but according to the Judgments that we would make of other mens Thoughts by their Actions one would be tempted to think that His Majesty made some doubt of it since his Affairs both at home and abroad could not go the worse if it appeared that there were a perfect understanding between Him and his Parliament and that his People were supporting him with fresh Supplies and this House of Commons is so much at his Devotion that all the world saw how ready they were to grant every thing that he could desire of them till he began to lay off the Mask with relation to the Test and since that time the frequent Prorogations the Closetting and the Pains that has been taken to gain Members by Promises made to some and the Disgraces of others would make one a little Inclined to think that some doubt was made of their Concurrence But we must confess that the depth of His Majesties Judgment is such that we cannot fathom it and therefore we cannot guess what his Doubts or his Assurances are It is true the words that come after unriddle the Mystery a little which are when His Majesty shall think it convenient for them to meet for the meaning of this seems plain that his Maj. is resolved that they shall never meet till he receives such Assurances in a new round of Closetting that he â—hall be put out of doubt concerning it VII I will not enter into the dispute concerning Liberty of Conscience and the Reasons that may be offered for it to a Session of Parliament for there is scarce any one point that either with relation to Religion or Politicks affords a greater variety of matter for Reflection and I make no doubt to say that there is abundance of Reason to oblige â— Parliament to review all the Penal Laws either with relation to Papists or to Dissenters but I will take the boldness to add one thing that the Kings's suspending of Laws strikes at the root of this whole Government and subverts it quite for if there is any thing certain with relation to the English Government it is this that the Executive Power of the Law is entirely in the King and the Law to fortify him in the Management of it has clothed him with a vast Prerogative and made it unlawful upon any pretence whatsoever to resist him whereas on the other hand the Legislative Power is not so entirely in the King but that the Lords and Commons have such a share in it that no Law can be either made repealed or which is all one suspended but by their consent so that the placing this Legislative Power singly in the King is a subversion of this whole Government since the Essence of all Governments consists in the Subjects of the Legislative Authority Acts of Violence or Injustice committed in the Executive part are such things that all Princes being subject to them the peace of mankind were very ill secured if it were not unlawful to resist upon any pretence taken from any ill Administrations in which as the Law may be doubtful so the Facts may be uncertain and at worst the publick Peace must alwayes be more valued than any private Oppressions or Injuries whatsoever But the total Subversion of a Government being so contrary to the Trust that is given to the Prince who ought to execute it will put men upon uneasy and dangerous Inquiries which will turn little to the Advantage of those who are driving matters to such a doubtful and desperate issue VIII If there is any thing in which the Exercise of the Legislative Power seems Indispensable it is in those Oaths of Allegeance and Tests that are thought necessary to Qualify men either to be admitted to enjoy the Protection of the Law or to bear a share in the Government for in these the Security of the Government is chiefly concerned and therefore the total extinction of these as it is not only a Suspension of them but a plain repealing of them so it is a Subverting of the whole Foundation of our Government For the Regulation that King and Parliament had set both for the Subjects having the Protection of the State by the Oath of Allegeance and for a share in places of trust by the Tests is now pluckt up by the roots when it is declared that these shall not at any time hereafter be required to be taken or subscribed by any persons whatsoever for it is plain that this is no Suspension of the Law but a formal Repeal of it in as plain Words as can be conceived IX His Majesty says that the Benefit of the Service of all his Subjects is by the Law of Nature Inseparably annexed to and inherent in his Sacred Person It is somewhat strange that when so many Laws that we all know are suspended the Law of Nature which is so hard to be found out should be cited but the Penners of this Declaration had bâ—st let that Law lie forgotten among the rest for there is a scurvy Paragraph in it concerning self Preservation that is capable of very unacceptable Glosses It is hard to tell what Section of the Law of Nature has markt out either such a Form of Government or such a Family for it And if His Majesty renounces his Pretensions to our Allegeance as founded on the Laws of England and betakes himself to this Law of Nature he will perhaps find the Counsel was a little too rash but to make the most of this that can be the Law of Nations or Nature does indeed allow the Governours of all Societies a Power to serve themselves of every Member of it in the cases of extream Danger but no Law of Nature that has been yet heard of will conclude that if by special Laws a sort of men have been disabled from all Imployments