A Seasonable and Necessary ADMONITION TO THE Gentlemen OF THE FIRST SOCIETY FOR REFORMATION of MANNERS Concerning Reformation of Themselves of the Bishops and of the House of Commons Gentlemen THO' I am a Stranger to many of you and come not to your Meetings yet am I a Sincere Well-wisher to the Work you are ingaged in and to your selves for it And tho' I was soon call'd away for a better Service I hope as good as that is and such as may Crown it at last with a Heavenly Blessing yet have I never ceased as occasion was offered to contribute what I could to promote it And for that purpose do I now write this I chanced lately to look into a Book wherein I observed that you had not only increased your Numbers but also inlarged your Stile and Title and made it more Comprehensive not only for Execution of Laws and Suppression of Vice but for Reformation of Manners and a National Reformation Which I do not dislike provided you make good the Vndertaking For Suppression of Vice is but like Weeding the Ground But Reformation of Manners require the Planting of Virtue And this I hope you will be careful to do first at home amongst your selves and especially in your peculiar I Engagment and make your Real Virtue Exemplary to the Nation by a true Magnanimity worthy of Englishmen worthy of Gentlemen worthy of Christians Nothing under God doth more animate to true and Heroic Vertue than such Examples But if when occasions require Generous Actions you think to cover Laziness and Timidity with Prudential Excuses and in Printed Books with Pompous Recommendations Mâ—gnâ—sto Bugbears to represent as Couragious those who did not fly tho' they did not dare to assault the Monster or Second those that did as if the Design was to cheat an Impudent vicious Generation into a Reformation as Mothers sometimes fright their Children or to seek for the Applause of real Virtue by such Actions as have little of true Virtue in them This would be rather to animate Vice when the Trick is understood and to corrupt your selves with Vanity than to reform the Nation And if such a Man as St. Paul was careful least while he Preach'd to others himself should become a Castaway you cannot think such a Caution and Admonition impertinent or needless And that you may see by proper Experiment that it is not I shall acquaint you with that which tho' some of you know very well I presume most do not notwithstanding your Printed Account of the Societies c. by those who knew it very well This work was in a hopeful way long since to have made a greater Progress throughout the whole Nation long before this than it hath yet done at this Day had not the Wickedness of some Corrupt Judges checkt it and the Treacherous Prudentials of some pretending Zeal or Good Will to it neglected that Opportunity which an Honest Prosecution might have turn'd to its much Greater Advancement While the late Queen was living certain Gentlemen of the Society were question'd for Writing a Book intituled The Beginning and Progress of a Needful and Hopeful Reformation and for what they had done in that good Work before the then Lords Commissioners of the Great Seal whereof two were Members of the House of Commons and one of them Speaker Whereupon the Author of the Book presently sent them a Letter that he wrote it and would be ready to answer for it when they pleased So that when they appeared they were discharged of that but question'd for the rest and tho' in the Presence of no less than Seven of the Reverend Bishops who came on purpose so ill treated by the two Commissioners Members of Parliament as was thought good Cause by the Author of the said Book to Petition the House against them for Discouraging the Execution of the Laws and Contempt of her Majesties Authority And having drawn a Petition advised with Counsel upon the Matter of Law and with divers of those Bishops and other Persons of Quality who were present at the Hearing concerning the Matter of Fact he put it into the Hand of a Member whom he knew obliged to present it which after many Put-offs was at last done but so timed that there were then but few Members in the House and those such as Voted it should not be read Which was another Fault not less than the Former being a Denial without any Colour of Cause of a Fundamental Right of all the Commons of England For this he first complained at the next Publick Sessions of the County for which that Member serv'd and soon after at the next Sessions at the Old Baily laid the whole Cause before the Judges and the Lord Major and Aldermen as chief of two of the most considerable Bodies of the Commons of England And the Papers were left in the hand of Sir Richard Levet then Sheriff and now Lord Major of the City of London In this Case you may observe first how great an Opportunity and Advantage was neglected in not prosecuting two such Great Crimes so testified by such and so many Witnesses and what good Effect that must have had throughout the whole Nation for the Promotion of that Good Work And secondly What ill Effect it had by discouraging such as were well affected and animating such as were ill affected to it And thirdly I Need not tell you who were and who were most faulty in this Case Certainly they who were most obliged whether by special Engagement or by their own Calling or Profession and had most advantage for it and yet neglected it Nor will I interpose my Opinion what farther use you are to make of it but leave that to your own Consideration and Virtue You must look to your own Obligations It is not a light matter to engage in the Service of God When you are in you must go on without fearing the Faces of Men and have a care you do not the Work of God negligently If you look at a National Reformation you must look farther and deeper than that Superficial Reformation of Suppressing Vice by Execution of Human Laws tho' that be a commendable Undertaking If you will go no farther than that you must not arrogate to your selves the Honour of that which belongs not to you and is out of your Province But as you are Gentlemen and profess your selves Christians I must hope you will shew your selves such make good your Word and Engagement so publickly declar'd and know and follow your Leader It was I so Providence order'd it who after I had my Quietus from another Service began your Society and made Choice of the First Persons publickly asserted their Cause and defended their Actions when they were first questioned and had they followed me had brought it by the Blessing of God to a farther Progress than yet hath been made But when I saw some whom I had introduced set up with Formality Affectation and Vanity tho'
