and Correspondence and you know the Maxim Quae conveniunt in aliquo tertio conveniunt inter se So that it might be old Friendship still notwithstanding the outward seeming and apearance to the contrary Well Friendship or no Friendship Old or New the Doctor however hath abundance of fine Words to say and they are but Words for there is no Truth nor colour of Truth in the bottom but that I suppose may be excused if there is a Friend in the Case In the first Place the Doctor tells us He had great Designs to serve the Christian Religion and the Church of England in its truest Interests And again The great use he made of the Favour and Interest that he had was to do publick Service to Religion and whatever some Men might suspect to the Church of England Well then it seems this Matter was not so clear but there were some Suspicions as to his Designs on this Head And the singâ—e Question is Whether these Suspicions were just and reasonable As for that the Doctor leaves People to think as they please and hath not said one Word to discharge them but plainly confirms them For he adds immediately though it may not be perfectly in their way Now the Church of England as it sustains that denomination stands distinguished from Dissenters of all Sorts by her Canons Articles Homilies and Liturgy and the old Way of pursuing the Churches Interest was by being true to these our selves and by using our Power and Authority that others might be so too And this is the way that hitheâ—to hath been taken by all those who have heartily and honestly espoused the Interest of the Church from the beginning of the Reformation But this was a Way that did not please the Doctor 's Friend but he was for a new Way of his own and though the Doctor does not tell us what Way that was it was sufficiently known It was a Way of Alteration and Comprehension and he made a Commissioner for that Purpose and would fain have been Prolocutor of the Convocation to have brought it to effect And this was that great Design he was always pursuing with all his Might and Cunning that is He was endeavoâ—ing to alter and comprehend away â—he Church who being himself first false to her Principles and Constitution was designing to frame a Church of the same Model and make it as false as himself In short he was for making a Dutch Church of an English one which is a very fine way indeed of having Designs to serve the Church of England in its truest Interests I doubt not but Mr. Baxter and another of the Doctor 's old Friends Dr J. O. had also great Designs to serve the Church of England though not perfectly in their Way that is In a Way to let themselves and their Schism into the Church which is Dr. Tillotson's Way So that had the Doctor said That his old Friend had great Designs for the Interest of the Dissenters he had spoke truth and I dare say he will yet say it if ever Things be â—ipe enough to open thus boldly But to talk of his Designs for the truest Interests of the Church of England 't is the extravagantest Thing in the World For there is nothing more ridiculous than to call those Designs for the Church of England which were designed purely to undermine it to throw up the Inclosure and make it Common to take away those Things upon the Account of which it hath its denomination and is distinguished from all others and particularly the Doctorâ—s Friends the Dissenters But I had rather you should have this in Dr Sherlock's own Words and you shall see what he hath said and printed of this very Man and in this very Case And in the first Place he enquires whether there is any Necessity of such Alterations and says * A Letter concerning some Querys about the new Commission for the making Alterations in the Liturgy Canons c. The Members of the Church of England generally believe there is none And then asks Whether it be for the Reputation and Establishment of the Church or for the Increase of Reverence and Devotion in the People to be so frequently meditating unnecessary Alterations Again he asks Whether it be for the Peace Unity and Edification of the Church for some few assuming Men to alter the establish'd Worship to make it comply with their own private Conceits or to serve their own private Ends Whether it be for the Churches Advantage to change the ancient Rules and Forms of Worship for some new modern Inventions How shall we justify our selves against the Charge of Novelty and Innovation if we reform away all the Remains and Characters of a Primitive and Apostolick Church Here you have Dr. Sherlock's Notion of the Design and there is much more to the same Purpose And now you shall have his Opinion of the Man in the pursuit of this Design Whether the known Character of some leading Men in this Commission be not Reason enough to suspect the Event Whether Men who conform'd with difficulty themselves or upon Principles which wise Men foresaw would destroy the Church in time who have Latitude to conform to a Church de Facto which hath Power on its Side and to conceal their own Inclinations till it is time to shew them are not likely to do the Church of England a good Turn when opportunity serves and which perhaps they imagine now they have Again Whether there was any such haste of altering