A LETTER TO A FRIEND OCCASIONED By the late Reprinting of a JESUITES BOOK ABOUT SUCCESSION TO THE Crown of ENGLAND Pretended to have been written by R. Doleman My Son fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change Prov. 24. 21. LONDON Printed for W. Davis and J. Hindmarsh at Amen Corner and at the black Bull in Corn-Hill near the Royal Exchange 1682. THE Apostate Protestant SIR I Received your Present and if I thank you for it 't is purely out of respects to the hand that sent it I mean a Book bearing this Title A Conference about the next Succession to the Crown of England pretended to be written by R. Doleman Yet considering what you write that you was startled and astonish'd to see in it such Horrid and Traiterous Assertions and Principles so destructive not of Monarchy only but of every Form of Government I am apt to mistrust that you parted with it chiefly out of Fear of keeping such a Lewd and Dangerous Companion in your Closet especially since you confess that 't was brought to your hands as it were by stealth being happily seized on by one of his Majesties Officers 'T is a dangerous Book indeed and without doubt is published and handed up and down to serve a Turn in these Ticklish times when some Ambitious men have taken Pepper in the Nose and to be Revenged for their disappointments endeavour to make another strong Pass at our Government and would sain hurl the world into Confusion Since you have lodged the Knave with me I 'le take care that for me he shall not go abroad to do mischief But yet I cannot answer your Commands unless I give you some account both of the Author and the Book As for the Author it was not R. Doleman that is but a Counterfeit but Robert Parsons was his Name a notorious and violent Jesuite in the days of Queen Elizabeth a fellow born at Stockersey in Somerseâ—shire and a Bastard it seems which possibly might be an Omen that afterwards he would own for his Mother that Church which is an Whore and as much as in him lay prefer Bastards to a Crown A man of whom the Papists themselves in those days gave this Character that he was filius populi filius peccati one born to be a Plague to the world restless seditious turbuleuâ— cruel imperious treacherous and in a manner the very Epitome of all wickedness They who knew him and his Dealings at Oxford have told us how seditious wanton and factious this lewd Bastards Conversation was and how for his Libelling and other misdemeanours he was thrust out of Baliol College having been so infamous there being then Master of Arts that they hissed him out with hoo-bubs and rung him out with Bells In those days saith my Author England was made the main chance of Christendom the only Butt Mark and White that was aimed at And indeed such was the strength of the Romanists their Conspiracies so frequent and their endeavours so great for a Successor for their turn that affairs were in a very uncertain and tottering condition so that it was expresly given out That England should be made an Island of Jesuites But to promote the Plot none was more industrious than this Parsons 'T was He chiefly that wrought with Pius Quintus to excommunicate the Queen 'T was He chiefly that stirred up the King of Spain to invade our Country 'T was He chiefly that sollicited her Majesties Subjects to abandon their Allegiance Nay 't was He chiefly that that occasioned those Severities the Government was forced to use upon the Papists For the Secular Priests did acknowledge that her Majesty used them kindly for the space of the first Ten years of her Reign so that their condition was tolerable and in some good quiet It was the Principles and Practices of this Parsons that were so injurious not only to our Religion and our Government but to the Interest even of his own Party too You may take this Character as I find it given and very deservedly by a Popish Priest then living This saith he is that same Parsons whom Pope Prince and Peer with all true English hearts have cause to hate This is he of whom his own General reported that he was more troubled with one English man than with all the rest of his Society This is he of whom Cardinal Alan held this opinion that he was a man very violent and of an unquiet Spirit and of whom Mr. Blackwell now his Darling said that his turbulent and lewd life would be a discredit to the Catholick Cause In short the general conceit of all that ever have throughly conversed with him is this that he is of a furious passionate hot cholerick exorbitant working humour busie headed and full of Ambition Envy Pride Rancour Malice and Revenge Whereunto through his latter Machiavilian Practices may be added that he is a most diabolical unnatural and barbarous butcherly fellow unworthy the Name nay cursed be the hour wherein he had the Name of a Priest nay of a Religious Person nay of a Temporal Lay-man Jesuit nay of a Catholick nay of a Christian nay of a Humane Creature but of a Beast or a Devil a violater of all Laws a contemner of all Authority a stain of Humanity an Impostume of all corruption a corrupter of all Honesty and a Monopoly of all mischief This was the man Sir whose Book you sent me and had I never look'd into the Book yet considering who and what the Author of it was I could not but blush and be ashamed to think that any in our days especially Pretenders to the Protestant Religion should be such Enemies to Truth to Religion and to Common Honesty as to bring such a wicked mans Issue to light again and to dress it and set it out afresh for a Tool What good can the indifferent world conceive of them who of all Principles espouse the Principles of the Jesuits who are the worst of Papists and of them do especially Admire and Recommend to our reading the Writings of this Parsons who was one of the worst of all Jesuites As touching the Book it self Sir there are divers things which are worthy your observation and which may be of good use to you and to every man in these times who is a zealous impartial and honest-hearted Protestant First That it is so full of Principles that are apparently false pestilent and scandalous that in Queen Elizabeths days when it was first Printed it did not only exasperate our English Government but did likewise give such offence to the very Popish Faction that several of them wrote Books on purpose in confutation of this Counterfeit Doleman so ashamed they were of it Nay Parsons himself finding his Party so offended and himself so rated and condemned upon the coming out of this Book though he was shameless enough endeavoured nevertheless to
