thinks very honestly that the Church must judge if so they have judged already and so we may end this Dispute in a friendly agreement Having thus discharged the General cry of this deep-mouthed Pack come we to consider the Particulars Let them but enumerate what they would have and be their own Carvers and 't will amount to no less then the Good old Cause or rather more for they desire a Positive Law for Toleration as P. p. 69 70. L. C. A. p. 11. D. R. p. 8. c. while a general Praeterition served before And certainly that great Roman Orator was right Non enim idem est ferre si quid ferendum est probare si quid probandum non est Cic. fam Ep. l. 9. ep 6. Nor is this all but one of them would have all things taken away for which the people rebelled P. p. 65. judging it more reasonable that the Sovereign should conform to the Subject then the Subject to the Sovereign Which produces that Libyan Serpent Pareas Luc. Phars 1. 10. that leads with the Tail That Authour quarrells with the Age for striving to root out people's ill Principles rather then Princes ill practices God knows what the people may call ill Practices but we know a Roman sued at Law for not takâ—â— a Dagger deep enough into his Bowels with which his adversary strived to stab him It may in time be laid to the Prince and Parliament's charge that they buried not the Murther of the late King in honour and silence as well as now 't is that the Covenant was not so buried I will pursue this no farther lest it whet the Sword of justice too keen against this kind of Pleaders Now pray hear them branch their desires with some confusion into these ensuing Heads 1. They would have Tithes taken away or at least altered Israel was chidden for robbing God of Tithes and Offerings if these be Israelites let them apply it to themselves 'T is strange that hypocriticall Pharisees should boast of paying them and these strive against them Surely these mens Consciences grow in their Purse or Field that scruple at payments and so the Poet was right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. How likes Cornelius Burges these Presbyterians that strive to baffle his whole Divine right with one Act of Parliament 'T was hard for a man to commit Sacrilege before according to Burges's notion but if these mens motions take place it will be impossible for the future so wise are these Pleaders to prevent sin Euseb. l. 4. praep and Dion Halic l. 1. tell us that the Pelasgi the Offspring of Phaleg as Bochartus well proves being under great Judgments sent to inquire of the Oracles whether they would be pacified with the Tenths of Men The Oracles answered they would But these men think to remove our Judgments by taking away the Tenths of Goods from God Where the Conscience scruples payments 't is a sign 't is tender of Profit rather then Piety and that People aim at saving their Purses rather then their Souls But this is the old complaint and Tithes are like the Chaldaeans in Rome alwaies proscribed yet alwaies there Thus Dogs of Scyrum alwaies bark against the Moon yet it still abides Tithes like the Church they sustain semper concussae nunquam excussae Yet let it be confessed that Tithes and Landlords Rents are the two great Grievances of this Nation 2. To prosecute the Good old Cause in Rank with Tithes are servile Tenures called Copy-holds O rare Saturnalia Lords must cease to be Lords that Tenants may be Free-holders Their ancient Rights must be parted withall not for Coyn but Clamour In other cases Causes make Complaints but here Complaints make Causes They hope to get Free-holds as Children do Rattles by crying for them Unjust men like not to continue their Lands on the Conditions they came by them Time that makes all things worse must make their Tenures better I may say of this Cause as Cicero did of Caesar's 't is causa sine causa The business is Jack will be a Gentleman as if a man could make a silk Purse of a Sow's ear 'T is pity these Saints throw not up their Estates as their Ministers their Livings because being Christ's free-men 't is against their Conscience to hold their Lands on humane Constitutions and servile Conditions 3. The third branch of the Good old Cause that the Proposition requires is the Register of Estates A thing often attempted but never effected the onely single thing that looks like just of all they plead for in which I wish them success Yet wants it not its Inconveniences that may make it unpassable Tacitus prefaces his Annals with a Story that the world was first oppressed with Tyrants at length with Laws A Court of Record in every County newly erected would increase Lawyers and Fees good store but whether Honesty would be increased time must shew This way leaves little room for Charity and cuts the sinews of