mechanick Priest-Missionaries that came into England would prove the truth of that Letter better which will be suspected till then by all that consider how hard it would be to perswade lazy Priests to undergo the long fatigue of learning Handycrafts which would do them little service without the language of the Land And they who know the strict scrutiny made by Presbyterians and Independants e're they admit any as members of their Congregations or Ministers will be more affraid that such should thrust themselves in the Establish'd Churches than ours His 3d. Argument to prove that Toleration to Dissenting Protestants will increase Popery is because 't is the cause of our Divisions whereof the Papists take great advantage For proof whereof he cites Mr. Baxter A. That Papists and all other Adversaries make their advantage by our Divisions is seen and bewailed by all good men with Mr. Baxter but that our mutual forbearance of one another in matters not necessary to Salvation was ever the cause of divisions Mr. Baxter hath nor taught but the contrary Yet if he desire an account of the true causes of our divisions he may learn them from one of the Ornaments of the Church of England the memorable Mr. John Hales of Eaton in his Tract of Schism page 201. Who teacheth us that all Schisms have crept into the Church by one of these three ways 1st Upon matter of Fact 2d Upon matter of Opinion 3d. On point of Episcopal Ambition I call that matter of Fact when something is required to be done by us which we know or strongly suspect to be unlawful So the first notable Schism of which we read in the Church contained in it matter of Fact for it being upon Error taken for necessary that an Easter must be kept and upon worse than Error if I may so speak for it was no less than a point of Judaism forc'd upon the Church upon worse than Error I say thought further necessary that the ground for the time of keeping that Feast must be the Rule left by Moses unto the Jews There arose a stout Question whether we were to celebrate with the Jews on the 14th of the Moon or on the Sunday following This matter tho most unnecessary most vain yet caus'd as great a combustion as ever was in the Church the first separating and refusing Communion with the last for many years together In this phantastical hurry I cannot see but that all the world were Schismaticks neither can any thing excuse them from that Imputation excepting only this that we charitably suppose that all Parties out of Conscience did what they did a thing which befell them through the Ignorance of their Guides for I will not say their Malice and that through the just judgment of God because through Sloath and blind Obedience men examin'd not the things which they were taught but like Beasts of burthen patiently couched down and indifferently underwent whatsoever their Superiors laid upon them Further page 210. For in these Schisms which concern Fact nothing can be a just cause of refusal of Communion but only to require the execution of some unlawful and suspected Act for not only in Reason but Religion too that Maxim admits of no Release Cautissimi cujusque praeceptum quod dubtias ne feceris And speaking of the second Councel of Nice where Image-worship was established where was the first remarkable Schism upon just occasion of Fact he tells us The schismatical Party was the Synod it self and such as conspir'd with it for concerning the use of Images in Sacris 1. It is acknowledgby all that it is not a thing necessary 2. It is by most suspected 3. It is by many held utterly unlawful Can then the injoyning the practice of such a thing be ought else but abuse or can the refusal of Communion here be thought any other thing than duty here or upon the like occasion to separate may peradventure bring personal trouble and danger against which it concerns every honest man to have pectus bene preparatum so that in these cases you cannot be to seek what you think or what you have to do His 2d sort of Schism arising upon occasion of variety of Opinion is thus It hath been saith he the common disease of Christians from the beginning not to content themselves with that measure of Faith which God in Scripture hath expresly afforded us but out of a vain desire to know more than is revealed they have attempted to discuss things of which they can have no light neither from Reason nor Revelation neither have they rested here but upon pretence of Church Authority which is none or Tradition which is for the most part but figment they have peremptorily concluded and confidently impos'd on others a necessity of entertaining conclusions of that nature c. After he tells were Liturgies and publick Forms of Service so framed as that they admitted of no particular and private Fancies but contained only such things as in which all Christians do agree