contrary while they wanted strength and if this be not a scandal thrown upon the Catholick Church a reproach cast upon Religion and an horrible reflection made upon the very Founder and Author of it I know not what is And since this Person hath been pleased thus to disparage Christianity and to ridicule the Doctrine of the Cross by Drolling with the Doctrine of Passive Obedience I do not at all wonder that he hâ—th taken the confidence also to fall so foul upon Dr. Hicks as to bring both his Integrity and his Learning into Question 1. First his Integrity For he plainly intimates his suspition that when the Doctor in his Sermon on the 30th of January Preached the Doctrine of Passive Obâ—dience he might have a secret design to wheedle men out of their Lives that he taught such Doctrine as is fit to turn a Nation into shambles and enough to tempt and invite Tyranny and Cruelty into the World pag. 88. Nay he declareth his fears that this Doctrine was calculated and fitted on purpose for the use of a Popish Successor and to make us an easier prey to the Bloody Papists pag. 89. In such times as these when it may soon cost any man his Life to lye under the displeasure of the Rabble could this Author have any but a Black and Malicious design in thus exposing a worthy Person to their Hatred and Fury Dr. Hicks is better known than to be suspected by any but ill men and yet I do not see what Reason even such men can have to suspect his Integrity for that Sermon For is not the purport of the day enough to excuse and justifie him Or could a man Preach upon the point of Passive Obedience more seasonably than on that day If you please to consult the Office appointed for that day you will find that the Epistle ordered to be read contains and inculcates that very Doctrine and I wonder how it should escapâ— this Authors Observation if he useth to be at Church on the Anniversary of the Kings Martyrdom The Doctors business was to Preach submission to our lawful Governours This every Clergy-man ought to do and every honest Clergy-man will do that loves and regards his Flock and is careful to give them wholsom food and to keep them from the Bane for it seems the Sermon was Preacht a year before in his own â—arish where he Resides Now could the Doctor pursue this good Design better than by shewing what the Doctrine and Practice of Christ himself was as to this matter and how agreeable thereunto the Doctrine and Practice of the Primitive Christians was Since therefore that Blessed Prince was Resisted and Murder'd by men whose Principles and Practices were of a far different nature and utterly inconsistent with Christianity how could the Doctor chuse unless he would have been a Tergiversator but take notice thereof and shew the difference by making a Comparison And why should this be construed as a Design to serve the turn of a Popish Successor Surely the Doctor had no need to look so far For I am bound to believe upon this Authors Principle what some would be doing even now had they but opportunity and Power They have plainly shewn their Teeth and we may read the West-Country-Proverb on their Grinns Chud eat Cheese an chad it But whatever these are for the Ministers of the Gospel ought to be for Obedience and Peace and I wish that the Câ—nstitution of our present times were such as that they might think it an Unnecessary and Impertinent thing to preach against Resisting even a Protestant Prince 2. Besides this he is pleased to disparage the Doctors Learning as if he were better versed in the Dissenters Sayings than in the Histories of England and had been beholdâ—n to the Dissenters Sayings for a great part of his Sermon Truly I think this Gentleman may well forgive the injury if he be abused with this complement that he may compare with the Doctor for his Readings But I am apt to think that what Books soever he hath been poring into he hath not read at least not considered some of the Doctors For in the Dedication of that Controverted Sermon he tells that excellent good man the prâ—sent Lord Mayor that he had made it a year ago before the Dissenters Sayings came abroad and that since he had made that Discourse New Collections had been made meaning those Sayings but saith he I have added very little contenting my self with what I had before provided out of their Originals He seems to have mentioned the Dissenters Sayings not upon his own account as having been beholden to those Collections himself but rather for the Readers sake to direct him where he might find many more of the same nature with his own Besides Dr. Hicks his several Citations in his Peculium Dei which was not only framed but Printed before the Dissenters Sayings do sufficiently shew that the Doctor had no need to consult them Into the bargain there was Printed about three years ago a very Useful Book which I would recommend to you whereof Dr. Hicks is on all hands taken to have been the Author 't is called The Spirit of Popery c. And the Animadversions up and down in thâ—t Book upon the Speeches of Kid and King give abundant Evidence that the Doctor had