and fo remote, mould involve us and all State- Affairs, within the C c n ■ 
 fore and Jurifdiftion of Belfaft, upon pretence of overfecing their own Charge. 
 
 We very well know that Church-Cenfures are limited to Church- Matters, and 
 thefe within the compafs of their own Province, or to fay more truly of their 
 own Congregation : that Affairs of State are not for their meddling, as we could 
 urge even from their own Inveftives and Proteftations againft the Biihops, 
 wherin they tell them with much fervency, that Minifters of the Gofpel, nei- 
 ther by that Function, nor any other which they ought accept, have the leaft 
 Warrant to be Pragmatical in the State. 
 
 And furely in vain were Biihops for thefe and other Caufes forbid to lit and 
 vote in the Houfe, if thefe Men out of the Houi'e, and without Vote fhall claim 
 and be permitted more licence on their Prefbyterial Stools, to breed continual 
 difturbance by interpofing in the Commonwealth. But feeing that now, ftnee 
 their heaving out the Prelates to heave in themfelves, they devife new ways to 
 bring both ends together, which will never meet-, that is to fay, their former Doc- 
 trine with their prefent Doings, as that they cannot elfe teach Magiftrates and Sub- 
 jefts their Duty, and that they have befides a Right themfelves tofpeak as Members of 
 the Commonwealth : Let them know that there is a wide difference between the 
 general exhortation to Juftice and Obedience, which in this point is the utmoft 
 of their Duty, and the State-diiputes wherin they are now grown fueh Bufy- 
 bodies, to preach of Titles, Interefts and Alterations in Government ; more 
 than our Saviour him felf, or any of his Apoltles ever took upon them, though 
 the Title both of Ccefar and of Herod, and what they did in matters of State, 
 might have then admitted Controverfy enough. 
 
 Next, for their Civil Capacities, we are fure that Pulpits and Church-AlTem- 
 b'ies, whether Claffical or Provincial, never were intended or allow'd by wife 
 Magiftrates, no nor by him that fent them, to advance fuch purpofes, but that 
 as Members of the Commonwealth they ought to mix with other Commoners, 
 tmd in that temporal Body to affume nothing above other private Perfons, or 
 otherwife than in a ufual and legal manner : not by diftincr. Remonftrances and 
 Reprefentments, as if they were a tribe and party by themfelves, which is the 
 next immediate way to make the Church lift a Horn againft the State, and claim 
 an abfolute and undepending Jurifdiction, as from like advantage and occafion 
 (to the trouble of all Chriltendom) the Pope hath for many Ages done; and not 
 only our Biihops were climbing after him, but our Prefbyters alio, as by late Ex- 
 periment we find. Of this Reprefentation therfore we can efteem and judge no 
 other than of a flanderous and feditious Libel, fent abroad by a fort of Incendi- 
 aries to delude and make the better way under the cunning and plaufible name 
 of a Prefbytery. 
 
 A fecond Reafon of their Rcprefenting is, that they confider the dependance of 
 that Kingdom upon England, which is another lhamelefs untruth that ever they con- 
 fider'd-, as their own Actions will declare, by conniving, and in their fiience par- 
 taking with thole in Ulfter, whole obedience, by what we have yet heard, ftands 
 dubious, and with an eye of Conformity rather to the North, than to that part 
 where they owe their fubjeftion •, and this iu all likelihotd by tie inducement 
 
 and
 
 between the Earl of 'Ormond and the Irifh. 
 
 and irrigation of thefe Reprefenters : who are fo far from confidering their de- 
 pendance on England, as to prefume at every word to term proceedings of Par- 
 lament, the Infolencies of a Sectarian party, and of private men. Defpifino- domi- 
 nion, and fpeaking evil of dignities, which hypocritically they would'feem to 
 difiuade others from ; and not fearing the due correction of their Superiors, that 
 may in fit feafon overtake them. When as the leaft confideration of their depen- 
 dance on England would have kept them better in their Duty. 
 
 The third Reafon which they ufe, makes againft them ; The remembrance 
 how God punifh'd the contempt of their warning laft year upon the Breakers of 
 Covenant, whenas the next year after they forget the warning of that puniflv 
 ment hanging over their own heads for the very fame tranfgrefiion, their manifeft 
 breach of Covenant by this feditious Reprefentation, accompanied with the 
 doubtful obedience of that Province which reprefents it. 
 
 And thus we have their Preface fupported with three Reafons ; two of them 
 notorious falfities, and the third againft themfelves •, and two examples, the 
 Province of London, and the Commffioners of the Kirk-dflembly. But certain, if 
 Canonical Examples bind not, much lefs do Apocryphal. 
 
 Proceeding to avouch the truft put upon them by God, which is plainly proved 
 to be none or this nature, They would not be looked upon as Sowers of Sedition, or 
 Authors of divijive Motions ; their Record, they fay, is in Heaven, and their 
 Truth and Honefty no Man knows where. For is not this a fharhelefs Hypo- 
 crify, and of meer Wolves in Sheeps cloathing, to low Sedition in the Ears of 
 all Men, and to face us down to the very Act, that they are Authors of no fuch 
 matter ? But let the fequel both of their Paper, and the obedience of the place 
 wherin they are, determine. 
 
 Nay, while we are yet writing thefe things, and foretelling all men the Rebel- 
 lion which was even then defigned in the clofe purpofe of thefe unhallowed 
 Prieftlings, at the very time when with their Lips they difclaimed all lowing of 
 Sedition, News is brought, and too true, that the Scotti/h Inhabitants of that 
 Province are actually revolted, and have not only befieged in London-Deny thofe 
 Forces which were to have fought againft Ormond and the Irifh Rebels ; but have 
 m a manner declared with them, and begun open War againft the Parlament j 
 and all this by the incitement and illufions of that unchriftian Synagogue at Bel- 
 fa/}, who yet dare charge the Parlament, that notwithftanding fpecious pretences, 
 yet their actings do evidence that they love a rough Garment to deceive. The Deceit: 
 we own not, but the Companion, by what at firft fight may feem alluded, we 
 accept : For that hairy roughnefs affumed, won Jacob the Birthright both Tempo- 
 ral and Eternal ; and God we truft hath fo difpofed the mouth of thefe Balaams, 
 that coming to Curfe, they have ftumbled into a kind of Blefling, and compared 
 our aftings to the faithful Acl of that Patriarch. 
 
 But if they mean, as more probably dieir meaning was, that rough Garment 
 fpoken of Zach. 13. 4. we may then behold the pitiful ftore of learning and the- 
 ology, which thefe deceivers have thought fufficient to uphold their credit with 
 the People, who, though the rancour that leavens them have fomewhat quickned 
 the common drawling of their Pulpit elocution, yet for want of ftock enough in 
 Scripture-phrafe to ferve the necefiary ufes of their Malice, they are become fo 
 liberal, as to part freely with their own Budge-gowns from off - their backs, and 
 beftow them on the Magiftrate as a rough Garment to deceive ; rather than not 
 be furnifhed with a reproach, though never fo improper, never fo obvious to be 
 turned upon themfelves. For but with half an eye caft upon that Text, any 
 man will foon difcern that rough Garment to be their own Coat, their own Livery, 
 the very Badge and Cognizance of fuch falfe Prophets as themfelves. Who, 
 when they underftand, or ever ferioufly mind the beginning of that 4th verfe, 
 may be aJJjamed every one of his lying Vifion, and may juftly fear that foregoing de- 
 nouncement to fuch asfpeak Lyes in the name of the Lord, verf. 4. lurking under 
 the rough Garment of outward rigour and formality, wherby they cheat the fim- 
 ple. So thxt-this rough Garment to deceive, we bring ye once again, Grave Sirs, 
 into your own Veftry •, or with Zachary fhall not think much to fit it to your 
 own Shoulders. To beftow aught in good earned on the Magiftrate, we know 
 your claftic Prieftftiip is too gripple, for ye are always begging: and for this 
 rough Gown to deceive, we are confident ye cannot fpare it ; it is your Sun- 
 day's Gown, your every day Gown, your only Gown, the Gowa of your Facul- 
 
 Vol, I. Z z 2 ty ;' 
 
 355
 
 /■I 
 
 5 6 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 ty v your divining Gown -, to take it from ye were Sacrilege. Wear it ther- 
 fore, and poflefs it your felves, moft grave and reverend Carmelites, that alT 
 Men both young and old, as we hope they will fhortly, may yet better know ye y 
 and diftino-uim ye by it ; and give to your rough Gown, where-ever they meet 
 it, whether in Pulpit, Claffis, or Provincial Synod, the precedency, and the 
 pre-eminence of deceiving. 
 
 They charge us next that we have broken the Covenant, and loaden it with, 
 flighting Reproaches. For the reproaching, let them anfwer that are guilty, 
 wherof the State we are fure cannot be accus'd. For the breaking, let us hear 
 wherin. In labouring, lay they, to eftablijh by Law a univerfal Toleration of all Re- 
 ligions. This touches not the State -, for certainly were they fo minded, they 
 need not labour it, but do it, having power in their hands ; and we know of 
 no Act as yet pall to that purpofe. But fuppofe it done, wherin is the 
 Covenant broke ? The Covenant enjoins us to endeavour the extirpation firft of 
 Popery and Prelacy, then of Herefy, Schifm, and Prophanenefs, and whatsoever 
 fhall be found contrary to found Doctrine and the Power of Godlinefs. And this 
 we ceafe not to do by all effectual and proper means : But thefe Divines might 
 know that to extirpate all thefe things can be no work of the Civil Sword, but 
 of the Spiritual, which is the Word of God. 
 
 No Man well in his Wits, endeavouing to root up Weeds out of his Ground, 
 inftead of ufing the Spade will take a Mallet or a Beetle. Nor doth the Covenant 
 any way engage us to extirpate, or to profecute the Men, but the Herefies and 
 Errors in them, which we tell thefe Divines and the reft that understand not, 
 belongs chiefly to their own Function, in the diligent preaching and infilling up- 
 on found Doctrine, in the confuting, not the railing down Errors, encountering 
 both in public and private Conference, and by the power of truth not of per- 
 fection, fubduing thofe Authors of Heretical Opinions, and lallly in the Spi- 
 ritual execution of Church-difcipline within their own Congregations. In all 
 thefe ways we fhall affiftthem, favour them, and as far as appertains to us join 
 with them, and moreover not tolerate the free exercife of any Religion, which 
 fhall be found abfolutely contrary to found Doctrine or the Power of Godlinefs ; 
 for the Confcience, we mull have patience till it be within our verge. And 
 thus doing, we fhall believe to have kept exactly all that is requir'd from us by 
 the Covenant. Whilft they by their feditious practices againft us, than which no- 
 thing for the prefent can add more afiiftance or advantage to thofe bloody Re- 
 bels and Papifts in the South, will be found moft pernicious Covenant-breakers 
 themfelves, and as deep in that guilt as thofe of their own Nation the laftyear ; 
 the warning of whofe ill fuccefs like men hardned for the fame Judgment, they 
 - miferably pervert to an incouragement in the fame offence, if not a far worfe : 
 For now they have join'd Intereft with the Irijh Rebels, who have ever fought 
 againft the Covenant, wheras their Country-men the year before made the Co- 
 venant their Plea. But as it is a peculiar Mercy of God to his People, while they 
 remain his, to preferve them from wicked Confederations : fo it is a mark and 
 punifhment of Hypocrites, to be driven at length to mix their Caufe, and the In- 
 tereft of their Covenant with God's Enemies. 
 
 And wheras they affirm that the tolerating of all Religions in the manner 
 that we tolerate them, is an innovation •, we muft acquaint them that we are a- 
 ble to make it good, if need be, both by Scripture and the Primitive Fathers, and 
 the frequent affertion of whole Churches and Proteftant States in their Remon- 
 strances and Expostulations againft the PopiSli Tyranny over Souls. And what 
 force of argument do thefe Doctors bring to the contrary ? But we have long ob- 
 lerv'd to what pafs the bold ignorance and Sloth of our Clergy tends no lefs now 
 than in the BiShops days, to make their bare fayings and cenfures authentic with 
 the People, though destitute of any proof or argument. But thanks be to God 
 they are difcern*d. 
 
 Their nextimpeachment is, That we oppofe the PrefiyterialGevermnent, theHedge 
 and Bulwark of Religion. Which all the Land knows to be a moft impudent false- 
 hood, having eftablilh'd it with all freedom, wherever it hath been defir'd. 
 Neverthelefs, as we perceive it afpiring to be a compulfive power upon all with- 
 out exception in Parochial, ClaSfical, and Provincial Hierarchies, or to require 
 the fleShly Arm of Magistracy in the execution of a Spiritual Discipline, to pu- 
 nifh and amerce by any corporal infliction thofe whole Confcicnccs cannot be 
 
 edify'd
 
 between the Earl of Ormond and the Iriih. — 
 
 j j j j 
 
 edify'd by what authority they arc compell'd, we hold it no more to be the Hedge and 
 Bulwark of Religion, than the Popifh and Prelatical Courts, or the Spanijh Inqutjition. 
 
 But we are told, We embrace Paganifm andjudaifm in the arms cf Toleration. 
 A mod audacious calumny ! And yet while we deteft Judaifm, we know our 
 felves commanded by St. Paul, Rom. n. to refpecT: the Jews, and by all means 
 to endeavour their converfion. 
 
 Neither was it ever fworn in the Covenant to maintain a univerfal Prefbytery 
 in England, as they falfly alledge, but in Scotland againft the common Enemy, if 
 our aid were call'd for : being left free to reform our own Country according to 
 the "Word of God, and the example of bell; reformed Churches ; from which 
 rule we are not yet departed. 
 
 But here, utterly forgetting to be Minifters of the Gofpel, they prefume to 
 open their mouths not in the Spirit of Meeknefs, as like difTemblers they pretend, 
 but with as much devilifh malice, impudence and falfhood, as any Irifh Rebel 
 could have utter'd ; and from a barbarous nook of Ireland brand us with the 
 extirpation of Laws and Liberties -, things which they feem as little to under- 
 ftand as aught that belongs to good Letters or Humanity. 
 
 That we feiz'd on the Perfon of the King ; who was furrendred into our hands an 
 Enemy and Captive by our own fubordinate and paid Army of Scots in England. 
 Next, our imprifoning many Members of the Houfe. As if it were impoffible they 
 mould deferve it, confpiring and bandying againft the public good •, which to 
 the other part appearing, and, with the power they had, not refilling, had been 
 a manifeft defertion of their Truft and Duty. No queftion but it is as good 
 and neceflary to expel rotten Members out of the Houfe, as to banifh Delinquents 
 out of the Land : and the reafon holds as well in forty as in five. And if they 
 be yet more, the more dangerous is their number. They had no privilege to 
 fit there, and vote home the Author, the impenitent Author of all our Miferies 
 .to Freedom, Honour and Royalty, for a few fraudulent, if not deftructive Con- 
 ceffions. Which that they went about to do, how much more clear it was to all 
 men, fo much die more expedient, and important to the Commonwealth was 
 their fpeedy feizure and exclufion ; and no breach of any juft privilege, but a 
 breach of their knotted faction. And here they cry out, An Action without pa- 
 rallel in any Age. So heartily we wifh all men were unprejudie'd in all our Acti- 
 ons, as thefe illiterate denouncers never parallel'd fo much of any Age as would 
 contribute to the tithe of a Century. That we aboliflo Parlamentary Power, and 
 ejlablifa a Reprefentative inftead therof. Now we have the height of them ; thefe 
 profound Inftructors, in the midft of their Reprelentation, would know the Er.g- 
 lifh of a Reprefentative, and were perhaps of that Claffis, who heretofore were 
 as much ftagger'd at Triennial. 
 
 Their grand Accufation is our Juftice done on the King, which that they may 
 prove to be without rule or example, they venture all the credit they have in divine 
 and human Hiftory ; and by the fame defperate boldnefs detect themfelves to be 
 egregious Lyars and Impoftors, feeking to abufe the multitude with a fhow of 
 that gravity and learning which never was their Portion. Had their knowledge 
 been equal to the knowledge of any ftupid Monk, or Abbot, they would have 
 known at leaft, though ignorant of all things elfe, the life and acts of him, who 
 firft inftituted their Order : But thefe blockifh Prefbyters of Clandeboy know not 
 that John Knox, who was the firft founder of Prefbytery in Scotland, taught pro- 
 feffedly the Doctrine of depofing, and of killing Kings. And thus while they 
 deny that any fuch rule can be found, the rule is found in their own Country, 
 given them by their own firft Prefbyterian Inftitutor ; and they themfelves, like 
 irregular Friers walking contrary to the rule of their own Foundation, deferve 
 for fo grofs an ignorance and tranfgreffion to be difciplin'd upon their own Stools. 
 Or had their reading in Hiftory been any, which by this we may be confident is 
 none at all, or their Malice not heighten'd to a blind rage, they never would fo 
 rafhly have thrown the Dice to a palpable difcovery of their ignorance and want 
 of fhame. But wherefore fpend we two fuch precious things as time and rea- 
 fon upon Prielts, the moft prodigal mif-fpenders of time, and the fcarceft owners 
 of reafon ? 'Tis fufficient we have publifh'd our defences, given reafons, given ex- 
 amples of our Juftice done •, Books alio have been written to the fame purpofe for 
 Men to look on that will •, that no Nation under Heaven but in one age or other 
 hath done the like. The difference only is, which rather feems to us matter of glory, 
 
 that
 
 ^5 8 Obfervations on the Articles of Peace 
 
 that they for the mod part have without Form of Law done the deed by a kind of 
 martial Juftice, we by the deliberateandwell-weigh'dSentence of alegal Judicature. 
 
 But they tell us, // was againji the inter eft and proteftation of the Kingdom of 
 Scotland. And did exceeding well to join thofe two together : hereby inform- 
 ing us what credit or regard need be given in England to ^Scotch Proteftation, 
 ufhered in by a Scotch Intereft : certainly no more than we fee is given in Scotland 
 to an Englifh Declaration, declaring the Intereft of England. If then our inte- 
 reft move not them, why fhould theirs move us ? If they fay, we are not all 
 England ; we reply, they are not all Scot land : nay, were the laft year fo inconfi- 
 derable a part of Scotland as were beholden to this which they now term the 
 Sectarian Army, to defend and refcue them at the charges of England from a 
 ftronger party of their own Countrymen, in whofe efteem they were no better 
 than Sectarians themfelves. But they add, 7/ was againji the former Declara- 
 tions of both Kingdoms, to feize, or proceed againft the King. We are certain' 
 that no fuch Declarations of both Kingdoms, as derive not their full force from 
 the fenfe and meaning of the Covenant, can be produced. 
 
 And if they plead againft the Covenant, To preferve and defend his Per/on ; 
 we afk them briefly whether they take the Covenant to be abfolute or conditio- 
 nal ? If abfolute, then fuppofe the King to have committed all prodigious Crimes 
 and Impieties againft God, or Nature, or whole Nations, he muft neverthelefs 
 be facred from all violent touch. Which abfurd opinion, how it can live in a- 
 ny Man's reafon, either natural or rectified, we much marvel : Since God de- 
 clared his anger as impetuous for the faving of King Benhadad, though iurren- 
 dring himfelf at mercy, as for the killing of Naboth. If it be conditional, in 
 the prefervation and defence of Religion, and the People's Liberty, then cer- 
 tainly to takeaway his life, being dangerous, and pernicious to both thefe, was 
 no more a breach of the Covenant, than for the fame reafon at Edinburgh to be- 
 head Gordon the Marquefs Huntky. By the fame Covenant we made vow to af= 
 fift and defend all thofe that fhould enter with us into this League -, not abfo- 
 lutely, but in the maintenance and purfuing therof. If therfore no Man elfe 
 ever was fo mad as to claim from hence an impunity from all Juftice, why fhould 
 any for the King ? Whofe Life by other Articles of the fame Covenant was for- 
 feit. Nay if common fenfe had not led us to fuch a clear Interpretation, the 
 Scotch CommifTioners themfelves might boaft to have been our firft teachers : who 
 when they drew to the malignance which brought forth that perfidious laft year's 
 irruption againft all the bands of Covenantor Chriftian Neighbourhood, making 
 their hollow Plea the defence of His Majefty's Perfon, they were conftrained by 
 their own guiltinefs to leave out that following morfel that would have choak'd 
 them, the prefervation and defence of true Religion, and our Liberties. Andqueftion- 
 lefs in the prefervation of thefe, we are bound as well, both by the Covenant, 
 and before the Covenant, to preferve and defend the Perfon of any private Man, 
 as the Perfon and Authority of any inferior Magiftrate : So that this Arti- 
 cle, objected with fuch vehemence againft us, contains not an exception of the 
 King's Perfon, and Authority, to do by privilege what wickednefs he lift, and be 
 defended, as fome fancy, but an exprefs teftification of our Loyalty •, and the 
 plain words without wrefting will bear as much, that we had no thoughts againft 
 his perfon, or juft power, provided they might confift with the prefervation and 
 defence of true Religion and our Liberties. But to thefe how hazardous his 
 Jife was, will be needlefs to repeat fo often. It may fuffice that while he was 
 in cuftody, where we expected his Repentance, his remorfe at laft, and com- 
 panion of all the innocent blood fhed already, and hereafter likely to be fhed for 
 his meer wilfulnefs, he made no other ufe of our continual forbearance, our 
 humbleft Petitions and Obteftations at his feet, but to fit contriving and foment- 
 ing new Plots againft us, and as his own phrafe was, playing his own Game up- 
 on the Miferies of his People : Of which we defire no other view at prefent 
 than thefe Articles of Peace with the Rebels, and the rare Game likely to en- 
 fue from fuch a caft of his Cards. And then let Men reflect a little upon the 
 flanders and reviles of thefe wretched Priefts, and judge what Modefty, what 
 Truth, what Confcience, what any thing fit for Minifters, or we might fay 
 reafonable men, can harbour in them. For what they began in fhamelefnefs and 
 malice, they conclude in frenzy : throwing out a fudden rhapfody of Proverbs 
 quite from the purpofe ; and withas much comelinefs^-s wh.en Saul prophefy*d. 
 
 Fob
 
 between the Karl ^Ormond and the Irifh. 3 - g 
 
 For calling off, as lie did his Garments, all modefty and meekncfs wherewith 
 the Language of Minifters ought to be cloath'd, efpecially to their fu- 
 preme Magilbatc, they talk at random of Servants raging, Servants riding,, 
 and wonder how the Earth can bear them. Either thefe men imagine themfelves to 
 be marveloufly high fet and exalted in the Chair of Belfaji, to vouchfafe the 
 Parlament of England no better ftile than Servants, or eJfe their high notion, 
 which we rather believe, falls as low as Court-parafitifm •, fuppofing all Men 
 to be Servants, but the King. And then all their pains taken to ieem fo wife in 
 proverbing, fcrves but to conclude them downright Slaves : and the ed^e of 
 their own Proverb falls reverie upon themfelves. For as Delight is not feemly for 
 Fools, milch lefs high Words to come from bafe Minds. What they are for 
 Minifters, or how they crept into the Fold, whether at the Window, or through 
 the Wall, or who fet them there lb haughty in the Pontifical See of Belfafi, 
 we know not. But this we rather have caufe to wonder if the Earth can beax 
 this unfufferable infolency of upftarts •, who from a ground which is not their own, 
 dare fend fuch defiance to the fovcreignMagiftracy of England, by whofe autho- 
 rity and in whofe right they inhabit there. By their actions we might rather judge 
 them to be a generation of High-land Thieves and Red-fhanks, who being neigh- 
 bourly admitted, not as the Saxons by merit of their Warfare againft our Ene-- 
 rnies,' but by the courtefy of England to hold pofifefilons in our Province, a 
 Country better than their own, have, with worfe Faith than thofe Heathen, 
 prov'd ingrateful and treacherous Guefts to their beft Friends and Entertainers. 
 And let them take heed, left while their filence, as to thefe matters, might have 
 kept them blamelefs and fecure under thofe proceedings which they fo fear'd to 
 partake in, that thefe their treafonous attempts and practices have not involv'd 
 them in a far worfe guilt of Rebellion •, and (notwithftanding that fair de- 
 hortatory from joining with Malignants) in the appearance of a co-interefi: and 
 partaking with the IriJ/j Rebels. Againft whom, though by themfelves pro- 
 noune'd to be the Enemies of God, they go not out to battle, as they ought, 
 but rather by thefe their doings affift and become affociates. 
 
 EIKONO-
 
 -6o 
 
 ~> 
 
 EIKONOKAAXTHS. 
 
 In Anfwer to a Book Intitled, 
 
 EIKON BA2IAIKH, 
 
 The Portraiture of his Sacred Majesty 
 in his Solitudes and Sufferings. 
 
 Prov. 28. 15. As a roaring Lion and a ranging Bear, Jo is a wicked 
 Ruler over the poor People. 
 
 1 6. 'The Prince that ivanteth underjlanding, is a 1/6 a great Opprefjor ; but 
 be that hateth covetonjhe/s, Jhall prolong his days. 
 
 17. A Man that doth violence to the Blood of any perfon,fiallfy to the pit '; 
 let no manjlay him. 
 
 Salufi. Conjurai. Catilin. 
 
 Regium imperium, quod initio, confervanda? libertatis, atque augendae 
 1 reipub. causa fuerat, in fuperbiam, dominationemque fe convertit. 
 Regibus boni, quam mali, fufpecliores funt, femperque his aliena vir- 
 tus formidolofa eft. 
 Quidlibet impune facere, hoc fcilicet regium eft. 
 
 PubliJJjed by Authority. 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 TO defcant on the Misfortunes of a Perfon fallen from lb high 
 a Dignity, who hath alfo paid his final debt both to Na- 
 ture and his Faults, is neither of it felf a thing commenda- 
 ble, nor the intention of this Difcourfe: Neither was it fond 
 Ambition, or the Vanity to get a Name prefent or with Pofterity, by 
 writing againft a King. I never was io thirfty after Fame, nor lo 
 deftitute of other hopes and means better and more certain to attain 
 it : for Kings have gain'd gloriousTitles from their Favourers by writing 
 againft private Men, as Henry the Stb did againft Luther; but no Man 
 ever gain'd much honour by writing againft a King, as not ulually 
 meeting with that force of Argument in fuch Courtly Antagomfis i which 
 to convince might add to his Reputation. Kings moft commonly, tho' 
 ftrong in Legions, are but weak at Arguments; as they' who ever 
 have accuftom'd from the Cradle to ufe their Will only as their right 
 hand A their Rcafon always as their left. Whence unexpectedly con- 
 ftrain'd to that kind of combate, they prove but weak and puny Ad- 
 
 vei turics ;
 
 An Anfooer to Eikon Bafilike. 361 
 
 verfaries : Neverthelefs, for their fakes who through cuStom, fimpli- 
 city, or want of better teaching, have not more SeriouSly confider'd 
 Kings, than in the gaudy name of MajeSty, and admire them and their 
 doings as if they breath'd not the fame breath with other mortal Men, 
 I mall make no fcruple to take up (for it feems to be the challenge both 
 of him and all his party) this Gauntlet, though a King's, in the behalf 
 of Liberty and the Commonwealth. 
 
 And further, fince it appears manifeflly the cunning drift of a fac- 
 tion and defeated Party, to make the lame advantage of his Book, 
 which they did before of his Regal Name and Authority, and in- 
 tend it not fo much the defence of his former Actions, as the pro- 
 moting of their own future Defigns; making therby the Book their 
 own rather than the King's, as the benefit now mult be their own 
 more than his : now the third time to corrupt and diforder the minds 
 of weaker Men, by new Suggestions, and Narrations, either falily or 
 fallacioufly reprefenting the State of things to the dishonour of thispre- 
 fent Government, and the retarding of a general Peace, fo needful 
 to this afflicted Nation, and fo nigh obtain'd ; I fuppofe it no 
 Injury to the dead, but; a good deed rather to the living, if by bet- 
 ter information given them, or which is enough, by only remem- 
 bring them the truth of what they themfelves know to be here 
 mifaffirm'd, they may be kept from entering the third time unad- 
 vifedly into War and Bloodshed : for as to any moment of folidity in 
 the Book itfelf, Stuft with naught elfe but the common grounds of 
 Tyranny and Popery, fugar'd a little over 5 or any need of anfwering, 
 in refpect of Staid and well-principl'd men, I take it on me as a 
 work affign'd rather than by me chofen or affected ; which was the 
 caufe both of beginning it fo late, and finifhing it fo leifurely in the 
 midft of other imployments and diverfions. And if the late King had 
 thought fufticient thofe Anfwers and Defences made for him in his life- 
 time, they who on the other fide accus'd his evil Government, judging 
 that on their behalf enough alfo hath been reply'd, the heat of this Con- 
 troverfy was in likelihood drawing to an end ; and the further mention 
 of his deeds, not fo much unfortunate as faulty, had in tendernefs 
 to his late Sufferings been willingly forborn ; and perhaps for the prefent 
 age might have ilept with him unrepeated, while his Adverfaries, calm'd and 
 affvvag'd with the fuccefs of their Caufe, had been the lefs favourable to 
 his Memory. But fince he himlelf, making new appeal to Truth and 
 the World, had left behind him this Book as the belt Advocate and 
 Interpreter of his own Actions, and that his Friends by publishing, dif- 
 perfing, commending, and almolt adoring it, feem to place therin the 
 chief Strength and nerves of their Caule, it would argue doubtlefs in 
 the other Party great deficience and diSlruft of themfelves, not to 
 meet the force of his Reafon in any Field whatfoever, the force and 
 equipage of whofe Arms they have fo often met victoriously. And he 
 who at the Bar Stood excepting againSt the form and manner of his 
 Judicature, and complain'd that he was not heard 5 neither he nor his 
 Friends Shall have that caufe now to find fault ; being met and deba- 
 ted within this open and monumental Court of his own erecting ; and 
 not only heard uttering his whole mind at large, but anfwer'd : which 
 to do effectually, if it be neceflary that to his Book nothing the more 
 refpect be had for being his, they of his own Party can havenojuft rea- 
 fon to exclaim. For it were too unreasonable that he, becauie dead, 
 Should have the liberty in his Book to Speak all evil of the Parlia- 
 ment ; and they, becauie living, Should be expected to have lefs free- 
 Vol.I. Aaa dom,
 
 362 An Anfioer to Eikon Baiilike. 
 
 dom, or any for them, to fpeak home the plain truth of a full and 
 pertinent Reply : As he, to acquit himfelf, hath not fpar'd his Adver- 
 faries to load them with all forts of Blame and Accufation, fo to him, 
 as in his Book alive, there will be us'd no more courtfhip than 
 he ufes ; but what is properly his own guilt, not imputed any more 
 to his evil Counfellors (a Ceremony us'd longer by the Pai lament 
 than he himfelf defir'd) fhall be laid here, without Circumlocutions, 
 at his own door. That they who from the firft beginning, or but 
 now of late, by what unhappinefs I know not, are fo much afra- 
 tuated, not with his perfon only, but with his palpable Faults, and 
 doat upon his Deformities, may have none to blame but their own 
 folly, if they live and die in fuch a ftrooken blindnefs, as next to that 
 of Sodom hath not happen'd to any fort of men more grofs or more 
 mifleading. 
 
 Firft then, that fome men (whether this were by him intended or 
 by his Friends) have by policy accomplifh'd after death that revenge 
 upon their Enemies which in life they were not able, hath been oft 
 related. And among other Examples we find that the la ft Will of 
 Cce/ar being read to the people, and what bounteous Legacies he had 
 bequeath'd them, wrought more in that vulgar audience to the aveng- 
 ing of his death, than all the art he could ever ufe to win his favour in 
 his life-time. And how much their intent who publilh'd thele over- 
 late Apologies and Meditations of the dead King, drives to the fame 
 end of ftirring up the People to bring him that Honour, that Affec- 
 tion, and by confequence that Revenge to his dead Corpfe, which 
 he himfelf could never gain to his Perfon, it appears both by the con- 
 ceited Portraiture before his Book, drawn out to the fuH meafure of a 
 mafking Scene, and fet there to catch Fools and filly Gazers ; and 
 by thofe Latin words after the end, Vota dabunt qua Bella negarunt ; 
 intimating, that what he could not compafs by War, he fhould atchieve 
 by his Meditations : for in words, which admit of various fenfe, the 
 liberty is ours to choofe that Interpretation which may bell: mind us 
 of what our reftlefs Enemies endeavour, and what we are timely to pre- 
 vent. And here may be well obferv'd the loofe and negligent curiofi- 
 ty of thofe who took upon them to adorn the fetting out oi this Book ; 
 for tho' the Picture martyr him and faint him to befool the People, yet 
 the Latin Motto in the end which they underftand not, leaves him as it 
 were a politic Contriver to bring about that intereft by fair and plaufible 
 words, which the force of Arms deny'd him. But quaint Emblems end 
 Devices begg'd from the old Pageantry of fome Twelfe-nights entertain- 
 ment at Whitehall, will do but ill to make a Saint or Martyr : and if the 
 People refolve to take him fainted at the rate of fuch a Canonizing, I {hull 
 fufpect their Calender more than the Gregorian. In one thing I muft 
 commend his opennefs who gave the Title to this Book, Eot*? Ba<7*A<xn, 
 that is to fay,The King's Image; and by the Shrine he dreffes out far him, 
 certainly would have the People come and worfbip him ; For which 
 reafon this anfwer alfo is intitled, Iconoclajles, the famous Surname of 
 many Greek Emperors, who in their zeal to the Command of God, after 
 long Tradition of Idolatry in the Church, took courage and broke all 
 fuperftitious Images to pieces. But the people, exorbitant and exceflive 
 in all their motions, are prone oftimes not to a religious only, but to a 
 civil kind of Idolatry in idolizing their Kings ; though never more mil- 
 taken in the Object of their Worihip ; heretofore being wont to repute 
 for Saints thofe faithful and couragious Barons who Ion; their lives in 
 the Field, making glorious War againft Tyrants for the commonLiber- 
 4 ty j
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 363 
 
 ty ; as Simon de Memfort, Earl of Leicefler, againft Henry the Third; 
 Thomas Plantagertet Earl of Lancajlcr, againft Edward the Second. But 
 now with a befotted and degenerate bafenefs of Spirit, except fome few 
 who yet retain in them the old Englifh Fortitn.de and Love of Freedom, 
 and have teilify'd it by their matdhlefs deeds, \jpe reft imbaftardiz'd from 
 the ancient Noblenefs of their Anceftors, are ready to fall flat and give a- 
 ddratidn to the Image and Memory of this Man, who hath offer 'd at 
 more tunning fetches to undermine our Liberties, and put Tyranny into 
 an Art, than any Britijb King before him: which low dejection and debafe- 
 ment of mind in the people, I muft confefs I cannot willingly afcribe to 
 the natural Difpofition of an Englijhman, but rather to two other Caufes: 
 firft, to the Prelates and their fellow-teacher?, though of another Name 
 and Sect, whole Pulpit-fluff, both firft and laft, hath been the Doctrine 
 and perpetual Ihfufion of Servility and Wretchednefs to all their Hearers, 
 and their Lives the type of worldlinefs and hypocrify, without the leaft 
 truepattern of Virtue, Righteoufhefs, or Self-denial in their whole prac- 
 tice. 1 attribute it next to the factious Inclination of moft men divided 
 from the Public by fevera! ends and humours of their own. At firft no 
 Man lefs belov'd, no Man more generally condemn'd than was the Kin°-; 
 from the time that it became his Cuftom to break Paiiaments at home, 
 :md either wilfully or weakly to betray Proteftants abroad, to the begin- 
 ning of tbofe Combuftions, all men inveigh'd againft him; ail men, ex- 
 cept v'ourt-Vafiah, oppos'd him and his tyrannical Proceedings; the Cry 
 was umverfal ; and this full Parlament was at firft unanimous in their dif- 
 hke and proteftation againft his evil Government. But when they who 
 iought thcmfelves and not the public, began to doubt that all of them 
 could not by one and the fame way attain to their ambitious pur- 
 pofes, then was the King, or his Name at leaft, as a fit property firft made 
 ufe of, his doings made the beft of, and by degrees juftified : which begot 
 him fuch a Party as after many wiles and ftruglings with his inward fears, 
 embolden'd him at length to fet up his Standard againft the Parlament. 
 Whenas before that time, all his adherents, confifting moft of diffolute 
 Swordmen and Suburb-royfters, hardly amounted to the making up of 
 one ragged Regiment, ftrong enough to afiault the unarm'd Houfe of 
 Commons. After which attempt, feconded by a tedious and bloody 
 War on his Subjects, wherin he hath fo far exceeded thofehis arbitrary Vio- 
 lences in time of Peace, they who before hated him for his high Mifgo- 
 vernment, nay fought againft him with difplay'd Banners in the Field, 
 now applaud him and extol him for the wifeft and moft religious Prince 
 that liv'd. By fo ftrange a method amongft the mad multitude is a fud- 
 den Repfttation won, of Wifdom by wilfulnefs and fubtile fhifts, of 
 Goodnefs by multiplying evil, of Piety by endeavouring to root out 
 true Religion. 
 
 But it is evident that the chief of his Adherents never lov'd him, never 
 honour'd either him or his Caufe, but as they took him to fet a face up- 
 on their own malignant Defigns ; nor bemoan his lofs at all, but the lofs 
 of their own afpiring hopes : like thofe captive Women, whom the Poet 
 notes in his Iliad, to have bewail'd the Death of Patroclus in outward 
 fhow, but indeed their own condition; 
 
 YlcbTpoxXov 7rpo(ptz<riv, c$m tfaLwrctiv xyfi Ixay j(. 
 Horn. Iliad, t. 
 
 And it needs muft be ridiculous to any Judgment uninthrall'd, that they 
 who in other matters exprefs fo little fear either of God or Man, fhould 
 in this one particular outltrip all Precilianifm with their fcruples and cafes, 
 
 Vol. I. A a a 2 and
 
 364 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 and fill men's ears continually with the noife of their confeientious Loy- 
 alty, and Allegiance to the King, Rebels in the mean while to God in all 
 their actions befide: much lefsthat they whole profefs'd Loyalty and Al- 
 legiance led them to direct: Arms againft the King's Perfon, and thought 
 him nothing violated by the Sword of Hoftility drawn by them a- 
 gainft him, mould now in earneft think him violated by the unfpa- 
 ring Sword of Juftice, which undoubtedly fo much the lefs in vain fhe 
 bears among men, by how much greater and in higheft place the of- 
 fender. Elfe Juftice, whether moral or political, were not Juftice, but 
 a falfe Counterfeit of that impartial and godlike Virtue. The only grief 
 is, that the Head was not ftrook off to the belt advantage and commo- 
 dity of them that held it by the Hair : which obfervation, though made 
 by a common Enemy, may for the truth of it hereafter become a Proverb. 
 But as to the Author of thefe Soliloquies, whether it were the late King, 
 as is vulgarly believ'd, or any fecret Coadjutor ; and fome (tick not to name 
 him ; it can add nothing, nor fhall take from the weight, if any be, of 
 reafon which he brings. But Allegations, notReafons, are the main Con- 
 tents of this Book, and need no more than other contrary Allegations 
 to lay the Quftion before all Men in an even Ballance ; though it were 
 fuppofed that the Teftimony of one Man in his own Caufe affirming 
 could be of any moment to bring in doubt the Authority of a Parlament 
 denying. But if thefe his fair-fpoken words fhall be here fairly confron- 
 ted and laid parallel to his own far-differing deeds, manifeft and vifible to 
 the whole Nation, then furely we may look on them who notwithstanding 
 fhall perlift to give to bare words more credit than to open deeds, as 
 men whole Judgment was not rationally evine'd and perfuaded, but fa- 
 tally ftupefy'd and bewitch'd into fuch a blind and obftinate belief: for 
 whole cure it may be doubted, not whether any Charm, though never 
 fo wifely murmur'd, but whether any Prayer can be available. 
 
 I. Upon
 
 365 
 
 I. Upon the King's calling this lajl Parlament. 
 
 TH AT which the King lays down here as his firft foundation, and as 
 it were the head Hone of the- whole Structure, that He call'd this laft 
 Parlament, not more by others advice, and the neceffity of his affairs^ 
 than by his own choice and inclination ; is to all knowing Men fo appa- 
 rently not true, that a more unlucky and inaufpicious fentence, and more be- 
 tokening the downfal of his whole Fabric, hardly could have come into his 
 mind. For who knows not that the inclination of a Prince is beft known either 
 by thofe next about him, and moft in favour with him, or by the current of his 
 own Actions ? Thole neareft to his King, and moft his Favourites, were Cour- 
 tiers and Prelates •, Men whofe chief ftudy was to find out which way the Kino- 
 inclin'd, and to imitate him exactly : How thefe Men flood affected to Par- 
 laments cannot be forgotten. No Man but may remember it was their continual 
 exercife to difpute and preach againft them ; and in their common difcourfe no- 
 thing was more frequent, than that they hoped the King flmdd hdve now no need of 
 Parlament s any more. \ And this was but the copy which the Parafites had induftri- 
 oufly taken from his own Words and Actions, who never call'd a Parlament, 
 but to fupply his necefTities ; and having fupply'd thofe, as fuddenly and ignomi- 
 nioufly diil'olv'd it, without redreffing any one grievance of the People : Sometimes 
 choofing rather to mifs of his Subfidies, or to raife them by illegal courfes, than 
 that the People mould not ftill mifs of their hopes to be reliev'd by Parlaments. 
 
 The firft he broke off" at his coming to the Crown, for no other caufe than 
 to protect the Duke of Buckingham againft them who had accufed him, befides 
 other heinous Crimes, of no lefs than poifoning the deceafed King his Father. 
 And ftill the latter breaking was with more affront and indignity put upon the 
 Houfe and her worthieft Members than the former. Infomuch that in the fifth 
 year of his Reign, in a Proclamation he feems offended at the very rumor of a 
 Parlament divulg'd among the People, as if he had taken it for a kind of Slan- 
 der, that Men mould think him that way exorable, much lefs inclin'd : and for- 
 bids it as a prefumption to prefcribe him any time for Parlaments; that is to 
 fay, either by Perfuafion or Petition, or fo much as the reporting of fuch a 
 Rumor : for other manner of prefcribing was at that time not fufpected. By 
 which fierce Edict, the people, forbidden to complain, as well as forc'd to fuf- 
 fer, began from thenceforth to defpair of Parlaments. Wherupon fuch il- 
 legal actions, and efpecially to get vaft funis of Money, were put in practice 
 by the King and his new Officers, as Monopolies, compulfive Knighthoods, 
 Coat, Conduct and Ship-money, the feizing notofone Naboth's Vineyard, but of 
 whole Inheritances under the pretence of Forreft, or Crown-Lands ; Corrup- 
 tion and Bribery compounded for, with impunities granted for the future, as 
 gave evident proof that the King never meant, nor could it ftand with the rea- 
 fon of his Affairs ever to recall Parlaments : having brought by thefe irregular 
 courfes the people's Intereftand his own to fo direct an oppofition, that he might: 
 forefee plainly, if nothing but a Parlament could fave the people, it muft ne- 
 ceffarily be his undoing. 
 
 Till eight or nine years after, proceeding with a high hand in thefe Enormi- 
 ties, and having the fecond time levied an in jurious War againft his native Coun- 
 try, Scotland ; and finding all thofe other ftiifts of railing money, which bore out 
 his firft Expedition, now to fail him, not of his own choice and inclination, as any 
 Child may fee, but urged by ftrong neceffities, and the very pangs of State, 
 which his own violent Proceedings had brought him to, he calls a Parlament ; 
 firft in Ireland, which only was to give him four Subfidies, and fo to expire ; 
 then in England, where his firft demand was but twelve Subfidies, to maintain a 
 Scotch War, condemned and abominated by the whole Kingdom : promifing 
 their grievances fhould be confider'd afterwards. Which when the Parlament, 
 who judg'd that War it felf one of their main grievances, made no hafte to 
 grant, not enduring the delay of his impatient will, or elfe fearing the conditions 
 of their grant, he breaks off the whole Seffion, and difmiffes them and their 
 grievances with fcorn and fruftration. 
 
 Much
 
 %66 An Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 Much lefs therfore did he call this laft Parlament by his own choice a-nd in- 
 clination -, but having firft try'd in vain all undue ways to procure money, his 
 Army of their own accord being beaten in the North, the Lords petition!' 
 ar 1 the general voice or' the People almoft hifTing him and 'his- ill-acted regality 
 o!t the Stage, compell'd at length both by his wants, and by his fears, up^r. 
 nieer extremity he fummon'd this laft Parlament. And how is it poffiblc 
 that he fhould willingly incline to Parlaments, who never was perceiv'd to call 
 them but for the greedy hope of a whole National Bribe, his Subfidies •, and never 
 lov'd, never fulfil I'd, never promoted the true end of Parlaments, the redrefs 
 of grievances •, but ftill put them ofF, and prolong'd them, whether gratify'd 
 or not gratify'd ; and was indeed the Author of all thole grievances? To fay 
 therfore that he call'd this Parliament of his own choice and inclination, argues 
 how little truth we can expect from the fequel of this Book, which ventures in 
 the very firft period to affront more than one Nation with an untruth fo remark- 
 able ; and prciumes a more implicit Faith in the People of England, than the 
 Pope ever commanded from the Romijh Laity •, or eife a natural fottifhnefs fit 
 to be abus'd and ridden ? While in the judgment of wife Men, by laying the 
 foundation of his defence on the avouchment of that which is fo manifeftly un- 
 true, he hath given a worfe foil to his own caufe, than when Ids whole Forces 
 were at any time overthrown. They therfore who think fuch great Service 
 done to the King's affairs in publifhing this Book, will find themfelves in the end 
 miftaken, if fenfe and right mind, or but any mediocrity of knowledge and re- 
 membrance hath not quite forfaken men. 
 
 But to prove his inclination to Parlaments, he affirms here, To have always 
 thought the right way of them mojlfafefor his Crown, and bell f leafing to his People'. 
 What he thought we know not, but that he ever took the contrary way, we faw ; 
 and from his own actions we felt long ago what he thought of Parlaments or 
 of pleafing his People : a furer Evidence than what we hear now too late in 
 words. 
 
 He al ledges, that the caufe of forbearing to convene Parlaments was the fparks 
 which fome men's diftempers there Jiudied to kindle. They were indeed not te mper'd 
 to his temper •, for it neither was the Law, nor the rule by which all other tem- 
 pers were to be try'd ; but they were efteem'd and chofen for the fitteft men, in 
 their feveral Counties, to allay and quench thofe diftempers which his own in- 
 ordinate doings had infiam'd. And if that were his refuling to convene, till thole 
 men had been qualify'd to his temper, that is to fay, his will, we may eafily con- 
 jecture what hope there was of Parlaments, had not fear and his infatiate pover- 
 ty, in themidft of his exceffive wealth conftrain'd him. 
 
 He hoped by his freedom and their moderation to prevent mifunderjlandings. And 
 wherfore not by their freedom and his moderation ? But freedom he thought 
 too high a word for them, and moderation too mean a word for himfelf : tnis 
 was not the way to prevent mifunderftandings. He ftill fear'd pajfion a)id 
 prejudice in other men ; not in himfelf: and doubted not by the weight cf bis 
 own reafon to count erf oife any Faclion •, it being fo eafy for him, and fo frequent, 
 to call his obftinacy Reafon, and other men's reafon Faclion. We in the mean 
 while muft believe that wifdom and all reafon came to him by Title with his 
 Crown •, paflion, prejudice, and faclion came to others by being Subjects. 
 
 He wasforry to hear with what fofular heat Eleclions were carry' 'd in many places. 
 Sorry rather that Court-Letters and intimations prevail'd no more, to divert, 
 or to deter the people from their free Election of thofe men, whom they thought 
 beft affected to Religion and their Country's Liberty, both at that time in dan- 
 ger to be loft. And fuch men they were, as by the Kingdom were lent to ad- 
 vife him, not fent to be cavill'd at, becaufe elected, or to be entertain'd by him 
 with an undervalue and mifprifion of their temper, judgment, or affection. 
 In vain was a Parlament thought fitteft by the known Laws of our Nation, 
 to advife and regulate unruly Kings, if they, inftead of hearkening to advice, 
 ihould be permitted to turn it off, and refufe it by vilifying and traducing 
 their advifers, or by accufing of a popular heat thofe that lawfully elected 
 them. 
 
 His own and his children* s inter -eft oblig'd him tofcek, and to preferve the love and 
 welfare of his Subjects. Who doubts it ? But the fame intereft, common to all 
 Kings, was never yet available to make them all feek that, which was indeed beft 
 
 for
 
 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 36 
 
 for themfelves and their Pofterity. All men by their own and their Children's 
 intereft are oblig'd to Honefty and Juftice : but how little that confideration 
 works in private men, how much lefs in Kings, their deeds declare beft. 
 
 He intended to oblige both Friends and Enemies, and to exceed their Dejires, did ■ 
 they but pretend to any modeft and fiber fenfe ; miftaking the whole bufinefs of a 
 Parlament. Which met not to receive from him Obligations, but Juftice ; 
 nor he to expect from them their modefty, but their grave advice, utter'd 
 with freedom in the public caufe. His talk of modefty in their defires of the 
 common welfare, argues him not much to have underftood what he had to grant, 
 who mifconceiv'd fo much the nature of what they had to defire. And for 
 fiber fenfe, the expreffion was too mean, and recoils with as much difhonour 
 upon himfelf, to be a King where fober fenfe could poffibly befo wanting in a 
 Parlament. 
 
 The odium and offences which fome men's Rigour, orremiffnefs in Church and State, 
 had contracted upon his Government, he refilved to have expiated with better Laws 
 and Regulations. And yet the worft of mifdemeanors committed by the worft 
 of all his favourites in the height of their dominion, whether acts of ri°x>r or 
 remifThefs, he hath from time to time continu'd, own'd, and taken upon himfelf 
 by public Declarations, as often as the Clergy, or any other of his Inftruments 
 felt themfelves overburden'd with the people's hatred. And who knows not the 
 fuperftitious rigor of his Sunday's Chapel, and the licentious remifThefs of his 
 Sunday's Theatre; accompanied with that reverend Statute for Dominical Jigs 
 and Maypoles, publiih'd in his own Name, and deriv'd from the example of his 
 Father James ? Which teftifies all that rigor in Superftition, all that remifThefs 
 in Religion to have iiTuedout originally from his own Hou!e, and from his own 
 Authority. Much rather then may thofe general mifcarriages in State, his pro- 
 per Sphere, be imputed to no other perfon chiefly than to himfelf. And which 
 of all thofe oppreffive Acts or Impofitionsdid he ever difclaim or difavow, till 
 the fatal awe ot this Parlament hung ominoufly over him ? Yet here he fmooth- 
 ly feeks to wipe oft" all the envy of his evil Government upon his Subftitutes 
 and Under-OfTTcers •, and promifes, though much too late, what wonders he 
 purpos'd to have done in the reforming of Religion ; a work wherin all his 
 undertakings heretofore declare him to have had little or no judgment: Nei- 
 ther could his breeding, or his courfe of life acquaint him with a thing fo fpi- 
 ritual. Which may well afllire us what kind of Reformation v/e could expect 
 from him ; either fome politic form of an impofed Religion, or elfe perpetual 
 vexation and perfecution to all thofe that comply'd not with fuch a form. The 
 like amendment he promifes in State ; not a ftep further than his Reafin andCon- 
 fcience told him was fit to be defir'd, wiftiing he had kept within thofe bounds, and 
 not fuffer'd his own judgment to have been over -born in fome things, of which things 
 one was the Earl of Strafford's execution. And what fignifies all this, but that ft ill 
 his refolution was the fame to fet up an arbitrary Government of his own, and 
 that all Britain was to be ty'd and chain'd to the confcience, judgment, and rea- 
 fonofoneMan ; as if thofe gifts had been only his Peculiar and Prerogative, 
 intail'd upon him with his fortune to be a King? Whenas doubtlefs no man 
 fo obftinate, or fo much a Tyrant, but profeffes to be guided by that which he 
 calls his Reafon and his Judgment, tho' never fo corrupted ; and pretends alfo 
 his Confcience. In the mean while, for any Parlament or the whole Nation to 
 have either reafon, judgment, or confcience by this rule, was altogether in 
 vain, if it thwarted the King's Will •, which was eafy for him to call by any 
 other more plauftble name. And thus we find thefe fair and fpecious pro- 
 mifes, made upon the experience of many hard fuff*erings,and his moft mortify'd 
 retirements, being throughly fifted, to contain nothing in them much different 
 from his former practices, fo crofs and fo averfe to all his Parlaments, and 
 both the Nations of this Ifland. What fruits they could in likelihood have 
 produc'd in his reftorement, is obvious to any prudent forefight. 
 
 And this is the fubftance of his firft Section, till we come to the devout of it, 
 model'd into the form of a private Pfalter. Which they who fo much admire 
 the Arch-Bifhop's late Breviary, and many others as good Manuals and Hand- 
 maids of Devotion, the lip-work of every Prelatical Liturgift, clapt together, 
 and quilted out of Scripture-phrafe, with as much eafe, and as little need of 
 Chriftian diligence or judgmeut as belongs to the compiling of any ordinary 
 
 and 
 
 ,'
 
 n 
 
 68 An Anfmr to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 and falable piece of Englifj Divinity that the lhops value. But he who from fuch 
 a kind of Pfalmiftry, or any other verbal Devotion, without the pledge and ear- 
 ned of fuitable deeds, can be perfuaded of a zeal and true righteoufnefs in 
 the Perfon, hath much yet to learn, and knows not that the deepeft policy 
 of a Tyrant hath been ever to counterfeit Religious. And Ariflotle in his Poli- 
 tics hath mention'd that fpecial craft among twelve other tyrannical Sophi/,. 
 Neither want we examples : Andronicus Comnenus the Byza&titte Emperor, though 
 a moft cruc Tyrant, is reported by Nice t as to have been a conltant reader of 
 Saint P<2«/'sEpiftles •, and by continual ftudy had fo incorporated thephrafe and 
 ftile of that tranfeendent Apoftle in all his Familiar Letters, that the imita- 
 tion feem'd to vie with the original. Yet this avail'd not todeceive the people 
 of that Empire, who notwithstanding his Saint's vizard, tore him to pieces for 
 his Tyranny. From Stories of this nature both ancient and modern which a- 
 L ind, the Poets alfo, and fame Englijh have been in this point fo mindful of 
 Decorum, as to put never more pious words in the mouth of any perfon than 
 of a Tyrant. I fhall not inftance an abftrule Author, wherin the King ^ht 
 be lefs converfant, but one whom we well know was the Cloiet Companion of 
 thefe his foiitudes, William Shakefpeare, who introduces the perfon of Richard 
 the third, fpeaking in as high a ftrain of piety and mortification as is utter'd in 
 any paflage of this Book, and fometimes to the fame fenfe and purpofe with 
 fome words in this place; / intended, faith he, not only to oblige my Friends, but 
 my Enemies. The like faith Richard, Ac! 2. Seat. i. 
 
 I do not know that Engli flyman alive, 
 With whom my foul is any jot at odds, 
 More than the Infant that is bom to-night ; 
 I thank my God for my humility. 
 
 Other fluff of this fort may be read throughout the whole Tragedy, wher- 
 in the Poetus'd not much licence in departing from the truth of Hiftory, which 
 delivers him a deep difTembler, not of his Affections only, but of Religion. 
 
 In praying therfore, and in the outward work of Devotion, this King we 
 fee hath not at all exceeded the worft of Kings before him. But herein the 
 worft of Kings, profeffing Chriftianifm, have by far exceeded him. They, 
 For aught we know, ftill pray'd their own, or at lead borrowed from fit Au- 
 thors. But this King, not content with that which, although in a thing holy, 
 is no holy theft, to attribute to his own making other men's whole Prayers, 
 hath as it were unhallow'd and unchriften'd the very duty of Prayer it felf, by 
 borrowing to a Chriftian ule Prayers offer'd to a Heathen God. Who would 
 have imagin'd lb little fear in him of the true all-feeing Deity, fo little reve- 
 rence of the Holy Ghoft, whofe office is to dictate and preient our Chriftian 
 Prayers, fo little care of truth in his laft words, or honour to himlelr, or to 
 his Friends or l'enfe of his afflictions, or of that fad hour which was iy> 
 on him, as immediately before his Death to pop into the hand of that 
 grave Bifhopwho attended him, as a fpecial Reiique of his Saintly Exercifes, 
 a * Prayer ftolen word for word from the mouth of a Heathen Woman praying 
 to a Heathen God ; and that in no ferious Book, but in the vain amatorious Poem 
 of Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia ; a Book in that kind full of worth and wit, 
 but among religious thoughts and duties not worthy to be nam'd •, nor to be 
 read at anytime without good caution, much lefs in time of trouble and afflicts 
 on to be a Chriftian's Prayer-Book ? It hardly can be thought upon without 
 fome laughter, that he who had acted over us lb itutely and fo tragically, fhould 
 leave the World at laft with fuch a ridiculous exit, as to bequeath among his 
 edifying friends that ftood about him fuch a piece of mocker)' to be publilbAi by 
 them, as muft needs cover both his and their heads with fliame and confe.fion. 
 And fure it was the hand of God that let them hill, and be taken in Inch a fooliih 
 Trap, as hath expos'd them to all derifion, if for nothing elfe, to throw con- 
 tempt and difgrace in the fight of all Men, upon this his idoliz'dBook, and the 
 whole rofary of his Prayers •, therby teitifying how little he accepted thera 
 from j thole who thought no better of the living God than of a Buzzard Idol, 
 that would be ferv'd and worfhip'd with the polluted traih of Romances and Ar- 
 
 cadias y 
 * This PRATER is printed at the end of the AmUr x Life, prefixed to : : :is Volume.
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 369 
 
 radio's, without difcerning the affront fo irreligioufly and fo boldly offcr'dhim 
 to his face. 
 
 Thus much be faid in general to his Prayers, and in fpecial to that Arcadian 
 Prayer us'd in his Captivity ; enough to undeceive us what efteem we are to fet 
 upon the reft. 
 
 And thus far in the whole Chapter we have feen and confider'd, and it 
 cannot but be clear to all men, how and for what ends, what concernments 
 and necefiities, the late King was no way induc'd, but every way conftrain'd 
 to call this laft Parlament ; yet here in his firft Prayer he trembles not to a- 
 vouch as in the ears of God, That he did it with an upright intention to his Glory, 
 and his people's Good: of which dreadful Acteftation how fincerely meant, God, 
 to whom it was avow'd, can only judge j and he hath judg'd already, and hath 
 written his impartial Sentence in Characters legible to all Chriftendom ; and be- 
 fides hath taught us that there be fome whom he hath given over to delufion, 
 whofe very Mind and Confcience is defil'd, of whom Saint Paul to Titus makes 
 mention. 
 
 II. Upon the Ear/ 0/ Strafford's Death. 
 
 THIS next Chapter is a penitent Confefiion of the King, and the ftran- 
 geft, if it be well weigh'd, that ever was Auricular. For he repents 
 here of giving his Confent, though mod unwillingly, to the moft feafo- 
 nable and folemn piece of Juftice that had been done of many years in the Land : 
 but his fole Confcience thought the contrary. And thus was the welfare, the 
 fafety, and within a little, the unanimous demand of three populous Nations 
 to have attended ftill on the Angularity of one Man's opinionated Confcience ; if 
 men had always been fo tame and fpirit'.efs, and had not unexpectedly found 
 the grace to underftand, that if his Confcience were fo narrow and peculiar 
 to it felf, it was not fit his Authority fhouid be fo ample and univerfal over 
 others; For certainly a private Confcience forts not with a public Calling, 
 but declares that Perfon rather meant by nature for a private Fortune. And 
 this alfo we may take for truth, that he whofe Confcience thinks it fin to 
 put to death a capital Offender, will as oft think it meritorious to kill a righ- 
 teous Perfon. But let us hear what the fin was that lay fo fore upon him ; and 
 as his Prayer given to Dr. Juxon, teftifies to the very day of his death, it 
 was his figning the Bill of Strafford's execution : A Man whom all men look'd 
 upon as one of theboldeft and moft impetuous Inftrumentsthat the King had to 
 advance any violent or illegal Defign. Fie had rul'd Ireland md fome parts of 
 JLngland, in an arbitrary manner ; had endeavour'd to fubvert fundamental Laws, 
 to fubvert Parlaments, and to incenfe the Kingagainft them ; he had alfo endea- 
 vour'd ro make Hoftility between England and Scotland: He hadcounfel'd the 
 King to call over that Iftjh Army of Papifts, which he had cunningly rais'd, to 
 reduce England, as appear'd by good Teftimony then prefent at the Confulta- 
 tion : For which, and many other Crimes alledg'd and prov*d againft him in 
 28 Articles, he was condemn'd of HighTrealon by the Parlament. The 
 Commons by far the greater number caft him •, the Lords after they had been fa- 
 tisfy'd in a full Difcourfe by the King's Solicitor, and the Opinions of many 
 Judges deliver'd in their Houfe, agreed like wife to the Sentence of Treafon. 
 The People univerfally cry'd out for Juftice. None were his Friends'but Cour- 
 tiers and Clergymen, the worft at that time, and moft corrupted fort of men ; 
 and Court-Ladies, not the beft of Women ; who when they grow to that in- 
 folence as to appear adtive in State- Affairs, are the certain fign of a diffolute, 
 degenerate, and pufillanimous Commonwealth. Laft of all the King, or rather 
 firft, for thefe were but his Apes, was not fatisfy'd in Confcience to condemn 
 him of High Treafon •, and dcclar'd to both Houfes, That no fears or refpeth 
 wbatfoever fhould make him alter that Refolut ion founded upon his Confcience. Ei- 
 ther then hi.s Relolution Was indeed not founded upon his Confcience, or his 
 Vol. I. B b b Confcience
 
 ■» 
 
 no An Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 Confcience receiv'd better information, or elfe both his Conference and this his 
 ftrono- Refolution ftrook fail, notwithftanding thefe glorious words, to his 
 ftron<J-er fear •, fo'r within a few days after, when the Judges at a privy Coun- 
 cil, and four of his elected Bifhops had pick'd the thorn out of his Conference, 
 he was at length perfwaded to fign the Bill for Strafford's Execution. And yet 
 perhaps that it wrung his Confcience to condemn the Earl of High Treafon is 
 not unlikely ; not becaufe he thought him guiltlefs of highefl Treafon, had 
 half thole Crimes been committed againft his own private Intereft or Perfon, as 
 appear'd plainly by his charge againft the fix Members •, but becaufe he knew 
 himfelf a Principal in what the Earl Was but his Accefifary, and thought nothing 
 Treafon againft the Commonwealth, but againft himfelf only. 
 
 Had he really fcrupled to fentence that for Treafon which he thought not 
 treafonable, why did he feem refolv'd by the Judges and the Bifhops? and if by 
 them refolv'd, how comes the fcruple here again ? It was not then, as he now 
 pretends, The importunities of fome, and the fear of many, which made him fign, 
 but the fatisfaction given him by thofe Judges and ghoftly Fathers of his own 
 chufino-. Which of him fhall we believe ? for he feems not one, but dou- 
 ble ; either here we muft not believe him profefiing that his Satisfaction was 
 but feemingly receiv'd and out of fear, or elfe we may as well believe that the 
 fcruple was no real fcruple, as we can believe him here againft himfelf before, 
 that the fatisfaction then receiv'd was no real fatisfaction. Of fuch a variable 
 and fleeting Confcience, what hold can be taken ? But that indeed it was a facil 
 Confcience, and could difTemble fatisfaction when it pleas'd, his own infuing 
 Actions declar'd ; being foon after found to have the chief hand in a moil de- 
 tefted Confpiracy againft the Parlament and Kingdom, as by Letters anil Ex- 
 aminations of Percy, Goring, and other Confpirators came to light ; that his- 
 intention was to refcue the Earl of Strafford, by feizing on the Tower of 
 London ; to bring up the Engliflo Army out of the North, join'd with eight 
 thoufand Irifh Papifts rais'd by Strafford, and a French Army to be landed at 
 Portfmouth againft the Parlament and their Friends. For which purpofe the 
 King, though requefted by both Houfes to difband thofe Irijh Papifts, refused 
 to do it, and kept them ft ill in arms to his own purpofes. No marvel then, if 
 being as deeply criminous as the Earl himfelf, it ftung his Confcience to adjudge 
 to death thofe mifdeeds wherof himfelf had been the chief Author : no mar- 
 vel though inftead of blaming and detefting his Ambition, his evil Counfel, 
 his Violence and Oppreflion of the People, he fall to praife his great Abilities, 
 and with Scholaftic Flourifhes beneath the decency of a King, compares him 
 to the Sun, which in all figurative ufe and fignificance bears allufion to a King, 
 not to a Subject : No marvel though he knit Contradictions as clofe, as words 
 can lie together, not approving in his judgment, and yet approving in his fubfe- 
 quent real on all that Strafford did, as driven by the neceffty of times, and the temper 
 of that people ; for this excufes all his Mifdemeanors : Laftly, no marvel that he 
 goes on building many fair and pious Conclufions upon falfe and wicked Premi- 
 i'es, which deceive the common Reader, not well difcerning the antipathy of 
 fuch Connexions : but this is the marvel, and may be the aftonifhment of all 
 that have a Confcience, how he durft in the fight of God (and with the fame 
 words of contrition wherwith David repents the murdering of Uriah) repent 
 his lawful compliance to that juft act of not faving him, whom he ought to 
 have deliverM up to fpeedy punifhment, though himfelf the guiltier of the 
 two. If the deed were fo finful to have put to death fo great a Malefactor, it 
 would have taken much doubtlefs from the heavinefs of his Sin to have told 
 God in his Confeffion, how he labour'd, what dark Plots he had contriv'd, in- 
 to what a League entred, and with what Confpirators againft hisParlamenC 
 and Kingdoms, to have refcu'd from the claim of Juftice fo notable and fo 
 dear an Inftrument of Tyranny ; which would have been a Story, no doubt, as 
 pleafing in the ears of Heaven, as all thefe equivocal Repentances. For it was 
 fear, and nothing elfe, which made him feign before both the fcruple and the fa- 
 tisfaction of his Confcience, that is to fay, of his mind: his firft fear, pre- 
 tended Confcience, that he might be borne with to refufe figning, his latter 
 fear being more urgent, made him find a Confcience both to fi^n, and to be fa- 
 tisfy'd. As for Repentance, it came not on him till a long time after •, when 
 he law he could have fuffer'i nothing tncre, though he had den-fd that Bill. For how 
 
 could
 
 An Anfdoer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 could he underftandingly repent of letting that be Treafon which the Parla- 
 
 ment and whole Nation fo judg'd ? This was that which repented him, to 
 have given up to juft punilhment fo (tout a Champion of his Defigns, who 
 might have been foufeful to him in his following civil Broils. It was a worldly 
 Repentance, not a confeientions ; or elfe it was a ftrange Tyranny which his 
 Confcience had got over him, to vex him like an evil Spirit for doing one Act 
 of Juftice, and by that means to fortify his Refolution from ever doing fo any 
 more. That mind muft needs be irrecoverably depravM, which either by 
 chance or importunity, tailing but once of one juft deed, fpatters at it and ab- 
 hors the relifh ever after. To the Scribes and Pharifees, Woe was denoune'd 
 by our Saviour, for {training at a Gnat and fwallowing a Camel, though a 
 Gnat were to be ftrain'd at : But to a Confcience with whom one "-ood deed 
 is fo hard to pafs down as to endanger almoft a choaking, and bad deeds with- 
 out number, though as big and bulky as the ruin of three Kingdoms, o- down 
 currently without {training, certainly a far greater woe appertains. If his 
 Confcience were come to that unnatural Dyfcrafy, as to digeft poifon and to 
 keck at wholefome food, it was not for the Parlament, or any of his King- 
 doms to feed with him any longer. Which to conceal he would perfwade us 
 that the Parlament alfo in their Confcience efcap'd not fome touches of re- 
 morfe for putting Strafford to death, in forbidding it by an after-aS to be a 
 Precedent for the future. But in a fairer conflruclion, that act imply'd rather 
 a defire in them to pacify the King's mind, whom theyperceiv'd by this means 
 quite alienated •, in the mean while not imagining that this after-act fhould be 
 retorted on them to tie up Juftice for the time to come upon like occafion, whe- 
 ther this were made a Precedent or not, no more than the want of fuch a Pre- 
 cedent, if it had been wanting, had been available to hinder this. 
 
 But how likely is it that this after-act argu'd in the Parlament their leaft re- 
 penting for the death of Strafford, when it argu'd fo little in the King himfelf, 
 who notwithftanding this after-act, which had his own hand and concurrence, if 
 not his own infligation, within the fame year accus'd of High Treafon no lefs 
 than fix Members at once for the fame pretended Crimes which his Confcience 
 would not yield to think treafonable in the Earl : So that this his fubtle Ar- 
 gument to fallen a repenting, and by that means a guiltinefs of Strafford's death 
 upon the Parlament, concludes upon his own head ; and fhews us plainly that 
 either nothing in his judgment was Treafon againfl the Commonwealth, but 
 only againfl the King's Perfon •, a tyrannical Principle •, or that his Confcience 
 was a perverfe and prevaricating Confcience, to fcruple that the Common- 
 wealth fhould punifh for treafonous in one eminent Offender, that which he 
 himfelf fought fo vehemently to have punifh'd in fix guiltlefs perfons. If this 
 were that touch of Confcience which he bore with greater regret than for any other 
 fin committed in his life, whether it were that proditory Aidfentto Roche! and 
 Religion abroad, or that prodigality of fhedding blood at home, to a million 
 of his Subjects Lives not valu'd in companion of one Strafford, we may confider 
 yet at lafl what true fenfe and feeling could be in that Confcience, and what fit- 
 nefs to be the Mafter-confcience of three Kingdoms. 
 
 But the reafon why he labours that we fhould take notice of fo much ten- 
 dernefs and regret in his Soul for having any hand in Strafford's death, is worth 
 the marking e'er we conclude : He hoped it would be fome evidence before God and 
 Man to all pofterity, that he was far from bearing that vaji load and guilt of blood 
 laid upon him by others : Which hath the lifcenefs of a futtle Diffimulation, 
 bewailing the blood of one Man, his commodious Inflrument, put to death moil 
 juftly, though by him unwillingly, that we might think him too tender to fhed 
 willingly the blood of thofe thoufands, whom he counted Rebels. And thus by 
 dipping voluntarily his fingers end, yet with lhew of great remorie, in the 
 blood of Strafford, wherof all men clear him, he thinks to fcape that Sea of in- 
 nocent blood wherin his own guilt inevitably hath plung'd him all over. And 
 we may well perceive to what e.ify fatisfaction's and purgations he had iniir'd his 
 fecret Confcience, who thinks by fuch weak policies and ofttntations as thefe to 
 gain belief and abfolution from underllanding Men. 
 
 Vol. I. B b b 2 IH. Upon 

 
 j 2 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 III. Upon his going to the Houfe of Commons. 
 
 Concerning his unexcufable and hoftile march from the Court to the 
 Houfe of Commons, there needs not much be faid •, for he confeffes it > 
 to be an aft which moft men whom he calls his Enemies cry'd fhame up- 
 on, indifferent men grew jealous of and fearful, and many of his Friends refented, 
 as a motion arifing rather from patfon than reafon : He himielt in one of his An- 
 fwers to both Houfes made profeffion to be convine'd that it was a plain breacli 
 of their privilege-, yet here like a rotten building newly trim'd over, he repre- 
 fents it fpecioufly and fraudulently, to impofe upon the fimple Reader -, and feeks 
 by fmooth and luttle words not here only, but through his .whole Book, to 
 make fome beneficial ufe or other even of his worft mifcarriages. 
 
 Thefe Men, faith he, meaning his Friends, knew not the juft motives and preg- 
 nant grounds with which I thought my felf furniflied ; to wit, againft the five Mem- 
 bers whom he came to drag out of the Houfe. His belt Friends indeed knew 
 not, nor could ever know his Motives to fuch a riotous aft ; and had he him- 
 felf known any juft grounds, he was not ignorant how much it might have 
 tended to his juftifying, had he nam'd them in this place, and not conceal'd 
 them. But to fuppofe them real, fuppofe them known, what was this to that 
 violation and dishonour put upon the whole Houfe, whole very door forcibly 
 kept open, and all the paffages near it he befet with Swords and Piftols cockt 
 and menae'd in the hands of about three hundred Swaggerers and Ruffians, 
 who but expefted, nay audibly call'd for, die word of Onfet to begin a 
 (laughter ? 
 
 He had difeover'd, as he thought, unlawful C err efpon dene e which they had us'd,and 
 Engagements to embroil his Kingdoms, and remembers not his own unlawful 
 Correfpondencies and Confpiracies with the Irifh Army of Papifts, with the 
 French to land at Portfmouth, and his tampring both with the Englijh and Scotch 
 Army to come up againft the Parlament : the leaft of which attempts by whom- 
 foever, was no leis than manifeft Treafon againft the Commonwealth. 
 
 If to demand Juftice on die five Members were his Plea, for that which they with 
 more reafon might have demanded Juftice upon him (I ufe his own Argument) 
 there needed not fo rough affifiance. If he had refelifd to bear that repulfe with pa- 
 tience, which his Queen by her words to him at his return little thought he would 
 have done, wherfore did he provide againft it with fuch an armed and unufual 
 Force ? But his heart ferv'd him not to undergo the hazard that fuch a defpe- 
 rate fcuffle would have brought him to. But wherfore did he go at all, it be- 
 hoving him to know there were two Statutes that declar'd he ought firft to 
 have acquainted the Parlament who were the Accuiers, which he refus'd to do, 
 though ftill profelTingto govern by Law, and ftill juftifying his attempts againft 
 Law : And when he faw it was not permitted him to attaint them but by a 
 fair tryal, as was ofter'd him from time to time, for want of juft matter which 
 yet never came to light, he let the bufinefs fall of his own accord ; and all 
 thofe Pregnancies and juft Motives came to juft nothing. 
 
 He had no temptation of difpleafure or revenge againfl thofe Men : None but 
 what he thirfted to execute upon them, for the conftant oppofuion which they 
 made againft his tyrannous Proceedings, and the love and reputation which 
 they therfore had among the people. 
 
 He mijt but little to have produe'd Writings under fome Men's own hands. But 
 yet he mift, though their Chambers, Trunks, and Studies were feal'd up and 
 fcarch'd; yet not found guilty. Providence would not have it fo. Good Provi- 
 dence that curbs the raging of proud Monarchs, as well as of mad Multitudes. 
 Yet he wanted not fuch probabilities (for his pregnant is come now to probable) 
 as were fufficient to raife jealoufies in any King's heart : And thus his -pregnant 
 motives are at laft prov'd nothing but a Tympany, or a Queen Mary's Cu- 
 fhion ; for in any King's heart, as Kings go now, what fliadowy conceit or 
 groundlefs toy will not create a Jealoufy ? 
 
 That he had defign'd to affault the Houfe of Commons, taking God to witnefs, he 
 utterly denies $ yet io his Anfwer to the City, maintains that any courfe of vio- 
 lence
 
 An Anfdoer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 lence had been very juftifiable. And we may then guefs how far it was from his 
 defign : However, it difcover'd in him an exceffive eagernefs to be aveng'd < n 
 . them that crofs'd him •, and that to have his will, he ilood not to do things 
 never fo much below him. What a becoming light it was to fee the Kin^ 
 of England one while in the Houfe of Commons, by and by in the Guild-Hall 
 among the Liveries and Manufactures, profecuting fo greedily the track of 
 five or fix fled Subjects •, himfelf not the Sollicitor only but the Purfivant, and 
 the Apparitor of his own partial Caufe. And although in his Anfwcrs to the 
 Parlament, he hath confefs'd, firft that his manner of profecution was illeo-al, 
 next that as he once conceiv'dhe had ground enough to accufe them, fo at length that he 
 found as good caufe to defer t any profecution of them ; yet here he feems to reverfe 
 all, and againft promife takes up his old deferted Accufation, that he mio-ht 
 have fomething to excufe himfelf, inftead of giving due reparation, which he 
 always refus'd to give them whom he had fo dilhonour'd. 
 
 Thai I went, faith he of his going to the Houfe of Commons, attended with 
 Gentlemen ; Gentlemen indeed, the ragged infantry of Stews, and Bro- 
 thels -, the fpawn and fhipwreck of Taverns and Dicing-Houfes : and then he 
 pleads it was no unwonted thing for the Majefty and Safety of a King to be fo at- 
 tended, efpecially in difcontented times. An illuftrious Majefty no doubt, fo attend- 
 ed ; a becoming fafety for the King of England, plac'd in the fidelity of fuch 
 Guards and Champions : happy times, when Braves and Hackfters, the on- 
 ly contented Members of his Government, were thought the fitteft and the 
 falthfulleft to defend his Perfon againft the difcontents of a Parlament and all 
 good Men. Were thofe the chofen ones to preferve reverence to him, while he 
 enter'd unaffur'd, and full of fufpicions, into his great and faithful Counfel ? 
 Let God then and the World judge whether the Caufe were not in his own guilty 
 and unwarrantable doings: The Houfe of Commons upon feveral Examinations 
 of this bufinefs declar'd it furficiently prov'd that the coming of thofe Sol- 
 diers, Papifts and others with the King, was to takeaway fome of their Mem- 
 bers, and in cafeofoppofition or denial, to have fallen upon the Houfe in aho- 
 ftile manner. This the King here denies ; adding a fearful Imprecation againft 
 his own life, If he purpofed any violence or oppreffion againft the Innocent, then, faith 
 he, let the Enemy perfecute my Soul, and tread my life to the ground, and lay my Ho- 
 nour in the duft. What need then more difpiuing ? He appeal'd to God's Tribu- 
 nal, and behold God hathjudg'd and done to him in the light of all men accord- 
 ing to the verdict of his own mouth : To be a warning to all Kings hereafter how 
 they ufe prefumptuoufly the words and proteftations of David, without the 
 fpirit and confeience of David. And the King's admirers may here fee their 
 madnefs, to miftake this Book for a monument of his worth and wifdom, when- 
 as indeed it is his Doomfday Book ; not like that of William the Norman his Pre- 
 deceflbr, but the record and memorial of his Condemnation ; and difcovers 
 whatever hath befallen him, to have been haften'd on from Divine Juftice by the 
 ralh and inconfiderate Appeal of his own lips. But what evafions, what pre- 
 tences, though never fo unjuft and empty, will he refufe in matters more un- 
 known, and more involv'd in the mills and intricacies of State, who, rather 
 than not juftify himfelf in a thing fo generally odious, can flatter his Integrity 
 with fuch frivolous excufes againft the manifeft diffent of all men, whether 
 Enemies, Neuters, or Friends. But God and his Judgments have not been 
 mock'd ; and good men may well perceive what a diftance there was ever like 
 to be between him and his Parlament, and perhaps between him and all amend- 
 ment, who for one good deed, though but confented to, afks God forgivenefs; 
 and from his worft deeds done, takes occafion to infill upon his righteouf- 
 nefs. 
 
 ■ 
 
 IV. Upon
 
 74 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 IV. Upon the Infolency of the 'Tumults. 
 
 WE have here, I muft confefs, a neat and well-couch'd invective a- 
 againft Tumults, exprelling a true fear of them in the Author ; but 
 yet fo handfomely compos'd, and withal fo feelingly, that, to make 
 a Royal companion, I believe Rehoboam, the Son of Solomon, could not have 
 compos'd it better. Yet Rehoboam had more caufe to inveigh againft them ; for 
 they had fton'd his Tribute-gatherer, and perhaps had as little fpar'd his own 
 Perfon, had he not with all fpeed betaken him to his Chariot. But this King 
 hath flood the worft of them in his own Houfe without danger, when his 
 Coach and Horfes, in a panic fear, have been to feek, which argues that the 
 Tumults at Whitehall were nothing fo dangerous as thole at Sechem. 
 
 But the matter here confiderable is not whether the King, or his Houihold 
 Rhetorician have made a pithy declamation againft Tumults, but firil whether ' 
 thefe were Tumults or not •, next if they were, whether the King himfelf did 
 not caufe them. Let us examine therfore how things at that time flood. The 
 King, as before hath been prov'd, having both call'd this Parlament unwillingly, 
 and as unwillingly from time to time condefcended to their feveral acts, carry - 
 in°- on a disjoint and private Intereil of his own, and not enduring to be fo 
 crofs'd and overfway'd, efpecially in the executing of his chief and boldeft In* 
 ftrument, the Deputy of Ireland, firil tempts the Englijh Army, with no lefs 
 reward than the fpoil of London, to come up and deilroy the Parlament. That 
 beino- difcover'd by fome of the Officers, who, tho' bad enough, yet abhor'd 
 fo foul a deed, the King harden'd in his purpofe, turns him next to the Scotch 
 Army, and baits his temptation with a richer reward ; not only to have the 
 fackino- of London, but four Northern Counties to be made Scotiijh, with Jew- 
 els of oreat value to be given in pawn the while. But neither would the Scots, 
 for any promife of reward, be bought to fuch an execrable and odious treache- 
 ry •, but with much honefty gave notice of the King's defign both to the Parla- 
 ment and City of London. The Parlament moreover had intelligence, and the 
 people could not but difcern that there was a bitter and malignant party growa 
 up now to fuch a boldnefs, as to give out infolent and threatning fpeeches a- 
 gainfl the Parlament it felf. Befides this, the Rebellion in Ireland was now 
 broke out ; and a Confpiracy in Scotland had been made, while the King was 
 there, againft fome chief Members of that Parlament •, great numbers here of un- 
 known and fufpicious perfons reforted to the City. The King being return'd from 
 Scotland, prefently dilmifles that Guard which the Parlament thought neceffary 
 in the midft of fo many dangers to have about them, and puts another Guard 
 in their place, contrary to the privilege of that high Court, and by fuch a one 
 commanded, as made them no lefs doubtful of the Guard it felf. Which they 
 therfore upon fome ill effects therof firil found, difcharge ; deeming it more 
 fafe to fit free, tho' without a Guard, in open danger, than inclos'd with a fuf- 
 pecTred fafety. The people therfore, left their worthieft and moil faithful Pa- 
 triots, who had expos'd themfelves for the public, and whom they faw now 
 left naked, fhould want aid, or be deferred in the midft of thefe dangers, came 
 in multitudes, tho' unarm'd, to witnefs their fidelity and readinefs in cafe of any 
 violence offer'd to the Parlament. The King both envying to fee the people's 
 love thus devolv'd on another obj eel, and doubting left it might utterly difable 
 him to do with Parlaments as he was wont, fent a Menage into the City forbid- 
 ding fuch reforts. The Parlament alio both by what was difcover'd to them, 
 and what they faw in a malignant Party (fome of which had already drawn 
 blood in a Fray or two at the Court-Gate, and even at their own Gate in Wejt- 
 niinfter-Hall) conceiving themfelves to be it ill in danger where they fate, fent a 
 molt reafonable and juit Petition to the King, that a Guard might 'be allow'd 
 ihem out of the City, wherof the King's own Chamberlain, the Earl of EjJ'ex, 
 might have command •, it being the right of inferiour Courts to make choice of 
 their own Guard. This the King refus'd to do, and why he refus'd, the very 
 next day made manifeft : For on that day it was that he fallied out from White^ 
 ball, with thofe trufty Myrmidons, to block up, «r give affault to the Houfe of 
 g Commons.
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 375 
 
 Commons. He had, befides all this, begun to fortify his Court, and entertain'd 
 armed Men not a few; who (landing at his Palace-Gate, revil'd, and with 
 drawn Swords wounded many of the People, as they went by unarm'd, and in 
 a peaceable manner, wherof fome died. The paffing by of a multitude, tho' 
 neither to St. George's Feaft, nor to a Tilting, certainly of it felf was no Tu- 
 mult •, the expreflion of their loyalty and ftedfaftnefs to the Parlament, whofe 
 lives and lafeties by more than flight rumours they doubted to be in danger, 
 was no Tumult. If it grew to be lb, the caufe was in the King himfelf and his 
 injurious retinue, who both by hoflile preparations in the Court, and by actual 
 ailailing of the People, gave them juft caufe to defend themfelves. 
 
 Surely thole unarmed and petitioning people needed not have been fo for- 
 midable to any, but to fuch whofe confeiences mifgave them how ill they had 
 deferv'd of the people ; and firft began to injure them, becaufe they juftly 
 fear'd it from them ; and then afcribe that to popular Tumult, which was occa- 
 fion'd by their own provoking. 
 
 And that the King was lb emphatical and elaborate on this Theme againft Tu- 
 mults, and exprefs'd with fuch a vehemence his hatred of them, will redound 
 lefs perhaps than he was aware to the commendation of his Government. For 
 befides that in good Governments they happen feldomeft, and rife not without 
 caufe, if they prove extreme and pernicious, they were never counted fo to 
 Monarchy, but to Monarchical Tyranny •, and extremes one with another are 
 at mod antipathy. If then the King fo extremely flood in fear of Tumults, 
 the inference will endanger him to be the other extreme. Thus far the occafion 
 of this difcourfe againft Tumults; now to the difcourfe it felf, voluble enough, 
 and full of fentence, but that, for the mod part, either fpecious rather than To- 
 lid, or to his caufe nothing pertinent. 
 
 He never thought any thing more to pre/age the mi/chiefs that enfued, than thofe Tu- 
 mults. Then was his forefight but fhort, and much miftaken. Thofe Tumults 
 were but the mild effects of an evil and injurious reign ; not figns of mifchiefs 
 to come, but leeking relief for mifchiefs pad : thofe figns were to be read more 
 apparent in his rage and purpos'd revenge of thofe free expoftulations and 
 clamours of the people againft his lawlefs Government. Not any thing, faith he, 
 portends mm-e God's difpleafure againft a Nation, than when he fuffers the clamours of 
 the Vulgar to pafs all bounds of Law and reverence to Authority. It portends rather 
 his difpleafure againft a tyrannous King, whofe proud Throne he intends to 
 overturn by that contemptible Vulgar ; the fad cries and oppreflions of whom 
 his Royalty regarded not. As for that fupplicating people, they did no hurt ei- 
 ther to Law or Authority, but flood for it rather in the Parlament againft whom 
 Jthey fear'd would violate it. 
 
 'that they invaded the Honour and Freedom of the two Houfes, is his own offici- 
 ous accufation, not feconded by the Parlament, who had they feen caufe, were 
 themfelves bed able to complain. And if theyjhook and menae'd any, they 
 were fuch as had more relation to the Court than to the Commonwealth •, Ene- 
 mies, not Patrons of die people. But if their petitioning unarmed were an in- 
 vafion of both Houfes, what was his entrance into the Houfe of Commons, be- 
 fetting it with armed men? In what condition then was the honour and freedom 
 of that Houfe ? 
 
 They forbore not rude deportments, contemptuous words and ail ions to himfelf 
 and his Court. 
 
 It was more wonder, having heard what treacherous hoflility he hat! defign'd 
 againd the City and his whole Kingdom, that they forbore to handle him as 
 people in their rage have handled Tyrants heretofore for lefs offences. 
 
 They were not a fhort Ague, but a fierce quotidian Fever. He indeed may bed 
 fay it, who moft felt it ; for the making was within him, and it fhook him by 
 his own defcription worfe than a Storm, worfe than an Earthquake ; Beljhazzar'i. 
 Palfy. Had not worfe fears, terrors, and envies made within him that com- 
 motion, how could a multitude of his Subjects, armed with no other weapon 
 than Petitions, have fhaken all his Joints with fuch a terrible Ague ? Yet that 
 the Parlament fhould entertain the leaft fear of bad intentions from him or his 
 party, he endures not •, but would perfwade us that men fare themfelves and o- 
 thers without caufe : for he thought fear would be to them a kind of Armour, and 
 his defign was, if poflible, to difarmall, especially of a wife fear and fufpicion ; 
 for that he knew would find weapon?. He 
 
 5
 
 %y6 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 He goes on therfore with vehemence to repeat the mifchiefs done by thefe' 
 Tumults. They firft petitioned, then protected; dictate next, and laflly over-awe the 
 Tarlament. They remov'd obftruclions, they purged the Houfes, caft out rotten mem- 
 bers. If there was a man of iron, fuch as Talus, by our Poet Spencer, is feign'ci 
 to be the page of Juftice, who with his iron Flail could do all this, and expe- 
 ditioufly, without thofe deceitful forms and circumflances of Law, worfe than 
 ceremonies in Religion ; I lay God fend it done, whether by one Talus, or by 
 a thoufand. 
 
 But ibeyfubau'dthe men of conscience in Par lament, back? 'd and abetted all fe- 
 ditious and fchifmatical Propofals againft Government ecclefiaftical and civil. 
 
 Now we may perceive the root of his hatred whence it fprings. It was not 
 the King's grace or princely goodnefs, but this iron Flail, the People, that drove 
 the Bifhops out of their Baronies, out of their Cathedrals, out of the Lords 
 Houfe, out of the Copes and Surplices, and all thofe Papiftical Innovations, 
 threw down the High-Commiffion and Star-chamber, gave us a Triennial Par- 
 lament, and what we mod delir'd ; in revenge wherof he now fo bitterly in- 
 veighs againft them : thefe are thofe feditious and fchifmatical Propofals then 
 by him condeicended to as Acts of Grace, now of another name ; which de- 
 clares him, touching matters of Church and State, to have been no other man 
 in the deepeft of his Solitude, than he was before at the higheft of his Sove- 
 reignty. 
 
 But this was not the worft of thefe Tumults, they play'd the hafty Midwives, 
 and would not ft ay the ripening, but went jlreight to ripping up, and forcibly cut 
 out abortive Votes. 
 
 They would not ftay perhaps the Spanifh demurring, and putting off fuch 
 wholefome afts and counlels, as the politic Cabinet at Whitehall had no mind to. 
 But all this is complain'd here as done to the Parlament, and yet we heard not 
 the Parliament at that time complain of any violence from the people, but 
 from him. Wherfore intrudes he to plead the caufe of Parlament againft the 
 people, while the Parlament was pleading their own caufe againft him, and a- 
 gainft him were forced to feek refuge of the people ? 'Tis plain then that thofe 
 confluxes and reforts interrupted not the Parlament, nor by them were thought 
 tumultuous, but by him only and his Court- Faction. 
 
 But what good man had net rather want any thing he moft dejired for the public 
 good, than attain it by fitch unlawful and irreligious means? As much as to fay, Had 
 not rather fit ftill, and let his Country be tyranniz'd, than that the people, find- 
 ing no other remedy, fhould ftand up like Men, and demand their Rights and 
 Liberties. This is theartificialeft piece of finefle to perfwade Men to be Slaves,, 
 that the wit of Court could have invented. But hear ho'.v much better the 
 Moral of this Lefton would befit the Teacher : What good man had not ra- 
 ther want a boundlefs and arbitrary power, and thofe fine Flowers of the 
 Crown, call'd Prerogatives, than for them to ufe force and perpetual vexation 
 to his faithful Subjects, nay to wade for them through blood and civil War ? 
 So that this and the whole bundle of thofe following fentences may be apply'd 
 better to the convincement of his own violent courfes, than of thofe pretended 
 Tumults. 
 
 Who were the chief Demagogues to fend for thofe Tumults, fome alive are not igno- 
 rant. Setting afide the affrightment of this Goblin word ; for the King, by his 
 leave, cannot coin Englijh, as he could Money, to be current (and 'tis believ'd 
 this wording was above his known Stile and Orthography, and accufes the whole 
 compofure to be confcious of fome other Author) yet if the People were fent 
 for, embolden' J and directed by thofe Demagogues, who, laving his Greek, were 
 good Patriots, and by his own confelTion Men of fome repute for Parts and Piety, 
 it helps well to affure us there was both urgent caufe, and the lefs danger of 
 their coming. 
 
 Complaints were made, yet no redrefs could be obtain'd. The Parlament alfo 
 complain'd of what danger they fate in from another party, and demanded of 
 him a Guard, but it was not granted. What marvel then if it chear'd them 
 to fee fome ftore of their Friends, and in the Roman, not the pettifogging 
 fenfe, their Clients fo near about them ; a defence due by nature both from 
 whom it was offer'd, and to whom, as due as to their Parents •, tho' the Court 
 florm'd and fretted to fee fuch honour given to them, who were then beft Fa- 
 thers
 
 An Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 377 
 
 thers of the Commonwealth. And both the Parlament and People complain'd, 
 and demanded Juftice for thofe AfTaults, if not Murders done at his own doors 
 by that crew of Rufflers ; but he, inftead of doing Juftice on them, juftify'd 
 and abetted them in what they did, as in his public Anfwer to a Petition from 
 the City may be read. Neither is itflightly to be pafs'd over, that in the very 
 place where Blood was firft drawn in this Caufe, as the beginning of all that fol- 
 lowed, there was his own Blood fhed by the Executioner : According to that 
 fentence of Divine Juftice, In the place where Dogs lick'd the Blood of Naboth, 
 /hall Dogs lick thy Blood, even thine. 
 
 From hence he takes occafion to excufe that improvident and fatal error of 
 his abfenting from the Parlament. When he found that no Declaration of the Bi- 
 fiops could take place againfl thofe Tumults. Was that worth his confidering, that 
 foolifh and felf-undoing Declaration of twelve Cypher Bifhops, who were im- 
 mediately appeach'd of Treafon for that audacious Declaring ? The Bifhops 
 peradventure were now and then pull'd by the Rochets, and deferv'd another 
 kind of pulling •, but what amounted this to the fear of his own Perfon in the 
 Streets? Did he not the very next day after his irruption into the Houfe of 
 Commons, than which nothing had more exafperated the people, go in his 
 Coach unguarded into the City ? Did he receive the leaft affront, much lefs vio- 
 lence in any of the Streets, but rather humble demeanors and fupplications ? 
 Hence may be gather'd, that however in his own guiltinefs he might haveL 
 juftly fear'd, yet that he knew the people fo full of awe and reverence to his 
 Perfon, as to dare commit himfelf lingle among the thickeft of them, at a time 
 when he had moft provok'd them. Befides, in Scotland xhty had handled the Bi- 
 fhops in a more robuftious manner ; Edinburgh had been full of Tumults, two 
 Armies from thence had entred England againlt him : yet after all this he was not 
 fearful, but very forward to take fo long a Journey to Edinburgh ; which ar- 
 gues firft, as did alio his rendition afterward to the Scotch Army, that to Eng- 
 land he continu'd ftill, as he was indeed, a ftranger, and full of diffidence •, to 
 the Scots only a native King, in his confidence, tho' not in his dealing towards 
 them. It fhews us next beyond doubting, that all this his fears of Tumults was 
 but a meer pretence and occafion taken of his refolved abfence from the Parla- 
 ment for fome other end not difficult to be guefs'd. And thofe inftances 
 wherin valour is not to be queftion'd for not fcuffiing -with the Sea, or an undif- 
 ciplined Rabble, are but fubfervient to carry on the folemnjeft of his fearing Tu- 
 mults ; if they difcover not withal the true reafon why he departed, only to 
 turn his flafhing at the Court-Gate to flaughtering in the Field; his diforderly 
 bickering to an orderly invading ; which was nothing elfe but a more orderly 
 diforder. 
 
 Seme fufpccled and affirm* d that he meditated a War, when he went firft //o?« White- 
 hall. And they were not the worft heads that did fo, nor did any of his former 
 ails weaken him to that, as he alledges for himfelf-, or if they had, they clear 
 him only for the time of palling them, not for wliatever thoughts might come 
 after into his mind. Former aclions of improvidence or fear, not with him 
 unufual, cannot abfove him of all after-meditations. 
 
 He goes on protefting his no intention to have left Whitehall, had thefe horrid 
 Tumults given him but fair Quarter, as if he himfelf, his Wile and Children 
 had been in peril. But to this enough hath been anfwer'd. 
 
 Had this Parlament, as it was in its firft Eleclion, namely with the Lord and 
 Baron Bifhops, fate full and free, he doubts not but all had gone well. What 
 warrant is this of his to us ? whole not doubting was all good men's gr^ 
 doubt. 
 
 He was refolv'd to hear Reafon, and to confent fo far as he could comprehend. A 
 hopeful refolution : what if his reafon were found by oft experience to compre- 
 hend nothing beyond his own advantages, was this a reafon fa to be intruded 
 with the common good of three Nations ? 
 
 But, faith he, as Swine are to Gardens, fo are Tumults to Parlament s. This the 
 Parlament, had they found it fo, could beft have told us. In the mean while 
 who knows not that one great Hog may do as much mifchief in a Garden as 
 
 iny little Swine? He was fometimes prone to think, that bad he call'd this la,} 
 Parlament to any other place in England, the fad Confequences might have been pre- 
 vented. But change of Air changes not the mind. Was not his firfl Parlament 
 
 Vol. I. Ccc
 
 yg An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 at Oxford diflblv'd after two Subfidies given him, and no Juflice receiv'd ? Was 
 not his laft in the fame place, where they fate with as much freedom, as much 
 quiet from Tumults as they could defire, a Parlament, both in his account and 
 their own, confiding of all his Friends, that fled after him, and fuffer'd for him, 
 and yet by him nicknam'd, and cafhier'd for a Mungrel Parlament, that vext bis 
 §ueen with their bafe and mutinous motions? as his Cabinet-letter tells us. Wher- 
 by the World may fee plainly, that no fhifting of place, no fifting of Members 
 to his own mind, no number, no paucity, no freedom from Tumults could e- 
 ver bring his arbitrary wilfulnefs, and tyrannical Defigns to brook the lealt 
 fhape or fimilitude, the leaft counterfeit of a Parlament. 
 
 Finally, inftead of praying for his people as a good King mould do, he prays 
 to be deliver'd from them, as from wild Beafts, Inundations, and raging Seas, 
 that had overborn all Loyalty, Modefty, Laws, Juflice, and Religion ; God lave 
 the People from fuch Interceflbrs. 
 
 V. Upon the Bill for Triennial Parlaments^ and 
 for fettling this, &c. 
 
 THE Bill for Triennial Parlaments was doubtlefs a good Bill, and the 
 other for fettling this was at that time very expedient ; and in the 
 King's own words no more than what the World was fully confirmed he 
 might in Juflice, Reafon, Honour, and Cmfcience grant them ; for to that end he 
 affirms to have done it. 
 
 But wheras he attributes the palling of them to his own Aft of Grace and 
 Willingnefs, as his manner is to make Virtues of his Neceflities, and giving 
 to himfelf all the praife, heaps ingratitude upon the Parlament, a little memory 
 will fet the clean contrary before us ; that for thofe beneficial Afts we owe what 
 we owe to the Parlament ; but to his granting them neither praife nor thanks. 
 The firft Bill granted much lefs than two former Statutes yet in force by Edward 
 the third •, that a Parlament fhould be call'd every year, or oftner, if need were: 
 nay, from a far ancienter Law-Book call'd the Mirror, it is aflirm'd in a late 
 Treatife call'd Rights of the Kingdom, that Parlaments by our old Laws ought 
 twice a year to be at London. The fecond was fo neceiTary, that nothing in the 
 power of man more feem'd to be the flay and fupport of all things from that 
 fteep ruin to which he had nigh brought them, than that Aft obtain'd. He had 
 by his ill Stewardfhip, and, to fay no worfe, the needlefs raifing of two Armies 
 intended for a civil War, beggar'd both himfelf and the Public ; and befides 
 had left us upon the fcore of his needy Enemies for what it coll: them in their 
 own defence againft him. To difingage him and the Kingdom great fums were 
 to be borrow'd, which would never have been lent, nor could ever be paid, 
 had the King chanced todilTolve this Parlament as heretofore. The Errors alio 
 of his Government had brought the Kingdom to fuch extremes, as were in- 
 capable of all recovery without the abfolute continuance of this Parlament. 
 It had been elfe in vain to go about the fettling of fo great diftempers, if he, 
 who firft caus'd the Malady, might, when he pleas'd, rejeft the Remedy. Not- 
 withftanding all which, that he granted both thefe Afts unwillingly, and as 
 a meer paffive Inftrument, was then vifible even to moll of thofe men who now 
 will fee nothing. 
 
 At palling of the former Aft he himfelf conceal'd not hisunwillingnefs ; and 
 teftifying a general diflike of their aftions, which they then proceeded in with 
 great approbation of the whole Kingdom, he told them with a mafterly Brow, 
 that by this Ac! he had obliged them above what they had deferv'd, and gave a piece 
 of Juflice to the Commonwealth three times ihort of his Predeceflbrs, as if he 
 had been giving fome boon, or begg'd office to a fort of his dcfertle'fs Grooms. 
 
 That he pafs'd the latter Aft againfl his will, no man in reafon can hold it 
 quell ionable. For if the February before he made fo dainty, and were 1q loth 
 
 to
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 3 79 
 
 to bellow a Parlament once in three years upon the Nation, becaufe this had fo 
 oppos'd his courfes, was it likely that the May following he fhould bellow wil- 
 lingly on this Parlament an indiflbluble fitting, when they had offended him 
 much more by cutting fhort and impeaching of High Treafon his chief Fa- 
 vourites ? It was his fear then, not his favour, which drew from him that Act 
 left the Parlament, incens'd by his Confpiracies againft them, about the fame 
 time difcover'd, mould with the People have refented too heinoully thofe his 
 doings, if to the fufpicion of their danger from him he had alio added the de- 
 nial of this only means to fecure themfelves. 
 
 From thefe Acls therfore in which he glories, and wherwith fo oft he up- 
 braids the Parlament, he cannot juftly expect to reap aught but difhonour and 
 difpraife ; as being both unwillingly granted, and the one granting much lefs 
 than was before allow'd by Statute, the other being a teftimony of his violent 
 and lawlefs Cuftom, not only to break Privileges, but whole Parlaments ; from 
 which Enormity they were conftrain'd to bind him firft of all his Predecefibrs ; 
 never any before him having given like caries of diftruft and jealoufy to his Peo- 
 ple. As for this Parlament, how far he was from being advis'd by them, as he 
 ought, let his own words exprefs. 
 
 He taxes them with undoing what they feund well done : and yet knows they 
 undid nothing in the Church but Lord Bifhops, Liturgies, Ceremonies, Hio-h 
 Commiffion, judg'd worthy by all true Proteftants to be thrown out of the 
 Church. They undid nothing in the State but irregular and grinding Courts, 
 the main grievances to be remov'd ; and if thefe were the things which in his 
 opinion they found well done, we may again from hence be inform'd with what 
 unwillingnefs he remov'd them ; and that thofe gracious Acts wherof fo fre- 
 quently he makes mention, may be englifffd more properly Acts of fear and 
 diflimuJation againft his mind and confeience. 
 
 The Bill preventing dififolution of this Parlament he calls an unparallel'd Acl y 
 out of the extreme confidence that his Subjects would not make illufe of it. But was 
 it not a greater confidence of the People to put into one Man's hand fo great a 
 Power, till he abus'd it, as to fummonanddifiblve Parlaments ? He would be 
 thank'd for trading them, and ought to thank them rather for trufting him : 
 the trull ifluing firft from them, not from him. 
 
 And that it was a meer truft, and not his Prerogative, to call and difiblve 
 Parlaments at his pleafure ; and that Parlaments were not to be diflblv'd, till 
 all Petitions were heard, all Grievances redrefs'd, is not only the afTertion of 
 this Parlament, but of our ancient Law-books, which aver it to be an un- 
 written Law of common Right, fo ingraven in the Hearts of our Anceftors, and 
 by them fo conftantly enjoy'd and claim'd, as that it needed not enrolling. 
 And if the Scots in their Declaration could charge the King with breach of then- 
 Laws for breaking up that Parlament without their confent, while matters of 
 greateft moment were depending ; it were unreafonable to imagine that the 
 Wifdom of England fhould be fo wanting to it felf through all a'o-es, as not to 
 provide by fome known Law, written or unwritten, againft the not calling, or 
 the arbitrary difiblving of Parlaments •, or that they who ordain'd their fum- 
 moning twice a year, or as oft as need requir'd, did not tacitly enact alfo, 
 that as nccefiity of affairs call'd them, fo the fame neceffity fhould keep them 
 undiffolv'd till that were fully fatisfy*d. Were it not for that, Parlaments, and 
 all the fruit and benefit we receive by having them, would turn foon to meer 
 abulion. It appears then that if this Bill of not difiblving were an unparallel'd Act, 
 it was a known and common Right which our Anceftors under other Kings 
 enjoy'd as firmly as if it had been graven in Marble ; and that the infringement 
 of this King firll brought it into a written Act : Who now boafls that as a 
 great favour done us, which his own lefs fidelity than was in former Kings, con- 
 ftrain'd us only of an old undoubted Right, to make a new written Act. But 
 what needed written Acts, whenas anciently it was efteem'd part of his Crown- 
 Oath not to difiblve Parlaments till all Grievances were conlider'd ? wherup- 
 on the old Modi of Parlament, calls it flat Perjury, if he difiblve them before ; 
 as I find cited in a Book mention'd at the beginning of this Chapter, to which 
 and other Law-tractats I refer the more Lawyerly mooting of this point, which 
 is neither my element, nor my proper work here ; fince the Book which I have 
 Vol. I. C c c % to
 
 „ go An Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 to anfwer, pretends to reafon not to authorities and quotations : and I hold rea- 
 ibn to be the beft Arbitrator, and the Law of Law it felf. 
 
 'Tis true, that good Subjecls think it not juji that the King's condition fhould be 
 
 worfe by bettering theirs. But then the King mufl not be at fuch a diftance from 
 
 the people in judging what is better and what worfe ; which might have been 
 
 agreed, had he known (for his own words condemn him) as well with modera- 
 
 to ufe, as with earneftnefs to dcfire his own advantages. 
 
 A continual Parlament he thought would keep the Commonwealth in tune. Judge, 
 Commonwealth, what proofs he gave that this boafted profemon was ever in 
 
 his thought. 
 
 me, faith he, gave out that I repented me of that fettling Acl. His own acti- 
 ons c ave it out beyond all fuppofition ; for doubtlefs it repented him to have 
 eftablifh'd that by Law, which he went about fo foon after to abrogate by the 
 
 Sword. 
 
 He calls thofe Acts which he confefles tended to their good, net nun Princely 
 than friendly Contributions : As if to do his duty were of courtefy, and die dii- 
 char^e of his truft a parcel of his liberality •, fo nigh loft in his efteem was the 
 birth-ri^ht of our Liberties, that to give them back again upon demand flood 
 at the mercy of his Contribution. 
 
 He doubts not but the affeclions of his People will compenfate his fufferings for thofe 
 aSs of confidence : And imputes his fufferings to a contrary Caufe. Not his 
 confidence but his dijlruft was that which brought him to thofe fufferings, from 
 the time that he forfook his Parlament ; and trufted them ne'er the fooner for 
 what he tells of their piety and religious flriclnefs, but rather hated them as Pu- 
 ritans, whom he always fought to extirpate. 
 
 He would have it believed that to bind his hands by thefe Ails argu'd a very 
 fhovt fcreftght of things, and extreme fatuity of mind in him, if he had meant a 
 War. If we mould conclude fo, that were not the only Argument : neither 
 did it argue that he meant Peace ; knowing that what he granted for the pre- 
 fent out of fear, he might as foon repeal by force, watching his time ; and de- 
 prive them the fruit 01 thofe Acts, if his own defigns wherin he put his trufb 
 took effect. 
 
 Yet he complains, That the Tumults threatened to abufe allAtls of Grace, and turn 
 them into wantonnefs. I would they had turn'd his wantonnefs into the grace of 
 not abufing Scripture. Was this becoming fuch a Saint as they would make 
 him, to adulterate thofe facred words from the grace of God to the acts of his 
 own grace ? Herod was eaten up of Worms for fuffering others to compare his 
 voice to the voice of God ; but the Borrower of this Phrafe gives much more 
 caufe of jealoufy, that he liken'd his own acts of grace to the acts of God's 
 Grace. 
 
 From prophanenefs he fcarce comes off with perfect fenfe. / was not then in a 
 capacity to make War, therfore I intended not. I was not in a capacity, ther- 
 fore I could not have given my Enemies greater advantage than by fo unprincely in- 
 conjlancy to have fcatter'd them by Arms, whom but lately I had fettled by Parla- \ 
 went. What place could there be for his inconftancy to do that thing wher- 
 to he was in no capacity ? Otherwife his inconftancy was not fo unwonted, 
 or fo nice, but that it would have eafily found pretences to fcatter thofe in 
 revenge whom he fettled in fear. 
 
 It had been a courfefull of Jin as well as of hazard and difhonour. True ; but if 
 thofe Confiderations withheld him not from other Actions of like nature, how 
 can we believe they were of ftrength fufficient to withhold him from this ? 
 And that they withheld him not, the event foon taught us. 
 
 His letting fame men go up to the Pinacle of the Temple, was a temptation to them to 
 caft him down headlong. In this Simily we have himfelf compar'd to Chrifl, the 
 Parlament to the Devil, and his giving them that Aft of fettling, to his letting 
 them go up to the Pinacle of the Temple. A tottering and giddy Act rather 
 than a fettling. This was goodly ufe made of Scripture in his Solitudes: But 
 it was no Pinacle of the Temple, it was a Pinacle of Nebuchadnezzar's Palace 
 from whence he and Monarchy fell headlong together. 
 
 He would have others fee that All the Kingdoms of the World are not worth 
 gaining by ways of fin which hazard the Soul ; and hath himfelf left nothing 
 unhazarded tg keep three. He concludes with fentences that rightly fcann'd, 
 
 make
 
 An Anfeoer to Eikon Bafilike. 381 
 
 make not fo much for him as againft him, and confefies that the Ail of fettling 
 was no fin of his Will ; and we eafily believe him, for it hath been clearly prov'd 
 a fin of his unwillingnefs. 
 
 With his Orifons I meddle not, for he appeals to a high Audit. This yet 
 may be noted, that at his Prayers he had before him the lad prefage of his ill 
 fuccefs, As of a dark and dangerous Storm, which never admitted his return to the 
 Port from -whence he fet out. Yet his Pray er-Book no fooner flint, but other 
 hopes flatter'd him ; and their flattering was his deftruftion. 
 
 VI. Upon his Retirement from Weftminfter. 
 
 THE Simily wherwith he begins I was about to have found fault with, 
 as in a garb fomewhat more poetical than for a Statift : but meetino- 
 with many {trains of like drefs in other of his Eflays, and him hear° 
 ing reported a more diligent reader of Poets, than of Politicians, I beo-un to 
 think that the whole Book might perhaps be intended a piece of Poetry. The 
 words are good, the fiction fmooth and cleanly ; there wanted only Rhyme, and 
 that they fay is beftow'd upon it lately. But to the Argument. 
 
 I 'ftay'd at White-Hall //'// / was driven away by f.ame more than fear. I re- 
 tract not what I thought of the fiction, yet here I muft confefs it lies too open. 
 In his Meflages and Declarations, nay in the whole Chapter next but one be- 
 fore this, he affirms that The danger wherin his Wife, his Children, and his 
 own Perfon were by thofe Tumults, was the main caufe that drove him from 
 White-Hall, and appeals to God as witnefs : he affirms here that it was Jhame 
 more than fear. Kn&Digby, who knew his mind as well as any, tells his new- 
 lifted Guard, That the principal caufe of his Majejly's going thence, was to fave 
 them from being trod in the dirt. From whence we may difcern what falfe and 
 frivolous excufes are avow'd for truth, either in thofe Declarations, or in this 
 penitential Book. Our Forefathers were of that courage and feverity of zeal 
 to Juftice and their native Liberty, againft the proud contempt and mifrule of 
 their Kings, that when Richard the Second departed but from a Committee of 
 Lords who fate preparing matter for tht Parlament, not yet affembled, to the re- 
 moval of his evil Counfellors, they firft vanquiih'd and put to flight Robert de 
 Vere his chief Favourite; and then coming up to London with a huge Army, 
 requir'd the King then withdrawn for fear, but no further off" than the Tower, to 
 come to Weftminfter. Which he refufing, they told him flatly thatunlefs he came 
 they would chufe another. So high a Crime it was accounted then for Kino- s 
 to abfent themfelves, not from a Parlament, which none ever durft, but from 
 any meeting of his Peers and Counfellors which did but tend towards a Parla- 
 ment. Much lefs would they have fuffer'd that a King for fuch tri\ ial and van- ' 
 ous pretences, one while for fear of Tumults, another while for fhame to fee them, 
 ftiould leave his Royal Station, and the whole Kingdom bleeding to death of thofe 
 wounds which his own unfkilful and perverfe Government had inflicted. 
 
 Shame then it was that drove him from the Parlament, but the flume of 
 what ? Was it the fliame of his manifold errors and mifdeeds, and to fee how 
 weakly he had play'd the King ? No; Slut to fee the barbarous rudenefs of t 
 Tumults to demand any thing. We have ftarted here another, and I believe 
 the trueft, caufe of his deferting the Parlament. The worft and ftrangeft of 
 that Any-thing which the people then demanded, was but the unlording of Bi- 
 Ihops, and expelling them the Houfe, and the reducing of Church-Difciplinc 
 to a conformity with other Proteftant Churches ; this was the Barbarifm oi 
 thofe Tumults : and that he might avoid the granting of thofe honeft and 
 pious demands, as well demanded by the Parlament as the People, for this 
 very caufe more than for fear, by his own confefllon here, he left the City ; 
 and in a mod tempeftuous feafon forlbok the Helm and Steerage of the Com- 
 monwealth. This was that terrible Any-thing from which his Confcience anil 
 his Reafon chofe to run rather than not deny. To be importun'd the removing 
 of evil Counfellors, and other Grievances in Church and State, was tobim*// 
 
 intoleral '■'■■
 
 - 8 2 An Anficer to Eikon Baillike. 
 
 intolerable appreffion. If the People's demanding were fo burdenfome to him, 
 what was his denial and delay of Juftice to them ? 
 
 But as the demands of his People were to him a burden and oppreffion, fo 
 was the advice of his Parlament eiteem'd a bondage •, Wbofi agreeing Votes, as he 
 affirms, were not by any Law or Reafon conclufive to his Judgment. For the Law, 
 it ordains a Parlament to advife him in his great Affairs ; but if it ordain alfo 
 that the fingle judgment of a King mail out-ballance all the wifdom of his Par- 
 lament, it ordains that which fruflrates the end of its own ordaining. For 
 where the King's judgment may difTent to the deftruftion, as it may happen, 
 both ofhimfelt and the Kingdom, there Advice, and no further, is a moft insuf- 
 ficient and fruitraneous means to be provided by Law in cafes of lb high con- 
 cernment. It being therfore moil unlike a Law, to ordain a remedy fo (len- 
 der and unlawlike, to be the utmoft means ot all public fafety or prevention, 
 as Advice is, which may at any time be rejected by the fole judgment of one 
 man, the King, and lb unlike the Law of England, which Lawyers fay is the 
 quintefience of Reafon ; we may conclude that the King's negative voice was 
 never any Law, but an abfurd and realbnlefs Cuftom, begotten and grown up 
 either from the flattery of bafeft times, or the ufurpation of immoderate Prin- 
 ces. Thus much to the Law of it, by a better evidence than Rolls and Re- 
 cords, Reafon. 
 
 But is it poflible he fhould pretend alfo to Reafon, that the judgment of one 
 Man, not as a wife or good Man, but as a King, and oft-times a wilful, proud, 
 and wicked King, fhould outweigh the prudence and all the virtue of an eledted 
 Parlament ? What an abufive thing it were then to fummon Parlaments, that 
 by the major part of voices greateft matters may be there debated and refolv'd, 
 whenas one voice after thatfhall dafh ail their Refolutions ? 
 
 He attempts to give a reafon why it fhould, Becaufe the whole Parlament re- 
 pre/ents not him in any kind. But mark how little he advances -, for if the Par- 
 lament reprefent the whole Kingdom, as is fure enough they do, then doth the 
 King reprefent only himfelf; and if a King without his Kingdom be in a 
 civil fenfe nothing, then without or againfl the Reprefentative of his whole 
 Kingdom, he himfelf reprefents nothing; and by confequence his judgment and 
 his negative is as good as nothing : and though we fhould allow him to be 
 Something, yet not equal or comparable to the whole Kingdom, and fo neither 
 to them that reprefent it. 
 
 Yet here he maintains, To be no further bound to agree with the Votes of both 
 Hcufes, than he fees them to agree with the will of God, with his juft Rights as a 
 King, and the general Good of his People. As to the freedom of his agreeing or 
 not agreeing, limited with due bounds, no man reprehends it; this is the 
 Queftion here, or the Miracle rather, why his only not agreeing fhould lay a 
 negative bar and inhibition upon that which is agreed to by a whole Parla- 
 ment, though never fo conducing to the public good or fafety. To know 
 the will of God better than his whole Kingdom, whence fhould he have it? 
 Certainly Court-breeding and his perpetual conversation with Flatterers was 
 but a bad School. To judge of his own Rights could not belong to him, who. 
 had no right by Law in any Court to judge of fo much as Felony or Treafon, 
 being held a party in both thefe cafes, much more in this ; and his Rights how- 
 ever fhould give place to the general good, for which end all his Rights were 
 criven him. Laftly, to fuppofe a clearer infight and difcerning of the general 
 good, allotted to his own Angular judgment, than to the Parlament and all the 
 People, and from that felf-opinion of difcerning to deny them that good which 
 they, being all Freemen, feek earneftly and call for, is an arrogance and iniqui- 
 ty beyond imagination rude and unreasonable ; they undoubtedly having moft 
 authority to judge of the public good, who for that purpoie arechofen out and 
 fent by the People to advife him. And if it may be in him to fee oft the ma- 
 jor part of them not in the right, had it not been more his modefty to have doubted 
 their feeing him more often in the wrong ? 
 
 Fie paries to another reafon of his denials, Becaufe of fame men's hydropic un- 
 fr.tiablenefs, andthirjl of afking,the more they drank, whom no fountain of Regal Boun- 
 ty was able to overcome. A comparifon more properly beltow'd on thofe that 
 came to guzzle in his Wine-cellar, than on a freeborn People that came to 
 < him in Parlament their Rights and Liberties, which a King ought therfore to 
 
 grant.
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Baiilike. 383 
 
 grant, because of right demanded ; not to deny them for fear his bounty mould 
 be exhaufted, which in thefe demands (to continue the fame Metaphor) was not 
 l'o much as broach'd ; it being his duty, not his bounty to grant thefe things. 
 
 Putting oft' the Courtier, he now puts on the Philofopher, and fententioufly 
 difpur.es to this effedr, That reafon ought to be us*d to men, force and terror to Beajls; 
 that he deferves to be a Slave who captivates the rational fovereignty of his Soul, and 
 liberty of his IVill to compulfion ; that he would not forfeit that freedom which cannot 
 be deny'd him as a King, becaufe it belongs to him as a Man and a Chrijtian, though 
 to preferve his Kingdom ; but rather die enjoying the Empire of his Soul, than live in 
 fuch a vajjalage, as not to ufe his reafon and confeience to like or dijlike as a King. 
 Which words or themfelvcs, as far as they are fenfe, good and philofophical* 
 yet in the mouth of him who to cngrofs this common liberty to himfelf, would 
 tread down all other men into the condition of Slaves and Beafts, they quite 
 loft their commendation. He confeffes a rational fovereignty of Soul, and free- 
 dom of Will in every man, and yet with an implicit repugnancy would have his 
 reafon thefovereign of that fovereignty, and would captivate and make ufelefs 
 that natural freedom of will in all other men but himfelf. But them that yield 
 him this obedience he lb well rewards, as to pronounce them worthy to be Slaves. 
 They who nave loft all to be his Subjects, may ftoop and take up the reward. What 
 that freedom is, which cannot be denied him as a King, becaufe it belongs to him as 
 a Man and a Chriftian, I underftand not. If it be his Negative Voice, it con- 
 cludes all men who have not fuch a Negative as his againft a whole Parlament, to 
 be neither Men nor Chriftians: and what was he himfelf then all this while, 
 that we denied it him as a King? Will he fay that he enjoy'd within himfelf the 
 lefs freedom for that ? Might not he, both as a Man and as a Chriftian, have reign'd 
 within himfelf in full fovereignty of foul, no man repining, but that his outward 
 and imperious Will mult invade the civil Liberties of a Nation? Did we ther- 
 fore not permit him to ufe his reafon or his confeience, not permitting him to 
 bereave us the ufe of ours ? And might not he have enjoy'd both as a Kino-, 
 governing us as Free-men by what Laws we our felves would be govern'd ? It 
 was not the inward ufe of his reafon and his confeience that would content him, 
 but to ufe them both as a Law over all his Subjecls, in whatever he declar'd as a 
 King to like or dijlike. Which ufe of reafon, moft reafonlefs and unconfcionable, 
 is the utmoft that any Tyrant ever pretended over his Vaflals. 
 
 In all wife Nations the Legiflative Power, and the judicial execution of that 
 Power, have been moll commonly diftincl:, and in feveral hands ; but yet the for- 
 mer fupreme, the other fubordinate. If then the King be only let up to execute 
 the Law, which is indeed the higheft of his Office, he ought no more to make 
 or forbid the making of any Law agreed upon in Parlament, than other inferi- 
 or Judges, who are his Deputies. Neither can he more rejeft a Law ofler'd him 
 by the Commons, than he can new make a Law which they rcjecl:. And yet 
 the more to credit and uphold his caufe, he would feem to have Philofophy on 
 his fide, draining her wife didates to unphilofophical purpofes. But when 
 Kings come lb low, as to lawn upon Philofophy, which before they neither va- 
 lu'd nor underftood, 'tis a fign that fails not, they are then put to their laft: 
 Trump. And Philofophy as well requites them, by not fuffering her golden 
 layings either to become their lips, or to be us'd as mafks and colours of inju- 
 rious and violent deeds. So that what they prefume to borrow from her fage 
 and virtuous Rules, like the Riddle of Sphinx not underftood, breaks the neck 
 of their own caufe. 
 
 But now again to Politics : He cannot think theMajefly of the Crsivn of Eng- 
 land to be bound by any Coronaiion-Qath in a blind and brutip formality, to confent 
 to -whatever its Subjecls in Parlament Jhall require. What Tyrant could prefume 
 to fay more, when he meant to kick down all Law, Government, and bond of 
 Oath ? But why he lb defires to abfolve himfelf the Oath of his Coronation, 
 would be worth the knowing. It cannot but be yielded that the Oath which 
 binds him to pertormance ot his Truft, ought in reafon to contain the fum of 
 what his chiet Truft and Office is. But if it neither do enjoin nor mention to 
 him, as a part ol his duty, the making or the marring of any Law, or fcrap 
 of Law, but requires only his affent to thole Laws which the People have alrea- 
 dy chofen, or Ihall chute for fo both the Latin of that Oath, and the old 
 Lnglijh, and all reafon admits, that the People fhould not lofe under a new King 
 
 what
 
 84 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 what freedom they had before) then that negative Voice fo contended for, to 
 deny the paffing of any Law which the Commons chofe, is both againft the 
 Oath of his Coronation, and his Kingly Office. And if the King may deny to 
 pais what the Parlament hath chofen to be a Law, then doth the King make 
 himfelf fuperiour to his whole Kingdom •, which not only the general Maxima 
 of Policy gainfay, but even our own ftanding Laws, as hath been cited to him 
 in Remonftrances heretofore, that the King bath two Superiours, the Law, and 
 his Court of Parlament. But this he counts to be a blind and brutifh formality, 
 whether it be Law, or Oath, or his Duty, and thinks toturnit off with whole- 
 fome words andphrafes, which he then firfl learnt of the honeft People, when 
 they were fo often compell'd to ufe them againft thofe more truly blind and 
 brutifh formalities thruft upon us by his own command. 
 
 As for his inftance, in cafe He and the Hottfe of Peers attempted to enjoin the 
 Eoufe af Commons, it bears no equality •, for he and the Peers reprefent but them- 
 felves, the Commons are the whole Kingdom. 
 
 Thus he concludes his Oath to be fully difcbarg'd in governing by haws already 
 made, as being not bound to pafs any new, if his Rcafon bids him deny. And fo 
 may infinite mifchiefs grow,, and a whole Nation be ruin'd, while our general 
 good and fafety fliall depend upon the private and overweening Reafon of one 
 obftinate Man, who againft all the Kingdom, if he lift, will interpret both the 
 Law and his Oath of Coronation by the tenor of his own Will. Which he 
 himfelf confefTes to be an arbitrary power, yet doubts not in his Argument 
 to imply, as if he thought it more fit the Parlament fhould be fubject to his 
 Will, than he to their Advice ; a man neither by nature nor by nurture wife. 
 How is it poffible that he in whom fuch Principles as thefe were fo deep rooted, 
 could ever, tho' reftor'd again, have reign'd otherwife than tyrannically? 
 
 He objects, That Force was but ajlavijh Method to difpel his Error. But how 
 often fhall it beanfwer'd him, that no force was us'd to difpel the error out of 
 his head, but to drive it from off our necks ? for his error was imperious, and 
 would command all other men to renounce their own reafon and underftanding, 
 till they perifh'd under the injunction of his all-ruling error. 
 
 He alledges the uprightnefs of his intentions to excufe his poffible failings ; a 
 Pofition falfe both in Law and Divinity : Yea, contrary to his own better prin- 
 ciples, who affirms in the twelfth Chapter, that the goodnefs of a man's intention 
 will not excufe the fcandal and contagion of the example. His not knowing, through 
 the corruption of Flattery and Court-principles, what he ought to have known, 
 will not excufe his not doing what he ought tchave done ; no more than the fmall 
 fkill of him. who undertakes to be a Pilot will excufe him to be mif-led by any 
 wandring Star miftaken for the Pole. But let his intentions be never fo upright, 
 what is that to us ? What anfwer for the Reafon and the National Rights which 
 God hath given us, if having Parlaments, and Laws, and the power of making 
 more to avoid mifchief, we fuffer one man's blind intentions to lead us all 
 with our eyes open to manifeft deftrudion ? 
 
 And if Arguments prevail not with fuch a one, Force is well us'd •, not to car- 
 ry on the weaknefs of our Counfels, or to convince his Error, as he iurmifes, but 
 to acquit and refcueour own Reafon, our own Confciences from the force and 
 prohibition laid by his ufurping error upon our Liberties and Underftand- 
 ings. 
 
 Never thing pleas' 'd him more, than when his judgment cowurr'd with theirs. 
 That was to the applauie of his own judgment, and would as well have pleas'd 
 any felf-conceited man. 
 
 2'ea, in many things he chofe rather to deny himfelf than thaw. That is to fay, in 
 trifles. For oj his own Interefis andperfonal Rights he conceives himfelf Mojler. 
 To part with, if he pleafe, not to conteft for, againft the Kingdom which is 
 greater than he, whole Rights are all fubordinate to the Kingdom's good : And 
 in what concerns Truth, Jujlice, the Right of Church, or bis Crown, no man fhall 
 gain his confent againfl his mind. What can be left then for a Parlament, but to 
 fit like Images, while he ftill thus either with incomparable arrogance affumes 
 to himfelf the beft ability of judging for other men what is Truth, Juftice, 
 Goodnefs, what his own or the Church's right, or with unfufferable Tyranny 
 reftrains all men from the enjoyment of any good, which his judgment, though 
 erroneous, thinks not fit to grant them ; notwithstanding that the Law and 
 
 his
 
 An Anjwer to Eikori Bafilike. 3§c; 
 
 his Coronal Oath requires his undeniable afient ro what Laws the Parlament a- 
 grcv upon. 
 
 lie had rather wear a Crown of Thorns with our Saviour. Many would be all 
 one with our Saviour, whom our Saviour will not know. They who govern 
 ill thole Kingdoms which they had a right to, have to our Saviour's Crown of 
 Thorns no right at all. Thorns they may find enow of their own ^atherino-, 
 and their own twilling •, for Thorns and Snares, faith Solomon, are in the way 
 of the Froward : but to wear them, as our Saviour wore them, is not o-iven to 
 them that fit Iter by their own demerits. Nor is a Crown of Gold his due, who 
 cannot firft wear a Crown of Lead ; not only for the weight of that great Office, 
 but for the compliance which it ought to have with them who are to counfel him, 
 which here he terms in fcorn An imbafedflexiblenef to the various and oft contrary 
 dictates of any Faclions, meaning his Parlament •, for the queftion hath bin all 
 this while between them two. And to his Parlament, though a numerous and 
 choice AiTembly, of whom the Land thought wifeft, he imputes, rather than to 
 himfelf, want of reafon, neglecl of the Public, intereft of Parties, and particularly 
 of private will andpalfwn -, but with what modefty or likelihood of truth, it will 
 be wearifome to repeat fo often. 
 
 He concludes with a lenience fair in feeming, but fallacious. For if the con- 
 feience be ill edified, the rcfolution may more befit a foolifh than a Chriftian 
 King, t-> prefer a felf-will'd confeience before a Kingdom's good ; efpeciallyin the 
 denial of that which Law and his Regal Office by Oath bids him grant to his Par- 
 lament and whole Kingdom rightfully demanding. For we may obferve him 
 throughout the Difcourfe to affirt his Negative Power againft the whole King- 
 dom; now under the fpecious Plea of his confeience and his reafon, but here- 
 tofore in a louder note ; Without us, or againft our confent, the Votes of either or 
 of both Houjes together, muft not, cannot, Jh all not. Beclar. May 4. 1642. 
 
 With thefe and the like deceivable Doctrines he levens alfo his Prayer. 
 
 T 
 
 VII. Upon the Queers departure. 
 
 O this Argument'we fhall foon have faid ; for what concerns it us to 
 hear a Hufband divulge his Houfhold Privacies, extolling to others the 
 virtues of his Wife ? an infirmity not feldom incident to thofe who have^. 
 leaft caufe. But how good fhe was a Wife, was to himfelf, and be it left to his 
 own fancy •, how bad a Subject, is not much difputed. And being fuch, it need 
 be made no wonder, tho' fhe left a Proteftant Kingdom with as little honour as 
 her Mother left a Popifh. 
 
 That this is the firft example of any Proteftant Subjects that have taken up Arms 
 againft their King a Proteftant, can be to Proteftants no difhonour; when it fhall 
 be heard that he firft levied War on them, and to the intereft of Papifts more 
 than of Proteftants. He might have given yet the precedence of making War 
 upon him to the Subjects of his own Nation, who had twice oppofed him in the. 
 open Field long ere the Engliftj found it necefiary to do the like. And how 
 groundlefs, how diffembled is that fear, left fhe, who for fo many years had bin a- 
 verfe from the Religion of her Hufband, and every year more and more before 
 thefe difturbances broke out, fhould for them be now the more alienated from that 
 to which we never heard fhe was inclin'd ? But if the fear of her Delinquency, 
 and that Juftice which the Proteftants demanded on her, was any caufe of her a- 
 lienating the more, to have gain'd her by indirect means had been no advantage 
 to Religion, much lefs then was the detriment to lofe her further off. It had 
 bin happy if his own actions had not given caufe of more fcandal to the Prote- 
 ftants, than what they did againft her could juftly fcandalize any Papift. 
 
 Then who accufed her, well enough known to be the Parlament, he cenfures 
 
 for Men yet tofeek their Religion, whether Doctrine, Difcipline, or Good Manners ; 
 
 the reft he fooths with the name of true Englifh Proteftants, a meer fchifmatical 
 
 name, yet he fo great an enemy of Schifm. 
 
 Vol. I, Ddd He
 
 iS6- An Anfioer to Eikon Bafiiike, 
 
 He afcribes rudenefs and barbarity, ivorfe than Indian, to the Englijh Parla- 
 merit ; and all virtue to his Wife, in ftrains that come almoft toSonnettin g : How 
 At to govern men, undervaluing and afperfing the great Council of his Kingdom, 
 in comparifon of oneWoman. Examples are not tar to feek how great mifchief 
 and difhonour hath fallen to Nations under the Government of effeminate and 
 uxorious Magiftrates, who being themlelves govern'd and overfway'd at home 
 under a feminine Ufurpation, cannot but be far fhort of fpirit and authority 
 without doors to govern a whole Nation. 
 
 Her tarrying hers he could not think fafe among them who were Jhaking hands with 
 Allegiance, to lay f after hold en Religion ; and taxes them of a duty rather than a 
 crime, it being juft to obey God rather than Man, and impofllble to ferve two 
 Matters. I would they had quite ihaken off what they Hood making hands with ; 
 the fault was in their courage, not in their caufe. 
 
 In his Prayer he prays that the dijloyalty of his Proteftant Subjeils may not be a 
 hindrance to her love of the true Religion ; and never prays, that the diffolutenefs 
 of his Court, the Scandals of his Clergy, the unfoundnefs of his own Judgment* 
 the lukewarmnefs of his Life, his Letter of compliance to the Pope, his per- 
 mitting Agents at Rome, and the Pope's Nuntio here, may not be found in the 
 fight of God far greater hindrances to her converfion. 
 
 But this had been a futtle Prayer indeed, and well pray'd, though as duly as 
 a Pater-ncfter, if it could have charm'd us to lit ftill and have Religion and our 
 Liberties one by one lhatch'd from us, for tear left rifing to defend our felves,. 
 we fhould fright the Queen, a ftiff Papift, from turning Proteftant. As if the 
 way to make his Queen a Proteftant, had bin to make his Subjefts more than 
 half-way Papifts. 
 
 He prays next that his conftancy may be an antidote againft the poifon of other 
 men' 's example \ His conftancy in what? Not in Religion, for it is openly known 
 that her Religion wrought more upon him, than his Religion upon her ; and his 
 open favouring of Papifts, and his hatred of them call'd Puritans, made moft men 
 iufpeft the had quite perverted him. But what is it that the blindnefs of hypo- 
 crify dares not do ? It dares pray, and thinks to hide that from the eyes of God,, 
 which it cannot hide from the open view of man. 
 
 VIII. Upon his Repulfe at Hull, and the Fate 
 
 of the Hothams. 
 
 HUE L, a Town of great ftrength and opportunity both to Sea and 
 Land-Affairs, was at that time the Magazine of all thofe Arms 
 which the King had bought with money moft illegally extorted 
 from his Subjedts of England, to ufe in a caufelefs and moft unjuft Civil 
 War againft his Subjects of Scotland. The King in high difcontent and an- 
 ger had left the Parlament, and was gone toward the North, the Queen in- 
 to Holland, where the pawn'd and let to fail the Crown-Jewels (a crime here- 
 tofore counted treafonable in Kings) and to what intent thefe fums. were 
 raifed, the Parlament was not ignorant. His going northward in fo high 
 a chafe, they doubted was to poffefs himfelf of that ftrength, which the ftore- 
 houfe and fuuation of Hull might add fuddenly to his malignant Party. Hav- 
 ing firft therfore in many Petitions earneftly pray'd him to difpofe and fettle, 
 with confent of both Houfes, the military Power in trufty hands, and he as 
 oft refufing, they were neceffitated by the turbulence and danger of thofe times 
 to put the Kingdom by their own authority into a pofture of defence ; and 
 very timely fent Sir John Hotham, a Member of the Houfe, and Knight of that 
 County, to take Hull into his cuftody, and fome of the Train'd-bands to his 
 affiftance : Neither had the King before that time omitted to attempt the fame» 
 firft by Colonel Legg, one of thofe who were imploy'd to bring the Army up 
 againft the Parlament, then by the Earl of Newcafile under a difguife. And 
 Letters of the Lord JDigby were intercepted, wherin was wifht that the King 
 would declare himfelf, and retire to fome fafe place ; other information 
 came from abroad, that Hull was tbe place defign'd for fome new enterprife. 
 
 But
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 387 
 
 But thefe Attempts not fucceeding, and that Town being now in cuftody of 
 the Parlament, he fends a MefTage to them, that he had firmly refolv'd to o- 
 in Perfon into Ireland, to chaftife thofe wicked Rebels (for thefe and worfe 
 words he then gave them) and that towards this work he intended forthwith 
 to raife by his Commiffions, in the Counties near Weftcbefler, a Guard forhis 
 own Perfon confifting of 2000 foot, and 200 horfe, that fhould be arm'd 
 from his Magazine at Hull. On the other fide, the Parlament, forefeeino- the 
 King's drift, about the fame time fend him a Petition, that they miokt have 
 leave for necefiary caufes to remove the Magazine of Hull to the Tower of Lot- 
 ion ; to which the King returns his denial •, and foon after going to Hull, at- 
 tended with about 400 horfe, requires the Governor to deliver him up the 
 Town : wherof the Governor befought humbly to be excus'd, till he could 
 fend notice to the Parlament who had intruded him -, wherat the King much 
 incens'd, proclaims him Traitor before the Town-Walls, and gives immediate 
 order to flop all Paffages between him and the Parlament. Yet he himfelf dif- 
 patches port after poft to demand juftice as upon a Traitor, ufing a ftran°-e ini- 
 quity to require Juftice upon him whom he then waylaid and debarr'd from his 
 appearance. The Parlament no fooner underftood what had pafs'd, but they 
 declare that Sir John Hotham had done no more than was his duty, and was 
 therfore no Traitor. 
 
 This relation being moft true, proves that which is afHrm'd here to be moft 
 falfe ; feeing the Parlament, whom he accounts his greatefi Enemies, had more 
 confidence to abet and own what Sir John Hotham had done, than the King had 
 confidence to let him anHv;r in his o>vn behalf. 
 
 To fpeak of his patience, and in that folemn manner, he might better have 
 forborn ; God knows, faith he, it affecled me more with for row for others than with 
 anger for my felf; nor did the affront trouble me fo much as their fin. This is read, 
 I doubt not, and believ'd : and as there is fome ule of every thing, fo is there 
 of this Book, w ;re it but to fhew us, what a miferable, credulous, deluded 
 thing that creatr.re is, which is call'd the vulgar ; who notwithstanding what 
 they might know, will believe fuch vain-glories as thefe. Did not that cho- 
 leric and vengeful act of proclaiming him Traitor before due procefs of Law, 
 having been convinc'd fo late before of his illegality with the five Members, 
 declare his anger to be incens'd ? doth not his own relation confefs as much ? 
 and his fecond MefTage left him fuming three days after, and in plain words 
 teftifies his impatience of delay till Hotham be feverely punifh'd, for that which 
 he there terms an infupportable affront. 
 
 Surely if his forrow for Sir John Hotham's fin were greater than his anger for 
 the affr ont, it was an exceeding great forrow indeed, and wondrous charitable. 
 But if it ftirr'd him lb vehemently to have Sir John Hotham punifht, and not at 
 all that we hear to have him repent, it had a ftrange operation to be call'd a 
 forrow for his fin. He who would perfuade us of his forrow for the fins of o- 
 ther men, as they are fins, not as they are fin'd againft himfelf, rniift give us 
 firft fome teftimony of a forrow for his own fins, and next for fuch fins of o- 
 ther men as cannot be fuppofed a direct injury to himfelf. Bit fuch compunc- 
 tion in the King no man hath yet oblerv'd ; and till then, his forrow for Sir 
 John Hotham's fin will be call'd no other than the refentment of his repulfe ; and 
 his labour to have the (inner only punifh'd, will be call'd by a right name, his 
 
 revenge. 
 
 And the hand of that cloud which cafl all foon after into darknefs and difor- 
 der, was his own hand. For afiembling the Inhabitants of Torkjhire, and other 
 Counties, horfe and foot, firft under colour of a new Guard to his Perfon, foon 
 after, being fupply'd with Ammunition from Holland, bought with the Crown- 
 Jewels, he begins an open War by laying fiege to Hull: which Town was not 
 his own, but the Kingdom's •, and the Arms there, public Arms, bought with 
 the public Money, or not his own. Yet had they bin his own by as good right 
 as the private Houfe and Arms of any man are his own ; to ufe either of them 
 in a way not private, but fufpicious to the Commonwealth, no Law permits, 
 But the King had no propriety at all either in Hull or in the Magazine : 1b that 
 the following Maxims which he cites of bold and dijloyal Undertakers, may belong 
 more juftly to whom he leafr. meant them. After this he again relapfes into the 
 praife of his patience atHtiU, and by his overtalking of it, feems to doubt ei- 
 
 Vol. J, D d d 2 ther
 
 ngg An Anfioer to Eikon Bafiiike. 
 
 ther his own confcience, or the hardnefs of other men's belief. To me the more 
 he praifes it in himfelf, the more he feems to fufpeft that in very deed it was 
 not in him, and that the lookers on fo likewife thought. 
 
 Thus much of what he fuffe'rd by Hotham, and with what patience ; now ot 
 what Hotham fuffered, as he judges, for oppofmg him : He could not but obferve 
 how God not long after pleaded and aveng'd his caufe. Moft men are too apt, and 
 commonly the worft of men, fo to interpret and expound the judgments ot 
 God, and all other events of providence or chance, as makes moft to the jufti- 
 fyino- of their own caufe, though never fo evil ; and attribute all to the particu- 
 lar favour of God towards them. Thus when Saul heard that David was in 
 Keilah, God, faith he, bath delivered him up into my bands, for be is jhut in. But 
 how far that King was deceiv'd in his thought that God was favouring to his 
 caufe that ftory unfolds ; and how little reafon this King had to impute the 
 death of Hot ham to God's avengement of his repulfe at Hull, may eafily be feen. 
 For while Hot bam continu'd faithful to his truft, no man more fafe, more fuc- 
 cefsful, more in reputation than he : But from the time he firft fought to make 
 his peace with the King, and to betray into his hands that Town, into which 
 before he had deny r d him entrance, nothing profper'd with him. Certainly- 
 had God purpofed him fuch an end for his oppofition to the King, he would 
 not have deferr'd to punifh him till then, when of an enemy he was chang'd to- 
 be the King's Friend, nor have made his repentance and amendment the occa- 
 fion of his ruin. How much more likely is it, fince he fell into the ac~t of dif- 
 loyalty to his charge, that the judgment of God concurred with the punish- 
 ment of man, and juftly cut him off for revolting to the King? To give the 
 World an example, that glorious deeds done to ambitious ends, find reward 
 anfwerable, not to their outward feeming, but to their inward ambition. In the 
 mean while, what thanks he had from the King for revolting to his caufe, and 
 what good opinion for dying in his fervice r they who have ventur'd like him, or 
 intend, may here take notice. 
 
 He proceeds to declare, not only in general wherfore God's Judgment was 
 upon Hotham, but undertakes by fancies, and allufions, to give a criticifin upon 
 every particular : That his head was divided from his Body, becaufe his heart was 
 divided from the King ; two heads cut off in one family for affronting the head of 
 the Commonwealth ; the eldeft Son being infecled with the fin of the Father, again(t 
 the Father of his Country. Thefe petty gloffes and conceits on the high and fe- 
 cret Judgments of God, befides the boldnefs of unwarrantable commenting, are 
 fo weak and fhallow, and fo like the quibbles of a Court-Sermon, that we may 
 fafely reckon them either fetcht from fuch a pattern, or that the hand of fome 
 houfhold Prieft foifted them in, left the World ihould forget how much he was 
 the Difciple of thofe Cymbal Doctors. But that Argument by which the Au- 
 thor would commend them to us, difcredits them the more : For if they be fo 
 cbvious to every fancy, the more likely to be erroneous, and to mifconceive the 
 mind of thofe high fecrecies, wherof they prefume to determine. For God 
 judges not by human fancy. 
 
 But however God judg'd Hotham, yet he had the King's pity : but mark the 
 reafon how prepofterous ; fo far he had his pity, as he thought he at firft ailed 
 more againjl the light of bis confcience than many other men in the fame caufe. Que- 
 ftionlefs they who adl againft confcience, whether at the Rir oi human, or divine 
 Juftice, are pitied leaft of all. Thefe are the common grounds and verdicts of 
 Nature, wherof when he who hath the judging of a whole Nation, is found 
 deftitute under fuch a Governor, that Nation muft needs be miferable. 
 
 By the way he jerks at fome men's reforming to models of Religion, and that they 
 think all is gold of Piety that doth but glifter with aff)ew of Zeal. We know his 
 meaning, and apprehend how little hope there could be of him from luch lan- 
 guage as this : But are fure that the piety of his prelatic Model glifter'd more 
 upon the Pofts and Pillars which their zeal and fervency gilded over, than in 
 the true works of fpiritual edification. 
 
 He is for ry tbatHotham felt the juftice of others, andfellnot rather into the hands 
 cf his mercy. But to clear that, he Ihould have fhewn us what mercy he had e- 
 ver us'd to fuch as fell into his hands before, rather than what mercy he intend- 
 ed to fuch as never could come to ask it. Whatever mercy one man might have 
 expected, 'tis too well known the whole Nation found none •, though they be- 
 
 lought; 
 
 ;>
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 389 
 
 fought it often, and fo humbly, but had bin fwallow'd up in blood and ruin 
 to fet his private will above the Parlament, had not his ftrength fail'd him. Yet 
 clemency he counts a debt, which he ought pay to thofe that crave it ; fince we -pay not 
 any thing to God for his Mercy but Prayers and Praifes. By this reafon we ought 
 as freely to pay all things to all men ; for of all that we receive from God, what 
 do we pay for, more than prayers and praifes ? we look'd for the difcharrreof 
 his Office, the payment of his Duty to the Kingdom, and are paid Court-pay- 
 ment with empty fentences that have the found of gravity, but the fignificance 
 of nothing pertinent. 
 
 Yet again after his mercy part and granted, he returns back to give fentence 
 upon Hotham ; and whom he tells us he would fo fain have faved alive, him he 
 never leaves killing with a repeated Condemnation, though dead long fince. It 
 was ill that fomebody flood not near to whifper him, that a reiterating Judoe 
 is worfe than a tormentor. He pities him, he rejoices not, he pities him again ; but 
 {till is fure to brand him at the tail of his pity with fome ignominious mark, ei- 
 ther of ambition or difloyalty. And with a kind of cenforious pity aggravates 
 rather than leffens or conceals the fault : To pity thus, is to triumph. 
 
 He a Humes to foreknow, that after -times will difpute, whether Hotham were 
 more infamous at Hull, or at Tower-hill. What knew he of after-times, who 
 while he fits judging and cenfuring without end, the fate of that unhappy Father 
 and his Son at Tcwer-hill, knew not that the like fate attended him before his 
 own Palace-Gate •, and as little knew whether after-times do not referve a oreater 
 infamy upon his own Life and Reign. 
 
 He lays but over again in his Prayer, what his Sermon hath preach'd : How 
 acceptably to thofe in Heaven, we leave to be decided by that precept which for- 
 bids vain Repetitions. Sure enough it lies as heavy as he can lay it upon the head 
 of poor Hotham. 
 
 Needs he will faften upon God a piece of revenge as done for his fake; and 
 takes it for a favour, before he know it was intended him : which in his Clofet 
 had bin excufable, but in a written and publifh'd Prayer too prefumptuous. 
 Ecclefiaftes hath a right name for fuch kind of Sacrifices. 
 
 Going on he prays thus, Let not thy Juftice prevent the objetls and opportunities 
 of my Mercy. To folly, or to blafphemy, or to both fhall we impute this ? Shall 
 the Juftice of God give place, and ferve to glorify the Mercies of a Man ? All 
 other Men who know what they ask, defire of God that their doings may tend to 
 his glory ; but in this prayer God is requir'd that his Juftice would forbear to 
 prevent, and as good have faid to intrench upon the glory of a Man's Mercy. If 
 God forbear his Juftice, it muft be fure to the magnifying of his own Mercy : 
 But here a mortal man takes the boldnefs to ask that glory out of his hand. It 
 may be doubted now by them who underftand Religion, whether the King were 
 more unfortunate in this his Prayer, or Hotham in thofe his Sufferings. 
 
 IX. Upon the lifting and raifmg Armies y &c. 
 
 IT were an endlefs work to walk fide by fide with the verbofity of this Chap- 
 ter ; only to what already hath not bin fpoken, convenient Anfwer fhall be 
 given. He begins again with Tumults ; all demonftration of the People's 
 Love and Loyalty to the Parlament was Tumult •, their Petitioning, Tumult ; 
 their defenfive Armies were but lifted 'Tumults ; and will take no notice that 
 thofe about him, thofe in a time of Peace lifted into his own Houfe, were the 
 beginners of all thefe Tumults ; abufing and affaulting not only fuch as came 
 peaceably to the Parlament at London, but thofe that came petitioning to the 
 King himfelf at York. Neither did they abftain from doing violence and out- 
 rage to the Meffengers fent from Parlament -, he himfelf either countenancing 
 or conniving at them. 
 
 He fuppofes that his recefs gave us confidence that he might be conquered. Other 
 men fuppofe both that and all things elfe, who knew him neither by nature 
 warlike, norexperiene'd, nor fortunate ; fofar was any Man that difecrn'd aught 
 from efteeming him unconquerable ; yet fuch are readieft to imbroil others. 
 
 But
 
 ("I 
 
 ^o An Anfioer to Eikon Baillike. 
 
 But he had a Soul invincible. What praife is that ? The Stomach of a Child 
 isoftimes invincible to all correction. The unteachable man hath a foul to all 
 reafon and good advice invincible ; and he who is intractable, he whom nothing 
 can perfuade, may boaft himfelf invincible ; whenas in fome things to be over- 
 come is more honeft and laudable than to conquer. 
 
 He labours to have it thought that his fearing God more than Man was the ground 
 of his fufferings ; but he fhould have known that a good principle not rightly 
 uhderftood may prove as hurtful as a bad, and his fear of God may be as faulty 
 as a blind zeal. He pretended to fear God more than the Parlament, who ne- 
 ver urg'd him to do otherwife •, he fhould alfo have lear'd God more than he 
 did his Courtiers, and the Bifhops who drew him, as they pleafed, to things in- 
 confiftent with the fear of God. Thus boafted Saul to have performed the Com- 
 mandment of God, and flood in it againft Samuel •, but it was found at length that; 
 he had feared the People more than God, in faving thole fat Oxen for the 
 worfhip of God which were appointed for deftruflion. Not much unlike, if 
 not much worfe, was that fact of his, who for fear to dilpleafe his Court and 
 mungrel Clergy, with the difTolutefl of the People, upheld in the Church of 
 God, while his power lafted, thofe Beafts of Amalec, the Prelates, againft the 
 advice of his Parlament and the example of all Reformation ; in this more un- 
 excufable than Saul, that Saul was at length convine'd, he to the hour of death 
 fixed in his falfe perfuafion, and fooths himfelf in the flattering peace of an er- 
 roneous and obdurate confeience ; finging to his foul vain Pfalms of exultation,, 
 as if the Parlament had afTailed his reafon with the force of Arms, and not he 
 on the contrary their reafon with his Arms, which hath been prov'd already, 
 and fhall be more hereafter. 
 
 He twits them with his Ails of Grace ■, proud, and un-felf-knowing words ia 
 the mouth of any King who affects not to be a God, and fuch as ought to be as 
 odious in the ears of a free Nation. For if they were unjuft acts, why did he 
 grant them as of grace ? If juft, it was not of his grace, but of his duty and 
 his Oath to grant them. 
 
 A glorious King he would be, though by his fufferings : But that can never be 
 to him, whofe fufferings are his own doings. He feigns a hard choice put upon him, 
 either to kill his Subjecls, or be killed. Yet never was Kinglefs in danger of any 
 violence from his Subjects, till he unfheath'd his Sword againft them ; nay long 
 after that time, when he had fpilt the blood of thoufands, they had ftill his Per- 
 fon in a foolifh veneration. 
 
 He complains, That civil War tnujl be the fruits of his feventeen years reign- 
 ing -with fuch a meafure of J ujlice, Peace \ Plenty, and Religion, as all Nations ei- 
 ther admired or envied. For the Juftice we had, let the Council-Table, Star- 
 chamber, High-Commiffion fpeak the praife of it ; not forgetting the unprince- 
 ly ufage, and, as far as might be, the abolifhing of Parlaments, the difplacing, 
 of honeft Judges, the Sale of Offices, Bribery and Exaction, not found out to 
 be punifhed, but to be fhared in with impunity for the time to come. Who can 
 number the Extortions, the Oppreffions, the public Robberies and Rapines com- 
 mitted on the Subject both by Sea and Land under various pretences ?. Their 
 pofleflions alfo taken from them, one while as Foreft-Land, another while as 
 Crown-Land ; nor were their Goods exempted, no not the Bullion in the Mint j 
 Piracy was become a project own'd and authoriz'd againft the Subject. 
 
 For the peace we had, what peace was that which drew out the Englifh to a 
 needlefs and difhonourable Voyage againft the Spaniards at Coles ? Or that 
 which lent our fhipping to a treacherous and Antichriftian War againft the poor 
 Proteftants of Roche I our fuppliants ? What peace was that which fell to rob the 
 French by Sea, to the imbarring of all our Merchants in that Kingdom ? which 
 brought forth that unbleft expedition to the Ifle ofRhee, doubtful whether more 
 calamitous in the fuccefs or in the defign, betraying all the flower of our military 
 Youth and beft Commanders to a lhameful furprilal and execution. This was 
 the peace we had, and the peace we gave, whether to friends or to foes abroad. 
 And if at home any peace was intended us, what meant thofe billeted Soldiers 
 in all parts of the Kingdom, and the defign of German Horfe to fubdue us in 
 our peaceful Houfes ? 
 
 For our Religion, where was there a more ignorant, profane, and vitiou? 
 Clergy, learned in nothing but the antiquity of their Pride, their Covetoufnefs 
 
 and
 
 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. qoi 
 
 and Superftition ? whofe unfincere and levenous Doctrine, corrupting the peo- 
 ple, firft taught them Joofenefs, then bondage •, loofening them from all found 
 knowledge and ftrictnefs of life, the more to fit them for the bondage of Tyran- 
 ny and Superftition. So that what was left us for other Nations not to pity ra- 
 ther than admire or envy, all thofe feventeen years, no wile man could fee. For 
 wealth and plenty in a Land where Juftice reigns not, is no argument of a 
 flourifhing State, but of a nearnefs rather to ruin or commotion. 
 
 Thefe were not fome mifcarriages only of a Government, which might efcape, 
 but a univerfal diftemper, and reducement of Law to arbitrary Power ; not 
 through the evil counfels of fome men, but through the conftant courfe and 
 practice of all that were in higheft favour : whofe worit actions he frequently 
 avow'd and took upon himfelf, and whofe Perfons when he could no longer pro- 
 tect, heefteem'd and favour'd to the end; but never otherwife than by constraint, 
 yielding any of them to due Punishment ; wherby manifesting that what they 
 did was by his own Authority and Approbation. 
 