Commerce which is Credit In a word humane Affairs are the Game Dealers are Gamesters and the design of Registring is to let the adversary over-see one's hand which spoils the Play I look on the design as hopeless because four hundred men will scarcely ever be found so intire but some will halt on that sore and can no more consent then proclaim themselves bankrupt 4. The fourth thing pleaded for by them is the damning all Pluralities that is silencing those Laws that stint Chaplains to Kings Dukes Earls Bishops c. in shovelling up as they phrase it Church-Livings I confess I believe the Clergie get more envy then profit by it besides that it doth much narrow their Interest Yet let it be considered that these Laws must be silenced to make a Non-conformist speak P. p. 54. Laws are such trifling things with them that they are as easie repealed as scribbled against These men think it no oppression to out men of a legal possession without their personal consent But why do these things now trouble Can't they remember their own practice but a while since Were not all the taking Preachers about London Pluralists that could procure entertainment Did not Mr. Vines spread his branches from Laurence Jury to Watton in Hertfordshire till he went off on a golden Bridge How much was Mr. Case noted for heaping Church-Living together Mr. R. V. held seldome fewer then S. Olave's Southwark and S. Edmond's Lombardstreet Mr. Jenkins Black-Friers and Christ-church Mr. Mayhew Kingston upon Thames and White-Chappel Mr. Griffith a modest man held the Charter-house and S. Bartholomew's behind the old Exchange But see the subtilty of these men to avoid the imputation of Pluralists they called themselves Lecturers as if that employment were neither a Cure of Souls nor a catering for the Purse 'T is well their Conscience and Credit both can be salved with a new word But Turpe est Doctori cum culpa c. The English Church brought not in
Darkness Christ and Belial together that is King and Parliament And the sagacious Sectaries generally conclude them to be of an Imposing spirit in regard Father Beza in his Haereticis morte mulctandis hath sentenced Hereticks to death and that Calvin took care to see Servetus safe into another world at Geneva by the light of his funerall Fire and Faggot which made poor Bellius Eleutherius and their fellows to style him virum sanguinarium a bloudy Edomite and Erastus to contrive another way for a Prynian Government Marquess Huntley Angus and Atholl will be Scottish evidence of their enmity to Toleration and no less speaks their glorious attempt for outing Bishops Root and Branch out of this Kingdom Besides they Covenant to bring the Churches of the three Kingdoms to the nighest Uniformity they can And in 1645. their Assembly gave the Parliament their Testimony against Toleration Not to omit that Rigid and Presbyterian are almost convertible terms in the vulgar Dictionary Nor indeed do some of them speak clear for a full Toleration for D. P. tells us p. 58. A Toleration not stated will break us more to pieces and doe nothing else and D. R. p. 87. pleads onely for a well-managed and limited Toleration yea he tells you p. 43. that the Non-conformers will never endure a Toleration that brings in Popery and M. I. p. 14. utterly excludes Papists from this fair Haven to sink in the Seas of Oppression Onely L. C. A. deals ingenuously and speaks out for all upbraiding the rest for consulting private Interest 'T is farther observed by many learned men That the Calvinisticall Party have ever strongly affected a Papal Dominion over mens Lives and Consciences And the Remonstrants observe in their Preface ad Antidotum That no man ever opposed that Party impunè nisi cum ei potestas opprimendi defuit like a Lion never guiltless but when his Nails are pared Which note haply caused Dr. Prideaux in his Fasciculus Controversiarum to propose that weighty Question An Suprematus Papalis vel Presbyterialis sit tolerabilior Which one of these Proctors for Liberty of Conscience justifies in English thus P. p. 63. I know no more danger in prevailing Popery then prevailing Presbyterianism as to mens Lives and Souls It seems he fansies both to be but Sampson's Foxes tied by the tails with Fire-brands to burn down the Harvest of Christ. And surely while thy cry out against Prelaticall Oppression the Lordly Bishops onely convicted and confuted Servetus the Spaniard in S. Paul's Church and so dismissed him to Divine Justice but the Geneva Discipline found Fire and faggot for him as soon as he came thither Which made Montfort draw Calvin's Picture not in a Gown and Cassock robes of Peace but in a Helmet Back and Breast belted and armed like a man of War So little doth Patience rule those sacred breasts when they have