Articles of my Charge He cares not to have it observed because he neither dares justifie it nor will renounce it It has and may again by Providential Alterations do brave service for the separate Churches but 't is so apparently inconsistent with the establish't setlement of things that it can never safely be owned but when it may safely be used and therefore 't is more politick to let it lie dormant and unregarded till opportunity shall call it forth to Action And let us upbraid them never so much with its mischievous and noisom consequences 't is their wisest course still to counterfeit an artificial deafness and not to understand its meaning till they may own it to some more effectual purpose What other probable Reason can you imagine why he should so carefully pass it over in silence whilst he so faithfully relates all the other particulars of my Impeachments He cannot have forgotten how oft some body has proclaimed it from the Pulpit in a thousand dresses and varieties of Canting 't is the Result of all his Preachments in behalf of the Proceedings in the late Rebellion and what is more unhappy it has been all along publickly owned and pleaded by the Chiefs both of the Presbyterian and Independent Factions and never yet that I could hear or read of once disavowed by any and therefore though I charged it not upon any Party but only branded the Principle it self this advantage this man has gain'd to his Brethren by his rashness and presumption that it shall lie at their doors till they shall remonstrate to it by some publick Protestation § 3. The other Articles that I chose to specifie among many other were these three that Princes in case of Disobedience to the Presbytery may be excommunicated and by consequence deposed that Dominion is founded in Grace and that to pursue success though in Villany and Rebellion is to follow Providence But all the World says Modesty knows what it is that hath given him the advantage of providing a covering for these monstrous Fictions and an account thereof hath been given elsewhere And what now if those intended do not believe these things nor any one of them What if they do openly disavow every one of them as for ought I ever heard or know they do and as I do my self These monstrous Fictions so are all the Histories and Records in the World Were there never any Sects of men that placed a Power in the Presbytery to excommunicate Princes or that challenged an Exemption from the Commands of Authority upon the score of their Saintship or that taught Success to be a certain Argument of Divine Approbation Did you never hear of such Creatures as Presbyterians Anabaptists and Independents Were there never any such men in the World as Iohn Knox Iohn of Leyden and I. O? Or are all the Stories that are recorded of them fairy-tales and Romances If they are not these things are as far from being monstrous fictions as any thing upon Record in the four Gospels But an account of these things has been given elsewhere Perhaps so among the Antiquities of China or in Lucians true History And a wise and true account it is no doubt that shall undertake to prove there never were any People in the World that have abetted these Principles And 't is hugely sutable to his following Apology that if any may heretofore have owned them yet for ought he knows they have openly disavowed them But this is pure and burnish'd confidence to bear down certain and undeniable matters of Fact with a flat denial a peremptory Perhaps Did I ever imagine I should be put to prove there have been men in the World that have own'd and acted these Principles or to disprove the Reality of a publick Repentance never heard of This mans insufferable Perverseness would vanquish the Patience of an Arch-Angel he cares not what he says so the cause go forward and he would deny that Abraham begot Isaac if it stood in his way And if he should it would not be a greater Violence to Truth or Affront to Modesty than this Attempt to clear some men from the guilt of these Perswasions But still what if those intended do not believe these things Then good Sir Pertinent they are not intended I named no body but only enquired upon this supposition that if heretofore there has been or hereafter there should arise such a Race of men in the World whether the Belief of a Deity and the dread of Invisible Powers blended with such innocent Propositions were likely to secure their due Obedience and Respect to Authority or rather to drive them to attempts of disturbance and sedition when they thought themselves obliged under the most dreadful Penalties to act sutably to their Principles And therefore I intended none but those that either actually have been or possibly may be guilty without naming or specifying any particular Criminals Though indeed the matters of fact are so notorious that upon bare Intimation every man has knowledge and sagacity enough to discover the Offenders and they themselves are so conscious of the Notoreity of the Crime that as it happens in the Excuses of all Enormous Malefactors they cannot avoid to bewray their own guilt