A LETTER TO THE Bishop of Sarum BEING AN ANSWER To his LORDSHIPS Pastoral Letter From a Minister in the Countrey Printed in the Year 1690. A LETTER TO THE Bishop of Sarum My LORD YOUR Lorship has given the World so great and so many Instances of your Ability and Proficiency in all kinds of Learning and of your strength of Reasoning upon every Subject That it is the greatest Disadvantage imaginable to any Cause you can Espouse to be so Weakly Argued by you that room is left for an Answer to your Arguments This added to the Scruples I formerly Entertain'd has rais'd in me a more then common Jealousie that the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy in our present Circumstances Defended in your Lordships late PASTORAL LETTER are unjust and that they are Repugnant to the Laws of this Kingdom as well as to the Doctrine of the English Church The first Report indeed that I met with concerning your Lordships Letter together with the Character which I knew was justly due to the Author begat a Confident Expectation in me of being throughly Convinc'd by it and more than half a blind Resolution of adhering to it and complying with that which I am unwilling to call the Iniquity of the Times But alas my Lord as soon as I had with Earnestness and Impatience of being your Convert procur'd and read it I found my self under the greatest Disappointment I ever met with even so great that I cannot forbear doing this Violence to my own Temper which affects nothing so much as Ease and Privacy to Examine and compare it with such Remarks as I had before made for my own satisfaction and give these publique Reasons of my dissent from it I do not entertain the Vanity to believe that any thing I can offer will have so much of weight in it as to Convince your Lordship you have been mistaken for I am very sensible of my own weakness tho my Opinion of the goodness of the Cause prompts me to this unequal Undertaking besides I have Charity enough to hope you have far better Reasons for the Part you have Acted in this Surprising Revolution then those you have here thought fit to Publish But my design is to apply my self to your Lordship as to a Spiritual Physician and to lay open the state of my Disease and the very foundation of my Scruples before you that by Arguing the matter I may attain to the Truth And I doubt not but you will show the Goodness of your Nature as a Man and your Charity as a Bishop whereby you are Oblig'd to lead the Blind and support the Weak so far as to give me and the World some more satisfactory Directions for our Behaviour under these Difficulties of Publique Affairs This being then the design of this Letter I cannot prosecute it in a better Method then to wait on your Lordship from Page to Page and from Paragraph to Paragraph and to point out to you where your Reasons are not Conclusive nor Satisfactory I agree with your Lordship that should the Clergy choose rather to desert their stations Page 2. then swear the Oaths the Minds of the People would be much distracted And I suppose it is for this Reason that the Act particularly points at them to fright them if possible into a Submission to such things as the Doctrine of the Pulpits gave occasion to Believe they would not fail to boggle at But we must not Ez◠13 16 c. to prevent these Distractions sow Pillows under the Arms of the People and Lull them into a false Security I can with a like readiness Agree to the vast Importance of this matter Page 2. §. 1. And that this Consideration ought to move us to a serious Reflection on the Foundation of our Dissent before we fix on a Resolution so prejudicial possibly to the publick Peace Page 3. But it must be also allow'd of as great Importance to consider the Legality of these Oaths before we swallow ' em For it will be an Eternal Scandal on the Church of England if all her Sons conspire for the sake of Interest or Prosperity to take a Solemn Oath inconsistent with their former Oaths with the Doctrine of this Church and of particular Ministers in the discharge of their Cures I am sure a Favourable Providence Page 3. with a hopeful prospect of all Temporal Blessings and the fairest beginnings of the most desirable things we can hope or wish for on Earth are no Arguments for the Legality of any Revolution For if they were who could oppose a Successful Rebellion Or Rev. 13.4.7 since none shall be like the BEAST in the Revelations or be able to make War with him why shall not even the Saints when they be overcome by him be obedient to him and Support his Government Nor does the seeming Security of the Protestant Religion Page 3. and our Civil Liberties weigh more in this particular It is a preposterous way to secure our Religion by overturning the very Foundations of it and undertaking to direct the Allwise Providence in the proper Methods of supporting his own Cause The Fate of Vzzah is a fearful Example of the Divine Wrath against the rashness of those who contrary to his Revealed Will dare put forth their hands to hold up the Ark tho' just at the point to be overturn'd 2 Sam. 6.6 God will be obey'd in all his Commands and have this Honour of his Omnipotency left entire to himself to be avenged of his Enemies his own way Besides my Lord whatever danger we are in from a Popish Tyranny an Irish Conquest and Massacre Page 4. and French Barbarity and Cruelty tho this is neither apparent in it self nor the attempt thereof prov'd upon the King we must remember that they are Dangers of our own making For had all the Members of the Church of England been firm to their Maxims had they persisted in opposing all the violent and ill-advised Designs of the King but at the same time had they been Faithful to his Person and Government and when he open'd his Arms tho late and made such large steps towards a Reconciliation had they then return'd into his Bosome for Protection these things could not possibly have happen'd to us Had the King staid the Laws were such that till they were Repeal'd we were safe And none but our own Brethren who would Communicate with us at the Holy Table could have an Opportunity to break down those Hedges Since therefore we are Cheated into this Distress by our own Negligence and the Cunning Malicious Insinuations of others which however excusable in us as a Humane Failing yet persisted in turns Sin we must be well assur'd that the ways wherein we pursue our Deliverance are just and lawful least God should go on to punish Sin with Sin Page 3. This would be a Curse from God indeed and the certain Fore-runner not only of our Temporal
