them to Rejoyce and be exceeding glad of them Blessed are they St. Mat. 5. 10. saith our Lord that are Persecuted for Righteousness Sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Blessed are ye when Men shall Revile you Verse 11. and Persecute you and shall say all manner of Evil against you falsly for my Sake Rejoyce and be Verse 12. exceeding Glad for great is your Reward in Heaven for so Persecuted they the Prophets which were before you Behold saith St. James we count Ch. 5th 11. 1 Epist 3. 14. them happy which endure And if ye suffer for Righteousness sake happy are ye saith St. Peter and be not affraid of their Terrour neither be troubled Beloved think it not strange concerning Ch. 4th 12 13 14. the Fiery Tryal which is to Try you as though some strange thing hapned unto you But Rejoyce in as much as ye are Partakers of Christs Sufferings that when his Glory shall be Revealed ye may be Glad also with exceeding Joy If ye be Reproached for the Name of Christ Happy are ye for the Spirit of Glory and of God Resteth upon you These words had such Influence upon the Primitive Christians that they Courted Martyrdom with as Vehement and Longing desires as ever the Ambitious did the Honours or the Covetous the Riches of the World When the most Cruel Edicts were Publish'd against them they did not care to Fly or Hide themselves from the Fury of their Persecutors when the to others Dreadful Sentence of Death was pass'd upon them they gave their Judges Thanks in the midst of the most exquisite Torments they did nothing but Sing and give Thanks and Expired with Praises and Adorations of God St. Babylas Bishop of Antioch as he was led to Martyrdom broke out into these words of Joy and Triumph Return unto thy Rest Oh my Soul for the Lord Dr Patricks Witnesses to Christianity part 2d Page 646 hath dealt Bountifully with thee When Liberatus and his Monks who Defended the Christian Faith against the Heresy of Arrius were Condemn'd to be thrown bound into a Ship full of Faggots and there to be burnt in the midst of the Sea they Sung aloud this Hymn Glory be to God in the highest Behold now is the acceptable time behold now is the Day of Salvation in which we Suffer Punishment for the Faith of our God St. Ignatius as he was going to Rome to be Devour'd by Wild Beasts that being the Death he was Condemn'd to because he would not Renounce the Faith of Christ thought the time long and the way tedious and express'd his passionate desire after it Oh said he that I might come to those wild beasts that are prepared for me I heartily wish that I may D Cave Primitive Christian part 2d pa. 182 presently meet with them I would invite and encourage them speedily to devour me and not be affraid to set upon me as they have been to others nay should they refuse it I would even force them to it I am concerned for nothing either seen or unseen more than to Enjoy Jesus Christ Let Fire and the Cross and the rage of wild Beasts the breaking of Bones distortion of Members bruising of the whole Body yea all the punishments which the Devil can invent come upon me so I may but Enjoy Jesus Christ When Laurentius the Deacon espied Sixtus the Bishop of Rome going to his Id. part 2d page 183 Martyrdom he burst out into tears and passionately call'd to him saying Whither Oh my Father art thou going without thy Son Whither so fast O Holy Bishop without thy Deacon Never didst thou use to offer Spiritual Sacrifice without thy Minister to attend thee what have I done that might displease thee hast thou ever found me degenerous and fearful make Triall at least whether thou hast chosen a fit Minister to wait upon thee By this their admirable courage patience and constancy they did the highest Honour to our Lord and his Religion Shamed and Confuted all the Clamours Reproaches and false Accusations that were brought against it Convinced the wise or intelligent that Christianity was a Divine and Holy Doctrine because it inspired the Professors of it with such undaunted courage and greatness of mind as made them despise not only the pleasures and delight but the terrours and miseries of the World render'd them not only content to Dye but desirous of and in love with Death caused them not only patiently to bear but to Triumph and Rejoyce in those horrid Torments which those that stood by trembled and were affrighted to see them Endure This conduced mightily to the increasing the Church brought in Numerous or rather Innumerable Converts to it till the greatest part of the World became Christian and humbly adored the Crucified Jesus The care and concern of Christians then consisted but of these two parts to live without Sin and to Dye without Murmours or Complaints their