Schisms in opinions were utterly Vanished for consider all the Liturgies that are or have been and remove from them whatsoever is Scandalous to any Party and leave nothing but what all agree in and the event shall be that the publick Service and Honour of God shall no ways suffer whereas to load our Publick Forms with the private fancies upon which we differ is the most Sovereign way to perpetuate Schism unto the Worlds End Prayer Confession Thanksgiving Reading of Scripture Exposition of Scripture Administration of Sacraments in the plainest and simplest manner were matters enough to furnish out a sufficient Liturgy tho' nothing either of private Opinion or of Church Pomp of Garments of prescribed Gestures of Imagery of Musick of matter concerning the Dead of many superfluities which creep into the Churches under the Dream of Order and Decency did interpose it self For to charge Churches and Liturgies with things unnecessary was the first beginning of all Superstition and when scruple of Conscience began to be made or pretended then Schism begun to break in If the spiritual Guides and Fathers of the Church would be a little sparing of incumbring the Churches with superfluities and not over-rigid either in receiving absolute Customs or imposing New there were far less danger of Schism or Superstition and the inconveniency were likely to issue would be but this they should in so doing yield a little to the imbecillities of Inferiors a thing which St. Paul could never have refused to do in the mean while where ever false and suspected Opinions are made a piece of the Churches Liturgy he that separates is not Scismatick for it 's alike unlawful to make profession of known and suspected falsehoods as to put in practice unlawful and suspected Actions The third Cause of Schism is Episcopal Ambition p. 218 saith he Aristotle tells us that necessity causeth but small Faults but Avarice and Ambition are Mothers of great Crimes Episcopal Ambition
hath made this true for no occasion hath produc'd more continuing and more sanguinary Schisms than this hath done the Sees of Alexandria of Antioch of Constantinople and above all of Rome do abundantly shew this much and our Ecclesiastical Stories Witness no less of which the greatest part consists in factionating and tumultuating of Great and Potent Bishop c. This Episcopal Ambition shewed it self especially in two Heads one concerning plurality of Bishops in one See another the Superiority of Bishops in divers Sees As to the first he tells us That the general Practice of the Church since the Original of Episcopacy as now it is was never to admit at once more than one Bishop in one See and to prevent Spiritual Polygamy neither would they admit of two Cathedrals but from the beginning it was not so for even at Rome and Hippo there were two Bishops at one time neither doth it savour of Vice or Misdemeanour that it should be so still their Punishment sleeps not who go about unnecessarily and wantonly to infringe it But the other head of Episcopal Ambition concerning Supremacy of Bishops in divers Sees one claiming Superiority over another as it hath been from time to time a great Trespasser against the Churches Peace so it is now the final Ruin of it the East and West through the fury of the two prime Bishops being irremediably separated without all hope of Reconcilement and beside all this mischief is founded on a Vice contrary to all Christian Humility without which no Man shall see his Saviour for they do but abuse themselves and others that would perswade us that Bishops by Christ's Institution have any Superiority over other men further than that of Reverence or that any Bishop is Superior to another further than positive Order agreed upon amongst Christians hath prescrib'd for we have believed him that hath told us that in Jesus Christ there is neither high nâ—r low and that in giving honour every man should be ready to prefer another before himself which sayings cut off all claim most certainly to Superiority by title of Christianity except men can think that these things were only spoken to poor and private men Nature and Religion agree in this that neither of them have a hand in this heraldry of secundum sub supra all this comes from composition and agreement of men among themselves wherefore this abuse of Christianity to make it lacquy to ambition is a vice for which we have no ordinary name and an ordinary one we will not give it lest you should take so transcendent a vice for a trivial Thus the Memorable Mr. Jo. Hales And would to God all would consider his words most seriously by which we may see what are the true causes of Schism and who are the Schismaticks Whence also it will appear that a publick Indulgence to weaker Brethren in matters not necessary and suspected to be unlawful is no cause of Divisions but on the