that a Prince who at his Coronation Swore to maintain those Laws may at his pleasure extinguish all these Disabilities X. At the end of the Declaration as in a Postscript His Majesty assures his Subjects that he will maintain them in their Properties as well in Church and Abbey Lands as other Lands but the Chief of all their Properties being the share that they have by their Representatives in the Legislative Power this Declaration which breaks thro that is no great Evidence that the rest will be maintained and to speak plainly when a Coronation Oath is so little remembred other Promises must have a proportioned degree of Credit given to them as for the Abbey Lands the keeping them from the Church is according to the Principles of that Religion Sacriledge and that is a Mortal Sin and there can no Absolution be given to any who continue in it and so this Promise being an Obligation to maintain men in a Mortal Sin is null and void of it self Church-Lands are also according to the Doctrine of their Canonists so immediatly Gods Right that the Pope himself is only the Administrator and Dispencer but is not
So it is not necessary for the preservation of Peace and Order that the Decisions of the Church should be infallible or of equal Authority with the Scriptures If Judges do so manifestly abuse their Authority that they fall into Rebellion and Treason the subjects are no more bound to consider them but are obliged to resist them and to maintain their obedience to their Soveraign tho' in other matters their Judgment must take place till they are reversed by the Soveraign The case of Religion being then this That Jesus Christ is the Soveraign of the Church the Assembly of the Pastors is only a subalterne Iudge if they manifestly oppose themselves to the Scriptures which is the Law of Christians particular persons may be supposed as competent Iudges of that as in Civill Matters they may be of the Rebellion of the Iudges and in that case they are bound still to mantain their Obedience to Iesus Christ. In matters Indifferent Christians are bound for the Preservation of Peace and Unity to acquiesce in the Decisions of the Church and in matters justly doubtful or of small Consequence tho they are convinced that the Pastors have erred yet they are obliged to be silent and to bear tolerable things rather than make a Breach but if it is visible that the Pastors do Rebel against the Soveraign of the Church I mean Christ the People may put in their Appeal to that great Iudge and there it must lie If the Church did use this Authority with due Discretion and the People followed the rules that I have named with humility and modesty there would be no great danger of many Divisions but this is the great Secret of the Providence of God that men are still men and both Pastors and People mix their Passions and Interests so with matters of Religion that as there is a great deal of Sin and Vice still in the World so that appears in the Matters of Religion as well as in other things but the ill Consequences of this tho they are bad enough yet are not equal to the Effects that Ignorant Superstition and Obedient zeal have produced in the World Witness the Rebellions and Wars for establishing the Worship of Images the Croissades against the Saracens in which many Millions were lost those against Hereticks and Princes deposed by Popes which lasted for some Ages and the Massacre of Paris with the Butcheries of the Duke of Alva in the last Age and that of Ireland in this which are I suppose far greater Mischiefs than any that can be imagined to arise out of a Small Diversity of Opinions and the present State of this Church notwithstanding all those unhappy Rents that are in it is a much more desirable thing than the gross Ignorance and blind Superstition that reigns in Italy and Spain at this day IX All these reasonings concerning the Infallibility of the Church signify nothing unless we can certainly know whither we must go for this Decision for while one Party shewes us that it Must be in the Pope or is no where and another Party sayes it Cannot be in the Pope because as many Popes have erred so this is a Doctrine that was not known in the Church for a thousand Years and that has been disputed ever since it was first asserted we are in the right to believe both sides first that if it is not in the Pope it is no where and then that certainly it is not in the Pope and it is very Incongruous to say that there is an Infallible Authority in the Church and that yet it is not certain where one must seek for it for the one ought to be as clear as the other and it is also plain that what Primacy so ever St. Peter may be supposed to have had the Scripture sayes not one word of his Successors at Rome so at least this is not so clear as a matter of this Consequence must have been if Christ had intended to have lodged such an Authority in that See. X. It is no less Incongruous to say that this Infallibility is in a General Council for it must be somewhere else otherwise it will return only to the Church by some Starts and after long Intervals and as it was not in the Church for the first 320 years so it has not been in the Church these last 120 years It is plain also that there is no Regulation given in the Scriptures concerning this great Assembly who have a right to come Vote and what forfeits this right and what numbers must concur in a Decision to assure us of the Infallibility of the Iudgment It is certain