 Yet here he asks, Whofe innocent Blood he hathfhed, what Widows or Orphans 
 tears can witnefs againft him ? after the fufpected poiibning of his Father, not 
 enquirM into, but imother'd up, and him protected and advanc'd to the very 
 half of his Kingdom, who was accufed in Parlament to be the Author of the 
 fact, after fo many Years of cruel War on his People in three Kingdoms. Whence 
 the Author of 'Truths manifeft, a Scotchman, not unacquainted with affairs, 
 pofitively affirms, That there hath more Chriftian Blood been Jhed by the Commif- 
 JioH, Approbation, and Connivance of King Charles and his Father James in the 
 latter end of their reign, than in the Ten Roman Perfections. Not to fpeak of 
 thofe many Whippings, Pillories, and other corporal inflictions wherwith his 
 reign alfo before this War was rot unbloody •, fome have died in Prifon under 
 cruel reftraint, others in Banifhment, whole Lives were fhorten'd through the 
 rigor of that Perfecution wherwith fo many years he infefted the true Church. 
 And thofe fix Members all men judg'd to have efcap'd no lefs than capital dan- 
 ger, whom he fo greedily purfuing into the Houfe of Commons, had not there 
 the forbearance to conceal how much it troubl'd him, That the Birds were flown. 
 If fome Vultur in the Mountains could have open'd his Beak intelligibly and 
 fpoke, what fitter words could he have utter'd at the lofs of his Prey ? The Tyrant 
 Nero, though not yet deferving that name, fet his hand fo unwillingly to the 
 execution of a condemn'd Perfon, as to wifh He had not known Letters. Certain- 
 ly for a King himfelf to charge his Subjects with High Treafon, and fo vehe- 
 mently to profecute them in his own caufe, as to do the Office of a Searcher, 
 argu'd in him no great averfation from fhedding blood, were it but tofatisfy his 
 anger, and that revenge was no unpleafing morfel to him, wherof he himfelf 
 thought not much to be fo diligently his own Caterer. But we infill rather up- 
 on what was actual, than what was probable. 
 
 He now falls to examine the caufes of this War, as a difficulty which he had 
 longjludied to find out. // was not, faith he, my withdrawing from Whitehall ; 
 for no account in reafon could be given of thofe Tumults, where an orderly Guard was 
 granted. But if it be a molt certain truth that the Parlament could never yet 
 obtain of him any Guard fit to be confided in, then by his own confefiion fome 
 account of thofe pretended Tumults may in reafon be given ; and bo:h concerning 
 them and the Guards enough hath bin faid already. 
 
 Whom did he protetl againft the Juftice of Parlament ? Whom did he not to his 
 utmoft power ? Endeavouring to have refcu'd Strafford lrom their Juftice, tho' 
 with the deftruction of them and the City •, to that end exprefly commanding 
 the admittance of new Soldiers into the Tower, rais'd by Suckling and other 
 Confpirators, under pretence for the Portugal; not to repeat his other Plot 
 of bringing up the two Armies. But what can be disputed with fuch a King, 
 in whofe mouth and opinion the Parlamnnt it felf was never but a Faclion, and 
 their Juftice no Juftice, but the Diilates and overfwaying Infolence of Tumults 
 and Rabbles ? and under that excufe avouches himfelf openly the general Patron 
 of molt notorious Delinquents, an J . approves their Might out of the Land, whofe 
 crimes were fuch, as that the jufteft and the faireft trial would have fooneft 
 condemn'd them to death. But did not Catiline plead in like manner againft 
 the Roman Senate, and the injustice of their trial, and the juftice of his Slight from 
 Rome? Cefar alfo, then hatching Tyranny, injected the fame lcrupulous de- 
 murs
 
 o 
 
 92 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 murs to ftop the fentence of death in full and free Senate decreed on Lentulus 
 and Cethegus, two of Catiline's accomplices, which were renew'd and urg'd for 
 Stafford. He vouchfafes to the reformation, by both Kingdoms intended, no bet- 
 ter name than Innovation and ruin both in Church and State. And what we would 
 have learnt lb gladly of him in other pafTages before, to know wherin he tells 
 us now of his own accord. The expelling Bifhops out of the Houfe of Peers, this 
 was ruin to the State ; the removing them root and branch, this was ruin to the 
 Church. How happy could this Nation be in fuch a Governor who counted 
 that their ruin, which they thought their deliverance •, the ruin both of Church 
 and State, which was the recovery and the faving of them both ? 
 
 To the paffing of thofe Bills againft Bifhops, how is it likely that the Houfe 
 of Peers gave fo hardly their confent, which they gave fo eafily before to the 
 attaching them of HighTreafon, twelve at once, only for protefting that the Par- 
 lament could not aft without them ? Surely if their rights and privileges were 
 thought fo undoubted in that Houfe, as is here maintain'd •, then was that Pro- 
 teftation, being meant and intended in the name of their whole fpiritual Order, 
 no Treafon ; and fo that Houfe it felf will become liable to a juft conftruftion 
 either of injuftice in them for fo confenting, or of ufurpation, reprefenting none 
 but themfclves, to expeft that their voting or not voting fhould obftruft the 
 Commons: Who not tor jive repulfes of the Lords, no not for fifty, were tode- 
 fift from what in the name of the whole Kingdom they demanded, fo long as 
 thofe Lords were none of our Lords. And for the Bill againft root and brandy 
 tho' it pafs'd not in both Houfes till many of the Lords and lome few of the 
 Commons, either enticed away by the King, or overaw'd by the fenfe of their 
 own Malignancy, not prevailing, deferted the Parlament, and made a fair rid- 
 dance of themfelves •, that was no warrant for them who remain'd faithful, be- 
 ing far the greater number, to lay afide that Bill of root and branch, till the 
 return of their fugitives j a Bill fo necefTary and fo much defir'd by themfelves- 
 as by the People. 
 
 This was the partiality, this degrading of the Bifhops, a thing fowholefome 
 in the State, and fo orthodoxal in the Church both ancient and reformed, which, 
 the King rather than affent to, will either hazard both his own and the Kingdom's 
 ruin, by our juft defence againft his force of arms ; or pro/Irate our consciences in a 
 blind obedience to himfelf, and thofe men r wbcfe fuperfiition, zealous or unzealous, 
 would inforce upon us an Antichriftian tyranny in the Church, neither Primitive^ 
 jlpojlolical, nor more anciently univerfal than fome other manifeft corruptions. 
 
 But he was bound, befides his judgment, by a moji ftricl and undifpe; fable Oath to 
 preferve that Order and the Rights of the Church. If he mean the Oath of his Co- 
 ronation, and that the letter of that Oath admit not to be interpreted either by 
 equity, reformation, or better knowledge, then was the King bound by that 
 Oath to grant the Clergy all thofe Cuftoms, Franchifes, and Canonical Privi- 
 leges granted to them by Edzvard the ConfefTor ; and fo might one day, under 
 pretence of that Oath, and his confcience, have brought us all again to Popery. 
 But had he fo well remembred as he ought, the words to which he fwore, he 
 might have found himfelf no otherwife oblig'd there, than according to the Laws 
 of God, and true prof ejfion of the Gofpel. For if thofe following words, Eftab/i/h'd' 
 in this Kingdom, be fet there to limit and lay prefcription on the Laws of God 
 and truth of the Gofpel by man's eftablifhment, nothing can be more abfurd or 
 more injurious to Religion. So that however the German Emperors or other 
 Kings have levied all thofe Wars on their Proteftant Subjects under the colour of 
 a blind and literal obfervance to an Oath, yet this King had leaft pretence of all. 
 Nor is it to be imagined, if what ftiall be eftablifh'd come in queftion, but that the 
 Parlament fhould overfway the King, and not he the Parlament. And by all Law 
 and Reafon that which the Parlament will not, is no more eftabliih'd in this King- 
 dom, neither is the King bound by Oath to uphold it as a thing eftablifh'd. 
 
 Had he gratified, he thinks, Antiepifcopal Faction with his confent, and facrific'd 
 the Church-government and Revenues to the fury of their covetoufnefs, &:c. an Army 
 had not bin raifed. Wheras it was the fury of his own hatred to the profeffors 
 of true Religion which firft incited him to prefecute them with the Sword of 
 War, when Whips, Pillories, Exiles, and I mprifonments were not thought fuf- 
 ficient. To colour which he cannot find wherwithal but that ftale pretence 
 of Charles the fifth, and other Popifh Kings, that the Proteftants had only an 
 
 inten,.
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 393 
 
 intent to by hands on the Church-revenues, a thing never in the thoughts of 
 this Parlament, till exhaufted by his endlefs War upon them, their necefiity 
 (eiz'd on that for the Commonwealth, which the luxury of Prelates had abus'd 
 before to a common mifchief. 
 
 1 lis confent to the unlording of Bi Chops (for to that he himfelf confented, and 
 at Canterbury the chief feat of their Pride, fo God would have it) was from 
 his firmperfwqfion of their contentednefs to fujfer a prefent diminution of their Rights. 
 Can any man, reading this, not difcern the pure mockery of a Royal Confent, 
 to delude us only for the prefent, meaning, it feems, when time mould 
 ferve, to revoke all ? By this reckoning his confents and his denials come all to 
 one pals : and wemayhence perceive thewildom and the integrity of thofe Votes 
 -which voted his Conceflions at the IhVof Wight for grounds of a lafling Peace. 
 This he alledges, this Controverfy about Bifhops, to be the true fiate of that diffe- 
 rence between him and the Parlament. For he held Epifcopacy both very Sacred 
 and Divine ; with this Judgment, and for this caufe he withdrew from the Par- 
 lament, and confelfes that fome men knew be was like to bring again the fame 
 judgment which he carried with him. A fair and unexpected juftification from 
 his own mouth afforded to the Parlament, who notwithftanding what they knew 
 of his obftinate mind, omitted not to ufe all thofe means, and that patience to 
 have gain'd him. 
 
 As for Delinquents, he allows them to be but the neceffary confluences of his 
 and their w;tbdrazv;;:g and defending. A pretty fhift to mince the name of a De- 
 linquent into a neceflkry Confequent : what is a Traitor, but the needfury con- 
 fequence of his Treafon ? What a Rebel, but of his Rebellion ? From this 
 conceit he would infer a Pretext only in the Parlament to fetch in Delinquents, as if 
 there had indeed been no fuch caufe, but all the delinquency in London Tumults, 
 Which is the over- worn theme, and ftuffing of all his difcourfes. 
 
 This he thrice repeats to be the true ilate and reafon of all that War and De- 
 vaftation in the Land ; and that of all the "Treaties and Proportions offer'd him, 
 he was refolv'd never to grant the abolifhing of Epifcopal, or the eftablifhment of 
 Prefbyterian Government. I would demand now of the Scots and Covenanters 
 (for fo I call them, as mifobfervers of the Covenant) how they will reconcile 
 the prefervation of Religion and their Liberties, and the bringing of Delinquents to 
 condign punifoment, with the freedom, honour, and fafety of this vow'd reiolution 
 here, that efteems all the Zeal of their proflituted Covenant no better than a 
 noife and fhew of piety, a heat for reformation, filling them with prejudice, and 
 ebjlrutling all equality and clearnefs of judgment in them. With thefe Principles 
 who knows but that at length he might have come to take the Covenant, as o- 
 thers whom they brotherly admit, have done before him ? And then all, no 
 doubt, had gone well, and ended in a happy peace. 
 
 His Prayer is moft of it borrow'd out of David ; but what if it be anfwer'd 
 him as the Jews, who trufted in Mofes, were anfwer'd by our Saviour ; There 
 is one that accufeth you, even David, whom you mifapply. 
 
 He tells God, that his Enemies are many, but tells the People, when itferveshis 
 turn, they are but a faclion of fome few, prevailing over the major part of both Houfes. 
 God knows he had no prffion, defign or preparation to embroil his Kingdom in a 
 Civil War. True ; for he thought his Kingdom to be Iffachar, iflrong Afs that 
 would have couch 'd down between two burdens, the one of Prelatical Superflition, 
 the other of civil Tyranny : but what palfion and defign, what clofe and open 
 preparation he had made to fubdue us to both thefe by terror and preventive 
 force, all the Nation knows. 
 
 The confidence of fome Men had almofl perfwaded him to fufpetl his own innocence. 
 As the words of Saint Paul had almofl perfwaded Agrippa to be a Chriflian. 
 But almofl in the work of repentance is as good as not at all. 
 
 God, faith he, will find out bloody and deceitful Men, many of whom have not 
 liv'd out half their days. It behov'd him to have been more cautious how he 
 tempted God's finding out of blood and deceit, till his own years had been further 
 fpent, or that he had enjoy'd longer the fruits of his own violent Counfels. 
 
 But inflead of warinefs he adds another temptation, charging God to know 
 that the chief defign of this War was either to dejlroy his Perfon or to force his Judg- 
 ment. And thus his Prayer from the evil practice of unjufl accufing Men to 
 God, arifestothe hideous rafhnefs of accufing God before men, to know that 
 for truth, which all men know to be moft falfe. 
 
 Vol. I. Eec He
 
 q4 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 " H e prays, 72>«/ God would forgive the People, for they know not what they do. It 
 
 is an eafy matter to fay over what our Saviour faid •, but how he lov'd the Peo- 
 ple, other Arguments than affected Sayings muft demonftrate. He who fo oft 
 hath prefurn'd rafhly to appeal to the knowledge and teftimony of God in things 
 fo evidently untrue, may be doubted what belief or efteem he had of his for- 
 givenefs, either to himfelf, or thofe for whom he would fo feign that men 
 fhould hear he pray'd. 
 
 X. Upon their feizing the Magazines , Forts , &c. 
 
 TO put the matter fooneft out of controverfy who was the firft beginner 
 of this Civil War, fince the beginning of all War may be difcern*d not 
 only by the firft act of Hoftility, but by the Counfels and Preparations 
 fore^oino-, it fhall evidently appear that the King was ftill foremoft in all thefe. 
 No Kino- had ever at his firft coming to the Crown more love and acclamation 
 from a people •, never any people found worfe requital of their loyalty and good 
 affection : Firft, by his extraordinary fear and miftruft that their Liberties 
 and Rights were the impairing and diminifhing of his Regal Power, the true 
 Original of Tyranny ; next, by his hatred to all thofe who were efteem'd reli- 
 gious ; doubting that their Principles too much afferted Liberty. This was 
 quickly feen by the vehemence, and the caufes alledg'd of his perfecuting, the 
 other by his frequent and opprobrious diffolution of Parlaments; after he had 
 demanded more money of them, and they to obtain their Rights had granted him, 
 than would have bought the 'Turk out of Morea, and fet free all the Greeks. 
 But when he fought to extort from us, by way of Tribute, that which had 
 been offer'd him conditionally in Parlament, as by a free People, and that 
 thofe Extortions were now confum'd and wafted by the luxury of his Court, 
 he began then (for ftill the more he did wrong, the more he fear'd) before 
 any Tumult or Infurrection of the People, to take counfel how he might to- 
 tally fubdue them to his own will. Then was the defign of German Horle, and 
 Soldiers billeted in all parts ; the Pulpits refounded with no other Doctrine 
 than that which gave all Property to the King, and Paflive Obedience to the 
 Subject. After which innumerable forms and fhapes of new Exactions and 
 Exacters overfpread the Land : Nor was it enough to be impoverifh'd, unlefs 
 we were difarm'd. Our Train'd-Bands, which are the truftieft and moft proper 
 ftrength of a free Nation, had their Arms in divers Counties taken from them j 
 other Ammunition by defign was ingrofs'd and kept in the Tower, not to be 
 bought without a Licence, and at a high rate. 
 
 Thus far, and many other ways were his Counfels and Preparations before- 
 hand with us, either to a Civil War, if it fhould happen, or to lubdue us with- 
 out a War, which is all one, until the raifmg of his two Armies againft the 
 Scots, and the fitter of them rais'd to the moft perfidious breaking ol a folemn 
 Pacification. 
 
 After the beginning of this Parlament, whom he faw fo refojute and unani- 
 mous to relieve the Commonwealth, and that the Earl of Strafford was con- 
 demn'd to die, other of his evil Couniellors impeach'd and imprifon'd, to 
 fhew there wanted not evil Counfel within himfelf fufficient to begin a War 
 upon his Subjects, though no way by them provok'd, he fends an Agent with 
 Letters to the King of Denmark requiring aid againft the Parlament, endea- 
 vours to bring up both Armies, firft the Engliflj, with whom 8000 IriJJj Pa- 
 pifts rais'd by Strafford, and a French Army were to join; then the Scots at New- 
 caftle, whom he thought to have encourag'd by telling them what money and 
 horfe he was to have from Denmark. I mention not the Irhfh Confpiracy till 
 due place. Thefe and many other were his Counfels toward a Civil War. His 
 Preparations, after thofe two Armies were difmifs'd, could not fuddcnly be too- 
 open : Neverthelefs there were 8000 Trijh Papifts which he refus'd to difband, 
 though intreated by both Houfes, firft, for reafons beft known to himfelf, next, 
 ■ under pretence of lending them to the Spaniard; and fo kept them undifband- 
 
 ed
 
 • An Anfiver to Eikon Bafilike. 395 
 
 ed till very near the month wherin that Rebellion broke forth, He was alfo 
 raifing Forces in London, pretended]/ to ferve the Portugal, but with intent to 
 ieize the Tower. Into which divers Cannoneers were by him fent ; the Court 
 was fortify'd with Ammunition, and Soldiers new lifted, follow'd the Kino- 
 from London, and appear'd at King ft on fame hundreds of Horfe in a warlike 
 manner, with Waggons of Ammunition after them ; the Queen in Holland 
 was buying more •, the Inhabitants ofTorkJhire and other Counties were call'd 
 to Arms, and actual Forces rais'd, while the Parlament were yet petitioning 
 in peace. 
 
 As to the Act of Hoftility, though not much material in whom firft it began 
 after fuch Counfels and Preparations difcover'd, and fo far advane'd by the 
 King, yet in that act alfo he will be found to have had precedency, if not at 
 London by the afiault of his arm'd Court upon the naked People, and his at- 
 tempt upon the Houfe of Commons, yet certainly at Hull, firft by his clofe 
 Practices on that Town, next by his Siege. Thus whether Counfels, Prepa- 
 rations, or Acts of Floftility be confider'd, it appears with evidence enough, 
 though much more might be (aid, that the King is truly charg'd to be the firft 
 beginner of thefe Civil Wars. To which may be added as a clofe, that in the 
 Ifle of Wight he charg'd it upon himfelf at the public Treaty, and acquitted 
 the Parlament. 
 
 Bat as for the fecuring of Hull and the public ftores therin, and in other 
 places, it was no furprifa I of his Strength ; the cuftody wherof by Authority of 
 Parlament was committed into hands moft fit and moft refponfible for fuch a 
 truft. It were a folly beyond ridiculous, to count ourfelves a free Nation, if 
 the King, not in Parlament, but in his own Perfon, and againft them, might ap- 
 propriate to himfelf the ftrength of a whole Nation as his proper Goods. What 
 the Laws of the Land are, a Parlament fhould know beft, having both the life 
 and death of Laws in their law-giving power : And the Law of England is, at 
 beft, but the reafon of Parlament. The Parlament therfore, taking into their 
 hands that wherof moft properly they ought to have the keeping, committed 
 no furprifal. If they prevented him, that argu'd not at all either his innocency 
 or unpreparednefs, but their timely forefight to ufe prevention. 
 
 But what needed that ? They knew his chief eft Arms left him were thofe only 
 which the ancient Chriftians were wont to ufe againft their Perfecutors, Prayers and 
 Tears. O facred reverence of God, refpect and fname of Men, whither were 
 ye fled when thefe hypocrifies were utter'd ? Was the Kingdom then at all 
 that coft of Blood to remove from him none but Prayers and Tears ? What 
 were thofe thoufands of Blaipheming Cavaliers about him, whofe mouths let 
 fly Oaths and Curies by the volley ; were thofe the Prayers ? and thofe Caroufes 
 drunk to the Confufion of all things good or holy, did thofe minifter the 
 Tears ? Were they Prayers and Tears that were lifted at 2~ork, mufter'd on 
 Heworth Moore, and laid fiege to Hull for the guard of his Perfon ? Were 
 Prayers and Tears at fo high a rate in Hollaud, that nothing could purchafe them 
 but the Crown- Jewels ? Yet they in Holland (fuch word was fent us) fold them 
 for Guns, Carabines, Mortar-pieces, Cannons, and other deadly Inftruments 
 of War-, which when they came toTork, were all no doubt by the merit of fome 
 great Saint fuddenly transform'd into Prayers and Tears ; and being divided 
 into Regiments and Brigades, were the only Arms that mifchiev'd us in all thofe 
 Battles and Encounters. 
 
 Thefe were his chief Arms, whatever we muft call them, and yet fuch 
 Arms as they who fought for the Commonwealth have by the help of better 
 Prayers vanquifh'd and brought to nothing. 
 
 He bewails his want of the Militia, not fo much in reference to his own proteRi- 
 cn as the People's, whofe many and fore Oppreffions grieve him. Never confidering 
 how ill for leventeen years together he had protected them, and that thefe mife- 
 ries of the People are ftill his own handy-work, having fmitten them like a fork- 
 ed Arrow, fo fore into the Kingdom's fides, as not to be drawn out and cured 
 without the incifion of more flefh. 
 
 He tells us that what he wants in the hands of Power, he has in the wings of 
 Faith and Prayer. But they who made no reckoning of thofe Wings while they 
 had that power in their hands, may eafily miftake the Wings of Faith for the 
 Wings of Prefumption, and fo fall headlong. 
 
 Vo l.I. E e e 2 We
 
 3! 
 
 ,6 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 We meet next with a comparifon, how apt let them judge that have travell'd 
 to Mecca, That the Parlament have hung the Majejiy of 'King/hip in an airy imagi- 
 nation of Regality ', between the Privileges of both Houfes, like the Tomb of Mahomet. 
 He knew not that he was prophefyingthe death and burial of a Turkijh Tyran- 
 ny, that fpurn'd down thofe Laws which gave it life and being, lb long as it 
 endur'd to be a regulated Monarchy. 
 
 He counts it an injury not to have the fole Power in himfelf to help or hurt any ; 
 and that the Militia which he holds to be his undoubted Rights fhould be difpos'd as 
 the Parlament thinks ft : And yet confefTes that if he had it in his actual difpo- 
 fing, he would defend thole whom he calls his good SubjeSs from thofe Men's vi- 
 olence and fraud, who would per [wade the World that none but Wolves are fit to be 
 trifled with the cujlody of the Shepherd and his Flock. Surely, if we may guefs 
 whom he means here, by knowing whom he hath ever moft oppos'd in this 
 Controverfy, we may then allure ourfelves that by violence and fraud he 
 means that which the Parlament hath done in fettling the Militia, and thofe the 
 Wolves, into whofe hands it was by them intruited : which draws a clear con- 
 feffion from his own mouth, that if the Parlament had left him fole Power 
 of the Militia, he would have us'd it to the deftruction of them and their 
 Friends. 
 
 As for fole power of the Militia which he claims as a Right no lefs un- 
 doubted than the Crown, it hath been oft enough told him, that he hath no 
 more Authority over the Sword than over the Law •, over the Law he hath none, 
 either to eftablifh or to abrogate, to interpret or to execute, but only by his 
 Courts and in his Courts, wherof the Parlament is higheft : no more therfore 
 hath he power of the Militia, which is the Sword, either toufe or to difpofe, 
 but with confent of Parlament ; give him but that, and as good give him all 
 our Laws and Liberties. For if the power of the Sword were any where fepa- 
 rate and undepending from the power of Law, which is originally feated in 
 the higheft Court, then were that power of the Sword higher than the power 
 of Law, and being at one Man's difpofal, might when he pleas'd controul the 
 Law, and enflave us. Such power as chis did the King in open terms challenge 
 to have over us, and brought thoufands to help him win it ; lb much more good 
 at fighting than at underftanding, as to perfwade themfelves that they fought 
 then for the Subject's Liberty. 
 
 He is contented, becaufe he knows no other remedy, to refign this power 
 for his own time, but not for his Succeffors : So diligent and careful he is that we 
 fhould be Slaves, if not to him, yet to his Pofterity, and fain would leave us 
 the Legacy of another War about it. But the Parlament have done well 
 to remove that queftion : whom, as his manner is to dignify with fome 
 good name or other, he calls now a many-headed Hydra of Government, full of 
 faclious diftraftions, and not more eyes than mouths. Yet furely not more mouths, 
 or not fo wide as the difiblute Rabble of all his Courtiers had, both Hees and 
 Shees, if there were any Males among them. 
 
 He would prove that to govern by Parlament hath a Monftrojity rather than 
 Perfection ; and grounds his Argument upon two or three eminent Absurdities ; 
 Firft, by placing Counfel in the Senfes, next, by turning the Senfes out of the 
 Head, and in lieu therof placing Power fupreme above fenle and reafon -, which 
 be now the greater Monftrofities ? Further to difpute what kind of Govern- 
 ment is beft, would be a long Theme ; it fufficeth that his reafons here for 
 Monarchy are found weak and inconiiderable. 
 
 He bodes much horror and bad influence after his Eclipfe. He fpeaks his wifhes ; 
 but they who by weighing prudently things paft, forefee things to come, the 
 beft Divination, may hope rather all good fuccefs and happinels, by removing 
 that darknefs, which the mifty cloud of his Prerogative made between us and a 
 peaceful Reformation, which is our true Sun-light, and not he, though he 
 would be taken for our Sun itfelf. And wherfore fhould we not hope to be 
 govern'd more happily without a King, whenas all our mifery and trouble 
 hath been either by a King, or by our necefiary vindication and defence a- 
 gainfthim. 
 
 He would be thought inforc'd to Perjury, by having granted the Militia, by 
 which his Oath bound him to protect the People. If he can be perjurM in grant- 
 ing that, why doth he reful'e for no other caufe the aboliihing of Epifcopacy ? 
 
 But 
 
 5
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 307 
 
 But never was any Oath fo blind as to fvvear him to protect Delinquents againft 
 Juftice, but to protect all the People in that Order, and by thofe hands which 
 theParlament mould advife him to, and the protected confide in; and not un- 
 der the fhew of Protection to hold a violent and incommunicable Sword over us 
 as ready to be let fall upon our own necks, as upon our Enemies ; nor to 
 make our own Hands and Weapons fight againft our own Liberties. 
 
 By his parting with the Militia he takes to himfelf much praife of his affu- 
 ranee in God's protection ; and to the Parlament imputes the fear of not daring to 
 adventure the injuftice of their aclions upon any other way of fafety. But wherfore 
 came not this afiurance of God's Protection to him, till the Militia was wrun°- 
 out of his hand ? It fhculd feem by his holding it fo faft, that his own Actions 
 and Intentions had no lefs of injuftice in them, than what he charges upon 
 others, whom he terms Chaldeans, Sabeans, and the Devil himfelf. But Job us'd 
 no fuch Militia againft thofe Enemies, nor fuch a Magazine as was at Hull, 
 which this King fo contended for, and made War upon us, that he might have 
 wherwithal to make War againft us. 
 
 He concludes, that although they take all from him, yet can they not obftrutl his 
 way to Heaven. It was no handfome occafion, by feigning obftrudtions where 
 they are not, to tell us whither he was going : he fhould have fhut the door, 
 and pray'd in fecret, not here in the high Street. Private Prayers in public, 
 afk fomething of whom they afk not, and that ftiall be their Reward. 
 
 XI. Upon the Nineteen Proportions , &c. 
 
 OF the nineteen Proportions he names none in particular, neither fhall the 
 Anfwer : But he infiftsupon the old Plea of his Confcience, Honour and 
 Reafon ; ufing the plaufibility of large and indefinite words, to defend 
 himfelf at fuch a diftance as may hinder the eye of common judgment from all 
 diftinct view and examination of his reafoning. He would buy the peace of his 
 People at any rate, fave only the parting with his Confcience and Honour. Yet fhews 
 not how it can happen that the Peace of a People, if otherwife to be bought 
 at any rate, fhould be inconfiftent or at variance with the Confcience and Ho- 
 nour of a King. Till then we may receive it for a better fentence, that no- 
 thing fhould be more agreeable to the Confcience and Honour of a King, than 
 to preferve his Subjects in peace, efpecially from Civil War. 
 
 And which of the Propofuions were obtruded on him with the point of the Sword, 
 till he firft with the point of the Sword thruft from him both the Propofitions 
 and the Propounders ? He never reckons thofe violent and mercilefs Obtrufi- 
 ons, which for almoft twenty years he had been forcing upon tender Confciences 
 by all forts of Perfecution, till through the multitude of them that were to 
 Juffer, it could be no more call'd a Perfecution, but a plain War. From which 
 when firft the Scots, then the Englifh were conftrain'd to defend themfelves, 
 this their juft defence is that which he calls here, 'their making War upon his 
 Soul. 
 
 He grudges thatyi? many things are required of him, and nothing offered him in 
 requital of thofe favours which he had granted. What could fatiate the defires of 
 this Man, who being King of England, and Matter of almoft two Millions 
 yearly, was ftill in want •, and thofe ads of Juftice which he was to do in duty, 
 counts done as favours, and fuch favours as were not done without the avari- 
 tious hopes of other Rewards befides fupreme Honour, and the conftant Re- 
 venue of his place? 
 
 This Honour, he faith, they did him, to put him on the giving part . And fpake 
 truer than he intended, it being meerly for honour's fake that they did fo ; not 
 that it belong'd to him of right : For what can he give to a Parlament, who 
 receives all he hath from the People, and for the People's good ? Yet now he 
 brings his own conditional Rights to conteft and be preferr'd before the Peo- 
 ple's good ; and yet unlefs it be in order to their good, he hath no Rights at all ? 
 reigning by the Laws of the Land, not by his own j which Laws are in the 
 
 hands
 
 39 
 
 g An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 hands of Parlament to change or abrogate as they fhall fee beft for the Com- 
 monwealth ; even to the taking away of Kingfhip itfelf, when it grows too 
 mafterful and burdenfome. For every Commonwealth is in general defin'd, 
 a Society fufficient of itfelf in all things conducible to well-being and commo- 
 dious life. Any of which requifite things, if it cannot have without the gift or 
 favour of a fingle Perfon, or without leave of his private reafon or his confei- 
 ence, it cannot be thought fufficient of itfelf, and by confequence no Common- 
 wealth, nor free ; but a multitude of Vaflals in the poffeffion and domain of one 
 abfolute Lord, and wholly obnoxious to his will. If the King have power to 
 enve ordeny any thing to his Parlament, he muft do it either as a Perfon feveral 
 from them, or as one greater ; neither of which will be allow'dhim : not to be 
 confider'd feverally from them ; for as the King of England can do no wrong, 
 fo neither can he do right but in his Courts and by his Courts •, and what is le- 
 gally done in them, fliall be deem'd the King's affent, though he as a feveral Per- 
 fon fhn.ll judge or endeavour the contrary •, fo that indeed without his Courts, or 
 againft them, he is no King. If therfore he obtrude upon us any public mif- 
 chief, or withhold from us any general good, which is wrong in the higheft de- 
 gree, he muft do it as a Tyrant, not as a King of England, by the known Max- 
 ims of our Law. Neither can he, as one greater, give aught to the Parlament 
 which is not in their own power, but he muft be alio greater than the Kingdom 
 which they reprefent : fo that to honour him with giving part was a meet 
 civility, and may be well term'd the courtefy of England, not the King's due. 
 
 But the incommunicable Jewel of his Confcience he will not give, but refervs to 
 himfelf. It feems that his Confcience was none of the Crown- Jewels •, for thofe 
 we know were in Holland, not incommunicable to buy Arms againft Subjects. 
 Being therfore but a private Jewel, he could not have done a greater pleafure 
 to the Kingdom than by referving it to himfelf. But he, contrary to what is 
 here profefs'd, would have his Confcience not an incommunicable, but a uni- 
 verfal Confcience, the whole Kingdom's Confcience. Thus what he feems to 
 fear left we fhould ravifh from him, is our chief complaint that he obtruded up- 
 on us •, we never fore'd him to part with his Confcience, but it was he that 
 would have fore'd us to part with ours. 
 
 Some things he taxes them to have offer'd him, which while he had the Maftery 
 of his Reafon, he would never confent to. Very likely ; but had his reafon mafter'd 
 him as it ought, and not been mafter'd long ago by his fenfe and humour (as the 
 breeding of moft Kings hath been ever fenfual and moft humour'd) perhaps he 
 would have made no difficulty. Mean while at what a fine pafs is the King- 
 dom, that muft depend in greateft Exigencies upon the fantafy of aKing's Rea- 
 fon, be he wife or fool, who arrogantly fhal-1 anfwer all the Wifdom of the Land, 
 that what they offer feems to him unreafonable ? 
 
 He prefers his love of 'Truth before his love of the People. His love of Truth 
 would have led him to the fearch of Truth, and have taught him not to lean 
 fo much upon his own underftanding. He met at firft with Doctrines of unac- 
 countable Prerogative •, in them he refted, becaufe they pleas'd him •, they ther- 
 fore pleas'd him becaufe they gave him all: and this he calls his love of Truth, 
 and prefers it before love of his People's Peace. 
 
 Some things they propos'd which would have wounded the inward peace cf 'his 
 Confcience. The more our evil hap, that three Kingdoms fhould be thus pe- 
 fter'd with one Confcience ; who chiefly fcrupled to grant us that which the 
 Parlament advis'd him to, as the chief means of our public Welfare and Refor- 
 mation. Thefe fcruples to many perhaps feem pretended ; to others, upon as 
 good grounds, may feem real •, and that it was the juft judgment of God, that 
 he who was fo cruel and fo remorfelefs to other Men's Confcience s, fhould have 
 a Confcience within him as cruel to himfelf ; conftraining him, as he conftrain'd 
 others, and infnaring him by fuch Ways and Counfels as were certain to be his 
 deftruclion. 
 
 Other things though he could approve, yet in honour and policy he thought ft to deny, 
 left he fhould feem to dare deny nothing. By this means he will be fure, what with 
 Reafon, Confcience, Honour, Policy, or Punctilio's, to be found never unfur- 
 nifh'd of a denial: Whether it were his envy not to beoverbounteous, or that 
 the fubmiffnefs of our afking ftirr'd up in him a certain pleafure of denying. 
 Good Princes have thought it their chief happinefs to be always granting ; if 
 
 good 
 
 5
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 599 
 
 good things, for the things fake ; if things indifferent, for the People's fake, 
 while this man fits calculating variety or excufes how he may grant lead, as 
 ifhis whole ftrength and royalty were plac'd in a meer negative. 
 
 Of one Propolition eipecially he laments him much, that they would bind 
 him to a general and implicit confent for whatever they defir'd. Which though I find 
 not among the nineteen, yet undoubtedly the Oath of his Coronation binds him 
 to no lels •, neither is he at all by his office to interpofe againft a Parlament in the 
 making or not making of any Law; but to take that for juft and good legally, 
 which is there decreed, and to fee it executed accordingly. Nor was he fet over 
 us to vie wifdom with his Parlament, but to be guided by them : any of whom 
 fqffibly may as fir excel him in the gift of wifdom, as he them in place and dig- 
 nity. But much nearer is it toiinpoffibility that any King alone fhould be wiler 
 than all his Council ; fure enough it was not he, though no King ever before 
 him fo much contended to have it thought i'q. And if the Parlament fo thought 
 not, but dtfir'd him to follow their advice and deliberation in things of public 
 concernment, he accounts it the fame Propofition, asiiSampfon had been mov'd 
 to putting out his eyes, that the Philijlines might abufe him. And thus out of an 
 unwife or pretended fear left others fhould make a lcorn of him for yielding to 
 his Parlament, he regards not to give caufe of worfe Sufpicion that he made a 
 fcorn of his regal Oath. 
 
 But to exclude him from all power of denial feems an arrogance ; in the Parlament 
 he means : what in him then to deny againft the Parlament ? None at all by 
 what he argues : For, by petitioning, they confefs their Inferiority, and that obliges 
 them to reji, if not fatisfy'd, yet quieted with fucb an anfwer as the will and reafon 
 of their Superior thinks fit to give. Firft, petitioning in better Englifj, is no more 
 than requesting or requiring ; and men require not favours only, but their due, 
 and that not only from Superiors, but from Equals, and Inferiors alfo. The 
 nobleft Romans, when they flood for that which was a kind of regal honour, 
 the Confulihip, were wont in a fubmiffive manner to go about, and beg that 
 higheft Dignity of the meaneft Plebeians, naming them man by man ; which in 
 their tongue was call'd Petitio confulatus. And the Parlament of England pe- 
 tition'd the King, not becaufe all of them were inferior to him, but becaufe he 
 was fuperior to any one of them, which they did of civil cuftom, and for fa- 
 fhion's fake more than of duty •, for by plain Law cited before, the Parlament 
 is his Superior. 
 
 But what Law in any tryal or difpute enjoins a Free-man to reft quieted, 
 though not fatisfied with the will and reafon of his Superior ? It were a mad 
 Law that would fubjecl reafon to fuperiority of place. And if our higheft con- 
 fultationsand purpos'd Laws muft be terminated by the King's Will, then is the 
 Will of one man our Law, and no futtlety of difpute can redeem the Parlament 
 and Nation from being Slaves : neither can any Tyrant require more than that 
 his will or reafon, though not fatisfying, fhould yet be refted in, and determine 
 all things. We may conclude therfore that when the Parlament petition'd 
 the King, it was but meerly form, let it be as foolifi and abfurd as he pleafes. 
 It cannot certainly be fo abfurd as what he requires, that the Parlament fhould 
 confine their own and all the Kingdom's reafon to the will of one man, becaufe 
 it was his hap to fucceed his Father. For neither God nor the Laws have fub- 
 jecTedusto his will, nor fet his reafon to be our Sovereign above Law (which 
 muft needs be, if he can ftrangle it in the birth) but fet his Perfon over us in 
 the fovereign execution of fuch Laws as the Parlament eflablifh. The Parlament 
 therfore without any ufurpation hath had it always in their power to limit and 
 confine the exorbitancy of Kings, whether they call it their Will, their Reafon, 
 or their Confcience. 
 
 But this above all was never expected, nor is it to be endur'd, that a King, who 
 is bound by Law and Oath to follow the advice of his Parlament, fhould be per- 
 mitted to except againft them as young Statefmen, and proudly to fufpend his 
 following their advice, until hisfeven years experience hadjhewn him how well they 
 could govern themfelves. Doubtlels the Law never fuppos'd fo great an arro- 
 gance could be in one Man ; that he whofe Seventeen years unexperience had 
 almoft ruin'd all, lhould fit another (even years SchooJ-mafter, to tutor thofe 
 who were fent by the whole Realm to be his Counfellors and Teachers. And 
 with what Modefty can he pretend to be a Statesman himlelf; who with his Fa- 
 ther's
 
 400 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 ther's Kin^-craft and his own, did never that of his own accord which was not 
 directly oppofite to his profefs'd Intereft bothat home and abroad j difcontenting 
 and alienating his Subjects at home, weakning and deferting his Confederates 
 abroad, and with them the common caufe of Religion? So that the whole 
 courfe 'of his Reign, by an example of his own furniihing, hath refembled Pha- 
 eton more than Phccbus, and forc'd the Parlament to drive like Jehu ; which O 
 men taken from his own mouth God hath not diverted. 
 
 And he on the other fide might have remembred that the Parlament fit in 
 that body, not as his Subjects, but as his Superiors, call'd, not by him, but by 
 the Law •, not only twice every year, but as oft as great affairs require, to be 
 his Comfellors and Delators, tho' he ftomach it ; nor to be diffolv'd at his plea- 
 fiire, but when all grievances be firft remov'd, all Petitions heard and anfwer'd. 
 This is not only Reafon, but the known Law of the Land. 
 
 When he heard that Propofitions would befent him, he fat conjecturing what they 
 would propound ; and becaufe they propounded what he expected not, he takes 
 that to be a warrant for his denying them. But what did he expect: ? He ex- 
 pected that the Parlament would reinforce fome old Laws. But if thofe Laws 
 were not a fufficient re meay to all grievances, nay were found to be grievances 
 themfelves, when did we lofe that other part of our freedom to eftablifh new ? 
 He thought fome injuries done by him/elf and others to the Commonwealth were to 
 be repair' J. ' But how could that be, while he the chief Offender took upon him 
 to be idle Judge both of the injury and the reparation ? Hejlaidtill the advantage 
 of his Crown confider'd might induce him to condescend to the People's good. When- 
 as the Crown itfelf with all thofe advantages were, therfore given him, that the 
 people's good fhould be firft confider'd ; not bargain'd for, and bought by in- 
 ches with the bribe of more offertures and advantages to his Crown. He look'd 
 for moderate defires of due Reformation •, as if any fuch defires could be immode- 
 rate. He look'd for fuch a Reformation both in Church and State, as might pre- 
 ferve the roots of every grievance and abufe in both (till growing (which he 
 calls the' foundation and efjentials) and would have only the excrefcencies of Evil 
 prun'd away for the prefent, as was plotted before, that they might grow faft 
 enough between Triennial Parlaments to hinder them by work enough be- 
 fides from ever ftriking at the root. He alledges, They fliould have had regard to 
 the haws in force, to the Wifdom and Piety of former Parlaments, to the ancient and 
 univerfal Pratliceof Chriflian Churches. As if they who come with full authority 
 to redrefs public grievances, which oftimes are Laws themfelves, were to have 
 their hands bound by Laws in force, or the fuppofition of more piety and wif- 
 dom in their Anceftors, or the practice ot Churches heretofore, whole Fathers, 
 notwithstanding all thefe pretences, made as vaft alterations to free themfelves 
 from ancient Popery. For all Antiquity that adds or varies from the Scripture 
 is no more warranted to our fafe imitation, than vhat was done the Age before 
 at Trent. Nor was there need to have defpair'd of what could be eitablifh'd in 
 lieu of what was to be annull'd, having before his eyes the Government of fo 
 many Churches beyond the Seas ; whole pregnant and folid reafons wrought fo 
 with the Parlament, as to defire a Uniformity rather with all other Protectants, 
 than to be aSchifm divided from them under a Conclave of thirty Bifhops, and 
 •=a Crew of irreligious Priefts that gaped for the fame Preferment. 
 
 And wheras he blames thofe Propofitions for not containing what they ought, 
 what did they mention, but to vindicate and rejlore the Rights of Parlament in- 
 vaded by Cabin Councils, the Courts of Jujlice cbjirufied, and the Government 
 of Church innovated and corrupted ? All thefe things he might eafily haveob- 
 ferv'd in them, which he affirms he could not find ; but found thofe demanding 
 in Parlament who were lookt upon before as fattious in the State, and fchifmatical in 
 the Church ; and demanding not only Toleration for themfelves in their vanity, novel- 
 ty, an J confufion, but alfo an extirpation of that Government whofe Rights they had 
 a mind to invade. Was this man ever likely to be advis'd, who with fuch a pre- 
 judice and difefteem lets himfelf againft his chofen and appointed Counfellors ; 
 likely ever to admit of Reformation, who cenfures all the Government of o- 
 ther Proteitant Churches as bad as any Papift could have cenfur'd them ? And 
 what King had ever his whoJe Kingdom in fuch contempt, fo to wrong and dif- 
 honour the free electionsof his People, as to judge them whom the Nation thought 
 worthielt to fit with him in Parlament, few elfe but fuch as were punifiabk by 
 
 the
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Baft like, 401 
 
 the Laws: yet knowing that time was, when to be a Proteftanf, tobeaChrifti- 
 an, was by Law as punifhable as to be a Traitor ; and that our Saviour himfelf 
 coming to reform his Church, was accus'd of an intent to invade Cafar'% right, 
 as good a right as the Prelate Bifhops ever had ; the one being got by force, 
 the other by fpiritual ufurpation, and both by force upheld, 
 
 He admires and falls into an extafy that the Par'amentfhould fend him fuch a 
 horrid Proportion, as the removal of Epifcopacy. But expect from him in an exta- 
 fy no other reafons of his admiration than the dream and tautology of what he 
 hath fo oft repeated, Law, Antiquity, Anceftors, Prosperity, and the like, 
 which will be therfore not worth a fecond Aniwer, but may pafs with his own 
 comparifon, into the common fewer of other Popifh arguments. 
 
 Had the two Houfes fu'd out their Livery from the [Fardjbip of 'tumults, he 
 could fooner have believ'd them. It concern'd them firft to lue out their Li- 
 very from the unjuft Wardfhip of his encroaching Prerogative. And had he al- 
 io redeem'd his overdated minority from a Pupilage under Bifhops, he would 
 much lefs have miftrufted his Parlament •, and never would have fet (o bafe a 
 character upon them, as to count them no better than the Vaffals of certain 
 namelefs men, whom he charges to be fuch as hunt after Failion with their Hounds 
 the Tumults. And yet the Bifhops could have told him, that Nimrod, the firft 
 that hunted after Faction, is reputed by ancient Tradition the firft that founded 
 Monarchy ; whence it appears that to hunt after Faction is more properly the 
 ■King's Game, and thofe Hounds, which he calls the Vulgar, have been often 
 halloo'd to from Court, of whom the mungrel fort have been intie'd -, the reft 
 have not loft their fcent, but underftood aright that the Parlament had that part 
 to ail which he had fail'd in ; that truji to difchaage, which he had broken ■, that 
 eftate and honour to preferve, which was far beyond his, die eftate and honour of 
 the Commonwealth, which he hadimbezl'd. 
 
 Yetfo far doth felf-opinion or falfe principles delude andtranfporthim, as to 
 think the concurrence of his rcafon to the Votes of Parlament, not only political, 
 but natural, and as neceffary to the begetting, or bringing forth of any one compkat 
 ail of public wifdom as the- Sun's influence is necefjary to all nature's productions. So ^ 
 that the Parlament, it feems, is but a Female, and without his procreative Rea- 
 fon can produce no Law : Wifdom, it feems, to a King is natural, to a Par- 
 lament not natural, but by conjunction with the King : yet he profefTes to hold 
 his Kingly Right by Law ; and if no Law coif d be made but by the great Council 
 of a Nation, which we now term a Parlament, then certainly it was a Par- 
 lament that firft created Kings ; and not only made Laws before a King was in 
 being, but thofe Laws efpecially wherby he holds his Crown. He ought 
 then to have fo thought of a Parlament, if he count it not Male, as of his 
 Mother, which to civil Being created both him and the Royalty he wore. And 
 if it hath bin anciently interpreted the prefaging fign of a future Tyrant, but 
 to dream of copulation with his Mother, what can it be lefs than actual Tyran- 
 ny to affirm waking, that the Parlament, which is his Mother, can neither con- 
 ceive or bring forth any authoritative Ail without his mafculine coition ? Nay, 
 that his Reafon is asceleftial and life-giving to the Parlament, as the Sun's in- 
 fluence is to the Earth : What other notions but thefe or fuch like, could fwell 
 up Caligula to think himfelf a God? 
 
 But to be rid of thefe mortifying Propofitions, he leaves tyrannical evafion 
 uneffay'd ; firft, that they arc not the joint and free defircs of both Houfes, or the ma- 
 jor part ; next, that the choice of many Members was carried on by Fail ion. The 
 former of thefe is already difcover'd to be an old device put firft in practice by 
 Charles the fifth, fince Reformation : Who when the Proteftants of Germany for 
 their own defence join'd themfelves in a League, in his Declarations and Re- 
 monftrances laid the fault only upon fome few (for it was dangerous to take no- 
 tice of too many Enemies ) and accufed them that under colour of Re- 
 ligion they had a purpofe to invade his and the Church's right ; by which po- 
 licy he deceiv'd many of the German Cities, and kept them divided from that 
 League, until they law themfelves brought into a fnare. That other Cavil a- 
 gainft the People's choice purs us in mind rather what the Court was wont to do, 
 and how to tamper with Elections : neither was there at that time any Faction 
 more potent, or more likely to do fuch a bufinefs than they themfelves whocom- 
 plain molt. 
 
 Vol. I. Fff Bu:
 
 4<D2 An Anfccer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 But he mufl chew fuch Morfels, as Propositions, ere he let them down. So let 
 him-, but if the Kingdom fhall tafte nothing but after his chewing, what does 
 he make of the Kingdom but a great Baby ? Theftreightnefs of his Confcience will 
 not give him leave tofwallow down fuch Camels of facrtlcge and injuftice as others do. 
 This is the Pharifee up and down, / am not as other men are. But what Camels 
 of injuftice he could devour, all his three Realms were witnefs, which was 
 the caufe that they almoft perifh'd for want of Parlaments. And he that will 
 be unjuft to man, will be facrilegious to God •, and to bereave a Chiiftian Con- 
 fcience of liberty for no other reafon than the narrownefs of his own Con- 
 fcience, is the moft unjuft meafure to man, and the worft facrilege to God. 
 That other, which he calls Sacrilege, of taking from the Clergy that fuperflu- 
 cus Wealth, which antiquity as old as Conftantine, from the credit of a divine 
 Villon, counted foifon in the Church, hath been ever moft oppos'd by men whofe 
 righteoufnefs in other matters hath been leaft obferv'd. He concludes, as his 
 manner is, with high commendation of his own unbiafs'd Rectitude, and believes 
 nothing to be in them that diffent Irom him, but Faction, Innovation, and par- 
 ticular Defigns. Of thele Repetitions I find no end, no not in his Prayer ; 
 which being founded upon deceitful Principles, and a fond hope that God will 
 blefs him in thofe his Errors, which he calls honejl, finds a fit anfwer of 
 St. James, Ye ajk and receive not, b-ecaufe ye ajk amifs. As for the truth and fin- 
 cerity which he prays may be always found in thofe his Declarations to the 
 people, the contrariety of his own actions wiil bear eternal witnefs, how little 
 careful or folicitous he was, what he promis'd or what he utter'd there. 
 
 XII. Upon the Rebellion in Ireland. 
 
 TH E Rebellion and horrid Maffacre of Englifh Proteftants in Ireland, 
 to the number of 1 54000 by their own computation, although fo fud- 
 den and fo violent, as at firft to amaze all men that were not accefi* 
 fary •, yet from whom, and from what counfels it firft fprung, neither was, nor 
 could be polfibly fo fecret, as the Contrivers therof, blinded with vain hope, 
 or the defpair that other Plots would fucceed, fuppos'd : for it cannot be ima- 
 ginable that the Irifh, guided by fo many futtle and Italian heads of the Romi/h 
 Party, fhould fo far have loft the ufe of reafon, and indeed of common fenfe, 
 as not fupported with other ftrength than their own, to begin a War fo defpe- 
 rate and irreconcilable againft both England and Scotland at once. All other Na- 
 tions from whom they could expect aid, were bufied to the utmoft in their 
 own moft necefiary Concernments. It remains then that either fome authority, 
 or fome great afliftance promis'd them from England, was that wheron they 
 chiefly trufted. And as it is not difficult to difcern from what inducing Caufe 
 this Infurrcftion firft arofe, fo neither was it hard at firft to have apply' d fome 
 effectual Remedy, though not prevention. But the affurance which they had 
 in private, that no remedy fhould be apply'd, was it feems, one of the chief 
 reafons that drew on their undertaking. 
 
 Seeing then the main incitement and authority for this Rebellion muft be needs 
 deriv'd from England, it will be next inquir'd who was the prime Author. The 
 King here denounces a Malediction temporal and eternal, not fimply to the Au- 
 thor, but to the malicious Author of this bloodfhed : and by that limitation 
 may exempt, not himfelf only, but perhaps the Irifh Rebels themfelves, who 
 never will confefs to God or Man that any blood was fhed by them malicioufly ; 
 hut either in the Catholic Caufe, or common Liberty, or fome other fpecious 
 Plea, which the Confcience from grounds both good and evil ufually fuggefts 
 ro itfclf, therby thinking to elude the direct force of that imputation which 
 lies upon them. 
 
 Yet he acknowledges it fell out as a moft unhappy advantage of fome mens malice 
 againft him : but indeed of moft mens juft fufpicion, by finding in it no fuch 
 wide departure or difagreement from the fcope of his former Counfels and Pro- 
 ceedings. And that he himfelf was the Author of that Rebellion, he denies 
 
 both
 
 An Anfeocr to Eikon BafiJike. 403 
 
 both here and elfewhere, with many Imprecations, but no folid evidence ; 
 What on the other fide againft his denial hath bin affirm'd in three Kingdoms, 
 being here briefly fet in view, the Reader may lb judge as he finds caufe. 
 
 This is mod certain, that the King was ever friendly to the Irifh Papifts, and 
 in his third year, againft the plain advice of Parlament, like a kind oi Pope, 
 fold them many Indigencies for money •» and upon all occafions advancing the 
 Popiih Party, and negotiating under- hand by Priefts, who were made his A 
 gents, ingag'd the Irijh Papifts in a War againft the Scotch Proteftants. To 
 that end he furnifh'd them, and had them train'd in Arms, and kept them 
 up the only Army in his three Kingdoms, till the very burft of that Rebellion. 
 The Summer before that difmal Otiober, a Committee of moft active Papifts, all 
 fince in the head of that Rebellion, were in great favour at While-Hall - % and 
 admitted to many private Confultations with the King and Queen. And to 
 make it evident that no mean matters were the fubjeft of thofe Conferences, at 
 their requeft he gave away his peculiar right to more than five Irijh Counties, 
 for tiic 1 nt of an inconfiderable Rent. They departed not home till 
 
 within two months before the Rebellion ; and were either from the firft break- 
 ing out, or foon after, found to be the chief Rebels themfelves. But what 
 fhould move the King, befides his own inclination to Popery, and the preva- 
 lence of his Queen over him, to hold fuch frequent and dole meetings with a 
 Committee of Irijh Papifts in his own Houfe, while the Parlament of England 
 (lite unadrifed with, is declared by a Scotch Author, and of it felf is clear 
 igh. The Parlament at the beginning of that Summer, having put Straf- 
 ford to death, imprifon'd others his chief Favourites, and driven the reft to fly *, 
 the King, who had in vain tempted both the Scotch and the Englijh^ Army to 
 come up againft the Parlament and City, finding no compliance anfwerable to 
 his hope from the Proteftant Armies, betakes himfelf laft to the Irijh, who had 
 in readinefs an Army of eight thoufand Papifts, and a Committee here of the 
 fame RHigion. And with them, who thought the time now come to do eminent 
 fervice for the Church oi Rome againft a Puritan Parlament, he concludes that 
 fo focn as both Armies in England fhould be difbanded, the Irijh fhould appear 
 in Arms, mafter all the Proteftants, and help the King againft his Parlament. 
 And we need not doubt that thofe five Counties were given to the Irijh for other 
 reafon than the four Northern Counties had bin a little before offer'd to the 
 Scots. The King in Augujl takes a journey into Scotland ■, and overtaking the 
 Scotch Army then on their way home, attempts the fecond time to pervert them, 
 but without fuccefs. No fooner come into Scotland, but he lays a Plot, fo faith 
 the Scotch Author, to remove out of the way fuch of the Nobility there, as 
 were moft likely to withftand, or not to further his defigns. This being dif- 
 cover'd, he fends from his fide one Dillon a Papift Lord, foon after a chief 
 Rebel, with Letters into Ireland ; and difpatches a Commiflion under the Great 
 Seal of Scotland at that time in his own cuftody, commanding that they fhould 
 forthwith, as had bin formerly agreed, caufe all the Irijh to rife in Arms. Who 
 no fooner had receiv'd fuch command, but obey'd •, and began in Mafifacre, for 
 they knew no other way to make fure the Proteftants, which was commanded 
 them exprefly •, and the way, it feems, left to their difcretion. He who hath a 
 mind to read the Commiflion it felf, and found reafon added why it was not 
 likely to be forg'd, befides the atteftation of fo many Irijh themfelves, may have 
 recourfe to a Book, intitled, The Myftery of Iniquity. 
 
 After the Rebellion broken out, which in words only he detefted, but under- 
 hand favour'd and promoted by all the offices of friendfhip, correfpondence, and 
 what poflible aid he could afford them, the particulars wherof are too many 
 to be inferted here, I fuppofe no underftanding man could longer doubt who 
 was Author or Injligator of that Rebellion. If there be who yet doubt, I refer 
 them efpecially to that Declaration of July 1643, concerning this matter. A- 
 gainft which Teftimonies, Likelihoods, Evidences, and apparent A&ions of 
 his own, being fo abundant, the bare denial of one man, though with impreca- 
 tion, cannot in any reafon countervail. 
 
 As for the Commiflion granted them, he thinks to evade that by retorting, 
 
 that ft me in England fight againft him, and yet pretend his authority. But though 
 
 a Parlament by the known Laws may affirm juftly to have the King's Authority 
 
 inleparable from that Court, though divided' from his Perfon, it is not credible 
 
 Vol. I. Fff a that
 
 404 si* 1 Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 that the Irijb Rebels who fo much tender'd his Perfon above his Authority, and 
 were by him fo well receiv'd at Oxford, would be fo far from all humanity, as 
 to flander him with a particular Commiflion, fign'd and lent them by his own 
 hand. 
 
 And of his good affedion to the Rebels, this Chapter itfelf is not without 
 witnefs. He holds them lefs in fault than the Scots, as from whom they might 
 alledge to have fetch'd their imitation ; making no difference between men that 
 rofe neceffarily to defend themfelves, which no Proteftant Doctrine ever dif- 
 allow'd, againft them who threaten'd War, and thofe who began a voluntary 
 and cauflefs Rebellion with the Maffacre of fo many thoufands who never mean: 
 them harm. 
 
 He falls next to flames, and a multitude of words, in all which is contain'd 
 no more, than what might be the Plea of any guikieft Offender : He was not 
 the Author, becaufe he hath the great eft JJjare of lofs and diftionour by what is com- 
 mitted. Who is there that offends God, or his Neighbour, on whom the great- 
 eft fhare of lofs and difhonour lights not in the end? But in the ail of doing 
 evil, men ufe not to confider the event of their evil doing •, or if they do, have 
 then no power to curb the fway of their own wickednefs ; fo that the greateft 
 fhare of lofs and difhonour to happen upon themfelves, is no argument that 
 they were not guilty. This other is as weak, that a King's Intereft above that 
 of any other man, lies chiefly in the common Welfare of his Subjetls ; therfore no 
 King will do aught againft the common welfare. For by this evafion any Ty- 
 rant might as well purge himfelf from the guilt of railing Troubles or Commo- 
 tions among the people, becaufe undoubtedly his chief intereft lies in their fit- 
 ting ftill. 
 
 I faid but now that even this Chapter, if nothing elfe, might fufiice to difco- 
 ver his good affection to the Rebels ; which in this that follows too notori- 
 ouily appears •, imputing this Infurreclion to the prepoflerous Rigour, andunreafo- 
 nable Severity, the covetous Zeal and uncharitable Fury of fome men, (thek fome me* 
 by his continual paraphrafe are meant the Parlament ;) and laftly, to the fear of 
 utter extirpation. If the whole Irifhry of Rebels had fee'd fome Advocate to fpeak 
 partially and fophiftically in their defence, he could have hardly dazl'd better : 
 yet neverthelefs would have prov'd himielf no other than a plaufible De- 
 ceiver. And perhaps thofe feigned Terrors and Jealoufies were either by 
 the King himfelf, or the Popifh Priefts which were fent by him, put into 
 the head of that inquifitive People, on fet purpofe to engage them. For who 
 had power to opprefs them, or to relieve them being oppreft, but the King 
 or his immediate Deputy? This rather fhould have made them rife againlt 
 the King than againft the Parlament. Who threaten'd or ever thought 
 of their extirpation, till they themfelves had begun it to the Englifh ? As ior 
 prepcjlerous Rigour, covetous Zeal, and uncharitable Fury -, they had more reafon 
 to iufpecT: thole Evils firft from his own commands, whom they faw ufing daily 
 no greater argument to prove the truth of his Religion than by enduring no other 
 but his own Prelatical •, and to force it upon others, made Epifcopal, Ceremonial, 
 and Common-Prayer- Book Wars. But thePapifts underftoodhim bettter than 
 by the outfide ; and knew that thofe Wars were their Wars. Although if the 
 Commonwealth fhould be afraid to fupprefs open Idolatry, left th e D Papilb 
 therupon fhould grow defperate, this were to let them grow and become our 
 Perlecutors, while we neglefted what we might have done Evangelically, to be 
 their Reformers : Or to do as his Father James did, who inftead of taking heart 
 and putting confidence in God by fuch a deliverance as from the Powder-Plot, 
 though it went not off, yet with the meer conceit of it, as fome obferve, was 
 hit into fuch a hetlic trembling between Proteftant and Papift all his life after, 
 as that he never durft from that time do otherwife than equivocate or colloo-ue 
 with the Pope. and his adherents. 
 
 He would be thought to commiferate the fad effecls of that Rebellion, and to 
 lament that the tears and blood fpilt there did not quench the fparks of our civil dif- 
 cord here. But who began thefe diffenfions ? and what can be more openly 
 known than thofe retardings and delays which by himfelf were continually de"- 
 vis'd, to hinder and put back the relief of thofe diftreffed Proteftants, whom 
 he leems here to companionate ? The particulars are too well known to be re- 
 cited and too many. 
 
 But
 
 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 405 
 
 Bat he offer' d to gohimfelf in per/on upon that expedition •, and reckons up many 
 formifes why he thinks they would not fuffer him. But mentions not that by 
 his underdealing to debauch Armies here at home, and by his fecret Intercourfe 
 with the chief Rebels, long ere that time every where known, he had brought 
 the Parlament into fo juft a diffidence of him, as that they durft not leave the 
 public Arms to his diipofal, much lefs an Army to his conduct. 
 
 He concludes, That next the fin of thofe zvbo began that Rebellion, theirs mufl needs 
 be who hindered the fuppreffing, or diverted the aids. Bit judgment rafhly given 
 oftimes involves the Judge himfelf. He finds fault with thofe who threatened all 
 extremity to the Rebels, and pleads much that mercy ihould be fnown them. It 
 feems he found himfelf not fo much concern'd as thofe who had loft Fathers, 
 Brothers, Wives and Children by their cruelty •, whom in juftice to retaliate, 
 is not as he fuppofes unevangelical, fo long as Magistracy and War are not laid 
 down under the Gofpel. If this his Sermon of affected mercy were not too 
 Pharifaical, how could he permit himfelf to caufe the daughter of fo many 
 thoufands here in England for mere Prerogatives, the Toys and Gewgaws of 
 his Crown, for Copes and Surplices, the Trinkets of his Priefts, and not per- 
 ceive his own zeal, while he taxes others to be moft prepoiterous and unevan- 
 gelical ? Neither is there the fame caufe to deftroy a whole City for the ravifh- 
 ing of a Sifter, not done out of Villany, and recompence offer'd by Marriage ; 
 nor the fame cafe for thofe Difciples to fummon fire from Heaven upon the 
 whole City where they were deny'd lodging ; and for a Nation by juft War 
 and execution to flay whole Families of them who fo barbaroufly had (lain whole 
 Families before. Did not all Jfrael do as much againft the Benjamites for one 
 Rape committed by a few, and defended by the whole Tribe ? and did they 
 not the fame to J-abeJlo-Gi lead for not affiftingthem in that revenge ? I fpeak not 
 this, that fuch meafure fhould be meted rigoroufly to all the Irijh, or as remem- 
 bring that the Parlament ever fo decreed ; but to fhew that this his Homily hath 
 more of craft and affectation in it, than of found Doctrine. 
 
 But it was happy that his going into Ireland was not confented to ; for either 
 he had certainly turn'd his intended forces againft the Parlament itfelf, or 
 not gone at all ; or had he gone, what work he would have made there, his 
 own following words declare. 
 
 He 'would have ptmiftSd feme, no queftion -, for fome perhaps who were of leaft 
 ufe, mult of necetfity have been facrifie'd to his reputation, and the convenience 
 of his affairs. Others he would have difarm'd ; that is to fay, in his own time : 
 but all of them he would have protected 'from the fury of thofe that would have drown' d 
 them, if they had ' refus* d to fwim down the popular ftream. Thefe expreffions are too 
 often met, and too well underftood for any man to doubt his meaning. By the, fury 
 of thofe, he means no other than the Juftice of Parlament, to whom yet he had 
 committed the whole bufinefs. Thofe who would have refus'd to fwim down the 
 popular ftream, our conftant key tells us to be Papifts, Prelates, and their Faction ; 
 thefe by his own confeffion here, he would have protected againft his Puritan Par- 
 lament : And by this who fees not that he and the Irifh Rebels had but one aim, 
 one and the fame drift, and would have forthwith join'd in one body againft us ? 
 He goes on ftill in his tendernefs of the Irifh Rebels, fearing left our zeal 
 fhould be more greedy to kill the Bear for his skin than for any barm he hath done. 
 This either juftifies the Rebels to have done no harm at all, or infers his opi- 
 nion that the Parlament is more bloody and rapacious in theprofecution of their 
 Juftice, than thofe Rebels were in the execution of their barbarous cruelty. Let 
 men doubt now and difpute to whom the King was a Friend moft, to his Eng- 
 lifh Parlament, or to his Irifh Rebels. 
 
 With whom, that we may yet fee further how much he was their Friend, af- 
 ter that the Parlament had brought them every where either to Famine, or a low- 
 Condition, he to give them all the refpit and advantages they could defire, with- 
 out advice of Parlament, to whom lie himfelf had committed the managing of 
 that War, makes a Ceffation ; in pretence to relieve the Proteftants, oyer born 
 there with numbers, but as the event prov'd, tofupportthe Papifts, by diverting 
 and drawing over the Englifl) Army there, to his own fervice here againft the Par- 
 lament. For that the Proteftants were then on the winning hand, it mult needs 
 be plain •, who notwithstanding the rnifs of thofe Forces, which at their landing 
 here mafter'd without difficulty great part of Wales and Che/hire, vet made
 
 40 6 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 a fhift to keep their own in Ireland. But the plot of this Irijh Truce is in good 
 part difcover'd in that Declaration of September 30, 1643. And if the Pro- 
 teftants were but handfuh there, as he calls them, why did he ftop and way-lay 
 both by Land and Sea, to his utmoft power, thole Provifions and Supplies 
 which were fent by the Parlament ? How were ib many handfuh call'd over, as 
 for a while flood him in no fmall ftead, and againft our main Forces here in 
 England ? 
 
 Since therfore all the reafons that can be given of this CefTation appear fo 
 falfe and frivolous, it may be juftly fear'd that the defign itfelf was molt wick- 
 ed and pernicious. What remains then ? He. appeals to God, andiscaft; liken- 
 ing his punifhments to Job's, trials, before he law them to have Job's ending. 
 He cannot ftand to make prolix apologies. Then furely thole long Pamphlets let 
 out for Declarations and Remonftrances in his name, were none of his ; and 
 how they lhould be his indeed, being fo repugnant to the whole courie of his 
 Actions, augments the difficulty. 
 
 But he ufurps a common faying, That, it is Kingly to do well, and hear ill. That 
 may be fometimes true : but far more frequently to do ill and hear well ; fo 
 great is the multitude of Flatterers, and them that deify the name of King. 
 
 Yet not content with thefe neighbours, we have him ftill a perpetual Preacher 
 of his own virtues, and of that efpecially, which who knows not to be patience 
 perforce ? 
 
 He believes it will at loft appear that they whofirft began to embroil his ether King - 
 doms, are alfo guilty of the blood of Ireland. And we believe fo too; for now 
 the CefTation is become a Peace by publifli'd Articles, and Commiffion to bring 
 them over againft England, firft only ten thoufand by the Earl of 'Glamorgan, next 
 all of them, ifpoffible, under Ormond, which was the laft of all his Tranf- 
 aftions done as a public Perfon. And no wonder •, for he look'd upon the 
 blood fpilt, whether ofSubjeclsor of Rebels, with an indifferent eye, asexhaufled 
 out of his own veins ; without diftinguifhing, as he ought, which was good blood 
 and which corrupt ; the not letting out wherof, endangers the whole body. 
 
 And what the Doctrine is, ye may perceive alfo by the Prayer, which after a 
 fhort ejaculation for the poor Protejlants, prays at large for the Irifh Rebels, that 
 God would not give them over, or their Children, to the covetoufnefs, cruelty^ 
 fierce and curfed anger of the Parlament. 
 
 He finifhes with a deliberate and folemn Curfe upon himfelf and his Father's 
 lloufe. "Which how far God hath already brought to pafs, is to the end that 
 men by fo eminent an example lhould learn to tremble at his judgments, and 
 not play with imprecations. 
 
 XIII. Upon the calling in of the Scots, and 
 
 their coming. 
 
 IT muff, needs feem ftrange to Men who accuftom themfelves to ponder and 
 contemplate things in their firft original and inftitution, that Kings, who, 
 as all other Officers of the Public, were at firft chofen and inftall'd only 
 by confent and fuffrage of the People, to govern them as Freemen by Laws 
 of their own framing, and to be, in confideration of that dignity and riches 
 beftow'd upon them, the intruded Servants of the Commonwealth, fhould 
 notwithftanding grow up to that difhoneft encroachment, as to efteem them- 
 felves Mafters both of that great Truft which they ferve, and of the People 
 that betrufted them : counting what they ought to do, both in difcharge of their 
 public duty, and for the great reward of Honour and Revenue which they re- 
 ceive, as clone all of meer grace and favour-, as if their power over us were by 
 nature, and from themfelves, or that God had fold us into their hands. This 
 ignorance or wilful miftake .of the whole matter, had taken fo deep root in 
 the imagination of this King, that whether to the Englijh or to the Scot, men- 
 tioning what a&sof his Regal Office, though God knows how unwillingly, he 
 
 had
 
 An Anfxer to Eikon Bafilike. 407 
 
 had pafs'd, he calls them, us in other places, Acts of grace and bounty; fo 
 here ■ al obligations, favours, to gratify a£tive Jpirits, and the defires of that 
 -pari-';. Words not only founding Pride and Lordly Ufurpation, but Injuilice, 
 Partiaiity and Corruption. For to the Irijh he fo far condefcended, as firft to 
 tolerate in private, then to covenant openly the tolerating of Popery t So far to 
 the Scot, as to remove Bifhops, eilablifh Presbytery, and the Militia in their 
 own hands ; preferring, as fame thought, the Defires of Scotland before his own In- 
 
 ierej Horn ur. But being once on this fide Tweed, his reafon, his conference, 
 
 and his honour became fo ilreighten'd with a kind of falfe Virginity, that to the 
 Englijh neither one or other of the fame demands could be granted, wher- 
 with the Scots were gratifyM; as if our air and climate on a hidden had chang'd 
 the property and the nature both of Conference, Honour, and Reafon, or that 
 lie found none fo fit as Englijh to be the fubjecls of his arbitrary power. Ire- 
 land was as Ephraim, the lirength of his head, Scotland as Judah, was his Law- 
 giver ; but over England, as over Edom, he meant to caft his Shoe, and yet fo 
 many fober Englijhmen not fuffkiently awake to confider this, like men in- 
 chanted with the Circaan cup of fervitude, will not be held back from running 
 their own heads into the Yoke of Bondage. 
 
 The furri of his difcourfe is agalnft fettling of Religion by violent means; which 
 whether it were the Scots defign upon England, they are beft able to clear them- 
 felves. But this of all may ieem flrangeft, that the King, who, while it was 
 permitted him, never did thing more eagerly than to molell and periecute the 
 confeiences of moll religious men •, he who had made a War, and loft all rather 
 than not uphold a Hierarchy of perfecuting Bifhops, fhould have the con- 
 fidence here to profefs himfelf fo much an Enemy of thofe that force the con- 
 fidence. For was it not he, who upon the Englijh obtruded new Ceremonies, 
 upon the Scots a new Liturgy, and with his fword went about to engrave a 
 bloody Rubric on their backs ? Did he not forbid and hinder all effectual fearch 
 of Truth ; nay, like a befieging Enemy, ftoptall her paflages both by word and 
 writing? Yet here can talk of fair and equal difputations : where notwithftand- 
 ing, if all fubm it not to his judgment, as not being rational- conviSied, they 
 mull fubmit (and he conceals it not) to his penalty, as counted objlinate. But 
 what if he himfelf and thofe his learned Churchmen were the convicted or the 
 obilinate part long ago, fhould Reformation fuffer them to fit lording over the 
 Church in their fat Bifhoprics and Pluralities, like the great Whore that fitteth 
 upon many Waters, till they would vouchfafe to be difputed out ? Or fhould we 
 fit difputing, while they fat plotting and perfecuting ? Thofe Clergymen were 
 not to be driven into the fold like Sheep, as his Simile runs, but to be driven out of 
 the Fold like Wolves or Thieves, where they fat fleecing thofe Flocks which 
 they never fed. 
 
 He believes that Presbytery, though prov'd to be the only luff Hut ion ofjefus 
 Cbriji, were not by the Sword to be Jet up without his confent ; which is contrary 
 both to the Doclrine, and the known Practice of all Proteftant Churches, if 
 his Sword threaten thofe who of their own accord embrace it. 
 
 And although Chrijl and his Apoilles being to civil affairs but private men, 
 contended not with Magiftrates, yet when Magillrates themfclves, and efpecially 
 Parlaments, who have greateil right to difpofe of the civil Sword, come to know 
 Religion, they ought in confidence to defend all thofe who receive it willingly 
 againil the violence of any King or Tyrant whatfoever. Neither is it therfore 
 true, Thai Chrijlianity is planted or watred with Chrijlian Blood', £< r there is a 
 large'difference between forcing men by the Sword to turn Prefbytcriar.s, and de- 
 fending thofe who willingly are fo from a furious inroad of bloody Biiho rm'd 
 with the Militia of a King their Pupil. And if covetoufnefs and ambition Uc . ar- 
 gument 1 kit Prejbytery both not much of Chrijl , it argues morellrongly againil E- 
 nifcopacy ; which from the time of her firft mounting to an order above the 
 Prefbyters, had no other Parents than Covetoufnefs and Ambition. And thofe 
 Setts, Schifms, andHerejtes, which he fpeaks of, if they get but Jtrengtb and num- 
 bers, need no oi\ur pattern than Epifeopacy and himfelf, to fet up their ways by 
 the like method of violence. Nor is there any thing that hath more marks of Schifm 
 and Seclarifm than Englijh Epifeopacy ; whether we look at Apoftolic times, 
 or at reformed Churches •, for the univerfalway of Church -government before, may 
 as foon lead us into grofs error, as their univerlally corrupted Doctrine. And 
 
 Govern-
 
 408 An Anfioer to Eikon Baillike* 
 
 Government, by reafon of ambition, was likelieft to be corrupted much the 
 fooner of the two. However, nothing can be to us catholic or univerfal in Re- 
 ligion, but what the Scripture teaches •, whatfoever without Scripture pleads to 
 be univerfal in theChurch, in being univerfal is but the moreSchifmaticai. Much 
 lefs can 'particular Laws and Conjlituticns impart to the Church of England any 
 power of confiftory or tribunal above other Churches, to be the fole Judge of 
 what is Seel: or Schifm, as with much rigour, and without Scripture they took 
 upon them. Yet thefe the King refolves here to defend and maintain to his laft, 
 pretending, after all thofe conferences ofFer'd, or had with him, not to fee more 
 rational and religious motives than Soldiers carry in their Knapfacks ; with one thus 
 refolv'd it was but folly to ftand difputing. 
 
 He imagines his own judicious zeal to be moft concern' d in his tuition of the Church. 
 So thought Saul when he prefum'd to offer Sacrifice, for which he loft his King- 
 dom ; fo thought Uzziah when he went into the Temple, but was thruft out 
 with a Leprofy for his opinion'd zeal, which he thought judicious. It is not the 
 part of a King, becaufe he ought to defend the Church, therfore to fet himfelf 
 fupreme head over the Church, or to meddle with Ecclefial Government, or to 
 defend the Church otherwife than the Church would be defended ; for fuch de- 
 fence is bondage : nor to defend abufes, and flop all Reformation under the 
 fiame of New moulds fancy' 'd and fa/hicn'd to private defigns. The holy things of 
 Church are in the power of other keys than were deliver'd to his keeping. 
 Chriftian liberty, purchafed with the death of our Redeemer, and eftablifh'd by 
 the fending of his free Spirit to inhabit in us, is not now to depend upon the! 
 doubtful confent of any earthly Monarch ; nor to be again fetter'd with a pre- 
 fumptuous negative voice, tyrannical to the Parlament, but much more tyran- 
 nical to the Church of God ; which was compell'd to implore the aid of Par- 
 lament, to remove his force and heavy hands from off our confeiences, wha 
 therfore complains now of that moft juft defenfive force, becaufe only it re- 
 mov'd his violence and perfecution. It this be a violation to his confeience, 
 that it was hindred by the Parlament from violating the more tender confeien- 
 ces of fo many thoufand good Chriftians, kt the ufurping confeience of all Ty- 
 rants be ever fo violated. , 
 
 He wonders, Fox wonder, how we could fo much diftntft God's qffijfance, as 
 to call in the Proteftant aid of our Brethren in Scotland : why then did he, if 
 his truft were in God and the juftice of his Caufe, not fcfuple to follicit and in- 
 vite earneftiy the afliftance both of Papifts and of Irijh Rebels ? If the Scots 
 were by us at length fent home, they were not call'd in to ftay here always; 
 neither was it for the people's eafe to feed fo many Legions longer than their help 
 was needful. 
 
 The Government of their Kirk we dejpis'dnot, but their impofing of that Govern- 
 ment upon us ; not Presbytery but Arch-Presbytery, Claffical, Provincial, and 
 Diocefan Presbytery, claiming to it fell" a Lordly Power and Superin tendency 
 both over Flocks and Paftors, over Perfons and Congregations no way their own. 
 But thefe debates in his judgment would have bin ended better by the befl Divines 
 inChriJiendotn in a full and free Synod. A moft improbable way, and fuch as 
 never yet was us'd, at leaft with good fuccefs, by any Proteftant Kingdom or 
 State fince the Reformation : Every true Church having wherwithal from Hea- 
 ven, and the affifting Spirit of Chrift implor'd to be complete and perfect with- 
 in it felf. And the whole Nation is not eafily to be thought fo raw, and fo 
 perpetually a novice after all this light, as to need the help and direction of other 
 Nations, more than what they write in public of their opinion, in a matter fo 
 familiar as Church-Government. 
 
 In fine, he accufes Piety with the want of Loyalty, and Religion with the breach 
 of Allegiance, as if God and he were one Mafter, whofe commands were fo 
 often contrary to the commands of God. He would perfwade the Scots that 
 their chief Inter eft confifts in their fidelity to the Crown. But true policy will teach 
 them to find a fafer intereft in the common friendfhip of England, than in tl^e 
 ruins of one ejected Family. 
 
 XIV.
 
 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 409 
 
 XIV. Upon the Covenant, 
 
 UPON this themehis difcourfe is long, his matter little but repetition, 
 and therfore foon anfvver'd. Firft, after an abufive and ftrange appre- 
 henfion of Covenants, as if Men pawn'd their fouls to them with whom 
 they covenant, he digrefTes to plead for Bifhops ; firft from the antiquity of their 
 foffeffton here, fince the firft plantation of Chriftianity in this I/land; next from a uni- 
 verfal prefcriptionjince the Apojlles till this lafi Century. But what avails the moft, 
 primitive Antiquity againft the plain fenie of Scripture ? which if the Lift Cen- 
 tury have beft follow'd, it ought in our efteem to be firft. And yet it hath 
 been often prov'd by Learned Men from the Writings and Epiftles of moft an- 
 cient Chriftians, that Epifcopacy crept not up into an Order above the Prefbyters, 
 till many years after that the Apoftles weredeceas'd. 
 
 He next is unfaiisfy'd with the Covenant, not only for fome paffages in it referring 
 to himfelf, as he fuppofes, with very dubious and dangerous limitations, but for bind- 
 ing men by Oath and Covenant to the Reformation of Church-Difcipline. Firft, 
 thole limitations were not more dangerous to him than he to our Liberty and 
 Religion ; next, that which was there vow'd to caft out of the Church an An- 
 tichriftian Hierarchy which God had not planted, but ambition and corrup- 
 tion had brought in, and fofter'd to the Church's great damage and op- 
 preffion, was no point of controverfy' to be argu'd without end, but a thing of 
 clear moral neceffty to be forthwith done. Neither was the Covenant fuperfluous y 
 though former engagements both religious and legal bound tts before : But was the 
 practice of all Churches hertofore intending Reformation. All Jfrael, though 
 bound enough before by the Law of Mofes to all neceffary duties ; yet with Afa, 
 their King enter'd into a new Covenant at the beginning of a Reformation : And 
 the Jews after captivity, without confent demanded of that King who was 
 their Mafter, took folemn Oath to walk in the Commandments of God. All 
 Proteftant Churches have done the like, notwithftanding former engagements 
 to their feveral Duties. And although his aim were to fow variance between 
 the Proteftation and the Covenant, to reconcile them is not difficult. The Protefta- 
 tion was but one ftep, extending only to the Doctrine of the Church of Eng- 
 land, as it was diftinct from Church-Difcipline •, the Covenant went further, as 
 it pleas'd God to difpenfe his light by degrees, and comprehended Church-Go- 
 vernment : Former with latter fteps in the progrefs of well-doing need not re- 
 concilement. Neverthelefs he breaks through to his conclufion, That all honeji 
 and wife men ever thought themfelves fufficiently bound by former tics of Religion ; 
 leaving Afa, Ezra, and the whole Church of God in fundry Ages to fhift for 
 honejly and wifdom from fome other than his teftimony. And although after- 
 contracts abfolve not till the former be made void, yet he firft having done that, 1 
 our duty returns back, which to him was neither moral nor eternal, but conditi- 
 onal. 
 
 Willing to perfwade himfelf that many good men took the Covenant, either 
 unwarily or out of fear, he feems to have beftow'd fome thoughts how thefe 
 good men following his advice may keep the Covenant and not keep it. The firft 
 evafion is, prefuming that the chief end of 'Covenanting in fucb men's intentions was 
 topreferve Religion in purity, and the Kingdom's peace. But the Covenant will more 
 truly inform them that purity of Religion and the Kingdom's peace was not then 
 in ftate to be preferv'd, but to be reftor'd •, and therfore binds them not to a 
 prefervation of what was, but to a Reformation of what was evil, what was 
 traditional and dangerous, whether novelty or antiquity, in Church or State. To 
 do this clafhes with no former Oath lawfully fworn either to God or the King, 
 and rightly underftood. 
 
 In general, he brands all fitch confederations by League and Covenant, as the com- 
 vion road us'd in all faclious Perturbations cf State and Church. This kind of lan- 
 guage reflects with the fame ignominy upon all the Proteftant Reformations 
 that have been fince Luther ; and lb indeed doth his whole Book, replenifh'd 
 throughout with hardly other words or arguments, than Papifts, and eipecially 
 Popiih Kings, have us'd hertofore againft their Proteftant Subjects ; whom he 
 
 Vol. I. Ggg would
 
 4io An Anfucer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 would perfwade to be every man bis own Pope, and to abfolve himfelf of thofe ties^ 
 by the fuggeftion of falfe or equivocal interpretations too oft repeated to be now 
 anfwer'd. 
 
 The Parlament, he faith, made their Covenant like Manna, agreeable to every man's 
 Palate. This is another of his gloffes upon the Covenant ; he is content to let it 
 be Manna, but his drift is that men fhould loath it, or at leaft expound it by 
 their own relijh, and latitude of fenfe ; wherin left any one of the Ampler fort 
 fhould fail to be his crafts-mafter, he furnifhes him with two or three laxative, 
 he terms them general claufes, which may ferve fomivhat io relieve them againft the 
 Covenant taken : intimating, as if what were lawful and according to the word of 
 Cod, were no otherwife fo, than as every man fancy'd to himfelf. From (uch 
 learned explications and refolutions as thefe Upon the Covenant, what marvel if 
 no Royalift or Malignant refufe to take it, as having learnt from thefe Princely 
 Infiructions his many Salvo's, cautions, and refervations, how to be a Covenanter 
 and Anticovenanter, how at once to be a Scot, and an Irifh Rebel. 
 
 He returns again to difallow of that Reformation which the Covenant vows, as 
 being the partial advice of a few Divines. But matters of this moment, as they 
 were not to be decided there by thofe Divines, fo neither are they to be deter- 
 min'd here by Effays and curtal Aphorifms, but by folid proofs of Scripture. 
 
 The reft of his difcourfe he fpends, highly accufing the Parlament, that the 
 main Reformation by them intended, was to rob the Church, and much applauding 
 himfelf both for his forwardnefs to all due Reformation, and his averfenefs from 
 all fuch kind of Sacrilege. All which, with his glorious title of the Church's 
 Defender, we leave him to make good by Pharaoh's Divinity, if he pleafe, for 
 to Jcfeph's Piety it will be a tafkunfuitable. As for the parity and poverty of Mi- 
 rtiflers, which he takes to be of {'ohd confluence, the Scripture reckons them for 
 two fyecial Legacies left by our Saviour to his Difciples ; under which two 
 Primitive Nurles, for fuch they were indeed, the Church of God more truly 
 flourifli'd than ever after, fince the time that Imparity and Church-revenue rufh- 
 ing in, corrupted and beleper'd all the Clergy with a worfe infection than Geha- 
 zi's ; fome oneofwhofe Tribe, rather than a King, I fhould take to be com- 
 piler of that unfalted and Simonical Prayer annex'd : although the Prayer it- 
 felf ftrongly prays againft them. For never fuch holy things as he means were 
 given to mote Swine,, nor the Church's bread more to Dogs, than when it fed am- 
 bitious, irreligious and dumb Prelates. 
 
 XV. Upon the many yealoufes^ &c 
 
 TO wipe offjealoufies and fcandals, the beft way had been by clear Acti- 
 ons, or till Actions could be clear'd, by evident reafons ; but meer 
 words we are too well acquainted with. Had his honour and reputation 
 been dearer to him than the luft of reigning, how could the Parlament of either 
 Nation have laid fo often at his door the breach of Words, Promifes, Acts, 
 Oaths, and Execrations, as they do avowedly in many of their Petkions and 
 AddrefTes to him ? thither I remit the Reader. And who can believe that whole 
 Parlaments, elected by the People from all parts of the Land, fhould meet in one 
 mind and refolution not 'to advife him, but to confpire againft him in a worfe 
 powder-plot than Catejbie's, to blow up, as he terms it, the people's affeilion towards 
 him, and batter down their Loyalty by the Engines of foul afferfions : Waterworks 
 rather than Engines to batter with, yet thofe afperfions were rais'd from the 
 foulnefs of his own actions. W T herofto purge himfelf, be ufes no other ar- 
 gument than a general and fo often iterated commendation of himfelf; and 
 thinks that Court Holy-water hath the virtue of expiation, at leaft with the filly 
 people, to whom he familiarly imputes fin where none is, to feem liberal of 
 his forgivenefs where none is afk'd or needed. 
 
 W hat ways he hath taken toward the Profperity of his people, which he 
 would feem fo earneftly todefire, if we do but once call to mind, it will be enough 
 to teach us, looking on the fmooth infinuations here, that Tyrants are not more 
 
 flattered
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 41 1 
 
 flatter'd by their Slaves, than fore'd to flatter others whom they fear. 
 
 For the People's tranquillity he would willingly be the Jena ; but left he fhould 
 be taken at his word, pretends to forefee within ken two imaginary winds never 
 hoard of in the Compafs, which threaten, if he be caft over board, to increafe 
 the Storm ; but that Controverfy divine Lot hath ended. 
 
 He had rather not rule, than that his people JJiould 'be ruin'd ; and yet above thefe 
 twenty years hath been ruining the people about the niceties of his ruling. He is 
 accurate to put a difference between the plague of malice, and the ague of mftskes, 
 the itch of novelty, and the leprofy of difloyalty . But had he as well known how 
 to diftinguilh between the venerable grey hairs of ancient Religion, and the 
 old fcurff" of Superftition, between the wholefome heat of well governing, and 
 the feverous rage of tyrannizing, his judgment in State-phyfic had been of more 
 authority. 
 
 Much he prophefles, that the credit of thofe men who have cad black fcandals on 
 bim,Jhall ere long be quite blaftedby the fame furnace of popular obloquy, wherin they 
 fought to caft his name and honour. I believe not that a Romifo gilded Portraiture 
 gives better Oracle than a Babylonifh golden Image could do, to tell us truly 
 who heated that Furnace of obloquy, or who deferves to be thrown in, Nebu- 
 chadnezzar or the three Kingdoms. It gave him great caufe to fufpetl his own In- 
 nocence, that he was oppos'd by fo many who profeft fingular piety. But this qualm 
 was foon over, and he concluded rather to fufpefl their Religion than his own 
 innocence, affirming that many with him were both learned and religious above 
 the ordinary fiZe . But if his great Seal without the Parlament were not fufficient 
 to create Lords, his Parole muft needs be far more unable to create learned and 
 religious men ; and who (hall authorize his unlearned judgment to point them 
 out? 
 
 He guefTes that many well-minded men were by popular Preachers urg'd to oppofe 
 him. But the oppofition undoubtedly proceeded and continues from heads rar 
 wifer, and fpirits of a nobler ftrain ; thofe Prieft-led Herodians with their blind 
 guides are in the Ditch already •, travelling, as they thought, to Sion, but moor'd 
 in the Ifle of JFight. 
 
 He thanks God for his conftancy to the Proteftant Religion both abroad and at home. 
 Abroad, his Letter to the Pope ; at home, his Innovations in the Church will 
 fpeak his conftancy in Religion what it was, without further credit to this vain 
 boaft. 
 
 His ujiug the affftance of fome Papifts, as the caufe might be, could not hurt 
 his Religion ; but in the fettling of Prot'eftantifm their aid was both unfeemly 
 and fufpicious, and inferr'd that the greateft part of Proteftants were againft him 
 and his obtruded fettlement. 
 
 But this is ftrange indeed, that he fhould appear now teaching the Parlament 
 what no man, till this was read, thought ever he had learn'd, that difference of 
 perfwafion in religious matters may fall out where there is the famenefs of Allegiance 
 and Subjetlion. If he thought fo from the beginning, wherfore was there fuch 
 compulfion us'd to the Puritans of England, and the whole Realm of Scotland 
 about conforming to a Liturgy ? Wherfore no Bifhop no King ? Wherfore 
 Epifcopacy more agreeable to Monarchy, if different perfwafions in Religion 
 may agree in one Duty and Allegiance ? Thus do Court-Maxims like Court- 
 Minions rife or fall as the King pleafes. 
 
 Not to tax him for want of Elegance as a Courtier in writing Oglio for Olla 
 the Spanifh word, it might be well affirm'd that there was a greater Medley and 
 difproportioning of Religions to mix Papifts with Proteftants in a religious 
 caufe, than to entertain all thofe diverfify'd Seels, who yet were all Proteftants, 
 one Religion, though many Opinions. 
 
 Neither was it any fhame to Proteftants, that he a ^f/ar'iPapift, if his own 
 Letter to the Pope, not yet renoune'd, belye him not, found fo few Proteftants 
 of his Religion, as enfore'd him to call in both the counfel and the aid of Papifts 
 to help eftablifh Proteftancy, who were led on, not by the fenfe of their Allegi- 
 ance, but by the hope of his Apoftacy to Rome, from difputing to warring, his 
 own voluntary and firft appeal. 
 
 His hearkning to evil Counfellors, charg'd upon him fo often by the Parlament, 
 he puts off" as a device of thofe men who were fo eager to give him better counfel. 
 That thofe men were the Parlament, and that he ought to have us'd the coun- 
 Vol. I. Ggg 2 fel 
 
 .j
 
 41 2 An Anjher to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 fel of none but thofe, as a King, is already known. What their civility laid 
 upon evil Couniellors, he himfelf molt commonly own'd •, but the event of 
 thofe evil Counfels the Enormities, the Confiufions, the Miferies, he transfers 
 from the guilt of his own civil broils to the juft refiftance made by Parlament ; 
 and imputes what mifcarriages of his they could not yet remove for his oppofing, 
 as if they were fome new mifdemeanors of their bringing in, and not the in- 
 veterate difeafes of his own bad Government ; which, with a difeafe as bad, 
 he falls again to magnify and commend : and may all thofe who would be go- 
 vern'd by his Retractions and Concefifions, rather than by Laws of Parlament, ad- 
 mire his Self- Encomiums, and be flatter'd with that Crown of Patience to which he 
 cunningly exhorted them, that his Monarchial foot might have the fetting it 
 upon their heads. 
 
 That truft which the Parlament faithfully difcharg'd in the afTerting of our 
 Liberties, he calls another Artifice to withdraw the people from him to their defigns. 
 What piece of Juftice could they have demanded for the People, which the 
 jealoufy of a King might not have mifcall'd a defign to difparage his Govern- 
 ment, and to ingratiate themfelves ? To be more juft, religious, wife, or mag- 
 nanimous than the common iort, ftirs up in a Tyrant both fear and envy ; and 
 ftraight he cries out Popularity, which in his account is little lefs than Treafon, 
 Thefum is, they thought to regulate and limit his Negative voice, andfhare with 
 him in the Militia, both or either of which he could not poflibly hold without 
 confent of the people, and not be abfolutely a Tyrant. He profefles to defire 
 no other liberty than what he envies not his Subjects according to Law ; yet fought 
 with mi°,ht and main againft his Subjects to have a fole power over them in his 
 hand, both againft and beyond Law. As for the Philofophical Liberty which 
 in vain he talks of, we may conclude him very ill train'd up in thofe free no- 
 tions, who to civil Liberty was fo iujurious. 
 
 He calls the Confcience God's fovereignty, why then doth he conteft with God 
 about that fupreme title ? why did he lay reftraint, and force enlargements upon 
 our Confciences in things for which we were to anfwer God only and the 
 Church ? God bids us be fubjecl for Confidence Jake, that is as to a Magiftrate, 
 and in the Laws •, not ufurping over fpiritual things, as Lucifer beyond his 
 fphere. 
 
 Finally, having laid the fault of thefe Commotions, not upon his own mifgo- 
 vernment, but upon the ambition of others, the nccefifity ofi fiome mens fortune, and 
 thirfi after novelty, he bodes himfelf much houour and reputation, that like the Sun 
 fifjall rife and recover it fie If to fiuch a Splendour, as Owls, Batts, and fuch fatal 
 Birds fihall be unable to bear. Poets indeed ufe to vapor much after this manner. 
 But to bad Kings, who without caufe expect future glory from their actions, it 
 happens as to bad Poets, who fit and ftarve themfelves with a delufive hope to 
 win Immortality by their bad Lines. For though men ought not to fipeak evil 
 ofi Dignities which are juft, yet nothing hinders us to fpeak evil, as oft as it is 
 the truth, of thofe who in their Dignities do evil ; thus did our Saviour himfelf, 
 John the Baptift, and Stephen the Martyr. And thofe black veils of his own mif- 
 deeds he might be fure would ever keep his face firom finning, till he could refute 
 evil fipeaking with well doing, which grace he feems here to pray for ; and his 
 Prayer doubtlefs as it was pray'd, To it was heard. But even his Prayer is fo 
 ambitious of Prerogative, that it dares alk away the Prerogative of Chrift him- 
 felf, To become the head-flone of the Corner. 
 
 XVI. Upon
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 413 
 
 XVI. Upon the Ordinance again fl the Common- 
 Prayer Book, 
 
 WHAT to think of Liturgies, both the Senfe of Scripture, and Apo- 
 ftolical Practice would have taught him better, than his human rea- 
 fonings and conjectures : Neverthelefs, what weight they have, let 
 us conlider. If it be no news to have all Innovations ujher'd in with the name of Re- 
 formation, fure it is leis news to have all reformation cenfur'd and oppos'd under 
 the name of innovation ; by thofe, who being exalted in high place above their 
 merit, tear all change, though of things never fo ill or fo unwifely fettled. So 
 hardly can the dotage of thole that dwell upon Antiquity allow prefent times 
 any JJjare of godlinefs or wifdom. 
 
 The removing of Liturgy he traduces to be done only as a thing plaufible to the 
 People ; whole rejection of it he likens, with fmall reverence, to the crucifying 
 of our Saviour; next, that it was done to pleafe thofe men who gloried in their ex- 
 temporary vein, meaning the Minifters. For whom it will be belt to anfwer, as 
 was anfwer'd for the man born blind, They are of age, let them fpeak for them- 
 feives •, not how they came blind, but whether it were Liturgy that held them 
 tongue-ty'd. 
 
 For the matter contained in that Book,, we need no better witnefs than King Ed- 
 ward the iixth, who to the Cornijh Rebels confefTes it was no other than the old 
 Mais-Book done into Englifh, all but fome few words that were expung'd. 
 And by this argument which King Edward fo promptly had to ufe againll that 
 irreligious Rabble, we may be affur'd it was the carnal fear of thole Divines 
 and Politicians that modelPd the Liturgy no farther off from the old Mafs, left 
 by too great an alteration they mould incenfe the People, and be deftitute of 
 the fame Ihifts to fly to which they had taught the young King. 
 
 For the manner of ufingfet forms, there is no doubt but that wholefome matter, and 
 good defires rightly conceiv'd in the heart, wholefome words will follow of 
 themfelves. Neither can any true Chriftian find a reafon why Liturgy fhould 
 be at all admitted, a Prefcription not impos'd or practis'd by thofe firft Foun- 
 ders of the Church, who alone had that authority : Without whofe precept or 
 example, how conftantly the Prieft puts on his Gown and Surplice, fo conftant- 
 ly doth his Prayer put on a fervile yoak of Liturgy. This is evident, that 
 they who ufe no fet Forms of Prayer, have words from their affections ; while 
 others are to feek affections fit and proportionable to a certain dofe of pre- 
 pared words ; which as diey are not rigoroufly forbid to any man's private 
 infirmity, fo to imprifon and confine by force, into a Pinfold of fet words, 
 thofe two moft unimprifonable things, our Prayers, and that Divine Spirit 
 of utterance that moves them, is a tyranny that would have longer hands 
 than thofe Giants who threaten'd bondage to Heaven. What we may do 
 in the fame form of words is not fo much the queftion, as whether Liturgy 
 may be fore'd, as he fore'd it. It is true that we pray to the fame God, muft 
 we therfore always ufe the fame words ? Let us then ufe but one word, becaufe 
 we pray to one God. We profefs the fame Truths, but the Liturgy compre- 
 hends not all Truths : we read the fame Scriptures, but never read that all thofe 
 facred expreffions, all benefit and ufe of Scripture, as to public Prayer, fhould 
 be deny'd us, except what was barrel'd up in a Common-Prayer Book with 
 many mixtures of their own, and which is worfe, without fait. But fuppofe 
 them favoury words and unmix'd, fuppofe them Manna it felf, yet if they 
 fhall be hoarded up and enjoined us, while God every morning rains down 
 new expreffions into our hearts ; inftead of being fit to ufe, they will be found 
 like referved Manna, rather to breed Worms andftink. We have the fame duties 
 upon us, and feel the fame wants : yet not always the fame, nor at all times alike % 
 but with variety of Circumftances, which ask variety of words : Wherof God 
 hath given us plenty •, not to ufe fo copioufly upon all other occafions, and 
 fo niggardly to him alone in our devotions. As if Chriftians were now in a 
 worfe famine of words fit for Prayer, than was of food at the Siege ofjerufa- 
 4 /«»»
 
 414 
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafihke. 
 
 km, when perhaps the Priefts being to remove the fhew-bread, as was accu- 
 ftom'd, were compell'd every Sabbath-day for want of other Loaves, to bring again 
 ftil! the fame. If the Lord's Prayer had been the warrant or pattern to hi L::::r- 
 gies, as is here affinn'd, why was neither that Prayer, nor any other fet Form ever 
 after us'd, or fo much as mention'd by the Apoftles, much his commended to 
 our ufe ? Why was their care wanting in a thing fo ufeful to the Church ? fo full 
 of danger and contention to be left undone by them to other men's penning, of 
 whofe authority we could not be focertain ? Why was this forgotten by them, who 
 declare that they have reveal'd to us the whole Counfel of God •, who as he left 
 our affections to be guided by his farictifying Spirit, fo did de likewife our words 
 to be put into us without our premeditation ; not only thofe cautious words to 
 be i s'd before Gentiles and Tyrants, but much more thofe filial words, of which 
 we have fo frequent ufe in our acceis with freedom of fpeech to the Throne of 
 Grace. Which to lay afide for other outward dictates of men, were to injure 
 him and his perfect Gift, who is the Spirit and the giver of our ability to pray -, 
 as if his minift ration were incompleat, and that to whom he gave affections, he 
 did not alfo afford utterance to make his Gift of Prayer a perfect Gift. 
 
 And although the Gift were only natura 1 , yet voluntary Prayers are lefs fub- 
 jetl to formal and fuperficial tempers than Jet Forms : For in thefe, at Ieaft for 
 words and matter, he who prays mull coniu't firft with his heart; which in 
 likelihood may ftir up his affections ; in thefe having both words and matter 
 ready made to his lips, which is enough to make up the outward act of prayer, 
 his affections grow lazy, and come not up eafily at the call of words nor their 
 own ; the Prayer alfo having lefs intercourie and fympathy with a heart wherin 
 it was not conceiv'd, faves itfelf the labour of fo long a journey downward, 
 and flying up in hafte on the fpecious wings of formality, if it fall not back 
 again headlong, inftead of a prayer which was expected, prefents God with a 
 let of ftale and empty words. 
 
 No doubt but oflentation and formality may taint the belt duties •, we are not 
 therfore to leave duties for no duties, and to turn Prayer into a kind of lurry. 
 Cannot unpremeditated babling be rebuk'd, and reftrain'd in whom we find 
 they are, but the Spirit of God mult be forbidden in all men ? But it is the 
 cuftomof bad Men and Hypocrites to take advantage at the leaft abufe of good 
 things, that under that covert they may remove the goodnefs of thofe thing';, 
 rather than the abufe. And how unknowingly, how weakly is the ufing of 
 fet Forms attributed here to cenftancy, as if it were cor.ftancy in the Cuckoo to 
 be always in the fame Liturgy. 
 
 Much lefs can it be lawful that an Engliffrd Mafs-Book, compos'd, for aught 
 we know, by men neither learned, nor godly, Jhcv.ld juftle cut, or at any time 
 deprive us the exercife of that heavenly Gift, which God by fpecial promile 
 pours out daily upon his Church, that is to fay, the fpirit of Prayer. Whcr- 
 of to help thofe many infirmities, which he reckons up, Rudenefs, lmpertiv.aicv, 
 Flatnefs, and the like, we have a remedy of God's finding out, which is not 
 Liturgy, but his own free fpirit. Though we know not what to pray as we 
 ought, yet he with fighs unutterable by any words, much lefs by a ftinred 
 Liturgy dwelling in us, makes interceffion for us according to the mind and 
 will of God both in private, and in the performance of all Eccleiiaftical Duties. 
 For it is his promife alfo, that where two or three are gather'd together in his name 
 fhall agree to aik him any thing, it fhall be granted ; for he is there in the 
 midft of them. If any ancient Churches to remedy the infirmities of Prayer, 
 or rather the infections of /Irian and Pelagian Herefies, neglectins that or- 
 dain'd and promis'd help of the Spirit, betook them almoft four hundred years 
 after Chrift to Liturgy their own invention, we are not to imitate them ; nor 
 to diftruft God in the removal of that Truant-help to our Devotion, which 
 by him never was appointed. And what is faid of Liturgy, is fiid alfo of Di- 
 rectory, if it be impos'd : although to forbid the Service-Book there be much 
 more reafon, as being of itfelf fuperftitious, oftenfive, and indeed, though 
 Englijh'd, yet ftill the Mafs-Book : and public Places ought to be provided of 
 fuch as need not the help of Liturgies or Directories continually, but are fup- 
 ported with minifterial Gifts anfwerable to their calling. 
 
 Laftly, that the Common-Prayer Book was rejected becaufe it pray'd fo oft 
 
 for him, he had no reafon to object : for what large and laborious Prayers were 
 
 • 4 made
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 41 5 
 
 made for him in the Pulpits, if he never heard, it is doubtful they were never 
 heard in HeaVen. We might now have expected that his own following Prayer 
 fhould add much credit to let Forms ; buc on the contrary we find the fame 
 imperfections in it, as in moft before, which he lays here upon extemporal. 
 Nor doth he afk ot God to be directed whether Liturgies be lawful, but pre- 
 fumes, and in a manner would perfwade him that they be fp ; praying that 
 the Church and he may never want them. What could be pray'd worfe extem- 
 pore ? 
 
 XVII. Of the Differences in point of Church* 
 
 Government, 
 
 TH E Government of Church by Bifhops hath been fo fully prov'd from 
 the Scriptures to be vicious and ulurp'd, that whether out of Piety or 
 Policy maintain'd, it is not much material : For Piety grounded upon 
 error, can no more juftify King Charles, than it did Queen Mary in the fight of 
 God or Man. This however muff, not be let pafs without a ferious Obferva-- 
 tion ; God having lb difpos'd the Author in this Chapter as to confefs and 
 difcover more of myitery and combination between Tyranny andfalle Religion, 
 than from any other hand would have been credible. Here we may fee the 
 very dark roots of them both turn'd up, and how they twine and inter- 
 weave one another in the Earth, though above ground fhooting up in two 
 flvi r'd Branches. We may have learnt both from facred Story, and times 
 of Reformation, that the Kings of this World have both ever hated, and 
 inftinctively fear'd the Church of God. Whether it be for that their Doc- 
 trine ieems much to favour two things to them fo dreadful, Liberty *nd 
 Equality •, or becaufe they are the Children of that Kingdom, which, as an- 
 cient Prophecies have foretold, fhall in the end break to pieces and dif- 
 fo'.ve all their great Power and Dominion. And thofe Kings and Potentates 
 who have ftrove moft to rid themfelves of this fear, by cutting offorfup- 
 preffing the true Church, have drawn upon themfelves the occafion of their 
 own ruin, while they thought with moft policy to prevent it. Thus Pharaoh 
 when once he began to fear and wax jealous of the Ifraelites, left they fhould 
 multiply and fight againft him, and that his fear ftirr'd him up to afflict and 
 keep them under, as the only remedy of what he fear'd, foon found that the 
 evil which before flept, came fuddenly upon him, by the prepofterous way he 
 took to prevent it. Palling by examples between, and not (hutting wilfully our 
 eyes, we may fee the like ftory brought to pafs in our own Land. This King more 
 than any before him, except perhaps his Father, from his firil entrance to the 
 Crown, harbouring in his mind a ftrange fear and fufpicion of Men moft reli- 
 gious, and their Doctrine, which in his own language he here acknowledges, 
 terming it the feditious exorbitancy of Minifters tongues, and doubting le/l 
 they, as he not chriftianly expreffes it, Jljould with the keys of Heaven let out Peace 
 and' Ley ally from the people's hearts: though they never preach'd or attempted 
 aught that might juftly raife in him fuch thoughts, he could not reft or think 
 himfelf fecure, fo long as they remain'd in any of his three Kingdoms unroot- 
 ed out. But outwardly profeffing the fame Religion with them, he could 
 not prefently ufe violence as Pharaoh did, and that courfe had with others be- 
 fore but ill lucceeded. He choofes therfore a more myftical Way, a newer Me- 
 thod of Antichriftian Fraud, to the Church more dangerous: and like to Ba~ 
 lack the Son of Zippor, againft a Nation of Prophets thinks it beft to hire other 
 eileemed Prophets, and to undermine and wear out the true Church by a falfe 
 Ecclefiaftical Policy. To this drift he found the Government of Bifhops moft 
 llrviccablc •, an Order in the Church, as by men firft corrupted, fo mutually 
 corrupting them who receive it, both in judgment and manners. He by con- 
 ferring Bifhopi ics and great Livings on whom he thought moll pliant to 
 his Wills agaiiift the known Canons aaduniverlal prafticeofthc ancient Church, 
 
 wherby
 
 4'i 6 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 wherby thofe Elections were the people's right, fought, as he confeffes, to have 
 greatejl influence upon the Church-men. They on the other fide finding them- 
 fclves in a high Dignity, neither founded by Scripture, nor allow'd by Refor- 
 mation, nor fupported by any fpiritual Gift or Grace of their own, knew it their 
 beft courfe to have dependance only upon him : and wrought his fancy by de- 
 grees to that degenerate and unkingly perfwafion of No Bifhop, no King. Whenas 
 on the contrary all Prelates in their own futtle fenfe are of another mind ; ac- 
 cording to that of Pius the fourth, remember'd in the Hiftory of Trent, that 
 Bifhops then grow to be moft vigorous and potent, when Princes happen to be 
 moft weak and impotent. Thus when both Interefts of Tyranny and Epifco- 
 paCy were incorporate into each other, the King, whole principal fatety and 
 eftabl'ifhment confifted in the righteous execution of his civil power, and not 
 in Bifhops and their wicked Counfels, fatally driven on, i'ct himfelf to the remo- 
 val of thofe men whofe Doctrine and defire of Church-Difcipline he fo fear'd 
 would be the undoing of his Monarchy. And becaufe no temporal Law could 
 touch the innocence of their lives, he begins with the perfecution of their Con- 
 ferences, laying fcandals before them ; and makes that the argument to inflict 
 his unjuft penalties both on their Bodies and Eftates. In this War againft the 
 Church if he had fped fo, as other haughty Monarchs whom God hertofore 
 hath harden'd to the like enterprize, we ought to look up with praifes and 
 thankfgiving to the Author of our deliverance, to whom Victory and Power, 
 Majefty, Honour and Dominion belongs for ever. 
 
 In the mean while, from his own words we may perceive eafily that the ipe- 
 cial motives which he had to endear and deprave his judgment to the favouring 
 and utmoft defending of Epifcopacy, are luch as here we reprefent them : and 
 how unwillingly, and with what mental refervation he condefcended againft his 
 Intereft to remove it out of the Peers houfe, hath been fhewn already. The 
 reafons, which he affirms wrought fo much upon his judgment, fhall be fo far 
 anfwer'd as they be urg'd. 
 
 Scripture he pretends, but produces none, and next the conflant practice of all 
 Chriftian Churches, till of late years tumult, faction, pride, and covetoufnefs, in- 
 vented new models under the Title ofChrijfs Government. Could any Papift have 
 fpoke more fcandaloufly againit all Reformation ? Well may the Parlamentand 
 beft-affected People now be troubled at his calumnies and reproaches, fince he 
 binds them in the fame bundle with all other the reformed Churches-, who alfo 
 may now further fee, befides their own bitter experience, what a cordial and 
 well-meaning helper they had of him abroad, and how true to the Proteftant 
 Caufe. 
 
 As for Hiftories to prove Bifhops, the Bible, if we mean not to run into Er- 
 rors, Vanities, and Uncertainties, muft be our only Hiftory. Which informs 
 us that the Apoftles were not properly Bifhops ; next, that Bifhops were not 
 fucceflbrs of Apoftles, in the function of Apoftlefhip : And that if they were 
 Apoftles, they could not be precifely Bifhops ; if Bifhops, they could not be 
 Apoftles, this being univerfal, extraordinary, and immediate from God ; that 
 being an ordinary, fixr, and particular charge and continual inflection over a 
 certain Flock. And although an ignorance and deviation of the ancient Churches 
 afterward, may with as much reafon and charity be fuppos'd asfudden in point of 
 Prelaty, as in other manifeft corruptions, yet that no example fine e the firfi age 
 for 1500 years can be produCd of any fettled Church, wherin were many Minifters 
 and Congregations, which had not fome Bifhops above them ; the Ecclefiaftical Story, 
 to which he appeals for want of Scripture, proves clearly to be a falfe and 
 over-confident affertion. Sozomenus, who wrote above twelve hundred years ago, 
 in his feventh Book, relates from his own knowledge, that in the Churches of 
 Cyprus and Arabia (places near to Jerufalem, and with the firft frequented by 
 Apoftles) they had Bifhops in every Village •, and what could thofe be more 
 than Prefbyters ? The like he tells of other Nations ; and that Epifcopal 
 Churches in thofe days did not condemn them. I add, that many. Weftern 
 Churches, eminent for their Faith and good Works, and fettled above four hun- 
 dred years ago in France, in Piemont and Bohemia, have both taught and prac- 
 tis'd the fame Doctrine, and not admitted of Epifcopacy among them. And 
 if we may believe what the Papifts themfelves have written of thefe Churches, 
 which they call Waldenfes, I find it in a Book written almoft four hundred years 
 
 fince,
 
 An Anfiocr to Eikon Bafilike. 417 
 
 fince, and fet forth in the Bohemian Hiftory, that thofe Churches in Piemtmt 
 have held the fame Doctrine and Government, fince the time that Conjlantine 
 with his mifchievous donations poifon'd Sylvefter and the whole Church. O- 
 thers affirm they have fo continu'd there fince the Apoftles, and 'Theodoras Bel- 
 vederenfis in his relation of them, con feffeth that thofe Herefies, as he names 
 them, were from the firft times of Chriftianity in that place. For the reft I 
 refer me to that famous teffimony of ' Jerom, who upon that very place which he 
 cites here, the Epiftle to Titus, delares openly that Bifhop and Prefby ter were 
 one and the fame thing, till by the inftigation of Satan partialities grew up in 
 the Church, and that Bifhops rather by cuftom than any ordainment of Chrift, 
 were exalted above Prefbyters : whofe interpretation we truft fhall be receiv'd 
 before this intricate fluff" tattl'd here of Timothy and Titus, and I know not 
 whom their Succeffors, far beyond Court- Element, and as far beneath true Edifi- 
 cation. Thefe are his fair grounds both from Scripture-Canons and Ecclefiaftical 
 Examples ; howundivine-like written, and how like a worldly Gofpeller thatun- 
 derftands nothing of thefe matters, pofterity no doubt will be able to judge, and 
 will but little regard what he calls Apofiolical, who in his Letter to the Pope 
 calls Apofiolical the Roman Religion. 
 
 Nor let him think to plead, that therfore it was not Policy of State, or obflina- 
 cy in him which upheld Epifcopacy, becaufe the injuries and lofies which he 
 fuftain'd by fo doing were to him more confiderable than Epifcopacy itfelf ; for 
 all this might Pharaoh have had to fay in his excufe of detaining the Ifraelites, 
 that his own and his Kingdom's fafety, fo much endanger'd by his denial, was to 
 him more dear than all their building labours could be worth to Egypt. But 
 whom God hardens, them alfo he blinds. 
 
 He endeavours to make good Epifcopacy not only in Religion, hut from the na- 
 ture of all civil Government, where Parity breeds confufion and fatlion. But of 
 faction and confufion, to take no other than his own teftimony, where hath more 
 been ever bred than under the imparity of his own Monarchical Government ? 
 Of which to make at this time longer difpute, and from civil conftitutions and 
 human conceits to debate and queflion the convenience of Divine Ordinations, 
 is nekdier wifdom nor fobriety : and to confound Mofaic Priejlhood with Evan- 
 gelic Prefby tery againft exprefs inftitution, is as far from warrantable. As 
 little to purpofe is it, that we fhould fland polling the reformed Churches, 
 whether they equalize in number thofe of bis three Kingdoms, of whom fo lately 
 the far greater part, what they have long defir'd to do, have now quite thrown 
 off" Epifcopacy. 
 
 Neither may we count it the Language or Religion of a Proteflant fo to vili- 
 fy the beft reformed Churches f for none of them but Lutherans retain Bifhops) 
 as to fear more the fcandalizing of Papifls, becaufe more numerous, than of our 
 Proteflant Brethren, becaufe a handful. It will not be worth the while to fay 
 what Schifmatics or Heretics have had no Bifhops •, yet left he fhould be taken for 
 a great Reader, he who prompted him, if he were a Doctor, might have 
 remember'd the foremention'd place in Sozomenus ; which affirms, that befides 
 the Cyprians and Arabians who were counted Orthodoxal, the Novatians alfo, 
 and Montanijls in Phrygia had no other Bifhops than fuchas were in every Village: 
 and what Prefbyter hath a narrower Diocefs ? As for the Agrians we know of 
 no Heretical Opinion juflly father'dupon them, but that they held Bifhops and 
 Prefbyters to be the fame. Which he in this place not obfeurely feems to hold 
 a Herefy in all the reformed Churches •, with whom why the Church of Eng- 
 land defir'd conformity, he can find no reafon with all his charity, but the coming 
 in of the Scots Army ; fuch a high efteem he had of the Englifi. 
 
 He tempts the Clergy to return back again to Bifhops, from the fear of tenuity 
 and contempt, and the affurance of better thriving under the favour of Princes ; a- 
 gainfl which temptations if the Clergy cannot arm themfelves with their own 
 fpiritual Armour, they are indeed zspoor a carcafs as he terms them. 
 
 Of fecular Honours and great Revenues added to the dignity of Prelates, fince 
 the fubjedtof that queflion is now remov'd, we need not fpend time : But this 
 perhaps will never be unfeafonable to bear in mind out of Chryfoftoni, that when 
 Miniflers came to have Lands, Houfes, Farms, Coaches, Horles, and the like 
 Lumber, then Religion brought forth Riches in the Church, and the Daughter 
 devour'd the Mother. 
 
 Vol. I. Hhh Bu?
 
 ^i 8 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 But if his judgment in Epifcopacy may be judg'd by the goodly choice he made 
 of Bifhops, we need not much amufe ourfelves with the confideration of thofe 
 evils which, by his foretelling, will neceffarily follow their pulling down, until 
 he prove that the Apoftles, having no certain Diocefs or appointed place of re- 
 fidence, were properly Bifhops over thofe Prefbyters whom they ordain'd, or Church' 
 es they planted ; wherin oftimes their labours were both joint and promifcuous : 
 Or that the Apoftolic Power muft necejjarily defcend to Bifhops, the life and end of 
 either function being fo different. And how the Church hath flourifh'd under E- 
 pifcopacy, let the multitude of their ancient and grofs errors teftify, and the 
 words of fome learnedeft and moft zealous Bifhops among them ; Nazianzen 
 in a devout palfion wifhing Prelaty had never been ; Bafd terming them the 
 Slaves of Slaves ; Saint Martin the Enemies of Saints, and confefnng that af- 
 ter he was made a Bifhop, he found much of that grace decay in him which he 
 had before. 
 
 Concerning his Coronation-Oath, what it was, and how far it bound him, al- 
 ready hath been fpoken. This we may take for certain, that he was never fworn 
 to his own particular confeience and reafon, but to cur conditions as a free peo- 
 ple •, which requir'd him to give us fuch Laws as ourfelves fhould choofe. 
 This the Scots could bring him to, and would not be baffled with the pretence 
 of a Coronation-Oath, after that Epifcopacy had for many years been fettled 
 there. Which conceflion of his to them, and not to us, he feeks here to put off 
 with evafions that are ridiculous. And to omit no fhifts, he alleges that the 
 Prefbyterian manners gave him no encouragement to like their Modes of Govern- 
 ment. If that were fo, yet certainly thofe men are in moft likelihood nearer 
 to Amendment, who feek a ftricter Church-Difcipline than that of Epifcopacy, 
 under which the moft of them learn'd their manners. If eftimation were to be 
 made of God's Law by their manners, who leaving Egypt, receiv'd it in the 
 Wildernefs, it could reap from fuch an inference as this, nothing but rejection 
 and difefteem. 
 
 For the Prayer wherwith he clofes, it had been good fome fafe Liturgy, 
 which he fo commends, had rather been in his way ; it would perhaps in fome 
 meafure have perform'd the End for which they fay Liturgy was firft invented, 
 and have hinder'd him both here, and at other times, from turning his notorious 
 errors into his Prayers. 
 
 XVIII. Upon the Uxbridge Treaty, &C 
 
 IF the way of Treaties be look'd upon in general, as a retiring from beftial force 
 to human reafon, his firft Aphorifm here is in part deceiv'd. For men may 
 treat like Beafts as well as fight. If fome fighting were not manlike, then 
 either fortitude were no virtue, or no fortitude in fighting : And as Politici- 
 ans oftimes through dilatory purpofes and emulations handle the matter, there 
 hath been no where found more beftiality than in treating ; which hath no more 
 commendation in it, than from fighting to come to undermining, from violence 
 to craft, and when they can no longer do as Lions, to do as Foxes. 
 
 The fincereft end of treating after War once proclaim'd, is either to part 
 with more, or to demand lefs than was at firft fought for, rather than to ha- 
 zard more lives, or worfe mifchiefs. What the Parlament in that point were 
 willing to have done, when firft after the War begun, they petition'd him at 
 Colebrook to vouchfafe a Treaty, is unknown. For after he had taken God to 
 witnefs of his continual readinefs to treat, or to offer Treaties to the avoiding 
 of bloodfhed, taking the advantage of a Mift, the fitteft weather for deceit 
 and treachery, he follows at the heels thofe MefTengers of Peace with a train 
 of covert War ; and with a bloody furprize falls on our fecure Forces which 
 lay quartering at Brentford in the thoughts and expectation of a Treaty. And. 
 although in them who make a trade of War, andagainft a natural Enemy, fuch 
 an onfet might in the rigour of martial Law have beenexcus'd, while Arms were 
 not yet by agreement fufpended i yet by a King, who feem'd fo heartily to ac- 
 cept
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 419 
 
 cept of treating, and profeffes here, He never wanted either dejire er difpojition 
 to it, prof Res to have greater confidence in bis Rcafon than in his Sword, and as a 
 Cbriftidn tofeek Peace and enjiie it, fiich bloody and deceitful advantages would 
 have bin forborn one day at leaft, if not much longer ; in whom there had not 
 bin a thirft rather than a deteftation of civil War and Blood. 
 
 In the midft of a fecond Treaty not long after, fought by the Parlamenr, 
 and after much ado obtain'd with him at Oxford, what futtle and unpeaceable 
 defigns Ik- then had in chace, his own Letters difcover'd : What attempts of trea- 
 cherous holtility fuccefsful and unfuccefsful he made againft Briftol, Scarborough, 
 and other places, the Proceedings of that Treaty will foon put us in mind •, 
 and how he was lb far from granting more of reafon after fo much of blood, 
 that he deny'd then to grant what before he had offer'd : making no other ufe 
 of Treaties pretending Peace, than to gain advantages that might enable him 
 to continue War. What marvel then if he thought it no diminution of himfelf, 
 as oft as he law his time, to be import unate for Treaties, when he fought them on- 
 ly, as by the upfhot appear'd, to get opportunities? 
 
 ' But he infers, as if the Parlament would have compell'd him to part with fome- 
 thing of his honour as a King. What honour could he have, or call his, join'd 
 not only with the offence or difturbance, but with the bondage and deflruftion 
 of three Nations ? wherof though he be carelefs and improvident, yet the Par- 
 lament, by our Laws and Freedom, ought to judge, and ufe prevention •, our 
 Laws elfe were but Cobweb Laws. And what were all his moll rightful honours, 
 but the people's gift, and the inveftment of that Luftre, Majefty and Honour, 
 which for the public good, and no otherwife, redounds from a whole Nation 
 into one perfon ? So far is any honour from being his to a common mifchief 
 and calamity. Yet ftill he talks on equal terms with the grand Reprefentative 
 of that people, for whofe fake he was a King, as if the general welfare and his 
 fubfervient Rights were of equal moment or confideration. Plis aim indeed 
 hath ever bin to magnify and exalt his borrow'd Rights and Prerogatives above 
 the Parlament and kingdom of whom he holds them. But when a King fets 
 himfelf to bandy againft the higheft Court and Refidence of his Regal Authority, 
 he then, in the fingle perfon of a Man, fights againft his own Majefty and King- 
 fhip, and then indeed fets the firft hand to his own depofing. 
 
 'The Treaty at Uxbridge, he faith, gave the fair eft hopes of a happy compofure ; 
 faireft indeed, if his inltructions to bribe our CommilTioners with the promife 
 of Security, Rewards, and Places were fair : What other hopes it gave, no man 
 can tell. There being but three main heads wheron to be treated •, Ireland^ 
 Epifcopacy, and the Militia •, the firft was anticipated and foreftall'd by a Peace 
 at any rate to be haften'd with the Irijh Rebels, ere the Treaty could begin, 
 that he might pretend his word and honour paft againft the fpecious and popular 
 arguments (he calls them no better) which the Parlament would urge upon him 
 for the continuance of that juft War. Epifcopacy he bids the Queen be confi- 
 dent he will never quit ■, which informs us by what Patronage it flood : And 
 the Sword he refolves to clutch as fall, as if God with his own hand had put it 
 into his. This was the moderation which he brought ; this was as far as Reafon, 
 Honour, Confcience, and the Queen, who was his Regent in all thefe, would give 
 him leave. Laftly, for compofure, inftead of happy, how milerable it was more 
 Likely to have bin, wife men could then judge •, when the Englifo, during Trea- 
 ty, were call'd Rebels, the Irifh, good and catholic Subjects ; and the Parla- 
 ment before-hand, though for fafhions call'd a Parlament, yet by a Jefuitical 
 flight not acknowledg'd, though call'd fo •, but privately in the Council-Books 
 inroll'd no Parlament : that if accommodation had fucceeded, upon what terms 
 foever, fuch a devilifh fraud was prepared, that the King in his own cfteem had 
 bin abfolv'd from all performance, as having treated with Rebels, and no Par- 
 lament j and they on the other fide inftead of an expedled happinefs, had bin 
 brought under the Hatchet. Then no doubt War had ended, that MafTacre and 
 Tyranny might begin. Thefe Jealoufiei, however raifed, let all men fee whether 
 they be diminifh'd or allayed, by the Letters of his own Cabinet open'd. And 
 yet the breach of this Treaty is laid all upon the Parlament and their Commiffi- 
 oners, with odious Names of Pertinacy, hatred of Peace, Fablion, and Covetcuf- 
 nefs, nay his own Brat Supcrfiition is laid to their charge •, notwithftanding his 
 here profeffed refolution to continue both the Order, Maintenance, and Authority 
 of Prelates, as a Truth of God. 
 
 Vol. II. Hhh 2 And
 
 ^.20 An Anfucer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 And who were moft to blame in the unfuccefsfulnefs of that Treaty, his appeal is 
 to God's decifion ; believing to be very excufable at that Tribunal. But if ever 
 man glory* d in an unffexible Jliffnefs, he came not behind any : and that grand 
 Maxim, always to put fomething into his Treaties, which might give colour to 
 refufe all that was in other things granted, and to make them fignify nothing-, 
 was his own principal Maxim and particular Inftructions to his Commiffioners. 
 Yet all, by his own verdict, muft be conftru'd Reafon in the King, and depraved 
 Temper in the Parlament. 
 
 That the highejl Tide offuccefs, with thefe principles and defigns, fet him not 
 above a Treaty, no great wonder. But that his loweft Ebb could not be lower than 
 a Flight, was a prefumption that ruin'd him. 
 
 He prefaged the future unfuccefsfulnefs of Treaties by the unwillingnefs of fome 
 men to treat ; and could not fee what was prefent, that their unwillingnefs had 
 good caufe to proceed from the continual experience of his own obftinacy and 
 breach of word. 
 
 His Prayer therfore offorgivenefs to the guilty of that Treaty's breaking, he had 
 good reafon to fay heartily over, as including no man in that guilt fooner than 
 himfelf. 
 
 As for that Protefhtion following in his Prayer, How oft have I entreated fir 
 Peace, but when Ifpeak therof they make them ready to War ; unlefs he thought 
 himfelf (till in that perfidious mift between Colebrook and Hounflow, and thought 
 that mift could hide him from the eye of Heaven as well as of Man, after fuch 
 a bloody recompence given to our firft offers of Peace, how could this in the 
 fight of Heaven without horrors of confeience be utter'd ? 
 
 XIX. Upon the various Events of the War. 
 
 IT is no new or unwonted thing for bad men to claim as much part in God 
 as his beft fervants, to ufurp and imitate their words, and appropriate to 
 themfelves thofe properties which belong only to the good and righteous. 
 This not only in Scripture is familiarly to be found, but here alfo in this Chap- 
 ter of Apocrypha. He tells us much, why it pleafedGod to fend him Victory or 
 Lofs (although what in fo doing was the intent of God, he might be much mis- 
 taken as to his own particular) but we are yet to learn what real good ufe he 
 made therof in his practice. 
 
 Thofe numbers which he grew to from fmall beginnings, were not fuch as out of 
 love came to protect him, for none approv'd his actions as a King, except Courti- 
 ers and Prelates, but were fuch as fled to be protected by him from the fear of that 
 Reformation which the pravity of their lives would not bear. Such a Snow-ball 
 he might eafily gather by rolling through thofe cold and dark provinces of 
 ignorance and lewdnefs, where on a fudden he became fo numerous. He imputes 
 that to God's proteclion, which, to them who perfift in a bad caufe, is either his 
 long-fuffering, or his hardening •, and that to wholefome chajlifement , which 
 were the gradual beginnings of a fevere punifhment. For if neither God nor 
 nature put civil power in the hands of any whomfocver, but to a lawful end, 
 and commands our obedience to the authority of Law only, not to the tyrannical 
 force of any perfon ; and if the Laws of our Land have plac'd the Sword in no 
 man's fingle hand, fo much as to unftieath againft a foreign enemy, much lefs up- 
 on the native people, but have placed it in that elective body of the Parlament, 
 to whom the making, repealing, judging, and interpreting of Law it felf 
 was alfo committed, as was fittelt, fo long as we intended to be a free Na- 
 tion, and not the Slaves of one man's will, then was the King himfelf difobe- 
 dient and rebellious to that Law by which he reign'd ; and by authority of Par- 
 lament to raife arms againft him in defence of Law and Liberty, we do not on- 
 ly think, but believe and know was juftifiable both by the Word of God, the Laws 
 cf the Land, and all lawful Oaths ; and they who fided with him fought againft 
 all thefe. 
 
 The
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Balilike. 421 
 
 'The fame Allegations which heufes for himfclf and his Party, may as well fit 
 any Tyrant in the World : for let the Parlament be called a Faction when the 
 King pleafes, and that no Law muft be made or changed either civil or religi- 
 ous, becaufe no Law will content all fides, then muft be made or changed no 
 Law at all but what a Tyrant, be he Proteltant or Papift, thinks fit. Which r . 
 rannous AlTertion forc'd upon us by the Sword, he who fights againft, and cTies 
 fighting, if his other fins overweigh not, dies a Martyr undoubtedly both of 
 the Faith and of the Commonwealth : and I hold it not as the opinion, but as 
 the full belief and perfwafion of far holier and wiferMen than Parafitic Preach- 
 ers. Who, without their Dinner-doctrine, know that neither King, "Law, Civil 
 Oaths, or Religion, was ever eflablijlfd without the Parlament : and their power 
 is the fame to abrogate as to eftablifh : neither is any thing to be thought efla- 
 blifj'd, which that Houfe declares to be abolifiYd. Where the Parlament fits, 
 there infeparably fits the King, there the Laws, there our Oaths, and whatfoe- 
 ver can be civil in Religion. They who fought for the Parlament, in the truelt 
 fenfe fought for all thefe •, who fought for the King divided from his Parlament, 
 fought for the fhadow of a King againft all thefe ; and for things that were 
 not, as if they were eftablf/d. It were a thing monftroufiy abfurd and contra? 
 dictory to give the Parlament a Legislative Power, and then to upbraid them 
 for tranfgrefiing old Ettablifhments. 
 
 But the King and his Party having loft in this Quarrel their Heaven upon 
 Earth, begin to make great reckoning of Eternal Life, and at an eafy rate in 
 forma Pauperis canonize one another into Heaven ; he them in his Book, they 
 him in the Portraiture before his Book : but as was laid before, Stage-work will 
 not do it, much lefs the juftnefs of their Caufe, wherin moft frequently they 
 died in a brutijhfercenefs, with Oaths and other damning words in their mouths •, 
 as if fuch had bin all the Oaths they fought for : which undoubtedly fent them 
 full fail on another Voyage than to Heaven. In the mean while they to whom 
 God gave victory, never brought to the King at Oxford the ftate of their Con- 
 fciences, that he fhould prefume without confefiion, more than a Pope pre- 
 lumes, to tell abroad what conflitls and accufations men, whom he never fpoke 
 with, have in their own thoughts. We never read of any Engtijh King but one 
 that was a Confeflbr, and his name was Edward j yet fure it pafs'd his fkill to 
 know thoughts, as this King takes upon him. But they who will not ftick to 
 flander mens inward Confciences, which they can neither fee nor know, much 
 lefs will care to fhnder outward Actions, which they pretend to fee, though 
 with fenfes never fo vitiated. 
 
 To judge of his condition conquer* d, and the manner of dying on that fide, by 
 the fiber men that chofe it, would be his fmall advantage: it-being moft noto- 
 rious, that they who were hotteft in his Caufe, the moft of them were men oft- 
 ner drunk, than by their good- will fober, and very many of them fo fought and 
 fo died. 
 
 And that the Confcience of any man fhould grow fufpicious, or be now conviSI- 
 ed by any Pretentions in the Parlament, which are now prov'd falfe and un- 
 intended, there can be no juft caufe. For neither did they ever pretend to efta- 
 blifh his Throne without our Liberty and Religion, nor Religion without the 
 Word of God, nor to judge of Laws by their being ejlablifh'd, but to eftablifh 
 them by their being good and necefiary. 
 
 He tells the World he often pray'd that all on his fide might be as faithful to God 
 and their own Souls, as to him. But Kings above all other men have in their 
 hands not to pray only, but to do. To make that Prayer effectual, he fhould 
 have govern'd as well as pray'd. To pray and not to govern, is for a Monk, and 
 not a King. Till then he might be well affur'd they were more faithful to their 
 luft and rapine than to him. 
 
 In the wonted predication of his own virtues he goes on to tell us, that to 
 conquer he never deftr'd, but only to reftore the Laws and Liberties of his People. 
 It had bin happy then he had known at laft, that by force to reftore Laws abro- 
 gated by the Legiflative Parlament, is to conquer abfolutely both them and 
 Law it felf. And for our Liberties, none ever opprefs'd them more, both in 
 Peace and War ; firft like a Mafter by his arbitrary power, next as an Ene- 
 my by hoftile invafion. 
 
 a And
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 And if his beft friends fear'd him, and he himfelf in the temptation of an ab- 
 fclute Conquefl, it was not only pious but friendly in the Parlameat, both to 
 fear him and refill him ; fince their not yielding, was the only means to keep 
 him out of that temptation wherin he doubted his own ftrength. 
 
 He takes himfelf to be guilty in this War of nothing elfe, but of confirming the 
 power offomemen : Thus all along he fignifies the Parlament, whom to have fet- 
 tled by an aft he counts to be his only guiltinefs. So well he knew that to con- 
 tinue a Parlament, was to raife a War againft himfelf; what were his Actions 
 then, and his Government the while ? For never was it heard in all our Story, 
 that Farlaments made War on their Kings, but on their Tyrants ; whole mode- 
 fly and gratitude was more wanting to the Parlament, than theirs to any of fuch 
 Kings. 
 
 What he yielded was his fear -, what he denfi was his obftinacy. Had he 
 yielded more, fear might perchance have fav'd him ; had he granted lefi, his ob- 
 ftinacy had perhaps the fooner deliver'd us. 
 
 To review the occafions of this War, will be to them never too late, who would 
 be warn'd by his example from the like evils : but to wifh only a happy conclufion, 
 will never expiate the fault of his unhappy beginnings. 'Tis true, on our fide the 
 fins of our lives not feldom fought againft us : but on their fide, befides thofe,, 
 the grand fin of their Caufe. 
 
 How can it be otherwife, when he defires here moft unreafonably, and indeed 
 fieri legioufly, that we fhould btfubjeel to him, though not further, yet as fin- as 
 all of us may be fubjeel to God, to whom this exprefilon leaves no precedency ? 
 He who defires from men as much obedience and fubjection, as we may all pay 
 to God, defires not Iefs than to be a God •, a Sacrilege far worfe than meddling 
 With the Bifhop's Lands, as he efteems it. 
 
 His Prayer is a good Prayer and a glorious ; but glorying is not good, if it 
 know not that a little leven levens the whole lump. It fhould have purg'd out 
 the leven of untruth in telling God that the blood of his Subjetls by him fhed was 
 in his juft and neceffary defence. Yet this is remarkable ; God hath here fo or- 
 der'd his Prayer, that as his own lips acquitted the Parlament, not long before 
 his death, of all the blood fpilt in this War, fo now his Prayer unwittingly draws 
 it upon himfelf. For God imputes not to any man the blood he fpills in a juft 
 caufe •, and no man ever begg'd his not imputing of that which he in his juft ice 
 could not impute : So that now whether purpofely, or unawares, he hath con- 
 fefs'd both to God and Man the blood-guiltinefs of all this War to lie upon his 
 own head. 
 
 XX. Upon the Reformation of the Times. 
 
 THIS Chapter cannot punctually be anfwer'd without more repetitions 
 than now can be excufiible : Which perhaps have already bin more hu- 
 mour'd than was needful. As it prefents us with nothing new, fo with 
 his exceptions againft Reformation pitifully old and tatter'd with continual 
 ufing -, not only in his Book, but in the words and writings of every Papift and 
 Popifh King. On the Scene he thrufts out firft an Antimafque of two bug- 
 bears, Novelty and Perturbation ; that the ill looks and noife of thofe two may 
 as long as poffible drive off all endeavours of a Reformation. Thus fought 
 Pope Adrian, by reprefenting the like vain terrors, to divert and difiipate the 
 zeal of thofe reforming Princes of the age before in Germany. And if we cre- 
 dit Latimer's Sermons, our Papifts here in England pleaded the fame dangers 
 and inconveniencies againft that which was reform'd by Edward "the fixth. 
 Wheras if thofe fears had bin available, Chriftianity it felf had never bin re- 
 ceived. Which drift foretold us, would not be admitted without the cen- 
 fure of Novelty and many great Commotions. Thefe therfore are not to 
 deter us. 
 
 He
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 423 
 
 He grants Reformation to be a good work, and confeiTes what the indulgence of 
 times and corruption of manners might have deprav'd. So did the lore-mention'd 
 Pope, and our Grandfire Papifts in this Realm. Yet all of them agree in one 
 fong with this here, that they are ferry to fee fo little regard had to Laws ejla- 
 blifh'd, and Religion fettled. 
 
 Popular compliance, diftolution of all order and government in the Church, Schifms, 
 Opinions, Undecencies, Confufions, facrilegious Invafions, contempt of the Clergy and 
 their Liturgy, diminution of Princes ; all thefe complaints are to be read in the 
 MefTages and Speeches almoft of every Legate from the Pope to thofe States 
 and Cities which began Reformation. From whence he either learn'd the fame 
 pretences, or had them naturally in him from the fame Spirit. Neither was 
 there ever fo fincere a Reformation that hath efcap'd thefe clamours. 
 
 He offer'd a Synod or Convocation rightly chofen. So offer'd all thofe Popifh 
 Kings hertofore ; a courfe the moft unfatisfaftory, as matters have been long 
 carried, and found by experience in the Church liable to the greateft fraud 
 and packing ; nofolution, or redrefs of evil, but an increafe rather; detefted 
 therfore by Nazianzen, and fome other of the Fathers. And let it be pro- 
 due'd, what good hath been done by Synods from the firft times of Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 Not to juftify what Enormities the Vulgar may commit in the rudenefs of 
 their zeal, we need but only inftance how he bemoans the pulling down of Croffes 
 and other fuperftitious Monuments, as the effect of a popular and deceitful Refor- 
 mation. How little this favours of a Proteftant, is too eafily perceiv'd. 
 
 What he charges in defeft of Piety, Charity, and Morality, hath been alfo 
 charg'd by Papifts upon the beft reform'd Churches ; not as if they the Accu- 
 fers were not tenfold more to be accus'd, but out of their Malignity to all en- 
 deavour of amendment ; as we know who accus'd to God the lincerity of Job ; 
 an accufation of all others the moft eafy, whenas there lives not any mor- 
 tal man fo excellent, who in thefe things is not always deficient. But the 
 infirmities of beft men, and the fcandals ofmix'd hypocrites in all times of re- 
 forming, whole bold intrufion covets to be ever feen in things moft facred as 
 they are more fpecious, can lay no juft blemifh upon the integrity of others, 
 much lefs upon the purpofe of Reformation itfelf. Neither can the evil do- 
 ings of fome be the excufe of our delaying or deferting that duty to the 
 Church, which for no refpeft of times or carnal policies can be at any time un- 
 feafonable. 
 
 He tells with r great fhew of Piety what kind of Perfons public Reformers 
 ought to be, and what they ought to do. It is ftrange that in above twenty 
 years, the Church growing ftill worfe and worfe under him, he could neither be 
 as he bids others be, nor do as he pretends here fo well to know ; nay, which is 
 worft or all, after the greateft part of his Reign fpent in neither knowing nor 
 doing aught toward a Reformation either in Church or State, mould ipend the 
 refidue in hindring thofe by a feven years War, whom it concern'd with his con- 
 fent or without it to do their parts in that great performance. 
 
 'Tis true that the method of reforming may well fubfift without perturbation of 
 the State ; but that it falls out otherwife for the moft part, is the plain Text of 
 Scripture. And if by his own rule he had allow'd us to fear God firft, and the 
 King in due order, our Allegiance might have ftill follow'd our Religion in a 
 fit fubordination. But if Chrift's Kingdom be taken for the true Difcipline of the 
 Church, and by his Kingdom be meant the violence he us'd againft ir, and to up- 
 hold an Antichriftian Hierarchy, then fure enough it is, that Chrift's Kingdom 
 could not be fet up without pulling down his : And they were beft Chriftians who 
 were leaft fubject to him. Chrift's Government, out of queftion meaning it 
 Prelatical, he thought would confirm his : and this was that which overthrew it. 
 
 He profeffes to own his Kingdom from Chrift, and to defire to rule for his glory, 
 and the Church's good. The Pope and the King of Spain profefs every where as 
 much ; and both his practice and all his reafonings, all his enmity againft the true 
 Church we fee hath been the fame with theirs, fince the time that in his Letter to ihe 
 Pope he affur'd them both of his full compliance. But evil beginnings never bring 
 forth good conclufions : they are his own words, and he ratify'd them by his own 
 ending. To the Pope he engag'd himfelf to hazard Life and Eftate for the Ro- 
 man Religion, whether in compliment he did it, or in earneft ; and God, who 
 
 r flood
 
 a 24 An Anfocer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 flood nearer than he for complementing minded, writ down thofe words ; that 
 according to his refolution, fo it mould come to pafs. He prays againft his Hy- 
 pocrify and Pharifaical Waflnngs, a Prayer to him mod pertinent, but choaks it 
 ftreioht with other words which pray him deeper into his old Errors and Delu- 
 fions. 
 
 XXI. Upon his Letters taken and divulged. 
 
 TH E King's Letters taken at the Battle otNafeby, being of greateft im- 
 portance to let the people fee what Faith there was in all his promifes 
 and folemn Proteftations, were tranfmitted to public view by fpe- 
 cial Order of Parlament. They difcover'd his good affection to the Papifts 
 and Irijh Rebels, the ftrict intelligence he held, the pernicious and difhonoura- 
 ble Peace he made with them, not foil ici ted but rather folliciting, which by all 
 invocations that were holy he had in public abjur'd. They reveal'd his en- 
 deavours to bring in foreign Forces, Irijh, French, Dutch, Lorrainers, and our 
 old Invaders the Danes upon us, befides his futtleties and myfterious arts in 
 treating : to fum up all, they fhew'd him govern'd by a Woman. All which, 
 though fufpefted vehemently before, and from good grounds believ'd, yet by 
 him and his adherents peremptorily deny'd, were by the opening of that Cabi- 
 net vifible to all men under his own hand. 
 
 The Parlament therfore, to clear themfelves of afperfing him without caufe, 
 and that the people might no longer be abus'd and cajol'd, as they call it, by 
 Falfities and Court-impudence, in matters of fo high concernment, to let them 
 know on what terms their duty flood, and the Kingdom's peace, conceiv'd it 
 moft expedient and neceffary that thofe Letters fhould be made public. This 
 the King affirms was by them done without honour and civility : words, which if 
 they contain not in them, as in the language of a Courtier moft commonly they 
 do not, more of fubftance and reality than Compliment, Ceremony, Court- 
 fawning and Diffembling, enter not I fuppofe further than the ear into any wife 
 man's confideration. Matters were not then between a Parlament and a King 
 their enemy in that ftate of trifling, as to obferve thofe fuperficial Vanities. But 
 if honour and civility mean, as they did of old, difcretion, honefty, prudence, 
 and plain truth, it will be then maintain'd againft any Sect of thofe Cabalifts, 
 that the Parlament in doing what they did with thofe Letters, could fuffer 
 in their honour and civility no diminution. The reafons are already 
 heard. 
 
 And that it is with none more familiar than with Kings to tranfgrefs the 
 bounds of all honour and civility, there fhould not want examples good ftore, if 
 brevity would permit; in point of Letters, this one fhall fuffice. The Dutchefs 
 of Burgundy and Heir of Duke Charles, had promis'd to her Subjects that fhe in- 
 tended no otherwife to govern, than by advice of the three Eftates •, but to 
 Lewis the French King had written Letters that fhe had refolv'd to commit 
 wholly the managing of her affairs to four Perfons whom fhe nam'd. The 
 three Eftatesnot doubting the fincerity of her Princely Word, fend Embaffadors 
 to Lewis, who then befieg'd Arras belonging to the Dukes of Burgundy. The 
 King taking hold of this occafion to fet them at divifion among themfelves, 
 queftion'd their Credence ; which when they offer'd to produce with their In- 
 ftru&ions, he not only mews them the private Letter of their Dutchefs, butgives 
 it them to carry home, wherwith to affront her; which they did, fhe denying 
 it ftoutly, till they fpreading it before her face in a full Affembly, convicted her 
 of an open lye. Which although Comines the Hiftorian much blames, as a 
 deed too harfh and difhonourable in them who were Subjects, and not at war 
 with their Princefs, yet to his Mafter Lewis, who firft divulg'd thofe Letters, 
 to the open fhaming of that young Governefs, he imputes no incivility or 
 difhonour at all, although betraying a certain confidence repos'd by that Letter 
 in his Royal Secrecy. 
 
 With
 
 An Anfdcer to Eikon Bafilike. 425 
 
 With much more reaibn then may Letters not intercepted only, but won in 
 battle from an Enemy, be made public to the befl advantages of them that 
 win them, to the riifcovery of fuch important truth or fallhood. Was it not 
 more difhor.oui able in himfeU to feign fufpicions and jealoufies, which we firft 
 found among thofe Letters, touching the chaftity of his Mother, therby to gain 
 aftiftance from the King of Denmark, as in vindication of his Sifter? The 
 Damfel of Burgundy at fight of her own Letter was foon blank, and more in- 
 genuous thai: to Hand out-facing ; but this man whom nothing will convince, 
 tli inks by talking world without end to make good his integrity and fair 
 dealing, contradicted by his own Hand and Seal. They who can pick nothing 
 out of them but Phrafes, lhall be counted Bees : they that difcern further both 
 there and here, that conftancy to his Wife is fet in place before Laws and Religi- 
 on, are in his naturalities no belter than Spiders. 
 
 He would work the people to a perfwafion, that if he be miferable, they cannot 
 be happy. What fhould hinder them ? Were they all born Twins of Hippocrates 
 with him and his fortune, one birth one burial ? It were a Nation miferable in- 
 deeo, not worth the name of a Nation, but a race of Idiots, whofe happinefs 
 and welfare depended upon one Man. The happinefs of a Nation confifts in 
 true Religion, Piety, j uftice, Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and the con- 
 tempt of Avarice and Ambition. They in whomibever thefe virtues dwell e- 
 mincntly, need not Kings to make them happy, but are the Architects of their 
 own happinefs ; and whether to themfelves or others are not lefs than Kings. 
 But in him which of thefe virtues were to be found, that might extend to the 
 making happy, or the well-governing of fo much as his own houfhold, which 
 was the moft licentious and ill-govern'd in the whole Land ? 
 
 But the opening of thofe Letters wasdefign'd by the Parlamenr to make all Re- 
 conciliation defperate. Are the Lives of fo many good and faithful Men that died 
 for the freedom of their Country, to be fo (lighted, as to be forgotten in a ftu- 
 pid reconcilement without juftice done them ? What he fears not by War and 
 Slaughter, fhould we fear to make defperate by opening his Letters ? Which fact 
 he would parallel with Cham's revealing of his Father's Nakednefs : When he 
 at that time could be no way efteem'dthe Father of his Country, but the Deftroyerj, 
 nor had he ever before merited that former title. 
 
 He thanks God he cannot only bear this with patience, but with charity forgive 
 the Doers. Is not this meer mockery, to thank God for what he can do, but will 
 not ? For is it patience to impute Barbarifm and Inhumanity to the opening of 
 an Enemy's Letter, or is it Charity to clothe them with curfes in his Prayer, 
 whom he hath forgiven in his Difcourfe ? In which Prayer to fhew how readily 
 he can return good for evil to the Parlament, and that if they take away his 
 Coat, he can let them have his Cloak alfo -, for the difmantling of his Letters 
 he wifhes they may be cover' d with the Cloak of Confufion. Which I fuppofe they 
 do refign with much willingnefs, both Livery, Badge, and Cognizance, to them 
 who chofe rather to be his Servants and Vaflals, than to ftand againft him for 
 the Liberty of their Country. 
 
 Vol. I. liS XXII. ^
 
 426 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilikc 
 
 XXII. Upon his going to the Scots. 
 
 TH E King's coming in, whether to the Scots or Englifh, deferv'd no 
 thanks : For Necejfity was his Connfellor ; and that he hated them both a-' 
 like, his exprefTions every where manifeft. Some lay his purpofe was to 
 have come to London, till hearing how ftrictly it was proclaim'd that no man 
 mould conceal him, he diverted his courfe. But that had been a frivolous excufe : 
 and befides, he himfelf rehearfing the confultations had before he took his 
 journey, fhews us clearly that he was determin'd to adventure upon their Loyalty 
 •whofirft began his troubles. And that the Scots had notice of it before, hath been 
 long fince brought to light. What prudence there could be in it, no man can 
 imagine ; Malice there might be by railing new jealoufies to divide Friends. For 
 befides his diffidence of the Englifh, it was no frnall difhonour that he put upon 
 them, when rather than yield himfelr to the Parlament of England, he yielded 
 to a hireling Army of Scots in England, paid for their fervice here, not in Scotch- 
 coin, but in Engliflo Silver ; nay, who from the firft beginning ofthefe troubles, 
 what with brotherly aiftftance, and what with monthly pay, have defended their 
 own Liberty and Confciences at our charge. However it was a hazardous and 
 rafh journey taken to refolve riddles in mens Loyalty, who had more reafon to mif- 
 truft the riddle of fuch a difguis'd yielding; and to put himfelf in their hands 
 whofe Loyalty was a Riddle to him, was not the courfe to be refolv'd of it, 
 but to attempt it. What Providence deny'd to Force, he thought it might grant to 
 Fraud, which he ftiles Prudence : But Providence was not cozen'd with difguifes,. 
 neither outward nor inward. 
 
 To have known his great eft danger in his fuppos'd fafety, and his great eft fafe- 
 ty in his fuppos'd danger, was to him a fatal Riddle never yet refolv'd ; wherin- 
 rather to have employ'd his main fkill had been much more to his preferva- 
 tion. 
 
 Had he known when the Game was loft, it might have fav'd much conteft ; but 
 the way to give over fairly was not to flip out of open "War into a new difguife. 
 He lays down his Arms, but not his Wiles ; nor all his Arms ; for in obftinacy 
 he comes no lefs arm'd than ever, Cap-a-pe. And what were they but 
 wiles, continually to move for Treaties, and yet to perfift the fame man, and 
 to fortify his mind before-hand,, ftill purpofing to grant no more than what feem'd 
 good to that violent and lawlefs Triumvirate within him, under the falfify'd 
 names of his Reafon, Honour,, and Confcience, the whole circulating dance of 
 his fhifts and evafions ? 
 
 The words of a King,, as they are full of power, in the authority and ftrength 
 of Law, fo like Sampfon without the ftrength of that Nazarite's Lock, they 
 have no more power in them than the words of another Man. 
 
 He adores Reafon as Domitian did Minerva, and calls her the Divineft Power, 
 therby to intimate as it at reafoning, as at his own weapon, no man were 
 fo able as himfelf. Might we be fo happy as to know where thefe Monu- 
 ments of his Reafon may be feen •, for in his actions and his writing they ap- 
 pear as thinly as could be expected from the meaneft parts, bred up in the midft 
 of fo many ways extraordinary to know fomething. He who reads his talk» 
 would think he had left Oxford not without mature deliberation : yet his Pray- 
 er confefies that he knew not what to do. Thus is verify'd that Pfalm ; he poureth 
 contempt upon Princes, and caufeth them to wander in the Wildernsfs where there 
 iswway, Pfal, 107. 
 
 XXIII, Vpn
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 427 
 
 XXIII. Upon the Scots delivering the King 
 
 to the Englifh. 
 
 THAT the Scots in England fhould fell their King, as he himfelf here af- 
 firms, and for a price fo much above that, which the covetoufnefs of 
 Judas was contented with to fell our Saviour, is fo foul an infamy and 
 difhonour caft upon them, as befits none to vindicate but themfelves. And it 
 were but friendly Counfelto wifh them beware the Son, who comes among them 
 with a firm belief that they fold his Father. The reft of this Chapter he fa- 
 crifices to the Echo of his Confcience, out-babling Creeds and Ave's, glorying 
 in his refolute obftinacy, and as it were triumphing how evident it is now that 
 not evil Counfellors, but he himfelf hath been the Author of all our Troubles. 
 Herein only we fhall difagree to the World's end, while he who fought fo mani- 
 feftly to have annihilated all our Laws and Liberties, hath the confidence toper- 
 fwade us that he ha.th fought and fuffer'd all this while in their defence. 
 