Religion was composed of these two admirable ingredients Innocence patience this was their study to let their Conversation be as became the Gospel of Christ and to be conformed as much as they could both to the Life and Sufferings of Jesus They were neither so base nor timerous as to endeavour to shift the Cross from themselves and lay it upon others they scorn'd to do any unjust thing to decline suffering never attempted to deprive any Prince because they knew him to be an Heathen and feared he would be a Persecutor of them This this was their great care to live and dye in the Lord to Glorify him by a pure and unspotted Life by a Pious or Godly Death Hereby also they gain'd great Honour to themselves render'd their names and memories precious and immortal for the Church was careful to do all Lawfull honour to the Saints or Martyrs to those brave and worthy Persons who living shin'd as lights in the World by their Exemplary vertues and dying sealed the truth of Christianity with their Blood had that ardent love for our Lord that no dangers nor sufferings nor torments nor miseries could lessen or overcome that Zeal for his Religion which no Injuries Reproaches nor Persecutions could Extinguish The Christians used to meet at the place where such eminent Persons Suffer'd for the Faith or where their Bodies that were Slain for the Testimony of Jesus were Interr'd and make Orations in praise of them commemorate their piety and sufferings praise God for the excellent gifts and graces he confer'd upon them and Exhort one another to transcribe or imitate their Faith and Piety and Patience But this was the least and meanest Part of their Reward for as by Sufferings for Christ they gain'd Honour in this so a brighter Crown and greater Rewards in the other World for it is Evident that our Lord in the Words I mentioned before declares that they which are Persecuted for Righteousness Sake shall not only have a Reward but a great Reward in
World and you will find that of the Philosopher to be a great truth That Tyrants seldome live to be Old the Saints pray their Blood and Sufferings cry to Heaven against them and God Abhors and the Earth Groans under the burthen of their Crimes and Hell is ready for them How then can it be for the Dukes Honour or Felicity to be one of them to live and that but for a little time Abhor'd by God dreaded and forsaken by all good Men to die Unpityed and Unlamented to depart this World not with the Tears and Praises but with the Joy and Thanksgivings of his Subjects that by his Death they are deliver'd from the Miseries and Oppressions his Reign was attended with to have the story of his Life there being some that delight to Record the Actions of Princes transmitted to future Ages stain'd with so many Executions Cruelties and Oppressions which his setting up the Romish Religion will occasion and to be remembred no otherwise when he is Dead and gone than Plagues and Wars and the most dreadful Calamities are that is with Horrour and Amazment How unreasonable is it then to believe his Royal Highness if he come to the Crown will thus ruin and undo himself for no Reason or Inducement at all Common Prudence will not suffer him to be so much his own Enemy And therefore they that upon idle Rumours or meer Suspicions entertain such unbecoming thoughts of him do great Injury to and extremely wrong so brave a Prince who is confessed by his very Enemies to be Highly just and hath ventured his Life in defence of his Country and therefore in reason and justice ought neither to be accounted nor treated as its Enemy that hath any intention to Ruin if it be the will of Heaven that he Reign over it 'T is certain then that it is not for the Duke Interest in this World to turn Papist and therefore if he be so that cannot be the Reason of it The only Motive therefore he could have to Subsect 4. perswade him to such a change must be his Happiness and Salvation in that which is to come This indeed is the great End the Highest reason any Person can propose to himself in the Choyce of his Religion that it be such as will conduct him safely to Eternal Happiness Now if I can prove that there is no danger of missing this in the Communion of the Church of England and that there is great and apparent Hazard of losing it in the Communion of the Church of Rome then this can be no Reason for nor Inducement to such a change it being most Absur'd and Imprudent to Exchange a safe for a dangerous Church a Church wherein there is a certainty for one wherein there is at most but a bare possibility of Salvation The enquiry then must be if the case be not thus between ours and the Church of Rome whether in that there be not a Certainty in this