the Over-rule Which farther shews these zealous observers of Truth are but Time-servers while their Principles warp with their Condition But alas the Devil would turn Monk when he was sick and low A Scottish stomack is not so great that it scorns to ask for mercy Mr. Love's Submission and Mr. Jenkins's Petition both shew the Elephantiasis like the Gout never troubles them but when they are rich and great The Rump-Act of Aug. 1650. for Liberty of tender Consciences was against the Presbyterians Conscience and Preaching too and pronounced a great Sin in those daies yet now these Consciences can tack about and plead for that they once condemned why may they not tack a little farther to a compliance with the Laws under which they live If their Bread be wholesome being mixed in the Episcopal Batch why may they not without danger of poisoning eat all of the ancient and national Baking unless they will have something granted to make the world believe there was some colour for the late Rebellion which yet one of them confesses to be nothing and that Cause stark naught Prop. p. 45. though soon after to wit p. 65. as if he had offended his weak brethren he licks that Confession up again with a flat Contradiction averring the great Causes of it But to return what would these men have First and in general the establishment of the Protestant Religion in its full latitude as D. R. p. 3 c. onely L. C. A. seems to be more equal to all Religions and thinks p. 52. a limited Toleration pleaded for infers no more then that none are to be indulged but such as are punctually of their own belief and persuasion Yea so general is M. I. p. 10. that he would have no distinction used but that of Protestant and Papist in this Kingdom But what need this trouble 1. Is any other Religion established in this Kingdom then Reformed Christianity in D. R. p. 3. his sense or any thing settled beside the Protestant Religion True it is Accommodation or Toleration may settle something else but the present Establishment doth not For the settled Doctrine I think none will question it and for the Rites and Ceremonies none other are required but such as were settled by Law in the time of King Edward the Sixth as is positively expressed in the Rubrick before the Common Prayer and we think 't was not Popery he settled Indeed 't is true Imposition it self is look'd upon by some of these Pleaders for Liberty as Popish for M. I. tells us p. 12. That he that is for Imposition is a Protestant by mistake and will find himself at home in his Principles no-where but at Rome Now if this be justified then was Calvin a Papist who in his known Epistle to the Protector of England advises for the confining of desultory wits and brain-sick people in this Kingdom that one Form of Doctrine and Order should be drawn up to which every Parish-Priest should declare his full consent yea be bound by an Oath to follow inviolably Then was Luther a Papist who every-where pleads for a Form of Doctrine and Discipline to be established and imposed against the wild Sectaries of that Age. Melanchthon in his Church-Policy is so earnest for these Impositions that he thinks if these Church-Ordinances be taken away the Church it self is in danger And little less is confessed by D. R. p. 23. A Settlement must have all things needfull to Faith a good Life and godly Order who therefore pleads for a limited Toleration p. 8. Yet he would not take it well if you say he is at home onely at Rome And D. P. p. 16. grants the Church power to impose Ceremonies and thinks himself bound to submit to the Churche's judgement what Ceremonies are most convenient p. 17. yet esteems himself a Protestant 'T is well if that Synod Act. 15. can clear themselves from this Gentleman's imputation of Popery for offering to impose burthens upon the Church of Antioch in things indifferent verse the 28. A Principle equally imbraced by Protestants and Papists is very unreasonably called
gentis bellicosissimae better when the Rebellious Army was on foot or 400 years before when Ireland Wales France Scotland c. were subdued by us But eighthly These men rightly account for Liberty of Conscience shewing that it is a more successfull device for the blowing up any Government then the Powder-Plot was But 't is a strange argument to commend it to the King because it murthered his Father and to the Parliament because it overturns Government 'T is certain 't is the most fatal Wild-fire of a Nation and a sworn enemy to all Government and its genuine issue are Factions and Dissensions whilst each party struggles to promote his way It distracts the vulgar who tend strongly to a Settlement and invites the Gentry into Faction to become the Head of that Party are most like to receive them It cuts off the