Will is you should do and with all your endeavour apply your selves to follow the same First you must have an assured Faith in God and give your selves wholy unto him Love him in Prosperity and Adversity and dread to offend him evermore Then for his Sake Love all Men Friends and Foes because they be his Creation and Image and Redeemed as you are Cast in your Minds how you may do good unto all Men unto your Powers and hurt no Man Obey all your Superiours and Governours Serve your Masters Faithfully and Diligently as well in their absence as in their presence not for dread of Punishment only but for Conscience Sake knowing that you are bound so to do by Gods Commandments Disobey not your Fathers and Mothers but honour them help them and please them to your Power Oppress not Kill not Beat not neither Slander nor Hate any Man but Love all Men speak well of all Men help and Succour every Man as you may yea even your Enemies that hate you that speak Evil of you and that do hurt you Take no Mans Goods nor Covet your Neighbours Goods wrongfully but content your selves with that which ye get truly and also bestow your own Goods Charitably as Need and Case requireth Fly all Idolatry Witchcraft and Perjury Commit no Adultery Fornication or other Unchastness in Will nor Deed And Travelling continually during this Life thus in keeping the Commandments of God wherein standeth the Right Trade and Pathway unto Heaven you shall not fail as Christ hath promised to come to that Blessed and Everlasting Life where you shall Live in Glory and Joy with God for ever 'T is as impossible as any thing can be that they who do these things and continue in them to the end of their Lives should miss of Eternal Glory and Happiness To say that such a Faith such Obedience such a Life as our Church propounds and Teacheth persisted in till they pass out of this World cannot through the Merits of Christ Save Men is to Damn the Blessed Apostles and all the Primitive Saints and Martyrs who if they went to Heaven at all went thither by believing and Living according to the Scriptures and call upon us to follow their Faith their pure or unspotted Lives considering the end of their Conversation the Glories in which they shine in the Blessed mansions above This is the Rock upon which we of the Church of England Build our hopes of a Crown of Glory this is a Guide that cannot deceive but will lead us safely to the Blessed place we aspire after they that walk by this Rule the Rule of the Holy Scripture are in a sure way to Salvation and if they persevere cannot miss of it But if we remove our Thoughts now to the Church of Rome it will be Evident that there is at most but a Possibility of Salvation in the Communion of it because of its disagreement with and repugnancy to the Holy Scriptures So far is this Church from doing them the Right and the Honour as to confess that they comprehend all things necessary to Salvation that it affirms the contrary that they do it not without the help of Traditions which they of that Communion receive and Honour with an equal Devotion and Reverence So saith the Council of Trent expresly Sacrosancta oecumenica generalis Tridentina Synodus in spiritu sancto Session the 4th page 19 Legitimè congregata c. This Holy Oecumenical and general Council of Trent being Lawfully called together in the Holy Ghost having this ever before their Eyes that all Errours being destroyed or taken away the very purity of the Gospel might be preserved in the Church which being promised before by the Prophets in the Holy Scriptures our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God with his own Mouth first publish'd and afterwards Commanded it to be Preach'd to every Creature by his Apostles as the Fountain of all saving Truth and Discipline or Instruction of manners and knowing this Discipline and Truth to be contained in the written Books and in Traditions not written which being received by the Apostles from Christs own Mouth or by the Apostles themselves the Holy Ghost prompting them to it as it were handed down are come to us This Council following the Examples of the Orthodox Fathers doth with equal Devotion and Reverence receive and honour all the Books of the Old and New Testament because the same God is the Authour of them both and the Traditions themselves belonging both to Faith and Manners as deliver'd by Christ by word of mouth or dictated by the Holy Spirit and kept by continual Succession in the Catholick Church So that their Rule of Faith consists of two distinct parts the Scriptures and Traditions the word of God written and the word of God not written but transmitted by word of Mouth from Age to Age from Generation to Genertion Now though it be certain that the word of God be equally true and equally obligatory to all Persons whether it be written or not written which way soever it be propounded or convey'd to them yet how shall it appear or be proved that what they call the Unwritten word of God is really so not a wicked cheat imposture They say it is his word we say it is not the Primitive Church saith nothing at all of it but asserts and maintains the sufficiency or fullness of the Scriptures or written word of God that is that it contains all things necessary to be believed and done to the obtaining Eternal Life and Happiness as is fully proved by many Protestant Writers And when the Ancient and Orthodox Fathers speak of Traditions and call upon any to observe and obey them they either mean by those Traditions the Doctrine of Christ deliver'd to the Christian Church in the Writings of the Apostles or the Ordinances made either by the Apostles themselves or the Bishops that succeeded them in their Apostolical Office for the decent and orderly performance of Gods Worship The first is indeed the Word of God but then it is his written word the other are not the word of God at all but humane Constitutions and no farther Obligatory than they are agreeable to the General Rules the Scriptures give for Conducting the Circumstances of Religion the Church having Power as Ours truly affirms to Decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority Article the 20. in Controversies of Faith though it be not Lawful for the Church to Ordain any thing that is contrary to Gods word written This is all the Ancient Fathers mean by Traditions when they speak of or require the Observation of them but they make no such Distinction as this of the written and unwritten word of God neither do they say that the first is imperfect or doth not sufficiently instruct Mankind to Salvation unless it be supply'd with the other This is a Blasphemy which the Apostate Church only is guilty of but was never heard of in the
I leave it to the Consciences of the Excluders to determine what high and horrid Injustice it is to deprive or take it from him if he have not forfeited this Right which is now to be Examin'd or enquir'd into All I know that is pleaded for the affirmative is his changing his Religion or turning Papist and the Dangers thence proceeding to our most Gracious King and excellent Religion here then two things are to be enquired into First Whether the Duke be a Papist Secondly If he be whether that forfeits his Right SECT IV. First Whether His Royal Highness be a Papist revolted from ours to the Romish Church and Religion I may have leave I hope to put the Question and no good Man will be offended at me if I have that honour for a Grand-Child of our English Solomon King James who was so zealous an Opposer of the Romish Superstition for a Son of the Royal Martyr who Lived and Died in the Holy Apostolical Faith professed in our Church for a Brother the only Brother of our present most Gracious Soveraign who is the Great Patron and Protector of the Reformed Religion as not rashly to conclude him guilty of such a change a change so reproachful to them and Injurious to himself The Excluders I know will laugh at nay be angry with me for putting the Question it being as they affirm Notorious that he is a Papist and they believe him so to be as verily as they believe any Article of the Creed but I confess I do not think it so notorious as is pretended but look upon it as a doubtful Case because his Royal Highness hath so much reason to disswade him from such a change and because the Arguments