THE King's Authority In DISPENSING with Ecclesiastical Laws Asserted and Vindicated By the late Reverend PHILIP NYE A Congregational Divine LONDON Printed for H. N. and Nathanael Ranew at the King's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVII TO THE King's most Excellent Majesty JAMES By the Grace of God Of England Scotland France and Ireland KING Defender of the Faith c. May it please Your Majesty YOUR Gracious Declaration for Liberty of Conscience is such an instance of the tender care You have of each Man that hath the happiness to be Your Subject that it as well exacts the Service of every one in particular as the Universal Applause Great Sir Having no better opportunity to express my Gratitude I lay at Your Royal Feet these Sheets wrote by my deceased Father occasioned by his late Majesty's Declaration May they be instrumental to promote the Designs of Your Princely Clemency May every Individual in Your Kingdoms enjoy their Consciences and Property May your Parliaments serve you in all those healthful Laws which may appease our Differences and secure our Peace so that not only the present Age but likewise Posterity may bless your Reign for introducing so compassionate an Indulgence These Blessings for you and us and that you may live long and happily in the pursuance of these merciful and noble Principles are the Prayers of Your Majesty's most obedient Subject HENRY NYE A DISCOURSE of Ecclesiastical Laws and Supremacy of the Kings of England in Dispensing with the Penalties of such Laws CHAP. I. The Case and State of the Question THE King's Power and Jurisdiction in Ecclesiastical Affairs may fall under a three-fold Consideration as First put forth by himself Secondly by Commission granted to Ecclesiastical Persons and exercised in those Courts we term Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Thirdly Or such Affairs are managed and ordered by him in Parliament and the Authority thereof The Form in which these Ecclesiastical Laws are expressed unto us is this Be it enacted by the King 's most excellent Majesty by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons in Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same c. Meerly to advise and consent imply no more Authority in the establishment of Ecclesiastical Laws than what was put forth in the Convocation in their Canons but it being added by the Authority of the same this Authority thus mentioned may be construed either relating to the Advice and Consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament a Suffrage more than an Advice or bare Consent for it implieth when Bills are formed read debated and assented to by both Houses they were then stamped with some kind of Parliamentary Authority Or it is to be interpreted relating to King Lords and Commons and which is likely for Consultations of Parliament tho concluded by Vote yet become not formally a Law until his Majesty hath given his Royal Assent And in this sense Ecclesiastical Laws and Orders which are Enacted and Established by Statutes have as formal a Sanction being not only by Authority of the King but by Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament as other Laws wherein our Civil Interests are concerned namely a joint and not the single Power of either This being granted rather than needlesly to dispute those highest Interests and thence also inferred That as these Ecclesiastical Laws have their Rise Vigour and Strength so their Diminution and Abatement from conjunction of both Powers and are more fixed and stable than those Canons and Orders in Ecclesiastical Matters that have their Sanction from the King only To this I say briefly Altho Men may be Tenants in Common yet none can be joint Tenants with the King. These Powers are not equal the King hath the Supremacy and is thereby enabled to such Acts and Orderings about the Penalties of our Laws as are peculiar to the Crown and Dignity of a King as in Mitigating Exempting Dispensing Licensing Pardoning c. and all this more especially in Ecclesiastical Matters as by the following Discourse will appear SECT 1. This Power and Superiority exercised by the Kings of England in relation to the Penalties of such Penal Laws of both sorts shall be spoken to in these two Particulars I. That such an Authority and Supremacy is necessary and ought to be placed in some Hand II. That it is a Dignity which hath always been placed in the Kings and Queens of this Realm I. For the former In all Polities and Forms of Government as there is a Rule which is to be the Measure and Square to and by which all Mens Actions that live under that Polity are ordinarily to be conformed and judged so is there always some provision made for mitigating the Rigour of the Rule in Cases which may fall out and cannot be foreseen by the wisest Legislators and in such cases to exercise Summum jus would be Summa injuria therefore there is here not only a Power to judg as the case stands in the strict Letter of the Law but as there are Courts of Law so are there Chanceries Courts of Equity and Conscience wherein the Law and Rule it self is dispensed with and varied from and the Proceedings there are not according to the strict Terms of Law but secundum equum bonum as the Merit of the Case in it self may require 1. For Laws constituted for a whole Nation universally to be submitted to by Persons of what quality soever and how much soever different in their Conditions must needs in their strict execution bear harder upon some Men than others Parliaments in their Laws going by the Rule of Ad ea quae frequentius accidunt c. and better an inconvenient Mischief than an Inconvenience It is taken for granted that a general Law which hath its Good and Necessity in respect to the Bulk and Body of a People may prove unequal to particular Persons from the Circumstances of their present Condition In a Common Wealth the Ease and Benefit of each particular Person of what Degree or Condition soever is to be consulted but where Laws are executed in their full rigour and no Mercy or Indulgence to particular Persons in special and unusual Cases it will not be so God himself who knoweth every Man's Heart yet some of his Laws that are given in general to all would not prove so equal to each at all times without exemptions in particular Cases Hence we say Affirmative Precepts bind not ad semper to such Laws is that of Mark 2.26 in the Case of Shew-bread to be referred And the Pope who assumes to himself a possibility not to Err yet how doth his Republick abound in Courts for Faculties Dispensations Indulgences c. 2. It 's also to be considered there are no Societies of Men but may err in their Councils Laws made in one Parliament come to a Review and often to an Alteration yea Repeal in the next The Intervals of those great Councils are sometimes