Magistrate at the half leaving him no more of the Subject but the outward man And could we but see the face of it without a vizard we should discern it to be Vngovernableness One of these Advocates calls it the mad Earl of Warwick then Bedlam is fittest for it and thither the Honourable House of Commons having voted it for me let it goe Here I cannot but observe the pretty Artifice of the Prop. p. 60. persuading us to believe that if Liberty of Conscience be granted Episcopacie would drain all the Sects If Episcopacie could drain the Sects without an Act of Uniformity to assist it why not with it But alas a disease is infectious but so is not health we may get Heresies by contagion but seldome Truth S. August tells Boniface experientiâ edoctus nullâ re magìs quà m Severitate Donatistas Circumcelliones in officio contineri Sure these Seas of Errours never so much overflowed their Banks till the Rumpers pull'd up the Sluces and whether Liberty made our Factions dwindle let the world judge 'T is too true a Proverb Opportunity makes the Thief To set open the door is not the way to keep Errours out 8. Their eighth Reason is 'T is a sin to make men act against Conscience for Force either debauches Conscience or brings Persecution on mens bodies or estates either of which do make the Forcer guilty L.C.A. p. 45. 'T is a greater sin then lying stealing whoring c. P. p. 74. You were better stab him p. 73. He is damned that is made to doe what he thinks not lawfull and he may never recover his Conscience again p. 75. To this we answer first All this Argument is as strong for Toleration of Papists as for any else yet these men do unitedly deny liberty to them So that certainly they conceive it not a sin or else are content to damn themselves to suppress the Papists Secondly They know that Papists Quakers and Anabaptists do declare it against their Consciences to come to our Churches and hear our Sermons yet L. C. A. pag. 48. and elsewhere asserts that the Magistrate may without sin compell men to hear Sermons Did he therefore believe himself and this Argument to be true it did ill become him to give the Magistrate that direction If you force the Quaker to come to Church according to this Argument you debauch his Conscience c. Thirdly This Argument we are not concerned in for we plead not against liberty of believing or loving but of professing and practising Errours We say with Cic. to Marcellus l. 4. ep 9. Dicere fortasse quae sentias non licet tacere planè licet Were their Case that of the Roman Senate Senatus ad otium summum vel ad summum nefas vocaretur Plin. l. 8. ep 14. they might save their Consciences by doing nothing If the Libertines fansy it a false Doctrine they are required to believe let them hold their peace and all is well Laws can make men hide though not hate their Errours 'T is true Conscience ought not no nor cannot be touched but yet mens practices must not be allowed Thus Beza determines this Case Vt non sit punienda animi opinio neutiquam tamen ferenda est pestilens impia professio Conscience is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that can't be bound but mens lips may be sealed their tongues may be tied and their bodies moved from Conventicles to Church c. and that is all intended Fourthly If the Powers could or some men would make themselves act against the false suggestions of their Consciences they would find it a saving rather then a stabbing Act. For 't is a false suggestion that of M. I. p. 7. That he that is true to an erroneous Conscience is true to God for then are all the worshippers of Sun Moon and Stars true to God then was Adam true to God when he was beguiled to eat the forbidden fruit The truth is Conscience is indeed God's Officer but the Devil hath bribed it to his devotion and 't is no felony to thrust the Devil out of what he hath no right to But I have spoken to this part elsewhere Fifthly Say that Persecution were great Cruelty to them that are in Errour yet 't is better one then all to perish Surgeons never scruple cutting off one member to save all the rest 'T is certain Kindness to Errour is Cruelty to Truth Charity to the Wolf is Murther to the Sheep Permission to Conventicles is Persecution of the Church Indeed D. P. p. 114. tells you he pleads the Cause of our Lord i. e. that his Name may be blasphemed without fear of punishment that any Worship be it never so antiscripturall may be offered him without controul He farther adds that he and his Partner plead for mercy c. to wit that the Wolf may be gently dealt with who worries the Lambs in Christ's fold that the Serpent may be protected to seduce Adam to his Damnation Yet certainly 't is a sinfull patience to suffer God's Vineyard to be rooted out What glory is it to shew