been long conversant with the Phanatical Originals and the Histories which give an account of them I believe the Author of the Dissenters Sayings will not think himself dishonoured should it be said that this Book furnisht him with some Materials But suppose which is common among Writers that Dr. Hicks had borrowed some Hints from Mr. L' Estrange and that Mr. L' Estrange had borrowed others of Dr. Hicks yet this is no more than for one honest man to borrow of another and that is far more Reputable than for a true Protestant to borrow of a true Jesuit and then to be ashamed of his Creditor and Friend For the Doctor had justly Arraigned the Author of the History of Succession for having stoln his Pamphlet out of Doleman the Book which you sent me and which the Doctor in his Sermon calls The most pestilent and dangerous piece that ever was written against this Government p. 28 Julian took snuff at this that a seditious Pamphleteer was discovered to have been trading with a wretched Jesuit And yet he confesseth it to be possible to write an History of the Succession without borrowing from Doleman p. 60. Very good And why then did not that Pamphleteer do it Why was he so Ill-advised as to be beholden to a Jesuit at all Or why was he so Immodest as to borrow his whole stock Or why was he so disingenuous as not to own his Benefactor in whose Book he had run a Tick thus Or why was he so Impudent as to pretend that this Pamphlet was written by a Protestant hand when 't was taken out of the Closet of Father Parsons All that
shift and wash his hands of it as if he had not been the Author of it though 't was notorious that he was Secondly 't is to be noted that in the fatal year 1648 when that blessed Martyr King Charles the First was so barbarously Murdered the several Articles brought in charge against him were all grounded upon Principles taken out of this Jesuites Book nay a great part of the very Book it self so much as served the turn of those cursed Regicides was Reprinted under another counterfeit Title viz. Several Speeches delivered at a Conference concerning the power of Parliaments to proceed against their Kings for misgovernment They were forced to be beholden to this Jesuite for Principles to defend that Unnatural War and that Unjust Sentence For could the Protestant Religion which they pretended to maintain have born them out it is not credible they would have brought upon themselves so much Infamy by raising up a Jesuites Ghost to speak for them The sending of that Book abroad did clearly demonstrate what they and their designs were And I would sain know whether an unprejudiced man will not conclude that there is some ugly design on foot now when this very Book is brought upon the Stage again For you must observe in the next place that the Present you sent me is the very same Book now lately Printed the Third time the very same Book that was first intended to tear the Government into pieces and to turn this Land into a field of Bloud the same Book that laid the foundations of the late Rebellion the very same Book â—hat served to bring the best of Kings to the Scaffold the very same Book that helped them to justifie that villanous and most horrid Fact And what can we gather hence but that some extraordinary Intrigue is in hand which needeth the help of this old Jesuit again There are so many Knaves in the world already that men need not fetch Father Parsons from the dead only for a shew And the world is so abundantly stockt with Books that Doleman would not have been Re-printed for nothing For be pleased to observe too what the state of Affairs was then in the days of Queen Elizabeth when this Book was published first under that Title A zealous and wise Protestant Monarch was then Reigning but she being not likely to have any Issue the discourses of men were as they are now about the Succession James King of Scotland was the next Heir by Bloud but his Religion did not please the Jesuits For this reason they laid their Noddles together to defeat him of the Crown if it were possible and that matchless man at mischief Father Parsons wrote among other Books this which he called by the name of Doleman wherein he indeavoured to persuade the World that all Monarchies are de jure Elective and that Proximity of Bloud was not sufficient to intitle any man to the Imperial Crown of England without the Peoples Choice Approbation and Consent which by reason of the Numbers Interest and Policy of the Papists then he did hope would never be given to King James As the ground of all this he had the confidence to place the Plenitude of power and all Absolute Soveraignty in the hands of the People so that according to his Principle owned in this Doleman the Commonwealth may Lawfully and at their pleasure fore-close and hinder the next Heir if on the account of his Religion or in any other Respect they judg him unfit to Succeed nay that they may without sin Depose and Destroy a Prince though actually vested and possest of the Throne if in the administration of the Government he answer not that Trust which was reposed in him by his Lords and Masters the People In fine He told the Queens Subjects that the Descent and Disposal of the Crown did depend wholly upon their pleasure and that they had an unlimited power at any time to determine upon this or that form of Government and might alter it when they thought fit and chuse whether they would have a King or no and turn the Monarchy into an Aristocracy or Democracy as they saw occasion and judged it best By these Popular Principles this Jesuit and the rest hoped to serve these Ends either to prevent the Succession of the King of Scots which was the first and Grand design or in case he should Succeed to prepare a ready way to Ruine him and indeed to ruine his Family too and to subvert his Government