there was never a General Council of all the Pastors of the Church for those of which we have the Acts were only the Councils of the Roman Empire but for those Churches that were in the South of Africk or the Eastern Parts of Asia beyond the bounds of the Roman Empire as they could not be summoned by the Emperours Authority so it is certain none of them were present unless one or two of Persia at Nice which perhaps was a Corner of Persia belonging to the Empire and unless it can be proved that the Pope has an Absolute Authority to cut off whole Churches from their right of coming to Councils there has been no General Council these last 700. years in the World ever since the Bishops of Rome have excommunicated all the Greek Churches upon such trifling reasons that their own Writers are now ashamed of them and I will ask no more of a Man of a Competent understanding to satisfy him that the Council of Trent was no General Council acting in that Freedom that became Bishops than that he will be at the pains to read Card. Pallavicins History of that Council XI If it is said that this Infallibility is to be sought for in the Tradition of the Doctrine in all Ages and that every particular Person must examine this here is a Sea before him and instead of examining the small Book of the N. Testament he is involved in a study that must cost a Man an Age to go thro it and many of the Ages thro which he caries this Enquiry are so dark and have produced so few Writers at least so few are preserved to our dayes that it is not possible to 〈◊〉 out their belief We find also Traditions have varied so much that it is hard to say that there is much weight to be laid on this way of Conveyance A Tradition concerning Matters of Fact that all People see is less apt to fail than a Tradition of Points of Speculation and yet we see very near the Age of the Apostles contrary Traditions touching the Observation of Easter from which we must conclude that either the Matter of Fact of one side or the other as it was handed down was not true or at least that it was not rightly understood A Tradition concerning the Use of the Sacraments being a visible thing
come out of the Sleep So that after all it is plain on which side the Madness lies The Dissenters for a little present ease to be enjoyed at Mercy must concur to break down all our hedges and to lay us open to that Devouring Power before which nothing can stand that will not worship it All that for which you reproach the Church of England amounts to this that a few good words could not persuade her to destroy her self and to Sacrifice her Religion and the Laws to a party that never has done nor ever can do the King half the service that she has rendred him There are some sorts of propositions that a man does not know how to answer nor would he be thought Ingratefull who after he had received some Civilities from a person to whom he had done great service could not be prevailed with by these so far as to spare him his Wife or his Daughter It must argue a peculiar degree of confidence to ask things that are above the being either askt or granted Our Religion and our Government are matters that are not to be parted with to shew our good breeding and of all men living you ought not to pretend to Good Manners who talk as you do of the Oppression of the last Reign When the King's Obligations to his Brother and the share that he had in his Councils are considered the reproaching his Government has so ill a grace that you are as Indecent in your Flatteries as Injurious in your Reflections And by this gratitude of yours to the Memory of the late King the Church of England may easily Infer how long all her Services would be remembred even if she had done all that was desired of her I would fain know which of the Brethren of the Dissenters in forreigne Countries sought their Relief from Rebellion The Germans Reformed by the Authority of their Princes so did the Swedes the Danes and like wise the Switsers In France they maintained the Princes of the Blood against the League and in Holland the Quarrell was for Civil liberties Protestant and Papist concurring equally in it You mention Holland as an Instance that Liberty and Infallibility can dwell together since Papists there shew that they can be friendly neighbours to those whom they think in the wrong It is very like they would be still so in England if they were under the lash of the law and so were upon their good behaviour the Goverment being still against them and this has so good an effect in Holland that I hope we shall never depart from the Dutch Pattern some can be very Humble Servants that would prove Imperious Masters You say that Force is our only Supporter but tho there is no force of our side at present it does not appear that we are in such a tottering condition as if we had no Supporter left us God and Truth are of our side and the indiscreet use of Force when set on by our Enemies has rather undermined than supported us But you have taken pains to make us grow wiser and to let us see our Errors which is perhaps the only obligation that we owe you and we are so sensible of it that without examining what your Intentions may have been in it we heartily thank you for it I do not comprehend what your quarrell is at the squinting Term of the next heir as you call it tho I do not wonder that squinting comes in your mind whensoever you think of HER for all people look asquint at that which troubles