tenderness to the Weed that suppresseth the Corn He is no cruel Shepherd that kills the incurable Sheep to save the Flock from infection Haereseos says Erasmus in praef ad Hieron ep ea est insimulatio in qua tolerantem esse impietas sit non virtus Sixthly For Gamaliel's advice to let men alone Beza says ex veris principiis falsam elicit consequentiam and Calvin on the place upbraids him for a doting and deceitfull Counsellor Whose answers I leave with these Pleaders supposing they will be more gratefull then any I can give Seventhly to conclude This very Argument in the Magistrate's mouth rises up in judgment against all our opposers for supposing the Magistrate's Conscience commands him as it ought to doe to take care of the Honour of God to punish Blasphemy to nurse the Church to be a terrour to evil-doers to lay out his talent of Power for God to endeavour God's glory and the suppressing of sin If he should observe his Conscience he must punish these men if not
affirms that Liberty of Conscience murther'd the late King and the Abettors of it were the greatest Enemies to this Prince's Return and settlement And 't is to be feared it hath not yet evaporated its venemous qualities Secondly Nor must the Magistrate tolerate moral Evils L. C. A. p. 50. Thirdly Nor any thing against common Light common Interest and natural good of mankind L. C. A. p. 49. We thank him for nothing without these Concessions the Magistrate like Serapis the AEgytian God might stand and hold his finger in his mouth and all Government were dissolved But fourthly D. R. p. 9. is more liberal and acknowledges the Magistrate not bound to tolerate dissensions nor any thing against the general Rules of Scripture in ordering the Church p. 27. But fifthly D. P. p. 85. exceeds all his Brethren and acknowledges the Magistrate may punish with lighter penalties any practice he esteems erroneous in Religion Having thus set down these mens Concessions which are onely to leave some work for the Magistrate that he may not like Epicurus's God sleep in intermundiis let me observe to you that these men jeast with us when they plead for Liberty of Conscience a thing so inseparable from the rational creature that no Padlock can confine it Conscience is so far out of gun-shot that the most murthering Cannon cannot reach it Conscience is subject to no Exile nor Imprisonment nor can a Rape be committed upon it The birds in the air or fishes in the sea are not more free So that the matter of our inquiry is Liberty of Action rather then Liberty of Conscience And so the Question will be whether the Magistrate be bound to let men doe in matters of Religion what they say their Consciences oblige them to or to let them forbear what they say their Consciences bind them to forbear In answer to which we say The Magistrate may not permit men to walk by the light of their private Consciences in matters of Religion First Because the Magistrate ought to be a terrour not a tolerator of evil-doers Rom. 13. but a man may pretend himself bound in Conscience to doe evil as the Jew most conscienciously blasphemes the name of Christ. To this L. C. A. p. 15. answers the Magistrate is onely authorized to punish moral evils The vanity of which will appear First by that Logical Rule Propositio indefinita in materia necessaria aequipollet universali Now all evils deserve a punishment as well spiritual as moral and many times spiritual evils are the greater therefore he is to be a terrour to them as well as to moral evils Secondly S. Paul justifies this explication 1 Tim. 1. 9. telling us the Law was made to punish not onely what is contrary to sound Reason but to sound Doctrine too Thirdly The Roman Magistrate though a Heathen had right to judge all Causes as well spiritual as civil as appears by S. Paul's appeal to him concerning the Resurrection of the dead about which he was called in question and referred the examination to Caesar. Secondly If a man may follow the dictates of his Conscience without controul he may kill Saints for God's cause John 16. 2. and believe himself bound in Conscience so to doe which haply was the case of Vennor and his Complices And 't was once S. Paul's who says He verily thought to wit in his Conscience that he ought to doe many things contrary to the way of Christ and did persecute from City to City But no Magistrate can discharge his Conscience by permitting men to kill their Neighbours for God's cause and questions in Religion 'T was Gallio's scandal that he drave men from the Judgment-seat and would not meddle in such matters Thirdly Every man is indispensably oblig'd to promote the glory of God and the Salvation of men with such talents as he hath received But the Magistrates talent is the civil Sword Therefore with it is