is no Necessity for it And for the House of Commons I must declare I know no greater Danger both to Religion and to the Government than from them unless their Principals for whom they serve will make them more sensible of their Duty make them know they are not their Masters but their Servants by giving them Instructions and inquiring into their Behaviour in the House and vindicate that great and necessary fundamental Right of every Commoner of England to have their Petitions for just and proper Matters duly and decently answer'd without either rejecting their Petitions without reading or discouraging them by Dominereing Commitments And this is a matter your Society is specially obliged to promote at this time in good earnest It is true all the Commons of England are concern'd in it in general but you more especially who are concern'd for your selves immediately and upon that occasion for the Service of your Country How silly a thing was it to tell the World in your Book that the Bishop of Gloucester has been a great Encourager of your Undertaking and writ a Vindication of it when he was one of the Seven who were present at the Hearing and he who scribled that part of your Book one of those who were question'd and yet neither they nor any of the rest have to this Day ever farther appeared in that Matter and the Vindication was but built upon the Foundation of the Book before-mentioned of the Beginning and Progress of the Reformation and a little trick of some to ingross the Honour of this Work to themselves which they should still have injoyed had they but better deserved it and yet I will not deny them the just Commendations of what they have done for it is a good Work and deserves Encouragement But in the House of Commons there is one great Decay of our Government which is commonly taken notice of but no care taken for the Repair Many Antient Corporations which were considerable heretofore are in process of time reduced to such a Paucity of inconsiderable Electors and those so subject to some particular Persons that they have in Truth and Reality no Choice at all no more than our Dean and Chapters so that it may well be questioned if the Principles of the true English Government which was founded upon true Principles of Wisdom Justice and Equity be well consider'd whether Writs ought to be sent to such Burroughs and the Persons returned by them be admited to sit in Parliament Besides these there are divers other inconsiderable Burroughs who have shewed themselves so base and mercenary in their Elections that they have long since justly forfeited their Right of Elections if it were looked into So that it may be considered Whether it be not an Abuse of the Government and an Injury to all the Counties Citys and Considerable Burroughs that Writs are still sent out to them These are things fit to be consider'd by such as pretend to attempt a National Reformation For unless this Root be reformed all other Attempts are but playing with a vain Pretence of Reformation which is more like to render your selves and the Nation ridiculous at last than to produce any solid and lasting Fruits I do not write this to discourage your Proceedings but to make you sensible of what you have of your selves undertaken and to excite you to shew your selves Men and perform your Engagements Nor do I call you to any thing impracticable or more than to do what you can You are like to have some Members in the House You may all consult out of the House what is fit to be done by them in it and those who are not Members to act there may do good Service by acting as Solliciters without Do but honestly what you can and I have no more to say But I must tell you What is the Right and Duty of every Commoner of England upon any special Occasion is much more the Right and Duty of so many engaged in a Society for such a Reformation Any one of you may Petition the House and you may injoin any one of your own Members who is of the House to present it And you have this Encouragement that none can oppose it but he will easily be discover'd to be no true Friend to his Country but a Man of Design and Interest and unworthy of a place in such an Assembly And besides this if the Number of such Persons in the House be too great to obtain so necessary a Preparation I see no reason why the king with the Advice of the Judges and Privy Council should not dissolve them and summon another Parliament without any Writ to such Corporations Nor do I know any more just and reasonable matter for all the Counties Cities and most considerable Burroughs to Address to His Majesty for than this and few things more Honourable for His Reign Besides the Justice of this it is greatly necessary to prevent divers Mischiefs and Inconveniencies to the Nation both from Forreigners and from Parties and Factions at home and particularly that pernicious one of Republican Deists and Latitudinarians so dangerous no less to Religion than to the Government Other things there are very pertinent for your Consideration But I shall not trouble you with more till I understand what use is made of this Which tho' in print I intend only for the use of your selves and some few others Your Faithful Friend and Humble Servant FINIS