contrary an ambitious claim of Superiority imposing private Opinions and commanding suspected Practices are the true causes of them and ever will be The D's 4th Argument against Publick Indulgence is That they have not only fatally conduced to the perverting a considerable number of Protestants but also effectually hindred the conversion of many Papists who tho sensible of many gross Errors in Principles and ungodly Practices in the Worship enjoyn'd them by Rome yet have been so highly scandalized by the Divisions amongst us that they have rather chosen to continue in them c. A. Had not the D. trusted more to the Rhetorick than Logick of this Argument he had conceal'd it being a Sophism as they call it of non causa pro causa and is no stronger than this the legal establishment of one of the divided parties perverts many and hindreth the conversion of Papists because they are scandalized at our Divisions for a legal toleration of some is not the cause but consequent of our Divisions seeing Divisions must be before the necessity of a Toleration to the Parties divided 2dly If our Divisions scandalize the Papists as I am perswaded they do he may enquire at the Memorable Mr. John Halos who are the Dividers and to whom the Woe is due that belongs to such as cause Offences 3dly Such Papists as are sensible of gross Errors in Principles and ungodly Practices in the Worship enjoyned them and yet continue in them would have had the same object on against Christianity it self had they lived in Corinth in the days of the Apostles for then were Divisions nor do I see what loss the Church sustains by want of such Converts as can live for Union's sake in gross Errors and ungodly Practices whereof they are convinced And why Division should terrify them from Conversion I see not seeing if they will be converted to us they must divide from Rome 4thly But what if the rigid severity of the domineering party of Protestants against all who differ from them be the cause of Offence Sure Intelligent Papists are not ignorant of the Divisions among themselves but neither Party being permitted to bite and devour each other except by Pen and Ink they glory in their Union notwithstanding these Divisions Bishop Hall in his Letter to Mr. Laud afterward Archbishop Laud expostulating with him about his unsettledness in Religion hanging betwixt the Romanists and Protestants upon the account of our Divisions tells him Whither will ye go for Truth if ye will allow no truth but where there is no Division To Rome perhaps famous for Unity famous for Peace See now how happily ye have chosen how well have you sped So their Cardinal Bellarmin himself a Witness above exception under his own hand acknowledgeth to the world and reckons up 237 contraâ—â—â—â—â— of Doctrin amongst the Romish Divines no they are no more peaceable but more subtil they fight more closely within doors all our frays are in the Frield our strite is in Ceremony theirs is in Substance so the Decad 3 Ep. 5. The D's 5th Argument to prove that this legal liberty to Protestant Dissenters will advance the Popish Interest is taken from the different state of Denmark and Swedland from that of the United Provinces in reference to the numbers of Papists in these Countreys For as the strictness of the Laws against those who differ from these Established Churches hath been remarkably effectual for the rooting out of Popery from amongst them so the unlimited Toleration granted in Holland to all sorts of Religions hath multiplied the Papists there c. A. As the strictness of the Laws in Denmark and Sweden are remarkable for rooting out Popery so are they for rooting out all Protestants save Lutherans And if their strictness be their perfection we can tell him of more perfect Laws viz. the Laws of the Holy Inquisition which are as soveraign prophylactick for the Established Churches of Spain and Italy as these of Denmark and Sweden are so that he
may thus recommend Lords Inquisitors to the Parliament to be authorized as Guardian Angels to the Clergy of Ireland 2dly It is not want of strict Laws against Popery that hath preserved them in England but the not imploying the Laws made against them and mis-imploying them against the dissenting Protestants 3dly His comparing the state of the United Provinces with that of Denmark and Sweden to the desired Toleration is unjust seeing we plead for no Toleration to Papists as is granted in Holland That the rectricting the Indulgence to those pleaded for by the V. will not prevent the advancement of the Popish Interest here as he saith seemeth strange for if the Law granting liberty to two or three Parties excluding all others ruined prevent the creeping in of Priests and Jesuits amongst us how can tho Law Establishing the Church prevent the like among them For if the evil be prevented by virtue of the Law