 But he who neither by his own Letters and Commiffions under Hand and Seal, 
 nor by his own Actions held as in a Mirror before his face, will be convinc'd to 
 fee his faults, can much lefs be won upon by any force of words, neither he, 
 nor any that take after him ; who in that refpefl are no more to be difputed 
 with, than they who deny Principles. No queftion then, but the Parlamentdid 
 wifely in their decree at laft, to make no more AddrefTes. For how unalterable 
 his will was, that would have been our Lord, how utterly averfe from the Par- 
 lament and Reformation during his confinement, we may behold in this Chapter. 
 But to be ever anfwering fruitless Repetitions, I fhould become liable to anfwer 
 for the fame myfelf. He borrows David's, Pfalms, as he charges the Affembly of 
 Divines in his twehtieth Difcourfe, To have fet forth old Catechifms and Cotifeffi- 
 ons of Faith new drefl ; had he borrow'd David's heart, it had been much the 
 holier theft. For fuch kind of borrowing as this, if it be not better'd by the 
 Borrower, among good Authors is accounted Plagiary. However, this was 
 more tolerable than Pamela's Prayer ftolen out of Sir Philip. 
 
 XXIV. Upon the denying him the Attendance 
 
 of his Chaplains. 
 
 A CHAPLAIN is a thing fo diminutive and inconfiderable, that how 
 he fhould come here among matters of fo great concernment to take 
 fuch room up in the Difcourfes of a Prince, if it be not wonder'd, is to 
 be fmil'd at. Certainly by me fo mean an Argument fhall not be written ; but I 
 fhall huddle him, as he does Prayers. The Scripture owns no fuch Order, no fuch 
 Function in the Church ; and the Church not owning them, they are left, for 
 aught I know, to fuch a further examining as the Sons oiSceva the Jew met with ; 
 Bifhops or Prefbyters we know, and Deacons we know, but what are Chaplains ? 
 In State perhaps they may be lifted among the upper Serving-men of fome great 
 houfhold, and be admitted to fome fuch place, as may ftile them the Sewers, or 
 the Yeomen- Ufhers of Devotion, where the Mafter is too refty, or too rich to 
 fay his own Prayers, or to blefs his own Table. Wherfore fhould theParlament 
 then take fuch implements of the Court Cup-board into their confideration ? 
 They knew them to have been the main Corrupters at the King's elbow ; they 
 knew the King to have been always their moft attentiveScholar and Imitator, and 
 of a Child to have fuck'd from them and their Clofct- work all his impotent Prin- 
 ciples of Tyranny and Superftition. While therfore they had any hope left 
 of his reclaiming, thefe fowers of Malignant Tares they kept afunder from 
 him, and lent to him fuch of the Minifters and other zealous Perfons as they 
 Vol. I. I i i 2 thought
 
 428 An Anfocer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 thought were beft able to inftruft him, and to convert him. What could Reli- 
 gion herfelf have done more to the Hiving of a Soul ? But when they found 
 him paft Cure, and that he to himfelf was grown the moft evil Oounfellor of all, 
 they deny'd him not his Chaplains, as many as were fitting, and ibme of them 
 attended him, or elfe were at his call to the very laft. Yet here he makes more 
 Lamentation for the want of his Chaplains, than fuperflitious Micah did to the 
 Danitcs, who had taken away his houlhold Prieft : Te have taken away my Gods 
 which I made, and the Prieft, and what have I more? And perhaps the whole Story 
 of Micah might fquare not unfitly to this argument : Now know /, faith he, that 
 the herd will do me good, feeing I have a hevite to my Prieft. Micah had as great 
 a care that his Prieft fhould be Mofaical, as the King had that his mould be A- 
 poftolical -, yet both in error touching their Priefts. Houfhold and private Ori- 
 fons were not to be officiated by Priefts ; for neither did public Prayer apper- 
 tain only to their office. Kings hertofore, David,. Solomon, and jebefaphat* 
 who might not touch the Priefthood, yet might pray in public, yea in the Tem- 
 ple, while the Priefts themfelves ftood and heard. What ail'd this King then, 
 that he could not chew his own Mattins without the Prieft's Ore terms? Yet it is 
 like he could not pray at home T who can here publifh a whole Prayer-book of 
 his own, and fignifies in fome pare of this Chapter almoft as good a mind to 
 be a Prieft himfelf, as Micah had to let his Son be. There was doubtlefs ther- 
 fore fome other matter in it, which made him fo defirous to have his Chaplains 
 about him, who were not only the contrivers,, but very oft the inftruments alio 
 of his defigns. 
 
 TheMinifters which were fent him, no marvel heendur'dnot ; for they pre.ich'd 
 repentance to him : the others gave him eafy confeffion, eafy abfolution, nay, 
 ftrengthen'd his hands, and harden'' d his heart, by applauding him in his wilful ways. 
 To them he was an Ahab, to thefe a Conftantine ; it muft follow then, that they 
 to him were as unwelcome as Eliah was to Ahab, thefe as dear and pleafing as 
 Amaziah the Prieft of Bethel was to Jeroboam. Thefe had learnt well the lef- 
 fon that would pleafe ; Prophefy net egainft Bethel, for it is the King's Chappel, 
 the King's Court ; and had taught the King to fay of thofe Minifters which the 
 Parlament had fent, Amos bath confpir'd againjl me y the hand is not able to bear 
 all his words. 
 
 Returning to our firft Parallel, the King look'd upon his Prelates, as Orphans 
 under the facrilegious eyes of many rapacious Reformers : and there was as great 
 fear of Sacrilege between Micah and his Mother, till with their holy treafure, 
 about the lofs wherof there was fuch a curfing, they made a graven and a 
 molten linage, and got a Prieft of their own. To let go his criticizing about 
 the found of Prayers, imperious, rude, or paffionate modes of his own deviling, 
 we are in danger to fall again upon the flats and fhallows of Liturgy. Which 
 if I Ihould repeat again, would turn my anfwers into Refponfories, and beget 
 another Liturgy, having too much of one already. 
 
 This only I lhall add, that if the heart, as he alledges, cannot (.\\~dy join with* 
 another man's extemporal fufficiency, becaufe we know not foexaftly what they mean 
 to fay, then thofe public Prayers made in the Temple by thofe. forenamed Kings, 
 and by the Apoftles in the Congregation, and by the ancient Chriftians for above 
 three hundred years before Liturgies came in, were with the People made in vain. 
 
 After he hath acknowledg'd that Kings hertofore pray'd without Chaplains, 
 even publicly in the Temple itfclf, and that every private Believer is inveftedwitb 
 a royal Priefthood ; yet like one that relifh'd not what he tafted of the heavenly gift, 
 and the good word of God, whofe name he fo confidently takes into his mouth, 
 he frames to himfelf impertinent and vain reafons why he fhould rather pray 
 by the officiating mouth of a Clofet-Chaplain. Their Prayers, faith he, are 
 snore prevalent, they flow from minds more enlighten' d, from affeblions lefs diftracled. 
 Admit this true, which is not, this might be fomething faid as to their Prayers 
 for him, but what avails it to their praying with him ? If his own mind be incum- 
 bred with fecular affairs, what helps it hisparticular Prayer, tho* the mind of his 
 Chaplain be not wandring, either after new preferment, or his dinner ? The 
 fervency of one man in prayer cannot fupererogate for the coldnefs of another j 
 neither can his fpiritual defeils in that duty be made out in the acceptance of 
 God by another man's abilities. Let him endeavour to have more light in him- 
 felf, and not to walk, by anotker man'* Lamp, but to get Oil into bis own. Let 
 
 him
 
 An An/doer to Eikon Bafilike. 420 
 
 him caft from him, as in a Chriftian warfare, that ftcular incumbrance which 
 cither diltrafts or overloads him ; his load elfe will never be the iefs heavy, be- 
 caufe another man's is light. Thus theft pious ilourifhes and colours examin'd 
 throughly, are like the Apples of Afphaltis, appearing goodly to the Hidden 
 eye, but look well upon them, or at leafl but touch them, and they turn into 
 Cinders. 
 
 In his Prayer he remembers what voices cf joy and gladnefs there were in his 
 •Chappel, God's I/cufe, in his opinion, between the Singing-men and the Or- 
 gans -, and this was unity of fpirit in the bond of peace ; the vanity, fuperftition, 
 and mifdevotion of which place, was a fcandal far and near: Wherin ib 
 .many things were fung, and pray'd in thofe Songs which were not underftood ; 
 and yet he who makes a difficulty how the people can join their hearts to ex- 
 temporal Prayers, though diftinftly heard and underftood, makes no queftion 
 how they fhould join their hearts in unity to fongs not underftood. 
 
 I believe that God is no more mov'd with a Prayer elaborately pen'd, than 
 men truly charitable, are mov'd with the pen'd fpeech of a Beggar. 
 
 Finally, O ye Minifters, read here what work he makes among your Gally- 
 pots, your Bahns and Cordials ; and not only your fweet Sippets in Widows 
 Houles, but the huge gobbets wherwith he charges you, to have devour'd houfes 
 and all •, the houfes of your Brethren, your King, and your God. Cry him up for 
 a Saint in your Pulpits, while he cries you down for Atheifts into Hell. 
 
 XXV. Upon his penitential Meditations and 
 Vows at Holmby. 
 
 IT is not hard for any man Who hath a Bible in his hands, to borrow good 
 words and holy layings in abundance -, but to make them his own, is a work 
 of grace only from above. He borrows here many penitential Verfes out of 
 David's Pfalms. So did many among'thofe Ifraelites, who had revolted from 
 the true Worfhipof God, invent to themfelves infiruments of mufic like David, and 
 probably Pfalms alfolike his; and yet the Prophet Amos complains heavily a- 
 gainft them. But to prove how fhort this is of true repentance, I will recite the 
 penitence of others, who have repented, in words not borrow'd, but their own, 
 and yet by the doom of Scripture itfelf are judg'd Reprobates. 
 
 Cain laid unto the Lord, My Iniquity is greater than I can bear: behold thou haft 
 driven me this day from the face of the Earth, and from thy face /hall I be hid. 
 
 And when Efau heard the words of his Father, he cry'd with an exceeding bitter 
 cry, and faid, Blefs me, even me alfo, my Father ; yet found noplace of repentance^ 
 though he fought it carefully with tears, Heb. 12. 
 
 And Pharaoh laid to Mofes, The Lord is righteous, I and my People are wicked ; 
 J have Jiff d agabift the Lord your God, and againft you. 
 
 And Balaam faid, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my laft end be 
 like his. 
 
 And Saul faid to Samuel, I have fin' d, for I have tranjgrefs'd the commandment 
 cf the Lord ; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the Elders of my People. 
 
 And when Ahab heard the words of Eliah, he rent his clothes, and put fackcloth 
 upon his flefl-i, andfafied, and lay in fackcloth, and went foftly. 
 
 Jehoram alfo rent his clothes, and the People look'd, and behold he had fackcloth 
 upon iris fleflj •, yet in the very aft of his humiliation he could fay, God do fo, and 
 more alfo to me, if the head of Elifha Jhall Jland on him this day. 
 
 Therfore faith the Lord, They have not cry'd unto me with their heart, when 
 they howl'd upon their beds. They return, but not to the Mofi High. Hofea 7. 
 
 And Judas faid, / have fin' d, in that I have betray' d innocent blood. 
 
 And Simon Magus faid, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of thefe things 
 come upon me. 
 
 All thefe took the pains both to confefs and to repent in their own words, 
 and many of them in their ©wn tears, ngt in David's. But tranfported with the 
 
 vain
 
 43o An Anfocer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 vain oftentation of imitating David's language, not his life, obferve how he 
 brings a curfe upon himlelf and his Father's houfe ('God fo difpofing it) by his 
 ufurp'd and ill-imitated Prayer, Let thy anger I befeech thee be againft me and my 
 Father's houfe ; as for thefe Sheep, what have they dene ? For if David indeed fin'd 
 in mimbring the People, of which fault he in earneft made that Confefiion, 
 and acquitted the whole People from the guilt of that fin ; then doth this King, 
 i:fing the fame words, bear witnefs againft himfelf to be the guilty Perfon, and 
 either in his Soul and Confcience here acquits the Parlament and the People, or 
 e!fe abufes the words of David, and difTembles grofly even to the face of God ; 
 which is apparent in the very next line ; wherin he accufes even the Church it- 
 felf to God, as if fhe were the Church's enemy, for having overcome his Tyran- 
 ny by the powerful and miraculous Might of God's manifeft arm : For to other 
 ilrength in the midft of our divifions and diforders, who can attribute our Vic- 
 tories ? Thus had this miferable man no worfe enemies to follicit and mature 
 hisown deftrudtion, from the haften'd fentence of divine Juftice, than the ob- 
 durate curfes which proceeded againft himlelf out of his own mouth. 
 
 Hitherto his Meditations, now his Vows, which as the Vows of Hypocrites 
 ufedtobe, are moft commonly abfurd, and fome wicked. Jacob vow'd that 
 God fnould be his God, if he granted him but what was neceiTary to perform 
 that Vow, lifeandfubfifter.ee: but the obedience profer'd here is nothing fo 
 cheap. He who took fo heinoufiy to be offer'd nineteen Propofitions from the 
 Parlament, capitulates here with God almoft in as many Articles. 
 
 Jf he will continue that light, or rather that darknefs of the Gofpel, which is 
 among his Prelates, fettle their Luxuries, and make them gorgeous Bilhops ; 
 
 If he will reftore the grievances and mifchiefs of thofe obfolete and popifii 
 Laws,, which the Parlament without his confent hath abrogated, and will fijfter 
 Juftice to be executed according to his fenfe ; 
 
 If he will fupprefs the many Schifms in Church, to contradict himfelf in that 
 which he hath foretold mult and fhall come to pafs, and will remove Reforma- 
 tion as the greateft Schifm of all, and Factions in the State by which he meana 
 in every leal the Parlament ; 
 
 If he will reftore him to his Negative Voice and the Militia, as much as to fay, 
 to arbitrary Power, which he wrongfully avers to be the Right of his Prede- 
 ceffors ; 
 
 If he will turn the hearts of his People to their old Cathedral and Parochial Ser- 
 vice in the Liturgy, and their Paffive Obedience to the King ; 
 
 If he will quench the Army, and withdraw our Forces from withftanding the 
 Piracy or Rupert, and the plotted Irijb Invafion ; 
 
 If he willblefs him with the freedom of Bilhops again in the Houfe of Peers, and 
 of fugitive Delinqents in the Houfe of Commons, and deliver the honour of Par- 
 lament into his hands, from the moft natural and due protection of the people, 
 that entrufted them with the dangerous enterprize of being faithful to their 
 Country againft the rage and malice of his tyrannous oppofition ; 
 
 If he will keep him from that great offence of following the Counfel of his Par- 
 lament, and enabling what they advife him to, which in all reafon, and by the 
 known Law and Oath of his Coronation he ought to do, and not to call that 
 Sacrilege which neceffity through the continuance of his own Civil War hath 
 compell'd them to ; Necelnty, which made David eat the Shew-bread, made 
 Ezekiah take all the Silver which was found in God's Houfe, and cut off the 
 Gold which overlaid thofe doors and pillars, and give it to Senacherib ; Necef- 
 fity, which oftimes made the Primitive Church to fell her facred Utenfils, even 
 to the Communion-Chalice ; 
 
 If he will reftore him to a Capacity of glorifying him by doing that both in Church 
 and State, which muft needs difhonour and pollute his Name ; 
 
 If he will bring him again with peace, honour andfafety to his chief City, with- 
 out repenting, without fatisfying for the blood fpilt, only for a few politic 
 Conceffions, which are as good as nothing ; 
 
 If he will put again the Sword into his hand, to puniftj thofe that have deliver'd 
 us, and to proteil Delinquents againft the Juftice of Parlament ; 
 
 Then, if it be poffible to reconcile Contradictions, he will praife him by dif- 
 pleafing him, and ferve him by differving him. 
 
 Fits
 
 An Arifwer to Eikon Bafilike. 431 
 
 His glory, in the gaudy Copes and painted Windows, Mitres, Rochets, Al- 
 tars, and the chanted Service-Book, /hall be dearer to him than the eftabliihing 
 his Crown in righteoufnefs, and the fpiritual power of Religion. 
 
 He will pardon thofe that have offended him in particular, but there fhaJl want 
 no futtle ways to be even with them upon another fcore of their fuppos'd Offen- 
 ces againft the Commonwealth ; wherby he may at once effect the glory of a 
 ieeming juftice, and deftroy them pleafantly, while he feigns to forgive them 
 as to his own particular, and outwardly bewails them. 
 
 Thefe are the conditions of his treating with God, to whom he bates no- 
 thing of what he ftood upon with the Parlament : as if Commifiions of Array 
 could deal with him alfo. But of all thefe conditions, as it is now evident in our 
 eyes, God accepted none, but that final Petition which he fo oft, no doubt but 
 by the fecret judgment of God, importunes againft his own head ; praying 
 God, That his mercies might befo toward him, as his refolutions of truth and peace were 
 toward his People. It follows then, God having cut him off without granting any 
 of thefe mercies, that his refolutions were as feigned, ashis Vows are fruftrate. 
 
 XXVI. Upon the Army s furprifal of the King 
 
 at Holmby. 
 
 TO give account to Royalifts what was done with their vanquifh'd King, 
 yielded up into our hands, is not to be expected from them whom God 
 hath made his Conquerors. And for Brethren to debate and rip up 
 their falling out in the Ear of a common Enemy, therby making him the Judge, 
 or at leaft the well-pleas'd Auditor of their difagreement, is neither wife nor 
 comely. To the King therfore, were he living, or to his Party yet remaining, 
 as to this Action, there belongs no anfwer. Emulations, all men know are inci- 
 dent among military men, and are, if they exceed not, pardonable. But fome 
 of the former Army, eminent enough for their own martial deeds, and preva- 
 lent in the Houfe of Commons, touch'd with envy to be fo far outdone by a 
 new model which they contemn'd, took advantage of Prefbyterian and Indepen- 
 dent Names, and the virulence of fome Minifters, to raile difturbance. And 
 the War being then ended, thought flightly to have difcarded them, who had 
 faithfully done the work, without their due pay, and the reward of their invin- 
 cible valour. But they who had the Sword yet in their hands, difdaining to be 
 made the firft objects of ingratitude and oppreffion, after all that expence of 
 their blood for Juftice and the common Liberty, feiz'd upon the King their Pri- 
 foner, whom nothing but their matchlefs deeds had brought fo low as to fur- 
 render up his Perfon : though he, to ftir up new difcord, chofe rather to give 
 up himfelf a captive to his own Country-men who lefs had won him. This in 
 likelihood might have grown to fome height of miichief ; partly through the 
 ftrife which was kindling between our elder and our younger Warriors, but 
 chiefly through the feditious tongues of fome falfe Minifters, more zealous a- 
 gainft Schifms, than againft their own Simony and Pluralities, or watchful of the 
 common Enemy, whole futtle infmuations had got fofar in among them, as with 
 all diligence to blow the coals. But it pleas'd God not to embroil and put to 
 confufion his whole people for the perverfenefs of a few. The growth of our 
 diffenfion was either prevented, or foon quieted •, the Enemy foon deceiv'd of 
 his rejoicing, and the King elpecially difappointed of not the meaneft morfel 
 that his hope prefented him, to ruin us by our divifion. And being now fo 
 nigh the end, we may the better be at leifure to ftay a while, and hear him com- 
 menting upon his own Giptivity. 
 
 He faith of his furprifal, that it was a motion eccentric and irregular. What 
 then r his own allufionfrom the Celeftial Bodies, puts us in mind that irregular 
 motions may be neceffary on Earth fometimes as well as conftantly in Heaven, 
 That is not always beft which is moft regular to written Law. Great Wor- 
 thies hertofore by difobeying Law, oftimes have fav'd the Commonwealth •, 
 and the Law afterward by firm Decree hath approv'd that planetary motion, 
 that unblamable exorbitancy in them. 
 
 He
 
 4« -« 
 
 y&? Anficer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 He means no good to either Independent or Prefbyterian, and yet his Parable,, 
 like that of Balaam, is over-ru!'d to portend them good, lar befide his intenti- 
 on. Thofe Twins that ftrove enclosed in the womb of Rebecca, were the feed of 
 Abraham ; the younger undoubtedly gain'dthe heavenly Birth-right ; the elder 
 thou°-h»fupplanted in his Simile, mail yet no queftion find a better portion than 
 Eiau found, and far above his uncircumcis'd Prelates. 
 
 He r.enfures, and in cenfuring feems to hope it will be an ill Omen that they who 
 huild Terufalem divide their tongues and hands. But his hope fail'd him with his 
 example •, for that there were divifions both of tongues and hands at the 
 building ofjerufalem,. the Story would have certify'd him ; and yet the work 
 profper'd : and if God will, fo may this, notwithftanding all the craft and ma- 
 lignant wiles of Sanballat and Tobiah, adding what fuel they can to our diffen- 
 fions ; or the indignity of his comparifon, that likens us to thofe feditious Zea- 
 lots whofe inteftine fury brought deftruction to the laft Jerufalem. 
 
 It being now no more in his hand to be reveng'd on his oppofers, he feeks to 
 fatiutc his fancy with the imagination of fome revenge upon them from above; 
 and like one who in a drowth obferves the Sky, fits and watches when any 
 thing will drop, that might folace him with the iikenefs of a Punifhment from 
 Heaven upon us : which he ftrait expounds how he pleafes. No evil can befal 
 the Parlament or City, but he pofitively interprets it a judgment upon them 
 for his fake; as if the very Manuicript of God's Judgments had been deli- 
 ver'dtohis cuftody and expofition. But his reading declares it well to be a falfe 
 copy which he ufes •, difpenfing often to his own bad deeds and fuccefiesthetefti- 
 mony of Divine Favour, and to the good deeds and fuccefies of other Men, 
 Divine Wrath and Vengeance. But to counterfeit the hand of God is the hold- 
 eft of all Forgery : And he who without warrant, but his own famaftic fur- 
 mile, takes upon him perpetually to unfold the fecret and unfearchable Myfte- 
 ries of high Providence, is likely for the moft part to miftake and flander them ; 
 and approaches to the madnefs of thofe reprobate thoughts, that would wren; 
 the Sword of Juftice out of God's own hand, and employ it more juftly in his 
 own conceit. It was a fmall thing to contend with the Parlament about the fole 
 power of the Militia, when we fee him doing little lefsthan laying hands on the 
 Weapons of God himfelf, which are his judgments, to wield and manage them, 
 by thefway and bent of his own frail Cogitations. Therfore they that by Tumults 
 firft occqfton'd the raifing of Armies, in his doom mtifl needs be chaften'd by their 
 own Army for new Tumults. 
 
 Firft, note here his^confefiion, that thofe Tumults were the firft occafion of rai- 
 fing Armies, and by conlequence that he himfelf rais'd them firft againft thofe 
 iuppos'd Tumults. But who occafion'd thofe Tumults, or who made them fo, 
 being at firft nothing more than the unarm'd and peaceable concourfe of People, 
 hath been difcuft already. And that thofe pretended Tumults were chaftiz'd by 
 their own Army for new Tumults, is net prov'd by a Game at tic-tac with 
 words ; Tumults and Armies, Armies and Tumults, but feems more like the me- 
 thod of a Juftice irrational than divine. 
 
 If the City were chaften'd by the Army for new Tumults, the reafon is by 
 himfelf fet down evident and immediate, their new Tumults. With what fenfe 
 can it be referr'd then to another far-fetch'd and imaginary caufe that happen'd 
 fo many years before, and in his fuppofition only as a caufe ? Manlius defended 
 the Capitol and the Romans from their enemies the Gauls : Manlius for fedition 
 afterward was by the, Romans thrown headlong from the Capitol ; therfore 
 Manlius was punifiVd by divine Juftice for defending the Capitol, becaufe in that 
 place punifh'd for fedition, and by thofe whom he defended. This is his Logic 
 upon Divine Juftice ; and was the fame before upon the death of Sir John Hotham. 
 And here again, fuch as were content to fee him driven away by unfupprefled Tumults, 
 are now fore' d to fly to an Army. Was this a judgment ? was it not a mercy ra- 
 ther that they had a noble and victorious Army io near at hand to fly to ? 
 
 From God's Juftice, he comes down to Man's Juftice. Thofe few of both 
 Houfes who at firft withdrew with him from the vain pretence of Tumults, were 
 ■counted Deferters ; therfore thofe many muft be alfo Deferters who withdrew 
 Afterwards from real Tumults : as if it were the place that made a Parlament, 
 and not the end and caufe. Becaufe it is deny'd thofe were Tumults from 
 which the King made fhew of being driven, is it therfore of neceffity imply'd x 
 that there could be never any Tumults for the future ? If fome men fly in craft, 
 
 may 
 
 5
 
 An Anfeoer to Eikon Bafilike. 4*3 
 
 may not other men have caufe to fly in earned ? But mark the difference between 
 their flight and his •, they foon return'd in fafety to their places, he not till after 
 many years, and then a Captive to receive his punifhmcnt. So that their flying, 
 whether the caufe be confider'd or the event, or both, neither juftify'd him, nor 
 condemned themfehes. 
 
 But he will needs have vengeance to purfue and overtake them ; though to brin<* 
 it in, it coil him an inconvenient and obnoxious companion, As the Mice and 
 Rats overtook a German Bijhop. I would our Mice and Rats had been as ortho- 
 doxal here, and had lb purfu'd all his Bilhops out of England ; then vermin 
 had rid away vermin, which now hath loll the lives of too many thoufand 
 honeft men to do. 
 
 He cannot but obfervethis Divine Jujlice yet with farrow and pity. But forrow 
 and pity in a weak and over-malter'd Enemy, is look'd upon no otherwife than 
 as the Afhes of his revenge burnt out upon it felf ; or as the damp of a cool'd 
 fury when we fay it gives. But in this manner to fit fpelling and pbferving Di- 
 vine Jullice upon every accident and flight difturbance that may happen human- 
 ly to the affairs of Men, is but another fragment of his broken revenge ; and 
 yet the fiirewdeft and the cunningelt Obloquy that can be thrown upon their 
 Actions. For if he can perfuade men that the Parlament and their caufe is pur- 
 fu'd with Divine Vengeance, he hath attain'd his end, to make all men forfake 
 them, and think the worft that can be thought of them. 
 
 Nor is he only content to fuborn Divine Jullice in his cenfure of what is pall, 
 but he aflumes the perfon of Chrill himfelf to prognollicate over us what he 
 wifhes would come. So little is any thing or perfon facred from him, no not in 
 Heaven, which he will not ufe, and put on, if it may ferve him plaufibly to 
 wreck his fpleen, or eafe his mind upon the Parlament. Although if ~ ever fatal 
 blindnefs did both attend and pitnifla wilfulnefs, if ever any enjoy' 'd not comforts for 
 ii'glecling counfel belonging to their peace, it was in none more evidently brought 
 to pais than in himfelf : and his Predictions againll the Parlament and their Ad- 
 herents have lor the moll part been verify'd upon his own head, and upon his 
 chief Counfellors. 
 
 He concludes with high praifes of the Army. But praifes in an Enemy are 
 fuperfluous, or fmell of craft ; and the Army ihall not need his praifes, nor 
 the Parlament far worfe for his accufing prayers that follow. Wherin as his 
 Charity can be no way comparable to that of Chrill, fo neither can his affurance 
 that they whom he feems to pray lor, in doing what they did againll him, knew 
 not what they did. It was but arrogance therfore, and not charity, to lay fuch ig- 
 norance to others in the fight of God, till he himfelf had been infallible, like 
 him whofe peculiar words he overweeningly affumes. 
 
 Vol. I. K k k XXVII-
 
 434 <An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 XXVII. IntitFd to the Prince of Walts. 
 
 WHAT the King wrote to his Son, as a Father, concerns not us ; 
 what he wrote to him as a King of England, concerns not him ; God 
 and the Parlament having now otherwiie difpos'd of England. But 
 becaufe I fee it done with fome artifice and labour, to pofTefs the people that 
 they might amend their prefent condition, by his or by his Son's reflorement, I 
 fhail fhew point by point, that although the King had been re-inftall'd to his de- 
 fire, or that his Son admitted, mould obferve exactly all his Father's Precepts, 
 yet that this would be fo far from conducing to our happinefs, either as a re- 
 medy to the ■prefent diftempers, or a prevention of the like to come, that it would 
 inevitably throw us back again into all our paft and fulfill'd miferies ; would force 
 us to fight over again all our tedious Wars, and put us to another fatal flrug- 
 gling for Liberty and Life, more dubious than the former. In which as our 
 fuccefs hath been no other than our caufe ; fo it will be evident to all pofterity, 
 that his misfortunes were the meer confequence of his perverfe Judgment. 
 
 Firft he argues from the experience of thcfe troubles which both he and his Son 
 have had, to the improvement of their piety and -patience : and by the way bears 
 witnefs in his own words, that the corrupt education of his youth, which was 
 but glanc'd at only in fome former pafTages of this Anfwer, was a thing neither 
 of mean confideration, nor untruly charg'd upon him or his Son: himfelf con- 
 ferring here, that Court -delights are prone either to root up all true vertue and honour, 
 or to be contented only with fome leaves and withering formalities of than, without 
 any real fruits tending to the public good. "Which prefents him (till in his own 
 words another Rchoboam, foflen'd by a far worfe Court than Solomon's, andfo cor- 
 rupted by flatteries, whichhe affirms to be unfep arable, to the overturning of all 
 peace, and the lofs of his own Honour and Kingdoms. That he came therfore 
 thus bred up and nurtur'd to the Throne, far worfe than Rehoboam, unlefs he be of 
 thofe who equaliz'd his Father to K'mgSolomcn, we have here his own confeffi- 
 on. And how voluptuoufly, how idly reigning in the hands of other men, 
 he either tyranniz'd or trifled away thofe feventeen years of peace, without 
 care or thought, as if to be a King had been nothing elfe in his apprehenfion, 
 but to eat and drink, and have his will, and take his pleafure ; though there 
 be who can relate his domeftic life to the exadtnefs of a diary, there fhall be 
 here no mention made. This yet we might have then forefeen, that he who 
 fpent his leifure foremisfly and fo corruptly to his own pleafing, would one day 
 or other be worfe bufied and employed to our forrow. And that he acted in 
 good earneft what Rehoboam did but threaten, to make his little finger heavier 
 than his Father's Loins, and to whip us with his two-twifted Scorpions, both 
 temporal and fpiritual Tyranny, all his Kingdoms have felt. What good ufe 
 he made afterward of his adverfity, both his impenitence and obftinacy to the 
 end (for he was no Manajfeb) and the fequel of thefehis meditated refolutions, 
 abundantly exprefs; retaining, commending, teaching to his Son all thofe 
 putrid and perniciousdocuments both of State and of Religion, inftill'd by wick- 
 ed Doctors, and receiv'd by him as in a Vefiel nothing better ieafon'd, which 
 were the firft occafion both of his own and all our miferies And if he in the 
 beft maturity of his years and underftanding made no better ufe to himfelf or 
 others of his fo long and manifold afflictions, either looking up to God, or look- 
 ing down upon the reafon of his own affairs, there can be no probability that 
 his Son, bred up, not in the foft effeminacies of a Court only, but in the rug- 
 ged and more boifterotis licence of undifciplin'd Camps and Garifons, for 
 years unable to reflect with judgment upon his own condition, and thus ill In— 
 flructed by his Father, ihould give his mind to walk by any other rules than 
 thefe bequeath'd him as on the death-bed of his Father, and as the choiceft of 
 all that experience, which his moft ferious obfervation and retirement in good 
 or evil days, had taught him. David indeed by fufFering without juft caufe, 
 learn'd that mcekncfs and that wifdom by adverfity, which made him much the 
 fitter man to reign. But they who fuffcr as Opprcfibrs, Tyrants, violators of 
 Law, and perfecutors of Reformation, without appearance of repenting, if 
 
 they
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Balifike. 
 
 they once get hold again of that dignity and power which they had loft, an*, 
 but whetted and enrag'd by what they fuffer'd, againft thofe whom they look 
 upon as them that caus'd their fufferings. 
 
 How he hath been fubjeel to the fceptre of God's word and fpirit, though acknow- 
 ledge to be the befi Government, and what his difpenfatwn of civil power hath 
 been, with what Juftice, and what honour to the public peace, it is but Ioofeing 
 back upon the whole catalogue of his deeds, and that will be fufficient to re- 
 member us. The Cup of God's phyfic, as he calls it, what alteration it wrought 
 in him to a firm healthfulnefs from any furfeit, or excefs wherof the people ge- 
 nerally thought him fick, it any man would go about to prove, we have his own 
 teftimony following here, that it wrought none at all. 
 
 Firft, he hath the fame fix'd opinion and efteem of his old Ephefian Goddefs, 
 call'd the Church of England, as he had ever ; and charges ftricfly his Son after 
 him to perfevere in that Anti-papal Schifm (for it is not much better) as that 
 which will be necejfary both for his Soul's and the Kingdom's Peace. But if this can 
 be any foundation of the Kingdom's peace, which was the firft caufe of our di- 
 ftracfions, let common fenfe be Judge. It is a rule and principle worthy to be 
 known by Chriftians, that no Scripture, no nor fo much as any ancient Creed, 
 binds our Faith, or our obedience to any Church whatfoever, denominated bv 
 a particular name ; firlefs, if it be diftinguifti'd by a feveral Government from 
 that which is indeed Catholic. No man was ever bid be fubje-ft to the Church 
 of Corinth, Rome, or AJia, but to the Church without addition, as it held faith- 
 ful to the rules of Scripture, and the Government eftablifh'd in all places by 
 the Apoflles ; which at firft was univerfally the lame in all Churches and Con- 
 gregations ; not differing or diftinguifh'd by the diverfity of Countries, Terri- 
 tories, or civil Bounds. That Church, that from the name of a diftincl place 
 takes authority to (ct up a diftincl: Faith or Government, is a Schifm and Fac- 
 tion, not a Church. It were an injury to condemn the Papift of ablurdity and 
 contradiction, for adhering to his Catholic Romifh Religion, if we for the pleafure 
 of a King and his politic confiderations, fhall adhere to a Catholic Engliflo. 
 
 Bat fuppofe the Church of England were as it ought to be, how is it to us 
 the fafer by being fo nam'd and eftablifh'd, whenas that very name and efta- 
 blifhment, by his contriving, or approbation, ferv'd for nothing elfe but to de- 
 lude us and amufe us, while the Church of England was almoft chang'd into 
 the Church of Rome. Which as every man knows in general to be true, fo the 
 particular Treaties and Traniactions tending to that conclufion, are at large dif- 
 cover'd in a Book intitled the Englifi Pope. But when the people, difcerning thefe 
 abufes, began to call for Reformation, in order to which the Parlament de- 
 manded of the King to un-eftab!i(h that Prelatical Government,, which without 
 Scripture had ufurp'd over us, ftrait, as Pharaoh accus'd of Idlenefs the Ifrael- 
 ites that fought leave to go and facrifice to God, he lays faction to their charge. 
 And that we may not hope to have ever any thing reformed in the Church ei- 
 ther by him or his Son, he forewarns him, That the Devil of Rebellion doth meft 
 commonly turn himfelfinto an Angel of Reformation : and fays enough to make 
 him hate it, as the worft Evils, and the bane of his Crown : nay he counfels 
 him to let nothing fern little or defpicable tohim,fo as not fpeedily and efj'eilual- 
 ly tofupprefs Errors lf> Schifms. Wherby we may perceive plainly that our con- 
 fciences were deftin'd to the fame iervitude and perfecution, if not worie than 
 before, whether under him, or if it fhould fo happen, under his Son ; who 
 count all Proteftant Churches erroneous and fchifmatical, which are not Epifco- 
 pal. His next precept is concerning our civil Liberties -, which by his fole voice 
 and predominant will mull be circumfcrib'd, and not permitted to extend a hand's 
 breadth further than his interpretation of Laws already fettled. And although 
 al! human Laws are but the offspring of that frailty, that fallibility, and imper- 
 fection which was in their Authors, wherby many Laws, in the change of ig- 
 norant and obfeure Ages, may be found both fcandalous, and full of grievance 
 w their Pofterity that made them, and no Law is further good, than mutable 
 upon all occafion ; yet if the removing of an old Law, or the making of anew 
 would lave the Kingdom, we fhall not have it unlefs his arbitrary voice will io 
 far (lacken the ftiff curb of his Prerogative, as to grant it us ; who are as free- 
 born to make our own Laws, as our Fathers were who made thefe we 1 
 Where are then the Englijh Liberties which we boaft to have been left us by our 
 
 Vol. I. K k k 2 Progenitors ? 
 
 ■:o
 
 a «6 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 Progenitors ? To that he anfwers, that Our Liberties confiji in the enjoyment of the 
 fruits of cur Induftry, and the benefit of thofe Laws to which we our felves have con- 
 fented. Firft, for the enjoyment of thofe fruits which our induftry and labours 
 have made our own u pon our own, what privilege is that above what the 'Turks, 
 Jews and Moors enjoy under the Turkifh Monarchy ? For without that kind 
 of Juftice, which is alfo in Argiers, among Thieves and Pirates between them- 
 felves, no kind of Government, no Society, juft or unjuft, could ftand ; no 
 combination or confpiracy could flick together. Which he alfo acknowledges 
 in thefe words : That if the Crown upon his head be fo heavy as to opprefs the whole 
 body, the weaknefs of inferior members cannot return any thing of Jlrevgth, honour, 
 crfafety to the head; but that a neceffary debilitation muft follow. So that this Li- 
 berty of the Subject concerns himfelf and the fubhftence of his own regal power 
 in the firft place, and before the confideration of any right belonging to the 
 Subject. We expect therfore fomething more that muft diftinguiili free Go- 
 vernment from flavifh. But inftead of that, this King, though ever talking 
 and protefting as fmooth as now, fuffer'd it in his own hearing to be preachM 
 and pleaded without controul or check, by them whom he moft favour'd and 
 upheld, that the Subject had no property of his own Goods, but that all was 
 the King's right. 
 
 Next, for the benefit of thofe Laws to which we our felves have confented, we 
 never had it under him •, for not to fpeak of Laws ill executed, when the Par- 
 lament, and in them the People, have confented to diners Laws, and according 
 to our ancient Rights, demanded them, he took upon him to have a Negative 
 Will, as the tranfeendent and ultimate Law above all our Laws ; and to rule us 
 forcibly by Laws to which we our felves did not confent, but complain'd of. Thus 
 thefe two heads, wherin the utmoft of his allowance here will give our Liberties 
 leave to confift, the one of them fhall be fo far only made good to us, as may 
 iupport his own Intereft and Crown from ruin or debilitation -, and fo far Tur- 
 kijh Vaffals enjoy as much liberty under Mahomet and the Grand Signior : the 
 other we neither yet have enjoy'd under him, nor were ever like to do under 
 the Tyranny of a Negative Voice, which he claims above the unanimous confent 
 and power of a whole Nation virtually in the Parlament. 
 
 In which Negatitve Voice to have been call by the doom of War, and put to 
 death bv thofe who vanquifh'd him in their own defence, he reckons to himfelf 
 more than a Negative Martyrdom, But Martyrs bear witnefs to the truth, not 
 to themfelves. If I bear witnefs of my felf, faith Chrift, my witnefs is not true. 
 He who writes himfelf Martyr by his own infeription, is like an ill Painter, who 
 by writing on the fhapelefs Picture which he hath drawn, is fain to tell paffen- 
 gers what fhape it is -, which elfe no man could imagine : no more than how a 
 Martyrdom can belong to him, who therfore dies for his Religion becaufe it is 
 ejlabliffj'd. Certainly if Agrippa had turned Chriftian, as he was once turning, 
 and had put to death Scribes and Pharifees for obferving the Law of Mofies, 
 and refufing Chriftianity, they had died a truer Martyrdom. For thofe Laws 
 were eftablifh'd by God and Mofes, thefe by no warrantable authors of Religion, 
 whole Laws in all other belt reformed Churches are rejected. And if to die 
 for an eftablifhment of Religion be Martyrdom, then Romifij Priefts executed 
 for that which had fo many hundred years been eftablifh'd in this Land, are no 
 worfe Martyrs than he. Laftly, it to die for the tcfiimony of his own confidence be 
 enough to make him Martyr, what Heretic dying for direftBlafphemy, asfome 
 have done conftantly, may not boaft a Martyrdom ? As for the conftitution or 
 repeal of civil Laws, that power lying only in the Parlament, which he by the 
 very Law of his Coronation was to grant them, not to debar them, nor to pre- 
 ferve a leffer Law with the contempt and violation of a greater, it will conclude 
 him not lb much as in a civil and metaphorical fenfe to have died a Martyr of 
 our Laws, but a plain Tranfgreffor of them. And mould the Parlament, en- 
 dued with Legiflative Power, make our Laws, and be after to difpute them 
 piece-meal with reafon, confeience, humour, paflion, fancy, " folly, oblti- 
 nacy, or other ends of one man, whofe fole word and will fhall baffle and un- 
 make what all the wifdom of a Parlament hath been deliberately framing, what 
 a ridiculous and contemptible thing a Parlament would foon be, and what a, 
 bale unworthy Nation wc, who boaft our freedom, and fend them with .the 
 nunifeft peril of their Lives to preferve it, they who arc not tnark'd by deftiny
 
 An Anfmer to Eikon Bafilike. 437 
 
 for Slaves, may apprehend. In this fervile condition to have kept us ftill under 
 hatches, he both refolves here to thelaft, and fo inftructs his Son. 
 
 As to thole oflfer'd condefcenfions of charitable connivence, or toleration, if we 
 confider what went before, and what follows, they moulder into nothing. 
 For, what with not fuffering ever fo little to feem a defpicable Schifm, without 
 effectual fuppreflion, as hewarnedhim before, and whatwith no off oft t ion of Law, 
 Government, or ejlabliped Religion to be permitted, which is his following provifo, 
 and wholly within his own conftruction, what a miferable and fufpected tole- 
 ration, under Spies and haunting Promoters we fhould enjoy, is apparent. Be- 
 fides that it is fo far beneath the honour of a Parlament and free Nation to beo- 
 and fupplicate the Godfhip of one frail man, for the bare and fimple tole- 
 ration of what they all confent to be moil juft, pious, and belt pleafmo- to God, 
 while that which is erroneous, unjuft and mifchievous in the Church or State, 
 ilnll by him alone againft them all be kept up and eftablifh'd, and they cenfur'd 
 the while for a covetous, ambitious, and facrilegious Faclion. 
 
 Another bait to allure the people, is the charge he lays upon his Son to be ten- 
 der of them. Which it we fhould believe in part, becaufe they are his Herd, 
 his Cattle, the Stock upon his ground, as he accounts them, whom to wafle and 
 deftroy would undo himfelf, yet the inducement which he brings to move him, 
 renders the motion it felf fomething fufpicious. For if Princes need no Palliations, 
 as he tells his Son, wherfore is it that he himfelf hath fo often ufed them ? Prin- 
 ces, of all other men, have not more change of Raiment in their Wardrobes, 
 than variety of Shifts and Palliations in their folemn aclings and pretences to the 
 People. 
 
 To try next if he can enfnare the prime men of thofe who haveoppos'd him, 
 whom, more truly than his meaning was, he calls the Patrons and Vindicators 
 of the People, he gives out Indemnity, and offers Ails of oblivion. But they who 
 with a good confeience and upright heart did their civil duties in the fight of God, 
 and in their feveral places, to refill Tyranny and the violence of Superflition 
 banded both againft them, he may be fure will never feek to be forgiven that, 
 which may be juftly attributed to their immortal praife ; nor will affent ever to 
 the guilty blotting out of thofe actions before men, by which their Faith allures 
 them they chiefly ltand approved, and are had in remembrance before the throne 
 of God. 
 
 He exhorts his Son not to Jludy revenge. But how far he, or at leaftthey about 
 him intend to follow that exhortation, was feen lately at the Hague, and by 
 what attempts were likewifemade in other places. How implacable they would 
 be, it will be willlom and our fafety to believe rather, and prevent, than to 
 make trial. And it will concern the multitude, though courted here, to take 
 heed how they feek to hide or colour their own ficklenefs and inflability with a 
 bad repentance of their well-doing, and their fidelity to the better caufe, to which 
 at rirft lb chearfully and confeientioufly they join'd themfelves. 
 
 He returns again to extol the Church of England, and again requires his Sort 
 by the joint authority of a Father and a King, not to let his heart receive the leaji 
 check or difaffeclion againft it. And not without caufe, for by that means having 
 fole influence upon the Clergy, and they upon the People, after long fearch and 
 many difputes, he couid not poilibly find a more compendious and politic way 
 to uphold and fettle Tyranny, than by fubduing firfl the Conferences of vulgar 
 nun with the infenfible poifon of their flavifh Doctrine : for then the body and 
 befotted mind without much reluctancy was likeliefl to admit the Yoke. 
 
 He commends alfo Parlament s held ivith freedom and with honour. But I would 
 ask how that can be, while he only mull be the fole free Perfon in that number? 
 and would have the power with his unaccountable denial to difhonour them by 
 rejecting a'l their counfels, to confine their Law-giving Power, which is the 
 Foundation of our freedom, and to change at his plealure the very name of a 
 Parlament into the name of a Faction. 
 
 The conclufion therfore muft needs be quite contrary to what he concludes ; 
 tint nothing can be more unhappy, more difhonourable, more unfa fe for all, 
 than when a wife, grave, and honourable Parlament fliall have labour'd, de- 
 bated, argued, confulted, and, as he himfelf fpeaks, contributed for the pub- 
 lic good all their Counfels in common, to be then fruftrated, difappointed, deny'd 
 and repuls'd by the fingle whiff of a Negative, from the mouth of one wilful 
 
 man ;
 
 438 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafiiike. 
 
 man ; nay, to be blafted, to be ftruck as mute and motionlefs as a Parlament of 
 Tapeftry in the Hangings, orelfe after all their pains and travel to be difiblv'd, 
 and caft away like fo many Noughts in Arithmetic, unlefs it be to turn the O 
 of their infignificance into a lamentation with the people, who had fo vainly 
 fent them. For this is not to enatl all things by public confent, as he would have 
 us be perfuaded, this is to enact nothing but by the private confent and leave of 
 one not negative tyrant ; this is mifchief without remedy, a ftifling and obftruct- 
 ino- evil that hath no vent, no out-let, no paffage through : Grant him this, and 
 the Parlament hath no more freedom than if it fate in his Noofe, which when he 
 pleafes to draw together with one twitch of his Negative, mail throttle a whole 
 Nation, to the wifh of Caligula in one neck. This with the power of Militia 
 in his own hands over our bodies and eftates, and the Prelates to enthrall our 
 confciences either by fraud or force, is thefum of that happinefs and liberty wc 
 were to look for, whether in his own reftitution, or in theie precepts given to 
 his Son. Which unavoidably would have fet us in the lame ftate of mifery, 
 wherin we were before; and have either compell'd us tofubmit like bond-flaves, 
 or put us back to a fecond wandring over that horrid Wildernefs of diftraclion 
 and civil flaughter, which, not without the ftrong and miraculous hand of God 
 affiftino- us, we have meafur'd out, and furviv'd. And who knows, if we make 
 fo fli°kt of this incomparable deliverance, which God hath bellowed upon us, 
 but that we fhall like thole foolifh Ifraelites, who depos'd God and Samuel to fet 
 up a King, cry cut one day, becaufe of our King, which we have been mad up- 
 on •, and then God, as he foretold them, will no more deliver us. 
 
 There remains now but little more of his difcourfe, wherof yet to take a fhort 
 view will not be amifs. His words make fcmblance as if he were magnani- 
 moufly exercifing himfeif, and fo teaching his Son, To want as well as to wear a 
 Crown -, and would feem to account it not worth taking up or enjoying, upon for- 
 did, dijhonourable, and irreligious terms ; and yet to his very laft did nothing 
 anore induftrioufly than ftrive to take up and enjoy again his fequefter'd Crown, 
 upon the molt fordid, difloyal, difhonourable, and irreligious terms, not of 
 making peace only, but of joining and incorporating with the murdrous Irifl^ 
 formerly by himfeif declared againft, for wicked and deteftable Rebels, odious ts 
 God and all good Men. And who but thofe Rebels now, are the chief ftrength 
 and confidence of his Son ; while the Prefbyter Scot that woos and follicits him, 
 is nefdetted and put off, as if no terms were to him fordid, irreligious and dif- 
 honourable, but theScoitiJJi andPrelbyterian. 
 
 He bids his Son keep to the true principles of piety, vertue, and honour, and he 
 JJjall never want a Kingdom. And I fay, People of England, keep ye to thofe 
 principles, and ye fhall never want a King. Nay, after fuch a fair deliverance 
 as this, with fo much fortitude and valour mown againft a Tyrant, that people 
 that mould feek a King, claiming what this Man claims, would fliew them- 
 i elves to be by nature flaves, and arrant beafts; not fit for that liberty which 
 they cried out and bellowed for, but fitter to be led back again into their old 
 bondage, like a fort of clamouring and fighting brutes, broke loofe, that know 
 not how to ufe or pofTefs the liberty which they fought for. 
 
 The laft fentence, wheron he feems to venture the whole weight of his for- 
 mer reafons and argumentations, That Religion to their God, and Loyalty to their 
 King, cannot be parted, without the fin and infelicity of a People, is contrary to 
 the plain teaching of Chrift, that No man canferve two Mafters ; but, if he hold 
 ro the one, he muft reject and forfake the other. If God then, and earthly 
 Kings be for the molt part not feveral only, but oppofite Mafters, it will as oft 
 happen, that they who will ferve their King muft forfake their God ; and they 
 who will ferve God, muft forfake their King ; which then will neither be their 
 fin, nor their infelicity ; but their wifdom, their piety, and their true happi 
 nefs: as to be deluded by thefe unfound and futtle oftentations here, would 
 be their mifery. 
 
 XXVIII.
 
 An Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 4*9 
 
 XXVIII. IntitPd Meditations upon Death. 
 
 IT might be well thought by him who reads no further than the Title of this 
 laft Effay, that it requir'd no anfwer. For all other human things are dif- 
 puted, and will be varioufly thought of to the world's end. But this bufi- 
 nels of Death is a plain cafe, and admits no controverfy : In that centre all Opi- 
 nions meet. Neverthelefs, fince out of thofe few mortifying hours that fhould 
 have been intireft tothemfelves, and moft at peace from all paflion and difquiet, 
 he can afford fpare time to inveigh bitterly againft that Juftice which was done 
 upon him ; it will be needful to fay fomething in defence of thofe Proceedings, 
 tho' briefly, in regard fo much on this Subject hath been written lately. 
 
 It happened once, as we find in Efdras and Jofepbus, Authors not lefs believed 
 than any under facred, to be a great and folemn debate in the Court of Darius, 
 what thing was to be counted ftrongeft of all other. He that could refolve this, 
 in reward of his excelling wifdom, fhould be clad in Purple, drink in Gold, deep 
 on a Bed of Gold, and fit next to Darius. None but they doubtlefs who were 
 reputed wife, had the Queftion propounded to them : Who after fome refpite 
 given them by the King to confider, in full AfTembly of all his Lords and "raveft 
 Coimfellors, returo'd feverally what they thought. The firit held, that Wine 
 was ftrongeft •, another, that the King was ftrongeft. But Zorohabel Prince of 
 the Captive Jews, and Heir to the Crown of Judah, being one of them, 
 prov'd Women to be ftronger than the King, for that he himfelf had fce.n a 
 Concubine take his Crown from off his head to fet it upon her own : And others 
 befides him have lately {een the like Feat done, and not in jeft. Yet he 
 prov'd on, and it was fo yielded by the King himfelf, and all his Sages, that 
 neither Wine, nor Women, nor the King, but Truth, of all other things was 
 th: ftrongeft. For me, though neither afk'd, nor in a Nation that gives fuch re- 
 wards to wifdom, I fhall pronounce my fentence fomewhat different from Zorc- 
 babel ; and fhall defend, that either Truth and Juftice are all one, for Truth is 
 but Juftice in our knowledge, and Juftice is but Truth in our practice ; and he 
 indeed fo explains himfelf in faying that with Truth is no accepting of Perfons, 
 which is the property of Juftice : or elfe if there be any odds, that Juftice, 
 though not ftronger than Truth, yet by her office is to put forth and exhibit 
 more ftrength in the affairs of mankind. For Truth is properly no more than 
 Contemplation ; and her utmoft efficiency is but teaching : but Juftice in her 
 very effence is all ftrength and activity ; and hath a Sword put into her hand, to 
 ufe againft all violence and oppreffion on the earth. She it is moft truly, who 
 accepts no Perfon, and exempts none from the feverity of her ftroke. She ne- 
 ver fuffers injury to prevail, but when falfhood firft prevails over Truth ; and 
 that alio is a kind of Juftice done on them who are fo deluded. Though wick- 
 ed Kings and Tyrants counterfeit her Sword, as fome did that Buckler, fabled 
 to fall from Heaven into the Capitol, yet fhe communicates her power to none 
 but fuch as like herfelf are juft, or at leaft will do juftice.' For it were ex- 
 treme partiality and injuftice, the flat denial and overthrow of her felf, to put 
 her own authentic Sword into the hand of an unjuft and wicked Man, or fo far 
 to accept and exalt one mortal Perfon above his equals, that he alone fhall have 
 the punifhing of all other men tranfgreffing, and not receive like punifhment 
 from men, when he himfelf fhall be found the higheft Tranfgreffor. 
 
 We may conclude therfore, that Juftice, above all other things, is and 
 ought to be the ftrongeft: She is the Strength, the Kingdom, the Power, and 
 Majcfty of all Ages. Truth her felf would fubferibe to this, though Darius 
 and all the Monarchs of the World fhould deny. And if by fentence thus 
 written it were my happinefs to fet free the minds of Englijhmen from long- 
 ing to return poorly under that Captivity of Kings, from which the ftrength 
 and fupreme Sword of Juftice hath deliver'd them, I fhall have done a work not 
 
 ich inferior to that of Zorebabel: who by well praifing and extolling the 
 force of Truth, in that contemplative ftrength conquer'd Darius ; and freed 
 his Country and the people of God from the Captivity of Babylon. Which I 
 fhall yet not defpair to do, if they in this Land' whofc minds are yet Captive, 
 
 be
 
 440 An Anfeoer to Eikon BafiUke. 
 
 be but as ingenuous to acknowledge the ftrength and fupremacy of Juftice, as 
 that Heathen King was to confefs the ftrength of Truth : or let them but, as 
 he did, grant that, and they will foon perceive that Truth refigns all her out- 
 ward ftrength to Juftice : Juftice therfore muft needs be ftrongeft, both in her 
 own and in the ftrength of Truth. But if a King may do among men whatso- 
 ever is his will and pleafure, and notwithftanding be unaccountable to men, 
 then contrary to this magnify'd wifdom of Zorobabel, neither Truth nor Juftice, 
 but the King is ftrongeft of all other things : which that Perfian Monarch him- 
 felf in the midft of all his pride and glory durft not affume. 
 
 Let us -fee therfore what this King hath to affirm, why the fentence of Juftice 
 and the weight of that Sword which fhe delivers into the hands of men, fhould" 
 be more partial to him offending, than to all others of human race. Firft he 
 pleads that no Law of God or Man gives to Subjects any power of judicature without 
 or againft him. Which affertion fhall be prov'd in every part to be molt un- 
 true. The firft exprefs Law of God given to mankind, was that to Noah, as a 
 Law, in general, to all the fons of men. And by that moft ancient and uni- 
 verfal Law, Whofoever floeddeth man's blood, by man f/jall his blood be fhed ; \vc 
 find here no exception. If a King therfore do this, to a King, and that by 
 men alio, the fame fhall be done. This in the Law of Mofes, which came next, 
 feveral times is repeated, and in one place remarkably, Numb. 35* TefbaUti 
 no fatisfatlion for the life of a murderer, but he fhall fur ely be pit to death : 
 the Land cannot be cleanfed of the blood that is fhed therin, but by the blood of 
 him that fhed it. This is fo fpoken as that which concerned all lfrael, not one 
 man alone, to fee performed •, and if no fatisfaction were to be taken, then cer- 
 tainly no exception. Nay the King, when they fhould fet up any, was to cb- 
 ferve the whole Law, and not only to fee it done, but to do it ; that his heart 
 might not be lifted up above his Brethren, to dream of vain and reafonleis Prero- 
 gatives or Exemptions, wherby the Law it fell muft needs be founded in un- 
 righteoufnefs. 
 
 And were that true, which is moft falfe, that all Kings are the Lord's 
 Anointed, it were yet abfurd to think that the Anointment of God fhould be 
 as it were a charm againft Law, and give them privilege, who punilh others, 
 to fin thcmfelves unpunifhably. The High Prieft was the Lord's Anointed as 
 well asany King, and with the fame confecrated oil : yet Solomon had put to death 
 Abiathcr, had it not been for other refpefts than that anointment. If God him- 
 felf fay to Kings, Touch not mine anointed, meaning his chofen people, as is evi- 
 dent in that Pfalm, yet no man will argue thence, that he protects them from 
 Civil Laws if they offend ; then certainly, though David as a private Man, and 
 in his own caufe, fear'd to lift his hand againft the Lord's Anointed, much Jefs 
 can this forbid the Law, or difarm Juftice from having legal power againft: 
 any King. No other fupreme Magiftrate, in what kind of Government foever, 
 lays claim to any fuch enormous Privilege ; wherfore then fhould any King, 
 a\ ho is but one kind of Magiftrate, and fet over the People for no other end 
 than they ? 
 
 Next in order of time to the Laws of Mofes, are thofe of Chrift, who de- 
 clares profeffedly his Judicature to be fpiritual, abftracl: from civil manage- 
 ments, and therfore leaves all Nations to their own particular Laws, and way 
 of Government. Yet becaufe the Church hath a kind of Jurifdiction within 
 her own bounds, and that alfo, though in procefs of time much corrupted and 
 plainly turn'd into a corporal Judicature, yet much approv'd by this King ; it 
 •will be firm enough and valid againft him, if Subje&s, by the Laws of Church 
 alfo, be invejled with a power of judicature both without and againft their King, 
 though pretending, and by them acknowledged next and immediately under 
 Chrijl fupreme Head and Govemour. Theodofius the Emperor having made a 
 fiaughter of the Tloeffalonians for fedition, but too cruelly, was excommuni- 
 cated to his face by Saint Ambrofe, who was his fubjedl ; and Excommunion is 
 the utmoft of Ecclefiaftical Judicature, a fpiritual putting to death,. But this, 
 ye will fay, was only an example. Read then the Story, and it will appear, 
 both that Ambrofe avouch'd it for the Law of God, and Theodofius confeft it of 
 his own accord to be fo -, and that the Law of God was not to be made void in him, 
 for any reverence to his Imperial Power. From hence, not to be tedious, I fhall pafs 
 into our own Land of Britain ; and fhow that Subjects here have exercis'd the 
 
 utmoft
 
 An Anjwer to Eikon Bafilike. 44 x 
 
 utmoft of fpiritual Judicature, and more than fpiritual againft their Kings, 
 his Predeceffors. V or tiger for committing inceft with his Daughter, was 
 by Saint German, at that time his Subject, curs'd and condemn'd in a Bri- 
 tijh Council about the year 448 ; and thertipon foon after was depos'd. 
 Mauricus a King in Wales for breach of Oath, and the murder of Cynetus, 
 was excommunicated and curft, with all his OrT-fpring, by Oudoceus Bilhop 
 of Landaff in full Synod, about the year 560 ; and not reftor'd till he had 
 repented. Morcant another King in IVales having flain Frioc his Uncle, was 
 fain to come in Perfon, and receive judgment from the fame Bifliop and his Cler- 
 gy, who upon his penitence acquitted him, for no other caufe than left the 
 Kingdom fhould be deftitute of a SuccefTor in the Royal Line. Thefe Examples 
 are of the Primitive, Britijh, and Epifcopal Church ; long ere they had 
 any Commerce or Communion with the Church of Rome. What Power 
 afterward of depofing Kings, and fo confequently of putting them to death, 
 was afium'd and practis'd by the Canon Law, I omit as a thing generally 
 known. Certainly if whole Councils of the Romiflo Church have in the midft of 
 their dimnefs difcerned lb much of Truth, as to decree at Conflance, and at 
 Bafil, and many of them to avouch at 'Trent alfo, that a Council is above the 
 Pope, and may judge him, though by them notdeny'd to be the Vicar of Chrift, 
 we in our clearer light may be afham'd not to difcern further, that a Parlament 
 is by all equity and right above a King, and may judge him, whofe reafons and 
 pretenlions to hold ol God only, as his immediate Vicegerent, we know how 
 far fetch'd they are, and infufflcient. 
 
 As for the Laws of Man, it would afk a volume to repeat all that might be 
 in this point againft him from all Antiquity. In Greece, Orejies the Son of 
 Agamemnon, and by Succefiion King of Argos, was in that Country judg'd and 
 condemn'd to death lor killing his Mother : whence efcaping, he was judg'd 
 again* though a ftranger, before the great Council of Areopagus in Athens. 
 And this memorable Aft of Judicature, was the firft that brought the Jufticeof 
 that grave Senate into Fame and high Eftimation over all Greece for many Ages 
 after. And in the fame City, Tyrants were to undergo legal fentence by the 
 Laws of Solon. The Kings of Sparta, though defcended lineally from Hercules, 
 eiteem'd a God among them, were often judg'd, and fometimesput to death by 
 the moft juft and renowned Laws of Lycurgus ; who, though a King, thought 
 it moft unequal to bind hisSubjefts by any Law, to which he bound not him- 
 felf. In Rome the Laws made by Valerius Publicola, and what the Senate de- 
 creed againft Nero, that he fhould be judg'd and punifh'd according to the 
 Laws of their Anceftors, and what in like manner v/as decreed againft other 
 Emperors, is vulgarly known. And that the Civil Law warrants like Power 
 of Judicature to Subjefts againft Tyrants, is written clearly by the beft and fa- 
 mouleft Civilians. For if it was decreed by Theodo/ius, and ftands yet firm in 
 the Code of fufiinian, that the Law is above the Emperor, then certainly the 
 Emperor being under Law, the Law may judge him ; and if judge him, may 
 punifh him proving tyrannous : howclfe is the Law above him, or to what pur- 
 pofe ? Thefe are necelTary deductions ; and therafter hath bin done in all Ages 
 and Kingdoms, oftner than to be here recited. 
 
 But what need we any further fearch after the Laws of other Lands, for that 
 which is fo fully and fo plainly let down lawful in our own? "Where ancient Books 
 tell us, Bratlon, Fle.'a, and others, that the King is under Law, and inferior to 
 his Court of Parlament •, that although his Place to do Jujiice be higheft, yet 
 that he ftands as liable to receive Jujiice, as the meaneft of his Kingdom. Nay, 
 Alfred the moft worthy King, and by fome accounted firft abfolute Monarch of 
 the Saxons here, fo ordain'd •, as is cited out of an ancient Law -Book call'd the 
 Mirror; in Rights of the Kingdom, p. 31. where it iscomplain'don, as the fovereign 
 abufe of all, that the King fhould be deem'd above the Law, wheras he ought to be fub- 
 jeSt to it by his Oath. Of which Oath antiently it was the laft caulc, that the 
 King fhould be as liable, and obedient tofuffer right, as others of his People. And in- 
 deed it were but fond and fenilels, that the King fhould be accountable to every 
 petty Suit in lefi'er Courts, as we all know he was, and not be fubjeft to the Judi- 
 cature of Parlament in the main matters of our common fafety or deftruftion ; 
 fhathe fhould beanfwerable in the ordinary Courts of Law forany wrong done to 
 a private Perfon, and not anfwerable in Court of Parlament for deftroying the 
 Vol.. I. Lll whole
 
 442, ^ n -dtijwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 whole Kingdom. By all this, and much more that might be added, as in an ar- 
 gument over-copious rather than barren, we fee it fnanifeft that all Laws both 
 of God and Man are made without exemption of any Perfon whomfoever ; and 
 that if Kings prefume to over-top the Law by which they reign for the pub- 
 lic Good, they are by Law to be reduc'd into Order ; and that can no way 
 be more juftly, than by thofe who exalted them to that high Place. For 
 who mould better underhand their own Laws, and when they are tranfgreft, 
 than they who are govern' d by them, and whofe confent firft made them ? And 
 who can have more right to take knowledge of things done within a tree Na- 
 tion than they within themfelves? 
 
 Thole objected Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy we fwore, not to his Per- 
 fon, but as it was inverted with his Authority ; and his Authority was by the Peo- 
 ple firft given him conditionally, in Law, and under Law, and under Oath alio 
 for the Kingdom's Good, and not otherwife •, the Oaths then were inter- 
 change, and mutual ; ftood and fell together ; he fwore fidelity to his truft ; 
 not as a deluding Ceremony, but as a real condition of their admitting him for 
 Kino--, and the Conqueror himfelf fwore it oftner than at his Crowning : 
 they fwore Homage and Fealty to his Perfon in that truft. There was no rea- 
 fon why the Kingdom fhould be further bound by Oaths to him, than he by his 
 Coronation-Oath to us, which he hath every way broken : and having broken, 
 the ancient Crown-Oath of Alfred above-mentioned conceals not his Penalty. 
 
 As for the Covenant, if that be meant, certainly no difcreet Perfon can ima- 
 gine it fhould bind us to him in any fl ricter fenfe than thole Oaths formerly. The 
 A-ftsof Hoftility which we receiv'd from him, were no fuch dear obligements 
 that we mould owe him more Fealty and Defence for being our Eenemy, than 
 we could before when we took him only tor a King. They were accus'd by him 
 and his Party to pretend Liberty and Reformation, but to have no other end 
 than to make themfelves great, and todeftroy the King's Perfon and Authority. 
 For which rcafon they added that third Article, testifying to the World, that 
 as they were refolv'd to endeavour firft a Reformation in the Church, to extir- 
 pate Prelacy, to preferve the Rights of Parlament, and the Liberties of the 
 Kingdom, lo they intended, fo far as it might confift with the Prefervation and 
 Detence of thefe, to preferve the King's Perfon and Authority ; but not other- 
 wife. As far as this comes to, they covenant and fwear in the fixth Article to 
 preferve and defend the Perfons and Authority of one another, and all thofe 
 that enter into that League •, fo that this Covenant gives no unlimitable exemp- 
 tion to the King's Perfon, but gives to all as much Defence and Prefervation as 
 to him, and to him as much as to their own Perfons, and no more ; that is to 
 fay, in order and fubordination to thofe main ends for which we live and are 
 a Nation of Men join'd in fociety either chriftian, or at leaft human. But if the 
 Covenant were made abfolute, to preferve and defend any one whomfoever, 
 without rcfpecl: had, either to the true Religion, or thofe other fuperiour 
 things to be defended and preferv'd however, it cannot then be doubted, but 
 that the Covenant was rather a moft foolifh, hafty, and unlawful Vow, than a 
 deliberate and well-weigh'd Covenant -, fwearing us into Labyrinths and Repug- 
 nances, no way to be folv'd or reconcil'd, and therfore no way to be kept ; as 
 firft offending againll the Law of God, to vow the abfolute Prefervation, De- 
 fence, and Maintaining of one Man, though in his Sins and Offences never fo great 
 and heinous againft God or his Neighbour ; and to except a Perfon from Juftice, 
 wheras his Law excepts none. Secondly, it offends againft the Law of this 
 Nation, wherin, as hath been prov'd, Kings in receiving Juftice, and under- 
 going due trial, are not differenc'd from the meaneft Subjecb. Laftly, it contra- 
 dicts and offends againft the Covenant itfelf, which vows in the fourth Arti- 
 cle to bring to open trial and condign punifhment all thofe that mall be found 
 guilty of fuch Crimes and Delinquencies, wherofthe King by his own Letters 
 and other undeniable Teftimonics not brought to light till afterward, was found 
 and convicted to be the chief Actor in what they thought him, at the time of 
 taking that Covenant, to be over-rul'd only by evil Counfellors ; and thofe, or 
 vvhomfoever they fhould difcover to be principal, they vow'd to try, either by 
 their own fupreme Judicatories, for fo even then they call'd them, or by others 
 having Power from them to thateffeEl. So that to have brought the King to con- 
 dign Pumihment hath not broke the Covenant, but it would have broke the 
 
 Covenant
 
 An Anfioer to Eikon Bafilike. 443 
 
 I nant to have f.iv'd him from thofe Judicatories, which both Nations de- 
 clar'd in that Covenant to be fupreme againft any perfon whatfoever. And if 
 the Covenant fwore otherwife to preferve him than in the Prefervation of true 
 Religion and our Liberties, againft which he fought, if not in Arms, yet in 
 Resolution to his dying day, and now alter death it 1 11 fights againft in this his 
 Book, the Covenant was better broken, than he fav'd. And God hath teftify'd 
 by all propitious and evident figns, wherby in thefe latcer times he is wont to 
 teddy what pleafes him, that fuchafolemn and for many Ages Unexampled Ad 
 of due Punilhment, was no mockery of jujlice, but a molt grateful and well- 
 pleafing Sacrifice. Neither was it to cover their Perju-.y, as he accufes, but to 
 uncover his perjury to the Oath of his Coronation. 
 
 The reft of his difcourfe quite forgets the Title ; and turns his Meditations 
 upon death into obloquy and bitter vehemence againft his Judges and Accufers ; 
 imitating therin, not our Saviour, but his Grandmother Mary Queen of Scots, 
 a . alio in the moft of his other fcruples, exceptions and evafious ; and from 
 whom he feems to have learnt, as it were by heart, brelfe by kind, that which 
 is thought by his Admirers to be moft virtuous, moft manly, moft chriftian, 
 and moft martyr-like both of his words and fpeeches here, and of his Anfwers 
 and Behaviour at his Trial. 
 
 // is a fad fate, he faith, to have bis Enemies both Accufers, Parties, and Judges. 
 Sad indeed, but no fufficient Plea to acquit him from being fo judg'd. For what 
 Malefactor might not fometimes plead the like ? If his own crimes have made 
 ail men his Enemies, who elfe can judge him ? They of the Powder-plot againft 
 his Father might as well have pleaded the fame. Nay, at the Reiurrection it 
 may as well be pleaded, that the Saints who then fha!l judge the World, are both 
 Enemies, Judges, Parties, and Accufers. 
 
 So much he thinks to abound in his own defence, that he undertakes an un- 
 tneafurable talk •, to befpeak the Jingular care and protection of God over all Kings, 
 as being the greatefi Patrons of Law, Jujlice, Order, and Religion on Earth. But 
 what Patrons they be, God in the Scripture oft enough hath expreft j and the 
 Earth itfelf hath too long groan'd under the burden of their injuftice, diforder, 
 and irreligion. Therfore to bind their Kings in chains, and their Nobles with links 
 cf Iron, is an honour belonging co his Saints •, not to build Babel, which was 
 Nimrod's work, the firft King, and the beginning of his Kingdom was Babel, but 
 to deftroy it, efpecially that lpiritual Babel : and firft to overcome thofe Euro- 
 pean Kings, which receive their Power, not from God, but from the beaft ; 
 and are counted no better than his ten horns. Thefe fhall hate the great Whore, 
 and yet fhall give their Kingdoms to the Beaft that carries her ; they Jhall commit 
 Fornication with her, and yet fhall burn her with fire, and yet fhall lament the 
 fall of Baby Ion, where they fornicated with her. 
 
 "Thus fhall they be to and fro, doubtful and ambiguous in all their doings, un- 
 til at Lift, joining .their Armies with the Beaft, whole Power firft rais'd them, 
 they fhall perifh with him by the King of Kings, againft whom they have re- 
 bell'd i and the Fowls fhall eat their Flejh. This is their doom written, and the 
 utmolt that we find concerning them in thefe latter days ; which we have much 
 more caufe to believe, than his unwarranted Revelation here, prophefying 
 what fhall follow after his death, with thefpirit of Enmity, not of Saint John. 
 
 He would fain bring us out of conceit with the good Succefs which God hath 
 vouchfaf'd us. We meaiure not our caufe by our fuccefs, but our fuccels by our 
 caufe. Yet certainly in a good Caufe, fuccefs is a good confirmation ; for 
 God hathpromis'd it to good Men a 1 moft in every leaf of Scripture. If it ar- 
 gue not tor us, we are lure it argues not againft us ; but as much or more for 
 us, than ill luccefs argues for them •, for to the wicked God hath denoune'd ill 
 fuccefs in all that they take in hand. 
 
 He hopes much of thofe fofter tempers, as he calls them, and lefs advantag'd 
 by his ruin, that their Confcicnces do already gripe them. 'Tis true, there be a 
 fort of moody, hot-brain'd, and always unediry'd Confidences -, apt to engage 
 their Leaders into great and dangerous affairs paft retirement, and then upon a 
 hidden qualm and fwimming of their Confidence, to betray them bafely in the 
 rriidft or what was chiefly undertaken for their fakes. Let luch Men never meet 
 with any faithful Parlament to hazard for them ; never with any noble Spirit 
 to condufr. and lead them out, but let them live and die in fervile Condition and 
 Vol. I. LI 1 2 their
 
 444 da Anfwer to Eikon Bafilike. 
 
 their fcrupulous queafinefs, if no inftruction will confirm them. Others there bo 
 in whofe Confidences the lofs of gain, and thofe advantages they hoped for, hath 
 fprung a hidden Leak. Thefe are they that cry out, the Covenant broken ! and 
 to keep it better, Aide back into neutrality, or join actually with Incendiaries 
 and Malignants. But God hath eminently begun topunilh thofe, firft, in Scot- 
 land, then in Uljler, who have provok'dhim with the moft hateful kind of moc- 
 kery, to break his Covenant under pretence of ftricteft keeping it ; and hath fiub- 
 jected them to thofe Malignants, with whom they fcrupled not to be Aflbciates. 
 In God therfore we fhall not fear what their falfe fraternity can doagainft us. 
 
 He feeks again with cunning words to turn our fuccefs into our fin. But 
 might call to mind that the Scripture fpeaks of thofe alio, who when God flew 
 them, then fought him ; yet did but flatter him with their mouth, and ly'd to him witb 
 their tongues ; for their heart was not right with him. And there was one who in the 
 time of his affliction trefpafs'd more againft God; This was that King Ahaz. 
 
 He glories much in the forgivenefs of his Enemies ; fo did his Grandmother 
 at her death. Wile men would fooner have believ'd him, had he not fo often 
 told us fo. But he hopes to erecl the Trophies of his Charity over us. And Tro- 
 phies of Charity no doubt will be as glorious as Trumpets before the Alms of Hy- 
 pocrites •, and mot£ efpeciaily the Trophies of fuch an afpiring Charity as offers 
 in his Prayer to fhare victory with God's compajfion, which is over all his Works. 
 Such Prayers as thefe may perhaps catch the People, as was intended : but how 
 they plcafe God, is to be much doubted, though pray'd in fecret, much Ids 
 written to be divulg'd. Which perhaps may gain him after death a fhort, con- 
 temptible, and loon fading Reward ; not what he aims at, to ftir the con- 
 ftancy and folid firmnefs of any wife Man, or to unfettle the Confcience of any 
 knowing Chriftian, if he could ever aim at a thing fo hopelefs, and above the 
 genius of his Cleric Elocution, but to catch the worthlefs approbation of an in- 
 conftant, irrational, and image-doting Rabble. The reft, whom perhaps ig- 
 norance without malice, orfome error, lefs than fata!, hath for the time milled 
 on this fide Sorcery or Obduration, may find the grace and good guidance to 
 bethink themfelves and recover.
 
 A 
 
 DEFENCE 
 
 OF TH E 
 
 people of Cngianu, 
 
 In ANSWER to 
 Salmafwsh DEFENCE of the KING. 
 
 The PREFACE. 
 
 AL T H O' I fear, left, if in defending the People of England, I fliould be 
 as copious in Words, and empty of Matter, as molt Men think Sal- 
 mqfius has been in his Defence of the King, I might feem to deferve 
 juftly to be accounted a verbofe and filly Defender j yet fince no Man 
 thinks himfelf obliged to make fo much hafte, tho' in the handling but of any 
 ordinary Subject, as not to premife fome Introduction at leaft, according as the 
 weight of his Subject requires; if I take the fame courfe in handling almolt 
 the greateft Subject that ever was, (without being too tedious in it) I am in hopes 
 of attaining two things, which indeed I earneftly defire. The one, not to be 
 at all wanting, as far as in me lies, to this mod Noble Caufe, and molt worthy 
 to be recorded to all future Ages : The other, That I may appear to have a- 
 voided myfelf, that frivoloufnefs of Matter, and redundancy of Words, which 
 I blame in my Antagonift. For I am about to difcourfe of Matters, nei- 
 ther inconfiderable nor common, but how a moft Potent King, after he had 
 trampled upon the Laws of the Nation, and given a fhock to its Religion, and 
 begun to rule at his own Will and Pleafure, was at laft fubdu'd in the Field by 
 his own Subjects, who had undergone a long Slavery under him •, how after- 
 wards he was caft into Prifon, and when he gave no ground, either by Words 
 or Actions, to hope better things of him, he was finally by the Supreme Coun- 
 cil of the Kingdom condemned to die, and beheaded before the very Gates 
 of the Royal Palace. I fliall likewife relate (which will much conduce to the 
 eafing Men's Minds of a great Superftition) by what Right, efpecially according 
 to" our Law, this Judgment was given, and all thefe Matters tranfacted ; and 
 fliall eafily defend my Valiant and Worthy Countrymen (who have extremely 
 well deferved of all Subjects and Nations in the World) from the moft wicked 
 Calumnies both of Domeftic and Foreign Railers, and efpecially from the Re- 
 proaches of this moft vain and empty Sophifter, who fets up foi» a Captain and 
 Ringleader to all the reft. For what King's Majefty fitting upon an exalted 
 Throne, ever fhone fo brightly, as that of the People of England then did, when 
 fhaking off that old Superftition, which had prevailed a long time, they gave 
 Judgment upon the King himfelf, or rather upon an Enemy who had been 
 their King, caught as it were in a Net by hisown Laws, (who alone of all Mortals 
 challenged to himfelf impunity by a Divine Right) and fcrupled not to inflict 
 the fame punifhtnent upon him, being guilty, which he would have inflicted 
 upon any other ? But why do I mention thefe things as performed by the Peo- 
 ple, which almoft open their Voice themfelvcs, ami teftify the Prefcnce of God 
 throughout? Who, as often as it feems good to his Infinite Wifdom, ufes to 
 throw down proud and unruly Kings, exalting themfelves above the Condition 
 
 of 
 
 445
 
 446 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 of Human Nature, and utterly to extirpate them and all their Family. By his 
 manifeft Impulfe being fet on work to recover our almoft loft Liberty, follow- 
 ing him as our Guide, and adoring the impreffes of his Divine Power manifelled 
 upon all occafions, we went on in no obfcure, but an illuitrious PafTage, pointed 
 out and made plain to us by God himfelf. Whichthings, if I mould io much 
 as hope by any diligence or ability of mine, fuch as it is, to difcourfe of as I 
 oiicht to do, and to commit them fo to writing, as that perhaps all Nations and 
 all Ages may read them, it would be a very vain thing in me. For whatftile can 
 be au CT uft and magnificent enough, what man has parts fufficientto undertake lb 
 «reat a Talk ? Since we find by experience, that in fo many Ages as are gone 
 over the World, there has been but here and there a Man found, who has been 
 able worthily to recount the Actions of Great Heroes, and Potent States ; can any 
 man have fo good an opinion of his own Talents, as to think hin*felf capable to 
 reach thefe glorious and wonderful Works of Almighty God, by any Language, 
 by any ftile of his ? Which Enterprize, though fome of the moft eminent Per- 
 fons in our Commonwealth 'have prevailed upon me by their Authority to under- 
 take, and would have it be my bufinefs to vindicate with my Pen againfc Envy 
 and Calumny (which are proof againft Arms) thofe Glorious Performances of 
 theirs (whole opinion of me I take as a very great honour that they ftiould 
 pitch upon me before others to be ferviceable in this kind to thofe molt Valiant 
 Deliverers of my Native Country ; and true it is, that from my very Youth I 
 have been bent extremely upon fuch fort of Studies, as inclin'd me, if not to 
 do crreat things myfelf, at leaft to celebrate thofe that did) yet as having no 
 confidence in any fuch Advantages, I have recourfe to the Divine Affiflance ; 
 and invoke the Great and Holy God, the Giver of all good Gifts, that I may 
 ns fubftantially, and as truly, difcufs and refute the Saucinefs and Lyes of this 
 Foreign Declamator, as our Noble Generals pioufly and fucceisfully by force of 
 Arms broke the King's Pride, and his unruly Domineering, and afterwards put 
 an end to both by inflicting a memorable Punilhment upon himfelf, and as 
 thoroughly as a fingle Perfon did with cafe but of late contuteand confound the 
 King himfelf, rifing as it were from the Grave, and recommending himfelf to 
 the People in a Book publifh'd after his death, with new Artifices and Allure- 
 ments of Words and Exprefiions. Which Antagonift of mine, though he be 
 a Foreigner, and, though he deny it a thoufand times over, but a poor Gram- 
 marian ; yet not contented with the Salary due to him in that Capacity, chofe 
 to turn a Pragmatical Coxcomb ; and not only to intrude in State- Affairs^ but 
 into the Affairs of a Foreign State : tho' he brings along with him neither Mo- 
 defty, nor Underftanding, nor any other Qualification requifite in fo great an 
 Arbitrator, but Saucinefs, and a little Grammar only. Indeed if he had pub- 
 lifh'd here, and in Englijh, the fame things that he has now wrote in Latin fuch 
 as it is, I think no Man would have thought it worth while to return an Anfwer 
 to them, but would partly clefpife them as common, and exploded over and over 
 already, and partly abhor them as fordid and tyrannical Maxims, not to be 
 endured even by the moft abject of Slaves : Nay, Men that have fided with 
 the King, would have had thefe thoughts of his Book. But fince he has fwol'n 
 it to a confiderable bulk, and dilpers'd it amongft Foreigners, who are 
 altogether ignorant of our Affairs and Conftitution ; it's fit that they who 
 miftake them, ftiould be better informed ; and that he, who is fo very forward 
 to fpeak ill of others, mould be treated in his own kind. If it be afked, why 
 we did not then attack him fooner, why we fuffered him to triumph fo long, 
 and pride himfelf in our filence ? For others lam not to anfwer ; for myfelf 
 I can boldly lay, That I had neither Words nor Arguments long to feck for the 
 defence of fo good a Caufe, if I had enjoyed fuch a meafure of health, as 
 would have endur'd the fatigue of writing. And being but weak in Body, I 
 am forced to write by piece-meal, and break off" almoft every hour, though 
 the Subject be fuch as requires an unintermitted ftudy and intenfenefs of mind. 
 But though this bodily Indifpofition may be a hindrance to me in fetting forth 
 the juft Praifes of my moft worthy Countrymen, who have been the Saviours 
 of their Native Country, and whole Exploits, worthy of Immortality, are al- 
 ready famous all the World over; yet I hope it will be no difficult matter for 
 me to defend them from the Infolence of this filly little Scholar, and from that 
 faucy Tongue of his, at leaft. Nature and Laws would be in an ill cafe, if 
 
 Slavery
 
 in anfioer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 447 
 
 Slavery ihould find what to fay for itfelf, and Liberty be mute: and if Tyrants 
 fhould find men to plead for them, and they that can matter and vanquifh Ty- 
 rants, mould not be able to find Advocates. And it were a deplorable thing in- 
 deed, if the Reafon Mankind is endu'd withal, and which is the gift of God, 
 mould not furnifh more Arguments for Men's Prefervation, for their Delive- 
 rance, and, as much as the nature of the thing will bear, for making them equal 
 to one another, than for their Oppreflion, and for their utter ruin under the 
 Domineering Power of one fingle Perlbn. T*t me therfore enter upon this 
 Nobie Caufe with a cheerfulnefs, grounded upon this AfTurance, That my Ad- 
 verfary's Caufe is maintain'd by nothing but Fraud, Fallacy, Ignorance and 
 B.rbarity; wheras mine has Light, Truth, Reafon, the Practice and the 
 Learning of the beft Ages of the World, of its fide. 
 
 But now, having faid enough for an Introduction, fince we have to do with 
 Critics •, let us in the firft place confider the Title of this choice Piece : De- 
 fenfio R gia pro Car. Prima, ad Car. Secundum : A Royal Defence (or the Kind's 
 Defence) for Charles the Firft, to Char lei the Second. You undertake a wonder- 
 ful piece of work, whoever you are ; to plead the Father's Caufe before his own 
 Son : a hundred to one but you carry it. But I fummon you, Salmajius\ who 
 hertofore fculk'd under a wrong name, and now go by no name at all, to ap- 
 pear before another Tribunal, and before other Judges, where perhaps you 
 may not hear thole little Applaufes, which you ule to be lb fond of in your 
 School. But why this Royal Defence dedicated to the King's own Son ? We 
 need not put him to the torture ; he confeffes why. At the King's charge, fays 
 he. O mercenary and chargeable Advocate ! cou:d you not airord to write a 
 Defence ior Charles the Father, whom you pretend to have been the bell of 
 Kings, to Charles the Son, the mod indigent of all Kings, but it muft be at 
 the poor King's own Charge ? But though you are a Knave, you would not 
 make yourfelf ridiculous, in calling it the King's Defence ; for you having fold 
 it, it i^ no longer yours, but the King's indeed : who bought it at the price of 
 a hundred Jacobuffes, a great Sum for a poor King to dilburfe. I know very well 
 what I lay : and 'tis well enough known who brought the Gold, and the Purfe 
 wrought with Beads: We know who faw you reach out greedy Fills, under pre- 
 tence of embracing the King's Chaplain, who brought the Prefent, but indeed 
 to embrace the Prefent itfelf, and by accepting it to exhauft almofl all the 
 King's Treafury. 
 
 But now the Man comes himlelf, the Door creaks ; the Actor comes upon the 
 Stage. 
 
 Infilencc now, and with attention wait, 
 
 That ye may ham what th' Eunuch has to prate. Terent. 
 
 For whatever the matter is with him, he blufters more than ordinary. A 
 horrible meffage had lately ft ruck our Ears, but our Minds mere, with a heinous wound 
 concerning a Parricide committed in England in the Perfon of a King, by a wicked Con- 
 / racy of Sacrilegious Men. Indeed that horrible Meffage muft either have had a 
 much longer Sword than that which Peter drew, or thofe Ears muft have been 
 of a wonderful length, that it could wound at fuch a diftance ; for it could not 
 Jo much as in the leaft offend any Ears but thofe of an Afs. For what harm is 
 it to you, that are Foreigners ? Are any of you hurt by it, if we amongft our- 
 felves put our own Enemies, our own Traitors to death, be they Commoners, 
 Noblemen, or Kings ? Do you, Salmafius, let alone what does not concern 
 you : lor I have a horrible Meffage to bring of you too ; which I'm miftaken if 
 it ftrike not a more heinous Wound into the Ears of all Grammarians and Critics, 
 provided they have any Learning and Delicacy in them, to wit, your croud- 
 ing fo many barbarous Expreffions together in one Period in the Perfon of (Ari- 
 ftarcbus) a Grammarian -, and that fo great a Critic as you, hired at the King's 
 charge to write a Defence of the King his Father^ fhould not only fet fo fulfome 
 a Preface before it, much Jike thofe lamentable Ditties that ufed to be lung at 
 Funerals, and which can move Companion in none but a Coxcomb ; but in the 
 very firft Sentence ihould provoke your Readers to laughter with fo many Bar- 
 . barifms all at once. Perfona Regis, you cry. Where do you find any fuch La- 
 tin ? Or are you telling us fome Tale or other of a Perkin IVarbcc, who taking 
 
 upon
 
 448 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 upon him the Per/on of a King, has, forfooth, committed fome horrible Parri- 
 cide in England? Which expreflion, though dropping carelefly from your Pen, 
 has more truth in it, than you are aware of. For a Tyrant is but like a King 
 upon a Stage, a man in a Vizor, and acting the part of a King in a Play ; he is 
 not really a King. But as for thefe Gallicifms, that are fo frequent in your 
 Book, I won't lalli you for them myfelf, for I am not at leifure ; but fhall de- 
 liver vou over to your Fellow-Grammarians, to be laught to fcorn and whipt by 
 them.' What follows is much rf\ire heinous, that what was decreed by our Su- 
 preme Magistrates to be done to the King, mould be faid by you to have been 
 clone by a wicked Con/piracy of facn legions Perfons. Have you the impudence, you 
 Ro^ue, to talk at this rate of the Acts and Decrees of the chief Magistrates of 
 a Nation, that lately was a moft Potent Kingdom, and is now a more Potent 
 Commonwealth ? Whofe proceedings no King ever took upon him by word of 
 mouth, or otherwife to vilify and let at nought. The Illuftrious States of 
 Holland therfore, the Genuine Off- Spring of thole Deliverers of their Coun- 
 try, have defervedly by their Edict condemned to utter Darknefs this Defence of 
 Tyrants, fo pernicious to the Liberty of all Nations; the Author of which, 
 every Free State ought to forbid their Country, or to banifh out of it •, and that 
 State particularly that feeds with a Stipend fo ungrateful and fo lavage an Enemy 
 to their Commonwealth, whole very Fundamentals, and the caufes of their be- 
 coming a free State, this Fellow endeavours to undermine as well as ours, and 
 at one and the lame time to Subvert both ; loading with Calumnies the moSt 
 worthy Afferters of Liberty there, under our Names. Confider with your- 
 felves, ye moSt Illuftrious States of the United Netherlands, who it was that put 
 this ASTertor of Kingly Power upon fetting Pen to Paper ? who it was, that but 
 lately began to play Rex in your Country ? what Counfels were taken, what 
 Endeavours ufed, and what disturbances enfued therupon in Holland ? and to 
 what pafs things might have been brought by this time ? Flow Slavery and a 
 new MafteY were ready prepar'd for you ; and how near expiring that Liberty 
 of yours, aflerted and vindicated by fo many years War and Toil, would have 
 been ere now, if it had not taken breath again by the timely death of a cer- 
 tain ralh young GENTLEMAN. But our Author begins to Strut again, 
 and to feign wonderful Tragedies •, JVhomfoever this dreadful news reacbt Cto 
 wit, the news of Salmajius's Parricidial Barbariims) all of a fudden, as if they had 
 been Jlruck with Lightning, their hair flood an end, and their tongues clove to the 
 roof of their mouth. Which let natural Philofophers take notice of (for this fecret 
 in nature was never difcovered before) that Lightning makes mens hair Stand an 
 end. But who knows not that little effeminate minds are apt to be amaz'd 
 at the news of any extraordinary great Action ; and that then they Shew them- 
 felves to be, what they really were before, no better than fo many Stocks ? 
 Some could not refrain from tears -, fome little Women at Court, I fuppofe, or 
 if there be any more effeminate than they, of whole number Salmajius himfelf 
 bein^. one, is by a new Metamorphofis become a Fountain near a-kin to his Name 
 (Salmacis) and with his counterfeit flood of tears prepared over night, endea- 
 vours to emafculate generous minds : I advife therfore, and wifh them to have 
 a care ; 
 
 ' Infamis ne quern male fortibus undis 
 
 Sal mac is Enervet, 
 
 . Ne, ft vircum venerit, exeat indi 
 
 Semivir, £s? taEiisfubito mollefcat in undis. 
 
 Abstain, as Manhood you efteem, 
 
 From Salmacis' pernicious Stream : 
 
 If but one moment there you Stay, 
 
 Too dear you'll for your Bathing pay. ■ 
 
 Depart nor Man nor Woman, but a Sight 
 
 Difgracing both, a loath'd Hermaphrodite. 
 
 They that had more courage (which yet he exprefles in miferable bald Latin, as 
 if he could notfo much as Speak of Men of Courage and Magnanimity in proper 
 words) were jet on fire with indignation to that degree, that they could hardly contain 
 
 them- 
 4
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. aaq 
 
 ihemfehes. Thofe furious Hectors we value not of arufh. We have been ac- 
 cuftomed to rout fuch Bullies in the Field with a true fober courage •, a courage 
 becoming Men that can contain themfelvcs, and are in their right Wits. There 
 were none that didnot curje the Authors of fo horrible a Villany. But yet, you fav, 
 their tongues clove to the roof of their mouths ; and if you mean this of our 
 Fugitives only, I wifh they had clove there to this day ; for we know very well 
 that there's nothing more common with them, than to have their mouths full of 
 Curfes and Imprecations, which indeed all good Men abominate, but withal 
 defpife. As for others, it's hardly credible, that when they heard the news 
 of our having inflicted a Capital Punifhment upon the King, there fhould any 
 be found, efpeciaUy in a Free State, fo naturally adapted to Slavery as cither to 
 ipeakill of us, or fo much as to cenfure what we had done. Nay, 'tis highly 
 probable that all good Men applauded us, and gave God thanks for fo illuftri- 
 ous, lb exalted apiece of Juflice ; and for a Caution lb very ufcful to other 
 Princes. In the mean time, as for thofe fierce, thole fleet '-hearted Men, that, you 
 fay, take on for, and' bewail fo pitifully, the lamentable and wonderful death of 
 I know not who ; them, I fay, together with their tinkling Advocate, the dul- 
 left that ever appeared fince the name of a King was born and known in the World 
 we fhall e'en let whine on, till they cry their eyes out. But in the mean time' 
 what School-boy, what little infignificant Monk could not have made a more 
 elegant Speech for the King, and in better Latin than this Royal Advocate has 
 done ? But it would be folly in me to make fuch particular Animadverfions 
 upon his Childilhnefs and Frenzies throughout his Book, as I do here upon a 
 few in the beginning of it •, which yet I would be willing enough to do (for we 
 hear that he is fwell'd with Pride and Conceit to the utmoft degree imaginable) 
 if the undigefted and immethodical bulk of his Book did not protect him. He 
 was refolved to take a courle like the Soldier in Terence, to lave his Bacon ; and 
 it was very cunning in him to fluff his Book with fomuch Puerility, and fo ma- 
 ny filly "Whimfies, that it might naufeate the fmarteft Man in the World to 
 death to take notice of them all. Only I thought it might not be amifs to cdvea 
 Specimen of him in the Preface; and to let the ferious Reader have a tafte of 
 him at firft, that he might guels by the firft difh that's ferved up, how noble an 
 Entertainment the reft are like to make ; and that he may imagine with him- 
 felf what an infinite number of Fooleries and Impertinences muff needs be heap- 
 ed up together in the body of the Book, when they ftand fo thick in the very En- 
 trance into it, where, of all other places, they ought to have been fhunned. His 
 tittle-tattle that follows, and his Sermons fit for nothing but to be worm-eaten, 
 I can eafily pafs by; as for any thing in them relating to us, we doubt not in 
 the leaft, but that what has been written and publilhed by Authority of Parla- 
 mentj will have far greater weight with all wife and fober Men, than the Ca- 
 lumnies and Lyes of one (ingle impudent little Fellow : who being hired by our 
 Fugitives, their Country's Enemies, has fcrap'd together, and not fcrupled to 
 publifh in Print, whatever little Story anyone of them that employed him, 
 put into his head. And that all Men may plainly fee how little confeience he 
 makesof letting down any thing right or wrong, good or bad, I defire no o- 
 ther Witnefs than Salmqfius himfelf. In his book, entitled, Apparatus contra 
 Primatum Papa; he fays, ' There are moll weighty Reafons why the Church 
 ' ought to lay afide Epifcopacy, and return to the Apoftolical Inftitution of 
 
 * Prefbyters: That a far greater mi ("chief has been introduced into the Church 
 4 by Epifcopacy, than theSchifms themfelves were, which were before appre- 
 ' hended : That the plague which Epifcopacy introduced, depreffed the who'e 
 ' body of the Church under a milerable Tyranny ; nay, had put a yoke even 
 ' upon the necks of Kings and Princes : That it would be more beneficial tothe 
 ' Church, if the whole Hierarchy itfeif were extirpated, than if the Pope only, 
 ' who is the head of it, were laid afide, page 160. ' That it would be very 
 ' much for the good of the Church, if Epifcopacy were taken away, together with 
 ' the Papacy: That if Epifcopacy were once taken down, the Papacy would fall 
 
 * of itfeif, as beingjfoundeduponit,/"^ 171. He fays, ' he can lhew very good 
 ' reafons why Epifcopacy ought to be put down in thofe Kingdoms that have 
 
 * renounced the Pope's Supremacy ; but that he can fee no reafon for attaining 
 ' it there : That a Reformation is not entire, that is defective in this point : 
 ' That no reafon can be alledg'd, rjo probable caufe alfigned, why the Supre- 
 
 * macy of the Pope being once difowntd, Epifcopacy mould notwithstanding 
 
 Vol.. I. M m m ' be
 
 450 A Defence of the People (/England, 
 
 ' be retained, page 197. Though he had wrote all this, and a great deal more to 
 this effect, but four years ago, he is now become fo vain and fo impudent with- 
 al, as to accufe the Parlament of England, ' for not only turning the Bifhops out 
 « 'of the Houfe of Lords, but for abolifhing Epifcopacy itfelf. Nay, he per- 
 fuades us to receive Epifcopacy, and defends it by the very fame Reafons and 
 Arguments, which with a great deal of earneftnefs he had confuted himfelf in 
 that former Book ; to wit, '* That Bifhops were neceffary, and ought to have 
 ' been retained, to prevent the fpringing up of a Thoufand pernicious Seels and 
 ' Herefies. Crafty Turn-coat ! Are you not afham'd to fhift hands thus in 
 things that are Sacred, and (I had almoft faid) to betray the Church ; whofe 
 mofl folemn Inftitutions you feem to have afferted and vindicated with fo much 
 noife, that when it fliould feem for your intereft to change fides, you might un- 
 do and fubvert all again with the more difgrace and infamy to yourfelf? It's 
 notorioufly known, That when both Houfes of Parlament, being extreamly 
 defirous to reform the Church of England by the pattern of other Reformed 
 Churches, had refolv'd to abolifh Epifcopacy, the King firft interpofed and 
 afterwards waged War againft them chiefly for that very Caufe ; which proved 
 fatal to him. Go now and boaft of your having defended the King ; who, 
 that you might the better defend him, do now openly betray and impugn the 
 Caufe of the Church, whole Defence you yourfelf had formerly undertaken ; 
 and whofe fevered Cenfures ought; to be inflided upon you. As for the prefent 
 form of our Government, fince fuch a foreign infignificant Profeffor as you, 
 havino- laid afide your Boxes and Defks fluffed with nothing but Trifles, which 
 you might have fpent your time better in putting into order, will needs 
 turn bufy-body, and be troublefome in other Men's matters, I mall return you 
 this anfwer, or rather not to you, but to them that are wifer than yourfelf, viz. 
 That the Form of it is fuch as our prefent diffractions will admit of ; not fuch 
 as were to be wifh'd, but fuch as the obftinate Divifions that are amongft us, 
 will bear. What State foever is peflered with Factions, and defends it 
 felf by Force of Arms, is very juft in having regard to thofe only that are found 
 and untainted, and in overlooking or fecluding the reft, be they of the Nobility 
 or the Common People ; nay, though profiting by experience, they fhould 
 refufe to be govern'd any longer, either by a King or a Houfe of Lords. But in 
 railing at that Supreme Council, as you call it, and at the Chairman there, you 
 make yourfelf very ridiculous ; for that Council is not the Supream Council, 
 as you dream it is, but appointed by Authority of Parlament, for a certain time 
 only ; and confirming of forty perlbns, for the moft part Members of Parla- 
 ment, anyone of whom may be Prefident, if the reft vote him into the Chair. 
 And there is nothing more common, than for our Parlaments to appoint Com- 
 mittees of their own Members ; who, when fo appointed, have Power to meet 
 where they pleafe, and hold a kind of little Parlament amongft themfelves. 
 And the moft weighty Affairs are often referred to them, for Expedition and 
 Secrefy ; the care of the Navy, the Army, the Treafury •, in fhort, all things 
 whatsoever relating either to Waror Peace. Whether this be called a Council, 
 or any thing elfe, the thing is ancient, though the name may be new ; and it is 
 fuch an Inftitution, as no Government catt be duly adminiftred without it. 
 As fcr.our putting the King to death, and changing the Government, forbear 
 vour bawling, don't fpit your Venom, till, going along with you through every 
 Chapter, I Ihow, whether you will or no, by ivhat Law, by what Right and 
 Jujtice all that was done. But if you infift to know by what Right, by what Law ; 
 by that Law, I tell you, which God and Nature have enacted, viz. that what- 
 ever things are for the Univerfal Good of the whole State, are for that reafon 
 lawful and juft. So wife Men of o'd uied to anfwer fuch as you. You find 
 fault with us for Repealing Laws that had obtained for fo many years ; but you do 
 not tell us whether thofe Laws were good or bad, nor, if you did, fhould we 
 heed what you laid ; for, you bufy Puppy, what have you to do with our 
 Laws ? I wifti our Magiftrates had repealed more than they have, both Laws 
 and Lawyers ; if they had, they would have confulted the Intereft of the 
 Chriftiari Religion, and that of the People better than they have done. It frets 
 you, That Hobgoblins, Sons of the Earth, fcarce Gentlemen at home, fcarce known 
 to their own Countrymen, fhould pre fame to do fuch things. But you ought to have 
 remembred, what not only the Scriptures, but Horace would have taught you, 
 viz. 
 
 — Valet
 
 in anjwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 45 
 
 Valet imafummis 
 
 Mutare, & infignem attenuat Dens, 
 Ob few a pr omens, &c. 
 
 The Power that did create, can change the Scene 
 Of things; make mean of great, and great of mean: 
 The brighteft Glory can eclipfe with Night ; 
 And place the molt obfeure in dazling Light. 
 
 But take this into the bargain. Some of thofe who, you fay, be fcarce 
 Gentlemen, are not at all inferior in birth to any of your party. Others, 
 whofe Anceftors were not noble, have taken a courfe to attain to true Nobility 
 by their own Induftryand Vertue, and are not inferior to Men of the Nobleft 
 Defcent. They had rather be called Sons of the Earth, provided it be their 
 own Earth (their own Native Country) and aft like Men at home, than, be- 
 ing deft itute ofHoufeor Land, to relieve the Neceffities of Nature in a Fo- 
 reign Country by felling of Smoke, as thou doft, an inconfiderable Fellow and a 
 Jack-ftraw, and who dependeft upon the good-will of thy Matters for a poor 
 Stipend ; for whom it were better to difpenfe with thy labours, and return to 
 thy own Kindred and Countrymen, if thou hadft not this one piece of Cun- 
 ning, to babble out fome filly Preleftions and Fooleries at fo good a rate amon°-ft 
 Foreigners. You find fault with our Magiftrates for admitting fuch a Common- 
 Jhore of all forts of Seels. Why fhould they not ? It belongs to the Church to 
 caft them out of the Communion of the faithful ; not to the Magiftrate to ba- 
 nifh them the Country, provided they do not offend againft the Civil Laws of 
 the State. Men at firft united into Civil Societies, that they might live fafely, 
 and enjoy their Liberty, without being wrong'd or opprefs'd ; and that they 
 might live religioufly and according to the Doctrine of Chriftianity, they uni- 
 ted themfelves into Churches. Civil Societies have Laws, and Churches havea 
 Difcipline peculiar to themfelves, and far differing from each other. And 
 this has been the occafion of fo many Wars in Chriftendom ; to wit, becaufethe 
 Civil Magiftrate and the Church confounded their Jurifdictions. Therfore we 
 do not admit of the Popiflo Sect, fo as to tolerate Papifts at all ; for we do not 
 look upon that as a Religion, but rather as an Hierarchical Tyranny, under a 
 Cloak of Religion, cloathed with the Spoils of the Civil Power, which it has 
 ufurp'd to itfelf contrary to our Saviour's own Doctrine. As for the Indepen- 
 dents, we never had any fuch amongft us, as you defcribe ; they that we call 
 Independents, are only fuch as hold that no Claffis or Synods have a Superiority 
 over any particular Church, and that therfore they ought all to be pluck'd up 
 by the Roots, as Branches, or rather as the very Trunk of Hierarchy itfelf j 
 which is your own opinion too. And from hence it was that the name of In- 
 dependents prevailed amongft the Vulgar. The reft of your Preface is fpent in 
 endeavouring not only to ftir up the hatred of all Kings and Monarchs againft 
 us, but to perfuadethem to make a general War upon us. Mithridatesot'old, 
 though in a different caufe, endeavoured to ftir up all Princes to make Warup- 
 on the Romans, by laying to their charge almoftjuft the fame things that you 
 do to ours : viz. that the Romans aim'd at nothing but the Subvcrfion of all 
 Kingdoms, that they had no regard to any thing, whether facred or civil, that 
 from their very firll rile, they never enjoy'd any thing but what they hadacquir'd 
 by force, that they were Robbers, and the greatelt Enemies in the World to 
 Monarchy. Thus Mithridates exprdl himfelf in a Letter to Arfaces, King of 
 the Parthians. But how came you, whofe bufinefs it is to make filly Speeches 
 from your Defk, to have the confidence to imagine, that by your pcrfuafions 
 to take up Arms, and/ an Alarm as it were, yoti fhould be able fo much 
 
 as to influ n< e a King amongft Boys at play ; efpecially, with fo fhrill a Voice, 
 and unfa voury Breath, that I believe, if you were to have been the Trumpeter, 
 not fo much as Homer's Mice would have waged War againft the Frogs ? So 
 little do we fear, you Slug you, any War or Danger from Foreign Princes 
 through your filly Rhetoric, who accufeft us to them, juft as if you were at 
 play, That we tofs Kings Heads like Balls ; play at Bowls with Crowns ; and regard 
 Scepters no more than if they were Fool's Staves with heads on : But you in the mean 
 
 Vol. I. Mmm 2 time.
 
 ac 2 A Defence of the People of England. 
 
 time, you filly Loggerhead, deferve to have your Bones well thraihed with a 
 Fool's ftaff, for thinking to ftir up Kings and Princes to War by fuch childifh 
 Arguments. Then you cry aloud to all Nations, who, I know full well, will 
 never heed what you fay. You call upon that wretched and barbarous Crew 
 of Irijh Rebels too, to affert the King's Party. Which one thing is fufficient 
 evidence how much you are both a Fool and a Knave, and how you out-do al- 
 moft all Mankind in Villany, Impudence, and Madnefs ; who fcruple not to 
 implore the Loyalty and Aid of an execrable People, devoted to the Slaughter', 
 whom the King himfelf always abhorr'd, or fo pretended, to have any thing 
 to do with, by reafon of the guilt of fo much innocent Blood, which they had 
 contracted. And that very Perfidioufnefs and Cruelty, which he endeavoured 
 as much as he could to conceal, and to clear himfelf from any fufpicion of,, you 
 the moft villanous of Mortals, as fearing neither God nor Man, voluntarily and 
 openly take upon yourfelf. Go on then, undertake the King's Defence at the 
 Encouragement, and by the Affiftance of the Irijh. You take care, and fo you 
 mio-ht well, left any fhould imagine that you were about to bereave Cicero or 
 Denwjlbencs of the praife due to their Eloquence", by telling us before-hand, that 
 you conceive you ought not to [peak like an Orator. 'Tis wifely faid of a Fool ; you 
 conceive you ought not to do what is not in your power to do : and who that 
 knows you never fo little, ever expects any thing like an Orator from you ? 
 Who neither ufcs, nor is able to publifh any thing that's Elaborate, Diftinct, 
 qr has fo much as Senfe in it ; but like a fecond Crifpin, or that little Grecian 
 Tzetzes, you do but write a great deal, take no pains to write well ; nor could 
 write any thing well, though you took never fo much pains. This Caufe /hall 
 be argued (fay you] in the hearings and as it were before the Tribujial of all Man- 
 kind. That's what we like fo well, that we could now wifh we had a difcreet 
 and intelligent Adverfary, and not fuch a hair-brain'd Blunderbufs, as you, to 
 deal with. You conclude very Tragically, like A) ax in his Raving ; I will 
 proclaim to Heaven and Earth the Injttfiice, the Villany> the Perfidioufnefs and 
 Cruelty of tbefeMcn, and will deliver them over convicled to all Pofterity. O Flow- 
 ers ! that fuch a witlefs, fenfelefs Bawler, one that was born but to fpoil or tran- 
 fcribegood Authors, fhould think himfelf able to write any thing of his own, 
 that will reach Pofterity, whom together with his frivolous Scribbles, the very 
 next Age will bury in Oblivion ; unlefs this Defence of the King perhaps may 
 be beholden to the Anfwer I give to it, for being looked into now and then. 
 And I would entreat the Illultrious States of Holland to take off their Prohibi- 
 tion, andfuffer the Book to be publicly fold. For when 1 have detected the 
 Vanity, Ignorance, andFalfhood, that it is full of, the farther it ipreads, the 
 more effectually it will be fuppreft. Now let us hear how he convilts us.
 
 453 
 
 DEFENCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 oplt of Cnglanu* 
 
 CHAP. I, 
 
 IPerfuade myfelf, Salmqfius, that you being a vain flafhy Man, are not a 
 little proud of being the King of Great-Britain's Defender, who himfelf 
 wasftil'd the Defender of the Faith. For my part, I think you deferve 
 your Titles both alike ; for the King defended the Faith, and you have 
 defended him lb, that betwixt you, you have fpoiled both your Caufes : which 
 I mall make appear throughout the whole enfuing Difcourie, and particular- 
 ly in this very Chapter. You told us in the 12th Page of your Preface, That 
 fo good and fo juft a Caufe ought not to be embeliflfd with any Flourijhes of Rhetoric •, 
 That the King needed no other Defence, than by a bare Narrative of his Story : and 
 yet in your firft Chapter, in which you had promifed us that bare Narrative, 
 you neither tell the Story right, nor do you abftain from making ufe of all the 
 (kill you have in Rhetoric to fet it off*. So that, if we muft take your own 
 judgment, we muft believe the King's Caufe to be neither good nor juft. But 
 by the way I would advife you not to have fo good an Opinion of yourfelf 
 (for no body elfe has fo of you) as to imagine that you are able to fpeak well up- 
 on any Subject, who can neither play the part of an Orator, nor an Hiftorian, 
 nor exprefs yourfelf in a Stile that would not be ridiculous even in a Lawyer -, 
 but like a Mountebank's Jugler, with big fwelling words in your Preface, you 
 raifedour expectation, as if fome mighty matter were to enfue : in which your 
 defign was not fo much to introduce a true Narrative of the King's Story, as to 
 make your own empty intended flourifhes go offthe better. For being nofto about 
 to give us an account of thematter of Faff, you find yourfelf encompafted and affrighted 
 withfo numy Monflers of Novelty, that you are at a lofs what to fay firft, what next, 
 and what laft of all. 1*11 tell you what the matter is with you. In the firft place, 
 you find yourfelf affrighted and aftonifhed at your own monftrous Lyes, and then 
 you find that empty head of yours not encompafled, but carried round with fo 
 many trifles and fooleries, that you not only now do not, but never did know 
 what was fit to be fpoken, and in what method. Among the many Difficulties 
 thai you find in expreffing the heinoujnefs of fo incredible a piece of, Impiety, this one 
 offers itfelf, you fay, which is eafily faid, and muft often be repeated ; to wit, That 
 the Sun itfelf never beheld a more outragious affion. But by your good leave, Sir, 
 the Sun has beheld many things, that blind Bernard never faw. But we are con- 
 tent you fliould mention the Sun over and over. And it will be a piece of Pru- 
 dence in you fo to do. For though our wickednefs does not require it, the cold- 
 nefs of the defence that you are making, does. The Original of Kings, you fay, 
 is as ancient as that cf the Sun. May the Gods and GoddelTes, Damqfippus, blefs 
 thee with an everlaftingSolftice ; that thou mayeft always be warm, thou that 
 can'ft not ftir a foot without the Sun. Perhaps you would avoidthe imputation 
 of being called a Doctor Umbraticus. But alas ! you are in perfect darknels, 
 that make no difference betwixt a Paternal Power, and a Regal : and that when 
 you had called Kings Fat hers of their Country, could fancy that with that Me- 
 taphor you had perfuaded us that whatever is applicable to a Father, is fo to a 
 King. Alas! there's.', great difference betwixt them. Our Fathers begot us. 
 
 Our
 
 4 ? 4 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 Our King made not us, but we him. Nature has given Fathers to us all, but 
 we ourfelves appointed our own King. So that the People is not for the King 
 but theKin- for them. We bear with a Father, though he be barfb and fever e ; and 
 fo we do with a King. But we do not bear -with a Father, if he be a I y rant. 
 If a Father murder his Son, he himfelf muft die lor it ; and why fhould not a 
 Kina be fubiect to the fame Law, which certainly is a moft juft one ? Efpecially 
 confiderincr'that a Father cannot by any poffibilitydiveft himfelf or that Rela- 
 tion but a King eafily may make himfelf neither King nor Father of his People. 
 If this action of ours be confidered according to its quality, as you call it, I, who 
 am both an Englifhman born, and was an Eye-witnefs of the Tranfactions of 
 thefe Times, tell you, who are both a Foreigner and an utter Stranger to our 
 Affairs-, That we have put to death neither agood nor a juft, nor a merciful, nor 
 a devout, nor a godly, nor a peaceable King, as you ftile him •, but an Enemy, that 
 has been ib to us almoft ten years to an end ; nor one that was a Father, but a 
 Deftroyer of his Country. You confefs that fuch things have been praffifed ; for 
 yoarfelf have not the impudence to deny it : but not by Proteftants upon a Prote- 
 llar.t King. As if hedeferved the name of a Proteftant, that in a Letter tothe 
 Pope, could give him the title of Moft\Boly Father; that was always more fa- 
 vourable to the Papifts than to thofe of his own Profeffion. And being fuch, he 
 is not the firft of his own Family that has been put to death by Proteftants. 
 Was not his Grandmother depofed and banifh'd, and at laft beheaded by Pro- 
 teftants ? And were not her own Countrymen, that were Proteftants too, well' 
 enough pleafed with it ? Nay, if I fhould % they were Parties to it, I fhould 
 not lye. But there being fo few Proteftant Kings, it is no great wonder, if it 
 never happened that one of them has been put to death. But that it is lawful 
 to depofe a Tyrant, and to punifh him according to his deferts ; nay, that this 
 is the opinion of very eminent Divines, and of fuch as have been moftinftrumen- 
 tal in the late Reformation, do you deny it if you dare. You confefs that ma- 
 ny Kings have come to an unnatural Death: Some by the Sword, fomepoifon'd, 
 fomeftrangled, and fome in a Dungeon ; but for a King to be arraign 'd in a Court of 
 Judicature, to be put to plead for his Life, to have Sentence of Death pronounced a- 
 vainji him, and that Sentence executed ; this you think a more lamentable Inftance 
 than all the reft, and make it a prodigious piece of Impiety. Tell me, thou fu- 
 perlativeFool, Whether it be not more juft, more agreeable to the Rules of 
 Humanity, and the Laws of all Human Societies, to bring a Criminal, be 
 his Offence what it will, before a Court of Juftice, to give him leave to 
 fpeak for himfelf; and, if the Law condemn him, then to put him to 
 death as he has deferved, fo as he may have time to repent or to recol- 
 lect himfelf; than prefently, as foon as ever he is taken, to butcher him 
 out more ado ? Do you think there's a Malefactor in the World, that if 
 he might have his choice, would not chufe to be thus dealt withal ? And if this 
 fort of proceeding againft a private Perfon be accounted the fairer of the two, 
 why fhould it not be counted fo againft a Prince ? Nay, why fhould we not 
 think that himfelf liked it better ? You would have had him kill'd privately, 
 and rone to have feen it, either that future Ages might have loft the Advantage 
 of fo crood an Example ; or that they that did this glorious Action, might feem 
 to have avoided the Light, and to have acted contrary to Law and Juftice. 
 You aggravate the matter by telling us, that it was not done in an uproar, or 
 brought about by any Faction amongft Great Men, or in the heat of a Rebellion, 
 either of the People, or the Soldiers : that there was no hatred, no fear, no 
 ambition, no blind precipitate rafhnefs in the Cafe ; but that it was long 
 confulted on, and done with deliberation. You did well in leaving off being 
 naCus an Advocate, and turn Grammarian, who from the Accidents and Circum- 
 •wtuoucean ftances of a thing, which in themielves confidered fway neither one way nor 
 other, argue in difpraife of it, before you have proved the thing itfelf to be 
 'rJllorat cither good or bad. See how open you lie: If the Aftion you are difcourling 
 i.«.' of, be commendable and praife-worthy, they that did it deferve the greater 
 
 Flonour, in that they wereprepoffefred with no Paftions, but did what they did 
 for Vertue's fake. If there were great difficulty in the enterprife, they did well 
 in not going about it ralhly, but upon Advice and Confideration. Tho' for my 
 own part, when I call to mind with how unexpected an importunity and fer- 
 vency of Mind, and with how unanimous a Confent, the whole Army, and a 
 
 :at
 
 in an/tier to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 45 
 
 great part of the People from almoft every County in the Kingdom, cried out 
 with one Voice for Juftice againft the King, as being the fole Author of all their 
 Calamities : I cannot but think that theft things were brought about by a Di- 
 vine impulfe. Whatever the matter was, whether weconfider the Magiftrates, 
 or the Body of the People, no Men ever undertook with more Courage, and 
 which our Adverfaries themfelves confefs, in a more fedate temper of Mind.To 
 brave an Action, an Adtion that might have become thole famous Heroes of 
 whom we read in former Ages ; an Action, by which they enobled not only 
 Laws, and their Execution, which ftem for the future equally refWd to high 
 and low againft one another ; but even Juftice, and to have rendered it after fa 
 iignal a Judgment, more illuftriousandgreater than in its own felf. We arc now 
 come to an end of the 3d Page of the firft Book, and have not the bare Narra 
 tive he promifed us yet. He complains that our Principles are, That a King 
 whofe Government is burthenfome and odious, may lawfully be depofed : And, by 
 this' Doctrine, fays he, if they had had a King a thoufand times better than they had, 
 they would not have fpared his Life. Obferve the Man's fubtle way of arguing 
 For I would willingly be informed what Confequence there is in this, unlefs he al- 
 lows, that a King's Government may be burthenfome and odious, who is a rhoufana 
 times better than our King was. So, that now he has brought things to this pafe, 
 to make the King that he defends, a thoufand times worfe than fome whole Go- 
 vernment notwithftanding is burthenfome and odious, that is, it may be, the molt 
 monftrous Tyrant that ever reigned. I wifh ye Joy, O ye Kings, of ib able a 
 Defender. Now the Narrative begins. They put him to federal forts of Torments. 
 Give an inftance. They remov'd him from Prifon to Prifon ; and ib they mip'ht 
 lawfully do ; for having been a Tyrant, he became an open Enemy, and was ta* 
 ken in War. Often changing his Keepers. Left they themfelves mould change. 
 Sometimes they gave him hopes of Liberty ; nay, and fome times even of reftoring him 
 to his Crown, upon Articks of Agreement . It teems then the taking away his 
 Life, was not done upon fo much premeditation, as he talked of before ; and that 
 we did not lay hold on all opportunities and means, that offer'd themfelves, to 
 renounce our King. Thofe things that in the beginning of the War we demand- 
 ed of him, when he had almoft brought us under, which things if they were de- 
 nied us, we could enjoy no Liberty, nor live in any fafety •> thofe very things 
 we petitioned him for when he was our Prifoner, in a humble, fubmifllve way, 
 not once, nor twice, but thrice, and oftener, and were as often denied. When 
 we had now loft all hopes of the King's complying with us, then was that noble 
 Order of Parlament made, That from that time forward, there Ihould no Ar- 
 ticles be fent to the King •, fo that we left off applying ourfelves tohim, not from 
 the time that he began to be a Tyrant, but from the time that we found him in- 
 curable. But afterward fome Parlament-Men fet upon a new Project, and 
 meeting with a convenient opportunity to put it in practice, pals a Vote to fend 
 further Propofals once more to the King. Whole Wickednefs and Folly near- 
 eft relembles that of the Roman Senate, who contrary to the opinion of M. Tul- 
 Hus, and all honeft Men, voted to fend Embaffadors to M. Anthony ; and the 
 i'.v n. had been the fame, but that it pleafed God Almighty in his Providence, 
 to order itotherwife, and to affert our Liberty, though he fufrer'd them to be 
 e.';P..tv\l : For tho' the King did not agree to any thing that might conduce to 
 a firm Peace, and Settlement of things more than he had before, they go and 
 vote themfelves fatisfied. Then the founder part of the Houfe finding them- 
 felves and the Commonwealth betrayed, implore the aid of that Vajian 
 and always faithful Army to the Commonwealth. Upon which occafion 
 I can obferve only this, which yet I am loth to utter ; to wit, that our 
 Soldiers underftood themfelves better than our Senators, and that they 
 faved the Commonwealth by their Arms, when the other by their Votes 
 had almoft ruined it. Then he relates a great many things in a dolefui, 
 lamentable Strain ; but he does it fo ftnfclefiy, that he kerns rather to 
 beg of his Readers that they would be forrowful, than to ftir up any fuch 
 PalTion in them. It grieves him to think that the King fhould undergo a Capi- 
 tal Punifment after fuch a manner as no other King ever had done. Tho' he had of- 
 ten told us before, that there never was a King that underwent a Capital Puniih- 
 mentat all. Do you ufe to compare ways and manners, ye Coxcomb, when you 
 have no Things, nor Actions to compare with one another ? lie j:'-ifr\i Death, 
 lays he, as a Robber, as a Murderer, as a Parricide, as a Tray tor, as a + . Is 
 
 this
 
 456 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 this defending the King? Or is it nOt rather giving a more fevere Sentence a-» 
 o-ainft him than that that we gave ? How came you fo all on a hidden to be of 
 Our mind? He complains that Executioners in Vizards [pcrfonati Carnifices] cut 
 off the King's Head. What iliall we do with this Fellow ? He told us be- 
 fore, of a Murder committed on one in the difguife of a King: [in Perfona* 
 Reg'is.] Now he fays, 'twas done in the difguife of an Executioner. 'Twere 
 to no purpofe to take particular notice of every filly thing he fays. He tells 
 Stories of Boxes on the Ear, and Kicks, that, he lays, were given the King 
 by Common Soldiers, and that 'twas four Shillings a-piece to fee his dead Body. 
 Thefe, and fuch like Stories ,whichpartly arefalfe, and partly impertinent, be- 
 tray the Ignorance and Childifhnefs of our podr Scholar -, but are far from ma- 
 kino- any Reader ever a whit the fadder. In good faith his Son Charles had 
 done better to have hired fome Ballad-finger to have bewailed his Father's Mif- 
 fortunes, than this doleful, fhall I call him, or rather moft ridiculous Orator, 
 who isfodry and infipid, that there's not the leaft Spirit in any thing he fays. 
 Now the Narrative's done, and 'tis hard to fay what he does next, he runs on 
 fo fordidly and irregular. Now he's angry, then he wonders ; he neither cares 
 what he talks, nor how, repeats the fame things ten times over, that could not 
 but look ill, tho' he had faidthem but once. And I perfuade myfelf, the ex- 
 temporary Rhymes of fome antic Jack-pudding may deferve printing better; 
 fo far am I from thinking aught he lays worthy of a ferious Anfwer. I pais by 
 his ftilingthe King a Proteclor of Religion, who chofe to make war upon the 
 Ckurch, father than part with thofe Church-Tyrants, and Enemies of all Re- 
 ligion, the Bifhops •, and how is it poflible that he fhould maintain Religion in 
 its Purity, that was himfelf a Slave to thofe impure Traditions and Ceremonies 
 of theirs? And for our Setlaries, whofe Sacrilegious Meetings, you fay, have 
 public Allowance ; inftance in any of their Principles, the Profeffion of which is 
 not openly allow'd of, and countenanced mHolland. Bucin the mean time, there's 
 not a more Sacrilegious Wretch in nature than yourfelf, that always took liberty 
 to fpeak ill of all forts of people. They could not wound the Commonwealth more 
 danger oufly than by taking off its Mafier. Learn, ye abject, home-born Slave ; 
 unlefs ye take away the Mafter, ye deftroy the Commonwealth. That that has 
 a Mafter, is one Man's Property. The word Mafter denotes a private, not a 
 public Relation. They perfecute moft unjuftly thofe Minifters that abhorr'd this Ac- 
 tion of theirs. Left you fhould not know what Minifters he means, I'll tell you 
 in a few words what manner of Men they were ; they were thofe very Men, that 
 by their Writings and Sermons juftified taking up Arms againft the King, and 
 ftirred the People up to it. That daily curfed, as Deborah did Meroz, all fuch 
 as would not furnifh the Parlament either with Arms, or Men, or Money. 
 That taught the People out of their Pulpits, that they were not about to fight a- 
 gainft a King, but a greater Tyrant than either Saul or Ahab ever were •, nay, 
 more a Nero than Nero himfelf. As foon as the Bifhops, and thofe Clergymen, 
 whom they daily inveighed againft, and branded with the odious Names of Plu- 
 ral ifts and Non-refidents, were taken out of their way, they prefently jump, 
 fome into two, fome into three of their beft Benefices ; being now warm them- 
 felves, they foon unworthily neglected their Charge. Their Covetoufnefs brake 
 through all Reftraints of Modefty and Religion, and themfelves now labour un- 
 der the fame Infamy, that they had loaded their Predeceffors with ; and becaufe 
 their Covetoufnefs is not yet fatisfied, and their ambition has accuftomed them 
 to raife Tumults, and be Enemies to Peace, they can't reft at quiet yet, but 
 preach up Sedition againft the Magiftracy, as it is now eftablifhed, as they had 
 formerly done againft the King. They now tell the People that he was cruelly 
 murdered ; upon whom themfelves having heaped all their Curfes, had devoted 
 him to Destruction, whom they had deliver'd up as it were to the Parlament, to 
 be defpoil'd of his Rtoyalty, andpurfued with a Holy War. They now complain 
 that the Scdtaries are not extirpated ; which is a moft abfurd thing to expect the 
 Magiftrates fhould be able to do, who never yet were able, do what thty could, 
 to extirpate Avarice and Ambition, thofe two moft pernicious Hg-efies, and 
 more deftructive to the Church than all the reft, out of the very order and tribe 
 of the Minifters themfelves. For the Sects which they inveigh againft, I con- 
 fefs there are fuch amongft us, but they are obfeure, and make no noife in the 
 wo'rld: The Sects that they are 1 of, are public and notorious, and much more 
 2 ' dano;e-
 
 in anjwer to Salmafius'i Defence of the King, 457 
 
 dangerous to the Church of God. Simon Magus and Dio/rephes were the Ring* 
 leaders of them. Yet are we fo far from perfecting thefe Men^ tho' they are 
 peftilent enough, that tho' we know them to be iJI-affected to the Government, 
 and defirous of, and endeavouring to work a change, we allow them but too 
 much Liberty. You, that af e both a Frenchman and a Vagabond, feem dif- 
 pleafed that the Engliih, more fierce and cruel than their own Majliffs, as your 
 barking Eloquence has it, have no regard to the lawful Succefjor and Heir of the 
 Crown: Take no care of the King's youngeji Son, nor of the Queen of Bohemia. I'll 
 make ye no Anfwef; you lhall aiifwer yourfelf. Whin the frame of a Govern - 
 
 nt is changed from a Monarchy to any other, the new Modellers have no regard to 
 f'.cn : the application iseafy ; it's in your Book de primatu Pap<?. The great 
 ge throughout three Kingdoms, you fay, was brought about by a (mall number of 
 Men in one of them. If this were true, that frriall number of Men would have de- 
 ferved to have Dominion over the reft ; Valiant Men over faint-hearted Cow- 
 ards. Thefe are they that prefumptuoufly took upon them to change, antiquum Regni 
 Regimen, in aliumqui a pluribus Tyrannis tcneatur. 'Tis well for them chat you 
 cannot find fault with them, without committing a barbarous Soloecifrn ; you 
 fhame all Grammarians. The Englifh willnever be able to wafh out this ftain. Nay, 
 yo-i, tho' a blot and a ftain to all learned Men, were never yet able to ftain the 
 Renown and everlafting Glory of the Englijh Nation, that with fo great a Refo- 
 lution, as we hard y find the like recorded in any Hiftory, having ftruggled with* 
 and overcome, not only their Enemies in the Field, but the fuperftitious Per- 
 fuafions of the common People, have purchafed to themfelves in general a- 
 mongft all pofterity the name of Deliverers : The Body of the people having 
 undertook and performed an enterprize, which in other Nations is thought to 
 proceed only from a magnanimity that's peculiar to Heroes. What the Prote- 
 ctants and Primitive Cbrijlians have done, or would do upon fuch an occafion, I'il 
 tell ye herafter, when we come to debate the merits of the Caufe : In difcour- 
 fing it before, I fhould be guilty of your fault, who outdo the moft impertinent 
 Talkers in Nature. You wonder how we lhall be able to anfwer the Jefuits. 
 Meddle with your own matters, you Runagate, and be afham'd of your actions, 
 fince the Church is afham'd or you 5 who, though but of late you fet yourfelf 
 fo fiercely and with fo much Oftentation againft the Pope's Supremacy and E- 
 pifcopal Government, are now become yourfelf a very Creature of the Bifhops. 
 You confefs thxt feme Proteftants whom you do not name, have afferted it lawful to 
 depofea Tyrant : But though you do not think fit to name them, I will, becaufe 
 you fay they are far worfe than the very Jefuits themfelves ; they are no other than 
 Luther, and Zuinglius, and Calvin, and Bucer, and Parens, and many others. 
 But then, you fay, they refer it to the Judgment of learned and wife Men, who 
 fhall be accounted a Tyrant. But what for Men, were theje ? Were they wife Men, 
 were they Men of Learning ? Were they any -wife remarkable, either for Virtue or No- 
 bility? You may well allow a People that has felt the heavy Yoke of Slavery, 
 to be Wife, and Learned, and Noble enough to know what is fit to be done to 
 the Tyrant that has opprcfied them ; though they neither confultwith Foreign- 
 ers nor Grammarians. But that this Man was a Tyrant, not only the Parla- 
 ments or England and Scotland have declared by their actions and exprefs words; 
 but almoft all the People of both Nations afiented to it, till fuch time as by the 
 1 ricks and Artifices of the Bilhops they were divided into two Factions : and 
 what if it haspleafed God to chufe fuch Men, to execute his Vengeance upon the. 
 greateft Potentates on Earth, as he chofe to be made partakers of the benefit of 
 tlie Golpel ? Not many Wife, not many Learned, not many Powerful, not many No- 
 ble : That by thofe that are not, he might bring to naught thofe that are ; and that no 
 flefh might glory in his fight. And who are you that babble to the contrary ? 
 Dare you affect the Reputation of a learned Man ? I confefs you are pretty well 
 verfed in Phrafe-Books, and Lexicons, and Glofiaries ; infomuch that you feem 
 to have fpent your time in nothing elfe. But you do not make appear that you 
 have readany good Authors withfo much Judgment as to have benefited by them. 
 Other Copies and various Le&ions and Words omitted, and Corruptions of 
 Texts and the like, thefe you arc lull of; but no footftep of any folid Learn- 
 ing appears in all you have writ : Or do ye think yourflf a wife Man, that 
 quarrel and contend about the meaneft Trifles that may be ? That being alto- 
 gether ignorant in Aftronomy and Phyfic, yet are always railing at the Pro- 
 
 Vo l. I. Nnn fcfibrs
 
 458 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 feflbrs of both, whom all Men credit in what things belong to their own Sci- 
 ences that would be ready to curfe them to the Pit of Hell, that fhould offer to 
 deprive you of the Vain-glory of having corrected or fupply'd the leaft word or 
 letter in any Copy you've criticifed upon. And yet you are mad to hearyourfelf 
 call'd a Grammarian. In a certain trifling Difcourfe of yours, you call Dr. 
 Hammond Knave in plain terms who was one of this King's Chaplains, and 
 one that he valued above all the reft, for no other reafon but becaufe he had cal- 
 led you a Grammarian. Andl don't queftion butyou would have been as ready to 
 have thrown the fame reproach upon the King himfelf, if you had heard that 
 he had approv'd his Chaplain's Judgment of you. Take notice now, how much 
 I (who am but one of thofe many Engliflo, that you have the impudence to call 
 Mad-men, and unlearned, and ignoble, and wicked) flight and defpife you, 
 (for that the Englijh Nation in general mould take any notice in public of fuch 
 a worm as you are, would be an infinite undervaluing of themfelves) who 
 though one fhould turn you topfy-turvy, and infide-out, are but a Grammarian : 
 Nay^ as if you had made a foolifher wifh than Midas did, whatever you med- 
 dle with, except when you make Solcecifms, is Grammar ftill. Whomever 
 therfore he be, though from among the Dregs of that common People that you 
 are lb keen upon, (for as for thofe Men ofEmincncy amongft us, whofe great 
 Actions evidenced to all Men their Nobility, and Virtue, and Conduct, I 
 won't difgrace them lb much, as to compare you to them, or them to you; 
 but whofoever, I fay, among the Dregs of that common People has but i'uck'd 
 in this Principle, That he was not born for his Prince, but for God and his 
 Country ; he deferves the reputation of a Learned, and an Honeft, and a 
 Wife Man more, and is of greater ufe in the world than yourfelf. For fuch a 
 one is Learned without Letters ; you have Letters, but no Learning, that un- 
 derstand fo many Languages, turn over fo many Volumes, and yet are but a- 
 fleep when all is done. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 THE Argument that Salmaftus, toward the conclufion of his firfl: Chapter, 
 urg'd as irrefragable, to wit, that it was really fo, becaufe all Men una- 
 nimoufly agreed in it •, That very Argument, than which, as he apply'd it, 
 there is nothing more falfe, I, that am now about to difcourfe of the Right of 
 Kings, may turn upon himfelf with a great deal of Truth. For, wheras he 
 defines a King (if that may be faid to be defin'd which he makes infinite) to be a 
 Per/on in whom the Supreme Piwer of the Kingdom re/ides, who is anfwerable to God 
 alone, who may do whatfoever pleafes him., who is bound by no Law : I will under- 
 take to demonftrate, not by mine, but by his own Reafons and Authorities, that 
 there never was a Nation or People of any account (for to ranfack all the un- 
 civiliz'd parts of the World were to nopurpofe) that ever allowed this to be 
 their King's Right, or put fuch exorbitant Power into his hand, as that he fhould 
 not be bound by any Law, that he might do what he would, that be Jhould judge all, 
 but be judged of none. Nor can I perfuade myfelf, that there ever was any one 
 Perfon befides Salmafius of fo flavifh a Spirit, as to aflert the outragious Enor- 
 mities of Tyrants to be the Rights of Kings. Thofe amongft us that were the 
 greateft Royalifts, always abhorred this fordid Opinion : And Salmaftus himfelf, 
 as appears by fome otherWritings of his before he was bribed, was quite of ano- 
 ther mind. Infomuch, that what he here gives out, does not look like the 
 Dictates of a free Subject under a free Government, much lefs in fo famous a 
 Commonwealth as that of Holland, and the moll eminent Univerfity there ; 
 but feems to have been penn'd by fome defpicable Slave that lay rotting in a 
 Prifon, or a Dungeon. If whatever a King has a mind to do, the right of 
 Kings will bear him out in (which was a Leflbn that the bloody Tyrant Antoni- 
 nus Caracalla, tho' his Step-mother Julia preach'd it to him, and endeavoured 
 to inure him to the practice of it, by making him commit inceft with her 
 felf, yet could hardly fuck in) then there neither is, nor ever was that King 
 rhatdeferved the name of a Tyrant. They may fafelv violate all the Laws of 
 
 God
 
 in anfuer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 4-rt 
 
 God and Man: their very being Kings keeps them innocent. What Crime 
 was ever any of them guilty of? They did but make ufe of their own Right 
 upon their own Vaflals. No King can commit fuch horrible Cruelties and Out- 
 rages, as will not be within this Right of Kings. So that there's no Pretence 
 left for any Complaints or Expoftulations with any of them. And dare you 
 aflert, That this Right of Kings, as you call it, is grounded upon the Law of Na- 
 tions, or rather upon that of Nature, you Brute Beaft ? for you dcferve not the 
 name of a Man, that are fo cruel and unjuft towards all thofe of your own 
 kind •, that endeavour as much as in you lies, fo to bear down and vilify the 
 whole race of Mankind, that were made after the Image of God, as to aflert 
 and maintain that thofe cruel and unmerciful Tafkmatters, that through the 
 f iperftiticus whimfies, or floth, or treachery of feme perfons, get. into the 
 Chair, are provided and appointed by Nature herfelf, that mild and gentle Mo- 
 ther of us all, to be the Governors of thofe Nations they enflave. By which 
 peftilent Doctrine of yours, having rendered them more fierce and untraceable, 
 you not only enable them to make havoc of, and trample under foot their mi- 
 serable Subjects ; but endeavour to arm them for that very purpofe with the Law 
 of Nature, the Right of Kings, and the very Conftitutions of Government, 
 than which nothing can be more impious or ridiculous. By my confent, as 
 tiionyjius formerly of a Tyrant became a School-rhafter, fo you of a Gramma- 
 rian mould become a Tyrant ; not that you may have that Reo-al Licence of 
 doing other people harm, but a fair opportunity of perifhing miferably your 
 felf: That, as Tiberius cqmplain'd, when he had confin'd himfelf to the Ifiand 
 Capre<e, you may be reduced into fuch a condition, as to be fctifible that you 
 perifli daily. But let us look a little more narrowly into this Right of Kin^s 
 that you talk of. This was the fenfe of the Eaflern, and of the We/tern part of the 
 World. I fhall not anfwer you with what Ariftoile and Cicero, (who are both as 
 credible Authors as any we have) tell us, viz. That the People of Afia eafily 
 fubmit to Slavery, but the Syrians and the Jews are even born to it from the 
 womb. I confefs there are but few, and thofe Men of great wifdom and cou- 
 rage, that are either defirous of Liberty, or capable of ufing it. The greateft 
 part of the world chufe to live under Matters ; but yet they would have them 
 juft ones. As for fuch as are unjuft and tyrannical, neither was God ever fo 
 much an enemy to Mankind, as to enjoin anecelTity of fubmitting to them ; nor 
 was there ever any people fo deftitute of all fenfe, and funk into fuch a depth of 
 defpair, as to ifripofe fo crue! a Law upon themfelves and their pofterity. 
 Firft, you produce the words of King Solomon in his Ecclefiaftes. And we are 
 as willing to appeal to the Scripture as you. As for Solomon's Authority, we'll 
 confider that hereafter, when perhaps we fhall be better able to underftand it. 
 Firft, let us hear God himfelf {peak, Deut. xvii. 14. When thou art come into the 
 Land, which the Lord thy God give th thee, and fhalt fay, I will fet a King over me, 
 like as the Nations that arc round about me. Which paffage I could wifh all Men 
 would ferioufly confider : for hence it appears by the teftimony of God him- 
 felf; Firft, that all Nations are at liberty to erect what Form of Government 
 they will amongft themfelves, and to change it when and into what they will. 
 This God affirms in exprefs terms concerning the Hebrew Nation ; and it does 
 not appear but that other Nations are, as to this refpect, in the fame condition. 
 Another remark that this place yields us, is, that a Commonwealth is a more 
 perfect Form ofGovernmentthana Monarchy, and morefuitable to the condition 
 of Mankind, and in the opinion of God himfelf, better for his own People ; 
 for himfelf appointed it, and could hardly be prevail'd withal a great while 
 after, and at their own importunate defire, to letthem change it into a Monarchy. 
 But to make it appear that he gave them their choice to be govern'd by a fingle 
 perfon, or by more, fo they were juftly govern'd, in cafe they mould in time 
 ro come refolve upon a King, he prefcribes Laws for this King of theirs to ob- 
 ferve, wherby he was forbidden to multiply to himfelf Horlls and Wives, or 
 to heap up Riches : whence he might eafily infer, that no power was put into 
 his hands over others, but according to Law, fince even thofe actions of his 
 life, which related only to himfelf, were under a Law. He was commanded 
 therfore to tranferibe with his own hand all the Precepts of the Law, and ha- 
 ving writ them out, to obferveand keep them, that his mind might not befitt- 
 ed up above his Brethren. 'Tis evident from hence, that as well the Prince a 
 Vol. I. Nnn 2 People
 
 460 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 People was bound by the Law of Mofes. To this purgofe Jpfepbui v. rites, .. 
 proper and an able Interpreter of the Laws or his own Country, who was ad- 
 mirably well verfed in the Jewifh Policy, and infinitely preferable to a thoufand 
 obfeure ignorant Rabbins : He has it thus in the fourth Book ot his Antiquities. 
 ''Aph-oxp*™ f*« »» y.cy.n-ov, tstc. " An Ariftocracy is the belt Form of Go- 
 "^vernment; wherfore do not you endeavour to fettle any other, 'tis e- 
 " noudi for you that God prelides over ye, but if you will have a King, let 
 " nlm guide himfelf by the Law of God, rather than by his own wifdom ;. 
 " and lay a reftraint upon him, if he offer at more power than the ftate of 
 " your affairs will allow of." Thus he exprefles himfelf upon this place in Deu- 
 teronomy. Another Jevrijh Author, Philo Judxus, who was Jofephns's, Contem- 
 porary, a very ftudious Man in the Law of Mofes, upon which he wrote a large 
 Commentary ; when in his Book concerning the Creation of the King, he in- 
 terprets this Chapter of Deuteronomy, he lets a King loofe from the Law no o- 
 therwife than as an enemy may be laid to be fo : " They, fays he, that to 
 " the prejudice and deftru&ion of the people acquire great power to themfelves, 
 " deferve not the name of Kings, but that of Enemies: For their Actions are 
 " the fame with thofe of an irreconcileable enemy. Nay, they, that under a 
 " pretence of Government are injurious, are worfe than open enemies. We 
 " may fence ourfelves againfl the latter ; but the malice of the former is fo 
 " much the more peftilent, becaufe it is not always eafy to be difcovered. But 
 when it is difcovered, why mould they not be dealt with as enemies ? The fame 
 Author in his fecond Book, Allegorier. Legis, " A King, fays he, and a Ty- 
 " rant, are Contraries. And a little after, A King ought not only to command, 
 " but alfo to obey." All this is very true, you'll fay, a King ought to obferve 
 the Laws, as well as any other Man. But what if he will not, what Law is 
 there to punifh him ? I anfwer, the fame Law that there is to punifli other 
 Men ; for I find no exceptions. There is no exprefs Law to puniili the Priefts 
 or any other inferior Magiftrates, who all of them, if this opinion of the ex- 
 emption of Kings from the Penalties of the Law would hold, might by the 
 fame reafon claim impunity, what guilt foever they contract, becaufe there is no 
 pofitive Law for their punifhment ; and yet Ifuppofenone of them ever chal- 
 lenged fuch a Prerogative, nor would it ever be allow'd them, if they fhould. 
 Hitherto we have learned from the very Text of God's own Law, that a King 
 ought to obey the Laws, and not lift himfelf up above his Brethren. Let us 
 now confider whether Solomon preached up any ether Doctrine, Ch. viii. v. 2. I 
 eounfel thee to keep the King's Commandment, and that in regard of the Oath of God. 
 Be not hajly to go out of his fight ; ft and not in an evil thing ; for he doth what fo- 
 ever pleafeth him. Where the word of a King is, there is power ; and who may fay 
 unto him, what doft thou? It is well enough known, that here the Preacher directs 
 not his Precepts to the Sanhedrim, or to a Parlament, but to private Perfons;and 
 fuch he commands to keep the King's Commandment, and that in regard of the Oath 
 of God. But as they fwear Allegiance to Kings, do not Kings likewife fwear 
 to obey and maintain the Laws of God, and thofe of their own Country ? bo 
 the Reubeniles and Gadiles prom ife obedience to Jo/hua, Jojh. i. 17. According 
 as we hearkened unto Moles in all things, fo will we hearken unto thee ; only the 
 Lord thy God be with thee, as he was with Mofes. Here's an exprefs condition. 
 Hear the Preacher elfe, Chap. ix. v. 17. The words of wije Men are heard in qui- 
 et, more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. The next caution that Solo- 
 mon gives us, is, Be not hefty to go out of his fight ; ft and not in an evil 
 thing ; for he doth wbatfoever pleafeth him. That is, he does what he will to 
 Malefactors, whom the Law authorizes him to punifli, and againfl: whom 
 he may proceed with mercy or feverky, as he fees occafion. Here's no- 
 thing like Tyranny ; nothing that a good Man needs be afraid of. 
 Where the Word of a King is, there is power; and who may ay :, 
 What deft thou? And yet we read of one that not only faid to a King, 
 What doft thou? but told him, Thou baft done foolifhly. But: Samuel, you may 
 fay, was an extraordinary Perfon. I_anjwer you with your own Words, 
 which follow in the 49th Page of your Book, What was there extraordinary, fay 
 you, ;';.• Saul or in David ? And fo lay I, what was there in Samuel extraordina- 
 ry ? He was a Prophet, you'll fiy •, fo are they that now follow his example ; 
 for they act accor ing to the will of God, either his revealed, or his fecret 
 will, which yourfelf grant in your 50th Page. The Preacher therforc in this 
 
 3 place
 
 in anfvoer to Salmafius'j- Defence of the Kino. 461 
 
 place prudently advifes private perfons not to contend with Princes •, for it. is 
 even dangerous to contend with any Man that's either rich or powerful. But 
 what then ? Mult therfore the Nobility of a Nation, and all the inferior Ma- 
 gifirates, and the whole body of the people not dare to mutter when a Kino- 
 raves and acts like a Madman ? Mud they not oppofe a fooliih, wicked, out° 
 ragious Tyrant, that perhaps feeksthe deitruction of all good Men ? Mull they 
 not endeavour to prevent his turning all Divine and Human things upfide down'- 
 Muft they iuffer him to maffacre his People, burn their Cities, and commit 
 fuch Outrages upon them daily ; and finally, to have perfect Liberty to do what 
 he lifts without controul ? 
 
 O de Cappadocis eques catafiis ! 
 
 'Thou Jlavijh Knight of Cappadocia ! 
 
 Whom all free People, if you can have the confidence herafter to fet your foot 
 within a free Country, ought to call out from amonglt them, and fend to fome 
 remote parts of the World, as a Prodigy of dire portent ; or to condemn to 
 fome perpetual drudgery, as one devoted to flavery, folemnly obliging them- 
 felves, if they ever let you go, to undergo a worfe flavery under fome cruel, 
 filly Tyrant : No Man living can either devife himfelf, or borrow from any o- 
 ther, Expreffions lb full ol Cruelty and Contempt, as may not juftly be ap- 
 ply'd to you. But goon. When the Ifraelites ajked a King of God, theyfaid, 
 they -would fet up a King that fhould have the fame Rule and Dominion over them, that 
 the Kings of their neighbour Countries exercifed over their Subjetls. But the Kings 
 of the Eaft we know had an unlimited Power : as Virgil teftitles, 
 
 Regem nonfic iEgyptus &? ingens 
 
 Lydia, nee Populi Parthorum, &f Medus, Hydafpes 
 Obfervant. — : 
 
 No Eaftern Nation ever did adore 
 The Majefty of Sovereign Princes more. 
 
 Firft, What is thattous, what fort of Kings the Ifraelites defired ? Efpecialiy 
 fince God was angry with them, not only for defiring fuch a King as other Na- 
 tions had, and not fuch a King as his own Law defcribes, but barely for defiring 
 a King at all ? Nor is it crediblethat they fhould defire an unjult King, and one 
 that fhould be out of the reach of all Laws, who could not bear the Government 
 of Samuel's Sons, though under the power of Laws ; but from their Covetouf- 
 nefs fought refuge in a King. And laftly, The Verfe that you quote out of 
 Virgil, does not prove that the Kings of the Eaft had an abfolute unlimited 
 Power ; for thofe Bees, that he there (peaks of, and who reverence their Kings, 
 he lays, more than the Egyptians or Medes do theirs, by the Authority of the 
 fame Poet, 
 
 Magnis agitant fub Icgibus avum. 
 
 Live under certain Fundamental Laws. 
 