impracticable The Parallell is too apparent to need more words We ought therefore to give our continual Thanks to Almighty God for his great Mercy as well in this as in the other Case that he has plac'd us in a Countrey whose Happy Situation has exempted us so long from falling under any such difficulties Page 6. rather then wilfully to apply these Instances of forbearance in such Cases of Necessity to our careless Negligence and plead the Examples of our Neighbours Miseries in justification of our own Wantoness Before I proceed to the next Paragraph give me leave to Condole with your Lordship the decay of your Memory I Remember in your Enquiry into the Measures of Submission to the Supream Authority about a year ago you tell us 't is unreasonable to Conclude Measures of Submission §. 6. from the Possession of a Supream Power by any Person or Family that it is the Will of God it should be so because this would justifie all Vsurpers when they became successful But to pass this over you will not there allow of any Conclusions to be made with Relation to any particular Government from the Examples either in the Old or New Testaments but say Ibid. §. 8. It is clear that all the Passages in the Old Testament are not to be made use of in this matter of neither side and as for the New Testament all that is in it upon this Subject Ibid. §. 10. imports no more then that all Christians are bound to Acquiesce in the Government and submit to it according to the Constitution that is setled by Law so that no general Considerations from any Passages Ibid. §. 11. either of the Old or New Testaments ought to determine us in this matter But you here forget your own Maxim Examples of this kind I perceive are fashionable Arguments and Passive Obedience is again Orthodox provided always it be Extensive enough and carry'd to reach Vsurpers and Conquerors in prejudice to the Rightful Kings These My Lord are dangerous Passages which an ill-man may improve to such a Scandal as this that you square your Doctrine by the Rule of Convenience and draw a Scheme of Divinity according to a Model of Politiques which may be Vary'd and Chang'd as the Circumstances of publique Affairs and Interest require Accordingly he may urge That when you Writ your Measures of Submission you foresaw it convenient to Explode the Bible because it would be difficult to draw us into the necessary intended Rebellion whilst we had the Word of God to guide us The Scriptures teach us by Example as well as Precept That Kings are God's Vice-Gerents on Earth and therefore to be Honour'd and Obey'd in all things Lawful But that Rebellion in any case is like the sin of Witchcraft but now when the Turn is serv'd and the Case alter'd you here direct us again to them with this necessary Caution That we wholly forget we have still a King and apply all the Instances of Obedience to an Unjust Possessor as if we had been Laps'd into a state of Nature and every man had had an equal Right to Ascend the Vacant Throne If this be not playing with and wresting the Scriptures he prays God it be not to your Destruction he knows not what is All this may be said and more But I will return to your Argument where the only business will be to enquire whether any Example you here produce will reach to the Case of Possession only under our Circumstances In order to this I must remind you of the Restrictions I above Noted under which and such like Possession may be allow'd a Title of Right We must also consider that the Jewish Government was a Theocracy as well as a Monarchy so that in all doubtful Junctures of publique Affairs they might have recourse to God himself for advice by means of the Prophets and of the Vrim and Thummim Whenever therefore we find in that state any Unaccountable Revolutious not reprov'd we may reasonably Conclude that God had fore-signify'd his Approbation of it and this the rather because we generally may Observe that a Priest or a Prophet chiefly promotes it There is this further difference between the Constitution of Our Government and that of the Jews whereby the Examples from them are not conclusive to us That whereas this Crown descends by an Haereditary Right That did not For sometimes the Aged King declar'd his Successor before his Death Thus David gave his Kingdom to Solomon 1 Kings 1.34 2 Chron. 21.3 and Jehoshaphat to Jehoram But more usually the Jews Elected that Person to be their King whom God by his Prophets had destin'd to that High Office pursuant to His Express Command by Moses Deut. 17.15 that they shall in any wise set him King over them whom the Lord their God shall Choose Accordingly in the first great Rupture in the Government Pag. 8. where the ten Tribes wholly Revolt from Judah the Prophet Ahijah gives ten of the twelve pieces of his new Garment to Jeroboam with this assurance that the LORD would rend the Kingdom from Solomon 1 Kings 11.31 tho not in his yet in his Son's Reign and give ten Tribes to him and thus when Rehoboam took violent Counsel and Answer'd the People of Israel roughly 1 Kings 12.13,15 we are told that the Cause thereof was from the LORD in performance of his word by this Prophet and afterwards he expresly forbids the Subjects of Rehoboam to fight against their Brethren the Children of Israel 1 Kings 12.24 because this thing was from HIM The like is remarkable in other Instances So that in all the Revolutions that happen'd there Possession without doubt might be presum'd to give a just Right And indeed this is not only true in Relation to the Jews but is in it self Universally so as appears from the Nature and Reason of the thing for wherever a Monarchy is Elective if the Throne be fill'd whether by Force or Cunning Allegiance may be due because tho some of the Community may be said to be injur'd by the Usurpation yet none is dispossess'd of a Preceding Right where none is Dethron'd Where therefore none had a preceding Right to Allegiance it is payable to any but to whom so properly as to him who has given the greatest Evidence at least of the Majority of Electors since they had strength and Interest enough to Seat him in the Throne beyond the Reach of his Opposers But all this is nothing to our Case we know the Person who is Dispossess'd to whom our Allegiance as is confess'd by all was once due and that he is still in being and calls upon us for the performance of this Duty the only Objection you here offer against him is that he is unfortunately Dispossess'd by the force of a violent Intruder but who was ever yet adjudg'd punishable for a meer Misfortune These Considerations alone well apply'd would be