at most but a meer Possibility of Salvation God the Supream Lord of Men as he made them to Serve and Glorify him here and to injoy or live with him in Immortal Glory and Happiness hereafter so it must needs belong to him alone to appoint what Service they shall Perform to him to declare how and in what instances he will be Honour'd and Glorifi'd by them to prescribe measures of Obedience and the terms or conditions upon which he will admit them to the Participation of that Supream and Soveraign Happiness for being the greatest good that God can give or they desire 't is most unreasonable to believe it Inconditional promised absolutely either to all or a select part of Mankind so that they shall be sure to have it though they do nothing towards the Obtaining of it And if it be proposed upon certain Terms or Conditions as it evidently is God alone must determine and propose these determine them because that transcendent Felicity being his Kind and Bountiful offer none hath any Right but he to appoint the things that must be done by Men for the acquiring of it Propose them because 'till he hath Revealed them none can know what they are To leave Mankind to their own Fancies and Conjectures in a matter of such Moment and Concern to offer them Eternal Happiness and not tell them how to Obtain it would have been a disparagement to the Divine Goodness because it would have been to Mock and Delude them with the discovery of a Treasure more precious then all the World whch they knew not how to possess themselves of if they guess'd at the way of doing of it it would be great odds but they would mistake and guess wrong leave the true Pathes or means leading to so lovely and desireable a good and follow false ones as we see all the Heathen World did in that prime part of Religion the Worship of God So that one of these two things must necessarily follow either that God had no Purpose or Intention to save or make Mankind Eternally Happy or if that be Inconsistent with his Mercy and the Benignity of his Nature that he did reveal or declare not only that he would do it but also upon what Terms or Conditions he would be pleased to do it which Revelation of his Royal Pleasure in both the parts of it being of the greatest Moment or Concern both that Men might know and admire the Transcendent kindness of the Gracious Author of their being towards them and be sufficiently Instructed how to Express or Declare their Gratitude for it in fit and acceptable returns of Obedience and Duty to him ought in Reason to be kept as the most precious Treasure and carefully preserv'd from all Change and Injury that it might descend safe and Intire to all Ages and Generations of Men and so afford them full and Perfect Instruction what they must believe and do how they must live or behave themselves in this that they may obtain the Eternal Felicity of the other World To transmit or hand down this Revelation from Age to Age from Generation to Generation through all Succeeding time from the first Publishing of it to the end of the World by Oral Tradition or word of Mouth was not possible without continual Miracles both to Preserve it intire in the Minds and Memories of the Relators and to aslure those that receiv'd it from them that they had neither by fraud nor forgetfulness Corrupted or changed it any way added nothing to it nor kept back any part of it and seeing this might be secured another way by his common Providence why should God multiply Miracles continually to no purpose for without these such a Treasure could not be safely committed to such a way of Conveyance Oral Tradition being a very hazardous and uncertain way of delivering things to others especially at any great distance of time and therefore the greater Moment the things are of the more dangerous is it to trust them to
the Kingdom of Heaven which must in Reason signifie something more than other Christians have otherwise they that are not would be as Blessed as they that are Persecuted nay more Happy because they would without being Miserable in this obtain Crowns as Glorious and Rewards as great as they in the other World the Apostle also Affirms It is a Faithful saying if we be 2 Tim. 2. 11 12. Dead with him we shall also Live with him if we Suffer we shall also Reign with him if we Deny him he also will Deny us And if they that Suffer with or for shall Reign with him and they that deny him to escape Suffering shall be disown'd or deny'd by him every Man that believes he Reigns in Heaven and considers what a Blessed Desirable thing it is to Reign be Glorifi'd there with him instead of being Affrighted at it will think it most Prudent and Reasonable to deny himself take up his Cross and follow him to part with every thing that is Dear to Suffer every thing that is Dreadful to him here when he cannot keep the one nor avoid the other without Sin that he may obtain such a transcendent Reward and so admirable or illustrious an Exaltation This will Teach him to Reckon with St. Paul That the Sufferings of this present time are not Worthy to be compared Rom. 6. 