long and if no way of Relief were in the mean time the Subject would without Remedy undergo the penalty of an unequal Law. These and the like Considerations make it necessary that besides the Legislative Power placed in the Parliament that there be some Hand or other also by which upon all emergent Occasions the rigour of a Law as to its Penalty may be abated by the means whereof not only Mens Liberties and Estates but Lives also are sometimes preserved SECT 2. 2. This Ballance hath always been trusted in the Hand and annexed to the Sovereign Majesty of every State for this Interest doth little vary but remaineth in a manner the same in all Republicks in what Form soever they be established In the State of England being an Empire and its Crown in many Acts of Parliament especially relating to these Matters stiled Imperial this Power is inseparably annexed thereunto which needs little proof it being confirmed by the Oath of Supremacy An Oath is the End of a Controversy Our great Lawyers also give in their Suffrage hereunto frequently affirming that the Statutes relating to the King 's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction are not introductive of New but declarative of the old Law. When an Act say both those two Learned Judges Cooke and Rolls forbiddeth under a Penalty in case it may be inconvenient to divers particular Persons in respect of Circumstances the Law gives Power to the King to dispense therewith And in like Cases or upon other Considerations equal he may Dispense License Pardon c. Yea although those Laws have been passed by his Majesty's Royal Assent formerly and which is more a Clause inserted in the Act that the King's Licence or Dispensation in this or that Case shall be void Yet it will be no Bar to such Prerogatives as are inherent and originally inseparable to his Royal Person but he may give Licence with a Non Obstante thereunto A learned Serjeant in his Nomotechina hath these words The King by a Clause of Non Obstante may dispense with a Statute Law if he recite the Statute though the Statute say such Dispensations shall be merely void And he may License Things forbidden by the Statutes as to coin Mony which is made a Capital Offence by the Statute and was before lawful for that it is but malum prohibitum but malum in se as to leave a Nusance in the High-way he cannot license to do but when it is done he may pardon it but where the Statute saith his License shall be void which the Civilians call Clausula derogativa there it must have a Clause of Non Obstante that is to say this Clause notwithstanding any Statute else it is not good And says the same Author He may in respect of his Supream Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction exempt some from the Jurisdiction of the Ordinary and dispense with others in things which the Ecclesiastical Law prohibits upon the same ground that they are not mala in se but prohibita I hold clear saith Judg Hobart that though the Statute says That all Dispensations c. shall be granted in manner and form following and not otherwise that yet the King is not thereby restrained but his Power remains full and perfect as before and he may still grant them as King. The King may remit the Penalty or Punishment of those Laws which he hath no power to dispense with as where what is forbidden by the Law is Malum in se saith the Serjeant in his aformentioned Discourse of Law much more then when what is forbiden is only Malum prohibitum The Statute indeed of the 9th of Edw. 2. Cap. 7. enacts That no Letter shall proceed from the King to discharge an Excommunicated Person but where the King's Liberty is prejudiced But as this Statute it self proves the Law and former Practice so it takes it not away since the King's Liberty of discharging such Persons used before is preserved by the same Statute CHAP. II. Of the Prerogatives and Regal Powers in Relation to Ecclesiastical Laws and Matters of Religion SECT 1. 1. REligion in the moral Parts thereof the Precepts and Commandments of God the Institutions and Ordinances of Christ these are not subject to any Humane Wisdom or Power The Apostles that were of higher Authority in these Affairs than any on Earth went no farther but as 1 Cor. 11.23 What I have received of the Lord that I delivered unto you To make Laws in Spiritual Matters that are such by the Light of Nature that Men may be moved to Duty and act according to their Light we yield to the Civil Magistrate as he is Custos utriusque Tabulae 2. There are Matters of Circumstance also and external Forms in Worship tending to Order and Decency These and the like are made by our Laws to depend upon the Power and Ordering of the Prince This Distinction you have laid down as Law by Judg Hobart his words are these Tho it be de Jure Divino that Christian People be provided of Christian Offices and Duties of Teaching Administration of the Sacraments and the like and of Pastors for that purpose and therefore to debar them wholly of it were expresly against the Law of God yet the Distinction of Parishes and the Form of furnishing every Parish Church with his proper Curat Rector or Pastor by the way of Presentation Institution c. as is used diversly in divers Churches and the State or Title which he hath or is to have in his Church or Benefice is not a positive Law of God in point of Circumstance And we know well that the Primitive Church in its greatest Purity were but voluntary Congregations of Believers submitting themselves to the Apostles and after to other Pastors to whom they did minister of their Temporals as God did move them Government is a Beam of Divine Power and therefore he proceeds saying If a People will refuse all Government it were against the Law of God but if a Popular State will receive a Monarchy it stands well with the Law of God. In the Case of Glover and Colt against the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield From all this the Judg seems to confirm his Distinction by way of Comparison thus As in Humane Affairs Government in the General and Essentials of it that one Man be Subject to another Man in an orderly way is necessary and Jure Divino and not in Man's Liberty or Dispose But for the Modes and Forms of Government and like Circumstances it is left to the wisdom and choice of Men and the conduct thereof So in Matters of Religion what is not Jure Divino such external Forms and Rites tending to a more orderly and decent administration in the Worship and Service of God our Law judgeth the Magistrate hath the ordering hereof in each Nation according to the Manners and Tempers of the People which is Various And in particular the Disposing of Pastors and People for the more convenient and orderly Service and Worship
importance by the King alone with advice of his Council Instances whereof you have many 1. In general The whole System and Body of Ecclesiastical Laws and Canons are published by the Synods of the Clergy from time to time These Laws have no Parliament Sanction or dependance upon Authority thence derived an their Constitution Nor yet have these Canons their Authority from the Synod or Clergy met in Convocation for Canons concluded by the Province of Canterbury only cannot oblige the Clergy of the Province of York having no Representatives or Clerks sitting in that Synod such was the Synod or Convocation met Anno 1584 1597 1603 and yet obliged to Subjection the Arch-Bishop and Clergy of the Province of York as well as those of 1640 where were the Representatives of both Provinces It 's therefore the Regal Authority express'd in the Letters Patents affixed to these Canons that gives them their chief Power and are therefore termed Regiae Leges Ecclesiae And whatsoever Cannons or Laws published by Convocation would have been of the same Force and Efficacy to oblige the Subject if only by the King with the Advice of his Council 2. In particular The several Injunctions Advertisements Declarations and other Edicts and Requirements from Sovereign Power by his Majesties Predecessors you have in the Injunction of Edward 6.1547 and Queen Elizabeth 1559 with Articles of Visitation thereunto adjoyned They license Ministers to preach and suspend also from preaching There were Articles in the Time of Edward 6. for establishing an Agreement in Religion and the rooting out Discords in Opinion 1552 and by Queen Elizabeth 1562. Also Edw. 6. established a Liturgy or publick Form of Prayer to be used throughout the Kingdom 1547 30 Eliz. after there had been an uniform Order of Divine Service and to be used only in the English Tongue established by Parliament as the only Form and no other or otherwise the Queen Anno 1560 by her Sole Authority published a different Form for Funerals with Liberty to say it in the Latin Tongue with a Non obstante in respect to the former Establishment There were also Sermons or Homilies a part of Divine Service required to be read by the Minister which being a matter of Ecclesiastical Cognisance