by their own Apologies unless this be sufficient to clear their Innocence and their Reputation that for ought any body knows they have publickly repented which if they had every body must certainly have known it Whatsoever disorders they have run into in pursuit of these Principles yet if the boldest and most scandalous offender in the whole Mutiny shall come forth and with a bare-faced confidence tell his Governours that perhaps and for ought he knows they have forsaken them they immediately become loyal and peaceable Subjects and must be supposed as white as Snow and as harmless as Doves But to particulars The first Article then falls directly upon the men of the holy Discipline who challenge to themselves an original and independent Jurisdiction over all Persons and in all matters of Ecclesiastical Concernment so that though they acknowledge themselves subject to the Power of Kings in civil and secular Affairs yet in the Government of the Church and conduct of Religion the temporal Power is subject to the spiritual and Princes must submit to the sovereign Decrees of the Presbytery and therefore in case of disobedience to their Authority they are as obnoxious as any of their Subjects to the Censure of the Church and the Sentence of Excommunication This in brief is the true Platform of the Discipline publickly owned by all its Patrons and Assertors and whoever does not vest the Classical Meetings with a Supremacy over Kings in Ecclesiastical Government is no true Disciplinarian when 't is the only design of the Discipline to put the Scepter of Jesus Christ into the hands of the Presbytery i e. to strip the secular Authority of all spiritual Jurisdiction and to settle it entirely upon spiritual
swoln his Fancy with admiring at the boldness of such lewd Assertions he at last bursts forth into an impetuous fit of preaching against them But seeing he has so lamentably mistaken his Text he may talk his Lungs and his heart out and never talk to the purpose and therefore let him take his full Career of Impertinency it concerns not me either to stop or follow him only this let me tell him for his comfort that I have there proved and here defie him and all the World to disprove it that whoever shall contradict that proposition as I have laid it down viz. that in all doubtful and disputable Cases of a publick Concernment Subjects are not to attend to the Results of their own private Judgment but to acquiesce entirely in the determinations of publick Authority whoever I say shall contradict this is an enemy to the peace of mankind and a Traitor to all Societies in the World For Government is a word that signifies nothing if it be not a Power to determine and appoint what it judges most useful and expedient for the Concerns and Interests of the Common-wealth and if you will cancel this Authority of the publick Judgment whatever you may call it 't is really nothing but Anarchy And this is the last and unavoidable Issue of all their Pretences For as to their general Pleas for Indulgence they still press for an entire and absolute exemption of Conscience from all the Commands of Authority and in effect vest it in a Power Paramount to the supremacy of Princes so that in case of Competition its Dictates must over-rule all their Laws and therefore no Government shall ever be able to pass an Obligation upon it but by its own consent and this if any thing is perfect Anarchy every man is entirely left to the guidance of his own discretion and is as much at liberty whether he will or will not obey as if he were absolutely free from all Superiority and Jurisdiction And then as to their particular Exceptions their scruples are so nice and delicate so peevish and splenetick so giddy and phantastick so impossible to be prevented of redressed that no form of setlement can ever be contrived upon which they will not beat with equal fury for they are indifferently applicable to all Cases and their strength depends not at all upon the Reasons of things but the Humours of men And if the offence of a weak Brother or the scruple of a Tender Conscience are sufficient exceptions against the Power and Efficacy of Laws then farewell all the Reverence and Authority of Government for setle things with never so much Exactness it will be impossible upon these Principles to avoid these Cavils as long as there are either Fools or Knaves in the World And do but observe the untenable weakness of all their Pretences apart and how they shuffle from their general Demands to their particular exceptions and then when they are pursued to their defence how they rowl back to their general Demands and so dance perpetually in a manifest circle of shifting and disingenuous Cavil and you need no farther proof to satisfie you of the Intolerable Impertinency of their Clamours and unexemplified Peevishness of the Men. CHAP. VII The Contents THat some Men from a Belief of the Imposture of all Religions argue for the Liberty of all farther clear'd and justified That some Sects of Men are strongly inclined to Sedition proved by their Practices and Principles Our Authors