for the Affirmative that he is a Papist do not as I apprehend prove him so to be There is nothing which they that are serious in it use to adhere to with a more firm stable and immoveable Resolution than the Religion in which they have been educated this if it have nothing else to endear and recommend it ingages their constancy and fixes them firmly to it like the magnetick needle to the North even a false Religion having the advantage of prepossession will keep its ground against the true though it comes with the clearest reason the most convincing Arguments and such unanswerable Proofs of its Divine Original and Authority as may justly not only perswade but Command Admittance and Reception This detain'd the Heathens in their Abominable Idolatry and Superstition it was the Religion they had been brought up in which they suck'd in as we say with their Mothers Milk and they were resolv'd to follow their Ancestours in it as they had happily done those that went before them and they pleaded in defence of their refusing Christianity that it was a new Doctrine and an upstart Sect not known nor heard of in the Days of their Fore-Fathers and they asked the Christians in the greatest scorn where was your Religion before Jesus Christ And it hath ever been accounted a mighty Dishonour and Reproach to any Nation or Persons to change their Religion but upon the greatest most weighty and pressing Reasons and Motives and therefore God upbraids his People with it Hath a Nation Jeremiah 2d 11. changed their Gods which are yet no Gods but my People have changed their Glory for that which doth not Profit Never any Nation was so absurd and unreasonable as to change their Gods though false and but supposed ones till they were fully or throughly convinced that they were not what they took them for As wild an Errour and oversight is it for Men to change their Religion unless there be the biggest reason and the greatest necessity for it It argues great Lightness Ignorance and instability of Mind to be of an Ambulatory and gadding Humour in a matter of such moment and concern as Religion shews the Persons guilty of it to be of a weak and Childish temper Like Children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every Wind of Doctrine It reproaches their Wisdom Arraigns their discretion that they should imbrace a Faith or Religion they dare not be constant to such considerations as these do commonly keep Men firm stedfast in the Religion they first imbraced though a better be offer'd and proposed to them But this is Foolish and Wicked Obstinacy a blind and dishonourable Constancy it being as St. Ambrose well observes nullus pudor ad meliora tranfire no shame no reproach at all to change for the better to quit errours for the truth a corrupt for a Pure Church a dangerous and sinful for a safe and holy Religion but to turn from the truth to errour from a pure to a corrupt Church to exchange a safe and holy for a lewd and dangerous Religion is a great shame and such a Sin as without Repentance must needs be Damnable if any Man thus draw back my Soul saith God shall have no Pleasure in him They therefore that say the Duke hath changed his Religion reconciled himself as they call it to the Church of Rome must say he did it either with Reason or without that he had great and considerable motives to induce him to it or he had not If they say he had not but did it without Reason they put the greatest slur and abuse upon him imaginable charge him with the highest imprudence make him a Child not a Man cast a greater Calumny or Reproach upon him than that base slander for which he brought his Scandalum Magnatum against the impious impairer of his Honour this being to say that he would in a sullen and unaccountable humour Create his Royal Brother a Brother so tender of his Honour and Interest so great danger Vexation and Trouble put the Nation into such horrid Tumults Disorders and Confusion bring upon himself so many Dangers incur the Clamours Obloquies Hatred and contempt of all the Factious People without any cause or inducement at all If they say his Royal Highness had reason for this change considerable motives to induce him to it these must be either his Interest and Advantage in this World or his Salvation in the other because these are the greatest and most momentous reasons that could be offered to move him to such a change but to turn Papist I shall prove is neither for his Interest and Advantage here nor his Happiness and Salvation hereafter both these being better secured and provided for by his stay in ours then they can be by joyning himself to the Church of Rome His interest and advantage in this World for what can a Prince whom Heaven is pleas'd shall Reign desire more then all the Authority Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to the Royal Dignity a Loyal and Obedient People their Welfare and Felicity with all that Honour and Renown Fame and Glory that these are always attended with Every wise Prince if he was permitted to chuse his happiness would have it Compounded or
made up of such excellent and desireable Ingredients as these First I say he would injoy his full Authority Subsect 1. all the Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to his Royal Place and Dignity all the Rights that God hath annex'd to it he would be a King not an Image of one exercise his Regal Power in the full latitude or extent of it not have it restrain'd or limited to a few things and those the meanest and most inglorious parts of his sacred Office This he cannot have in the Church of Rome for there the Mitre Perks up above the Crown the Pope I mean is Lord over the Prince claims a Superiority pretends to a Power and Jurisdiction over all Kings or Soveraign Princes by Divine Right a Power to Excommunicate and depose them to declare them fallen from all Dominion and Rule to dispose of their Kingdoms and give them to whom he pleaseth to unty the bonds of Obedience or absolve and discharge their Subjects from their Allegiance The first that is the Popes pretended Superiority over him impairs and lessens the Princes Honour makes him a Subject instead of a Soveraign Prince degrades him from the high Station thrusts him lower than Heaven hath placed him renders him not Gods but the Popes Vicegerent or Deputy makes him a Servant to him who is but a Fellow Servant with all the Bishops of Christ and is as strictly and indispensably bound as they are by the express Command of St. Paul to be Subject to the higher Powers that is Kings and Soveraign Princes Let every Soul be Subject to the higher Powers every Man that is whether he be of the Clergy or Laity if of the Clergy tho' a Prophet an Apostle an Evangelist a Patriarch a Metropolitan a Bishop all are included in it and must be Subject to the higher Powers so was St. Paul nay St. Peter himself from whom his Holiness claims Superiority over Kings unto that Cruel Emperour Nero both of them suffering Martyrdom under him and so far was St. Peter from claiming that Supremacy which his pretended Successors have so proudly challeng'd so unjustly usurped since that he gives it to Kings Commanding the Christians to whom he writ to submit themselves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lords sake to the King as Supream as the chief or highest Minister of God upon Earth And if every Soveraign Prince be Supream or the highest Minister of God within his own Dominions as St. Peter calls him how can he have any Superiour To make two such as they of the Church of Rome do in every Kingdom one to superintend the Affairs of Religion the other Civil Rights or Matters of State besides that it is impudently and faucily to divide and separate the Powers that God hath joyn'd together Kings and inferiour Magistrates as the Apostle exhorts being to be pray'd for That we may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness and Honesty but how absurd is it that we should pray to God they may do that which according to the Doctrine of the Romish Church they have no Commission nor Authority from him to meddle in that is to provide that their Subjects may lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all Godliness as well as Honesty to take care that their People not only deal Justly one with another but also Worship God aright