were appointed by Edward 6 and Queen Elizabeth and not by Authority in Parliament 4. King James by his Sole Power without Authority of Parliament giveth out Directions for Preachers under Penalty of Suspension ab officio beneficio wherein many great and necessary Gospel-Truths are forbidden to be preached by any under the Degree of a Bishop or Dean Some Truths may not be preached by way of positive Doctrine but only by way of Use and Application no Sermons in the After-noon throughout the Kingdom to be preached from any Text but what is taken out of the Catechism Lord's Prayer Creed or ten Commandments He gives Faculties and confirms a new Body of Lecturers or Preachers throughout England that be neither Parsons Vicars nor Curats These Instances though not express'd of what these Powers have dispensed with or indulged yet are pertinent upon this Account What Sovereign Power thus put forth in Constitutions Injunctions Directions c. in Ecclesiastical Matters may in like proportion be exerted in Exemptions Dispensations c. As with Parliament and other Councils vested with Authority the Power to repeal Laws and Statutes is as large as that Power by which they enact and establish Laws For example if King James which is our last Instance might by his Prerogative confirm and establish a new Order of the Clergy he may by the same Power dispense with and license such Preachers as now seem and are reputed so to be And it follows also if his Power will extend to indulge such Preachers it will not prove short in respect to Hearers that are as it were new in the way of their Assemblies and indulge such as are not of the ancient Order of the Parochial Congregation of England SECT 2. The like Deductions might be drawn from other of those Instances I shall notwithstanding for further Confirmation add other Instances and such wherein you have this Power put forth in dispensing and exempting from what hath been burdensom to Mens Consciences from Parliamentary or Episcopal Impositions 1. That of Edw. 6. in the fourth Year of his Reign certain Protestants removing themselves and Families out of Popish Countries into England for their Consciences Sake and being not free to submit to the Form of Worship and Discipline established in this Church This good King by his Sole Authority granteth them the Liberty of such a Church-Government and Form of Worship as we shall say more to in its place as should be most suitable to their own Perswasion This being utterly against the Provision and Settlement newly made by Parliament he strengthens his Grant by a Non obstante the Statute and strictly requires all Bishops and Majors c. to suffer them quietly to enjoy their Consciences 2. Another Instance you have of the same good King John Hooper being chosen Bishop of Gloucester and there being certain Rites and Ceremonies established by Act of Parliament to be conformed unto in the Consecration of Bishops offensive to his Conscience Edw. 6. requires Arch-Bishop Cranmer to omit these Ceremonies discharging him of all manner of Dangers Penalties and Forfeitures he should run into and be in any manner of way by omitting of the same and these our Letters faith the King shall be your sufficient Warrant and Discharge therefore 3. The Instance you have also in what was done by Queen Elizabeth for relief of tender Consciences namely her Majesty being informed that in certain Places of this Realm sundry of Her Subjects called to the Ministry being induced by sinister Persuasions are scrupled about the Form of an Oath which by an Act of the last Parliament was prescribed to be taken according to the Form expressed in the Act under Penalty of being disenabled to bear any Office in State or Church Her Majesty was graciously pleased to assume by her Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs to give and declare such a Sense and Construction of the Words of this Oath expressed in other Words much different for their Satisfaction with a gracious Declaration That such Persons fit for the Ministry as could not take the Oath in the Parliament-Form should accept it in this Sense and doing so they shall notwithstanding be accepted by her Majesty as good and obedient Subjects and acquits them of all manner of Penalties contained in the said Act against such as should refuse to take the same By which means many an able Man had Freedom to exercise his Ministry which otherwise must be laid aside which Indulgence of hers although against an Act of Parliament yet was owned as done by Lawful Authority and recognised by the Parliament 5. Eliz. and her Exposition assented to and enacted 4. This renowned Queen together with King James and King Charles the First confirmed
the Indulgence and Dispensation granted by Edw. 6. to Strangers yea though it was a Gravamen to the Bishop making an evident Breach upon the Pale of Uniformity for not only the Parents but the Children and Childrens Children which were natural Subjects to his Realm Persons of great Estate and Purchasers of Lands and interessed in the Soil The Number also of these Congregations increasing and scituated in the eminent and chief Towns and Cities in the Kingdom there to live and profess as separated and divided Bodies in Discipline and Worship from the Church of England was not intended by the first Grant so Bishop Laud complains there being only that one in London when the first Grant was made such things were frequently suggested against them yet these Princes were graciously disposed notwithstanding the Act for Uniformity from time to time to confirm the Grant of Edw. 6. by several Orders past some of them formed as having special respect to such Objections which will not be amiss for the Reader 's confirmation here to insert some of them at least The Form in which Queen Elizabeth confirmed their Liberties Non Ignoramus variis Ecclesiis varias diversas jam ab initio Christianae Religionis semper fuisse Ritus Ceremonias non contemnimus vestras neque nos ad nostras cogimus King James Octob. 17. 10 Jac. to the Dutch at Colchester His Majesty granted their Orders Liberties c. in as large and ample manner to all Intents and Purposes as heretofore they have been used tolerated and allowed unto them any Provision or Jurisdiction to the contrary thereto in any wise notwithstanding An Order of King James under his Signet Jan. 13. 1616 on their behalf These are therefore to Will and Command all our Courts of Justice and other our loving Subjects to permit and suffer the said Strangers and their Children c. The Order of the Council for the Walloons of Norwich Octob. 10. 1621. Those of Norwich though born in the Kingdom shall continue to be of the said Congregation and subject to such Discipline as hath been by all the time of fifty five Years practised by them The Order of King Charles the First Novemb. 13. 1631. We Will and Command our Judges c. to permit and suffer the said Strangers and their Children quietly to enjoy all and singular c. without any Troubles Arrests or Proceedings by way of Information or otherwise An Order of the Council for the Dutch of Norwich Jan. 7. 