intolerable Confidence in denying his own Principles especially that that to pursue Success though in Villany and Rebellion is to follow Providence This proved by various Instances out of the Writings of J. O. The Arguments whereby they drew in Providence and the Rabble were 1. By applying old Prophesies to present Transactions 2. By believing God is obliged to do the same things for his People now that he ever did for his People in all former Ages 3. By believing Providence is in good earnest for them though it is in all appearance against them 4. By flat Presumption and down-right Enthusiasm That the Interest of Religion was pretended as a cause of our late Civil Wars proved at large against our Author from the Declarations of Lords and Commons and the Sermons of J. O. The Nonconformists are bound to give us assurance of their Repentance before they may presume to offer us any security of their Allegiance Their Plea for Toleration because Protestants invalid An Account of the Reformation of the Church of England both as to Doctrine and Discipline The manifest Apostacy of the Nonconformists from both The Reformation in most places over-run and destroyed by Calvinism Our Adversaries Notion of Protestancy is nothing else than a Zeal for the Calvinian Rigours Religion is not onely the best but a necessary disguise for Rebellion Men cannot gain an opportunity of committing any more enormous Wickednesses but under shews and pretences of Piety The danger and vanity of balancing different Parties of Religion The Civil Wars of France an eminent instance of this An account of the Original of all peevish and ill-natured Religion The Nonconformists loose way of discoursing of Conscience as if it were a Principle of Action distinct from the Man himself Conscience is nothing but the Soul or Mind of Man Nothing in Humane Nature beside Conscience is capable of subjection to Humane Laws Conscience is not its own Rule nor of it self any Plea of Exemption from Obedience If it be abused by evil Principles nothing more mischievous Vulgar Conscience the most mistaken Guid in the World In the common People 't is for the most part either Ignorance or Pride or Superstition or Peevishness or Enthusiasm The Conclusion § 1. OUr Authors Adventures in this Chapter are such ordinary and possible things that now to reherse Enterprizes so lank of prodigy after all these wonders were to darken the lustre and abate the admiration of his former Performances Many faint Essays we may observe of his ancient Courage and Confidence but alas Deeds of a greater strain and more stupendious Prowess are kept for Holy-day Atchievments Now and then we may meet with a lowd and rapping Falsification but every Page does not entertain our wonder with Forgeries of a Garagantuan bulk and boldness Once indeed we are inform'd how I discourse that the use and exercise of Conscience will certainly overthrow all Government and fill the World with confusion yet however the old Calumnies are not continually ratling in our Ears as That the Civil Magistrate is vested in an absolute and immediate Soveraignty over Conscience in all Affairs of Religion in so much that whatever the precise truth of the thing may be he has power to order and appoint what Religion his Subjects shall profess and observe That Conscience has nothing to do beyond the inward Thoughts of Mens Minds and That as to all their outward Actions the Commands of Authority over-rule all its Obligations c.
Gibellines another Party of professed Enemies to the Church of England But to take down the Confidence of these forward Pretenders and to give a more distinct and satisfactory Account of this Affair you may know that our Reformation consists of two parts Doctrine and Discipline the design of the former was to abolish the corruptions and innovations of the Church of Rome and to retrieve the pure and primitive Christianity and the design of the latter was to abrogate the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome and to annex all Superiority and Preheminence over the Ecclesiastical State to the Imperial Crown in both which attempts the Non-conformists or Puritan-Recusants have absolutely forsaken our Communion 1. As to Discipline The design of those great men that first arose to that great work was to redeem the Christian World from the shameless and exorbitant Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome that had invaded the Thrones of Princes and made their Scepters do homage to St. Peters Keys and enslav'd the Royal Dignity to the Interests and Insolences of a proud Vicar And this was the Schism of the Church of England its defection to its lawful Prince and its first departure from the Church of Rome was nothing but its Revolt to its due Allegiance and at this day its greatest Heresie is the uncatholick Doctrine of Obedience to Sovereign Authority Whereas the great project of the men of the Separation was never to abrogate but only to exchange the Papal Usurpation and to setle that Power and Supremacy of which they stript his Holiness of Rome upon the Presbyterial Consistory