profess the true Faith and the Holy Religion of Christ and be taught to lead their Lives according to it Besides I say the guilt of dividing the Powers that God hath conjoyn'd or united it is the very dregs of contradiction to make two Supreams in one Kingdom for how can one be Summus or Supremus the chief or highest if the other be equal to him 't is as evident as the Sun when it shines brightest that these are inconsistent one cannot be the greatest if the other be as great nor one the highest if the other be as high and therefore to give the Pope a Supream Power in all the concerns of Religion is however it may be colour'd or guilded over to make the Prince his Slave to give him not an equal but a subordinate and dependent Authority for he that Rules Religion must needs Rule all and therefore the Assertors of the Popes Supremacy as they give him a direct and absolute Power in Spirituals so they give him an indirect and relative Power in Temporals in order to Spiritual and Religious concerns when the Interest of Religion requires it he may Exercise a Temporal Power or Jurisdiction over Princes Excommunicate or Depose them give their Kingdoms to others absolve their Subjects from their Allegiance give them Commission or Warrant to take Arms against them nay to Murder or Destroy them So that the Pope where he hath the Supremacy is really the Kings Master and absolute Lord over him his Dominion is but precarious during the pleasure of his Holiness for so long as he behaves himself humbly and dutifully towards his Holy or Spiritual Father Executes all his orders observes all his injunctions though never so barbarous bloudy and inhumane so long he shall have his Blessing and injoy his Favour and being so dependent he must needs have a tottering Throne and an uncertain Authority the Crown sits loosly on his Royal Head ready at every turn to drop or fall off If he dispute the Commands of his great Master the Pope complain of his Exactions remonstrate against any of his proceedings though never so modestly if he express any sorrow for the intolerable oppressions of his People if he be unwilling to Butcher and Cut their Throats like Sacrificed Beasts or to make Bonefires of Innocent and harmless Men meerly for professing the True Faith and obeying the Holy Religion of Christ If the Divine Goodness be pleas'd to inlighten his Royal Soul with the knowledg of the Truth and by the splendour of that Light he see and condemn the errours and corruptions of the Romish Church then he is an Heretick and they say of him as the Jewish Zealots did concerning St. Paul Away with such a Prince from the Earth for it is not fit that he should Live Excommunicate curse him with Bell Book and Candle then it is meritorious to kill him and his Holiness hath a Ravilliack or a Jaques Clement or some such Villain to assassinate or murder him wholf he effect the execrable Parricide shall be well rewarded upon Earth or if he Perish in the attempt be made as far as the Pope can do it a Saint in Heaven Consider then what Charms or Allurements such a Church can have to invite a Prince into its Communion These certainly are so far from being attractives that they are the strongest disswasives imaginable and instead of drawing him to must needs deter and drive him from it A Prince that knows and hath had Communion with a better must first run out of his Wits before he can joyn himself to such a Church A Church in which he cannot ascend his
Royal Throne without a Rival a Rival did I say nay a most imperious Master that is very hard to please and yet if he be not pleased and humour'd in all things 't is a thousand to one but he will jostle him out of it and lay his Honour in the dust A Church in which he can Exercise but a part and that the meanest and most ignoble part of his Authority that only which concerns the Civil Polity and Rights for he may not meddle with Religion nor the Ministers of it who are exempt from his Jurisdiction and Sworn Vassals to his Superiour and as such ready to revenge the Injuries and Affronts the Prince offers to their great Masters if he dares be so rash and unadvised as to be guilty of any but of that afterwards A Church in which he that is Gods Image and Representative less only then God must sneak and truckle Meanly to an Upstart and Usurper a meteor drawn from the Earth and raised on high by Pride Avarice and Cruelty What Temptation then could his Royal Highness who is a wise Prince of a brave and generous Spirit and so exceeding tender of his Honour that he must needs in the highest manner resent the least Violation of his Right all diminution or lessening of his Power all invasion and usurpation of the Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to it both by Divine and Humane Right if the Crown should descend to him What Temptation I say could such a Prince have to joyn himself to a Church in which he shall be so degraded and dishonour'd be a Vassal Underling to one that unjustly insolently and prophanely exalts himself above all that is called God that is all the Kings of the Earth Especially if we consider that the Church he forsakes or goes from Courts his stay by giving her Kings their full Authority all the Priviledges Prerogatives and Preheminences belonging to them in this that is the Church of England the King is declared Supream not only in Temporal but in all Causes Ecclesiastical superintends Religion as well as Civil Rights governs the Clergy chuses the Bishops convenes them when he sees cause to make Canons Constitutions Authorises Impowers them to consult debate to order conduct the Circumstances of Religion the Essentials of it being determined by God in Scripture what they agree upon he doth at their humble Petition if he approve of them by his Royal Edict confirm or pass into Laws Ecclesiastical and when they have effected what he called them together for he dismisses or dissolves the assembly Here the Kings Power within his Realms and Dominions is affirm'd and declared to be the Highest Power under God Canon 1 of the Canons Anno 1603. to whom all Men as well Inhabitants as born within the same do by Gods Laws owe most Loyalty and Obedience And whosoever shall deny or oppose the Royal Supremacy is to be Excommunicated Canon 2. ipso facto and not to be restored but only by the Arch-Bishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of those his Wicked Errours So that they must be blind or wilfully shut their Eyes that do not see a vast difference in this great affair between ours and the Church of Rome in this the Pope is Supream Governour in all causes and over all Persons Ecclesiastical nay in Temporal too so far as they concern Religion in that our Church I mean she Supremacy is given intirely to our Kings whose Power is expresly declared to be the highest under God and their Authority extended to all Persons as well Clergy as People and to all causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal In the Church of Rome if the Prince claim the Supremacy which belongs to him by Divine Right he is Reputed and Treated as an Heretick that is Excommunicated and Deposed and if any of his Subjects dare to assert and openly maintain his Supremacy as in Duty and Conscience they are bound to do because it is their Princes undoubted Right they are Condemn'd to Dye and Adjudg'd Guilty of such a Crime as cannot be purged but by casting them into the Fire In our Church all the Clergy are requir'd to the uttermost of Canon 1. their Wit Knowledg and Learning purely and sincerely without any colour or dissimulation to teach manifest open and declare four times at least every Year That all Usurped and Forreign Power forasmuch as the same hath no Establishment nor Ground by the Law of God is for most just Causes taken away and abolish'd and that therefore no manner of Obedience and Subjection within His Majesties Realms and Dominions is due unto any such Forreign Power but that the King is Supream Governour Canon 55. in all his Realms and Dominions in all causes and over all Persons as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal Or as it is express'd in the excellent Canons of the Year 1640 A Supream Power is Canon 1. given to this most excellent Order that is of Kings by God himself in Scripture which is that Kings should Rule and Command