1630. That all those that now or hereafter shall be Members of the Dutch Congregation although born within this Kingdom shall continue to be of the said Church so long as his Majesty shall be pleased c. These and divers the like Instances might be produced which sufficiently evince it as granted on all sides and constantly supposed to be according to the Constitution of this Realm that our Kings and Princes have Power in and from themselves as an inherent and inseparable Prerogative not only to injoin and give Laws to their Subjects in Ecclesiastical Matters such as are left to the ordering of any Civil Power as also to dispense and exempt from Laws of that kind though established by them in conjunction with the Authority of Parliament Nor do we find that Parliaments at any time have taken into Consideration what was ordered or done by those Kings and Princes in Ecclesiastical Affairs being their known Prerogative no not in those of King James who assumed the most in such managements nor by any Petitions or Addresses to any of those Princes which is usual in the Concerns of Civil Rights for limiting or enlarging the Exercise of their Power in these Ecclesiastical Matters but rather recognizing and confirming what hath been ordered by them as in 5 Eliz. and Car. 2. in the Act of Uniformity and other Instances many may be produced CHAP. IV. Of the Objections made against this Power and the executing thereof with Answer thereunto SECT 1. THere are Reasonings possibly tending another way in stating this Case The Objections obvious I shall now mention having divers material Considerations pertinent to a more full and clear stating this Case which might have been produced in the Body of this Discourse but are reserved rather to this place partly because we find this vulgar way of Dialogue le ts in Knowledg with less difficulty and what is required by way of a Question engageth him that proposeth with greater attention to observe what is said in the Answer QUEST I. If such a Prerogative be in the King what need Ecclesiastical Laws be transacted and established by Parliament Answ 1. That hinders not but that his Majesty's Power is sufficient of it self to do many things relating to such Laws without them take it in his Majesty's own words Declarat of 26 Decemb. 1662. To concur with us in making some such Act as may enable us to exercise with a more universal Satisfaction that Power of Dispensing which we conceive to be inherent in Vs As also it is by the afore-named learned Judg Hubbard expressed That these Statutes and the like were made to put things in ordinary Form and to ease the Soveraign of Labour but not to derogate from his Power 2. Powers sufficient in themselves may join and in such conjunction remain intire as Powers Cumulative and not Privative as it is evident from what is said in the Statute of 31 Hen. 8. cap. 10. The King 's most excellent Majesty though it appertained to his Prerogative Royal to give Honour as it shall seem to his Wisdom he is nevertheless pleased and contented for an Order to be had c. by this High Court of Parliament that it shall be enacted by the Authority of the same c. 3. The King is a kind of Corporation in himself distinct from that Capacity wherein he stands in conjunction with his Subjects as their Head And in that respect being in an higher Region above and in a greater distance from those Interests upon the account whereof his Subjects are many times much divided and publick Edicts are formed according to the Prevalency of a greater Party to the prejudice of others that are his Loyal Subjects also by his Wisdom and Prudence there is a Ballance by which the Tranquillity of a Nation is happily preserved and one Party is not overborn by the other having this Power to mitigate and dispense in the Matters under our consideration as in his Wisdom with Advice of Council shall seem equal SECT 2. QUEST II. But hath not the King's Prerogative Limits in our Laws And are there not some Things which he cannot dispense with no not with a Non Obstante Answ I grant it and in several Cases 1. He may by special Words in the Statute bind up himself from making any use of his Prerogative 2. In what is Malum in se in respect of Impiety or Unrighteousness 3. When such Dispensations are destructive to the great Ends of
to both Houses One Thing more I hold my self obliged to recommend unto you at this present which is That you would seriously think on some Course to beget a better Vnion and Composure in the Minds of my Protestant Subjects in Matters of Religion whereby they may be induced to submit quietly to the Government and most faithfully give their Assistance to the support of it His Majesty did not only express his Purposes for the ease of Tender Consciences but from time to time endeavoured it And first of all by a Declaration Octob. 25. 1660. to all his Loving Subjects of England and Wales concerning Ecclesiastical Affairs mentioning that from Breda dispenseth with the use of divers Ceremonies formerly injoined that were offensive March 25. following he gave Commission to certain Learned Divines to meet at the Savoy and take the Service-Book under consideration to the same purpose May 11. 1661. frees from their Imprisonment such as suffered for Conscience The King and his Parliament happily joined in the same pious End Peace and Union yet differenced in their apprehensions of the Means to procure it which was our great unhappiness The Parliament judged the reducing and rooting out Dissenters by severe Penalties to be the means of Unity in the Church as they tell his Majesty in Answer to his Declaration Pressing the asserting of the Laws and Religion established according to the Act of Vniformity as the more probable means to produce a set led Peace and Obedience throughout the Kingdom Supposing and possibly some of them perswaded thereunto from those that never would distinguish betwixt Conformity and Sedition the dissent of Nonconformists from the present Establishment to be rather from a Spirit of Faction and Disloyalty than Tenderness of Conscience proceeded accordingly The Act of Uniformity was renewed and the Service-Book injoined with no alteration of what was formerly offensive in it but some Expressions of greater difficulty to be digested by those that were Tender and nothing done yet in what his Majesty had promised in way of relief to Tender Consciences Hereupon not only multitudes of faithful Preachers of the Gospel in the several Shires of this Kingdom were put from their Imployment but also the Minds of Men much disturbed and filled with hard Thoughts and Jealousies upon this Account Insomuch that his Majesty was inforced to publish that Declaration of Decemb. 26. in which he expresses the Surmises of the People occasioned by this Severity thus That having made use of such solemn Promises from Breda and in several Declarations since of Ease and Liberty to Tender Consciences instead of performing any part of them we have added straiter Fetters than ever and new Rocks of Scandal to the Scrupulous by the Act of Vniformity To this Surmise and Jealousy his Majesty condescends to make Reply thus As concerning the Nonconformance of our Promise We remember well the very words of those from Breda repeating the words and the Confirmations we have made of them since upon several Occasions in Parliament and as all these Things are still fresh in our Memory so are we still firm in the Resolution of performing them to the full But it must not be wondred at since that Parliament to which those Promises were made in Relation to an Act never thought fit to offer us any to that purpose The House of Commons took his Declaration into consideration and represented to his Majesty divers Objections against it and laid it aside so that nothing was effected thereby to his Majesty's Purpose the Parliament being otherwise minded and certainly it is not only their Liberty but Duty to proceed in reforming Abuses by such Means as are in their Perswasion most suitable and likely to be effectual otherwise they could not be faithful in their Trust Greater Severities against Nonconformity are provided in several Acts upon occasion as the Act against private Meetings 16 Car. 2. The expelling Ministers five Miles from Burrough Towns 17 Car. 2. Especially that Act of 22 Car. intituled An Act to prevent and suppress Seditious Conventicles An Act very high and heavy in the Penalties expressed both upon Ministers and People his Majesty notwithstanding condescended to give his Royal Assent to that Bill It being judged this Severity was taken up by them from good Intentions and as the likeliest means of Peace and Union as also if it proved