 They do not live under a King then, that's tied to no Law. But nOwPil let 
 you fee how little realbn you have to think I bear you an ill-will. Moll People 
 think you are a Knave •, but Pll make it appear that you have only put on a 
 Knave's Vizor for the prefent. In your Introduction to your Difcourfe of the 
 Pope's Supremacy, you fay, that fome Divines inthe Council of Trent madeufe 
 of the Government, that is laid to be amonglt Bees, to prove the Pope's Supre- 
 macy. This fancy you borrow from them, and urge it here with the fame ma- 
 lice that they did there. Now that very fame anfvver that you gave them, whilft 
 you were an honelt Man, now that you are become a Knave, you lhall give your 
 felf, and pull off with your own hand that Vizor you have now put on : TJ.v Bees, 
 layyou, are a Stai , an . Natural Philofophers call them ; they have a King, but 
 aharmlefs one ; he is a Leader, or Captain, rather than a King ; he never beats, nor 
 
 pulls,
 
 a6z A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 ■pulls., nor kills his fubjetl Bees. No wonder they are fo obfervant of him then J 
 But in good Faith, you had but ill luck to meddle with thefe Bees •, for though 
 thev are Bees of Trent, they fhow you to be a Drone. Ariftetle, a moft exact 
 writer of Politics, affirms that theA/iatique Monarchy, which yet himfelf calls 
 barbarous was according to Law, Politic. 3. And wheras he reckons up five 
 feveral forts of Monarchies, four of thole five he makes Governments according 
 to Laws and with the confent of the People ; and yet he calls them tyrannical 
 Forms of Government, becaufe they lodge fo much power in one Man's hand. 
 But the Kingdom of the Lacedemonians he fays is moft properly a Kingdom, be- 
 caufe there all Power is not in the King. The fifth fort of Monarchy, which he 
 calls Tra!/>i£*<n>.Eia, that is, where the King is all in all -, and to which he refers 
 that, that you call the Right of Kings, which is a Liberty to do what they lift ; 
 he neither tells us when, nor where any fuch Form of Government ever obtain- 
 ed. Nor feems he to have mentioned it for any other purpofe than to fhew how 
 uniuft, abfurd, and tyrannical a Government it is. You fay, that when Samuel 
 would deterthe People from chufing a King, he propounded to them this Right 
 of Kin^s. But whence had Samuel it ? Had he it from the written Law of God ? 
 That can't be. We have obferv'd already, that the Scriptures afford us a quite 
 other Scheme of Sovereignty, flad Samuel it then immediately from God him- 
 felf by Revelation ? That's not likely neither •, for God diflikes ir, difcommends 
 it, finds fault with it : So that Samuel does not expound to the People any Right 
 of Kings appointed by God •, but a corrupt and depraved manner of governing, 
 taken up by the Pride and Ambition of Princes. He tells not the People what 
 their Kino's ought to do, but what they would do. He told them the manner of 
 their King, as before he told us of the manner of the Priefts, the Sons of Eli ; 
 for he ufes the fame word in both places ; (which you in the 33d Page of your 
 Book, by an Hebrew Solcecifm too, call J^SlCD.) That manner of theirs was 
 wicked, and odious, and tyrannical: It was no right, but great wrong. The 
 Fathers have commented upon this place too : I'll inftance in one, that may ftand 
 for a great marly 5 and that's Sulpitius Severus, a contemporary and intimate 
 Friend of St. Jerome, and, in St. Auguflin's opinion, a Man of great Wifdom 
 and Learning. He tells us in his facred Hiftory, that Samuel in that place ac- 
 quaints the People with the imperious Rule of Kings, and how they ufe to lord 
 it over their Subjects. Certainly it cannot be the Right of Kings to domineer and 
 be imperious. But according to balujt, that lawful Power and Authority that 
 Kin^s were entrufted with, for the prefervation of the public Liberty, and the 
 good of the Commonwealth, quickly degenerated into Pride and Tyranny : 
 And this is the fenfe of all Orthodox Divines, and of all Lawyers upon that place 
 of Samuel. And you might have learned from Sichardus, that moft of the Rab- 
 bins too were of the fame mind •, at leaft, not any one of them ever affert- 
 ed that the abfolute inherent Right of Kings is there difcourfed of. Yourfelf 
 in your 5th Chapter, Page ic6, complain, That not only Clemens Alexandrinus, 
 but all other Expofitors miftake themfches uponthisText : And you, I'll warrant ye, 
 are the only Man that have had the good luck to hit the Mark. Now what a 
 piece of folly and impudence is this in you to maintain, inoppofition to all Ortho- 
 dox Expofitors, that thofe very Actions which God ibmuch condemns, are the 
 Right of Kings, and to pretend Law for them ? Though yourfelf confefs, that 
 that Right is very often exercifed in committing Outrages, being injurious, con- 
 tumelious and the like. Was any Man ever to that degree fui juris, fo much 
 his own Mailer, as that he might lawfully prey upon Mankind, bear down all 
 that ftood in his way, and turn all things upfide-down ? Did the Remans ever 
 maintain, as you fay they did, that any Man might do thefe things [no jure, by 
 virtue of fome inherent Right in himfelf? Salujl indeed makes C. Menrmius, a 
 Tribune of the People, in an invective Speech of his againft the Pride of the 
 Nobility, and their efcaping unpunifh'd, howfoever they mifbehaved themfelves, 
 to ufe thefe words, viz. " To do whatever one has a mind to, without fear of 
 •' Punifhment, is to be a King." This Saying you catch'd hold of, thinking it 
 would make for your purpofe ; but confider it a little better, and you'll find 
 yourfelf deceived. Does he in that place aifert the Right of Kings? Or does 
 he not blame the common People, and chide them for their Slot!., in fuffering 
 their Nobility to lord it over them, as if they were out of the reach of all Law, 
 mid in iubmitting again to that Kingly Tyranny, which together with their 
 2 Kin s
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. a6i 
 
 Kings themfelves, their Anceftors had lawfully and juftly rejected and banifh'd 
 from amongft them ? If you had confulted fully, you would have underftood 
 both Saluft and Samuel better. In his Oration/™ C. Rabirio, " There is none 
 " of us ignorant, fays he, of the manner of Kings. Thele arc their lordly 
 - Dictates : Mind what I lay, and do accordingly." Many paffa"es to this 
 purpofe he quotes out of Poets, and calls them not the Right, but the Cuftom 
 or the Manner of Kings ; and he fays, We ought to read and confider them 
 not only lor cunofity lake, but that we may learn to beware of them, and avoid' 
 them. You perceive how miierably you are come off with Saluft, who tho' he- 
 be as much an Enemy to Tyranny as any other Author whatfocver, you'thoueht 
 would have patronized this tyrannical Right that you are eftablifhine. Take 
 my word for't, the Right of Kings fecms to be tottering, and even to further 
 its own ruin, by relying upon fuchweak Props for its fupportj and by endea 
 vouring to maintain itielr by fuch Examples and Authorities, as would h-ften 
 its downfall, if it were further off than it is. The extremity of Ri^ht or Law you 
 fay, is the height of Injury, Summum jus fumma injuria ; this faying is verified melt 
 properly in Kings, who when they go to the utmojl of their Right, fall intothofc coiirfes 
 in which Samuel makes the Right of Kings to confifl. And 'tis a miferable Right* 
 which, when you have faid all you can for, you can no otherwife defend than 
 by confefling, that it is the greateft injury that may be. The extremity of 
 Right or Law is faidtobe, when a Man ties himfelfup to Niceties, dwells upon 
 Letters and Syllables, and in the mean time neglects the intent and equity of 
 the Law ; or when awrittenLaw is cunningly and malicioufly interpreted j'this 
 Cicero makes to have been the rife of that common faying. But fince 'tis' cer- 
 tain that all Right flows from the Fountain of Juftice, fo that nothing can poflf 
 bly be any Man's right that is not juft, 'tis a moll wicked thing in ycTu to affirm 
 that for a King to beunjuft, rapacious, tyrannical, and as ill as the word of them 
 ever were, is according to the right of Kings 5 and to tell us that a Holy Pro- 
 phet would have perfuaded the People to fuch a fenfelefs thing. For whether 
 written or unwritten, whether extreme or remifs, what Right can any Man 
 have to be injurious ? Which left you fhould confefs to be true of other Men 
 but not of Kings, I have one Man's Authority to object to you, who I think 
 wasa King likewife, and profeffes that that Right of Kings that you fpeak of 
 is odious both to God and himfclf : It is in the 94th Pfalm, Shall the Throne of 
 Iniquity have fellowjlnp with thee, thatframeth mifchief by a Law? Be not there- 
 fore fo injurious toGod, as toafcribe this Doctrine to him, viz. that all man- 
 ner of wicked and flagitious Actions are but the Right of Kin^s ; fince himfelf 
 tells us, that he abhors all fellowfhip with wicked Princes for this very reafon 
 becaufe under pretence of Sovereignty they create Mifery and Vexation to 
 their Subjects. Neither bring up a falfe Accufation againlt a Prophet of God- 
 for by making him to teach us in this place what the Right of Kines is, you do 
 not produce the right Samuel, but fuch another empty Shadow as was raifed by 
 the Witch ofEndor. Tho' for my own part, I verily believe that that infernal Sa- 
 tnuel-would not have been fo great a Lyar, but that he would have confefled that 
 what you call the Right of Kings, is Tyranny. We read indeed of Impieties 
 countenanced by Law, Jus datum feeler i : you yourfelf confefs that they are 
 bad Kings that have made ufe of this boundlefs Licence of theirs to do every 
 thing. Now this Right that you have introduced for the Deftruclion of Man- 
 kind, not proceeding from God, as I have proved it does not, muft needs come 
 from the Devil ; and that it docs really fo, will appear more clearly hereafter. 
 By virtue of this Liberty, fay you, Princes may if they will. And for this, you 
 pretend to have Cicero's Authority. I'm always willing to mention your Au- 
 thorities, for it generally happens that the very Authors you quote them out of, 
 give you an Anfwer themfelves. Hear eife what Cicero lays in his 4th Philip- 
 pic, ' What caufeof War can be more juft and warrantable than to avoid 
 
 * Slavery ? For tho' a People may have the good fortune to live under a gentle 
 4 Mafter, yet thofe are in a mifemble Condition whole Prince may tyrannize 
 
 * over them if he will.' May, that is, can ; has Power enough fo to do. If he 
 meant it of his Right, he would contradict himfelf, and make that an umuft 
 Caufe of War, which himfelf had affirmed with the fame breath to be a molt 
 juft one. It is not therfore the Right of all Kings that you defcribe, but the 
 Injurioufnefs, and Force, and Violence of fome. Then you tell us what private 
 
 Men 
 
 1
 
 464 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 Men may do. A private Mom, fay you, may lye, wry be ungrateful; and fo may 
 Kings, but what then? May they therlere Plunder, Murder, Ravifh, with- 
 out controul ? 'Tis equally prejudicial and deftruiStive to the Commonwealth, 
 whether it be their own Prince, or a Robber, or a Foreign Enemy that Spoils, 
 MafTacres, and Enflaves them. And quefl ion lei's being both alike Eaemfes of 
 Human Society, the one as well as the other may lawfully be oppoled and pu- 
 nifli'd •, and their own Prince the rather, becaufe he, tho' raifed to that Dignity 
 by the Honours that his People have conferr'd upon him, and being bound by 
 his Oath to defend the Public Safety, betrays it notwithstanding all. At kit 
 you grant, that Mofes prefcribes Laws, according to which the King that t he Peo- 
 ple of XitaiAfhould tbufe^ ought to govern, tho' different from this Right that Samuel 
 propofes ; which words contain a double Contradiction to what you have faid be- 
 fore. For whefas you had affirmed, That a King was bound by no Paw, here 
 you confefs he is. And you fet up two contrary Rights, one dei'cribed by Mofes, 
 and another by Samuel, which is abfurd. But, fays the Prophet, youjhall be Ser- 
 vants to your King.. Tho' I fhould grant that the Ifraelites were really fo. it 
 would not prefently follow, that it was the Right of their Kings to have them 
 fo ; but that by the Ufurpation and Injuftice of moil: of them, they were re- 
 due'd to that Condition. For the Prophet had foretold them, that that 
 importunate Petition of theirs would bring a PuniJhment from God upon 
 them ; not becaufe it would be their King's Right fo to harrafs them, but 
 becaufe they themftlves had deferved it fhould be fo. It Kings are out of 
 the reach of the Law, fo as that they may do what they Jiff, they are 
 more abfolute than any Mailers, and rheir Subjects in a more deipicable 
 Condition than the worft of Slaves. The law of God provided fome re- 
 drefs for them, tho' of another Nation, if their Mailers were cruel and un- 
 reafonable towards them. And can we imagine that the whole Body of the 
 People of a free Nation, tho' opprefs'd and tyrannized over, and prey'd upon, 
 fhould be left remedilefs ? That they had no Law to protect them, no Sanctuary 
 to betake themfelves to ? Can we think that they were deliver'd from the Bon- 
 dage that they were under to the Egyptian Kings, to be reduced into a worfe to 
 one of their own Brethren ? All which being neither agreeable to the Law of God, 
 nor to common Senfe, nothing can be more evident than that the Prophet de- 
 clares to the People the Manner, and not the Right of Kings ; nor the Manner 
 of all Kings, but of moft. Then you come to the Rabbins, and quote two of 
 them, but you have as bad luck with them here, as you had before. For it is 
 plain, that that other Chapter that Rabbi Jofes fpeaks of, and which contains, 
 he fays, the Right of Kings, is that in Deuteronomy, and not in Samuel. For 
 Rabbi Judas fays very truly, and againft you, that that Difcourfe of Samuel's 
 was intended only to frighten the People. 'Tis a moft pernicious Doctrine to 
 maintain that to be any one's Right, which in itfelf is fiat Injuitice, unlefs you 
 have a mind to fpeak by contraries. And that Samuel intended to affrighten 
 them, appears by the 18th Verfe, Andye floall cry out in that day, becaufe of your 
 King, which ye fhall have chofen you, and I will not hear you in that day , faith the 
 Lord. That was to be their Punifhment for their Obftinacy in perlilting to de- 
 fire a King againft the Mind and Will of God, and yet they are not forbidden 
 here either to pray againft him, or to endeavour to rid themfelves of him. 
 For if they might lawfully pray to God againft him, without doubt they might 
 ufeall lawful means for their own Deliverance. For what Man living, when 
 he finds himfelf in any Calamity, betakes himfelf to God, fo as to neglect his 
 own Duty in order to a Redrefs, and rely upon his lazy Prayers only ? But be 
 it how it will, what is all this to the Right of Kings, or of the Englijh People? 
 who neither afked a King againft the Will of God, nor had one appointed us 
 by God, but by the Right that all Nations have to appoint their own Gover- 
 nors, appointed a King over us by Laws of our own, neither in Obedience to, 
 nor againft any Command of God ? And this being the Cafe, for aught I fee, we 
 have done well in depofing our King, and are to be commended for it, fince the 
 Ifraelites finned in afking one. And this the Event has made appear; for we, 
 when we had a King, prayed to God againft him, and he heard us, and delivered 
 us : But the Jews (who not being under a Kingly Government, defired a Kin<*) 
 he fuffered to live in Slavery under one, till, at laft, after their return from the 
 Babylonifj Captivity, they betook themfelves to their former Government again, 
 2 Then
 
 in anfocer to Salmafius'j- Defence of the King. a6z 
 
 Then you come_ to give us a difplay of your Talmudical Learning, but: vou 
 have as ill fuccefs with that, as you have had with all the reft. For whilft you 
 are endeavouring to prove that Kings are not liable to any Temporal Judica- 
 ture, you quote an Authority out of the Treatife of the SaribedrW, 
 King neither is judged of others, nor does him/elf judge any. Which is againft the 
 People's own Petition in Samutl ; for they defired a King that might judge them 
 You labour in vain to falve this, by telling us, that it is to be underftood of thofe 
 Kings that reigned after the Babylonijb Captivity. For then, what lav ve to 
 Maimonides? He makes this difference betwixt the Kings o/Ifrael, c Ju- 
 
 da -, that the Kings of the Poftcrily of David judge, and are judges the Kings 
 
 o/Ifracl do neither. You contradict and quarrel with your felf or your Rabbins 
 and ftill do my work for me. This, fay you, is not to be underjlood of the Kings 
 e/"Ifrael in their firfi Injlitution ; for in the 17th Verfe 'tis laid, You flail be his 
 Servants ; that is, he fhall ufe ye to it, not that he (hall have any Rio-ht to make 
 you fo. Or if you underftand it of their Kings Right, 'tis but a Judgment of 
 God upon them for afking a King ; the effects of which they were fenfible of 
 under moft of their Kings, tho' not perhaps under all. But you need no Anra- 
 gonifts, you arc fuch a perpetual Adverfary to your felf. For you tell us now 
 a Story, as if you were arguing on my fide, how that firft Arijiobulus, and alter 
 him Jannceus, furnamed Alexander, did not receive that Kingly Right that they 
 pretended to, from the Sanhedrim, that great Treafury and Oracle of the Laws 
 of that Nation, but ufufped it by degrees againft the Will of the Senate. For 
 whofe fake, you fay, that childifh Fable of the principal Men of that Affembly 
 being Jlruck dead by the Angel Gabriel, was firft invented. And thus you confefs 
 that this magnificent Prerogative, upon which you feem mainly to rely, viz. 
 YhatKings are not to be judged by any upon Earth, ' was grounded upon this worfe 
 * than an old Wife's Tale, that is, upon a Rabbinical Fable.' But that the He- 
 brew Kings were liable to be call'd in queftion for their Actions, and to be pu- 
 nched with ftripes, if they were found faulty, Sichardus mows at large out of 
 the Writings of the Rabbins, to which Author you are indebted for all that you 
 employ of that fort of Learning, and yet you have the Impudence to be thwarting 
 with him. Nay, we read in the Scripture that Saul thought himfelf bound by a 
 Decree of his own making ; and in Obedience thereunto, that he caft Lots with 
 his Son Jonathan which of them two mould die. Uzzias likewife, when he was 
 thruft out of the Temple by the Priefts as a Leper, fubmitted as every private 
 Perfon in fuch a Cafe ought to do, and ceas'd to be a King. Suppofe he fhould 
 have refufed to go out of the Temple, and lay down the Government, and live 
 alone, and had refolved to aflert that Kingly Right of not being fubjecl to any 
 J ,aw ; do you think the Priefts, and the People of thzje ws, would have fuffered 
 the Temple to be defiled, the Laws violated, and live themfelves in danger of 
 the Infection ? It feems there are Laws againft a leprous King, but none againft 
 a Tyrant. Can any Man poffibly be fo mad and foolifh as to fancy that the Laws 
 fhould fo far provide for the People's Health, as tho' lb me noifome Diftemper 
 fhould feize upon the King himfelf, yet to prevent the Infection's reaching them, 
 and make no Provifion for the Security of their Lives and Eftates, and the very 
 being of the whole State, againft the Tyranny of a cruel, unjuft Prince, which 
 is incomparably the greater mifchief of the two ? But, fay you, there can be no 
 precedent /hown of any one King, that has been arraigned in a Court cfjujlice, and 
 condemned to die. Sichardus aniwers that well enough. 'Tis all one, fays he, 
 as if one fhould argue on this manner : The Emperor of Germany never was 
 lummoned to appear before one of the Prince-Electors ; therefore if the 
 Prince Elector Palatine fhould impeach the Emperor, he were not bound to 
 plead to it •, tho' it appears by the Golden Bull, that Charles the Fourth fubject- 
 ed himfelf and his Succeffors to that Cognizance and Jurifdiction. But no won- 
 der if Kings were indulged in their Ambition, and their Exorbitances palled by, 
 when the times were fo corrupt and depraved, that even private Men, it they 
 had either Money or Intereft, might efcape the Law, tho' guilty of Crimes of 
 never fo high a nature. That i'/j-mCSw*, that you fpeak of, that is to be 
 wholly independent upon any other, and accountable to none upon Earth, 
 which you fay is peculiar to the Majefty of Sovereign Princes, Arijhtle in the 
 4A& Book of his Pol. Cb. 10. calls a moft Tyrannical Form of Government, and 
 not in the Ieaft to be endured bv a free People. And that Kings are not liable 
 Vol. I. Ooo to
 
 466 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 to be queflion'd for their Actions, you prove by the Teftimony of a very worthy 
 Author, that barbarous Tyrant Mark Antony ; one of thole that fubvcrted the 
 Commonwealth of Rome: And yet he himfelf, when he undertook an Expedi- 
 tion a<niinft the Partbians, fummon'd Herod before him, to anfwer to a Charge of 
 Murder, and would have punifhed him, but that Herod brib'd him. So that 
 Antony's averting this Prerogative Royal, and your Defence of King Charles, 
 come" both out of one and the fame Spring. And 'tis very reafonable, fay you, 
 that it fhould he fo ; for Kings derive their Auhiority from God alone. What 
 Kings are thofe, I pray, that do fo ? For I deny that there ever were any llich 
 Kings in the World, that derived their Authority from God alone. Saul the firfl: 
 King of Jfrael had never reign'd, but that the People defired a King, even a- 
 gainft the Will of God ; and tho' he was proclaimed King once at Mizpah, yet 
 after that he lived a private Life, and look'd to his Father's Cattel, till he was 
 created fo the fecond time by the People at Gilgal. And what think ye of Da- 
 vid? Tho' he had been anointed once by God, was he not anointed the fecond 
 time in Hebron by the Tribe ofjudah, and after that by all the People of Ifra. 
 el, and that after a mutual Covenant betwixt him and them ? 2 Sam. 5. 1 Cbron. 
 1 1 . Now a Covenant lays an Obligation upon Kings, and reftrains them within 
 Bounds. Solomon, you fay, fucceeded him in the 'Throne of the Lord, and was ac- 
 ceptable to all men : 1 Cbron. 2$. So that 'tis ibmething to be well-pleafmg in 
 the eyes of the People. Jeboiadah the Prieft made Joafj King, but firfl he made 
 him and the People enter into a Covenant to one another, 2 Kings 1 1. I confefs 
 that thefe Kings, and all that reign'd of David's Pofterity, were appointed to 
 the Kingdom both by God and the People; but of all other Kings, of what 
 Country foever, I affirm, that they are made fo by the People only; nor can 
 you make it appear, that they are appointed by God any otherwife than as all 
 other things, great and fmall, are faid to be appointed by him, becaufe nothing 
 comes to pals without his Providence. So that I allow the Throne of David 
 was in a peculiar manner call'd, The Throne of the Lord: whereas the Thrones 
 of other Princes are no otherwife God's, than all other things in the World 
 are his ; which if you would, you might have learnt out of the fame Chapter, 
 Ver. 11, 12. Thine, O Lord, is the greatnefs, Scc.fcr all that is in the Heaven, and 
 in the Earth is thine. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignefi over all. 
 And this is fo often repeated, not to puff up Kings, but to put them in mind, 
 tho' they think themfelves Gods, that yet there is a God above them, to whom 
 they owe whatever they are and have. And thus we eafily underftand what the 
 Poets, and the Effenes among the Jews mean, when they tell us, That 'tis by God 
 that Kings reign, and that they are of Jupiter ; for fo all of us are of God, we 
 are all his Off-fpring. So that this univerfal Right of Almighty God's, and the 
 Intereft that he has in Princes, and their Thrones, and all that belongs to 
 them, does not at all derogate from the People's Right ; but that notwithstanding 
 all this, all other Kings, not particularly and by name appointed by God, owe 
 their Sovereignty to the People only, and confequently are accountable to them 
 for the management of it. The truth of which Doctrine, tho' the Common 
 People are apt to flatter their Kings, yet they themfelves acknowledge, whether 
 good ones, as Sarpedon in Homer is defcribed to have been ; or bad ones, as 
 thofe Tyrants in the Lyrick Poet : 
 
 TAai/xs, tiyi Sn vuii TmyniJicrSz, p.3."/Ji~x, Sec. 
 
 Glaucus, in Lycia we're ador'd like Gods : 
 What makes 'twixt us and others fo great odds ? 
 
 He refolves the Queftion himfelf: " Becaufe, fays he, we excel others 
 " in Heroical Vertues : Let us fight manfully then, fays he, left our Country- 
 " men tax us with Sloth and Cowardice." In which words he intimates to us, 
 both that Kings derive their Grandeur from the People, and that for their Con- 
 duel and Behaviour in War, they are accountable to them. Bad Kings indeed, 
 tho' to caft fome Terror into People's minds, and beget a Reverence of them- 
 felves, they declare to the World, that God only is the Author of Kingly Go- 
 vernment •, in their Hearts and Minds they reverence no other Deity but that of 
 Fortune, according to that pall.ige in Horace; 
 
 Te
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 467 
 
 Te Dacus afper, te profugi Scythe, 
 Regumque tnatres barbarorum, fc? 
 Purpurei metuunt Tyranni. 
 
 Injuriofo ne pede proruas 
 
 Si ant em columnam, neu populus frequent 
 
 Ad arma cejfantes, ad arma 
 
 Concitet, imperiumque fraiigat . 
 
 " All barb'rous People, and their Princes too, 
 
 " All Purple Tyrants honour you ; 
 
 " The very wandring Scythians do. 
 " Support the Pillar of the Roman State, 
 " Left all Men be involv'd in one Man's fate, 
 
 " Continue ns in Wealth and Peace ; 
 
 " Let Wars and Tumults ever ceafe. 
 
 So that if 'tis by God that Kings now-a-days reign, 'tis by God too that the 
 People aflert their own Liberty ; lince all things are of him, and by him. I'm 
 fure the Scripture bears witnefs to both ; that by him Kings reign, and that by 
 him they are caft down from their Thrones. And yet experience teaches us 
 that both thefe things are brought about by the People, oftner than by God. 
 Be this Right of Kings, therefore, what it will, the Right of the People is as 
 much from God as it. And whenever any People, without fome vifible De- 
 fignation of God himfelf, appoint a King over them, they have the fame Ri°-ht 
 to put him down, that they had to fet him up at firft. And certainly 'tis a more 
 God-like Action to depoie a Tyrant, than to fet up one : And there appears 
 much more of God in the People, when they depofe an unjuft Prince, than in a 
 King that opprefles an innocent People. Nay, the People have a Warrant 
 from God to judge wicked Princes ; forGod has conferred this very honour up- 
 on thofe that are dear to him, that celebrating the praifes of Chrift their own 
 King, ' they fhall bind in Chains the Kings of the Nations, (under which Ap- 
 pellation all Tyrants under the Gofpel are included) ' and execute the Judg- 
 ' ments written upon them that challenge to themfelves an Exemption from all 
 1 written Laws, Pfalmi^g. So that there's but little reafon left for that wicked 
 and foolifh Opinion, that Kings, who commonly are the worft of Men, mould 
 be lb high in God's account, as that he fhould have put the World under them, 
 to be at their beck, and be govern'd according to their humour •, and that for 
 their fakes alone he fhould have reduced all Mankind, whom he made after his 
 own Image, into the fame condition with Brutes. After all this, rather 
 than fay nothing* you produce M. Jure/his, as a Countcnancer of Tyran- 
 ny ; but you had better have let him alone. I can't fay whether he ever 
 affirm'd, that Princes are accountable only before God's Tribunal. But 
 Xiphiline indeed, out of whom you quote thofe Words of M. Aurelius, 
 mentions a certain Government, which he calls an Autarchy, of which he makes 
 God the only Judg : mfi a.xna.f/j.xq i ©soV poj l §r > xfiiwu SIvx[m. But that this 
 word Autarchy and Monarchy are fynouymous, I cannot eafily perfwade my felf 
 ■to believe. And the more I read what goes before, the lefs I find my felf in- 
 clinable to think fo t And certainly whoever confiders the Context, will not 
 eafily apprehend what coherence this Sentence has with it, and mult needs won- 
 der how it comes lb abruptly into the Text ; efpecially fince Marcus Aurdius, 
 that Mirror of Princes, carried himfelf towards the People, as Capitolinus tells 
 us, juft as if Rome had been a Commonwealth ftill. And we all know that when 
 it was fo, the Supreme Power was in the People. The fame Emperor ho- 
 noured the memory of Tha?-fcas, and Helvidius, and Caio, and Dio, and Brutus ; 
 who all were Tyrant flayers, or affected the reputation of being thought fo. 
 In the firft Book that he writes of his own Life, he lays that he propos'd to 
 himfelf a Form of Government, under which all men might equally enjoy the 
 benefit of the Law, and Right and Juttice be equally admjniftred to ail. And 
 in his fourth Book he fays, The Law is Mailer, and not he. He acknowledged 
 the Right of the Senate and the People, and their Ime'reft in all things ; We are 
 
 Vo l.I. Ooo ;■ ib
 
 468 J Defence of the People of 'England, 
 
 fofar, fays he, from having any thing of our own, that we live in yasy Hou- 
 fes. 'Thefe things Xiphiline relates of him. So little.;! id he abrogate aught to 
 himfelf by virtue of his Sovereign Right. When he diod, he recommended his 
 Son to the Romans for his Succeffor, if they mould think he deferved it.. So far 
 was he from pretending to a Commifiion from Heaven to exercife thatablolute 
 and imaginary Right of Sovereignty, that Autarchy, that you teJi us of. All 
 the Latin and Greek Books are full of Authorities of this nature, Bjc we have 
 heard none of them yet. So are the Jewilh Author:. &nd yet, yfti! lay, The 
 Jews in many things allow' 'd but too little to their Pri>ues. Nay, you'd find that 
 both the Greeks and the Latins allowed much lefs to Tyrants. And how little 
 the Jews allowed them, would appear, if that Book that Samuel wrorc of the 
 manner of the Kingdom were extant -, which Book the Hebrew Doctors tell us, 
 their Kings tore in pieces and burnt, that they might be more at liberty 10 ty- 
 rannize over the people without controul or tear of punifhment. Now look a- 
 bout ye again, and catch hold of fomewhat or other.' In the laft place you 
 come to wreft David's words in the 1 7th Pfalm, Let my fentence come forth from 
 thyprefence. Therfore, fays. Barnacbmoni, God only can judge the King. And 
 yet it's moft likely that David penn'd this Pfalm when lie was perfecuted by Saul, 
 at which time, though himfelf were anointed, he did not decline being judged 
 even by Jonathan : ^Nctwithftanding, if there be iniquity in me, Jiay me thyjelf, 
 1 Sam. 20. At leaft in this Pfalm he does no more than what any perfon in the 
 world would do upon the like occafion ; being falfly accufed by Men, he ap- 
 peals to the judgment of God himfelf, Let thine eyes look upon the thing that is 
 right ; thou haft proved andvifited mine heart, &'c. What relation has this to a 
 Temporal Judicature ? Certainly they do no good office to this right of Kings, 
 that thus difcover the weaknefs of its foundation. Then you come with that 
 thread-bare argument, which of all others is moft in vogue with our Courtier.', 
 Againftthee, thee only have I finned, Pfal. \i. 6. As if David in the midit of his 
 Repentance, when overwhelm'd with forrow, and almoft drowned in tears, he 
 was humbly imploring God's Mercy, had any thoughts of this Kingly Right of 
 his when his heart was fo low, that he thought he deferVed not the right of a 
 flave. And can we think that he defpifed all the People of God, his own Bre- 
 thren, to that degree, as to believe that he might murder them, plunder them, and 
 commit Adultery with their Wives, and yet not fin againft them all this while? 
 So Holy a Man could never be guilty of fuch infufferable Pride, nor have fo 
 little knowledge either of himfelf, or of his duty to his Neighbour. So without 
 doubt, when he fays, Againft thee only, he meant, againft thee chiefly have I 
 finned, &c. But whatever He means, the words of a Pfalm are too full of 
 Poetry, and this Pfalm too full of Paffion, to afford us any exact definitions of 
 Right and Juftice ; nor is it proper to argue any thing of that nature from them. 
 But David was never queftion dfor this, nor made loplead for his life before the Sanhe- 
 drim. What then ? How fhould they know that any fuch' thing had been which 
 was done fo privately, that perhaps for i'ome years after not above one or two 
 were privy to it, as fuch fecrets there are in moft Courts ? 2 Sam, 12. 'Thou haft 
 done this thing in fecrel. Befides, what if the Senate fhould neglect to puniih 
 private perfons ? Would any infer that therefore they ought not to be punifh'd 
 at all ? But the reafon why David was not proceeded againft as a Malefactor, is 
 not much in the dark : He had condemn'd himfelf in the $th verie, The man 
 that hath done this thing fhall furely die. To which the Prophet prefently replies, 
 Thou art the man. So that in the Prophet's judgment as well as his own, he was 
 worthy of death ; but God by his Sovereign Right over all things, and of his 
 great Mercy to David, ablblves him from the guilt of his Sin, and the fentence 
 of death which he had pronoune'd againft himfelf; verie \%tb. The Lord hath 
 put away thy Jin, thou pal t not die. The next thing you do is to rail at iome b!oody 
 Advocate or other, and you take a deal of pains to refute the conclufioa 
 
 • of his Difcourfe. Let him look to that ; I'll endeavour to be as fhort as I can 
 in what I've undertaken to perform. But fome things I mult not pals by 
 without taking notice of \ as firft and foremoft your notorious Contradic- 
 tions ; for in the 30th Page you fay, The Ifraclites do not deprecate dn unjuft. 
 
 ". rapacious, tyrannical King, one as bad as the worjl of Kings are. And yet, Page 42. 
 you are very (mart upon your Advocate, for maintaining that the Ifraelites 
 •afked for a Tyrant : Would they have Uap'd out of the Frying-pan into the 
 
 Fire.
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 469 
 
 i ', fay you, and groan under the Cruelty of the. worft of Tyrants, rather 
 than live under bad Judges, efpccially being us'd to fuch a Form of Government ? 
 J'irft you laid the Hebrews would rather Jive under Tyrants than Judges, here 
 you fay they would rather live underjudgcs than Tyrants ? and that they defired 
 nothing lefs than a Tyrant. So that your Advocate may anfwer you out of your 
 own Book. For according to your Principles 'tis every King':; Ri^ht to be a 
 Tyrant. What you f.iy next is very true, The Supreme Power was then in the Peo- 
 ple, which appears by their own rejecting their Judges, and making ehoice of a Kingly 
 Government . Remember this when 1 ilia 1 1 have occafion to make ufc of ir. You 
 fay, that God gave the Children of Tfrael'a King, as a thing good and profitable for 
 them, and deny that he gave them one in bis anger, as a Punr/hment for their Sin. But 
 that will receive an eafy anfwer ; for to what purpofe mould they cry to God 
 becaufe of the King that they had choicn, ii it were not becaufe a Kingly Govern- 
 ment is an evil thing •, not in it felt, but becaufe it mod commonly does, as Sa- 
 muel forewarns the People that theirs would, degenerate into Pride and Tyran- 
 ny ? If y'are not yet fatisfied, hark what you fay your felf j acknowledge your 
 own hand, and blufh -, 'tis in your Apparatus ad Primalum : God gave them a King 
 in his anger, fay you, being offended a t their Sin in rejecting him from ruling ova 
 them ; andfo the Chrijlian Church, as a Piciiftrment for its forfaking the pure Wor- 
 ffjip of God, has been Jubjetledto the more than Kingly Government of one mortal Head. 
 So that if your own Companion holds, either God gave the Children of Ifrael a 
 King as an evil thing, and as a puniihment ; or he has let up the Pope for the 
 good of the Church. Was there ever any thing more light and mad than this 
 Man is ? Who would truft him in the fmallell matters, that in things of fo great 
 concern lays and unfays without any confidcration in the World ? You tell us 
 in your 29th Page, That by the Conftitutisn of all Nations, Kings are bound by no 
 Law. That this had been the judgment both of the Eaftern and Weft cm part of the 
 World. And yet pag. 43. you fay, That all the Kings of the Raft ruled v.y.-y. .ly.ov> 
 according to Law, nay that the very Kings 0/ Egypt in all matters whatfoevcr, whe- 
 ther great or fmallyWere tied to Laws. Tho' in the beginning of this Chapter you 
 had undertook to demonftrate, That Kings are bound by no Laws, that ibtyglve 
 Laws to others, but have none prefer ibed to themfelves. For my part Pve no reafon 
 to be angry with ye, for either y'are mad, or of our fide. You do not defend 
 the King's Caufe, but argue againft him, and play the fool with him : Or if y'are 
 in earneftj that Epigram of Catullus $ 
 
 Tdnto peffimus omnium Poela, 
 £uantb tu optimus omnium P at r onus. 
 
 The world of Poets, I my felf declare* 
 By how much you the beft of Patrons are. 
 
 That Epigram, I fay* may be turn'd, and very properly applied to you ; for 
 there never was fo good a Poet, as you are a bad Patron. Unlefs that ftv.pniity, 
 that you complain your Advocate is immers' 'd over head and ears in, has blinded the 
 eyes of your own understanding too, Pll make ye now fenfible tnat y'are becomt 
 a very Brute your felf. For now you come and coniefs that the Kings of all Na- 
 tions have Laws prefcribed to them. But then you fay again, T.ey are npt-fo «», 
 the power of 1 hem, as to be liable to cenfure orpunijhment of death, if they break them. 
 Which yet you have proved neither from Scripture, nor from any good Author. 
 Obfcrve then in iliort •, to prefcribe Municipal Laws to fuch as are apt hound by 
 them, is filly and ridiculous : and to puniih all others, but leave fqme one man at 
 .liberty to commit all fort of Impieties without fear of puniihment, is mod un- 
 juft ; the Law being general, and not making any exception ; neither of which 
 can be fuppos'd to hold place in the Constitutions of any wife Law-maker, 
 much lefs in thofe of God's own making. But that all may perceive how una- 
 ble you are to prove out of the writings of the Jewst what you undertook in 
 this Chapter to make appear by them, you coniefs of your own accord, That 
 there are feme Rabbins, who affirm that their Forefathers oug hi nut to have had any c- 
 ther King than God himfelf; and that he ft other Kings over them for their pun f.- 
 ment. And of thofe mens opinion, I declare my felf to be. It is not fitting 
 nor decent that any Man mould be a King that do< • not far excel all his Subjects 
 
 3ui.
 
 aoo A defence of the People ^England, 
 
 But where Men are Equals, as in all Governments very many are, they ought t6 
 have an equal intereft in the Government, and hold it by turns. But that all 
 Men mould be Slaves to one that is their Equal, or (as it happens moft common- 
 ly) far inferior to them, and very often a Fool, who can lb much as entertain 
 fuch a thought without Indignation ? Nor does it make for the Honour of a King- 
 ly Government, that our Saviour was of the Pofterity of fome Kings, more thsa 
 it does for the commendation of the worft of Kings, that he was the Off- 
 lpring of fome of them too. The Meffias is a King. We acknowledge him fo to 
 be, and rejoice that he is fo ; and pray that his Kingdom may come, for he is 
 worthy : Nor is there any other either equal, or next to him. And yet a Kingly 
 Government being put into the hands of unworthy and undeferving Perlbns, as 
 moft commonly it is, may well be thought to have done more harm than good 
 to Mankind. Nor does it follow for all this that all Kings, as fuch, are Tyrants. 
 But fuppofe it did, as for argument-fake I'll allow it does, left you mould think 
 I'm too hard with ye ; make you the belt ule of it you can. Then, fay you, 
 God himfelf may properly be faid to be the King of Tyrants, nay, himfelf the worft cf 
 all Tyrants. If the firft of thefe conclufions does not follow, another does, which 
 may be drawn from moft parts of your Book, viz. That you perpetually contra- 
 dict, not only the Scriptures, but your own felf. For in the very laft fore- 
 going Period you had affirmed, that God was the King of all things, having himfelf 
 created them. Now he created Tyrants and Devils, and confequently by your 
 own reafon, is the King of fuch. The fecond ol thefe Conclufions we deteft, 
 and wifh that blafphemous Mouth of yours were ftopt up, with which you affirm 
 God to be the worft of Tyrants, if he be, as you often fay he is, the King and 
 Lord of fuch. Nor do you much advantage your Giuie by telling us that Mo~ 
 fes was a King, and had the abfolute and fupr erne Power of a King. For we could 
 be content that any other were fo, that could refer our matters to God, as Mofes 
 did, and confult with him about our affairs, Exod. xviii. 19. But neither 
 did Mofes, notwithstanding his great familiarity with God, ever affume a Li- 
 berty of doing what he would himfelf. "What fays he of himfelf; The people 
 come unto me to enquire of God. They came not then to receive Mofes's own Dic- 
 tates and Commands. Then fays Jethro, ver. 19. Be thou for the people to God, 
 ward, that thou mayfi bring their caufes unto God. And Mofes himfelf fays, Deut, 
 iv. 5. I have taught you Statutes and Judgments, even as the Lord my God com- 
 manded me. Hence it is that he is faid to have been faithful in all the Houfe of 
 God, Numb. xii. 7. So that the Lord Jehovah himfelf was the People's King, 
 and Mofes no other- than as it were an Interpreter or a Meffenger betwixt him 
 and them. Nor can you, without Impiety and Sacrilege, transfer this abfolute 
 Supreme Power and Authority from God to a Man ; (not having any Warrant 
 from the Word of God fo to do) which Mofes ufed only as a Deputy or" Subfti- 
 tute to God ; under whofe Eye, and in whofe Prefence, himfelf and the Peo- 
 ple always were. But now, for an aggravation of your wickednefs, though 
 here you make Mofes to have exercis'd an abfolute and unlimited Power, in. 
 your Apparat. ad Primat. Page 230. you fay that he together with the feventy El- 
 ders ruled the people, and that himfelf was the chief of the people, but not their Ma- 
 fter. If Mofes therefore were a King, as certainly he was, and the beft of Kings, 
 and had a Supreme and Legal Power, as you fay he had, and yet neither was the 
 People's Mafter nor govern'd them alone; then according to you, Kings, tho' 
 indued with the Supreme Power, are not by virtue of' that Sovereign and 
 Kingly Right of theirs Lords over the People, nor ought to govern them 
 alone ; much lefs, according to their own Will and Pleafure. After all this, 
 you have the Impudence to feign a Command from God to that People, tofet up a 
 King over them, as foon as they fhould be pofjeffed of the Holy Land, Deut. xvii. 
 For you craftily leave out the former words, andfloalt fay, I will fet a King over 
 Hie, &c. And now call to mind what you faid before, Page 42. and what I 
 faid I mould have occafion to make ufe of, viz. That the Power was then in the 
 People, and that they were entirely free. What follows, argues you either mad or 
 irreligious ; take whether you lilt : God, fay you, having fo long before appointed 
 a Kingly Government, as beft and moft proper for that People ; What Jhall we fay to 
 • Samuel'j oppofing it, and God's own acting, as if himfelf were againft it ? How do thefe 
 ^things agree? He finds himfelf caught, and obferve now with how great malice 
 •ogpinft the Prophet, and impiety againft God, he endeavours to difentangle 
 
 2 himfelf.
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j- Defence of the King. 471 
 
 himfelf. We muft confider, fays he, that Samuel's own Sons then judged the People, 
 and the People rejected them becaufe of their corruption ; now Samuel was loth his Sens 
 Jhould be laid ajide, and God to gratify the Prophet, intimated to him, as if himfelf 
 were not very well plea fed with it. Speak out, ye Wretch, and never mince the 
 matter: You mean, God dealt deceitfully with Samuel, and he with the People. 
 It is not your Advocate, but your felf that are frantic and dijiratted ; who 
 caft off all reverence to God Almighty, fo you may but feem to honour the King, 
 Would Samuel prefer the Intereft of his Sons and their Ambition, and their 
 Covetoufnefs, before the general good of all the People, when they afked a thine- 
 that would be good and profitable for them ? Can we think that he would im° 
 pofe upon them by cunning and fubtilty, and make them believe things that 
 were not ? Or if we mould fuppofe all this true of Samuel, would God himfelf 
 countenance and gratify him in it; would he diffemble with the People? So 
 that either that was not the Right of Kings which Samuel taught the People ; or 
 elfe that Right by the Teftimony, both of God and the Prophet, was an. evil 
 thing, was burdenfom, injurious, unprofitable, and chargeable to the Com- 
 monwealth : Or Laflly, (which muft not be admitted) God and the Prophet 
 deceiv'd the People. God frequently protefts that he- was extremely difpleas'd 
 with them for afking a King. V. 7th. They have not rejecled thee, but they have 
 rejecled me, that I jhould not reign over them. As if it were a kind of Idolatry to 
 afk a King, that would even fuffer himfelf to be ador'd, and affume almoft Di- 
 vine Honour to himfelf. And certainly, they that fubject themfelves to a 
 Worldly Mafter, and ict him above all Laws, come but a little fhort of chufino- 
 a ftrange God : And a ftrange one it commonly is ; brutilh, and void of all 
 fenfe and reafon. So \ft of bam. Chap. lotb. v. lyth. And ye have this day re- 
 jecled your God, who himfelf faved you out of all your adverjilies and your tribula- 
 tion, and ye have f aid unto him, Nay, but Jet a King over us, &c. and Chap. 1 2th, 
 v.izth. Ye faid unto me. Nay, but a Kingfoall reign over us ; when the Lord your 
 God was your King: and v. the ijth. See that your wickednefs is great, that ye have 
 done in the fight of the Lord, in ajking you a King. And Hofea fpeaks contempti- 
 bly of the King, Chap. 1 3 . v. 10, 11. I will be thy King ; where is any other that 
 may five in all thy Cities, and thy Judges of whom thouj'aidjl, Give me a King and 
 Princes ? I gave thee a King in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath. And 
 Gideon that warlike Judge, that was greater than a King •, / will not rule over you, 
 fays he, neither fhall my Son rule over you ; the Lord fhall rule over you, Judges, 
 Chap. 8. Intimating thereby, that it is not fit for a Man, but for God only 
 to exercife Dominion over Men. And hence Jofephus in his Book againft/fy>/>/<j/,, 
 an Egyptian Grammarian, and a foul-mouth'd fellow, like you, calls the Com- 
 monwealth of the Hebrews a Theocracy, becaufe the principality was in God 
 only. In Ifaiah, Chap. 26. v. 13. the People in their Repentance, complain 
 that it had been mifchievous to them, that other Lords, befides God himfelf, had had 
 Dominion over them. All which places prove clearly, that God gave the Ifraetitss 
 a King in his anger; but now who can forbear laughing at the ufe you make of 
 Abimelcch\ Story ? Of whom it is laid, when he was kill'd, partly by a Woman 
 that hurl'd a piece of a Mill-ftone upon him, and partly by his own Armour- 
 Bearer, that God rcudred the wickednefs of Abimelech. This Hiflory, fay you, 
 proves flrongly that God only is the fudge and Avenger of Kings. Yea, if this Ar- 
 gument hold, he is the onlyjudge and Punifher of Tyrants, Villainous Rafcals, 
 and Baftards. Whoever can get into the Saddle, whether by right or by wrong, 
 has thereby obtain'd a Sovereign Kingly Right over the People, is out of all 
 danger of punifhment, all inferior Magiftrates muft lay down their Arms at his 
 feet, the People muft not dare to mutter. But what if fome great notorious 
 Robber had perifhed in War$ as Abimelech did, would any Man infer from thence, 
 That God only is the Judge and Punilher of Highway-men ? Or what if Abi- 
 melech had been condemn'd by the Law, and died by an Executioner's hand, 
 would not God then have rendred his wickednefs ? You never read that the 
 Judges of the Children of Ijrael were ever proceeded againft according to Law : 
 And yet you confefs, That where the Government is an Ariftocracy, the Prince, if 
 there be any, may and ought to be call'd in quejlion, if he break the Laws. This in 
 your 4jth Page. And why may not a Tyrant as well be proceeded againft in a 
 Kindly Government? Why, becaufe God rendred the wickednefs of Abimelech. 
 So did the Women, and fo did his own Armour-Bearer ; over both which he 
 
 pretended 
 
 i
 
 4 7 % -^ Defence of the People of England, 
 
 pretended to a right of Sovereignty. And what if the Magiftrates had rendred 
 his wickednefs ? Do not they bear the Sword for that very purpofe, for the 
 punifhment of Malefactors ? Having done with his powerful argument from the 
 Hiftory of Abimelech's death, he betakes himfelf, as his cuftom is, to Slanders 
 and Calumnies ; nothing but Dirt and Filth comes from him : but for thole 
 things that he promis'd to make appear, he hath not prov'd any one of them, 
 ■ cither from the Scriptures, or from the Writings of the Raobins. He alJedgcs 
 no reafon why Kings fhould be above all Laws, and they only of all mortal Men 
 exempt from puniihment, if they deferve it. He falls foul upon thole very 
 Authors and Authorities that he makes ufe of, and by his own Difcourfe de- 
 monftrates the truth of the opinion that he argues againft. And perceiving that 
 he is like to do but little good with his arguments, he endeavours to bring an 
 odium upon us, by loading us with flanderous Accufations, as having put to 
 death the moft vertuous innocent Prince that ever reign'd. Was King Solomon,. 
 fays he, better than King Charles the Firft ? I confefs fome have ventur'd to com- 
 pare his Father King James with Solomon ; nay, to make King James the better 
 Gentleman of the two. Solomon was David's Son, David had been Saul's Mu- 
 fician ; but King James was the Son of the Earl ot'Damly, who, as Buchanan tells 
 us, becaufe David the Mufician got into the Queen's Bed-Chamber at an uniea- 
 ibnable time, kill'd him a little after ; for he could not get to him then, be- 
 caufe he had bolted the Door on the infide. So that King James being the Son 
 of an Earl, was the better Gentleman ; and was frequently called a fecond 
 Solomon, though it is not very certain that himfelf was not the Son of David 
 the Mufician too. But how could it ever come into your head to make a com- 
 parifon betwixt King Charles and Solomon ? For that very King Charles whom 
 you praife thus to the Sky, that very Man's Obftinacy, and Covetoufnefs, and 
 Cruelty, his hard ufage of all good and honeft Men, the Wars that he rais'd, 
 the Spoilings and Plunderings and Conflagrations that he occafioned, and the 
 death of innumerable of his Subjects that he was the caufe of, does his Son 
 Charles, at this very time whilft I'm a writing, confefs and bewail in the 
 Stool of Repentance in Scotland, and renounces there that Kingly Right that you 
 affect. But fmce you delight in Parallels, let's compare King Charles and King 
 Solomon together a little : Solomon began his reign with the death of his Brother, 
 who had juftly deferved it ; King Charles began his with his Father's Funeral, I 
 do not fay with his Murder : and yet all the marks and tokens of Poifon that 
 may be, appeared in his dead body •, but that fufpicion lighted upon the Duke 
 of Buckingham only, whom the King notwithstanding cleared to the Parlament, 
 though he had killed the King, and his Father; and not only fo, but he dif- 
 folved the Parliament, left the matter fhould be enquired into. Solomon eppreffed 
 the people with heavy Taxes ; but he fpent that Money upon the Temple of God, 
 and in raifing other public Buildings: King Charles fpent his in Extravagances. 
 Solomon was enticed to Idolatry by many Wives : This Man by one. Solomon 
 though he were feduced himfelf, we read not that he feduced others ; but Kino- 
 Charles feduced and enticed others not only by large and ample rewards to cor- 
 rupt the Church,- but by his Edicts and Ecclefiaftical Conftitutions he compell'd 
 them to fet up Altars, which all Proteftants abhor, and to bow down to Cruci- 
 fixes painted over them on the Wall. But yet for all this, Solomon was not condem- 
 ned to die. Nor does it follow, becaufe he was nor, that therefore he ouo-ht not 
 to have been. Perhaps there were many Circumftances that made it then not 
 expedient. But not long after the People both by words and actions made ap- 
 pear what they took to be their right, when Ten Tribes of Twelve revolted 
 from his Son ; and if he had not laved himfelf by flight,, it is very likely 
 they would have ftoned him, notwithftanding his Threats and big fwellin^ 
 words. 
 
 CHAP,
 
 in anfucer to Salmafius'i Defence of the King, 47- 
 
 chap. in. 
 
 "Aving proved fufficiently that the Kings of the Jews were fubjeft to the 
 . fame Laws that the People were ; That there are no exceptions made 
 in their favour in Scripture ; That 'tis a moft falfe afTertion grounded upon no 
 Reafon, nor warranted by any Authority, to fay, That Kings may do what 
 they lift with Impunity ; That God has exempted them from all human Jurif- 
 diction, and referved them to his own Tribunal only : Let us now confider, 
 whether the Gofpel preach up any fuch Doctrine, and enjoin that blind Obe- 
 dience which the Law was fo far from doing, that it commanded the contrary -, 
 let us confider, whether or no the Gofpel, that Heavenly Promulgation, as it 
 were, of Chriftian Liberty, reduce us to a condition of Slavery to Kings and 
 Tyrants, from whofe imperious rule even the old Law, that Miftrefs of Slave- 
 ry, difcharged the People of God, when it obtained. Your firft argument 
 you take from the Perfon of Chrift himfelf. But, alas ! who does not know 
 that he put himfelf into the condition, not of a private perfon only, but even 
 of a Servant, that we might be made free ? Nor is this to be understood of fome 
 internal fpiritual Liberty only •, how inconfiftent elfe would that Song of his 
 Mother's be with the defign of his coming into the World, He hath feat tered the 
 proud in the imagination of their heart, he hath put down the mighty from their feat, 
 end hath exalted the humble and meek? How ill fuited to their occafion would 
 thefe exprefiions be, if the coming of Chrift rather eftablifhed and ftrengthened 
 a Tyrannical Government, and made a blind fubjection the duty of all Chrifti- 
 ans ? He himfelf having been born, and lived and died under a Tyrannical Go- 
 vernment, has thereby purchafed Liberty for us. As he gives us his Grace to 
 fubmit patiently to a condition of Slavery, iftherebea neceffity of it ; fo if by 
 any honed ways and means we can rid our felves and obtain our Liberty, he is 
 fo far from restraining us, that he encourages us fo to do. Hence it is that St. 
 Paul not only of an Evangelic d, but alfo of a Civil Liberty, fays thus, i Cor. 
 j. 21. Art thou called, being a Servant ? care not for it; but if thou maift be made 
 free, ufe it rather ; you are bought with a price, be not ye Servants of Men. So that 
 you are very impertinent in endeavouring to argue us into Slavery by the exam- 
 ple of our Saviour; who by fubmitting to fuch a condition himfelf, has con- 
 firmed even our Civil Liberties. He took upon him indeed in our ftead the form 
 of a Servant, but he always retained his purpofe of being a Deliverer ; and 
 thence it was that he taught us a quite other notion of the Right of Kings, than 
 this that you endeavour to make good. You, I fay, that preach up not King- 
 fhip, but Tyranny, and that in a Commonwealth ; by enjoining not only a ne- 
 ceffary, but a Religious Subjection to whatever Tyrant gets into the Chair, 
 whether he come to it by Succefllon, or by Conqueft, or Chance, or any how. 
 And now Pll turn your own Weapons againft you ; and oppofe you, as I ufe to 
 do, with your own Authorities. When the Collectors of the Tribute- Money 
 came to Chrift for Tribute in Galilee, he afked Peter, Mat. 17. Of whom the 
 Kings of the Earth took cuftom or tribute, of their own Children, or of Strangers ? 
 Peter faith unto him, Of Strangers ; J ejus faith unto him, then are the Children 
 free ; notwithftanding left we fhould offend them, &c. give unto them for thee and for 
 me. Expofitors differ upon this place, whom this Tribute was paid to ; fome 
 lay it was paid to the Priefts, for the ufe of the Sanctuary ; others that it was 
 paid to the Emperor. I am of opinion that it was the Revenue of the Sanctua- 
 ry, but paid to Herod, who perverted the Inftitution of it, and took it to him- 
 felf. Jcfephus mentions divers forts of Tribute which he and his Sons exacted, 
 all which Agrippa afterwards remitted. And this very Tribute, though fmall in 
 it felf, yet being accompanied with many more, was a heavy burden. The 
 Jews, even the pooreft of them in the time of their Commonwealth, paid a Poll, 
 fo that it was fome confiderable oppreffion that our Saviour fpoke of : and from 
 hence he took occafion to tax Herod's, Injuftice (under whofe Government, and 
 within whofe Jurillliction he then was) in that, whereas the Kings of the Earth, 
 who affect ufually the Title of Fathers of their Country, do not ufe to opprefs 
 their own Children, that is, their own natural-born Subjects with heavy and un- 
 -reafonable Exactions, but lay fuch burdens upon ftrangers, and conquer'd ene- 
 Vol. I. Ppp , miesi
 
 474 A Defence of the People of 'England 
 
 mies ; he, quite contrary, oppreiTed not ftrangers, but his own people. But 
 let what will be here meant by Children, either natural-born Subjects, or the 
 Children of God, and thole the Elect Only, or Chriftians in general, as St. 
 Augv.ftine underftands the place ; this is certain, that if Peter was a Child, and 
 therefore free, then by confequence we are fo too, by Our Saviour's own Tefti- 
 mony, either as Englijhmen, or as Chriftians ; and that it therefore is not the 
 Right of Kings to exact heavy Tributes from their own Countrymen, and thofe 
 freeborn Subject. Chrift himfelf profefles, that he paid not this Tribute as a 
 thing that was due, but that he might not bring trouble upon himfelf by offend- 
 ing thole that demanded it. The work that he came into this World to do, was 
 quite of another nature. But if our Saviour deny, that it is the Right of Kings 
 to burden their Free-born Subjects with grievous Exactions ; he would certain- 
 ly much lefs allow it to be their Right to Spoil, MaiTacre, and Torture their own 
 Countrymen, and thofe Chriftians too. He difcourfed after fuch a manner of 
 the Right of Kings, that thofe to whom he fpoke, fufpected his Principles, as 
 laying too great a reftraint upon Sovereignty, and not allowing the Licence that 
 Tyrants aflume to themfelves to be the Rights of Kings, it was not for no- 
 thing that the Pharifees put fuch Queftions to him, tempting him •, and that at 
 the fame time they told him, that lie regarded not the Perfon of any Man : nor 
 was it for nothing that he was angry when fuch Queftions were propoled to him, 
 Matth. 22. If one mould endeavour to enfnare you with little Queftions, and 
 catch at your Anfwers, to ground an Acculation againft you upon your own 
 Principles concerning the Right of Kings, and all this under a Monarchy,- would 
 you be angry with him ? You'd have but very little reafon. 'Tis evident, That 
 our Saviour s Principles concerning Government, were not agreeable to the Hu- 
 mour of Princes. His Anfwer too implies as much •, by which he rather turn'd 
 them away, than inftructed them. He afked for the Tribute-Money. IVhofe 
 bnage and Superfcription is it, fays he ? They tell him it was Cofar's. Give then 
 to Co-far, fays he, the things that are Cafiif's ; and to God, the things that are Goa's. 
 And how comes it to pals, that the People fhould not have aiven to them the 
 things that are theirs? Render to all Men their dues, fays St. Paul, Rem. 13. So 
 that C<ffar muft not ingrofs all to himfelf. Our Liberty is not Co-Jar's ; 'tis 
 a Bleffing we have received from God himfelf; 'tis what we are born to ; to lay 
 this down at Cofar's feet, which we derive not from him, which we are not be- 
 holden to him for, were an unworthy Action, and a degrading of our very 
 Nature. If one fhould confider attentively the Countenance of a Man, and en- 
 quire after whofe Image fo noble a Creature were framed ; would not any one 
 that heard him, prefently make anfwer, That he was made after the Image of 
 God himfelf ? Being therefore peculiarly God's own, and confcquently rhings 
 that are to be given to him ; we are intirely free by Nature, and cannot with- 
 out the greateft Sacrilege imaginable be reduced into a Condition of Slavery to 
 any Man, efpecially to a wicked, unjull, cruel Tyrant. Our Saviour does not 
 take upon him to determine what things are God's, and what C\ffar\ ; he leaves 
 that as he found it. If the piece of Money which they fhewed him, was the 
 fame that was paid to God, as in Fefpa/ian's time it was ; then our Saviour is fo 
 far from having put an end to the Controvert)', that he has but entangled it, 
 and made it more perplext than it was before : for 'tis impoffible the fame thing 
 fhould be given both to God, and to Cofar. But, you fay, he intimates to 
 them what things were Cafar's, ; to wit, that piece of Money, becaufe it bore 
 the Emperor's Stamp ; and what of all that ? How does this advantage your 
 Caufe ? You get not the Emperor, or your felf a Penny by this Concluiicn. 
 Either Chrift allowed nothing at all to be Co-Jar's, but that piece of Money that 
 he then had in his hand, and thereby afferted the People's Intereft in every thing 
 elfe i or elfe, it (as you would have us underhand him,) he affirms all Money 
 that has the Emperor's ftamp upon it, to be the Emperor's own, he contradicts 
 himfelf, and indeed gives the Magiltrate a property in every Man's Eftate, 
 whenas he himfelf paid his Tribute-Money with a Prottflation, that it was 
 more than what either Peter, or he were bound to do. The ground you rely 
 on, is very weak ; for Money bears the Prince's Image, not as a token of its be- 
 ing his, but of its being good Metal, and that none may prefume to counter* ' 
 leit it. It the writing Princes Names, or letting their Stamps upon a thing, veil 
 the. property ot it in them, 'twere a good ready way for them to invade all 
 
 Propeny.
 
 in anfwer to SaJmafiusV Defence of the King. 475 
 
 Property. Or rather, if whatever Subjects have, be abfolutely at tfieir Prin- 
 ces difpofal, which is your AfTertion, that piece of Money was not Ca-far's, 
 becaufe his Image was ftampt on it, but becaufe of right it belonged to him be- 
 fore 'twas coin'd. So that nothing can be more manifeft, than that our Savi- 
 our in this place never intended to teach us our Duty to Magiftrates (he would 
 have fpoke more plainly, if he had; but to reprehend the Malice and Wicked- 
 nefs of the hypocritical Pharifees. When they told him that Herod laid wait 
 to kill him ; did he return an humble, fubmiffive Anfwer ? Go, tell that Fox, fays 
 he, &c. intimating, that Kings have no other Right to deftroy their Subjects, 
 than Foxes have to devour the things they prey upon. Say you, * He ftjfrered 
 ' Death under a Tyrant.' How could he poffibly under any other ? But from 
 hence you conclude, that he afferted it to be the Right of Kings to commit Mur- 
 der, and aft Injuftice. You'd make an excellent Moraliit. But our Saviour, 
 tho' he became a Servant, not to make us fo, but that we might be free ; yet 
 carried he himfelf fo with relation to the Magiftracy, as not to afcribe any 
 more to them than their due. Now, let us come at laft to enquire what his 
 Doftrine was upon this Subject. The Sons of Zebedee were ambitious of Ho- 
 nour and Power in the Kingdom of Chrift, which they perfwaded themfelves he 
 would fhortly fet up in the World ; he reproves them fo, as withal to let all 
 Chriftians know what Form of Civil Government he defires they fhould fettle a- 
 mongft themfelves. Tc know, lays he, that the Princes of the Gentiles exercife do- 
 minion over them ; and they that are great, exercife authority upon them : but 
 ■it pall not be fo among you ; but whofoever will be great among you, let him be 
 your Minificr ; and whofoever will be chief among you, let him be your Servant. 
 Unlefs you'd been diitrafted, you could never have imagined that this place 
 makes for you : and yet you urge it, and think it furnifnes you with an Argu- 
 ment to prove that our Kings are abfolute Lords and Mailers over us and ours. 
 May it be our fortune to have to do with fuch Enemies in War, as will fall 
 blindfold and naked into our Camp inftead of their own : as you conftantly do, 
 who alledge that for your felf, that of all things in the world makes moft a- 
 gainft you. The Ifraelites afked God for a King, fuch a King as other Nati- 
 ons round about them had. God diffwaded them by many Arguments, whereof 
 our Saviour here gives us an Epitome ; You know that the Princes of the Gen- 
 tiles exercife Dominion over them. But yet, becaufe the Ifraelites perfifted in 
 their defire of a King, God gave them one, tho' in his Wrath. Our Savi- 
 our, left Chriftians fhould defire a King, fuch a one at leaft as might rule, as 
 he fays the Princes or the Gentiles did, prevents them with an Injunction to the 
 contrary ; but it fhall not be fo among you. What can be faid plainer than this ? 
 That ftately, imperious Sway and Dominion that Kings ufe to exercife, fhall not 
 be amongft you ; what fpecious Titles foever they may affume to themfelves, as 
 that of Benefactors ; or the like. But he that will be great amongft you (and who 
 is greater than the Prince ?) let him be your Servant. So that the Lawyer, whoever 
 he be, that you are fo fmart upon, was not fo much out of the way, but had 
 our Saviour's own Authority to back him, when he faid that Chriftian Princes 
 were indeed no other than the People's Servants •, 'tis very certain' that all good 
 Magiftrates are fo. Infomuch that Chriftians either mull have no King at all, or if • 
 they have, ,that King muil be the People's Servant. Abfolute Lordfhip and 
 Chrittianity are incdrififtefit. Mofes himfelf, by whofe Miniftry that fervile 
 CEconomy of the okl Law was inftituted, did not exercife an" arbitrary, haughty 
 Power and Authority, but bore the burden of the People, and carried them in 
 his Bofom, as a Nurling Father does a fucking Child, Numb. n. and what is 
 that of a Nurfing Father but a Minillerial Imployment? Plato would not have 
 the MagiftrateS called Lords, but Servants and Helpers of the People ; nor the 
 People Servants, but Maintainers of their Magiftrates, becaufe they give Meat, 
 Drink, and Wages to their Kings themfelves. Ariftotle calls the Magiftrates, 
 Keepers and Minifters or the Laws. Plato, Minillers and Servants. The A- 
 poftle calls them Minifters ot God ; but they are Minifters and Servants of the 
 People, and of the Laws, neverthelefs for all that •, the Laws and the Magi- 
 ftrates were both created for the good of the People : And yet this is it, that you 
 call the Opinion of the Fanatic Mftijfs in England. I fhould not have thought 
 the People of England were MaftifF-dogs, if fuch a Mungrel-Cur as thou art, 
 did not bark at them lo currifhiy. The Matter, it it fhall pleafe ye, of St. "Lupus inLa- 
 Jjipus*, complains it feems that the Mailiffs are mad {Fanatics). Germanus t '";h ni fi t! a 
 Vo L. I. P p p 1 here- '•''
 
 476 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 heretofore* whofe Colleague that Lupus of Triers wa?, depofed our inceftuou; 
 Kino- Vortigern by his own Authority. And therefore St. Lupus defpifes thee,; 
 the Mailer not or a Holy Wolf, but of fome hunger-ftarv'd thieving little Wolf 
 or other, as being more contemptible than that Mafter of Vipers, of whom 
 Martial makes mention, who has't by relation a barking She-Wolf at home too, 
 that domineers over thee mod wretchedly •, at whofe Inftigations, as I am in- 
 formed, thou haft wrote this ftuff. And therefore it is the lefs wonder that 
 thou fhouldft endeavour to obtrude an abfolute Regal Government upon others, 
 who haft been accuftomed to bear a Female Rule fo fervilely at home thy felf. 
 Be therefore, in the Name of God, the Mafter of a Wolf, left a She-Wolf be 
 thy Miftrefs j be a Worthy felf, be a Monller made up of a Man, and a 
 Wolf; whatever thou art, the Englifi Maftiffs will but make a laughing-ftock 
 of thee. But I am not now at leifure to hunt for Wolves, and will put an end 
 therefore to this Digreffion. You that but a while ago wrote a Book againft all 
 manner of fuperiority in the Church, now call St. Peter the Prince of the Apo- 
 ltles. How inconftant you are in your Principles ! But what fays Peter ? Submit 
 your f elves to every Ordinance of Man, for the Lord's fake, whether it be to the King 
 as Supreme, or to Covernours, as unto them that are fent by him for the punifhment 
 of evil-doers, and the praife of them that do well: for fo is the will of God, &c. 
 This Epiftle Peter wrote, riot only to private Perfons, but thofe Strangers fcat- 
 ter'd and difpers'd through Afia ; who in thofe places where they fojourned, 
 had no other Right, than what the Laws of Hofpitality intitled them to. Do 
 you think fuch Mens cafe to be the fame with that of Natives, Free-born Sub- 
 jects, Nobility, Senates, Affemblies of Eftates, Parliaments? Nay, is not the 
 cafe far different of private Perfons, tho' in their own Country; and Sena- 
 tors, or Magiftrates, without whom, Kings themfelves cannot poffibly fubfift, ? 
 But let us fuppofe that St. Peter had directed his Epiftle to the Natural- born 
 Subjects, and thofe not private perfons neither ; fuppofe he had writ to the Se- 
 nate of Rome ; What then ? No Law that is grounded upon a reafon, exprefly 
 fet down in the Law it felf, obligeth further than the reafon of it extends. Br 
 fubjetl, fays he, v-avrdyr^i : Thar, is, according to the genuine fenfe and im- 
 port of the word, be fubordinate, or legally fubjecl. For the Law, Ariftotle fays, 
 is Order. Submit for the Lord's fake. Why fo ? Becaufe a King is an Officer 
 appointed by God for the punifhment of evil-doers, and the praife of them that do well -, 
 For fois the will of God : To wit, that we fhould fubmit and yield Obedience to 
 fuch as are here deferibed. There is not a word fpoken of any other. You fee 
 the ground of this Precept, and how well 'tis laid. The Apoftle adds in the 16th 
 verle, as Free ; therefore not as Slaves. What now ? if Princes pervert the defign 
 of Magiftracy, and life the power, that is put into their hands, to the ruin and 
 deftruction of good Men, and the praife and encouragement of evil-doers ; 
 muft we all be condemn'd to perpetual Slavery, not private perfons only, but 
 our Nobility, all our inferior Magiftrates, our very Parliament it felf? Is not 
 temporal Government call'd a human Ordinance ? How comes it to pals then, 
 that Mankind fhould have power to appoint and conftitute, what may be good 
 and profitable for one another ; and want power to reftrain or fupprefs things 
 that are univerfally mifchievous and deftructive ? That Prince, you fay, to 
 whom St. Peter enjoins Subjection, was Nero the Tyrant : And from thence you 
 infer, that it is our Duty to fubmit and yield Obedience to fuch. But it is not 
 certain that this Epiftle was writ in Nero's Reign : 'Tis as likely to have been 
 writ in Claudius's time. And they that are commanded to fubmit, were pri- 
 vate Perfons and Strangers ; they were no Confuls, no Magiftrates : 'Twas not 
 the Roman Senate, that St. Peter directed his Epiftle to. Now let us hear what 
 uie you make of St. Paul (for you take a freedom with the Apoftles, I find,- 
 that you will not allow us to take with Princes •, you make St. Peter the chief of 
 them to-day, and to-morrow put another in his place) St. Paul in his 13th Chap. 
 to the Romans, has thefe words : Let every Soul be fubjetl unto the higher Powers, 
 for there is no power but of God ; the powers that be, are ordained of God. I confels 
 he writes this to th.e Romans, not to Strangers difpers'd, as Peter did ; but how- 
 ever he writes to private perfons, and thofe of the meaner rank : And yet he 
 gives us a true, and a clear account of the reafon, the original, and the delign 
 of Government ; and fhows us the true and proper ground of our Obedience, 
 that it's far from impofing a r.eceflity upon us of being Slaves. " Let everv 
 
 " Soul,
 
 in anfcer to Salmafius'j- Defence of the King. 4-7 
 
 " Soul, lays he ; that is, let every Man fubmit." Chryfojlam tells us, " That 
 " St. Paul's defign in this Difcourfe, was to make it appear, that our Saviour 
 " did not go about to introduce Principles inconfiftent with the Civil Govcrn- 
 *' ment, but fuch as ftrengthned it, and fettled it upon the fiireft Foundations." 
 He never intended then by fetting Nero, or any other Tyrant out of the reach 
 of all Laws, to enflave Mankind under his Luff, and Cruelty. " He in- 
 " tended too, fays the fame Author, to diffwade from unneceffary and cauflefs 
 " Wars." But he does not condemn a War taken up againft a Tyrant, a Bofom- 
 Enemy of his own Country, and confequently the molt dangerous that may be. 
 " 'Twas commonly faid in thole days, that the Doclrine of the Apoitlcs was 
 " feditious, themfelves Perfons that endeavour'd to lhake the fettled Laws and 
 " Government of the World •, that this was what they aimed at in all they faid 
 '.' and did." The Apoftle in this Chapter flops the mouths of fuch Gainfayers : 
 So that the Apoftles did not write in defence of Tyrants, as you do ; but they 
 afferted fuch things as made them fufpected to be Enemies to the Government 
 they liv'd under, things that flood in need of being explained and interpreted, 
 and having another fenfe put upon them than was generally received. St. Ch?y- 
 fofiom has now taught us what the Apoftle's defign was in this Difcourfe ; let us 
 now examine his words : Let every Soul be fubjeel to the Higher Powers. He tells 
 us not what thole Higher Powers are, nor who they are •, for he never intended 
 to overthrow all Governments, and the feveral Conftitutions of Nations, and 
 fubject all to fome one Man's will. Every good Emperor acknowledged that 
 the Laws of the Empire, and the Authority of the Senate was above himfelf: 
 and the fame principle and notion of Government has obtained all along in civi- 
 Jiz'd Nations. Pindar, as he is cited by Herodotus, calls the Law iruvlav Q»n\i» t 
 King over all. Orpheus in his Hymns calls it the King both of Gods and Men : 
 And he gives the reafon why it is fo •, Becaufe, fays he, 'tis that that fits a: tbi helm 
 of all human affairs. Plato in his Book De Legibus, calls it to x^-™* £ '" T * "*'*« : 
 that that ought to have the greateft fway in the Commonwealth. In his Epi'ftles he 
 commends that Form of Government, in which the Law is made Lord and Ma- 
 iler, and no fcope given to any Man to tyrannize over the Laws. Ariftotle is of 
 the fame opinion in his Politics; and fo is Cicero in his Booked Legibus, That 
 the Laws ought to govern the Magiftrates as they do the People. The Law 
 therefore having always been accounted the higheft Power on Earth, by the 
 iugdment of the moll learned and wife men that ever were, and by the Confti- 
 tutions of the belt-ordered States ; and it being very certain that the Doftrine 
 of the Gofpel is neither contrary to Reafon nor the Law of Nations, that Man is 
 truly and properly fubjeel: to the higher Powers who obeys the Law and the 
 Magiftrates, fo far as they govern according to Law. Sb that St. Paul does not 
 only command the People, but Princes themfelves to be in Subjection ; who are 
 not above the Laws, but bound by them, For there is no Power but of God: that 
 is no Form, no lawful Conftitution of any Government. The molt ancient Laws 
 that are known to us, were formerly afcribed to God as their Author. For the 
 Law, fays Cicero in his Philippics, is no other than a rule of well-grounded rea- 
 fon, derived from God himfelf, enjoining whatever is jull and right, and for- 
 bidding the contrary. So that the inititution of Magiftracy is Jure Divino, and 
 the end of it is, that Mankind might live under certain Laws, and be govern'd 
 by them. But what particular Form ol Government each Nation would live 
 under, and what Perfons fhould be entrufted with the Magiftracy, without doubt, 
 was left to the choice of each Nation. Hence St. Peter calls Kings and Deputies, 
 Human Ordinances. And Hofea in the 8 th Chapter of his Prophecy, They have 
 Jet up Kings, but not by me ; they have made Princes, and I knew it not. For in the 
 Commonwealth of the Hebrews, where, upon matters of great and weighty im- 
 portance, they could have accefs to God himfelf, and confult with him, they 
 could not chufe a King themfelves by Law, but were to refer the matter to him. 
 OtherNations have received no fuch Command. Sometimes the veryForm ofGo- 
 vcrnmentj if it be amifs, or at leait thofe Perfons that have the Power in their 
 hands, are not of God, but of Men, orof the Devil, Luke 4. All this Power will I 
 five unto thee, for it is delivered unto me, and I give it to whom J will. Hence the Devil 
 is called the Prince of thisWorld ; and in the 1 2th of theRevelaticns, the Dragon 
 gave to the Beaft his Power, and his Throne, and great Authority. So that we 
 mull not understand St. Paul, as if he fpoke of all forts of M.igillrates in general, 
 
 but
 
 478 A Defence of the People of Expand, 
 
 but of lawful Magiftrates-, and fo they are defcribed' in what follows. We 
 muft alfo understand him of the Powers themfelves •, not ofthofe Men always, 
 in whofe hands they are lodged. St. Cbryfcftom fpeaks very well, and clearly 
 upon this occafion. What ? fays he, is every Prince then appointed by God to be jo ? 
 I [ay nofuch thing, fays he. St. Vxu\ fpeaks not of the Perfon of the 'Mdgi/hate, but 
 cfthe Magifiracy it felf. He does not fay, there is no Prince but who is of God. He 
 fays there is no Power but of God. Thus far St. Cbryfcftom ; for what Powers are, 
 "are ordained of God : So that St. Paul fpeaks only of a lawful Magiftrav y. For 
 what is evil and amifs, cannot be faid to be ordain'd, becaufe 'tis dilbrderly -, 
 Order and Dilbrder cannot confift together in the fame Subject. The Apoftle 
 fays, The Powers that be ; and you interpret his words as if he had laid, The 
 Powers that now be ; that you may prove that the Rowans ought in Confcience to 
 obey Nero, who you take for granted was then Emperor. I'm very well con- 
 tent you fhould read the words fo, and draw that Conclufion from them. The 
 Confequence will be, that Englifhmen ought to yield Obedience to the prefent 
 Government, as 'tis now eftablifht according to a new Model •, becaufe you mult 
 needs acknowledge that it is the prefent Government, and ordain'd of God, as 
 much at leaft as Nero's was. And left you mould object that Nero came to the 
 Empire by a Lawful Succeffion, it's apparent from the Roman Hiftory that both 
 he and Tiberius got into the Chair by the Tricks and Artifices ot their Mothers, 
 and had no right at all to the Succeffion. So that you are inconfiftent with your 
 felf, and retract from your own Principles, in affirming that the Romans owed 
 Subjection to the Government that then was •, and yet denying that Englifhmen 
 owe Subjection to the Government that now is. But 'tis no wonder to hear you 
 contradict your felf. There are no two things in the world more directly op- 
 pofite and contrary to one another, than you are to your felf. But what will 
 become of you, poor Wretch ? You have quite undone the young King with 
 your Witticifms, and ruin'd his Fortunes utterly •, for according to your own 
 Doctrine you muft needs confefs, that this prefent Government in England, is or- 
 dain'd of God, and that all Englifhmen are bound in Confcience to fubmit to it. 
 Take notice, all ye Criticks andTextuaries ; Do not you prefume to meddle with 
 this Text. Thus Salmafius corrects that Paffage in the Epiftle to the Romans : He 
 has made a difcovery, that the Words ought not to be read, The Powers that are -, 
 but, ThePowers that now are : And all this to prove that all Men owed Subjection 
 and Obedience to Nero the Tyrant, whom he fuppofed to have been then Em- 
 peror. This Epiftle, which you fay was writ in Nero's time, was writ in his 
 Predeceffor's time, who was an honeit well- meaning Man : And this learned Men 
 evince by undeniable Arguments. But befides, the five firft years of Nero's reign 
 were without exception. So that this threadbare Argument, which fo many 
 Men have at their tongues end, and have been deceived by, to wit, that Ty- 
 rants are to be obeyed, becaufe St. Paul injoins a Subjection to Nero, is evident, 
 to have been but a cunning Invention of fome ignorant Parfon. He that rcfifts 
 the Powers, to wit, a lawful Power, rejijls the Ordinance of God. Kings them- 
 felves come under the Penalty of this Law, when they refift the Senate, and 
 act contrary to the Laws. But do they refift the Ordinance of God, that 
 refift an unlawful Power, or a Perfon that goes about to overthrow and deftroy 
 a lawful one ? No Man living in his right Wits can maintain fuch an AiTer- 
 tion. The words immediately after make it as clear as the Sun, that the 
 Apoftle fpeaks only of a lawful power ; for he gives us in them a Definition of 
 Magiftrates, and thereby explains to us who are the Perfons thus authoriz'd, 
 and upon what account we are to yield Obedience, left we fhould be apt to mil- 
 take and ground extravagant Notions upon his Difcourfe. The Magiftrates, 
 fays he, are not a Terror to good Works, but to evil : Wilt thou then not be afraid 
 of the Power ? Do that which is good, and thouftjalt have praife of the fame : For 
 he is the Minifter of God to thee for good. He bcareth not the Sword in vain ; for he 
 is the Minifter of God, a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth evil. What 
 honeft Man would not willingly fubmit to fuch a Magiftracy as is.here defcri- 
 bed ? And that not only to avoid Wrath, and for fear of Punifhment, but for 
 Confcience fake. Without Magiftrates, and fome Form or other of Civil Govern- 
 ment, no Commonwealth, no Human Soi iety can fubfift, there were no li vino- 
 in the World. But whatever Power enables a Man, or whatfoevcr Magistrate 
 takes upon him to act contrary to what St. Paul makes the Duty ofthofe that 
 ? are
 
 in anfacr to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 479 
 
 are in Authority, neither is that Power, nor that Magiftrate ordain'd of God. 
 And confequently to fuch a Magistracy no Subjection is commanded, nor is any 
 due, nor are the People forbidden to refill: luch Authority ; (or in fo doing they 
 do not refift the Power, nor the Magistracy, as they are here excellently well de- 
 fcribed ; but they refill: a Robber, a Tyrant, an Enemy ; who if he may notwith- 
 standing in fome fenfe be called a Magiftrate, upon this account only, becaufe 
 he has Power in his hands, which perhaps God may have inverted him with 
 for our punishment ; by the fame reafon the Devil may be called a Magi- 
 itrate. This is molt certain, that there can be but one true Definition of one 
 and the fame thing. So that if St. Paul in this place define what a Magiftrate 
 is, which he certainly does, and that accurately well ; he cannot pofTibiy define 
 a Tyrant, the molt contrary thing imaginable, in the fame words. Hence I in- 
 fer, that he commands us to Submit to Such Magistrates only as he himfelf defines 
 and defcribes, and not to Tyrants, which are quite other things. For this Caufeyou 
 pay Tribute alfo : He gives a Reafon, together with a Command. Hence St. Cbry- 
 fojiom ; Why do we pay Tribute to Princes? Do we not, adds he, thereby reward them for 
 the care they take of our Safety ? Wefoould not have paid them any Tribute if we had net 
 been ccnvinc , d, that it was good for us to live under a Government. So that I muft her : 
 repeat what I have faid already, That Since Subjection is not absolutely enjoined, 
 but on a particular Reafon, that Reafon muft be the rule of our Subjection : where 
 that Reafon holds, we are Rebels if we fubmit not ; where it holds not, we are 
 Cowards and Slaves if we do. But, fay you, the English are far from being Free- 
 men ; for they are wicked and flagitious. I will not reckon up here the Vices of the 
 French, tho' they live under a Kingly Government ; neither will I excufe my own 
 Country-men too far : but this I may fafely fay, whatever Vices they have, 
 they have learnt them under a Kingly Government ; as the Ifraelites learnt a 
 great deal ot Wickednefs in Egypt. And as they, when they were brought in- 
 to the Wildernefs, and lived under the immediate Government of God himfelf, 
 could hardly reform, juft fo 'tis with us. But there are good hopes of many 
 amongft us ; that I may not here celebrate thofe Men who are eminent for their 
 Piety and Virtue, and Love of the Truth •, of which fort I perfwade my fe]f 
 we have as great a number, as where you think there are molt luch. But they 
 have laid a heavy yoke upon the English Nation : What if they have, upon thole 
 of them that endeavoured to lay a heavy Yoke upon all the reft ? Upon thofe 
 that have deferved to be put under the hatches ? As for the reft, I queftion not 
 but they are very well content to be at the expence of maintaining their own 
 Liberty, the Public Treafury being exhausted by the Civil Wars. Now he 
 betakes himfelf to the Fabulous Rabbins again : He aSTerts frequently, that Kings 
 are bound by no Laws •, and yet he proves, That according to the fenfe of the 
 Rabbins, a King may be guilty ofTreafon, byfuffering an Invafion upon the Rights of 
 his Crown. S> Kings are bound by Laws, and they arc not bound by them ; 
 they may be Criminals, and yet they may not be So. This Man contradicts 
 himfelf fo perpetually, that Contradiction and he feem to be of kin to one an p- 
 ther. You fay that God himfelf put many Kingdoms under the yoke of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, King of Babylon. I confers he did \'o for a time, Jer. 27. 7. but do 
 you make appear, if you can, that he put the Englijh Nation into a condition of 
 Slavery to Charles Stuart for a minute. I confefs he fuffered rhem to be enflaved 
 by him for fome time ; but I never yet heard that himfelf appointed it lo to be. 
 Or if you will have it fo, that God Shall be Said to put a Nation under Slavery, 
 when a Tyrant prevails ; why may he not as well be faid to deliver them fr< 
 his Tyranny, when the People prevail and get the upper hand ? Shall his Ty- 
 ranny be laid to be of God, and not our Liberty r There is no evil in the City, 
 that the Lord hath not done, Amos 3. So that Famine, Peftilence, Sedition, 
 War, all ot" them are of God ; and is it therefore unlawful for a People af- 
 flicted with any of thefe Plagues, to endeavour to get rid of them ? Certainly 
 they would do their utmoft, tho' they know them to be Sent by God, unlets 
 himfelf miraculoufly from Heaven Should command the contrary : And why may 
 they not by the fame reafon rid themfelves of a Tyrant, if they are Stronger 
 than he ? Why Should we fuppofe his weaknefs to be appointed by God for the 
 ruin and delrruction of the Commonwealth, rather than the Power a.; J 
 Strength of all the People for the good of the State ? Far lie it from all Com- 
 monwealths, from all Societies of free-born Men, to maintain noi >nly fuch per- 
 
 1 i JCUS, 
 
 3
 
 4 8 o A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 nicious but fuch ftupid and fenfelcfs Principles •, Principles that fubvcrt all Ci- 
 vil Society, that to gratifv a few Tyrants, level all Mankind with Brutes; and 
 by fettino- Princes out of the reach of human Laws, give them an equal power 
 over both. I pals by thofe foolifh Dilemma's tint you now make, which that 
 vou mbht take occafion to propofe, you feign fome or other to affert that the 
 fuperlaHvePozver of Princes is derived from the People ; though for my own part I 
 do not at all doubt but that all the power that any Magifl rates have, is lb. 
 Hence Cicero, in his Orat.pro Flacco, ' Our wife and holy Anceftors, fays he, 
 « appointed thole things to obtain for Laws, that the People enacted.' And hence 
 it is that Lucius Craps, an Excellent Roman Orator, and at that time Prefident 
 of the Senate, when in a Controverfy betwixt them and the common People, 
 he alferted their Rights, ' I befeech you, fays he, fuffer rot us to live in iub- 
 ' jection to any, but your felves, to the entire body of whom we can and 
 1 ought to fubmit.' For though thclioman Senate govern'd the People, the Peo- 
 ple themfelves had appointed them to be their Governours, and had put that 
 power into their hands. We read the term of Majejly more frequently ap- 
 plied to the People of Rome, than to their Kings. 'Tally in Orat. pro Plancio, 
 ' It is the condition of all free People, (lays he) and efpecially of this People, 
 ' the Lord of all Nations, by theirVotes to give or take away, to or from any, 
 
 * as themfelves fee caufe. 'Tis the duty of the Magiftrates patiently to fubmit 
 « to what the body of the People enact. Thofe that are not ambitious of Ho- 
 ' nour, have the lefs obligation upon them to court the People ? Thofe that af- 
 ' feci: Preferment, muft not be weary of entreating them.' Should I fcruple to 
 call a King the Servant of his People, when I hear the Roman Senate, that reign'd 
 over fo many Kings, profefs themfelves to be but the People's Servants? You'll 
 object perhaps, and fay, that all this is very true in a popular State •, but the 
 cafe was altered afterwards, when the Regal Law transferred all the People's 
 Right into Auguftus and his SuccelTors. But what think you then of Tiberius, 
 whom your felf confefs to have been a very great Tyrant^ as he certainly was? 
 Suetonius fays of him, that when he was once called Lord or Mafter, though af- 
 ter the enacting of that Lex Regia, he defired the Perfon that gave him that ap- 
 pellation, to forbear abufing him. How does this found in your ears? a Ty- 
 rant thinks one of his Subjects abufes him in calling him Lord. The fame Em- 
 peror in one of his Speeches to the Senate, ' I have faid, fays he, frequently 
 1 heretofore, and now 1 fay it again, that a good Prince, whom you have inveft- 
 
 * ed with fo great power as I am entrufted with, ought to ferve the Senate, 
 
 * and the body of the People, and fometimes even particular Perfons ; nor do I 
 
 * repent of having faid fo : I confefs that you have been good, and juft, and 
 c indulgent Mafters to me, and that you are yet fo.' You may fay that he dif- 
 fembled in all this, as he was a great Proficient in the art of Hypocrify ; but 
 that's all one. No man endeavours to appear otherwife than he ought to be. 
 Hence Tacitus tells us, that it was the cuftom in Rome for the Emperors in the 
 Circus, to worihip the People •, and that both Nero and other Emperors prac- 
 tifed it. Claudian in his Panegyric upon Honcrius mentions the fame cultom. 
 By which fort of Adoration what could poflibly be meant, but that the Empe- 
 rors of Rome, even after the enacting of the Lex Rcgia, confeffed the whole 
 body of the People to be their Superiors ? But I find, as I fufpected at firft, and 
 fo I told ye, that you have fpent more time and pains in turning over Gloffaries,. 
 and criticifing upon Texts, and propagating fuch-like laborious Trifles, than 
 in reading found Authors fo as to improve your knowledge by them. For had 
 you been never fo little verfed in the Writings of learned Men in former Ages, 
 you would not have accounted an opinion new, and the product of fome Enthu- 
 fiaflic Heads, which has been aliened and maintained by the greateff Philofo- 
 phers, and moft famous Politicians in the World. You endeavour to expofe 
 one Martin, who you tell us was a Taylor, and one William a Tanner ; but if 
 they are fuch as you defcribe them, I think they and you may very well 
 go together-, though they themfelves would be able to inftruct you, and un- 
 fold thofe myfterious Riddles that you propofe : as, Whether or no they 
 that in a Monarchy would have the King but a Servant to the Commonwealth, 
 will fay the fame thing of the whole body of the People in a popular State? And 
 whether all the People ferve in a Democracy, or only fome part or other ferve the reft ? 
 And when they have been an CEdipus to you, by my content you fhall be a Sphinx. 
 
 a to
 
 in anjwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 481 
 
 ro them in good earned, and throw your felf headlong from fome precipice or 
 other, and break your neck ; lor elfe I'm afraid you'll never have done with your 
 Riddles and Fooleries. Youafk, Whether or no >, e Paul names Kings, he 
 
 meant the People? I confefs St. Paul commands us to pray for Kings, but he had 
 commanded us to pray for the People before, vcr. i . But there are fome for all 
 that, both among Kings and common People, that we are forbidden to pray 
 for ; and if a man muft not fo much as be prayed for, may he not be punifhed ? 
 What mould hinder? But, when Paul wrote this Epiftle, he that reigned was the 
 moft profligate Per/on in the World. That's falfe. For Ludovicus Capellus makes it 
 evident, that this Epiftle likewife was writ in Claudius's time. When St. Paul 
 has occafion to fpeak of Nero, he call's him not a King, but a Lion ; that is, a 
 wild, lavage Bead, from whofe jaws he is glad he was delivered, 2 Tim. 4. So 
 that it is for Kings, not for Beads that we are to pray, that under them we may 
 live a quiet and a peaceable life, in all godlinefs andhonejly. Kings and their Inte- 
 red are not the things here intended to be advanced and fecured; 'tis the public 
 Peace, Godlinefs and Honedy, whofe edablifhment we are commanded to en- 
 deavour after, and to pray for. But is there any People in the World that would 
 not chufe rather to live an honed and careful Life, tho' never free from War 
 and Troubles, in the defence ofthemfelves and their Families, whether againd 
 Tyrants or Enemies (for I make no difference) than under the power of a Ty- 
 rant or an Enemy to fpin out a Life equally troublefome, accompanied with 
 Slavery and Ignominy ? That the latter is the more delirable of the two, I'll 
 prove by a Tedimony of your own ; not becaufe I think your Authority worth 
 quoting, but that all Men may obferve how double- tongu'd you are, and how 
 mercenary your Pen is. " Who would not rather, fay you, bear with thofe 
 " diffenfions that through the emulation of great Men often happen in an Arido- 
 " cratical Government, than live under the Tyrannical Government of one, 
 " where nothing but certain mifery and ruin is to be look'dfor? The People of 
 " Rome preferr'd their Commonwealth, tho' never fo much fhatter'd with civil 
 " Broils, before the intolerable Yoke of their Emperors. When a People, to 
 " avoid Sedition, fubmits to a Monarchy, and finds by experience, that that is 
 " the word evil of the two, they often defire to return to their former Govern- 
 " ment again." Thefe are your own words, and more you have to this purpofe 
 in that Difcourfe concerning Bifhops, which under a feigned name you wrote a- 
 gaind Petavius the Jefuit ; though your felf are more a Jefuit than he, nay 
 worfe than any of that Crew. We have already heard the fenfe of the Scrip- 
 ture upon this Subject ; and it has been worth our while to take fome pains to 
 find it out. But perhaps it will not be fo to enquire into the judgment of the 
 Fathers, and to ranfac their Volumes : for if they affert any thing which is 
 not warranted by the Word of God, we may fafely rejeft their Authority, 
 be it never fo great ; and particularly that expreffion that you alledge out of 
 Irentev.s, " That God in his Providence orders it fo, that fuch Kings reign as arc; 
 " fuitable to, and proper for the People they are to govern, all Circumftances 
 " confidered." That expreffion, I fay, is directrly contrary to Scripture. For 
 though God himfelf declared openly that it was better for his own people to be 
 governed by Judges than by Kings, yet he left it to them to change that Form of 
 Government for a worfe, if they would themfelves. And we read frequently, 
 that when the body of the People has been good, they have had a wicked King, 
 and contrariwife that a good King has fometimes rcign'd when the People have 
 been wicked. So that wife and prudent Men arc to confider and fee what is pro- 
 fitable and fit for the People in general ; for it is very certain that the fame 
 Form of Government is not equally convenient for all Nations, nor for the fame 
 Nation at all times ; but fometimes one, fometimes another may be more pro- 
 per, according as the indudry and valour of the People may increafe or decay. 
 But if you deprive the People of this liberty of fetting up what Government 
 they like bed among themfelves, you take that from them, in which the life 
 of all civil Liberty confids. Then you tell us of Juflin Martyr, of his humble 
 and fubmiffive behaviour to the Antonines, thofe bed of Emperors; as if any 
 body would not do the like to Princes of fuch moderation as they were. " How 
 " much worfe Chriftians are we in thefe days, than thofe were? They were content to 
 " live under a Prince of another Religion." Alas! They were private Perfons, 
 and infinitely inferior to the contrary party in ftrength and number. But now 
 Papijls will not endure a Protefant Prince, nor Protejtants one that is Popijh. You 
 Vol. I. Q^qq do
 
 48 x A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 do well and difcreetly, in fhewing your felf to be neither Papift nor Proteftant. 
 And you are very liberal in your conceffions ; for now you confefs that all forts 
 of Chriftians agree in that very thing, that you alone take upon you with fo 
 much impudence and wickednefs, to cry down and oppofe. And how unlike 
 thofe Fathers that you commend, do you fhow your felf: They wrote Apolo- 
 gies for the Chriftians to Heathen Princes > you in defence of a wicked Popifh 
 Kino-, ao-ainft Chriftians and Proteftants. Then you entertain us with a num- 
 ber of impertinent quotations out of Athenagcras and Terlullian : Things that 
 we have already heard cut of the Writings of the Apoftles, much more clearly 
 and intelligibly expreft. But Tertullian was quite of a different opinion from 
 yours, of a King's being a Lord and Mafter over his Subjects : Which you 
 either knew not T or wickedly diflembled. For he, though he were a 
 Chriftian, and directed his difcourfe to a Heathen Emperor, had the con- 
 fidence to lell him, that an Emperor ought not to be called Lord. " Augufius 
 " himfelf, fays he, that formed this Empire, rcfus'd that appellation : 'Tis a 
 *' Title proper to God only. Not but that the Title of Lord and Mafter may 
 " in fome fenfe be afcribed to the Emperor : But there is a peculiar fenfe of that 
 *' word, which is proper to God only •, and in that fenfe, I will not afcribe it 
 " to the Emperor. I am the Emperor's free-man. God alone is my Lord and 
 " Mafter. And the fame Author, in the fame Difcourfe 5 how inconfiftent, 
 " fays be, are thofe two Appellations, Father of his Country, and Lord and 
 ** Mafter ?" And now I wifh you much joy of Tertullian's authority, whom it 
 had been a great deal better you had let alone. But Tertullian calls them Parri- 
 cides that flew Domitian. And he does well, for fo they were, his Wife and Ser- 
 vants conlpir'd againft him. And they fet one Parthenius and Stephanus, who 
 ■were accus'd for concealing part of the public Treafure, to make him away. 
 If the Senate and the People of Rome had proceeded againft him according to 
 the cuftom of their Anceftors; had given Judgment of Death againft him, as 
 they did once againft Nero ; and had made fearch for him to put him to death; 
 doye think Tertullian-would have called them Parricides? If he had, he would have 
 deferv'd to be hang'd, as you do. I give the fame anfwer to your quotation out of 
 Origen, that I have given already to what you have cited out of Irenaus. Athana- 
 Jius indeed fays, that Kings are not accountable before human Tribunals. But I 
 wonder who told Athanafim this ? I do not hear that he produces any authority 
 From Scripture, to confirm this afTertion. And I'll rather believe Kings and Empe- 
 rors themfelves, who deny that they themfelves have any fuch Privilege, than I 
 will Athanafim. Then you quote Ambrofim, who after he had been a Proconful, and 
 after that became a Catechumen, at laft got into a Bifhopric : But for his au- 
 thority, I fay, that his Interpretation of thofe words of David, againft thee on- 
 ly I have finned, is both ignorant and adulatory. He was willing all others 
 fhould be enthrall r dto the Emperor, that he might enthral the Emperor to him- 
 felf. We all know with what a Papal Pride and Arrogancy he treated Theodo- 
 fius the Emperor, how he took upon him to declare him guilty of that mafTacre 
 atTheffalonica, and to forbid him coming into the Church ; how miferably raw 
 in Divinity, and unacquainted with the Doctrine of the Gofpel, he fhewed 
 himfelf upon that accalion ■, when the Emperor fell down at his feet, he com- 
 manded him to get him out of the Porch. At laft, when he was received again 
 into the Communion of the Church, and had offered, becaufe he continued 
 ftanding near to the Altar, the Magifterial Prelate commanded him out of the 
 Rails : O Emperor, fays he, thefe inner places are for the Priefts only, 'tis not unlawful 
 for others to come within them! Does this found like the behaviour of a Minifter 
 of the Gofpel, or like that of a Jewifh High-Prieft ? And yet this man, fuch as 
 we hear he was, would have the Emperor ride other People, that himfelf might 
 ride him, which is a common trick of almoft all Ecclefiaftics. With words to 
 this purpofe, he put back the Emperor as inferior to himfelf: You rule over men, 
 faith he, that are partakers of the fame Nature, and Fellow -fervants with your felf : 
 For there is one only Lord and King over all, to wit, the Creator of all. This is very 
 pretty! This piece of truth, which the craft and flattery of Clergy-men has alt 
 along endeavoured to fupprefs and obfeure, was then brought to light by the 
 furious paflion, or to fpeak more mildly, by the ignorant indifcreet zeal of one 
 of them. After you have difplay'd Ambrofe's ignorance, you fhow your own, 
 or rather, vent a Herejy in affirming point-blank, That under the Old Teftament, 
 thirt "was no fuch things as forgivenefs of Sins upon the account of ChrijPs fufferings- 
 
 face
 
 in anfb&er to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 483 
 
 fiuce David confef'd his tranfgreffon, faying, Againft thee only have I finned, Pf. 68. 
 'Tis the Orthodox Tenet, that there never was any rerriiffion of Sins, but by 
 the bioo.l of the Lamb that was (lain from the beginning of the World.' I know 
 not whole Dil'ciple you are, that fet up for a Broacher of new Herefies • but cer- 
 tain I am, that that great Divine's Difciple whom you are fo angry with, did not 
 miftake himfelf, when he laid that any one of David's Subjects mi^ht have laid, 
 again/} thee only have I finned, as properly, and with as much right, as David him- 
 feif. Then you quote St. Auflin, and produce a company of Hipponenfan Di- 
 vines. What you alledge out of St. Auflin, makes not at all againft us. We confefs 
 that, as the Prophet Daniel has it, it's God that changeth times, fets up one 
 Kingdom, and pulls down another ; we only defire to have it allow'd us, that 
 he makes ufe of Men as his Inftruments. If God alone gave a Kingdom to' Kin"- 
 Charles, God alone has taken it from him again, and given it to the Parlament^ 
 and to the People. If therfore our Allegiance was due to King Charles, becaufe 
 God had given him a Kingdom ; for the fame reafon it is now due totheprefent 
 Magiftracy. For your felf confefs, that God has given our Magiftrates fuch 
 power as he ufes to give to wicked Princes, for the punifhment of the Nation. 
 And the confequence of this will be, that according to your own opinion, our 
 prefent Magiftrates being rais'd and appointed by God, cannot lawfully be de- 
 pofed by any, but God himfelf. Thus you overthrow the opinion you pretend 
 to maintain, which is a thing very frequent with you : Your Apology for the 
 King, carries its death's-wound in it. You have attained to fuch a prodigious 
 degree of Madrid's and Stupidity, as to prove it unlawful upon any account 
 whatfoever, to lite up one's finger againft Magiftrates, and with the very next 
 breath to affirm that it's the duty of their Subjects to rife up in Rebellion a- 
 gainft them. You tell us that St. Jerom calls IJhmael that flew Gedaliah, a Parri- 
 cide or Traytor : And it is very true, that he was fo: For Gedaliah was Deputy 
 Governour oi'Judea, a good man, and (lain by Ifimael without any caufe. The 
 fame Author in his Comment upon the Book of Ecclefiaftes, fays, that Solomon's 
 command to keep the King's Commandment, is the fame with St. Paul's Doc- 
 trine, upon the fame fubjec"t ; and deferves commendation for having made a 
 more moderate Conftru&ion of that Text, than molt of his Contemporaries. 
 You fay, you will forbear enquiring into the Sentiments of Learned Men that 
 lived fince St. Aujlin's time : but to fhew that you had rather difpenfe with a 
 Lye, than not quote any Author that you think makes for you, in the very next 
 period but one, you produce the Authorities of Ifidore, Gregory, and Otho y 
 Spanijh and Dutch Authors, that liv'd in the moft barbarous and ignorant ages 
 of all ; whofe Authorities, if you knew how much we defpife, you would not 
 have told a Lye to have quoted them. But would you know the reafon why he 
 dares not come fo low as to the prefent times? why he does as it were .hide him- 
 felf, and difappear, when he comes towards our own times? The reafon is, Be- 
 caufe he knows full well, that as many eminent Divines as there are of the Re- 
 formed Church, fo many Adverfaries he would have to encounter. Let him 
 take up the Cudgels, if he thinks fit; he will quickly find himfelf run down 
 with innumerable Authorities out of Luther, Zuinglius, Calvin, Bucer, Martyr, 
 Parous, and the reft. I could oppofe you with Teftimonies out of Divines that 
 have flourifhed even in Leyden. Though that famous Univerfity and renowned 
 Commonwealth, which has been as it were a Sanctuary for Liberty, thofe 
 Fountains and Streams of all Polite Learning, have not yet been able to walk 
 away that flavifh Ruft that fticks to you, and infufe a little Humanity into 
 you. Finding your felf deftitute of any afilftance or help from Orthodox 
 Proteftant Divines, you have the impudence to betake your felf to the 
 Sorbonifls, whole College you know is devoted to the Romi/Jj Religion, and 
 confequcntly but of very weak authority amongft Proteftants. We are wil- 
 ling to deliver fo wicked an afTertor of Tyranny as you, to be drown'd in the 
 Sorbon, as being afham'd to own fo defpicable a Slave as you fhow your felf 
 to be, by maintaining that the whole body of a Nation is not equal in power to 
 the moft fiothful degenerate Prince that may be. You labour in vain to lay that 
 upon the Pope, which all free Nations, and all Orthodox Divines own and af- 
 fert. But the Pope and his Clergy, when they were in a low Condition, and 
 but of fmall account in the World, were the firft Authors of this pernicious ab- 
 furd Doctrine of yours : and when by preaching fuch Doctrine they had gotten 
 Vol. I. Qj} q 2 power
 
 484 A Defence of the People of England^ 
 
 power into their own hands, they became the worft of Tyrants themfelves. Yet 
 they engaged all Princes to them by the clofeft tie imaginable, perlwading the 
 World that was now befotted with their Superflition, that it was unlawful to 
 depofe Princes tho' neverfobad, unlefs the Pope difpenfed with their Allegiance 
 to them, by abfolving them from their Oaths. But you avoid Orthodox Wri- 
 ters and endeavour to burden the truth with prejudice and calumny, by making 
 the Pope the firft afTertor of what is a known and common received Opinion a- 
 mon°-ft them; which if you did not do it cunningly, you would make your felf 
 appear to be neither Papift nor Proteftant, but a kind of a Mongrel Idumean Hero* 
 dian. For as they of old adored one moil inhuman bloody Tyrant for the Mef- 
 fias, fo you would have the World fall down and worfhip all. You boaft that 
 you have confirmed your Opinion by the Tefti monies of the Fathers that flour i foe din the 
 four firft Centuries ; whofe Writings only are Evangelical, and according to the truth 
 of the Chrijiian Religion. This man is paft all fhame ! how many things did they 
 preach, how many things have they publifhed, which Chrift and his Apoftles 
 never tan o-ht? How many things are there in their Writings, in which all Pro- 
 teftant Divines differ from them? But what is that Opinion that you have con- 
 firm'd by their Authorities? Why, That evil Princes are appointed by God. Al- 
 low that, as all other pernicious and deftructive things are. What then ? why, 
 that therfore they have no Judge but God alone, that they are above all human Laws ; 
 that there is no Law, written or unwritten, no Law of Nature, nor of God, to call them 
 to account befirre their own Subjects. But how comes that to pais ? Certain I am, 
 that there is no Law againft it: No Penal Law excepts Kings. And all reafon 
 and juftice requires, that thole that offend, mould be punifhed according to their 
 deferts, without refpecl of Perfons. Nor have you hitherto produced any one 
 Law, either written or unwritten, of God or of Nature, by which this is for- 
 bidden. What Hands in the way then ? Why may not Kings be proceeded a- 
 gainft ? Why, becaufe they are appointed by God, be they never fo bad. I do not 
 know whether I had beft call you a Knave, or a Fool, or ignorant, unlearned 
 Barbarian. You fhow your felf a vile Wretch, by propagating a Doctrine {o 
 deftrudtive and pernicious; and y'are a Fool for backing it with fuch filly Argu- 
 ments. God fays in Ifa. 54. I have created the flayer to deftroy. Then by your 
 reafon a Murderer is above the Laws. Turn this topfy-turvy, and confider it 
 as long as you will, you'll find the Confequence to be the fame with your own. 
 For the Pope is appointed by God, juft as Tyrants are, and fet up for the pu- 
 nifhment of the Church, which I have already demonltrated out of your own 
 Writings ; And yet, fay you, Wal. Mef. pag. 412. becaufe he has raifed his Primacy 
 10 an infufferable height of power, fo as that he has made it neither better nor worfe than 
 plain downright Tyranny, both he and his Bifhops may be put down more lawfully than 
 they were at firft fet up. You tell us that the Pope and the Biihops (tho' God in his 
 wrath appointed them) may yet lawfully be rooted out of the Church, becaufe 
 they are Tyrants ; and yet you deny that 'tis lawful to depofe a Tyrant in the 
 Commonwealth, and that for no other reafon than becaufe God appointed him, 
 tho' he did it in his anger. What ridiculous fluff this is! for wheras the Pope 
 cannot hurt a Man's Confcience againft his own will, for in the Conlciences of 
 Men it is that his Kingdom confifts, yet you are for depofing him as a grievous 
 Tyrant, in whofe own power it is not to be a Tyrant ; and yet you maintain 
 that a Tyrant properly and truly fo called, a Tyrant that has all our Lives and 
 Eftates within his reach, without whofe affiftance the Pope himfelf could not ex- 
 ercife his Tyranny in the Church, ought for Confcience fake to be born withal 
 and fubmitted to. Thefe affertions compar'd with one another betray your 
 Childifhnefs to that degree, that no Man can read your Books, but muft of ne- 
 ccflity take notice of your ignorance, rafhnefs, and incogitancy. But you al- 
 ledge another reafon, Human Affairs would be turned upfide down. They would fo, 
 and be chang'd for the better. Human Affairs would certainly be in a deplora- 
 ble condition, if being once troubled and dilorder'd, there was a necefllty of 
 their continuing always fo. I fay, they would be chang'd for the better, for the 
 King's power would revert to the People, from whom it was firft derived, and 
 conferred upon one of themfelves ; and the power would be transferred from 
 him that abufed it, to them that were prejudiced and injured by the abufe of it; 
 than which nothing can be more juft, for there could not well be an Umpire in 
 fuchacafe; Who would ftand to the judgment of a Foreigner ? all Mankind would 
 
 equally
 
 in anjwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 485 
 
 equally be fubjeft to the Laws ; there would be no Gods of flefh and blood : 
 " Which kind or Deities whoever goes about to fet up in the World, they are 
 dly injurious to Church and Commonwealth. Now I muft turn your own 
 Weapons upon you again. You fay, There can be no greater Herefy than this, to 
 fet up one Man inCbrifl'sSeat. Tbefe twoare infallible marks of Antichriftjnfallibi- 
 :i Spirituals, and Omnipotence in Temporals. Apparat. ad Prim. pag. 171. Do 
 you pretend that Kings are infallible ? It' you do not, why do you make them 
 Omnipotent? And how comes it to pafs that an unlimited Power in oneMan mould 
 counted lefs deftrudtive to Temporal things, than it is to Ecclefiaftical ? Or 
 do you think that God takes no care at all of Civil Affairs? If he takes none him- 
 felf, I'm fare he does not forbid us to take care which way they go. If he does 
 take any care about them, certainly he would have the fame Reformation made 
 in the Commonwealth, that he would have made in the Church, efpecially it be- 
 ing obvious to every Man's experience that Infallibility and Omnipotency being 
 arrogated to one Man, are equally mifchievous in both. God has not lb model- 
 
 I ■ 1 the Government of the World as to make it the duty of any Civil Commu- 
 nity to fubmit to the Cruelties of Tyrants, and yet to leave the Church at liberty 
 10 free themfelves from Slavery and Tyranny : nay, rather quite contrary, he 
 has put no Arms into the Church's hand but thofe of Patience and Innocence, 
 Prayer and Ecclefiaftical Difcipline..; but the Commonwealth, all the Magi- 
 
 II racy are by him entrulted with the prefcrvation and execution of the Laws, 
 with the power of punifhing and revenging ; he has put the Sword into their 
 hinds. I cannot but fmile at this Man's prepofterous whimfies ; in Ecclefiaflics 
 he's Helvidius, Thrafeas, a perfeft Tyrannicide. In Politics no Man more a 
 Lackey and Slave to Tyrants than he. If his Doctrine hold, not we only that 
 have depos'd our King, but the Proteftants in general, who againft the minds of 
 their Princes have rejected the Pope, are all Rebels alike. But I've confounded 
 him long enough with his own Arguments. Such is the nature of the Beaft, left 
 his Adverfary lhould be unprovided, he himfelf furnifhes him with Weapons. 
 Never did any Man give his Antagonift greater advantages againft himfelf than 
 he does. They that he has to do withal, will be fooner weary of purfuing him, 
 than he of flying. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 PErhaps you think, Sahnafucs, that you have done enough to ingratiate your 
 felf with Princes •, that you have deferved well of 'em : but if they confi- 
 der their own Intereft, and take their meafures according to what it really is, 
 not according to the falfe Glofs that your flatteries have put upon it, there never 
 was any Man in the World that deferv'd fo ill of 'em as you, none more deftru- 
 ctive and pernicious to them and their intereft in the whole World than your 
 felf. For by exalting the Power of Kings above all Human Laws, you tell all 
 Mankind that are fubject to fuch a Government, that they are no better than 
 Slaves, and make them but the more defirous of Liberty by difcovering to them 
 their error, and putting that into their heads that they never lb much as dreamt 
 of before, to wit, that they are Slaves to their Princes. And without doubt 
 fuch a fort of Government will be more irkfome and unfufferable, by how much 
 the more you perfwade the World, that it is not by the allowance and fubmifii- 
 on of Nations, that Kings have obtained this exorbitant Power ; but that it is 
 ablblutely effential to fuch aFormof Government, and of the nature of the thing 
 it felf. So that whether you make the World of your mind or no, your Doc- 
 trine muft needs be mifchievous and deftructive, and fuch as cannot but be ab- 
 horred of all Princes. For if you fliould work men into a perfwafion that the 
 Right of Kings is without all bounds, they would no longer be fubjec~t to a 
 Kingly Government; if you mils of your aim, yet you make men weary ot 
 Kings, by telling them that they afTume fuch a power to themfelves, as of right 
 belonging to them. But if Princes will allow of thofe Principles that I aflert; 
 if they will fuffer themfelves and their own power to becircumfcribed by Laws, 
 inftead of an uncertain, weak and violent Government, full of cares and fears, 
 
 tluy
 
 4$6 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 they will reign peaceably, quietly, and fecurely. If they flight this counfel of 
 mine, though wholefome in it felt, becaufe of the meannefs of the Author, they 
 fhall know that it is not my counfel only, but what was anciently advifed by 
 one of the wifeft of Kings. For Lycurgns King of Lacedemon, when he obferved 
 that his own Relations that were Princes of Argos and Meffana, by endeavour- 
 int* to introduce an Arbitrary Government, had ruin'd themfelves and their Peo- 
 ple ; he, that he might benefit his Country, and fecure the SuccefTion to his own 
 Family, could think upon no better expedient, than to communicate his Power 
 to the Senate, and taking the great Men of the Realm into part of the Govern- 
 ment with himfelf •, and by this means the Crown continued in his Family for 
 many ages. But whether it was Lycurgus, or, asfome learned men are of opi- 
 nion, Tbeopompus, that introduced that mixt Form of Government among the 
 Lacedemonians, fomewhat more than a hundred years after Lycurgus's time (of 
 whom it is recorded, that he ufed to boaft, that by advancing the Power of the 
 Senate above that of the Prince, he had fettled the Kingdom upon a fure Foun- 
 dation, and was like to leave it in a laftingand durable condition to his Pofte- 
 rity) which of them foever it was, I fay, he has left a good F.xample to modern 
 Princes ; and was as creditable a Counfelior, as his Counfel was fafe. For 
 that all men fhould fubmit to any one man, fo as to acknowledge aPowerinhim 
 fuperior to all human Laws, neither did any Paw ever enact, nor indeed was 
 it poflible that any fuch Law fhould ever be ; for that cannot be faid to be a Law, 
 that ftrikes at the root of all Laws, and takes them quite away : It being appa- 
 rent, that your Pofitions are inconfiftent with the nature of all Laws, being inch 
 as render them no Laws at all. You endeavour notwithftanding, in this fourth 
 Chapter, to make good by Examples, what you have not been able to do by 
 any Reafons that you have alledged hitherto. Let's confider whether your Ex- 
 amples help your Caufe ; for they many times make things plain, which the 
 Laws are either altogether filent in, or do but hint at. We'll begin firft with 
 the Jews, whom we fuppofe to have known moft of the mind of God ; and 
 then, according to your own method, we'll come to the times of Chriftianity. 
 And firft, for thofe Times in which the Ifraelitesbe'mg fubject to Kings, who, 
 orhowfoever they were, did their utmoft to caft thatflavifh yoke from off their 
 necks. Eglon the King of Moab had made a Conqueft of them •, the Seat of 
 his Empire was at Jericho ; he was no contemner of the true God •, when 
 his Name was mentioned, he role from his Seat : The Israelites had ferved 
 him eighteen Years ; they fent a Prefent to him, not as to an Enemy, but to 
 their own Prince ; notwithftanding which outward Veneration and Profef- 
 fion of Subjection, they kill him by a wile, as an Enemy to their Coun- 
 try. You'll fay perhaps, that Ehud, who did that action, had a Warrant 
 from God for fo doing. He had fo, 'tis like ; and what greater Argument 
 of its being a warrantable and praife-worthy action ? God ufes not to put Men 
 upon things that are unjuff, treacherous and cruel, but upon fuch things as are 
 virtuous and laudable. But we read no where that there was any pofitive Com- 
 mand from Heaven in the cafe. The Israelites called upon God; fo did we. 
 And God ftirred up a Saviour for them •, fo he did for us. Eglon of a neigh- 
 bouring Prince became a Prince of the Jews ; of an Enemy to them he became 
 their King. Our Gentleman of an Englifh King became an Enemy to the Eng- 
 UJh Nation •, fo that he ceas'd to be a King. Thofe Capacities are incon- 
 fiftent. No Man can be a Member of the State, and an Enemy to it at the 
 fame time. Antony was never lookt upon by the Romans as a Conful, nor 
 Nero as an Emperor, after the Senate had voted them both Enemies. This 
 Cicero tells us in his Fourth Philippic: If Antony be a Conful, fays he, Brutus is 
 an Enemy ; but //Brutus be a Saviour an&Preferver of the Commonwealth, Antony 
 is an Enemy: none but robbers count him a Conful. By thefime reafon, fay I, who 
 but Enemies to their Country look upon a Tyrant as a King ? So that Eglon's 
 being a Foreigner, and King Charles a Prince of our own, will make no diffe- 
 rence in the cafe ■, both being Enemies, and both Tyrants, they are-in the fame 
 circumftances. If Ehud kill'd him juftly, we have done fo too in putting our 
 King to death. Sampfon that renowned Champion of the Hebrews, tho' his 
 Country-men blam'd him for it, Dojl thou not know, fay they, that the Philijlines 
 have dominion over us? Yet againft thofe Philijlines, under whofe Dominion he 
 was, he himfelf undertook a War in his own Perfon, without any other help ; 
 
 and
 
 in anfioer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 487 
 
 and whether he acted in purfuance of a Command from Heaven, or was promp- 
 ted by his own Valour only •, or whatfoever inducement he had, he did not put 
 to death one, but many that tyrannized over his Country, having firft called 
 upon God by Prayer, and implored his Afiiftance. So that Sampfon counted ic 
 no aft of Impiety, but quite contrary, to kill thofe that enflaved his Country, 
 tho' they had dominion over himfelf too •, and tho' the greater part of his Country- 
 men fubmitted to their Tyranny. But yet David, who was both a King and a Pro* 
 phet, would not take away SxuYs life, becaufehe was God's Anointed. Does it follow 
 that becaufe David refufed to do a thing, therfore we are obliged not 
 to do that very thing ? David was a private Perfon, and would not kill 
 the King •, is that a precedent for a Parlament, for a whole Nation ? Da- 
 vid would not revenge his own Quarrel, by putting his Enemy to death 
 by ftealth ; does it follow that therfore the Magi Urates muft not pu- 
 nifh a Malefactor according to Law ? He would not kill a King •, muft not an 
 Affembly of the States therfore punifh a Tyrant ? He fcrupled the killing of 
 God's Anointed •, muft the People therfore fcruple to condemn their own 
 Anointed ? Efpecially one that after having fo long profeffed Hoftility againft 
 his own People, had wafh'd off that anointing of his, whether Sacred or Civil, 
 with the Blood of his own Subjects. I confefs that thofe Kings whom God by his 
 Prophets anointed to be Kings, or appointed to fome fpecnl fervice, as he did 
 Cyrus, Ifa.\^. may not improperly be called the Lord's Anotnted\ but all other 
 Princes, according to the leveral ways of their coining to the Government, are 
 the People's Anointed, or the Army's, or many times the Anointed of their 
 own Faction only. But taking it for granted, that all Kings are Go.'j 
 Anointed, you can never prove, that therfore they are above all Laws, 
 and not to be called in queftion, what Villanies foever they commit. What 
 if David laid a charge upon himfelf and other private Perfons not to ftretch 
 forth their hands againft the Lord's Anointed? Does not God himfelf command 
 Princes not fo much as to touch his Anointed? Which were no other than 
 his People, Pfal. 105. He preferred that anointing wherwith his People 
 were anointed, before that of Kings, if any fuch thing were. Would any 
 man offer to infer from this place of the Pfalmift, That Believers are not to 
 be called in queftion, tho' they offend againft the Laws, becaufe God com- 
 mands Princes not to touch his Anointed ? King Solomon was about to put to 
 death Abiathar the Prieft, tho' he were God's Anointed too ; and did not fpare 
 him becaufe of his Anointing, but becaufe he had been his Father's Friend. If 
 that Sacred and Civil Anointing, wherwith the High-Prieft of the Jews was 
 anointed, wherby he was not only conftituted High-Prieft, but a Temporal 
 Magiftrate in many cafes, did not exempt him from the Penalty of the Laws; 
 how comes a Civil Anointing only to exempt a Tyrant? But you fay, Saul was 
 a 'Tyrant, and worthy of Death : What then ? It does not follow, that becaufe he 
 deferved it, that David in the circumftances he was then under, had power to 
 put him to death without the People's Authority, or the Command of the Ma^ 
 giftracy. But was Saul a Tyrant ? I wifh you would fay fo •, indeed you do fo, 
 though you had find before in your Second Book, page 32. That be was 
 no Tyrant, but a good King, and chofen of God. Why fhould falfe Accufers, and 
 Men guilty of Forgery be branded, and you efcape without the like ignominious 
 Mark ? For they practife their Villanies with lefs Treachery and Deceit than you 
 write, and treat of matters of the greateft moment. Saul was a good King, 
 when it ferv'd your turn to have him fo ; and now he's a Tyrant, becaufe it fuits 
 with your prefent purpofe. But 'tis no wonder that you make a Tyrant of a 
 good King; for your Principles look as if they were invented for no other de- 
 fign, than to make all good Kings fo. But yet David, tho' he would not put to 
 death his Father-in-Law, for Caufes and Reafons that we have nothing to do 
 withal, yet in his own Defence he railed an Army, took and pofleffed Cities that 
 belong'd to Saul, and would have defended Keilab againft the King's Forces, 
 had he not underftood that the Citizens would be falfe to him. Suppofe Saul 
 had befieged the Town, and himfelf had been the firft that had fcal'dthe Walls; 
 do you think David would prefently have thrown down his Arms, and have be- 
 tray'd all thofe th.it aflifted him to his anointed Enemy ? I believe not. What 
 reafon have we to think David would have ftuck to do what we have done, who 
 when his> Occafions and Circumftances fo required, proffered his Afiiftance to 
 
 the
 
 ^8 8 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 the Philippines, who were then the profefTed Enemies of his Country, and did 
 that zgxm&Sauh which I am fure we mould never have done againft our Tyrant? 
 I'm weary of mentioning your Lyes, and afham'd of them. You fay, 'tis a Maxim 
 of the Envlijh, That Enemies are rather to be /pared than Friends ; and that ther- 
 fore we conceived we ought not to /pare our King's Life, becaufe he had been our 
 Friend. You impudent Lyar, what Mortal ever heard this Whimfy before you 
 invented it ? But we'll excufe it. You could not bring in that threadbare 
 Flourifh, of our being more fierce than our own Maftiffs (which now comes in 
 the fifth time, and will as oft again before we come to the end of your Book) 
 without fome fuch Introduction. We are not fo much more fierce than our own 
 Maftiffs, as you are more hungry than any Dog whatfoever, who return fo gree- 
 dily to what you have vomited up fo often. Then you tell us, that David 
 commanded the Amalekite to be put to death, who pretended to have killed Saul. 
 But that inftance, neither in refpect of the Fact, nor the Perfon, has any affini- 
 ty with what we are difcourfing of. I do not well underlfand what caufe David 
 had to be fo fevere upon that Man, for pretending to have haftened the King's 
 death, and in effect but to have put him out of his pain, when he was dying -, 
 unlefs it were to take away from the Israelites all fufpicion of his own having 
 been inftrumental in it, whom they might look upon as one that had revolted to 
 the Philiftines, and was part of their Army. Juit fuch another Action as this of 
 Davia's, do all Men blame in Domitian, who put to death Epaphroditus, becaufe 
 he had helped Nero to kill himfelf. After all this, as another inftance of your 
 Impudence, you call him not only the Anointed of the Lord, but the Lord's Cbrift, 
 who a little before you had faid was a Tyrant, and acted by the impulfeof fome 
 evil Spirit. Such mean thoughts you have of that reverend Name, that you 
 are not afham'd to give it to a Tyrant, whom you your felf confefs to have been 
 poffeffed with the Devil. Now I come to that Precedent, from which every Man 
 that is not blind muft needs infer the Right of the People to be fuperior to than 
 of Kings. When Solomon was dead, the People affembled themfelves at Siebem 
 to make Rehoboam King. Thither himfelf went, as one that ftood for the place, 
 that he might not feem to claim the Succeffion as his Inheritance, nor the fame 
 Right over a free-born People that every Man has over his Father's Sheep and 
 Oxen. The People propofe Conditions, upon which they were willing to ad- 
 mit him to die Government. He defires three days time to advife; he confulta 
 with the old Men •, they tell him no fuch thing, as that he had an abfolute Right 
 to fucceed, but perfwade him to comply with the People, and lpeak them fair, 
 it being in their power whether he fhould reign or not. Then he advifes with 
 die young Men that were brought up with him ; they, as if Salmajius's Phrenzy 
 had taken them, thunder this Right of Kings into his ears ; perfwade him to 
 threaten the People with Whips and Scorpions : And he anfwered the People as 
 they advifed him. When all Ifrael law that the King hearkened not to them, 
 then they openly proteft the Right of the People, and their own Liberty ; What 
 portion have we in David ? To thy "Tents, Ifrael ? wax look to thine own Houfe, 
 David. When the King fent Adoram to them, they ftoned him with Stones, 
 and perhaps they would not have ftuck to have fcrv'd the King himfelf fo, bur 
 he made hafte and got out of the way. The next News is of a great Army rais'd 
 by Rehoboam to reduce the Ifraelites to their Allegiance. God forbids him to 
 proceed, Go not up, fays he, to war againft your Brethren the Children of Ifrael ; 
 fur this thing is of me. Now confider ; heretofore the People had defired a King; 
 God was dilpleafed with them for it, but yet permitted them to make a King, 
 according to that Right that all Nations have to appoint their own Governors. 
 Now the People reject Rehoboam from ruling them ; and this God not only fuf- 
 fers them to do, but forbids Rehoboam to make War againft them for it, and 
 ftops him in his undertaking ; and teaches him withal, that thofe that had re- 
 volted from him, were not Rebels in fo doing ; but that he ought to look upon 
 them as Brethren. Now recollect your felf: You lay that all Kings are of God, 
 and that therfore the People ought not to refill them, be they never fijch Tyrant?. 
 I anfwer you, the Convention of the People, their Votes, their Acts, are like- 
 wife of God, and that by the Teftimony of God himfelf in this place •, and con- 
 fequently according to your Argument, by the Authority of God himfelf, Prin- 
 ces ought not to refift the People. For as certain as it is, that Kings are of God, 
 and whatever Argument you may draw from thence to enforce a Subjecti- 
 on.
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 489 
 
 on and Obedience to diem: So certain is it, that free Aflemblies of She Body 
 of the People are of God, and that naturally affords the fame Argument for 
 their Right of reftraining Princes from going beyond their Bounds, and reject- 
 ing them if there be occafion ; nor is their fo doing a juftifiable Caufe of War, 
 any more than the People of ffracl's, rejecting Reboboa'm was. You afk, why the 
 People did not revolt from Solomon? Who but you would afk fuch an imper- 
 tinent Queftion? You ice they did revolt from a Tyrant, and were neither pu- 
 nifhed, nor blam'd for it. It is true, Solomon fell into fonle Vices, but he was 
 not therfore a Tyrant ; he made amends for his Vices by many excellent Vir- 
 tues, that he was famous for, by many benefits which accrued to the Nation of 
 the Jews by his Government. But admit that he had been a Tyrant: Many 
 times the Circurhltances of a Nation arc fuch, that the People will not, and ma- 
 ny times fuch, that they cannot depofe a Tyrant. You fee they did it when it 
 was in their power. But, fay you, Jeroboam'^ Aft was ever bad in delegation ; 
 'twas looked upon as an unjufl revolt from a lawful Prince; be and his Succejfors were 
 accounted Rebels. I confefs we find his revolt from the true Worfhip of God 
 often found fault with •, but I no where find him blam'd for revolting from Reho- 
 boam; and his Succeflbrs are frequently fpoken of as wicked Princes, but not as 
 Rebels. Acting contrary to Law and Right, fay you, cannot introduce, or ejlablifh 
 a Right. I pray, what becomes then of your Right of Kings ? Thus do you 
 perpetually baffle your felf. You fay, Adulteries, Murders, Thefts are daily com- 
 mit ted with impunity. Are you not aware, that here you give an anfwer to your 
 own Queftion, how it comes to pais, that Tyrants do fo often efcape unpunilhed? 
 You fay, Thofe Kings were Rebels, and yet the Prophets do no where dijfwflde the 
 People from their Allegiance. And why do you, ye rafcalty falfe Prophet, endea- 
 vour to perfwade the People of England not to yield Obedience to their prefent 
 Magiftrates, tho' in your opinion they are Rebels? This Englifh Faftion of Rob- 
 bers, fay you, alledge for them Pelves, that by fomc immediate Voice from Heaven, 
 they were put upon their bloody Enterpnze. It is notoriously evident, that you were 
 diffracted when you wrote thefe Lines ; for as you have put the words together, 
 they are neither Latin, nor Senfe. And that the Englifh pretend to any fuch 
 warrant, as a Juftification of their Actions, is one of diofe many Lyes and Fic- 
 tions that your Book is full of. But I proceed to urge you with Examples. Lib- 
 it , a great City revoked from J cram, becaufe he Had forfaken God : 'twas the 
 King therfore that Was guilty, not the City, nor is the City blam'd for ir. He 
 that confiders the reafon that's given why that City rejected his Government, 
 muff: conclude that the Ploly Ghoft rather approves of what they did, than con- 
 demns them for it. Thefe kind of revolts are no precedents, fay you. But why 
 were you thenfo vain, as to promife in the beginning of this Chapter, that you 
 would argue from Examples, wheras all the Examples that you alledge, aremeer 
 Negatives, which prove nothing ? and when we urge Examples that are folic! 
 and pofitive, vou fay they are no Precedents. Who would endure fuch a way 
 of arguing ? You challenged us at precedents •, we produced them ; and what 
 do you do ? You hang back, and get out of the way. I proceed : Jehu at the 
 Command of a Prophet, flew a King •, nay, he ordered the death of Abaziab, 
 his own Liege Prince. If God would not have Tyrants put to death by their 
 own Subjects, if it were a wicked thing fo to do, a thing of a bad Example j 
 why did God himfelf command it ? If he commanded it, it was a lawful, com- 
 mendable, and a praife-worthy Action. It was not therfore lawful to kill a 
 Tyrant, becaufe God commanded it; but God commanded it, becaufe, antece- 
 dently to his Command, it was a juftifiable and a lawful Action. Again, Jeboiada 
 the High-Prieft did not fcruple to depofe Atbaliah, and kill her, tho' ffie had been 
 feven years in actual PoffelTion of the Crown. But, fay you, foe took upon her the 
 Government when fie bad no Right to it. And did not you fay your felf, buta while 
 a£0, That Tiberius affimed the Sovereignty when it belonged not at all to him ? 
 And yet you then affirm'd, that according to our Saviour T s Doctrine, we ought 
 to yield Obedience to fuch Tyrants as he was. 'Twere a molt ridiculous thing 
 to imagine, that a Prince, who gets in by Ufurpation, may lawfully be depofedj 
 but one that rules tyrannically may not. But, fay you, Atbaliah cou'.d not polTi- 
 bly reign according to the Law of ihejewijh Kingdom, Thoufialt fct over thee a 
 K'ing, fays God Almighty ; be dees not fay, Thou fialt ft over thee a Queen. If 
 this Argument have any weight, I may as well fay, the Command of God was. 
 Vol. I. R r r due
 
 j.00 A Defence of the People ^England, 
 
 that the People fhould fet over themfelves a King, not a Tyrant. So that I'm 
 even with you. Amazias was a flothtul, idolatrous Prince, and was put to death, 
 not by a few Conlpirators j but rather, it fhould feem, by the Nobility, and 
 by the Body of the People. For he fled from Jerufilem, had none to ftand by 
 him, and they purfued him to Lachijh : They took Counfel againft him, fays the 
 Hiftory, becaufe he had forfaken God : And we do not find that Azarias his 
 Son profecuted thofe that had cut off" his Father. You quote a great many fri- 
 volous paflages out of the Rabbins, to prove chat the Kings of the Jews were lu- 
 perior to the Sanhedrim. You do not confider Zedekiah's, own words, Jeretn. 38. 
 The King is not he that can do any thing againft you. So that this was the Prince's 
 own ftile. Thus he confeffed himfelf inferior to the great Council of the Realm. 
 Perhaps, fay you, he meant that he durjt not deny them any thing for fear of Sedition. 
 But what does your perhaps fignify, whofe moft pofitive aflerting any thing is 
 not worth a Louie ? For nothing in Nature can be more fickle and inconhftent than 
 you are. How oft have you appear'd in this Difcourfe inconfiftent with your 
 felf; unfaying with one Breath what you had laid with another ? Here, again, 
 you make Companions betwixt King Charles, and fome of the good Kings of 
 Judah. You fpeak contemptibly of David, as if he were not worthy to come 
 in competition with him. Confider David, fay you, an Adulterer, a Murderer ; 
 King Charles was guilty of no fuch Crimes. Solomon his Son, who was accounted 
 wife, &c. Who can with patience hear this filthy, rafcally Fool, fpeak lb irre- 
 verently of Perfons eminent both in Greatnefs and Piety ? Dare you compare 
 KingDavid with King Charles ; a moft religious King and Prophet, with a Su- 
 perllitious Prince, and who was but a Novice in the Chriftian Religion ; a moft 
 prudent wife Prince with a weak one ; a valiant Prince with a cowardly one ; 
 finally, a moft juft Prince with a moft unjuft one? Have you the impudence to 
 commend his Chaftity and Sobriety, who is known to have committed all man- 
 ner of Lewdnefs in company with his Confident the Duke ofBuckingha;?: ? It were 
 to no purpofe to enquire into the private Actions of his Life, who publicly at 
 Plays would embrace and kifs the Ladies lafcivioufly, and handle Virgins and 
 Matrons Breafts, not to mention the reft ? I advife you therfore, you counter- 
 feit Plutarch, to'abftain from fuch like Parallels, left I be forced to publifh thofe 
 things concerning King Charles, which I am willing to conceal. Hitherto we 
 have entertained our felves with what the People of the Jews have acted or at- 
 tempted againft Tyrants, and by what Right they did it in thofe times, when 
 God himfelf did immediately, as it were, by his Voice from Heaven govern 
 their Commonwealth. The Ages that fucceeded, do not afford us any Autho- 
 rity, as from themfelves, but confirm us in our Opinion by their imitating the 
 Actions of their Fore-fathers. For after the Baby'onijh Captivity, when God 
 did not give any new command concerning the Crown, tho' the Royal Line was 
 not extinct, we find the People returning to the old Mofaical Form of Govern- 
 ment again. They were one while Tributaries to Antiochus, King, of Syria; 
 yet when he enjoin'd them things that were contrary to the Law of God, they 
 refilled him, and his Deputies, under the Conduct of their Priefts, the Macca- 
 bees, and by force regain'd their former Liberty. After that, whoever was ac- 
 counted moft worthy of it, had the Principality conferr'd upon him. 'Till at 
 laft, Hircanus the Son of Simon, the Brother of Judah, the Maccabee, having 
 fpoiled David's Sepulchre, entertain'd foreign Soldiers, and began to inveft the 
 Priefthood with a kind of Regal Power. After whofe time his Son Ariftobulus 
 was the firft that afium'd the Crown ; he was a Tyrant indeed, and yet the Peo- 
 ple ftirred not againft him, which is no great wonder, for he reigned but one 
 Year. And lie himfelf being overtaken with a grievous DifeaJe, and repenting 
 of his own Cruelty and Wickednefs, defired nothing more than to die, and 
 had his wiin. His Brother Alexander fucceeded him •, and againft him, you fay, 
 the People raifedno Infurreilion, tho' he were a Tyrant too. And this Lye might 
 have gone down with us, it'Jcfephus's Hiftory had not been extant. We fhould 
 then have had no memory of thofe times, but what your Jofippus would afford 
 us, out of whom you tranferibe a few fenfeleis and ufelefs Apothegms of the 
 Pharifees. The Hiftory is thus : Alexander adminiftred the Public Affairs ill, 
 both in War and Peace; and tho' he kept in pay great numbers of PiJiJians and 
 Cilicians, yet could he not protect himfelf from, the Rage of the People : but 
 whilft he wa* facrificing they fell upon him, and had almoft finother'd him with 
 
 Boughs 
 
 4
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 49 1 
 
 Jbughs of Palm-trees and Citron-trccs. Afterward the whole Nation made 
 War upon him fix Years, during which time, when many thoufands. of die 
 Jews had beenfiain, and hchimfelf being at length defirous of Peace, demand- 
 ed of them, what they would have him do to fatisfy them ; they told him no- 
 thing could do that, but his Blood, nay, that they fhould hardly pardon him 
 after his death. This Hiftory you perceiv'd was not for your purpofe, and fo 
 you put it off with a few Pharifaical Sentences ; when it had been much better 
 either to have let it quite alone, or to have given a true Relation of it : but you 
 truft to Lyes more than to the Truth of your Caufe. Even thole eight hundred 
 Pbarifees, whom he commanded to be crucified, were of their number that fod 
 taken up Arms againft him. And they with the reft of the People had folemnly 
 protefted, that if they could fubdue the King's Forces, and get his Perfon into 
 their power, they would put him to death. After the death of Alexander, his 
 Wife Alexandra took the Government upon her, as Athaliah had formerly done 
 not according to Law (for you have confefied, that the Laws of the Jews admit- 
 ted not a Female to wear the Crown) but fhe got it partly by force, for fhe 
 maintain'd an Army of Foreigners ; and partly by favour, for ihe had' brought 
 over the Pbarifees to her Intereil, w hich fort of Men were of the greateft 
 thority with the People. Them fhe had made her own, by putting the Power 
 into their Hands, and retaining to her felf only the Name. Juft as the Scotch 
 Prefbyterians lately allowed Charles the Name of King, but upon condition 
 that he would let them be King in effect. After the death of Alexandra, Hyrca- 
 nus and Arijlobidus, her Sons, contended for the Sovereignty : Ariftcbulus was 
 more induftrious, and having a greater Party, forced his Elder Brother out of 
 the Kingdom. A while after, when Pompey pafled through Syria, in his return 
 from the Mitbridatic War; the Jews, fuppofing they had now an opportunity of 
 regaining their Liberty, by referring their Caufe to him, difpatch an Embaffy 
 to him in their own Names ; they renounce both the Brothers ; complain that 
 they hadenflaved them. Pompey depofed Ari/lobului, leaves the Priefthood and 
 inch a Principality as the Laws allowed to Hyrcanus the Elder. From that time 
 forward he was called High-Pried, and Ethnarcha. After thefe times in the 
 Reign of Archelaus, the Son of Herod, the Jews fent fifty Ambafladors to An- 
 gujlus Ctefar; accufed Herod that was dead, and Archelaus his Son, that then 
 reigned •, they depofed him as much as in them lay, and pctition'd the Empe- 
 ror, that the People of the Jews might be govern'd without a King. C.efar was 
 moved at their entreaty, and did not appoint a King over them, but a Gover- 
 nour, whom they called an Elhnarch. When that Governour had prefided ten 
 years over Judea, the People fent Ambaflfadors again to Rome, and accufed him 
 of Tyranny. Cafar heard them gracioufty ; fent for the Governour, condemn'd 
 him to perpetual Exile, and banifhed him to Vienna. Anfwer me now, that 
 People that accufed their own Princes, that defir'd their Condemnation, that 
 defir'd their PuniJhment, would not they themfelves rather, if it had been in 
 their power, and that they might have had their choice ; would not they, I fay, 
 rather have put them to death themfelves ? You do not deny, but that the Peo- 
 ple, and the Nobles often took up Arms againft the Roman Deputies, when by 
 their Avarice, or their Cruelty, their Government was burdenfome and op- 
 
 ?refiive. But you give a ridiculous reafon for this, as all the reft of yours are. 
 '011 lay, They were not yet accuflomed to the Yoke; very like they were not, under 
 Alexander, Herod, and his Son. But, fay you, they would not raife War againft 
 Caius Caefar, nor Petronius. I confefs they did not, and they did very prudent- 
 ly in abftaining, for they were not able. Will you hear their own words upon 
 that occafion ? We will not make War, fay they, becaufe we cannot . That thing 
 which they themfelves acknowledge, they refrain'd from for want of Ability ; 
 you, falfe Hypocrite, pretend they abftain'd from out of Religion. Then 
 with a great deal of toil you do juft nothing at all ; for you endeavour to 
 prove out of the Fathers (tho' you had done it as fuperficially before) that 
 Kings are to be prayed for. That good Kings are to be pray'd for, no Man de- 
 nies •, nay, and bad ones too, as long as there are any hopes of them : fo wfe 
 ought to pray for Highway-men, and for our Enemies. But how ? Not thai 
 they may plunder, fpoil and murder us; but that they may repent. We pray 
 both for Thieves and Enemies ; and yet whoever dreamt but that it was law- 
 fa] to put the Laws in execution againft one, and to light againft the other ? 
 Vol. I. R r r 2 I
 
 492 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 I value not the Egyptian Liturgy that you quote ; but the Prieft that you mention, 
 who prayed that Commodus might fucceed his Father in the Empire, did not pray 
 for any thing in my opinion, but imprecated all themifchiefs imaginable to the 
 Roman State. You lay, that we have broken our Faith, which we engaged more than 
 once infolemn Affemblies to preferve the Authority and Majejly of the King. But be- 
 caufe hereafter you are more large upon that fubjecl:, I mall pafs it by in this 
 place ; and talk with you when you come to it again. You return then to the 
 Fathers •, concerning whom take this in fhort. Whatever they fay, which is 
 not warranted by the Authority of the Scriptures, or by good Reaibn, fhall be of 
 no more regard with me, than if any other ordinary Man had faid it. The firft 
 that you quote is Tertullian, who is no Orthodox Writer, notorious for many 
 errors •, whofe authority, if he were of your opinion, would ftand you in no 
 Head. But what fays he ? He condemns Tumults and Rebellions. So do we. 
 But in faying fo, we do not mean to deftroy all the People's Rights and Privi- 
 leges, all the Authority of Senates, the Power of all Magiftrates, the King only 
 excepted. The Fathers declaim againft Seditions raihly raifed, by the giddy 
 heat of the multitude ; they fpeak not of the inferior Magiftrates, of Senates, of 
 Parlaments encouraging the People to a lawful oppoiing of a Tyrant. Hence 
 Ambrcfe, whom you quote •, " Not to refift, fays he, but to weep and to figh, 
 •' thefe are the Bulwarks of the Priefthood j what one is there of our little num- 
 " ber who dares fay to the Emperor, I do not like your Laws ? This is not al- 
 " lowed the Priefts, and fhall Lay-men pretend to it ?" Tis evident of what fort 
 of Perfons he fpeaks, viz. of the Priefts, and fuch of the People as are private 
 Men not of the Magiftrates. You fee by how weak and prepofterous a reaibn 
 he lighted a Torch as it were to the diffenfions that were afterwards to arife be- 
 twixt the Laity and the Clergy concerning even Civil or Temporal Laws. But 
 becaufe yoa think you preft hardeft upon us with the Examples of the Primitive 
 Chriftians •, who tho' they were haraffed as much as a People could be, yet, you 
 fay, they never took up Arms againft the Emperor : I will make it appear, in the 
 firft place, that for the molt part they could not : Secondly, that whenever they 
 could, they did : And thirdly, that whether they did or did not, they were fucli 
 a fort of People, as that their example deferves but to have little fway with us. 
 Firft therfore, no Man can be ignorant of this, that when the Commonwealth 
 of Kome expired, the whole and fovereign power in the Empire was fettled in the 
 Emperor; that all the Soldiers were under his pay; infomuch that if the whole 
 Body of the Senate, the Eqiieftrian Order, and all the common People had endea- 
 voured to work a change, they might have made way for a maffacre of themfelves,. 
 but could not in any probability retrieve their loft Liberty : for the Empire 
 would ftill have continued, tho* they might perhaps have been fo lucky as to have 
 kill'd the Emperor. This being fo, what could the Chriftians do ? 'Tis true, 
 there were a great many of them •, but they were difperfed, they were generally 
 Perfons of mean quality, and but of fmall intereit in the World. How many of 
 them would one Legion have been abie to keep in awe? Could lb inconfiderable 
 a body of Men as they were in thofe days, ever expect to accomplifh an Enter- 
 prize that many famous Generals, and whole Armies of tried Soldiers had loft 
 their lives in attempting? When about 300 years after our Saviour's Nativity, 
 which was near upon 20 years before the Reign of Conflantine the Great, when 
 Biockfian was Emperor, there was but one Chriftian Legion in the whole Ro- 
 Empire •, which Legion, for no other reaibn than becaufe it coniitted of 
 Chriftians, was flain by the reft of the Army at a Town in France called Oclodu- 
 ram. The Chriftians, fay you, confpir'dnot ii///)Caffius,':c77i'Albinus, with Niger;, 
 and does Tertullian think they merited by not being willing tolofe their lives in 
 the quarrels of Infidels ? 'Tis evident therfore that the Chriftians could not free 
 themfelves from the yoke of the Roman Emperors ; and it could be no ways ad- 
 vantageous to their intereft to confpire with Infidels, as long as Heathen Em- 
 ptors reign'd. But that afterwards the Chriftians made war upon Tyrants, 
 and defended themfelves by force of Arms when there was occaiiou, and many 
 times revenged upon Tyrants their Enormities, I am now r about to make appear. 
 In the firft place, Conjlantine being a Chriftian, made war upon Licinius,\ru± cut 
 him off, who was his Partner in the Sovereign Power, becaufe he molefted the 
 Eajlern Chriltians-, by which aft of his he declared thus much at leaft, that 
 one Magistrate might punifh another : For he for his Subjects fake punilhed L-
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'i- Defence of the King. 40 3 
 
 cinittSy who to all intents was as abfolutc in the Empire as himfelf, and did not 
 leave the vengeance to God alone : Licinius might have done the fame to I 
 tine, if there had been the like occafion. So then, it the matter be not wholly 
 referved to God's own Tribunal, but that Men have fomething to do in the cafe, 
 why did not the Parlament of England ftand in the fame relation to King Charla, 
 that Confiantine did to Licinius? The Soldiers made Conjlantine what he was : 
 But our Laws have made our Parlaments equal, nay, fupcrior to our Ki 
 The Inhabitants of Conftantinople refilled Conjlantius an Avian Emperor, by 
 force of Arms, as long as they were able •, they oppofed Henncgencs whom he 
 had fent with a Military power to depofe Paul an Orthodox Bifhop •, the houfc 
 whither he had betaken himfelf for lecurity, they fired about his ears, and ac 
 laft killed him right-out. Conjians threaten'd to make war upon his Brother 
 Conjlantius, unlets he would reltore Paul and Athanafius to their Bifhoprics. 
 You fee thofe holy Fathers, when their Bifhoprics were in danger, were not a- yg3 
 fhamed to ftir up their Prince's own Brother to make War upon him. Not long 
 after, the Chriftian Soldiers, who then made whom they would Emperors, put 
 to death Conjians the Son of Conjlautinus, becaufe he behaved himfelf diffolutely 
 and proudly in the Government, and tranflated the Empire to Magnentius. 
 Nay, thofe very perfons thatfaluted Julian by the name of Emperor, againft 
 Confiantius'% will, who was actually in poffeilion of the Empire, (for Julian was 
 not then an Apoftate, but a virtuous and valiant perfon) are they not amongft 
 the number of thofe Primitive Chriftians, whofe Example you propoie to us for 
 our imagination ? Which action of theirs, when Conjlantius by his Letters to the 
 People very lharply and earneftly forbad, (which Letters were openly read eg 
 them) they all cried out unanimoufiy, That themfelves had but done what the 
 Provincial Magiftrates, the Army, and the Authority of the Commonwealth 
 had decreed. The fame perfons declared War againft Conjlantius, and contri- 
 buted as much as in them lay, to deprive him both of his Government and his 
 Life. How did the Inhabitants of Antioch behave themfelves, who were none 
 of the word fort of Chriftians ? PI! warrant you they pray'd for Julian, after 
 he became an Apoftate, whom they ufed to rail at in his own prefence, and 
 fcoffing at his long Beard bid him make Ropes of it : LIpon the news of whofe 
 death they offer'd public Thankfgivings, made Feafts, and gave other public 
 Demonltrations of Joy. Do you think they ufed when he was alive to pray tor 
 the continuance of his life and health ? Nay, is it not reported, that a Chriiti- 
 an Soldier in his own Army was the Author of his death ? Sozor/wn, a Writer 
 of Ecclefiaftical Hiilory, does not deny it, but commends him that did it, if the 
 Fact were lb : ' For it is no wonder, fays be, that fome of his own Soldiers 
 ' might think within himfelf, that not only the Gneks, but all Mankind hitherto 
 ' had agreed that it was a commendable action to kill a Tyrant-, and that they 
 ' deferve all men's praife, who are willing to die themfelves to procure the liber- 
 ' ty of all others: So that that Soldier ought not rafhly to be condemned, 
 ' who in the Caule of God and of Religion, was fo zealous and valiant.' Thefe 
 are the words of Sozomen, a good and religious Man of that age. By which we 
 may eafdy apprehend what the general opinion of pious men in thofe days was 
 upon this point. Ambrofe himfelf being commanded by the Emperor Valenti- 
 vian the Younger, to depart from Milan, refufed to obey him, but defended 
 himfelf and the Palace by force of Arms againft the Emperor's Officers, and 
 took upon him, contrary to his own Doctrine, torefijl the higher powers. There 
 was a great fedition raifed at Conflantinople againft the Emperor Arcadius, more 
 than once, by reafon of Cbryfojlcmh Exile. Hitherto I have fhewn how the Pri- 
 mitive Chriftians behaved themfelves towards Tyrants; how not only the Chri- 
 ftian Soldiers, and the People, but the Fathers of the Church themfelves, have 
 both made War upon them, and oppofed them with force, and all this before St. 
 Jujlin'a time: for you your felf are pleated to go down no lower ; and ther- 
 fore I make no mention of Valeniinian the Son of Placidia, who was Haiti by 
 Maxmm a Senator, for committing Adultery with his Wife ; nor do I mention 
 Avitus the Emperor, whom, becaufe he difbanded the Soldiers, and betook 
 himfelf wholly to a luxurious life, the Roman Senate immediately depofed ; be- 
 cai tilings came to pais fome years after St. Aufiin's, death. _ But all this 
 
 I give you: Suppofe I had not mentioned the practice of the Primitive Chrifti- 
 aas; fuppoii ih -v never had ftirred in oppolitiun to Tyrants •, I . they 
 
 had
 
 494 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 had accounted it unlawful fo to do; I will make it appear that they were not fuck 
 Perfons, as that we ought to rely upon their Authority, or can fafely follow their 
 Example. Long before Conjlantine's time the generality of Chriftians had loft much 
 of the Primitive Sanctity and Integrity both of their Doctrine and Manners. Af» 
 terwards, when he had vaftly enriched the Church, they began to fall in love with 
 Honour and Civil Power, and then the Chriftian Religion went to wrack. Firft 
 Luxury and Sloth, and then a great drove of Herefies and Immoralities broke Ioofe 
 amoncr them; and thefe begot Envy, Hatred and Difcord, which abounded every 
 where. At laft, they that were linked together into one Brotherhood by that 
 holy band of Religion, were as much at variance and ftrife among themfelves as 
 the moft bitter Enemies in the world could be. No reverence for, no conside- 
 ration of their duty was left amongft them : the Soldiers and Commanders of 
 the Army, as oft as they pleafed themfelves, created new Emperors, and fome- 
 times killed good ones as well as bad. I need not mention fuch as Verannio, 
 Maxitms, Eugenius, whom the Soldiers all of a fudden advanced and made them 
 Emperors; nor Gratian, an excellent Prince ; nor Valentinian the younger, who 
 was none of the worft, and yet were put to death by them. It is true, thefe 
 things were acted by the Soldiers, and Soldiers in the Field ; but thofe Soldiers 
 were Chriftians, and lived in that Age which you call Evangelical, and whofe 
 example you propofe to us for our imitation. Now you fhall hear how the Cler- 
 gy managed themfelves: Paftorsand Bifhops, and fometimes thofe very Fathers 
 whom we admire and extol to fo high a degree, every one of whom was a Lea- 
 der of their feveral Flocks ; thofe very men, I fay, fought for their Bifhoprics, 
 as Tyrants did for their Sovereignty, fometimes throughout the City, fometimes 
 in the very Churches, fometimes at the Altar, Clergy-men and Lay-men fought 
 promifcuoufly ; they flew one another, and great {laughters were made on both 
 fides. You may remember Damafus and Urcifinus, who were Contemporaries 
 with Ambrofe. It would be too long to relate the tumultuary Infurrections of the 
 Inhabitants of Conftantimple, Antioch, and Alexandria, efpecially thofe under 
 the Conduct and Management of Cyril/us, whom you extol as a Preacher up of 
 Obedience ; when the Monks in that Fight, within the City, had almoft flain 
 Orejlcs, Theodofms'% Deputy. Now who can fufficiently wonder at your Impu- 
 dence, or Careleflhefs and Neglect ? " 'Till St. Auftin'j time, fay you, and lower 
 " down than the Age that he lived in, there is not any mention extant in Hijiory, of 
 " any private Perfon, of any Commander, or of any number of Confpirators, that have 
 " put their Prince to death, or taken up Arms againft him ." I have named to you 
 out of known and approved Hiftories, both private Perfons and Magiftrates, 
 that With their own hands have flain not only bad, but very good Princes : 
 Whole Armies of Chriftians, many Bifhops among them, that have fought a- 
 gainft their own Emperors. You produce fome of the Fathers, that with a 
 great flourifh of words, perfwade or boaft of Obedience to Princes : And I, 
 on the other fide, produce both thofe fame Fathers, and others befides 
 them, that by their actions have declined Obedience to their Princes, even 
 in lawful things; have defended themfelves with a Military Force againft them; 
 others that have oppofed forcibly, and wounded their Deputies ; others that 
 being Competitors for Bifhoprics, have maintained Civil Wars againft one ano- 
 ther : As if it were lawful for Chriftians to wage War with Chriftians for a 
 Bifhopric, and Citizens with Citizens ; but unlawful to fight againft a Tyrant, 
 in defence of our Liberty, of our Wives and Children, and of our Lives them- 
 felves. Who would own fuch Fathers as thefe ? You produce St. Auftin, who 
 vou fay, afferts that the Power of a Mafter over his Servants, and a Prince over his 
 SubjetJs, is one and the fame thing. But I anfwer ; If St. Aajlin aflert any fuch 
 thing, he afferts what neither our Saviour, nor any of his Apoftles ever afTerted ; 
 tho' for the confirmation of that AfTertion, than which nothing can be more falfe, 
 he pretends to rely wholly upon their Authority. The three or four laft Pages 
 of this Fourth Chapter, are fluffed with meer Lyes, or things carelefly and 
 loofelyput together, that are little to the purpofe : And that every one that 
 reads them, will difcover by what has been laid already. For what concerns 
 the Pope, againft whom you declaim fo loudly, I am content you fhould bawl at 
 him, till you are hoarfe. But wheras you endeavour to perfwade the igno- 
 rant, that all that called themfelves Chriftians, yielded an entire obedience to Princes , 
 whether good or bad, till the PapalPcwer grew t?(Ls( height, that it was acknowledged 
 
 fuperioK
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 49 ? 
 
 fuperior to that of the Civil Magi 'ft 'rate, and till he took upon him to abfolve Stibjetls 
 from their Allegiance : I have fufnciently proved by many Examples before and 
 fince the age that St. Mguftttie lived in, that nothing can be more falfe. Neither 
 does that f'eem to have much more truth in it, which you fay in the lad place •, 
 viz. That Pope Zachary abfolvedthe French-men/row their Oath of Allegiance to their 
 King. For Francis Hot toman, who was both a French-man and a Lawyer, aud a 
 very learned man, in the 13th Chapter of his Francogallia,, denies that either 
 Chilperic was depofed, or the Kingdom tranflated to Pepin by the Pope's Autho- 
 rity ; and he proves out of very ancient Chronicles of that Nation, that the 
 whole affair was tranfacted in the great Council of the Kingdom, according to 
 the original Conflitution of that Government. Which being once done, the 
 hrench Hiftories, and Pope Zachary himfelf, deny that there was any necefiity of 
 abi'olving his Subjects from their Allegiance. For not only Hot toman, but Guic- 
 card<, a very eminent Hiftorian of that Nation, informs us, that the ancient 
 1< coords of the Kingdom of France teitify, that the Subjects of that Nation 
 upon the firft inltitmion of Kingfhip ambng'ft them, referved a power to them- 
 ielves, both of chufing their Princes, and of depofing them again, if they thought 
 lit: And that the Oath of Allegiance which they took, was upon this express 
 condition -, to tvit, that the King mould likewife perform what at his Corona- 
 tion he fworc to do. So that if Kings by mifgoverning the People committed 
 to their charge, firft broke their own Oath to their Subjects, there needs no Pope 
 todifpenfe with the People's Oaths-, the Kings themfelves by their own perfidi- 
 oufnefs having abfolved their Subjects. And finally, Pope Zachary himfelf in a 
 Letter of his to the French, which you your felf quote, renounces, and afcribes 
 to the People that Authority which you fay heaffumes to himfelf: For, " if a 
 " Prince be accountable to the People, being beholden to them for his Royalty; 
 " if the People, fince they make Kings, have the fame Right to depofe them, 
 as the very words or that Pope are; it is not likely that the French-men would by 
 any Oath depart in the Ieaft from that ancient Right, or ever tie up their own 
 hands, lb as not to hive the fame Right that their Anceftors always had, to de- 
 pofe bad Princes, as well as to honour and obey good ones ; nor is it likely that 
 they thought thcmlelves obliged to yield that Obedience to Tyrants, which 
 they fvvore to yield only togood Princes. A People obliged to Obedience by 
 fuch an Oath, is difcharged of that Obligation, when a lawful Prince be- 
 comes a Tyrant, or gives himfelf over to Sloth and Voluptuoufnefs ; the 
 rule of Jultice, the very Law of Nature difpenfes with fuch a People's Alle- 
 giance. So that even by the Pope's own opinion, the People were under no 
 Obligation to yield Obedience to Chilperic, and confequently had no need of a 
 Difpenfaticn. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 THO' I am of opinion, Salmafius, and always was, that the Law of God 
 does exactly agree with the Law of Nature ; fo that having Ihown what 
 the Law of God is, with refpect to Princes, and what the practice has been of 
 the People of God, both Jews and Chrijlians, I have at the lame time, and by 
 the lame difcourfc, made appear what is molt agreeable to the Law oi Nature: 
 yet becaufe you pretend to confute us mojl pozverfidly by the Law of Nature, I will 
 be content to admic that to be neceliary, which before I had thought would be 
 luperiluous; that in this Chapter I may demonftrate., that nothing is more 
 luitab'e to the Law of Nature, than that Puniihment be inflicted upon Tyrants. 
 Which if I do not evince, I will then agree with you, that likewife by the Law 
 of God they are exempt. I do not purpofe to frame a long Dilcourfe of Na- 
 ture in general, and the Original of Civil Societies; that Argument has been 
 largely handled by many Learned Men, both Greek and Latin. But I (hall en- 
 deavour to be as fhort as may be; and my defign is not fomuch to confute you 
 (who would willingly have lpared this pains) as to ihow that you confute your 
 felf, and deftroy your own Pofitions. I'll begin with that firlt Pofition which 
 you lay down as a Fundamental, and that lhall be the Ground-work of my en- 
 1 luing
 