them and her being the next heir is no less the delight of all good men than it is your affliction all the pains that you take to represent her dreadful to the Dissenters must needs find that credit with them that is due to the Insinuations of an Enemy It is very true that as she was bred up in our Church she adheres to it so Eminently as to make her to be now our chief Ornament as we hope she will be once our main Defence If by the strictest form of our Church you mean an Exemplary Piety and a shining Conversation you have given her true Character But your designe lies another way to make the Dissenters form strange Ideas of her as if she thought all Indulgence to them Criminal But as the Gentleness of her nature is such that none but those who are so guilty that all mercy to them would be a Crime can apprehend any thing that is terrible from her so as for the Dissenters her going so constantly to the Dutch and French Churches shews that she can very well endure their Assemblies at the same time that she prefers ours She has also too often expressed her dislike at the heats that have been kept up among us concerning such Inconsiderable Differences to pass for a Bigot or a persecutor in such matters and She sees both the mischief that the Protestant Religion has received from their subdivisions and the happiness of granting a due Liberty of Conscience where she has so long lived that there is no reason to make any fancy that she will either keep up our Differences or bear down the Dissenters with Rigor But because you hope for nothing from her own Inclinations you would have her terrified with the strong Argument of Numbers which you fancy will certainly secure them from her recalling the favour But of what side soever that Argument may be strong sure it is not of theirs who make but one to Two hundred and I suppose you scarce expect that the Dissenters will rebel that you may have your Masses and how their numbers will secure them unless it be by enabling them to Rebell I cannot Imagine this is indeed a squinting at the Next Heir with a witness when you would already muster up the Troops that must rise against her But let me tell you that you know both Her Character and the Prince's very ill that fancy they are only to be wrought on by Fear They are known to your great grief to be above that and it must be to their own Mercifull Inclinations that you must owe all that you can expect under them but neither to their fear nor to your own Numbers As for the hatred and Contempt even to the degree of being more Ridiculous then the Mass under which you say Her way of Worship is in Holland this is one of those figures of speech that shew how exactly you have Studied the Jesuites Moralls All that come from Holland assure us that she is so Universally beloved and esteemed there that every thing that she does is the better thought of even because she does it Upon the whole matter all that you say of the Next Heir proves too truly that you are that for which you reproach the Church of England a Disciple of the Crown only for the loaves for if you had that respect which you pretend for the King you would have shewed it more upon this
his Cause his Friends may thank him for it I will not enter into so tedious a digression as the justifying Queen Elisabeths being Legitimate and the throwing the Bastardy on Queen Mary must carry me to this I will only say that it was made out that according to the best sort of Arguments used by the Church of Rome I mean the constant Tradition of all Ages King Henry the VIII marrying with Queen Katherine was Incestuous and by Consequence Queen Mary was the Bastard and Queen Elisabeth was the Legitimate issue But our Author not satisfied with defaming Queen Elisabeth tells us that the Church of England was no sooner set up by her than She enacted those Bloody Cannibal Laws to Hang Draw and Quarter the Priests of the Living God But since these Lawes disturb him so much what does he think of the Laws of Burning the poor Servants of the Living God because they cannot give Divine Worship to that which they believe to be only a Piece of Bread The Representation he gives of this part of our History is so false that tho' upon Queen Elisabeth's coming to the Crown there were many Complaints exhibited of the Illegal Violences that Bonner and other Butchers had committed yet all these were stifled and no Penal Lawes were enacted against those of that Religion The Popish Clergy were indeed turned out but they were well used and had Pensions assigned them so ready was the Queen and our Church to forgive what was past and to shew all Gentleness for the future During the first thirteen years of her Reign matters went on calmly without any sort of Severity on the account of Religion But then the restless spirit of that Party began to throw the Nation into violent Convulsions The Pope deposed the Queen and one of the Party had the Impudence to post up the Bull in London upon this followed several Rebellions both in England and Ireland and the Papists of both Kingdoms entred into Confederacies with the King of Spain and the Court of Rome the Priests disposed all the People that depended on them to submit to the Popes Authority in that Deposiâ—ion and to reject the Queens These endeavours besides open Rebellions produced many Secret Practices against her Life All these things gave the rise to the severe Laws which began not to be enacted before the twentieth year of her