he to propagate God's Worship and stop mens sins Advice and Admonition belong to every Christian Reproof and Censures to Church-officers but Correction of sin by the civil Sword is the Magistrate's propriety L. C. A. p. 24. acknowledges this Argument in the main but thinks he may serve God as a Magistrate by other powers then by the Sword yet confesses no instance can fully reach the explication of his notion p. 27. And no wonder since it must deny the Proposition or Assumption of this Syllogism both yet which are most evident Truths Fourthly The Magistrate's power is confessed by L. C. A. p. 12. to be paternall But a Father is bound to use the Rod to keep his child from damnation Therefore is the Father of the Countrey bound to use the Sword to keep his Subjects from damnation Magistrates govern not men as brute beasts but as indued with immortal Souls and therefore must use their power not onely for the safety of mens bodies but the Salvation of their Souls Fifthly The Magistrate is God's Shepherd as well as the Minister But Shepherds must destroy the Wolves that strive to break in to the Flock to devour it in their proper sphere the Minister by Church-Censures the Magistrate by temporal punishment Sixthly To multiply no more Arguments the last shall be ad hominem If these men believe 't is the will of God that every man should enjoy the practice of his Conscience why do they resist the will of God by denying this to the Papist Yet this they doe M. I. p. 14. D. R. p. 43 c. Hath God upon this general Charter for Liberty expresly excepted against the Papists or rather do not these Pleaders privately confess they believe not their own Arguments which haply prove stronger for the Papists then themselves as may be seen anon Indeed M. I. p. 14. says three things for the excluding Papists from this Privilege First Their giving no assurance of Fidelity But surely they have been more faithfull then these Sects in the late Rebellion and the Quakers and Anabaptists refuse to swear Fidelity as well as they c. Secondly By their Principles they can never be good Subjects 'T were well if these mens Principles were better If we are urged to it we shall make it appear that both halt on the same lame side Thirdly They themselves allow no Toleration D. P. p. 102. shall answer it O thou Argument thou art a vile naughty Argument the Lord rebuke thee Do not these men remember themselves guilty in the like kind that allowed no Toleration of Prelacie I am weary of these fooleries Can a man truly love God and yet sit patiently to hear his Name dishonoured when he hath power to suppress it Shall a Magistrate punish the injuries done to himself with all legal severities yet be so cool in God's Cause as not to unsheath his Sword Surely men never were permitted to doe what was right in their own sight but in times of Confusion when there was no King in Israel But when Asa had
obtained the Crown a Vote was made That whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel should be put to death whether small or great whether man or woman as you reade 2 Chron. 15. 13. And why should the Jew be more zealous for the honour of his God then is the Christian Moses that saw the Looseness contracted by Israel's bewildred estate tells them plainly You shall not doe as you doe this day every man what 's right in his own eyes or seems good in his own Conscience Is Conscience such aâ—nctâ—uary to damnable Doctrines that being got in there the Holiness of the place must defend them Can it be imagined that Head and Hand-sins must receive their punishment and onely Conscience-sins pass under Protection S. Paul says Rom. 13. 4. If thou dost evil be afraid of the powers but these men say If the greatest Blasphemies be committed against God be not afraid for the Magistrate hath no power to punish thee Be not afraid to bring in Doctrines of Devils for the Powers are bound to tolerate thee Break what Laws thou wilt and pretend 't is thy Conscience obliges thee to it and 't is a safe Plea that can't be over-ruled But well fare Charles the fifth that engraved on his Sword Custos utriusque Tabulae judging himself obliged to see the Laws of God executed as well as the Laws of the Land and to take care that Christ have his due as well as caesar his If you object That then the Magistrate if his Conscience should hap to be erroneous might persecute Piety I answer first So may he in civil Causes punish an innocent man if his judgment errs but that doth not annihilate his authority Secondly And we may as reasonably suspect an Angel will erre as the Magistrate since the Apostle's charge is to believe Angels no more then men in teaching another Gospel Gal. 1. 