 496 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 filing Difcourfe. The Law of Nature, fay you, is a Principle imprinted on all 
 mens minds, to regard the good of all Mankind, confidering men as united together id 
 Societies. But this innate Principle cannot procure that common good, unlefs, as there 
 are people that mud be governed Jo that very Principle a/certain who Jbati govern them. 
 To wit left the ftronger opprefs the weaker, and thole perfons, who for their 
 mutual Safety and Protection have united themfelves together, mould be dis- 
 united and divided by Injury and Violence, and reduced to a beftial ftvage life a- 
 gain. This I fuppofe is what you mean. Out of the number of thofe that united 
 into one body, you fay, there mujl needs have been fome chofen, who excelled the reft in 
 Wifdom and Valour; that they either by force, or by perfwafion, might refirain thofe 
 that were refrailory, and keep them within due bounds. Sometimes it would fo fall out 
 that one Jingle Perfon, whofe ConduH and Valour was extraordinary, might be able to 
 do this, and femetimes more affifted one another with their Advice and Counfel. But 
 Jince it is impoffible that any one manfhould order all things himfelf, there was a neceffitj 
 of his confulting with others, and taking fome into fart of the Government with bimfelj : 
 So that whether afingle perfon reign, or whether the Supreme Power refide in the body of 
 ihePeople,fince it is impoffible that allflrndd adminijlerthe affairs of theCommonwealtl\ 
 cr that one manflooulddo all, the Government does always lie upon thefooidders of ma- 
 ny. And afterwards you fay, both Forms of Government, whether by mar.y cr a 
 few, or by afingle perfon, are equally according to the Law of Nature ; for bah pro- 
 ceed from the fame Principle of Nature, viz. That it is impoffible for any f.nglc ferfm 
 fo to ^ over n alone, as not to admit others into a/hare of the Government with himfelf. 
 Tho' I might have taken all this out of the third Book of ~ An forte's Politics, 
 I chofe rather to transcribe it out of your own Book ; for you Hole it from him, 
 as Prometheus did fire from Jupiter, to the ruin of Monarchy, and overthrow 
 of yourfelf, and your own opinion. For enquire as diligently as you can for 
 your life, into the Law of Nature, as you have defcribed it, you will not find 
 theleaft footftep in it of Kingly Power, as you explain it. The Law of Nature, 
 fay you, in ordering who JJjou/d govern others, rcfpecled the univerfal good cf all man- 
 kind. It did not then regard the private good of any particular perfon, not of 
 a Prince, fo that the King is for the People, and confequently the People fupc- 
 rior to him-, which being allowed, it is impoffible that Princes fhould have any 
 ri°-htto opprefs or enflave the people; that the inferior lhouldhave right to ty- 
 rannize over the fuperior. So that fince Kings cannot pretend to any right to do 
 mifchief, the right of the people muft be acknowledged according to the Law 
 of Nature to be fuperior to that of Princes ; and therfore by the fame right, 
 that before Kingfhip was know r n, men united their Strength and Counfels for 
 their mutual Safety and Defence •, by the fame right, that for the prefervation 
 of all men's Liberty, Peace, and Safety, they appointed one or more to govern 
 the reft •, by the fame right they may depofe thole very perfons, whom for their 
 Valour or Wifdom they advanced to the Government, or any others that rule 
 diforderly, if they find them by reafon of their flothfulnefs, folly, or impiety, 
 unfit for Government : fince Nature does not regard the good of one, or of .1 
 few, but of all in general. For what fort of perfons were they whom you fuppofe 
 to have been chofen ? You fay, they were fuch as excelled in Courage and Ccnduit,tu 
 ■wit, inch as by Nature feemed fitteft for Government; who by reafon of their ex- 
 cellent Wifdom and Valour, were enabled to undertake fo great a Charge. The 
 confequence of this I take to be, that Right of Succeffion is not by the Law of Na- 
 ture; that no Man by the Law of Nature has right to be King, unlefs he excel all 
 others in Wifdom and Courage •, that all fuchas reign, and want thefe qualificati- 
 ons, are advanced to theGovernment by Force or Faction ; have no right by the 
 Law of Nature to be what they are, but ought rather to be Slaves than Princes. 
 For Nature appoints that wife Men mould govern Fools, not that wicked Men 
 Ihou'.d rule over good Men -, Fools over wife Men : And confequently, they that 
 take the Government out of fuch men's hands, act according to the Law of Na- 
 ture. To what end Nature diredts wife Men fhould bear the Rule, you fhall hear 
 in your own words-, viz. " That by Force or by Perfwafion, they may keep fuch 
 *' as are unruly, without due bounds." But how fhould he keep others within the 
 bounds of their duty, that neglects, or is ignorant of, or wilfully ads contrary 
 to his own ? Alledge now, it you can, any dictate of Nature, by which we are 
 enjoined to neglect the wife Intlitutions of the Law of Nature, and have no 
 regard to them in Civil and Public Concerns, when we fee what great and ad- 
 mirable
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 497 
 
 mirable things Nature her felf effects in things that are inanimate and void of 
 fenfe, rather than loie her end. Produce any Rule of Nature, or Natural 
 Juftice, by which inferior Criminals ought to be punilhed, but Kings and Prin- 
 ces to go unpuniflied •, and not only fo, but tho' guilty of the greateft Crimes 
 imaginable, be had in Reverenc, and almoft adored. You a<*ree, That all 
 Forms of Government, whether by many, or few, or by a fingle perfon, are equally agree- 
 able to the Law of Nature. So that the perfon of a King is not by the Law of 
 Nature more facred than a Senate of Nobles, or Magistrates, chofen from a- 
 mongft the common people, who you grant may be puniflied, and ought to be 
 if they offend •, and confequently, Kings ought to be fo too, who are appoint- 
 ed to rule for the very fame end and purpofe that other Magistrates are. For 
 fay you, Nature does not allow any /ingle perfon to bear rulefo entirely, as not to have 
 Partners in the Government. It does not therfore allow of a Monarch -, it does 
 not allow one fingle perfon to rule fo, as that all others fliould be in a flavifh fub- 
 jection to his Commands only. You that give Princes fuch Partners in the Go- 
 vernment, as in whom, to ufe your own words, the Government always refdes, do 
 at the fame time make others Colleagues with them, and equal to them ; nay, 
 and confequently you fettle a power in thofe Colleagues of punilhing, and of de- 
 pofing them. So that while you your felf go about, not to extol a Kingly Govern- 
 ment, but to eftablifh it by the Law of Nature, you deftroy it ; no greater mif- 
 fortune could befall Sovereign Princes, than to have fuch an Advocate as you are. 
 Poor unhappy wretch! what blindnefs of mind has feiz'd you, that you mould 
 unwittingly take fo much pains to difcover your knavery and folly, and make 
 it vifible to the world, (which before you conceal'd in fome meafure, and dif- 
 guis'd) that you fliould be fo induitrious to heap difgrace and ignominy upon 
 your felt ? What offence does Heaven punifh you for, in making you appear in 
 public, and undertake the defence of a defperate Caufe, with fo much impu- 
 dence and chiklifhnefs, and inftead of defending it, to betray it by your igno- 
 rance ? What Enemy of yours would defire to fee you in a more forlorn, defpi- 
 cable condition than you are, who have no refuge left from the depth of mifery, 
 but in your own imprudence and want of fenfe, fince by your unskilful and filly 
 defence, you have rendered Tyrants the more odious and deteftable, by aicri- 
 bing to them an unbounded liberty of doing mifchief with impunity ; and con- 
 fequently have created them more Enemies than they had before ? But I return 
 to your Contradictions. When you had refolv'd with your felf to be fo wicked 
 as to endeavour to find out a Foundation for Tyranny in the Law of Nature, 
 you faw a neceflity of extolling Monarchy above other forts of Government ; 
 which you cannot go about to do, without doing as you ufe to do, that is, con- 
 tradicting your felf. For having faid but a little before, That all Forms of Go- 
 vernment, whether by more or fewer ■, or by a fingle perfon, are equally according to the 
 Law of Nature, now you tell us, that of all thefs forts of Government, that of a 
 fingle perfon is moft natural : Nay, though you had laid in exprefs terms but lately, 
 That the Law of Nature does not allow that any Government fhould refide entirely in 
 one man. Now upbraid whom you will with the putting of Tyrants to death ; 
 fince you your felf, by your own folly, have cut the Throats of all Monarchs, 
 nay, even of Monarchy it felf. But it is not to the purpofe for us here to dif- 
 pute which Form of Government is beft, by one fingle perfon, or by many. I 
 confefs many eminent and famous men have extolled Monarchy ; but it has al- 
 ways been upon this fuppofition, that the Prince were a very excellent perfon, 
 and one that of all others deferved belt to reign ; without which Suppofition, 
 no Form of Government can be fo prone to Tyranny as Monarchy is. And 
 wheras you refemble a Monarchy to the Government of the World, by one 
 Divine Being, I pray anfwer me, Whether you think that any other can deferve 
 to be invelted with a power here on Earth, that fhall refemble his power that 
 governs the World, except fuch a perfon as does infinitely excel all other Men, 
 and both for Wifdom and Goodnefs in fome meafure refemble the Deity ? and 
 fuch a perfon in my opinion, none can be but the Son of God himfelf. And 
 wheras you make a Kingdom to be a kind of Family, and make a companion 
 betwixt a Prince and the Mafter of a Family ; obferve how lame the Parallel is. 
 For a Mafter of a Family begot part of his Houfhold, at lealt he feeds all thofe 
 that are of his houfe, and upon that account deferves to have the Government -, 
 but the reafon holds not in the cafe of a Prince ; nay, 'tis quite contrary. In 
 Vol. I. Sff the
 
 49 8 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 the next place, you propofe to us for cur imitation the example of inferior 
 Creatures, efpecially of Birds, and amongft them of Bees, which according to 
 your flcill in Natural Philofophy, are a fort of Birds too ; The Bees have a King 
 over them. The Bees of Trent you mean ; don't you remember ? all other Bees, 
 you your felf confers to be Commonwealths. But leave off playing the fool 
 with Bees •, they belong to the Mufes, and hate, and (you fee) confute inch a 
 Beetle as you are. The Quails are, under a Captain. Lay fuch ihares for your 
 own Bitterns ; you are not Fowler good enough to catch us. Now you begin 
 to be perfonally concerned. Callus Gailinaceus, a Cock, fay you, has both Cocks 
 and Hens under him. How can that be, fince you your felf that are Callus, and 
 but too much Gailinaceus, by report cannot govern your own fingle Hen, but let 
 her govern you ? So that if a Gailinaceus be a King over many Hens, you that 
 are a (lave to one, mult own your felf not to be lb good as a Gailinaceus, but 
 fome Stercorarius Gallia, fome Dunghil-Cock or other. For matter of Books, 
 there is no body publifheshuger Dunghils than you, and you difturb all people 
 with your fhitten Cock-crow, that's the only property in which you referable 
 ■i true Cock. I'll throw you a great many Barley-corns, if in ranfacking this 
 Duno-hil Book of yours, you can ihow me but one Jewel. But why ihould I 
 promife you Barley, that never peckt at Corn, as that honeft plain Cock that 
 we read of in Mfop, but at Gold, as that Roguey Cock in Plautas, though with 
 a different event ; for you found a hundred Jacobufjes, and he was ftruck dead 
 with Euclid's Club, which you deferve more than he did. But let us go on : 
 That fame natural reafon that defigns the good and fafety of all Mankind, requires, 
 that whoever is once promoted to the Sovereignty, be preferred in the poffeffon of it. 
 Who ever queft.on'd this, as long as his prefervation is conliftent with the fafety 
 of all the reft ? But is it not obvious to all men that nothing can be more con- 
 trary to natural reafon than that any one man Ihould be preferred and defended 
 to the utter ruin and deftruclion of all others ? But yet (you fay) it is better to 
 keep and defend a bad Prince, nay one of the worft that ever was, than to change him 
 for another ; becaufe his ill Government cannot do the Commonwealth fo much harm as 
 the difturbances will occafion, which mvft ofneceffity be raifed before the people can get 
 rid of him. But what is this to the Right of Kings by the Law of Nature ? If 
 Nature teaches me rather to differ my felf to be robbed by Highwaymen, or if 
 I Ihould be taken Captive by fuch, to purchafe my Liberty with all my Eftate, 
 than to fight with them for my life, can you infer from thence, that they have a 
 natural right to rob and ipoil me ? Nature teaches men to give way fometimes 
 to the violence and outrages of Tyrants, the neceflity of affairs fometimes en- 
 forces a Toleration with their enormities ; what foundation can you find in this 
 forced patience of a Nation, in this compulfory fubmiflion, to build a Right 
 upon, for Princes to tyrannize by the Law of Nature ? That Right which Na- 
 ture has given the people for their own prefervation, can you affirm that fhe 
 has invefted Tyrants with for the people's ruin and deftruction ? Nature teaches, 
 us, of two evils to chufe the leaft ; and to bear with oppreffion, as long as there 
 is a neceflity of fo doing ; and will you infer from hence, that Tyrants have 
 fome Right by the Law of Nature to opprefs their Subjects, and go unpunifh- 
 ed, becaufe as circumftances may fall out, it may fometimes be a lefs mifchief to 
 bear with them than to remove them ? Remember what your felf once wrote 
 concerning Biihops againft a Jefuit ; you were then of another opinion than you 
 are now : I have quoted your words formerly ; you there affirm that feditious 
 Civil diffcvJioKS and difcords of the Nobles and Common People againjl and among/} 
 one another, are much more tolerable, and lefs mifchievous than certain mifery and ae- 
 flruQion under the Government of a fingle perfon, that plays the Tyrant. And you 
 laid very true. For you had not then run mad ; you had not then been bribed 
 with Charles his Jacobuffes. You had not got the King's-Evil. I ihould tell you 
 perhaps, if I did not know you, that you might be alhamed thus to prevaricate. 
 But you can fooner burft than blulh, who have caft off all fhame for a little pro- 
 fit. Did you not remember, that the Commonwealth ol the people of Rome 
 flourifhed and became glorious when they had banifhed their Kings? Could you 
 poflibly forget that of the Low Countries ? which after it had Ihook off the Yoke 
 of the King of Spain, after long and tedious Wars, but crowned with fuccefs, 
 obtained its Liberty, and feeds fuch a pitiful Grammarian as your felf with a 
 Pennon : but not with a defign that their Youth might be fo infatuated by your 
 
 Sophiftry,
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 409 
 
 Sophiftry, as to chufe rather to return to their former Slavery than inherit the 
 Glorious Liberty which their Ancellors purchafed for them. May thofeperni- 
 cioys principles of yours be banifhed with your felf into the molt remote and 
 barbarous Corners of the World. And laft of all, the Commonwealth of Eng- 
 land might have afforded you an example, in which Charles, who had been their 
 King, after he had been taken captive in War, and was found incurable, was 
 put to death. But they have defaced and impoverijh'd the IJlandwitb Civil broils and 
 difcords, which under its Kings was happy, and [warn in Luxury. Yea, when it was 
 almoft buried in Luxury and Voluptuoufnefs, and the more' inured thereto, that 
 it might be enthralled the more eafily ; when its Laws were abolifhed and its 
 Religion agreed to be fold, they delivered it from Slavery. You are 'like him 
 that publifhed Simplicius and Epicletus in the fame Volume •, a very »rave Stoic 
 who call an IJland happy, becaufe it fwirns in Luxury. I'm fure no fuch Doctrine 
 ever came out of Zeno\ School. But why mould not you, who would give 
 Kings a power of doing what they lift, have liberty your felf to broach what 
 new Philofophy you pleafe ? Now begin again to adf. your part. 'There never 
 was in any King's Reign fo much Blood fpilt, fo many Families ruined. All this is to 
 be imputed to Charles, not to us, who firft raifed an Army of Irijhmen againft 
 us •, who by his own Warrant authorized the Iri/h Nation to confpire ao-ainft 
 the Engli/h ; who by their means flew two hundred thoufand of his £ngIi/b°Sub- 
 jetts in the Province of Uijler, befides what Numbers were (lain in other parts of 
 that Kingdom 5 who folicited two Armies towards the deftruction of the Par- 
 lament of England, and the City of London ; and did many other actions of 
 Hoftility before the Parliament and People had lifted one Soldier for the prefer- 
 vation and defence of the Government. What Principles, what Law, what Re- 
 ligion ever taught men rather to confult their eafe, to fave their Money, their 
 Blood, nay their Lives themfelves, than to oppofe an Enemy with force? fori 
 make no difference between a Foreign Enemy and another, fince both are equally 
 dangerous and deftrucTive to the good of the whole Nation. The People of If- 
 rael&vr very well, that they could not poffibly punifh the Benjamites for mur- 
 dering the Lcvitc's Wife, without the lofs of many Men's Lives : And did that 
 induce them to lit ftill ? Was that accounted a fufficient Argument why they 
 ihould abftain from War, from a very Bloody Civil War ? Did they therfore 
 fuffer the death of one poor Woman to be unrevenged ? Certainly if Nature 
 teaches us rather to endure the Government of a King, though he be never fo 
 bad, than to endanger the Lives of a great many Men in the recovery of our 
 Liberty •, it mult teach us likewife not only to endure a Kingly Government, 
 which is the only one that you argue ought to be fubmitted to, but even an A- 
 riftocracy and a Democracy : Nay, and fometimes it will perfuade us, to fub- 
 mit to a Multitude of Highwaymen, and to Slaves that mutiny. Fulvius and 
 Rupilius, if your Principles had been received in their days, muft not have en- 
 gaged in the Servile War (as their Writers call it) after the Praetorian Armies 
 were flain : Craffus muft not have marched againft Sparticus, after the Rebels 
 had deftroyed one Roman Army, and Ipoiled their Tents : Nor muft Pompey 
 have undertaken the Pyraiic War. But the State of Rome muft have purfued the 
 dictates of Nature, and muft have fubmitted to their own Slaves, or to the Py- 
 rates rather than run the hazard of lofing fome Men's Lives. You do not prove 
 at all, that Nature has imprinted any fuch notion as this of yours on the minds 
 of Men : And yet you cannot forbear boding us ill luck, and denouncing the 
 Wrath of God againft us (which may Heaven divert, and inflidt it upon your 
 felf, and all fuch Prognofticators as you) who have punifhed, as he deferved, one 
 that had the name of our King, but was in facf our implacable Enemy ; and we 
 have made Atonement for the death of fo many of our Countrymen, as our Ci- 
 vil Wars have occafion'd, by fhedding his Blood, that was the Author and 
 Caufe of them. Then you tell us, that a Kingly Government appears to be 
 more according to the Laws of Nature, becaufe more Nations, both in our days 
 and of old, have fubmitted to that Form of Government, than ever did to any other. 
 I anfwer, If that be fo, it was neither the effect of any dicfate of the Law of 
 Nature, nor was it in Obedience to any Command from God. God would not 
 fuffer his own People to be under a King •, he confented at laft, but unwillingly : 
 what Nature and right Reafon dictates, we are not to gather from the practice of 
 moft Nations, but of the wifeft and moll prudent. The Grecians, the Romans, the 
 Vol. I, Sff 2 Italians,
 
 t oo -A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 Italians, and Carthaginians with many other, have of their own accord, out of 
 choice^ preferr'd a Commonwealth to a Kingly Government •, and thefe Na- 
 tions that I have named, are better inftances than all the reft. Hence Sulpitius 
 Severus fays, * That the very name of a King was always very odious among 
 * freeborn People. But thefe things concern not our prefent purpofe, nor many 
 other Impertinences that follow over and over again. I'll make hafte to prove 
 that by Examples* which I have proved already by Reafon ; viz. That it 
 is very agreeable to the Law of Nature, that Tyrants mould be punifhed ; 
 and that all Nations, by the inftinct of Nature, have punifhed them •, which 
 will expofe your Impudence, and make it evident, that you take a liberty to 
 publifh palpable downright Lyes. You begin with the Egyptians ; and indeed, 
 who does not fee, that you play the Gipfy your felf throughout ? Amongji them, 
 fay you, there is no mention extant of any King, that was everjlain by the People in a 
 Popular Infurretlion, no War made upon any of their Kings by their Subjecls, no Attempt 
 made to depofe any of them. What think you then of Ofiris, who perhaps was the 
 firft King that the Egyptians ever had ? Was not he flain by his Brother Typhon, 
 and five and twenty other Confpirators ? And did not a great part of the Body 
 of the People fide with them, and fight a Battel with IJis and Orz/j, the late King's 
 Wife and Son ? I pafs by Sefojlris, whom his Brother had well nigh put to death, 
 and Chemmis, and Cephrenes, againft whom the People were delervedly enraged ; 
 and becaufe they could not do it while they were alive, they threatned to tear 
 them in pieces after they were dead. Do you think that a People that durft lay 
 violent hands upon good Kings, had any reftraint upon them, either by the Light 
 of Nature or Religion, from putting bad ones to death ? Could they that threat- 
 ned to pull the dead Bodies of their Princes out of their Graves, when they ceafed 
 to do mifchief, (tho'by the Cuftom of their own Country, theCorps of the mean- 
 eft Perfon was facred and inviolable) abftain from inflicting Punifhment upon 
 them in their Life-time, when they were acting all their Villanies, if they had 
 been able -, and that upon fome Maxim of the Law of Nature? I know you would 
 not flick to anfwer me in the affirmative, how abfurd foever it be ; but that you 
 may not offer at it, I'll pull out your Tongue. Know then, that fome Ages be- 
 fore Cephrenes's time, one Ammofts was King of Egypt, and was as great a Ty- 
 rant, as who has been the greateft-, him the People bore with. This you are 
 glad to hear •, this is what you would be at. But hear what follows, my honeft 
 Tell-troth. I fhall fpeak out of Diodorus , They bore with him for fome while, be- 
 caufe he was tooflrong for them. But when Atlifanes King of Ethiopia made war 
 upon him, they took that opportunity to revolr, fo that being deferted, he was 
 eafily fubdued, andEgypt became an Accefllon to the Kingdom of Ethiopia. You 
 fee the Egyptians, as foon as they could, took up Arms againft a Tyrant ; they 
 joined Forces with a Foreign Prince, to depofe their own King, and difinherit 
 his Pofterity ; they chofe to live under a moderate and good Prince, as Aclifanes 
 was, tho' a Foreigner, rather than under a Tyrant of their own. The fame Peo- 
 ple with a very unanimous Confent took up Arms again ft Apries, another Tyrant, 
 who relied upon Foreign Aids that he had hired to afllft him. Under the Con- 
 duct of Amafis their General they conquered, and afterward ftrangled him, and 
 placed Amafis in the Throne. And obferve this Circumftance in the Hiftory ; 
 Amafis kept the Captive King a good while in the Palace, and treated him well : 
 At laft, when the People complain'd that he nourifhed his own and their Ene- 
 my ; he delivered him into their hands, who put him to death in the manner I have 
 mentioned. Thefe things are related by Herodotus and Diodorus. Where are 
 you now ? Do you think that any Tyrant would not chufe a Hatchet rather than 
 a Halter ? Afterwards, fay you, when the Egyptians were brought intofubjeilion by 
 /itf Perfians, they continued faithful to them; which is moftfalfe, they never were 
 faithful to them : For in the fourth year after Cambyfes had fubdued them, they 
 rebelled. Afterwards, when Xerxes had tamed them, within a fhort time they 
 revolted from his Son Artaxerxes, and fet up one Inarus to be their King. Af- 
 ter his death they rebell'd again, and created one Tachus King, and made war 
 upon Artaxerxes Mnemon. Neither were they better Subjects to their own 
 Princes, for they depofed Tachus, and conferr'd the Government upon his Son 
 Neclanebus, till at laft Artaxerxes Ochus brought them the fecond time under fub- 
 jection to the Perjian Empire. When they were under the Macedonian Empire, 
 they declared by their Actions, that Tyrants ought to be under fome reftraint : 
 
 Thev
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the Kzng. cor 
 
 They threw down the Statues and Images o\~ Ptolcmtus Phyfco, and would have 
 killed him, but that the mercenary Army that he commanded, was too ftrong 
 for them. His Son Alexander was forced to leave his Country by the meer vio- 
 lence of the People, who were incenfed againft him for killing his Mother. And 
 the People of Alexandria dragged his Son Alexander out of the Palace, whofe in* 
 foIentBehaviour gave juft Offence, and killed him in the Theatre. And the fame 
 People depolcd Ptokm.sus Auletes for his many Crimes. Now fince it is impof- 
 fible that any Learned Man fliould be ignorant of thefe things that are fo general- 
 ly known ; and fince it is an inexcufable Fault inSalmafiusto be ignorant of them, 
 whole Profeffion it is to teach them others, and whofe very afferting things of 
 this nature ought to carry in it felf an Argument of Credibility •, it is certainly a 
 very fcandalous thing (I fay) either that fo ignorant, illiterate aBlockhead, fhould 
 to the fcahdal of all Learning, profefs himfelf, and be accounted a Learned 
 Man, and obtain Salaries from Princes and States ; or that fo impudent and no- 
 torious a Lyar fliould not be branded with fome particular mark of Infamy, and 
 for ever banifhed from the Society of learned and honeft Men. Having fearched 
 among the Egyptians for Examples, let us now confider theEthiopians their Neigh- 
 bours. They adore their Kings, whom they fuppofeGod to have appointed o- 
 ver them, even as if they were a fort of Gods : And yet whenever the Priefts 
 condemn any of them, they kill themfelvcs : And on that manner, fays Diodorus, 
 they punifh all their Criminals ; they put them not to death, but fend a Minifter 
 of Juftice to command them to deftroy their own Perfons. In the next place, 
 you mention the AJfyrians, the Medes, and the Perfians, who of all others were 
 molt obfervant of their Princes .' And you affirm, contrary to all Hiftorians that 
 have wrote any thing concerning thofe Nations, That the Regal Power there, had 
 an unbounded Liberty annexed to it, of doing what the King lifted. In the firft place, 
 the Prophet Daniel tells us, how the Babylonians expelled Nebuchadnezzar out of 
 Human Society, and made him graze with the Bealts, when his Pride grew to be 
 infufferable. The Laws of thole Countries were not intitled the Laws of their 
 Kings, but the Laws of the Medes and Perfiam % which Laws were irrevocable, 
 and the Kings themfelves were bound by them : Infomuch that Darius the Mede, 
 tho' he earneftly defired to have deliver'd Daniel from the hands of the Princes, 
 yet could not effect it. Thofe Nations, fay you, thought it no fufficient pretence to> 
 reje5l a Prince, becaufe he abufed the Right that was inherent in him as he wasSovereign. 
 But in the very writing of thefe words you are fo ftupid, as that with the fame 
 breath that you commend the Obedience and Submiffivenefs of thofe Nations, of 
 your own accord you make mention ofSardanapalus's being depriv'd of his Crown, 
 by Arbaces. Neither was it he alone that accomplished that Enterprize ; for he 
 had the affiftance of the Priefts (who of all others were belt, verfed in the Law) 
 and of the People •, and it was wholly upon this account that hedepofed him, be- 
 caufe he abufed his authority and power, not by giving himfelf over to cruelty, 
 but to luxury and effeminacy. Run over the Hiflories of Herodotus, Ctefias, Di- 
 odorus, and you will find things quite contrary to what you affert here ; you will 
 find that thofe Kingdoms were deftroy'd for the molt part by Subjects, and not 
 by Foreigners •, that the AJfyrians were brought down by the Medes, who then 
 were their Subjects, and the Medes by the Per/tans, who at that time were like- 
 wife fubjecT: to them . You your felf confefs, that Cyrus rebell'd, and that at the fame 
 time in divers parts of the Empire little upflart Governments were formed by thofe that 
 fbock off the Medes. But does this agree with what you faid before ? Does this 
 prove the obedience of the Medes and Perfians to their Princes, and that Jus Re- 
 ginm which you had afferted to have been univerfally receiv'd amongft thofe Na- 
 tions ? What Potion can cure this brain-fick Frenzy of yours ? You fay, // ap- 
 pears by Herodotus how abfolute the Perfian Kings were. Cambyfes being defirous to 
 marry his Sifters, confulted with the Judges, who were the Interpreters of the 
 Laws, to whofe Decifion all difficult matters were to be referr'd. What anfwer 
 had he from them ? They told him, they knew no Law which permitted a Bro- 
 ther to marry his Sifter •, but another Law they knew, that the Kings of Perfia 
 might do what they lifted. Now to this I anfwer, if the Kings of Perfia were 
 really fo abfolute, what need was there of any other to interpret the Laws, be- 
 fides the King himfelf ? Thofe fuperfluous unneceffary Judges would have had 
 their abode and refidence in any other place rather than in the Palace, where they 
 were altogether ufelefs. Again, if thofe Kings might do whatever they would, 
 
 it
 
 c o 2 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 it is not credible that fo ambitious a Prince as Camhyfes was, fhould be fo igno 
 rant of that grand Prerogative, as to confult with the Judges, whether what lie 
 defired were according to Law. What was the matter then ? either they de- 
 fio-ned to humour the King, as you fay they did, or they were afraid to crofs his 
 inclination, which is the account that Herodotus gives of it ; and fo told him of 
 fuch a Law, as they knew would pleafe him, and in plain terms made a fool of 
 him •, which is no new thing with Judges and Lawyers now a-days. But, fay you, 
 Artabanus a Perfian told Themiftocles, that there was no better Law in Perfia, 
 than that by which it was enacled, That Kings were to be honoured and adored. An 
 excellent Law that was without doubt, which commanded Subjects to adore their 
 Princes ! but the Primitive Fathers have long ago damned it •, and Artabanus was 
 a proper perfon to commend fuch a Law, who was the very Man that a little 
 while after flew Xerxes with his own hand. You quote Regicides to affert Roy- 
 alty. I am afraid you have fome defign upon Kings. In the next place, you 
 quote the Poet Claudian, to prove how obedient the Perjians were. But I appeal 
 to their Hiftories and Annals, which are full of the Revolts of the Perjians, the 
 Medes, the Bailrians, and Babylonians, and give us frequent Inftances of the Mur- 
 ders of their Princes. The next perfon whole authority you cite, is Otancs the 
 Perfian, who likewife killed Smerdis then King of Perfia, to whom, out of the 
 hatred which he bore to a Kingly Government, he reckons up the impieties and 
 injurious actions of Kings, their violation of all Laws, their putting Men to 
 death without any legal Conviction, their Rapes and Adulteries ; and all this 
 you will have called the Right of Kings, and {lander Samuel again as a teacher of 
 fuch Doctrines. You quote Homer, who fays that Kings derive their Authority 
 from Jupiter ; to which I have already given an anfwer. For King Philip of 
 Macedofi, whofe afferting the Right of Kings, you make ufe of ; PI I believe 
 Charles his defcription of it, as foon as his. Then you quote lome Sentences out 
 of a fragment of Diogenes a Pythagorean ; but you do not tell us what fort of a 
 King he fpeaks of. Obferve therfore how he begins that Difcourfe ; for what- 
 ever follows mult be underftood to have relation to it. " Let him be King, 
 
 * fays he, that of all others is moft juft, and fo he is that acts moft according 
 
 * to Law •, for no Man can be King that is not juft ; and without Laws there 
 
 * can be no Juftice.' This is directly oppofite to that Regal Right of yours. 
 And Ecphantas, whom you likewife quote, is of the fame opinion : ' Whofc- 
 
 * ever takes upon him to be a King, ought to be naturally moft pure and clear 
 
 * from all imputation.' And a little after, ' Him, fays he, we call a King, that 
 ' governs well, and he only is properly fo.' So that fuch a King as you 
 fpeak of, according to the Philofophy of the Pythagoreans, is no King at all. 
 Hear now what Plato fays in his Eighth Epiftle : ' Let Kings, fays he, be liable 
 
 * to be called to account for what they do: Let the Laws controul not only the 
 ' People, but Kings themfelves, if they do any thing not warranted by Law.* 
 I'll mention what Ariftotle fays in the Third Book of his Politics; ' It is neither for 
 
 * the Public Good, nor is it juft, fays he, feeing all men are by nature alike 
 ' and equal, that any one fhould be Lord and Matter over all the reft, where 
 4 there are no Laws : nor is it for the Public Good, or Juft, that one man 
 
 * fhould be a Law to the reft, where there are Laws ; nor that any one, tho' 
 ' a good man, fhould be Lord over other good men, nor a bad man over bad 
 
 * men.' And in the Fifth Book, fays he, ' That King whom the People refufe to be 
 
 * govern'd by, is no longer a King, but a Tyrant.' Hear what Xenopbon fays in 
 Hiero: * People are fo far from revenging the deaths of Tyrants, that they con - 
 ' fer great Honour upon him that kills one, and erect Statues in their Temples 
 
 * to the Honour of Tyrannicides.' Of this I can produce an Eye-witnefs, Mar- 
 cus Tullius, in his Oration pro Milone ; * The Grecians, fays he, afcribe Divine 
 ' Worfhip to fuch as kill Tyrants : What things of this nature have I my felf 
 ' feen at Athens, and in the other Cities of Greece ? How many Religious Ob- 
 ■ fervances have been inftituted in honour of fuch men ? How many Hymns ? 
 ' They are confecrated to Immortality and Adoration, and their Memory endea- 
 
 * voured to be perpetuated.' Andlaftly, Polybius, a Hiftorian of great Authority 
 and Gravity, in the Sixth Book of his Hiftory, fays thus : ' When Princes began to 
 ' indulge their own Lufts and fenfual Appetites, then Kingdoms were turned 
 ' into fo many Tyrannies, and the Subjects began to confpire the death of their 
 ' Governors •, neither was it the profligate fort that were the Authors of thofe 
 
 ' Defigns,
 
 in anfwer to Sa.lmafius'j Defence of the Khiv. 503 
 
 « Defigns, but the moll Generous and Magnanimous.' I could quote many fuch 
 like paffages, but I mail inftance in no more. From the Philolophers you ap- 
 peal to the Poets ; and I am very willing to follow you thither. Mfchylus is 
 enough to inform us, That the Power of the Kings o/Greece was fuch, as not to be 
 liable to the cenfure of any Laws, or to be queftioned before any Human Judicature j 
 for he in that Tragedy that is called, The Suppliants, calls the King of the Arrives, 
 a Governor not obnoxious to the Judgment of any Tribunal. But you mult know (for 
 the more you fay, the more you difcovcr your rafhnefs and want of judgment) 
 you mud know, I fay, that one is not to regard what the Poet fays, but what 
 perfon in the Play fpeaks, and what that perfon fays ; for different perfons arc 
 introduced, fometimes good, fometimes bad ; fometimes wife men, fometimes 
 fools ; and fuch words are put into their mouths, as it is moll proper for them to 
 fpeak -, not fuch as the Poet would fpeak, if he were to fpeak in his own perfon. 
 The Fifty Daughters of Danaus being baniflied out of Egypt, became Suppliants 
 to the King of the Argives ; they begg'd of him, that he would protect them 
 from the Egyptians, who purfued them with a Fleet of Ships. The Kino- told 
 them he could not undertake their Protection, till he had imparted the matter 
 to the people; ' For fays he, if I fhould make a promife to you, I fhould not 
 
 * be able to perform it, unlefs I confult with them firft.' The Women being 
 Strangers and Suppliants, and fearing the uncertain fuffrages of the people, tell 
 him, ' That the Power of all the people refides in him alone ; that he judges 
 ' all others, but is not judged himfelf by any.' He anfwers : ' I have told you 
 
 * already, That I cannot do this thing that you defire of me, without the peo- 
 « pie's confent ; nay, and tho' I could, I would not.' At laft he refers the matter 
 to the people ; ' I will affemble the people, fays he, and perfuade them to pro- 
 ' tccT: you.' The people met, and refolved to engage in their quarrel •, info- 
 much that Danaus their Father bids his Daughters, ' be of good cheer, for the 
 4 People of the Country, in a popular Convention, had voted their Safeguard 
 
 * and Defence.' If I had not related the whole thing, how ralhly would this 
 impertinent Ignoramus have determined concerning the Right of Kings among, 
 the Grecians, out of the mouths of a few Women that were Strangers and Sup- 
 pliants, tho' the King himfelf, and the Hiitory be quite contrary ? The lame 
 thing appears by the ftory of Qreftes in Euripides, who after his Father's death 
 was himfelf King of the Argives, and yet was called in question by the people 
 for the death of his Mother, and made to plead for his Life, and by the major 
 fuffrage was condemned to die. The fame Poet in his Play called The Suppliants, 
 declares, That at Athens the Kingly Power was fubjedr. to the Laws ; where 
 Thefeus then King of that City is made to fay thefe words : ' This is a free City, 
 ' it is not govern'd by one man ; the people reigns here.' And his Son Demophoon, 
 who was King after him, in another Tragedy of the fame Poet, called Heraclida ; 
 
 * I do not exercife a Tyrannical Power over them, as if they were Barbarians : 
 4 I am upon other terms with them ; but if I do them juftice, they will do me 
 ' the like.' Sophocles in his CEdipus fhows, That anciently in Thebes the Kings 
 were not abfolute neither : Hence fays Tirefuis to CEdipus, ' I am not yoiir 
 
 * Slave.' And Creon to the fame King, ' I have fome Right in this City, fays he, 
 ' as well as you.' And in another Tragedy of the fame Poet, called Antigone, 
 ■JEmon tells the King, ' That theCity oi Thebes is not govern'd by a fingle perfon.' 
 All men know that the Kings of Lacedemon have been arraigned, and fometimes 
 put to death judicially. Thefe inftances are fufficient to evince what Power 
 the Kings in Greece had. Let us confider now the Romans: You betake your 
 felf to that paffage of C. Memmius in Saluft, of Kings having a liberty to do 
 what they lift, and go unpunifhed ; to which I have given an anfwer already. 
 Saluft himfelf lays in exprefs words, ' That the ancient Government of Rome was 
 
 * by their Laws, tho' the Name and Form of it was Regal :' which Form of Go- 
 vernment, when it grew into a Tyranny, you know they put down and chang- 
 ed. Cicero in his Oration againft Pifo, ' Shall I, fays he, account him aConful, 
 
 * who would not allow the Senate to have any Authority in the Commonwealth ? 
 
 * Shall I take notice of any man as Conful, if at the fame time there be no fuch 
 4 thing as a Senate ; when of old, the City of Rome acknowledged not their 
 ' Kings, if they a&ed without, or in oppofition to the Senate ?' Do you hear -, 
 the very Kings themfelves at Rome figniried nothing without the Senate. 
 But, fay you, Romulus governed as he lifted ; and for that you quote Tacitus. 
 
 No
 
 5 04 -^ Defence of the People of England, 
 
 No wonder : The Government was not then eftablifhed by Law ; they were a 
 confus'd Multitude of Strangers, more likely regulated than a State •, and all 
 Mankind lived without Laws, before Governments were fettled. But when Ro- 
 mulus was dead, tho' all the People were defirous of a King, not having yet ex- 
 perienced the fweetnefs of Liberty, yet, as Livy informs us, ' TheSovereignPower 
 
 * refided in the People •, fo that they parted not with more Right than they re- 
 
 * tained.' The fame Author tells us, ' That the fame Power was afterwards ex- 
 ' tortedfrom them by their Emperors.' ServiusTullius at firft reigned by fraud, 
 and as it were a Deputy to Tarquinius Prifcus ; but afterward he referr'd it to the 
 People, Whether they would have him reign or no ? At laft, lays Tacitus, he 
 became the Author of fuch Laws as the Kings were obliged to obey. Do you 
 think he would have done fuch an injury to himfelf and his Pofterity, if he had 
 been of opinion that the Right of Kings had been above all Laws ? Their laft 
 King Tarquinius Superbus, was the firft that put an end to that cuftom of confut- 
 ing the Senate concerning all Public Affairs : for which very thing, and other 
 enormities of his, the People depofed him, and banifhed him and his Family. 
 Thefe things I have out of Livy and Cicero, than whom you will hardly produce 
 any better Expofitors of the Right of Kings among the Romans. As for the Dic- 
 tatorfhip, that was but temporary, and was never made ufe of, but in great ex- 
 tremities, and was not to continue longer than fix Months. But that which you 
 call the Right of the Roman Emperors, was no Right, but a plain downright 
 Force •, and was gained by War only. But Tacitus, fay you, that lived under the 
 Government of a fingle Perfon, writes thus ; The Gods have committed the Sovereign 
 Power in human Affairs to Princes only, and have left to Subjecls the honour of being 
 obedient. But you tell us not where Tacitus has thefe words, for you were confei- 
 ous to your felf, that you impofed upon your Readers in quoting them •, which I 
 prefently fmelt out, tho' I could not find the place of a fudden : For that Exprc i- 
 fion is not Tacitus's own, who is an approved Writer, and of all others the 
 greateft Enemy to Tyrants •, but Tacitus relates that of M. Terentius, a Gentle- 
 man of Rome, being accufed for a Capital Crime, amongit other things that he 
 faid to fave his Life, flatter'd Tiberius on this manner. It is in the SxithBook of 
 his Annals. ' The Gods have entrufted you with the ultimate Judgment in all 
 ' things ; they have left us the honour of Obedience.' And you cite this paffage 
 as if Tacitus had faid it himfelf ; you fcrape together whatever feems to make 
 for your Opinion, either out of orientation, or out of weaknefs ; you would 
 leave out nothing that you could find in a Baker's, or a Barber's Shop ; nay, you 
 would be glad of any thing that look'd like an Argument, from the very Hang- 
 man. If you had read Tacitus himfelf, and not tranferibed fome loofe Quota- 
 tions out of him by other Authors, he would have taught you whence that Impe- 
 rial Right had its Original. ' After the Conqueft of AJia, fays he, the whole 
 
 * ftate of our Affairs was turned upfide down ; nothing of the ancient integrity 
 
 * of our Forefathers was left amongft us •, all men fhook off that former equalr- 
 ' ty which had been obferved, and began to have a reverence for the Mandates 
 ' of Princes.' This you might have learned out of the ThirdBook of his Annals^ 
 whence you have all your Regal Right. ' When that antient equality was laid a- 
 
 * fide, and inftead therof Ambition and Violence took place, Tyrannical Forms 
 
 * of Government ftarted up, and fixed themfelves in many Countries.' This 
 fame thing you might have learned out of Dio, if your natural Levity and Un- 
 fettlednefs of Judgment would have fuffered you to apprehend any thing that's 
 folid. He tells us in the Fifty-third Book of his Hiftory, out of which Book you have 
 made fome quotation already, That Oclavius C<efar, partly by force, and partly 
 by Fraud, brought things to that pafs, that the Emperors of Rome became no 
 longer fetter'd by Laws. For he, tho' he promifed to the people in public that 
 he would lay down the Government, and obey the Laws, and become fubject to 
 others ; yet under pretence of making War in feveral Provinces of the Empire^ 
 ftill retained the Legions, and fo by degrees invaded the Government, which he 
 pretended he would refufe. This was not regularly getting from under the Law, 
 but breaking forcibly through all Laws, as Spartacus the Gladiator might have 
 done •, and then affuming to himfelf the ftyle of Prince or Emperor, as if God 
 or the Law of Nature had put all Men and all Laws into fubjecfion under him. 
 Would you enquire a little further into the Original of the Right of the Roman 
 Emperors ? Marcus Ant onius^ whom Ca-far (when by taking up Arms againft the 
 
 Commonwealth,
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 505 
 
 Commonwealth, he had got all the Power into his hands) had made Conful, 
 when a Solemnity called the Lupercalia was celebrated at Rome, as had been 
 contrived before-hand that he mould fet a Crown upon Cafar's head, though 
 the people fighed and lamented at the fight, caufed it to be entered upon record, 
 That Marcus Antonius, at the Lupercalia, made C*far Kingatthelnftance of the 
 peop'e. Of which action Cicero in his fecond Philippic fays, ' Was Lucius Tar- 
 
 * quinius therfor? expelled, Spurius Coffins, Sp. Melius, and Marcus Manillas 
 
 * put to death, that after many ages Marcus Antonius fhou ; d make a Kino- in 
 « Rome contrary to Law ?' Butyou deferve to be tortured, and loaded with evtr- 
 lafting difgrace, much more than Mark Antony ; tho' I would not have you 
 proud becaufe he and your felf are put together : for I do not think fo defpica- 
 ble a Wretch as you fit to be compared with him in any thing but his Impiety ; 
 you that in thole horrible Lupercalia of yours, fet not a Crown upon one Ty- 
 rant's head, but upon all, and iuch a Crown as you would have limited by no 
 Laws, nor liable to any. Indeed if we muft believe the Oracles of the Empe- 
 rors themfelves, (for lb fomc Chriltian Emperors, as Theodcfrus and Valens, 
 have called their Edicts, Cod. lib. i. tit. 14.) the Authority of the Emperors 
 depends upon that of the Law. So that the Majefty of the Perfon that reign , 
 even by the Judgment, or call it the Oracle of the Emperors themielvcs, muft 
 iubmit to the Laws, onwhofe Authority it depends. Hence Pliny tells Trajan 
 in his Panegyric, when the Power ol the Emperors was grown to its height, 
 
 * A Principality, and an Abfolme Sovereignty are quite different things. Trc- 
 
 * jan puts down whatever looks like a Kingdom •, he rules like a Prince, that 
 
 * there may be no room for a Magifterial Power.' And afterwards, 'Whatever 
 ' I have f lid of other Princes, I laid that I might fhow how our Prince reforms 
 
 * and corrects the Manners of Princes, which by long cuftom have been corrup- 
 
 * ted and depraved.' Are not you afhamed to call that the Right of Kings, 
 that Pliny calls the corrupt and depraved Cuftoms of Princes ? Bat let this fuf- 
 fice to have been laid in fhort of the Right of Kings, as it was taken at Rome. 
 How they dealt with their Tyrants, whether Kings or Emperors, is generally 
 known. They expelled Tarquin. But, fay you, How did they expel him ? Did 
 they proceed againji him judicially ? No fuch matter : When he would have come into 
 the City, they flmt the gates againji him. Ridiculous Fool ! What could they do 
 but lhut the gates, when he was haftening to them with part of the Army ? And 
 what great difference will there be, whether they banifhed him, or put him to 
 death, fo they punilhed him one way or other? The belt men of that age kill'd 
 Csfar the Tyrant in the very Senate. Which adion of theirs, Marcus Tullius, 
 who was himfelf a very excellent Man, and publicly call'd the Father of his 
 Country, both elfewhere and particularly in his fecond Philippic, extols won- 
 derfully. I'll repeat fome of his words : * All good men kill'd Cxfar, as far as 
 ' in them lay. Some men could notadvifc in it, others wanted Courage to act 
 1 in it, others wanted an Opportunity, all had a goodwill to it.' And after- 
 wards, ' What greater and more glorious Action (ye holy Gods !) ever was 
 
 * performed, not in this City only, but in any other Country ? what Adion 
 
 * more worthy to be recommended to everlafting memory ? I am not unwilling 
 
 * to be included within the number of thofe that advifed it, as within the Trojan 
 
 * Horfe.' The pafl'age of Seneca may relate both to the Remans, and the Grecians: 
 « There cannot be a greater, nor more acceptable Sacrifice offered up to Jupiter, 
 « than a wicked Prince.' For if you confider Hercules, whofe words thefe are, 
 they (hew what the Opinion was of the principal Men amongft the Grecians m 
 that Age. If the Poet, who flourifhed under Nero, (and the moil worthy Per- 
 fons in Plays generally expreis the Poet's own Senfe) then this paffage fhows us 
 what Seneca himfelf and all good Men, even in Nero's time, thought was fit to 
 be done to a Tyrant •, and how vertuousan Adion, how acceptable to God they 
 thought it to kill one. So every good Man of Rome, as far as in him lay, kill'd 
 Domitian. Pliny the Second owns it openly in his Panegyrick to Trajan t he Em- 
 peror, ' We took pleafure in dafhing thole proud Looks againft the ground, 
 « in piercing him with our Swords, in mangling him with Axes, as if he had 
 « bled and felt pain at every ftroke : No Man could fo command his paffion or 
 « Joy, but that he counted it a piece of Revenge to behold his mangled Limbs, 
 « his Members torn afunder, and after ali, his item and horrid Statues thrown 
 
 * down and burnt.' And afterwards, * Tbey cannot love good Princes enough, 
 
 Vol. I. T t t l w«
 
 506 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 ' that cannot hate bad ones as they defer ve.' Then amongft other Enormities of 
 Domitian, he reckons this for one, that he put to death Epapbroditm, that had 
 kill'd Nero : ' Had we forgotten the avenging Nero's death ? Was it likely that 
 ' he would fuffer his Life and Actions to be ill fpoken of, whole death he reveng- 
 ' ed ?' He feems to have thought it almoft a Crime not to kill Nero, that counts 
 it fo great a one to puniih him that did it. By what has been faid, it is evident, 
 that the beft of the Romans did not only kill Tyrants, as oft as they could, and 
 howfoever they could ; but that they thought it a commendable, and a praife- 
 worthy Action fo to do, as the Grecians had done before them. For when they 
 could not proceed judicially againft a Tyrant in his life-time, being inferior to 
 him in Strength and Power, yet after his death they did it, and condemn'd him 
 by the Valerian Law. For Valerius Publicola,Junius Brutus his Colleague, when 
 he faw that Tyrants, being guarded with Soldiers, could not be brought to a 
 legal Trial, he deviled a Law to make it lawful to kill them any way, tho' un- 
 condemn'd •, and that they that did it, fhould afterwards give an account of their 
 fo doing. Hence, when Caflius had actually run Caligula through with a Sword, 
 tho' every body elfe had done it in their hearts, Valerius Afiaticus, one that had 
 been Conful, being prefent at the time, cried out to the Soldiers that began to 
 mutiny becaufe of his death, I wijh I my [elf bad kiWdbim. And the Senate at 
 rhefame time was fo far from being difplealed with Cqffius for what he had done, 
 that they refolved to extirpate the Memory of the Emperors, and to raze the 
 Temples that had been erected in honour of them. When Claudius was pre- 
 fently faluted Emperor by the Soldiers, they forbad him by the Tribune of the 
 People to take the Goverment upon him ; but the Power of the Soldiers pre- 
 vailed. The Senate declared Nero an Enemy, and made enquiry after him, to 
 have punilhed him according to the Law of their Anceftors -, which required, 
 that he fhould be ftript naked, and hung by the Neck upon a forked Stake, and 
 whipt to death. Confider now, how much more mildly and moderately the 
 Englijb dealt with their Tyrant, tho' many are of opinion, that he caufed the 
 fpilling of more Blood than ever Nero himfelf did. So the Senate condemn'd 
 Domitian after his death ; they commanded his Statues to be pull'd down and 
 dafh'd in pieces, which was all they could do. When Commodus was (lain by 
 his own Officers, neither the Senate nor the People punifh'd the Fact, but de- 
 clared him an Enemy, and enquired for his dead Corps to have made it an Ex- 
 ample. An Act of the Senate made upon that occafion is extant in Lampridius : 
 
 * Let the Enemy of his Country be depriv'd of all his Titles -, let the Parricide 
 
 * be drawn, let him be torn in pieces in the Spoliary, let the Enemy of the Gods, 
 ' the Executioner of the Senate be drag'd with a Hook, &c.' The fame Perfons 
 in a very full Senate condemn'd Diduis Julianus to death, and fent a Tribune to 
 flay him in the Palace. The fame Senate depofed Maximinus, and declared him 
 an Enemy. Let us hear the words of the Decree of the Senate concerning him, 
 as Capito'linus relates it : ' The Conful put the queftion, Confcript Fathers, what 
 
 * is your pleafure concerning the Maximines ? They anfwer'd, 'They are Enemies, 
 ' they are Enemies, whoever kills them fhall be rewarded.' Would you know 
 now, whether the People of Rome, and the Provinces of the Empire obeyed the 
 Senate, or Maximinetht Emperor? Hear what the fame Author fays, The Senate 
 wrote Letters into all the Provinces, requiring them to take care of their Com- 
 mon Safety and Liberty ; the Letters were publicly read. And the Friends, 
 the Deputies, the Generals, the Tribunes the Soldiers of Maximine, were (lain 
 in all places ; very few Cities were found that kept their Faith with the public 
 Enemy. Herodian relates the fame thing. But what need we give any more In- 
 ftancesout of the Roman Hiflories ? Let us now fee what manner of thing the 
 Right of Kings was in thofe days, in the Nations that bordered upon the Empire. 
 Jmbiorix, a King of the Cauls, confeffes, ' The Nature of his Dominion to be 
 
 * fuch, that the People have as great Power over him, as he over them.' And 
 confequently, as well as he judged them, he might be judged by them. Ver- 
 cingetorix, another King in Gaul, was accufed of Treafon by his own People. 
 Thefe things Cafar relates in his Hiftory of the Gallic Wars. '"Neither is the 
 ' Regal Power among the Germans abfolute and uncontroulable ; letter matters 
 
 * are ordered and difpofed by the Princes ; greater Affairs by all the People. 
 ' The King or Prince is more confiderable by the Authority of his Perfwafions. 
 ' than by any Power that he has of commanding. If his Opinion be not ap- 
 
 ' proved
 
 in anfvoer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. * y 
 
 « prov'd of, they declare their diflikeof it by a general murmuring Noife.* This 
 is out of Tacitus. Nay, and you your felf now confefs, that what but of 
 late you exclaim'd againft as an unheard of thing, has been often done, to wit, 
 That«o left than fifty Scotifh Kings have been either banifhed, or hnpri foned, or put 
 to death, nay, and fame of them publickly executed. "Which having come to pal's 
 in our very Bland -, why do you, as if it were your Office to conceal die vio- 
 lent deaths of Tyrants, by burying them in the dark, exclaim againft it as an 
 abominable and unheard of thing? You proceed to commend the Jews and 
 Chriftians for their Religious Obedience even to Tyrants, and to heap one Lye 
 upon another, in all which I have already confuted you. Lately you made lar°-e 
 Encomiums on the Obedience of the AJfyrians and Perjians, and now you reckon 
 up their Rebellions ; and tho' but of late you faid they never had rebell'd at all, 
 now you give us a great many reafons why they rebell'd fo often. Then you 
 refume the Narrative of the manner of our King's death, which you had broken 
 off long fince ; that if you had not taken care fufficiently to appear ridiculous, 
 and a Fool then, you may do it now. You faid, lie was led through the Members 
 of his own Court. What you mean by the Members of the Court, I would gladly 
 know. You enumerate the Calamities that the Romans underwent by changing 
 their Kingdom into a Commonwealth. In which I have already fhown how 
 grofly you give your felf the Lye. What was it you faid when you wrote againft 
 thejefuit ? You demonftrated, That in an Ariftocracy, or a popular State, there 
 could but be Seditions and Tumults, wheras under a Tyrant nothing was to be looked for, 
 but certain Ruin and Drjlruilion: And dare you now fay, you vain corrupt Mor- 
 tal, That thofe Seditions were PunifJrments inflicled upon them for banijhing their 
 Kings ? Forfooth, becaufe King Charles gave you a hundred Jacobujfes, therfore 
 the Romans mall be punifhed for banifhing their Kings. Bat ' they that kilPd Ju~ 
 ' lius Ctcfar, did not profper afterwards.' I confefs, if I would have had any Ty- 
 rant fpared, it fhoukl have been him. For altho' he introduced a Monarchical 
 Government into a Free State by force of ArmSj yet perhaps himfelf de- 
 ferved a Kingdom beft ; and yet I conceive that none of thofe that killed 
 him can be laid to have been punifhed for fo doing, any more than Caius 
 Antonius, Ccero's Colleague, for deftroying Catiline, who when he was af- 
 terward condemn'd for other Crimes, fays Cicero in his Oaration pro Flacco^ 
 Catiline'j Sepulchre was adorned with Flowers. For they that favoured Catiline, 
 they rejoyced ; They gave cut then, that -what Catiline did was jufi, to encreafc 
 the People's hatred againft thofe that had cut him off. Thefe are Artifices, 
 which wicked Men make ufe of, to deter the beft of Men from punifliing 
 Tyrants, and flagitious Perfons. I might as eafily fay the quite contrary, and 
 inftance in them that have killed Tyrants, and profpered afterwards ; it any 
 certain inference might be drawn in luch Cafes from the events of things. You 
 object further, That the Englifh did not put their Hereditary King to death in like 
 manner, as Tyrants ufe to bejlain, but as Robbers andTraytors are executed. In the 
 firft place I do not, nor can any wife Man underftand what a Crown's being He- 
 reditary fliould contribute to a King's Crimes being unpunifhable. What you 
 afcribe to the Barbarous Cruelly of the Englifh, proceeded rather from their Cle- 
 mency and Moderation, and as fuch, deferves Commendation •, who, tho' the 
 being' a Tyrant is a Crime that comprehends all forts of Enormities, fuch as 
 Robberies, Treafons, and Rebellions againft the whole Nation, yet were con- 
 tented to inflict no greater punifhment upon him for being fo, than they ufed 
 of courfe to do upon any common Highway-man, or ordinary Traytor. You 
 hope fome fuch Men as Harmodius and Thrafibulus will rife up amongfl us, and 
 make expiation for the King's death, by fhedding their Blood that were the Authors of 
 it. But you will run mad with defpair, and be detefted by all good Men, and put 
 an end to that wretched Life of yours, by hanging your felf, before yon lee 
 Men like Harmodius avenging the Blood of a Tyrant upon fuch as have done no 
 other than what they did themlelves. That you will come to luch an end A 
 moft probable, nor can any other be expected of fo great a Rogue ; but the o- 
 ther thing is an utter impoffibility. You mention thirty Tyrants that rebelled 
 in GalliemsH time. And what if it fallout, that one Tyrant happens to op- 
 pofc another, muft therefore all they that refill Tyrants be accounted luch 
 themfelves ? You cannot perfuade Men into fuch a belief, you Slave of a Kinght* 
 nor your Author TreMlius-Pollio, the moft inconfiderabk Of all Hiftorians that 
 Vol. I. 'J' t t 2 I'- ■
 
 508 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 have writ. If any of the Emperors were declared Enemies by the Senate, you fay, 
 it was done ly Faclion, but could not have been by Law. You put us in mind what 
 it was that made Emperors atfirft: It was Fadlion and Violence, and to fpeak 
 plainer, it was themadnefs of Anthony, that made Generals at firft rebel againft 
 the Senate, and the People of Rome ; there was no Law, no Right for their fo 
 doing. Galba, you fay, was f unified for his Infurretlion again fl Nero. Tell us 
 likewife how Vefpafian was punifhed for taking up Arms againft Vitellius ; There 
 was as much difference, you fay, betwixt Charles and Nero, as betwixt thofe Englifh 
 Butchers, and the Roman Senators of that Age. Defpicable Villain ! by whom it is 
 fcandalous to be commended, and a Praife to be evil fpoken of: But a few Pe- 
 riods before, difcourfing of this very thing, you faid, That the Roman Senate 
 under the Emperors, was in effetl but an AJfembly of Slaves in Robes : And here you 
 fay, That very Senate was an Affembly of Kings ; which if it be allowed, then are 
 Kings, according to your own Opinion, but Slaves with Robes on. Kings art 
 blefled, that have fuch a Fellow as you to write in their praife, than whom no 
 Man is more a Rafcal, no Bead more void of Senfe, unlefs this one thing may be 
 faid to be peculiar to you, that none ever brayed fo learnedly. You make the 
 Parlamentof England more like to Nero, than to the Roman Senate. This itch 
 of yours of making filly Similitudes, enforces me to rectify you, whether I will 
 or no : And I will let you fee how like King Charles was to Nero-, Nero you fav 
 commanded his own Mother to be run through with a Sword. But Charles murdered 
 both his Prince, and his Father, and that by Poifon. For to omit other evi 
 dences ; he that would not fuffer a Duke that was accufed for it, to come to his 
 Tryal, muft needs have been guilty of it himfelf. Nero flew many thoufands of 
 Chrifiians ; but Charles (lew many more. There were thofe, fays Suetonius, that 
 praifed Nero after he was dead, that long'd to have had him again, That bung 
 Garlands of Flowers upon his Sepulchre, and gave out that they would never pro- 
 fper that had been his Enemies. And fome there are tranfported with the like 
 Phrenfy, that wifh for, King Charles again, and extol him to the higheft degree 
 imaginable, of whom you a Knight of the Halter are a Ringleader. Ihe Englifh 
 Soldiers more favage than their own Mafiiffs, ere tied a new and unheard-of Court of 
 Juflice. Obferve this ingenious Symbol, or Adage of Salmafms, which he has 
 now repeated fix times over, more favage than their own Mafiiffs. Take notice, 
 Orators and School-Mafters -, pluck, if you are wife, this Elegant Flower, which 
 Salmafms is fo very fond of: Commit this Flourifh of a Man, that isfo much «i 
 Mafterof Words, to your Defks forfafe Cuftody, left it be loft. Has your rage 
 made you forget words to that degree, that like a Cuckoo, you muft needs iky 
 the fame thing over and over again ? What ftrange thing has befallen you ? 
 The Poet tells us, that Spleen and Rage turn'd Hecuba into a Dog ; and it has 
 turn'd you, the Lord of St. Lupus, into a Cuckoo. Now you come out with frefh 
 Contradictions. You had faid before, fag. 113. That Princes were not bound by 
 any Laws, neither Coercive, nor Direclory ; that they were bound by no Law at all. 
 Now you fay, That you will difcourfe by and by of the difference betwixt fome Kings 
 and others, infoint of Rower ; fome having had more, fome lefs. You fay, Ton will 
 frove that Kings cannot be judged, nor condemned by their own Subjects, by a moft folid 
 Argument ; but you do it by a very filly one, and 'tis this : You fay, There was 
 Jio other difference than that betwixt the Judges, and the Kings of the Jews ; and vet 
 the reafon why the Jews required tohave Kings over them, was becaufethey were weary 
 of their Judges, and hated their Government. Do you think, that, becaufe they 
 might judge and condemn their Judges, if they mifbehaved themfelves in the 
 Government, they therfore hated and were weary of them, and would be un- 
 der Kings, whom theyfhould have no Power to reftrainand keep within Bounds, 
 tho' they fhould break through all Laws? Who but you ever argued fo chiidifh- 
 ly ? So that they defired a King for fome other reafon, than that they might 
 have a Mafter over them, whofe Power fhould be fuperior to that of the Law; 
 which reafon, what it was, it is not to our prefent purpofe to make a Conjecture. 
 Whatever it was, both God and his Prophets tells us, it was no piece of pru- 
 dence in the People to defire a King. And now you fall foul upon" your Rabbin.-, 
 and are very angry with them for faying, That a King might be judged and con- 
 demned to undergo Stripes ; out of whofe Writings you faid before you had 
 proved that the Kings of the Jews could not be judged. Whcrin you confeA, 
 that you told a Lye when you faid you had proved any fuch thing out of their 
 
 Writings.
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 509 
 
 Writings. Nay, you come at laft to forget the Subject you were upon, of wri . 
 ting in the King's Defence, and raife little impertinent Controverfies about Solo- 
 mon's Stables, and how may Stalls he had for his Horfes. Then of a Jockey you 
 become a Ballad-finger again, or rather, as I laid before, a raving detracted 
 Cuckoo. You complain, That in tbefe latter Ages, Difcipline has ken more re~ 
 mifs, and the Rule lefs obferved and kept up to ; viz. becaufe one Tyrant is not per- 
 mitted, without a Check from the Law, to let loofe the Reins of all Difcipline 
 and corrupt all Mens manners. This Doctrine, you lay, the Brownijis introdu- 
 ced amongft thole or the Reform'd Religion ; fothat Luther, Calvin, ZuingH- 
 us, Bucer, and all the molt Celebrated Orthodox Divines are Brownijis in your 
 Opinion. The Englijh have the lefs reafon to take your Reproaches ill, becaufe 
 they hear you belching out the lame Slanders againft the molt eminent Doctors 
 of the Chu r ch, and in effect againft the whole Reformed Church it felf. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 AFter^ having difcours'd upon the Law of God and of Nature, and handled 
 both to untowardly, that you have got nothing by the bargain but a de- 
 ferved reproach of ignorance and knavery ; I cannot apprehend what you can. 
 have farther to alledge in defence of your Royal Caufc, but meer trilles. I for 
 my part hope I have given fatisfaction already to all good and learned men, and 
 done this Noble Caufe right, fhould I break off here ; yet left I mould feem to 
 any to decline your variety of arguing and ingenuity, rather than your immode- 
 rate impertinence, and tittle-tattle, I'll follow you wherc-ever you have a mind 
 to go •, but with fuch brevity as (hall make it appear, that after having per- 
 form'd whatever the neceflary defence of the Caufe required, if not what the 
 dignity of it merited, I now do but comply with fome mens expectation, if not 
 their curiofity. Now, fay you, I fljall alledge other and greater Arguments. What! 
 greater Arguments than what the Law of God and Nature afforded ? 1 Lip 
 Lucina ! The Mountain Salmafms is in labour ! It is not for nothing that he has 
 srot a Shc-Hufband. Mortals expect fome extraordinary Birth. If be that is, 
 
 ■ be accufed before any other Power, that Power mv.ft of 
 ■;: that of the King; and if ' fo, then tnuft that Power be indeed 
 the Kingly Power, and ought to have the name of it : For a Kingly Power is thus defi- 
 ned ; to wit, the Supreme Power in the State rejiding in a Jingle Perfon, and which has 
 nofuperior. O ridiculous Birth ! a Moufe crept out of the Mountain ! Help Gram- 
 marians ! one of your number is in clanger of perilhing ! The Law of God and 
 of Nature are laic; but Salmafius's Dictionary is undone. What if I mould 
 anfwer you thus ? That words ought to give place to things •, that we having ta- 
 ken away Kingly ( <■ rnment it felf, do not think our felves concerned about 
 its name, and definition ; let others look to that, who are in love with Kings : 
 We are contented with the enjoyment of our Liberty •, fuch an anfwer would 
 be good enough for you. But to let you fee that I deal fairly with you through- 
 out, I will anfwer you, not only from my own, but from the opinion of very 
 wife and good men, who have thought that the Name and Power of a King are 
 very confiltcnt with a Power in the People and the Law, fuperior to that of the 
 King himfelf. In the fir ft place Lycurgus, a man very eminent for wifdom, 
 figning, as Plato fays, to fecure a Kingly Government as well as it was pofiible, 
 could find no better expedient to preferve it, than by making the Power of the 
 Senate, and of the Epbori, that is, the Power of the People, fuperior to it. 
 Thefeus, in Euripides, King of Athens, was of the fame opinion ; for he to his 
 great honour reftored the People to their Liberty, and advanced the Power of the 
 People above that of the King, and yet left the Regal Power in that City to his 
 Poffcerity. Whence Euripides in his Play called the Suppliants, introduces him 
 fpeaking on this manner: ' I have advanced tin People themfelves into the 
 4 Throne, having freed the City from Slavery, and admitted the People to a 
 « (hare in the Government, by giving them an equal right of Suffrage.' And in 
 another place to the Herald of Thebes, ' fn the firft | 
 
 ' your Speech, Friend, with a thing that is not true, in (tiling me a Monarch ; 
 
 * for
 
 c i o A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 c for this City is not governed by a fingle Perfon, but is a Free State ; the People 
 ' reigns here.' Thefe were his words, when at the fame time he was both called, 
 and really was King there. The Divine Plato likewife in his eighth Epiftle, Ly~ 
 curgus, lays he, introduced the Power of the Senate and of the Ephori, a thing very 
 prefervative of Kingly Government, which by this means has honour ably flour ifhed for fo 
 many Ages, becaufe the Law in effettwas made King. Now the Law cannot be King, 
 unlefs there be fome, who, if there mould be occafion, may put the Law in ex- 
 ecution a^aind the King. A Kingly Government fo bounded and limited, he 
 himfelf commends to the Sicilians : ' Let the People enjoy their Liberty under a 
 ' Kingly Government •, let the King himfelf be accountable •, let the Law take 
 ' place even againft Kings themfelves, if they aft contray to Law.' Arifiotle 
 likewife in the third Book of his Politics, ' Of all Kingdoms,/^ he, that are go- 
 * vern'dby Laws, that of the Lacedemonians feemsto be moft truly and properly fo.* 
 And he fays, all Forms of Kingly Governments are according ro fettled and efta- 
 blifh'd Laws, but one, which he calls ttcc^xo-iXux, or Abfolute Monarchy, which 
 he does not mention ever to have obtain'd in any Nation. So that Arifiotle 
 thought fuch a Kingdom, as that of the Lacedemonians was, to be and deferve 
 the name of a Kingdom more properly than any other •, and confequently that a 
 King, tho' fubordinate to his own People, was neverthelefs aftually a King, and 
 properly fo called. Now fince fo many and fo great Authors affert that a Kingly 
 Government both in name and thing may very well fubfift even where the Peo- 
 ple, tho' they do not ordinarily exercife the Supreme Power, yet have it aftually 
 refiding in them, and exercife it upon occafion ; be not you of fo mean a Soul 
 as to fear the downfall of Grammar, and the confufion of the fignification of 
 words to that degree, as to betray the Liberty of Mankind, and the State, ra- 
 ther than your Gloffary mould not hold water. And know for the future, that 
 words muft be conformable to things, not things to words. By this means youll 
 have more wit, and not run on in infinitum, which now you're afraid of. It was 
 to no purpofe then for Seneca, you fay, to defcribe thofe three Forms of Government, as 
 he has done. Let Seneca do a thing to no purpofe, fo we enjoy our Liberty. And 
 if I miftake us not, we are other fort of Men than to be enflav'd by Seneca's 
 Flowers. And yet Seneca, tho' he fays that the Sovereign Power in a Kingly Go- 
 vernment refides in a fingle Perfon, fays withal that the Powe r is the People's, and 
 by them committed to the King for the welfare of the whole, not for their 
 ruin and deftruftion ; and that the People has not given him a propriety in it, 
 but the ufe of it. Kings at this rate, you fay, do not reign by God, but by the People. 
 As if God did not fo over-rule the People, that they fet up fuch Kings, as it 
 pleafes God. Since Juftinian himfelf openly acknowledges, that the Roman Em- 
 perors derived their Authority from that Royal Law, wherby the People granted 
 to them and vefted in them all their own Power and Authority. But how oft mall we 
 repeat thefe things over and over again ? Then you take upon you to intermed- 
 dle with the Conftitution of our Government, in which you are no way concern- 
 ed, who are both a Stranger and a Foreigner •, but it fhows your faucinefs, and 
 want of good manners. Come then, let us hear your Solcecifms, like a bufy 
 Coxcomb as you are. You tell us, but 'tis in falfe Latin, that what thofe Defpera- 
 does fay is only to deceive the People. You Rafcal ! wasit notforthis that you a Rene- 
 gado Grammarian, were fo forward to intermeddle with the Affairs of our Go- 
 vernment, that you might introduce your Solcecifms and Barbarifms amongft us ? 
 But fay, How have we deceiv'd the People ? 'The Form of Government which they 
 have fet up, is not Popular, but Military. This is what that herd of Fugitives 
 and Vagabonds hired you to write. So that I lhall not trouble my fclf to anfwer 
 you, who bleat what you know nothing of, but Pll anfwer them that hired you. 
 Who excluded the Lords from Parlament, was it the People ? Ay, it was the People ; 
 and in fo doing they threw an intolerable Yoke of Slavery from off their necks. 
 Thofe very Soldiers, who you fay did it, were not Foreigners, but our own 
 Country-men, and a great part of the People ; and they did it with the confent, 
 and at the defireof almoftall the reft ofthePeople, and not without the Autho- 
 rity of the Parlament neither. Was it the People that cut off part of the Houfe of 
 Commons, forcing fome away? &c. Yes, I fay, it was the People. For whatever 
 the better and founder part of the Senate did, in which the true power of the 
 People rcfided, why may not the People be laid to have done it.? What if the 
 greater part of the Senate fliould chule to be Slaves, or toexpofethe Govern- 
 ment.
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. r 1 1 
 
 ment to file, ought not the letter number to interpofc, and endeavour to retain 
 their Liberty, it it be in their power ? But the Officers of the Army and their Sol 
 diers did it. And we are beholden to thole Officers for not beincr wanting to the 
 State, but repelling the tumultuary violence of the Citizens and Mechanics of 
 London, who like that Rabble that appear'd for Clodius, had but a little before 
 beiet the very Parlament-Houfe ? Do you therfore call the ri^ht of the Parla 
 ment, to whom it properly and originally belongs to take care of the Liberty 
 of the People both in Peace and War, a Military Power ? But 'cis no wonder- 
 that thofe Traytors that have dictated thefe pafTages to you, mould talk at that 
 rate ; fo that profligate faction of Antony and his adherents ufed to call the Se- 
 nate of Rome, when they armed themfelves againft the Enemies of their Coun- 
 try, The Camp of Pompey. And now Pm glad to imderftand that they of your 
 party envy Cromwell, that molt valiant General of our Army, for undertake 
 that Expedition in Ireland, (fo acceptable to Almighty God) furrounded with a 
 joyful croud of his Friends, and profecuted with the well-wifhes of the people 
 and the prayers of all good men : For I queftion not but at the news of his many 
 Victories there, they are by this time burft with fpleen. I pafs by many of your 
 impertinencies concerning the Roman Soldiers. What follows is mod notoriouf- 
 ly falfe : The power of the people, fay you, ceafes where there is a King. By what 
 Law or Right is that ? Since it is known that almoft all Kings, of what Nations 
 foever, received their Authority from the people upon certain conditions ; which 
 if the King do not perform, I wifh you would inform us, why thatPower, which 
 was but a truft, fhou'.d not return to the people, as well from a Kin", as from a 
 Conful, or any other Magiftrate. For when you tell us, that 'tis neceffary for 
 the Public Safety, you do but trifle with us ; for the fafety of the Public is e- 
 qually concerned, whether it be from a King, or from a Senate, or from a Tn - 
 tcmvirate, that the power wherewith they were entrufted, reverts to the people, 
 upon their abufe of it ; and yet you your felf grant that it may fo rev. rt from 
 all forts of Magiftrates, a King only excepted. Certainly, if no people in their 
 right wits ever committed the Government either to a King, or other Mao-i- 
 ftrates, for any other purpofe than for the common good of them all, there can 
 be no reafon why, to prevent the utter ruin of them all, they may not as well 
 take it back again from a King, as from other Governors ; nay, and it may 
 with far greater eafe be taken from one, than from many. And to inveft any 
 mortal creature with a power over themfelves, on any other terms than upon 
 truft, were extreme madnefs ; nor is it credible that any people fince the Cre- 
 ation of the World, who had freedom of will, were ever fo miierably filly, as ei- 
 ther to part with the power for ever, and to all purpofes, or to revoke it from 
 thofe whom they had entrufted with it, but upon moft urgent and weighty rea- 
 fons. If Diffenfions, if Civil Wars, are occafioned therby, there cannot any 
 Right accrue from thence to the King, to retain that power by force of arms, 
 which the people challenge from him as their own. Whence it folio s that what 
 you fiy, and we do not deny, That Governors are not lightly to be changed, is true 
 with refpec"t to the People's Prudence, not the King's Right ; but that therfore 
 they ought never to be changed, upon no occafion whatlbever, that does not 
 follow by no means ; nor have you hitherto alledged any thing, or made ap- 
 pear any Right of Kings to the contrary, but that all the people concurring, 
 they may lawfully be depofed, when unfit for Government; provided it may be 
 done, as it has been often done in your own Country of France, without any 
 Tumults or Civil Wars. Since therfore the Safety of the People, and not that 
 of a Tyrant, is the Supreme Law ; and confequently ought to be alledged on the 
 People's behalf againft a Tyrant, and not for him againft them : you that go a- 
 bout to pervert fo ficred and fo gloriousa Law, with your fallacies andjugglings ; 
 you who would have this Supreme Law, and which of all others is moft beneficial 
 to Mankind, to ferve only for the Impunity of Tyrants ; let me tell you (fince you 
 call us Englifhmen fo often infpired, and Enthufiafls, and Prophets) let me, I fay, 
 be fo far a Prophet, as to tell you, That the Vengeance of God and Man hangs 
 over your head for fo horrid a Crime ; altho' your fubje&ing all Mankind to Ty- 
 ranny, as far as in you lies, which in effecl is no better than condemning them to 
 be devoured by wild Beafts, is in it felf part of its own Vengeance •, and whither- 
 foever you fly, and wherefoever you wander, will firft or laft purfue you with 
 its Furies, and overtake you, and caufe you to rave worfe than you do at pre- 
 
 fent.
 
 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 I come now to your fecond Argument, which is not unlike the firft : If 
 • People may refume their Liberty,/^ would be no difference, fay you, betwixt 
 Popular State and a Kingdom ; but that in a Kingdom one Man rules, and in a 
 popular State many. And what if that were true •, would the State have any pre- 
 judice by it ? But you your felf tell us of other differences that would be not- 
 withftanding •, to wit, of Time and Succejfwn ; for in popular States, the Magi- 
 Jlrates are generally chofen yearly; wheras Kings, if they behave them fe Ives well, 
 are perpetual-, and in moft Kingdoms there is a Succeffionin the fame Family. 
 But let them differ from one another,or not differ, I regard not thofe petty things : 
 In this they agree, that when the Public Good requires it, the People may 
 without doing injury to any, refume that Power for the Public Safety, which 
 they committed to another for that end and purpofe. But according to the Royal 
 Law, by the Romans fo called, which is mentioned in the Jnftitutes, the People of 
 'Romt granted all 'their Power and Authority to the Prince. They did fo by compul- 
 fion ; the Emperor being willing to ratify their Tyranny by the Authority of a 
 Law. But of this we have fpoken before •, and their own Lawyers, commenting 
 uponthisplace in the Inftitutes, confefs as much. So that we make noqueftion 
 but the People may revoke what they were forced to grant, and granted againft, 
 their wills. But moll rational it is to fuppofe, that the People of Rome trans- 
 ferred no other Power to the Prince, than they had before granted to their own 
 Ma°iftratcs •, and that was a power to govern according to Law, and a revoca- 
 ble net an abfurd, tyrannical power. Hence it was, that the Emperors affumed 
 the'Confular Dignity, and that of the Tribunes of the People ; but after Julius 
 Cffar, not one of them pretended to the Didlatorfhip : In the Circus Maximus 
 theyufed to adore the People, as I have faid already out of Tacitus and Claudian. 
 But as heretofore many private perfons have fold tbemfelves into Slavery, fo a whole 
 Nation may. Thou Goal-bird of a Knight, thou Day-fpirit, thou everlafting 
 fcaridal to thy Native Country ! The meft defpicable Slaves in the world 
 ought to abhor and fpit upon fuch a Factor for Slavery, fuch a public Pander 
 as thou art. Certainly if people had fo enflaved themfelves to Kings, then 
 migjit Kings turn them over to other Mailers, or fell them for Money, and yet 
 we'know that Kings cannot fo much as alienate the Demefnes of the Crown : 
 And ftiall he, that has but the Crown, and the Revenues that belong to it, as an 
 Uiufructuary, and thofe given him by the People, can he be laid to have, as it 
 were, purchased the People, and made them his Propriety ? Tho* you were bo- 
 red through both ears, arid went barefoot, you would not be fo vile and de- 
 fpicable, fo much more contemptible than all Slaves, as the broaching fuch a 
 "fcandalous Doctrine as this makes you. But go on, and punifh your felf for 
 your Rogueries as now you do, tho' againft your will. You frame a long Dif- 
 courfe of the Law of War ; which is nothing to the purpofe in this place : 
 For neither did Charles conquer us ; and for his Anceftors, if it were never fo 
 much °ranted that they did, yet have they often renounced their Title as Con- 
 querors. And certain it is, That we were never fo conquered, but that as we 
 iwore Allegiance to them, fo they fwore to maintain our Laws, and govern by 
 them : Which Laws, when Charles had notorioufly violated, taken in what 
 capacity you will, as one who had formerly been a Conqueror or was now a 
 perjured King, wefubdued him by force, he himfelf having begun with us firft. 
 And according to your own opinion, Whatever is acquired by War, becomes his 
 property that acquired it. So that how full foever you are of words, how imperti- 
 nent foever a babbler, whatever you prate, how great a noife foever you make, 
 what Quotations foever out of the Rabbins, tho' you make your felf never fo 
 hoarfe, to the end of this Chapter, affure your felf, That nothing of it makes 
 "for the King, he being now conquered, but all for us, who by God's affiftance 
 are Conquerors. 
 
 CHAP,
 
 in ahjwer to SaJmafius'i Defence of the King, 513 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 TO avoid two very great inconveniences, and, confidering your own weight, 
 very weighty ones indeed, you denied in the foregoing Chapter, That the 
 People's Power was fuperior to that of the King ; for if that fhould be granted, 
 Kings muft provide themfelves of fome other name, becaufe the People would 
 indeed be King, and fome divifions in your Syftem of Politics would be con- 
 founded : the firft of which inconveniences would thwart with your Diet iona- 
 ry, and the latter overthrow your Politics. To thefe I have given fuch an 
 anfwer as fliows, That tho' our own Safety and Liberty were the principal things 
 I aimed the prefervation of, yet withal, I had fome confideration of falvino- 
 your Dictionary, and your Politics. Now, fay you, / will prove by other argu- 
 ments, 'That a King cannot be judged by his own Subjects ; of which Arguments this 
 jhall be the greateft and mofl convincing, "That a King has no Peer in his Kingdom. 
 What ? Can a King have no Peer in his Kingdom ? What then is the meanino- of 
 thofe Twelve Ancient Peers of the Kings of France ? Are they Fables and Tri- 
 fles ? Are they called fo in vain, and in mock only ? Have a care how you af- 
 front thofe Principal Men of that Kingdom : Who if they are not the Kind's 
 Peers, as they are called, I am afraid your Dictionary, which is the only thin° p 
 you are concerned for, will be found more faulty in France, than in England. 
 But go to, let's hear your demonftration, that a King has no Peer in his own 
 Kingdom. Becaufe, fay you, the People of 'Rome, when they had banifo'd then- 
 King, appointed not one, but two Confuls ; and the reafon was, Thai if one of them 
 fhould tranfgrefs the Laws, his Collegue might be a check to him. There could hard- 
 ly have been devifed any thing more filly : How came it to pafs then, that but 
 one of the Confuls had the bundles of Rods carried before him, and not both, 
 if two were appointed, that each might have a Power over the other? And 
 what if both had confpired againft the Commonwealth ? Would not the Cafe 
 then be the very fame that it would have been, if one Conful only had be^n ap- 
 pointed without a Collegue ? But we know very well, that both Confuls, and 
 all other Magiftrates were bound to obey the Senate, whenever the Senate and 
 the People faw, that the Intereft of the Commonwealth fo required. We have 
 a famous inftance of that in the Decemvirs, who tho' they were invefted with 
 the Power of Confuls, and were the chief Magiftrates, yet the Authority of 
 the Senate reduced them all, tho' they ftruggled to retain their Government. 
 Nay, we read that fome Confuls before they were out of Office, have been de- 
 clared Enemies, and Arms been taken up againft them ; for in thofe days no 
 man looked upon him as a Conful, who acted as an Enemy. So War was wa- 
 ged againft Antony, tho' a Conful, by Authority of the Senate ; in which beino- 
 worfted, he would have been put to death, but that Oclavius, affecting the Em- 
 
 fo, 
 
 dieted by your felf a little after : tor the Hebrew Judges, you fay, ruled as 
 long as they lived, and there was hut one of them at a time : The Scripture alfo calls 
 them Kings ; and yet they were accountable to the great Council. Thus we fee, 
 That an itch of Vain-glory, in being thought to have faid all that can be faid, 
 makes you hardly fiy any thing but contradictions. Then I afk, what kind of 
 Government that was in the Roman Empire, when fometimes two, fometimes 
 three Emperors, reign'd all at once ? Do you reckon them to have been Empe- 
 rors, that is, Kings, or was it :\n Ariftccracy, or a Triumvirate? Or will you de- 
 ny, that the Roman Empire under Antoninus and Verus, under Dicclefian and 
 Maximian, under Conjlantine and Licinius, was ftill but one entire Empire? If 
 thefe Princes were not Kings, your three Forms of Government will hardly 
 hold; if they were, then it is not an elfential Property of a Kingly Govern- 
 ment, to refide in a fingle perfon. If one of thefe offend, fay you, then may the 
 other refer the matter to the Senate, or the People, where he may be accufed and con- 
 demned. And does not the Senate and the People then judge, when the matter 
 is fo referred to them ? So that if you will give any credit to your felf, there 
 needs not one Collegue to judge another. Such a miferable Advocate as you, 
 Vol. I. Uuu if 
 
 1
 
 r 1 4 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 if you were not fo wretched a fellow as you are, would deferve companion ; you 
 lie every way fo open to blows, that if one were minded for fport's-fake to 
 make a Pafs at any part of you, he could hardly mifs, let him aim where he would. 
 9 Tis ridiculous, fay you, to imagine, 'That a King\vill ever appoint Judges to cond&nn 
 bimfelf. But I can tell you of an Emperor, that was no ridiculous perfac, 
 but an Excellent Prince, and that was Trajan, who when he delivered a Dag 
 to a certain Roman Magiftrate, as the cuftom was, that being the badge or his 
 Office, frequently thus admonifhed him, ' Take this Sword, and uTe it for 
 1 me, if I do as I ought •, if otherwife, again ft me : for Mifcarriages in the Su- 
 ' preme Magiftrate are lefs excufable.' This Dion and Jure!, us I icier lay of 
 him: You fee here, that a worthy Emperor appointed one to judge hi mielfj 
 tho' he did not make him equal. Tiberius perhaps might have faid as much out 
 of Vanity and Hypocrify ; but 'tis almoft a crime to imagine that fo good and 
 vertuous a Prince as Trajan, did not really fpeak as he thought, ami according Co 
 what he apprehended right and juft. How much more reafonable was it that 
 tho' he were fuperior to the Senate in power, and might if he would, have re- 
 fufed to yield them any obedience, yet he actually did obey them, as by virtue 
 of his Office he ought to do, and acknowledged their Right in the Government 
 to be fupperior to his own ? For fo Pliny tells us in his Panegyric, ' The Senate 
 ' both defired and commanded you to be Conful a fourth time-, you may know 
 ' by the Obedience you pay them, that this is no word of Flattery, but of Pow- 
 ' er.' And a little after, ' This is the defign you aim at, to reftore our loft Li- 
 ' berty.' And Trajan was not of that' mind alone ; the Senate thought fo too, 
 and were of opinion, That their Authority was indeed Supreme : Fcr they that 
 could command their Emperor, might judge him. So the Emperor Marcus Au- 
 relius, when CaJ/ius Governor of Syria endeavoured to get the Empire from him, 
 referred himfelf either to the Senate, or the People of Rome, and declared him- 
 felf ready to lay down the Government, if they would have it io. Now how 
 ihould a man determine of the Right of Kings better, and more truly, than 
 out of the very mouths of the beft of Kings ? Indeed every good King accounts 
 either the Senate, or the People, not only equal, but fuperior to himfelf by the 
 Law of Nature. But a Tyrant being by nature inferior to all men, every one 
 that is ftronger than he, ought to be accounted not only his equal, but fuperior : 
 For as heretofore nature taught men from Force and Violence to betake them- 
 felves to Laws ; fo wherever the Laws are let at naught, the fame dictate of 
 nature mull necelTarily prompt us to betake our felves to Force again. ' To be 
 ' of this opinion, jays Cicero pro Sejlio, is a fign of Wifdom •, to put it in prac- 
 ' tice, argues Courage and Relblution •, and to do both, is the effect of Vertue 
 ' in its perfection.' Let this ftand then as a fettled Maxim of the Law of Na- 
 ture, never to be fhaken by any Artifices of Flatterers, That the Senate, or 
 the People, are fuperior to Kings, be they good or bad : Which is but what 
 you your felf do in effect confefs, when you tell us, That the Authority of Kings 
 was derived from the People. For that power which they transferred to Prin- 
 ces, doth yet naturally, or as I may fay virtually refide in themfelves notwith- 
 ftanding : for fo natural caufes that produce any effect by a certain eminency 
 of operation, do always retain more of their own virtue and energy than they 
 impart •, nor do they by communicating to others, exhauft themlelves. You 
 fee, the clofer we keep to Nature, the more evidently does the People's Power 
 appear to be above that of the Prince. And this is likewife certain, That the 
 People do not freely, and of choice, fettle the Government in their King abfo- 
 lutely, fo as to give him a Propriety in it, nor by Nature can do fo ; but only 
 for the Public Safety and Liberty, which when the King ceafes to take 
 care of, then the People in effect have given him nothing at all : For Na- 
 ture fays, the People gave it him to a particular end and purpofe ; which 
 end, if neither Nature nor the People can attain, the People's Gift becomts 
 no more valid, than any other void Covenanc or Agreement. Thefe Rea- 
 fons prove very fully, That the People are fuperior to the King ; and fo 
 your greatejl and mofi convincing Argument, That a King cannot Be judged by I. is 
 People, becauje he has no Peer in his Kingdom, nor any Superior, falls to the ground. 
 For you take that for granted, which we by no means allow. In a popular State, 
 fay you, the Magiji rates being appointed by the People, may likewife bepumjledfor their 
 Crimes by the People : In an Arijlocracy the Senators may be punijbed by their Col- 
 
 legues :
 
 in anfocer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. c i c 
 
 legues : But 'tis a prodigious thing to proceed criminally againft a King in his own King- 
 dom^ and make him plead for his Life. What can you conclude from hence, but 
 that they who let up Kings over them, are the mod miferable and mod filly 
 People in the World ? But, I pray, what's the reafon why the People may not 
 punilh a King that becomes a Malefactor, as well as they may popular Magi- 
 ftrates and Senators in an Ariftocracy ? Do you think that all they who live un- 
 der a Kingly Government, were fo ftrangely in love with Slavery, as when they 
 might be free, to chufe Vaffalage, and to put themfelves all and entirely under 
 the dominion of one man, who often happens to be an ill Man, and often a 
 Fool, fo as whatever caufe might be, to leave themfelves no refuge in, no re- 
 lief from the Laws nor the Dictates of Nature, againft the Tyranny of a moll 
 outragious Mafter, when fuch a one happens ? Why do they then tender Con- 
 ditions to their Kings, when they firft enter upon their Government, and pre- 
 fcribe Laws for them to govern by ? Do they do this to be trampled upon the 
 more, and be the more laughed to fcorn ? Can it be imagined, that a whole 
 People would ever fo vilify themfelves, depa t from their own intereft to that 
 degree, be fo wanting to themfelves, as to place all their hopes in one Man, 
 and he very ofcen the moll vain Perfon of them all ? To what end do they re- 
 quire an Oath of their Kings, not to a£r. any thing contrary to Law ? We mult 
 iuppofe them to do this, that (poor Creatures !) they may learn to their for- 
 row, That Kings only may commit Perjury with impunity. This is what your 
 own wicked Conclufions hold forth. If a King that is elecled, promife any thing 
 to his People upon Oath, which if he would not have fworu to, perhaps they would not 
 have chefe him, yet if he rcfufe to perform that promife, befalls not under thePeople's 
 cenfure. Nay, tho' he fzvear to his Subjecls at his Eleclion, That he will adminifter 
 Jujiicc to them at cor ding to the Laws of the Kingdom ; and that if he do not, they 
 fhail be difcharged of their Allegiance, and himfelf ipfo facto ceafe to be their King, 
 yet if he break this Oath, ''tis God and not Man that tnufi require' it cf him. I have, 
 tranferibed thefe lines, not for their Elegance, for they are barbaroufly expref- 
 fed ; nor becaufe I think there needs any anfwer to them, for they anfwer them- 
 felves, they explode and damn themfelves by their notorious falfhood and loath- 
 fomnefs : but 1 did it to recommend you to Kings for your great Merits ; that a- 
 mong fo many places as there are at Court, they may put you into fome Prefer- 
 ment or Office that may be fit for you. Some are Princes Secretaries, fome 
 their Cupbearers, fome Mafters of the Revels: I think you had bed be Mafter 
 of the Perjuries to fome of them. You fhan't be Mafter of the Ceremonies, 
 you are too much a Clown for that ; but their Treachery and Perfidioufnefs 
 ihall be under your care. But that Men may fee that you are both a Fool and a 
 Knave to the higheft degree, let us confider thefe laft affertions of yours a little 
 more narrowly •, A King, fay you, tho' he fwear to his Subjecls at his Eleclion, that 
 he will govern according to Law, and that if he do not, they fjaTl be difcharged of 
 their Allegiance, and he himfelf ipfo facto ceafe to be their King ; yet can he not 
 be depofed or punifhed by them. Why not a King, I pray, as well as popular 
 Magiftrates ? becaufe in a popular State, the People do not transfer all their 
 Power to the Magiftrates. And do they in the Cafe that you have put, vcft.it 
 all in the King, when they place him in the Government upon thofe terms ex- 
 preQy, to hold it no longer than he ufes it well ? Therefore it is evident, that 
 a King fworn to obferve the Laws, if he tranfgrefs them, may be puniftied and 
 depofed, as well as popular Magiftrates. So that yon can make no more ufe 
 of that invincible Argument of thePeople's transferring all their Right and Pow- 
 er to the Prince •, you your feif have battered it down with your own Engines. 
 Hear now another moft powerful and invincible Argument of his, why Subjecls 
 cannot judge their Kings, becaufe he is bound by no Law, being himfelf the fole 
 Lawgiver. Which having been proved already to be moft falle, this great rea- 
 fon comes to nothing, as well as the former. But the reafon why Princes have 
 but feldom been proceeded againft for perfonal and private Crimes, as Whore- 
 dom, and Adultery, and the like, is not becaufe they could not juftly be pu- 
 nifhed even for fuch, but left the People mould receive more prejudice through 
 disturbances that might be occafioned by the King's death, and the change of 
 Affairs, than they would be profited by the puniJhment of one Man or two. 
 But when they begin to be univerfally injurious and infufferable, it has always 
 been the Opinion of all Nations, that then, being Tyrants, it is lawful to put 
 Vol. I. U u u 2 thru*
 
 1 6 A Defence of the People of England 
 
 7 
 
 them to death any how, condemn'd or uncondemn'd. Hence Cicero in his Sec 
 Philippic, fays thus of thofe that kill'd Cd-far, ' They were the firft that ran 
 
 * through with their Swords, not a Man who affected to be King, but who w.;S 
 
 * actually fettled in the Government ; which, as it was a worthy and godlike 
 « Action fo it's fet before us for our imitation.' How unlike are you to hirn ! 
 Murder, Adultery.) Injuries, are not regal and public, but private and perfona! Crimes. 
 Well laid, Parafite! you have obliged all Pimps and Proflkatcs in Courts by this 
 Expreffion. How ingtnioufly do you ad:, both the Parafite, and the Pimp, 
 with the fame breath ? J King that is an Adulterer, cr a Murderer, may yet govern 
 well, and confequently ought not to be put to death, beeaufe together with his Life k 
 
 lofe his Kingdom ; and it was never yet allowed by God's Laws, cr Man's, that for one 
 and the fame Crime, a Man was to be punifbed twice. Infamous foul mouth 
 Wretch ! By the fame reafon the Magiftrates in a popular State, or in an Ari- 
 fiocracy, ou<mt never to be put to death, for fear of double Puniihmenr •, no 
 Judge, no Senator muft die, for they muft lofe their Magiftracy too, as well 
 as their Lives. As you have endeavoured to take all Power out of the People's 
 hands, and veft it in the King, fo you would all Majefty too : A delegated tranf- 
 Jatiiious Majefty we a. low, but that Majefty does chiefly and primarily reflde in 
 him, you can no more prove, than you can, that Power and Authority does. 
 A King, you lay, cannot commit Treafcn againft his People, but a People may againfl 
 King. And yet a King is what he is for the People only, not the Peop'e for 
 him. Hence I infer, that the whole Body of the People, or the greater part 
 of them, muft needs have greater Power than the King. This you deny, and 
 be<nn to caft up accounts. He is of greater Power than any one, than any two, than 
 any three, than any ten, than any hundred, than any thoufand, than any ten thoufand : 
 be it fo, He is of more Power than half the People. I will not deny that neither i 
 Add now half of the other half, will he not have more Power than all thofe ? Not 
 at all. Go on, why do you take away the Board ? Do you not underftand Pro- 
 ejeiTion in Arithmetic ? He begins to reckon after another manner. Has rot the 
 Kin?, and the Nobility together, more Power? No, Mr. Changeling, I deny that too. 
 If by the Nobility, whom you ftile Opiimates, you mean the Peers only ; for it may 
 happen, that amongft the whole number of them, there may not be one Man de- 
 fervin» that Appellation : for it often falls out, that there are better and wifer 
 Men than they amongft the Commons, whom in conjunction with the greater, or 
 the better part of the People, I fhould not fcruple to call by the Name of, and take 
 them for all the People. But if the King is notfuperior in Power to all the People toge- 
 ther, he is then a King but of Jingle Perfov.s, he is not the King of the whole Body of the 
 People. You fay well, no more he is, unlefs they are content he fhould be fo. Now, 
 bahance your Accounts, and you will find that by mifcafting, you have loft your 
 Principal. The Englifh jfr}', that the Right of Majefty originally and principally re/ides 
 in the People ; which Principle would introduce a Confufion of all States. What, of an 
 Ariflocracy and Democracy ? But let that pafs. What if it fhould overthrow a 
 Gyiuccceracy too ? (i. e. a Government ol one or more Women) under which 
 State or Form of Government, they fay, you are in danger of being beaten at 
 home •, would not the Englifh do you a kindnefs in that, you fheepifh Fellow, 
 you ? But there's no hope of that. For 'tis moll juftly fo ordered, fince you 
 would fubject all Mankind to Tyranny abroad, that you your felf fhould live in 
 a fcandalous moft unmanlike Slavery at home. We mv.fi tell you, you fay, what 
 we mean by the word People. There are a great many other things, which you 
 ftand more in need of being told : For of things that more immediately concern 
 you, you feem altogether ignorant, and never to have learnt any thing but 
 Words and Letters, nor to be capable of any thing elfe. But this you think 
 you know, that by the word People, we mean the Common People only, exclu- 
 sive of the Nobility, beeaufe we have put down the Houfe of Lords. And yet that 
 very thing fhows, that under the word People, we comprehend all our Natives, 
 of what Order and Degree foever ; in that we have fettled one Supreme Senate 
 only, in which the Nobility alfo, as a part of the People (not in their own Right, 
 as they did before ; but reprefenting thofe Boroughs or Counties, for which 
 they may be chofe) may give their Votes. Then you inveigh againft the com- 
 mon People, as being blind and brutijh, ignorant of the art of governing ; you fay 
 there's nothing more empty, more vain, more inconjtant, more uncertain than 
 All which is very true ol your felf, and it's true likewifc of the Rabble, but ncc 
 
 of
 
 in anfmer to Salmafius'j Defence of th \ g. c^ 
 
 of the middle fort, amongft whom the moftpi identMen, 
 
 lairs are generally found ■, others are molt eommonly dii ry 
 
 and Plenty, or by Want and Poverty, from Vertue, • - id 
 
 Government. There are many ways± you fay, by wbio Crown, jo 
 
 as not to be beholden to the People at al . . . ; and efpecially, •■ a 
 
 Kingdom. Bat thole Nations muft certainly be Slaves, a id born to Slavery, that 
 acknowledge any one to be their Lord and Matter fo abfo utely, as that they arc 
 his inheritance, and come to him by defcenr, without any confentof their own ; 
 they deferve not the Appellation of Subjefts, nor of Frc men, nor can they be 
 juftiy reputed liich •, nor are they to be accounted as a Civil Society, but mutt be 
 looked on as the Poffeffions and Eftate of their Lord, and his Family : For I fee 
 no difference as to the Right of Qwnerfhip betwixt them, and Slaves, or Beafts. 
 Secondly, Fhey that come to the Crown by Ccnaueft, cannot acknowledge them/elves to 
 have received from the People the Power they ujurp. We are not now difcourling of 
 a Conqueror, but of a conquered King ; what a Conqueror may lawlully do, 
 we'll difcourfe elfewhere •, do you keep to your Subject. But whereas you al- 
 cribe to Kings that ancient Right that Matters of Families have over their Houi- 
 holds, and take an example from thence of their Ablblute Power ; I have mown 
 already over and over, that there is no likenefs at all betwixt them. And Ari- 
 Jtotle (whom you name fo often) if you had read him, would have taught yuu 
 as much in the beginning of his Politics, where he lays they judge amifs that 
 think there is but little difference betwixt a King, and a Matter or a Family : 
 For that there is not a numerical, but afpecifical difference betwixt a Kingdom and a 
 Family. For when Villages grew to be Towns and Cities, that Regal Domeftic 
 Right vanilhed by degrees, and was no more owned. Hence Dicdorus in his ririt 
 Book fays, That anciently Kingdoms were tranfmitted not to the former Kings 
 Sons, but to thofe that had beft deferved of the People. And Juftin, ' Origi- 
 * nally, fays he, the Government of Nations, and of Countries, was by Kings, 
 ' who were exalted to that height of Majefty, not by popular Ambition, but lor 
 ' their Moderation which commended them to good Men.' Whence it is mani- 
 feft, that in the very beginning of Nations, that Fatherly and Hereditary Go- 
 vernment gave way toVertue, and the People's Right : Which is the moit natu- 
 ral reafon and cauie, and was the true rife of Kingly Government. For at firft, 
 Men entred into Societies, not that any one might infult over all the reft, but 
 that in cafe any fhould injure other, there might be Laws and Judges to protect 
 them from wrong, or at leaft to punifh the wrong doers. When Men v\ere at 
 firft difpers'd and lcattered afunder, fome wife and eloquent Man perfwaded them 
 to enter into Civil Societies ; that he himfelf, fay you, might exercife Dominion 
 over them, when fo united. Perhaps you meant this of Btmrod, who is laid to 
 have been the firtt Tyrant. Or elle it proceeds from your own malice only, and 
 certainly it cannot have been true of thofe great and generoui-lpirited Men, but 
 is a Fiction of your own, not warranted by any Authority that I ever heard of. 
 For all ancient Writers tell us, that thofe firft Inftituters of Communities of Men, 
 had a regard to the good and fafety of Mankind only, and not to any private 
 advantages of their own, or to make themfelves great or powerful. One thing 
 I cannot pais by, which I fuppofe you intended for an Emblem, to let off the 
 reft of this Chapter : If a Cottful, £iy you, bad been to be accufed before his Magi- 
 Jiracy expired, there muft have been a Dictator created for that purpeje ; tho' you had 
 laid before, that for that very reafon there were two of them. Juft fo your Petitions 
 always agree with one another, and almoft every Page declares how weak and 
 frivolous whatever you fay or write upon any Subject, is. Under the ancient Englifh 
 Saxon Kings, you fay, the People were never called to Parlaments. If any ot our 
 own Countrymen had afferted fuch a thing, I could eafily have convinced him 
 that he was in an error. But I am not fo much concerned at your miftaking our 
 Affairs, becaufe y'are a Foreigner. This in effect is all you fay of the Rignt of 
 Kings in general. Many other things I omit, for you ufe many Digrefiions, and 
 put things down that either have no ground at all, or are nothing to the purpofe, 
 and my defign is not to vie with you in Impertinence. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 c 1 8 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 I 
 
 F you had publifhed your own opinion, Satmafius, concernig the Right of 
 Kings in general, without affronting any Perfons in particular, notwith- 
 standing this alteration of Affairs in England, as long as you did but ufe your own 
 liberty Tn writing what your felt" thought fit, no Engliftman could have had any 
 caufe to have been difpleafed with you, nor would you have made good the opi- 
 nion you maintain ever a whit the lefs. For if it be a pofuive Command both 
 ofMofes and of Chrift h\mfc\i\That allMen whatfoever,whether Spaniards, French, 
 Italians, Germans, Engliih or Scotch, Jhould be fubjeil to their Princes, be they good 
 or bad, which you aliened, fag. 127. to what purpofe was it for you, who are 
 a Foreigner and unknown to us, to be tampering with our Laws, and to read us 
 Le&ures out of them as out of your own Papers and Mifcellanies, which, be they 
 how they will, you have taught us already in a great many words, that they 
 ou^ht to give way to the Laws of God ? But now it is apparent, that you have 
 undertaken the defence of this Royal Caufe, not fo much out of your own incli- 
 nation, as partly becaufe you were hired, and that at a good round price too, 
 confidering how things are with him that fet you on work ; and partly, 'tis like, 
 out of expectation of fome greater reward hereafter ; to publifh a fcandalous 
 Libel againft the Englifo, who are injurious to none of their Neighbours, and 
 meddle with their own matters only. If there were no fuch thing as that in 
 the cafe, is it credible that any Man fhould be fo impudent or fo mad, as tho? 
 he be a ftranger, and at a great diflance from us, yet of his own accord to in- 
 termeddle with our Affairs, and fide with a Party ? What the devil, is it to you 
 what the Englifh do amongll themfelves ? What would you have, Pragmatical 
 Puppy ? What would you be at ? Have you no concerns of your own at home ? 
 I with you had the fame concerns that that famous Olus, your fellow bufy-body 
 in the Epigram, had ; and perhaps fo you have ; you deferve them, I'm fure. 
 Or did that Hotfpur your Wife, who encouraged you to write what you have 
 done for out-law'd Charles'?, fake, promife you fome profitable Profeffbr's 
 place in England, and God knows what Gratifications at Charles's Return ? But 
 allure your felves, my Miftrefs and my Matter, that England admits neither of 
 tVolves, nor Owners of Wolves : So that it's no wonder you fpit fo much Venom 
 at our Englijh Maftifts. It were better for you to return to thofe Illuftrious Titles 
 * St. Lou, //-of yours in France ; firft to that hunger-ftarved Lordfhip of yours at * St. Leu ; 
 Latin, Sanclus anc j j n ^ next p] llce to t \xQ Sacred Confiftory of the moil Chriftian King. Being 
 Wolf' is /^' a Counfellor to the Prince, you are at too great a diftance from your own Coun- 
 nameofaplaceVrj, But I fee full well that the neither defires you, nor your Counfel ; nor did 
 /« France, j t appear the did, when you were there a few years ago, and began to lick a 
 fiutX?i«e "Cardinal's Trencher j file's in the right, by my troth, and can very willingly 
 fmallE/iat'e, fuffer fuch a little Fellow as you, that are but one half of a Man, to run up and 
 and was cat-down with your Miftrefs of a Wife, and your Defies full of Trifles and Fooleries, 
 ledfifromSt. t ||j y OU Yigjnt fomewhere or other upon a Stipend, large enough for a Knight of 
 m ' J a P U p"; ""the Grammar, or an Illuftrious Critic on horfeback; if any Prince or State 
 iSt. has a mind to hire aVagabond Doftor, that is to be fold at a good round Price. 
 German f*»«But here's one that will bid for you ; whether you're a Merchantable Commo- 
 
 1 ind ' Anno 2 "^'^ or not ' an ^ w ' iat ^ ou are wort ^' we ma ^ ^ ee by and by. You fay, The 
 Dom. 429. Parricides qffert, thai the Government of England is not meerly Kingly, but that it is 
 a mixt Government. Sir 'Thomas Smith, a Country-man of ours in Edward the 
 Sixth's days, a good Lawyer, and a Statefman, one whom you your felf will 
 not call a Parricide, in the beginning of a Book which he wrote of the Gommotk- 
 wealtb ef England, afferts the lame thing, and not of our Government only, 
 but of almoft all others in the World, and that out a£'Arifiotle\ and he fays k 
 is not poffible that any Government fhould otherwife fubfift. But as if you 
 thought it a crime to fay any thing, and not unfay it again, you repeat your 
 former threadbare Contradictions. You fay, There neither is nor-ever was any 
 Nation that did not underft and by the very name of a King, a Pa fen whofe authority 
 is inferior to God alone, and who is accountable to no other. And yet a little alter you 
 confefs, that the name of a King was formerly given to fuch Powers and Magifirates, 
 as had not a full and aifAuie right of themfelves, but had a dependance upon the Pec-
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 510 
 
 pie, as the Suffetes among the Carthaginians, the Hebrew Judges, the Kings of the 
 Lacedemonians, and of Arragon. Are you not very confiftent with yourfelf ? 
 Then you reckon up five feveral forts of Monarchies out of Ariftotle -, in one of 
 which only that Right obtain'd, which you fay is common to ail Kings. Con- 
 cerning which I have laid already more than once, that neither doth Arijiotle 
 give an inftance of any fuch Monarchy, nor was there ever any inch in being ; 
 the other four he clearly demonftraf.es that they were bounded by Eftablifh'd 
 Laws, and the King's Power fubjecT: to thofe Laws. The firft of which four 
 was that of the Lacedemonians, which in his opinion did of all others beft deferve 
 the name of a Kingdom. The fecond was fuch as obtain'd among Barbarians, 
 which was lafting, becaufe regulated by Laws, and becaufe the People willingly 
 fubmitted to it •, whereas by the fame Author's opinion in his third Book, what 
 King foever retains the Sovereignty againft the People's will, is no longer to 
 be accounted a King, but a downright Tyrant ; all which is true likewile of his 
 third fort of Kings, which he calls Mfymnetes, who were chofen by the Peo- 
 ple, and moft commonly for a certain time only, and for fome particular pur- 
 pofes, fuch as the Roman Dictators were. The fourth fort he makes of fuch as 
 reigned in the Heroical days, upon whom for their extraordinary merits the 
 People of their own accord conferr'd the Government, but yet bounded bv 
 Laws •, nor could thefe retain the Sovereignty againft the will of the People : 
 nor do thefe four forts of Kingly Governments differ, he fays, from Tyranny 
 in any thing elfe, but only in that thefe Governments are with the good liking 
 of the People, and That againft their will. The fifth fort of Kingly Govern- 
 ment, which he calls Trapgao-iXn*, or abfolute Monarchy, in which the Supreofc 
 Power refides in the King's Perfon, which you pretend to be the right of all 
 Kings, is utterly condemn'd by the Philolopher, as neither for the good of 
 Mankind, nor confonant to Juftice or Nature, unlefs fome People mould be con- 
 tent to live under fuch a Government, and withal confer it upon fuch as excel 
 all others in vertue. Thefe things any man may read in the third Book of his 
 Politics. But you, I believe, that once in your life you might appear witty and 
 florid, pleafed your fell with making a comparifon betwixt thefe five forts of 
 Kingly Government, and the five Zones of the World; betwixt the two extremes of 
 Kingly power, there are three more temperate Species interpofed, as there lie three 
 Zones betwixt the "Torrid and the Frigid. Pretty Rogue ! what ingenious compari- 
 fons he always makes us ! May you for ever be banifhed, whither you your felf 
 condemn an Abfolute Kingdom to be, that is, to the frigid Zone, which when you 
 are there, will be doubly cold to what it was before. In the mean while we fhall 
 expecl: that new-fafhioned fphere which you defcribe, from you our modern 
 Archimedes, in which there fhall be two extreme Zones, one Torrid, and the o- 
 ther Frigid, and three temperate ones lying betwixt. The Kings of the Lacede- 
 monians, you fay, might lawfully be imprifoned, but it was not lawful to put them to 
 death. Why not? Becaufe the Minifters of Juftice, and fome Foreign Soldiers, 
 being furprifed at the Novelty of the thing, thought it not lawful to lead Agis 
 to his Execution, though condemn'd to die? And the People of Lacedemon, were 
 difpleafed at his death, not becaufe condemn'd to die, though a King, but be- 
 caule he was a good man and popular, and had been circumvented by a Faction 
 of the great ones. Says Plutarch, " Agis was the firft King that was put to death 
 " by the Ephori •," in which words he docs not pretend to tell us what lawfully 
 might be done, but what aftualy was done. For to imagine that fuch as may 
 lawfully accufe a King, and irnprifon him, may not alfo lawfully put him to 
 death, is a childifh conceit. At laft you betake your felf to give an account of 
 the Right of Englifj Kings. There never was, you fay, but one King in England. 
 This you fay, becaufe you had laid before, that unlefs a King befole in the Govern- 
 ment, he cannot be a King. Which if it be true, fome of them, who I had thought 
 had been Kings of England, were not really fo ; for to omit many of our Saxon 
 Kings, who had either their Sons, or their Brothers Partners with them in the Go- 
 vernment, it is known that King Henry II. of the Norman Race, reign'd together 
 with his Son. Let themfhew, fay you, aPrecedent of any Kingdom under the Government 
 of afingle perfon, who has not an abfolute power; though in fome Kingdoms more re- 
 mifs, in others more intenfe. Do you fhow any Power that's abfolute, and yet re~ 
 mi/s, you Afs -, is not that power that's abfolute, the Supreme Power of all? 
 How can it then be both fupreme and remifs ? Wlutfoever Kings you fhall 
 
 acknow-
 
 20 A Defence of the People ^England, 
 
 acknowledge to be inverted with a remifs (or a lefs) power, thofe I will eafily 
 make appear to have no abfolute power •, and confequently to be inferior 
 to a People, free by nature, who is both its own Law-giver, and can 
 make the Regal Power more or lefs intenfe or remifs ; that is, greater or lels. 
 "Whether the whole Ifland of Britain was anciently governed by Kings, or no, is 
 uncertain. It's moft likely that the Form of their Government changed accord- 
 ing to the Exigencies of the Times. Whence 'Tacitus fays, The Britains anci- 
 ently were under Kings ; now the great Men amongft them divide them into Parties & nd 
 Factions.. When the Romans left them, they were about forty years without 
 Kirgs ; they were not always therefore under a Kingly Government, as you lay 
 they were. But when they were fo, that the Kingdom was Hereditary, I pofi- 
 tively deny •, which that it was not, is evident both from the Series of their 
 Kings, and their way of creating them : for the confent of the People is aflced 
 in exprefs words. When the King has taken the accuftomed Oath, the Arch- 
 bifhop ftepping to every fide of the Stage erected for that purpofe, afks the Peo- 
 ple four feveral times in thefe words, Do you confent to have this Man to be your 
 & n S - ? J u ft as if he fpoke to them in the Roman Stile, Vultis, Jubetis hum Reguare ? 
 ' Is it your pleafure, do you appoint this Man to reign ?' Which would be need- 
 lefs, if the Kingdom were by the Law hereditary. But with Kings, Ufurpation 
 panes very frequently for Law and Right. You go about to ground Charles's 
 Right to the Crown, who was fo often conquered hknfeJf, upon the Right of 
 Conqueft. William, furnamed the Conqueror, forfooth, fubdued us. But they 
 who are not ftrangers to our Hiftory, know full well, that the Strength of the 
 Englijh Nation was not fo broken in that one Fight at Hafiings, but that they 
 might eafily have renewed the War. But they chofe rather to accept of a King,, 
 than to be under a Conqueror and a Tyrant : They fwear therefore to William, 
 to be his Liege-men, and he fwears to them at the Altar, to carry himfelf to- 
 wards them as a good King ought to do in all refpects. When he broke his 
 Word, and the EngliJJj betook themfelves again to their Arms, being diffident of 
 his Strength, he renewed his Oath upon the Holy Evangelifts, to obferve the 
 ancient Laws of England. And therefore, if after that he miferably opprefied 
 the Englijh, (as you fay he did) he did it not by Right of Conqueft, but by Right 
 of Perjury. Befides, it is certain, that many Ages ago, the Conquerors and Con- 
 quered coalefced into one and the fame People : So that that Right of Conqueft, 
 if any fuch ever were, muft needs have been antiquated long ago. His own 
 words at his death, which I give you out of a French Manufcript written at Caen, 
 put all out of doubt, I appoint no Man (fays he) to inherit the Kingdom <y~ England. 
 By which words, both his pretended Right of Conqueft, and the Hereditary 
 Right, were difclaim'd at his death, and buried together with him. I fee now 
 that you have gotten a place at Court, as I foretold you would ; you are made 
 the King's Chief Treafurer and Steward of his Court-Craft : And what follows, 
 you ftem to write ex Officio, as by virtue of your Office, Magnificent Sir. If any 
 preceding Kings, being thereunto compelled by Fatlions of Great Men, or Seditions a- 
 mongjl the Common People, have receded in fome meafure from their Right, that cannot 
 prejudice the Succejfor ; but that he is at liberty to rejume it. You fay well ; if there- 
 fore at any time our Anceftors have through neglect loft any thing that was their 
 Right, why fhould that prejudice us their Pofterity ? If they would promife for 
 themlelves to become Slaves, they could make no fuch promife for us ; who fhall 
 always retain the fame Right of delivering our felves out of Slavery, that they 
 had of enflaving themfelves to any whomfoever. You .wonder how it comes to 
 pafs that a King of Great Britain muft now-a-days be looked upon as one of the 
 Magiftrates of the Kingdom only •, whereas in all other Kingly Governments in 
 Chnftendom, Kings are inverted with a Free and Abfolute Authority. For the 
 Scots, I remit you to Buchanan : For France, your own Native Country, to which 
 you feem to be a ftranger, to Hottcman's Franco-Gallia, and Girardus a French 
 Hiftorian •, for the reft, to other Authors, of whom none that I know of, were 
 Independents : Out of whom you might have learned a quite other Leffion concer- 
 ning the Right of Kings, than what you teach. Not being able to prove that a 
 Tyrannical Power belongs to the Kings of England by Right of Conqueft, you 
 try now to do it by Right of Perjury. Kings profefs themfelves to reign by the 
 Grace of God : What if they had profeffed themfelves to be Gods? I believe if 
 they had, you might eafily have been brought to become one of their Priefts. 
 
 So
 
 in anfiver to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 521 
 
 So the Archbifhops of Canterbury pretended toArchbifhop it by Divine Providence. 
 Are you fuch a Fool, as to deny the Pope's being a King in the Church, that you 
 may make the King greater than a Pope in the State ? But in the Statutes of the 
 Realm the King is ca led our Lord. You are become of a fudden a wonderful 
 Nomenclator oi our Statutes : But you know not that many are called Lords and 
 Mailers, who are not really fo : You know nothowunrealbnable a thing it is to 
 judge of Truth and Right by Titles of Honour, not to fay of Flattery. Make 
 the fame Inference, if you will, from the Parlament's being called the King's 
 Parlament ; for it is called the King's Bridle too, or a Bridle to the King : and 
 thcrfore the King is no more Lord or Mafter of his Parlament, than a Horfe is 
 of his Bridle. But why not the King's Parlament, fince the King fummons them? 
 I'll tell you why •, becaufe the Confuls ufed to indicl a Meeting of the Senate, yet 
 were they not Lords over that Council. When the King therfore fummons or 
 c.d!s together a Parlament, he does it by virtue and in difcharge of that Office, 
 which he has received from the People, that he may advife with them about the 
 weighty Affairs of the Kingdom, not his own particular Affairs. Or when at 
 afiy time the Parlament debated of the King's own Affairs, if any could proper- 
 ly be called his own, they were always the laft things they did ; and it was in 
 their choice when to debate of them, and whether at all or no, and depended 
 not upon the King's pleafure. And they whom it concerns to know this, know 
 very well, that Parlaments anciently, whether fummoned or not, might by Law 
 meet twice a Year : But the Laws are called too, The King's Laws. Thefe are 
 flattering Afcriptions ; a King of England can of himfelf make no Law: For he 
 was not conftituted to make Laws, but to fee thofe Laws kept, which the People 
 made. And you your felf here confefs, that Parlaments meet to make Laws •, 
 wherfore the Law is alio called the Law of the Land, and the People's Law. 
 Whence King Ethelfiane in the Preface to his Laws, fpeaking to all the People, 
 I have granted you every thing, fays he, by your own Law. And in the Form of the 
 Oath, which the Kings of England ufed to take before they were made Kings, 
 the People ftipulate with them thus •, Will you grant thofe juft Laws, which the 
 People/hall chufe ? The King anfwers, / will. And you are infinitely miftaken in 
 ihying, That when there is no Parlament fitting, the King governs the whole State of 
 the Kingdom, to all intents and purpofes, by a regal Power. For he can determine 
 nothing of any moment, with relpecl to either Peace or War •, nor can he put 
 any flop to the Proceedings of the Courts of Juftice. Anil the Judges therfore 
 fwear, that they will do nothing judicially, but according to Law, though 
 the King by Word, or Mandate, or Letters under his own Seal, fliould com- 
 mand the contrary. Hence it is that the King is often faid in our Law to be an 
 Infant ; and to poflefs his Rights and Dignities, as a Child or a Ward does 
 his: See the Mirror, Cap. 4. Seel. 22. And hence is that common Saying a - 
 mongft us, that the King can do no wrong: Which you, like a Rafcal, interpret 
 thus, Whatever the King does, is no Injury, becaufe he is not liable to be punifoedfer it.. 
 By this very Comment, if there were nothing elfe, the wonderful Impudence 
 andVillany of this Fellow, difcovers it feiffufficiently. It belongs to thellead, you 
 fay, to command, and not to the Members : The King is the Head of the Parlament. 
 You would not trifle thus, if you had any guts in your brains. You are mifta- 
 ken again (but there's no end of yourMiftakes) in not diftinguifhing the King's 
 Couniellors from the States of the Realm : For neither ought he to make choice 
 of all of them, nor of any of them, which the reft do not approve of; but for 
 electing any Member of the Houie of Commons, he never fo much as pretend- 
 ed to it. Whom the People appointed to that Service, they were feverally cho- 
 fen by the Votes of all the People in their refpecHve Cities, Towns, and Coun- 
 ties. I fpeak now of things univerfally known, and therfore I am the fhor- 
 ter. But you fay, 'Tis falfe that the Parlament was inftituted by the People, as the 
 Worfippe's of Saint Independency ajfert. Now I fee wiry you tookfo much pains 
 in endeavouring to fubvert the Papacy •, you carry another Pope in your Belly, 
 as we fay. For what elfe fliould you be in labour of, the Wife of a Woman, a He- 
 Wolf, impregnated by aShc-Wolf, but either a Monfter, or fome new fort of Pa- 
 pacy ? You now make He-Saints, and She-Saints, at your pleafure, as if you were a 
 true genuine Pope. You abfolve Kings of all their fins ; and as if you had utterly 
 ruifh'd and fubdu'd your Antagonift the Pope, you adorn your felf with his 
 fpoils. But becaufe you have not yet prorogated the Pope quite, till the fecond 
 Vol. I. X xx and
 
 e%Z A Defence of the People ^England, 
 
 and third, and perhaps the fourth and fifth Part of your Book of his Suprema- 
 cy come out, which Book will naufeate a great many Readers to death, fooner 
 than you'll get the better of the Pope by it ; let it fuffice you in the mean time, 
 I befeech you, to become fome Antipope or other. There's another She-Saint, 
 befides that Independency that you deride, which you have canoniz'd in good 
 earned ; and that is, the Tyranny of Kings: You mail therfore by my confenr. 
 be the Hi<dvPrieft of Tyranny ; and that you may have all the Pope's Titles, 
 you fhall be a Servant of the Servants, not of God, but of the Court. For that 
 Curfe pronounced upon Canaan, feems to flick as clofe to you, as your Shirt. 
 You call the People a Beaft. What are you then your felf ? For neither can that 
 facred Confiftory, nor your Lordfhip of St. Lou, exempt you its Mafter from ' 
 being one of the People, nay, of the common People •, nor can make you other 
 thanwhat you really are, a moil loathfome Beaft. Indeed, the Writingsof the 
 Prophets fhadow out to us the Monarchy and Dominion of great Kings by the 
 Name, and under the Refemblance of a great Beaft. You fay, That there is no 
 mention of Parlaments held under our Kings, that reigned before William the Con- 
 queror. It is not worth while to jangle about a French word : The thing was al- 
 ways in being ; and you your felf allow that in the Saxon times, Concilia Sapien- 
 tum, Wittena-gemots, are mentioned. And there are wife Men among the Body 
 of the People, as well as amongft the Nobility. But in the Statute of Merton 
 made in the twentieth year of King Henry the j,d, the Earls and Barons are only na- 
 med. Thus you are always impofed upon by words, who yet have fpent your 
 whole Life in nothing elfe but words ; for we know very well that in that age, 
 not only the Guardians of the Cinque-Ports, and Magiilrates of Cities, but e- 
 ven Tradefmen are fometimes called Barons ; and without doubt they might 
 much more reafonably call every Member of Parlament, tho' never fo much a 
 Commoner, by the Name of a Baron. For that in the fifty fecond Year of die 
 fame King's Reign, the Commoners as well as the Lords were fummoned, the 
 Statute of Marlbridge, and moft other Statutes, declare in exprefs words ; which 
 Commoners King Edward the Third, in the Preface to the Statute-Staple, calls, 
 Magnates Ccmitatim, the great Men of the Counties, as you very learnedly quote 
 it for me ; thofe to wit, that came out of thefeveral Counties, and ferved for them ; 
 which number of Men cenftituted the Houfe of Commons, and neither were Lords, 
 nor could be. Befides, a Book more ancient than thole Statutes, called, Modus ha- 
 bendi Parlamenta, i. e. The manner of holding Parlaments, tells us, that the King 
 and the Commons may hold a Parlament, and enact Laws, tho' the Lords, the 
 Bilhops, are ablent ; but that with the Lords, and the Bifhops, in the abfence 
 of the Commons, no Parlament can be held. And there's a reafon given for 
 it, viz. becaufe Kings held Parlaments and Councils with their People before 
 any Lords or Bifhops were made •, befides, the Lords ferve for themfelves on- 
 ly, the Commons each for the County, City, or Borough that fent them. And 
 that therfore the Commons in Parlament reprelentthe whole Body of the Na- 
 tion •, in which refpect they are more worthy, and every way preferable to the 
 Houic of Peers. But the power of Judicature, you lay, never was invefed in the 
 llmfe of Commons. Nor was the King ever pofiefled of it : Remember tho', that 
 originally all power proceeded, and yet does proceed from the People. Which 
 Marcus Tullius excellently well fhows in his Oration, Be lege Agraria, Of the 
 Agrarian -Law,: ' As all Powers, Authorities, and public Admmiftratioris 
 * ought to be derived from the whole Body of the People ; fo thofe of them 
 ' ou^ht in an efpecial manner fo to be derived, which are ordained andappoint- 
 ' ed for the common Benefit and Intertft of all, to which Employments every 
 *• particular Perion may both give his Vote for the chufing fuch Perfons, as he 
 « thinks will take moft care of the Public, and withal by voting and making 
 ' Intereft for them, lay fuch Obligations upon them, as may entitle them to 
 ' their Friendfhip, and good Offices in time to come.' Flere you fee the true rife 
 and original of Parlaments, and that it was much ancienter than the Saxon 
 Chronicles. Whilft we may dwell in fuch a light of Truth and Wifdom, as 
 Cuero's Age afforded, you labour in vain to blind us with the darknefs of ob- 
 fcum- times. By the fiiying wherof I would not be underftood to derogate in 
 the lcail from the Authority and Prudence of our Anceftors, who moft certain- 
 ly went further in the enacting of good Laws, than either the Ages they lived in, 
 or their own Learning or Education i'eem to have been capable of; and tho' 
 
 fometimes
 
 in anfuoer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 5 2 
 
 fometimes they made Laws that were none of the beft, yet as being confcious 
 to themfelves of the Ignorance and Infirmity of Human Nature, they have con- 
 veyed this Doctrine down to Pofterity, as the foundation of all Laws, which 
 likewife all our Lawyers admit, that if any Law, or Cuftom, be contrary to 
 the Law of God, .of Nature, or of Reafon, it ought to be looked upon as null 
 and void. Whence it follows, that tho' it were poffible for you to difcover any 
 Statute, or other public Sanction, which afcribed to the King a tyrannical 
 Power, fince that would be repugnant to the Will of God, to Nature, and to 
 right Reafon, you may learn from that general and primary Law of ours, which 
 I have juft now quoted, that it will be null and void. But you will never bs 
 able to find that any fuch Right of Kings has the leaft Foundation in our Law. 
 Since it is plain therfore, that the Power of Judicature was originally in the 
 People themfelves, and that the People never did by any royal Law part with 
 it to the King, (for the Kings of England neither ufe to judge any Man, nor can 
 by the Law do it, otherwiie than according to Laws fettled and agreed to : 
 Fleta, Book i. Cap. 17.) it follows, that this Power remains yet whole and en- 
 tire in the People themfelves. For that it was either never committed to the 
 Houfe of Peers, or if it were, that it may lawfully he taken from them again, 
 you your felf will not deny. But, It is in the King's power, you fiy, to make a 
 Village into a Borough, and that into a City ; and confequently, the King does in ef- 
 fect create thofe that conftitute the Commons Houfe of Parlament. But, I fay, that 
 even Towns and Boroughs are more ancient than Kings ; and that the People 
 is the People, tho' they mould live in the open Fields. And now we are extreme- 
 ly well pleafed with your Anglicifms, COUNTT COURT, THE TURNE, 
 HUNT) RED A: You have quickly learnt to count your hundred Jacobufj'es in 
 EnglifJj. 
 
 guts expedivit Salmafw fuam HUNDRED AM? 
 
 Picamque docuit verba noftra conari? 
 
 Magijter art is venter, & Jacobai 
 
 Centum, cxulantis vifcera marfupii Regis. 
 
 Quod fi dolofi fpes refuljerit nummi, 
 
 Ipfe Antichrifli mo do qui Primatum Pap^e 
 
 Minattis uno eft difj'vpare fiifflatu, 
 
 Cantabit ultrb Cardinalitium mclos. 
 
 Who taught Salmafms, that French chatt'ring Pye, 
 To aim at Engliflo, and HUND R E DA cry ? 
 The ftarving Rafcal, fiufh'd with juft a Hundred 
 Englifi JacobufTes, HUND R EDA blunder'd. 
 An out-law'd King's lafl: ftock.— A hundred more, 
 Would make him pimp for th' Antichriftian Whore » 
 And in Rome's praife employ his poifon'd Breath, 
 Who threaten'd once to ftink the Pope to death. 
 
 The next thing you do is to trouble us with a long Difcourfe of the Earls and 
 the Barons, to fhow that the King made them all •, which we readily grant, and 
 for that reafon they were mod commonly at the King's beck •, and therfore we 
 have done well to take care, that for the future they fhall not be Judges of a Free 
 People. You affirm, that the Power of calling Parlaments as often as hcpleafes, 
 and of dijfolving them when he pleafes, has belonged to theKing time out of mind. Whe- 
 ther fuch a vile, mercenary Foreigner as you, who tranferibe what fome Fugitives 
 dictate to you, or the exprefs Letter of our own Laws are more to be credited iu 
 this matter, we fhall enquire hereafter. But fay you, there is another Argument, 
 and an invincible o»e, to prove the Power of the Kings of Kngland fitperior to that of 
 the Parlamcnt ; the King's Power is perpetual and ofcourfe, wherby be adminifters the 
 Government fingly without the Parlament ; that of the Par lament is extraordinary, 
 cr out ofcourfe, and limited to particulars only, nor can they enaff any thing fo as to be 
 binding in Law, without the King. Where does the great force of this Argument 
 lie? In the words of courfe and perpetual? Why, many inferior Magiflrates have 
 an ordinary and perpetual Power, thofe whom we call Juftices of Peace. Have 
 they therfore the Supreme Power ? And I have faid already, that the King's 
 
 Vol. I. X x x 2 Power
 
 c 24 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 Power is committed to him, to take care, by interpofing his Authority, that 
 nothing be done contrary to Law, and that he may fee to the due obfervation 
 of our Laws, not to top his own upon us : and confequently that the King has 
 no Power out of his Courts ; nay, all the ordinary power is rather the Peoples* 
 ■who determine all Controverfies themfelves by Juries of twelve Men. And 
 hence it is that when a Malefactor is afked at his arraignment, Hcjo will you be 
 tried? he anfwers always, according to Law and Cuftom, by God and my Country ; 
 not by God and the King, or the King's Deputy. But the Authority of the Par- 
 lament, which indeed and in truth is the Supreme Power of the People com- 
 mitted to that Senate, if it maybe called extraordinary, it mud be by reafon of 
 its Eminence and Superiority ; elfe it is known they are called Ordines, and ther- 
 fore cannot properly be faid to be extra ordinem, out of order ; and if not actually, 
 as they fay, yet virtually they have a perpetual Power and Authority over all 
 Courts and ordinary Magiftrates, and that without the King. And now it feems 
 our barbarous terms grate upon your critical Ears, forfooth! wheras, if I had 
 leifure, or that if it were worth my while, I could reckon up fo many Barbarisms 
 of yours in this one Book, as if you were to be chaftiz'd for them as you deferve, 
 all the School-boys Ferula's in Chriftendom would be broken upon you ; nor would 
 you receive fo many pieces of Gold as that wretched Poet did of old, but a great 
 many more Boxes o'th ear. You fay, 'Tis a Prodigy more monjirous than all the mo t 
 abfurd Opinions in the -world put together, that the Bedlams Jhould make a diftintli- 
 on bet'xixt the King's Pozver and his Perfon. I will not quote what every Author 
 has faid upon this Subject ; but it by the words Personam Regis, you mean wh.it 
 we call in Englifl:, the Perfon of the King ; Cbryfoflom, who was no Bedlam, 
 might have taught you, that it is no abfurd thing to make a diftindion betwixt 
 that and his Power ; for that Father explains the Apoftle's command of being 
 fub'ect. to the higher Powers, to be meant of the thing, the Power it ielf, and not 
 of the Perfons of the Magiftrates. And why may not I fay that a King, who acts 
 any thing contrary to Law, acts fo far forth as a private Perfon, or a Tyrant, 
 and not in the Capacity of a King inverted with a legal Authority ? If you do not 
 know that there may be in one and the lame Man more Perfons or Capacities than 
 one, and thatthofe Capacities. may in thought and conception be fever'd from 
 the man himfelf, you are altogether ignorant both of Latin and common Senfe. 
 But this you fay to abfoive Kings irom all fin and guilt -, and that you may make 
 us believe that you are gotten into the Chair your felf, which you have pull'd the 
 Pope out of. The King, you fay, is fuppofed not capable of commit ting any crime, 
 becaufe nopunifhment is confequential upon any crime of his. Whoever therfore is 
 not punihVd, offends not ; it is not the theft, but the punilhment that makes the 
 Thief. Salmafius the Grammarian commits no Sclcecifms now, becaufe he is 
 from under the Ferula-, when you have overthrown the Pope, let thefe, for God's 
 fake, be the Canons of your Pontificate, or at leaf!: your Indigencies, whether 
 you ihallchufe to be called the High-Prieft St. Tyranny, or St. Slavery. I pafs 
 by the reproachful Language which towards the latter end of the Chapter you 
 give the State of the Commonwealth, and the Church of England ; 'tis common 
 to f-jch as you are, you contemptible Varlet, to rail at thole things moll, that 
 r.re moft praife-worthy. But that I may not feem to have afferted any thing 
 rafhly concerning the Right of the Kings of England, or rather concerning the 
 People's Right with refpect. to their Princes ; I will now alledge out of our 
 ancient Hiftories a few things indeed of many, but fuch as will make it evident 
 • the Englifh lately tried their King according to the fettled Laws of the Realm, 
 and the Cuftoms of their Ancefiors. After the Romans quitted this Ifland, the 
 Britain* for about forty years wtrtfui juris, and without any Kings at all. 
 Of whom thofe they fir ft fet up, fome they put to death. And for that,, Gildas 
 reprehends them, not as you do, for killing their Kings, but for killing 
 them uncondemned, and (to ufe his own words,) Ken pro vert examinaticne, 
 without enquiring into the matter of Fact. Vortigern was for his inceftuous 
 Marriage with his own Daughter condemn'd (as Nennius informs us, the meft 
 ancient of all our Hiftorians next to Gildas) by St. German, and a General 
 Council of the Britains, and his Son Vortimer fet up in his ftead. This came 
 to pafs not long after St. Augufine's death, which is enough to difcover 
 how tutilous you are, to lay, as you have cone, that it was a Pope, and 
 Zachary by name, who firft held the lawfulnefs of judging Kings. About the 
 
 ]
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'i Defence of the King. 525 
 
 year of our Lord 600, Morcantius, who then reign'd in Wales, was by Oudece- 
 us Bifhop of Landaff, condemn'd to Exile, for the murder of his Uncle, though 
 he got the Sentence off by beftowing fome Lands upon the Church. Come we 
 now to the Saxons, whofe Laws we have, and therfore I ihall quote none of 
 their Precedents. Remember that the Saxons were of a German extract, who 
 neither inverted their Kings with any abfolute, unlimited power, and conlulted 
 in a Body of the more weighty affairs of Government -, whence we may perceive 
 that in the time of our Saxon Anceftors Parlaments (the name it felf only ex- 
 cepted) had the Supreme Authority. The name they gave them, was Councils 
 of 'Wife-men ; and this in the Reign of Ethelbert, of whom Bede fays, that be 
 made Laws in imitation of the Roman Laws, cum concilio fapientum ; by the ad- 
 vice, or in a Council of his Wife-men. So Edwin, King of Northumberland; and Ina 
 King of the Weft-Saxons, having confulted with their Wife-men, and the Elders of 
 the People, made new Laws. Other Laws K. Alfred made, by the advice in like 
 manner of Am Wife-men ; and he fays him felf, that it was by the confent of them 
 ell, that they were commanded to be obferved. From thefe and many other like 
 places, it is as clear as the Sun, that choien Men even from amongft the common 
 People, were Members of the Supreme Councils, unlefs we muft believe that no 
 Men are wife, but the Nobility. We have likewife a very ancient Book, cal- 
 led the Mirror of Jujlices, in which we are told, that the Saxons, when thev 
 firft fubdued the Britains, and chofe themfelves Kings, required an Oath of 
 them, to i'ubmit to the Judgment of the Law, as much as any of their Subjects, 
 Cap. 1. Seel. 2. In the fame place 'tis faid, that it is but juft that the King have 
 his Peers in Parlament, to take cognizance of wrongs done by the Kino-, or 
 the Queen •, and that there was a Law made in King Alfred's time, that Parla- 
 ments ihould be holden twice a year at London, or oftner, if need were: Which 
 Law, when through neglect it grew into difufe, was revived bv two Statutes 
 in King Edward the Third's time. And in another ancient Manufcript, called 
 Modus tenendi Parlament a, we read thus, ' If the King difTolve the Parlament 
 * before they have difpatch d the bufinefs, for which the Council was fummon'd, 
 ' he is guilty of Perjury ; and mail be reputed to have broken his Coronation 
 ■ Oath.' For how can he be laid to grant thole good Laws, which the People 
 chufe, as he is iworn to do, if he hinders the People from chufing them, ei- 
 ther by fummoning Parlaments feldomer, or by difToIving them foonerthan the 
 Public Affairs require, or admit ? And that Oath, which the Kings of Eng- 
 land take at their Coronation, has always been looked upon by our Lawyers, 
 as a mofr facred Law. And what remedy can be found to obviate the great 
 Dangers of the whole State (which is the very end of fummoning Parlaments) 
 if that Great and Auguft Affembly may be diflblved at the pleafure many times 
 of a filly, head-ftrong King ? To abfent himfelf from them, is certainly lefs 
 than to difTolve them ; and yet by our Laws, as that Modus lays them down, 
 the King neither can, nor ought to abfent himfelf from his Parlament, unlefs 
 he be really indifpofed in Health ; nor then neither, till twelve of the Peers have 
 been with him to infpect his Body, and give the Parlament an account of his 
 Indifpofition. Is this like the Carriage of Servants to a Mafter ? On the other 
 hand, the Houfe of Commons, without whom there can be no Parlamenc 
 held, tho' fummoned by the King, may withdraw, and having made a Seceffion, 
 expoftulate with the King concerning Male-adminiftration, as the fame Book 
 has it. But, which is the greateft thing of all, amongft the Laws of King 
 Edward, commonly called the Ccnfeffor, there is one very excellent, relating to 
 ; ■ kingly Office ; which Office, if the King do not diicharge as he ought, 
 then, fays the Law, He fiall not retain fo much as the Name of a King. And 
 fcft thefe words fhould not be fufficiently underftood, the Example of Chilperic 
 King of France is fubjoin'd, whom the People for that Caufe depofed. And 
 that by this Law a wicked King is liable to Punifhment, that Sword of King 
 Edward, called Curt ana, denotes to us, which the Earl of Chefter ufed to carry 
 in the folemn Proceffion at a Coronation ; A token, lays Matthew Paris, that he 
 has Authority by Law to pinifh theKing, if he will not do his Duty: and the Sword 
 i^ hardly ever made ule of but in capital Puniihments. This fame Law, to- 
 gether with other Laws of that good King Edward, did William the Conque- 
 ror ratify in the fourth Year of his Reign, and in a very full Council held at 
 Verukm, confirm'd it with a moll folemn Oath: And by fo doing, he not 
 
 only 
 
 4
 
 526 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 only extinguifh'd his Right of Conqueft, if he ever had any over us, but fub- 
 iec~ted himfelf to be judged according to the Tenor of this very Law. And 
 his Son Henry fwore to the obfervance of King Edward's Laws, and of this a- 
 mono-ft the reft •, and upon thole only terms it was, that he was chofen King, 
 whilft his Elder Brother Robert was alive. The fame Oath was taken by all fuc- 
 ceedin°- Kings, before they were crowned. Hence our ancient and famous 
 Lawyer BraBon, in his firft Book, Chap. 8. There is no King in the cafe, fays he, 
 where Will rules the roaft, and Law does not take place. And in his third Book, 
 Chap. 9. A King is a Kingfo long as he rules well -, he becomes a Tyrant when he op- 
 preffes the People committed to his Charge. And in the fame Chapter, The King 
 ought to ufe the Power of Law and Right, as God's Minifter and Vice-gcrent ; the 
 Power of wrong is the Devil's, and not God's ; when theKing turns afide to do Injujlice, 
 he is the Minifter of the Devil. The very fame words almoit another ancient 
 Lawyer has, who was the Author of the Book, called Fleta; both of them re- 
 member'd that truly Royal Law of King Edward, that fundamental Maxim in 
 our Law, which I have formerly mentioned, by which nothing is to be account- 
 ed a Law, that is contrary to the Laws of God, or of Reafon ; no more than a 
 Tyrant can be faid to be a King, or a Minifter of the Devil a Minifter of God. 
 Since therfore the Law is chiefly right Reafon, if we are bound to obey a King, 
 and a Minifter of God ; by the very fame Reafon, and the very fame Law, we 
 ou°ftt to refift a Tyrant, and a Minifter of the Devil. And becaufe Controver- 
 sies' arife oftner about Names than Things, the fame Authors tell us, that a 
 Kino- of England, tho* he have not loft the Name of a King, yet is as liable to 
 be judged, and ought fo to be, as any of the common People. Braclon, Book 
 I. Chap. 8. Fleta, Book 1. Chap. 17. No Man ought to be greater than theKing 
 in theAdminiflration cfjuftice ; but he himfelf ought to be as little as the leaf, in re- 
 ceiving Juftice, fi peccat, if he offend. Others read it, fi pel at. Since our Kings 
 therforc are liable to be judged, whether by the Name of Tyrants, or of Kings, 
 it mult not be difficult to affign their legal Judges. Nor will it be amifs to co;;- 
 fult the fame Authors upon that point. Brailcn, Book 1. Chap. 16. Fleta, 
 Book 1. Chap. 17. The King has his Superiors in the Government ; the Law, by 
 which he is made King-, and his Court, to wit, the Earls, and the Barons: Comites 
 (Earls) are as much as to fay, Companions ; and he that has a Companion, has a 
 Maflcr \ and tkerfore, if the King will be without a Bridle, that is, not govern by 
 Law, they ought to bridle him. That the Commons are comprehended in the word 
 Barons, has been fhown already •, nay, and in the Books of our ancient Laws 
 they are frequently faid to have been called Peers of Parlament : and efpecially 
 in the Modus tenendi, &c. There JJjall be chofen (fays that Book) out of all tbs 
 Peers of the Realm, five and twenty Perfons, of whom five fo all be Knights, five Citi- 
 zens, and five Burgeffes ; and iwo Knights of a County, have a greater Vote in grant- 
 ing andrejecling than the great 'eft Earl in England. And it is but reafonable they 
 fliould, lor they vote for a whole County, &V. the Earls for themfelves only. 
 And who can but perceive that thofe Patent Earls, whom you call Earls made by 
 Writ (fince we have now none that hold their Earldoms by Tenure) are very 
 unfit Perfons to try the King, who conferr'd their Honours upon them ? Since 
 therfore by our Law, as appears by that old Book, call'd the Mirror, the King 
 has his Peers, who in Parlament have cognizance of wrongs done by the King to 
 any of his People •, and fince it is notorioufly known, that the meaneft Man in 
 the Kingdom may even in inferior Courts have the benefit of the Law againft the 
 King himfelf in cafe of any Injury, or Wrong fuftained ; how much more confo- 
 nant to Juftice, how much more neceffary is it, that in cafe the King opprefsall 
 his People, there fhould be fuch as have authority not only toreftrain him, and 
 keep him within bounds, but to judge and punifh him : For that Government 
 muft needs be very ill, and moil ridiculoufly conftituted, in which remedy is 
 provided in cafe of little Injuries, done by the Prince to private Perfons, and no 
 remedy, no redrefs for greater, no care taken for the fafety of the whole ; no 
 provilion made to the contrary, but that the King may without any Law ruin all 
 his Subjects, when at the fame time he cannot by Law fo much as hurt anyone 
 of them. And fmce I have fhown that it is neither good manners, nor expedient, 
 that the Lords fhould be the King's Judges ; it follows, that the Power of Judi- 
 cature in that cafe does wholly, and by very good Right, belong to the Com- 
 mons, who are both Peers of the Realm, and Barons, and have the Power and 
 
 Authority
 
 in anfwer to Salmafms 9 i Defence of the King. 52,7 
 
 Authority of all the People committed to them. For fince (as we find it exprefly 
 in our written Law, which I have already cited) the Commons together with 
 the King make a good Parlament without either Lords or Bifhops, 1>ecaufe be- 
 fore either Lords or Bifhops had a being, Kings held Parlaments with their 
 Commons only ; by the very fame reafon the Commons apart mufthave the So- 
 vereign Power without the King, and a Power of judging the King himfelf; be- 
 caufe before there ever was a King, they in the Name of the whole Body of the 
 Nation held Councils and Parlaments, had the Power of Judicature, made Laws 
 and made the Kings themfelves, not to lord it over the People, but toadmini- 
 fter their public Affairs. Whom if the King, inftead of fo doing, fhall endea- 
 vour to injure and opprefs, our Law pronounces him from time forward notfo 
 much as to retain the Name of a King, to be no fuch thing as a King ; and if he 
 be no King, what need we trouble our felves to find out Peers for him ? For 
 being then by all good Men adjudged to be a Tyrant, there are none but who 
 are Peers good enough for him, and proper enough to pronounce Sentence of 
 Death upon him judicially. Thefe things being fo, I think I have fufficiently 
 proved what I undertook, by many Authorities, and written Laws ; to wit, 
 that fince the Commons have Authority by very good Right to try the Kin», and 
 fince they have actually tried him, and put him to death, for the mifchief he 
 had done both in Church and State, and without all hope of amendment, they 
 have done nothing therin but what was juft and regular, for the Intereft of the 
 State, in discharging of their Truft, becoming their Dignity, and according to 
 the Laws of the Land. And I cannot upon this occafion, but congratulate my 
 felf with the Honour of having had fuch Anceftors, who founded this Govern- 
 ment with no lefs Prudence, and in as much Liberty as themofl worthy of the 
 ancient Romans or Grecians ever founded any of theirs : and they muft needs 
 if they have any knowledge of our Affairs, rejoice over their Pofterity, who when 
 they were almoft reduced to Slavery, yet with fo much Wifdorrj and Courage 
 vindicated and afferted the State, which thev fo wifely founded upon fo much, 
 Liberty, from the unruly Government of a King. 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 I Think by this time 'us fufficiently evident that Kings of England nay be judg- 
 ed even by the Laws of England; and that they have their proper Judges, 
 which was the thing to be proved. What do you do farther ? (for wheras you 
 repeat many things that you have faid before, I do not intend to repeat the an- 
 fwers that I have given them) "Tis an eafy thing to demonftrate even from the na- 
 ture of the things for which Parlaments arefummon'd, that the King is above the 
 Parlament. The Parlament, you fay, is wont to be affembled upon weighty affairs , 
 fuch as wherin the fafety of the Kingdom and of the People is concerned. If ther- 
 fore the King call Parlaments together, not for his own concerns, but thofe of 
 the Nation, nor to fettle thofe neither, but by their own confent, at their own 
 difcrction, what is he more than a Minifter, and as it were an Agent for the Peo- 
 ple? fi;ioe without their Suffrages that are chofen by the People, he cannot enaft 
 the leaft thing whatfoever, either with relation to himfelf, or any body elfe ? 
 Which proves likewife that 'tis the King's duty to call Parlaments whenever 
 the People defirc it ; lince the People's and not theKing's concerns are to be treat- 
 ed of by that Afilmbly, and to be ordered as they fee caufe. For although the 
 King's affent be required for fafhion fake, which in leffer matters, that concern- 
 ed the welfare of private perfons only, he might refufe, and ufe that form, the 
 King will aclvifi ; yet in thofe greater affairs that concern'd the public fafety, 
 and liberty of the Peojve in general, he had no negative voice : for it would 
 have been againfl his Coronation-Oath to deny his affent in fuch cafes, which 
 was as binding to him as any Law could be,and againfl the chief Article of Mag- 
 na Charta, Cap. 29. ' We will not deny to any man, nor will we delay toren- 
 ' der to every man Right and Juftice.' Shall it not be in the King's power to de- 
 ny Juliice, and fhall it be in his power to deny the enacting of juft Laws ? 
 Could he not deny Juftice to any particular perfon, and could he to all his Peo- 
 ple 'i Could lie not do it in inferior Courts, and could he in the fupreme Court 
 
 of
 
 S28 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 of all ? Or, can any King be fo arrogant as to pretend to know what's juft and 
 profitable better than the whole body of the People ? Especially, fince ' he is 
 * created and chofen for this very end and purpofe, to do Juftice to all, as Br ac- 
 ton fays, Lib. 3. C. p. 9. that is, to do Juftice according to fuch Laws as the 
 People agree upon. Hence is what we find in our Records, 7 H. 4. Rott. Pari, 
 num. 59. The King has no Prerogative that derogates from Juftice and Equity. 
 And formerly when Kings have refufed to confirm Acts of Parlament, to wit, 
 Ma<rna Charta and fome others, our Anceftors have brought them to it by force 
 of Anns. And yet our Lawyers never were of opinion that thofe Laws were 
 lefs valid, or lefs binding, fince the King was forced to afTent to no more than 
 what he ought in Juftice to have afiented to voluntarily, and without conftraint. 
 Whilft you go about to prove that Kings of other Nations have been as much 
 under the power of their Senates or Councils, as our Kings were, you do not 
 ar<me us into Slavery, but them into Liberty. In which you do but that over 
 ao-ain, that you have from the very beginning of your Difcourfe, and which 
 fome filly Leguleians now and then do, to argue unawares, againft their own 
 Clients. But you fay, Weconfefs that the King wherever he be, yet is fufpofedflid 
 to beprefent in his Parlament by virtue of his power ; infomuch that whatever is tranf- 
 atled there, is fuppofed to be done by the King himfelf : and then as if you had got 
 fome petty bribe or frhall morfel, and tickled with the remembrance of your 
 Purfe of Gold, We take, fay you, what they give us- y and take a Halter then, 
 for I'm fure you deferve it. But we do not give it for granted, which is the 
 thing you thought would follow from thence. That therfore that Court a8s only 
 by virtue of a delegated Power from the King. For when we fay that the Regal 
 Power, be it what it will, cannot be abfent from the Parlament, do we ther- 
 by acknowledge that Power to be Supreme ? Does not the King's Authority feem 
 rather to be transferred to the Parlament, and, as being the lefTer of the two, 
 to be comprifeu in the greater ? Certainly if the Parlament may refcind the 
 King's Acts whether he will or no, and revoke Privileges granted by him, to 
 whomsoever they be granted: If they may fet bounds to his Prerogative, as 
 they feecaufe, if they may regulate his yearly Revenue, and the Expences of his 
 Court, his Retinue, and generally all the Concerns of his Houfhold ; if they 
 may remove his moft intimate Friends and Counfellors, and as it were pluck 
 them out of his bofom, and bring them to condign punifhment : Finally, if any 
 Subject may by Law appeal from the King to the Parlament (all which things, 
 that they may lawfully be done, and have been frequently practifed, both our 
 Hiftories and Records, and the moft eminent of our Lawyers aflure us) I fup- 
 pofe no man in his right wits will deny the Authority of the Parlament to be 
 iuperior to that of the King. For even in an Interregnum the Authority of the 
 Parlament is in being, and (than which nothing is more common in our Hifto- 
 ries) they have often made a tree Choice of a SuccefTor, without any regard to a 
 Hereditary defcent. In fhort, the Parlament is the Supreme Council of the 
 Nation, conftituted and appointed by a moft free People, and armed with 
 ample Power and Authority, for this end and purpofe; viz. to confult together 
 upon the moft weighty affairs of the Kingdom ■, the King was created to put 
 their Laws in execution. Which thing atter the Parlament themfelves had de- 
 clared in a public Edict (for fuch is the Juftice of their Proceedings, that of their 
 own accord they have been willing to give an account of their actions to o- 
 ther Nations) is it not prodigious, that fuch a pitiful fellow as you are, a man of 
 no authority, of no credit, of no figure in the world, a meer Burgundian flave, 
 fhould have the impudence to accufe the Parlament of England, afierting by a 
 public Inftrument their own and their Country's Right, of a detefable and horrid 
 Jmpifture? Your Country may be afhamed, youRafcal, to have brought forth 
 a little inconfiderable fellow of fuch profligate impudence. But perhaps you 
 have fomevhat to tell us that may be for our good : Go on, we'll hear you. 
 What Laws, fay you, can a Parlament enatl, in which the Bifhops are not prefeni? 
 Did you then, ye Mad-man, expel the Order ol Bifhops out of the Church to 
 introduce them into the State ? O wicked Wretch, who ought to Be delivered 
 over to Satan, whom the Church ought to forbid her Communion, as being a 
 1 Ivpocrite, and an Atheift, and no civil Society of men to acknowledge as a mem- 
 ber, being a public Enemy, and a Plague-fore to the common Libertv of Man- 
 kind •, wTio, where the Gofpel fails you, endeavour to prove out of Arifto'.h\ 
 
 Halicv-
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j Defence of the King. 529 
 
 Halicarnajpeufi and then from fome Popifh Authorities of the moft corrupt a°-es, 
 that the King of England is the head of the Church of England, to the end that 
 you may, as far as in you lies, bring in the Bifhops again, his Intimates and Ta- 
 ble-Companions, grown fo of late, to rob and tyrannize in the Church of 
 God, whom God himfelf has depofed and degraded, whofe very Order you 
 had heretofore afferted in Print that it ought to be rooted out of the world, as 
 deftructive of and pernicious to the Chriftian Religion. What Apoftate did e- 
 verfo mamefully and wickedly defertas this man hasdone,I do not fav his own 
 which indeed never was any, but the Chriftian Doctrine which he had formerly 
 afferted ? The Bifljops being put down, who under the King, and by his permiflion held 
 Pleaof Ecclefiajiical Caufes, upon whom, lay you, will that 'fur if Uclion devolve? 
 