The Holy Discipline is but another name for the Papal Power it equally disrobes Princes of their Ecclesiastical Supremacy and entirely setles its Jurisdiction upon the Presbytery and vests them with an Authority to controul their Commands restrain their Civil Power and punish their Persons in that by the Principles of the Holy Discipline Kings must be subject to the Decrees of the Presbytery in all matters of Religion neither small nor great may be exempted from subjection to the Scepter of Iesus Christ by which they mean the same thing that the Papists do by the Keys of St. Peter viz. an Original Power in themselves of exercising a temporal Jurisdiction over the Kings of the Earth under pretence of their Spiritual Sovereignty So that in this part of the work we have not been encountred with more disturbance and opposition from the Jesuites than from the Presbyterians that are as to the Doctrine of Regal Supremacy as arrant Recusants and therefore it as much imports Princes for security of their own Rights and Prerogatives to have an eye to the Factors of Geneva as to the Emissaries of Rome They are both men of bold and fiery spirits and all the late Combustions of Europe have either been procured or occasion'd by the seditious and aspiring attempts of these two daring Sects But the Tumults and disorders of the Jesuites concern not our present Enquiry nor may I enter upon the History of all the Leagues Conspiracies Seditions Spoils Ravages and Insurrections of the Puritan Brethren It has been lately performed by an Elegant Pen to purpose that has thereby done that Right to the Cause of Reformation as to absolve the true Protestant from the Charge of Seditious Doctrines and Practices and to score all the Embroilments of the Kingdoms and Estates of Christendom on the Account of the Calvinists who thrust themselves into all Places and Designs and if any where they were suffer'd to grow into any considerable strength and Interest were upon all occasions drawing in the zealous Rabble into holy Leagues and Confederacies against their Governours And if you will but compare the first practices and proceedings of the Hugonots in the Kingdom of France of the Gheuses in the Belgick Provinces of the Kirk-faction in the Realm of Scotland with the Actings Treasons and Disloyalties of the English Puritans as you will discover a strange agreement in the issues of their principles and proceedings so you will find their disorders to exceed the common mischiefs and exorbitancies of Mankind But I must not pursue particular Stories the History of their Tumults Outrages and Desolations would require a larger Volume than the Book of Martyrs It was these hot and fiery Spirits that in most places spoil'd this gallant Enterprize and by their seditious Zeal and madness drove up the Reformation into down-right Rebellion and were so outragious against the Church of Rome that they had not patience to wait the lazy temper of Authority for the Reformation of Abuses It s Wisdom and Moderation was Carnal Policy and if Governours would not set upon it in regular and peaceable ways at their first alarm then the only Doctrine they thunder'd from the Pulpit was That if Princes refuse to reform Religion themselves 't is lawful for their godly Subjects to do it though by violence and force of Arms. These are the Men that are so forward to thrust themselves into the Reformed Communion and whom we are so resolved to disclaim as shameful Apostates from the Reformed Cause and judge just such Protestants as the Gnosticks were Christians the scandal and dishonour of their Profession and whom the true Sons of the Church were forced to avoid as much if not more than Heathens and Infidels though it were only to secure their own Reputation that their Tumults and Disorders might not be scored upon their Reckoning This is plain matter of Fact though how it will relish with our Author 't is easie to foretel and it is not to be doubted but he may have the confidence to remonstrate to the most credible evidence of History that has the boldness in defiance to so many publick Ordinances and Declarations to deny that the Pretences of Reformation had any concern in our late Confusions But however he would be well-advised not to dare to Apologize for other Men unless he could first clear his own innocence for if a Man shall undertake to plead the Cause of a notorious Offender that stands himself chargeable of the deeper guilt he does not defend but betray and upbraid his Client his very Apology becomes a strong Accusation and all the World will suspect that Mans innocence when they shall see a person so scandalous so forward in his defence He is but an ill Apologist for the peaceableness or Loyalty of any Party that has himself been a famous Trumpeter not to say a great Commander in Rebellion and when our late Thirsty Tyrants had gorged themselves with Royal Blood was the first Chaplain that proffer'd his service to say a long Margarets Grace to the Entertainment § 11. This short account may suffice to let you see that the Nonconformists as to this particular however they may glory in the Name of Protestant are but another sort of Papists that pluckt down one Popery to set up another and justled his Holiness out of the Chair only to seat themselves in it