not to be so that they might be yet more fully convinced of the Insufficiency of such a way having had hitherto for some Years experience how little effectual it hath proved Yet this Bill containing nothing for substance but what was proper to his Ecclesiastical Power being an ordering the Externals of the Church and nothing of immediate Concern in Civil Affairs in the whole Act And his Majesty having intentions to take the other Course if this of Severity effected not what was aimed at a Proviso is contained in the Act in these words Provided also that neither this Act nor any thing herein contained shall extend to invalidate or avoid his Majesty's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Affairs but that his Majesty and his Heirs and Successors may from time to time and at all times hereafter exercise and enjoy all Powers and Authorities in Ecclesiastical Affairs as fully and amply as himself or any of his Predecessors have or might have done the same any thing in this Act notwithstanding As this Act of 22 Car. 2. was very strict and severe in it self so the execution of it was with much Violence and Rigour in most parts of the Nation there being Provision made in it such as even loose and indigent Persons may intrude themselves in the promoting thereof with encouragement not only of their Lusts gratified in persecuting those they so much hate but their Necessities supplied from large Rewards for the same Having Power given to inform against Justices Mayors Constables and such as are intrusted in the Execution hereof who are under great Fines and Penalties for Omissions limited in this Act and the Informer to have a Moiety hereof himself Insomuch that by the rigorous execution of it thousands of his Majesty's good Subjects were utterly ruined Persons industrious and diligent in their Callings driven from their Habitations their Houses broken open their Goods imbezeled the Materials of their Trades the Tools they wrought with and the Beds they lay upon seized and sold Trade every where decayed Rents of Land fallen Poverty coming on like an Armed Man Persons haled from these Meetings for the Worship of God through the open Streets to Prisons being of the same Faith with us and so peaceable and unblameable in their Conversation as that nothing could be objected against them but in the Matters of their God nor for any thing upon that account but their endeavouring to practise as those Reformed Churches we our selves own for such and hold a Brotherly Communion with as the true Churches of Christ The Nation generally being thus distracted and distressed those in Power
of God to be only Jure Humano and may be otherwise and was so in the Primitive Church in her greatest purity Pastors and People were not then as now engaged in this Relation and one to another by a Parochial Bond or Tye but injoyed a Christian Liberty voluntarily to dispose of themselves under such or such a Ministry as they should make choise of to themselves The Church is said in this State to be in greatest purity The Congregational-way therefore is not a way in this learned Judg's Opinion of Disorder and Confusion as is frequently suggested 2. And that it is in the Power of Supream Majesty to dispense with a Parishioner as well as with a Pastor or Rector in such a Case that is to remove from his Parish to another for more suitable Enjoyments as for a Rector upon his Majesty's Dispensation to be a Non-resident and take another Rectory the division of Parishes being Jure Humano What those Things and Matters of Religion are in the Judgment of our State that comes under the Manage of humane Wisdom and Power are well expressed in Queen Elizabeth's Advertisement These Orders and Rules ensuing have been meet and convenient to be used and followed yet not prescribing these Rules as Laws equivalent with the Eternal Word of God and as of necessity to bind the Consciences of our Subjects in the nature of them considered in themselves Or as they should add any Efficacy or more Holiness to the Vertue of Publick Prayer and to the Sacraments but as temporal Orders meerly Ecclesiastical without any vain Superstition and as Rules in some part of Discipline concerning Decencies Distinction and Order for the time And in the Articles of 1562 It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all Places one or utterly alike for at all times they have been divers and may be changed according to the diversity of Countries and Mens Manners so that nothing be ordained against God's Word It is granted that even these Ecclesiastical Laws ought to be conformable to the Word of God and to those General Rules laid down in the Scriptures for ordering the Worship and Service of God in the Churches as Let all things be done decently and to Edification Give no offence to Jew or Gentile and the like and not to be the meer inventions of Men. That distinction some would make of things against or contrary and what is according to the Word of God the one they apply to Matters of Faith the other to Matters of Order It is a Distinction without a Difference there is more Wit than Truth in that Interpretation of Christ's Words He that is not with me is against me and in another place he that is not against me is with me applying the one to Matters of Faith the other to Matters of Order There is no such distinction to be made but Rites Ceremonies and Matters of Order ought to be according to God's Word as well as Matters of Faith. Magistrates are to judg Circa Res Ecclesias de iis si Fidei sint dogmata Vel ritus et Ceremoniae earumque Veritatem et Equitatem juxta Verbi Divini normam Mocket de pol. Eccl. Angl. cap. 3. And the Power of the King stands not in forming new Articles of Faith or Forms of Religion such as were Jeroboam's Calves but in defending and propagating that Faith and Religion of which God in the Scriptures is the undoubted Author saith Mason of Bishops lib. 3. cap. 5. It is evident those Holy Men our first Reformers made no such distinction but that all should be done according to God's Word laying before them these general Rules in Scripture even in retaining what hath been so offensive For of the retaining Ceremonies there is this account by them given Because they appertain to Edification whereunto all things done in the Church as the Apostle teacheth ought to be referred And of our Liturgy thus There is nothing to be read but the very pure Word of God and the Holy Scriptures or that which is evidently grounded upon the same Preface to the Common-Prayer Book God be thanked saith good King Edward the 6th we know both what by his Word is meet to be reformed and have amended c. It is convenient thus distinctly to have insisted upon what we term Religion or Matters Ecclesiastical according to that sense in which the Civil Magistrate assumes to himself the ordering thereof And what influence the Scriptures and Authority of God hath or ought to have in these Rites of the Church and Matters of Order as well as in Matters of Faith for hereby it appears whence it is Mens Consciences are more concerned in these Laws than in other Municipal Laws of the Nation And that the not being free to submit to these Ecclesiastical Laws when not formed according to God's Word is no Evidence of that Seditious Spirit that kicks against all Laws SECT 2. There is a necessity and that of much greater importance Provisions be made of Dispensations c. as occasion shall be in respect to Laws Ecclesiastical than in Civil In Matters of Religion and the Worship of God 1. Multitudes there are of loose and profane Persons in respect to such neither are the Laws in themselves nor in the execution of them severe enough 2. Against Popish Recusants the Laws have been severe enough yet in the execution great moderation 3. There are those and blessed be God great Multitudes who are not only Orthodox in Faith but of unblamable Life in the greater Things of Law and Gospel These are fallen under most severe Laws and of late with greatest severity put in execution and utterly ruin'd if there be no means of relaxation It is in behalf of these I argue this Necessity and that from these and the like Considerations 1. There is a greater proneness in Conscientious Men to scruple and to be doubtful in their Obedience to the Ecclesiastical than to the Civil Laws of a Nation as before 2. Great Difficulty in forming Laws wherein Mens Consciences are immediately concern'd so as not to dissatisfy some if not many 3. If those Laws be not according to Scripture in the apprehensions of those that are to obey whatsoever they are in themselves it is our Sin if we obey it is not so in Civil Commands 4. It is not of so ill Consequence for us to yield Obedience to a Civil as to an Ecclesiastical Law if ill constituted by the State. 