if they did not answer the expectations of the Church of Rome Nor did they fail of their ends in every particular For though King James came peaceably to the Crown yet these Principles did work so powerfully that they laid Barrels and Trains of Gunpowder under the Parliament House and afterwards made stirs in the Parliament it self and in Forty One raised a Bloudy and Unnatural Rebellion and in the end changed the Government into a Republick and caused the Monarch and the Monarchy to be cut off together Haec Ithacus voluit these were the natural effects of this Book called Doleman which some now have thought convenient and necessary for their Turns to set out again in a new and more polish'd Edition These things being observed touching the Author and of the Design in Printing and Reprinting of this Book I cannot fancy my self to have paid you all those Respects which are due from me till I take a few steps further and shew you a little first what Use hath been made of this Book and these Dolemanian Principles of late and then what those Reasons are on which these Principles are founded For affairs are Uncertain now as they were when these Principles came first into the world The Book is admirably well Calculated for our Meridian otherwise it might have lain still in the dark and no more regarded than an Almanack out of date Methinks I see in it some of Lilly's Prognosticks or Hopes at least of some change of weather and therefore 't is necessary that to preserve our Peace and good Government we look a little into the Nature and Strength of the aforesaid Principles And the rather because I see they are very Pleasant and Taking with the People their bare Popularity though they have no Reason or Sense is enough to recommend them to the favour and kind embraces of the Vulgar who love dearly to be medling with Government and cannot but be Tickled at Heart when they are told that they have a Soveraign Power in them which they did not dream of that they can Make and Unmake Kings that Crowns and Scepters lie at their Worships feet that Princes must make court to them for Succession and that they can if they will bar them out and come like the Tribunes of the People of Rome with an uncontroulable Veto These are fine and delicate Doctrines and beyond the Fawnings of some others who tell us to please us that we have power to chuse all
to command their Judgment to be obeyed 11. That they have Power to dispose of the Militia to Levy Moneys Horse Arms c. even without or against the Kings Consent 12. That of their Power they are the Legal Judges and that all the Subjects of this Kingdom are bound by the Laws to obey them herein Ibid. Sir you cannot but remember that the late Rebellion was raised and maintain'd upon these Principles And if there were no new Rebellion intended again for what Reason can you imagine is there a Revival of these Principles which serve for no other end The Author of Plato Redivivus who doth confess pag. 172. That we are to this day tugging with the same difficulties managing the same debates and giving the same disgusts to the Court and Hopes to the Country which our Ancestors did before the Year 1640. might have added too if he had pleased to speak truth to the full that we are acting to this day upon the same Principles on which they acted in 1641. All which Principles are of their Fathers the Jesuites who are of their Father the Devil and are so manifest that he that runs may read them all in Doleman Redivivus If now you chance to read the Character of a Popish Successor you will find it there Asserted pag. 21. That in the Infancy of time and in the first Original of Nations Monarchy came by the Peoples Choice who frequently in the beginning of the World oâ—â— of the natural desire of safety for the securing a peaceful Community and Conversation chose a single Person to be their Head as a proper Supreme Moderator in all differences that might arise to disquiet the Community Now this is utterly false but yet 't is directly Dolemans very Notion pag. 12. And in the Vindication of that Character you will find another of Dolemans Pleas viz. That the Succession of Kingly Government has not been so sacred but upon some Occasions it has been changed by Divine as well as Lawful Authority pag. 14. And in the Vox Populi the zealous True Protestant speaks after the Jesuite saying That the King has no Power but what the Law gives him pag. 2. And yet I ever thought that the Law hath no Power but what the King gives it and if the Law be His Creature how can it be His Creator And again he tells us That the Kings share in the Sovereignty is cut out to him by Law and not left at his disposal pag. 9. and that the King has no Prerogative but what the Law gives him pag. 13. Now Sir the Books and Pamphlets hitherto mentioned have been all Printed since the beginning of the Year 1680. Bâ—t I must observe to you that these Anti-Monarchical and Seditious Doctrines have come so thick into the World by the Midwivery of a certain Speech which was made five years before and which was Father'd upon a Noble Peer who was then very active in the House of Lords In which Speech you find these Positions That the King is King by Law and by the same Law that a poor Man enjoys his Cottage that to say this Family are our Kings and this particular frame of Government is our Lawful Constitution and obligeth us is owing only to the particular Laws of our Countrey Where the Author confesseth also That he cannot find that ever the Jesuites or Popish Clergy only some of our Episcopal Clergy owned Monarchy to be of Divine Right Of all this we had heard no Nâ—ws for a long time 'till some turn'd Malâ—contents by being turn'd out of their Honours and Offices at Court Then the World began to turn too and old Doleman who had been so serviceable to Faction