the best constituted Church in the World which honourable Title some of these Commissioners in a good Mood have in their Writings bestowed upon the Church of England Meaning his old Friend Dr. Tillotson Once again And thus our Church may be changed and altered and transformed by Nine Men who may have Tenderness and Moderation enough to part with any Thing but their Church Preferments Now Sir you will confess that the Doctor tâ—eats his Friend especially an old Friend a little coursely and unfriendly And I doubt very much whether the Doctor in those days would have given him his Vote for the Archbishoprick or yet for the following Characters of the clearest and brightest Reason truer Judgment more inflexible fearless Honesty for these are directly contrary to the Characters he gives of him here But the Doctor I suppose is grown Wiser now and which you know no Man is forbid Nay he is gâ—own wiser than the wise Men themselves for you have heard That wise Men foresaw such Principles would destroy the Church in time But the Doctor now is so wise as to see plainâ—y That those Principles are for the Churches truest Interests Now Sir whatever you may think of the Cause I pray now tell me what you think of the Preacher Are not these delicate Things from the Mouth of Dr. Sherlock who hath in so many Words asserted the câ—ean contrary of the same Design and of the same Man engag'd in that Design Had
of the Clergy between the Sycophants and Flatterers who deify the Usurpation and those who comply yet retain their old Principles and are far the Best the Wisest the Honestest and most Numerous This Sir is a Truth I do not expect you should own but for all that you cannot forbear implying it by your Threatning For you think I ought to have kept this as an importent Secret under sacred Concealment lest the Government be on their Guard against them and either put their Loyalty to the Touchstone by making them abjure as his been done in Scotland or take such other Measures as may turn them all out and make room for honester Men. And why did not you also tell us here and turn them all out as he did in Scotland Why because you are a cunning Man and will not tell your Secrets lest the Church should have been on her Guard and look to themselves that they are not ensnared by one who hath given such evident Indications of his good Will towards them And since we are upon Secrets I do not much care if I tell you another Secret A good number of Episcopal Divines in Scotland who had taken the Oaths were turned out by the Assembly and thâ—iâ— Churches fiâ—led with honest Presbyterians without the least Allowance from their Livings Whereupon they petitioned your Great and Illustrious for a Maintenance out of the depriv'd Bishops Revenues which he had seiz'd upon Now Sir out of his abundant Charity heroick Nature and great Affections to the Church he allowed them not one Farthing And yet notwithstanding he actually gives a Pension of 1200 l. per An. to Presbyteterian and Independent Ministers in the Province of Munster in Ireland and in April last signed Privy Seals for the punctual Payment of it and for the Proof of this you may if you please consult the Letters Mandat in the Signet Office Sir I doubt you must reverse your Character and make the Clergy now stark Blind if they do not see upon what Terms they stand with your renowned Deliverer and what great and glorious Designs he hath to devour them so soon as he hath Power and Opportunity Your Example of Scotland and the Project of Abjuration and turning all out hath been upon the Anvil and he hath as good a Will to the Church Lands as to his Father's Crown But he never durst put it to the Issue lest it should discover the Weakness of his Interest For to give you one Secret more the Eyes of the Nation are opened they see themselves cheated and abused and instead of Liberties and Privileges find themselves made Tools to insatiable Ambition and a Morsel for execrable Paricide And it was the most unaccountable Infatuation to have expected otherwise that he who had Stomach enough to devour his Father would ever stick at preying on the Wealth the Rights and Vitals of a Nation I know Sir you have a Remedy for all this and you will tell me it had been Wisdom to have put this under sacred Concealment lest the Government guard it self against the People and serve them as the de Witts were served in Holland that is to knock them on the Head to make room for the Loyal and Honest Dutch And then Sir your Deliverance would be compleat III. I had honestly told you That all the Liberty this Nation enjoys under this Revolution is a Liberty of giving 7 or 8 Millions yearly c. and defied all the Flatterers to shew any other Liberty besides such as they as the direct and immediate Fruits of the Revolution I pray Sir mark the last Words for upon them all the matter depends for there are several Liberties an English man enjoys which are general and not appropriate to Times and Seasons As for Instance an English-man may breath in the English Air without being beholding to any Government but to have that Air polluted by execrable Oaths Perjuries and Blasphemies this is peculiar to the Revolution It is the Privilege of the several Societies