in their several Dominions all Persons of what Ranks or Estates soever whether Ecclesiastical or Civil and that they should restrain and punish with the Temporal Sword all stubborn and wicked doers The Care of Gods Church is so committed to Kings in Scripture that they are commended when the Church keeps the right way and taxed when it runs amiss and therefore her Government belongs in chief unto Kings for otherwise one Man would be commended for anothers Care and taxed for anothers Negligence which is not Gods way And if any of our Clergy or Laity dare to impugn or oppose the Royal Supremacy they are Anathematiz'd or decreed to be Excommunicated which is the greatest Punishment the Church can inflict and the most dreadful one any Man can suffer in this World 'T is most apparent then that our Church gives and secures to the Crown that great and most precious Jewel the Supremacy which is the chief Glory and Ornament of it which the Church of Rome so unjustly steals from and Robs it of Here the Prince hath no Rival nor Competitor none to insult or Domineer over him as in the Romish Communion no Lord at all over him but the great Governour of all the World God Almighty to whom it is his Glory as well as Duty to be Subject and submit himself in all things And as our Church doth not diminish or lessen the Power of her Kings so it is so far from pretending any Jurisdiction or coercive Authority over them that it abhors and detests it declares it to be Treason both against God and the King for any to claim or challenge such Authority over them For any Person or Persons to set up maintain or a vow in any their said Realms or Territories Canons of 1640. Canon 1. respectively under any pretence whatsoever any Independent Coactive Power either Papal or Popular whether directly or indirectly is to
undermine their great Royal Office and cunningly to overthrow that most sacred Ordinance which God himself hath Established and so is Treasonable against God as well as against the King In the Oath of Allegiance which all our Clergy take the Superiour at their Consecration the Inferiour at their Ordination and Institution they do profess testifie and declare that the King is Lawful and Rightful King of this Kingdom and of all other his Dominions and Countrys That the Pope neither by his own nor any other Authority can depose him dispose of his Kingdoms nor give Authority to any Forreign Prince to invade his Dominions That he cannot discharge his Subjects from their Allegiance nor give Licence to any of them to bear Arms against or to offer any Violence to his Person State or Government By this Oath they bind themselves notwithstanding any Declaration or Sentence of Excommunication or Deprivation or Absolution that they will bear Faith and true Allegiance to the King His Heirs and Successors and defend him and them to the uttermost of their Power against all Conspiracies and Attempts whatsoever which shall be made against his or their Persons their Crown and Dignity and will do their best endeavour to disclose and make known to the King his Heirs and Successors all Treasons and Trayterous Conspiracies they shall know or hear of to be against him or any of them That they do abhor detest and abjure as Impious and Heretical this Damnable Doctrine or Position that Princes which be Excommunicated or deprived by the Pope may be deposed or murder'd by their Subjects or any other whatsoever Lastly they declare also that they believe and are in Conscience resolv'd that neither the Pope nor any Person whatsoever hath Power to absolve them of this Oath or any part of it So that our Princes have all the Honour and security they can desire What Motives or Inducements then could his Royal Highness have to forsake such a Church as this A Church that is so tender of the Honour of her Princes so zealously asserts maintains and defends their Royal Authority all their Rights Priviledges and Prerogatives gives them no offence at all is in nothing injurious to them but next to the great Giver of Crowns the Glorious Founder of their Order Honours Reveres and Obeys them 'T is apparently the Dukes Interest to stay in this Holy and Loyal Church to lend his helping hand to preserve support and defend it from all its Enemies as his Renowned Grand-Father his Immortal and most Glorious Father did so carefully in their Days and his brave and Royal Brother doth with such admirable Courage Wisdom Watchfulness and Diligence in this Stubborn Factious and Schismatical Age. 'T is no wonder if a Prince that knows no better truckles to the Church of Rome bears all the burthens injuries and oppressions it lays upon him is content the Pope should Domineer or Lord it over him sneaks and behaves himself as submisly to him as if he was the meanest of his Domestick Servants his Groom or Stirrup-holder as some Princes have been his ignorance is the Mother of this Spanish slavish Obedience and Devotion but there is no place for this in his Royal Highness he hath heard enough of the Insolencies Incroachments and Misdemeanours the Treasons Cruelties and Outrages which the Pope and those of his Faction have committed against Kings he was Born and Educated in a Church that abominates detests and declaims against such Impious and Unchristian Practices that Teaches all its Members and People to Fear God and the King and not meddle with them that are given to change and therefore cannot be so unmindful of his Honour and Interest as to make so unreasonable a change to quit the Brave and Glorious Freedom of ours for the base and reproachful Vassalage or Slavery of the Church of Rome This is the first part of a Princes happiness in this World to injoy all the Authority Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to his Royal Dignity which I have proved he may do in this but cannot do in the Church of Rome and therefore can have no Reason nor Temptation upon this account to run from ours to joyn himself to that The next great branch of a Princes Happiness upon Earth is a Loyal and Obedient People Subsect 2. The Crown sits easie on his Head the Government is a Pleasure rather then a burthen to him when his Subjects have an high Esteem and Veneration for him in their Hearts Love and Reverence his Person Rejoyce in and are pleased with his Government Pray for his Life willingly Obey his Laws cheerfully Pay him the Subsidies and Tribute due unto him Afford him such supplies as will support his Royal State and Dignity inable him to defend himself and them from all the attempts of his and their Enemies and are ready to guard his Sacred Person with their Lives as well as Estates Such a People are the chief Jewels of the Crown the Treasure of the Prince and the prime part of his Happiness without such a People he is broken with Cares distracted with Fears disturbed with frequent Tumults Seditions indanger'd by Conspiracies doth not sit safe nor sure upon his Throne and therefore must needs be miserable Such a Loyal and Obedient People are all the true Members of the Church of England all those Christians I mean of this Nation both Clergy and People agreeing in that Faith Government and Dean of St. Pauls Vnreas Separ pa. 299. Worship which are Establish'd by the Laws of this Realm There is not in all the World such a Society of Loyal Souls of Brave Faithful Subjects to be found that do so highly Honour so Heartily Love so Chearfully Obey and Serve their Prince They have got such an habit of Loyalty 't is so endear'd to and so deeply rooted in their Hearts that it cannot without great difficulty be pluck'd up 't is built upon a Rock the sure Foundation of Christs most Just and Holy Religion they therefore Love Honour Obey and are Faithful to their Prince because God requires all this of them and Commands them so to be and because he is Gods Minister Governs for and receives his Royal Power and Authority immediately from him And till they have unlearnt these Grounds and Reasons of it they cannot be other then Loyal and Faithful to their Prince which they can never do so long as they continue in the Church of England because they are a prime part of the Doctrine of it which is constantly press'd inculcated and urg'd upon them no Church in all the Christian World doth so strictly and carefully and sincerely observe that great and weighty Charge of St. Paul in both the parts of it Put them in Titus 3. 〈◊〉 Church Catechism Mind to be Subject to Principalities and Powers to Obey Magistrates to be ready unto every good work They are put in Mind of it in their Childhood in the explication of the