all along was brought again above-board You see the Gentleman doth own that he had been Dealing and Consulting with the Jesuites and Popish Clergy for he matches them against our Episcopal Clergy and declares himself plainly on the Jesuites side But had he held his tongue as to that yet such as had Parsons his Libel in their Studies clearly perceiv'd whom he had been Trucking with for what he saith in that Speech is the very substance of the first Chapter in Doleman Our Clergy do not deny but the King is King by Law if he means according to Law for the Law doth Recognize his Sacred Authority our Laws give him his Due they Own and Acknowledg that Right of Sovereign Power which he hath by the Laws of God by Natural Claim and Inheritance But the Law doth not Found his Right to the Crown as it doth the poor mans right to his Cottage For Kings were Kings before there were Laws and our King would be our Rightful Sovereign were there neither statute-Statute-Book nor Magna-Charta in all England For the Authority of Kings doth not originally depend upon the Laws or Consent of the People any more than it dependeth upon the Consent of my Children that I should be their Father The Kings Power is Antecedent to Law which hath its force from Him as my Being is Antecedent to the Being of my Children which have under God their Life from me I hope it will appear â—'re long that our Episcopal Clergy arâ— but just to their King in owning their Principles which every knowing Man may justifie for them if he will but obey his own Reason That the Jesuites and Popish Clergy should be otherwise perswaded is not to be wondred at because being ingaged by their Interest to pretend that the Popes Supremacy is of Divine Right they are forced in defence of his pretended Power over all Princes to lay their Authority very low as if it were a Mushrome of the Earth a little Creature of yesterday depending for its Being upon the Peoples Courtesie They therefore are not to be wondred at but the wonder is that any among us that are Protestants Zealots Patriots should fetch their Principles from Dowâ—y or St. Omers We are like to have good work when an Israelite must go to the Philistines to sharpen his Coulter and for Heisers to â—â—ough with Really Sir I am quite tired with looking into Libels of this nature and shall only add that if you have Time and Patience enough to read over as many of them as I have done you will find that the most Considerable Writers of Sedition have taken large Collops out of Dolemans sides and that every little Pamphleteer has come in for a Snack so that could Father Parsons now peep out of the Earth he would bless himself to see what Filching and Kidnapping work hath been made of his Principles But I must not forget to tell you of one very lewd Tenent which Father Parsons had the Impudence to Publish to the World to the great dishonour and scandal of Christianity For speaking of the Primitive Christians Passive Obedâ—ence under Julian and other evil Princes he was not asham'd to give this as the Reason why they suffer'd so patiently and resisted not because they wanted Arms to maintain their Quarrel
and had not Strength Power and Force enough to cope with their Governours Indeed I do not remember to have met with this Tenent in Doleman but you may find it in another Book written by Parsons which he called Philopater though I have it not by me at present to refer you to the particular place I confess too that it was not Parsons single conceit for that notorious and swinging Jâ—suite Cardinal Bellarmine saith That if Christians in the Primitive times did not Depose Nero and Diocletian and Julian the Apostate and Valens the Arian and the like it was because the Christians had not strength enough In like manner another Jesuite Azorius giving a Reason why the Antient Popes dealt not roughly with Princes â—â—ith It was because they wanted strength I own too that Buchanan spake at the same rate in his Book de jure regni apud Scotos and whether Buchanan did borrow this Notion of the Jesuites or the Jesuites borrowed it of Buchanan others are concern'd to dispute it out This is evidentâ— that it is a Jesuitical Notion and I will add a Notion which others even of the Popish Clergy did detest when it was first broached as being utterly against the constant sense of the whole Catholick Church Yet the late angry Author of Julian the Apostate confidently runs upon this very Notion For speaking of the submission of Christians under Julian he saith What would men have a few Defenceless Christians do when they had lost all their strength and so many of their Numbers p. 94. Have they never heard a West-Country man say Chud eat Cheese an Chad it By applying which Boorish Proverb to his Purpose our Author doth seem to intimate that if the Primitive Christians had had Strength and Numbers sufficient Rebellion would have been as welcom to them as their very Food and that they would as gladly have resisted as they would have relieved their Hunger but it seems they wanted Cheese and could not do what they had a mind and stomach to do A most Monstrous expression from the Pen of a Christian of a Protestant of a Clergy-man For first nothing can be more false because it is notorious that Julians own Army consisted for the most part of Christians if their Religion and Consciences would have given them leave could soon have done the Emperors work when their Swords were in their hands and Julian was at the Head of them in the Field In those days the Numbers of Pagans were inconsiderable in comparison For Christianity gained ground every day at such a strange rate that before Julians time St. Cyprian tells us the Heathens were Overmatcht by Christians for said he to the Proconsul of Africa None of us resisteth when he is apprehended nor revengeth himself against