of Merchants to trade abroad to the respective Places and Kingdoms but to have this Trade crampt by a Dutch Interest to have their Effects taken and themselves ruin'd this is peculiar to the Revolution It is the Liberty of any Man to refuse had Mony but to have nothing else but bad Mony to refuse is the direct Effect of the Revolution Any Man has Liberty to go about his necessary Occasions on Sundays but to have Licensed Coaches to carry them is purely owing to the Revolution It is the Privilege of the City of London to have Coals from Newcastle but to have them at 5 l. a Chaldron and moreover 5 s. a Chaldron Tax this is the peculiar Liberty of the Revolution So that Sir if you carefully distinguish this Point you and I shall soon be agreed As to instance in some of thoâ—e Liberties you reckon up as the direct Fruits of the Revolution We are say you now at Liberty to make such Laws as are proper to preserve us from Dangers Very well Sir but you forget to add That we are in the greatest Danger from the Law-makers themselves and that we are at Liberty to purchase any Law with our Money provided we will go to the Price of it Again All Protestants have now a Liberty of Conscience yea Sir and a Liberty too to have no Conscience at all You add We are now deliver'd from impos'd Sheriffs and packt Juries yes by all means and from suborn'd and perjur'd Witnesses as in the Cases of Young Blacket Lunt Womble c. We are now deliver'd from all Restreints of voting for Members of Parliament yea Sir and from all restreint too of voting for Members to no Parliament at all 〈…〉 no fear of having a Court Faction impos'd on us as the Representatives of the Nation especially considering that there are no above 350 in the House who are Officers or Pensioners We are now secured against keeping up a standing Army in Times of Peace yes Sir and for a very good Reason because we have not had one Moments of Peace since the Revolution nor are ever like to have it to try the Experiment We are now deliver'd from all Danger of being engag'd in a War with our Protestant Allies the Dutch I marry Sir this is a Liberty indeed and worth all the rest But I wonder you should be so short and not add That we had now a Liberty of giving them 600000 l. at once and three times as much at several other times besides the loss of ten times more by their clipping and embasing our Coin and supplanting and ruining our Trade These Sir and a great many more with which you fill a Page and a half I am resolved never to Dispute with you about but only desire you carefully to distinguish what are the proper and peculiar Effects of the Revolution And I dare promise you you will confirm every Word I have said and upon the Foot of the Account you
will find nothing but Iniquity Fraud and Beggary entail'd upon the Nation which you if you please may call glorious Liberties and Privileges But every Man that can but remember for Ten years and hath Eyes in his Head to compare the present State of the Nation with what it was then will not need your Instruction to see the Difference and to point out the Authors of all and every one of these irrecoverable Calamities we now groan under IV. I had said That the Revolution in the first Steps of it was as great a Violation of Leagues and solemn Treaties and the publick Faith of Nations as ever was known For that it was not only contrary to that perfect Peace and Amity that was then between K. James and the States but also contrary to their express Declarations to his Ambassador in the very Case Now Sir this you attack most terribly and furiously p. 9. as in the first Place you say The States made no War upon England but only lent their Forces to the Prince of Orange No not at all Sir because the Forces were all theirs all the time under their Pay and because they received 600000 l. for the Expedition This makes it a plain Case that the States had nothing to do in the matter and that they honest Men kept their Faith all the while inviolably with the King Even as when the Dutch deny'd themselves to be Christians in India and cut the Throats of the English why Sir they only lent themselves to the Infidels and they were the Murtherers though it was committed by Dutch hands Well no Body knows the Advantage of a good Advocate However you add Though they had declared the War in their own Names 't is no more than what might be justified Yes most certainly because they not only did not declare it but declared most solemnly and expresly the clean contrary But no matter for that you still go on Though neither the Prince nor States had any Cause of their own it would have been not only just but generous to have lent their helping hand to a neigbbouring Protestant Church and State With all doubt Sir it is a great Argument of Dutch Justice and Generosity to invade a neighbouring Prince in perfect Peace with them and at the same time to assure his Ambassador they had no Designs against him These Sir are terrible Demonstrations and who can say any Thing against them but methinks you might have used your Victory a little more moderately Was it not enough to confound your Adversary by such thundering Arguments but you must over and above call him Lyar and Villain and