that France where shall I stop I would offend none but give me leave to say O that every I had almost said O that any Part of the World had such unparallel'd helps means of Grace as you who yet are so unworthy as scarce to acknowledg the Mercy The Lord break the pride of your Hearts before it break the staff of your Bread and the help of your Salvation But as for us Poor nothings the Ministers of the Lord Christ in the Work of the Gospel we can spend our sweat and our Lungs upon the barren and the parched corners of the Land upon those poor Gospelless Creatures that as yet sit in darkness and the shadow of death and have none to hold out the bread of life to their fainting souls Does not Wales cry and the North cry yea and the West cry come and help us But this it is though the sound of the Gospel pass through all your streets though your Villages enjoy them who preach Peace and bring glad tidings of good things so that neither you nor your Fathers nor your Fathers Fathers and this God knows is a serious truth ever saw the like before us Though Manna fall round about your Tents every day yet Manna is loathed as light bread no the Presence of Christ it seems is not Recompence for the loss of your Swine yes you had rather be again in Aegypt than hazard a Pilgrimage in the Wilderness You forsooth boggle at tumults and disorders poor ignorant souls how unacquainted are you with the methods and workings of Providence For why these are the only signs and symptoms of Reformation great works for God will cause great troubles among men And for the carrying on of the Interest of Christ and the Gospel God is resolved to work wonderful Providential Alterations in the Governments of the Earth what replied brave Martin Luther when it was objected to him that that could not be the cause of God that was the cause of so much desolation Ego nisi tumultus istos viderem Christum in mundo esse non crederem I tell you he who is the only Potentate will sooner or later shake all the Monarchies of the Western World All the Kings of the Earth have suck'd in invented and what it seems with him is coincident Idolatrous Worship from the Cup of Fornication held out to them by the Roman Whore Shew me seven of them that ever yet laboured sincerely to advance the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus and I dare boldly say Octavus quis fuerit nondum constat The whole Constitution of the Governments of the Nations is cemented from top to bottom with the Interest of Antichrist and nothing but a thorough shaking can ever cleanse them And to this end has the Lord been pleased in his good Providence to hold forth a new light to his People of this Generation whereby they might discover the Mystery of Civil and Ecclesiastical Tyranny And you are called forth to punish Tyrants break the Jaws of Oppressours and disappoint the designs of Bloudy and Revengeful Persecutours and to roll up the Heavens of the Nations like a Scroll and to serve him in your several Capacities in the high places of Armageddon Does not the Lord think you require that in the great things which he has to accomplish in this Generation all his should close with him And what that is I have often and long since informed you out of his own Word and would you have greater Assurance Read the Prophet Isaiah 23.9 Verily the Lord of Hosts hath purposed to pollute the pride of all Glory and to bring into Contempt all the honourable of the Earth Now does God call forth his Saints to execute vengeance upon the Heathen and punishments upon the People to bind their Kings with chains and their Nobles with fetters of Iron Does he bring you forth to burn the Whore to fight with the Beast and overcome him with his Followers And will he not give glorious Assistances to your Undertakings I tell you you shall be assisted protected carried on though it cost him the making his Bow quite naked What though some prove false and treacherous some base and cowardly What though men every where combine and associate themselves against you What though whole Kingdoms and mighty Armies appear for your ruine help you need and help you shall have or I tell you once again God will make his Bow quite naked He will put on the Garments of vengeance for cloathing and cover himself with Zeal as a Cloak and according to their deeds accordingly he will repay them fury to his Adversaries Recompence to his Enemies to the Island he will repay Recompence Isa. 59.18 And though all other means should fail of success 't is in your Power to pray and believe the Beast into destruction Antichrist into the Pit and Magog to ruine Do but believe that the Enemies of Jesus Christ shall be made his Footstool that the Nations shall be his Inheritance that he shall reign gloriously in beauty that he shall smite in pieces the heads over divers Nations and live in the Faith of these things and as it will give you the sweetness of them