18. with the Glory that shall be Revealed in him the present Suffering or Affliction as he tells us elsewhere being Light and but for a Moment but the Glory Great and Durable a far more Exceeding and Eternal weight of Glory And as the Holy Scriptures make such High and Noble Offers to all that Suffer for Christ so 't is certain the Primitive Church which was the best Expounder of Scripture thought the Martyrs had a greater Reward than other Pious Christians an Additional Coronet over and above the great Crown of Righteousness and accordingly St. Cyprian speaks of two Epist Martyribus Confes Christ ad finem Crowns the one white as the Gracious Recompence of good Works of their pure and unspotted Lives the other purple as the Glorious Reward of their Dying for the Faith of Christ But however that is the Apostle puts it out of doubt that there are Degrees of Glory and Different Rewards in Heaven There is one Glory of 1 Cor 15 41. 42. the Sun and another Glory of the Moon and another Glory of the Stars for one Star differeth from another Star in Glory so also is the Resurrection of the Dead And if there be different Rewards after this Life it is Reasonable to believe the Blessed Martyrs have the most sparkling Crowns and the biggest Recompence in the Glorious Regions above because they gave the highest Testimony of their Love and Zeal for Christ by Dying for him 'T is not then so Miserable and Despicable a thing as the Excluders think it to take up the Cross and follow Jesus to suffer all manner of Injuries Oppressions Miseries nay Death it self for his Sake because he hath Promis'd great Rewards to them that do it and having all Power both in Heaven and Earth he must needs be able to accomplish or make good that Promise 'T is true indeed no Man ought to part with his Life or Estate when he can keep them Innocently He Suffers as a Fool that doth it when there is no Danger of Sinning if he Suffer not But to use any Unjust or Sinful Arts to free our selves from Suffering such as the Project of Exclusion is must needs be highly Impious and Unchristian For Gods Sake let us keep to the same Laws of Christ do the thing that is Right and leave the rest to his Watchful and Gracious Providence then if we Suffer our Innocence will be our Comfort and Support and we shall have the Blessed hope of passing by Death to the Rich and most Happy Inheritance provided for us in Heaven Let us Labour to be good to lead the Pure and Pious Lives our Religion requires of us and then we can have no Just Cause to Tremble or be Affraid to Dye The Living saith Solomon know that they must Dye and that they can by no Art or Means avoid it And seeing we must do it can we ever Dye more Honourably Bravely and Christianly than for owning the Holy Faith and Religion of our Dear Redeemer who gave himself to Death the most bitter and shameful Death of the Cross for us So that we have his Example to invite the Noble Army of Martyrs to animate or encourage and the great Rewards they are possess'd of to ingage us patiently to bear the Cross when our Lord is pleased to send it 'T is certain that as the Laws now are no Man can be deprived either of his Life or Estate meerly for professing the Reform'd Religion therefore whilst they continue we are as safe and secure as we can desire to be So that till they are changed no Man can Suffer for that and it will be a very difficult undertaking to change them because the Laws in Favour of our Religion cannot be Abolish'd or taken Off but by consent of Parliament and it will be no easie thing for a Popish Prince if at any time such an one comes to the Crown to get a Parliament that will do it because the Knights and Burgesses that serve in Parliament without whose consent according to our present Constitution no Laws can be either Made or Abolish'd are not chose by the Prince but by the People who are so far from Electing Papists that they are too prone to Chuse Men of the other Dangerous extreme and so Ruin us that way But if either the Prince should by his writ Summon or the People so forget themselves as to Elect any Papists yet when they are so Call'd and Elected they cannot Sit as the Laws now are till they have openly and in the most solemn manner Renounced their Religion which no Men of any Honour or Conscience will do If it be said they may have Dispensations