Cerberus besides In the mean time Sir the Question here if you have not forget it is not about Causes and helping Hands but concerning breach of Faith and of solemn Leagues and Treaties If therefore your Protestant Allies had a mind to help one of themselves to cut the Throat of his Father why let them do it for being Dutch no Body expected otherwise from them But what need they at the same time assure the old Gentleman That they meant him no harm but all the kindness in the World If they had resolved to assist some neighbouring Rebels why they may do as they please 't is but acting like themselves But to do this while they were under the Bond of Leagues and Treaties and present Promises and Assurances to the contrary This Sir by your Favour is a little too much even for our Protestant Allies who notwithstanding may be allowed as much in such Cases as any People in the World What tragical Work do you make with the French King 's destroying Towns after surrender upon the Faith of Articles p. 14. As to the Truth of which however I desire to be excused for I doubt your Authors Monsieur Observator and Monsieur Gazette are not of much Credit But I pray Sir is the Faith of Articles more Sacred than the Faith of Leagues or the Faith of solemn Assurances to Ambassadors Now if violating the Faith of Articles renders a Prince who is not of our side Ten times worse than Nebuchadnezzar and all the Savages and Barbarous in Nature Pray what a goodly Figure will your Stadtholder with all his Dutch Protestants behind him make when they appear in Storâ— breaking through all the Bonds of Nature Religion common Honesty and the Faith of Nations I doubt Sir let you and I do what we can the Revolution with all its Circumstances will stand upon Record as the most perfidious and treacherous Piece of Villany that ever was or perhaps ever will be in the World Thus Sir it were very easy for me to go through every Paragraph of your Pamphlet and to shew in particular how obliging you have been to me in confirming and illustrating the Truth of all that I have insisted on It must be acknowledged Sir that you have given the Remarks all the Reputation that you are able And if any Man doubted of any Part or Branch of it before I do not question but by your Book they have received abundant Satisfaction But I cannot stay to enumerate all your Obligations I hope this little will be sufficient for the testifying my Respects to you and I fear a great deal too much for the Reader 's Excuse and Pardon REMARKS c. SIR YOU tell me that Dyer's News-Letter was the first that acquaintâ—d you with the Reverend Dean's Sermon That the Character he gives it and the Fine Strokes he says were in it tempted you to buy it and read it That now having read it you very much admire it and desire my Opinion concerning it which I shall frankly give you In the first Place I do perfectly Concur with you and admire it too though at the same time it may be I may as perfectly Disagree with you upon the Grounds and Reasons for which I admire it For this same Admiration hath several different nay contrary Objects Any Thing that is Extraordinary either for its Excellency or its Meaness any fine Strokes of Truth or Untruth any Thing that is highly Agreeable or highly Unsuitable to the Character of the Persons speaking or spoken of may equally move this Passion There was a Time when sober and serious Men used to admire to see Divines say and unsay and contradict themselves as fast as they write but that Wonder is of late much abated by its frequency And therefore 't is possible you may admire the Dean's Performance in one Sense and I in another though we both may admire it However what seems to me to be of that Strein you shall have presently and then if you please you may compare it with your own Judgment and if I have not the Luck to jump exactly with you in all Things I think notwithstanding that I shall deliver the Sense of above three Parts of the Kingdom But before I enter upon the immediate Subject The Dean's single Sermon it may not be amiss a little to
their Hands of it They must grow Wiser once more and write new Cases of Allegiance and give some new Reasons for all the old Ones do it as plain as Words can do And if this be a Sign of great and implacable Enmity they must have the Honour among them for let them Pray and Preach and Swear never so much I defy all the Jacobites in Europe to charge her with more Faults on that account than they have done themselves And in truth even in their funeral Sermons where they have endeavoured to speak the best they are able They mention it so gingerly that any Man may see they knew not what to say to it nor how to let it alone which is the next Thing I am to observe to you Viz. 2. When they mention her taking the Crown they do it so nicely and in such a Manner as plainly shews That they think it requires an Excuse and Apology and will not admit of a Justification Dr. Sherlock says p. 13. She was always grieved at the Occasion of taking the Government and as glad to Resign it And again p. 15. She ascended the Throne indeed before she desired it but was thrust into it not by an hasty Ambition but to save a sinking Church and Kingdom I shall leave every Man