for all these Infirmities they might be useful yet in so serious a Work I could not bear it But the All-wise Providence made use of that to take me off when it was begun and setled for a better Service And to that upon perusal of the Title and Approbation of your Book I now Invite you You are ingaged and cannot go back That would be not only your Shame but Sin against your own Souls Either follow or join with me or shew me some Reasons to the contrary or go on your selves without me so you do but do it effectually and make good your Undertakings The Necessity of a more effectual Reformation appears in your own Book and what Order amongst us it is that should need it least but does need it most as one of them has ingeniously confess'd How else comes it to pass that if the Work be so good of five and twenty Reverend Bishops you could prevail but with five to approve it and those none of the Greatest or Nearest but of the Meanest and Remotest You must go to Bath to Bristol to Gloucester to Wales and Chester for Approbations and amongst those to such as notoriously need Reformation themselves for taking and holding Charges and of the highest Nature the Care of Souls so inconsistent And if such Men as they be guilty of such Faults What a Reformation is that which brings forth such Fruits Certainly it self stands in great need of Reformation and to the very bottom Their very Principles are faulty To shew and demonstrate this I have begun c. This was dated Nov. 4. 1699. and sent to your Meeting in Thread-needle-Street but soon came into the Hands of one concerned to conceil it What followed is only concerning some Papers left in the Hand of Mr. Ra. Hartley who might properly be call'd the Seniour of your Society was the first Actor in Commission of the Peace in it the first and greatest Sufferer of it and even from such as ought to have treated him otherwise and has deserved as well in the Service as any Man in it The Papers were what was begun for a more Fundamental Reformation and have been much inlarged since so that what is there said is needless now to be repeated But this is now Published upon this special Occasion It relates what did concern the Beginners of your Society and the Seven Bishops and doth now concern your whole Society and the whole Order of Bishops to redeem the Opportunity which was then inexcusably neglected There hath since that Letter been another such Opportunity neglected if there was any Member of your Society in the last House of Commons as you know there was and I know there was those who knew what was written to Sir R. C. to be true And where was your Zeal for Reformation that none of you all shewed more concern in such a Case as that But it is now again revived by a late Printed Paper concerning the Corruption and Impiety of the Late House of Commons if it be not also prudentially neglected Here you have an Opportunity to demonstrate the Reality of your Zeal for the Honour of God and of your Concern for the Service of your Country And you are like to have one who was one of the first and principal Actors next Mr. Hartley of the Society a Member of the next Parliament and to serve for the same County for which he served who was concern'd in that Violation of that Fundamental Right of all the Commons of England and for which two of the Principal Criminals concern'd in that Charge of Impiety did serve the last and precedent Parliament So that it is hard to say how a Man can have more special Obligations upon him for any Service besides those General Obligations of Profession of Religion Love of his Country and the Trust reposed in him But tho' he be so specially obliged yet I conceive the whole Society concern'd and 't is very likely divers Members of it more specially by former neglect of Duty Now is the time to appear in this Cause and shew your selves Men and Christians If you who make such Pretences for a National Reformation shew your selves Tristers with God and Man upon another such Occasion what can you expect but that God and Man should spew you out of the Nation I see some of you who set up for the Glory of Reforming others so far from Reforming themselves that they are rather sunk deeper into that empty Formality Affectation and Vanity which I could not indure in so serious a Work at the first have often reproved in private and since that could not prevail think necessary to be a little check'd by a more publick Admonition but in hope of Amendment upon this shall say no more at this time I wish you all well and should be ready to serve you all or any of you in the Work you are ingaged in if there be occasion It is a Work which requires very serious Application and Good Resolution The Root of all our Vnhappiness which most needs a Reformation is in the Parliament and especially in the Spiritual Lords as they are commonly call'd and the House of Commons I must be bold to say I know not a more Insignificant Body of Men upon the face of the Earth than the present Bishops Nor have they ever been much better since they were cow'd and dispirited by that Beast Hen. 8th and Corrupted with Treacherous Principles by his False Prophet Cranmer Nor can I expect ever to see things better till the Cranmarian Spirit and that Cursed thing then introduced be cast out of the Nation It will I verily believe prove a continual Curse both to Church and State to the Destruction of both if it be not speedily cast out but longer fostred by such Bishops And tho' the inferior Clergy make some Opposition it seems to me but trifling and scandalous by so much insisting upon Human Principles as if there were no better to determine the Case effectually or they did not dare to assert them Such is their worldly Wisdom Had we Bishops of true Christian Spirits we should need no Societies for Reformation of Manners among the Laity But God hath raised up all the Societies and permitted the Sects to expose the Unworthiness of such a Body of Bishops Nor can we expect better than a continual Succession of Temporizing Flatteres of Princes till what I have said be done Perhaps some Grub-street Scribler to get a Penny may call this Sauciness and their Lordships if they have no more Religion be offended at it But I must let them know I write it purely out of Fidelity to God and Fidelity to my Country They know who I am and that I am ready to demonstrate what I say at any time Let them mend their Manners be more faithful and serviceable to God and to their Country and they will soon find I know how to imploy my self better than to find Faults when there