 Villain, have fome regard at lead to your own Confcience ; Remember be- 
 fore it be too late, if at lead this admonition of mine come not too late re- 
 member that this mocking the Holy Spirit of God is an inexpiable crime, and 
 v. ill not be left unpunifh'd. Stop at lad, and fct bounds to your fury, left the 
 Wrath of God lay hold upon ycu fuddenly, for endeavouring to deliver the 
 flock of God, his Anointed ones that are not to be touched, to Enemies and 
 cruel Tyrants, to be cruih'd and trampled on again, from whom himfelf by a 
 high and ftretched-out arm had i'o lately delivered them ; and from whom you 
 your felf maintained that they ought to be delivered, I know not whether fur a- 
 ny good of theirs, or in order to the hardening of your own heart, and to fur- 
 ther your own damnation. If the Bifhops have no right to lord it over the 
 Church, certainly much lefs have Kings, whatever the Laws of Men may be to 
 the contrary. For they that know any thing of the Gofpel know thus much, 
 that the Government or" the Church is altogether Divine and Spiritual, and no 
 Civil Conftitution. Wheras you fay, that in fecular /iffairs, the Kings of Eno-Jand 
 
 • always bad the Sovereign Power ; our Laws do abundantly declare that 
 to be fake. Our Courts of Juftice are erected and'fuppreffed, not by the Kino's 
 Authority, but that of the Parlament -, and yet in any of them, the meaneft 
 Subject might go to Law with the King : nor is it a rare thing for the Judges to 
 give Judgment againft him, which if the King mould endeavour to obftruct by 
 any Prohibition, Mandate, or Letters, the Judges were bound by Law, and 
 by their Oaths not to obey him, but to reject fuch Inhibitions as null and void in 
 Law. The King could not imprifon any Man, or feize his Eftate as forfeited; 
 he could not punifh any Man, not fummoned to appear in Court, where not the 
 King, but the ordinary Judges gave Sentence ; which they frequently did, as I 
 have laid, againft the King. Llence our Brailon, lib. 3. cap. 9. The Regal Pcwa\ 
 fays he, is according to Law ; he has no power to do any wrong; nor can the. King do 
 any thing but what the Law warrants. Thofe Lav/yers that you have confulted 
 Men that have lately fled their Country, may teil you another tale, and acquaint 
 you with fome Statutes, not very ancient neither, but made in King Edward 
 4th's, King Henry 6th's, and King Edward 6th's days; but they did not confi- 
 de-, that what power foever thole Statutes gave the King, was conferred up- 
 on him by Authority of Parlament, fo that he was beholden to them for it; 
 and the fame power that conferral it, might at pleafure relume it. Plow comes 
 it to pals that fo acute a difputant as you, mould fuffer your felf to be impofed 
 upon to that degree, as to make ufe of that very Argument to prove the King's 
 Power to be Abfolute and Supreme, than which nothing proves more clearly, 
 that it is fuhordinate to that of the Parlament? Our Rxcords of the greateft 
 Authority with us, declare, that our Kings owe all their Power, not to any 
 Right of Inheritance, of Ccnqueft, or Succeffion, but to the People. So in the 
 Parlament Rolls of King Hen. 4. numb. 108. we read, that the kingly Office 
 and Power was granted by the Commons to King Henry the 4th, and before 
 him, to his Predeceffor King Richard the. 2d, juft as Kings ufe to grant Commiffo- 
 rters Places, and Lieutenantihips to their Deputies, by Edicts and Patents. 
 Thus the Houfe of Commons ordered exprefly to be entred upon record, ' That 
 4 they hudgranled to A^Richard to ufe the fame good Liberty that theKings of Eno-- 
 
 1 land before him had vfed:' Which becaufe that Kingabufed to the fubverfion of 
 the T ,aws, and contrary to his Oath at his Coronation, the fame perfons that ^rant- 
 ed him that power, took it back again, and depofed him. The fame Men, as ap- 
 pears by the fame Record, declared in open Parlament, « That having confidence 
 1 in the Prudence and Moderation of King Henry the \th, they will and enact, 
 • That he enjoy the fame Royal Authority that his Anceftors enjoyed. Which 
 
 Vol. I. Yyy , if 
 
 4
 
 e 3 o ^ Defence of the People of England, 
 
 if it had been any other than in the nature of a Truft, as this was, either thole 
 Houfes of Parlament were foolifh and vain, to give what was none of their 
 own, or thofe Kings that were willing to receive as from them, what was already 
 theirs, were too injurious both to themfclves and their Pofterity •, neither of 
 which is likely. A third fart of the Regal Power, fay you, is ccnverfant about the 
 Militia; this the Kings c/England have ufed to order and govern, without Fellow or 
 Competitor. This is as falfe as all the reft that you have taken upon the credit 
 of Fugitives i For in the firft place, both our own Hiftories, and thofe of Fo- 
 reigners, that have been any whit exact in the relation of our Affairs, declare, 
 that the making of Peace and War, always did belong to the Parlament. And 
 the Laws of St. Edward, which our Kings were bound to fwear that they would 
 maintain, make this appear beyond all exception, in the Chapter Be Heretochiis, 
 viz. ' That there were certain Officers appointed in every Province and Coun- 
 « ty throughout the Kingdom, that were called Heretochs, in Latin Duces, Com- 
 1 manders of Armies, that were to command the Forces of the feveral Counties,' 
 not for the Honour of the Crown only, ' but for the good of the Realm. And 
 ' they were chofen by the General Council, and in the feveral Counties at pub- 
 
 * lie Affemblies of the Inhabitants, as Sheriffs ought to be chofen.' Whence it 
 is evident, That the Forces of the Kingdom, and the Commanders of thofe 
 Forces, were anciently, and ought to be ft ill, not at the King's Command, but 
 at the People's ; and that this moil reafonable and juft Law obtained in this 
 Kingdom of ours, no lefs than heretofore it did in the Commonwealth of the 
 Romans. Concerning which, it will not be amifs to hear what Cicero lays, Philip. 
 i. ' All the Leo-ions, all the Forces of the Commonwealth, whereibever they 
 ' are are the People of Rome's ; nor are thofe Legions that defcrted the Con- 
 ' ful Antonius, laid to have been Antony's, but the Commonwealth's Legions.* 
 This very Law of St. Edward, together with the reft, did William the Con- 
 queror, at the defire and inftance of the People, confirm by Oath, and added o- 
 ver and above, cap. .^6. ' That all Cities, Boroughs, Caftles, lhould be fowatch- 
 
 * ed every night, as the Sheriffs, the Aldermen, and other Magiftrater, fhould 
 ' think meet for the fafety of the Kingdom. And in the 6th Law, ' Caftles, 
 ' Boroughs, and Cities, were firft built for the Defence of the People, and 
 ' thcrfore ought to be maintained free and entire, by all ways and means.* 
 What then ? "Shall Towns and Places of Strength in times of Peace be guarded 
 asainft Thieves and Robbers by Common Councils of the feveral Places ; and 
 fhall they not be defended in dangerous times of War, againft both domeftic 
 and foreign Hoftility, by the Common Council of the whole Nation ? If this be 
 not crranted, there can be no Freedom, no Integrity, no Rcajon in the guarding of 
 them -, nor lhall we obtain any of thofe ends, for which the Law it felf tells us, 
 that Towns and Fortreffes were at firft founded. Indeed our Anceftors were 
 willing to put any thing into the King's power, rather than their Arms, and the 
 Garifons of their Towns; conceiving that to be neither better nor worfe, than 
 betraying their Liberty to the Fury and Exorbitancy of their Princes. Of which 
 there are lb very many inftances in our Hiftories, and thole fo generally known, 
 that it would be fuperrluous to mention any of them here. But the King owespro- 
 tetlion to his SubjeSis \ and how can he protett them, unlefs he have Men and Arms 
 at Command? But, fay I, he bad all this for the good of the Kingdom, as has 
 been faid, not for the deftruttion ol his People, and the ruin of the Kingdom : 
 Which in King Henry the 3^'s time, one Leonard, a Learned Man in thole days, 
 in an Affembly of Bifhops, told Rujlandus, the Pope's Nuncio and the King's 
 Procurator, in thefe words; ' All Churches are the Pope's, as all temporal 
 ' things are faid to be the King's, for Defence and Protection, not his in Propric- 
 ' ty and Ownerfhip, as we lay ; they are his to defend, not to deftroy.' The 
 aforementioned Law of St. Edward, is to the fame purpoie ; and what does this 
 import more than a Truit ? Does this look like abfolute power? Such a kind of 
 Power a Commander of an Army always has, that is, a delegated Power ; and 
 yet both at home and abroad he is never the lels able to defend the People that 
 chufe him. Our Parlaments would anciently have contended with- our Kings a- 
 bout their Liberty and the Laws of St. Edward, to very little purpofe ; and 
 'twould have been an unequal match betwixt the Kings and them, if they had 
 been of opinion, that the Power of the Sword belonged to him alone : for how 
 unjuft Laws foever their Kings would haveimpoled upon them, their Charter, 
 tho' never fo great, would have been a weak Defence againft Force. But 
 
 far
 
 in anfwer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 53* 
 
 fay you, What would the Par lament be the better for the Militia ', fmce without the 
 King's affentthey cannot raife the leaf Farthing from the People towards the main- 
 taining it ? Take you no thought for that : For in the firlt place you go upon a 
 falfe iuppofition, that Parlaments cann t impofe Taxes with-ut the King's AJfent, 
 upon the People that fend them, and whofe concerns they undertake. In the 
 next place, you that are fo officious an enquirer into other mens matters, can- 
 not but have heard, that the People of their own accord, by brin°-in°- in their 
 Plate to be melted down, raifed a great Sum of Money towards the carrying on 
 of this War againft the King. Then you mention the largenefs of our Kino's 
 Revenue: You mention over and over again Five Hundred and Forty Thoufands : 
 That thofe of our Kings that have been eminent for their Bounty and Liberality, have 
 tifi'd to give large Boons out of their own Patrimony. This you were glad to hear; 
 'twas by this Charm, that thofe Traytors to their Country alluded you, as Ba- 
 laam the Prophet was enticed of old, to curfe the People of God, and exclaim 
 againft the judicial Diipenfations of his Providence. You Fool! what was that 
 uhjuft and violent King the better for fuch abundance of Wealth? What are you 
 the better for it ? Who have been no partaker of any part of it, that I can hear 
 of (how great hopes foever you may have conceiv'd of being vaftly enriched by 
 it) but only of a hundred pieces of Gold, in a Purfe wrought with beads. Take 
 that reward of thine Iniquity, Balaam, which thou haft loved, and enjoy it. 
 You go on to play the fool ; The fetting up of a Standard is a Prerogative that 
 belongs to the King only. How fo ? Why becaufe Virgil tells us in his Mneis, 
 ' That Turnus fet up a Standard on the top of the Tower at Laurentum, for an 
 ' Enfign of War.' And do not you know, Grammarian, that every General of 
 an Army does the fame thing? But, fays Ariflotle, The King muft always be pro- 
 vided of a Military Pouer, that he may be able to defend the Laws; and therfore the 
 King muff be flronger than the whole body of the People. This man makes Confe- 
 quences juft as CEnUsdocs Ropes in Hell ; which are of noufe but to be eaten by 
 Affes. For a number of Soldiers given to the King by the Peop'e, is one thing ; 
 and the fole power of the Militia is quite another thing ; the latter, Ariflotle 
 does not allow that Kings ought to be Mafters of, and that in this very place 
 which you have quoted : He ought, fays he, to havefo many firmed men about him, 
 as to make him ftronger than any one man, than many men got together; but he -muft 
 ■not be flronger than all the People, Polit. lib. 3. cap. 4. Elie inltead of protecting 
 them, it would be in his power to fubjeff. both People and Laws to himfelf. 
 For this is the difference betwixt a King and a Tyrant : A King, by confent of 
 the Senate and People, has about him fo many armed men, as to enable him to 
 refift Enemies, and fupprefs Seditions. A Tyrant, againft the Will both of 
 Senate and People, gets as great a number as he can, either of Enemies, or pro- 
 fligate Subjects, to fide with him againft the Senate and the People. The Parla- 
 ment therfore allowed the King, as they did whatever he had befides, the fet- 
 ting up of a Standard; not to wage War againft his own People, but to defend 
 them againft fuch as the Parlament fhould declare Enemies to the State : If he 
 acted otherwife, himfelf was to be accounted an Enemy ; fince according to the 
 very Law of St. Edivard, or according to a more facred Law than that, the 
 Law of Nature it lelf, he loft the name of a King, and was no longer fuch. 
 Whence Cicero in his Philip. ' He forfeits his Command in the Army, and In- 
 * tereft in his Government, that employs them againft the State.' Neither could 
 the King compel thofe that held of him by Knight-Service, to ferve him in any 
 other War, than fuch as was made by confent of Parlament •, which is evident 
 by many Statutes. So for Cuftoms and other Subfidies for the maintenance of 
 the Navy, the King could not exact them without an Act of Parlament ; as was 
 refolved about twelve years ago, by the ableft of our Lawyers, when the King's 
 Authority was at the height. And long before them, Fortefcue, an Eminent 
 Lawyer, and Chancellor to King Henry the 6th, ' The King of E> gland, fays he, 
 ' can neither alter the Laws, nor exact Subfidies without the People's confent.' 
 Nor can any Teftimonies be brought from Antiquity, to prove the Kingdom of 
 England to have been merely Regal. ' The King, fays Braclon, has a Jurifdic- 
 ' tion over all his Subjects ;' that is, in his Courts of Juftice, where Juftice is 
 admini^red in the Kind's name indeed, but according to our own Laws. * All 
 4 are fubject to the King-,' that is, every particular man is-, and fo Braclon ex- 
 plains himfelf in the places that I have cited. What follows is but turning the 
 fame ftone over and over again -, (at which fport I believe you are able to tire Si- 
 Vol. I, X y y z fiphui
 
 $$i A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 fipbas himfelf) and is fufficiently anfwered by what has been faid already. For 
 the reft, if pur Parlaments have fometimes complimented good Kings with 
 fubmiffive expreflions, tho' neither favouring of Flattery nor Slavery, thole are 
 not to be accounted due to Tyrants, nor ought to prejudice the People's Right : 
 wood manners and civility do not infringe Liberty. Wheras you cite out of Sir 
 Edw. Coke and others, ' That the Kingdom of England is an abfolute Kingdom ,' 
 that is faid with refpect to any Foreign Prince, or the Emperor ; becaufe as Cam- 
 den fays, * It is net under the Patronage of the Emperor : but both of them 
 
 * affirm that the Government of England refidesnot in the King alone, but in a 
 
 * Body Politic' Whence Fortefcue in his Book de Laud. Leg. Ang. cap. 9. ' The 
 « King of England, fays he, governs his People, not by a meerly Regal, but a 
 1 Political Power •, for the Englijh are govern'd by Laws of their own making.* 
 Foreign Authors were not ignorant of this : Hence Philip de Comities, a Grave 
 Author, in the Fifth Book of his Commentaries, ' Of all the Kingdoms of the 
 
 * Earth, fays he, that I have any knowledge of, there is none in my opinion, 
 
 * where the Government is more moderate, where the King has lefs power of 
 1 hurting his People, than in England' Finally, 'Tis ridiculous, lay you, for them 
 to affirm that Kingdoms were ancient er than Kings ; which is as much as if they foould 
 fay, that there was Light before the Sun was created. But with your good leave, 
 Sir, we do not fay that Kingdoms, but that the People were before Kings. In 
 the mean time, who can be more ridiculous than you, who deny there was 
 Light before the Sun had a being ? You pretend to a curiofity in other mens 
 matters, and have forgot the very firft tilings that were taught you. You wonder 
 how they that have feen the King fit upon his Throne, ataSeffion of P arlament (fubau- 
 reo & ferico Coelo,ttnder a golden and Jilken Heaven) under a Canopy of State, fhould 
 fo much as make a queftion whether the Majejly refided in him, or in the P arlament ? 
 They are certainly hard of belief, whom fo lucid an Argument coming down 
 from Heaven, cannot convince. Which golden Heaven, you, like a Stoic, have 
 fo devoutly and ferioufly gaz'd upon, that you feem to have forgot what kind 
 of Heaven Mofes and Arifiotle deicribe to us ; for you deny that there was any 
 Light in Mofes's Heaven before the Sun ; and in Arijlctle's you make three tem- 
 perate Zones. How many Zones you oblerved in that Golden and Silken Hea- 
 ven of the King's, I know not ; but I know you got one Zone (a Purfe) well 
 tempered with a Hundred Golden Stars by your Aflronomy. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 SINCE this whole Controverfy, whether concerning the Right of Kings in 
 general, or that of the King oi England in particular, is rendred difficult and 
 intricate, rather by the obftinacy of Parties, than by the nature of the thing ic 
 felf ; I hope they that prefer Truth before the Intereft of a Faction, will be fa- 
 tisfied with what I have alledged out of the Law of God, the Laws of Nations, 
 and the Municipal Laws of my own Country, that a King of England may be 
 brought to Trial, and put to death. As for thole whole minds are either blind- 
 ed with Superftition, or fo dazled with the Splendor and Grandeur of a Court, 
 that Magnanimity and true Liberty do not appear fo glorious to them, as they 
 are in themfelves, it will be in vain to contend with them, either by Reafon and 
 Arguments, or Examples. But you, Salmafms, feem very abfurd, as in every 
 other part of your Book, fo particularly in this, who tho' you rail perpetually 
 at the Independents, and revile them with all the terms of Reproach imaginable, 
 yet aflert to the higheft degree that can be, the Independency of a King, whom you 
 defend ; and will not allow him to owe his Sovereignty to the People, but to his De- 
 fcent. And wheras in the beginning of your Book you complain'd that he was 
 put to plead for his Life, here you complain, that he per if) Sd without being heard t a 
 J peak for himfelf. But if you have a mind to look into the Hiftory of his Trial, 
 which is very faithfully publifh'd in French, it may be you'll be of another opinion. 
 Wheras he had liberty given him for ibme days together, to fay What he could 
 for himlclf, he made ufe of it not to clear himfelf of the Crimes laid to his charge, 
 but to difprove the Authority of his Judges, and the Judicature that he was cal- 
 led before. And whenever a Criminal is either mute, or fays nothing to the 
 purpofc, there is no Injullice in condemning hini without hearing him, if his 
 
 Crimes
 
 in anfooer to SalmafiusV Defence of the King. 533 
 
 Crimes are notorious, and publicly known. If you fay that Charles died as he 
 lived, I agree with you : It you fay that he died pioully, holily, andateafe, you 
 may remember that his Grandmother Mary, Queen of Scots, an infamous Wo- 
 man, died on a Scaffold with as much outward appearance of Piety, Sanctity* 
 and Conftancy, as he did. And left you ihould afcribe too much to that prefence 
 of mind which fome common Malefactors have fo great a meafure of at their 
 death ; many times defpair, and a hardned heart puts on as it were a Vizor of 
 Courage; and Stupidity, a mew of Quiet and Tranquillity of Mind: Sometimes 
 the word of Men defire to appear good, undaunted, innocent, and now and then 
 religious, not only in their life, but at their death; and in fullering death for 
 their Villanies, ufe to ad the Iaft part of their Hypocrify and Cheats, "with all the 
 mow imaginable; and like bad Poets or Stage-players, are very ambitious of be- 
 ing clapp'd at the end of the Play. Now, you fay, yon are come to enquire who 
 they chiefly were, that gave Sentence again It the King. Wheras it ou^ht firft to be 
 enquired into, how you, a Foreigner, and a French Vagabond* came to have any- 
 thing to do to raife a queftion about our Affairs, to which you are lb much 
 a Stranger? And what Reward induced you to it? But we know enough of that, 
 and who fatisfied your curiofity in theft matters of ours; even thofe Fugitives, 
 «ind Traitors to their Country, that could eafily hire fuch a vain Fellow as you, 
 to fpeak ill of us. Then an account in writing, of the ftate of our Affairs, was 
 put into you hands by fome hair-brain'd, half Proteftant, half Papift Chaplain 
 or other, or by fome fneaking Courtier, and you were put to tranflate it into 
 Latin ; out of that you took thefe Narratives, which, if you pleafe, we'll exa- 
 mine a little : Not the hundred thoufandtb part of the People confented to this Sen- 
 tence of Condemnation. What were the reft of the People then that fuffer'd fo 
 great a thing to be tranfacted againft their will ? Were they Stocks and Stones, 
 were they mere Trunks of Men only, or fuch Images of Britain*, as Virgil de- 
 fcribes to have been wrought in Tapeftry ? 
 
 Purpurea intexti tollunt aulea Britanni. 
 
 And Britains interwove held up the purple Hangings. 
 For you defcribe no true Britains, but painted ones, or rather Needle-wrought 
 Men inftead of them. Since therfore it is a thing fo incredible that a warlfke 
 Nation ffiould be fubdued by fo few, and thofe of the dregs of the People (which 
 is the firft thing that occurs in your Narrative) that appears in the very nature 
 of the thing it felf to be moll falfe. The Bifloops were turn'd out of the Houfe of 
 Lords by the Parlamcnt it felf. The more deplorable is your Madnefs (for are 
 not you yet fenlible that you rave) to complain of their being turn'd out of the 
 Parlament, whom you your felf in a large Book endeavour to prove ou°ht 
 to be turn'd out of the Church. One of the States of Parlament, to wit , the 
 Houfe of Lords, conftfting of Dukes, Earls, andVifcounts, was removed. And defer- 
 vedly were they removed ; for they were not deputed to fit there by any Town 
 or County, but rcprefented themfelves only ; they had no Right over the Peo- 
 ple, but (as if they had been ordained for that very purpofe) ufed frequently to 
 oppofe their Rights and Liberties. They were created by the King, they were 
 his Companions, his Servants, and as it were, Shadows of him. He beinp- re- 
 moved, it was neceffary they ffiould be reduced to the fame Level with the Body 
 of the People, from amongft whom they took their rife. One part of the Parla- 
 ment, iind that the worjt of all, ought not to have ajjum'd that Power of judging and 
 condemning the King. But I have told you already, that the Floufe of Commons 
 was not only the chief part of our Parlament, while we had Kings, but was a 
 perfect and entire Parlament of it felf, without the temporal Lords, much 
 more without the Bifhops. But, The -is. hole Houfe of Commons themfelves were not 
 admitted to have to do with the Trial of the King, To wit, that part of them was 
 not admitted, that openly revolted to him in their Minds and Counfels ; whom, 
 fho* they ftiled him their King, yet they had fo often acted againft, as an Enemy. 
 The Parlament of England, and the Deputies lent from the Parlament of Scot- 
 land, on the 13th of January, 164.5, wrote to the King, in anfwer to a Letter of 
 his, by which he defired a deceitful Truce, and that he might treat with them at 
 London -, that they could not admit him into that City, till he had made Satisfac- 
 tion to the State for the civil War that he had railed in the diree Kingdoms, 
 and for the Deaths of fo many of his Subjects llain by his Order ; and till he had 
 agreed to a true and firm Peace upon fuch Terms as the Parlaments of both 
 
 Kingdoms
 
 ^.34 J Defence of the People of England, 
 
 Kingdoms had offered him fo often already, and fhould offer him again. He on 
 the other hand cither refuted to hear, or by ambiguous Anfwers eluded their juft 
 and equal Proposals, tho' molt humbly prefented to him feven times over. The 
 Parlament at iaft, after fo many years patience, left the King mould overturn 
 the State by his Wiles and Delays, when in Prifon, which he could not fubdue 
 in the Field, and left the vanquilh'd Enemy, pleafed with our Divifions, fhould 
 recover himfelf, and triumph unexpectedly over his Conquerors, vote that for 
 the future they would have no regard to him, that they would fend him no more 
 Propofals, nor receive any from him : After which Vote, there were found even 
 fome Members of Parlament, who out of the hatred they bore that invincible 
 Army, whole Glory they envied, and which they would have had difbanded, 
 and fent home with difgrace, after they had deferved fo well of their Nation, 
 and out of a fervile compliance with fome Seditious Minifters, finding their op- 
 portunity, when many, whom they knew to be otherwife minded than them- 
 felves havino- been lent by the Houfe it felf to fupprefs the Presbyterians, who 
 be CT an already to be turbulent, were abfent in the feveral Counties, with a ftrange 
 Levity, not to fay Perfidioufnefs, vote that that inveterate Enemy of the State, 
 who had nothing of a King but the Name, without giving any Satisfaction or 
 Security, fhould be brought back to London, and reftored to his Dignity and Go- 
 vernment, as if he had deferved well of the Nation by what he had done. So 
 that they preferr'd the King before their Religion, their Liberty, and that very 
 celebrated Covenant of theirs. What did they do in the mean time, who were 
 found themfelves, and law fuch pernicious Councils on foot ? Ought they ther- 
 fore to have been wanting to the Nation, and not provide for its fafety, becaufe 
 the Infection had fpread it felf even in their own Houfe ? But, who fecluded 
 thole ill-affected Members? The Englijh Array, you fay : So that it was not an 
 Army of Foreigners, but of moft valiant, and faithful, honeft Natives, whole 
 Officers for the moft part were Members of Parlament ; and whom thofe good fe- 
 cluded Members would have fecluded their Country, and banifhed into Ireland; 
 while in the mean time the Scots, whole Alliance began to be doubtful, had 
 very confiderable Forces in four of our Northern Counties, and kept Garifons 
 in the beft Towns of thofe Parts, and had the King himfelf in Cuftody ; whilft 
 they likewife encouraged the tumultuating of thofe of their own Faction, who . 
 did more than threaten the Parlament, both in City and Country, and through 
 whole means not only a Civil, but a War with Scotland too fhortly after brake 
 out. If it has been always accounted praife-worthy in private Men to affift the 
 State, and promote the public Good, whether by Advice or Action ; our Army 
 lure was in no fault, who being ordered by the Parlament to come to Town, 
 obey'd and came, and when they were come, quell'd with eafe the Faction and 
 Uproar of the King's Party, who fometimes threaten'd the Houfe it felf. For 
 things were brought to that pais, that of neceffity either we mult be run down 
 by them, or they by us. They had on their fide moft of the Shopkeepers and 
 Handicrafts-men of London, and generally thofe of the Minilters, that were moft 
 factious. On our fide was the Army, whofe Fidelity, Moderation, and Courage 
 were fufficientlv known. It being in our power by their means to retain our Li- 
 berty, our State, our common Safety, do you think we had not been Fools to 
 have loft all by our negligence and folly? They who had had places of Com- 
 mand in the King's Army, after their Party were fubdued, had laid down their 
 Arms indeed againft their wills, but continued Enemies to us in their Hearts; 
 and they flock'd to Town, and were here watching all opportunities of renew- 
 ing the War. With thefe Men, tho' they were the greateft Enemies they had in 
 the world, and thirfied after their Blood, did the Presbyterians, becaufe they 
 were not permitted to exercife a Civil, as well as an Ecclefiaftical Jurifdiction 
 over all others, hold fecret Correfpondence, and took meaiures very unworthy 
 of what they had formerly both laid and done; and they came to that Spleen at 
 lalt, that they would rather enthral themfelves to the King again, than admit 
 their own Brethren to fhare in their Liberty, which they likewife had purcha- 
 fed at the price of their own Blood ; they chofe rather to be lorded over once 
 more by a Tyrant, polluted with Lhe Blood of fo many of his own Subjects, 
 and who was enraged, and breath'd out nothing but revenge againft thofe of them 
 that were left, than endure their Brethren and Friends to be upon the fquare 
 with them. The Independents, as they are called, were the only men, that from 
 fir ft to Lift kept to their point, and knew what ufe to make of their Victory. 
 
 Thev
 
 in anfboer to Salmafms'j- Defence of the King. 535 
 
 They refus'd (and wifely, in my opinion) to make him King again, being then 
 an Enemy ; who when he was their King, had made himfelf their Enemy : Nor 
 were they ever the Jefs averfe to a Peace, but they very prudently dreaded a 
 new War, or a perpetual Slavery under the name of a Peace. To load our Army 
 with the more reproaches, you begin a filly con fu fed Narrative of our Affairs j 
 in which tho' I find many things falfe, many things frivolous, many things laid to 
 our charge, for which we rather merit ; yet I think it will be to no purpofe for 
 me to write a true relation, in anfwer to your falfe one. For you and I are ar- 
 guing, not writing Hiftories, and both fides will believe our reafons, but not 
 our narrative ; and indeed the nature of the things themfelves is fuch, that they 
 cannot be related as they ought to be, but in a fet Hiftory •, {o that I think it 
 better, as Salujl faid of Carthage, rather to fay nothing at all, than to fay but a 
 little of things of this weight and importance. Nay, and I fcorn fo much as 
 to mention the praifes of great Men, and of Almighty God himfelf (who in fo 
 wonderful a courfe of Affairs ought to be frequently acknowledged) amongft 
 your Slanders and Reproaches. I'll therfore only pick out fuch things as feem 
 to have any colour of argument. You fay, the English and Scotch promifed by a 
 fclemn Covenant, to preferve the Majefty of the King. But you omit upon what 
 terms they promifed it ; to wit, if it might confilt with the fafety of their Re- 
 ligion and their Liberty. To both which, Religion and Liberty, that King was 
 fo averfe to his laft breath, and watch'd all opportunities of gaining advantages 
 upon them, that it was evident that his Life was dangerous to their Religion, and 
 the certain ruin of their Liberty. But then you fall upon the King's Judges a- 
 gain : Ifive confider the thing aright, the conclufwn of this abominable aclion muft be 
 imputed to the Independents, yet fo as the Prefbyterians mayjuftly challenge the glory 
 of its beginning and progrefs. Hark, ye Presbyterians, what good has it done 
 you ? How is your Innocence and Loyalty the more cleared by your feeming fo 
 much to abhor the putting the King to death? You yourfelves in the opinion of 
 this everlafting talkative Advocate of the King, youvAccufir, went more than half- 
 way towards it -, you were feen ailing the fourth Ail and more, in this Tragedy ;you 
 may jufily be charged with the King's death, Jince youfhew'd the way to it ; 'twas you 
 and only you that laid his head upon the Block. Wo be to you in the firft place, if 
 ever Charles his Pofterity recover the Crown of England ; afiure your felves, you 
 are like to be put in the black Lift. But pay your Vows to Gdd, and love your 
 Brethren who have delivered you, who have prevented that Calamity from fal- 
 ling upon you, who have favedyou from inevitable ruin, tho' againit your own 
 wills. You are accufed likewile lor that fome years ago you endeavour'd by fundry 
 Petitions to leffen the King's authority, that you publiflSc I fome fcar.dalous Exprejfwns of 
 the King himfelf in the Papers you prefented him with in the name of the Par lament ; 
 to wit, in that Declaration of the Lords and Commons of the 26th o/May 164.2,3011 
 declared openly in fome mad Pofitions that breath' d nothing but Rebellion, what your 
 thoughts were of the King's authority : Hotham by order of Parlament fhut the gates 
 0/TI11II againft the King; you had a mind to make a trial by this firft acl of Rebellion 
 how much the King would bear. What could this Man fay more, if it were his de- 
 fign to reconcile the minds of all Englifhmen to one another, and alienate them 
 wholly from the King? for he gives them here to understand, that if ever the 
 King be brought back,they mult not only expect to be punifh'd for his Father's 
 death, but for the Petitions they made long ago, and fome Acts that paft in full 
 Pai lament, concerning the putting down the Common- Prayer and Biihops, and 
 that of the triennial Parlament, and feveral other things that were enacted 
 with the greateft confent and applaufe of all the People that could be; all which 
 will be look'd upon as the Seditions and mad Pofitions of the Presbyterians, But 
 this vain fellow changes his mind all of a fudden ; and what but of late, when he 
 eonfideredit aright, he thought was to be imputed wholly to the Presbyterians, now 
 that he confiders the fame thing from firft. to laft, he thinks the Independents were 
 the fole Actors of it. But even now he told us, the Prefbyterians look up Arms 
 againit the King, that by them he was beaten, taken captive, and put inprifon: Now 
 he fays, this zvhole Doctrine of 'Rebellion is the Independents Principle. O! the 
 faithfulnefsof this Man's Narrative ! How confiftent he is with himfelf! What 
 need is there of a Counter-Narrative to this of his, that cuts its own throat ? 
 But if any man fiiould queftion whether you are an honeft Man or a Knave, let 
 him read thele following lines of yours: It is time to explain whence and at what 
 i.ixe this Seel of Enemies to KingJ/.ip firft began. Why truly thefe rare Puritans began 
 
 in 
 
 A.
 
 536 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 in Queen Elizabeth'* time to crawl out of Hell, anddijturi not only the Church, but 
 the State likewife; for they are no lefs plagues to the latter than to the former. Now 
 your very fpeech bewrays you to be a right Balaam ; for where you defigned to 
 ink out the moft bitter Poifon you could, there unwittingly and againft your 
 will you have pronoune'd a Blefling. For it's notorioufly known all over England, 
 that if any endeavoured to follow the example of thole Churches, whether in 
 France or Germany, which they accounted beft reformed, and to exercife the 
 public Worlhip of God in a more pure manner, which our Bifhops had almofb 
 univerfally corrupted with their Ceremonies and Superftitions •, or if any feemed 
 either in point of Religion or Morality to be better than others, fuch perfons 
 were by the Favourers of Epifcopacy termed Puritans. Thefe are they whole 
 Principles you fay are fo oppofite to Kingfhip. Nor are they the only perfons, 
 moft of the reformed Religion, that have not fucked in the reft of their principles, yet 
 feem to have approved of thoft that flrike at kingly Government. So that while you 
 inveigh bitterly againft the Independents, and endeavour to feparate them from 
 Chrift's flock, with the fame breath you praife them ; and thofe Principles which 
 almoft every where you affirm to be peculiar to the Independents, here you con- 
 fefs have been approved of by moft of the reformed Religion. Nay, you are 
 arrived to that degree of impudence, impiety and apoftacy, that though for- 
 merly you maintained Bilhops ought to be extirpated out of the Churchy 
 root and branch, as fo many pefts and limbs of Antichrift, here you fay the 
 Kino- ought to protect them, for the faving of his Coronation-Oath. You cannot 
 fhow your felf a more infamous Villain than you have done already, but by ab- 
 juring the Protcftant Reformed Religion, to which you are a fcandal. Where- 
 as you tax us with giving a Toleration of all Set! s and Herefies, you ought not to 
 find fault with us for that; fince the Church bears with fuch a profligate Wretch 
 as you your felf, fuch a vain Fellow, fuch a Lyar, fuch a Mercenary Slanderer, 
 fuch an Apoftate, one who has the impudence to affirm, that the beft and molt 
 pious of Chriftians, and even moft of thofe who profefs the reformed Religi- 
 on, are crept out of Hell, becaufe they differ in opinion from you. I had beft 
 pais by the Calumni s that fill up the reft of this Chapter, and thofe prodigious 
 Tenets that you afcribe to the Independents, to render them odious; for neither 
 do they at all concern the Caufe you have in hand, and they are fuch for the molt 
 part as deferve to be laugh'd at, and defpifed, rather than receive a ferious 
 Anfwer. 
 
 CHAP. xr. 
 
 YO U feem to begin this eleventh Chapter, Salmajius, though with no mo- 
 deity, yet with fome fenfe of yourweaknefs and trifling in this Difcourfe. 
 For wheras you propofed to your leli to enquire in this place, by what autho- 
 rity fentence was given againft the King? you add immediately, which no bo- 
 dy expected from you, that 'lis in vain to make any fuch enquiry ; to wit, becaufe 
 the quality of the perfons that did it, leaves hardly any room for fuch a quefliott. 
 And therfore as you have been found guilty of a great deal of Impudence and 
 Saucinefs in the undertaking of this Caufe, lb fince you feem here confeious of 
 your own impertinence, I fhall give you the fhorter Anfwer. To your queftion 
 then ; by what authority the Houfe of Commons either condemn'd the King 
 themfelves, or delegated that Power to others ; I anfwer, they did it by virtue 
 of the fupreme Authority on Earth. How they come to have the Supreme Pow- 
 er,you may learn by what I have laid already, when I have refuted your Imperti- 
 nencies upon that Subject. If you believed your felf that you could ever lay e- 
 nough upon any Subject, you would not be fo tedious in repeating the fame things 
 fo many times over. And the Houfe of Commons might delegate their Judici- 
 al Power by the famereafon, by which you fay the King may delegate his, who 
 received all he had from the People. Hence in that folemn League and Cove- 
 nant that you object to us, the Parlaments of England and Scotland folcmnly 
 protcft and engage to each other, to punifh the Traitors in fuch manner as the 
 v me, Judicial Authority in both Nations, or fuch as fliould have a delegated Power 
 from item, fhould think fit. Now you hear the Parlaments of both Nations pro- 
 tcft with one voice, that they may delegate their Judicial Power, which they call 
 
 the
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'i Defence of the Kim. 537 
 
 the Supreme ; fo that you move a vain and frivolous Controverfy about dele<*atino- 
 this power. But, lay you, there were added to thefe Judges that were madTchoiTe 
 of oh! of ihe Houfe of Commons, feme Officers of the Army, and it never -was known 
 thai Soldiers had any right to try a Subject for his life. I'll filence you in a very few 
 words : You may remember that we are not now difcourfing of a Subject, but 
 of an Enemy ■, whom if a General of an Army, after he has taken him Prifoner, 
 refolds to dilpatch, would he be thought to proceed otherwife than according 
 to Cuftom and Martial Law, if he himfelf with fome of his Officers fhould fit 
 upon him, and try and condemn him ? An Enemy to a Srate made a Prifoner 
 of War, cannot be lookt upon to be lb much as a Member, much lefs a Kino- in 
 that State. This is declared by that Sacred Law of St. Edward, which denies 
 that a bad King is a King at all, or ought to be call'd fo. Wheras you fay, it 
 was not the whole, but a part of the Houfe of Commons that try'd and condemned the 
 King, I give you this anfwer : The number of them, who gave their Votes for 
 putting the King to death,, was far greater than is neceffary, according to the 
 cuftom of our Parlaments, to tranfact the greatefl Affairs of the Kingdom, in 
 the abfence. of the re!l ; who fince they were abfent through their own fault 
 (for to revolt to the common Enemy in their hearts, is theworft fort of abfence) 
 their abfence ought not to hinder the reft who continued faithful to the caufe, 
 from pivferving the State ; which when it was in a tottering condition, and al- 
 molt quite reduced to Slavery and utter Ruin, the whole body of the People had 
 at fii ft committed to their fidelity, prudence and courage. And they acted their 
 parts like men-, they fct themfelves in oppofition to the unruly wilfulnefs, the 
 rage, the fecret defigns of an inveterate and exafperated King ; they prefer'd 
 the common Liberty and Safety before their own ; they out-did all former Par- 
 laments, they out-did all their Anceftors in Conduct, Magnanimity and Sted- 
 dinefs to their caufe. Yet thefe very men did a great part of the People ungrate- 
 fully defert in the midft of their undertaking, tho' they had promifed them all 
 fidelity, all the help and affiftance they could afford them. Thefe were for Sla- 
 very and Peace, with (loth and luxury, upon any terms : Others demanded their 
 Liberty, nor would accept or a Peace that was not fure and honourable. What 
 fhould the Parlament do in this cafe ? Ought they to have defended this part of 
 the People, that was found, and continued faithful to them and their Country, or 
 to have fitted with thofe that deferted both ? I know what you will fay they ou°-hc 
 to have done. You are not Eury'ochus, but Elpenor, a miferable enchanted Beaft, 
 a filthy Swine, accullom'd to a fordid Slavery even under a Woman j fo that 
 you have not the lead relifh of true Magnanimity, nor confequently of Liberty 
 which is the effeift of it : You would have all other men Slaves, becaufe you find 
 in your felf no generous, ingenuous inclinations ; you fay nothing, you breathe 
 rothing but what's mean and fervile. You raife another fcruple, to wit, That 
 be was the King <?/" Scotland too, whom we condemn' 'd; as if he might therfore do 
 what he would in England. But that you may conclude this Chapter, which of 
 ail others is the moft weak and infipid, at leaft with fome witty querk, There are 
 two little words, fay you, that are made up of the fame number of Letters, and differ 
 enly in ihe placing of them, but whofefignijications are wide afunder, to wit, Vis and 
 Jus, (Might and Right.) 'Tis no great wonder that fuch a three-letter'd man 
 as you, {Fur a Thief) fhould make fuch a Witticifm upon three Letters : 'Tis 
 the greater wonder (which yet you afiert throughout your Book) that two things 
 fo direftly oppolite to one another as thofe two are, mould yet meet and become 
 one and the fame thing in Kings. For what violence was ever acted by Kings, 
 which you do not affirm to be their Right ? Thefe are al! the pafiages that I could 
 pick out of nine long Pages, that I thought deferved an anfwer. The reft con- 
 lifts cither of repetitions of things that have been anfwered more than once, or 
 fuch as have no relation to the matter in hand. So that my being more brief in 
 this Chapter than in the reft, is not to be imputed to want of diligence in me, 
 which, how irkfomc foever you are to me, I have not flackned, but to your te- 
 dious impertinence, fo void of matter and fenfe, 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 IWifh, Sahncfius, that you had left out this part of your Difcourfe concern- 
 ing the King's crimes, which it had been more advifable for your felf and 
 ycur party to have done •, for I'm afraid left in giving you an anfwer to it, I 
 fhould appear too fharp andfevetoupon him, now he his dsad, and hath recei- 
 Y o l . f . Z z z. ved 
 
 4
 
 5 3 8 ^ Defence of the People of England, 
 
 ved his punifhment. But fince you chofe rather to difcourfe confidently and a!, 
 lar^e upon that Subject, I'll make you fenfible, that you could not have done a 
 more inconfidcrate 'thing, than to referve the word part of your cauie to th« 
 laft to wit, that of ripping up and enquiring into the King's Crimes ; wh 
 when I (hall have proved them to have been true and moft exorbitant, they will 
 render his memory unpleafant and odious to all good men, and imprint now in 
 the clofe of the Controverfy, a juft hatred of you, who undertake his defence, 
 on the Readers minds. Say you,' His acatfation may be divided into two pans, ate 
 
 _ fpent in Banquetin 5 , 
 for what can there be in Luxury and Excefs, worth relating ? And what would 
 thofe things have been to us, if he had been a private perfon ? But fince he would 
 be a Kinp° as he could not live a private Life, fo neither could his Vices be 
 like thofe 'of a private Perfon. For in the firft place, he did a great deal of mif- 
 chief by his Example : In the fecond place, all that time that he fpent upon his 
 luft, and his fports, which was a great part of his time, he ftole from the State, 
 the 'Government of which he had undertaken. Thirdly and laftly, he fquan- 
 dered away vaft Sums of Money, which were not his own, but the public Re- 
 venue of the Nation, in his domeftic Luxury and Extravagance. So thatin his 
 private life at home he firlt began to be an ill King. But let us rather pais over 
 to thofe Crimes that be is charged with on the account of mi (government. Here you 
 lament his being condemned as a Tyrant, a Traitor, and a Murderer. That he 
 had no wrong done him, fhall now be made appear. But firft let us define a Ty- 
 rant, not according to vulgar conceits, but the judgment of Ariftotle, and of 
 all Learned Men. He is a Tyrant who regards his own welfare and profit only, 
 and not that of the People. So Ariftolle defines one in the Tenth Book of his E- 
 thics, and elfewhere, and fo do very many others. Whether G&flr/« regarded his 
 ■own or the People's good, thefe fewthings of many that I fhall but touch upon, will 
 evince. When his Rents and other public Revenues of the Crown would not de- 
 fray the Expences of the Court, he laid moft heavy Taxes upon the People ; and 
 when they were fquandred away, he invented new ones; not for the benefit, ho- 
 nour, or defence of the State, but that he might hoard up, or lavifh out in one 
 Houfe, the Riches and Wealth, not of one, but of three Nations. When at this 
 rate he broke loofe, and acted without any colour of Law to warrant his proceed- 
 ing's, knowing that the Parlament was the only thing that could give him check, 
 he endeavoured either wholly to lay afide the very calling of Parlaments, or cal- 
 ling them juft as often, and no oftner, than to ferve his own turn, to make them en- 
 tirely at his devotion. Which Bridle when he had caft off himfelf, he put another 
 Bridle upon the People •, he put Gariibns of GermanYxortc and Irijh Foot in many 
 Towns and Cities, and that in time of Peace. Do you think he does not begin 
 to look like a Tyrant ? In which very thing, as in many other Particulars, which 
 you have formerly given me occafion to inftance (tho' you fcornto have Charles 
 compared with fo cruel aTyrant as, Nero) he refembled him extremely much. For 
 Nero likewife often threatned to take away the Senate. Befides, he bore extreme 
 hard upon the Confciences of good men, and compelled them to the ufe of Ce- 
 remonies and Superftitious Worfhip, borrowed from Popery, and by him re- 
 introduced into the Church. They that would not conform, were imprifoned 
 or banifii'd. He made War upon the Scots twice for no other caufe than that. By 
 all thefe actions he has furely deferved the name of a Tyrant once over at leaft. 
 Now I'll tell you why the word Traitor was put into his Indictment : When he 
 allured his Parlament by Promifes, by Proclamations, by Imprecations, that he 
 had no defign againft the State, at that very time did he lift Papifts in Ireland, he 
 fent a private Embafiy to the King of Denmark to beg afiiftance from him of 
 Arms, Horfes and Men, exprefiy againft the Parlament •, and was endeavour- 
 ing to raife an Army firft in England, and then in Scotland. To the Engli/h he 
 promifed the Plunder of the City of London ; to the Scots, that the four Northern 
 Counties fhould be added to Scot/and, if they would but help him-to get rid of the 
 Parlament, by what means foever. Thefe Projects not fucceeding, he fent over 
 one Dillon a Traitor, into Ireland with private Inftructions to the Natives, to fall 
 luddenly upon all the Englijh that inhabited there. Thefe are the moft remarka- 
 ble ih&mces of his Treafons, not taken up upon hear-fay and idle reports, but 
 >.ii!'covercd by Letters under his own Hand and Seal. And finally I fuppofe no 
 
 man
 
 in anfwer to Salmafius'j 1 Defence of the Kim. 539 
 
 man will deny that he was a Murderer, by whofe order the Irijh took Arms, and 
 put to death with moll exquifite Torments, above a hundred thotihnd Englift/, who 
 lived peaceably by them, and without any apprehenfion of danger 5 and who raif- 
 ed fo great a Civil War in the other two Kingdoms. Add to all this, that at the 
 Treaty in the Ifle of Wight, the King openly took upon himfelf the guilt of the 
 War, and clear'd the Parlament in the Confeffion he made there, which is pub- 
 licly known. Thus you have in fhort why King Charles was adjudged zTyrant, 
 a Traitor, and a Murderer. But, fay you, why was he not declared fo before, neither 
 in that Solemn League and Covenant, nor afterwards when he was deliver d to them ei- 
 ther by the Prefbyterians or the Independents, but on the other hand was received as a 
 King ought to be, with all reverence ? This very thing is fufficient to perfuade any 
 rational man, that the Parlament entred not into any Councils of quite depofing 
 the King, but as their laft refuge, after they had differed and undergone all 1h.1t 
 pofiibly they could, and had attempted all other ways and means. You alone 
 endeavour malicioufly to lay that to their charge, which to all good men cannot 
 but evidence their great Patience, Moderation, and perhaps a too lon°- forbearino- 
 with the King's Pride and Arrogance. But in the month of Auguft, before the King 
 fuffered, the Houfe of Commons, which then bore the only fway, and was govern* d by the 
 Independents, wrote Letters to the Scots, in which they acquainted them that they never 
 intended to alter the Form of Government that had obtain' d fo long in Enp-1 and under 
 King, Lords, and Commons. You may fee from hence, how little reafon there is to 
 afcribe the depofmg of the King, to the principles of the Independents. They, 
 that never ufed to diffemble and conceal their Tenets, even then, when they had 
 the fole management of affairs, profefs, That they never intended to alter the Govern- 
 ment. But it afterwards a thing came into their minds, which at firfl they intended 
 not, why might they not take fuch a courfe, tho' before not intended, asappear'd 
 moll advifablc, and mod for the Nation's Intereft ? Efpecially when they found 
 that the King could not poffibly be intreated or induced to affent to thofe jud de- 
 mands that they had made from time to time, and which were always the fame 
 from firft to laft. He perfifled in thofe perverfe fentiments with refpec~l to Re- 
 ligion and his own Right, which he had all along efpoufed, and which were fo 
 dedruftive to us ; not in the lead altered from the man that he was, when in 
 Peace and War, he did us all fo much mifchief. If he affented to any thins, he 
 gave no obfcure hints that he did it againft his will, and that whenever he fhould 
 come intopower again, he would look upon fuch his afTent as null and void. The 
 fame thing his Son declar'd by writing under his hand, when in thofe days he run 
 away with part of the Fleet, and fo did the King himfelf by Letters to fome of his 
 own party in London. In the mean time, againft the avowed fenfe of the Parla- 
 ment, he ftruck up a private Peace with the drift, the moll barbarous Enemies 
 imaginable to England, upon bafedifhonourable terms •, but whenever he invited 
 the Englifh to Treaties of Peace, at thofe very times with all the power he had, and 
 interell he could make, he was preparing for War. In this cafe, what mould thev 
 do, who were intruded with the care of the Government ? Ought they to have 
 betrayed the fafety of us all to our moft bitter Adverfary ? Or would you have 
 had them left us to undergo the Calamities of another feven years War, not to 
 fay worfe ? God put a better mind into them, of preferring, purfuant to that 
 very folemn League and Covenant, their Religion, and Liberties, before thofe 
 thoughts they once had, of not rejecling the King ; for they had not gone fo far 
 as to vote it •, all which they faw at laft (tho' indeed later than they might have 
 done) could not poffibly fubfift, as long as the King continued King. The Par- 
 lament ought and muft of neceffity be entirely free, and at liberty to provide for 
 the good of the Nation, as occafion requires ; nor ought they fo to be wedded to 
 their firft Sentiments, as to fcruple the altering their minds, for their own, or the 
 Nation's good, if God put an opportunity into their hands of procuring it. But 
 the Scots were of another opinion ; for they, in aLettertoChxdes, the King's Son, call 
 his Father a moft Sacred Prince, and the putting him to death, a moft execrable Villany. 
 Do not you talk of the Scots, whom you know not ; v/e know them well enough, 
 and know the time, when they called that fame King, a moll execrable Perfon, a 
 Murderer, and Traitor ; and the, putting a Tyrant to death a. mojl facred action. 
 Then you pick holes in the King's Charge, as not being properly penn'd •, and you 
 ask why we needed to call him a Traitor and a Murderer, after we hadftiledhim a Ty- 
 rant ; fince thewordTyrant includes all the Crimes that 'maybe : And then you ex- 
 plain to us grammatically and critically, what a Tyrant is. Away with thofe 
 Vol. I, Zzz 2 Trifles,
 
 54° 
 
 A Defence of the People of England. 
 
 Trifles, you Pedagogue, which that one definition of Jriflotle's, that has lately 
 been cited will utterly confound •, and teach liich a Doctor as you, That the word 
 Tyrant (for all your concern is barely to have fomeunderftanding of words) may 
 be applied to one, who is neither a Traitor nor a Murderer. But the Law's of 
 England do not make it Treafon in the King toftir up Sedition againft himfelf or the 
 People. Nor do they fay* That the Parlament can be guilty of Treafon by de- 
 pofing a bad King, nor that any Parlament ever was fo, tho' they have often 
 doneTf, but our Laws plainly and clearly declare, that a King may violate, 
 diminiih, nay, and wholly lofe his Royalty. For that expreffion in the Law of St. 
 Edward, oilojing the name of a King, fignifies neither more nor lefs, than being de- 
 prived of the Kingly Office and Dignity ; which befel Chilperic King of France^ 
 whofe example, for illuftration fake, is taken notice of in the Law it felf. There 
 is not a Lawyer amongft us that Can deny, but that the higheft Treafon may be 
 committed againft the Kingdom as well as againfi: the King. I appeal toGlanviie 
 himfelf, whom you cite, ' If any man attempt to put the King to death, or raife 
 
 * Sedition in the Realm, it is High Treafon.' So that Attempt of fome Papifls to 
 blow up the Parlament-Houfe, and the Lords and Commons there with Gunpow- 
 der, was by King James himfelf, and both Houfes of Parlament, declar'd to be 
 High Treafon, not againft the King only, but againft the Parlament and the whole 
 Kingdom. 'Twould be to no purpofe to quote more of our Statutes, to prove fo 
 clear a Truth ; which yet I could eafily do. For the thing it felf is ridiculous, and 
 abfurd to imagine, That High Treafon may be committed againft the King, and 
 not againft the People, for whofe good, nay, and by whole leave, as I may fay* 
 the King is what he is; So that you babble over lb many Statutes of ours, to no 
 purpofe •, you toil and wallow in our Ancient Law-Books, to no purpofe ; for the 
 Laws themfelves ftand or fall by Authority of Parlament, who always had power 
 to confirm or repeal them ; and the Parlament is the fole Judge of what is Rebel- 
 lion, what Pligh Treafon (Lefa Majeftas) and what not. Majefty never was vefted 
 to that degree in the Perfon of the King, as not to be more confpicuous, and 
 more auguft in Parlament, as I have often fhown : But who can endure to hear 
 fuch a fenfelefs Fellow, fuch a French Mountebank as you, declare what our Laws 
 are? And, youEngliJh Fugitives, fo many Bifhops, Doctors, Lawyers, who pre- 
 tend that all Learning and Ingenuous Literature is fled out of England with your 
 felves, was there not one of you that could defend the King's Caufe and your own, 
 and that in good Latin alfo, to be fubmitted to the judgment of other Nations, 
 but that this brain-fick, beggarly Frenchman, mult be hired to undertake the De- 
 fence of a poor indigent King, furrounded with fo many Infant-Priefts and Doc- 
 tors ? This very thing, I affure you, will be a great imputation to you amonglt 
 Foreigners •, and you will be thought defervedly to have loft that Caufe you 
 were fo far from being able to defend by Force of Arms, as that you cannot fo 
 much as write in behalf of it. But now I come to you again, Good-man Goofecap, 
 who fcribble fo finely ; if at leaft you are come to your felf again ; for I find you 
 here towards the latter end of your Book, in a deep fleep, and dreaming of fome 
 voluntary Death or other, that's nothing to the purpofe. Then you deny that 'tis 
 foffible for a King in his right wits to embroil his People in Seditions, to betray his 
 cwn Forces to bejlaughter'd by Enemies, and raife Faclions againfi himfelf. All which 
 things having been done by many Kings, and particularly by Charles the late King 
 of England, you will no longer doubt, I hope, efpecially being addicted to Stc- 
 icifm, but that all Tyrants, as well as profligate Villains, are downright mad. 
 Hear what Horace fays, ' Whoever through a fenfelefs Stupidity, or any other 
 
 * caufe whatfoever, hath his Underftanding fo blinded, as not to difcern truth, 
 
 * the Stoics account of him as of a mad man : And fuch are whole Nations, fuch 
 ' are Kings and Princes, fuch are all Mankind ; except thofe very few that are 
 
 * Wife.' So that if you would clear King Charles from the Imputation of acting 
 like a Mad-man, you muft firft vindicate his integrity, and {how that he never act- 
 ed like an ill man. But a King, you fay, cannot commit Treafon againfi his own Sub- 
 jeSls and Vaffals. In the firft place, fince we are as free as any People under Hea- 
 ven, we will not be impofed upon by any Barbarous Cuftom of any other Nation 
 whatfoever. In the iecond place, fuppofe we had been the King's Vafials ; 
 that Relation would not have obliged us to endure a Tyrant to reign and lord it 
 over us. All Subjection to Magiftrates, as our own Laws declare, is circumfcri- 
 bed, and confined within the bounds ofHonefty, and the Public Good. Read Leg. 
 Hen. i. Cap. $5, The obligation betwixt a Lord and his Tenants, is mutual, and 
 
 remains
 
 in anfwer to SalmafmsV Defence of the King. &a\ 
 
 remains fo long as the Lord protects his Tenant ; (this all our Lawyers tell us) 
 but if the Lord be too fevere and cruel to his Tenant, and do him fome heinous 
 Injury, The whole Relation betwixt them, and whatever Obligation the Tenant is under 
 by having done Homage to his Lord, is utterly diffolv'd and extinguiftfd. Thefe are the 
 very words of Bract on and Fleta. So that in fome Cafe, the Law it felf warrants 
 even a Slave, or a VafTal to oppofe his Lord; and allows the Slave to kill him, if 
 he vanquifh him in Battle. If a City, or a whole Nation may not lawfully take 
 this courfe with a Tyrant, the Condition of Freemen will be worfc than that of 
 Slaves. Then you go about to excufe King Charles's fhedding of innocent Blood, 
 partly by Murders committed by other Kings, and partly by fome Inftances of 
 Men put to death by them lawfully. For the matter of the Irtjh Maffacre, you re- 
 fer the Reader to 'Eixuv BxtnXiw ; and I refer you to Eiconoclafles. The Town of 
 Rochel being taken, and the Townfmenbetray'd, afliftance fhown, but not afford- 
 ed them, you will not have laid at Charles's door ; nor have I any thing to fay, 
 whether he was faulty in that bufinefs or not ; he did mifchief enough at home; 
 we need not enquire into what Mifdemeanors he was guilty of abroad. But you 
 in the meantime would make all the Proteftant Churches, that have at any time 
 defended themfelves by force of Arms againft Princes, who were profefs'd Ene- 
 mies of their Religion, to have been guilty of Rebellion. Let them confider how 
 much it concerns them for the maintaining their Ecclefiaftical Difcipline, and af- 
 ferting their own Integrity, not to pals by fo great an Indignity offer'd them by 
 aPerfon bred up by and amongft themfelves. That which troubles us moft; is, 
 that the Englifi likewife were betray'd in that Expedition. He, who had defign'd 
 long ago to convert the Government of England into a Tyranny^ thought he 
 could not bring it to pafs, till the Flower and Strength of the Military Power of 
 the Nation were cutoff. Another of his Crimes was, the caufmg fome words to 
 be ftruck out of the ufual Coronation-Oath, before he himfelf would take it. Un- 
 worthy and abominable Aciion ! The Act was wicked in it felf; what fha.ll be faid 
 of him that undertakes to juftify it ? For, by the Eternal God, what greater 
 breach of Faith, and Violation of allLaws, can pofiibly be imagin'd ? What ought 
 to be more facred to him, next to the Holy Sacraments themfelves, than that 
 Oath ? Which of the two do you think the more flagitious Perfon, him that of- 
 fends againft the Law, or him that endeavours to make the Law equally guilty 
 with himfelf? Or rather him who fubverts the Law it felf, that he may not feem 
 to offend againft it? For thus, that King violated that Oath which he ought 
 moft religioufly to have fworn to ; but that he might not feem openly and pub- 
 licly to violate it, he craftily adulterated and corrupted it ; and left he himfelf 
 fhould be accounted perjur'd, he turn'd the very Oath into a Perjury. What 
 other could be expected, than that his Reign would be full of Injuftice, Craft, 
 and Misfortune, who began it with fo deteftable an Injury to his People ? And 
 who durft pervert and adulterate that Law which he thought the only Obftacle 
 that flood in his way, and hindred him from perverting all the reft of the Laws : 
 But that Oath (thus you juftify him) lays no other Obligation upon Kings, than the 
 Laws themfelves do ; and Kings pretend that they will be bound and limited by Laws, 
 tho' indeed they are altogether from under the Power of Laws. Is it not prodigious, 
 that a Man fhould dare to exprefs himfelf fo facrilegioufly, and fo fenfelefly, as to 
 affert that an Oath facredly fworn upon the Holy Evangelifts, may be difpenfed 
 with, and fet afide as a little infignificant thing, without any Caufe whatsoever ! 
 Charles himfelf refutes you, you Prodigy of Impiety! who thinking that Oath no 
 light matter, chofe rather by a Subterfuge to avoid the force of it, or by a Fallacy 
 to elude it, than openly to violate it; and would rather fallify and corrupt the 
 Oath, than manifeftly forfwear himfelf after he had taken it. But, The King in- 
 deed fwears to his People, as the People do 10 him ; but the People fwear Fidelity to 
 theKing, not the King to them. Pretty Invention ! Does not he that promifes, and 
 binds himfelf by an Oath to do any thing to, or for another, oblige his Fidelity 
 to them that require the Oath of him ? Of a truth, every King fwears Fidelity, 
 and Service, and Obedience to the People, with refpect to the performance of 
 whatever he promifes upon Oath to do. Then you run back to William the Con- 
 queror, who was forced more than once to fwear to perform, not what he him- 
 felf would, but what the People, and the great Men of the Realm requir'd of him. 
 If many Kings are crown 'd without the ufual Solemnity, and reign without taking 
 any Oath, the fame thing may be faid of the People •, a great many of whom ne- 
 ver took the Oath of Allegiance. If the King by not taking an Oath be at li- 
 berty,
 
 m 2 A Defence of the People of England, 
 
 berty, the People are fo too. And chat parr of the People that has i'worn, fvv ore 
 not to the King only, but to the Realm, and the Laws, by which the King came 
 to his Crown ;°and no otherwife to the King, than whilft he mould act according 
 to thofe Laws, that the Common People, that is, the Houle of" Commons, JJjould 
 chile ; (quas Valgus elegerit.) For it were folly to alter the Phraie of our Law, and 
 turn it into more genuine Latin. This Claufe (quas Vulgus elegerit) Which the 
 Commons fcall chufe, Charles before he was crown'd, procured to be razed out. But, 
 fay you, without the King's ajfent the People can chafe no Laws -, and for this you cite 
 two Statutes, viz. Anno 37 H. 6. Cap. 15. and 13 Edw. 4. Cap. 8. but thefe two 
 Statutes are fo far from appearing in our Scatute-Books, that in the years you 
 mention, neither of thofe Kings enacted any Laws at all. Go now and complain, 
 that thofe Fugitives who pretended to furnifh you with matter out of our Statutes, 
 impofed upon you in it -, and let other People in the mean time ftand aftonifh'd 
 at your Impudence and Vanity, who are not afham'd to pretend to be throughly 
 vers'd in fuch Books, as it is fo evident you have never look'd into, nor fo much 
 as feen. And that Claufe in the Coronation-Oath, which fuch a brazen-fac'd 
 Brawler as you call fictitious, The King's Friends, you fay your felf, acknowledge 
 that it may pcjfibly be extant in fame Ancient Copies, but that it grew intodifufe, be- 
 caufe it had no convenient fignificaiion. But for that very reafon, did our Anceflors 
 infert it in the Oath, that the Oath might have fuch a fignification as would not 
 be for a Tyrant's conveniency. If it had really grown into difufe, which yet 
 is moft falfe, there was the greater need of reviving it ; but even that would have 
 been to no purpofe, according to your Doctrine : For that Cv.jlom of taking an 
 Oath, as Kings now-a- days generally ufe it, is no r,.orc, you fay, than a bare Ceremony, 
 And yet the King, when the Biihops were to be put down, pretended that he 
 could not do it by reafon of that Oath. And confequently, that reverend and 
 facred Oath, as it ferves for the King's turn, cr not, mult be folemn and bind- 
 ing, or an empty Ceremony : Which I earneftly entreat my Country-men to take 
 notice of, and to confider what manner of a King they are like to have, if he ever 
 come back. For it would never have entered into the thoughts of this Rafcally 
 foreign Grammarian to write a Dilcourfe of the Rights of the Crown of England, 
 unlefs both Charles Stuart now in Banifhment, and tainted with his Father's Prin- 
 ciples, and thofe Profligate Tutors that he has along with him, had induftrioufly 
 fuggefted to him what they would have writ. They dictated to him, That the 
 lilrole Parlament were liable to be proceeded againfi as Traitors, becaufe they decla- 
 red without the King's Affent all them to be Traitors, who had taken up Arms againfi 
 the Parlament of England ; and that Parlament s were but the King* sVaffals : That 
 the Oath which our Kings take at their Coronation, is but a Ceremony : And why 
 not that a Vaflal too ? So that no reverence of Laws, no facrednefs of an Oath, 
 will be fufficient to protect your Lives and Fortunes, either from the Exorbitance 
 of a furious, or the Revenge of an exafperated Prince, who has been fo inftruc- 
 ted from his Cradle, as to think Laws, Religion, nay, and Oaths themfelves, 
 ought to be fubject to his Will and Pleafure. How much better is it, and more 
 becoming your felves, if you defire Riches, Liberty, Peace and Empire, to ob- 
 tain them afiuredly by your own Virtue, Induftry, Prudence and Valour, than 
 to long after, and hope for them in vain under the Rule of a King ? They, who 
 are of opinion that thefe things cannot be compafs'd but under a King, and a 
 Lord ; it cannot well be exprelled how mean, how bafe, I do not lay, how- 
 unworthy thoughts they have of themfelves -, for in effect, what do they other 
 than confefs, that they themfelves are lazy, weak, fenfelefs, filly Perfons, and 
 fram'd for Slavery both in Body and Mind ? And indeed all manner of Slavery 
 is fcandalous and difgraceful to a freeborn ingenious Perfon •, but for you, after 
 you have recovered your loft Liberty, by God's Afliftance, and your own 
 Arms •, after the performance of fo many valiant Exploits, and the making fo 
 remarkable an Example of a moft Potent King, to defire to return again into a 
 Condition of Bondage and Slavery, will not only be fcandalous and difgraceful, 
 but an impious and wicked thing ; and equal to that of the Ifraelites, who for de- 
 firing to return to the Egyptian Slavery, were fo feverely punifhed for that for- 
 did, flavifh Temper of mind, and fo many of them deftroy'd by that God, who 
 had been their Deliverer. But what fay you now, who would perfuade us to 
 become Slaves ? The King, fay you, had a Power of pardoning fuch as were guilty of 
 1 reafon, and other Crimes ; which evinces fit fficiently that the King him f If was under 
 Law. The King might indeed pardon T reafon, not againft the Kingdom, but 
 
 againfi
 
 in anfwer to Salmaiius'j- Defence of the King. 543 
 
 againfl. himfelf ; and fo may any body elfe pardon wrongs done to themfelves ; 
 and he might, perhaps, pardon fome other Offences, tho' not always. But does it 
 .follow, becaufe in iome Cafes he had the Right of faving a Malefactor's life, that 
 therlore he muft have a Right todeftroy all good Men ? If the King be implead- 
 ed in an inferior Court, he is not obliged to anfwer* but by his Attorney : Does it 
 therfore follow, that when he is fummoned by all his Subjects to appear in Par- 
 lament, he may chufe whether he will appear or no, and refufe to anfwer in Per- 
 fon ? -You fay, 'That we endeavour to juftify what we have done by the Hollanders 
 Example ; and upon this occafion, fearing the lofs of that Stipend with which the 
 Hollanders feed fuch a Murrain and Peft as you are, if by reviling the Englifh, 
 you mould confequentially reflect upon them that maintain you, you endeavour 
 to dcmonftrate how unlike their ABims and ours are. The Comparifon that you 
 make betwixt them, I refolve to omit (tho' many things in it are moft falfe, and o- 
 ther things flattery all over, which yet you thought your felf obliged to put down, 
 to d ' our Penfion.) For the Engtijh think they need not alledge the Exam- 
 
 ples of Foreigners for their Juftification. They have Municipal Laws of their 
 ov :,, by which they have acted ; Laws with relation to the matter in hand, the 
 t in the World : They have the Examples of their Anceftors, great and gal- 
 lant Men, for their imitation, who never gave way to the Exorbitant Power of 
 Princes, and who have put many of them to death, when their Government be- 
 came infupportable. They were born free, they ftand in need of no other Na- 
 tion, they can make what Laws they pleafe for their own good Government. 
 One Law in particular they have a great veneration for, and a very Ancient one 
 it is, enacted by Nature it felf, That all Human Laws, all Civil Right and Go- 
 vernment mull have a refpect to the fafety and welfare of good Men, and not be 
 fubject to the Lufts of Princes. From hence to the end of your Book, I find 
 nothing but Rubbifh and Trifles, pick'd out of the former Chapters ; of which 
 you have here raifed fo great a heap* that I cannot imagine what other defign 
 you could have in ir, than to prefage the ruin of your whole Fabric. At lafl^ 
 after an infinite deal of tittle-tattle you make an end, calling God to witnefs, that 
 you undertook the defence of this Caufe, not only becaufe you were defired fo to do, 
 but becaufe your own Confcience told you, that you could not foffibly undertake the 
 Defence rr. Is it fit for you to intermeddle with our matters, with which 
 
 you have nothing to do, becaufe you were defired, when we our felves did not 
 defire you? to reproach with contumelious and opprobrious Language, and in 
 a Printed Book, the Supreme Magistracy of the Englifh Nation, when accord- 
 ing to the authority and power that they are intrufced with, they do but their 
 duty within their own Jurifdiction, and all this without the lead injury or pro- 
 vocation from them ? Tor they did not fo mucii as know that there was fuch a 
 man in the world as you.) And I pray by whom were you defired ? By your 
 Wife, I fuppofe, who, they fay, exercifes a Kingly Right and Jurifdiction over 
 you -, and whenever Ike has a mind to it (as Fulvia is made to fpeak in that ob- 
 fcene Epigram, that you collected lome Centoes out of, Pag. 320.) cries, Either 
 i ... „.''/; That made you write perhaps, left theSignal fhould be given. 
 
 Or were you asked by Charles the Younger, and that profligate Gang of Vaga- 
 bond Courtiers, and like a fecond Balaam call'd upon by another Balak to reftore 
 a defperate Caufe by ill writing, diat was loft by ill fighting ? That may be ; but 
 there's this difference, for he was a wife underftanding man, and rid upon an Afs 
 that could fpeak, to curfe the People of God : Thou art a very talkative Afs thy 
 felf, and rid by a Woman, and being furrounded with the healed heads of the Bi- 
 fhops that heretofore thou hadft wounded, thou feemeft to reprefentthatBeaft in 
 the Revelation. But they fay that a little alter you had written this Book, you re- 
 pented of what you had done. 'Tis well if it be fo •, and to make your Repentance 
 public, I think the beft courfe that you can take will be, for this long Book that 
 you have writ, to take a Halter, and make one long Letter of your felf. So 
 Judas Ifcariot repented, to whom you are like •, and that young Charles knew, 
 which made him fend you the Purfe, Judas his Badge; for he had heard before, 
 and found afterward by experience, that you were an Apoftate and a Devil. Ju- 
 das betray'd Chrijl himfelf, and you betray his Church ; you have taught here- 
 tofore that Bifhops were Antichriftian, and you are now revolted to their Par- 
 ty. You now undertake the Defence of their Caufe, whom formerly you 
 damn'd to the pit of Hell. Chrijl delivered all men from Bondage, and you 
 endeavour to enflave all Mankind. Never queftion, fince you have been fuch 
 
 a
 
 ;44 A Defence of the People of England. 
 
 a Villain to God himfelf, his Church, and all Mankind in genera!, b 
 the fame fate attends you that betel your equal, out of defpair rather thaa 
 repentance, to be weary of your life, and hang your fejf, and burft sriunder as 
 he did; and to fend before-hand that mithlcfs and treacherous Confcicr.cc of 
 yours, 'that railing Confcience at good and holy men, to that place of torment 
 that's prepared for you. And now I think, through God's afiiftance, I have 
 finifhed the Work I undertook, to wit, the defence of the Noble Actions ci my 
 Country-men at home and abroad, againft the raging and envious madnefs of 
 this diftrafted Sophifter ; and the afferting of the common Rights of the People 
 againft the unjuft domination of Kings, not out of any hatred to Kings, but Ty- 
 rants : Nor have I purpoiely left unanswered any one argument alledged by my 
 adverfary, nor any one example or authority quoted by him, that fcem'd to have 
 any force in it, or the leaft colour of an argument. Perhaps I have been guilty 
 rather of the other extreme, of replying to i'ome of his fooleries and trifles, as if 
 they werefolid arguments, and therby may feem to have attributed more to them 
 than they deferved. One thing yet remains to be done, which perhaps is ol" the 
 crreatcft concern of all, and that is, That you, my Countrymen, refute this ad- 
 verfary of yours yourfelves, which I do not fee any other means ot your effect- 
 ing, than by a conftant endeavour to out-do all men's bad words by your own 
 o-ood deeds. When you laboured under more forts of oppreffion than one, you 
 betook your felves to God for refuge, and he was gracioufly pleafed to hear your 
 mod earned Prayers and Defires. He has glorioufly delivered you the firft of 
 Nations, from the two greated mifchiefs of this life, and mod pernicious to Vir- 
 tue, Tyranny and Superflition ; he has endued you with greatnefs of mind 
 to be the firft of Mankind, who after having conquered their own King, and ha- 
 ving had him delivered into their hands, have not fcrupled to condemn him ju- 
 dicially, and purfuant to that Sentence of Condemnation, to put him to death. 
 After the performing lb glorious an Action as this, you ought to do nothing 
 that's mean and little, not fo much as to think of, much lefs to do any thing but 
 what is great and fublime. Which to attain to, this is your only way ; as you 
 have fubdued your Enemies in the Field, fo to make appear, that unarmed, and 
 in the higheft outward Peace and Tranquillity, you of all Mankind are bed able to 
 fubdue Ambition, Avarice, the Love of Riches, andean bed avoid the corrupti- 
 ons that Profperity is apt to introduce, (which generally fubdue and triumph 
 over other Nations) to fhew as great Juftice, Temperance and Moderation in 
 the maintaining your Liberty, as you have fhown Courage in freeing your felves 
 from Slavery. Thefe are the only Arguments by which you will be able to evince 
 that you are not fuch Perfons as this Fellow reprefents you, 'Traitors, Robbers, Mur- 
 derers, Parricides, Madmen ; that you did not put your King to death out of any 
 ambitious defign, or a defire of invading the Rights of others, not out of any fe- 
 ditious Principles or finider Ends ; that it was not an aft of Fury or Madnefs ; 
 but that it was wholly out of love to your Liberty, your Religion, to Judice, 
 Vertuc, and your Country, that you punifhed a Tyrant. But if it fhould fall 
 out otherwife (which God forbid) if as you have been valiant in War, you 
 fhould grow debauch'd in Peace, you that have had fuch vifible demondrations 
 of the Goodnefs of God to your felves, and his Wrath againd your Enemies -, 
 and that you fhould not have learned by fo eminent, fo remarkable an Example: 
 before your Eyes, to fear God, and work Righteoufnefs ; lor my part, I fhall 
 eafily grant and confefs (for I cannot deny it) whatever ill men may fpeak or 
 think of you, to be very true. And you will find in a little time, that God's Dif- 
 pleafure againd you, will be greater than it has been againd your Adverfaries, 
 greater than his Grace and Favour has been to your felves, which you have had 
 larger experience of, than any other Nation under Heaven.
 
 545 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 O F 
 
 Civil Power in Ecclefiaftical Caufes : 
 
 SHEWING, 
 
 That it is not Lawful for any Power on Earth to 
 compel in Matters of Religion. 
 
 To the Parlament of the Cotmnonwealth of England, 
 with the Dominions t her of. 
 
 I Have prepar'd, fupreme Council* againft the much-expected time of 
 your fitting, this Treatife •, which, though to all Chriftian Magiftrates 
 equally belonging, and therfore to have been written in the common 
 Language of Chriftendom, natural Duty and Affection hath confin'd, and 
 dedicated firft to my own Nation ; and in a feafon wherin the timely 
 reading therof, to the eafier accomplifhment of your great work, may fave 
 you much labour and interruption : of two parts ufually propos'd, Civil 
 and Ecclefiaftical, recommending Civil only to your proper care, Ecclefiaftcal 
 to them only from whom it takes both that Name and Nature. Yet not for 
 this caufe only do I require or truft to find acceptance, but in a twofold re- 
 fpect befides : firft, as bringing clear Evidence of Scripture and Proteftant 
 Maxims to the Parlament of England, who in all their late Acts, upon occa- 
 fion, have profefs'd to affert only the true Proteftant Chriftian Religion, as it 
 is contain'd in the holy Scriptures : next, in regard that your Power being 
 but for a time, and having in yourfelves a Chriftian Liberty of your own, 
 which at one time or other may be opprefs'd, therof truly fenfible, it will 
 concern you while you are in Power, fo to regard other Mens Confciences, as 
 you would your own fhould be regarded in the power of others ; and to confi- 
 der that any Law againft Confcience is alike in force againft any Confcience, 
 and fo may one way or other juftly redound upon your felves. One advan- 
 tage I make no doubt of, that I fhall write to many eminent Perfons of your 
 number, already perfect and refolv'd in this important Article of Chriftiani- 
 ty. Some of whom I remember to have heard often for feveral Years, at a 
 Council next in Authority to your own, fo well joining Religion with civil 
 Prudence, and yet fo well diftinguifhing the different Power of either •, and 
 this not only voting, but frequently reafoning why it fhould be fo, that if any 
 there prefent had been before of an opinion contrary, he might doubtleis have 
 departed thence a Convert in that point, and have confefs'd, that then both 
 Commonwealth and Religion will at length, if ever, flourifh in Chriftendom, 
 when either they who govern difcern between Civil and Religious, or they 
 only who fo difcern fhall be admitted to govern. Till then, nothing but Trou- 
 bles, Perfections, Commotions can be expected, the inward decay of true 
 Religion among ourfelves, and the utter overthrow at laft by a common Ene- 
 my. Of Civil Liberty I have written heretofore by the appointment, and 
 not without the approbation of Civil Power : of Chriftian Liberty I write 
 now, which others long fince having done with all freedom under Heathen Em- 
 Yol. I. A a a a perors,
 
 ^5 Of Civil Power, 
 
 perors, I fliall do wrong tofufpect, that I now fliall with lefs, under Chriftian 
 Governors, and fuch efpecially as profefs openly their defence of Chriftian 
 Liberty ; although I write this, not otherwise appointed or induced, than by 
 an inward perfuafion of the Chriftian Duty, which I may ufefully difcharge 
 herin to the common Lord and Mafterof us all, and the certain hope of "his 
 approbation, firft and chiefeit to be fought : In the hand of whofe Providence 
 I remain, praying all fuccefs and good event on your public Councils, to the 
 defence of true Religion and our Civil Rights. 
 
 A ^treatife of Civil Power in ILcclefiaftical Caufes. 
 
 TWO things there be which have been ever found working much Mif- 
 chief to the Church of God, and the Advancement of Truth •, 
 Force on one fide reftraining, and Hire on the other fide corrup- 
 ting the Teachers thereof. Few Ages have been fince the Afcenfion of our 
 Saviour, wherin the one of thefe two, or both together have not prevail'd. 
 It can be at no time therfore unfeafonable to fpeak of thefe things ; fince 
 by them the Church is either in continual Detriment and Oppreffion, or in 
 continual danger. The former fhall be at this time my Argument ; the latter 
 as I fliall find God diipofing me, and opportunity inviting. What I argue, 
 lhall be drawn from the Scripture only •, and therin from true fundamental 
 Principles of the Gofpel, to knowing Chriftians undeniable. And if the 
 Governors of this Commonwealth fince the rooting out of Prelates have made 
 lead ufe of Force in Religion, and mod have favour'd Chriftian Liberty of 
 any in this Ifland before them fince the firft preaching of the Gofpel, for 
 which we are not to forget our Thanks to God, and their due Praife ; they 
 may, I doubt not, in this Treatife find that which not only wi'l confirm them 
 to defend ftill the Chriftian Liberty which we enjoy, but will incite them a!fo 
 to enlarge it, if in aught they yet ftraiten it. To them who perhaps here- 
 after, leis experiene'd in Religion, may come to govern or give us Laws, 
 this or other fuch, if they pleafe, may be a timely inftruction : however, to 
 the Truth it will be at all times no unneedful Teftimony •, at leaft fome dif- 
 charge of that general Duty which no Chriftian but according to what he 
 hath receiv'd, knows is requir'd of him, if he have aught more conducing to 
 the advancement of Religion than what is ufually endeavour'd, freely to 
 impart it. 
 
 It will require no great labour of Expofition to unfold what is here meant by 
 matters of Religion •, being as foon apprehended as defin'd, fuch things as 
 belong chiefly to the Knowledge and Service of God : and are either above 
 the reach and light of Nature without Revelation from above, and therfore 
 liable to be varioufly underftood by human Reafon, or fuch things as are en- 
 join'd or forbidden by divine Precept, which elfe by the Light of Reafon 
 would feem indifferent to be done or not done ; and fo likewife muft needs ap- 
 pear to every Man as the Divine Precept is underftood. Whence I here mean 
 by Confcience or Religion, that full perfuafion wherby we are aflur'd that 
 our Belief and Practice, as far as we are able to apprehend and probably 
 make appear, is according to the Will of God and his holy Spirit within us, 
 which we ought to follow much rather than any Law of Man, as not only 
 his Word every where bids us, but the very Dictate of Reafon tells us. Ails 
 4. 19. Whether it be right in the fight of God, to hearken to you more than to God y 
 judge ye. That for Belief or Practice in Religion according to this confeien- 
 cious Perfuafion, no Man ought to be punifh'd or molefted by any outward 
 Force on Earth whatfoever, I diftruft nor, through God's implor'd Afliftance, 
 to make plain by thefe following Arguments. 
 
 Firft, it cannot be deny'd, being the main Foundation of our Proteftant 
 Religion, that we of thefe Ages, having no other divine Rule or Authority from 
 without us, warrantable to one another as a common ground, but the holy 
 Scripcqre, and no other within us but the Illumination of the holy Spirit fo 
 
 inter-
 
 in Rcclejiaftical Caufes. rj.7 
 
 interpreting that Scripture as warrantable only to our felves, and to fiich 
 whole Confciences we can fo perfuade, can have no other ground in matters 
 of Religion but only from the Scriptures. And thefe being not poffible to 
 be underftood without this Divine Illumination, which no Man can know at 
 all times to be in himfelf, much lefs to be at any time for certain in any other, 
 it follows clearly, that no Man or body of Men in thefe times can be the 
 infallible Judges or Determiners in matters of Religion to any other Mens 
 Confciences but their own. And therfore thofe Bereans are commended, 
 Jtls 17. 11. who after the preaching even of S. Paid, fearch'd the Scriptures 
 daily, whether thofe things were fo. Nor did they more than what God himfelf 
 in many places commands us by the fame Apoftle, to fearch, totiy, to judge 
 of thele things our felves: And gives us reafon alfo, Gal. 6. 4, 5. Let every 
 Man prove his own Work, and thenfhall he have rejoicing in himfelf alone, and not 
 in another : for every Manfljall bear his own burden. If then we count it fo ig- 
 norant and irreligious in the Papift to think himfelf difcharg'd in God's ac- 
 count, believing only as the Church believes, how much greater Condemna- 
 tion will it be to the Proteftant his Condemner, to think himfelf juftifkd, 
 believing only as the State believes ? With good caufe therfore it is the gene- 
 ral confent of all found Proteftant Writers, that neither Traditions, Coun- 
 cils nor Canons of any vifible Church, much lefs Edicts of any Magiftrate or 
 Civil Sefnon, but the Scripture only, can be the final Judge or Rule in matters 
 of Religicn, and that only in the Confcience of every Chriftian to himfelf. 
 Which Proteftation made by the firft public Reformers of our Religion 
 againft the Imperial Edicts of Charles the fifth, impofing Church-Traditions 
 without Scripture, gave firft beginning to the name of Proteftant ; and with 
 that name hath ever been receiv'd this Doctrine, which prefers the Scripture 
 before the Church, and acknowledges none but the Scripture fole Interpreter 
 of it felf to the Confcience. For if the Church be not fuificient to be im- 
 plicity belie v'd, as we hold it is not, what can there elfe be nam'd of more 
 Authority than the Church but the Confcience, than which God only is greater, 
 1 Job. 3. 20 ? But if any Man fhall pretend, that the Scripture judges to his 
 Confcience for other Men, he makes himfelf greater not only than the 
 Church, but alio than the Scripture, than the Confciences of other Men : a 
 Prefumption too high for any Mortal, fince every true Chriftian, able to give 
 a reafon of his Faith, hath the word of God before him, the promis'd Holy 
 Spirit, and the Mind of Chrift within him, 1 Cor. 2. 16. a much better and 
 iafcr guide of Confcience, which as far as concerns himfelf he may far more 
 certainly know than any outward Rule impos'd upon him by others whom he 
 inwardly neither knows nor can know ; at leaft knows nothing of them more 
 hire than this one thing, that they cannot be his Judges in Religion. 1 Cor. 
 2. 15. The fpiriiual Man judgeth all things, but he himfelf is judged of no Man. 
 Chiefly for this caufe do all true Proteftants account the Pope Antichrift, for 
 that lie affumes to himfelf this Infallibility over both the Confcience and the 
 Scripture •, fitting in the Temple of God, as it were oppofite to God, and ex- 
 ,..-.'... u himfelf above all that is called God, or is werfhipped, 2 Theff. 2. 4. That 
 is to fay, not only above all Judges and Magiftrates, who though they be call'J 
 Gods, are far beneath infallible ; but alfo above God himfelf, by giving Law 
 both to the Scripture, to the Confcience, and to the Spirit it felf of God 
 within us. Whenas we find, James 4. 12. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to 
 fave and to deftroy : Who art thou that judgeft another ? That Chrift is the only 
 Lawgiver of his Church, and that it is here meant in religious matters, no 
 well-grounded Chriftian will deny. Thus alfo S. Paul, Rom. 14. 4. Who art 
 thou that judgeft the Servant of another ? to his own Lord he ftandeth or falleth : 
 but he fhall fiand ; for God is able to make him ft and. As therfore of one beyond 
 expreifton bold and prefumptuous, both thefe Apoftles. demand, Who art 
 thou, that prefum'ft to impofe other Law or Judgment in Religion than the 
 only Lawgiver and Judge Chrift, who only can fave and deftroy, gives to the 
 Confcience ? And the forecited place to the Thejfalonians by compar'd Effefls 
 refolves us, that be he or they who or wherever they be or can be, they are 
 of Jar lefs Authority than the Church, whom in thefe things as Proteftants 
 th?y receive not, and yet no lefs Antichrift in this main point of Antichriftia- 
 nifm, no lefs a Pope or Popedom than he at Rome, if not much more, by 
 Vol. I. Aaaaa fetting
 
 - ,g Of Civil Power ) 
 
 fetting up fupreme Interpreters of Scripture either thofe Doctors whom they 
 follow, or which is far worfe, themfelves as a civil Papacy afiuming un- 
 accountable Supremacy to themfelves, not in Civil only, but in Ecclefiaftical 
 Caufes. Seeing then that in matters of Religion, as hath been proved, none can 
 iuoVe or determine here on Earth, no not Church-Governors themfelves againft 
 the°Confciences of other Believers, my Inference is, or rather not mine but 
 our Saviour's own, that in thofe matters they neither can command norufe 
 Conftraint, left they run rafhly on a pernicious Confequene, forewarn'd in 
 that Parable, Mat. 13. from the 26th to the 31ft Verfe : Left while ye gather 
 up the Tares, ye root up alfo the Wheat with them. Let both grow together until the 
 Harveft : and in the time of Harveft I will fay to the Reapers, Gather ye together 
 firft the Tares, Sec. Whereby he declares that this work neither his own Mi- 
 nifters nor any elfe can difcerningly enough or judgingly perform without his 
 own immediate direction, in his own fit feafon, and that they ought till then 
 not to attempt it. Which is further confirm'd 2 Cor. 1. 24. Not that we have 
 dominion over your Faith, but are helpers of your Joy. If Apoftles had no Do- 
 minion or conftraining Power over Faith or Confcience, much lefs have ordi- 
 nary Minifters, 1 Pet. 5. 2, 3. Feed the Flock of God, not by conftraint, Sec. nei- 
 ther as being Lords over God's Heritage. But fome will object, that this overthrows 
 all Church-difcipline, all Cenfure of Errors, if no Man can determine. My 
 Anfwer is, that what they hear is plain Scripture, which forbids not Church- 
 fentence or determining, but as it ends in violence upon the Confcience un- 
 convinced. Let whofo will interpret or determine, fo it be according to true 
 Church-difcipline, which is exercis'd on them only who have willingly join'd 
 themfelves in that Covenant of Union, and proceeds only to a feparation 
 from the reft, proceeds never to any corporal inforcement or forfeiture of 
 Money, which in all ipiritual things are the two Arms of Antichrift, not of the 
 true Church ; the one being an Inquifnion, the other no better than a tem- 
 poral indulgence of Sin for Money, whether by the Church exacted or by thS 
 Magiftrate 5 both the one and the other a temporal Satisfaction for what Chrift 
 hath fatisfied eternally ; a popifn commuting of Penalty, corporal for fpiri- 
 tual : a fatisfaction to Man, elpecially to the Magiftrate, for what and to 
 whom we owe none: thefe and more are the Injuftices of force and fining 
 in Religion, befides what I moil infift on, the violation of God's exprefs Com- 
 mandment in the Gofpel, as hath been fhewn. Thus then if Church-Gover- 
 nors cannot ufe Force in Religion, though but for this reafon, becaufe they 
 cannot infallibly determine to the Confcience without convincement, much lefs 
 have Civil Magiftrates authority to ufe Force where they can much lefs judge, 
 unlefs they mean only to be the civil Executioners of them who have no Civil 
 Power to give them fuch Commiffion, no nor yet Ecclefiaftical, to any force or 
 violence in Religion. To fum up all in brief, if we muff, believe as the Ma- 
 giftrate appoints, why not rather as the Church ? If not as either without 
 Convincement, how can Force be lawful ? But fome are ready to cry out, 
 what fhall then be done to Blafphemy ? Them I would firft exhort not thus to 
 terrify and pofe the People with a Greek word ; but to teach them better 
 what it is, being a mod ufual and common word in that Language to fignify 
 any flander, any malicious or evil fpeaking, whether againft God or Man, or 
 any thing to good belonging : Blafphemy or evil fpeaking againft God mali- 
 cioufly, is far from Confcience in Religion, according to that of Mar. 9. 39. 
 There is none who doth a powerful work in my name, and can likely fpeak evil of me. 
 If this fuffice not, I refer them to that prudent and well-deliberated Act, 
 Auguft 9. 1650. where the Parlament defines Blafphemy againft God, as far 
 as it is a Crime belonging to civil Judicature, plcnius ac melius Chryfippo & 
 Crantore -, in plain Englijh, more warily, more judicioufly, more orthodoxally 
 than twice their number of Divines have done in many a prolix Volume : al- 
 though in all likelihood they whole whole ftudy and profeffion thefe things 
 are, fhould be moft intelligent and authentic therin, as they are for the moft 
 part, yet neither they nor thefe unerring always, or infallible. But we fhal! 
 not carry it thus •, another Greek Apparition ftands in our way, Herefy and 
 Heretic ; in like manner alfo rail'd at to the People as in a Tongue unknown. 
 They fhould firft interpret to them, that Herefy by what it fignifies in that 
 Language, is no word of evil note, meaning only the choice or following of 
 
 ani
 
 In Rcclefiaflical Caufes. ~. 
 
 any opinion good or bad in Religion, or any other Learning : and thus not on- 
 ly in Heathen Authors, but in the New Teftament it felf without cenfure or 
 blame •, Acts 1 5. 5. Certain of the Herefy of the Pharifees which believ'd ; and 26. 
 5. After the exacleft Herefy of our Religion I liv'd a Pharifee. In which fenfe 
 Prefbyterian or Independent may without reproach becall'd a Herefy. Where 
 it is mention'd with blame, it feems to differ little from Schifm ; 1 Cor. n. 18, 
 19. I hear that there be Schifms among you, &c. for there muft alfo Hereftes be 
 among you, &c. Though fome who write of Herefy after their own heads, 
 would make it far worfe than Schifm ; whenas on the contrary, Schifm horri- 
 fies divifion, and in the worfe fenfe ; Herefy, choice only of one Opinion -be- 
 fore another, which may be without Difcord. In Apoftolic times therfore, ere 
 the Scripture was written, Herefy was a Doctrine maintain'd againft the Doc- 
 trine by them deliver'd •, which in thefe times can be no otherwife defin'd than a 
 Doctrine maintain'd againft the Light, which we now only have of the Scripture. 
 Seeing therfore that no Man, no Synod, no Seffion of men, though call'd the 
 Church, can judge definitively the fenfe of Scripture to another man's Con- 
 fcience, which is well known to be a general maxim of the Proteftant Religion ; 
 it follows plainly, that he who holds in Religion that belief, or thofe opinions 
 which to his Confcience and utmoft Underftanding appear with mod evidence 
 or probability in the Scripture, though to others he feem erroneous, can no 
 more be juftly cenfur'd for a Heretic than his cenfurers ; who do but the fame 
 thing themfelves while they cenfure him for fo doing. For afk them, or any 
 Proteftant, which hath moft Authority, the Church or the Scripture ? They 
 will anfwer, doubtlefs, that the Scripture : and what hath moft Authority, 
 that no doubt but they will confefs is to be follow'd. He then, who to his 
 beft apprehenfion follows the Scripture, though againft any point of Doctrine 
 by the whole Church receiv'd, is not the Heretic •, but he who follows the 
 Church againft his Conlcience and Perfuafion grounded on the Scripture. To 
 make this yet more undeniable, I fhall only borrow a plain fimile, the fame 
 which our own Writers, when they would demonftrate plaineft, that we 
 rightly prefer the Scripture before the Church, ufe frequently againft the 
 Papift in this manner. As the Samaritans believ'd Chrift, firft for the Wo- 
 man's Word, but next and much rather for his own, fo we the Scripture : firft 
 on the Church's Word, but afterwards and much more for its own, as the 
 Word of God; yea, the Church it felf we believe then for the Scripture. 
 The inference of it felf follows : it by the Proteftant Doctrine we believe the 
 Scripture, not for the Church's faying, but for its own as the Word of God, then 
 ought we to believe what in our Confcience we apprehend the Scripture to fay, 
 tho' the Vifible Church, with all her Doctors, gainfay : and being taught to 
 believe them only for the Scripture, they who fo do are not Heretics, but the 
 beft Proteftants : and by their opinions, whatever they be, can hurt no Pro- 
 teftant, whofe Rule is not to receive them but from the Scripture, which to 
 interpret convincingly to his own Confcience, none is able but himfelf gui- 
 ded by the Holy Spirit •, and not fo guided, none than he to himfelf can be a 
 worie Deceiver. To Proteftants therfore, whofe common Rule and Touch- 
 ftone is the Scripture, nothing can with more Confcience, more Equity, no- 
 thing more Proteftantly can be permitted, than a free and lawful Debate at 
 all times by Writing, Conference, or Dilputation of what Opinion foever, 
 difputable by Scripture : concluding, that no man in Religion is properly a 
 Heretic at this day, but he who maintains Traditions or Opinions not probable 
 by Scripture, who, for aught I know, is the Papift only ; he the only Heretic, 
 who counts all Heretics but himfelf. Such as thefe, indeed, were capitally 
 punifh'd by the Law of Mofes, as the only true Heretics, Idolaters, plain and 
 open deferters of God and his known Law : but in the Gofpel fuch are punifhed 
 by Excommunion only. Tit. 3. 10. An Heretic, after the firft and fecond 
 Admonition, rejecl. But they who think not this heavy enough, and under- 
 ftand not that dreadful Awe and fpiritual Efficacy which the Apoltle hath ex- 
 prefs'd fo highly to be in Church-difcipline, 2 Cor. 10. of which anon, and 
 think weakly that the Church of God cannot long fubfift but in a bodily fear, 
 for want of other proof will needs wreft that place of S. Paul, Rom. 13. 
 to let up civil Inquifition, and give Power to the Magistrate both of civil 
 Judgment, and punifhment in caufes Ecclefiaftical. But let us fee with what 
 
 ftrength
 
 t^i-o Of Civil Power i 
 
 ftrength of Argument -, Let every Soul be fubje El to the higher Powers. Firft, how 
 prove they that the Apoftle means other Powers than fuch as they to whom 
 he writes were then under ; who meddled not at all in Ecclefiaftical Caufes, 
 unlefs as Tyrants and Perfecuters ? And from them, I hope, they will not de- 
 rive either the right of Magiftrates to judge in Spiritual things, or the duty of 
 fuch our Obedience. How prove they next, that he intrtles them here to fpi- 
 ritual Caufes, from whom he withheld, as much as in him lay, the judging of 
 Civil? i Cor. 6.1, &c. If he himfelf appeal'd to Cafar, it was to judge his 
 Innocence, not his Religion. For Rulers are not a Terror to good Works, but to 
 the evil: then are they not a terror to Confcience, which is the rule or judge 
 of good Works grounded on the Scripture. But Herefy, they fay, is rcckon'd 
 among evil Works, Gal. 5. 20. as if all evil Works were to be punifh'd by 
 the Magiftrate •, wherof this place, their own Citation, reckons up befzdes 
 Herefy a fufficient number to confute them ; Uncleannefs, Wantonnefs, Enmity, 
 Strife, Emulations, Animofities, Contentions, Envyings ; all which are far more 
 manifeft to be judg'd by him than Herefy, as they define it •, and yet I fuppofe 
 they will not fubject thefe evil Works, nor many more fuch-like, to his cogni- 
 zance and puniihment. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the Power ? Do that which 
 is good, and thoufhalt havepraife of the fame. This fhews that Religious matters 
 are not here meant ; wherin, from the Power here fpoken of, they could have 
 no praife : For he is the Minifier of God to thee for good : True •, but in that 
 office, and to that end, by thofe means which in this place muft be clear- 
 ly found, if from this place they intend to argue. And how, for thy good by- 
 forcing, opprefiing, and infnaring thy Confcience ? Many are the Minifters of 
 God, and their Offices no lefs different than many : none more different than 
 State and Church-Government. Who feeks to govern both, muft needs be 
 worfe than any Lord Prelate, or Church- Plural ill: ; for lie in his own Faculty 
 and Profefiion, the other not in his own, and for the moll part not thoroughly 
 underftood, makes himfelf fupreme Lord or Pope of the Church, as far as his 
 Civil Jurisdiction ftretches; and all the Minifters of God therin, his Minifters, 
 or his Curates rather in the Function only, not in the Government ; while he 
 himfelf affumes to rule by Civil Power things to be rul'd only by Spiritual : 
 whenas this very Chapter Ver. 6. appointing him his peculiar Office, which re- 
 quires utmoft attendance, forbids him this worfe than Church-plurality from 
 that full and weighty Charge, wherin alone he is the Minifier of God, attending 
 continually on this very thing. To little purpofe will they here inftance Mofes, 
 who did all by immediate divine direction; no nor yet Afa, Jehofaphat, or 
 Jcfia, who both might, when they pleas'd, receive anfwer from God, and had 
 a Commonwealth by him deliver'dthem, incorporated with a National Church, 
 exercis'd more in bodily, than in fpiritual Worfhip •, fo as that the Church 
 might be oall'd a Commonwealth, and the whole Commonweal.h a Church : 
 nothing of which can be faid of Chriftianity, deliver'd without the help of 
 Magiftrates, yea, in the midft of their oppofrtion; how little then with any 
 reference to them, or mention of them, fave only of our Obedience to their 
 Civil Laws, as they countenance Good, and deter Evil ? which is the proper 
 work of the Magiftrate following in the fame Verfe, and fhews dlftinctly 
 ■ wherin he is the Minifier of God, a revenger to execute Wrath onhim that doth evil. 
 But we muft firft know who it is that doth Evil ; the Heretic they fay among 
 the firft. Let it be known then certainly who is a Heretic •, and that he who 
 holds opinions in Religion profefTedly from Tradition, or his own Inventions, 
 and not from Scripture, but rather againft it, is the only Heretic : and yet 
 though fuch, not always punifhable by the Magiftrate, unlefs he do evil a- 
 gainlla Civil Law, properly focall'd, hath been already prov'd without need 
 of Repetition. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. To do by Scripture 
 and the Gofpel, according to Confcience, is not to do evil ; if we therof ought 
 not to be afraid, he ought not by his judging to give caufe : caufes therfore 
 of Religion are not here meant ; For he beareth not the Sword in vain. Yes, alto- 
 gether in vain, if it finite he knows not what; if that for Herefy, which not 
 tiie Church it fell, much lefs he can determine abfolutely to be fo ; if Truth 
 for Error, being himfelf fo often fallible, he bears the Sword not in vain only, 
 but unjuilly and to evil. Be fubjecl not only for Wrath, but for Confcience fake - 
 How tor Confcience fake, againft Confcience ? By all thefe reafons it appear s 
 
 plainly
 
 in Kc cleft aflical Caufes* 
 
 qa 
 
 plainly that the Apoftle irx this place gives no judgment or coercive Power 
 to Magiftrates, neither to thofe then, nor thefe now, in matters of Religi- 
 on ; and exhorts us no otherwife than he exhorted thofe Romans. It hath now 
 twice befallen me to affert, through God's Afliftance, this moll wrefted and 
 vex'd Place of Scripture ; heretofore againft Salmajius, and regal Tyranny- 
 over the State •, now againft Erajlus, and State-tyranny over the Church. If 
 from fuch uncertain, or rather fuch improbable Grounds as thefe, they endue 
 Magiftracy with fpiritual Judgment, they may as well inveft him in the fame 
 fpiritual kind with power of utmoft Punifhment, Excommunication ; and then 
 turn Spiritual into Corporal, as no worfe Authors did than Chryfoftom, Jerome 
 and slujlin, whom Erafmus and others in their notes on the New Teftament 
 have cited, to interpret that cutting of which S. Paul wifh'd to them who had 
 brought back the Galatians to Circumcifion, no lefs than the amercement of 
 their whole Virility : and Grotius adds, that this concifing punifhment of Cir- 
 cumcifers, became a Penal Law therupon among the Vifigoths : a dangerous 
 example of beginning in the Spirit to end fo in the Flefh ; wheras that cutting 
 off much like'ier feems meant a cutting off from the Church, not unufually fo 
 term'd in Scripture, and a zealous imprecation, not a command. But I have 
 mention'd this Paffage, to fhew how abfurd they often prove, who have not 
 Icarn'd to diftinguifh rightly between Civil Power and Ecclefiaftical. How 
 many Perfecutions then, Imprifonments, Banifhments, Penalties, and Stripes -, 
 how much bloodfhed have the forcers of Confcience to anfwer for, and Pro- 
 teftants rather than Papifts ! For the Papift, judging by his Principles, punifh- 
 es them who believe not as the Church believes, though againft the Scripture ; 
 but the Proteftant, teaching every one to believe the Scripture, though againft : 
 the Church, counts Heretical, and perfecutes againft his own Principles, them 
 who in any particular fo believe as he in general teaches them ; them who moft 
 honour and believe divine Scripture, but not againft it any human Interpre- 
 tation though univerfal •, them who interpret Scripture only to themfelves, 
 which by his own pofition, none but they to themfelves can interpret : them who 
 ufe the Scripture no otherwife by his own Doctrine to their Edification, than 
 he himfelf ules it to their punifhing ; and fo whom his Doctrine acknowledges 
 a true Believer, his Difcipline perfecutes as a Heretic. The Papift exacts our 
 belief as to the Church due above Scripture ; and by the Church, which is the 
 whole People of God, underftands the Pope, the general Councils, prelatical 
 only, and the furnam'd Fathers : but the forcing Proteftant, though he deny 
 fuch belief to any Church whatfoever, yet takes it to himfelf and his Teachers, 
 of far lefs Authority than to be call'd the Church, and above Scripture be- 
 liev'd ; which renders his practice both contrary to his Belief, and far worfe 
 than that Belief which he condemns in the Papift. By all which well con- 
 fider'd, the more he profeffes to be a true Proteftant, the more he hath to an- 
 fwer for his perfecuting than a Papift. No Proteftant theifore, of what Se<ft 
 foever, fol'owing Scripture only, which is the common Sect wherin they all 
 agree, and the granted rule of every man's Confcience to himfelf,. ought, by 
 the common D >ctrine of Proteftants, to be fore'd or molefted for Religion. 
 But as lor Popery and Idolatry, why they alio may not hence plead to be to- 
 lerate 1, I have much lefs to fay. Their Religion the more confider'd, the 
 lefs can be acknowledg'd a Religion ; but a Roman Principality rather, en- 
 deavouring to keep up her old univerfil Dominion under a new name, and 
 meer fhadow of a Catholic Religion ; being indeed more rightly nam'd a 
 Catholic Herefy againft the Scripture, fupported mainly by a civil, and ex - 
 in Rome, by a foreign Power : juftly therfore to be fufpected, not tolera- 
 ted by the Magiftrate of another Country. Befides, of an implicit Faith 
 which they profefs, the Confcience alfo becomes implicit, and fo by voluntary 
 fervitude to man's Law, forfeits her Chriftian Liberty. Who then can plead 
 for fuch a Conlcience, as being implicitly enthral'd to maninftead of God, 
 almoft becomes no Confcience, as the Will not free, becomes no Will ? Never- 
 thclefs, if they ought not to be tolerated, it is for juft reafon of State, more 
 than for Religion •, which they who force, though profeffing to be Proteftants, 
 deferve as little to be tolerated themfelves, being no lefs guilty of Popery, in 
 : moft Popifh Point. Laftly, for Idolatry, who knows it not to be evi- 
 dently againft all Scripture, both of the Old and New Teftament, and ther- 
 fore
 
 C2, Of Civil Power ) 
 
 fore a true Herefy, or rather an Impiety, wherin a right Conference can l;a;e 
 nought to do ; and the Works therof fo manifeft, that a Magiftrate can 
 hardly err in prohibiting and quite removing at leaft the public and fcandalous 
 Ufe therof? 
 
 From the riddance of thefe Objections, I proceed yet to another Reafon 
 why it is unlawful for the Civil Magiftrate to ufe Force in Matters of Reli- 
 gion -, which is, becaufe to judge in thofe things, though we fhould grant him 
 able, which is prov'd he is not, yet as a Civil Magiftrate he hath no right. 
 Chrift hath a Government of his own, fufficient of it felf to all his Ends and 
 Purpofes in governing his Church, but much different from that of the Civil 
 Magiftrate -, and the difference in this very thing principally confifts, that it 
 governs not by outward Force ; and that for two Reafons. Firft, Becaufe it 
 deals only with the inward Man and his Actions, which are all Spiritual, and to 
 outward Forcemot liable. 2dly, Tofhew us the Divine Excellence of his Spiritual 
 Kingdom, able, without worldly Force, tofubdueall the Powers and Kingdoms 
 of this World, which are upheld by outward Force only. That the inward 
 Man is nothing elfe but the inward part of Man, his Underftanding and his 
 Will •, and that his Actions thence proceeding, yet not fimply thence, but 
 from the Work of Divine Grace upon them, are the whole Matter of Re!j- 
 gion under the Gofpel, will appear plainly by confidering what that Religion 
 is ; whence we fhall perceive yet more plainly that it cannot be fore'd. ~\ 
 Evangelic Religion is, is told in two words, Faith and Charity, or Belief and 
 Praclice. That both thefe flow, either, the one from the Underftanding, the 
 other from the Will, or both jointly from both ; once indeed naturally free, 
 but now only as they are regenerate and wrought on by Divine Grace, is in 
 part evident to common Senfe and Principles unqueftioned, the reft by Scrip- 
 ture : Concerning our Belief, Mat. 16. 17. Flefi and Blood bath not revealed it 
 unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. Concerning our practice, as it is 
 religious, and not meerlycivil, Gal. 5. 22, 23. and other places, declare it 
 to be the Fruit of the Spirit only. Nay, our whole praftical Duty in Reli- 
 gion iscontain'd in Charity, or the Love of God and our Neighbour, no way 
 to be fore'd, yet the fulfilling of the whole Law-, that is to fay, our whole 
 practice in Religion. If then both our Belief and Practice, which comprehend 
 our whole Religion, flow from Faculties of the inward Man, free and un- 
 conftrainable of themfelves by Nature, and our Practice not only from Fa- 
 culties endu'd with freedom, but from Love and Charity befides, incapable of 
 Force, and all thefe things by Tranfgreflion loft, but renewed and regenerated 
 in us by the Power and Gift of God alone ; how can fuch Religion as this ad- 
 mit of Force from Man, or Force be any way apply'd to fuch Religion, efpe- 
 cially under the free Offer of Grace in the Gofpel, but it muft forthwith 
 ffuftrate and make of no effect, both the Religion and the Gofpel ? And that 
 to compel outward Profeffion, which they will fay perhaps ought to be com- 
 pell'd, though inward Religion cannot, is to compel Hypocrify, not to ad- 
 vance Religion, fhall yet, though of it felf clear enough, be ere the conclu- 
 fion further manifeft. The other reafon why Chrift rejects outward Force in 
 the Government of his Church, is, as I laid before, to fhew us the Divine 
 Fxcellence of his Spiritual Kingdom, able without worldly Force to fubdue 
 all the Powers and Kingdoms of this World, which are upheld by outward 
 Force only: By which to uphold Religion otherwife than to defend the Reli- 
 gious from outward Violence, is no Service to Chrift or his Kingdom, but ra- 
 ' ther a Difparagement, and degrades it from a Divine and Spiritual Kingdom, 
 to a Kingdom of this World : which he denies it to be, becaufe it needs not 
 Force to confirm it: Joh. 18. 36. If my Kingdom were of this World, then 
 'would my Servants fight, that IJhould not be delivered to the Jews. This proves 
 the Kingdom of Chrift notgovern'd by outward Force, as being none of this 
 World, whole Kingdoms are maintain'd all by Force only : and yet difproves 
 not that a Chriftian Commonwealth may defend it felf againft outward Force, 
 in the Caufe of Religion as well as in any other-, though Chrift himfdf coming 
 purpofely to die for us, would not be fo defended. 1 Cor. 1. 27. God hath cho- 
 fen the weak things of the World, to confound the things winch are mighty. Then 
 liirely he hath not chofen the Force of thisWorld to fubdue Confidence, and con- 
 scientious Mui, who in this World are counted weakeft ; but rather Con- 
 
 nce.
 
 in RcclefaflkalCaufes. 55^ 
 
 fcience, as being weakeft, to fubdue and regulate Force, his Adverfary, not his 
 Aid or Inftrumjnt in governingthe Church : 2 Cor. 10. 3, 4, 5, 6. For though 
 •we walk in the Flejh, we do not war after the Flejh : For the Weapons of our War- 
 fare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the fulling down of Strong-holds, cajl- 
 ing down Imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itfelf againfi the knozv- 
 ledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chrifl : 
 And having in a readinefs to avenge all difobedience. It is evident by the firft 
 and fecond Veri'es of this Chapter, and the Apoftle here fpeaks of that Spi- 
 ritual Power by which Chrift governs his Church, how all-fufficient it is, how 
 powerful to reach the Confcience, and the inward Man with whom it chiefly 
 deals, and whom no Power elfe can deal with. In comparifon of which, as it 
 is here thus magnificently defcrib'd, how uneffeftual and weak is outward 
 Force with all her boifterous Tools, to the fhame of thofe Chriftians, and e- 
 ipecially thofe Churchmen, who to the exercifwg of Church-Difcipline, ne- 
 ver ceafe calling on the Civil Magiftrate to interpoie his flefhly Force ? An Ar- 
 gument that all true minifterial and fpiritual Power is dead within them ; 
 who think the Gofpel, which both began and fpread over the whole World 
 for above three hundred Years, under heathen and perfecuting Emperors, 
 cannot ftand or continue, fupported by the fame Divine Prefence and Pro- 
 tection, to the World's end, much eafier under the defenfive favour only of a 
 Chriftian Magiftrate, unlefs it be enacted and fettled, as they call it, by the 
 State, a Statute or State-Religion ; and underftand not that the Church it- 
 felf cannot, much lefs the State, fettle or impofe one tittle of Religion upon 
 our Obedience implicit, but can only recommend or propound it to our free 
 andconfeientious examination : unlefs they mean to fet the State higher than 
 the Church in Religion, and with a grots Contradiction give to the State in 
 their fettling Petition, that command of our implicit Belief, which they de- 
 ny in their fettled Confeffion, both to the State and to the Church. Let them 
 ceafe then to importune and interrupt the Magiftrate from attending to his 
 own charge in Civil and Moral things, the fettling of things Juft, things 
 Honeft, the defence of things Religious, fettled by the Churches within 
 themfelves ; and the repreffing of their Contraries, determinable by the com- 
 mon Light of Nature ; which is not to conftrain or to reprefs Religion proba- 
 ble by Scripture, but the Violaters and Perfecutors therof: Of all which 
 things he hath enough and more than enough to do, left yet undone ; for which 
 the Land groans, and Juftice goes to wrack the while. Let him alfo forbear 
 Force where he hath no right to judge, for the Confcience is not his Province, 
 left a worfe Woe arrive him, for worfe offending than was denoune'd by our 
 Saviour, Matth. 23. 23. againft the Pharifees : Ye have fore'd the Con- 
 fcience, which was not to be fore'd -, but Judgment and Mercy ye have not 
 executed ', this ye Ihould have done, and the other let alone. And fince it is 
 the Counfel and fet Purpofe of God in the Gofpel, by fpiritual Means which 
 are counted weak, to overcome all Power which refifts him •, let them not go 
 about to do that by worldly ftrength, which he hath decreed to do by thole 
 means which the World counts Weaknefs, left they be again obnoxious to that 
 Saving which in another place is alfo written of the Pharifees, Luke 7. 30. 
 that they frufirated the Counfel of God. The main Plea is, and urg'd with 
 much vehemence to their imitation, that the Kings oijudah, as I touch'd be- 
 fore, and t^QcaWy J ofiah, both judg'd and us'd Force in Religion : 2 Chron. 34. 
 33. He made all that wereprefent in Ifrael to ferve the Lord their God: an Argu- 
 ment, if it be well weigh'd, worfe than that us'd by the falfe Prophet She- 
 maia to the High Prieft, that in imitation of Jehoiada, he ought to put Jere- 
 miah in the Stocks, Jer. 29. 24, 26, &c. for which he receiv'd his due De- 
 nouncement from God. But to this befides I return a three-fold Anfwer : 
 Firft, That the State of Religion under the Gofpel is far differing from what 
 it was under the Law ; then was the State of Rigour, Childhood, Bondage 
 and Works, to all which Force was not unbefitting ; now is the State of 
 Grace, Manhood, Freedom and Faith, to all which belongs Willingnefsand 
 Reafon, not Force : the Law was then written on Tables of Stone, and to 
 be perform'd according to the Letter, willingly or unwillingly ; the Gofpel, 
 our new Covenant, upon the Heart of every Believer, to be interpreted on- 
 ly by the fenfe of Charity and inward Perfwafion : The Law had no diftinift 
 Vol. I. Bbbb Govern-
 
 -„j. Of Civil Power, 
 
 Government or Governors of Church and Commonwealth, but the Priefts 
 and Levites judg'd in all Caufes, not Ecclefiaftical only, but Civil, Dent. 17. 
 8 &?f. which under the Gofpel is forbidden to all Church-Minifters, as a 
 thine which Chrift their Matter in his Miniftry difclaim'd, Luke 12. 14. as a 
 thine beneath them, 1 Cor. 6. 4. and by many other Statutes, as to them 
 who°have a peculiar and far differing Government of their own. If not. 
 why different the Governors ? Why not Church-Minifters in State-Affairs, 
 as well as State-Minifters in Church-Affairs ? If Church and State (hall be mack- 
 one Flefh again as under the Law, let it be withal confider'd, that God who 
 then join'd them, hath now fever'd them ; that which, he fo ordaining, was 
 then a lawful Conj.undt.ion, to fuch on either fide as join again what he hath 
 fever'd, would be nothing now but their own prefumptuous Fornication. 
 Secondly, The Kings of Judah, and thofe Magiftrates under the Law might 
 have recourfe, as I laid before, to Divine Infpiration •, which our Magiftrates 
 under the Gofpel have not, more than to the fame Spirit, which thofe whom 
 they force have oft-times in greater meafure than themfelves r and fo, in- 
 ftead of forcing the Chriftian, they force the Holy Ghoft ; and, againft that 
 ■wife forewarning of Gamaliel, fight againft God, Thirdly, Thofe Kings, 
 and Magiftrates us'd Force in fuch things only as were undoubtedly known 
 and forbidden in the Law of Mofes, Idolatry and direct Apoftacy from that 
 national and ftrict enjoin'd Worfhip of God ; wherof the corporal Punifh- 
 ment was by himfelf exprefly fet down : But Magiftrates under the Gofpel, 
 our free, elective and rational Worlhip, are moft commonly bufieft to force 
 thofe things which in the Gofpel are either left free, nay, fometimes abolifh'd 
 when by them compell'd, or elfe controverted equally by Writers on both 
 fides, and ibinetimes with odds on that fide which is againft them. By which 
 means they either pumfh that which they ought to favour and protect, or that 
 with corporal Punifhment, and of their own inventing, which not they, but 
 the Church hath receiv'd Command to chaftife with a fpiritual Rod only. 
 Yet fome are fo eager in their Zeal of Forcing, that they refufe not to defend 
 at length to the utmolt fhift of that parabolical Proof, Luke 14. 16, &c. 
 Compel them to come in : Therfore Magiftrates may compel in Religion. As if 
 a Parable were to be ftrain'd through every Word or Phrafe, and not ex- 
 pounded by the general fcope therof ; which is no other here than the earneft 
 expreffion of God's Difpleafure on thofe Recufant Jews, and his purpofe to 
 prefer the Gentiles on any terms before them ; exprefs'd here by the word 
 Compel. But how compels he ? Doubtlefs no other way than he draws, with- 
 out which no Man can come to him, John 6. 44. and that is by the inward per- 
 fwafive Motions of his Spirit, and by his Minifters •, not by the outward com - 
 pulfions of a Magistrate or his Officers. The true People of Chrift, as is 
 foretold, Pfal. 110. 3. are a willing People in the day of his Power ; then much 
 more now when he rules all things by outward weaknefs, that both his in- 
 ward Power and their Sincerity may the more appear. God loveth a cheerful 
 Giver : then certainly is not pleas'd with an uncheerful Worfhipper ; as the 
 very Words declare of his Evangelical Invitations, Efa. 55. 1 . Ho, every one 
 that thirfteth, come. John 7. 37. If any Manthirjieth. Rev. 3. iS. I courfel thee . 
 And 22. 17. JVhofoever will, let him take the Water of Life freely. And in that 
 grand Commifiion of Preaching, to invite all Nations, Mark 16. 16. as the 
 Reward of them who come, fo the Penalty of them who come not, is only 
 Spiritual. But they bring now fome Reafon with their Force, which muft 
 not pais unanfwer'd, that the Church of Thyatira was blam'd, Rev. 2. 20. 
 for fuffering the falfe Prophetefs to teach and to feduce. I anfwer, That Seduce - 
 ment is to be hinder'd by fit and proper means ordain'd in Church-difcipline, 
 by inftant and powerful Demonitration to the contrary ; by oppofing Truth to 
 Error, no unequal match ; Truth the ftrong, to Error the weak, though fly 
 and ihifting. Force is no honeft Confutation, but uneffectual, and for the 
 moft part unfuccefsful, oft-times fatal to them who ufe it : Sound Doctrine, 
 diligently and duly taught, is of herfelf both fufficient, and of herfelf (if 
 fome ilcret Judgment of God hinder not) always prevalent againft Seducers. 
 This the Tlyatiriar.s had negleited, fuffering, againft Church-difcipline, that 
 Woman to teach and feduce among them : Civil Force they had not then in 
 their power, being the Chriftian part only of that City, and then efpecially 
 a under
 
 in Ecclefiaflical Caufes. r r 
 
 under one of thofe ten great Perfections, wherof this the fecond was rais'd 
 by Domitian: Force therfore in thefe Matters could not be requir'd of them, 
 who were under Force themfelves. 
 
 I have (hewn that the Civil Power hath neither right, nor can do right, by 
 forcing religious things : I will now mew the wrong it doth, by violating ths 
 fundamental Privilege of the Gofpel, the new Birth-right of every tru° Be- 
 liever, Chriftian Liberty : 2 Cor. 3. 17. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
 Liberty. Gal. 4. 26. Jerufalem, which is above, is free ; which is the Mother of 
 us all. And v. 31. We are not Children of the Bond-woman, but of the free. Ic 
 will be fufficient in this Place to fay no more of Chriftian Liberty, than that it 
 fets us free not only from the Bondage of thofe Ceremonies, but alfo from the 
 forcible impofition of thofe Circumftances, Place and Time, in the Worfhip 
 of God : which though by him commanded in the old Law, yet in refpect of 
 that Verity and Freedom which is Evangelical, St. Paul comprehends both 
 kinds alike, that is to fay, both Ceremony and Circumftance, under one and 
 the fame contemptuous name of weak and beggarly Rudiments, Gal. 4. 3, 9, 10. 
 Col. 2. 8, with 16. conformable to what our Saviour himfelf taught, John 4. 
 21, 23. Neither in this Mountain, nor yet at Jerufalem. /;; Spirit and in Truth ■, 
 for the Father feeketb fuch to worftnp him : that is to fay, not only fincere of 
 Heart, for fuch he fought ever ; but alfo, as the words here chiefly import, 
 not compell'd to Place, and by the fame reafon, not to any fet Time * as his 
 Apoftle by the lame Spirit hath taught us, Rom. 14. 6, &c. One Man cfteemetb 
 one day above another; another, &c. Gal. 4. 10. Te obferve Days and Months, &c. 
 Col. 2. 16. Thefe and other fuch Places in Scripture the beft and learnedeft 
 reformed Writers have thought evident enough to inftrucf us in our Freedom, 
 not only from Ceremonies, but from thofe Circumftances alfo, though im- 
 pos'd with a confident Perfwafion of Morality in them, which they hold im- 
 poffible to be in place or time. By what warrant then our Opinions and Prac- 
 tices herin are of late turn'd quite againft all other Proteftants, and that 
 which is to them Orthodoxal, to us becomes fcandalous and punifhable by Sta- 
 tute, I wifh were once again better confider'd ; if we mean not to proclaim a 
 Schifm in this point from the beft and moft reformed Churches abroad. They 
 who would feem more knowing, confefs that thefe things are indifferent, but 
 for that very caufe by the Magiftrate may be commanded. As if God of his 
 fpecial Grace in the Gofpel had to this end freed us from his own Command- 
 ments in thefe things, that our Freedom mould fubjecl us to a more grievous 
 Yoke, the Commandments of Men. As well may the Magiftrate call that 
 common or unclean which God hath cleans'd, forbidden to St. Peter, Acts 
 10. 15. as well may he loofen that which God hath ftreighten'd, or ftreighten that 
 which God hath loofen'd, as he may injoin thofe things in Religion which God 
 hath left free, and lay on that Yoke which God hath taken off. For he hath 
 not only given us this Gift as a fpecial Privilege and Excellence of the free 
 Gofpel above the fervile Law, but ftriclly alfo hath commanded us to keep it 
 and enjoy it. Gal. 5. 13. You are call'd to Liberty. 1 Cor. 7. 23. Be not made 
 the Servants of Men. Gal. 5. 14. Stand fajl therfore in the Liberty wherewith 
 Chrift hath made us free ; and be not int angled again with the Yoke of Bondage. 
 Neither is this a meer Command, but tor the moft part in thefe forecited 
 Places, accompanied with the very weightieft and inmoft Reafons of Chriftian 
 Re igion : Rom. 14. 9, iu. For to this end Chrift both died, androfe, and reviv'd, 
 that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. But why deft thou judge thy Bro- 
 ther ? &c. How prefumeft thou to be his Lord, to be whole only Lord, at 
 leaft in thefe things, Chrift both died, and rofe, and liv'd again ? We ftiall all 
 ftand before the 'Judgment -feat of Chrift. Why then doft thou not only judge, 
 but perfecute in thefe things for which we are to be accountable to the Tribu- 
 nal of Chrift only, our Lord and Law-giver? 1 Cor. 7. 23. Ye are bought with 
 a price; be not made the Servants of Men. Some trivial price belike, and for 
 ibme frivolous pretences paid in their opinion, if bought and by him redeem'd 
 who is God from what was once the Service of God, we fhall be enthrall'd 
 again, and fore'd by Men to what now is but the Service of Men. Gal. 4. 31. 
 with 5. 1. We are not Children of the Bond-woman, &c. ftand fajl therfore, &c. 
 Col. 2.8. Beware left any Man fpoilyou, &c. after the Rudiments of the World, 
 and not after Chrift. Solid Reafons wherof are continu'd through the whole 
 
 Vol. I. Bbbb 2 Chap-
 
 - g Of Civil Power i 
 
 Chapter. Ver. 10. X? are compleat in him, which is the bead of all Principality 
 and Power: Not compleated therfore or made the more religious by thofe Ordi- 
 nances of Civil Power, from which Chrift their Head hath difcharged us j 
 blotting out the hand- writing of Ordinances that was againjl us, which was contrary 
 to us J and took it out of the way, nailing it to his Crofs, ver. 14. blotting out Or- 
 dinances written by God himfelf, much more thofe lb boldly written over again 
 by Men : Ordinances which were againft us, that is, againft our Frailty, 
 much more thofe which are againft our Confcience. Let no Man therfore judge 
 youinrefpetl of, &c. v. 16. Gal. 4. 3. &>. Even fo we, when we were Children* 
 were in bondage under the Rudiments of the World : But when thefulnefs of Time was 
 come, God fent forth his Son, &c. to redeem them that were uuder the Law, that we 
 wight receive the Adoption of Sons, &c. Wberfore thou art no more a Servant, but 
 a Son &c. But now, &c. how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly Rudiments, 
 wheruntoye defire again to be in Bondage ? Te obferve days, Sec. Hence it plainly 
 appears, that if we be not free, we are not Sons, but ftill Servants unadopted ; 
 and if we turn again to thofe weak and beggarly Rudiments, we are not free j 
 yea though willingly, and with a mifguided Confcience, we defire to be in 
 bondage to them ; how much more then if unwillingly and againft our Con- 
 fcience'? Ill was our Condition, chang'd from Legal to Evangelical, and fmall 
 Advantage rotten by the Gofpel, if for the Spirit of Adoption to Freedom 
 promis'd us, we receive again the Spirit of Bondage to Fear ; if our Fear, 
 which was then fervile towards God only, muff, be now fervile in Religion to- 
 wards Men : Strange alfo and prepofterous Fear, if when and wherin it hath 
 attain'd by the Redemption of our Saviour to be filial only towards God, it 
 muft be now fervile towards the Magiftrate. Who by fubjecting us to his Pu- 
 nifhment in thefe things, brings back into Religion that Law of Terror and 
 Satisfaction belonging now only to civil Crimes •, and therby in effect abo- 
 Iifhes the Gofpel, by eftablifhing again the Law to a far worie Yoke of Servi- 
 tude upon us than before. It will therfore not mifbecome the meaneft Chrif- 
 tian to put in mind Chriftian Magiftrates, and l'o much the more freely by 
 how much the more they defire to be thought Chriftian, (for they will be 
 therby, as they ought to be in thefe things, the more our Brethren and the 
 lets our Lords) that they meddle not rafhly with Chriftian Liberty, the 
 ' Birth-right and outward Teftimony of our Adoption : left while they little 
 think it, nay, think they do God fervice, they themfelves, like the Sons of 
 that Bond-Woman, be found perfecuting them who are free-born of the Spi- 
 rit •, and by a Sacrilege of not the leaft aggravation, bereaving them of that 
 facred Liberty which our Saviour with his own Blood purchas'd for them. 
 
 A fourth Reafon why the Magiftrate ought not to ufe Force in Religion, I 
 brino- from the Conlideration of all thofe ends which he can likely pretend to 
 the interpofing of his Force therin : and thofe hardly can be other than firft 
 the Glory of God ; next, either the fpiritual Good of them whom he forces, 
 or the temporal Punifhment of their Scandal to others. As for the promoting 
 of God's Glory, none, I think, will fay that his Glory ought to be promoted 
 in religious things by unwarrantable means, much lefs by means contrary to 
 what he hath commanded. That outward Force is fuch, and that God's Glo- 
 ry in the whole Adminiftration of the Gofpel according to his own Will and 
 Counfel ought to be fulfill'd by Weaknefs, at leaft fo refuted, not by Force ; 
 or if by Force inward and fpiritual, not outward and corporeal, is already 
 prov'd at large. That outward Force cannot tend to the Good of him who 
 is fore'd in Religion, is unqueftionable. For in Religion, whatever we do 
 •under the Gofpel, we ought to be therof perfwaded without fcruple ; and 
 are juftihed by the Faith we have, not by the Work we do : Rom. 14. 5. Let 
 every Man be fully perfwaded in his own Mind. The other Reafon which follows 
 neceffarily is obvious, Gal. 2.16. and in many other places of St. Paul, as the 
 Ground-work and Foundation of the whole Gofpel, that we are juflified by the 
 Faith of Chrifi, and not by the Works of the Law. If not by the Works of 
 • God's Law, how then by the Injunctions of Man's Law ? Surely Force cannot 
 work Perfwafion, which is Faith ; cannot therfore juftify nor pacify the Con- 
 fcience ; and that which juftifies not in the Gofpel, condemns ; is not only 
 not good, but finful to do: Rom. 14. 23. Whatfoever is not of Faith, is Sin. It 
 Concerhs the Magiftrate then to take heed how he forces in Religion confeien- 
 
 tious 
 
 4
 
 in Ecckfiaftical Caufes. zzj 
 
 tious Men: left by compelling them to do that wherofthey cannot be per- 
 fwaded, that wherin they cannot find themfelves juftified, but by their own 
 Confciences condemn'd, inftead of aiming at their fpiritual Good, he forces 
 them to do Evil-, and while he thinks himfelf^j Jcfah, Nehemiah, he be 
 found Jeroboam, who caus'd Ifrael to fin ; and therby draw upon his own head 
 all thofe Sins and Ship-wracks of implicit Faith and Conformity, which he 
 hath forc'd, and all the Wounds given to thofe little ones, whom to offend he 
 will find worfe one day than that violent drowning mentioned Mat. 18. 6. 
 Laftly, as a Preface to force, it is the ufual pretence, That although tender 
 Confciences fhall be tolerated, yet Scandals therby given lhall not be unpu- 
 nifh'd, prophane and licentious Men fhall not be encourag'd to neglect the 
 Performance of religious and holy Duties by colour of any Law giving Liberty 
 to tender Confciences. By which contrivance the way lies ready open to them 
 herafter who may be fo minded, to take away by little and little that Liber- 
 ty which Chrift and his Gofpel, not any Magiftrate, hath right to give : 
 though this kind of his giving be but to give with one hand, and take away 
 with the other, which is a deluding, not a giving. As for Scandals, if any 
 Man be offended at the confeientious Liberty of another, it is a taken Scan- 
 dal, not a given. To heal one Confcience, we muft not wound another : and 
 Men muft be exhorted to beware of Scandals in Chriftian Liberty, not forc'd 
 by the Magiftrate ? left while he goes about to take away the Scandal, which 
 is uncertain whether given or taken, he take away our Liberty, which is the 
 certain and the facred Gift of God, neither to be touch'd by him, nor to be 
 parted with by us. None more cautious of giving Scandal than St. Paul. Yet 
 while he made himfelf Servant to all, that he might gain the more, he made 
 himfelf fo of his own accord, was not made fo by outward Force, teftifying 
 at the fame time that he was free from all Men, i Cor. 9. 19. and therafter ex- 
 horts us alfo, Gal. 5. 1 3. Ye were called to Liberty, Sic. but by Love ferve one ano- 
 ther: then not by Force. As for that Fear, left prophane and licentious Men 
 fhould be encourag'd to omit the Performance of religious and holy Duties, 
 how can that care belong to the Civil Magiftrate, efpecially to his Force ? 
 For if prophane and licentious Perlbns muft not neglect the Performance of 
 religious and holy Duties, it implies, that fuch Duties they can perform, 
 which no Proteftant will affirm. They who mean the outward Performance, 
 may fo explain it •, and it will then appear yet more plainly, that fuch Per- 
 formance of religious and holy Duties, efpecial!y by prophane and licentious 
 Perfons, is a diihonouring rather than a worfhipping of God ; and not only by 
 him not requir'd, but detefted : Prov. 21. 27. The Sacrifice of the wicked is an 
 Abomination ; how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked Mind? To compel 
 therfore the prophane to things holy in his Prophanenefs, is all one under the 
 Gofpel, as to have compell'd the unclean to facrifke in his Uncleannefs under 
 the Law. And I add withal, that to compel the licentious in his Licentiouf- 
 nefs, and the confeiencious againft his Confcience, comes all to one ; tends 
 not to the Honour of God, but to the multiplying and the aggravating of Sin 
 to them both. We read not that Chrift ever exercis'd Force but once •, and 
 that was to drive prophane ones out of his Temple, not to force them in : 
 and if their being there was an Offence, we find by many other Scriptures 
 that their praying there was an Abomination : and yet to the Jewijh Law 
 that Nation, as a Servant, was oblig'd ; but to the Gofpel each Perfon is left 
 voluntary, call'd only, as a Son, by the preaching of the Word; not to be 
 driven in by Edicts and Force of Arms. For if by the Apoftle, Rom. 12. 1. 
 we are befeech'd as Brethren by the Mercies of God to prefent our Bodies a living Sa- 
 crifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reafonable Service or Worfhip, then 
 is no Man to be forc'd by the compulfive Laws of Men to prefent his Body a 
 dead Sacrifice ; and fo under the Gofpel moft unholy and unacceptable, be- 
 caufe it is his unreafonable Service, that is to fay, not only unwilling but un- 
 confcionable. But if prophane and licentious Perfons may not omit the Per- 
 formance of holy Duties, why may they not partake of holy things? Why 
 are they prohibited the Lord's Supper, fince both the one and the other Acti- 
 on may be outward ; and outward Performance of Duty may attain at leaft an 
 outward Participation of Benefit ? The Church denying them that Commu- 
 nion of Grace and Thankfgiving, as it jurtly doth, why doth the Magiftrate 
 
 compel
 
 rc$ Of Civil Power ) 
 
 compel them to the Union of performing that which they neither truly can, 
 being themfelves unholy, and to do feemingly is both hateful to God, and 
 perhaps no lefs dangerous to perform holy Duties irreligioufly, than to re- 
 ceive holy Signs or Sacraments unworthily ? All prophane and licentious Men," 
 fo known, can be confider'd but either lb without the Church as never yet 
 within it, or departed thence of their own accord, or excommunicate : I; 
 never yet within the Church, whom the Apoftle, and fo confequently the 
 Church, have nought to do to judge, as he profefles, i Cor. 5. 12. then by 
 w hat Authority doth the Magiftrate judge ; or, which is worfe, compel in re- 
 lation to the Church? If departed of his own accord, like that loft Sheep, 
 Luke 15. 4, &c. the true Church either with her own or any borrow'd Force 
 worries him not in again, but rather in all charitable manner fends after him ; 
 and if fhe find him, lays him gently on her Shoulders ; bears him, yea bears 
 his Burdens, his Errors, his Infirmities any way tolerable, fo fulfilling the 
 Law of Chriftf Gal. 6. 2. If excommunicate, whom the Church hath bid go 
 out, in whofe name doth the Magiftrate compel to go in ? The Church indeed 
 hinders none from hearing in her public Congregation, for the doors are 
 open to all : nor excommunicates to deftruction ; but, as much as in her lies, 
 to a final faving. Her meaning therfore muft needs be, that as her driving 
 out brings on no outward Penalty, fo no outward Force or Penalty of an im- 
 proper and only a deftructive Power fhould drive in again her infectious Sheep ; 
 therfore fent out becaufe infectious, and not driven in but with the danger 
 not only of the whole and found, but alfo of his own utter perifhing. Since 
 Force neither inftructs in Religion, nor begets Repentance or Amendment o; 
 Life, but on the contrary, Hardnefs of Heart, Formality, Hypocrify, and, 
 as I faid before, every way increafe of Sin, more and more alienates the Mind 
 from a violent Religion, expelling out and compelling in, and reduces it to a 
 condition like that which the Britain* compiain of in our Story, driven to 
 and fro between the Picls and the Sea. If after Excommunion he be found in- 
 tractable, incurable, and will not hear the Church, he becomes as one never 
 yet within her Pale, a Heathen or a Publican, Mat. 18. 17. not further to be 
 judg'd, no not by the Magiftrate, unlefs for civil Caufes ; but left to the final 
 Sentence of that Judge, whofe coming ihall be in flames of Fire - y that Maran- 
 atha, 1 Cof. 16. 22. than which to him fo left nothing can be more dreadful, 
 and oft-times to him particularly nothing more fpeedy, that is to fay, the 
 Lord cometh, in the mean while deliver'd up to Satan, 1 Cor. 5. 5. 1 Tim. 1. 
 20. that is, from the Fold of Chrift and Kingdom of Grace to the World 
 again, which is the Kingdom of Satan ; and as he was receiv'd from Darknefs 
 to Light, and from the Power of Satan to Cod, Acts 26. 18. fo now deliver'd up 
 again from Light to Darknefs, and from God to the Power of Satan ; yet lo- 
 as is in both Places manifefted, to the intent of faving him, brought fooner to 
 Contrition by fpiritual than by any corporal Severity. But grant it belong- 
 ing any way to the Magiftrate, that prophane and licentious Perfons omit not 
 the performance of holy Duties, which in them were odious to God even un- 
 cler the Law, much more now under the Gofpel •, yet ought his care both as a 
 Magiftrate and a Chriftian, to be much more that Confcience be not inwardly 
 violated, than that Licence in thefe things be made outwardly conformable : 
 fince his part is undoubtedly as a Chriftian, which puts him upon this Office 
 much more than as a Magiftrate, in all refpects to have more care of the con- 
 fcientious than of the prophane ; and not for their fakes to take away (while 
 they pretend to give) or to diminifh the rightful Liberty of religious Con- 
 fciences. 
 
 On thefe four fcriptural Reafons, as on a firm Square, this Truth, the 
 Right of Chriftian and Evangelic Liberty, will ftand immoveable againft all 
 thole pretended Confequences of Licence and Confufion, which for the moft 
 part Men moft licentious and confus'd themfelves, or fuch as whofe Severity 
 would be wifer than Divine Wifdom, are ever apteft to object againft the ways 
 of God: as if God without them, when he gave us this Liberty, knew not of 
 the worft which thefe Men in their Arrogance pretend will follow : yet know-, 
 ing all their worft, he gave us this Liberty as by him judg'd beft. As to 
 thofe Magiitrates who think it their work to fettle Religion, and thofe Mini- 
 fters or others, who lb oft call upon them to do fo, I truft, that having well 
 
 con
 
 in Rcclefiaflical Caufes. t- r g 
 
 confuler'd what Rath been here argu'd, neither they will continue in that in- 
 tention, nor thefe in th.it expectation from them : when they mall find that 
 the Settlement of Religion belongs only to each particular Church by per- 
 fwafive and fpiritual means within itlelf", and that the- Defence only of the 
 Church belongs to the Magiftrate. Had he once learnt not further to concern 
 himfelf with Church-Affairs, half his Labour might be fpar'd, and the Com- 
 monwealth better tended. To which end, that which I premis'd in the be- 
 ginning, and in due place treated of more at large, I defire now concluding, 
 that they would confider ferioufly what Religion is: and they will find it to 
 be, in fum, both our Belief and our Practice depending upon God only. 
 That there can be no place then left for the Magiftrate or his Force in the 
 Settlement of Religion, by appointing either what we fhall believe in divine 
 things, or pracfife in Religious, (neither of which things are in the power of 
 Man either to perform himfelf, or to enable others) I perfwade me in the 
 Chriftian Ingenuity of all religious Men, the more they examine ferioufly, the 
 more they will find clearly to be true : and find how falfe and deceivable that 
 common faying is, which is lb much rely'd upon, that the Chriftian Magiftrate 
 is Cuftos utriufque Tabula, Keeper of both Tables, unlefs is meant by Keeper 
 the Defender only : neither can that Maxim be maintain'd by any Proof or 
 Argument which hath not in this Difcourfe firft or laft been refuted. For the 
 two Tables, or ten Commandments, teach our Duty to God and our Neigh- 
 bour from -the Love of both ; give Magiftrates no Authority to force either : 
 they feek that from the judicial Law, though on falfe grounds, efpecially in 
 the firft Table, as I have fhewn ; and both in firft and fecond execute that 
 Authority for the moft part, not according to God's judicial Laws but their 
 own. As for civil Crimes, and of the outward Man, which all are not, no 
 not of thofe againft the fecond Table, as that of coveting ; in them what 
 Power they have, they had from the beginning, long before Mofes or the two 
 Tables were in being. And whether they be not now as little in being to be 
 kept by any Chriftian as they are two legal Tables, remains yet as undecided, 
 as it is fure they never were yet deliver'd to the keeping of any Chriftian Ma- 
 giftrate. But of thefe things perhaps more fome other time ; what may 
 ferve the prefent hath been above difcours'd fufficiently out of the Scriptures : 
 and to thofe produe'd, might be added Teftimonies, Examples, Experiences 
 of all f ucceeding Ages to thefe times, afferting this Doctrine : but having herin 
 the Scripture fo copious and fo plain, we have all that can be properly call'd 
 true Strength and Nerve ; the reft would be but Pomp and Incumbrance. 
 Pomp and Oftentation of reading is admir'd among the Vulgar : but doubtlefs 
 in Matters of Religion he is learnedeft who is plaineft. The brevity I ufe, not 
 exceeding a fmall Manual, will not therfore, I fuppofe, be thought the lefs 
 confiderable, unlefs with them perhaps who think that great Books only can 
 determine great Matters. I rather chofe the common Rule, not to make much 
 ado where lefs may ferve. Which in Controversies, .and thofe efpecially of 
 Religion, would make them lefs tedious, and by confequence read oftner b*y 
 many more, and with more Benefit. 
 
 CON-
 
 s 6o 
 
 CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 Touching the Likelieft Means to remove 
 
 HIRELINGS 
 
 OUT OF THE CHURGH. 
 
 "Wherin is alfo difcours'd 
 
 f Tithes^ 
 Of < Church-Fees-, 
 
 t Church-Revenues ; 
 
 And whether any Maintenance of Minifters can 
 
 be fettled by Law. 
 
 To the P arla?ne?it of the Commonwealth <?/" England, with the 
 
 Dominions t her of 
 
 OWing to your Protection, fupreme Senate, this liberty of wri- 
 ting which I have us'd thefe eighteen Years on all occafions to 
 afTert the juft Rights and Freedoms both of Church and State, and 
 fo lar approv'd, as to have been trailed with die reprefcntment and defence 
 ©f your Aftions to all Chriftendom againlt an Adverfary of no mean re- 
 pute ; to whom mould Iaddrefswhat I Mill publifh on the fame Argu- 
 ment, but to you, whofe magnanimous Councils firft open'd and unbound The 
 Age from a double Bondage under Prelatical and Regal Tyranny • above 
 ©ur own hopes heartning us to look up at laft like Men and Chriftians from 
 the flavifh Dejeclion wherin from Father to Son we were bred up and 
 taught; and therby deferving of thefe Nations, if they be not barb-rcufiy 
 mgrateful, to be acknowledge, next under God, the Authors and belt Patrons 
 or Religious and Civil Liberty, that ever thefe Wands brought forth ? The 
 care and tuition of whofe Peace and Safety, altera fhort, but fcandalous night 
 of Interruption, is now again by a new dawning of God's miraculous Provi- 
 dence among us, revolv'd upon your ihoulders. And to whom more apper- 
 tain thefe Confederations which I propound, than to yourfelves, and the De- 
 bate before you, though I trull of no difficulty, yet at prefent of great ex" 
 peftation, not whether ye will gratify, were it no more than fo, but whether 
 ye will hearken to the juft Petition or many thoufands belt affected both to Re 
 ligion and to this your Return, or whether ye will fatisfv, which you never 
 can, the covetous Pretences and Demands of infatiable Hirelings, .whole Dif- 
 jtffe&ion ye well know both to yourfelves and your Refoluttoiis"? Tint J 
 though among many others in this common Concernment, interpofe to your 
 Deliberations what my Thoughts alfo are, your own Judgment and theluc- 
 cefstherof hath given me the conhder.ee: which requefts but this that if I 
 have proiperoufly, Gud fo favouring me, defended the public Caufe of this 
 
 <- »mmon-
 
 The like Heft Means to remove Hirelings, ^ 6 1 
 
 Commonwealth to Foreigners, ye would not think thereafon and ability, wher- 
 on ye trailed once, and repent not, your whole Reputation to the World, ei- 
 ther grown lei's by more maturity and longer fludy, or lcf's available in Evgliflj 
 than in another Tongue : but that if it lliflic'd ibme years pad to convince and 
 fatisfy the uningag'd or other Nations in the juftice of your doings, though 
 then held paradoxal, it may as well fuffke now againft weaker oppofition in 
 matters, except here in England with a fpirituality of Men devoted to their 
 temporal Gain, of no Controverfy elfe among Proteftants. Neither do I doubt, 
 feeing daily the acceptance which they find who in their Petitions venture to 
 bring advice alio, and new models of a Commonwealth, but that you will in- 
 terpret it much more the duty of a Chriftian to offer what his Confcience per- 
 fwades him may be of moment to the freedom and better conftituting of the 
 Church : fince it is a deed of higheft charity to help undeceive the People, and 
 a work worthieft your Authority, in all things elfe Authors, Affertors and 
 now Recoverers of our Liberty, to deliver us, the only People of all Proteftants 
 left ftill undeliver'd from the Opprefiions of a fimonious decimating Clergy, 
 who fhame not, againft the judgment and practice or all other Churches re- 
 form'd, to maintain, though very weakly, their Popifli and oft refuted Pofi- 
 tions; not in a point of Confcience, wherin they might be blamelefs, but in 
 a point of jpovetoulnefs and unjuft claim to other Men's Goods ; a Contention 
 foul and odious ;:i any Man, but molt of all in Miniiters of the Gofpel, in 
 whom Contention, though for their own right, fcarce is allowable. Till 
 which Grievances be remov*d, and Religion let free from the monopoly of 
 Hirelings, I dare affirm, that no Model whatfoever of a Commonwealth will 
 prove fuccefsful or undifturb'd ; and lb per/waded, implore Divine Affiftance 
 on your pious Counfels and Proceedings to unanimity in this and all other 
 Truth. 
 
 Vo L. I. Cccc CON-
 
 5« 
 
 2 
 
 CONSIDER A TIONS 
 
 TOUCHI NG 
 
 tfhe Ukelieft Means to remove Hirelings out of the 
 
 C H U R C H. 
 
 TH E former Treatife, which leads in this, began with two things 
 ever found working much mifchief to the Church of God, and the 
 advancement of Truth; Force on the one fide reftraining, and Hire 
 on the other fide corrupting the Teachers therof. The latter of thefe 
 
 is by much the more dangerous : for under Force, though no thank to the 
 Forcers, true Religion oft-times bell thrives and flourifhes ; but the Corrup- 
 tion of Teachers, moll commonly the effect of Hire, is the very bane of 
 Truth in them who are fo corrupted. Of Force not to be us'd in matters of 
 Religion, I have already fpoken ; and fo ftated matters of Confcience and 
 Religion in Faith and Divine Worfhip, and lb fever'd them from Blafphemy 
 and Herefy, the one being fuch properly as is defpiteful, the other Inch as 
 Hands not to the Rule of Scripture, and i'o both of them not matters of Re- 
 ligion, but rather againfl it, that to them who will yet ufe Force, this only 
 choice can be left, whether they will force them to believe, to whom it is 
 not «iven from above, being not fore'd therto by any Principle of the Gof- 
 pel," which is now the only Difpenfation of God to all Men ; or whether be- 
 ing Protectants, they will punifh in thole things wherin the Proteftant Reli- 
 gion denies them to be Judges, either in themlelves infallible, or to the Con- 
 iciences of other Men; or whether, laflly, they think fit to punifh Error, 
 fuppofing they can be infallible that it is fo, being not wilful, but confcien r 
 tious, and, according to the bell light of him who errs, grounded on Scrip- 
 ture: which kind of Error all Men religious, or but only reafonable, have 
 thought worthier of pardon, and the growth therof to be prevented by 
 ipiritual Means and Church-Difcipline, not by civil Laws and outward Force, 
 fince it is God only who gives us well to believe aright, as to believe at all ; 
 and by thofe means which he ordain'd fufficiently in his Church to the full exe- 
 cution of his divine Purpofe in the Gofpel. It remains now to fpeak of Hire, 
 the other evil fo mifchievous in Religion : wherof I promis'd then to fpeak 
 further, when I fhould find God difpofing me, and opportunity inviting. Op- 
 portunity I find now inviting ; and apprehend therin the concurrence of 
 God difpofing ; fince the Maintenance of Church-Minifters, a thing not pro- 
 perly belonging to the Magiftrate, and yet with fuch importunity call'd for, 
 and expected from him, is at prefent under public debate. Wherin left 
 any thing may happen to be determin'd and eftablifh'd prejudicial to the 
 right and freedom of Church, or advantagious to fuch as may be found Hire- 
 lings therin, it will be now mofl fealbnable, and in thefe matters wherin 
 every Chriltian hath his free Suffrage, no way mifbecoming Chriftian 
 Meeknefs to offer freely, without difparagement to the wifefl, fuch Advice 
 as God lhall incline him and enable him to propound : Since hertolore in 
 Commonwealths of mofl fame for Governmenr, Civil Laws were not efta- 
 blifh'd till they had been firft for certain days publifh'd to the view of all 
 Men, that whofo pleas'd might fpeak freely his Opinion therof, and give in 
 his Exceptions, e'er the Law could pafs to a full eftablifhment. And wheie 
 ought this Equity to have more place, than in the liberty which is infeparable 
 from Chriftian Religion? This, I am not ignorant, will be a work unpleafing 
 to fome : but what Truth is not hateful to fome or other, as this, in likeli- 
 hood, will be to none but Hirelings. And if there be among them who hold 
 it their duty to fpeak impartial Truth, as the work of their Miniftry, though 
 not perform'd without Money, let them not envy others who think the fame 
 no lefs their duty by the general office of Chriltianity, to fpeak truth, as in 
 reafonmay be thought, more impartially and unfufpectedly without Money. 
 
 Hire
 
 Hirelings out of the Church, <-<5 
 
 Hireofitfelf is neither a thing unlawful, nor a word of any evil note, fig- 
 ni.'ying no more than a due Recompence or Reward; as when our Saviour 
 lakh, the Labourer is worthy of his Hire. That which makes it fo dangerous in 
 the Church, and properly makes the Hireling, a word always of evil Signifi- 
 cation, is either the excels therof, or the undue manner of giving and taking 
 it. What harm the excefs therof brought to the Church, perhaps was not 
 found by experience till the days of Cofijiantine ; who out of his zeal thinking 
 he could be never too liberally a nurling Father of the Church, might be not 
 ^unfitly faid to have either over-laid it or choak'd it in the Nurfin^. Which 
 was toretold, as is recorded in Ecclefiaftical Traditions, by a Voice heard from 
 Heaven, on the very day that thofe great Donations and Church Revenues were 
 given, crying aloud, This day is Poifon pour'd into the Church. Which the event 
 loon after verify'd, as appears by another no lefs antient Obfervation, That 
 Religion brought forth Wealth, and the Daughter devour' d the Mother. But lon^ 
 e'er Wea.th came into the Church, fo loon as any Gain appear'd in Religion, 
 Hirelings were apparent ; drawn in long before by the very fcent therof. 
 Judas therfore, the firft Hireling, for want of prefent Hire anfwerable to 
 his coveting, from the fmall number of the meannefs of fuch as then were the 
 Religious, fold the Religion itfelf with the Founder therof, his Mailer. Si- 
 mon Magus the next, in hope only that preaching and the Gilts of the Holy 
 Ghoft would prove gainful, offer'd beforehand a Sum of Money to obtain them. 
 Not long after, as the Apoftle foretold, Hirelings like Wolves came in by 
 Herds •, Acts 20. 29. For I know this, that after my departing fiall grievous Wolves 
 enter in among you, not fparing the Flock. Tit. 1. 11. Teaching things which they 
 ought not , for filthy lucre' s fake . 2 Pet. 2. 3. And through Covetoufnefs flail they 
 with feign' d words make Merchandife of you. Yet they taught not falfe Doctrine 
 only, but feeming Piety •, iTim. 6. 5. Suppojing that Gain is Godlinefs. Neither 
 came they in ofthemfelvesonly, but invited oft-times by a corrupt Audience : 
 2 Tim. 4. 3. For the time will come, when they will not endure found Dotlrine, but 
 after their own Lufls they will heap to themfelves Teachers having itching Ears: and 
 they on the other fide, as fail heaping to themfelves Difciples, Acts 20. 30. 
 doubtlefs had as itching Palms : 2 Pet. 2.15. Following the way of Balaam, the 
 Son of Bofor, who lov'd the wages of unrighteoufnefs . Jude 1 1 . They ran greedily 
 after the error of 'Balaam for reward. Thus we iee that not only the excefs of 
 Hire in wealthier! times, but alio the undue and vicious taking or giving it, 
 though but fmall or mean, as in the Primitive Times, gave to Hirelings occa- 
 fion, though not intended, yet fufficient to creep at firft into the Church. 
 Which argues alio the difficulty, or rather the impoffibility, to remove them 
 quite, unlefs every Minifter were, as St. Paul, contented to teach gratis ■, but 
 few fuch are to be found. As therfore we cannot juilly take away all Hire 
 in the Church, becaufe we cannot otherwise quite remove all Hirelings, foare 
 we not for the impoffibility of removing them all, to ufe therfore no endea- 
 vour that feweft may come in ; but rather, in regard the Evil, do what we 
 can, will always be incumbent and unavoidable, to ufe our utmoll diligence 
 how it may be leaft dangerous : which will be likelieft effected, if we coniider, 
 firft, what recompence God hath ordain'd fhould be given to Minifters of the 
 Church ; (for that a recompence ought to be given them, and may by them 
 juftly be received, our Saviour himfelf from the very light of Reafon and 
 of Equity hath declar'd, Luke 10. 7. The Labourer is worthy of his Hire) ; next, 
 by whom ; and laftly, in what manner. 
 