8. And thirdly If any be possessed with the spirit of infallibility 't is the Magistrate since the Scripture speaks more favourably of him then of the Jesuites Pope or the Quakers Spiritual man for Solomon saith Prov. 16. 10. A divine sentence is in the lips of a King his mouth transgresseth not in judgment He may be ignorant in some truths in Divinity but not in the weighty things of the Law And if his commands proceed about circumstantials and lesser things be they according to or dissonant from the truth the believer is obliged to be silent upon S. Paul's rule who saith Rom. 14. 22. Hast thou faith have it to thy self before God He must not flash his light in his brother's eyes and much less may he set a Church or Kingdom on fire with the scattering of it about And thus much D. P. p. 101. acknowledges The tolerated must not broach principles to the scandal of others much less then to the scandal of a Church And farther fourthly In some cases we are obliged to force our Consciences rather then resist Authority that by once passing that River of which it was so fearfull it may at length goe more boldly forward when commanded without many blows to make it enter Christ's sheep may be forced into green pastures where else they will stand boggling at the gate 'T is the Doctrine of a great Patriarch in these mens account I mean Ames l. 1. de Consc. in recollectionibus ad calcem libri additis Sect. 27. Licitum consultum est aliquando agere contra scrupulum aliquem Conscientiae And then methinks where Authority appears 't is a considerable circumstance to enforce especially considering that of Plin. to Trajan A Te exigetur ratio nos excusabit obsequium And Cassiodore speaks but the mind of the civil Law when he tells you Nimis iniquum est ut ipse patiatur dispendium qui imperium fecit alienum But then fifthly If Liberty must be granted then inclusivè as P. p. 62. grants Sovereigns must have their Liberty of Conscience as well as Subjects And then if their Consciences tie them to punish Errours what room is left for others Liberty Princes if consciencious are or may be as really obliged to the making and executing as others to the transgression of the Laws and then whose Conscience shall take place The Scripture enjoyns the Prince to punish Disobedience as well as it forbids the Subject to obey so that either the Consciences of Governours or governed must be oppressed Sixthly What should Sectaries doe with Liberty of Conscience that preach themselves a poor afflicted despised Flock and make Afflictions the note of a Child of God if not a note of the Church To grant them liberty were to divert their Afflictions and so unchurch them yea to stop up their way to Heaven which by false application of Scripture to all persons and times they hold must be through many tribulations Now to justifie their Doctrine they will find something else to quarrell with Authority about if you grant them Liberty and so pro thesauro carbones by long fishing you get a frog Seventhly The common Principles of the Sectaries can endure no Accommodation for they hold God's Flock a little Flock whom the Powers of this world must oppress and they must have a World to rail at and should you conform to them in every thing there needs no other argument for their deserting their own way as one of these Authours well observes in the instance of wearing short hair which the Non-conformers Consciences much urged them to till they saw Bishop Laud to commend it to all the Clergy then they changed their Consciences tackt about and wore all long hair The Sectaries are men of narrow spirits and love a little way They think multitudes can't go together but to doe evil and fansy huggling together like a Covy of Partridges in a field to be the onely Christian way Like John the Baptist they love to be in a desert or like a Hare to sit trembling alone in a bush and can't be brought like Doves or Sheep to feed in great Flocks Besides they have an irascible appetite in them which is naturally trained up like a true Bull-dog to bait Authority so that Oliver their great God-a-mighty could not save his Nose from their reproaches In a word Tacitus observes that evulgato Imperii Secreto alibi Imperaetorem fieri posse quà m Romae it taught every Legion to proclaim an Emperour for the future 'T is well if Obstinacy and Scrupling prevailing to overthrow one Law do not at length strive to overturn all and translate the whole Government to themselves I am of Scomberg's mind though in a far better cause That he that sees he can force any thing will at length believe he can force all and so is by Concession of one but invited to contend for another Now they try your patience the next time they will try their own courage But stay let us hear their Reasons for Liberty of Conscience The First is that in the Proposition p. 3 5 6.