5. From what is found in a manner peculiar in these our Ecclesiastical Laws and the Administration of them many ways prejudicial to the Subject there is a necessity some such provision of this kind be found on our behalf 1. The real Scruples and Doubts about our Obedience in these Ecclesiastical Matters cannot but be more and greater than in other Laws The knowingest Man in these Things knoweth but in part and the most Men have but a parcel in this part It is true the
a Common-Wealth Common Justice the Proprieties of Men c. 1. To the first His Majesty or any of his Predecessors hath not at any time in any Statute or Law that concerns these Ecclesiastical Matters by any such special Words bound up himself but rather the contrary as in those two Acts wherein more especially our Affair lieth That for Uniformity where the dispensing with that Statute granted to Strangers by sole prerogative-Prerogative-Authority is justified And the Act of 22 Car. 2. by the Proviso there inserted the Parliament seems to induce his Majesty's Assent in the recognizing of his Prerogative so expresly in that Act as if they spoke thus Though this Act be very Severe yet if it be found prejudicial or not to attain the End for which we judg such Severity to be requisite it is an Ecclesiastical Affair and your Majesty may when you please dispense and exempt Persons from it 2. There is nothing transacted in these Ecclesiastical Affairs by the Civil Magistrate and as depending on his Authority but such Matters as in the sense of our Law are things materially indifferent and therefore not Malum in se they do not bind the Conscience of the Subject in the nature of them considered in themselves Q. Eliz. Advertisements 1569 Preface the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony in it self is but a small thing yet the wilful and contemptuous transgression and breaking a common Order c. So that these Precepts concerning Ecclesiastical Matters oblige not in their own Nature as what is either Bonum or Malum in se but as prohibited or commanded 3. Civil Rights and Claims and in Temporal Things only are of the immediate and intrinsick Concern and Interest of all Republicks Dominium non fundatur in Gratiâ if the just claim of a Prince may not be interrupted upon the account he is of this or that Religion or Perswasion nor may a Subject be justly Banished Imprisoned Confiscated or Ruined upon the meer account of Religion or because his Conscience is not cast into the same Mould with the Prince or present Establishment SECT 3. QUEST III. Religion and the Worship and Service of God being the great Concernments of a Nation Is it not then to dispence with the Penalties in Ecclesiastical Laws too great a Trust to be reposed in any one Hand Answ 1. In what sense Religion is the Concern of a Civil Republick 2. The Nature of this Trust 1. The Moment or Weight of a Matter in our deliberation hath its proportion either as under an absolute or respective Consideration Wisdom is better than Riches in it self but not in relation to the support of present Life the Knowledg of God and Divine Things is better than to know the Virtue of Drugs and Plants but not so in respect to the study of Physick so Religion and the Worship of God is the chiefest and better part in it self considered but in its respective Consideration as to the faculty of a particular Person to a Community of Men for the advance of Civil Affairs There are other Qualifications and Inducements of greater consequence and more directly and immediatly tending to the being or well-being thereof That there be no Mistake in this great Concernment I further distinguish There cometh under the Notion of Religion the Holiness and Righteousness that is of the Moral Law Principles whereof are in all Mens Natures and attend in their Actings by a natural Conscience 2. Gospel-Duties directed and ordered by a Supernatural Light no Foot-steps or Principles hereof are found in us For the former Religion in that sence as the Knowledg of God Conscience of an Oath Justice and Righteousness in our Dealings c. are such Things wherein the Well-being of Common-Wealths is much concerned But Religion as it stands in the exerting Supernatural Principles and in Duties termed the Commandments of Christ as the other the Commandments of God John 15. as Faith Repentance Sacraments Discipline and the like Gospel-Ordinances In the Duties under these Heads considered and as distinct from Moral Duties there is little or nothing directly and immediately contributed by them to Mens Civil Interests further than where these Supernatural Vertues are planted in Mens Minds the Moral Duties of Piety and Honesty do more plentifully abound and are in exercise As those Morals do more immediatly concern the Republick so the Laws thereof are principally drawn forth out of them especially Second-Table Duties forming and moulding them into municipal Laws under Penalties and Incouragements greater or less as in the Wisdom of a State may conduce most to the Welfare thereof For these Gospel-Mysteries it 's otherwise for as they contribute little to us in our Civil Government otherwise than as before mentioned so is there little contributed by the Wisdom or Authority of any State advantagious to the Gospel but Protection or being a Defence upon this Glory Learned Bishop Bilson states it well Princes saith he command that which Christ the Sovereign Lord and Head of the Church commandeth which is all the Power we give to Princes Of Supremacy pag. 227. And in the Page before thus By Governors in Ecclesiastical Matters we do not mean Moderators Prescribers and Magistrates bearing the Sword to permit and defend that which Christ himself first ordained and appointed But to return If Adam had stood all Common-Wealths would have been prosperous and flourishing and yet no Christ no Faith nor Repentance nor any Gospel-Worship known or practised And since the Fall you have had well-governed Common-Wealths of Turks and Heathens that never received Christ or Gospel-Worship It is with States as it is with particular Persons in converse another Man's Estate or Trade or Credit or any Civil Concern with whom I have to do is not prejudiced or bettered by my omission or practice of what is a meer Gospel-Duty If a Man I deal with be unjust lie steal c. my worldly Interest is prejudiced hereby but whether he repent for this exercise Faith on Christ for Forgiveness and humble himself I am neither a gainer nor loser hereby in the sense we speak of Now it is Gospel-Worship we profess in this Nation Gospel-Religion If the Duties themselves performed are of no greater consequence in respect to Persons with whom we converse or the Civil State where we live the Modes Forms and Ceremonies of such Worship cannot be of such moment or trust in the manage of them And let me add much less can there be any such special advantage to our State-Concernments in this or that particular external Form of Worship or Government that it should be retained by us with so much Zeal and Contention which evidently appears in this how prosperous and flourishing hath this Nation been in their Civil Concerns under Episcopacy set Liturgies Ceremonies c. and as great prosperity in other Christian Republicks where these have been altogether disallowed Nor is this any dishonour to the Gospel more than to the Kingdom of Christ when it