fifth Commandment taught that it is their Duty to Honour and Obey the King and all that are in Authority under him Every time they come to Prayers the Loyal Supplications Intercessions and upon special occasions Thanksgivings of our excellent Liturgy for the King and the Royal Family and the Inferiour Magistrates remind the People of the true Obedience and Subjection they owe and must pay to them and humbly beseech Almighty God to give them Grace to do it If they read the Pious and Venerable Homilies of our Church there theâ— Divine Original and Institution of Kings is fully proved the necessity of Obedience demonstrated the horrid guilt the dreadful mischiefs the woful Calamities of Rebellion explicated and detected the heavy Wrath and Vengeance of God upon Rebels and Traytors in this World and the horrible Damnation that attends them when they pass from hence Faithfully represented and described in a most Lively manner that all who Read them may Heartily abhor and carefully avoid so execrable a wickedness Nor doth the Loyalty of our Church lye Dead in the Books and Writings of it but Lives and Reigns in the Hearts of all the true Members of it and exerts or shews its Life and Vigour in their undaunted Courage Resolution and readiness to stand by and defend the Sacred Person Honour and Authority of their Prince against all that dare be so impudent and wicked as to assault the first to impair the second or to infringe the third I challenge all the World to shew me one true Member of our Church that so long as he continued so was found guilty of any Disloyal Practices No so far are they from that that the numbers cannot soon nor easily be told that have Sacrifiz'd their Lives Estates every thing that was dear to them in the Cause and Service of their Prince His and their Enemies could and did in the late times Deprive them of their Liberty Plunder them of their Goods Sequester their Estates strip them of all things else but their Loyalty they could not take from them this they preserv'd pure and untainted in the midst of all the Oppressions Cruelties and ill Usage they endured and when they were permitted to Live no longer to give any farther Testimonies of it bequeath'd it as the Choicest and Richest Legacy to their Off-spring Descendents nay by their true Christian Patience and Undaunted Courage at their Death a Glorious Death to them to which they were Condemn'd for serving their Prince did Recommend it to many that came to see them Dye A Loyalty not Limited or Conditional that Dyes if it be not cherish'd and kept alive by the Princes peculiar Favour and Bounty and continues no longer then he Pleases and Humours them but absolute and inconditional that cannot be shaken nor removed by any wrongs or ill usage but is the same when he Frowns upon as when he Favours them If he Oppress them in their Estates they Submit if he cause the Sentence of Death to be unjustly pass'd upon them they refuse not to Dye nay do it with the Meekness Patience and Charity of the Primitive Martyrs they will not lift up their Hands nor open their Mouths against him let him use them as he pleaseth The Fires of Queen Mary could not consume nor burn up their Loyalty nor scare them from their Allegiance she had never gain'd the Crown if the Loyal Protestants had not assisted her and the great Opposer of her Advancement to the Royal throne was the Duke of Northumberland who though he pretended to be a Protestant yet was really a Papist for so he declared himself to be upon the Scaffold at his Death Such a People make a Prince happy are his greatest Safety and Security and nothing but a guard of Angels from Heaven can be a better defence to him which by their Pious and Holy Prayers they are careful to call down to Protect him that no harm nor danger may happen to him And being sure by continuing in our Church to have such a Loyal Obedient People if the Crown should descend to him what Reason Motive or Inducement could his Royal Highness have to forsake it and joyn himself to the Papists People that are Infamous all the World over for Killing Kings Plotting Treasons Raising Seditions and Rebellions against them That are Obedient to their Prince no longer then he is a Slave to the Pope for how often did they Mutiny make Insurrections and Rebellions against King Henry the Eighth for renouncing and casting off the Popes Usurped Authority and resuming the Supremacy which belong'd to him by Divine Right as a Soveraign Prince Though he was a Zealous Professor and maintainer of the Romish Religion yet he was Alarum'd by frequent Tumults and Seditions and his owning that could not keep the Catholicks so they call themselves in Obedience to him unless he would be altogether a Slave to him that pretended to be the prime Minister of it And though a Prince Study to Please and Humour them all he can yet their Loyalty must needs be very fickle and precarious because the People of the Romish Communion have a mighty Dependence upon and are wholly at the Devotion of the Clergy and the Clergy are exempted from the Princes Jurisdiction and Sworn Subjects to the Pope The People are wholly at the Devotion of the Clergy who manage and govern them at their Pleasure and they must needs be so because they believe they can forgive their Sins absolutely whilst they Live and pray them out of Purgatory when they are Dead by forcing them to come to Confession they have Opportunity to know all their Errours Sins and Follies nay all their Thoughts Purposes and Intentions which renders them very Subject and Dependent Their Power also of Inflicting Penances and denying them Absolution if they do not please humour them keeps the People in great Slavery to their Priests because they think God will not if they do not forgive them so that the People are absolute Slaves to them and do every thing they require of them And the Clergy that thus Govern the People are wholly at the Popes Devotion they own him for their Lord and Master Swear Obedience to and depend upon him as their great Patron and Benefactor all their Preferments being if not in his Donation yet such as depend upon his Approbation and Confirmation so that if they do not receive them from his Bounty yet they Injoy them by his Favour which is Tantamount This makes them flatter and adore him as the chief if not sole Monarch and despise their Prince as an underling or meer Cypher that signifies nothing And at every little quarrel or disgust between his Holiness and him the Prince is sure to feel the sad effects of their Power with the People either in the Disturbance they cause in the State or the attempts they make upon his Person for if they cannot run him down with the pretence and
Accusation of Herisie which they may easily do because they are the Judges of it and may call every thing they please so yet they will be sure to do it with the charge of unprofitableness he is no longer useful to the Church that is his Holiness is weary of him and that with them is a Just and Sufficient cause of Deposition and when they pronounce that Sentence upon him they only take from him the Name or Title of King because they had Rob'd him of all the Power and Authority before for how can he be a King that doth not Rule and Govern his People and if the Pope Commands the Clergy and they Rule the People for Gods Sake who doth the Prince Govern or what Authority hath he none none at all his Empire is but Imaginary a meer Chimera or faigned thing I appeal then to all the Wise and Rational World whether the Romish Clergy deserve the Name of Subjects much less of Loyal Subjects that neither Obey the Prince themselves if he refuse to be a Subject to the Pope nor suffer the People to do it any longer than he is constant to be their fellow Subject to the Pope his Throne must needs totter and his Authority be a poor and precarious trifle that is sure of the Obedience neither of the Clergy nor People And if it be a Princes Happiness to have a Loyal Obedient People as undoubtedly it is 't is against the Dukes Interest to leave our Church all