your Unjust Violence although the men of our side be Numerous and more than enough to revenge themselves And before St. Cyprian Tertullian boasted of the great Numbers and Strength of Christians Of which to omit other pregnant instances that passage in his Apologetick is a clear Demonstration For saith he to the Emperor Had we Christians a mind to do like Enemies could we want Numbers or Armies such Foreigners as we are accounted we have filled all that belongs to you your Cities Islands Castles Towns Camps Tribes your Palace Senate Courts we have left your Temples only to your selves We who are thus willingly killed what War were we not fit not ready for but that by our Religion it is permitted us rather to be killed than to slay We could have fought against you even without the help of Arms and without being actual Rebels only by standing out and holding off from your Assistance out of spight for being severed from your Fellowships and Societies for so I understand those words solius divortii invidia These Testimonies alone do plainly shew the horrible falshood of that Jesuitical Notion which this Author hath entertained and is pleased to revive And were this all it would not be so much But I add secondly that 't is a pretence which casteth such a Disgrace such a reproach such a scandal upon Christianity and the Christian Church that you can hardly find any thing to compare with it unless it be the lewdness of a certain virulent scribler that pretending to write a Church-History hath Calumniated the Christian Bishops as if they had been a Race of the most Blood-thirsty and wicked men in the world what would not a Celsus or a Porphyry or Julian have given for a Clergy-man in those days who would have given it under his hand that Christians were a sort of men that wanted only strength and opportunity to be Rebels such a man would have done most remaâ—kable service to all sorts of Infidels and Blasphemers For then they would have had some Reason and Authority for such Diâ—bolical suggâ—stions as these 1. That when Christ said to his Disciples Render to Caesar the things which are Caesars he was nevertheless Caesars Enemy being supposed to mean T'ill you can help your selves and can be able by force of Arms to be revenged upon the Emperor 2. That when the Apostles commanded Christians to Honour the King to Obey Magistrates to be Subject to the Higher Powers and that not only for Wrath but also for Conscience-sake yet nevertheless they Disseâ—bled and plaid the Hypocrites being supposed to mean that Christiâ—ns should be Civil to the Government for the present and till time served and for fear only and that they should be subject till thâ—y were â—ble to Rebel and that they should be damned for resisting unless they could resist to some purpose 3. Whereas the Ancient Christians universally acknowledged that the Emperor was the Vicegerent and Minister of God himself that he was inferiour to God alone and that Julian himself reigned by Gods Authority as well as Constantine the Pagans would have lookt upon all these Professions to have been gross falsifications and lies had a Church-man but insinuated how that it was the sense of the Church that they could lawfully Fore-close or Dethrone Princes when they had Power and nothing could have served more â—ffectually to render Christians odious and Christianity it self Abominable 4. Whereas the simplicity of Religion was so much Preached up and the simplicity of its Professors was so much admired that ' â—was the great Honour of the Church in those days they would have been hated as meer Parasites and Hypocrites should they have doubled in this particular and the Heathens would have scoff'd and steer'd at their Profession of Loyalâ—y as this Author doth at the Doctrine touching Prayers and Tears pag. 30. as a piece of Quackery and Mountebank-craft I doubt not but all those in this Age who have no kindness for Religion will make a great use of this Authors insinuations and hereafter upon his credit believe that the Primitive Christians were in their hearts so many Cut-throats and Rebels whatever they pretended to the
Julian saith to it is That 't is impossible to write an History of the Succession without having a great many passages which Doleman has got into his Book ibid. But by his good leave 't is possible to write one History without stealing out of another 'T is possible to imitate a Book without Transcribing it 'T is possible to observe another mans Method without running upon his Principles 'T is possible to treat of his Matter without using his Fancy and to pursue his Design without using his Phrase This is as possible as 't is possible for me to follow a Leader though I do not tread in his very steps But let an indiffâ—rent person compared Doleman with the History of Succession and he will find such an exact agreement not only between the Method Matter and Scope of them both but also between the Principles Expressions Arguments Instancâ—s and the like in bâ—th that though the world be full of Histories yet you shall not find any two that do so exactly jump together as Doleman and the History of Succession do unless they be Abridgments or Transcripts So that a man may well say that the Pamphleteer had a design not to write a new piece but new Vamp an old one and to put a damned Jâ—suit into such a new Dress that he might appear in the world like a true Protestant All these things considered duly I may Infer that since there is now adays such Fresh Trading and Trucking with the Jesuits it is high time for every honest man in this Kingdom to make a Pause and consider seriously whose hands we are in c. p. 27. It is high time for all the honest men in the Kingdom to consider whose hands we are in And I am glad that you begin to consider what a sort of men these are who out of