Reign A War was formed by the Bull of Deposition between the Queen and the Court of Rome so it was a necessary Piece of Precaution to declare all those to be Traitors who were the Missionaries of that Authority which had stript the Queen of hers yet those Laws were not executed upon some Secular Priests who had the Honesty to condemn the Deposing Doctrine As for the Unhappy Death of the Queen of Scotland it was brought on by the wicked Practices of her own Party who fatally Involved her in some of them She was but a Subject here in England and if the Queen took a more Violent way than was decent for her own Security here was no Disloyalty nor Rebellion in the Church of England which owed her no sort of Allegeance IV. I do not pretend that the Church of England has any great cause to value her self upon her Fidelity to King Charles the First tho' our Author would have it pass for the only thing of which She can boast for I confess the cause of the Church was so twisted with the King 's that Interest and Duty went together tho I will not go so far as our Author who says that the Law of Nature dictates to every Individual to fight in his own Defence This is too bold a thing to be delivered so crudely at this time The Laws of Nature are perpetual and can never be cancelled by any special Law So if these Gentlemen own so freely that this is a Law of Nature they had best take care not to provoke Nature too much lest She fly to the Relief that this Law may give her unless she is restrained by the Loyalty of our Church Our Author values his Party much upon their Loyalty to King Charles the First but I must take the Liberty to ask him of what Religion were the Irish Rebells and what sort of Loyalty was it that they shewed either in the first Massacre or in the progress of that Rebellion Their Messages to the Pope to the Court of France and to the Duke of Lorrain offering themselves to any of these that would have undertaken to protect them are Acts of Loyalty which the Church of England is no way inclined to follow and the Authentical Proofs of these things are ready to be produced Nor need I add to this the hard terms that they offered to the King and their ill usage of those whom he Imployed I could likewise repress the Insolence of this Writer by telling him of the Slavish Submissions that their Party made to Cromwel both Father and Son. As for their Adhering to King Charles the First there is a peculiar Boldness in our Authors Assertion who says that they had no Hope nor Interest in that Cause The State of that Court is not so quite forgot but that we do well remember what Credit the Queen had with the King and what Hopes She gave the Party yet they did not so entirely espouse the Kings Cause but that they had likewise a flying Squadron in the Parliaments Army how boldly soever this may be denyed by our Author for this I will give him a proof that is beyond exception in a Declaration of that King 's sent to the Kingdom of Scotland bearing date the 21. of April 1643. which is printed over and over again and as an Author that writes the History of the late Wars has assured us the clean draught of it corrected in some places with the King 's own hand is yet extant so that it cannot be pretended that this was only a bold assertion of some of the Kings Ministers that might be ill affected to their Party In that Declaration the King studied to possess his Subjects of Scotland with the Justice of his Cause and among other things to clear himself of that Imputation that he had an Army of Papists about him after many things said on that head these words are added Great numbers of that Religion have been with great alacrity entertained in that Rebellious Army against us and others have been seduced to whom we had formerly denyed Imployments as appears by the Examination of many Prisoners of whom we have taken twenty and thirty at a time of one Troop or Company of that Religion I hope our Author will not have the Impudence to dispute the Credit that is due to this Testimony but no Discoveries how evident soever they may be can affect some sort of men that have a Secret against blushing V. Our Author exhorts us to change our Principles of Loyalty and to take Example of our Catholick Neighbours how to behave our selves
occasion Nor am I so much in love with your stile as to imitate it therefore I will not do you so great a pleasure as to say the least thing that may reflect on that Authority which the Church of England has taught me to reverence even after all the Disgraces that she has received from it and if she were not Insuperably restrained by her Principles instead of the Thin Muster with which you reproach her she could soon make so thick a one as would make the Thinnes of yours very visible upon so unequall a division of the Nation But she will neither be threatned nor laughed out of her Religion and her loyalty tho such insultings as she meets with that almost pass all humane Patience would tempt men that had a less fixed principle of submission to make their Enemies feel to their cost that they owe all the Triumphs they make more to our Principles than to their own Force Their laughing at our Doctrine of non resistance lets us see that it would be none of theirs under the Next Heir at whom you Squint if the strong Argument of Numbers made you not apprehend that Two Hundred to one would prove an Unequal Match As for your Memorandums I shall answer them as short as you give