to believe the Truth of this as he pleases but this strongly proves that the Doctor thought there was something in the Wind which wanted his Rhetorick to make the best of it which yet with all his Skill he is not able to clear up but hath left a black Mark upon it and stain'd it with great and evident Signs of Suspicion For let the Occasion be what it will let there be grief or no grief Men do not use to be very glad to resign any Thing and much less a Throne which they fairly and honestly come by and if she was so joyful to resign the Crown as this Gentleman would make us believe I doubt it will prove a Sign that she her self thought she could not very innocently wear it But to whom I pray was she so glad to resign it Why to her Father And if this was the Case Why did not she first Consult him and try whether there were any fair ways to save the Church and Kingdom and preserve the Crown upon her Father's Head This would have sav'd her Father and the Church and Kingdom too and moreover would have saved her the Trouble of that terrible grief the Doctor talks on Or why did not she afterwards when he had lain some Years in Exile and Affliction which must needs augment her grief if she had any before or any Spark of Duty to a tender Parent endeavour to compose the Differences and Distractions and reconcile her Father to his Subjects and his Subjects to him to gratify her joy and put an End to her grief But this joy is a very fruitless and unactive Passion and serves to talk on in funeral Sermons but is good for nothing at all besides And I perceive meer grief and aversion and no desire operate more strongly than all the Joy in the World Nay it seems those wonderful Passions operate the clean contrary way as every Thing else does in Usurpation For according to the Doctor she was grieved and had no desire to take the Crown and yet she took it and kept it she was glad to resign it and made not the least step towards it It seems these Scepters and Crowns are nothing but Mortification from one end to the other the Occasion was grief the Desire to take it none at all and to be depriv'd of it the only Comfort left in such Cases the joy of resigning it is very lamentable And I wonder these Gentlemen forgot to tell us of her Five Years severe Tryal and Affliction and her incredible Patience under them For in good truth as grievous as they were she bore them handsomely and the most critical and piercing Eye could see nothing outwardly but the greatest Gaiety Pleasure and Complacency imaginable But perhaps the grief might be the greater being kept within and because no body could perceive it The next Thing the Doctor tells us is That she was Thrust into it This is a Metaphor and means it was by Compulsion and against her Will. So that we are still upon the diminishing Point but this is an Apology with a Reflection in the Belly of it For if the matter had been clearly and manifestly Just what need is there of such thrusting and force Do Men offer violence to their Faculties when they do a very fair and honest Action or as some call it a very great and glorious One Well but she was thrust into it to Save a sinking Church and Kingdom And suppose that That is at the best but a good End and if the Means be not as good as the End the Action is stark nought and the Doctor knows well enough There was a Person who thrust out his Hand to save the Ark but because he had no Authority it cost him his Life and by the immediate Judgment of God himself Princes perhaps may mistake themselves and think themselves qualified to save Churches and Kingdoms but if they so far mistake as to thrust themselves through the Bowels of their Parents to do this I doubt they take a very wrong Course And all the Savings he can think on will not justify the Violation of the Laws of God Nature and Nations The Doctor therefore ought first to have proved at least to have said whether he could prove it or no That it is very lawful for one Prince to seize and Patrimony and Inheritance of another That 't is very lawful for Children to turn their Parents out of Doors and take their Revenues to themselves That 't is very lawful to stigmatize and brand an Infant Prince as supposititious contrary to their own Knowledge and then it was time enough to talk of Ends and Designs which no body knows but themselves whatever the Pretences may be to bring about those Ends. For let them have as many Ends as they will the Laws of God and Nature are too Sacred and Inviolable to be broken for any Ends let them be good or bad plain or mysterious and no Man can honestly do it to save himself and much less to save other Folks And this is fine Doctrine for the Pulpit and Funeral Sermons A Man may take another Man's Estate for the Good of the Tenants and a Child may trample on the Neck of his Father and send him a Begging for the Benefit of the Family However this shews that the Doctor is in great Perplexity he would fain say something but cannot tell what He hath raised an Objection and leaves it just as he found it Implacable Enemies had no other Fault to charge her with but her Throne To let Implacable and Enemies alone as being out of the Question it is certain that Fault she was charged with and by them