it may have the same influence to preserve both yea Experience teacheth us that it 's easier to preserve from being infected by such Vermin the poor and depressed Party than the prosperous and exalted Few play the Hypocrite to be thereby made miserable tho many may and daily do for Profit and Preferment His 6th Argument against this legal Toleration is that in stead of widening the Basis of the Protestant interest as is alledged by the V. this Indulgence would undeniably weaken the foundation of the Protestant Security in this Kingdom because each tolerated Party will rather industriously promote their own distinct Interest than unanimously oppose the common Enemy as Experience hath taught us And to make good his Assertion he instanceth the case of the Famous Mr. Houston in the North of this Kingdom A. If the Defendant would allow the Dissenters to be Protestants to which they pretend as good title as the Established Church seeing they protest against Popery as much as they then the increasing of their numbers would infallibly increase the number of Protestants and so both widen and strengthen the Basis of Protestant Interest But if he will monopolize the name of Protestant to the Establish't Church and by the foundation of its Security understand Penal Laws against the Dissenters tho the Indulgence might ruine that Foundation the Church might stand and be better secured by its Innocency and Affection of its Neighbours than by its own guilt and their enmity but it 's strange he should assert that experience hath sufficiently taught us that each tolerated Party will rather distinctly promote their own Interest than unanimously oppose the common Enemy when the experience of the whole Nation knows the truth of the contrary that we maintained no separated Interest from the common for as our Civil Interests are imbarked in the common so we cannot desert rhe one without destroying the other no more can we maintain our Religious Interest either without opposition to the Popish in Ireland His Instance to prove his Experience is as ridiculous as Mr. Houston himself who as he says scandalously separated from the main body of the Protestants in the North of Ireland and had not extraordinary Providence intervened the Intestine Animosities of these seeming Friends had been of more mischievous consequence than the open hostilities of our professed Enemies And the Divisions which these few pretended Protestants endeavoured to foment were really more formidable than the united Force and Power of a numerous Popish Army and had been more fatal to our common Interest A. All who know the truth of that Instance of Mr. Houston and his rise and retinue in the Diocess of Connor which many thousands were witness to will ridioule him for its motion for that man being Irregular was suspended and depos'd by the Presbyterians and had only a few silly ignorant people to adhere to him and when the whole North arrayed he also ranged his company to oppose the common Enemy so that this discovers the folly and unreasonableness of the D. in making use of it for it seemeth strange that about 200 men his compliment without Arms Ammunition or Order should be more formidable than the united force and power of the numerous well-appointed Popish Army nor did any in the North fear those mischievous consequences he talks of for by a prudent neglect of that man and his silly Followers we have lived to see them vanish into Smoke we know not what that extraordinary Providence was that prevented these fearful misohiefs except it be the Irish prevailing to scatter unprovided men and it would appear that the D. was not very apprehensive of the mischiefs of the open hostilities of our professed Enemies when he is more terrified with the thoughts of Mr. Houston's company who had little formidable in it except the Motto of his Bannar possibly a second 1641 would not have been so mischievous in its consequence in his opinion as the Divisions of these two parties of Dissenters whereby he discovers either little fear of Irish Hostility or too much of the ill consequences of Division among Dissenters The D. suspecting that all he had said might be of little weight with the V. attacks him with the judgment of a Protestant Parliament who in Feb. 25. 