them 1. It will be hard to persuade people that a Decision in favour of the Dispencing Power flowing from Judges that are both made and payed and that may be removed at pleasure will amount to the recognising of that Right by law 2. It will be hard to persuade the world that the Kings adhering to his Promises and his Coronation Oath and to the known Lawes of the land would make him Felo de se. The following of different methods were the likelier way to it if it were not for the Loyalty of the Church of England 3. It will be very easy to see the use of continuing the Test by Law since all those that break thro it as well as the Judges who have authorised their Crimes are still liable for all they do and after all your huffing with the Dispencing Power we do not doubt but the apprehension of an after reckoning sticks deep somewhere you say it may be supposed that the aversion of a Protestant King to the Popish party will sufficiently exclude them even without the Test. But it must be confessed that you take all possible care to confirm that Aversion so far as to put it beyond a it may be supposed And it seems you understand Christs Prerogative as wel as the Judges did the Kings that fancy the Test is against it it is so suteable to the nature of all Governments to take Assurances of those who are admitted to Places of Trust that you do very ill to appeal to an Impartial consideration for you are sure to lose it there Few English men will believe you in earnest when you seem zealous for publick liberty or the Magna Charta or that you are so very apprehensive of Slavery And your Friends must have very much changed both their Natures and their Principles if their conduct does not give cause to renew the like Statutes against them even tho they should be repealed in this Reign notwithstanding all your confidence to the contrary I will still believe that the strong Argument of Numbers will be always the powerfullest of all others with you which as long as it has its Force and no longer we may hope to be at quiet I concurre heartily with you in your Prayers for the King tho perhaps I differ from you in my Notions both of his Glory and of the Felicity of his People and as for your own particular I wish you would either not at all Imploy your Pen or learn to write to better purpose but tho I cannot admire your Letter yet I am YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT T. T. THE EARLE of MELFORT's LETTER To the Presbyterian-Ministers IN SCOTLAND Writ in his Majesty's Name upon their Address Together with some Remarks upon it The Earle of Melfort's Letter Gentlemen I Am commanded by his Majesty to signify unto you his gracious acceptance of your Address that he is well satisfied with your Loyalty expressed therein for the which he resolves to perpetuate the favour not only during his own Reign but also to lay down Ways for its Continuance and that by appointing in the next ensuing Parliament the taking off all Penal Statutes contrary to the Liberty or Toleration granted by him His Majesty knows that Enemies to Him to You and this Toleration will be using all Endeavours to infringe the same but as ever the Happiness of his Subjects Standing in Liberty of Conscience and the Security of their Properties next the Glory of God hath been his Majesty's great end so he intends to continue if he have all sutable Encouragement and Concurrence from you in your Doctrine and Practice and therefore as he hath taken away the Protestant Penal Statutes lying on you and herein has walked contrary not only to other Catholick Kings but also in a way different from Protestant Kings who have gone before him whose Maxime was to undoe you by Fining Confining and taking away your Estates and to harrass you in your Persons Liberties and Priviledges so he expects a thankful acknowledgment from you by making your Doctrine tend to cause all his Subjects to walk obediently and by your Practice walking so as shall be most pleasing to his Majesty and the concurring with him for the removing these Penal Statutes and he further expects that you continue your Prayers to God for his long and happy Reign and for all Blessings on his Person and Government and likewise that you look well to your Doctrine and that your Example be influential all thâ—se are his Majesty's Commands Sic subs MELFORT REMARKS THe Secretary hand is known to al the Writing Masters of the Town but here is an Essay of the Secretary's Stile for the Masters of our Language This is an Age of Improvements and Men that come very young into Imployments make commonly a great progress therefore common things are not to be expected here it is true some Roughnesses in the Stile seem to intimate that the Writer could turn his Conscience more easily than he can do his Pen and that the one is a little stiffer and less compliant than the other He tells the Addressers that His Majesty is well satisfied with their Loyalty contained in their Address for the which he resolves to perpetuate the favour It appears that the Secretary Stile and the Notary Stile come nearer one another than was generally believed For the which here infringe the same afterwards are beauties borrowed from the Notary Stile the foresaid is not much courser The King 's perpetuating the Favour is no easy thing unless he could first perpetuate himself Now tho his Majesty's Fame will be certainly immortal yet to our great Regret his Person is mortal so it is hard to conceive how this