was said not to be of this World or to his Person or Offices that they contribute no more to the setling of Civil Rights and Interests Luke 12.13 or to Gospel-Weapons which being Spiritual and not Carnal have no Edg to cut off Mens Liberties Estates or Lives 2. The Nature of this Trust The Laws and Institutes by which these Ecclesiastical Matters are to be managed are appointed and established for Substance by the Wisdom and Authority of that one Law-giver Christ Jesus The Application of these Laws in respect of Circumstances for the well and comfortable enjoying Gospel-Ordinances is all that any Humane Wisdom hath to do in them the Trust whereof may be placed in the Hand of a wise and prudent Prince Again There is liberty of an after-Judgment to be made by him that is to practise in what-ever is of the Concerns of Religion commanded by Men. Thence such Laws require not such simple and peremptory Obedience if conformable to those Rules required in the Word Obedience thereunto is with respect to God as well as Man if otherwise that choice ought to be left to the Subject which the Apostle claimed Acts 5.29 Although Matters of Religion and the Concerns of it be great Things considered in themselves and accordingly is the Trust yet what of it falleth under the Hand of a Civil Power considered in it self is not so Because the greatness of this Trust sticks generally in Mens Minds especially when in the disposal thereof it depends upon the Will of one Man. To remove this or the like Stumbling-block we will suppose failings in the management of the Trust as great as rationally can be imagined 1. Suppose his Majesty should refuse either by Himself or Parliament to enjoin any thing of Ceremony or Circumstance about these Ceremonies and Externals the Worship and Service of God. Or 2. suppose he should dispense with all Injunctions and leave the People of God to their Liberty in the observance of them the Premisses last mentioned being considered there can be no great prejudice to the Common-Wealth or Civil Affairs thereby Distinctly we shall weigh each of these 1. For the former If the keeping or omitting of a Ceremony in it self considered is but a small thing as we mentioned before and of such a nature as although at first 't were of Godly Intent and purposely devised yet at length turned to Vanity and Superstition and burdened Mens Consciences without cause c. as we our selves acknowledg See Preface to Common-Prayer Book And of the same condition are most of those Impositions which have proved burthensom to the Nation a long time and if so the not imposing of these things cannot be prejudicial to Church or State. Not to the Church if these Directions for Gospel-Worship in the external Circumstances of it were not reduced into Canons and Injunctions but left where they are to be taken up in practice according to the Light of the Age as are Gospel-Duties of great Consequence Those Scriptures by which States profess themselves to be guided in the forming of these Ecclesiastical Laws are intrusted also in the Hands of his Gospel-Ministers for their conduct and direction in ordering Gospel-Affairs who have Gifts and Assistances from Christ in such a measure and degree as cannot be expected in the ablest Statesman as such And the Ecclesiastical Laws are never so well ordered by Civil Powers as when they consult with and take advice and direction from the Ministers of the Gospel about them To advise new Rites and Ceremonies saith Bishop Bilson is not the Prince's Vocation but to receive and allow such as the Scriptures commend and as the Bishops and Pastors of the Place shall advise Of Suprem p. 226. 2. If there were no such severe Injunctions about the Forms and Modes of Gospel-Worship I speak not of such Duties of Religion in which Mens Natures are principled 1. The Nation could not hereby suffer in respect of its Civil Concerns but the Wealth and Trade c. much more prosperous The Things being small in themselves and become great only upon the account of their being injoined and the greatness of Penalties annexed become of great concernment to the State that is to the great prejudice thereof as hath been apparent in many Years sad experience What is it of moment to Common-Wealths for the quickning of Trade keeping up of Rents c. or any particular Man's Civil Concern that Men kneel or not at the Sacrament crossing or not crossing in Baptisin c. 2. For the other A dispensing with all Penalties annexed to Ecclesiastical Laws where these Penalties are removed yet these Laws remain as Counsels and Advertisements and being consulted by the Learned Clergy in their Synod and commended as useful in the Administration of Worship this is as much as ever was done by the Apostles when Churches were in their greatest purity who endeavoured not so much to establish an External Uniformity as to preserve Christian Liberty If it be said They had then no Christian Magistrates 1. We say The Kingdom of Christ must come into a Nation before it be Christian and if it be so defective in its first address for want of such a Magistrate and of the Means we put so great an Esteem upon for reducing a People how will the People ever become Christians And on the other side if the Gospel hath a sufficiency in it self without borrowing to subdue a Pagan Nation to Christianity much easier it is being such to preserve them orderly and regular Christians Paul having instructed and counselled left his People free and to the perswasion in their own hearts Rom. 14.5 One Man esteemeth one day above another another Man esteemeth every day alike let every Man be fully perswaded in his own mind That was but a Counsel or Advertisement In the Act for Conformity in 1. Eliz. given to the Arch-Bishop Bishops and other Ordinaries that they would endeavour to perform their Duties in the Execution of that Act it was indeed very solemn that is from the Queen's Majesty the Lords Temporal and all the Commons in the present Parliament and in God's Name and as they will answer before God for such Evils and Plagues as may be punishments for the neglect thereof There hath been no want of Obedience hereunto by the Bishops being fully perswaded in their Hearts hereof as their Duty of which if they had not been so perswaded the severest Penalties would or ought to have been in vain King James orders throughout the Kingdom that the Afternoon's Exercise each Lord's Day be spent in examining Children in their Catechism instead of Preaching This is only commended as the most convenient and laudable way of teaching in the Church of England and that such Preachers be most encouraged and approved of And how readily was this immediatly practised throughout the Nation and is continued in many places to this day In the Establishment of Uniformity 2 Edw. 6. a Liberty was left in