1662 in an Address to King Charles the 2d say We have considered the nature of the Indulgence proposed with reference to these consequences which must necessary attend it It will establish Schism by a Law and make the whole Government of the Church precarious and the censures of it of no moment or consideration at all It will be a cause of increasing of Sects and Sectaries whose numbers will weaken the true Protestant Profession so far that it will be at last difficult to defend it self against them and which is yet further considerable these numbers which by being troublesome to the Government find they can arrive to an Indulgence will as their numbers increase be yet more troublesome that at length they may arrive to a general Toleration and in time some prevalent Sect will at last contend for Establishment which for ought can be foreseen may end in Popery A. To this I shall return him the words of a moderate and learned Conformist in his Plea for the Non-Conformists Plea 2. pag. 39. Who saith That the House of Commons A. 1662. did argue against Indulgence and for keeping up the Act of the Uniformity by way of prophecy and fore-sight of consequences and their humble advices to the King contain the strongest reasons against an Indulgence that have been found out contain the great evils of a forbearance all which he reduceth to six Heads but answers to them all thus As Events prove Prophecies true or false so Events have proved these Arguments weak or strong That very Parliament the true Protestant part of it that did faithfully serve their King and Countrey with the additions made to them by a latter Election to fill up vacant places saw where they were and became sensible of the necessity of
conditions to an Enemy which if he were left to the freedom of his own will neither his fatherly kindness would incline him nor his prudence permit him to allow even to some of his own Children this were no reflection on his justice or kindness A. Supposito quolibet sequitur quodlibet But let us suppose as well as he what is real matter of fact that the Civil Parent is under no such pressure but delivered from it by the assistance of his dutiful Children It wou'd reflect on his justice not only to treat equally dutiful Children unequally but to deal worse with the dutiful Children than with rebellious heart-Enemies And it is but to Preach up Rebellion to tell us that our Civil Parents may reward Rebellion with priviledges not to be granted to Loyal Subjects For if Rebellion be the way to obtain priviledges men will easily be induc'd to Rebel To the D's reflection on Dissenters as men of uncertain measures and unsteady tempers and therefore not to be trusted for it 's unknown what changes some sudden turns of publick Affairs might make in the passions and interests of such men We Answer that tho we pretend not to immutability yet most Dissenters dare assert the certainty of their measures and steadiness of their tempers to have exceeded their Accusers for neither can he charge us with breach of our Oath to any King after Swearing never to take up Arms against him nor any in Authority by him upon any pretence whatsoever nor did we violate our Faith by endeavoring alteration of the Government in the State Having never taken such an Oath Some of his own Brethren can tell him that the Pillars of his Party who in former Reigns were fixed Stars are now become Planets And that of the seven Golden Candlesticks put in the Tower by King Ja. five of them prov'd Princes Metal The Speech made by the Bishop of M. in the name of the Clergy to King Ja. at the Castle of Dublin March 1688. And that made to K. William at his Camp nigh Dublin 7 July 1690. by the same Persons convince us that sudden turns of publick Affairs will change mens passions yea and prayers to witness that set framed 1688. against the Invasion intended by the Pr. of O. and the new Edition framed since for K. William where God is thanked for not hearing the former prayers so that Turpe est doctori cum culpa redaâ—guit ipsum If they be afraid of our unsteady tempers let us be Established by Law and that prevents the evil in us as well as them The D'â— consequence from the uncertain measures c. of Dissenters viz. that all prudent and unbyass'd persons will agree in judging that a limited Indulgence will be more proper for the Non-Conformists than a legal and restrictive Liberty c. A. We are of opinion that neither We nor the Establish't Church have right to unlimited Liberty for as Rex habet in Regno suo superiores Deum legem Parliamentum as a great Lawyer saith so we are satisfied that both C N. C be limited by these only we desire that our Liberty granted be not clogg'd with Tests destructive of that Liberty by which only the best and most capable of serving their King and Country amongst the Dissenters are Disenabled thereto And tho' as he saith that none blame the Chineses for building a Wall to defend their Frontiers from the Incursions of the Tartars yet we are told by as good an Author as himself that that great Wall doth not keep the Cham of Tartary from invading that rich and plentiful Country insomuch that his successors have been quiet possessors of it ever since 1650. But tho' Walls be good for defence yet the Chinesies were never such fools as to make partition Walls to divide their Kingdom The D. vain gloriously boasting that he had beaten the V. out of his several Arguments