a pretended zeal for the Protestant Cause take such an extravagant course as they do What is there no way to prevent Popery but by planting Jesuitism Is this the way to uphold the Church of England to fetch Shoars and Buttresses from the Church of Rome Have we not good store of wholsom Lews on our side Is not the Genius of the Nation so set against Popery that they may as soon be persuaded to turn Turks Is not our Church so firmly Establisht that if we be but Faithful to Her it is impossible for that Scarlet Whore with whom so many Princes have committed Forniâ—ation ever to have again Joynture or Dower in this Kingdom Besides and above all this are we not sure that the good hand of God will be over us if we be but careful to commit our selves to him in well-doing But 't is observable that these men in all their Writings take so little notice of the Providence of God that a sober man may Reasonably suspect that God is not in all their thoughts They begin at the wrong end and thinking that all must be done by Humane Arts and Policy even rake Hell and scum the Devil as if that were an effectual course to preserve the true Religion and Church of God Setting aside the Romish Faith and the Vow of blind Obedience tell me wherein these men differ from the Disciples of Ignatius Loyola Why only these are Popish and they Protestant Jesuits Of all Sects and Religions saith Father Watson the Jesuit and the Puritan come nearest and are fittest to be coupled like Dogs and Cats together And so he goes on comparing them and making both of them equally alike for their Hypocrisie for their Conspiracies for their Schismatical humour for their malice against Bishops for their Insolence and Disobedience to Government for their violation of Oaths for their Commonwealth-opinions for their Tyranny and Usurping a Power over Princes for their Conforming to the Laws sometimes to serve a Turn for their Dispensing with one another in case of Occasional Communion and Occasional Perjury c. He instanceth in no less than twenty four points a full Double Jury if that would do any good by which if you try both Factions you will find that as they came into the world much about a time so they have been sworn Brethren from the Womb. But he abuseth the old moderate Puritans for 't was only some Rigid men among them that were so Ill-natured so Imperious and such Thorns and Goads in their Governours sides However one Faction has hither so shifted it self into another that the old Puritan that was peaceable and fair-conditioned is quite gone out of the world he has been long ago lost in the Presbyterian and the Presbyterian too is upon the matter lost in the Independent and all of them are so lost in the Jesuit that if you go to unkennel the Fox 't is an even Lay whether you hunt a Jesuit or a Whig What an odd thing is this that men should turn Jesuits for fear of being Papists As I am an honest man 't is matter of great Astonishment to me and a most horrid scandal to Religion that people should pretend such zeal for the Protestant Faith and yet infect themselves with such Jesuitical Principles We Rusticks are wont when we plant an Orchard to observe this Rule generally to graft a better sort of fruit upon a worse as we use to graft an Apple upon a Crab. Hâ—d these men taken this course and have studied Melioration as our term of Art is they would not have grafted the Jesuit upon the Protestant but the Protestant upon the Jâ—suit Then they would have â—hewn their good Husbandry and good Fruit would have come of their Labours But they do not go according to the Rule And then they say they act according to their Consciences Now Consâ—ience if it be Right and Honest observe the Laws of the great Husbandman But when men overlook the directions of God and act according to their Humours or according to the Humours or seeming Interest of a Party then Conscience makes mâ—d work and proves a meer Ignoramus for it ever grafteth the Crab way Hence it cometh to pass that there is such a Dâ—mnâ—ble deal of sowre fruit among us as hath set the teeth of all honest men in the Kingdom on edge For when once men are Jesuited they will never stick at any manner of wickedness Lying Libelling Sedition Dishonesty Dâ—faming of Government Disobedience to Laws Obstruction of Justice Hypocrisie Perjury and I know not how many Vices more they have now lost the name of Sins and are made the Honourable Characters of somâ— who are pleased by a figure to call themselves True Protestants For you may easily observe that mens Scruples now lie one way only viz. about Ceremonies and little things pertaining to Order and Decency in the Church but there is little or no scruple about Immorality they Protest against Conformity but not against Knavâ—ry They will condemn Kneeling at the Sacrament as a damnable sin and yet be guilty of it themselves to serve an End And I cannot but
Evidence hath been given by men whose Credit in other cases has passed unquestioned By which means Justice hath been obstructed and the Law hath been over-ruled or the edg of it hath been turned on one side only so that the King himself hath been denied the benefit of it and men that were notorious for Dishonesty and Sedition have been Protected against him Now it is not credible but that all this is in order to some very evil Design which cannot be carried on but by these very evil means because it cannot be supposed that men would dare to be Hated by the Government to be Obnoxious to the Magistrates Sword to mock Heaven to forfeit their Reputation and to play handy-dandy with their Consciences did not some desperate Plot require such desperate Courses as they cannot but know will one day rise up in Judgment against them even in this World if the establisht Government holdeth The Consideration of these things is enough to