the true Members of which are eminently so and to join himself to the Papists who are Notoriously known not to be so this being to exchange Sheep for Wolves Doves for Vultures and consequently to underdo and make himself miserable if he come to the Crown I confess indeed there is a Generation of Men amongst us that call themselves Protestants and would be thought the best and purest part of the Reformation that have equal'd if not outvy'd the Jesuits themselves in their Treasons Seditions and Rebellions against Kings these were they that took Arms against and Murder'd that Incomparable Prince King Charles the First of Glorious and never Dying Memory These abjured and exiled our Present most Gracious Soveraign and since his Happy Restauration have Created him so great Vexation Trouble and Disturbance These too with the new Converts and Proselites they have gain'd from the Church and poyson'd with their Seditibus Principles Headed by some of the Great Men that either had cast off Religion or being Male-content because they had not all the Honours and great Offices they desired or being promoted to them did not injoy them as long as they would have done but for their Misdemeanours were justly deprived of them that they might be confer'd upon more deserving Persons with others Alarum'd by the late Popish Plot and Excited by their hatred of the Romish Religion are the Enemies of the Royal Family known Authors and Promoters of the Bill and the late more damnable and accursed intended Exclusion But then I desire it may be consider'd that these are not of the Church of England but Fugitives and Runnagates that have withdrawn and separated themselves from it they renounce the Church and the Church renounceth them they will not own her for their Mother nor she them for her Children they are so far from being Members that they are the Sores and Ulcers the pest of the Church as well as of the Crown and that they are equally hateful to them is Evident because they destroy'd the King and the Church together or rather the Church first that this being taken away which was the support of it they might more easily and readily overthrow the Monarchy and verifie that which King James in his great Wisdom foresaw would certainly be No Bishop No King And therefore none can with any appearance of Justice charge the Insolencies Mutinies Seditions Teasons and Misdemeanours of that Stubborn Generation upon our Church this being to blame it for the Crimes and Offences of those that are profess'd Enemies to and open Dissenters and Separatists from it nor in Reason expect Loyalty and true Obedience from them so long as they continue such for how should they Learn to Reverence and Obey their Prince that refuse to come into our Assemblies where such great and useful and concerning Duties are Preach'd to and press'd upon the Hearers Or if at any time they vouchsafe to be present at our Churches 't is never till the Loyal as well as most Pious Prayers of our Liturgy are over and then too if either the Text or the Sermon have any smatch of malignancy so they called Loyalty in the Days of old or as the new Word is Toryism away they run as if they were frighted out of their Wits or the Preacher had vented some damnable Heresy which their Ears tingle and their Souls are astonish'd at These are Duties that are never taught in their Conventicles if they had any mind to it the Apostles of the Separate Churches have not the face to put their Hearers in mind of Obeying their Prince because their Preaching and the People coming to hear in those Places are Acts of great Scandalous and Sinful Disoobedience And if the seeds of Obedience be not sowed in their Hearts by Learned and Constant Preaching how should Loyalty as the precious Fruit thereof grow up in their Lives and Actions They that prefer the Opinion of that Scotch Villain David Blake who said all Arch-Bishop Spots Woods Hist Church of Scotland pa. 423. Kings were the Devils Bearns before that Affirmative of God I have said ye are Gods and you are all the Children of the most High and that assertion of St. Paul who writ by the Inspiration of the Holy Ghost There is no Power but of God the Powers Kings that be are Ordain'd of God and neither desire to be nor care to come where they may be better inform'd and Preach'd out of such Damnable Principles cannot possibly be good Subjects Do Men gather Grapes of Thrones or Figs of Thistles As unreasonable is it to expect Loyalty from these People who have not hitherto been Taught and have still no mind or desire to Learn any and do therefore cast off all Obedience to the King and do all they can to tear or rend the Government from him because like the Bramble they would fain be so that is Govern all themselves 'T is then apparently the Interest and consequently ought to be the Care of the Government to reduce or bring back to the Church these People that are gone from it because whilst they continue separated or divided from it they are open and profess'd Enemies to the Government and there is no other way to make them good Subjects To grant them Toleration is a sure way for the Government to Ruin and undo it self because it is to give them not only opportunity but Licence and Commission to Preach Treason and dissiminate their Seditious Principles with Impunity to strengthen
the Preacher out And as Preaching cannot unless they be forced to hear and the just Correction of the Laws drive them from their Conventicles to our Assemblies so Writing hath done no good upon them all the excellent Books that have been written both formerly and of late Years by the excellent Divines of our Church in which all their exceptions against it have been fully answer'd all their scruples satisfi'd all their Pleas and Apologies for their Separation throughly confuted and the Authors of them put to all the shame and silence Men of their Confidence are capable of yet they are never the better but persist stubbornly in their wicked Schism and prove to all the World that they are such as hate to be Reformed the crafty seducers tell their Credulous followers that such are Lewd and ungodly Books and that frights them so that they dare not upon any Terms give them the Reading all that their guides think fit to do in the case is to imploy some Pragmatical Fellow to write an Answer which how silly or impertinent soever is admired and applauded by the whole Faction as an Incomparable piece and the Author hugd and caress'd by the Brethren and Holy Sisters as a very precious Man Nor can any better success be reasonably expected from the other way that of Conference because if they will not hear our Clergy Preach nor Read the excellent Books they have writ in defence of the Church they will be as averse especially when they have their Liberty to private Conference be with great difficulty brought to admit the Charitable Person that comes to undeceive them or if they do they are generally so ignorant and so conceited that it is very hard to make them understand the nature of the things disputed what Schism is and how exceeding Sinful and if this be done they are so highly conceited of their own Gifts and Godliness as to think themselves Wiser and Holyer than he that offers them Instruction Besides they are such Slaves to so wholly at the Command of their own Guides and Teachers that if they tell them their separate Meetings are Innocent and Holy Assemblies and those of the Church so impure or defiled with Popish Prayers Ceremonies and other Humane Inventions that it is not safe for them to venture their precious Souls in them they believe such lying words as firmly as if they were Divine Truths and adhere to them in spight of all the Scripture and Reason that can be brought against them These therefore and all other vain projects laid aside the Government if it will be safe and happy must with great and earnest care endeavour to reduce them to the Church which can be effected no other way but by a strict Executing the Laws upon all Dissenters an unwearied persisting in it letting them see that if they dare be so impudent as to Affront Transgress the Laws and defie Authority that both will and dares do Justice upon such bold Offendors This in time will make them leave their Fooling to give it no worse Title Teach the People to shun the