from his Holiness to take any Oaths and make any Declarations to Capacitate them to Sit in Parliament I Demand of them that say so why the Popish Lords who left the House upon that Act did not make use of that Expedient to evade the Law there is no question but they might have had Dispensations to do it and therefore their leaving the House satisfies me that they thought no Dispensations could Warrant or make it Lawful for them so to Renounce and Abjure their Religion We are as safe then already as Laws can make us and they that are so busie to get new ones trouble themselves to no purpose for if those we have at present cannot secure our Religion no other can do it Whilst the Laws then continue as they are and for my part I do not apprehend how they can be changed we cannot Suffer but if these that are a Safe-guard and Defence to
but that they suffer in their Posterity too those that descend from them not being permitted to enjoy their Estates but that they be Vagabonds and Miserable in the Earth thar others may see and fear and not dare to do so Wickedly as to Rebel or Conspire against their Prince There are in all Ages all Places of the World some desperate Villains that can be content to venture their own Lives if they can but Imbroyl Kingdoms and Assassinate or Murder Princes and therefore it is Just that not only Death but Forfeiture of Estates and all their Possessions be the Punishment of Traitors because this will many times Restrain those from such Detestable Practices which that cannot deter them from for they that are so mad as not to care for their own Lives will yet be tender of their Innocent Children take heed how they Ruin them Thefts then and Murders and Treasons are such Errours in Practice as Forfeit both the Lives and Properties of those that commit them because these Crimes are so pernicious that if they be not Punish'd with such Severity they will Ruine or Destroy any State or Society for no Man could enjoy his Life or Estate there would be no Peace nor Government but continual Oppressions Wars Murders Tumults Seditions which must needs Ruin or lay any Kingdom Waste And if these be all the Crimes that Forfeit Mens Rights and Properties his Royal Highness cannot have Forfeited his Right of Succession because he is so Innocent from all these that his greatest Enemies the Excluders themselves have not laid any of them to his Charge Supposing then the Duke to be a Papist that is an Erring Christian yet that making no Forfeiture of his Right To take it from him is to Oppress and Ruin an Innocent Prince and therefore the highest and most execrable Injustice To Rob a mean Person of his Right is Theft and Knavery to Deprive a Prince in Defiance of all the Laws of Heaven and Earth of God and Men of such a Treasure as a Crown of such an Inheritance as a Kingdom nay as three Kingdoms is so great an Injury or Oppression that I want words to express it To say the Bill of Exclusion is Cautionary or Preventive design'd to Disable a Popish Prince from doing the Mischiefs which as such he may do if he gets into the Throne instead of mending the matter makes it worse this being to Punish a Prince with great if not the highest Severity not for doing things meriting such a Punishment but for fear he should do them which is a new sort of Justice and such as was never before heard of in the Christian World and can be no where match'd unless it be amongst the Turks where the Custom is for the new Sultan to strangle his Brothers for fear if they were suffer'd to Live they should Conspire against and Attempt to take the Empire from him This sort of Justice if it was pursued to all the purposes to which it equally serves would make mad work in the World fill it full of Violence and Cruel Practices for by the same Reason they may deprive Honest Men of their Rights their Estates and Possessions not because they have already but because they may hereafter put them to Ill and Dangerous uses The old Justice is a dull and slow thing in Compare with this That stays till Men have Offended or Committed things worthy of Punishment and then it Strikes but This is so Quick and Expeditious that it Punishes before they have Transgress'd Draws out the Destroying Sword not only before a Man be Convicted but before he be Guilty than which way of Proceeding nothing can be more Impious and Unrighteous and consequently more to be Abhor'd Execrated Avoided by every one that pretends either to Common Honesty or Christian Piety For to say as the Men of the New Morals do That a bare Suspicion of Injury from another makes it Just or Lawful to disable the Person so suspected to do it is to expose the Lives and Estates of the most Innocent