it So that now his Majesty had no other Remedy but either 1. To retract from that pious and seasonable Resolution for Liberty of Conscience expressed in Letters to the Parliament then sitting from Breda a Resolution so acceptable to them as the whole House Nemine contradicente by Letters returned him Thanks and bless the Name of the Lord who put such reconciling thoughts into the Heart of the King and he himself likewise owns an especial Blessing from God upon his Affairs after he had expressed that Intention 2. Or break that Promise he solemnly made assuring this Liberty and had professed to the World upon this Occasion in his Speech May 8. 1661. that he valued himself much upon keeping his Word and whatsoever he promised to his Subjects and that no Man can be his Friend and wish him well who would perswade him to the consent of the breach of that solemn Promise 3. Or leave the Nation under greater Distractions and Sufferings about Religion than he found it in and upon twelve Years experience of other means used which tended rather to increase the Distemper These dishonourable Things I say his Majesty must have suffered and undergone or make use of that Power God and the Nation have intrusted him with though not with concurrence of Parliament so much and so often desired by him even so oft as He came to them as he tells them in his Speech of July 8. 1661. Yet nothing at any time was done by the Houses in respect to Liberty of Conscience being obliged in their Judgments to proceed in the other way CHAP. V. Of former Examples for Indulgence SECT 1. HIS Majesty's Gracious Declaration contains not a greater Indulgence tho it be extended to a greater number of Persons than what was granted by his Majesty's Predecessors which before we have mentioned to the French and Dutch Congregations 1. There was a Uniform Order in Church-Government and Divine Service to which not only his Majesty's Subjects but all the Inhabitants of his Majesty's Dominions were to conform and no Man to absent himself And not to hear or be present at any other Forms of Prayers and administration of Sacraments than what is in that Book prescribed under Penalties of Ecclesiastical Censures Fines to the King to the Poor of the Parish c. 2. The Dispensation and Exemption was by the sole Authority of the Soveraign and stands thus A Liberty to separate and absent themselves from the Parish Assemblies where they had their Habitations and to gather themselves into distinct particular Churches or Congregations to chuse and ordain their own Ministers also to establish such a Church-Government or Discipline and Form of Worship and Divine Service as they amongst themselves judged to be most conformable to the Scriptures established by his Majesty's Patent as a Corporation within it self and independent upon any Superior Jurisdiction Spiritual but his Majesty's And all Bishops Mayors Sheriffs c. to protect them and suffer them quietly to enjoy and exercise these Liberties with a Non Obstante c. 3. The Grounds and Considerations upon which such Liberty and Exemptions were granted were these 1. The Care of Religion that ought to be in all Christian Princes and to be shewed forth especially in this the Relief and Incouragement of those that are of the same Religion in their Sufferings for Conscience of their Duty towards God. 2. Persons of the same Religion with us and Sacraments administred by them according to the Word of God and practice of the Apostles ought to be tolerated in their way of worshipping God though they differ from us in Ceremonies and Discipline 3. The Kindness we found in other Protestant Countries when we were forced to leave our Native Soil for preserving our Consciences 4. There were also great Advantages in Matter of Trade for their skill and industry to the great benefit of this Nation and prejudice of their own L. Herbert's History of Hen. 8. The Premises considered we further say 1. His Majesty's Protestant Subjects here spoken for to whom this Gracious Indulgence is extended are of the same Religion with others of his Subjects and the present Establishment in respect to Matters of Faith and Worship in external Forms also they are not more differing from the Church of England than those Congregations to whom the same Indulgence hath been granted by his Majesty and Predecessors and is still enjoyed And when those Strangers had removed their Families and come among us had not this gracious Indulgence been granted and continued to them their Consciences would have engaged them to depart hence and seek Habitations where the like Liberty might be obtained And this also is our Condition many hundreds of his Majesty's Subjects with their Families have left their Native Country and dispose themselves into other parts of the World upon the same account 2. If it be so grateful a Charity and deserving so solemn an Acknowledgment the kind Entertainment our Subjects have found in other Parts when not suffered to live in their own Land upon the account of Conscience doubtless it is a greater Charity to be so indulgent to our own as not by Severity to enforce them for Conscience to become Strangers in other Countries 3. And for Matter of Trade Advantages have been great by encouraging those Strangers but the Disadvantages in the same kind far greater by the late Severity by which our own Subjects have been so greatly discouraged not only those Hands hang down that were most industrious in holding up the staple Trade of the Nation but by reason of Artificers removing into other Parts for their Consciences the Mysteries of our chiefest Manufactures have been made common and others therein become equal if not exceed us A great sense hereof his Majesty hath expressed in his Gracious Declaration Object If it be said These be Strangers Objects of Charity being driven out of their own Country understood not our Language they were Educated and accustomed to other Forms of Discipline and Worship Answ 1. It 's true the first Grant of this Liberty was to such but in process of Time these Churches were increased and spread throughout the Nation and this Grant being confirmed by Q. Eliz. K. James and K. Charles I. to their Children English born and born Subjects of this Realm they had the same Liberty granted them as formerly was mentioned insomuch as the Persons now enjoying this Liberty are his Majesty's Native Subjects Answ 2. The greatest number of his Majesty's Protestant Subjects that have benefit by his Gracious Indulgence since they have had understanding have been trained up in and been acquainted with no other Forms of Discipline and Worship than what was found amongst us at his Majesty's return the other formerly establish'd having been for many Years totally disused King James himself being educated under other Forms when he came into England scrupled many Things in our Liturgy and Rubricks Conference at Hampt Court. Finally It is now more than a Century of Years wherein these Churches have enjoyed this Indulgence there hath been much peace and quiet among themselves following their Callings without disturbance neighbourly and friendly Converse with those that are of different Perswasions in Matters of Religion No Disputings or Reasonings about it no Judging or Despising experience hereof we have beyond denial in London Norwich Canterbury c. where diversity of practices in the Forms of Discipline and Worship are constantly held forth in the view of all Men for so many Years And why should not we expect the like peaceable and inoffensive Converse mutually between those that now enjoy the like Liberty from this Gracious Declaration and others of our Brethren whose practice is otherwise The Lord who hath put this into the Heart of the King may put it also into the Hearts of our Senators to be like-minded with him And as his Majesty hath condescended to them in their way for the space of these twelve Years as he tells them so it is to be desired that they if it may stand with their great Prudence would concur with him but half so long in the way himself hath chosen for the Peace and Union of his Subjects in Matters of Religious Worship or at least until there be the like evident Experiments of the Ineffectualness of it FINIS The same Author hath published a Book intituled The Lawfulness of the Oath of Supremacy and the Power of the King in Ecclesiastical Affairs c. With a Vindication of Dissenters proving That their particular Congregations are not inconsistent with the King's Supremacy With some account of the Nature Constitution and Power of the Ecclesiastical Courts Sold by Jo. Robinson and Sam. Crouch