before they come so it will hasten their coming beyond the endeavours of thousands yea Millions of Armed men But my Brethren if there be any of you here that do not only refuse to come forth to help the Lord against the Mighty but that entertain thoughts to give up the Worship of God to Superstition his Churches to Tyranny and the Doctrine of the Gospel to Episcopal Corruptions Let him give glory to God and repent speedily and passionately otherwise it will be Bitterness in the end it will it will And therefore as you tender the salvation of your poor souls and the continuance of the Gospel to your Families and Posterity not one syllable more of this Tumultuatingness of spirit against the Prophets of the Lord and so every man to his Tents O Israel § 5. Sir have you not read how that when discontent had shatter'd the Roman Legions into Mutiny and Sedition and that the Excesses of Outrage and Insolence like the violence of a resistless Torrent had broken down all the Banks of Government and Discipline amongst them yet at the presence of a Scipio or Fabricius they did immediately retire into place and order His look charm'd them into Obedience and with a Nod he awed away Confusion they that never dreaded Kings trembled at his voice that was more affrightful than assured death His Authority with three syllables stifled Sedition disarm'd and confounded the guilty and they could endure any thing rather than his frown and his displeasure And thus is all the noise and tumult of the discontented Churches hush'd into peace and order this great Commander looks the murmur of the People into silence and obedience and the Winds and Seas obey his Voice He can raise or allay storms and seditions with the breath of his
that alone was enough to pass it for the work of the Lord and the Rabble imagined they were acting over again all the Wars and Battels of the Old Testament and pouring out all the Vials and fulfilling all the Prophesies of the New Beside Faith supports it self and engages Providence by chewing the Cud upon its own blessings as well as those of former Ages David esteemed it very good Logick to argue from the victory God gave him over the Lion and Bear to a confidence of Victory over Goliah Make use then of your past mercies deliverances blessings with promised incomings carry them about you by Faith use them or they 'l grow rusty where is the God of Elijah Awake awake Oh Arm of the Lord. Let former Mercies be an Anchor of hope in time of present distresses Where is the God of Marstone-moor and the God of Naseby is an acceptable Expostulation in a gloomy day O what a Catalogue of Mercies has this Nation to plead by in time of trouble God came from Naseby and the holy One from the West Selah his Glory covered the Heavens and the Earth was full of his Praise He went forth in the North and in the East he did not with-hold his hand So that in this gloomy day of their Persecution they are forced to support themselves and their hopes by chewing the Cud upon their Naseby-mercies and their Marston-moore mercies till God shall be pleased to give them in some stores of fresh Providences For however he may at present counterfeit a total departure to punish their Apostasie and their want of Zeal in his Work yet he will not he cannot utterly forsake them Because he is engaged in point of honour What shall he do for his great Name yea so tender is the Lord herein of his Glory that when he hath been exceedingly provoked to remove men out of his Presence yet because they have been called by his Name and have visibly held forth a following after him he would not suffer them to be trodden down lest the Enemy should exalt themselves and say Where is now their God They shall not take from him the Honour of former deliveranceâ— and protections In such a Nation as this if the Lord now upon manifold provocations should give up Parliament People Army to calamity and ruine would not the glory of former Counsels successes deliverances be utterly lost Would not men say it was not the Lord but Chance that hapned to them And thus when Providence was once drawn in it was bound to go through unless it would either lose the glory of all its former exploits or what was more dishonourable confess it was over-reach'd as the Presbyterians were by the Independent Hypocrisie By this Artifice they drew on each other to the height and perfection of Villany because they were so far engaged that they could not possibly retreat either with honour or safety and therefore resolved to secure themselves in the death of the King suspecting lest if he should ever be restored to his Crown and Royal Authority they might be called to an After-reckoning according to that Maxim so much taught and practised in the School of Rebellion that when men have run themselves into unpardonable disorders there remains no way of doing better but by doing worse And in this Lesson they must needs instruct Providence now you are engaged there is no way for you to retire with honour and if you do not justifie your own Actings in our former wickednesses by proceeding with us to