Persons to the Avarice and Cruelty of every Suspitious Villain that hath Power or Opportunity to invade them For the more Wicked any Man is the more Suspicious he must needs be That being the inseperable Companion of Guilt And if this Maxime be admited it will Animate him that receives it to the most Savage Practises Encourage him with Solomons Mad-man to cast Fire-Brands Arrows and Death to Murder this Rob that Man and Undo a third and to repeat such Outrages as often as he can and all this because he is such a Rogue as to Suspect without any Ground or Reason at all that the first will kill the second rifle the third ruin him Upon this Principle a Prince may seize the Estates and cut the Throats of all his Subjects whom he suspects to be Disaffected to him and the People Beggar and Butcher one another as often as they please And then 't is in vain to talk of Government or Laws or humane Society This being a perfect state of War to lay aside that Mercy and Justice which are both the Ornament and Happiness of Men and to put on the Fierceness and Barbarity of the most Savage Beasts 'T is not then injury Suspected but Acted the having Done wrong to another not his Fear or Apprehension that it will be done that makes a Man justly Punishable And I cannot more Effectually shame and Subsect the 3d. reprove this new Justice than by Comparing it with some of the Principles of the Christian Religion of which we all make Profession deliver'd to us by our Lord and his Apostles With that great Precept of Justice All things whatsoever ye would that Men should do St. Mat. 7. 12. unto you do ye even so to them This is so excellent and equal a Rule for us to act by in all our Intercourse and Dealings with others that it was admir'd and applauded by the very Heathens the Emperour Severus was so pleased with it that he had it often in his Mouth Reverenc'd the Christian Religion and the Glorious Author of it for the sake of this Precept Had our Lord said do all things that are Just he had given indeed a General Rule Comprehending all the Special Precepts of the Law of Nature but he had said nothing by which we Espiscopius in locum might have certainly known what in all Affairs and Transactions is Just but when he said All things whatsoever ye would that Men should do unto you do ye even so to them he gave us such a Rule by which in every Case and Circumstance we may be sure what is Just for as we cannot doubt what we would have others do to us so neither can we doubt what we our selves ought to do to others Every Man in his Wits would receive no Injury or Wrong from others but Injoy his Life and Estate all his Rights and Properties without Dammage
Diminution and therefore he must offer no Injury to any Man nor attempt to Dispossess or Deprive him of any thing that belongs to him Every Man would have others deal fairly and sincerely keep their word and promise with him not Circumvent nor deceive him with Id. Instit Theol lib. 4 pa. 249. lies fraud or falsehood pay him what is due to him or if he owe another any thing he would not have him be rigorous or severe with him but forbear or allow him some time till he be able to pay him if he be in any Want or Misery he would be Relieved and Assisted by the Counsel Help Comfort and Prayers of others and therefore is obliged to do all these things to others And this Rule extends to all Orders and Degrees of Men Superiours Equals and Inferiours They that have any Superiority over others expect from them the Honour and Obedience due to them and therefore must pay the same Respect and Submission to those that are possess'd of an higher Station Every Man looks for Friendship and Fidelity from his Equals and consequently must be Kind and Faithful to them They that are Inferiour to and have any Dependence upon others would Injoy their Favour Clemency and good Will and Receive from them Help Relief and Counsel in their need and therefore must afford the same to those that are Below and Depend upon them He that is a Magistrate if he were a a Private Person would be protected both in his Life and Estate have no Man suffer'd to do him Wrong or Violence with Impunity and therefore must so discharge his Office and behave himself to all Men that come to him for Justice So that this one Rule gives us full and sufficient Direction how to Order all our Intercourse and Dealings with Men that they may be Just and Equal And if the greatest Zealots for and Admirers of it will please to Compare their Project of Exclusion with this Excellent Rule or Law of Christ they will soon perceive the High and Horrid Injustice of it Do they Treat or do to his Royal Highness as they themselves would be done to Would any one of them be