 What Recompence ought be given to Church-Minifters, God hath anfwer- 
 ably ordain'd according to that difference which he hath manifeftly put be- 
 tween thofe his two great Difpenfations, the Law and the Goipel. Under 
 the Law, he gave them Tithes ; under the Goipel, having left all things in his 
 Church, to Charity and Chriftian Freedom, he hath given them only what is 
 juftiy given them. That, as well under the Goipel, as under the Law, fay 
 our Enghfn Divines, and they only of all Proteftants, is Tithes ; and they fay 
 true, if any Man be fo minded to give them of his own the tenth or twentieth j 
 but that the Law therfore of Tithes is in force under the Goipel, all otln r 
 Proteftant Divines, though equally concern'd, yet conilantly deny. For al- 
 though Hire to the Labourer be of moral and perpetual Right, yet that fpe- 
 cial kind of Hire, the tenth, can be of no Right or Necclfity, but to ti 
 Vol. I. C c cc 2 fpecial 
 
 ^
 
 ^54 The likelieft Means to remove 
 
 fpecial Labour For which God ordain'd it. That fpecial Labour was the Levi- 
 tical and Ceremonial Service of the Tabernacle, Numb. 18.21,31. which is 
 now abolifh'd : the right therfore of that fpecial Hire muft needs be withal a- 
 boliih'd, as being alfo Ceremonial. That Tithes were Ceremonial, is plain, 
 not bein'o- given to the Levites till they had been firft offer'd a Heave*Oftering 
 to the Lord, Ver. 24, 28. He then who by that Law brings Tithes into the 
 Gopel, ofneceffity brings in withal a Sacrifice, and an Altar ; without which 
 Tithes' by that Law were unfanctify'd and polluted, Ver. 32. and therfore ne- 
 ver thought on in the firft Chriltian times, till Ceremonies, Altars, and Ob- 
 lations, by an ancienter Corruption were brought back long before. And 
 yet the Jews, ever fince their Temple was deftroy'd, though they have Rabbies 
 and Teachers of their Law, yet pay no Tithes, as having no Levites to whom, 
 no Temple where to pay them, no Altar wheron to hallow them : which ar- 
 gues that the Jews themfelves never thought Tithes Moral, but Ceremonial 
 only. That Chriftians therfore mould take them up, when Jews have laid 
 them down, muft needs be very abfurd and prepofterous. Next, it is as 
 clear in the fame Chapter, that the Priefts and Levites had not Tithes for 
 their labour only in the Tabernacle, but in regard they were to have no other 
 Part nor Inheritance in the Land, Ver. 20, 24. and by that means for a Tenth, 
 loft a Twelfth. But our Levites undergoing no fuch Law of Deprivemenr, 
 can have no right to any fuch Compenfation : nay, if by this Law they will 
 have Tithes, can have no Inheritance of Land, but forfeit what they have. 
 Befides this, Tithes were of two forts, thofe of every Year, and thofe of 
 every third Year: of the former, every one that brought his Tithes, was to 
 eat his fhare •, Deut. 14. 23. Thoufialt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place 
 which he fhall chufe to place his name there, the Tithe of thy Corn, of thy Wine, and 
 of thine Oil, &c. Nay, though he could not bring his Tithe in kind, by rea- 
 fon of his diftant dwelling from the Taberpacle or Temple, but was therby 
 fore'd to turn it into Money, he was to beftow that Money on whatfoever 
 pleas'd him, Oxen, Sheep, Wine, or ftrong Drink ; and to eat and drink 
 tberof there before the Lord, both he and his Houfhold, Ver. 24,25,26. As 
 for the Tithes of every third Year, they were not given only to the Levite, but 
 to the Stranger, the Fatherlefs, and the Widow, Ver, 28, 29. and Chap. 26. 
 12, 13. So that ours, if they will have Tithes, muft admit of thefe fharers 
 with them. Nay, thefe Tithes were not paid in at all to the Levite, but the 
 Levite himfelf was to come with thole his Fellow-Guefts, and eat his fhare of 
 them only at his Houfe who provided them ; and this not in regard of his mi- 
 nifterial Office, but becaufe he had no Part nor Inheritance in the Land. 
 Laftly, the Priefts and Levites, a Tribe, were of a far different Conftitution 
 from this of our Minifters under the Gofpel : in them were Orders and Degrees 
 both by Family, Dignity, and Office, mainly diftinguifh'd •, the High Prieft, 
 his Brethren, and his Sons, to whom the Levites themfelves paid Tithes, and 
 of the bell, were eminently fuperior, Numb. 18. 28,29. No Proteftant, I 
 fuppofe, will liken one of our Minifters to a High Prieft, but rather to a com- 
 mon Levite. Unlefs then, to keep their Tithes, they mean to bring back again 
 Bifhops, Archbifliops, and the whole gang of Prelatry, to whom will they 
 themfelves pay Tithes, as by that Law it was a Sin to them if they did not ? 
 1 er. 32. Certainly this muft needs put them to a deep demur, while the 
 defire of holding faft their Tithes without fin, may tempt them to bring back 
 again Bifhops, as the likenefs of that Hierarchy that fhould receive Tithes from 
 them ■, and the defire to pay none, may advife them to keep out of the Church 
 all Orders above them. But if we have to do at prefent, as I fuppofe we 
 have, with true reformed Proteftants, not with Papifts or Prelates, it will not 
 be deny'd that in the Gofpel there be but two minifterial Degrees, Prefbyters and 
 Deacons : which if they contend to have any fucceffion, reference, or conformi- 
 ty with thofe two degrees under the Law, Priefts and Levites, it muft needs be 
 Inch wlurby our Prefbyters or Minifters may be anfwerable to Priefts, and our 
 Deacons to Levites •, by which Rule of Proportion it will follow, that we muft 
 pay our Tithes to the Deacons only, and they only to the Minifters. But if it 
 be truer yet, that the Priefthood of Aaron typify'd a better reality, 1 Pet. 2. 5. 
 fignifying the Chriftian true and holy Priefthood, to offer up fpirittial Sacrifice ; 
 it follows hence, that we are now juftly exempt from paying Tithes to any 
 
 who
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. r6r 
 
 who claim From Aaron, fince that Priefthood is in us now real, which in him 
 was but a fliadow. Seeing then by all this which hath been (hewn, that the 
 Law of Tithes is partly Ceremonial, as the work was for which they were 
 given, partly judicial, not of common, but of particular right to the Tribe 
 oi' Levi, nor to them alone, but to the Owner alio and his Houfhold, at the 
 time of their Offering, and every three year to the Stranger, the Fatherlefs, 
 and the Widow, their appointed Sharers, and that they were a Tribe of Priefts 
 and Deacons improperly compar'd to the Conftitution of our Miniftry ; and 
 the Tithes given by that People to thofe Deacons only ; it follows that our 
 Minifters at this day, being neither Priefts nor Levites, nor fitly anfwerin<^ 
 to either of them, can have no juft title or pretence to Tithes, by any con- 
 fequence drawn from the Law of Mofes. But they think they have yet a bet- 
 ter Plea in the example of Melchifedec, who took Tithes of Abraham ere the 
 Law was given ; whence they would infer Tithes to be of Moral rio-ht. 
 But they ought to know, or to remember, that not examples, but exprefs 
 Commands oblige our obedience to God or Man : next, that whatfoever was 
 done in Religion before the Law written, is not prefently to be counted Mo- 
 ral, whenas lb many things were then done both Ceremonial and Judaically 
 judicial, that we need not doubt to conclude all times before Chrift, more or 
 lefs under the Ceremonial Law. To what end ferv'd elfe thole Altars and Sa- 
 crifices, that diftinclion of clean and unclean entering into the Ark, Circum- 
 cifion, and the railing up of Seed to the elder Brother? Gen. 38. 8. If 
 thefe dungs be not Moral, though before the Law, how are Tithes, though 
 in the example of Abraham and Melchifedec ? But this inftance is lb far from 
 being the juft ground of a Law, that after all Circumftances duly weigh'd 
 both from Gen. 14. and Heb. 7. it will not be allow'd them lb much as an ex- 
 ample. Melchifedec, befules his Prieftiy Benediction, brought with him Bread 
 and Wine fufficient to reirefh Abraham and his whole Army ; incited to do lb, 
 firft, by* the fecret Providence of God, intending him for a Type of Chrift. 
 and his Priefthood •, next, by his due thankfulnefs and honour to Abraham, who 
 had freed his borders of Salem from a potent Enemy : Abraham on the other fide 
 honours him with the tenth of all, that is to lay (for he took not fure his 
 whole Eftate with him to that War) of the Spoils, Heb. 7. 4. Incited here alfo 
 by the fame fecret Providence, to fignify as Grandfather of Levi, that the 
 Levkical Priefthood was excell'd by the Priefthood of Chrift. For the giving 
 of a Tenth declar'd, it leems, in thofe Countries and Times, him the greater 
 who receiv'd it. That which next incited him, was partly his gratitude to 
 requite the Prefent, partly his Reverence to the Perfon and his Benediction : to 
 his Perfon, as a King and Prieft, greater therfore than Abraham ; who was a 
 Priell alfo, but not a King. And who unhir'd will be lb hardy as to fay, that 
 Abraham-it any other time ever paid him Tithes, either before or after ; or had 
 then, but for this accidental meeting and obligement •, or that elfe Melchifedec 
 had demanded or exacted them, or took them otherwife than as the voluntary 
 gift of Abraham ? But our Miniftcrs, though neither Priefts nor Kings more 
 than any other Chriftian, greater in their own efteem than Abraham and all his 
 Seed, for the verbal labour of a feventh day's Preachment, not bringing, like 
 Melchifedec, Bread or Wine at their own coft, would not take only at the wil- 
 ling hand of Liberality or Gratitude, but require and exact as due, the tenth, 
 not of Spoils, but of our whole Lftates and Labours ; nor once, but yearly. 
 We then it feems, by the example of Abraham, muff, pay Tithes to thefe Mel- 
 chifedecs : but what if the Perfon of Abraham can neither no way reprefent us, 
 or will oblige the Miniftersto pay Tithes no lefsthan other Men ? Abraham had 
 not only a Prieft in his Loins, but was himfelf a Prieft, and gave Tithes to 
 Melchifedec either as Grandfather of Levi, or as Father of the faithful. If as 
 Grandfather (though he underftood it not) ol Levi, he oblig'd not us, but Levi 
 only, the inferior Pritft, by that Homage (as the Apoftle of the Hebrews clear- 
 ly enough explains) to acknowledge the greater. And they who by Melchi- 
 fedec claim from Abraham as Levi's Grandfather, have none tofeek their Tithes 
 of but the Levites, where they can rind them. If Abraham, as Father of the 
 Faithful, paid Tithes to Melchifedec, then certainly the Minifters alio, if they 
 be of that number, paid in him equally with the reft. Which may induce us 
 to believe, that as both Abraham and Melchifedec, lb Tithes alfo in that Action 
 
 Typical
 
 The likelieft Means to remove 
 
 Typical and Ceremonial, fignify'd nothing elie but that fubjedtion which all the 
 Faithful both Minifters and People, owe to Chrift, our High Pneft and King. 
 
 In any literal Senfe, from this Example, they never will be able to extort 
 that the People in thofe days paid Tithes to Priefts, but this only, that one 
 Prieft once in his Life, of Spoils only, and in requital partly of a liberal Pre- 
 fent partly of a Benediction, gave voluntary Tithes, not to a greater Pried 
 than himfelf, as far as Abraham could then iinderftarid, but rather to a Prieft 
 and King joi'n'd in one Perfon. They will reply, perhaps, that if one Prieft 
 paid Tidies to another, it muft needs be underltood that the People did no 
 Ids to the Prieft. But I fhall eafily remove that Neceffity, by remembring 
 them that in thofe days was no Prieft, but the Father, or the firft-born of 
 each Family ; and by confequence no People to pay him Tithes, but his own 
 Children and Servants, who had not wherwithal to pay him, but of his own. 
 Yet °rant that the People then paid Tithes, there will not yet be the like 
 reafon to enjoin us -, they being then under Ceremonies, a meer Laity, we 
 now under Chrift, a Royal Priefthood, 1 Pet. 2. 9. as we are Coheirs, Kings 
 and Priefts with him, a Prieft for ever after the order or manner ox Melchi- 
 fedec. As therfore Abraham paid Tithes to Melchifedec becaufe Levi v. as in 
 him ' fo we ou^ht to pay none becaufe the true Melchifedec is in us, and we in 
 him' who can pay to none greater, and hath freed us, by our Union with him- 
 felf from all compulfive Tributes and Taxes in his Church. Neither doth 
 the' collateral place, Heb. 7. make other ufe of this Story, than to prove 
 Chrift, perfonated by Melchifedec, a greater Prieft than Aaron : Verf. 4. Now 
 confider bow great this Man was, &c. and proves not in the leaft manner that 
 Tithes be or any right to Minifters, but the contrary : firft, the Levites had 
 a Commandment to take Tithes of the People according to the Law, that :s, of 
 their Brethren, though they come out of 'the Loins of Abraham , Ver. 5. The Com- 
 mandment then was, it feems, to take Tithes of the Jews only, and accord- 
 ing to the Law. That Law changing of neceffity with the Priefthood, no 
 other fort of Minifters, as they muft needs be another fort under another 
 Priefthood, can receive that Tribute of Tithes which fell with that Law, un- 
 lefs renew'd by another exprefs Command, and according to another Law ; no 
 fuch Law is extant. Next, Melchifedec not as a Miniiler, but as Chrift himfelf 
 in Perfon, blefs'd Abraham who had the Promifes, Ver. 6. and in him blefs'd 
 all both Minifters and People, both of the Law and Gofpel : That Bleffing 
 declar'd him greater and better than whom he blefs'd, Ver. 7. receiving Tithes 
 from them all, not as a Maintenance, which Melchifedec needed not, but as a 
 fto-n of Homage and Subjection to their King and Prieft : wheras Minifters bear 
 not the Perfon of Chrift in his Priefthood or Kingfhip, blefs not as he bleffcs, 
 are not by their Bleffing greater than Abraham ; and all the Faithful with them- 
 felves included in him, cannot both give and take Tithes in Abraham, cannot 
 claim to themfelves that fign of our Allegiance due only to our Eternal King 
 and Prieft, cannot therfore derive Tithes from Melchifedec. Laftly, The 
 eighth Verfe hath thus ; Here Men that die receive Tithes : There he received 
 them, of whom it is witneffed that he liveth. Which words intimate, that as he 
 oft'er'd himfelf once for us, fo he received once of us in Abraham, and in that 
 place the typical acknowledgment of our Redemption : which had it been a 
 perpetual annuity to Chrift, by him claim'd as his due, Levi muft have paid 
 it yearly, as well as then, Ver. 9. and our Minifters ought ftill, to fome 
 Melchifedec or other, as well now as they did in Abraham. But that Chrift ne- 
 ver claim'd any fuch Tenth as his annual Due, much lefs refign'd it to the Mi- 
 nifters, his fo officious Receivers, without exprefs Commiffion or Affignment, 
 will be yet clearer as we proceed. Thus much may at length affure us, that 
 this Example of Abraham and Melchifedec, though I fee of late they build 
 moft upon it, can fo littie be the ground of any Law to us, that it will not 
 fo much avail them as to the Authority of an Example. Of like imperti- 
 nence is that Example of Jacob, Gen. 28. 22. who of his free choice, not en- 
 join'd by any Law, vow'd the Tenth of all that God mould give him : which, 
 for aught appears to the contrary, he vow'd as a thing no lefs indifferent be- 
 fore his Vow, than the foregoing part therof : That the Stone which he had 
 fet there for a Pillar, fhould be God's Houfe. And to whom vow'd he this 
 Tenth, but to God ? Not to any Prieft, for we read of none to him greater 
 
 than
 
 Hirelings out of the Church, r&j 
 
 than himfclf : and to God, no doubt, but he paid what he vow'd, both in the 
 building of that Bethel, with other Altars elfewhere, and the expence of his con- 
 tinual Sacrifices, which none but he had a right to offer. However therfore he paid 
 his Tenth, it could in no likelihood, unlefs by fuch an occafion as befcl his Grand- 
 father, be to any Prieft. But, lay they, All the Tithe of the Land, whether of the Seed 
 of the Land, or of the Fruit of the Tree, is the Lord's, holy unto the Lord, Lev. 27. 
 30. And this before it was given to the Levites ; therfore fince they ceas'd. No 
 queftion <, For the whole Earth is the Lord's, and the Fulnefs therof, Pfal. 24. 1 . 
 and the Light of Nature fhews us no lefs : But that the Tenth is his more 
 than the reft, how know I, but as he lb declares it ? He declares it fo here, of 
 the Land of Canaan only, as by all Circumftance appears, and paffes, by 
 Peed of Gift, this Tenth to the Levite ; yet lb as offer'd to him firft a Heave- 
 offering, and confecrated on his Altar, Numb. 18. all which I had as little 
 known, but by that Evidence. The Levites are ceas'd, the Gift returns to 
 the Giver. How then can we know that he hath given it to any other ? Or 
 how can thefe Men prefurne to take it unoffer'd firft to God, unconfecrated. 
 without another clear and exprefs Donation, wherof they ihew no Evidence 
 or Writing ? Befides, he hath now alienated that holy Land ; who can war- 
 rantably affirm, that he hath fince hallow'd the Tenth of this Land, which none 
 but God hath Power to do or can warrant ? Their laft Proof they cite out of the 
 Gofpel, which makes as little for them, Mat. 23. 23. where our Saviour de- 
 nouncing Woe to the Scribes and Phariiees, who paid Tithe fo exactly, and 
 omitted weightier Matters, tells them, that thefe they ought to have done, 
 that is, to have paid Tithes. For our Saviour fpake then to thofe who ob- 
 ferv'd the Law of Mofes, which was yet not fully abrogated, till the deftruc- 
 tion of the Temple. And by the way here we may obferve, out of their 
 own proof, that the Scribes and Phariiees, though then chief Teachers of 
 the People, fuch at leaft as were not Levites, did not take Tithes, but paid 
 them : So much lefs covetous were the Scribes and Phariiees in thofe worft 
 times than ours at this day. This is lo apparent to the Reformed Divines of 
 other Countries, that when any one of ours hath attempted in Latin to main- 
 tain this Argument of Tithes, though a Man would think they might fuffer 
 him without oppofition, in a point equally tending to the advantage of all 
 Minillers, yet they forbear not to oppofe him, as in a Doctrine not fit to pals 
 unoppos'd under the Gofpel. Which fhews the Modefty, the Contentednefs 
 of thofe Foreign Paftors, with the Maintenance given them, their Sincerity 
 alfo in the Truth, though lefs gainful, and the Avarice of ours ; who through 
 the love of their old Papiftical Tithes, confider not the weak Arguments, or 
 rather Conjectures and Surmifes which they bring to defend them. On the 
 other fide, although it be fufficient to have prov'd in general the abolifhino- 
 of Tithes, as part of the Judaical or Ceremonial Lav/, which is abolifh'd all, 
 as well that before, as that after Mofes ; yet I mall further prove them abro- 
 gated by an exprefs Ordinance of the Gofpel, founded not on any Type, or 
 that Municipal Law of Mofes, but on moral and general Equity, given us in 
 ftead : x Cor. 9. 13, 14. Know ye not, that they who minifies about holy things, 
 live of the things of the Temple ; and they which wait at the Altar, are partakers 
 with the Altar ? So alfo the Lord bath ordain' d, that they who preach the Gofpel, 
 jhould live of the Gofpel. He faith not, lhould live on things which were of the 
 Temple, or of the Altar, of which were Tithes, for that had given them a clear 
 Title: but abrogating that former Law of Mofes, which determin'd what 
 and how much, by a later Ordinance of Chrift, which leaves the what and 
 how much indefinite and free, fo it be fufficient to live on : he faith, The Lord 
 hath fo ordain' d, that they who preach the Gofpel, fJoould live of the Gofpel ; which 
 hath neither Temple, Altar, nor Sacrifice : Heb. 7. 13. For he of whom thefe 
 things arefpoken, pertaineth to another Tribe, of which no Man gave attendance at 
 the Altar : His Minifters therfore cannot thence have Tithes. And where the 
 Lord hath fo ordain'd, we may find eafily in more than one Evangelift : Luke 
 10. 7,8. In the fame houfe remain, eating and drinking fuch things as they give : 
 For the Labourer is worthy of bis hire, &c. And into whatsoever City you enter, and 
 they receive y oh, eat fuch things as are ft before you. To which Ordinance of 
 Chrift it may feem likelieft, that the Apoftk refers us both here, and. r Tim, 
 5. 18, where he cites thisastheSaving of out Saviour, That the Labourer is worthy 
 
 of
 
 5 6g Tfe like Heft Means to remove 
 
 cf his hire. And both by this place of L«fc, and that of Mat, 10. 9, 10, 11. it evi- 
 dently appears that our Saviour ordain'd no certain Maintenance for his Apo- 
 ftlesorMinifters, publicly or privately, in HouieorCity receiv'd; but that,- what- 
 ever it were, which might fuffice to live on: and this not commanded or propor- 
 tion^ by Abraham or by Mofes, whom he might eafily have here cited, as his 
 manner was, but declar'd only by a Rule of common Equity, which proportions 
 the Hire as well to the Ability of him who gives, as to the labour of him who 
 receives, and recommends him only as worthy, not inverts him with a legal 
 Ricrht. And mark wheron he grounds this his Ordinance ; not on a perpe- 
 tual Right of Tithes from Melchifedec, as Hirelings pretend, which he nevei- 
 claim'd, either for himfelf, or for his Minifters, but on the plain and com- 
 mon equity of rewarding the Labourer ; worthy fometimes of fingle, fometimes 
 of double Honour, not proportionable by Tithes. And the Apoftle in this 
 forecited Chapter to the Corinthians, Ver. 11. affirms it to be no great 
 Recompence, if carnal things be reap'd for fpiritual fown ; but to mention 
 Tithes, negkfts here the fitted occafion that could be offer'd him, and leaves 
 the reft free and undetermin'd. Certainly if Chrift or his Apoftles had ap- 
 prov'd of Tithes, they would have, either by Writing or Tradition, recom- 
 mended them to the Church ; and that foon would have appear'd in the prac- 
 tice of thofe primitive and the next Ages. But for the firft three hundred 
 Years and more, in all the Ecclefiaftical Story, I find no fuch Doftrine or Ex- 
 ample: though Error by that time had brought back again Priefts, Altars and 
 Oblations •, and in many other Points of Religion had rhiferably judaiz'd the 
 Church. So that the Defenders of Tithes, altera long pomp, and tedious 
 preparation out of Heathen Authors, telling us that Tithes were paid to 
 Hercules and Apollo, which perhaps was imitated from the Jews, and as it were 
 befpeaking our Expectation, that they will abound much more with Authorities 
 out of Chriftian Story, have nothing of general Approbation to begin with 
 from the firft three or four Ages, but that which abundantly ferves to the 
 Confutation of their Tithes-, while they confers that Churchmen in thofe 
 Ages liv'd meerly upon free-will Offerings. Neither can they fay, that 
 Tithes were not then paid for want of a civil Magiftrate to ordain them, for 
 Chriftians had then alfo Lands, and might give out of them what they pleas'd -, 
 and yet of Tithes then given we find no mention. And the firft Chriftian 
 Emperors, who did all things as Bifhops advis'd them, fupply'd what was 
 wanting to the Clergy not out of Tithes, which were never motion'd, but 
 out of their own imperial Revenues •, as is manifeft in Eufebius, Theodore t t 
 and Sozomen, from Conftantine to Arcadius. Hence thofe ancienteft reformed 
 Churches of the Waldenfes, if they rather continu'd not pure fince the Apo- 
 ftles, deny'd that Tithes were to be given, or that they were ever given in 
 the primitive Church, as appears by an ancient Tractate inferted in the Bohe- 
 mian Hirtory. Thus far hath the Church been always, whether in her prime or 
 in her ancienteft Reformation, from the approving of Tithes : nor without 
 Reafon ; for they might eafily perceive that Tithes were fitted to the Jews 
 only, a national Church of many incompleat Synagogues, uniting the Ac- 
 complifliment of divine Worfhip in one Temple •, and the Levites there had 
 their Tithes paid where they did their bodily Work ; to which a particular 
 Tribe was fet apart by divine Appointment, not by the People's Election : but 
 the Chriftian Church is univerfal; not ty'd to Nation, Diocefs, or Parifh, but 
 confifting of many particular Churches compleat in themfelves, gather'd not 
 by Compulfion, or the accident of dwelling nigh together, but by free Con- 
 fent, chuling both their particular Church and their Church-Officers. Where- 
 as if Tithes be fet up, all thefe Chriftian Privileges will be difturb'd and foon 
 loft, and with them Chriftian Liberty. 
 
 The firft Authority which our Adverfaries bring, after thofe fiibulous Apo- 
 ftolic Canons, which they dare not infill upon, is a provincial Council held at 
 Cullen, where they voted Tithes to be God's Kent, in the Year three hundred 
 fifty fix •, at the fame time perhaps when the three Kings reign'd there, and 
 of like Authority. For to what purpofe do they bring thefe trivial Teftimo- 
 nies, by which they might as well prove Altars, Candles at noon, and the 
 greatelt part of thofe Superftitions fetch'd from Paganifnt or Jewifm, which 
 the Papift, inveigled by this fond Argument of Antiquitv, retains to this day ? 
 
 To
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. $ 69 
 
 To what purpofe thofe Decrees of I know not what Bifhops, to a Parlament 
 and People who have thrown out both Bifliops and Altars, and promis'd all 
 Reformation by the Word of God ? And that Altars brought Tithes hither, 
 as one Corruption begot another, is evident by one of thofe Queftions which 
 the Monk Aujlin propounded to the Pope, concerning thofe things, which by Of- 
 ferings of the faithful came to the Altar ; as Beda writes, /. I.e. 27. If then by 
 thefe Teftimonies we muft have Tithes continu'd, we mufl: again have Altars. 
 Of Fathers, by cuftom fo call'd, they quote Ambroje, Augujlin, and fome 
 other ceremonial Doctors of the fame Leven : whofe AfTertion, without 
 pertinent Scripture, no reformed Church can admit •, and what they vouch 
 is founded on the Law of Mofes, with which, every where pitifully miftaken, 
 they again incorporate the Gofpel ; as did the reft alio of thofe titular Fa- 
 thers, perhaps an Age or two before them, by many Rites and Ceremonies, 
 both Jewifh and Heathenijh, introdue'd •, wherby thinking to gain all, they 
 loft all : and inftead of winning Jews and Pagans to be Chrijlians, by too 
 much condefcending they turn'd Chrijlians into Jews, and Pagans. To heap 
 fuch unconvincing Citations as theie in Religion, wherof the Scripture only is 
 our Rule, argues not much Learning nor Judgment, but the loft Labour of 
 much unprofitable reading. And yet a late hot Querift for Tithes, whom p n „ ne% 
 ye may know by his Wit's lying ever befide him in the Margin, to be ever be- 
 fide his Wits in the Text, a fierce Reformer once, now rankled with a con- 
 trary heat, would fend us back, very reformed ly indeed, to learn Reforma- 
 tion from Tyndarus and Rebuffus, two canonical Promoters. They produce 
 next the ancient Conititutions of this Land, Saxcn Laws, Edicts of Kings, 
 and their Councils, from Athelftan, in the year nine hundred twenty eight, 
 that Tithes by Statute were paid : and might produce from Ina, above two 
 hundred years before, that Romefcot or Peter's Penny, was by as good Sta- 
 tute Law paid to the Pope ; from feven hundred twenty five, and almoft as 
 long continu'd. And who knows not that this Law of Tithes was enacted by 
 thofe Kings and Barons upon the opinion they had of their divine Right ? as 
 the very Words import of Edward the Confefibr, in the clofe of that Law : 
 For fo bleffed Auftin preach'd and taught ; meaning the Monk, who firft brought 
 the Romifh Religion in England from Gregory the Pope. And by the way I 
 add,, that by thefe Laws, imitating the Law of Mofes, the third part of 
 Tithes only was the Priefl's due ; the other two were appointed for the 
 Poor, and to adorn or repair Churches ; as the Canons of Ecbert and Elfric 
 witnefs : Con.eU. Brit. If then thefe Laws were founded upon the Opinion of 
 divine Authority, and that Authority be found miftaken and erroneous, as hath 
 'been fully manifefted, it follows, that thefe Laws fall of themfelves with their 
 falfe Foundation. But with what Face or Confcience can they alledge Mofes, 
 or theie Laws for Tithes, as they now enjoy or exact them ? wherof Mofes 
 ordains the Owner, as we heard before, the Stranger, the Fatherlefs, and the 
 Widow, Partakers with the Levite and thefe Fathers which they cite, and 
 thefe though Romifo rather than Englijh Laws, allotted both to Prieft and 
 Biihop the third part only. But thefe our Proteftant, thefe our new reformed 
 Englijh Prefbyterian Divines, againft their own cited Authors, and to the 
 iname of their pretended Reformation, would engrofs to themfelves all 
 Tithes by Statute •, and fupported more by their wilful Obftinacy and Defire 
 of filthy Lucre, than by thefe both infufficient, and impertinent Authorities, 
 would perluade a Chriftian Magiftracy and Parlament, whom we truft God 
 hath reltor'd for a happier Reformation, to impofe upon us a Judaical Cere- 
 monial Law, and yet from that Law to be more irregular and unwarrantable, 
 more complying with a covetous Clergy, than any of thofe Popifh Kings and 
 Parlaments alledg'd. Another fhift they have to plead, that Tithes may be 
 moral as well as the Sabbath, a tenth of Fruits as well as a feventh of Days : 
 I anfwer, that the Prelates who urge this Argument have leaft reafon to it, 
 denying Morality in the Sabbath, and therin better agreeing with Reformed 
 Churches abroad than the reft of our Divines. As therfore the feventh day 
 is not moral, but a convenient Recourfe of Worfhip in fit feafon, whe;her fe- 
 venth or other number •, fo neither is the tenth of our Goods, but only a con- 
 venient Subfiftence, morally due to Minifters. The laft and Ioweft fort of their 
 Arguments, that Men purchas'd not their Tithe with their Land, and fuch 
 Vol. I. D d dd like
 
 1 70 *Ihe likelieft Me am to remove 
 
 like Pettifoggery, I omit; as refuted fufficiently by others: I omit alfo then 
 violent and irreligious Exactions, related no lefs credibly •, their feizing of 
 Pots and Pans from the Poor, who have as good right to Tithes as they -. 
 from fome, the very Beds -, their fuing and imprifoning •, worfe than when 
 the Canon Law was in force ; worie than when thofe wicked Sons of Eli 
 were Priefts, whofe manner was thus to feize their pretended prieftly Due by 
 force ; 1 Sam. 2. 12, &c. Whereby Men abhorr'd the Offering of the Lord. And 
 it may be fear'd that many will as much abhor the Gofpel, if fuch Violence 
 as this be fuffer'd in her Minifters, and in that which they alfo pretend to be 
 the Offering of the Lord. For thofe Sons of Belial within fome Limits made 
 feizure of what they knew was their own by an undoubted Law ; but thefe, 
 from whom there is no Sanctuary, feize out of Mens Grounds, out of Mens 
 Houfes, their other Goods of double, fometimes of trebk value, for that 
 which, did not Covetoufnefs and Rapine blind them, they know to be not their 
 own by the Gofpel which they preach. Of fome more tolerable than thefe, 
 thus feverely God hath fpoken ; Ifa. 46. 10, &c. they are greedy dogs ; they all 
 look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. With what Anger 
 then will he judge them who ftand not looking, but under colour of a divine 
 Right, fetch by Force that which is not their own, taking his Name not in 
 vain, but in violence ? Nor content, as Cehazi was, to make a cunning, but a 
 conftrain'd Advantage of what their Matter bids them give freely, how can 
 they but return fmitten, worfe than that marking Minifter, with a fpiritual 
 Leprofy ? And yet they cry out Sacrilege, that Men will not be gull'd and 
 baffl'd the tenth of their eftates, by giving credit to frivolous Pretences of di- 
 vine Right. Where did God ever clearly declare to all Nations, orinali 
 Lands, (and none but Fools part with their Eftates without cleareft Evidence, 
 on bare Suppofals and Prefumptions of them who are the Gainers therby) 
 that he requir'd the tenth as due to him or his Son perpetually and in all 
 places? Where did he demand it, that we might certainly know, as in all 
 claims of temporal Right is juft and reafonable ? or if demanded, where did 
 he aflign it, or by what evident conveyance to Minifters ? Unlefs they can de- 
 monftrate this by more than Conjectures, their Title can be no better to 
 Tithes than the Title of Gehazi was to thofe things which by abuling his 
 Mafter's name he rook'd from Naaman. Much lefs where did he command 
 that Tithes ihould be fetch'd by force, where left not under the Gofpel, what- 
 ever his Right was, to the Freewill-offerings of Men ? Which is the greater 
 Sacrilege, to belye divine Authority, to make the name of Chrift acceftbry to 
 Violence, and robbing him of the very Honour which he aim'd at in beftowing 
 freely the Gofpel, to commit Simony and Rapine, both fecular and ecclefiafti- 
 cal ; or on the other fide, not to give up the tenth of Civil Right and Proprie- 
 ty to the Tricks and Impoftures of Clergy-men, contriv'd with all the Art 
 and Argument that their Bellies can invent or fuggeft ; yet fo ridiculous and 
 prefuming on the People's Dulnefs and Superftition, as to think they prove the 
 divine Right of their Maintenance by Abraham paying Tithes to Melchifedec, 
 whenas Melchifedec in that pafTage rather gave Maintenance to Abraham ; m 
 whom all, both Priefts and Minifters as well as Lay-men, paid Tithes, not 
 receiv'd them. And becaufe I affirm'd above, beginning this firft part of my 
 Difcourfe, that God hath given to Minifters of the Gofpel that Maintenance 
 only which is juftly given them, let us fee a little what hath been thought of 
 that other Maintenance befides Tithes, which of all Proteftants our Engli/h 
 Divines either only or moft apparently both require and take. Thofe are 
 Fees for Chriftenings, Marriages, and Burials : which, though whofo will 
 may give freely, yet being not of Right, but of free Gift, if they be exact- 
 ed or eftablifh'd, they become unjuft to them who are otherwife maintain'd ; 
 and of fuch evil note, that even the Council of Trent, I. 2. p. 246. makes 
 them liable to the Laws againft Simony, who take or demand Fees for the 
 adminiftring of any Sacrament : Che la finodo volendo levare gli abufi intro- 
 dotti, &c. And in the next Page, with like Severity, condemns the giving 
 or taking for a Benefice, and the celebrating of Marriages, Chriftenings, and 
 Burials, for Fees exacted or demanded : nor counts it lefs Simony to fell the 
 Ground or Place of Burial. And in a State-Aifembly at Orleans, 1561, it 
 was decreed, Che nonfi potejfe cjfigcr cofa alcuna, &c. p. 429. That nothing jlmild 
 
 A-
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. eyi 
 
 be exafiedfor the adminiftring of Sacraments, Burials, or any other fpiritual FunElion. 
 Thus much that Council, of all others the moil Popifl}, and this Afiembly 
 of Papifts, though, by their own Principles, in bondage to the Clergy, were 
 induc'd, either by their own reafon and ihame, or by the light of Reforma- 
 tion then mining in upon them, or rather by the known Canons of many 
 Councils and Synods long before, to condemn of Simony fpiritual Fees de- 
 manded. For if the Minifter be maintained for his whole Miniflxy, why 
 Jhould he be twice paid for any part thereof? Why fhould he, like a Ser- 
 vant, feek Vails over and above his Wages ? As for Chriftnings, either they 
 themfelves call Men to Baptifm, or Men of themfelves come : if Mini- 
 sters invite, how ill had it become John the Baptiil to demand Fees for his 
 baptizing, or Chrift for his chriftnings ? Far lefs becomes it thefe now, with a 
 greedinels lower than that of Tradeimen calling PafTengers to their Shop, and 
 yet paid beforehand, to afk again for doing that which thofe their Founders 
 did freely. If Men of themfelves come to be baptized, they are either 
 brought by fuch as already pay the Minifter, or come to be one of his Difci- 
 ples and Maintainers : of whom to alk a Fee as it were for entrance, is a 
 piece of paultry craft or caution, befitting none but beggarly Artifts. Burials 
 and Marriages are fo little to be any part of their Gain, that they who 
 confider well, may find them to be no part of their Function. At Burials 
 their attendance they alledge on the Corps ; all the Guefts do as much unhir'd. 
 But their Prayers at the Grave, fuperftitioufly requir'd: yet if requir'd, their 
 laft performance to the deceas'd of their own Flock. But the Funeral Sermon, 
 at their choice, or if not, an occafion offer'd them to preach out of feafon, which 
 is one part of their Office. But fomething muft be fpoken in praife ; if 
 due, their duty -, if undue, their corruption : a peculiar Simony of our Di- 
 vines in England only. But the ground is broken, and efpecially their un- 
 righteous PofTeffion, the Chancel. To fell that, will not only raifeup in judg- 
 ment the Council of Trent againft them, but will lofe them the beft Champion 
 of Tithes, their zealous Antiquary, Sir Henry Spelman, who in a Book written 
 to that purpofe, by many cited Canons, and fome even of times corrupteft in 
 the Church, proves that Fees exacted or demanded for Sacraments, Marriages, 
 Burials, and efpecially for interring, are wicked, accurfed, fimoniacal and 
 abominable : Yet thus is the Church, for all this noife of Reformation, left 
 ftill unreform'd, by the ceniure of their own Synods, their own Favourers, 
 a den of Thieves and Robbers. As for Marriages, that Minifters fhould 
 meddle with them, as not fanctify'd or legitimate, without their Celebration, I 
 find no ground in Scripture either of Precept or Example. Likelieft it is 
 ( which our Selden hath well obferv'd, /. 2. c. 28. Ux. Eb. ) that in imitation 
 of Heathen Priefts who were wont at Nuptials to ufe many Rites and 
 Ceremonies, and efpecially, judging it would be profitable, and the in- 
 creafe of their Authority, not to be Spectators only in bufinefs of fuch con- 
 cernment to the Life of Man, they infinuated that Marriage was not holy 
 without their Benediction, and for the better colour, made it a Sacrament j 
 being of it felf a Civil Ordinance, a houfhold Contract, a thing indifferent and 
 free to the whole race of Mankind, not as religious, but as Men : beft, 
 indeed, undertaken to religious ends, and as the Apoftle faith, 1 Cor. 7. in 
 the Lord. Yet not therfore invalid or unholy without a Minifter and his 
 pretended neceffary hallowing, more than any other Act, Enterprize or Con- 
 tract of civil Life, which ought all to be done alio in the Lord and to his 
 Glory : All which, no lefs than Marriage, were by the cunning of Priefts here- 
 tofore, as material to their Profit, tranfacted at the Altar. Our Divines de- 
 ny it to be a Sacrament ; yet retain'd the Celebration, till prudently a late 
 Parlamcnt recover'd the Civil Liberty of Marriage from their incroachment, 
 and transferr'd the ratifying and regiftring therof from the Canonical Shop 
 to the proper cognizance of Civil Magiftrates. Seeing then, that God hath 
 given to Minifters under the Gofpel, that only which is juftly given 
 them, that is to fay, a due and moderate Livelihood, the hire of their 
 labour, and that the Heave-offering of Tithes is abolifh'd with the 
 Altar •, yea, though not abolifh'd, yet lawlefs, as they enjoy them ; 
 their Melchifedechian Right alfo trivial and groundlefs, and both Tithes and 
 Fees, if exacted or eliablifh'd, unjuft and fcandaldus ; we may hope, with 
 Vol. I. Dddd2 them
 
 ejz ¥he likeliefl Means to remove 
 
 them remov'd* to remove Hirelings in fome good meafure, whom thefe temp- 
 ting Baits, by Law efpecially to be recover'd, allure into the Church. 
 
 The next thing to be confider'd in the maintenanance of Minifters, is by 
 whom it fhould be given. Wherin though the Light of Reafon might fuffi- 
 ciently inform us, it will be belt, to confult the Scripture: Gal. 6. 6. Let him 
 that is taught in the word, communicate to him that teacheth, in till good things .- 
 that is to fay, in all manner of Gratitude, to his ability, i Cor. 9. 11. 7/ we 
 have fown unto you fpiritual things, is it a great matter if we reap your carnal 
 things? To whom therfore hath not been fown, from him wherfore mould be 
 reap'd ? 1 Tim. 5. 17. Let the Elders that rule well, be counted worthy of double 
 honour ; efpecially they who labour in word and doclrine. By thefe places we fee, 
 that Recompence was given either by every one in particular who had been in- 
 ftructed, or by them all in common, brought into the Church-Treafury, and 
 diftributed to the Minifters according to their feveral labours : and that was 
 judg'd either by fome extraordinary Perfon, as Timothy, who by the Apoftle 
 was then left Evangelift at Ephefus, 2 Tim. 4. 5. or by fome to whom the Church 
 deputed that care. This is fo agreeable to reafon, and fo clear, that any one 
 may perceive what Iniquity and Violence hath prevail'd fince in the Church, 
 wherby it hath been fo order'd that they alfo fhall be compell'd to recompence 
 the Parochial Minifter, who neither chofe him for their Teacher, nor have 
 receiv'd Inftruftion from him, as being either inefficient, or not refident, 
 or inferior to whom they follow •, wherin to bar them their Choice, is to 
 violate Chriftian Liberty. Our Law- books teftify, that before the Cctmcii 
 of Lateran, in the year 1179, and the fifth of our Henry 2. or rather before 
 a decretal Epiftle of Pope Innocent the Third, about 1200, and the firft of 
 King 'John, any Man might have given Tithes to what fpiritual Perfon he would : 
 and as the Lord Coke notes on that place, Inftit. part 2. that this decretal hound 
 not the Subjeils of this Realm, but as it fcem'd jufl and rcafonable. The Pope 
 took his reafon rightly from the above-cited place, 1 Cor. 9. if. but falfly 
 fuppos'd every one to be inftrudted by his Parifh-Prieft. Whether this were 
 then firft fo decreed, or rather long before, as may fetm by the Laws of Edgcr 
 and Canute, that Tithes were to be paid, not to whom he would that paid 
 them, but to the Cathedral Church or the Parifh Prieft, it imports not; 
 fince the reafon which they themfelves bring, built on falfe fuppofition, be- 
 comes alike infirm and abfurd, that he fhould reap from me, who fows not 
 tome, be the caufe either his defect, or my free choice. But here it will be 
 readily objected, What if they who are to be inftructed be not able to main- 
 tain a Minifter, as in many Villages ? I anfwer, that the Scripture fhews in 
 many places what ought to be done herein. Firft I offer it to the reafon of any 
 Man, whether he think the knowledge of Chriftian Religion harder than any 
 other Art or Science to attain. I fuppofe he will grant that it is far eafier, 
 both of it lelf, and in regard of God's affifting Spirit, not particularly pro- 
 mis'd us to the attainment of any other Knowledge, but of this only : fince 
 it was preach'd as well to the Shepherds of Bethlehem by Angels, as to the 
 Eaftern Wifemen by that Star : and our Saviour declares himfelf anointed to 
 preach the Gofpel to the poor, Luke 4. 18. then furely to their Capacity. 
 They who after him firft taught it, were otherwife unlearned Men : they 
 who before Hus and Luther firft reform'd it, were for the meannefs of their 
 condition call'd, the poor Men of Lions : and in Flanders at this day, les gacus, 
 which is to fay, Beggars. Therefore are the Scriptures translated into every 
 vulgar Tongue, as being held in main matters of Belief and Salvation, plain 
 jind eafy to the pooreft : and fuch no lefs than their Teachers have the Spirit 
 to guide them in all Truth, Job. 14. 26. and 16. 13. Hence we may con- 
 clude, if Men be not all their life-time under a Teacher to learn Logic, na- 
 tural Phi lofophy, Ethics or Mathematics, which are more difficult, that cer- 
 tainly it is not neceflary to the attainment of Chriftian Knowledge that Men 
 fhould fit all their life long at the feet of a pulpited Divine ; while he, a Lollard 
 indeed over his elbow-cufhion, in almoft the feventh part of forty or fifty 
 years teaches them fcarce half the Principles of Religion-, and his Sheep oft- 
 times fit the while to as little purpofe of benefiting as theSheep in their Pews 
 at Smithfield ; and for the moft part by fome Simony or other, bought and 
 fold like them : or if this Comparifon be too low, llkethofe Women, 1 Tim. 
 
 3- 7-
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. 5 7 
 
 3. 7. Ever learning and never attaining ; yet not fo much through their own fault, 
 as through the unfkilful and unmethodical teaching of their Pallor, teaching 
 here and there at random out of this or that Text, as his eafe or fancy, and 
 oft-times as his Health guides him. Seeing then that Chriftian Religion may 
 be fo eafily attain'd, and by meaneft Capacities, it cannot be much difficult 
 to find ways, both how the poor, yea all Men may be foon taught what is to 
 be known of Chriftianity, and they who teach them, recompenc'd. Firft, if 
 Minifters of their own accord, who pretend that they are call'd and fent to 
 preach the Gofpel, thofe efpecially who have no particular Flock, would 
 imitate our Saviour and his Difciples who went preaching through the Villa- 
 ges, not only through the Cities, Mattb, 9. 35. Mark 6. 6. Luke 13. 22. 
 A5ls 8. 25. and there preach'd to the poor as well as to the rich, looking for 
 no recompence but in Heaven : John 4. 35, 36. Look on the fields, for they are 
 white already to Harveft : and he that reapeth, receiveth wages, and gather eth 
 fruit unto Life eternal. This was their Wages. But they will foon reply, we our 
 felves have not wherwithal ; who fha.ll bear the Charges of our Journey ? To 
 whom it may as foon be anfwer'd, that in likelihood rhey are not poorer than 
 they who did thus ; and if they have not the fame Faith which thofe Difciples 
 had to truft in God and the Promife of Chriit for their Maintenance as they did, 
 and yet intrude into the Miniftry without any livelihood of their own, they 
 call themfelves into milerable hazard or temptation, and oft-times into a 
 more milerable neceffity, either to ftarve, or to pleafe their Paymafters ra- 
 ther than God •, and give Men juft caufe to fufpect, that they came neither 
 call'd nor fent from above to preach the Word, but from below, by the in- 
 ftinct of their own hunger, to feed upon the Church. Yet grant it needful 
 to allow them both the Charges of their Journey and the Hire of their Labour, 
 it will belong next to the Charity of richer Congregations, where mod com- 
 monly they abound with Teachers, to fend fome of their number to the Vil- 
 lages reund, as the Apoftles from Jerufalem fent Peter and John to the City 
 and Villages of Samaria, Affs 8. 14, 25. or as the Church at Jerufalem fent 
 Barnabas to Antioch, chap. n. 22. and other Churches joining lent Luke to 
 travel with Paul, 2 Cor. 8. 19. though whether they had their Charges borne 
 by the Church or no, it be not recorded. If it be objected that this itinerary 
 preaching will not ferve to plant the Gofpel in thofe places, unlefs they who 
 are fent, abide there fome competent time ; I anlwer, that if they flay there a 
 year or two, which was the longeft time ufually (laid by the Apoftles in one 
 place, it may fuffice to teach them, who will attend and learn, all the Points 
 of Religion neceftary to Salvation •, then forting them into feveral Congrega- 
 tions of a moderate number, out of the ableft and zealoufeft among them 
 to create Elders, who, exercifing and requiring from themfelves what they 
 have learn'd ( for no Learning is retain'd without conflant exercife and me- 
 thodical repetition ) may teach and govern the reft : and fo exhorted to 
 continue faithful and ftedfaft, they may fecurely be committed to the Provi- 
 dence of God and the guidance of his holy Spirit, till God may offer fome 
 opportunity to vilitthem again, and to confirm them : which when they have 
 done, they have done as much as the Apoftles were wont to do in propagating 
 the Gofpel, Ails 14. 23. And when they had ordain* d them Elders in every Churchy 
 and had pray'd with fafiing, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they be- 
 lieved. And in the fame Chapter, Verf. 21, 22. When they had preach 1 'd the 
 Gofpel to that City, and had taught many, they returned again to Lyftra, and to 
 Iconium and Antioch, confirming the Souls of the Difciples, and exhorting them to 
 continue in the Faith. And Chap. 15.36. Let us go again, and vif;t our Bre- 
 thren. And Verf. 41. He went thorow Syria and Cilicia, confirming the Churches. 
 To thefe I might add other helps, which we enjoy now, to make more eafy 
 the attainment of Chriftian Religion by the meaneft: the entire Scripture 
 tranflated into Englifh with plenty of Notes •, and fomewhere or other, 
 I truft, may be found fome wholefome body of Divinity, as they call it, with- 
 out School Terms and Metaphyfical Notions, which have obfeur'd rather than 
 explain'd our Religion, and made it feem difficult without caufe. Thus 
 taught once for all, and thus now and then vifited and confirm'd, in the mod 
 deftitute and pooreft places of the Land, under the Government of their own 
 Elders performing all Minillerial Offices among them, they may be trufted 
 
 to 
 
 1
 
 1 74 *The Ukelieft Means to remove 
 
 to meet and edify one another whether in Church or Chappel, or, to fave 
 them the trudging of many miles thither, nearer home, though in a Houfe 
 or Barn. For notwithftanding the gaudy Superftition of fome devoted Mill 
 ignorantly to Temples, we may be well affur'd that he who difdain'd nos 
 to be laid in a Manger, difdains not to be preach'd in a B.un •, and thai 
 by fuch meetings as thefe, being indeed mod Apoftolical and Primitive, they 
 will in a fhort time advance more in Chriftian Knowledge and Reformation of 
 Life, than by the many years preaching of fuch an Incumbent, I may fay, 
 fuch an Incubus oft-times, as will be meanly hir'd to abide long in thole 
 places. They have this left perhaps to object further-, that to fend thus, and 
 to maintain, though but for a year or two, Minifters and Teachers in feveral 
 places, would prove chargeable to the Churches, though in Towns and 
 Cities round about. To whom again I anfwer, that it was not thought fo by 
 them who firft thus propagated the Gofpel, though but few in number to us, 
 and much lefs able to fuftain the Expence. Yet this Expence would be much, 
 lefs than to hire Incumbents, or rather Incumbrances, for life-time ; and a 
 great means (which is the fubject of this Difcourfe) to diminilfi Hirelings. 
 But be the Expence lefs or more, if it be found burdenfome to the Churches, 
 they have in this Land an eafy remedy in their recourfe to the Civil Magi- 
 ftrate •, who hath in his hands the difpofal of no final] Revenues, left per- 
 haps anciently to fuperftitious, but meant undoubtedly to good and beft 
 ufes -, and therfore, once made public, appliable by the prefent Magiftrate 
 to fuch ufes as the Church, or folid Reafon from whomfoeyer, fhall con- 
 vince him to think beft. And thofe ufes may be, no doubt, much rather than 
 as Glebes and Augmentations are now beftow'd, to grant fuch requefts as 
 thefe of the Churches; or to erect in greater number all over the Land 
 
 . Schools, and competent Libraries to thofe Schools, where Languages and Arts 
 may be taught free together^ without the needlefs, unprofitable and incon- 
 venient removing to another place. So all the Land would be foon better 
 civiliz'd, and they who are taught freely at the public Coft, might have their 
 Education given them on this condition, that therewith content, they fliould 
 not gad for Preferment out of their own Country, but continue there thank- 
 ful tor what they receiv'd freely, bellowing it as freely on their Country, 
 without foaring above the meannefs wherin they were born. But how they 
 fhall live when they are thus bred and difmifs'd, will be ftill the fluggifh Ob- 
 jection. To which is anfwer'd, that thofe public Foundations may be fo in- 
 ftituted, as the Youth therin may be at once brought up to a competence of 
 Learning and to an honeft Trade ; and the hours of teaching fo orderM, as 
 their ftudy may be no hindrance to their labour or other calling. This was 
 the breeding of St. Paul, though born of no mean Parents, a free Citizen of 
 the Roman Empire : fo little did his Trade debafe him, that it rather enabled 
 him to ufe that magnanimity of preaching the Gofpel through rfjia and 
 Europe at his own charges. Thus thofe Preachers among the poor Waldenfes, the 
 ancient ftock of our Reformation, without thefe helps which I fpeak of, bred 
 up themfelves in Trades, and efpecially in Phyfic and Surgery, as well as in the 
 ftudy of Scripture (which is the only true Theology) that they might be no 
 burden to the Church ; and by the Example of Chrift, might cure both 
 Soul and Body, through indultry joining that to the Minillry, which he 
 join'd to his by gift of the Spirit. Thus relates Peter Gill.es in his Hiilory of 
 the Walienfes in Piemont. But our Minifters think fcorn to ufe a Trade, and 
 count it the reproach of this Age, that Tradefmen preach the Gofpel. It 
 
 -were to be wifh'd they were all Tradefmen ; they would not then lo many 
 of them, for want of another Trade, make a Trade of their preaching : 
 and yet they clamour that Tradefmen preach ; and yet they preach, while they 
 themfelves are the worft Tradefmen of all. As for Church-Endowments and 
 PoffefTions, I meet with none confiderable before Conftantine, but the I loufes 
 and Gardens where they met, and their places of burial : and I perfuade me, 
 that from them the ancient Waldenfes, whom defervedly I cite fo .often, held, 
 That to endow Churches is an evil thing ; and, that the Church then fell off and 
 turn'd Whore, fitting on that Beaft in the Revelation, when under Pope Syl- 
 vefttr ftie receiv'd thofe Temporal Donations. So the forecited Tractate of 
 their Doctrine ttftifies. This alfo their own Traditions of that heavenly Voice 
 
 witnefs'd,
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. 5 7 - 
 
 witnefs'd, and Corns of the ancient Fathers then living forefaw and deplor'd. 
 And indeed, how could thefe Endowments thrive better with the Church, 
 being unjuftly taken by thofe Emperors, without fuffrage of the People, out 
 of the Tributes and public Lands of each City, wherby the People became 
 liable to be opprefs'd with other Taxes. Being therfore given for the 
 moll part by Kings and other public Perfons, and lb likelieft out of 
 the Public, and if without the People's confent, unjuftly, however to 
 public ends of much concernment, to the good or evil ol a Common- 
 wealth, and in that regard made public though given by private Perfons, 
 or which is worfe, given, as the Clergy then perfuaded men, for their Souls 
 Health, a pious Gilt-, but as the truth was, oft-times a bribe to God, or to 
 Chrift lor Abfolution, as they were then taught, for Murders, Adulteries, 
 and other heinous Crimes ; what fhall be found heretolore given by Kings or 
 Princes out of the public, may juftly by the Magiftrate be recall'd and re-ap- 
 propriated to the Civil Revenue : what by private or public Perfons out of their 
 own, the price of Blood or Luft, or to fome fuch purgatorious and fuperftiti- 
 ous Ufes, not only may, but ought to be taken off from Chrift, as a foul disho- 
 nour laid upon him, or not impioufly given, nor in particular to any one, 
 but in general to the Church's good, may be converted to that ufe which 
 lhall be judg'd tending more diredtly to that general end. Thus did the Prin- 
 ces and Cities oi Germany in the firft Reformation ; and defended their fo do- 
 ing by many reafons, which are let down at large in Sleidan, Lib. 6. Anno 
 1526, and Lib. 11. Anno 1537, ;int ^ -^- I 3- Anno 1540. But that the Ma- 
 giftrate either out of that Church-Revenue which remains yet in his hand, or 
 eitablifhing any other Maintenance inltead of Tithe, Ihould take into his own 
 power the ftipendiary maintenance of Church-Minifters, or compel it by 
 Taw, can ftand neither with the People's Right, nor with Chriftian Liberty, 
 but would fufpend the Church wholly upon the State, and turn her Minifters 
 into State-Penfioners. And for the Magiftrate in Perfon of a nurling Father 
 to make the Church his nicer Ward, as always in Minority, the Church, to 
 whom he ought as a Magiftrate, Ifa. 49. 23. to bow down with his face toward 
 the Earth, and lick up the dufi of her Feet ; her to lubject to his political Drifts 
 or conceiv'd Opinions, by mattering her Revenue •, and by his examinanE 
 Committees to circumfcribe her free election of Minifters, is neither juft nor 
 pious-, no honour done to the Church, but a plain diihonour : and upon her 
 whofe only Head is in Heaven, yea upon him, who is her only Head, lets ano- 
 ther in effect, and which is molt monftrous, a human on a Heavenly, a carnal 
 an a Spiritual, a political Head on an Ecclefiaftical Body ; which at length by 
 fuch heterogeneal, fuch inceltuous conjunction, transforms her oft-times into 
 a Beaft of many Heads and many Horns. For if the Church be of all Societies 
 the holieft on Earth, and fo to be reverene'd by the Magiftrate, not to truft 
 her with her own Belief and Integrity; and therfore not with the keeping, 
 at leaft'with the difpofing of what Revenue fhall be found juftly and lawfully 
 her own, is to count the Church not a Holy Congregation, but a pack of gid- 
 dy or dilhoneft Perfons, to be ruled by Civil Power in Sacred Affairs. But to 
 proceed further in the Truth yet more freely, feeing the Chriftian Church is 
 not National, but confiding of many particular Congregations, fubject to ma- 
 ny changes, as well through Civil Accidents, as through Schifm and various 
 Opinions, not to be decided by any outward judge, being matters of Confci- 
 ence, wherby thefe pretended Church-Revenues, as they have been ever, lb arc 
 like to continue endlefs matter of DilTeniion both between the Church and 
 Magiftrate, and the Churches among themfelves, there will be found no bet- 
 ter remedy to thefe evils, otherwife incurable, than by the incorrupteft Coun- 
 cil of thole JValdenfes, or firft Reformers, to remove them as a Peft, an Ap- 
 ple of difcord in the Church, (for what elfe can be the effect of Riches, and 
 the fnare of Money in Religion ? ) and to convert them to thofe more profi- 
 table Ufes above exprefs'd, or other fuch as fhall be judg'd moft neceffary ; 
 Gonfidering that the Church of Chrift was founded in Poverty rather than in 
 Revenues, ftood pureft and profper'd belt without them, rcceiv'd them un- 
 lawfully from them who both erroneouQy and unjuftly, fometimes impioufly, 
 gave them, and fo juftly was enfnar'd and corrupted by them. And left it 
 be thought that thefe Revenues withdrawn and better employ 'd, the Magi- 
 ftrate
 
 c «5 5T5&* likelieft Means to remove 
 
 Urate ought in ftead to fettle by Statute fome maintenance of Minifters, let this 
 be confider'd firft, that it concerns every man's Confcience to what Religion he 
 contributes -, and that the Civil Magiftrate is intrufted with Civil Rights only, 
 not with Confcience, which can have no Deputy or Reprefenter of it felf, but 
 one of the fiime Mind : next, that what each man gives to the Minifter, he givv 
 either as to God, or as to his Teacher ; if as to God, no Civil Power can juftly 
 confecrate to religious Ufes any part either of Civil Revenue, which is the. 
 People's, and muft five them from other Taxes, or of any man's Propriety, but 
 God by fpecial command, as he did by Mofes, or the owner himfelf by vo- 
 luntary intention and the perfuafion of his giving it to God. Forc'd Confe- 
 crations out of another man's Eftate are no better than forc'd Vows, hateful to 
 God, who loves a cbearful giver ; but much more hateful, wrung out of mens 
 Purles to maintain a difapprov'd Miniftry againft their Confcience ; however 
 unholy, infamous, and dilhonourable to his Minifters, and the free Gofpel 
 maintain'd in fuch unworthy manner as by Violence and Extortion. If he 
 give it as to his Teacher, Juftice or Equity compels him to pay for learning 
 that Religion which leaves freely to his choice, whether he will learn it or no, 
 whether of this Teacher or another, and elpecially to pay for what he never 
 learn'd, or approves not ; whereby, befides the wound of his Confcience, he 
 becomes the lefs able to recompence his true Teacher? Thus far hath been en- 
 quir'd by whom Church-minifters otfght to be maintain'd, and hath been prov'd 
 moft natural, moft equal and agreeable with Scripture, to be by them who re- 
 ceive their Teaching •, and by whom, if they be unable ? Which ways well ob- 
 ferv'd, can dilcourage none but Hirelings, and will much leffen their number 
 in the Church. 
 
 It remains laftly to confider, in what manner God hath ordain'd that Re- 
 compence be given to Minifters of the Gofpel ; and by all Scripture it will 
 appear that he hath given it them not by Civil Law and Freehold, as they 
 claim, but by the Benevolence and free Gratitude of fuch as receive them .* 
 Luke 10. 7, 8. Eating and drinking fuch things as they give you. If they receive 
 you, eat fuch things as are fet before you. Matth. 10. 7, 8. As ye go, preach, 
 faying, The Kingdom of God is at hand, &c. Freely ye have received, freely give. 
 If God have ordain'd Minifters to preach freely, whether they receive recom- 
 pence or no, then certainly he hath forbid both them to compel it, and others 
 to compel it for them. But freely given, he accounts it as given to himfelf : 
 Philip. 4. 16, 17, 18. Tefent once and again to my necefjity : Not becaufe I dcfire 
 a Gift ; but I defire Fruit that may abound to your account. Having receiv'd of 
 Epaphroditus the things which were fent from you, an odour of fweet fmell, a fa- 
 crifice acceptable, well pleafing to God : which cannot be from force or unwil- 
 lingnefs. The ftme is faid of Alms, Heb. 13.16. To do good and to communi- 
 cate, forget not ; for with fuch Sacrifices God is well pleas'd. Whence the Primi- 
 tive Church thought it no fhame to receive all their maintenance as the Alms 
 of their Auditors. Which they who defend Tithes, as if it made for their 
 caule, whenas it utterly confutes them, omit not to fet down at large ; proving 
 to our hands out of Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, and others, that the Clergy 
 liv'd at firft upon the meer benevolence of their Hearers •, who gave what they 
 gave, not to the Clergy, but to the Church -, out of which the Clergy had 
 their Portions given them in Bafkets, and were thence call'd fportularii, basket- 
 clerks : that their Portion was a very mean allowance, only for a bare liveli- 
 hood ; according to thole Precepts of our Saviour, Matth. 10. 7, &c. the 
 reft was diftributed to the Poor. They cite alio out of Profper, the difciple 
 of St. Aufiin, that fuch of the Clergy as had means of their own, might not 
 without fin partake of Church-maintenance ; not receiving thereby food 
 which they abound with, but feeding on the fins of other men : that the Ho- 
 ly Ghoft faith of fuch Clergymen, they eat the fins of my People •, and that a 
 Council at Antioch, in the year 340, fuffer'd not either Prisft or Bifhop to live 
 on Church-maintenance without NecelTity. Thus far Tithers themfelves have 
 contributed to their own confutation, by confeffing that the Church liv'd pri- 
 mitively on Alms. And I add, that about the year 359, Conftanti'us the Em- 
 peror having fummon'd a general Council of Bifhops to Ariminum in Italy, 
 and provided for their fubfiftence there, the Britijh and French Bifhops judging 
 it not decent to live on the Public, chofe rather to be at their own charges. 
 
 Three 
 
 4
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. ryj 
 
 Three only out of Britain conftrain'd through want, yet refuting offer'd af- 
 fiftance from the reft, accepting the Emperor's Provifion ; judging it more 
 convenient to fubfift by public than by private fuftenance. Whence we may 
 conclude, that Bijhops then in this Illand had their livelihood only from bene- 
 volence •, in which regard this relater Sulpitius Severus, a good Author of the 
 fame time, highly praifes them. And the IValdenfes, our firft Reformers, 
 both from the Scripture and thefe Primitive Examples, mainrain'd thofe among 
 them who bore the Office of Minifters by Alms only. Take their very words 
 from the Hiftory written of them in French, Part 3. Lib. 2. Chap. 2. La 
 nourriture & ce de quoy nous famines converts, &c. Our Food and Cloathing is 
 fufficiently adminifter'd and given to us by way of Gratuity and Alms, by the good 
 People whom we teach. If then by Alms and Benevolence, not by le^al force, 
 not by tenure of Freehold or Copyhold : for Alms, though juft, cannot be 
 com pel I'd •, and Benevolence forc'd is Malevolence rather, violent and incon- 
 fiftent with the Gofpel ; and declares him no true Minifter therof, but a rapa- 
 cious Hireling rather, who by force receiving it, eats the bread of Violence 
 and Exaction, no holy or juft livelihood, no not civilly counted honeft ; much 
 Jefs befeeming fuch a fpiiitu.il Miniftry. But fay they, our Maintenance is 
 our due, Tithes the right of Chrift, unfeparable from the Prieft, no where 
 repeal'd •, if then, not otherwife to be had, by Law to be recover'd : for 
 though Paul were pleas'd to forgo his due, and not to ufe his Power, 1 Cor. 
 9. 12. yet he had a Power, Ver. 4. and bound not others. I anfwer firft, be- 
 caufe I fee them ftill fo loth to unlearn their decimal Arthmetic, and ftill 
 grafp their Tithes as infeparable from a Prieft, that Minifters of the Gofpel 
 are not Priefts •, and therfore feparated from Tithes by their own exclufion, be- 
 ing neither call'd Priefts in the New Tejlament, nor of any Order known in 
 Scripture ; not of Mckhifedec, proper to Chrift only ; not of Aaron, as they 
 themfelves will confefs •, and the third Priefthood only remaining, is com- 
 mon to the Faithful. But they are Minifters of our High Prieft. True, 
 but not of his Priefthood, as the Levites were to Aaron ; for he performs that 
 whole Office himfelf incommunicably. Yet Tithes remain, fay they, ftill iin- 
 releas'd, the due of Chrift ; and to whom payable, but to his Minifters ? I 
 lay again, that no man can lo underftand them, unlefs Chrift in fome place 
 or other fo claim them. That example of Abraham argues nothing but 
 his voluntary act ; honour once only done, but on what confideration, whether 
 to a Prieft or to a King, whether due the honour, arbitrary that kind of ho- 
 nour or not, will after all contending be left ftill in meer conjecture : which 
 muft not be permitted in the claim of fuch a needy and futtle fpiritual Cor- 
 poration, pretending by divine right to the Tenth of all other Mens Eftates ; 
 nor can it be allow'd by wife Men or the verdict of common Law. And the 
 tenth part, though once declar'd 'holy, is declared now to be no holier than 
 the other nine, by that command to Peter, Acls 10. 15, 28. whereby all di- 
 stinction of Holy and Unholy is remov'd from all things. Tithes therfore 
 though claim'd, and holy under the Law, yet are now releas'd and quitted 
 both by that command to Peter, and by this to all Minifters above-cited, 
 Luke 10. eating and drinking fuch things as they give you : made Holy now 
 by their free Gift only. And therfore St. Paul, 1 Cor. 9. 4. afTerts his Power 
 indeed ; but of what ? not of Tithes, but, to eat and drink fuch things as 
 are given in reference to this command •, which he calls not Holy things, or 
 things of the Gofpel, as if the Gofpel had any confecrated things in anfwer 
 to things of the Temple, Ver. 13. but he calls them your Carnal things, Ver. 
 11. without changing their property. And what Power had he? Not the 
 Power of Force, but of Confcience only, wherby he might lawfully and with- 
 out lcruple live on the Gofpel ; receiving what was given him, as the recom- 
 pence of his Labour. For it Chrift the Malter hath profefs'd his Kingdom 
 to be not of this World, it fuits not with that profeffion, either in him or his 
 Minifters, to claim temporal Right from fpiritual Refpetts. He who refilled 
 to be the divider of an Inheritance between two Brethren, cannot approve 
 his Minifters, by pretended right from him, to be dividers of Tenths and Free- 
 holds out of other Mens PofTeffions, making therby the Gofpel but a cloak 
 of carnal Intereft, and, to the contradiction of their Mafter, turning his hea- 
 venly Kingdom into a Kingdom of this World, a Kingdom of Force and Ra- 
 Vo 1. I. Eee? pine:
 
 ryS 7%& Ukelkft Means to remove 
 
 pine : To whom it will be one day thunder'd more terribly than to Cehazi, i-.y. 
 thus difhonouring a far greater Mafter and his Gofpel •, is this a time tore 
 Monev, and to receive Garments, and Olive-yards, end Vineyards, and 'Sheep an \ 
 Oxen? The Leprofy of Naaman link'd with that Apoftolic curie of ferifltitig 
 ■imprecated on Simon Magus, may be fear'd will cleave to fuch and to their feed 
 ■forever. So that when all isdone, and Belly hath us'd in vain ail her cunning fhiffs, 
 I doubt not but all true Minifters, considering the demonstration of what r 
 been here prov'd, will be wife, and think it much more tolerable to hear thit 
 r.o maintenance of Minifters, whether Tithes or any other, can be fettled by 
 Statute, but muft be given by them who receive Instruction ; and freely given, 
 as God hath ordain'd. And indeed what can be a more honourable Mainte- 
 nance to them than fuch, whether Alms or willing Oblations, as ti. 
 which being accounted both alike as given to God, the only acceptable Sacri- 
 fices now remaining, muft needs reprefent him who receives them much in 
 the care of God, and nearly related to him, when not by worldly force and 
 conftraint, but with religious awe and reverence •, what is given to God, is 
 given to him ; and what to him, accounted as given to God. This would be 
 well enough, fay they, but how many will io give ? I ahfwer, as many, 
 doubtlefs, as Shall be well taught, as many as God Shall So move. Why are ye 
 fo diftruftful, both of your own Doctrine and of God's Promifes, fulrill'd in 
 the experience of thofe Difciples firft Sent: Luke 22. 35. When I fent you 
 ivithout Purfe, and Scrip, and Shoes, lacked ye any thing ? And they /aid, No- 
 thing. How then came ours, or who Sent them thus destitute, thus poor and 
 empty both of Purfe and Faith? "Who ftiie themfelves Embafladcrs of Jcfus 
 'Chrift, and Seem to be his Tithe-gatherers, though an Office of their own 
 fetting up to his dishonour, his Exacters, his Publicans rather, not trufting 
 that he will maintain them in theirembaSTy, unleis they bind him to his Prc- 
 miie by a Statute-law, that we Shall maintain them. Lay down for fhame 
 that magnific Title, while ye Seek Maintenance from the People : It is not the 
 manner of Embafi'adors to afk Maintenance of them to whom they are ifcftf. 
 But he who is Lord of all things, hath fo ordain'd : truft him then •, he doubt- 
 lefs will command the People to make good his Prcmifes of Maintenance more 
 honourably unafk'd, unrak'd for. This they know, this they preach, yet be- 
 lieve not : but think it as importable, without a Statute-law, to live of the 
 Gofpel, as if by thofe words they were bid go eat their Bibles, as Ezekiel 
 and John did their Books •, and Such Doctrines as thefe are as bitter to their Bel- 
 lies ; but will ferve So much the better to difcover Hirelings, who can have 
 nothing, though but in appearance, juft and folid to anfwer lor themfelves a- 
 gainft what hath been here Spoken, unleis perhaps this one remaining Pretence, 
 which we Shall quickly fee to be either falfe or uningenuous. 
 
 They pretend that their Education, either at School or Univerfity, hath been 
 very chargeable, and therfore ought to be repair'd in future by a plentiful 
 Maintenance: Whenas it is well known, that the better half of them, and 
 oft-times poor and pitiful Boys, of no merit or promising hopes that might 
 intitle them to the public Provision, but their Poverty and the unjuft Favour 
 of Friends, have had the moft of their breeding, both at School and Univer- 
 fity, by Scholarships, Exhibitions and Fellowships at the Public Coft, which 
 might engage them the rather to give Sreely, as they have freely receiv'd. 
 Or if they have miis'd of thefe helps at the latter place, they have after two 
 or three Years left the courfe of their Studies there, if they ever well began 
 them, and undertaken, though furnifh'd with little elfe but Ignorance, Eold- 
 reSs and Ambition, if with no worfe Vices, a Chaplainfhip in Some Gentle- 
 man's houfe, to the frequent imbafing ot his Sons with illiterate and narrow 
 Principles. Or if they had liv'd thereupon their own, who knows not that 
 feven years Charge of living there, to them who fly not from the Govern- 
 ment of their Parents to the Licence ot a Univerfity, but come ferioufiy to ftu- 
 dy, is no more than maybe well defray'd and reimburs'd by one year's Reve- 
 nue of an ordinary good Benefice ? If they had means of Breeding from 
 their Parents, 'tis likely they have more now ; and if they have, it needs mult 
 be mechanic and uningenuous in them, to bring a Bill of Charges for the 
 learning of thofe liberal Arts and Sciences, which they have learn'd (if they 
 •have indeed learn'd them, as they feldom have) to their own benefit and ac- 
 complish-
 
 Hirelings out of the Church. 5 ya, 
 
 ccmplifhment. But they will lay, we had betaken us to fome other 'trade or 
 Profeffion, had we not expected to find a better Livelihood by the Miniftry. 
 This is that which I look'd for, to difcover them openly neither true Lovers of 
 Learning, and fo very feldom guilty of it, nor true Minifters of the Gofpel. 
 So long ago out of date is that old true faying, i Tim. 3. 1. If a Man defirs a 
 Bifhopric, he defires a good work : for now commonly he wh:> defires to be a 
 Minilter, looks not at the Work, but at the Wages •, and by that Lure or 
 Loubell, may be toll'd from Parifh to Parifh all the Town over. But what can 
 be plainer Simony, than thus to be at Charges beforehand, to no other end 
 than to make their Miniftry doubly or trebly beneficial ? To whom it might 
 be laid, as juftly as to that Simon, "Thy Money periftj with thee, becaufe thou, haft 
 thought that the Gift of God may be purchased with Money ; thou haft neither part 
 nor lot in this matter. Next, it is a fond Error, though too much believ'd a- 
 mong us, to think that the Univerfity makes a Minifter of the Gofpel ; 
 what it may conduce to other Arts and Sciences, I difpute not now: but that 
 which makes fit a Minifter, the Scripture can beft inform us to be only from 
 above, whence alfo we are bid to feek them •, Mat. 9. 38. Pray ye therfore to 
 the Lord of the Harveft, that he will fend forth Labourers into his Harveft. Acts 
 20. 28. "The Flock, over which the Holy Ghoft hath made you Overfeers . Rom. 
 10. 15. How pall they preach, unlefs they be fent ? By whom lent ? by the U- 
 niverfity, or the Magiftrate, or their Belly ? No furely, but fent from God 
 only, and that God who is not their Belly. And whether he be fent from 
 God, or from Simon Magus, the inward fenfe of his Calling and fpiritual A~ 
 bhity will iulficiently tell him ; and that ftrong Obligation felt within him, 
 which was felt by the Apoftle, will often exprefs from him the fame words : 
 1 Cor. 9. 16. Neceffity is laid upon me, yea, Wo is me if I preach not the Gof- 
 pel. Not a beggarly Neceffity, and the Wo fear'd otherwifc of perpetual 
 want, but fuch a Neceffity as made him willing to preach the Gofpel gratis, 
 and to embrace Poverty, rather than as a Wo to fear it. 1 Cor. 12. 28. God 
 hath fet fome in the Church, firft Apoftlcs, &c. Ephef. 4. n.-fcff. Hi gave 
 fome Apoftles, &c. Far the perfetling of the Saints, for the work of the Miniftry \ 
 for the edifying of the Body of Chrift, till we all come to the Unity of the Faith. 
 Wherby we may know, that as he made them at firft, fo he makes them 
 ftill, and to the World's end. 2 Cor. 3. 6 ; Who hath alfo made us fit or 
 able Minifters of the New Teftament. 1 Tim. 4. 14. The Gift that is in thee, 
 which was given thee by Prophecy, and the laying on of the Hands of the Pref- 
 bytery. Thefe are all the means which we read of, requir'd in Scripture to 
 the making of a Minifter. All this is granted, you will fay ; but yet that it 
 is alfo requifite he fhould be train'd in other Learning •, which can be nowhere 
 better had than at Univerfities. I anfwer, that what Learning, either Hu- 
 man or Divine, can be neceflary to a Minifter, may as eafily and lefs charge- 
 ably be had in any private hotife. How deficient elfe, and to how little pur- 
 pole are all thofe piles of Sermons, Notes, and Comments on all parts of 
 the Bible, Bodies and Marrows of Divinity, befides all other Sciences, in our 
 Englijh Tongue ; many of the fame Books which in Latin they read at the 
 Univerfity ? And the final! neceffity of going thither to learn Divinity, I 
 prove firft from the molt part of themfelves, who feldom continue there till 
 they have well got through Logic, their firft Rudiments •, though, to fay truth* 
 Logic alfo may much better be wanting in Dilputes of Divinity, than in the 
 fubtile Debate's of Lawyers, and Statcfmen, who yet feldom or never deal 
 with Syllogil'ms. And thofe Theological Deputations there held by Profef- 
 fors and Graduates, are fuch as tend leaft or all to the Edification orCapa- 
 city of the People, but rather perplex and leven pure Doctrine with lchola- 
 ftical TraiTi, than enable any Minifter to the better preaching of the Gofpel. 
 Whence we may alfo compute, fince they come to reckonings, the charges of 
 his needful Library : which, though fome flume not to value at 600 /. may 
 be competently furnifh'd for 60 1. If any Man for his own curiofity or delight 
 be in Books further expenfive, that is not to be reckon'd as necelTary to his 
 minifterial, either Breeding or Function. But Papifts and other Adverfaries, 
 cannot be confuted without Fathers and Councils, immenfe Volumes, and of 
 vaft charges. I will fhew them therfore a ftiorrer and a better way of confu-j 
 Dation : Tit. 1. 9. Holding feft the faithful Word, as behaih bin taught, that he v 
 ' Vol. I. E e e e 2 maj
 
 580 The likelieft Means to remove 
 
 may be able by found Doclrine, both to exhort end to convince Gainfayers : who arc 
 Confuted as foon as heard, bringing that which is either not in Scripture, or 
 againft it. To purfue them further through she obfeure and intangled Wood 
 of Antiquity, Fathers and Councils fighting one againft another, is needlefs, 
 endlefs, not requifite in a Minifter, and refus'd by the firft Reformers of our 
 Religion. And yet we may be confident, if thefe things be thought needful, 
 let the State but eredf. in public good ftore of Libraries, and there will not 
 want men in the Church, who of their own Inclinations will become able in 
 this kind againft Papifts or any other Adverfary. I have thus at large exa- 
 min'd the ufual Pretences of Hirelings, colour'd over mod common- 
 ly with the caufe of Learning and Univerfities ; as if with Divines Learn- 
 ing flood and fell, wherin for the moft part their Pittance is lb fmall : and, to 
 fpeak freely, it were much better there were not one Divine in the Univerfi- 
 ty, no School-divinity known, the idle Sophiftry of Monks, the Canker of 
 Religion ; and that they who intended to be Minifters, were trained up in the 
 Church only by the Scripture, and in the Original Languages thereof at 
 School •, without fetching the compafs of other Arts and Sciences, more than 
 what they can well learn at fecondary leifure, and at home. Neither fpeak 
 I this in contempt of Learning, or the Miniftry, but hating the common 
 cheats of both •, hating that they who have preach'd out Bifhops, Prelates, and 
 Canonifts, fhould, in what ferves their own ends, retain their falfe Opinions, 
 their Pharifaical Leven, their Avarice, and clofely, their Ambition, their Plu- 
 ralities, their Non-refidences, their odious Fees, and ufe their Legal and Pepijk 
 Arguments for Tithes: That Independents fhould take that Name, as they 
 may juftly from the true freedom of Chriftian Doctrine and Church-difcipline 
 fubjecl: to no fuperior Judge but God only, and feek to be Dependents on the 
 Magiftrate for their Maintenance ; which two things, Independence and State- 
 hire in Religion, can never confift long or certainly together. For Magi- 
 strates at one time or other, not like thefe at prefent our Patrons of Chrifti- 
 an Liberty, will pay none but fuch whom by their Committees of Examination, 
 they find conformable to their Intereft and Opinions : And Hirelings will foon 
 frame themfelves to that Intereft, and thofe Opinions which they fee beft 
 pleafing to their Paymafters ; and to feem right themfelves, will force others 
 as to the truth. But moft of all they are to be revil'd and fham'd, who cry 
 out with the diftinc"t Voice of notorious Hirelings; that if ye fettle not our 
 Maintenance by Law, farewel the Gofpel ; than which nothing can be ut- 
 ter'd more falfe, more ignominious, and I may fay, more blafphemous a- 
 gainft our Saviour •, who hath promis'd without this Condition, both his Ho- 
 ly Spirit, and his own Prefence with his Church to the world's end : Nothing 
 more falfe (unlefs with their own Mouths they condemn themfelves for the un- 
 worthieft and moft mercenary of all other Minifters) by the experience of 
 300 Years after Chrift, and the Churches at this day in France, Auftria, Po- 
 lonia, and other places, witneffing the contrary under an adverfe Magiftrate, 
 not a favourable •, nothing more ignominious, levelling, or rather undervalu- 
 ing Chrift beneath Mahomet. For if it muft be thus, how can any Chriftian 
 object it to a 'Turk, that his Religion ftands by Force only -, and not niftly 
 fear from him this Reply, yours both by Force and Money in the judgment of 
 your own Preachers ? This is that which makes Athcifls in the Land, whom 
 thy fo much complain of: not the want of Maintenance, or Preachers, as 
 they alledge, but the many Hirelings and Cheaters that have the Gofpel in 
 their hands-, hands that ftill crave, and are never fatisfy'd. Likely Minifters 
 indeed, to proclaim the Faith, or to exhort our truft in God, when they them- 
 felves will not truft him to provide for them in the Meflage wheron, they 
 fay, he fent them ; but threaten, for want of temporal means, to defert it ; 
 calling that want of means, which is nothing elfe but the want of their own 
 Faith •, and would force us to pay the hire of building our Faith to their co- 
 vetous Incredulity. Doubtlefs, if God only be he who gives Minifters to his 
 Church till the World's end •, and through the whole Gofpel never fent us for 
 Miniflers to the Schools of Philofophy, but rather bids us beware of fuch 
 rain deceit, Col. 2.8. (which the Primitive Church, after two or three Ages 
 not remembring, brought herfelf quickly to confufion) if all the Faithful be 
 now a Holy and a Royal Priejlhood, 1 Pet. 2. 5, 9. not excluded from the Dif-. 
 
 penfation.
 
 Hirel^j out of the Church. r g £ 
 
 pei. »- ; on of things holieft, ai \ r ree election of the Church, and Impofition 
 of hnds, there will not want M . ; ften elected out of all forts and orders of 
 Men, for the Gofpel makes no difference from fhs " " ; rate himfelf to the 
 meaneft Artificer, if God evident! avour him With Spiritual Gifts, as he 
 can eafilv, and oft hath done, while thofe Batchelor Divines and Doctors of 
 the Tippet have been pafs'd by. Heretofore iri the firft Evangelic Times,' 
 (and it were happy for Chriftendom if it were fo again) Minifters of the 
 Gofpel were by nothing elfe diftinguifh'd from other Chriitians, but by their 
 fpiritual Knc \ edge and Sanctity of Life, for which the Church ele&e i them 
 to be her Teachers and Overfeers, though not therby to feparate them from 
 whatever Calling fhe then found them following befides ; as the Example of 
 St. Paul declares, and the firft times of Chriftianity. When once they af- 
 fected to be called a Clergy, and became as it were, a peculiar Tribe of Le- 
 vites, a Party, a diftinct Order in the Commonwealth, bred up for Divines 
 in babling Schools, and fed at the public Colt, good for nothing elfe but what 
 was good for nothing, they foon grew idle : that Idlenefs, with fulnefs of 
 Bread, begat pride and perpetual contention with their Feeders the defpis'd 
 Laity, through all Ages ever finee •, to the perverting of Religion, and the 
 difturbance of all Chriftendom. And we may confidently conclude, it never 
 will be otherwife while they are thus upheld undepending on the Church, on 
 which alone they anciently depended, and are by the Magiftrate publicly 
 maintain'd a numerous Faction of indigent Perfons, crept for the moll part- 
 out of extreme want and bad nurture, claiming by divine right and freehold 
 the tenth of our Eftates, to monopolize the Miniftry as their peculiar, which 
 is free and open to all able Chriftians, elected by any Church. Under this 
 pretence exempt from all other Imployment, and inriching themfelves on the 
 public, they laft of all prove common Incendiaries, and exalt their Horns a - 
 gainft the Magiftrate himfelf that maintains them, as the Prieft of Rome did 
 loon after againft his Benefactor the Emperor, and the Prefbyters of late in 
 Scotland. Of which hireling Crew, together with all the Mifchiefs, Difien- 
 fions, Troubles, Wars meerly of their kindling, Chriftendom might foon 
 rid her felf and be happy, if Chriftians would but know their own Dignity, 
 their Liberty, their Adoption, and let it not be wonder'd if I fay, their Ipiri- 
 tual Priefthood, wherby they have, all equally accels to any minifterial Func- 
 tion, whenever call'd by their own Abilities, and the Church, though they 
 never came near Commencement or Univerfity. But while Proteftants, to 
 avoid the due labour of underftanding their own Religion, are content to lodge 
 it in the Breaft, or rather in the Books of a Clergyman, and to take it thence 
 by fcraps and mammocks, as he difpenfes it in his Sunday's Dolei they will be 
 always learning, and never knowing -, always Infants ; always either his Vaf- 
 fals, as Lay-papifts are to their Priefts •, or at odds with him, as reformed 
 Principles give them fome light to be not wholly conformable -, whence infinite 
 difturbances in the State, as they do, muft needs follow. Thus much I had 
 to fay ; and, I fuppofe, what may be enough to them who are no: avarici- 
 oufly bent otherwife, touching the likelieft means to remove Hirelings out of 
 the Church ; than which nothing can more conduce to Truth, to Peace and 
 all Happinefs both in Church and State. If I be not heard nor believ'd, the 
 Event will bear me witnefs to have fpoken Truth •, and I, in the mean while, 
 have borne my Witnefs, not out of feafon, to the Church and to my Country. 
 
 A
 
 S 8a 
 
 A 
 
 LETTER 
 
 TO A 
 
 FRIEND, 
 
 Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth. 
 Publifh'd from the Manufcript. 
 
 5/7?, 
 
 UPON the fad and ferious Difcourfe which we felt into Lift nighr, 
 concerning thefe dangerous Ruptures of the Commonwealth, fcarct 
 yet in her Infancy, which cannot be without fome inward flaw in 
 her Bowels •, I began to confidtr more intenfiy theron than hi- 
 therto I have been wonr, refigning my felf to the Wifdom and Care of 
 thofe who had the Government •, and not finding that either God, or the 
 Public requir'd more of me, than my Prayers for them that govern. And 
 fince you have not only ilirr'd up my thoughts, by acquainting mc with the 
 ftate of Affairs, more inwardly than I knew before ; but alio have defired me 
 to fet down my Opinion therof, trufting to your Ingenuity, I (hall give you 
 freely my apprehenfion, both of our prefent Evils, and what Expedients, if 
 God in Mercy regard us, may remove them. I will begin with telling you 
 how I was over-joy'd, when I heard that the Army, under the working of 
 God's holy Spirit, as I thought, and ftill hope well, had been fo far wrought 
 ro Chriftian Humility, and Self-denial, as to confefs in public their back- 
 fliding from the Good Old Caufe, and to fhew the fruits of their Repentance, 
 in the righteoufnefs of their reftoring the old famous Parlament, which they 
 had without juft Authority difiblved : I call it the famous Parlament, tho' not 
 the harmlefs, fince none well- affected, but will confefs, they have deferved 
 much more of thefe Nations, than they have undeferved. And I perfuade 
 me, that God was pleas'd with their Reftitution, figning it, as he did, with 
 fuch a fignal Victory, when fo great a part of the Nation were defperate- 
 ly confpir'd to call back again their Egyptian Bondage. So much the mere it 
 row amazes me, that they, whofe Lips were yet fcarce clos'd from giving 
 Thanks for that great Deliverance, fhould be now relapfing, and fo ibon 
 again backfliding into the fame fault, which they confefs'd fo lately, and fo fo- 
 lemnly to God and the World, and more lately punifh'd in thofe Cbeflira 
 Rebels ; that they fhould now diffolve that Parliament, which they themfelvts 
 re-eftablifh'd, and acknowledg'd for their Supreme Power in their other 
 day's humble Reprefentation : and all this, for no apparent caufe of public 
 Concernment to the Church or Commonwealth, but only for difcommiffioning 
 nine great Officers in the Army •, which had not been done, as is reported, but 
 upon notice of their Intentions againft the Parlament. I prefume not to give 
 my Cenfure on this Action, not knowing, as yet I do not, the bottom ot ir. 
 I fpeak only what it appears to us without doors, till better caufe be declar'd, 
 and I am fure to all other Nations moll illegal and fcandalous, I fear me bar- 
 barous, or rather fcarce to be exampl'd among any Barbarians, .that a paid 
 Army fhould, for no other caufe, thus fubdue the Supreme Power that fee 
 them up. This, I fay, other Nations will judge to the f;d difhonour of that 
 Army, lately fo renown'd for the civilefl and beft-order'd in the World, and 
 by us here at home, for the moft confeientious. Certainly, if the great 
 
 Officers
 
 Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth- 5 £ 3 
 
 Officers and Soldiers of the Holland, French, or Venetian Forces, fliould thus 
 fit in Council, and write from Garifon to Garifon againft their Superiors, they 
 might as eafily reduce the King of France, or Duke of Venice, and put the 
 United Provinces in like Diforcfer and Confufion. Why do they not, being 
 moft of them held ignorant of true Religion ? becaufe the Light of Nature, 
 i" the Laws of Human Society, the Reverence of their Magilf rates, Covenants' 
 Engagements, Loyalty, Allegiance, keeps them in awe. How grievous will 
 it then be ? how infamous to the true Religion which we profels ? how dif- 
 honourable to the Name of God, that his Fear and the Power of his Know- 
 ledge in an Army profeffing to be his, mould not work that Obedience, that 
 Fidelity to their Supreme Magiftrates, that levied them, and paid them, when 
 the Light of Nature, the Laws of Human Society, Covenants, and Contracts, 
 yea common Shame works in other Armies, amongft the worn them? 
 Which will undoubtedly pull down the heavy Judgment of God among us, 
 who cannot but avenge thefe Hypocrifies, Violations of Truth and Holinefs \ 
 if they be indeed fo as they yet feem. For neither do I ipcak this in re ' 
 proach to the Army, but as jealous of their Honour, inciting them to ma- 
 nifeft and publifh, with all l'pced, iome better cauie of thJe their late Acti- 
 ons, than hath hitherto appear'd, and to find out the Achan amongft them, 
 whole clofe Ambition in all likelihood abufes their ho.ncft Natures againft 
 their meaning to thefe Difordersj their readieft way to bring in again the 
 common Enemy, and with him the Deftrudtion of true Religion, and civil 
 Liberty. But, becaufe our Evils are now grown more dangerous and ex- 
 treme, than to be remedied by Complaints, it concerns us now to find oat 
 what Remedies may be likelieft to five us from approaching Ruin. Beina- 
 now in Anarchy, without a counfelling and governing Power ; and the 
 Army, I fuppofe, finding themfelves infufficieht to dilcharge at once both 
 Military and Civil Affairs, the fir ft thing to be found out with all fpeed, with- 
 out which no Commonwealth can fubfift, rnuft be a Senate, or General 
 Council of State, in whom mult be the Power, firft, to preferve the public 
 Peace; next, the Commerce with Foreign Nations ; and laftly, to raife Mo- 
 neys for the Management of thefe Affairs : this muft either be the Parlament 
 re-admitted to fit, or a Council of S:ate allow'd of by the Army, fince they only 
 now have the Power. The Terms to be ftood on are, Liberty of Confcience 
 to all profefling Scripture to be the Rule of their Faith and Worfhip ; and 
 the Abjuration of a (ingle Perfon. If the Parlament be again thought on, 
 to falve Honour on both fides, the well-affected Party of the City, and the 
 congregated Churches, may be induced to mediate by public AddrelTes, and 
 Brotherly Befeechings ; which, if there be that Saintfhip among us which is 
 talk'd of, ought to be of higheft and undeniable Periuafion to Reconcilement. 
 If the Parlament be thought well diflblv'd, as not complying fully to grant 
 Liberty £»f Confcience, and the neceflary Confequence therof, the removal 
 of a fored Maintenance from Minifters, then muft the Army forthwith 
 choofe a Council of State, wherof as many to be of the Parlament, as are 
 undoubted y affected to thefe two Conditions propos'd. That which I conceive- 
 only ab'e to cement, and unite for ever the Army, either to the Parlament 
 recall VI, or this chofen Council, muft be a mutual League and Oath, private 
 or public, not to defert one another till Death: Thit is to lay, that the. 
 Army be kept up, and all thefe Officers in their places during Lire, and fo 
 likewife the Parlament, or Counfellors of State •, which will be no way un- 
 juft, confidering their known Merits on either fide, in Council or in Field, 
 un'efs any be found falfe to any of thefe two Principles, or otherwise perfo- 
 nally criminous in the Judgment of both Parties. If fuch a Union as this be 
 not accepted on the Army's part, be confident there is a fingle Perfon under-* 
 neath. That the Army be upheld, the neceffity of our Affairs and Factions 
 will conftrain long enough perhaps, to content the longeft Liver in the Ar- 
 my. And whether the Civil Government be an annual Democracy, or a 
 perpetual Ariftocracy, is not to me a confideration for the Extremities where- 
 in we are, and the hazard of our Safety from our common Enemy, gaping 
 at prefect to devour us. That it be not an Oligarchy, or the Faction of a 
 lew, may be eafily prevented by the Numbers of their own choofing, who 
 may be found infallibly conftant to thofe two Conditions forenam'd, full Liberty 
 
 of
 
 584 Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth. 
 
 of Confcience, and the Abjuration of Monarchy propos'd : and thewell-order'd 
 Commitees of their faithfulleft Adherents in every County, may give this Go- 
 vernment the refemblance and effects of a perfect Democracy. As for the Re- 
 formation of Laws, and the places of Judicature, whether to be here, as at 
 prefent, or in every County, as hath been long aim d at, and many fuch Propo- 
 sals, tending no doubt to public good, they may be confider'd in due time, 
 when we are paft thefe pernicious Pangs, in a hopeful way of Health, and 
 firm Conftitution. But unlefs thefe things, which I have above propos'd, one 
 way or other, be once fettled, in my fear, which God avert, we inrtantly ruin •„ 
 or at beft become the Servants of one or other fingle Perfon, the fecret Author 
 and Fomenter of thefe Difturbances. You have the fum of my prefent 
 Thoughts, as much as I underftand of thefe Affairs freely imparted -, at your 
 requeft, and the perfuafion you wrought in me, that I might chance hereby to 
 be fome way ferviceable to the Commonwealth, in a time when all ought to In- 
 endeavouring what good they can, whether much or but little. With th'is 
 you may do what you pleafe, put out, put in, communicate or fupprefs r you 
 offend not me, who only have obey'd your Opinion, that in doing what I have 
 done, I might happen to offer fomething which might be of fome ule in this 
 great time of need. However, I have not been wanting to the opportunity 
 which you prefented before me, of mewing the readinefs which I have in the 
 midft of my Unfitnefs, to whatever may be requir'd of me, as a public Duty. 
 
 QEloher 20. 1659. 
 
 rr 
 
 ; E
 
 S*5 
 
 THE 
 
 Prefent Means, and Brief Delineation 
 
 O F A 
 
 Free Commonwealth, 
 
 Eafy to be put in Pra&ice, and without Delay. 
 
 In a Letter to General Monk. 
 Publijloed from the Manufcript. 
 
 FIRST, all endeavours fpeedily to be us'd, that the enfuing Electi- 
 on be of fuch as are already firm, or inclinable to conftitute a Free'" 
 Commonwealth (according to the former qualifications decreed in 
 Parlament, and not yet repeal'd, as I hear) without fingle Perfon, 
 or Houfe of Lords. If thefe be not fuch, but the contrary, who 
 forefees not, that our Liberties will be utterly loft in this next Parlament, 
 without fome powerful courfe taken, of fpeedieft prevention ? The fpeedi- 
 eft way will be to call up forthwith the chief Gentlemen out of every Coun- 
 ty ; to lay before them (as your Excellency hath already.; both in your pub- 
 lifh'd Letters to the Army, and your Declaration recited to the Members of 
 Parlament) the Danger and Confufion of re-admitting Kingfhip in this 
 Land •, efpecially againft the Rules of all Prudence and Example, in a Fami- 
 ly once ejected, and therby not to be trufted with the power of Revenge : 
 that you will not longer delay them with vain expectation, but will put in- 
 to their hands forthwith the pofieffion of a Free Commonwealth •, if they 
 will firft return immediately and ele6t them, by fuch at leaft of the People as 
 are rightly qualify'd, a ftanding Council in every City, and great Town, 
 which may then be dignified with the name of City, continually to confult 
 the good and flourifhing ftate of that Place, with a competent Territory ad- 
 join'd-, to a flu me the judicial Laws, cither thefe that are, or fuch as they 
 themfelves mall new make feverally, in each Commonalty, and all Judica- 
 tures, all Magiftracies, to the Administration of all Juitice between man and 
 man* and all the Ornaments of public Civility, Academies, and fuch like, 
 in their own hands. Matters appertaining to men of feveral Counties, or 
 Territories, may be determin'd, as they are here at London, or in fome more 
 convenient Place, under equal Judges. 
 
 Next, That in every fuch capital Place, they will choofe them the ufual 
 number of ableft Knights and Burgefles, engag'd for a Commonwealth, to 
 make up the Parlament, or (as it will from henceforth be better called) the 
 Grand or General Council of the Nation : whofe Office muft be, with due 
 Caution, to difpofe of Forces, both by Sea and Land, under the conduct of 
 your Excellency, for the prefcrvation of Peace, both at home and abroad ;• 
 muft raife and manage the public Revenue, but with provided infpection of 
 their Accompts -, mult adminifter all foreign Affairs, make all-General Laws, 
 Peace, or War, but not without AiTent of the ftanding Council in each City, 
 or fuch other general Afl'embiv as may be cill'd on luch occafion, from the 
 Vol. Is Ffff whols
 
 r86 Delineation of a Free Commonwealth: 
 
 Whole Territory, where they may, without much trouble, deliberate rn alt 
 things fully, and fend up their Suffrages within a let time, by Deputies ap- 
 pointed. Though this grand Council be perpetual (as in that Book I prov'd 
 would be beft and moit conformable to belt examples) yet they will then, 
 thus limited, have fo little matter in their hands, or Power to endanger our 
 Liberty-, and the People fo much in theirs, to prevent them, having all Ju- 
 dicial Laws in their own choice, and free Votes in all thole which concern 
 generally the whole Commonwealth, that we lhall have little canfe to fear 
 the perpetuity of our general Senate ; which will be then nothing elfe but a 
 firm Foundation and Cuftody of our Public Liberty, Peace, and Union, 
 through the whole Commonwealth, and the tranfaftors of our Affairs with 
 foreign Nations. 
 
 If this yet be not thought enough, the known Expedient may at length be 
 us'd, of a partial Rotation. 
 
 Laftly, if thefe Gentlemen convocated, refufe thefe fair and noble Offers of 
 immediate Liberty, and happy Condition, no doubt there be enough in every 
 County who will thankfully accept them-, your Excellency once more declaring 
 publicly this to be your Mind, and having a faithful Veteran Army, fo ready, 
 and glad to aflift you in the profecution therof. For the full and abfolure Admi- 
 nistration of Law in every County, which is the difficulteft of thefe Propo'aL', 
 hath bin of moft long defired ; and the not granting it, held a general Grie- 
 vance. The reft when they mail fee the beginnings and proceedings of thefe 
 Conftitutions propos'd, and the orderly, the decent, the civil, the file, the 
 noble Effects therof, will be foon convine'd, and by degrees come in of their 
 own accord, to be partakers of fo happy a Government. 
 
 The
 
 5 8 7 
 
 The ready and eafy Way to eftablifh a 
 
 Free Commonwealth, 
 
 And the Excellence therof, 
 
 Compar'd with the Inconveniencies and Dangers 
 of re-admitting Kinglhip in this Nation. 
 
 -Et 
 
 nos 
 
 Conjilium dedimus Syllse, de?mis popido ?iunc> 
 
 ALthough fmce the writing of this Treatife, the face of things hath 
 had fome change, Writs for new Elections have bin recall'd, and 
 the Members at firft chofen, re-admitted from exclufion ; yet not 
 a little rejoicing to hear declar'd the Refolution of thofe who are 
 in Power, tending to the eftablifhment of a Free Commonwealth, 
 and to remove, if it be poffible, this noxious humour of returning to Bon- 
 dage, inftill'd of late by fome Deceivers, and nourifh'd from bad Principles 
 and falle Apprehenfions among too many of the People •, I thought bed not to 
 iupprefs what I had written, hoping that it may now be of much more ufe and 
 concernment to be freely publifh'd, in the midft of our Elections to a Free 
 Parlament, or their fitting to confider freely of the Government; whom it 
 behoves to have all things reprefented to them that may direcl: their Judgment 
 therin ; and I never read of any State, fcarce of any Tyrant grown fo incu- 
 rable, as to refufe Counfel from any in a time of public Deliberation, -much 
 lefs to be offended. If their abfolute Determination be to enthral us, before 
 fo long a Lent of Servitude, they may permit us a little Shroving-time firft, 
 wherin to fpeak freely, and take our leaves of Liberty. And becaufe in the 
 former Edition, through hafte, many Faults efcap'd, and many Books were 
 fuddenly difperfcd, ere the Note to mend them could be fent, I took the op- 
 portunity from this occafion to revile and fomewhat to enlarge the whole Dif- 
 courfe, efpecially that part which argues for a perpetual Senate. The Treatife 
 thus revis'd and enlarg'd, is as follows. 
 
 The Parlament of Englahd, afTifted by a great number of the People who 
 appear'd and ftuck to them fiithfulieft in defence of Religion and their Civil 
 Liberties, judging Kingfhip by long experience a Government unnecefTary, 
 burdenfome and dangerous, juftly and magnanimoufly aboli/h'd it, turning regal 
 Bondage into a Free Commonwealth, to the Admiration and Terrour of our 
 emulous Neighbours. They took themfelves not bound by the Light of Nature 
 or Religion to any former Covenant, from which the King himfelf, by many 
 Forfeitures of a latter date or difcovery, and our own longer confideratkn. 
 theron, had more and more unbound us, both to himfelf and his pofterky ; 
 as hath been ever the Juftice and the Prudence of all wife Nations that have 
 ejected Tyranny. They covenanted to preferve the King's Perfon and Authority y 
 in the preservation of the true Religion, and our Liberties ; not in his endeavour- 
 ing to bring in upon our Consciences, a Popifh Religion -, upon our Liberties, 
 Thraldom I upon our Lives, Deflruftion, by his occafioning, if not complot- 
 ting, as was after difcovered, the Irijh Mafiacre ; his fomenting and arming 
 
 Vol. I. Ffff2 tl.«
 
 egg The ready and eafy Way 
 
 the Rebellion ; his covert leaguing with the Rebels againil us ; his refuting, 
 more than feven times, Proportions moil juft and neceffary to the true Reli- 
 gion and our Liberties, tender'd him by the Parlament both of England and 
 Scotland. They made not their Covenant concerning him with no difference 
 between a King and a God •, or promis'd him, as Job did to the Almighty, 
 to trufi in him though he Jay us: They underftood that the iblemn Ingag«- 
 tnent, wherin we all forfwore Kingfhip, was no more a breach of the Cove- 
 nant, than the Covenant was of the Proteftation before, but a faithful and 
 prudent going on both in words well weigh'd, and in the true fenfe of 
 the Covenant, 'without refpett of Perfons, when we could not ferve two contra- 
 ry Matters, God and the King, or the King and that more fipreme Law, 
 fworn in the firft place to maintain our Safety and our Liberty. They krt 
 the People of England to be a free People, themfelves the Reprefenters of 
 that Freedom ; and although many were excluded, and as many rled To they 
 pretended) from Tumults to Oxford, yet they were left a fufficient Number 
 to act in Parlament, therfore not bound by any Statute of preceding Parla- 
 ments, but by the Law of Nature only, which is the only Law of Laws truly 
 and properly to all Mankind fundamental •, the beginning and the end of all 
 Government ; to which no Parlament or People that will throughly reform, 
 but may and muft have recourfe, as they had, and rhuft yet have, in Church- 
 Reformation (if they throughly intend it) to Evangelic Rules ; not to Ec- 
 clefiaftical Canons, though never fo ancient, fo ratify'd and eftablifh'd in the 
 Land by Statutes, which for the molt part are meer pofitive Laws, neither 
 natural nor moral •, and lb by any Parlament, for juft and ferious Conjfiidm- 
 tions, without fcruple to beat any time repeal'd. If others of their Number 
 in thefe things were under Force, they were not, but under free Confcier.ce ; 
 if others were excluded by a Power which they could not refill, they were 
 not therfore to leave the Helm of Government in no hands, todifcontime 
 their care of the public Peace and Safety, to defert the People in Anarchy' ana 
 Confulion, no more than when fo many of their Members left them, as made- 
 up in outward Formality a more legal Parlament of three Eftates againil them. 
 The beft-affecled alfo, and heft-principled of the People, ftood not numbering 
 or computing, on which fide were moil Voices in Parlament, but on which 
 fideappear'd to them moft Pveafon, mo ft Safety, when the Houfe divided up- 
 on main Matters: What was well motion'd and advis'd, they examin'd noc 
 whether Fear or Perfwafion carried it in the Vote, neither did they meafure 
 Votes and Counfels by the Intentions of them that voted ; knowing that In- 
 tentions either are but guefs'd at, or not foon enough known ; and although 
 good, can neither make the Deed fuch, nor prevent the Confequence from 
 being bad : Suppoie bad Intentions in things othervvife well done •, what v v 
 well done, was by them who fo thought, not the lefs obey'd or follow M in ti.^ 
 State -, fince in the Church, who had not rather follow Ifcarict or Simon the 
 Magician, though to covetous Ends, preaching, than Saul, though in the' up- 
 rightnefs of his Heart perfecuting the Gofpel ? Safer they therfore judg"d 
 what they thought the better Counfels, though carried on by fome perhaps 
 to bad Ends, than the worfe by others, though endeavour'd with belt Inten- 
 tions : and yet they were not to learn that a greater Number might be cor- 
 rupt within the Walls of a Parlament, as well as of a City ; wherof in Mat- 
 ters- of neareft concernment all Men will be judges ; nor eafily permit, d 
 the Odds of Voices in their greateft Council, mall more endanger them by 
 corrupt or credulous Votes, than the Odds of Enemies by open Ail'uiks ; 
 judging that moft Voices ought not always to prevail where main Matters are 
 in queftion. If others hence will pretend to difturb all Counfels •, what is that to 
 (Hem who pretend not, but are in real danger; not they only fo judging, but a 
 great, tho' not the greateft Number of their chofen Patriots, who might be more 
 in Weight than the others in Number •, there being in Number little Virtue, but 
 by Weight and Meafure Wifdom working all things : and the Dangers on ei- 
 ther fide they ferioufly thus weigh'd. From the Treaty, fhort Fruits of long La- 
 bours, and 7 years War-, Security for 20 Years, if we can hold it , Reformation 
 in the Church for three Years: then put to fhift again with our vanquifh'd Maj 
 ier. His Juftice, his Honour, his Confcience declar'd quite contrary to our ■■: 
 • hich would have furnifh'd him with many fuch Evafions, as in a Bo 
 
 ■ ■ . 
 
 4
 
 to eflablifh a Free Commonwealth. ^ $q 
 
 entitled, An Inquijltion for Blood, foon after were not conceal'd : Blfhops not 
 totally remov'd, but left, as it were, in Ambufh, a Referve, with Ordina- 
 tion in their fole Power; their Lands already fold, not to be alienated, but ren- 
 ted, and the fale of them call'd Sacrilege ; Delinquents, few of many brought 
 to condign Punifhment; Acxefibries punifh'd ; the chief Author, above Par- 
 don, though after utmoft Refiftance, vanquilh'd -, not to give, but to receive 
 Laws; yet befought, treated with, and to be thank'd for his gracious Con- 
 ceffions, to behonour'd, worfhipp*d, glorify'd. If this we fwore to do* with 
 what Righteoufnefs in the fight of God, with what Aflurance that we brino- 
 not by fuch an Oath, the whole Sea of Blood-guiltinefs upon our own Heads? 
 It on the other fide we prefer a Free Government, though for the prefent not 
 obtain'd, yet all thofe fu'ggefted Fears and Difficulties, as the Event will 
 prove, eafily overcome, we remain finally fecufe from the exafperated Regal 
 Power, and out of Snares ; fhall retain the beft part of our Liberty, which is 
 our Religion, and the civil part will be from thefe who defer us, much more 
 eafily recover'd, being neither fo futtle nor fo awful as a King re-inthron'd. 
 Nor were their Actions lefs both at home and abroad, than mifdit become the 
 hopes of a glorious rifing Commonwealth : Nor were the Expreffions both 
 of Army and People, whether in their public Declarations, or feveral 
 Writings, other than fuch as teftify'd a Spirit in this Nation, no lefs noble and 
 Well fitted to the Liberty of a Commonwealth, than in the ancient Greeks or 
 Romans. Nor was the heroic Cuife unfuccefsfully defended to all Chriften- 
 dom, againft the Tongue of a famous and thought invincible Adveriary ; 
 nor the Conltancy and Fortitude that fo nobly vindicated our Liberty, our 
 Victory at once againft two the molt prevailing Ufurpers over Mankind, Su- 
 perftition and Tyranny, unprais'd or uncelebrated in a written Monument, 
 likely to outlive Detraction, as it hath hitherto convine'd or filene'd not a 
 few of our Detractors, efpecially in parts abroad. After our Liberty and 
 Religion thus profperoufly fought for, gain'd, and many Years polTefs'd, ex- 
 cept in thofe unhappy Interruptions, which God hath remov'd ; now that 
 nothing remains, but in all reafon the certain hopes of a fpeedy and imme- 
 diate Settlement for ever in a firm and free Commonwealth, for this extoll'd 
 •and magnify'd Nation, regardlefs both of Honour won, or Deliverances 
 vouchfaf'd from Heaven, to fall back, or rather to creep back fo poorly, as it 
 feems the multitude would, to their once abjur'd and detefted Thraldom of 
 Kingfhip, to be our felves the flanderers of our own juft and religious Deeds, 
 though done by fome to covetous and ambitious Ends, yet not therfore to be 
 ftain'd with their Infamy, or they to afperfe the Integrity of others ; and yet 
 thefe now by revolting from the Confcience of Deeds well done, both in 
 Church and State, to throw away and forfake, or rather to betray a juft and 
 noble Cauie for the mixture of bad Men who have ill manag'd and abus'd it, 
 (which had our Fathers done heretofore, and on the fame pretence deferted 
 true Religion, what had long ere this become of our Gofpel, and all Protef- 
 tant Reformation fo much intermix! with the Avarice and Ambition of fome 
 Reformers?) and by thus relapfing, to verify all the bitter Predictions of our 
 triumphing Enemies, who will now think they wifely difcern'd and juftly cen- 
 fur'd both us and all our Actions as ralh, rebellious, hypocritical and im- 
 pious ; not only argues a ftrange degenerate Contagion fuddenly fpread among 
 us, fitted and prepar'd for new Slavery, but will render us a Scorn and De- 
 fifion to all our Neighbours. And what will they at beft fay of us, and of 
 the whole Engli/I.i Name, but fcoffingly, as of that Foolifh Builder mention'd 
 by our Saviour, who began to build a Tower, and was notable to finifh it? 
 Where is this goodly Tower of a Commonwealth, which the Engliflo boafted 
 they would build to overfhadow Kings, and be another Rome in the Weft ? 
 The Foundation indeed they laid gallantly, but fell intoaworfe Confufion, not 
 of Tongues, but of Factions, than thofe at the Tower of Babel ; and have 
 left no Memorial of their Work behind them remaining, but in the common 
 Laughter of Europe. Which muft needs redound the more to our fhame, if 
 we but look on our Neighbours the United Provinces, to us inferior in all out- 
 ward Advantages ; who notwithstanding, in the midft of greater Difficul- 
 ties, couragioufly, wifely, constantly went through with the fame Work, and 
 
 are
 
 qpo The ready and eafy Way 
 
 are fettled in all the happy enjoyments of a potent and flourilhing Republic to 
 
 this day. 
 
 Befides this, if we return to Kingfhip, and foon repent, as undoubtedly we 
 fhall when we be°dn to find the old encroachments coming on by little and 
 little upon our Confciences, which mult necefiarily proceed from King and 
 Bifhop united infeparably in one Intereft, we may be forc'd perhaps to fight 
 over again all that we have fought, and fpend over again all that we have 
 fpent, but are never like to attain thus far as we are now advane'd to the re- 
 covery of our Freedom, never to have it in pofieflion as we now have it, ne- 
 ver to be vouchfafed hereafter the like Mercies and fignal Alfiftances from Hea- 
 ven in ourCaufe: If by our ingrateful backfliding we make thefe frui clefs, 
 flying now to regal ConcefTions from his divine condefcenfions, and gracious 
 anfwers to our once importuning Prayers againft the Tyranny which we then 
 oroan'd under-, making vain and viler than dirt, the Blood of lb many thou- 
 fand faithful and valiant Englifhmen, who left us in this Liberty, bought with 
 their Lives •, lofing by a ftrange after-game of Foliy, all the Battels we have 
 won together with all Scotland as to our Conqueft, hereby loll, which never 
 any of our Kings could conquer, all the Treafure we have fpent, not that cor- 
 ruptible Treafure only, but that far more precious of all our late miraculous 
 Deliverances •, treading back again with loft labour, all our happy fteps in the 
 progrels of Reformation, and moft pitifully depriving our felves the inftant 
 fruition of that free Government which we have fo dearly purchas'd, a free 
 Commonwealth, not only held by wifeft men in all Ages the nobleil, the man- 
 Heft, the equalled, the jufteft Government, the moft agreeable to all due 
 Liberty and proportion'd Equality, both Human, Civil, and Chriftian, moft 
 cheriihing to Virtue and true Religion, but alfo (I may lay it with greateft 
 probability) plainly commended, or rather enjoin'd by our Saviour himfelf, to 
 all Chriftians, not without remarkable difaliowance, and the brand of Genti- 
 lifm upon Kingfhip. God in much difpleafure gave a King to the Ifraelites, 
 and imputed it a fin to them that they fought one: But Chrifi apparently 
 forbids his Difciples to admit cf any fuch heathenifli Government ; The Kings 
 of the Gentiles, faith he, exercife Lordflup over them ; and they that cxercife Au- 
 thority upon them are call'd Benefactors : but ye JJoall not be fo ; but he that is 
 greateft among you, let him be as the younger ; and he that is chief, as he that 
 ih-veth. The occafion of thefe his words was the ambitious defire of Zebedee's 
 two Sons, to be exalted above their Brethren in his Kingdom, which they thought 
 was to be e'er lono- upon Earth. That he fpeaks of Civil Government, ismani- 
 feft by the former part of the Comparifon, which infers the other part to be al- 
 ways in the fame kind. And what Government comes nearer to this precept of 
 Chrifi, than a free Commonwealth •, wherin they who are greateft, are perpe- 
 tual Servants and Drudges to the public at their own coft and charges, neg- 
 lect their own Affairs, yet are not elevated above their Brethren ; live foberly 
 in their Families, walk the Street as other men, may be fpoken to freely, 
 familiarly, friendly, without Adoration ? Wheras a King mull: be ador'd 
 like a Demigod, with a diffolute and haughty Court about him, ofvaft ex- 
 pence and luxury, Mafks and Revels, to the debauching of our prime Gentry 
 both Male and Female •, not in their paftimes only, but in earned, by the 
 loofe imployments of Court-fervice, which will be then thought honourable. 
 There will be a Queen of no lefs charge ; in moft likelihood Outlandifh and 
 a Papift, befides a Queen-mother fuch already ; together with both their Courts 
 and numerous Train : then a Royal iffue, and e'er long feverally their fump- 
 raous Courts •, to the multiplying of a fervile Crew, not of Servants only, but 
 of Nobility and Gentry, bred up then to the hopes not of Public, but of 
 Court-Offices, to be Stewards, Chamberlains, Ufiiers, Grooms, even of the 
 Clofe-ftool •, and the lower their Minds debas'd with Court-opinions, contrary 
 to all Virtue and Reformation, the haughtier will be their Pride and Profufe- 
 nefs. We may well remember this not long fince at home ; nor need but look at 
 prefent into the French Court, where Enticements and Preferments daily draw 
 .away and pervert the Proteftant Nobility. As to the burden of expence, to 
 Y,ur coft we fhall fcon know it ; for any good to us deferving to be term'd no 
 better tlun the raft and lavifh price of cur fubjecliou, and their Debauchery, 
 
 which
 
 to eftablijh a Free Commonwealth. rp r 
 
 Which we are now fo greedily cheap'ning, and would fo fain be paying moft 
 inconfiderately to a fingle Perfon ; who for any thing wherin the Public really 
 needs him, will have little ell'e to do, but tobeftow the eating and drinking of 
 exceffive Dainties, to let a pompous face upon the fuperficial actings of State, 
 to pageant himfelf up and down in Progrefs among the perpetual bowings 
 and cringings of an abject: People, on either fide deifying and adoring him for 
 nothing done that can deferve it. For what can he more than another man ? 
 who even in the expreffion of a late Court-poet, fits only like a great Cypher 
 fet to no purpofe before a long row of other fignificant Figures. Nay, it is 
 well and happy for the People if their King be but a Cypher, being oft-times a 
 Mifchief, a Pelt, a Scourge of the Nation, and which is worfe, not to be re- 
 mov'd, not to be controul'd, much lefs accus'd or brought to punifhmenti 
 without the danger of a common ruin, without the fhaking and almoft fub- 
 verfion of the whole Land: wheras in a free Commonwealth, any Governor or 
 chief Counfellor offending, may be remov'd and punifh'd without the leafb 
 Commotion. Certainly then that People muft needs be mad, or ftrano-ely in- 
 fatuated, that build the chief hope ol their common happinels or fafety on a 
 fingle Perfon ; who if he happen to be good, can do no more than another 
 man ; if to be bad, hath in his hands to do more evil without check, than mi - 
 lions of other men. The happincfs of a Nation muft needs be firmeft and 
 certaineft in full and free Council of their own electing, where no fingle Per- 
 fon, but Reafon only fways. And what madnefs is it for them who might ma- 
 nage nobly their own Affairs themfelves, fluggifhly and weakly to devolve all en 
 a fingle Perfon -, and more like Boys under Age than Men, to commit all to his 
 patronage and dilpofal, who neither can perform what he undertakes, and 
 yet for undertaking it, though royally paid, will not be their Servant, but their 
 Lord ? How unmanly muft it needs be, to count fuch a one the breath of our 
 Noftrils, to hang all our felicity on him, all our fafety, our well-being, for 
 which if we were aught elfe but S'uggards or Babks, we need depend on none 
 but God and our own Counfels, our own active Virtue and Induftry. Go to the 
 Ant, then Sluggard, faith Solomon ; confider her ways, and be wife ; which havr,:& 
 mo Prince, Ruler, or Lord, provides her meat in the Summer, and gathers her food- 
 in the Har-vejh which evidently ihews us, that they who think the Nation un- 
 done without a King, though they look grave or haughty, have not fo much 
 true Spirit and Underftanding in them as a Pifmire: neither are thefe diligent 
 Creatures hence concluded to live in lawlefs Anarchy, or that commended, 
 but are fet the examples to imprudent and ungovern'd men, of a frugal and 
 felf-governing Democraty or Commonwealth ; lafer and more thriving in the 
 joint Providence and Counfel of many induftrious equals, than under the finale 
 domination of one imperious Lord. It may be well wonder'd that any Nation 
 ftiling themfelves free, can fuffer any man to pretend Hereditary Rioht; o- 
 ver them as their Lord ; whenas by acknowledging that Right, they conclude 
 themfelves his Servants and his Vaffals, and fo renounce their own freedom. 
 Which how a People and their Leaders efpecially can do, who have fought fo 
 glorioufly for Liberty ; how they can change their noble Words and Actions, 
 heretofore fo becoming the majefty of a free People, into the bafe neceffity of 
 Court- flatteries and Proftrations, is not only ftrange and admirable, but la- 
 mentable to think on. That a Nation fhould be fo valorous and courageous 
 to win their Liberty in 'the Field, and when they have won it, fhould be fo 
 heartlefs and unwife in their Counfels, as not to know how to ufe it, value it, 
 what to do with it, or with themfelves ; but after ten or twelve years pro - 
 fperous War and conteftation with Tyranny, bafely and befottedly to run 
 their necks again into the Yoke which they have broken, and proftrate all the 
 fruits of their Victory for naught at the feet of the vanquifh'd, befides our 
 lofs of Glory, and fuch an example as Kings or Tyrants never yet had the 
 like to boaft of, will be an ignominy if it befall us, that never yet befel any 
 Nation poffefs'd of their Liberty •, worthy indeed themfelves, whatlbever they 
 be, to be for ever flaves ; but that part of the Nation which confents not 
 with them, as I perlwade me, of a great number, far worthier than by their 
 means to be brought into the fame Bondage. Confidering thefe things fo 
 plain, fo rational, I cannot but yet further admire on the other fide, how any 
 man who hath the true principles of Juftice and Religion in him, can prefume 
 
 •r
 
 j-o2 The ready and eafy Way 
 
 or take upon him to be a King and Lord over his Brethren, whom he cannot 
 but know whether as Men or Chriftians, to be for the mod part every way 
 equal or fuperior to himfelf: how he can tiifplay with fuch Vanity and Often- 
 tation his regal fplendor fo fupereminently above other mortal Men ; or be- 
 ing a Chriftian, can affume fuch extraordinary Honour and Worlhip to him- 
 felf, while the Kingdom of Chrift our common King and Lord, is hid to this 
 World, and fuch gentilijh imitation forbid in exprefs words by himfelf to ail 
 his Difciples. All Proteftants hold that Chrift in his Church hath left no 
 Vicegerent of his Power •, but himfelf without Deputy, is the only Head 
 therof, o-overning it from Heaven : how then can any Chriftian man derive his 
 Kingfhip from Chrift, but with woffe ufurpation than the Pope his hcadihip 
 over the Church, fince Chrift not only hath not left the leaft fhadow of a 
 command for any fuch Vicegerence from him in the State, as die Pope pre- 
 tends for his in the Church, but hath exprefly declar'd, that fuch regal Do- 
 minion is from the Gentiles, not from him, and hath ftrictly charg'd us not to 
 imitate them therin ? 
 
 I doubt not but all ingenuous and knowing men will eafdy agree with me, 
 that a Free Commonwealth without fmgle Perfon, or Houfe of Lords, is by 
 far die beft Government if it can be had ; but we have all this while, fay they, 
 bin expecting it, and cannot yet attain it. 'Tis true indeed, when Monarchy 
 was diffolv'd, the Form of a Commonwealth mould have forthwith bin iram'd, 
 and the practice therof immediately begun ; that the People might have foon 
 been fatisfy'd and delighted with me decent Order, Eafe, and Benefit therof: 
 •we had bin then by this time firmly rooted paft fear of Commotions or Muta- 
 tions, and now flourifhing : this care of timely fett.'ing a new Government in- 
 ftead of die old, too much neglected, hath been our mifchief. Yet the cauie 
 therof may be afcrib'd with moft realbn to the frequent disturbances* inter- 
 ruptions, and diffolutions which the Parlament hath had, partly from the im- 
 patient or difaffected People, partly from forne ambitious Leaders in the Ar- 
 my ; much contrary, I believe, to the mind and approbation of the Army it 
 felf and their other Commanders, once undtceiv'd, or in their own power. 
 Now is the opportunity, now the very feafon wherin we may obtain a Free 
 Commonwealth, and eftablifh it for ever in the Land, without difficulty or 
 much delay. Writs are fent out for Elections, and which is wordi obferving 
 in the name, not of any King, but of the keepers of our Liberty, to fummon 
 a free Parlament ; which then only will indeed be free, and deferve the true 
 honour of that fupream Title, if they preferve us a free People. Which 
 never Parlament was more free to do ; being now call'd, not as heretofore, 
 by the fummons of a King, but by the voice of Liberty : and if the People, 
 laying afide prejudice and impatience, will ferioufly and calmly now conlider 
 their own good, both Religious and Civil, their own Liberty and the only 
 means therof, as fliall be here laid dowm before them, and will elect their 
 Knights and Burgeffes able men, and according to the juft and neceffary Qualifi- 
 cations (which, for aught I hear, remain yet in force unrepeal'd, as they were for- 
 merly decreed in Parlament) men not addicted to a fingle Perfon or Houfe of 
 Lords, the work is done-, at leaft the foundation firmly laid of a Free Common- 
 wealth, and good part alio erected of the main Structure. For the ground 
 and bafis of every juft and free Government (fince men have fmarted fo oft 
 for committing all to one Perfon) is a general Council of ableft men, chofea 
 by the People to confult of public Affairs from time to time for the common 
 good. In this Grand Council mult the Sovereignty, not transferr'd, but dele- 
 gated only, and as it were depofited, refide ; w ith this Caution they muft 
 have the forces by Sea and Land committed to them for prefervation of the 
 common Peace and Liberty ; muft raife and manage the public Revenue, at 
 leaft with fome Infpectors deputed for fatisfaction of the People, how it is 
 employ'd ; muft make or propofe, as more exprefly fhail be laid anon, Civil 
 Laws, treat of Commerce, Peace, or War with foreign Nations, and for the 
 carrying on fome particular Affairs with more fecrecy and expedition, muft 
 cle6t, as they have already out of their own number and others, a Council of 
 State. 
 
 And although it may feem ftrange at firft hearing, by realbn that mens 
 minds are prepoffcffed with the notion ©f fucceflive Parlaments, I affirm that 
 
 4 the
 
 to eftablijh a Free Commonwealth, ^93 
 
 the Grand or General Council being well chofen, fhould be perpetual : For 
 fo their bufinefs is or may be, and oft-times urgent ; the opportunity of Affairs 
 gain'd or loft in a moment. The day of Council cannot be fet as the day of 
 a Feftival •, but muft be ready always to prevent or anfwer all occafions. 
 By this continuance they will become every way fkilfuileft, beft provided of 
 Intelligence from abroad, beft acquainted with the People at home, and the 
 People with them. The Ship of the Commonwealth is always under fail; 
 they fit at the Stern, and if they fteer well, what need is there to change 
 them, it being rather dangerous ? Add to this, that the Grand Council is 
 both Foundation and main Pillar of the whole State ; and to move Pillars 
 and Foundations, not faulty, cannot be fafe for the Building. I fee not 
 therfore, how we can be advantag'd by fucceffive and tranfitory Parlaments -, 
 but that they are much likelier continually to unfettle rather than to fettle 
 a free Government, to breed Commotions, Changes, Novelties and Uncer- 
 tainties, to bring neglect upon prefent Affairs and Opportunities, while all 
 Minds are in fufpenfe with expectation of a new Affemblv, and the Affembly 
 for a good fpace taken up with the new fettling of it felf. After which, if they 
 find no great work to do, they will make it, by altering or repealing former 
 Ails, or making and multiplying new ; that they may feem to fee what 
 their Predeceffors iaw not, and not to have affembled for nothing : till all Law 
 be loft in the multitude of clafhing Statutes. But if the Ambition of fuch 
 as think themfelves injur'd that they alfo partake not of the Govern- 
 ment, and are impatient till they be chofen, cannot brook the perpetuity 
 of others chofen before them •, or if it be fear'd that long continuance of 
 Power may corrupt fincereft Men, the known Expedient is, and by fome 
 lately propounded, that annually (or if the fpace be longer, fo' much 
 perhaps the better) the third part of Senators may go out according 
 to the precedence of their Election, and the like number be chofen in 
 their places, to prevent their fettling of too abfolute a Power, if it fhould be 
 perpetual: and this they call partial Rotation. But I could wifh that this 
 wheel or partial wheel in State, if it be poffible, might be avoided, as 
 having too much affinity with the wheel of Fortune. For it appears not how 
 this can be done, without danger and mifchance of putting out a o-reat num- 
 ber of the beft and ableft : in Whofe Head new Elections may bring in as many 
 raw, unexperiene'd and otherwife affected, to the weakning and much altering 
 for the worfe of public Tranfactions. Neither do I think a perpetual Senate, 
 efpecially chofen and enrrufted by the People, much in this land to be fear'd, 
 where the well -affected either in a flancling Army, or in a fetded Militia, 
 have their Arms in their own hands. Safelt therfore to me it feems, and of 
 leaft hazard or interruption to Affairs, that none of the Grand Council be 
 mov'd, unlefs by Death or juft Conviction of fome Crime: for what can be 
 expected firm or fled fall from a floating Foundation? however, I forejudge 
 n >l any probable Expedient, any Temperament that can be found in things 
 of this nature fo dilputable on either fide. Yet left this which I affirm, be 
 thought my fingle Opinion, I fhall add fufficicnt Teftimony. Kingfhip it felf 
 is therfore counted the more {Ac and durable, becaufe'the King, and for 
 the molt part his Council, is not chang'd during Life : but a Commonwealth 
 is held immortal, and th.rin firmeft, fafeft and molt above Fortune: for the 
 Death of a King caufeth oft-times many dangerous Alterations ; but the 
 Death now and then of a Senator is not felt, the main body of them ftill 
 continuing permanent in grcateft and nobleft Commonwea'ths, and as it 
 were eternal. Therfore among the Jews, the fupreme Council of Seventy, 
 e.ul'd the Sanhedrim, founded by Mofes, in Athens that of Areopagus, in 
 Sparta that of the Ancients, in Rome the Senate, confuted of Member* 
 chofen ior term of Life ; and by that means remain'd as it were ftill the fame 
 to Generations In Venice they change indeed ofter than every year fome par- 
 ticular Council of State, as that of fix, or fuch other •, but the true Senate, 
 which upholds and fuftains the Government, is the whole Ariftocracy im- 
 moveable. So in the United Provinces, the States General, which are indeed 
 but a Council of State deputed by the whole Union, are not ufually the fame 
 Perfons for above three or fix Years •, but the States of every City in whom 
 rfu Sovj reignty hath been p!ac\t time out of mind, area Handing Senate, with- 
 Vol. 1. Gggg out
 
 i» 04 *The ready and eafy Way 
 
 Out SuccelTion, and accounted chiefly in that regard the main prop of the:. 
 Liberty. And why they fhould be fo in every well-order'd Commonwealth, 
 they who write of Policy, give thefe Reafons ; " That to make the Senate 
 " fucceffive, not only impairs the dignity and luftre of the Senate, but wta 
 " kens the whole Commonwealth, and brings it into manifeft danger •, while 
 " by this means the Secrets of State are frequently divulg'd, and matters of 
 «' crreateft confequence committed to inexpert and novice Counfellors, ut- 
 " terly to feek in the full and intimate knowledge of Affairs paft." I know 
 not therfore what fhould be peculiar in England to make fucceffive Parlaments 
 thought fafeft, or convenient here more than in other Nations, unlefs it be 
 the ficklenefs which is attributed to us as we are Wanders: but good Education 
 and acquifite Wifdom ought to correct the fluxible fault, if any fuch be, of 
 out watry fituation. It will be objected, that in thofe places where they 
 had perpetual Senates, they had alfo popular Remedies againft their growing 
 too imperious : as m Athens, befides Areopagus, another Senate of four or five 
 hundred ; in Sparta, the Ephori ; in Rome, the Tribunes of the People. But 
 the Event tells us, that thefe Remedies either little avail the People, or 
 brought them to fuch a licentious and unbridled Democraty, as in fine ruin'd 
 themfelves with their own eXceffive power. So that the main reafon urg'd 
 why popular AfTemblies are to be trufted with the People's Liberty, rather 
 than a Senate of principal Men, becaufe great Men will be (till endeavouring 
 to enlarge their Power, but the common fort will be contented to maintain 
 their own Liberty, is by Experience found falfe -, none being more immoderate 
 and ambitious to amplify their Power, than fuch Popularities, which 
 were feen in the People of Rome; who at firit contented to have their 
 Tribunes, at length contended with the Senate that one Conful, then both, 
 foon after, that the Cenibrs and Praetors alfo fhould be created Plebeian, and 
 the whole Empire put into their hands •, adoring laftly thofe, who meft were 
 adverfe to the Senate, till Marias by fulfilling their inordinate Defires, quite 
 loil them all the Power for which they had fo long bin ftriving, and left them 
 under the Tyranny of Sylla : the ballance therfore mult be exactly fo fet, as 
 to preferve and keep up due Authority on either fide, as well in the Senate 
 as in the People. 'And this annual Rotation of a Senate to confilt of three 
 hundred, as is lately propounded, requires alfo another popular AfTembly up- 
 ward of a thoufand, with an anfwerable Rotation. Which, bsfides that it 
 will be liable to all thofe Inconveniencies found in the forefaid Remedies, can- 
 not but be troublefome and chargeable, both in their Motion and their Seffion, 
 to the whole Land, unwieldy with their own bulk, unable in fo great a num- 
 ber to mature their Confultations as they ought, if any be allotted them, and 
 that they meet not from fo many parts remote to fit a whole year Lieger in 
 one place, only now and then to hold up a foreft of Fingers, or to convey 
 each Man his bean or ballot into the Box, without reafon fhewn or common 
 deliberation •, incontinent of Secrets, if any be imparted to them, emulous 
 and always jarring with the other Senate. The much better way doubtleis 
 will be, in this wavering condition of our Affairs, to defer the changing or 
 circumfcribing of our Seriate, more than may be done with eafe, til! the Common- 
 wealth be throughly fettled in Peace and Safety, and they themfelves give us 
 the occafion. Military Men hold it dangerous to change the form of Battel 
 in view of an Enemy : neither did the People of Rami- bandy with their Senate 
 while any of the Tarquins liv'd, the Enemies of their Liberty, nor fought 
 by creating Tribunes to defend themfelves againft the fear of their Patricians, 
 till fixteen years afrer the expulfion of their Kings, and in full fecurity of 
 their State, they had or thought they had juft caule given them by the Senate. 
 Another way will be, to well qualify and refine Elections : not committing 
 all to the noife and fhouting of a rude Multitude, but permitting only thofe 
 of them who are rightly qualify'd, to nominate as many as they will ; and 
 out of that number others of a better breeding, to chufe a lefs number more 
 judicioufly, till after a third or fourth fifting and refining of exacted choice, 
 they only be left chofen who are the due number, and feem by moft voices the 
 worthieft. To make the People fitteft to chufe, and the chofen fitteft to go- 
 vern, will be to mend our corrupt and faulty Education, to teach the People 
 Faith not without Virtue, Temperance, Modcity, Sobriety, Parfimony, 
 
 Juftice,
 
 to eftabliflo a Free Commonwealth. cg~ 
 
 Juilice ; not to admire Wealth or Honour •, to bate Turbulence and Ambi- 
 tion ; to place every one his private Welfare and Happinefs in the public 
 Peace, Liberty and Safety. They fhall not then need to be much miftruftful 
 of their chofen Patriots in the Grand Council ; who will be then rightly call'd 
 the true Keepers of our Liberty, though the moft of their bufinefs will be in 
 foreign Affairs. But to prevent all Miftruft, the People then will have their 
 feveral ordinary Affemblies (which will henceforth quite annihilate the odi- 
 ous Power and Name of Committees) in the chief Towns of every County, 
 without the Trouble, Charge, or time loft of fummoning and aftembling 
 from far in fo great a number, and lo long refiding from their own Houfes, or 
 amoving of their Families, to do as much at home in their feveral Shires, entire 
 or fubdivided, toward the fecuring of their Liberty, as a numerous Aflembly 
 of them all form'd and convenM on purpofe with the warier! Rotation. 
 Wherof I fhall fpeak more ere the end of this Dilcourfe : for it may be re- 
 ferr'd to time, fo we be frill going on by degrees to perfection. The People 
 well weighing and performing thefe things, I fuppofe would have no caufe to 
 fear, though the Parlament abolilhing that Name as originally fignifying but 
 the Parly of our Lords and Commons with their Norman King when he pie is'd 
 to call them, mould, with certain limitations of their Power, fit perpetual, 
 if their ends be faithful and for a free Commonwealth, under the name of a 
 Grand or General Council. Till this be done, I am in doubt whether our 
 State v. ill be ever certainly and throughly fettled -, never likely tiil then to fee 
 an end of our Troubles and continual Changes, or at leaft never the true Set- 
 tlement and AfTurance of our Liberty. The Grand Council being thus firm- 
 ly conftirnted to Perpetuity, and ftill, upon the Death or Default of any 
 Member, fupply'd and kept in full number, there can be no caufe alledg'd why 
 Peace, Juftice, plentiful Trade, and all Prosperity fhould not therupon en- 
 fue throughout the whole Land ; with as much aflurance as can be of human 
 things, that they fhall fo continue (if God favour us, and our wilful Sins 
 not) even to the coming of our true and rightful, and only to 
 be ex: I I King, only worthy as he is our only Saviour, the Meffiah, the 
 drift, the only Heir of his eternal Father, the only by him anointed and or- 
 dained fince the Work of our Redemption finifh'd, univerfal Lore! of all Man- 
 kind. The way propounded is plain, eafy and open before us ; without In- 
 tricacies, without the Introducement of new or abfolute Forms or Terms, or 
 exotic Models ; Idea's that would effect nothing ; but with a number of new 
 Injunftiops to manacle the native Liberty of Mankind; turning all Virtue in- 
 to Prefcripfi >n, Servitude, and Necefiity, to the great impairing and fruftra- 
 ting of Chriftian Liberty. I fay again, this way lies free and fmooth before 
 us •, is not tangled with Inconveniencies ; invents no new Incumbrances-, re- 
 quires no perilous, no injurious Alteration or Circumfcription of Mens Lands 
 and Proprieties ; fecure, that in this Commonwealth, temporal and fpiritual 
 Lords remov'd, no Man or number of Men can attain to fuch Wealth or vaft 
 pofieflion, as will nee \ the hedge of an Agrarian Law (never fuccefsful, but 
 the caufe rather of Sedition, lave only where it began feafonably with firft 
 poffeiiion) to confine them from endangering our public Liberty. To conclude, 
 it can have no confiderable Objection made againft it, that it is not practica- 
 ble ; left it be faid hereafter, that we gave up our Liberty for want of a ready 
 way or diftincT: Form propos'd of a free Commonwealth. And this Facility 
 we fhall have above our next neighbouring Commonwealth (if we can keep 
 us from the fond Conceit of fomething like a Duke of Venice, put lately into 
 many Mens heads by fome one or other futtly driving on under that notion his 
 - ml 'itious ends to lurch a Crown) that our Liberty fhall not be hamper'd 
 
 or hover'd over 1 nent to fuch a potent Family as the Houfe of 
 
 horn to ftand in perpetual Doubt and Sufpicion, but we fhall live 
 the cleared and abfoluti tl I ration in the World. 
 
 On the contrary, if there be a King, which the inconfklerate multitude are 
 now fo mad upon, mark how far iliort we are like to come of all thole Happi- 
 
 i ; , h in a free State we fhall immediately be poffefs'd of. Firft, the 
 
 d Council, which, as I fhew'd before, fhould fit perpetually (unlefs their 
 leifure give them now and then fome Intern iiflions or Vacations, eafily manage- 
 able by the' Council of State left fitting) fhall be call'd, by the King's good 
 Vol. I. Gggg 2 Will
 
 rg5 ¥he ready and eafy Way 
 
 Will and utmoft Endeavour, as feldom as may be. For ir is only the Kir 
 Ricrht he will fay, to call a Parlament; and this he will do moft commonly 
 about'his own Affairs rather than the Kingdom's, as will appear plainly fo 
 foon as they are call'd. For what will their bufinefs then be, and the chief Ex- 
 pence of their time, but an endlefs tugging between Petition of Right and 
 Royal Prerogative, efpecially about the negative Voice, Militia, orSubfidn 
 demanded and oft-times extorted without reafonable caufe appearing to the 
 Commons, who are the only true Reprefentatives of the People and their Li- 
 berty, but will be then mingled with a Court-faction ; befides which, within 
 their 'own Walls, the fincere part of them who ftand faithful to the People, 
 will ao-ain have to deal with two troublefome counter-working Adverfarie.< 
 from without, meer Creatures of the King, fpiritual, and the greater part, 
 as is likelieft, of temporal Lords, nothing concern'd with the People's Liber- 
 ty. If thefe prevail not in what they pleafe, though never fo much againit 
 the People's Intereft, the Parlament fhall be foon diffolv'd, or fit and do no- 
 thing ; not fuffer'd to remedy the leaft Grievance, or enact aught advanta- 
 geous to the People. Next, the Council of State fhall not be chofen by the 
 Parlament, but by the King, ftill his own Creatures, Courtiers and Favou- 
 rites ; who will be fure in all their Counfels to fet their Matter's Grandure and 
 abfolute Power, in what they are able, far above the People's Liberty. I de- 
 ny not but that there may be fuch a King, who may regard the common Good 
 before his own, may have no vicious Favourite, may hearken only to the wifeft 
 -and incorrupteft of his Parlament: but this rarely happens in a Monarchy not 
 elective-, and it behoves not a wife Nation to commit the mm of their well- 
 "being, the whole ftate of their Safety to Fortune. What need they ; and 
 how°abfurd would it be, whenas they themfelves to whom his chiet Vffti 
 will be but to hearken, may with much better Management and Difpacch, 
 with much more Commendation of their own "Worth and Magnanimity g 
 vern without a Matter ? Can the Folly be parallel'd, to adore and be the Slaves 
 cf a fincrle Perfon, for doing that which it is ten thoufand to one whether lie 
 can or will do, and we without him might do more eafily, more effectually, 
 more laudably, our felves ? Shall we never grow old enough to be wife, to make 
 feafonable ufe of graveft Authorities, Experiences, Examples ? Is it fuch an 
 unfpeakable Joy to ferve, fuch Felicity to wear a Yoke? to clink our Shac- 
 kles, lock'd on by pretended Law of Subjection, more intolerable and hopelefs 
 to be ever fhaken off, than thofe which are knock'd on by illegal Injury and 
 Violence? Jrijiotle, our chief Inftructor in the Univeriities, Jeft this Doc- 
 trine be thought Seflarian, as the Royalift would have it thought, tells us in 
 the third of his Politics, that certain Men at firft, for the matchlefs Excel- 
 lence of their Virtue above others, or fome great public Benefit, were created 
 Kings by the People; in fmall Cities and Territories, and in the fcarcity of 
 others to be found like them : but when they abus'd their Power, and Govern- 
 ments grew larger, and the number of prudent Men increaAl, that then the 
 People foon depofing their Tyrants, betook them, in all civilelt places, to the 
 form of a free Commonwealth. And why fhould we thus dilparage and pre- 
 judicate our own Nation, as to fear a fcarcity of able and worthy Men united 
 in Counfel to govern us, if we will but ufe diligence and impartiality to rind 
 them out and chute them, rather yoking our felves to a tingle Perfon, the na- 
 tural Adverfary and Oppreffor of Liberty, though good, yet tar eafier cor- 
 ruptible by the excefs of his lingular Power and Exaltation, or at belt, not 
 comparably fufficient to bear the weight of Government, nor equally dif- 
 pos'd to make us happy in the enjoyment of our Liberty under him. 
 
 But admit, that Monarchy of it fell" may be convenient to fome Nations-, yet 
 to us who have thrown it out, receiv'd back again, it cannot but prove perni- 
 cious. For Kings to come, never forgetting their former Ejection, will be fure 
 to fortify and arm themfelves fufficiently for the future againit all fuch At- 
 tempts hereafter from the People: who fhall be then fo narrowly watch'd and 
 kept fo low, that though they would never fo fain, and at the fame rate of 
 their Blood and Treafure, they never fhall be able to regain what they now 
 have purchas'd and may enjoy, or to free themfelves from any Yoke impos'J 
 upon them : nor will they dare to go about it; utterly difhearten'd for the fu- 
 ture, if thefe their higheft Attempts prove unfuccefsfiil ; which will be the 
 a. Triumph
 
 to eflablijh a Free Commonwealth. 597 
 
 Triumph of all Tyrants hereafter over any People that fhall refill Opprcffion; 
 and their Song will then be, to others, how fped the rebellious Englifl:? to 
 our Pofterity, how fped the Rebels your Fathers ? This is not my Conjecture, 
 but drawn from God's known Denouncement againft the gentilizing Ifrae- 
 lites, who though they were govern'd in a Commonwealth of God's own or- 
 daining, he only their King, they his peculiar People, yet affecting rather to 
 referable Heathen, but pretending the Mifgovernment of Samuel's Sons, no 
 more a rcafon to diflike their Commonwealth, than the Violence of Eli's Sons 
 was imputable to that Priefthood or Religion, clamour'd for a Kincr. They 
 had their longing, but with this Teftimony of God's Wrath; Te Jfjall cry out 
 in that day, becaufe of your King whom ye Jh all have chofen, and the Lord will not 
 hear you in that day. Us if he fhall hear now, how much lefs will he heat- 
 when we cry hereafter, who once deliver'd by him from a King, and not with- 
 out wondrous Acts of his Providence, infenfible and unworthy of thofe hio-h. 
 Mercies, are returning precipitantly, if he withhold us not, back to the Cap- 
 tivity from whence he freed us. Yet neither fhall we obtain or buy at an eafy 
 rate this new gilded Yoke which thus tranfports us : a new Royal Revenue 
 mull be found, a new Epifcopal •, for thofe are individual : both which beino- 
 wholly diffipated or bought by private Perfons, or anlgn'd for Service done, 
 and especially to the Army, cannot be recovered without a general Detriment 
 and Confufion to Mens Eftates, or a heavy Impofition on all Mens Purfes ; Be- 
 nefit to none, but to the worn: and ignobleft fort of Men, whofe hope is to be 
 either .the Minifters of Court-Riot and Excefs, or the Gainers by it: But not 
 to fpeak more of Lofies and extraordinary Levies on our Eitates, what will 
 then be the Revenges and Offences remember'd and return'd, not only by the 
 chief Perfon, but by all his Adherents ; Accounts and Reparations that will 
 be requir'd, Suits, Inditements, Inquiries, Difcoveries, Complaints, Infor- 
 mations, who knows againit whom or how many, though perhaps Neuters, 
 if not to ut mod Infliction, yet to Imprisonment, Fines, Banifhment, or Mo- 
 leftation? it not their, yet Disfavour, Difcountenance, Difregard and Contempt 
 on all but the known Royalill or whom he favours, will be plenteous. Nor let 
 the new royaliz'd Prefbyterians perfwade themfelves that their old doings, 
 though now recanted, will be forgotten ; whatever Conditions be contriv'd 
 or trufted on. Will they not believe this ; nor remember the Pacification 
 how it was kept to the Scots ; how other folemn Promifes many a time to us? 
 Let them but now read the diabolical forerunning Libels, the Faces, the Gef- 
 tures that now appear foremoft and brifkeft in all public places, as the 
 Harbingers of thofe that are in expectation to reign over us ; let them but 
 hear the Infolencies, the Menaces, the Infultings of our newly animated com- 
 mon Enemies crept lately out of their Holes, their Hell, I might fay, by the 
 Language of their infernal Pamphlets, the Spue of every Drunkurd, every 
 Ribald; namelefs, yet not for want of Licence, but for very fhame of their 
 own vile Perfons, not daring to name themfelves, while they traduce others 
 by name •, and give us to forefee, that they intend to fecond their wicked 
 Words, if ever they have Power, with more wicked Deeds. Let our zea- 
 lous Backfliders forethink now with themfelves, how their Necks yok'd with 
 thefe Tygers of Bacchus, thefe new Fanatics of not the preaching but the 
 fweating-tub, infpir'd with nothing holier than the Venereal Pox, can draw 
 one way under Monarchy to the eflablifhing of Church-Difcipline with thefe 
 new-difgorg'd Atheifms: yet fhall they not have the honour to yoke with 
 thefe, but lhall be yok'd under them ; thefe fhall plow on their backs. And 
 'do they among them who are i'o forward to bring in the fingle Perfon, think 
 to be by him milled or long regarded ? So trufted they fhall be and fo regard- 
 ed, as by Kings are wont reconcil'd Enemies ; neglected, and foon after dif- 
 carded, if not profecuted for old Traytors ; the firft Inciters, Beginners, and 
 more than to the third part actors of all thr.t follow'd. It will be found alfo, 
 that there mull be then as neceffarily as now (for the contrary part will be 
 flill fearM) a (landing Army ; which for certain fliall not be this, but of the 
 fiercefl Cavaliers, of no lefs expence, and perhaps again under Rupert. But 
 let this Army be fure they fhall be foon difbanded, and likeliefl without Ar- 
 rear or Pay •, and being difbanded, not be fure but they may as foon be quefli- 
 lor being in Arms againft their King: the fame let them fear, who have 
 
 con-
 
 59 
 
 8 The ready and eafy Way 
 
 contributed Money •, which will amount to no final] number that muff: then 
 take their turn to be made Delinquents and Compounders. They who 
 paft reafon and recovery are devoted to Kingfhip, perhaps will anfwer, 
 that a oreater part by far of the Nation will have it fo, the reft therfor: 
 mult yield. Not fo much to convince thefe, which I little hope, as to con- 
 firm them who yield not, I reply ; that this greateft part have both in Re 1 
 fon, and the trial of juft Battel, loft the right of their Election what the Go 
 ■vernment fhail be : of them who have not loft that right, whether they 
 Kinglhip be the greater Number, who can certainly determine? Suppofe the ■ 
 be, yet of freedom they partake all alike, one main End of Government : 
 which if the greater part value not, but will degenerately forgo, is it juft 
 or reafonable, that moft Voices againlt the main End of Government, fhoul 
 enflave the lefs Number that would be Free? More juft it is, doubtlefs, if it 
 come to force, that a lefs Number compel a greater to retain, which can 
 be no wrong to them, their Liberty, than that a greater Number, for the 
 pleafure of their baienefs, compel a lefs moft injurioufly to be their Fellow- 
 Slaves. They who leek nothing but their own juft Liberty, have always r<- : 
 to win it, and to keep it, whenever they have Power, be the Voices never ! 
 numerous that oppofe it. And how much we above others are concern'd to de- 
 fend it from Kingfhip, and from them who in puriuance therof fo perniciojfly 
 would betray us and themfelves to moft certain Mifery and Thraldom, will be: 
 needlefs to repeat. 
 
 Having thus far fhewn with what eafe we may now obtain a Free Common- 
 wealth, and by it with as much eafe all the Freedom, Pc.ce, Juftice, Plenty, 
 that we can clefire •, on the other fide, the Difficulties, Troubles, Uncertain- 
 ties, nay rather Impolfibilities to enjoy thefe things conftantly under a Mo- 
 narch : I will now proceed to fhew more particularly wherin our Freedom and 
 flourifhihg Condition will be more ample and fecure to us under a Free Com- 
 monwealth, than under Kinglhip. 
 
 The whole freedom of Man confills either in Spiritual or Civil Liberty. 
 As for Spiritual, who can be at reft, who can enjoy any tiling in this World 
 with contentment, who hath not liberty to ferve God, and to lave his 
 Soul, according to the beft Light which God hath planted in him to that 
 purpofe, by the reading of his revcai'd Will, and the guidance of his Holy 
 Spirit ? That this is beft pleafing to God, and that the whole Proteftanr. 
 Church allows no fupream Judge or Rule in Matters of Religion, but the 
 Scriptures ; and thefe to be interpreted by the Scriptures themfelves, which 
 necefiarily infers Liberty of Confcience ; I have heretofore prov'd at large in 
 another Treatife ; and might yet further, by the public Declarations, Confel - 
 fions and Admonitions of whole Churches and States, obvious in all Hiitorics 
 fince the Reformation. 
 