pursues him with open mouth to matter of fact And is as followeth The V. had hinted a memorial of the State of the Church of Scotland since the Revolution to vindicate the State and Church from the unjust Calumnys of the Answerer to the Case which Memorial he had from two Scotch Gentlemen particularly acquainted with the affairs of that Nation which the D. will have to be a forgery pretended to be wrought by a friend when it was the V ' s own Act and Deed and his reasons for this forgery are 1. The Title discovers it to be his 2. The Genius of the Person who is not like other Men for setting things in a false light A. The D pretends indeed to an Extraordinary Sagacity in discerning Stiles And yet what the V. asserted in that is firm truth for the Gentleman if needful can be produced and will own that Letter to be theirs and prove every tittle in it to be true so that if there be any Genius's more remarkable for raising and false accusing of the Brethren than others the D. is unhappily match'd with one of those But let 's come to the Merits of the Cause The first thing in the Letter he is offended at is a general reflection cast upon the whole Body of the Scotch Bishops for their declaring their utmost abhorrence of his presens Majesty's descent into England their Unanimous deserting of the convention of States both which he denies to be true for this reason That if they had been guilty of these things it would have occasioned some publick and severe remark to be passed upon them and would have been insisted on as the most plausible if not the greatest reason for extirpating of Episcopacy whereas in the Act for Abolishing Prelacy there is not the least censure pass'd on any of the Bishops c. A. That the Bishops of Scotland did both declare their abhorrence of the Prince of Orange's descent and Unanimously desert the convention of States are such evident truths that nothing but wilfull Ignorance or gross Impudence would make a man deny them because they were not done in a corner but in the face of the Nation now their Address to King James will sufficiently prove the first which take as followeth The Address of the Arch Bishops and Bishops of Scotland to K. James upon the news of the Prince of Orange ' s Undertaking Nov. 10. 1688. Vide Gazette Numb 2398. May it please your Most Sacred Majesty VVE prostrate our selves to pay our most devout thanks and adoration to the Soveraign Majesty of Heaven and Earth for preserving your sacred Life and Person so frequently exposed to the greatest hazards and as often delivered and you miraculously preserved with Glory and Victory in defence of the Rights and honour of Your Majesty's August Brother and these Kingdoms and that by his merciful goodness the ragings of the Sea and madness of unreasonable men have been stilled and oalmed and Your Majesty as the darling of Heaven peaceably seated on the I hrones of your Royal Ancestors whose long
since the Revolution attested by several persons of known Prudence and Integrity in the North who have given an account of many hard things against two Ministers there both doctrinal and practical the first of these is Mr. Liston late Minister of Letterkenny the 2d is Mr. William Holms Mr. Liston is accused First of constant declaring the Church of England Popish and Antichristian 2. Praying for its destruction 3. Preacb'd against its Feastivals and said that they worshiped the Devil 4. Discharg'd his Hearers to entertain any Conformists as Servants but allow'd them to keep Popish Servants 5. That he perswaded the Parents of a Gentlewoman who had conformed to deny her Meat Drink and Lodging and to hang her for her Apostacy 6. He abus'd the Legal Incumbent and pull'd him out of the Church of Letterkenny A. Were this heavy charge as fully proven as it 's confidently alledged it would not amount to all that 's intended thereby viz. To make all the Dissenting Ministers of the North odious to the Government as a factious and violent people no more than the Simony Adultery Drunkenness habitual Non-Residence and neglect of Office prov'd against the Bishop and Clergy of Down and Connor at the late Regal Visitation will prove all the Clergy of Ireland guilty of the same crimes Tho some are of opinion that those on whom that Tower of Siloam fell were not the only Sinners but if other Diocesses had umdergone the same Ordeal these condemned might have some comfort in having more companions If any desiderate proof of this they shall have satisfaction from more Authentick Records than these produc'd to prove Mr. Liston's Lybel 2. Had he design'd impartial justice in this matter he had been as particular in naming the witnesses as he is in naming the accused and their crimes for before judgment pass the Law allows the Accused to see their Witnesses to know if they have any exceptions against them but