Meeting-Houses with the same caution and waryness as they do the Dreadful and Disconsolate Places where Misery and Ruin dwell This will put them upon serious Thoughts and Considerations Oblige them strictly to Examine the Cause for which they Suffer prompt them to ask themselves such questions as these what harm or venom is there in the Ceremonies of the Church that we should be so affraid of them as to run from the Communion of it Do not our own Guides and Teachers confess the Doctrine of it to be pure or agreeable to the Scriptures Are there not abundance of Learned Pious and Holy Men that Live and Dye in the Communion of it and can we think that such Men are not Saved And if they be Why will not the same Faith the same Doctrine the same Prayers and Holyness carry us to Heaven Are not the Doctrine Government and Worship the same that were Taught exercis'd and used by those brave and Holy Men that with such admirable zeal and courage suffer'd Martyrdom in the Reign of Queen Mary How can that be Popery now which was practic'd by them who would rather burn at a Stake then turn Papist and are we Wiser or more Conscientious than they The Wise Merciful Correction of the Laws will by degrees bring the Offendors to a sight and abhorring of their Errours and produce in them such good Thoughts as these and consequently ingage them to return from whence they are fallen I mean to our Holy and Excellent Church which will put an Happy end to all our Schisms and Divisions and the People by coming constantly to our Pious Loyal Assemblies will in a little time Learn to Fear God and the King and meddle no more with them that are given to change But if this great means of reducing them be waved or neglected or coldly prosecuted such a Blessed and desirable Revolution can never be attained but our fewds and contentions will be Immortal and we shall be as the scorn of so the most Miserable and Distracted Nation in the World Without this nothing can reduce them but in Conjunction with and Subordination to it there are other things that will contribute very much to it as the Exemplary Piety and strict Conformity of the Clergy and the putting them into such a Condition that they may not depend upon the Benevolence of the People for their Maintenance Their Exemplary Piety that none be suffer'd to Dishonour our most pure and holy Church by their Evil and unsuitable Lives for though 't is certain we have the most Learned Pious Unblamable and therefore Excellent Clergy in the World yet if there be any irregular Persons amongst them as 't is possible there may in such a great Body of Men be here and there one that forgets himself that care be taken and means used to Reform them that they give no Offence Minister no Occasion to any to Reproach the Church or to speak Evil of our most Holy and Undefiled Religion We see how cautious and careful the Schismatical Preachers are to seem Holy that they may gain the Esteem and Veneration of the People and lead them by the Noses whether and to what they please and if the shadow in them to be sure the Substance of Holiness a Vertuous and unblamable Life in all our Clergy will gain them great Authority with the People and convince them that must needs be an Holy Church that hath so Pious Regular and Excellent a Clergy The next is their strict Conformity that all of them be compell'd to observe all the Orders and Constitutions of the Church Unless this be done the People can never be drawn off from their prejudices against and misperswasions concerning them but will think them unlawful Impositions because some of the Clergy do not observe them and they will admire applaud and follow those that do not observe them as
Primitive times Besides the Holy Scriptures or written word of God as I remarked before call upon us to search and study and meditate in them nay to believe and obey or Live according to them and Promise Eternal Happiness and Salvation to all that do these things but they make no mention of the word of God not written do not Command any to enquire or search after or trouble their Heads about any such thing as the Unwritten word of God 'T is true indeed St. Paul praises the Obedient Members of the Church of Corinth that kept 1 Cor. 11. 2. the Traditions or Ordinances which he deliver'd to them But these were no part of the word of God either written or not written but things in their own nature Indifferent That the Men should Pray in publick with their Heads uncover'd and the Women with their Heads cover'd Verses 4th and 5th He gives this charge also to Timothy hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of 2 Tim. 1. 13. me in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus Which form of sound words was either the Creed which the Apostles agreed upon as a summary of the Chief things that were to be believed and profess'd by all Christians or else the whole Doctrine of Christ containing all things to be done as well as believed to Salvation which if not then were before the Apostles left the World intirely written for the Instruction of all that should Imbrace the Christian Religion But doth not Christ tell his Apostles I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now By which saith the St. John 16. 12. Church of Rome it appears That Christ spoke many things that were not written and it is not credible that the Apostles would not deliver these by word of mouth to the Church To which a Reverend Bishop of ours gives this Satisfactory Answer that Christ doth not say Bishop Davenane de judice norma fidei page 18. Multa habeo quae non potestis in posterum scribere I have many things to say unto you which you cannot hereafter write but which you cannot now bear Postea autem Spiritu sancto illuminati portare ea potuerunt praedicare mundo ac demum scriptis toti Ecclesiae Commendare but afterwards being inlightned by the Holy Ghost they could both bear them themselves and Preach them to the World and at last in their writings Commend and Transmit them to the whole Church But let us grant saith he that these things were such as are not written yet who is so impudent and rash as to dare to specifie or assign what those things were This is such Transcendent Presumption that none but the Church of Rome dares venture on which takes the boldness to Father all her Dreams Fables and Errours upon God calling them his Traditional or Unwritten word As for those words of St. John which they insist so much upon There are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be Chap. 21. 25. written every one I suppose that even the World it self could not contain the Books that should be written These neither prove the necessity nor Authority of their Traditional or Unwritten word of God Fatemue enim multa esse quae fecit Jesus quae tamen ab Evangelistis scripta non fuerunt for we Page 18. confess saith that Learned Authour that there were many things which Jesus did that are not written by the Evangelists but these many things were not Doctrines necessary to Salvation but Miracles or sayings which we may be ignorant of without any detriment to Religion or Salvation so St. John himself tells us And many other Signs truly did Jesus in the Chap. 20. 30. 31. presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have Life through his Name Which utterly destroys the necessity of their Unwritten word of God for if what is written be enough to perswade Men to believe in Christ and that believing be sufficient to save or bring them to Eternal life that do it then no more can be necessary but St. John affirms both these therefore the Romish Traditional or Unwritten word of God is at best a needless or superfluous thing Besides it is and must be with all thinking Men a mighty Objection against this Unwritten word of God as they call it that the Church of Rome hath the sole Custody or keeping of it the Primitive Church after the Canon of the Scriptures was compleated says nothing at all of it for all the Fathers cry up and maintain the Perfection and Sufficiency of the written word of God and all the Reformed Churches adhere to this in Opposition to that Unwritten Word How then came Rome by it Is God so partial such a Respecter of Persons as to Communicate it to that Church and not to others Or is it a Cheat or Artifice of the nequam ingeniosi the witty or Crafty Deceivers to help at a dead lift This is the very Truth Many of their Doctrines and Practices they plainly perceiv'd did openly clash with and contradict the Holy Scriptures or written word of God and therefore there was no way to defend them to acquit their Church from Errour and Impiety but to cry up Tradition and make it of equal Authority with the Scriptures But this will not do it for doth God use to contradict himself There are that say he hath two Wills the one secret the other reveal'd and that the one is contrary to the other which is neither better nor worse than downright Blasphemy the Church of Rome with equal Blasphemy affirms that God hath two Laws or Words the one contained in the Scriptures the other transmitted by Oral Tradition and they plead this in Defence of those Doctrines which are contrary to that being beaten from the Scriptures and having no shelter or protection for their Errours there they Fly for refuge to Tradition as if that could bear them out or support their Cause and so they make the infinitely Wise and Righteous God contradict himself which he must needs do if he hath declared his will to Mankind two several ways that is by Scritpure and Oral Tradition and this affirms things which that deny's and gainsays They had rather if they could do it prove the points in controversy by the Scriptures as the most satisfactory and convincing proof but not being able to do that they are constrained either to confess their Errours or to pretend Tradition to vouch and countenance them That they will not do because it is against their Worldly Interest inconsistent with their Honour and Profit This they had better not do because the Cheat is so Evident that none but weak Persons will be gull'd and deluded by it for we know that must
and patient people that are not easily Provoked not Revengful Turbulent nor Seditious but of a Gentle Pleasing and Complying Temper these saith Christ shall Inherit the Earth spend their days in great tranquillity be happy in the friendship of their Equals the favour of their Superiours and the protection of their Governours every man is or may be ashamed to injure those that are of such a sweet and obliging temper not that this meekness gives them a Right to any part of the Earth or any of the possessions of it that belong to others but preserves them from many dangers miseries which they that have it not betray expose themselves to renders them patient and contented in all conditions and will if conjoyn'd with all other Christian Vertues secure to them a blessed portion in the Land of Promise the Heavenly Canaan of which the Earthly which God promised to the People of Israel was but a Type or poor Resemblance for of that our Lord here speaks it being the happy Country which every true Christian desires and seeks after an Inheritance as Saint Peter calls it incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserv'd in Heaven for him And so far was our Lord from saying any thing in favour of this Principle that he utterly declin'd or refused to intermeddle with mens Temporal Rights at all unless it was to secure them to the owners of which we have two remarkable instances one in the man that came and said to him Master speak to my Brother that St. Luke 12. 13. he divide the Inheritance with me the man was modest you see he did not desire the whole but would have been contented with half the Inheritance To this Proposal Christ answers by way of Reproof Man who made me a Judg Verse 14. or a Divider over you Thou art mistaken I am not come as a Temporal Prince or Judg to give Estates or Possessions to any in this World but to propose an Heavenly Kingdome and Immortal Happiness to all mankind and to tell them upon what Terms or Conditions they may obtain them This is the great concern I am imploy'd in and if thou wilt consult me herein I will soon give thee full Satisfaction That the Man who made this Motion had no Right to the Inheritance seems Evident to me both by the smart Reprehension Christ gives him in these words Man who made me a Judg or a Divider over you I will not meddle in so Unjust a thing as to bid thy Brother divide his Inheritance with thee and also by the Admonition he gives him in the following words Take heed Verse 15. and Beware of Covetousness for a Mans Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Thy desire of wealth and endeavour to encrease thy own by lessening thy Brothers Possession is a great Sin in thee and of such mighty danger that it ought to be avoided with the highest Care and Caution for though Estates and Possessions are useful to sustain Life yet no Man can prolong his Life nor make it really the more happy by possessing Superfluous Wealth The other Instance is the Question proposed to him by the Herodians What thinkest thou Is it Lawful to give Tribute unto Caesar To St. Mat. 22. 17. which having first reproved them for their Treachery and Hypocrisy he Answers Render Verse 21. unto Caesar the things which are Caesars Pay your Prince the Tribute that is due to him do not defraud or wrong him of any thing that belongs to him far be it from me to Advise or Counsel any to detain the Emperours Right from him If our Lord had design'd to found Dominion in Grace here had been a fit Oppertunity to have done it for when they said Tell us is it Lawful to give Tribute unto Gaesar He might have reply'd no it is not Caesar is an Infidel or Heathen or Wicked Man and as such is fallen from all Dominion and therefore hath no Right to Demand Tribute of the People nor they any Obligation upon them to Pay him any But so far was Christ from giving them such an Answer that he Acknowledg'd Tribute to be Caesars Right and Commanded it to be pay'd unto him and though he was the Son of that God from whom Caesar receiv'd his Imperial Power and Authority yet when the Officers Demanded it of him rather than he would deprive him of his Right he wrought a Miracle that he might have wherewith to pay it which shews the admirable Justice and Integrity of our Lord in that he was careful to secure and preserve all Mens Rights and Properties If any Man refused to Submit unto his Excellent Laws and to come over to his Religion he told him he should have no part nor portion in his Kingdom but then to avoid mistakes he declared that his Kingdom was not of this World not an Earthly but an Heavenly Kingdom and all Right to this he affirms is founded in Grace that it is the Free and Royal Gift of God and the Purchase of his Meritorious Holiness and Sufferings there being nothing in Men to Merit so great a Good the things he requires of them being necessary Dispositions to qualifie or fit them for the Injoyment of it not the Cause moving God to confer it upon them So that though a Pious and Holy Conversation be the great Condition of a Crown hereafter and so absolutely necessary that it cannot be obtain'd without it And though it be an Ornament and Security to him that hath one upon Earth an Ornament as it Gives an admirable Lustre to his Greatness and Renders him Excellent in his Person as well as upon the Account of his Royal Office A security as it Indears the Providence of God and Ingages his tender care of him as it Discourages Wicked and Trayterous Men from attempting or enterprising any thing against him whose Piety makes him Dear to Heaven renders him so highly the Joy and Delight of the Blessed Angels that they are Ready to offer themselves as a Guard and Defence to him and as it procures him the Love Honour and Admiration of all good Men yet the highest Piety or Holiness gives no Man a Title to that Dominion or Soveraignty upon Earth to which he had not an Antecedent Right nor doth the Want of it deprive him that hath it of that Right Christ offers Indeed an Heavenly Kingdom upon Condition of a good Life but an ill one Forfeits no Mans Right to an Earthly And seeing our Lord hath said nothing in Favour of this Tenure but on their contrary that which overthrows and destroys it It cannot be true that Dominion is founded in Grace for he having not founded it so who is the great Law giver to his Church no humane Authority can do it without invading his Prerogative nay as I observ'd before without destroying his Religion because Experience shews us most Men are mightily byassed or led by their