greater Impieties you do not only condemn them and your self but lose the honour of all the Margarets Fasts and Thanksgivings What a mean opinion must these prophane Enthusiasts have of the divine Understanding that imagined they could impose upon the Almighty by such thin and shallow Fetches § 6.3 The third Maxime of Faith is to believe that Providence is really and in good earnest for them though it is seemingly and in outward appearance against them Thus whilst themselves sate at the Helm it befriended them from all Points of the Compass and into whatsoever Corner it shifted it self it still favoured their designs and fill'd their sails with success and victory When Affairs succâ—eded to their wishes then Providence drove them on with a full Gale but when there hapned any cross or changeable Dispensation so far was it from hindring their Progress that it gave them the greater advantage of a side wind For as the same Author informs us I have heard that a full wind behind the Ship drives her not so fast forward as a side wind that seems almost as much against her as with her And the reason they say is because a full wind fills but some of her sails which keep it from the rest that they are empty when a side wind fills all her sails and sets her speedily forward So if the Lord should give us a full wind and continual Gale of Mercies it would fill but some of our sails but when he comes with a side wind a Dispensation that seems almost as much against us as for us then he fills all our sails takes up all our Affections making his works wide and broad enough to entertain them every one then are we carried freely and fully towards the Haven where we would be And thus for that is the Application the imprisonment of the Committee of Essex was but a side wind of Providence that drove them on with the greater speed to the taking of Colchester So that while their Faith was resolute in the Belief of this Principle it was not possible for Providence to shake them off by any Affronts or Indignities but they served it just as Horace was served by the importunate Fellow he describes Serm. lib. 1. Sat. 9. from whose irksom Impertinency he could neither by Art nor Violence redeem himself Did he divert to salute a Friend It was his Acquaintance Did he pretend a visit He was at leisure to wait upon him Did he counterfeit any business He had Interest to assist him And thus did they tease and persecute Providence which way soever it turn'd they still would follow no rebukes could dash their bold-faced Faith out of countenance though it beat them off with open Affronts they would still insinuate and fawn upon it and though it knock'd off their hands an hundred times and sent them away with bloudy fingers they would not let go their hold but they would cling about him by faith do what he can they will not be shifted off And let him vary his dispensations as oft as he will they are resolved to follow him with their Songs upon Sigionoth Songs upon Sigionoth What are they I remember I am under the Obligation of a Promise to unriddle their meaning and therefore to be short they are a sort of Pindarick Psalms not tied to the same Rhime or Measure but to be sung with variety of Notes and interchangeable Tunes Now I.
over-severe and rigorous and this cannot but make them fearful and irresolved in all their Thoughts and this cannot but fill their heads with foolish and silly scruples and this cannot but make them afraid of every Action lest whatever they do should offend their stern and angry Deity So that whilst this restless passion reigns in their minds it cannot but make them as troublesom to the Commonwealth as to themselves and their Governours can command them nothing so innocent and harmless against which their nice and troubled Fancies cannot raise multitudes of scruples and little exceptions So that every trifling imagination of their own shall be able to countermand the wisest and most useful Laws and the publick order and setlement of the Society in which they live shall be eternally disturbed by their stubbornness and invincible Folly For though Superstition springs from pusillanimity and irresolution of soul yet if it fixes and setles it soon hardens it self into down-right Confidence and there is nothing so impudent and inflexible as a mind confirmed in Superstition No Laws or Penalties can work it off from its Resolutions but it grows resty peevish and impatient and whatever troubles or contradicts it stirs up its fury And hence it is that Princes have always found Religious Cowardize the boldest and most warlike temper in the World because 't is arm'd and ensured by Conscience According to that vulgar and obvious saying of Cicero's Superstitione qui imbutus est quietus esse non potest The leaven of Superstition is a restless thing and minds tinctured with it naturally work and ferment themselves into an unquiet and seditious temper Sometimes 't is Pride and Insolence and 't is a mighty gratification of this Vice in some men to controul their Governours for when they swell with conceits of their own extraordinary Godliness