 This Liberty of Confcience, which above all other things ought to be to 
 all Men deareft and moft precious, no Government more inclinable not to fa- 
 vour only, but to protect, than a free Commonwealth •, as being moft mag- 
 nanimous, moil fearlefs and confident of its own fair Proceedings. Wheras 
 Kingfhip, though looking big, yet indeed moft pulilbnimous, full of I 
 full of Jealoufies, ftartled at every Ombrage, as it hath been obferv'd of old 
 to have ever fufpecled moft, and miftrufted them who were in moft efteem 
 for Virtue and Generofity of Mind ; fo it is now known to have moft in 
 doubt and fufpicion, them who are moft reputed to be religious. Queen EH- 
 zabethi though her felf accounted fo good a Proteftant, fo moderate, fo con- 
 fident of her Subjects Love, would never give way fo much as to Prefby- 
 terian Reformation in this Land, though once and again befought, as Ca 
 relates ; but imprifon'd, and perfecuted the very Propofers therof-, ailed 
 it as her Mind and Maxim unalterable, that fuch Reformation would dimi- 
 nifh Regal Authority. What Liberty of Confcience can we then expect of 
 others, far worfe principled from the Cradle, train'd up and govern'd by Po- 
 pijlj and Spanijh Counfels, and on fuch depending hitherto for fubfiftence ? 
 i lly what can this laft Parlarncnt expect, who having reviv'd lately and 
 publifh'd the Covenant, have re-engag'd themfelves, never to re-admit Epif- 
 ■ ? Which no Son of Charles returning, but will moft certainly bring 
 back with him, if he regard the laft and ftricteft Charge of his Father, to 
 4
 
 to eftablifh a Free Commonwealth, 599 
 
 perfevere in, not the DocJrine only, but Government of the Church of England v not 
 to negletl the fpeedy and effectual fuppr effing of Errors andSchifms ; among which 
 he accounted Prefbytery one of die chief. Or if, notwithftanding that Charge 
 of his Father, he fubmit to the Covenant, how will he keep Faidi to us, with 
 Difobeciience to him ; or regard that Faith given, which muft be founded on 
 the breach of that laft and folemneft paternal Charge, and the Reluctance, I 
 may fay the Antipathy, which is in all Kings againft Prefbyterian and Inde- 
 pendent Difcipline ? For they hear the Gofpel fpeaking much of Liberty ; a 
 word which Monarchy and her Bifhops both fear and hate, but a Free Com- 
 monwealth both favours and promotes ; and not the word only, but the thina; 
 it felf. But let our Governors beware in time, left their hard meafure to Li- 
 berty of Confcience be found the Rock wheron they fhipwrack themfelves as 
 others have now done before them in the courfe wherin God was directing their 
 Steerage to a Free Commonwealth ; and the abandoning of all thofe whom 
 fhey call Sectaries, for the detected Falfhood and Ambition of fome, be a wilful 
 rejection of their own chief Strength and Intereft in the freedom of all Proteftant 
 Religion, under what abufive Name foever calumniated. 
 
 The other part of our Freedom con fills in the Civil Rights and Advance- 
 ments of every Perfon according to his Merit : the enjoyment of thofe ne- 
 ver more certain, and the accefs to thefe never more open, than in a Free 
 Commonwealth. Both which, in my Opinion, may be beft and fooneft ob- 
 tain'd, if every County in the Land were made a kind of fubordinate Com- 
 monalty or Commonwealth, and one chief Town or more, accordino as the 
 Shire is in Circuit, made Cities, it they be not fo call'd already ; where the 
 Nobility and chief Gentry, from a proportionable compafs of Territory an- 
 nex'd to each City, may build Houfes or Palaces befitting their Quality, may 
 bear part in the Government, make their own judicial Laws, or ufe thefe that 
 are, and execute them by their own ele&ed Judicatures and Judges without 
 Appeal, in all things of Civil Government between Man and Man : fo they 
 fhall have Juftice in their own hands, Law executed fully and finally in their 
 own Counties and Precincts, long wifh'd and fpoken of, but never yet ob- 
 tain'd •, they fhall have none then to blame but themfelves, if ic be not well 
 adminifter'd ; and fewer Laws to expect or fear from the fupreme Authority ; 
 or to thole that fhall be made, of any great concernment to Public Liberty, 
 they may, without much trouble in thefe Commonalties, or in more Gene- 
 ral Affemblies call'd to their Cities from the whole Territory on fuch occafion, 
 declare and publifh their affent or diffent by Deputies, within a time limited, 
 fent to the Grand Council ; yet fo as this their Judgment declar'd, fhall fub- 
 mit to the greater number of other Counties or Commonalties, and not a- 
 vail them to any exemption of themfelves, or refufal of Agreement with 
 the reft, as it may in any of the United Provinces, being Sovereign within it 
 felf, oit-times to the great diiadvantage of that Union. In thefe Employ- 
 ments they may much better than they do now, exercile and fit themfelves 
 till their Lot fall to be chofen into the Grand Council, according as their 
 Worth and Merit fhall be taken notice of by the People. As for Contro- 
 verfies that fhall happen between Men of feveral Counties, they may repair, 
 as they do now, to the Capital City, or any other more commodious, in- 
 different Place, and equal Judges. And this I find to have been praclis'd in 
 the old Athenian Commonwealth, reputed the firft and ancienteft place of 
 Civility in -i\\ Greece: that they had in their feveral Cities, a peculiar ; in A- 
 thens, a common Government ; and their Right, as it befel them, to the Ad- 
 miniftration of both. They fhould have here alio Schools and Academies 
 at their own choice, wherin their Children may be bred up in their own fight 
 to all Learning and noble Education •, not in Grammar only, but in all Libe- 
 ral Arts and Exercifes. This would foon fpread much more Knowledge and 
 Civility, yea, Religion, through all parts of the Land, by communicating 
 the natural heat of Government and Culture more diftributively to all extreme 
 parts, which now lie numb and neglected, would foon make the whole Nation 
 more induftrioas, more ingenuous at home ; more potent, more honourable 
 abroad. To this a Free Commonwealth will eafily affent ; (nay, the Pai lament 
 had 1 - had already fome fuch thing in defign) for of all Governments a Com- 
 paonwealth aims moft to make the People fiouxifhing, virtuous, noble and 
 4 high-
 
 The ready and eafy Way 
 
 high-fpirited. Monarchs will never permit •, whole Aim is to make the Peo- 
 ple wealthy indeed perhaps, and well fieec'd, for their own fhearing, and 
 the iupply of Regal Prodigality ; but otherwise fofteft, bafeft, vicioufeft, 
 fervileft, eafieft to be kept under ; and not only in Fleece, but in Mind alio 
 fheepifheft ; and will have all the Benches of Judicature annex'd to the 
 Throne, as a Gift of Royal Grace, that we have Juftice done us : whenas 
 nothing can be more effential to the Freedom of a People, than to have the 
 adminiftration of Juftice, and all Public Ornaments, in their own Election, 
 and within their own Bounds, without long travelling or depending on re- 
 mote Places to obtain their Right, or any Civil Accomplifhment ; lb it be 
 not fupreme, but fubordinate to the general Power and Union of the whole 
 Republic. In which happy firmnefs, as in the Particular above-mention'd, 
 we mail alio far exceed the United Provinces, by having, not as they (to the 
 retarding and diffracting oft-times of their Counfels or urgentelt OccalionsJ 
 many Sovereignties united in one Commonwealth, but many Commonwealths 
 under one united and entrufted Sovereignty. And when we have our Forces 
 by Sea and Land, either of a faithful Army, or a fettled Militia, in our own 
 hands, to the firm eftablifhing of a Free Commonwealth, public Accounts 
 under our own Inflection, general Laws and Taxes, with their Caufes, in cur 
 own Domeftic Suffrages, Judicial Laws, Offices and Ornaments at home iri 
 our own ordering and adminiftration, all diftinction of Lords and Commo- 
 ners, that may any way divide or fever the Public Intereft, remov'd ; what 
 can a perpetual Senate have then, wherin to grow corrupt, whenn to encroach 
 upon us, orufurp? or if they do, wherin to be formidable? Yet if all this 
 avail not to remove the Fear or Envy of a perpetual Sitting, it may be eafily 
 provided, to change a third part of them yearly, or every two or three 
 Years, as was above-mention'd ; or that it be at thofe times in the People's 
 choice, whether they will change them, or renew their Power, as they fhall 
 find cauie, 
 
 I have no mere to fay at prefent: few words will fave us, well confi- 
 dered ; few and eafy things, now feafonably dune. But if the People be io 
 affected, as to proftitute Religion and Liberty to the vain and groundieis ap- 
 preh-nfion, that nothing but Kingfhip can reftore Trade, net remembring 
 the frequent Plagues and Peftilences that then wafted this City, fuch as 
 through God's Mercy we never have felt finee ; and that Trade flourifhes no 
 where more than in the Free Commonwealths of Italy, Germany, and the Low 
 Countries, before their eyes at this day: yet if Trade be grown fo craving and 
 importunate through the profufe living ofTradefmen, that nothing can iup- 
 port it, but the luxurious Expences of a Nation upon Trifles or Superfluities ; 
 io as if the People generally fhould betake themfelves to Frugality, it might 
 prove a dangerous matter, left Tradefmen fhould mutiny for want of Tra- 
 ding •, and that therfore we muft forgo and fet to fale Religion, Liberty, Ho- 
 nour, Safety, all Concernments Divine or Human, to keep up Trading : If, 
 laftly, after all this Light among us, the fame Reafon fhall pais for current, 
 to put our Necks again under Kingfhip, as was made ufe of by the Jews to 
 return back to Egypt, and to the Worihip of their Idol Queen, becauie they 
 falfly imagin'd that they then liv'd in more plenty and profperity ; our Con- 
 dition is not found but rotten, both in Religion and all Civil Prudence-, and 
 will bring us foon, the way we are marching, to thofe Calamities which at- 
 tend always and unavoidably on Luxury, all national Judgments under Foreign 
 and Domeftic Slavery : So far we fhall be from mending our condition by mo- 
 fiarchizing our Government, whatever new Conceit now poffeffes us. How- 
 ever, with all hazard I have ventured what I thought my Duty to fpeak in fea- 
 fon, and to forewarn my Country in time ; wherin I doubt not but there be 
 many wife Men in all Places and Degrees, but am forry the Effects of Wif- 
 dom are fo little ieeii among us. Many Circumftances and Particulars I could 
 have added in thofe things wherof I have fpoken : but a few main-Matters 
 now put fpeedily in execution, will fuffice to recover us, and let all right : 
 And there will want at no time who are good at Circumftances ; but Men who 
 fet their Minds on main Matters, and fufficiently urge them, in thefe moft dif- 
 ficult times I find not many. What I have fpoken, is the Language of that 
 
 which
 
 to e flab lift) a Free Commonwealth: 60 
 
 which is not call'd amifs The Good Old Caufe : if it feem flrangc to any, it will 
 not feem more ftrange, I hope, than convincing to Back-fliders. Thus much 
 I-fhould perhaps have faid, though I were fure I fliould have ipoken only to 
 Trees and Stones ; and had none to cry to, but with the Prophet, O Earthy 
 Earth, Earth! to tell the very Soil itfelf, what her perverfc Inhabitants are. 
 deaf to. Nay, though what I have fpoke, ihould Jiappen (which Thou iV-tler 
 not, who didft create Mankind free ; nor Thou next, who didft redeem us 
 from being Servants of Men ! ) to be the laft words of our expiring Liberty. 
 But I truft I fhall have fpoken Perfwafion to abundance of fenfible and inge- 
 nuous Men ; to fome perhaps whom God may raife to thele Stones to become 
 Children of reviving Liberty, and may reclaim, though they feem now chu- 
 fing them a Captain back for Egypt, to bethink themfelves a little, and confi- 
 der whither they are rufhing ; to exhort this Torrent alio of the People, not 
 to be i'o impetuous, but to keep their due Channel ; and at length recovering 
 and uniting their better Refolutions, now that they fee already how open ana 
 unbounded the infolence and rage is of our common Enemies, to ftay thefe 
 ruinous Proceedings, juftly and timely fearing to what a Precipice of D; - 
 itruction the deluge of this epidemic Madnefs would hurry us, through the ge- 
 neral defection of a milguided and abus'd Multitude. 
 
 Vol. I. Hhhh Brief
 
 Brief NOTES upon a late 
 
 S E R M O 
 
 TITL'D, 
 
 The Fear of GOD and the K i n g ; 
 
 Preach'd, and fince publilh'd, 
 
 By MATTHEW GRIFFITH, D. D. 
 
 And Chaplain to the late KING. 
 
 "Wherin many notorious Wreftings of Scripture, and 
 other Falfities are obferv'd. 
 
 IAffirm'd in the Preface of a late Difcourfe, entitl'd, The ready way to e- 
 JlaMifo a free Commonwealth, and the dangers of readmitting Kingjhip in this 
 Nation, that the humour of returning to our old Bondage, was inftill'd of la44 
 by fame Deceivers ; and to make good, that what I then affirm'd 3 v.- as not with- 
 out iuft ground, one of thofe Deceivers I prefent here to the People : and it I 
 prove him not fuch, refufe not to be fo accounted in his ftead. 
 
 He begins in his Epiitle to the General, and moves cunningly for a Licence 
 to be admitted Phyfician both to Church and State •, then fets out his practice 
 in Phyfical terms, anivholefome Eletliiary to be taken every Morning next our Hearts-., 
 tells of the oppofition which he met with from the College of State- Phyiki- 
 ans, then lays before you his Drugs and Ingredients •, Strong 'Purgatives in 
 the Pulpit \ contemner'' d of the myrrh of Mortification, the aloes of ConfJJion and 
 Contrition, the rubarb of Rejlitution and Satisfaction ; a pretty fantaftic dole of 
 Divinity from a Pulpit-Mountebank, not unlike the Fox, that turning Pedlar, 
 open'd his pack of Ware before the Kid •, though he now would feem to pcrfj- 
 nate the good Samaritan, undertaking to defcribe the Rife and Progrefs of our ?;a~ 
 tional Malady, and to prefcribe the only Remedy ; which how he performs, we 
 fhall quickly fee. 
 
 Firll, he would fuborn Saint Luke as his Spokefman to the General, pre- 
 fumin^, it feems, to have had as perfeel under/landing of things from the 
 firft, as the Evangelift had of his Gol'pel •, that the General who hath fo emi- 
 nently borne his part in the whole Aftion, might kno-u the certainty of 
 things better from him a partial Sequeftred Enemy ; for fo he prefently appears, 
 though covertly and like the Tempter, commencing his Addrefs with an im- 
 pudent Calumny and Affront to his Excellence, that he would be pleas'd to 
 carry on what he had fo happily begun in the name and caufe not of God only, which 
 we doubt not, but of his Anointed, meaning the late King's Son ; which is to 
 charge him molt audacioully and falfly with the renouncing of his own public 
 Promifes and Declarations, both to the Parlament and the Army, and we 
 truft his Actions e'er long will deter fuch infinuating Slanderers from thus ap- 
 proaching him for the future. But the General may well excule him; for tiie 
 Comforter himfelf fcapes not his Prefumption, avouch'd as falfly, to have 
 power'd to thofe defigns him and him only, who hath folemnly declar'd the con- 
 trary. What Phanatic, againft whom he fo ottcn inveighs, could more pre- 
 fumptuoufly affirm whom the Comforter hath impower'd, than this Anti-Fanati/ . 
 
 as he wou'd be thought ? 
 
 The
 
 Brief Notes on Dr. Griffith'^ Sermon. 603 
 
 The Text. 
 Pro v. 24. 21. My Son, fear 'God and the King, and meddle not with than that 
 be /editions, or dcfirous of change, Sec. 
 
 Letting pafs matters not in Controverfy, I come to the main drift of your 
 Sermon, the King ; which word here is either to fignify any fupreme Magi- 
 strate, or elfe your latter Object of fear is not univerfal, belongs not at all to' 
 many parts or Chriftendom, that have no King •, and in particular, not to 
 us. That we have no King fince the putting down of Kinglhip in this Com- 
 monwealth, is manifeft by this laft Parlament, who to the time of their Dif- 
 folving, not only made no Addrefs at all to any King, but fummon'd this next 
 to come by the Writ formerly appointed of a free Commonwealth, without 
 Reftitution or the leaft mention of any Kingly Right or Power ; which could 
 riot be, if there were at prefent any King of England. The main part ther- 
 fore of your Sermon, if it mean a King in the ufual fenfe, is either imperti- 
 nent and abfurd, exhorting your Auditory to fear that which is not ; or if 
 King here be, as it is underftood, for any i'upreme Magiftrate, by your own 
 Exhortation they are in the firlt place not to meddle with you, as being your- 
 felf mod of all the feditious meant here, and the dejirous of change, in ltir- 
 ring them up to fear a King, whom the prefent Government takes no notice 
 of. 
 
 You begin with a vain Vifion, God and the King at the firft btyjh (which will 
 not be yuur laft blufh) fcaning to ftand in your Text like tbofe two Cherubims on 
 the Mercy-feat, looking on each other. By this Similitude, your conceited Sanc- 
 tuary, worfe than the Altar of Ahaz, pattern'd from Damafcus, degrades 
 God to a Cherub, and raifes your King to be his collateral in place, notwith- 
 standing the other differences you put ; which well agrees with the Court- 
 Letters, lately publifh'd from this Lord to t'other Lord, that cry him up for 
 nolefs than Angelical and Celellial. 
 
 Your firft obfervation, fag. 8. is, That God and the King are coupled in the 
 Text, and what the Holy Ghoft hath thus firmly combined, we may not, wc mufi not 
 dare to pit a/under ; and yourfelf is the firlt Man who puts them afunder by 
 the firft proof of your Dodtrine immediately following, Judg. y. 20. which 
 couples the Sword of the Lord and Gideon, a man who not only was no King, but 
 refus'd to be a King or Monarch, when it was offer'd him, in the very next 
 Chapter, Ver. 22,23. I will not rule over you, neither fiall my Son rule over you; 
 the Lord flail rule over you. Here we fee that this worthy Heroic Deliverer of 
 his Country, thought it beft govern'd, if the Lord govern'd it in that Form 
 of a free Commonwealth, which they then enjoy'd without a fingle Perlbn. 
 And this is your firft Scripture, abus'd and molt impertinently cited, nay, a- 
 gainft yourfelf, to prove that Kings at their Coronation have a Sword given them, 
 which you interpret the Militia, the power of life and death put into their hands, 
 a gain ft the declar'd judgment of our Parlaments, nay, of all our Laws, which 
 referve to themfelves only the power of Life and Death, and render you in 
 their juft refentment of this boldnefs, another Doctor Manwaring. 
 
 Your next proof is as falfe and frivolous, The King, fay you, is God's Sword- 
 bearer ; true, but not the King only : for Gideon, by whom you feek to prove 
 this, neither was, nor would be a King; and as you yourfelf confefs, pag. 
 40. There be divers Forms of Government. He bears not the Sword in vain, Rom. 
 13.4. this alio is as true of any lawful Rulers, efpecially fupreme ; fo that 
 Rulers, ver. 3. and therfore this prefent Government, without whofe Autho- 
 rity you excite the People to a King, bear the Sword as well as Kings, and as 
 little in vain. They fight againft God, who rcjift his Ordinance, and go about to 
 wreft the Sword out of the hands of his Anointed. This is likewife granted: but 
 who is his Anointed? Not every King, but they only who were Anointed or 
 made Kings by his fpecial Command •, as Saul, David, and his Race, which 
 ended in the Meffiah, (from whom no Kings at this day can derive their Title) 
 Jehu, Cyrus, and if any other were by name appointed by him to fome par- 
 ticular Service : as for the reft of Kings, all other fupreme Magiltrates are as 
 much the Lord's Anointed as they •, and our Obedience commanded equally to 
 them all 5 For there is no Power but of God, Rom, 13. 1. and we are exhorted in 
 
 Vol. I. 4 Hhhh 2 the
 
 6©4 Brief Notes on Dr. Griffith'* Sermon. 
 
 the Gofpel to obey Kings, as other Magiftrates, not that they are call'd any 
 ■where the Lord's Anointed, but as they are the Ordinance of Man, i Pet. 2. if. 
 You therfore and other fuch falfe Doctors, preaching Kings to your Audi- 
 tory, as the Lord's only Anointed, to withdraw People from the preient 
 Government, by your own Text are felf-condemn'd, and not to be follow'ch 
 not to be meddl'd with, but to be noted, as moft of all others the /editions and 
 deferous of change. 
 
 Your third Proof is no lefs againft yourfelf. Pfal. 105. 15. Touch ml mine 
 Anointed. For this is not fpoken in behalf of Kings, but fpoken to reprove 
 Kino-s, that they fhould not touch his anointed Saints and Servants, the Seed 
 of Abraham, as the Verfe next before might have taught you: He reprov'd 
 Kino-s for their fakes, faying, Touch not mine Anointed, and do my Prophets no 
 harm; according to that, 2 Cor. 1. 2j. He who hath anointed us, is God. But 
 how well you confirm one wrefted Scripture with another? 1 Sam. 8. 7. Tk < 
 have not rejetled thee, but me: grofly miiapplying thefe words, which were 
 not fpoken to any who had refi/led or rejected a King, but to them who much 
 again ft the Will of God had fought a King, and rejected a Commonwealth, 
 wherin they might have liv'd happily under the Reign ofGod only, their King. 
 Let the words interpret themfelves -, ver. 6, 7. But the thing difpleafed Samuel, 
 when they /aid, give us a King to judge us : and Samuel pray'd unto the Lcrd. And 
 the Lord [aid unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the People in all that i hey fay 
 unto thee ; for they have not rejetled thee, but they have rejetled me, that FJhe 
 not reign over them. Hence you conclude, fo indiffohble is the Conjunction of 
 God and the King. O notorious Abufe of Scripture ! whenas you mould have 
 concluded, fo unwilling was God to give them a King, fo wide was the dis- 
 junction of God from a King. Is this the Doctrine you boaft of, to be fd cleat 
 in itfelf, and like a Mathematical Principle, that needs no farther Demon- 
 /{ration ? Bad Logic, bad Mathematics (for Principles can have no Demon- 
 ftration at all) but worfe Divinity. O People of an implicit Faith no better 
 than Rcmifh, if thefe be thy prime Teachers, who to their credulous Audience 
 dare thus juggle with Scripture, to alledge thofe places for the proof of their 
 Doctrine, which are the plain Refutation : and this is all the Scripture which 
 he brings to confirm his point. 
 
 The reft of his Preachment is meer groundlefs Chat, fave here and there 
 a few grains of Corn fcatter'd tointice the filly Fowl into his Net, interlacM 
 here and there with fome human reading, tho' flight, and not without Geogra- 
 phical and Hiftorical Miftakes : as pag. 29. Suevia the German Dukedom, for 
 Suecia the Northern Kingdom : Philip of Macedon, who is generally under- 
 ftood of the Great Alexander's Father only, made contemporary, page 31. 
 with T. Quintus the Roman Commander, inftead of T. Qnintius, and the latter 
 Philip : and pag. 44. Tully cited in his third Oration againft Verres, to lay of 
 him, that he was a wicked Conful, who never was a Conlul : nor Trojan Sedition 
 ever pcurtray'd by that V erfe of Virgil, which you cite pag. 47. as that of Trey "i 
 School-boys could have told you, that there is nothing of Troy in that whole 
 Pourtraiture, as you call it, of Sedition. Thefe grofs Miftakes may juftly 
 bring in doubt your other loofe Citations, and that you take them up fome- 
 where at the lecond or third hand rafhly, and without due confidcring. 
 
 Nor are you happier in the relating or the moralizing your Fable. The 
 Frogs (bCtUg OtlCC aftee Nation, faith the Fable) petition- 'd Jupiter for a King: 
 he tumbled among them a Log : They found it infenfible ; they petition'- 'ii then for a 
 King thatfjould be atlive : he fent them a Crane (a ^tOtftj faith the Fable) which 
 ftr -aight fell to pecking them up. This you apply to the reproof of them who 
 defire change : wheras indeed the true Moral fhews rather the folly ol thofe 
 who being free feek a King •, which lor the moft part either as a Log lies heavy 
 on his Subjects, without doing aught worthy of his Dignity and the Charge 
 to maintain him, or as a Stork is ever pecking them up, and devouring 
 them, 
 
 But by our fundamental Laws, the King is the highefl Power, pag. 40. If we 
 mull hear Mooting and Law-Lectures from the Pulpit, what ihame is it for a 
 Doctor of Divinity, not firft to confider, that no Law can be fundamental 
 but that which is grounded on the Light of Nature or right Reafon, com- 
 monly call'd Moral Law: which no Form of Government was ever counted, 
 
 bur
 
 Brief Notes on Dr. Griffith 'i Sermon. 60$ 
 
 but arbitrary, and at all times in the choice of every free People, or their 
 Reprefcnters ? This choice of Government is fo efTential to their Freedom, 
 that longer than they have it, they are not free. In this Land not only the 
 late King and his Pofterity, but Kingfhip itfelf hath been abrogated by a Law; 
 which involves with as good reafon the Pofterity of a King forfeited to the 
 People, as that Law hertofore of Treafon againft the King, attainted the 
 Children with the Father. This Law againft both King and Kingfhip they 
 who moft queftion, do not lefs queftion all enacted without the King and his 
 Anti-Parlament at Oxford, though call'd Mungrel by himfelf. If no Law muft 
 be held good, but what pafles in full Parlament, then furely in exaftnefs of Le- 
 gality, no Member muft be miffing : for look how many are miffing, fo many 
 Counties or Cities that fent them want their Reprefenters. But if being once 
 chofen, they ferve for the whole Nation, then any number which is fumcient, 
 is full, and moft of all in times of difcord, neceffity and danger. The King 
 himfelf was bound by the old Mode of Parlaments, not to be abfent, but ia 
 cafe of Sicknefs, or lb me extraordinary occafion, and then to leave his Sub- 
 ftitute ; much lefs might any Member be allow'd to abfent himfelf. If the 
 King then and many of the Members with him, without leaving any in his 
 ftead, forfook the Parlament upon a meer panic fear, as was that time judg'd 
 by moft Men, and to levy War againft them that fat, fhould they who were 
 left fitting, break up, or not dare enaft aught of neareft and prelenteft con- 
 cernment to public Safety, for the punctilio wanting of a full number, 
 which no Law-book in fuch extraordinary cafes hath determin'd ? Certainly 
 if it were lawful for them to fly from their Charge upon pretence of private 
 Safety, it was much more lawful for thefe to fit and aft in their trult what 
 was neceflary for the public. By a Law therfore of Parlament, and of a Par- 
 lament that conquer'd both Ireland, Scotland, and all their Enemies in England, 
 defended their Friends, were generally acknowledg'd for a Parlament both at 
 home and abroad, Kingfhip was abolifh'd : This Law now of late hath been 
 negatively repeal'd ; yet Kingfhip not pofitively reftor'd, and I fuppofe ne- 
 ver was cftablifh'd by any certain Law in this Land, nor poffibly could be : 
 for how could our Fore- fathers bind us to any certain Form of Government, 
 more than we can bind our Pofterity ? If a People be put to war with their 
 King for this Mifgovernment, and overcome him, the Power is then un- 
 doubtedly in their own hands how they will be govern'd. The War was 
 granted juft by the King himfelf at the begining of his laft Treaty, and ftill 
 maintain'd to be fo by this laft Parlament, as appears by the Qualification 
 prefcrib'd to the Members of this next enfuing, That none fhall be elefted, 
 who have borne Arms againft the Parlament fince 1641. If the War were 
 juft, the Conqueft was alio juft by the Law of Nations. And he who was 
 the chief Enemy, in all right ceas'd to be the King, efpecially after Captivi- 
 ty, by the deciding Verdift of War; and Royalty with all her Laws and 
 Pretenfions, yet remains in the Viftor's power, together with the choice of 
 our future Government. Free Commonwealths have been ever counted fitteft 
 and propereft for civil, virtuous and induftrious Nations, abounding with 
 prudent Men worthy to govern : Monarchy fitteft to curb degenerate, cor- 
 rupt, idle, proud, luxurious People. If we defire to be of the former, no- 
 thing better for us, nothing nobler than a Free Commonwealth : if we will 
 needs condemn ourfelves to be of the latter, defpairing of our own Virtue, 
 Induftry, and the Number of our able Men, we may then, confeious of our 
 own unworthinefs to be govern'd better, fadly betake us to our befitting 
 Thraldom : yet chufing out of our own number one who hath belt aided 
 the People, and beft merited againft Tyranny, the fpace of a Reign or two we 
 may chance to live happily enough, or tolerably. But that a victorious Peo- 
 ple fhould give up themielves again to the vanquifh'd, was never yet heard 
 of ; feems rather void of all Reafon and good Policy, and will in all probability 
 lubjeft the Subduers to the Subdu'd, will expofe to Revenge, to Beggary, to 
 Ruin and perpetual Bondage, the Viftors under the Vanquifh'd : than which 
 what can be more unworthy ? 
 
 From milinterpreting our Law, you return to do again the fame with 
 Scripture, and would prove the Supremacy of Englijb Kings from 1 Pet. 2. 13. 
 as if that were the Apoltle's work : wherin if he faith that the King is fn- 
 
 j>reme t
 
 6o6 Brief Notes on Dr. Griffiths Sermon. 
 
 preme, he fpeaks fo of him but as an Ordinance of Man, and in refpect of 
 thofe Governors that are fent by him, not in refpect of Parlaments, which 
 by the Law of this Land are his Bridle; in vain his Bridle, if not a lib his 
 Rider : and therfore hath not only Co-ordination with him, which you falfly 
 call [editions, but hath Superiority above hiir, and that neither againft Religion, 
 nor right Reafon : no nor againft common Law ; for our Kings reign*d 
 only by Law. But the Pariament is above all pofitive Law, whether civil 
 or common, makes or unmakes them both •, and ftill the latter Pariament 
 above the former, above all the former Lawgivers, then certainly above all 
 precedent Laws, entail'd the Crown on whom it pleas'd •, and, as a great Law- 
 yer faith, is fo tranfcendent and abfolute, that it cannot be ccnfn'd either for 
 Caufes or Perfons, within any bounds. But your cry is, no Pariament without 
 a Kino-. If this be fo, we have never had lawful Kings, who have all been created 
 Kings either by fuch Parlaments, or by Conqueft : if by fuch Parlaments, 
 they are in your allowance none : if by Conqueft, that Conqueft we have 
 now conquer'd. So that as well by your own Affertion as by ours, there can 
 at prefent be no King. And how could that Perlbn be abfolute] y fupreme, 
 wno reign'd, not under Law only, but under Oath of his good Demeanor, 
 given to the People at his Coronation, e'er the People gave him his Crown ? 
 And his principal Oath was to maintain thofe Laws which the People fhould 
 entile. If then the Law itfelf, much more he who was but the Keeper and 
 Minifcer of Law, was in their choice, and both he fubordinate to the per- 
 formance of his Duty f.vorn, and our fworn Allegiance in order only to his 
 performance. 
 
 You fall next on the Confiflorian Schifmatics ; for fo you call Prefbyterians, 
 fag. 40. and judge them to have enervated the King's Supremacy by their Opi- 
 nions and Frafnce, differing in many things only in terms from Popery ; though 
 fome of thofe Principles which you there cite concerning Kingfhip, are to be 
 read in Jrijlctle's Politics, long e'er Popery was thought on. The Prefbyte- 
 rians therfore it concerns to be well forewarn'd of you betimes ; and to them I 
 leave you. 
 
 As for your Examples of feditious Men, pag. 54, &c. Cora, Abfalom, Ziniri, 
 Sheba, to thefe you might with much more reafon have added your own Name, 
 xvhoblczv the Trumpet of Sedition from your Pulpit againft the prefent Govern- 
 ment: in reward wherof they have lent you by this time, as I hear, to your 
 own place, for preaching open Sedition, while you would feem to preach 
 againft it. 
 
 As for your Appendix annex'd of the Samaritan reviv'd, finding it fo foul a 
 Libel againft all the well-affefted of this Land, fince the very time of Ship- 
 money, againft the whole Pariament, both Lords and Commons, except thofe 
 that fled to Oxford, againft the whole reform'd Church, not only in England 
 and Scotland, but all over Europe (in companion wherof you and your Prela- 
 tical Party are more truly Schifmatics and Sectarians, nay, more properly 
 Fanatics in your Fanes and gilded Temples, than thofe whom you revile by 
 thofe Names) and meeting with no more Scripture or folid Reafon in your 
 amdriian wine and oil, than hath already been found fophifticated and adulte- 
 rate, I leave your malignant Narrative, as needing no other Confutation, than 
 the juftCenfure already pafs'd upon you by the Council of State. 
 
 ACCE-
 
 ACCEDENCE 
 
 Commenc'd 
 
 GRAMMAR, 
 
 Supply'd with fufficient 
 
 RULES 
 
 For the ufe of fuch as, Younger or Elder, are 
 defirous, without more trouble than needs, to 
 attain the Latin Tongue , the elder fort efpe- 
 ciallv, with little teaching, and their own in- 
 duftry. 
 
 To the Re ad er. 
 
 IT hath bin long a general complaint, not without caufe, in the bringing up of 
 Touth, and ft ill is, that the tenth part of man's life, ordinarily extended, k 
 taken up in learning, and that very fcarcely, the Latin Tongue. Which tar- 
 dy proficience may be attributed to fever al caufes : in particular, the making two 
 Labours of one, by learning firft the Accedence, then /fo Grammar in Latin, e'er 
 the Language ofthofe Rules be underftood. 'The only remedy of this, was to join both 
 Books into one, and in the Engliih Tongue •, wherby the long way ismuch abbreviated, 
 and the labour of under/landing much more eafy : a work fuppos'd not to have been 
 done formerly, or if done s not without fuch difference here in brevity and alteration* 
 as may be found of moment. That of Grammar, touching Letters and Syllables, is 
 emitted, as learnt before, and little different from the Engliih Spelling-book ; efpe- 
 cially fince few will be pcrfwaded to pronounce Latin otherwife than their own Eng- 
 liih. What will not come under Rule, by reafon of the much variety in Declenjion, 
 Gender, or Conftruclion, is alfo here omitted, left the ccurfe and cleamefs of method 
 be clogg'd with Catalogues injtead of Rules, or too much interruption between Rule 
 and Rule : Which Linaker, fetting down the various Idioms of many Verbs, was 
 fore'd to do by Alphabet ; and therfore though very learned, not thought fit to be read 
 in Schools. But in fuch words, a Dictionary /cr'i with good Authorities will be 
 found the readicft guide. Of fgurate Conftruclion, what is ufeful, is digefted into 
 feveral Rules of Syntaxis : and Profody, after this Grammar well learn'd, will 
 not need to be Englilh'd for him who hath a mind to read it. Account might be 
 now given what addition or alteration from other Grammars hath bin here made, 
 and for what reafon. But he who would be floor t in teaching, muft not be long in 
 prefacing; The Book itf elf follows, and will declare fufficiently to them who candifcern. 
 
 6oy 
 
 ACCE-
 
 6o8 
 
 ACCEDENCE 
 
 Commenc'd 
 
 GRAMMA 
 
 LATIN Grammar is the Art of 
 right underft.inding, fpeak- 
 ing, or writing Latin, ob- 
 ferv'd from them who have fpoken 
 or written it bed. 
 
 i Crammer hath two Parts : right- 
 wording, ufually call'd Etymology, and 
 ricrht-joining of words, or Syntaxis. 
 
 Etymology, or right-wording, teach- 
 eth what belongs to every fingle word 
 or part of Speech. 
 
 Of Latin SPEECH 
 
 Are eight General Parts: 
 
 /] 
 
 YroKOim \^UC- 
 Verb ( clin'ci 
 FartkipkX 
 
 f Adverb j 
 \ Conjunction / Unde- 
 "\Vrepofitiou fclin'd. 
 / Tnterjeft:on\ 
 
 DEclin'dare tliofe words which have 
 divers endings •, as Homo a man, 
 Hominisoi a man •, Amo I love, amas 
 thou lovell. Undeclin'd are thofe words 
 which have but one ending, as bene well, 
 cum when, turn then. 
 
 Nouns, Pronouns, and Participles, 
 are declin'd with Gender, Number, 
 and Cafe ; Verbs, as hereafter in the 
 Verb. 
 
 Of Genders. 
 
 GEnders are three, the Mafculin, 
 Feminin, and Neuter. The Maf- 
 culin may be declin'd with this Article 
 Hie, as hie Vir a Man ; the Feminin 
 with this Article, Hac, as bac Mulier a 
 Woman ; the Neuter with this Article 
 Hoc, as hoe Saxutn a Stone. 
 
 Of the Mafculin are generally all 
 Nouns belonging to the Male kind, as 
 alfo the Names of Rivers, Months and 
 ■Winds! 
 
 Of the Feminin, all Nouns belong- 
 ing to the Female kind, as alfo the 
 Names of Countries, Cities, Trees, 
 fome few of the two latter except- 
 ed : Of Cities, as Agragas and $ul- 
 mo, Mafculin ; Argos, Tibur, Pr<e- 
 nejle, and fuch as end in urn, Neuter ; 
 Anxur both. Of Trees, Oleajler and 
 
 Spinits, Mafculin ■, but Oleajler is read 
 alfo Feminin, Cic. verr. 4. Acer,filer t 
 Juber, thus, robur, Neuter. 
 
 And of the Neuter are all Nouns, 
 not being proper Names, ending in 
 urn, and many others. 
 
 Some Nouns are of two Genders, as 
 hie or hac dies a day •, and all fuch as 
 may be fpoken both of Male and Fe- 
 male, as hie or hxc Parens a Father or 
 Mother : fome be of three, as hie h<ec 
 and hoc Felix happy. 
 
 Of Numbers. 
 
 WOrds declin'd have two Num- 
 bers, the Singular and the Plu- 
 ral. The Singular fpeaketh but of one, 
 as Lapis a Stone. The Plural of more 
 than one, as Lapides Stones ■, yet foine- 
 times but of one, as Athena the City 
 Athens, Liter* an Epiftle, ades tedium 
 a Houfe. 
 
 Note, that fome Nouns have no fin- 
 gular, and fome no plural, as the na- 
 ture of their fignirication requires. 
 Some arc of one Gender in the fingu- 
 lar ; of another, or of two Genders in 
 the plural, as reading will belt teach. 
 
 Of Cafes. 
 
 NOuns, Pronouns, and Partici- 
 ples are declin'd with fix end- 
 ings, which are call'd Cafes, both in 
 the fingular and plural number. The 
 Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accu- 
 fative, Vocative, and Ablative. 
 
 The Nominative isthe firftCafe, arid 
 properly nameth the thing, as Libera 
 Book. 
 
 The Genitive is englifh'd with this 
 Sign of, as I.ibri of a Book. 
 
 The Dative with this Sign to, or for, 
 as Libro to or for a Book. 
 
 The Accufatlve hath no Sign. 
 
 The Vocative calleth or fpeaketh to, 
 as O Liber O Book, and is.commonly 
 like the Nominative. 
 
 But in the Neuter Gender the No- 
 minative, Accufative, and Vocative, 
 are like in both Numbers, and in the 
 Plural end always in a. 
 
 The
 
 Accedence commencd Grammar, 
 
 The Ablative is englijb'd with thefe 
 Signs, /;/, with, of, for, from, by, and 
 fuch like, as De Libro of or from the 
 Book, pro Libro for the Book ; and the 
 Ablative Plural is always like the Da- 
 tive. 
 
 Note, that fome Nouns have but one 
 ending throughout all Cafes, as Frugi, 
 nequqm, nihil ; and all words of num- 
 ber from three to a hundred, as qua t nor 
 four, quinque five, &c. 
 
 Some have but one, fome two, 
 fome three Cafes only, in the Angu- 
 lar or plural, as Ufe will beft teach. 
 
 Of a Noun. 
 
 A Noun is the name of a thing, as 
 Manns a Hand, Domus a Houfe, 
 Bonus Good, Fulchcr Fair. 
 
 Nouns be Subftantives or Adjectives. 
 
 A Noun Subftantive is underftood 
 by it felfj as homo a man, domus a 
 houfe. 
 
 An Adjective, to be well underftood, 
 requireth a Subftantive to be join'd 
 with it, as bonus good, parvus little, 
 which cannot be well underftood unlefs 
 fomethinggoodorlittlebeeithernam'd, 
 as bonus vir a good man, parvus puer a 
 little boy -, or by ufe underftood, as 
 honeftum an honeft thing, boni good 
 men. 
 
 The Declining of Subftantives. 
 
 NOuns Subftantives have five De- 
 clenfions or forms of ending their 
 Cafes, chiefly diftinguifh'd by the diffe- 
 rent ending of their Genitive Singular. 
 
 The firft Declenfion. 
 
 THE firft is when the Genitive and 
 Dative fingularend in a, &c. as 
 in the Example following. 
 
 Singular. ~\ r Plural. 
 
 No.Voc. Abl. ?«/'_/# J \ Norn. Voc. tmtfa 
 
 Gen. Dat. mufa 
 Ace. mufam 
 
 Gen. mufarum 
 Dat. Abl. mufts 
 Ace. mufas. 
 
 This one word fatnilia join'd with 
 pater, mater, films, or filia, endeth the 
 Genitive in as, as pater familias, but 
 fometimes familia. Dca, nulla, cnita, 
 liberla, make the Dative and Ablative 
 plural in abu$ ; filia and nata in is or 
 abus. 
 
 The firft Declenfion endeth always 
 in a, unlefs in fome words deriv'd of 
 the Greek : and is always of the Femi • 
 mine Gender, except in names attribu- 
 ted to men, according to the general 
 Rule, or to Stars, as Cometa. Planeta. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 Nouns, and efpecially proper Names 
 derived of the Greek, have here three 
 endings, as, es, e, and are declin'd in 
 fome of their Cafes after the Greek 
 form. ASneas, ace. ALnean, voc. 
 Mnea ; Anchifes, ace. Anchifen, voc. 
 Ancbife or Anchifa, abl. Anchife. Pe- 
 nelope, Penelopes, Penelopen, voc. abl. 
 Penelope. Sometimes following the 
 Latin, as Marfya, Philocleta, for as., 
 and es ; Philotletam, Eriphylam, for 
 an and en. Cic. 
 
 The fecond Declenfion. 
 
 THE fecond is when the Genitive 
 Singular endeth in /, the Dative 
 in o, (s?c. 
 
 609 
 
 Sing. 
 
 Norn. Voc 
 Gen. libri 
 Dat. Abl. libro 
 Ace. librum 
 
 Libert 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom,Voc.Lifoi 
 
 Gen. librarian 
 iDat.AbU^rw 
 _) (.A.CC. libros. 
 
 Note that when the Nominative 
 endeth in us, the Vocative fhall end in 
 e, as Dominus Dsmine^ except Deus 6 
 Deus. And thefe following, Agnus, 
 Incus, vulgus, populus, chorus, fluvius, e 
 or us. 
 
 When the Nominative endeth in jus, 
 if it be the proper name of a man, the 
 vocative fhall end in /, as Georgius 6 
 Georgi; hereto add films ofili, and ge- 
 nius 6 gent. 
 
 All Nouns of the Second Declenfion 
 are of the Mafculine or Neuter Gender; 
 ot the Mafculine, fuch as end in ir, or, 
 or us, except fome few, humus, domus, 
 alvus, and others deriv'd of the Greek, 
 as methodus, antidotus, and the like, 
 which are of the Feminine, and fome of 
 them fometimes alio Mafculine, as ato- 
 mus, phafelus ; to which add ficus the 
 name of a difeafe, groffus, pampinus, 
 and rubus. 
 
 Thole of the Neuter, except virus, 
 pelagus, and vulgus (which laft is fome- 
 times Mafculine) end all in urn, and are 
 declin'd as followeth : 
 
 Sing. 
 
 No.Ac.Vo.S/tf-/ 
 Gcn.ftudii [dium ?* 
 Dat. Abl. jtudio J 
 
 Plur. 
 No.Ac.Yoc.Studia 
 I Gen. ftudiorum 
 Dat. Abl. jludiis. 
 
 Some Nouns in this Declenfion are of 
 the firft Example Singular, of the fe- 
 cond Plural, as Pergamus the City Trey, 
 Plur. H(?c Pergama ; and fome names 
 of Hills, as Minalus, Ifmarus, hoc If- 
 tnara ; fo alio Tartarus, and the Lake 
 Avernui; others are of both, asfibilus, 
 jeetc, locu<, hi loci, or hac loca. Some 
 I i i i are
 
 6l6 
 
 Accedence commencd Grammar. 
 
 are of the fecond example Singular, 
 of the firft Plural, as Argos, Ccelum, 
 Plur. hi Cceli ; others of both, as Ra- 
 ft rum, Capiftrum, Filum, Franum; 
 Plur. fra-ni or frana. Nundinum, & E- 
 pulum, are of the firft Declenfion Plu- 
 ral, Nundina, Epula; Balneum of both, 
 balnea or balnea. 
 
 Greek proper names have here three 
 endings, os, on, and us long from a 
 Greek Diphthong. H<cc Delos, banc 
 Delon. Hoc llion. The reft regular, 
 Hicpantbus, opantbu, Virg. 
 
 The third Declenfion. 
 
 TH E third is when the Genitive 
 fingular endeth in is, the Dative 
 in i, the Accufative in em, and fome- 
 times in im, the Ablative in e, and 
 fometimes in :' ; the Nom. Ace. Voc. 
 Plural, in es, the Genitive in urn, and 
 fometimes in turn, &c. 
 
 Sing. )f Plur. 
 
 No.Gen.Vo.P^-/SNom.Ac.Vo./awJ 
 Dat. pant [swS^Gen. panum 
 Ace. panem C ^Dat. Abl. panibm. 
 Abl. pane. JC 
 
 Sing. Plur- 
 
 No.Voc.ParensJ\No.Ac.Vo.parentes 
 Gen. parentis ( ^)Gen. parentum 
 Vixt.parenti [ \Dat. Ab. parenti- 
 Acc. parent em \/ [bus. 
 
 Abl. parent e 
 
 This third Declenfion, with many 
 endings, hath all Genders, beft known 
 by dividing all Nouns hereto belong- 
 ing into fuch as either increafe one fyl- 
 lable long or fhort in the Genitive, or 
 increafe not at all. 
 
 Such as increafe not in the Genitive 
 are generally Feminine, as Nubesnubis, 
 Caro carnis. 
 
 Except fuch as end in er, as bic ven- 
 ter ventris, and thefe in is following, 
 natalis, aqualis, lienis, orbis, callis, cau- 
 /i/ 4 collis, follis, men/is, enfis, fufiis, fu- 
 nis, panis, penis, crinis, ignis, cajfis, 
 fafcis, torris, pifcis, unguis, -vermis, 
 veilis, pops, axis, and the Compounds 
 of affis, as centufis. 
 
 But Canalis, finis, clunis, reftis,fentU, 
 amnis, corbis, linter, torquis, anguis, bic 
 or hac : To thefe add vepres. 
 
 Such as end in e are Neuters, as ma- 
 re, rcte, and two Greek in es, as hippo- 
 manes, caccethes. 
 
 Nouns encreafing long. 
 
 Nouns encreafing one fyllable long 
 in the Genitive are generally Feminine, 
 as b<ec pietas pietatis, virtus virtutis. 
 
 Except fuch as end in ans Mafculin, 
 as dodrans, quadrans, fextans •, in en<, 
 as oriens, torren-., bidens, a pick-ax. 
 
 In or, molt commonly deriv'd of 
 Verbs, as pallor, clamor ; in o, nor 
 thence deriv'd, as tcrnio, Jenio, ferm, 
 temc, and the like. 
 
 And thefe of one fyllable, fal, ft>' r 
 rcn, fplen, as, bes, pes, mos, fios, rosj 
 dens, mons, pom, fans, grex. 
 
 And words deriv'd from the GrC'-k 
 in en, as lichen ; in er, as crater ; in as, 
 as adamas ; in es, as Ubes ; to thefe, 
 hydrops, thorax, pbcenix. 
 
 But fi robs, rudens, Jlirps, the body 
 or root of a tree, and calx a heel, bic 
 or hac. 
 
 Neuter, thefe of one fyllable, met, 
 
 fel, lac, far, ver, cor, a*s, vas vajls, 
 
 os offis, os oris, rus, thus, jus, crus, pus. 
 
 And of more fyllablcs in al and ar, as 
 
 capital, laqttear, but halec hoc or hac. 
 
 Nouns encreafing fiort. 
 
 Nouns encreafing fhort in the Geni- 
 tive are generally Mafculine, as bit 
 fanguis fanguinis, lapis lapidis. 
 
 Except, Feminine all words of many 
 fyllables ending in do or go, ?.sdu!ce.:c, 
 compago ; arbor, by ems, cujpis, pecus pe- 
 cudis : Thefe in ex, forfex, carex, to- 
 mex,fupe!lex: In ix, appendix, hijirix, 
 coxe)idix,filix; Greek Nouns in as and 
 is, as lampas, iafpis : To thefe add 
 chlamis, bacchar, fyndon, icon. 
 
 But margo, cinis, pulvis, adeps, for- 
 ceps, pumex, ramex, imbrex, obex, 
 Jllex, cortex, onyx and fardonyx, hie or 
 hac. 
 
 Neuters are all ending in a, zsproble- 
 ma ; in en, except hie peilen -, in ar, as 
 jubar ; in er thefe, verier, iter, uber, 
 cadaver, zinziber, lafer, cicer, fifer, pi- 
 per, papaver ; fometimes in ur, except 
 bic furfur, in us, as onus, in ut, as ca- 
 put ; to thefe marmor, aquor, ador. 
 
 Greek proper names here end in as % 
 an, is, and ens, and may be declin'd 
 fome wholly after the Greek form, as 
 Pallas, pallados, palladi,pallada% others 
 in fome Cafes, as Atlas, ace. Atlanta, 
 voc. Atla. Garamas, plur. garamantes, 
 ace. garamantas. Pan, panos, pana. 
 Phyllis, pbyllidos,voc.phylli,y\\ir.Pbylii- 
 des, ace. phyllidas. Tetbys, tethyos, ace. 
 tethyn, voc. tethy. Neapolis neapclics, 
 ace. neapolin. Paris, paridos or parios, 
 ace. parida or par in. Orpheus, crpheos, 
 crphei, crphea, orpheu. But Names in 
 eus borrow fometimes their Genitive of 
 the fecond Declenfion, as Erechthepj, 
 erechthei. Cic. Achilles or Achil/ctr. 
 
 Achil-
 
 Accedence commence! Grammar. 
 
 611 
 
 Achillei ; and fometimes their A> 
 tive in on or urn, as Orpheus Orpheon, 
 Thefeus Thefeum, Perfeus Perfeum, which 
 fometimes is form'd after Greek words 
 of the firft Declenfion Latin, Perfeus i >r 
 Perfes, Perfce Perfa Per/en Perfa Per/a. 
 
 The fourth Dcclenfion. 
 
 THE fourth is when the Genitive 
 Singular endeth in us t the Dative 
 Singular in ui, and fometimes in //, 
 Plural in ibus, and fometimes in alia. 
 
 Sing. -j r Plur. 
 
 No.Ge.Vo.&w/w / \ No.Ac.Vo.fenfus 
 Dat. fenfui \ ) Gen. fenfuum 
 
 \.cc. fenfum \ J Dat. AbL fenjlbus. 
 
 Ab\. fa: . )l 
 
 The fourth Declenfion hath two end- 
 ings, us and /.' ; us generally Mafculine, 
 except fome few, as hac manns, fiats, 
 the fruit of a tree, acus, portions, tri- 
 hus , but penv.s and fpecus hie or hac. 
 £7 of the Neuter, as gelu, genu, veru; 
 but in the Singular molt part defective. 
 
 Proper Names inland o long, per- 
 taining to the fourth Declenfion Greek, 
 may belong beft to the fourth in La' in, 
 as Andrcgeos, Gen. Androgeo, Ac. An 
 geon -, Hie Athos, hunc Atbo,~Virg. Hasc 
 Sappho, Gen. Sapphus, Ace. Sappho. Bet- 
 ter Authors follow the Latin form, as 
 Dido Didonis Didoncm. But Jefus 'Jcfu 
 Jefu Jejuni Jefu Jefu. 
 
 The fifth Declenfion. 
 
 THE fifth is when the Genitive and 
 Dative Singular end in ei, &c. 
 \r Plur. 
 <No. Ac. Voc. res 
 t-'Gcn. rerum 
 at. Abl. rebus. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 t 
 
 Norn. Voc. Res\ 
 Gen. Dat. ret 
 Ace. rem 
 Abl. re 
 
 All Nouns of the fifth Declenfion 
 are of the Feminine Gender, except dies 
 hie or hac, and his Compound t. 
 dies hie only. 
 
 Some Nouns are of more Dec'enfions 
 than one, as vr.s vafis of the third in 
 the Singular, of the fecond in the 
 Plural vafa vaforum. Coins, la. . 
 and fome others, of the fecond and 
 fourth. Saturnalia, faturnaliv.m or fa- 
 turnaliorum, faturnalibus, and fuch o- 
 ther names of feafts. Poemata pot a- 
 tum, pecmatis or poematibus, of the fe- 
 cond and third Plural. Plebs of the 
 third and fifth, plebis or plebei. 
 
 The Declining of Adjectives. 
 
 A Noun Adjective is declin'd with 
 three Terminations, or with 
 
 three Articles. 
 
 An Adjective of three terminations 
 is declin'd like the firft and fecond De- 
 clenfion of Subftantives join'd together 
 alter this manner. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. bonus bona bonttm 
 ' Sen. boni borne boni 
 Dat. bono honor bom 
 
 mem bonam . 
 voc bone bona bonum 
 Abl. bono bona bono 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. Vo. boni bin c 
 
 bona 
 Gen. bonorum bona- 
 rum bonorum 
 'Dm. Abl. bonis 
 • Ac. bonos bonas bona. 
 
 In like manner thofe in er and ur, as 
 facer facra facrum,fatur fatura faturum -, 
 but ums, lotus, folus, alius, alter, ullus, 
 uter, with their Compounds neuter, u- 
 terque, and the like, make their Geni- 
 tive Singular in ius, the Dative in i, 
 ., Gen. unius. Dat. u- 
 ni, in all the reft like bonus, lave that 
 maketh in the Neuter Gender ali- 
 ud, and in the Dative alii, and fome- 
 times in the Genitive. 
 
 Ambo and duo be thus declin'd in the 
 plural only. 
 
 Nom. Voc. Ambo ami* ambo 
 Gen. aytiborum ambarum amborum. 
 Dat. Ab ! .' ambobus ambabus ambobus 
 Ace. ambos or ambo, ambas ambo. 
 
 Adjectives of three Articles have in 
 the Nominative either one ending, as 
 hie, hac, & hoc felix ; or two, as hie 
 & hac trifiis & hoc trifle • and are de- 
 clin'd like the third Declenfion of Sub* 
 ftantiyes, as followeth. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. hie bac & hoc 
 
 Felix. 
 Gen. felicis 
 Dzt.fetki 
 Ace. hunc isf hanefeli- 
 
 cem, & hoc felix- 
 Voc. 6 felix. 
 Abl. fclice or fclici 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. hi fcf ha felices, 
 
 & hac filicia 
 Gen. feltcium 
 '),{ Dat. m.felicibus 
 [ Ace. bos & has felices 
 [ tf hac filicia 
 \ Voc. o felices, & ofi- 
 L Hcia. 
 
 Sing. 1 
 
 No hie & hac trifiis \ 
 
 & hoc trifle 
 Gen./ 
 
 Dat. Abl. trifti 
 Ac. hunc & banc tri- 
 
 em, Cif hoc trifle 
 Voc. 6 trifiis tjf 6 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. hi y ha trifla 
 C5f bare triflia 
 , Gen. triftium 
 >•< Dat. AU. trifiibus 
 Ac. hos fjf has trifles, 
 
 hac triflia 
 Voc. o trifles, if 6 
 ti iflia. 
 
 J I 
 
 There be alfo another fort which 
 in the Nominative Cafe three 
 Terminations and three Articles, as 
 hie acer, hie &? hac acris, hoc acre. In 
 like manner be declined equejler, volu~ 
 cer, and fome few others, being in all 
 other cafes like the Examples before- 
 
 going. 
 
 I ii i 
 
 Com-
 
 12 
 
 Accedence commend 'a 7 Grammar. 
 
 Comparifons of Nouns. 
 
 ADjettive?, whofe fignification may 
 increafe or be diminifh'd, may 
 form Companion, wherof there be two 
 decrees above the pofitive word it felf, 
 The Comparative, and Superlative. 
 
 The Pofitive fignifieth the thing it 
 felf without comparing, as durus hard. 
 The Comparative exceedeth his Po- 
 fitive in fignification, compar'd with 
 fome other, as durior harder ; and is 
 form'd of the firft Cafe of his Pofitive 
 that endeth in t, by putting therto or 
 and us, as of dun, hie 13 h<sc durior, (3 
 bocdurius: of dulci, dulcior, dukius. 
 
 The Superlative exceedeth his Pofi- 
 tive in the higheft degree, as duriffimus 
 hardeft •, and it is form'd of the firft 
 Cafe of his Pofitive that endeth in is, 
 by putting therto fimus, as of duris du- 
 riffimus, dulcis dukiffmus. 
 
 If the Pofitive end in er, the Super- 
 lative is form'd of the nominative cafe 
 by putting to rimus, as pulcher pulcher- 
 rimus. Like to thefe zr&vetus veterri- 
 mus, maturus maturimus; but dexter 
 dexterrimus, and ftnijhr, fmiftericr, fi- 
 fiijlerrimus. 
 
 All thefe Nouns ending in lis make 
 the Superlative by changing is into li- 
 mits, as humilis, fwiilis, faeiiis, gracilis, 
 agilis, docilis docillimus. 
 
 All other Nouns ending in lis do fol- 
 low the general Rule, as utilis utiliffimus. 
 Of thefe Pofitives following are 
 form'd a different fort of Superlatives ; 
 offuperus, fupremus and fummus ; infe- 
 rus, infimus and imus ; exterus, extimus 
 and extremus ; pejierus poftremus. 
 
 Some of thefe want the Pofitive, and 
 are form'd from Adverbs •, of intra, 
 interior intimus, ultra ulterior ultimus, 
 citra literior citimus, pridem prior pri- 
 mus, prope propiorproximus. 
 
 Others from Pofitives without Cafe, 
 as nequam, ncquior, ncquiffimits . 
 
 Some alfo from no Pofitive, as ocier 
 
 cciffmus. Some want the Comparative, 
 
 ■^novusnoviffimus, inclytus inclytijfimus. 
 
 Some the Superlative, as fenex fenior, 
 
 juvenis junior, adolefcens adolefcentior. 
 
 Some ending in us, frame their Com- 
 parative as if they ended in ens, bene- 
 z'olus, maledicus, magnificus magnificen- 
 tior magnificentiffimus . 
 
 Thefe following are without Rule, 
 Bonus melior optimus, Mains pejor pefji- 
 ttlttS, Magnus major maximus, Parvus 
 minor minimus ; Mult us plurimus, mul- 
 ta plurima, multum plus plurimum. 
 
 If a Vowel come before its, it is 
 compared with magis and maxt'tiie, as 
 
 pius, magis pins, maxime pins ; idoneu i , 
 magis and maxime idoneus. Yet fome 
 of thefe follow the general Rule, as 
 Afjiduus affiduiffanus, ftretiuus firenuior^ 
 
 exiguits exiguiffimu!, tenuis tenuior , 
 ifjimns 
 
 Of a Pronoun. 
 
 A Pronoun is a part of Speech that 
 ftandeth for a Noun Subftantive, 
 either at prefent or before fpoken of, 
 as ille, he or that, hie this, qui who. 
 
 There be ten Pronouns, Ego, tu, fui 9 
 ille, ipfe, ifte, hie, is, qui and quis, be- 
 fides their Compounds, egomet, tute, 
 hicce, idem, qui/nam, aliquis, and fuch 
 others. The reft fo call'd, as meus % 
 tuus, fuus, nefter, vefier, nostras, vef- 
 tras, cujus and cujas, are not Pro- 
 nouns, but Adjectives thence deriv'd. 
 
 Of Pronouns fuch as fhew the thing 
 prefent are called Demonjlratives, as 
 ego, tu, hie ; and fuch us refer to a 
 thing antecedent, or lpoken of before, 
 are called Relatives, as qui who or 
 which. 
 
 ghfis, and often qui, becaufe they 
 afk a queftion, are called Interroga- 
 tives, with their Compounds cequis > 
 numquis. 
 
 Beclenfions of Pronouns are three. 
 
 Ego, til, fu.i, be of the firft Declen- 
 fion, and be thus declin'd. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. Ego 
 Gen. met 
 Dat. mihi 
 Acc. Abl. me 
 Voc caret. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. Vcc. Tu 
 Gen. tui 
 Dat. tibi 
 Acc. Abl. u 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. Acc. Nos 
 Gen. noftrum or tioftri 
 Dat. Abl. nobis 
 Voc. caret. 
 
 Plur. 
 
 Mom. Acc. Voc. -jh 
 Gen. tiejirum or. 
 Dat. Abl. vobis. 
 
 ing. IS 
 lur. SI 
 
 Sing 
 PI 
 
 Nom. Voc. caret 
 Gen. fui 
 
 "Dzt.fibi 
 \ Acc. Abl. fe. 
 
 From thefe three be deriv'd mens, 
 tuus, fuus, nefter, vefier, nq/iras, vef- 
 tras, (which are called PofTeffives) 
 wherof the former five be declin'd like 
 Adjectives of three Terminations, ex- 
 cept that mens in the Vocative Cafe 
 maketh mi, mea, meum; Noftras, Vef- 
 tras, with three Articles, as hie & h<ec 
 noftras, cjf hoc noftr as or nrftrate, veftra- 
 te. In other Cafes according to rule. 
 
 Thefe three, ille, ifte, ipfe, be of the 
 fecondDeclenfion, making their Geni- 
 tive
 
 Accedence commencd Grammar. 
 
 tive Angular in im, their Dative in *'; 
 and the former two be declin'd like the 
 Adjective alius, and the third like units 
 before fpoken of. 
 
 f Norn. Hit ilia Hind, Gen. illiui, Dat. OIL 
 
 Sing. < Nom. ijle ijla ijlud, Gen. ijlius, Dat. ijli. 
 
 £ Nom. ipfe ipfa ipjum, Gen. ipfius, Dat. ipji. 
 
 Thefe four, hie, is, qui and quis, be 
 of the third Declenfion, making their 
 Genitive fingular in jus, with j confo- 
 nant, and be declin'd after this man- 
 ner. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. hie h/ec hoc 
 Gen. hujus 
 Dat. huic 
 
 Ace. hunc hanchoc | 
 Voc. caret. 
 Abl. hoc hac hoc. 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. hi ha- hrvc 
 ^Gen. horum harum 
 
 rum 
 | Dat. Abl. bit 
 Ace. hoi has hecc 
 ■ Voc. caret. 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom ii nt: ea 
 JGen. eorum earum coram 
 Dat. Abl. i/jor eii 
 | Ace. cos eas ea 
 Voc. caret. 
 
 Of ijle and hie is compounded iftic, 
 ., ijloc or iftuc . Ace. ijlunc, ifiane, 
 iftoc or ^?«f. Abl. ijloc, iftac, ijloc, 
 Plu. (/?<tff only. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 Nom. is ea id 
 Gen ejus 
 Dat. ti 
 
 Ace. cum earn id 
 Voc. caret 
 Abl. f« f« £0. 
 
 Sing. 
 Nom. qui qua quod 
 Gen. cujus 
 Dat. «i 
 Ace. quern quant quod 
 
 VOC. flWrf 
 
 Abl. quo qua quo or j/« 
 
 In like manner, quivis, quilibet, and 
 quicunque the Compounds. 
 
 Sing. Nom. quis, qua or ^a^, quid, 
 Gen. &c. like jraii, So quifquam, quif- 
 nam, Compounds. 
 
 Of Sjuis are made thefe Pronoun 
 Adjectives, cujus cuja cujum, whole; 
 and hie & heve cujas and hoc cujate i of 
 what Nation. 
 
 ^uifquis is defective, and thus de- 
 clin'd, 
 
 C Sls'ifqu'i ~) C 7 f Quoqua 
 
 No. < V Ac. < Shiicquid \ Ab. < ^ueiqut 
 
 [Shticquid} (_ J (^Sfuoqui 
 
 Plur. 
 Nom. <?«/' yw,^ yw^e 
 Gen. quorum quarum 
 quorum (queis 
 
 Dat. Abl. quibus or 
 Ace. y/'3* quas qu<£ 
 •Voc. rartf. 
 
 y«<2 
 
 Of a Verb. 
 
 A Verb is a part of fpeech, that be- 
 tokeneth being, zsfum I am, or 
 g , as laudo I praife •, and is declin'd 
 with Mood, Tenfe, Number and 
 Perfon. 
 
 Moods, 
 
 The Indicative Mood JJjiweth or de- 
 clarelh, as laudo I praife. 
 
 The Imperative biddetb or exhortelh, 
 as te/i'/o praife thou. 
 
 The Potential or Subjunctive is eng- 
 lijlfd with thefe Signs, may, can, mighty 
 would, could, jhould: Or without them 
 as the Indicative, if a Conjunction go 
 before or follow ; as laudem, I may or 
 can praife. Cumlaudarem when I praif- 
 ed. Cav/jfem, f prxvidiffem, I had 
 bewar'd if I had forefeen. 
 
 The Infinitive is englijlfd with this 
 fign to*, as laudare to praife. 
 
 613 
 
 T 
 
 Tcnfes. 
 
 IHere be three Tenfes which ex- 
 prefs the time of doing : The Pre- 
 fent, the Preterit or paft, and the 
 Future. 
 
 The Prefent Tenfe fpeaketh of the 
 time that now is, as laudo I praife. 
 
 The Preterit fpeaketh of the time 
 paft, and is diftinguifh'd by three de- 
 grees : the Preterim perfect, the Pre- 
 terperfect, and the Preterpluperfect. 
 
 The Preterimperfect fpeaketh of the 
 time not perfectly pajl, as laudabam I 
 praifed or did praife. 
 
 The Preterperfect fpeaketh of the 
 time perfectly pajl, as laudavi I have 
 praifed. 
 
 The Preterpluperfect fpeaketh of the 
 time more than perfectly pajl, as lauda- 
 verdm I had praifed. 
 
 The Future Tenfe fpeaketh of the 
 time to come, as laudabo I fhall or will 
 praife. 
 
 . Per/bns, 
 
 THrough all Moods, except the In- 
 finitive, there be three Perfons 
 in both Numbers, as, Sing. Laudo I 
 praife, laudas thou praifeft, laudat he 
 praifeth ; Plur. Laudamus we praife, 
 laudatis ye praife, laudant they praife. 
 Except fome Verbs which are declin'd 
 or form'd in the third Perfon only, 
 and have before them this fign, it, as 
 Tee del it irketh, oportet it behoveth, 
 and are called Imperfonals. 
 
 The Verb which betokeneth being, 
 is properly the Vcrb/nm only, which 
 is therfore call'd a Verb Subftantive, 
 and formed after this manner. 
 
 Indicative. 
 
 THere be four Moods which exprefs ** j Su £™; eftj p , ur fumus> eftiS) fun[ 
 the manner of doing; the lndica- p rct . 1 I was. 
 tive, the Imperative, the Potential or imp. \ Eram,eras,erat, PI. eramuf,eratis,erans. 
 
 Imperative, 
 Subjunctive, and the Infinitive. 
 
 Pret.
 
 614 
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 I have been. 
 C Fui, fuifti, fuit, Tlur. fuimus, fuiftis, 
 !. I fuerunt or fuere. 
 
 / had been. 
 C Fueram, fueras, fjerat, PI. fueramu3, 
 I fueratis, fuerant. 
 
 C IJhall or <wi!l be. 
 
 \ Ero, eris, erit, PL eriraus, eritis, erunt. 
 
 Imperative. 
 
 Be thou, 
 *>l Sis.es, I Sit, ?^$ Si- (Sitis,efte,lSint, 
 
 i| i efto. I efto. S § I "™ s , I ellote - lunt0 
 
 Potential. 
 
 Prtt. 
 
 perfeB 
 
 Pret. 
 flap. 
 Fu- 
 ture. 
 
 Pre/. $ 
 f"'g- I 
 
 I may or can be. 
 Sim, fis, fit, PI. fimus, fitis, fint. 
 / might or could be. 
 Prefer- t Efl'em or forem, es, et, PI effemus, 
 imperf. \ effetis, eflent or forent. 
 
 Prefer- \ I might or could haw been. 
 erfeB. \ Fuerim, ris, rit, PL rimus, rids, rint. 
 If I had kcc n 
 Fuiffcm, es, et, PL emus, etis, ent. 
 
 perfect. \ Fuerim 
 P refer flu p. C 1 
 'with a con-< Fu; 
 junction Si £ 
 
 Future. 
 Si 
 
 "if If; all be, or Jhall have been. 
 Fuero, ris, rit, PL rimus, ritis, rint. 
 
 Infinitive. 
 
 Neuters, as glerior I bcaft: but arc 
 form'd like Pafiives. 
 
 Conjugations. 
 
 VErbs both Active and Pal 
 have four Conjugations, or 
 forms of declining, known and diftin- 
 guifh'd by their Infinitive Mood active, 
 which always endeth in re. 
 
 In the firft Conjugation, after a 
 long, as laudare to praife. 
 
 In the fecond, after e long, as ha- 
 bere to have. 
 
 In the third, after e fhorr, as legere 
 to read. 
 
 In the fourth, after i long, as au- 
 dire to hear. 
 
 In thefe four Conjugations, Verbs 
 are declin'd or form'd by Mood, 
 Tenfe, Number and Perfon, after 
 thefe Examples. 
 
 Indicative Mood. 
 
 Prcfent Tenfe, 
 
 P . 
 
 and 
 pretd 
 
 to 
 or had 
 
 "J- C 1 [ Preter 7 Faille, 
 
 a nd J EfTe, to be. L) ' '<' '\have 
 
 ) f ) & t' rct Cbeen. 
 
 np, rf. C J U !ll P er - J 
 
 Future, \ Fore, to be hereafter. 
 
 In like manner are form'd the Com- 
 pounds ; Abfum adfum, defnm, objum, 
 pr 'fum, profum, pojfum ; but pojfum 
 ibmething varies after this manner. 
 
 Indicat. Pref. Sing. Pojfum, poles, po- 
 teft, Plur. pojfur,ius,potejiis,po/unt. The 
 other are regular, poteram, potui, po- 
 tueram, potero. 
 
 Imperative it wants. 
 
 Potent. Pref. Pojfum, &c. Preterim- 
 perfeci, Pojfem. 
 
 Infin. Pref. Pcjfe. Preterit. Petuijfe, 
 
 Voices. 
 
 IN Verbs that betoken doing are two 
 Voices, the Atlive and the Pqffive. 
 
 The Active fignifieth to do, and al- 
 ways endeth in o, as doceo I teach. 
 
 ThcPaffive fignifieth what is done to 
 one by another, and always endeth in 
 or, as doc e or I am taught. 
 
 From thefe are to be excepted two 
 ibrts of Verbs. The firft are cal- 
 led Neuters, and cannot take or in the 
 pafiive, as curro I run, fedeo I fit; yet 
 fignii;, fometimes pafTivcly, as vapulo 
 I am beaten. 
 
 The fecond arc call'd Deponents, and 
 fignify actively, asloquor Ifpeak; or 
 
 Singular. 
 
 —A.. 
 
 Plural. 
 Ye 
 
 1 Thou Be / 5 U 
 
 praife. praifefi.praifeth.^ {praife. praife . praife 
 
 Laudo, laudas, laudat, 
 Habeo, habes, habet, 
 Lego, legi?, legit, 
 Auuic, audis, audit, 
 
 laudamus.laudatis.laudan 1 
 
 habemu:, habetis, habent. 
 legimus, legi.i , Itgunt. 
 audimus, auditis, audiunt. 
 
 Preter- 
 
 Laudabam,"} / praitd or did praife. 
 imperfect Habebam, Cbas, bat, Plur. bamus. 
 
 tenf.fing. Legebam, C 
 
 Audiebam, 
 
 Prefer- Laudavj ' 
 perfeB Habui 
 tenf.fing. Legi 
 Audivi 
 
 bat: ■ banc. 
 
 / hatie praiid. 
 
 .ifti, it, Plur. imus, iftis, 
 erunt or eie. 
 
 Prefer- Laudaveram") I bad praii'J. 
 
 pluperfeB Habueram C raS) rat , Plur. ramus, 
 tenfe fing. Legeram 
 
 Audiveram 
 
 $ 
 
 ratis, rant. 
 
 Laudabopbis, bit, Plur. bimus, biti?. 
 
 Future Habebo 5 bunt, 
 
 tenf.fing. Legam 7 es, et, Plur. emus, eris, 
 
 Audiam 5 ent - 
 
 Imperative Mood. 
 
 •5 1 
 
 Co 
 
 Praife Let him Let us 
 thou. praife. fro 
 
 /Lauda, Laudet PL lau- 
 laudato. laudato, demus. 
 
 Habe, Habeat. PL babe 
 habeto. habeto. 
 
 L. 
 
 J ege, 
 guo. 
 
 Legat 
 legito. 
 
 Audi, Audiat 
 \audiio. audico. 
 
 amut, 
 
 PL Lega 
 mus. 
 
 PL audi- 
 amiu. 
 
 Praife 
 ye. 
 
 Laudate, 
 laudatotc. 
 
 Habete, 
 habetote. 
 
 Legite, 
 leguute*. 
 
 Audite, 
 
 auditote. 
 
 Let them 
 praife. 
 
 Laudent. 
 laudanto. 
 
 Ilabeant, 
 hab'.-nto. 
 
 Legant, 
 legunto 
 
 Audiant, 
 
 audiur.io. 
 
 Potential
 
 Accedence commend d Grammar* 
 
 Potential Mood. 
 
 Laudem, laudes, Iaudet, PL laudemus, 
 Prefent Habeam, ^ laudetis, laudent- 
 
 tenfe fing. Legam, Cas, at, PL araus, atis, ant. 
 
 Audiam, 3 
 P>«w/m-Laudarem,'} I might ox could praife. 
 perfect Haberem, (ra, ret, Plur. remus, 
 tenfefing. Legerem, r retis, rent. 
 
 Audirem, ) 
 
 / might or could have praisd. 
 Prefer- Laudaverim, 
 ferj 
 ten, 
 
 ± 7/liV'Jl Ui LUUiU r,UVC f/fftl t*« 
 
 , retcr- Laudaverim, "\ 
 
 erfecl Habuerim, Qris, rit, Plur. rimus, ri- 
 mf.fing. Legerim, r" tis, rint. 
 
 Audiverim, j 
 
 Preterplu. LaudaviffenO 
 fing. <with HabuifTem, / 
 a Conjunc- Legillem, f 
 fiim, si AudiviiTem, J 
 
 'all praife, . 
 
 vero,"} 
 
 :ro, / ris, rit, PI. rimus, ri- 
 o, j tis, rint. 
 
 ero, J 
 
 If I had praisd. 
 
 l~es, fet, PI. femus, 
 fetis, ient. 
 
 If I /hall praife, or fhall haw praisd. 
 
 Laudavero, 
 Future Habuero, 
 tenf.fi/ig. Legero, 
 Si Audivero, 
 
 Infinitive Mood. 
 
 Prefent Laudare, ~\ 
 
 and Pre- Habere, ( 
 
 t crimper- Lege re, P* 
 
 feci tenfe. Audire, J 
 
 Preterper- Laudavifle, 
 feci k Pre-HabailTe, 
 terpluper- LegifTe, 
 
 fed tenfe. Audivifie, 
 
 Verbs of the third Conjugation 
 irregular in fome Tenfes of the 
 ASlive Voice. 
 
 Indicative Mood. 
 
 Prefent Tenfe fingular . 
 "Volo, vis, vult, "1 f" Volumus, vultis, volunt. 
 Nolo, ( ) I 
 
 Nolumus,- 
 
 -nolunc. 
 
 The reft is <want ( J ing in this Tenfe. 
 Malo, mavis, ma- I I Malumus, mavultis, ma- 
 kult ] (_ lant. 
 
 f Volui. 
 
 it. i Nolui. 
 
 I Malui. 
 
 Preterit 
 
 Volo and Malo want the Imperative Mood. 
 
 Imperative. 
 (Noli, ) SNoiite, 
 
 Potential. 
 
 Prefent Vclim, 
 
 teiiffing. N 
 M 
 
 Nolitote, 
 
 imus, uis, int. 
 
 Pntcrim- Yellem 
 pe/fei? N 
 tcnf.fi/ig. M 
 
 dim, ~h 
 olim, >is, it, 
 
 lalim, J 
 
 ellem, ~i 
 
 ollem, £es, et, PI. emus, etis, ent. 
 
 allem, \ 
 
 Prefent 
 
 I 
 
 Infinitive, 
 
 Vellc, 
 Nolle, 
 Malle. 
 
 Tndicat. Pref. Edo, edis or es, edit or 
 eft ; Plur. Editis, or ejiis. 
 
 Imper. Ede or es, edito or efto. Edat, 
 edito or ejlo. Plur. Edite efte, editote eftote. 
 
 Poten. PreterimperfecT: Tenfe, Ede- 
 rem or ejfem. 
 
 Infinit. Edere or effe. 
 
 Verbs of the fourth Conjugation ir- 
 regular •, inform Tenfes Active. 
 
 EO, and queo with his Compound 
 Nequco, make eunt and qiieunt in 
 the Plural Indicative prefent, and in. 
 their PreterimperfecL ibam and cqiiibam, 
 their Future ; ibo and quibo. 
 
 Imperat. I, ito. Eat, ito. Plur. Ea- 
 mus, ite, itote. Eant, eunto. 
 Potent. Earn, Iran. &c. 
 
 The forming of the Pa five Voice. 
 
 Indicative. 
 
 / am praifed. 
 
 £. Laudor, aris or are.atur, 
 
 c5 Habeor, eris orere,etur, 
 
 "j> Legor, eris or ere.itur, 
 
 c, Audior, iris or ire,itur, 
 
 amur.amini.antur. 
 emur,emini,entur. 
 
 imur.imini, untur. 
 imur,imini,iuntur. 
 
 Prcterim- Laudabar, ' 
 per/eel Habebar, ( 
 tenf.fing. Legebar, [ 
 
 Audiebar, . 
 
 I nuas praisd. 
 
 ^baris or bare, batur, Plur. 
 bamur, bamini, bantur, 
 
 Note that the Paffive Voice hath no 
 Preterperfed, nor the Tenfes deriv'd 
 from thence in any Mood. 
 
 I /ball or will be prats' d. 
 
 Laudabor, } beris or bere, bitur, Plur. 
 Future Habebor, J bimur, bimini, buntur. 
 tenf.fing. Legar, ) eris or ere, etur, PL emur, 
 
 Audiar, J emini, entur. 
 
 Imperative. 
 
 Be thou Let him be Let us be Be ye Let them be 
 praisd. praisd. praisd. praisd. prais'd. 
 
 Laudave, laudetur, P.lau-laudamini.laudentur , 
 . laudator, laudator. demur, laudaminor. laudan- 
 
 -S ( tor - 
 
 ^Habere,habeatur,f7.habe-habemini,habeamur, 
 J: habetor. habetor. amur. habeminor. habentor. 
 
 ■g Legere, legator, PL lega- legimini, legantur. 
 "g, legitor. legitor. mur. legiminor. leguntor. 
 
 Audire,audiatur,P/.audi- audimini, audiantur, 
 auditor, auditor, amur. audimuior. audiumor, 
 
 Potential. 
 
 6*S
 
 6i6 
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 Prefent 
 fi"Z- 
 
 Potential. 
 
 1 may or can be fraud. 
 Lauder, eris or ere, etur, Plur. emur, 
 Habear, O emini, entur. 
 
 Legar, Caris or are, atur, P!ur. amur, 
 Audiar, S amini, amur. 
 
 / might or fiould be prais'd. 
 
 Prettrim- Laudarer, } 
 
 terfecl Haberer, (reris or rere, retur. Put. 
 jing. Legerer, £ remur, rernini, rentur. 
 
 Audirer, 3 
 
 Infinitive. 
 
 Prefent & Laudari ' 
 
 Preterm- Haberi I 
 
 perfeff. Legi _ | 
 
 Audiri . 
 
 Prats d. 
 
 To be 
 
 Verbs irregular in feme Tenfes 
 Pajive. 
 
 EDcr, editor, or efiur : The reft is 
 Regular. 
 
 The Verb Fio, is partly of the Third, 
 and partly of the Fourth Conjugation, 
 and hath only the Infinitive of the 
 Paffive Form. 
 
 Indicat. Pref. Sing. Fio, fis, fit, 
 Plur. fimus, fitis, fiunt. Preterimper- 
 feft, Fiebam. Preterperfeft it 'wants. 
 Future Fiam, Sec. 
 
 Imperat. Fi, fito. Plur. file, fitote, 
 Fiant, fiunto. 
 
 Poten. Pref. Fiam, &c. Preter- 
 imperfedt. Fur em. 
 
 Infinit. Fieri. 
 
 Alfo this Verb Fero, is contracted 
 or ftiorten'd in fome Tenfes, both 
 Active and Paffive, as Fers, fert, for 
 fieri s, ferit, &c. 
 
 Indicat. Pref. Sing. Fero, fers, fert, 
 Plu.— -/«"/«»— Preterperfeft. ftuli. 
 
 Imperat, Fer ferto, Sec. Plur. Ferte 
 fcrtote. 
 
 Potent. Preterimperfeft, Ferrem, &c 
 
 Infinit. Ferre. 
 
 Paffive. 
 
 Indie. Pref. Sing. Feror fierris or 
 ferre, fertur. Sec. 
 
 ' Imperat. Sing. Ferre, fiertor, Sec. 
 
 Potent. Preterimperfeft, Ferror. 
 
 Infinit. Ferri. 
 
 Of Gerunds and Supines. 
 
 THere be alfo belonging to the In- 
 finitive Mood of all Verbs cer- 
 tain Voices called Gerunds and Su- 
 pines both of die Aftive and Paffive 
 fignification. 
 
 The firft Gerund endeth in di, as 
 Laudandi of praifing or of being, 
 prais'd. The fecond in do, as Lau- 
 dando in praifing or in being prais'd. 
 The third in dum, as Laudandtim to 
 praifeor to be prais'd. 
 
 Note that in the two latter Conju- 
 gations, the Gerunds end fometimts 
 in undi, do, dum, as dicendi or dicundi: 
 But from Eo always eundi, except in 
 the Compound Ambiendi. 
 
 Supines are two. The firft figni- 
 fieth Aftively, as laudatum to praife ; 
 the latter Paffively, as laudatu to be 
 praifed. Note that moft Neuters of 
 the fecond Conjugation r and volo, nolo, 
 malo, with many other Verbs, have 
 no Supine. 
 
 Verbs of the four Conjugations irre- 
 gular in the Preterperfeft Tenje 
 or Supines. 
 
 V 
 
 Erbs of the firft Conjugation form 
 their Preterperfeft Tenie in 
 avi, Supine in atum, as Laudo laudavi 
 laudatum. 
 
 Except 
 
 Poto potavi pot atum or poium , ncco 
 necavi necatum or tieSutn. 
 
 Homo, tono, fiono, crepo, veto, citbo* 
 form ui, itum, as cubiti cubitum j but 
 jlcui feflum, fricui firitlum, micomicuiz 
 yet fome of thefe are found Regular in 
 the Preterperfeft Tenle or Supine, 
 elpecially compounded, as increpavit y 
 difcrepavit, dimicavit, fionatum, dimica- 
 tum, intcnatum,. infiricatum, and the like. 
 
 Plico and his Compounds form ui or 
 avi, as explicui explicavi, explicitum or 
 explication ; except fupplico, and luch 
 as are compounded with a Noun, as 
 Duplico Muliiplico in avi only. 
 
 But Lavo lavi lautum latum or lava- 
 turn, juvojuvi, adjuvo adjuvi adjutum. 
 
 Do dedi datum, Sto fteti ft atum, in 
 the Compounds, ftiti, Jlituni and 
 fometimes Jlaliim, as Prajio frafiiti 
 prteftitum and prajlatum. 
 
 VErbs of the fecond Conjugation 
 form their Preterperfeft Tenle 
 in ui, their Supine in itum, as habeo 
 habui habitum. 
 
 Some are Regular in their Preterper- 
 feft Tenfe, but not in their Supines, 
 as doceo docui doclum, mificeo mifcui 
 miftum, teneo tenui tentum, tsrreo tor- 
 rui toftum, cenfeo cenfui cenfium, pateo 
 patui paffium, careo carui cajfum and 
 caritum. 
 
 Others
 
 Accedence commend' d Grammar. 
 
 Others are Irregular both in Preter- 
 perfect Tenfe and Supines, as Jubeo 
 juffi juffum, forbeo forbid forpfi forptum, 
 
 raulceo mulfi mulfum, lucco luxi. 
 
 Deo in di, as fedeo fedi fejfum, video 
 vidi vifum, prandeo prandi pranfum. 
 And fome in fi, as fuadeo fuafi fuafum, 
 rideo rifi rifum, ardeo arfi arfum. Four 
 double their firft Letters, as Pendeo pe- 
 pendi penfum, mordeo momordi morfum, 
 fpondeo jpopondi fponfum, tondeo totondi 
 ionfum ; but not in their Compounds, 
 as dependi depenfum. 
 
 Geo mji, and fome in xi, as urgeo 
 urfi, mulgeo mulfi mulxi mulclum, augeo 
 av.xi autlum, indnlgeo indiilfi indultum, 
 frigeo frixi, lugeoluxi. 
 
 leo leo and neo nevi, vieo vievi vie- 
 tum : But cieo cievi citum, deleo delevi 
 dele turn, fieo fievi fie turn, compleo xom- 
 plevi completion ; as alio the Com- 
 pounds of oleo, except redoleo and fub- 
 oleo; but adolevi adultum, neo nevi 
 netum, but maneo manfi, torqueo torfi 
 tortum, bureo baft. 
 
 Veo in vi\ asferveofervi, but defer - 
 "jeo defer bid, conniveo connivi and con- 
 nixi, movi mot urn, vovi votum, cavi 
 cautum, favi fautum. 
 
 THE third Conjugation formeth 
 the Preterperfect Tenfe, by 
 changing O of the Prefent Tenfe into 
 /•, the Supine without certain Rule, as 
 lego legi letlum, bibo bibi bib it um, lambo 
 Iambi, fcabo fcabi, ico ici iilum, mando 
 mandi manfum, pando pandi pafiian, 
 edo edi efum or efium, in like manner 
 comedo, the other Compounds efum 
 onl y ; rudo nidi, [alio fa Hi falfum, pfallo 
 pfalli, emo emi emptum, vifo vifi vifum, 
 verto verti verfum, foho folvi folutum, 
 vclvo volvi volutum, exuo exui exutum, 
 butr«0 ruiruitum, in Compound rutum, 
 as derui derutum ; ingruo, metuo metui. 
 
 Others are irregular both in Preter- 
 perlecl: Tenfe and Supine. 
 
 In bo, fcribo fcripfi fcriptum, nubo 
 nupfi nuptum, cumbo cubui cubitum. 
 
 In co, vinco vici viclum, dico dixi firepui fir epi turn, 
 dicluni; in like manner duco, parco pe- In quo, linquo liqui, relinquo reliqui 
 perci and parfi parfum and partition. reliilum, coquo coxi caelum. 
 
 In do, t he fe three lofe n, findi fidi In Ro, verro verri and verfi verfum, 
 jijfum, fclndo fcidi fciffum, fundo fudi fero to low fevi fatum, in compound, 
 fufian. Theie following, vado, rado, fitum, as infer o infitum ; fero of another 
 lado, ludo, divido, trudo, claudo, plait- lignification moft us'd in his com- 
 do, rodo, fi and fum, as roft rsfum, but pounds, Jffero, ccnfero, defero, exero, 
 cedo ccfii ceffum. The reft double their ferui, fertum, uro uffi ufium, gero geffi 
 firft Letter in the PreterperfecT: Tenfe, gefium, qiuero quafivi quafitum, tero tri- 
 but not compounded, as tundo tutudi vi tritum, curro excurro, prcecurro, cu~ 
 tunfum, contundo contudi contufum, and curri ciirfum, the other comoounds 
 fo in other Compounds. Pendo pepen- double not, as concurro concurn. 
 
 Vol. I. Kkkk In 
 
 di penfum, dependo dependi, tendo teten- 
 di tenfum and tentum, ccntendo conten- 
 di, pedo pepedi peditum, cado cecidi ca- 
 fum, occido, recido recidi recafum. The 
 other Compounds have no Supine. 
 Cado cecidi aefum, occido occidi occifum. 
 To thefe add all the compounds of do 
 in this Conjugation, addc, credo, edo, 
 dedo, reddo, perdo, abdo, obdo, condo, 
 indo, trado, prodo, vendo vendidi ven- 
 ditum, except the double Compound, 
 obfeondo obfeondi. 
 
 In go, ago egi ail urn, dego degi, fata- 
 go fat eg i, frango fregi frail nm\ pango 
 to join pegi paffum, pango to fing pan- 
 xi, ango anxi, jungo junxi junftum\ 
 but thefe five, fingo mingo pingo firin- 
 go ringo lofe n in their Supines, as finxi 
 ficlum, ningo ninxi,figo fixi fixum, ' rego 
 rexi reilum ; dil/go, negligo, inielligo, lexi 
 leclum, fpargo fparfi fparfum. Theli 
 double their firft Letter, tango 
 ta'dum, but not in his Compounds, as 
 contingo contigi, pargo to bargain pe- 
 pigi paclum, pungo and repimgo pupugi 
 and punxi pimilum, the other Com- 
 pounds punxi only. 
 
 Ho in xi, traho traxi traelum, veho 
 vexi veilum. 
 
 In lo, vello velli and vulfi vulfum, cola 
 cchd cultum -, excello, prcccello, cellui cel- 
 jam ; alo add alitum altum. The reft, 
 not compounded, double their firft Let- 
 ter, Folio fefelli falfum, refello refelli, 
 pellopepulipv.lfum, compello compuli, cello 
 cecidi, per cello per culi perculjiperculfum. 
 In mo, vo'mo vomui vomit urn, tremo 
 tremui, premo preffi preffum, como, pre- 
 mo, demo, fumo, after the fame man- 
 ner, asfumpfi, fumptv.m. 
 
 In No, fino fioi fitum, ficrno firavi 
 firatum,fperno fprevi fpretum, lino levi 
 lini and livi liturn, cerno crevi cretum, 
 temno tempfi, contemno contempfi con- 
 temptum, gigno genui genitum, pono,pc- 
 fui pqfitum, cano cecini cantum, concino 
 concinui concentum. ! 
 
 In Po, rumpo rupi ruptum, fcalpo 
 fcalpfi fcalptum ; the reft in «/, firepo 
 
 617
 
 6 j § Accedence comment d Grammar. 
 
 Info, accerfo, arcgo^inceffo, lacfo, as exclude excutio, elno. 
 
 ivi itum, capefjo both i and ivi, pinjo 
 pinfui pi/lum and pir.ftum. 
 
 In fco, pafco favi pafium ; compefco, 
 dfpefco, ui ; pofco popofci, difco did 
 quinifco quexi, nojco novi notum, 
 agnofco agnitum, cognofco cogntium. 
 
 but 
 
 Thefe following change their firft 
 Vowel into i, but not in the Preter- 
 perfeCt Tenfe, and lbmetimes a into e 
 in the Supine, emo, fedeo, rego, frango, 
 capio, jack, lacio, fpecio, premo, as 
 comprimo comprejfi compreffum, conjicio 
 
 In to*'fifto jliti* (latum" feilo flexi conjeti conjefium, pangs in two only, 
 
 flexum, peho pexui pexi pexum and pec- cempingo, imptngo : Ago, m all but per- 
 
 titum, neSo nexui next nexum, pletlo ego, fat ago, circumago dego and cogo 
 
 plexi plexum,ftcrtoftertui, meto meffui coegi: Facto with a Prepofmon only, 
 
 meffm, mitto wife nuffum, peio petivi not in other Compounds, tautfa* 
 
 petitum. 
 
 In vo, vivo vixi viclum. 
 
 In xo, texo texui textum, nexo nexui 
 nexum. 
 
 In cis, facio feci fattum, jacio jca^ 
 jatlum, lacio lent lettum, fpecio fp'exi 
 fpeflum, with their Compounds, but 
 elicio elicui elicit um. 
 
 In dipt fodio fodi foffum. 
 
 In gio, fugio fugi fugitum. 
 
 ln'pio, capio cepi caplum, rapio'ra- 
 pui rapt urn, cupio cupivi cupitum, fapio 
 fapui fapivi fapitum. 
 
 In rio, pario pepcri partum. 
 
 In tio, quatio quaff quaffum, con cut io 
 toncufft concuffum. 
 
 In uo, pluo plui pluvi plutum, Jlruo 
 ftruxi firuSum, fluo fluxi fluxum. 
 
 TH E fourth Conjugation formeth 
 the Preterperfecl Tenfe in hi, 
 the Supine in Hum, 
 
 Except, Venio veni venlum, com- 
 perio, reperio reperi repertum, cambio 
 campficampfum, fepio fepft feptum, far do 
 farfi far turn, fulceo fulfi fultum, fintio 
 ftnfi fenfum, haurio haufi haufium, fan-^ 
 cio fanxi fantlum fanci'.um, vincio vinxi 
 vinSutn, falio Jalui faltum, in Com- 
 pound [ahum, as dejilip defilui defultum, 
 amicio amicui cmclum, aperio, operio 
 perui prrtu-.n, veneo venivi venuvt, fin- 
 gultivlfmgultum, fepeiivi fcpultum. 
 
 Of Verbs Compounded. 
 
 THefe Verbs Compounded change 
 a intoe throughout, Vamno,laSo^ 
 
 facro,fallo, arceo, trat-lo, partio, farcio, 
 carpo, palro, fcando, fpargo, as conjper- 
 go confperji covfperfum. 
 
 Thefe following change their firft 
 Vowel into i, and fome of them their 
 
 olfacio : Lego in thefe only, diligo, eli- 
 go, intclligo, negligo, fiigo, in the reft 
 not, zspralego, add tQ\XhtkfuperJvdeo 4 
 
 Of Verbs c Defoc7ne. 
 
 VErbs called Inceptives ending in 
 fco, borrow their Preterperlecc 
 Tenfe from the Verb wherof they are 
 deriv'd, as tepefco tepid from tepeo, in- 
 gemifco ingemui from ingemo; as alfo 
 thefe Verbs, cerno to ice, vidi from 
 video, fido fedi from fedeo, ferotuli from 
 titlo out of ute, in the Supine latum, 
 tollo fufiuli fiibui'iim from fuffero. 
 
 Thefe want the Preterperfccl: Tenfe. 
 Verbs ending in afco, nspuerafco -, in 
 ifco, as fat fco ; in urio, except parttir 
 rio,. efurio : thefe alio, vergo, ambigo, 
 ferio, fitro, polleo, nidco, have no Pre- 
 terperfefl Tenfe. 
 
 Contrary, thefe four, Odi, arpi, 
 fiovi memini, are found in the Preter- 
 perfecl Tenfe only, and the Tenfes 
 thence deriv'd, as odi, oderam, oderim, 
 odiffcm, odcro, odijjc, except memini, 
 which hath memento mementote in the 
 Imperative. 
 
 Others are defective both in Tenfe 
 and Perfon, as Aio, ais, ait, Plur. aiunt. 
 The Preterimperfecb aiebam is intire. 
 Imperative, ai. Potential, aias, aiat, 
 Plur. aiamus, aiant. 
 
 Aufim for aufus Jim, aujis, aiifit, 
 Plur. an fin t. 
 
 Salveo, falvebis, falvt falveto, faU 
 i'ete falvetote, falvere. 
 
 Ave aveto, avete avetote. 
 
 Faxo, faxis, faxit, faxint. 
 
 §{u£fo, Plur. quafumus. 
 
 Infit, infant. 
 
 Inquio or inquam, inqu'is inquit, Pluf , 
 inqutunt. Inquibat, Cic. Topic, inqui- 
 
 Sapines into e, habeo, latco, falio, Jla- Jli, inquit. Future, inquies, inqmet, Im- 
 
 tno, cado, he do, cano, quaro, cado, 
 o, egeo', ten'eo, tacco, fapio, rapio, 
 placco, difpliceo, difplicui dfplicitum ; 
 except, ccmplacco pcrplaceo pofihabeo. 
 
 Scalpo, calco, falto, change a into u, 
 as exculpo ; clau'do quatio lavo lofe a 
 
 perat. Inque inquito. Potent, lnquiat. 
 
 Dor the firft Perfon Paffive of do, 
 and for before fapris ovfarre in the In- 
 dicative, are not read, nor der or fer 
 in the Potential. 
 
 Of
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 619 
 
 Of a Tarticiple. 
 
 A Participle is a part of Speech, par- 
 taking with the Verb from 
 whence it is deriv'd in Voice, Tenfe, 
 and Signification, and with a Noun 
 Adjective in manner of Declining. 
 
 Participles are either of the Active 
 or Paffive Voice. 
 
 Of the Active Two. One of the 
 Prefent Tenfe ending in ans, or ens, as 
 laudans praifing, hakens, legem, audiens, 
 and is declin'd like/^//.v, as hie hcec & 
 hoc habens, Gen. habentis, Dat. haben- 
 ti, &c. Docens decentis, &c. But from 
 ■eo, euns, and in the compounds tens eun- 
 tis, except ambiens ambient is. Note that 
 fome. Verbs otherwife defective, have 
 this Participle, as aiens, inquiens. 
 
 The other of the Future Tenfe is 
 moil commonly form'd of the firft Su- 
 pine, by changing m into rus, as of 
 laudatum laudaturus to praife or about 
 to praife, habitants, letlurus, auditurus ; 
 but fome are not regularly form'd, as 
 of ' feclum fecaturus, oijutum juvaturus, 
 fonitum foniturus, par turn par items', ar- 
 gutum arguiturus, and inch like; of fum, 
 futurus : This, as alio the other two 
 Participles following are declin'd like 
 bonus. 
 
 . This Participle, with the Verb Sum, 
 affordeth a fecond Future in the Active 
 Voice, as laudaturus fum, es, eft, &c. 
 as alio the Future of the Infinitive, as 
 laudaturum efje to praife hereafter, fu- 
 turum ejfe, &c. 
 
 Participles of the Paffive Voice are 
 alio two,one of the PreterperfedtTenfe, 
 another of the Future. 
 
 A Participle of the Preterperfect 
 Tenfe, is form'd of the latter lupine, 
 by putting thereto.?, as of laudatu lau- 
 datus prais'd, of habitu habitus, leciu 
 kilns, auditu auditus. 
 
 This Participle join'd with the Verb 
 Sunt, fupplieth the want of a Preter- 
 perfect and Preterpluperfect Tenfe in 
 the Indicative Mood paffive, and both 
 them and the Future of the Potential ; 
 as alio the Preterperfect and Preterplu- 
 perfect of the Infinitive, and with ire or 
 fore the Future ; as laudatus fum or fui 
 I have been prais'd, Plur. laudati fumus 
 or fui mus we have been prais'd, lauda- 
 tus eram or fueram, &c. Potential, 
 laudatus fum or fueri in, laudatus ejjem or 
 fuijfem, laudatus cro or fuero. Infinit. 
 laudatum ejfe or fuiffe to have or had 
 been prais'd; laudatum ire or fare .to be 
 prais'd hereafter. 
 
 Nor only Paffives, but fome Actives 
 alfo or Neuters, befides their own Pre- 
 terperfect Tenfe borrow another from 
 this Participle ; Cceno Ccenavi and Ctena- 
 tus fum, Juravi and Juratus, Potavi and 
 Pot us fum, Titubavi and titubatus, Careo 
 carui caffusfum,Prandeoprandi-xno\pran - 
 fus, Pateopalui and pajfus fum, Placeopla- 
 cui placitus, Suefco fuevi fuetus fum, Libet 
 libuit and libitum eft, Licet licuit licitum, 
 Pudet puduit puditum, Piget piguit pigi- 
 tum, T<edet taduit pertirfian eft, and this 
 DeponentM?ra?r mcrui imdmeritusfum. 
 
 Thefe Neuters following, like Paf- 
 fives, have no other Preterperfect 
 Tenfe, but by this Participle, Gaudeo 
 gavifus fum, fidofifus, av.deo aufus, fio, 
 f actus, fcleo folitus fum. 
 
 Thefe Deponents alfo form this Pa; 
 
 ticiple from Supines irregular; La 
 
 bor lapfus, patior paffus, perpeliorperpef. 
 
 fus,fateorfaffus, confiteor, diff.teor diffef- 
 
 jus, gradior greffus, ingredior ingrefjus, 
 
 fatifcor feffus, metior mer.fus, utor ufus, 
 
 ordior to fpin orditus, to begin orfus, 
 
 nitor nifus and nixus, ulcifcor ultus, ira- 
 
 fcor iratus, reor rat us, oblivifcor oblitus, 
 
 fruor f mil us or fruit us, mifefeormifsrtus, 
 
 tuor and tueor tuitus, loquor locutus, fe- 
 
 quor fecutus, experior expert us, pacifcor 
 
 pailus, nancifccr nailus, apifcor aplus, 
 
 adipifcor adeptus, queror quejhis, proficif 
 
 cor profecJus, expergifcor experreilus, 
 
 comminifcor commentus, nafcor natus^ 
 
 morior mortuus, orior ortus fum. 
 
 A Participle of the Future PaiTive is 
 form'd of the Gerund in dum, by chang- 
 ing m into s, as of laudandum laudandus 
 tobe prais'd, of habendum habendus, &c. 
 And likewife of this Participle with the 
 Verb Sum, may be form'd the lame 
 Tenfes in the Paffive, which were form'd 
 with the Participle of the Preterper- 
 fect Tenfes, as laudandus fum or fui, &c. 
 
 Infinit. Laudandum ejfe or fore. 
 
 Of Verbs Deponent come Participles 
 both of the Active and Paffive form, as 
 loquor loquens locutus locuturus loquendus ; 
 wherof the Participle of the Prefer 
 Tenfe fignifieth fometimes both Active- 
 ly and Paffively, as dignatus, tejlatus t 
 meditatus, and the like. 
 
 Of an Adverb. 
 
 AN Adverb is a part ofSpeech join'd 
 with fome other to explain its fig- 
 nification,as valde probus very honeft,£c- 
 ne eft it is well, valde doilus very learn- 
 ed, bene -mane early in the morning. 
 
 Of Adverbs, fome be of Time, as 
 hodie to day, eras to morrow, &c. 
 
 K k k k .'. Spme
 
 620 
 
 Accedence commenc d Grammar. 
 
 Some be of Place, as Ubi where, ibi 
 there, &c. And of many other forts 
 needlefs to be here fet down. 
 
 Certain Adverbs alfo are compar'd, 
 as Docle learnedly, doclius docli£\mc, 
 fortiter fortius fortijfime, Jape fa-pius 
 fapijjime, and the like. 
 
 Of a Conjunction. 
 
 A Conjunction is a part of Speech 
 that joineth Words and Senten- 
 ces together. 
 
 OfConjun&ionsfomebeCopulatives, 
 
 as fe? and, quoque alfo, nee neither. 
 
 Some be disjunctive, as aut or. 
 
 Some be Caufal, as nam for, quia 
 becaufe, and many fuch like. 
 
 Adverbs when they govern Mood 
 andTenfe, and join Sentences together, 
 as cum, ubi, pojtquam, and the like, are 
 rather to be call'd Conjunctions. 
 
 Of a T rep oft ion. 
 
 APrepofition is a part of Speech 
 moft commonly, either fet before 
 Nouns in Appofition, as adpatrem, or 
 join'd with any other words in Com- 
 pofition, as indollus. 
 
 Thefe fix, di, dis, re, fe, am, con, 
 are not read but in Compofition. 
 
 As Adverbs having Cafes after them, 
 may be call'd Prepofitions, fo Prepofi- 
 tions having none, may be counted 
 Adverbs. 
 
 Of an Interjection. 
 
 AN Interjection is a part of Speech, 
 expreliing fome paffion of the 
 mind. 
 
 Some be of forrow, as beu, hei. 
 
 as papce. 
 as vah. 
 Some of praifing, as euge. 
 Some of exclaiming, as<?, proh, and 
 fuch like. 
 
 In the end, as Dicier for diet. Para- 
 
 g°g e - 
 
 Diminija'd 
 
 In the beginning, as Ruit for Eruii. 
 Apherifis. 
 
 In the middle, as Audiit for Audi* 
 -oit, Dixti for dixijli, Lamua for /«- 
 mina. Syncope. 
 
 In the end, as Confili for ccnfiUi ; 
 fcin for fcifne. Apocope. 
 
 The fecond Part of Grammar, 
 
 commonly called Syntaxis, 
 or ConJlruEiion. 
 
 Some be of marvelling, 
 Some of difdaining, 
 
 Figures of Speech. 
 
 WOrds arefometimes encreas'd or 
 diminifli'd by a Letter or Syl- 
 lable in the beginning, middle or 
 ending, which are call'd Figures of 
 Speech. 
 
 Encreas'd 
 In the beginning, as Gnatus for Na- 
 tus, Tetuli for tuli. Prothefis. 
 
 In the middle,as Rettulit for Retulit, 
 Cintlutus for Cintlus. Epenthefis. 
 
 'Itherto the Eight Parts of 
 Speech DecIinM and Unde- 
 clin'd have been fpoken of 
 fingle, and each one by it iell : Now 
 followeth Syntaxts or Conjlruclion, 
 which is the right joining of thefe 
 parts together in a Sentence. 
 
 Conftruction confifteth either in the 
 agreement of words together in Num- 
 ber, Gender, Cafe, and Perfon, 
 which is call'd Concord ; or the go- 
 verning of one the other in fuch Cafe 
 or Mood as is to follow. 
 
 Of the Concords. 
 
 THere be Three Concords or A- 
 greements. 
 
 The Firji is of the Adjective with 
 his Subftantive. 
 
 The Second is of the Verb with 
 his Nominative Cafe. 
 
 The Third is of the Relative with 
 his Antecedent. 
 
 An Adjective (under which is com- 
 prehended both Pronoun and Partici- 
 ple) with his Subftantive or Subftah- 
 tives, a Verb with his Nominative Cafe 
 or Cafes, and a Relative with his An- 
 tecedent or Antecedents, agree ail in 
 number, and the two latter in perfon 
 alfo: as Amicus certus. Viri docli. Pre- 
 ceptor pr (elegit, vos vero negligitis. Xe- 
 nophon fe? Plato fuere aqu&les. Vit fit- 
 fit, qui pauca loquitur. Paler fe? Pre- 
 ceptor veniunt. Yea though the Con • 
 junction be disjunctive, as Quos neqtie 
 de/idia v.eque luxuria vitiaverant. Celliis. 
 Pater fe? Praceptor, quos quceriiis. But 
 if a Verb lingular follow many Nomi- 
 natives, it muff, be applied to each of 
 them apart, as Nififoro fe? curia officium 
 ac verecundia fua conftiterit . Val. Max. 
 
 An Adjective with his Subftantive, 
 and a Relative with his Antecedent 
 
 agtee-
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 621 
 
 agree in Gender and Cafe ; but the Re- 
 lative not in Cafe always, being oft- 
 times govern'd by other conftruclions: 
 as Amicus cert us in re incerta cernitur. 
 Liber quern dedijli mihi. 
 
 And if it be a Participle fcrvingthe 
 Infinitive Mood future, it oft-times a- 
 grees not with the Subftantive neither 
 in Gender nor in Number, as Hancfibi 
 rem prafidio fperat futurum. Cic. Audi- 
 erat non datum ire filio Uxorem. Terent. 
 Omnia potius aclum iri puto quam dc pro- 
 vinciis. Cic. 
 
 Bat when a Verb cometh between 
 two Nominative Cafes not of the fame 
 number, or a Relative between two 
 Subftantives not of the fame Gender, 
 the Verb in Number, and the Relative 
 in Gender may agree with either of 
 them ; as Amantium ira amoris inte- 
 gratio eft. Quid enim nifivota fupcrfunt. 
 Tuentur ilium globum qui terra dicitur. 
 Animal plenum rationis, quern vocamus 
 hominem. Lutetia eft quam nos Parifios 
 dicimus. 
 
 And if the Nominative Cafes be of 
 feveral Perfons, or the Subftantives 
 and Antecedents of feveral Genders, 
 the Verb fhall agree with the fecond 
 perfon before the third, and with the 
 firft before either ; and fo fhall the 
 Adjective or Relative in their Gender; 
 as Ego & tu fumus in tuto. Tu £5" Pater 
 periclitamini. Pater & Mater mortui 
 funt. Prater if> Sorer quos vidifti. 
 
 But in things that have not life, an 
 Adjeclive or Relative of the Neuter 
 Gender, may agree with Subft.intives 
 or Antecedents,Mafculine or Feminine, 
 or both together ; as Arms cs? calami 
 funt bona. Arcus £5* calami qua frcgifti. 
 Pulcritudinem, conftantiam, ordinem in 
 Confiliis fablifque confervanda put at. Cic. 
 Off. 1 . Ira ex? agritudo permifta funt . Sal. 
 Note that the Infinitive Mood, or 
 any part of a Sentence may be inftead 
 of a Nominative Cafe to the Verb, or 
 of a Subftantive to the Adjective, or of 
 an Antecedent to the Relative, and 
 then the Adjeclive or Relative lhall be 
 of the Neuter Gender : And if there 
 be more parts of a Sentence than one, 
 the Verb fhall be in the plural number; 
 Diluculo furgere faluberrimum eft. Vir- 
 t ut em ftqiii, vita eft honeftijfima. Au- 
 dito proconfulem in Ciliciam tenders. In 
 tempore veni, quod omnium rerum eft pri- 
 mum. Tu tnultum dormis & fepe potas, 
 qiuc duo funt corpori inimica. 
 
 Sometimes alfo an Adverb is put for 
 the Nominative Cafe to a Verb, and 
 for a Subftantive to an Adjeclive •, as 
 
 Partim fgnorum funt combufta. Propecen- 
 ties (y vicies erogatum eft. Cic. verr. 4. 
 Sometimes alfo agreement, whether 
 it be in Gender or Number, is ground- 
 ed on the fenfe, not on the words ; as 
 Ilium fenium for ilium fenem. Iftefcelus 
 for iftefceleftus. Ter. Tranftulit in Eu- 
 nuchumfuam, meaning Comcediam. Ter. 
 Pars magna obligati, meaning Homines. 
 Liv. Impliciti laqtieis nudus uterque for 
 Ambo. Ov. Alter in alterius jaclantes 
 lamina vultus. Ovid, that is, Alter & 
 alter. Infperanti ipfi refers te nobis, for 
 mihi. Catul. Difce cmnes. Virg. Mn. 2. 
 for tu quifquis es. Dua import una prodi- 
 gia, quos egeftas tribunoplebis conftritios 
 addixerat. Cic. pro Seft. Pars merfi te- 
 nuere ratem. Rhemus cum [rat re Quirino 
 jura dabant. Virg. that is, Rhemus & 
 frater §>uirintis. Divellimur inde Ipbitus 
 &? Pelias mecum. Virs. 
 
 ConJIrttBion of Subftantives. 
 
 Hitherto of Concord or Agreement; 
 the other part followeth, which 
 is Governing, wherby one part of Speech 
 is govern'd by another, that is to fay, 
 is put in fuch Cafe or Mood as the 
 word that governeth or goeth before 
 in Construction requireth. 
 
 When two Subitantives come toge- 
 ther, betokening divers things, wher- 
 of the former may be an Adjeclive in 
 the Neuter Gender taken for a Subftan- 
 tive, the latter (which alfo may be a 
 Pronoun) fhall be in the Genitive Call ; 
 as Facundia Ciceronis. Amator ftudio- 
 rum. Ferimur per opaca locorum. Cor- 
 ruptus vanis rerum. Hor. Defulerium 
 tut Pater ejus. 
 
 Sometimes the former Subftantive, as 
 this word Ojficium or Mos, is under- 
 ftood •, as Oratoris eft, It is the part of 
 an Orator. Extreme eft dementia, It is 
 the manner of extream madnefs. Ignavi 
 eft, It is the quality of a flothful man. 
 Uoi adDianc veneres ; Temphim is under- 
 itood. Juftiticene prius mirer bclline h~ 
 borum. Virg. Underftand Caufd. Ne- 
 que illifepqfui C;cer':s,neque longa: invid.t 
 avence. Hor. Supply partem. 
 
 But if both the Subftantives be fpoken 
 of one thing, which is cali'd appofition, 
 they fhall be both of the lame Cafe ; as 
 Pater mens vlr, amat me puerum. 
 
 Words that fignify Quality, fol- 
 lowing the Subftantive wherof they are 
 fpoken, may be put in the Genitive or 
 Ablative Cafe ; as Piter bonce indolis, or 
 bona indole. Some have a Genitive on- 
 ly ; as Ingen'is Refs noiuiris. Liv. De- 
 cern
 
 622 
 
 Accedence commend d Grammar. 
 
 tern dnnorum puer. Hnjufmodi pax. Hit- 
 jus generis animal. But genus is fome- 
 timesin the Accufative: as Si hoc genus 
 rebus non prqficitur. Varr. de re ruft. 
 And the caufe or manner of a thing in 
 the Ablative only ; as Sum tibi natv.ra 
 parens, praceptor confiliis. 
 
 Opus and Ufus when they fignify 
 Need, require an Ablative ; as Opus 
 eft mihi tuo jttdicio. Viginti minis ufus 
 ejlfilio. But Opus is fometimes taken 
 for an Adjective undeclin'd, and figni- 
 fieth Needful : as Dux nobis 13 Author 
 cpus eft. Alia qua opus funt para. • 
 
 Confiruclion of Adjectives, govern- 
 ing a Genitive. 
 
 ADjeclives that fignify Defire, 
 Knowledge, Ignorance,Remem- 
 brance, Forgetfulnels, and fuch like ; 
 as alfo certain others deriv'd from 
 Verbs, and ending in ax, require a Ge- 
 nitive ; as Cupidus auri. Peritus belli. 
 Ignarus omnium. Memor prater iti. Re- 
 us furti. Tenax propofiti, Tempus edax 
 rerum. 
 
 Adjectives call'd Nouns Partitive, 
 becaufe they fignify part of fome whole 
 quantity or number, govern the word 
 that fignifieth the thing parted or di- 
 vided, in the Genitive ; as Alquis no- 
 strum. Primus omnium. Aurium mol- 
 lior eft finiftra. Oratorum eloquentifftmus. 
 And oft in the Neuter Gender; as 
 Multum lucri. Id negotii. Hoc notlis. 
 Sometimes, though feldom, a word fig- 
 nifying the whole, is read in the fame 
 Cafe with the Partitive, as Habet duos 
 gladics quibus altera te occifurum minatur, 
 altero vllicum, Plaut. for Quorum al- 
 tera. Magnum opus habeo in manibus; 
 quod jampridem ad hunc ipfum (me autem 
 dicebat)quadam inftitui. Cic. Acad. i. 
 Quod qucdam for cujus quadam. 
 
 A Native. 
 
 ADjedtives that betoken Profit or 
 Difprofit, Likenefs or Unlike- 
 neis, Fitnefs, Pleafure, Submitting, or 
 belonging to any thing, require a Da- 
 tive ; as Labor eft utilis corpori. Equalis 
 Hetlori. Idoneus bello. J ucundus omnibus. 
 Parentifupplex. Mihi proprium. 
 
 But fuch as betoken Profit or Dif- 
 profit have fometimes an Accufative 
 with a Prepofition •, as Homo ad nullam 
 partem utilis. Cic. Inter fe aquales. 
 
 And fome Adjectives fignifyingLike- 
 nefs,Unlikenefs, or Relation, may have 
 a Genitive. Parhujus. Ejus culpa affines. 
 
 Domini fimilis es. Commune animantbm 
 eft covjunBionis appetitus. Alienum digni- 
 tatis ejus. Cic. Fin. i. Fuit hoc quondam 
 proprium populi Romani longe a donn 
 bellare. But proprior and proximus ad- 
 mit fometimes an Accufative ; as proxi- 
 mus Pompeium fedebam. Cic. 
 
 An Accufative. 
 
 NOuns of Meafure are put after 
 Adjectivesof like fignification in 
 the Accufative, and fometimes in the 
 Ablative ; as Turris alt a centum pedes. 
 Arbor lata tres digitos. Liber craffus 
 trcs pollices, or tribus poilicibus. Some- 
 times in the Genitive; as Areas la! as 
 pedum denum facito. 
 
 Ail words exprefiing part or parts of 
 a thing, may be put in the Accufative, 
 or fometimes in the Ablative ; as Sau- 
 cius front em or j 'route. Excepto quod non 
 fimul effes cetera la-tus. Hor. Nuda pe- 
 dem. Ov. Os humercfque d;o fimilis. 
 Virg. Sometimes in the Genitive ; ;«s 
 Dubius mentis. 
 
 An Ablative. 
 
 ADjectives of the Comparative de- 
 gree englilh'd with this fign then 
 or bv, as alfo Dignus, Indignus,Prdditus, 
 Ccnten'.us, andthefe words or Price, Cd- 
 rus,vilis, require an Ablative; as Fri- 
 gidior glacie . Multo doilior. Uno pea: 
 altior. Dignus honor e. Virtute pra-ditus, 
 Sortefua contentus. Affe charum. 
 
 But of Comparatives, plus, amplius, 
 andininus, may govern a Genitive ; alio 
 a Nominative, or an Accufative ; as 
 Plus quinquaginta hominum. Amplius du- 
 orum mi Ilium. Ne plus tertia pars exi- 
 matur mellis . Varr o. Paulo plus quingen- 
 tospaffus. Ut exfua cujufque parte ne mi- 
 nus drmidium ad fratrem perveniret . Cic. 
 Verr. 4. And Dignus, Indignns, have 
 fometimes a Genitive after them ; as 
 Militia eft operis altera digna tut. In- 
 dignus avorum. Virg. 
 
 Adjectives betokening Plenty or 
 Want, will have an Ablative, and 
 fometimes a Genitive ; as Vacuus ira, or 
 ira. Nulla Epiftola inanis re aliqua. Di- 
 tifjmus agri. Stultorum plena funt omnia. 
 Integer vita, fcelerifque pur us. Expers 
 omnium. Vobis immumbus hujus effe moli 
 dabitur. 
 
 "Words alfo betokening the caufe, 
 or form, or manner of a thing, are 
 put after Adjectives in the Ablative 
 Cafe ; as Pallidus ira. Trepidus mcrtz 
 fittura. Nomine Gramnaticus, re E> 
 bar us. 
 
 Of
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 623 
 
 Of Tronouns. 
 
 PRonouns differ not in Conftruction 
 from Nouns, except that Poffcf- 
 fives, Mats, tuus, funs, nofter, vefler, 
 by a certain manner of Speech, are fome- 
 tlmes join'd to a Subitantive, Which 
 governs their Primitive underftood 
 with a Noun or Participle in a Genitive 
 Cafe •, as Dico mea unius opera rempubli- 
 cam ejfc liberatam, Cic. for Mei unius 
 opera. In like manner Noftra duorum, 
 iriuin, paucorum, omnium virtute, for 
 noftrum duorum, &c. Mcum folius pecca- 
 tum, Cic. Ex tuo ipfus animo, for Tui 
 ipfins. Ex fur, 1 ujufque parte, Id. verr. 2. 
 l\'e tua quidem retentidproximi Pi at oris 
 ^iaperfequi polerat. Cic. verr. 4. Si 
 5 pr.vfentis preees nan put as profuiffe, 
 id. Pro Plane. Nojtros vidijti flcv.iis 
 ocellos. Ovid. 
 
 Alfo a Relative, as qui or is, fdrrie- 
 times anlwers to an Antecedent Noun 
 or Pronoun Primitive underftood in the 
 Pofleffive ; as Omnes laudare fortunes 
 meas quifilium haberem tali ingenio pr<e- 
 diium. Terent. 
 
 V 
 
 GonfkruElion of Verbs. 
 
 Erbs for the raoft part govern ei- 
 ther one cafe atter them, or 
 more than one in a different manner of 
 Conftruftion. 
 
 Of the Verb Subftant'rce Sum, and 
 
 fitch like, with a Nominative 
 
 and other oblique Cafes. 
 
 VErbs that fignify Being, as Sum, 
 jfo, fio -, and certain Paffives, 
 as dicor,vocor, falutor, appellor, babepr^ 
 imor, videsr; alfo Verbs of motion 
 or reft, as incedo, uifedo, fedeo, with 
 fuch like, will have a Nominative 
 Cafe after them, as they have before 
 them, becaufe both Cafes belong to 
 the lame perfon or thing, and the 
 latter is rather in appofition with the 
 former, than govern'd by the Verb ; as 
 Temperantia eft virtus. Horatius, fa* 
 iutatur Poeta. Aft ego qua di ... incedo 
 reginat 
 
 And if eft be an Imperfonal, it may 
 fometimes govern a Genitive, as Ujhs 
 Poeta, tit maris eft i Ucentia. Phaedrus 
 1. 4. Negavit maris ejfe Grcccorum ut 
 &c. Cir. Verr. 2. 
 
 But if the fallowing Noun be of ano- 
 ther perfon, or not directly fpoken of 
 
 the former, both after Sum and all his 
 Compounds, except pojjum, it fhall be 
 put in the Dative-, as Eft mibi Ami fa- 
 ter. Mult a petentibus defunt mulu ' 
 
 And if a thing be fpoken of, rela- 
 ting to the perfon, ic may be alfo in the 
 Dative •, as Sum tibi trxf.dio. Hcc res 
 eft mibi voluptati. Quorum alteri Capi- 
 toni cognomen fuit . Cic. Pafte 
 Fauftulo fuiffe ferunt. Liv. 
 
 Of Verbs Tratifttives'with an Accu- 
 fative, and the Exceptions 
 thereto.belo'iiging. 
 
 VErbs Active or Deponent, cal ' I 
 Tfanfitive, bee; ir action 
 
 paffeth forth on fome j 
 will have an Accufative after them of 
 the perfon or thing to wham the aftiori 
 is done ; asAmote. Vi uge. Dsum 
 
 venerare. U 'us promptosfacit. Juvat me. 
 Opart et te. 
 
 Alfo Verbs call'd Neuters, may 
 hive an Accufative of their own figni- 
 fi cation •, as Bur am fqrvit fervit'uiem. 
 Longam ire via,;?. £,. 
 dormis. Paftillos Rufillus clct. Nee 
 
 ■ .em fpnat. CumGlau.cum 
 Paterc. Agit latum convivam. Horat. 
 Hcc me, latet. 
 
 But thefe Verbs, though Trar, fit ive, 
 Mifereor and Miferefco, pals into a 
 Genitive; as Mferere^mei. Sometimes 
 into a Dative : lluie mifereor. Sen. Di- 
 lige bonos, nvferefce malts. Boet. 
 
 Remhufcor, Oblivijeor, Recorder, ana 
 Memini, fometimes alio require a Geni- 
 tive ; as Data fidei reminifcitur. Me- 
 mini tui. Oblivifcor cerminis. Some- 
 time retain the Accufative ; as Reccr- 
 dor pueritiam. Omnia qua cur ant , 
 meminerunt. Plant. 
 
 Thefe Imperfonals alfo, intereft 
 refert, fignifying to concern, r 
 Genitive, except in thefe Ablatives 
 Feminine, Mea, tua, fua, noft 
 tra, cuja. And the meafure of con- 
 cernment is often added in thefe Geni- 
 tives, mqgni,parvi, tanti, quanti, with 
 their Compounds j as Intersil omnium 
 retle agere. Tua refert : nqffe. 
 
 Veftra parvi ink . 
 
 But Verbs of Profiting drDifprpfi- 
 ting, Believing, PL-aiing, < 
 Oppofing, or being angry with, pais 
 into a Dative ; as nan poles mibi commo- 
 dare nee incemmodarc, Plaeeo omnibus.' 
 'e mibi. Nitniutn ne crede color i. 
 Pareo parent thus. Tibi refiigno. Adole- 
 fcenti nihil eft quod fuccenfeat. But of 
 
 the
 
 624 
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 the firft and third fort, Juvo, adjuvo, 
 Udo, offendo, retain an Accusative. 
 
 Laftly, thefe Tranfitives, fungor, 
 fruor, utor, potior, and Verbs betoken- 
 ing want, pafs direct into an Ablative. 
 Fungitur officio. AUena frui infania. 
 Were forte tua. But fungor, frit or, utor, 
 had anciently an Accufative. Verbs of 
 want, and potior, may have alio a Ge- 
 nitive. Pecuniae indiget. Quofi tu hu- 
 jus indigeas patris. Potior Urbe, or 
 Urbis. 
 
 Sometimes a phrafe of the fame Sig- 
 nification with a fingle Verb, may 
 have the Cafe of the Verb after it; as 
 Id operam do, that is to fay, id ago. 
 Idne eft is author esmihi ? for idfuadetis. 
 Quid me vobis tatlio eft ? for tangitis. 
 Plaut. Quid tibi banc curatio eft rem ? 
 Id. 
 
 The Accufative with a Genitive. 
 
 Hitherto of Tranfitives governing 
 their Accufative, or other Cafe, 
 in fingle and direcl: Conftrucftion : 
 Now of fueh as may have alter them 
 more Cafes than one in Construction 
 direct and oblique, that is to fay, with 
 an Accufative, a Genitive, Dative, 
 other Accufative, or Ablative. 
 
 Verbs of efteeming, buying or fel- 
 ling, befides their Accufative, will have 
 a Genitive betokening the value ol 
 price, flocci, nihili, pili, hujus; and the 
 like after Verbs of efteeming : Tanti, 
 quanti, pluris, minoris, and luch like, 
 put without a Subftantive, after Verbs 
 of buying or felling ; as Non hujus te 
 eftimo. Ego ilium flocci pendo. ALqui 
 boni hoc facio or confulo. Quanti merca- 
 tus es hunc equum ? Pluris quam vettem. 
 But the word of Value is fometimes 
 in theAblative -, as Parvi or parvo tffti- 
 mas probitatem. And the word of Price 
 moft ufually ; as Teruncio eum non erne- 
 rim. And particularly in thefe Adjec- 
 tives, Vili, paulo, mimmo, magno, nimio, 
 plurinw, duplo, put without a Subftan- 
 tive, as Vili, vendo triticum. Redimite 
 captum quam queas minimo. And fome- 
 times minor e tor minoris. Nam a delio 
 fropinqui minore ccnteffimis nummum 
 movere non poffunt. Cic. Att. 1. 1. But 
 Verbs Neuter or Paflive have only the 
 oblique Cafes after them ; as Tanti e- 
 ris aliis, quanti tibi fueris. Pudor 
 parvi penditur. Which is alfo to be 
 obferv'd in the following Rules. 
 
 And this Neuter Valeo governeth the 
 word of value in the Accufative ; as 
 Denarii dicli quod denos arts valebant. 
 Varr. 
 
 Verbs of admonifhing, accufing, con- 
 demning, acquitting, will have, befides 
 their Accufative, a Genitive of the 
 Crime, or Penalty, or Thing-, as Ad- 
 monuit me err at i. Accufas me furti? 
 Vatemfceleris damnai. Fur em dujii con- 
 demnavit. And fometimes an Ablative 
 with a Prepofition, or without ; as 
 Condemnabo eodem ego te criming, Accu- 
 fas furti, anftupri, an utroque ? De repe- 
 lundis accufavit, or damnavit. Cic. 
 
 Alfo thefe Imperfonals, ■ptsaitet^t/e- 
 det, miferet, mijcrefcit, pttdet, fig'et 9 to 
 their Accufative will have a Genitive, 
 either of the pcrfon, or of ihs thing; 
 as Noftri nofmet. pcenitct. Urbis me 
 t.fdet. Miferet me tui. Pudci me ■'.egli- 
 gentia. 
 
 An Accufative with a TDath?. 
 
 V 
 
 Erbs of giving or reftoring, pro- 
 mifing or paying, commanding 
 or Shewing, milling or threat'ning, add 
 to their Accufative a Dative ol theper- 
 fon ; as Fcrtuna multis nintium dedit. 
 H.-ec tibi prcmitto. /Es all en am mibi nu- 
 meravit, Frumentum imperat civilati- 
 bus. Quod C? cui dicas, videio. I Joe tibi 
 fuadeo. 'Tibi or ad te fcribo. Pecuniatlt 
 omnem tibi credo. Utrique mortem mina- 
 tus eft. 
 
 To thefe add Verbs Active com- 
 pounded with thefe Prepofuions, pre, 
 ad, ab, con, de, ex, ante, fib, poji, ob, in 
 and inter ; as Pracipio hoc tibi. Admo- 
 vit urbi exercitum. College fuo imperiam 
 abrogavit. Sic parvis cotnponere ?,:agna 
 folebam. 
 
 Neuters have a Dative only -, r.s Meis 
 major ibusvi r!:it e pr<sluxi. Butlomecom- 
 pounded with/>r.-? and ante may have art 
 Accufative; as P rcejl at ingenio alius ali- 
 um. Multos- anteit fapientia. Others 
 with a Prepofition ; as- Quee ad ventris 
 viclum conducunt. In hac Jludia incum- 
 bite. Cic. 
 
 Alio all VerbsAdtive, betokening ac- 
 quifition, likening or relation, com- 
 monly engliftj'd with to or for, have to 
 their Accufative a Dative of the per- 
 fon ; as Magnam laudem fibi peperit. 
 Huic habco non tibi. Se tills <equarunt. 
 Expedi mibi hoc negotium : but mibi tibi 
 fibi, fometimes are added for eiegar.ee, 
 the fenfe not requiring ; as Sua tunc 
 fibi jugulat gladio . Terent. Neuters 2 
 Dative only ; as Ncn omnibus dormio. 
 Libet mibi. Tibi licet. 
 
 SometimesaVerbTranfuivewillhave 
 to his Accufative a double Dative, one 
 of the perfon, another of the thing ; 
 
 45
 
 Accedence commencd Grammar. 
 
 as Do tiki veftem pignori. Verto hoc tibi 
 vitio. Hoc tu tibi laudi ducts. 
 
 A double Accufative. 
 
 VErbs of asking, teaching, array- 
 ing, and concealing, will have 
 two Accufatives, one of the perfon, 
 another of the thing •, as Rogo te pen ■ 
 mam. Doceo te litems. §uod te jamdu- 
 dum hortor. Induit fe calceos. Hoc me 
 celabas. 
 
 And being Paffives, they retain one 
 Accufative of the thing, as Stunt unique 
 recingitur anguem. Ovid. Met. 4. In- 
 duitur togam. Mart. 
 
 But Verbs of arraying fometimes 
 change the one Accufative into an Ab- 
 lative or Dative ; as In duo te tunica, 
 or tibi tunicani. Inftravit equutn penttla, 
 or equo penulam. 
 
 An Accufative with an Ablative. 
 
 VErbs Tranfitive may have to their 
 Accufative an Ablative of the in- 
 ftrument or caufe, matter, or manner 
 of doing ; and Neuters the Ablative 
 only-, as Ferit eum gladio. Taceometu. 
 Malis gaudet alienis. Stunma eloquent ia 
 caufam egit. Capitolium faxo quadrato 
 fubftruclian eft. Tuo confilio nit or. Vef- 
 cor pane. Affluis opibus. Amore abun- 
 das. Sometimes with a Prepofition of 
 the manner •, as Summa cum humanitate 
 me tratlavit. 
 
 Verbs of endowiug, imparting, de- 
 priving, dicharging, filling, empty- 
 ing, and the like, will have an Ablative, 
 and fometimes a Genitive; as Denote hoc 
 annulo. Plurima falute te impertit. Ali- 
 quemfamiliaremfuofermoneparticipavit. 
 Paternum fervum fui participavit confi- 
 lii. Inter dico tibi aqua & igni. Libera te 
 hoc metu. Implentur veteris Bacchi. 
 
 Alio Verbs of comparing or ex- 
 ceeding, will have an Ablative of the 
 excefs ; as Pr.cfero hunc multis gradi- 
 bus. Magna intervallo cum fuperat. 
 
 Alter all manner of Verbs, the word 
 fignifying any part of a thing, may be 
 put in the Genitive, Accufative or 
 Ablative ; as Abfurdefacis qui angas te 
 animi. Pendct animi. Difcrucior ani- 
 mi. Dcfipit mentis. Candet dentes. 
 Rubet capillos. Mgrotat animo, magis 
 quara corpcre. 
 
 Nouns of Time and Place after 
 Verbs. 
 
 NOuns betokening part of time, be 
 put after Verbs in the Ablative, 
 and fometimes in the Accufative ; as 
 Vol. I. 
 
 Noble vigilas, luce dormis. Nullum par- 
 tem noclis requiefcit. Cic. Abhinc trien- 
 nium ex Aniiro commigrauit. Ter. Re- 
 fpondit triduo ilium, ad fummum quatri- 
 duo periturum. Cic. Or if continuance 
 of time, in the Accufative, fometimes 
 in the Ablative ; as Sexaginta annas na- 
 tus. Hyemem totam Jlertis. Imperium 
 deponere maluerunt, quani id tenere punc- 
 tum temporis contra Religionem. Cic. 
 Imperavit triennio, &f decern menjibus. 
 Suet. Sometimes with a Prepofition ; 
 as Fere in diebus paucis, quibus bac acla 
 funt. Ter. Rarely with a Genitive ; as 
 Temporis angufti man/it concordia dif- 
 cors. Lucan. 
 
 Alfo Nouns betokening fpace be- 
 tween places are put in the Accufative, 
 and fometimes in the Ablative; as Pe- 
 dem bine ne difcejjeris. Abeft ab Urbe 
 quingentis millibus pafjuum. 'terra man- 
 que gen ti bus imperavit . 
 
 Nouns that fignify Place, and alfo 
 proper Names of greater Places, as 
 Countries, be put after Verbs of mov- 
 ing or remaining, with a Prepofition, 
 fignifying to, from, in, or by, in iuch 
 cafe as the Prepofition requireth ; as 
 Proficifcor ab Urbe. Vivit in Anglia. 
 Veni per Galliam in Ilaliam, 
 
 But if it be the proper Name of a 
 leffer place, as of a City, Town, or 
 leffer Ifland, or any of thefe four, Hu- 
 mus, Domus, Militia, Bcllum, with 
 thefe figns, on, in, or at before them, 
 being of the firft or fecond Declenfion, 
 and lingular number, they fhall be put 
 in the Genitive ; if of the third De- 
 clenfion, or plural Number, or this 
 word rus, in the Dative or Ablative ; 
 as Vixit Roma, Londini. Ea habit abat 
 Rhodi. Conon plurimumCypri vixit. Cor. 
 Nep. Procumbit burnt bos. Domi belli- 
 que ftmul viximus. Militavit Carthagini 
 or Cartbagine. Studuit Athenis. Ruri 
 or rure educatus eft* 
 
 If the Verbof moving be to a place, 
 it fhall be put in the Accufative ; as Ea 
 Romam, Domum, Rus. If from a place, 
 in the Ablative ; as Difceffit Londino. 
 Abiit Domo. Rure eft reverfus. 
 
 Sometimes with a Prepoficion ; as A 
 Briindufio prof eclus eft. Cic. Manil. Ut 
 ab Athenis in Bcsotiam hem. Sulpit. a- 
 pud Cic. Fam. 1. 4. Cum te profetlum 
 ab domo fcirem. Liv. 1. 8. 
 
 OmfiruSlion of Paffives. 
 
 A Verb Paflive will have after it an 
 Ablative of the doer, with the 
 Prepofition a or abbeforz it, fometimes 
 without, and more often a Dative : as 
 L 1 1 1 Virgil iu s 
 
 625
 
 626 
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 Virgilius legitur a me. Fortes creantur 
 fortibus. Hor. Tibi fama petatur. And 
 "Neutro-paffives, asFapulo, veneo, liceo, 
 exulo, fio, may have the lame Con- 
 {truction •, as ab hojie venire. 
 
 Sometimes an Accufative of the 
 thing is found after a Paffive ; as Coro- 
 nari Olympia. Hor. Epift. i. Cyclopa 
 movetur. Hor. i'or fait at or egit. Pur- 
 gor bilem. Id. 
 
 Conjlraclion of Gerunds 
 Supines. 
 
 ana 
 
 GErunds and Supines will have 
 fuch cafes as the Verb from 
 whence they come ; as Qtium fcribendi 
 Uterus. Eo audilum Poetas. Ad confu- 
 Icndum tibi. 
 
 A Gerund in di is commonly go- 
 vern'd both of Subftantives and Ad- 
 jeftives in manner of a Genitive; as 
 Caufa videndi. Amor habendi. Cupi- 
 dus vifendi. Cert us eundi. And fome- 
 times governeth a Genitive Plural ; as 
 illorum videndi gratia. Ter. 
 
 Gerunds in do are us'd after Verbs in 
 manner of an Ablative, according to 
 former Rules, with or without a Pre- 
 pofition •, as Defejjus fum ambulando. 
 A difcendo facile deterretur. Cafar dan- 
 do, fublevando, ignofcendo, gloriam adep- 
 tus eft. In apparando confumunt diem. 
 
 A Gerund in dum is us'd in manner 
 of an Accufative after Prepofitions go- 
 verning that cafe ; as Ad capiendum 
 hoftes. Ante domandum ingentes tollent 
 animos. Virg. Ob redimendum captivos. 
 Inter ccenandum. 
 
 Gerunds in fignification are oft- 
 times us'd as Participles in^#.s-, Quorum 
 conjiliorum, reprimendorum caufa. Cic. 
 Orationem Lattnam legendis noftris ejfici- 
 es pleniorem. Cic. Ad accufandos homi- 
 nes pramio ducitur. 
 
 A Gerund in dum join'd with the 
 Imperfonal eft, and implying ibme ne- 
 cellity or duty to do a thing, may have 
 both the Active and Paffive Conftruc- 
 tion of the Verb from whence it is de- 
 riv'd ; as Utendum eft atate. Ov. Pa- 
 tern 'Trojano a rege petendum. Virg. I- 
 terandum eadem ifta mihi. Cic. Servien- 
 dv.m eft inibi amicis. Plura dixi quam 
 dicendum fuit. Cic. pro Sell. 
 
 ConJlruEiion of Verb with Verb. 
 
 WHen two Verbs come together 
 without a Nominative Cafe 
 between them, the latter ihall be in the 
 Infinitive Mood ; as Cupio difcere. Or 
 
 in the firft Supine after Verbs of mov- 
 ing ; as Eo cubitum, fpeilatum. Or 
 in the latter with an Adjective ; as 
 Turpe eft diclu. Facile faclu, opusfcitu. 
 
 But if a Cafe come between, not go- 
 vern'd of the former Verb, it ihall al- 
 ways be an Accufative before the In- 
 finitive Mood •, as T'e rediijfe incolumem 
 gaudeo. Malo me divitem ejfe, quam 
 baberi. 
 
 And this Infinitive ejfe, will have al- 
 ways after it an Accufative, or the 
 fame Cafe which the former Verb go- 
 verns ; as Expedit bonos ejfe vobis. Quo 
 mihi commiffo, non licet ejfepiam. But 
 this Accufative agreeth with another 
 unaerftood before the Infinitive ; as 
 Expedit vobis vos efje bonos. Natura be- 
 atis omnibus ejfe dedit. Nobis non licet 
 ejfe tarn difertis. The lame Conftruc- 
 tion may be us'd after other Infinitives 
 Neuter or Paffive like to ejfe in fignifi- 
 cation ; as Maximo tibipoftea 13 civi, 13 
 duel evadere contigit. Val. Max. 1. 6. 
 
 Sometimes a Noun Adjective or 
 Subftantive governs an Infinitive ; as 
 audax omnia perpeti. Dignus dmari. 
 Con/ilium ceperunt ex oppido profugere. 
 Cx{. Minari diviforibus ratio non em . , 
 Cic. verr. i. 
 
 Sometimes the Infinitive is put ab- 
 folute for the Preterimperfect or Pre- 
 terperfect Tenfe •, as Egoilludjedulo ne- 
 gare factum. Ter. Galba autem mult as 
 Jlmilitudines afferre. Cic. Ille contra hxc 
 omnia rucre, agere vitam. Ter. 
 
 Conjii'uBion of Participles. 
 
 Articiples govern fuch Cafes as the 
 Verb from whence they come, 
 according to their Active or Paffive 
 fignification ; as Fruiturus amicis. 
 Nunquam audita mihi. Diligendus ab om- 
 nibus. Sate f anguine divum. 'Telamone 
 creatus. Cor pore mortali cretus. Lucret. 
 Nate dea. Edite regibus. Lcevo fufpenft 
 loculos tabulafque lacerto. Hor. Cenfus 
 equeftrem fummam. Id. Abeundum eft 
 mihi. Venus orta mari. Exofus Bella. 
 Virg. Exofus diis. Gell. Anna pero- 
 fus. Ovid. But Pertafus hath an Ac- 
 cufative otherwife than the Verb ; as 
 Pertafus ignaviam. Semet ipfepertafus. 
 Suet. To thefe add participal Adjec- 
 tives ending in bills of the Paffive Sig- 
 nification, and requiring like cafe after 
 them i as Nulli penetrabilis aftro lucus 
 erat. 
 
 Participles chang'd into Adjectives 
 have their Conftrudtion by the Rules 
 of Adjectives ; as Appetens vini. Fugi- 
 tans lilum. Fidms ammi. 
 
 4n
 
 Accedence commence! Grammar. 
 
 An Ablative put abfolute. 
 
 TWo Nouns together, ora Noun and 
 Pronoun with a Participle expreft 
 . or underftood, put abfoluteiy, that is 
 to fay, neither governing nor governed 
 of a Verb, mall be put in the Ablative ; 
 as Authore S geritur. Me 
 
 duce vinces. Cafare veniente hoftes fuge- 
 runt.Sublato clamor epraliumcommittitur. 
 
 Conftruciion of Adverbs, 
 
 EN&ndecce willhavea Nominative, 
 or an Acculative, and fometimes 
 with a Dative j 1 
 is nofter. En 
 alter 
 
 Adverbs of quantity, time, and place 
 require a Genitive; as Satis loqueniia, fa- 
 pit ntia parum fatis. Alio compounded 
 with a Verb •, as Is rerumfuarumfatagit. 
 Tunc temporis ubique g( . Eoimpu- 
 
 dentiaproceffit. Qi fieri potent. 
 
 To thefe add Ergo Signifying the 
 caufe ; as Illius ergo. Virg. Virtutis ergo. 
 a atque formidinis ergo non abiturus. 
 Liv. 
 
 Others will have fuch cafes as the 
 
 Nouns from whence they come ; as 
 
 Minime gentium. Optime omnium. Venit 
 
 Canit fimiliter buic. Alba- 
 
 , Jive Falcrnum te magis oppofitis 
 
 .. Hor. 
 
 Adverbs are join'd in a Sentence to 
 
 feveral Moods of Verbs. 
 
 Of Time, Ubi, pojlquam, cum or 
 q Hum, to an Indicative or Subjunctive; 
 as Hac ubi dicta dedit . Ubi nos laverimus . 
 Pojlquam excejfit ex Ephebis. Cum faci- 
 
 amvitula. Virg. Cum canerem rei 
 
 Id. 
 
 Donee while, to an Indicative. Donee 
 
 erisfalix. Donee until, to an Indicative 
 
 or Subjunctive ; Cogere donee o-ves juffit. 
 
 . ' t a aqua decoEtafit. Colum. 
 
 Dum while, to an Indicative. D;:m 
 apparatur Virgo. Dum until, to an Indi- 
 . e or Subjunctive ; as Dum redeo. 
 Tenia dum Latio regnantem viderit af- 
 tas. Dum Tor dummodo fo as, or fo that, 
 to a Subjunctive ; Dum prcfim tibi. 
 
 Quoad while, to an Indicative. Quo- 
 ad cxpectas coniubernalcm . QuoadnaxW, 
 to a Subjunctive. Omnia integra fer-'ja- 
 bo, quoad exercitus hue mittatur. 
 
 Simulac, fimulatque to an Indicative 
 or Subjunctive ; as Simulac belli pati- 
 ens era}, fimulatque adoleverit atas. 
 
 . Ut as, to the iame Moods. Utfaluta- 
 lis, it a rej'alutaberis. Ut fementem fece> 
 ris, it a & meios. Hor. Ut fo loon as, 
 to an Indicative only : as Ut venium 
 
 '■ I : 
 
 Quafi, tanquam, perinde, acfi, to a 
 Subjunctive only-, as Quafi non norimus 
 nos inter nos. Tanquam feceris ipfe ali~ 
 quid. 
 
 Ne of forbidding, to an Imperative 
 or Subjunctive ; as Nefievi. Ne metuas. 
 
 Certain Adverbs of quantity, quali- 
 ty or caufe ; as Quam, quoties, cur, qua- 
 re, &c. Thence alfoqui, quis, quant us, 
 qualis, and the like, coming in a Sen- 
 tence after the principal Verb, govern 
 the Verb following in a Subjunctive ; 
 as Videte quam valdi mdlitia fua confi- 
 dat. Cic. Quid ejl cur tu in ijlo locofede- 
 as ? Cic. pro Cluent. Subjideo mihi di- 
 ligentiam comparavi qua quanta Jit in- 
 / non fctejt, nifi, &c. Cic. pro 
 Quint. Nam quid hoc iniquius dicipotejt. 
 Quam me qui caput alt erius fort unafque 
 defendant, Priore loco dij cere. Ibid. Nul- 
 lum ejl Off cium tarn fantlum atquefolenr.e, 
 quod non avaritia violare foleai. Ibid. 
 Non me fall it, ft ' confulamini quid Jit is re- 
 fponfuri. Ibid. Dicivix potejt quammul- 
 tajint qua refpondeatis ante fieri opor- 
 tere. Ibid. Docui quo die bum fibi pro- 
 tnijiffe dieat, eo die ne Roma quidem eum 
 fuiffe. Ibid. Ccnturbatus dijeedit neque 
 mirum cut hac optio tarn mifera daretur. 
 Ibid. Narrat quo in loco viderit Quin- 
 timn. Ibid. Reclemajores eum quifocium 
 fefellifjet in virorum bonorum numero non 
 putarunt haberi oportere. Cic. pro Rofc. 
 Am. Qua concur fatio percontantium 
 quid Prator edixijjet, ubi ccenaret, quid 
 enuntiafjet. Cic. Agrar. i. 
 
 Of Conjunctions. 
 
 Conjunctions Copulative and Dis- 
 junctive, and thefe four, Quam., 
 nij(, praterquam, an, couple like cafes; 
 as Socrates docuit Xenophontem & Pla- 
 tonem. Aut dies eft, aut nox. Nefcio al- 
 bus an aterfit. Ejl minor natu qudmtu. 
 Nemini placet praterquam fibi. 
 
 Except when fome particular con- 
 flruction requireth otherwife; asStudui 
 Roma & Athenis. Emifundum centum 
 nummis £s? pluris. Accufas furti, an Jlu- 
 pri, an tttroque ? 
 
 They alio couple for the moft part 
 like Moods and Tenfes, as Reclo Jlat 
 corpore, defpicitque terras. But not al- 
 ways like Tenfes; as Ni/i me laclajjes, 
 & vana fpe produceres. Et habetur, &? 
 refsretur tibi a me gratia. 
 
 Of other Conjunctions, fome govern 
 an Indicative, fome a Subjunctive, ac- 
 cording to their feveral Significations. 
 
 Etfi, tametfi, etiamfi, quanquam an 
 Indicative ; quamvis and licet molt 
 
 commonly 
 
 627
 
 62! 
 
 Accedence commenced Grammar. 
 
 commonly a Subjunctive •, as Etfi nihil In, fignifying/u, towards, in to, or a- 
 
 yiovi afferrebatur. Quanquam animus gainjl, requires an Aceufative; as Pif- 
 
 vieminiffehorret. Quamvis Elyfws mire- ces emptos obolo in cenamfeni. Animus in 
 
 tur Gracia campos. Ipfe licet venias. Teucros benignus. Verfa eft in cineres Tro- 
 
 Ni, nifi,fi,fiquidem, quod, quia, poft- ja. bile committer e tantum quidTroespo- 
 
 quam, pofteaquam,antcquam, priufquam, tuere? Laftly, when it fignifies future 
 
 an Indicative or Subjunctive -, as Nifi vi time, or for ; as Bellum in trigefimum di- 
 
 tnavis eripi. Ni facial, Cajiigo te, non cm indixerunt . TJeJignati confutes in an- 
 
 qubd odeohebeam, fed quod amem. Ante- num fequentem. Aliipretiafaciunt infin- 
 
 qiiam dicam. Si for quamvis a Subjunc- gv.la capita canum. Var. Otherwife in 
 
 quam 
 
 tive onl y . Redeam P Non ft me obfecret. 
 
 Si alio conditional may fometimes 
 crovern both Verbs of the fentence in a 
 Subjunctive •, as Refpirarofi te videro. 
 Cic. ad Attic. 
 
 Quando, quandcquidem, quoniam an 
 Indicative •, as Dicite quandoquidem in 
 molli confedimus herba. guoniam conve- 
 nimus ambo. 
 
 Cum, feeing that, a Subjunctive ; as 
 Cum/is officiis Gradive virilibus aptus. 
 
 Ne, an, num, of doubting, a Sub- 
 junctive ; as Nihil refer t, fecerifne, an 
 perfuaferis. Fife num redierit. 
 
 lnterrogatives alfo of difdain or re- 
 proach underftood, govern a Subjunc- 
 tive ; as tantum dem, quantum ille popof- 
 cerit ? Cic. verr. 4. Sylvam tu Scantiam 
 vendas? Cic. Agrar. Hunc iu non antes? 
 Cic. ad Attic. Furem aliquem aut rapa- 
 r.cm accufaris ? Vitanda femper erit omnis 
 avaritiafufpicio. Cic. ver. 4. Some- 
 times an Infinitive ; as Mine incept 
 dejijiere viftdm ? Virg. 
 
 Ut that, left not, or although, a 
 Subjunctive-, as Te oro y ut redeat jam 
 in mam. Metuo at fubftet hofpes. Ut 
 omnia contingant qua volo. 
 
 Of Prepofitions. 
 
 OF Prepofitions, fome will have 
 an Aceufative after them, fome 
 an Ablative, fome both, according to 
 their different fignification. 
 
 An Aceufative thefe following, Ad, 
 apud, ante, adverfus adverfum, cis citra, 
 circum circa, circiter, contra, erga, ex- 
 tra, inter, intra, infra, juxta, ob, pone, 
 per, prope, propter, pojt, penes, prater, 
 fecundum, fupra,fecus, trans, ultra, uf- 
 que, vcrfus : But wr/aj is moll com- 
 monly fet after the cafe it governs, as 
 hondinum verfits. 
 
 And for an Aceufative after ad, a 
 Dative fometimes is us'd in Poets ; as 
 It clamor ccelo. Virg. Cceloji gloria tol- 
 lit Mneadum. Sil. for ad caelum. 
 
 An Ablative thefe, A, ab, abs, abfque, 
 cum, coram, de, e, ex,pro,pr<e,palam, fi- 
 ne, tenus, which laft is alfo put after his 
 Cafe, being moft ufually aGenitive, ifit 
 be plural ; as Capulo tenus. Aurium tenus. 
 
 Thefe, both Cafes, /;/, fab, fuper, 
 fubtcr, clan, procul. 
 
 will have an Ablative ; as In Urbe. In 
 Terris, 
 
 Sub, when it fignifies to, or in time, 
 about, or a little before, requires an Ac- 
 eufative ; asfub umbr am proper emus. Sub 
 id tempus. Sub notlem. Otherwife an 
 Ablative. Sub pedibus. Sub umbra. 
 
 Super fignifying beyond, or frefent 
 time, an Aceufative ; as Super Garaman- 
 tas &? Indos. Super ccenam. Suet, at fup- 
 per-time. O/or concerning an Ablative ; 
 as Mult a fuper Priamo rogitans. Super 
 hac re. 
 
 Super, over or upon, may have either 
 cafe ; as Super ripas Tiberis effufus. Sa- 
 vafedens fuper arma. Fronde fuper viridi. 
 
 So alfo may fubter ; as pug na turn eji 
 fuper fubter que terras. • bter denfa .tef- 
 tudine. Virg. Clam pairem or p. 
 Procul muros. Liv. P atria procul. 
 
 Prepofitions in compofition govern 
 the fame cafes as before in appolition. 
 Adibo hominem. Detrudunt naves fcopulo. 
 And the Prepofition is fometimes re- 
 peated \ as Detrahere de tua fatna nun- 
 quam cogitavi. And fometimes under- 
 ltood, governeth his ufual cafe ; as Ha- 
 beo te loco parentis. Apparuit humanafpe- 
 cie. Cumis erant oriundi. Liv. Liberis 
 parentibus oriundis. Colum. Mutat 
 quadrata rotundis. Hor. Pridie Compi- 
 talia. Pridie nonas or calendas. Pcftridie 
 Idus. Pcftridie ludos. Before which 
 Accufative's ante or poft is to be under- 
 ftood, Filii id atatis. Cic. Hoc noclis. 
 Liv. Underftand Secundum. Or refer to 
 part of time. Omnia Mercuric fimi- 
 lis. Virg .Underftand per. 
 
 Of Inter} edlions. 
 
 CErtain Interjections have feverai 
 Cafes after them. 0, a Nomina- 
 tive, Aceufative or Vocative ; as O 
 feftus dies bominis. O cgojavus. Hor„ 
 O fortunatos. O formofe puer. 
 
 Others a Nominative or an Aceufa- 
 tive -, as Hen prifca fides ! H'euftirpem ;n- 
 vifam ! Pr oh J an tie Jupiter ! Prol? deum 
 atque hominum fidem ! Hem tibt Davum f 
 
 Yea, though the Interjection be un- 
 derftood ; as Ale miferum ! Me cecum, 
 qui hac ante non viderim ! 
 
 Others will have a Dative ; as He: 
 mihi. F<e mifero mibi. Tercnt. 
 
 The E?id of the First V olume. 
 
 4
 
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