convince all thinking Persons that there is a Monstrous Intrigue in hand against the Government But to deal plainly with you all these Arguments to me seem to be over and above For as I mistrusted something of an extraordinary nature above three years ago when Pamphlets came every week abroad full of unworthy and base reflections upon the King upon his Counsellors upon the Bishops and all the Clergy upon the Offices and Rites in the Service Book upon the Long Loyal Parliament and indeed upon the whole Frame and Constitution of our excellent Government which reflections had they been just were surely altogether needless then if nothing but an engagement against the Popish Interest was intended so when I saw the Jesuites Principles brought upon the Stage again and found it confidently Asserted and by many Believed that Monarchy is a meer Human Ordinance that Kings hold their Crowns by the Consent of their Subjects that all Power is Originally in the People that this Power of theirs is Unlimited and Uncontroulable and many the like Positions more which overthrew the Government once then all my doubts vanished strait and what I mistrusted before then I firmly Believed that an Alteration of our Government was intended again and that these Principles were vended about to prepare a way thereunto for to what other purposes could these Principles serve But now at last when I saw that evil men were not contented to Skim and Retal these Principles out of Doleman but moreover have reprinted Dolemans whole Book at large it is impossible for me to force my Charity to believe otherwise than that they have such a black Design against the whole Royal Family and the present Government as I am loth to mention For Books are not wont to be sent abroad into the World but with a Design nor are Booksellers willing to run the hazard of a whole Impression unless there be strong probabilities that it will do either Good or Mischief and the Reprinting of Doleman at this ticklish juncture when the affairs of England are in such an Uâ—certain and Tottering Posture is a plain Argument that 't was done with a Design to possess the People of England with such Notions that they might be ripe for a Rebellion and ready â—or a total change of our Government either according to the State of Venice which is the drift of Plato Redivivus or according to the Model of Holland which other Factionists are generally more inclined unto Consider the thing well Sir and then tell me your thoughts whether that might not be the intent of putting that Pestilent and Villanous Book again into the Press now which at the Kings Restauration and for many years since was hardly valued so much as waste Paper in comparison Men and Books rise or sink in their price according to the condition of Times Twenty years ago it was Hony-moon in England and under God nothing was so dear to our Souls then as our King and our Government and had Doleman appeared abroad then as he doth now we should have thought that Oliver Cromwel had sent the Jesuite from Hell and he would have been Executed at Tyburn by the Hangmans hands before he had done any further mischief But now the Case is alter'd and the smart of Rebellion and Innovation is quite out of some mens fingers and such as are for playing the Old Game over again think it their best course to use the same Cards that were so lucky to 'em once before and Father Parsons is called for to help 'em Deal Sir I will not give you any further trouble now though when I first set Pen to Paper I thought it necessary to Examin those Principles in Doleman which are so Popular in these days And because I find that the Doctrine of the Kings Divine Right to his Crown is become odious to many who look upon it to be full of dangerous Consequences as well as unreasonable in it self and because the Clergy of our Church are hated for that Doctrine sake and the ashes of that Learned Loyal and Honourable Person Sir Robert Filmir have been of late polluted with a great deal of dirt out of the Kennel for no other Reason but because he was such a Fatal Enemy to that Jesuitical Principle that the Original of all Power and Government is in the People therefore I judged it proper and seasonable to shew you what is meant by the Jus Divinum of Monarchy and what strong Reasons that Doctrine is founded upon that so I might vindicate the Integrity and Honour of the Assertors of it But I am not willing that this Letter should swell into a large Discourse However if it may be an acceptable thing to you to be acquainted with my thoughts on that Subject you know you may Command me as my business shall give me leave In the mean time I own my self Sir July the 6. 1682. Your faithful Servant c. FINIS Fa. Watsons Quodlibets Pag. 236. Id. p. 109. Id. p. 217. Id. p. 30â— Id. p. 305. Id. p. 265. Id. p. 236. Quodlibet p. 286. a De jure Magistrat in subdit b Vindiciae cont Tyran Though 't is hard that the same men should be Parties and Judges too * For without Order there is nothing else to be hoped but Horrour and Confusion Doleman Pa. 6. ca. 1. part 1. For remarques upon this Story see the Answer to the History of Succession p. 25. Observe that the power of Deposing a King naturally follows from the Doctrine of the Peoples power to chuse one But is not that Right of Power which a Father hath over his Child and an Husband over his Wife by Divine appointment Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem Diocleâ—ianum Julianum Apostatam Valentem Arianum similes id suit quia deerant Vires Bellar. de Rom. Pontif. 1. 5. c. 7. Azor. instit Moral par 2. 1. 10. c. 2. Nemo nostrum quando apprehenditur reluctatur nec se adversus injustam violentiam vestram quamvis Nimius Copiosus noster sit populus ulciscitur St Cypriar ad Demetâ—ian p. 257. edit Pamel Quodlibets p. 27 Serm. 12. Ad Aulam p. 166.