by his hiding them he gives the world ground to suspect they are not evidence beyond exception And seeing the Civil Law denies them to be good evidence or have been but lately reconcil'd for this cause in offensus affectus iestiam queritur ne irati nocere cupiant laesi ulcisci se velint We have cause to suspect the Evidence for those who persecute men when alive and reproach them when dead are not their friends Yea all this evidence is but on hear-say seeing we have it from Conforming Clergy who could no otherways know what he Preach'd and Prayed constantly but by others testimony And the Law saith Testimonium quod ab aliena relatione dependet non valet And indeed to accuse a man long after his death as here Mr. Liston is when yet while alive he was not pursu'd though the Law both Civil and Ecclesiastical was open to them and the faults if proved punishable by the Judge is contrary to the Light of Nature and Law of Nations which teach that Citatio defensio sunt juris naturalis and condemn no man uncited unheard The Civil Law says that sententia contra mortuos ferenda non est for that were cum larvis pugnare to fight with mens ghosts which is neither Humanity nor Religion And several of the things asserted are so improbable that they must be scant in Charity who believe them As for the 2d Instance of Mr. W. H. It 's an arrow out of the same quiver the person being a Probationer upon the rumor of what is here alledg'd was call'd to account for it but vindicated himself sufficiently whereby it appears we incourage no such intemperate and indiscreet actions amongst any of our persuasion but bring them to account for it and we know by whose industry all the Aurea Legenda that can be collected in that part of the Countrey are confidently published with teste meipso From these Instances he draws as he calls it an undoubted conclusion that if Dissenters had the uncontrolable liberty of a legal irrestrictive Indulgence they wou'd be most turbulent insolent and tumultuous which he proves by the representation made by the House of Commons to King Charles the 2d above 30 years ago as we heard before A. Were these two Instances as true as we have made them appear to be false and malicious his conclusion might be doubted as much as a conclusion from the many Instances of Simony Adultery Drunkenness and constant Non-Residence judicially proved at the late Regal Visitation at Lisburn to prove all the Clergy of Ireland guilty of these Crimes and seeing he can produce no Instances of intemperate speeches and illegal violences of Dissenters in the North except these two pretended this may satisfie the Government how far we are from such a distemper as he reproaches us with tho we have had provocations from the intemperate speeches of some Clergy-men As for his only strong Argument his fear of the increase of the power and number of Dissenters and therefore the Establish't Church should not be over-fond of these seeming Protestants A. His Party hath no cause to thank him for his policy for by representing the Dissenters as so formidable a party he encourageth them and weakens the hearts and hands of his Brethren by these frightful Prophesies If he be so really affraid of our power and increase his wisdom will be seasonably to yield and unite with us For these penal Laws have not lessened our numbers or weakened our power seeing since their commencement we are in Ireland 100 to one and if upwards of 100 years experience of the absolute insufficiency of these Laws to prevent the daily growth of Dissenterâ— from the Establish't Church will not convince him of their being useless Engines to defend it we cannot help him more than these do his cause The V. having urg'd That a Legal Indulgence was needful in case another Rebellion which God forbid should happen else what Gentleman among us wou'd rise for others to command or wou'd Tenants cheerfully rise with them on whom they have no dependance and in whom they can as little trust The D. tells us there 's no danger of that for the generality of the Nobility and Gentry of the North are Conformists their Landlords and Acquaintances and men of great Estates to manage that A. If the Nobility and Gentry that are Conformists who in the late troubles promised fair things to Dissenters shou'd by the importunity of some of the hotter Clergy be over-persuaded contrary to their own moderate temper and interest to forâ—eit that place they have now in the esteem of Dissenters it would be impossible to induce reasonable men to trust them in a time of War who had deceiv'd them in a time of Peace But we hope the Nobility and Gentry value as and their own interest more than to sacrifice both to some implacable men for Ceremonies It would be no prudence to provoke such multitudes which in times of confusion little regard such distinctions as in Peace