content to be depriv'd of his Birth-right meerly upon the Account of his Religion No so far are they from being willing to be so used themselves that to prevent or take away all possibility of it they would deprive the Duke of his Inheritance They Love themselves so well that they would not Suffer at all have no Harm nor Danger happen to them their Hatred to his Royal Highness is so Cruel and Implacable that they would make Him Suffer the greatest Wrong and Dammage To make a true Judgment in the Case Mutanda est Persona the Person must be changed Let then the Fiercest and most Zealous of the Excluders suppose himself in the Dukes Place that he was Heir to such a Jewel as a Crown to so Rich and Valuable an Inheritance as three Kingdoms are and that he had done nothing which either by any Divine or Humane Law yet extant made a Forfeiture of that Right and Inheritance and that those whom he had never Injured or offer'd any Just Offence to were Confederate against him and contended with all their Zeal and Industry to have a Law made to Bar his Claim and Deprive him of the Possession of it if it should by course of Nature descend to him how would he take such usage What would he think of them that Treated him so would he not fill Heaven and Earth with his Complaints Cry out that Justice and Honesty had left the World and Appeal to Heaven for Succour saying with the Royal Prophet Help me Lord for there is not one Godly Man left for Ps 12. 1 the Faithful the Just and Honest are minished from among the Children of Men Surely thou hast seen it for thou beholdest Ungodliness and Wrong That thou mayest take the matter into thy Ps 10. 15 16 Hand the Poor committeth himself unto thee for thou art the helper of the Friendless Wilt thou have any thing to do with the stool of Wickedness Ps 94. 20. which imagineth mischief as a Law Suffer me not Oh Lord to be Oppress'd and Ruin'd by the Counsels and Combinations of Wicked Men and Unjust but stir up thy strength and come and help me And if these would be his Thoughts and Resentments of such usage when offer'd to himself how abominably Wicked and Unjust is it for him and his Brethren to offer it to the Duke This is apparently to Contemn and Violate this most equal and therefore excellent Law of Christ to do that to another which they would be most impatient of if done to themselves Our Laws indeed Punish all sorts of Recusants but then the Punishments they Inflict are Moderate intended to Reform not Ruin them they deprive none of them of their Birth-right and all their Possessions but only of some part of them and those Punishments are Just and agreeable to this Rule because they offer that Contempt and Disturbance to the Government which if they were in Authority they would not have others do to them 'T is certain that neither Popery nor Presbytery where they are Establish'd will give Toleration to any that Dissent from them and if they will grant none to others with what Face can they expect it themselves Besides t is Evident that both these Factions both formerly and of late have practis'd against the State been guilty of horrid Treasons and Seditions Murder'd the Glorious Father to go no higher Plotted the Death and Destruction of the most Excellent Son our present most Gracious Soveraign which is the highest Violation of this Sacred Law of Christ for would any of them if he was King of these Nations be content to be so used as they Treat their Prince would he be willing to have his Subjects take Arms against and Conspire his Death when he had given them all manner of Demonstrations of his Love and Care of them sought to Oblige Indear them by a Just Merciful Peaceable Government would he take it well to see them requite his high Affection with deadly Hatred his tender care with contempt his Royal Mercy Justice with Barbarous Cruelty Villany yet these things this hard measure have both the Papists Fanaticks offer'd to their Prince and therefore the Punishments which our Laws inflict upon them are Just they have no Cause of complaint against the Government because it Corrects them with Mercy and Moderation Punishes them less than their Crimes Deserve 't is Death indeed by our Law for any of the Romish Priests and Jesuits to be found in England but that Punishment is not inflicted on them for their Religion but for their Irreligion and Wickedness their frequent and execrable Treasons their restless attempts against their Lives and Government awaken'd and made it necessary for our Kings by Capital Punishments to deter such Traytors