and dote upon themselves as the special darlings and favourites of Heaven 't is natural for them to grow sawcy and presumptuous and to think themselves too precious to be govern'd after the rate of ordinary men The priviledge forsooth of being the Children of God tempts them to conceit themselves better and wiser than their Governours who alas unless they are which rarely happens but in Usurpers of their own Faction are natural and unregenerate men that understand not the things that appertain to the Kingdom of Heaven and can promote nothing but their own carnal ends and Interests And this cannot but possess them with wild and ungovernable conceits and make them turbulent and seditious and willing to pick quarrels with the wisdom and discretion of their Superiours With what other spirit can those men be acted who plead niceness and tenderness of Conscience to exempt themselves from the force of Laws and the duty of Obedience and yet are of all men the most positive and confident in their own Perswasions think themselves the only Sons of Knowledge and fit to instruct and reform the World and wherever they have any power injoyn their own fond conceits with the fiercest and most decretory severity And if any man be so sturdy or so unfortunate as but to question their imperious and peremptory Decrees he is sure to be censured and treated as an Heretick or worse and he cannot possibly erre out of weakness but obstinacy What else I say can be the humour of these mens Consciences but a proud Impatience of all controul and a restlesness against all Authority till themselves may have it at their own disposal Sometimes 't is Clownishness and Ill-manners there is a passionate untutor'd and impetuous Conscience that becomes rude and insolent from the sense of its own Integrity and because 't is confident in the goodness of its intentions it is furious and ungovernable in the Prosecution of its ends The very honesty of such men is in effect nothing but rashness and violence they are transported by the outrage of Zeal and regard not the peace of Government but pursue their own Perswasions to which they are determined by Chance or Folly or Passion without Reason or Abatement they must not give up a Metaphysical Notion for the removal of a Civil War or the preservation of the State and in stead of submitting to the common and necessary methods of Government they will force Crowns and Scepters to yield to their Imperious Folly or involve a Kingdom in all the Miseries and Desolations of War Their particular Opinions are of more force than the Edicts and Declarations of Kings and who but themselves are fit Judges of their Duty and Obedience The bare Authority of their own Perswasions is supreme and uncontroulable and they will prove themselves his Majesties best Subjects by disobeying his Commands and fighting against his Person Now though these boisterous Men may have no form'd and malicious designs against the State yet this savage and extravagant Probity is more troublesom and mischievous in a Commonwealth than open and premeditated Villany it will ruine a Kingdom for the Publick Good And Men of this humour are bound to that rigour and niceness of Conscience as makes them uncapable of peaceable Obedience and Subjection for unless the publick Laws suit exactly with their own private Sentiments that unavoidably exasperates them against the Government and they must be making Remonstrances and entring into Confederacies for redress of Publick Grievances and yet so nice and narrow are those Rules they prescribe to themselves and their Governours that 't is impossible to fit Laws that are made for the Community to their pettish curiosity 'T is natural for these Men to be displeased with the Grandeur and Prosperity of the Court The height of a Princes Felicity frets their proud and envious Minds and they are never so apt to complain of the badness of the Times as when the Government is most flourishing They are incurable Male-contents and to prevent Arbitrary Power are upon all occasions making Encroachments upon the Royal Authority and lying at catch for all Advantages and husbanding all Opportunities to abate the Sovereign Prerogative and the Monarchy must be kept low to secure the Liberty of the Subject It was such hot Spirits as these that were the late Patriots of their Country and Fathers of the Publick Liberty that involved the Nation in a bloody War upon no other Motive than of the Goodness of their Prince and the Happiness of his Reign And when they were once engaged they resolved to have their Wills or the Kingdom should be ruined Nothing but the utmost rigour to be found in all their Treaties and Transactions and not an Iota to be abated in any of their Edicts of Pacification but they were all along craving and importunate in their Demands imperious and inexorable in their Impositions when it was their turn to make Petitions they would extort their Desires by clamour and importunity but when to grant all their Favours were clogg'd with such stern and rigid Conditions that an open Affront would scarce have been more