us be at any time Removed and the Bloody Laws in Favour of the Romish Church Restored we must be content as the Ancient and Modern Martyrs have done before us to Suffer for the Truth not doubting but he that calls us to them will support us under our Sufferings not let us be tempted above what he will make us able to bear and Reward us abundantly for them in his Heavenly Kingdom And how can we Murmur or Repine to bear that Cross that will procure an Immortal Crown or think that a sad and cruel Death that will be our Conduct to a Blessed and Eternal Life Besides this may be a means to restore our Nation to its ancient Piety to recover it out of that deplorable Prophaness and Debauchery into which it is lapsed for the hypocrisy of the last Age hath produced open Atheism and Irreligion in this and the merciful God having try'd to reclaim us by other means and those very Sharp and Calamitous as War and Plague and Fire which effecting no cure or amendment upon the major part of the Nation it may be his pleasure before he utterly forsake or cast us off to see what the patience and sufferings of Martyrs will do towards our Reformation for this was the great instrument of converting the World from Heathenism to Christianity and therefore may be very effectual to reduce Christians by Profession from Heathen to Christian Practise to ingage them to live up to the excellent rules of their Religion for when lewd and vicious Persons see wise and good Men chuse rather to dye than to do wicked and unlawful things prefer their happiness in the other before all their enioyments in this World chearefully leave all that is dear to them upon Earth in hopes to reign with their Lord and Saviour in Heaven though they do at first like those fools the wise Man speaks of account their life Madness and their end to be without Honour yet when they come to consider better of it they will conclude there is great danger in Sin because such wise persons would not commit it to save so precious Jewels as their lives but chose rather to dye innocent than to live prophane and wicked be convinced there are great rewards provided for the Righteous after this Life because Men so intelligent would not but upon good grounds and the most rational evidence be perswaded to do so great and suffer so dreadful things in hope of obtaining them And when they see with what admirable courage invincible patience undaunted resolution perceive with what transports of joy they go to their Death kissing the stake and courting the flames prepared to consume their Bodies because they look for a blessed Resurrection and believe their souls will ascend by them like Elijah in his fiery Chariot to the Mansions of Glory This produces in them an high esteem and admiration of true Piety and Holiness because they effect such admirable things and from admireing them in these they proceed to love and practise them themselves that being holy in all manner of conversation as he that hath called them is holy they may be fit to Suffer for and to Reign with him in Heavenly bliss and happiness So that the sufferings of the just are Instruments to convert the Wicked and from the Piety they practised in their Life and the patience they shew'd at their Death they learn to lead a good and Christian Life the casting them into the Fire though contrary to the mind or intention of the barbarous Persecutors is a means to inlighten others and they that came to see the blessed Martyr Dye go away confirmd or setled in the Faith nay resolv'd to dye for it Thus the Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church bringing forth by the blessing of God a plentiful Harvest of new Converts and therefore as it is a most wicked so it is a most imprudent attempt to endeavour to destroy the true Religion by Persecuting and putting the most eminent professors of it to Death because their Sufferings invite and allure others to it and drive none but Hypocrites and weak or foolish People from it 'T is your Wisdom then as well as duty to suffer Innocently rather than to decline it sinfully to bear the Cross your selves rather than lay it so unjustly upon his Royal Highness because our Lord pronounceth that blessed and promiseth a great Reward to them that do it but this hath a curse denounc'd against it will bring the most fearful punishment upon them that are guilty of it by that you will shew your selves Christians this will prove you Persecutors for they that oppress and wrong others upon what colour or pretence soever they do it are any thing rather than Christians instead of being number'd amongst the Righteous shall have their Portion amongst the Cruel and Unjust be the objects of his wrath displeasure Who ordaineth his Arrows against the Persecutors Ps 7 14 Compare it Lastly with that Assertion of St. Paul that no Evil must be done that good may come and both the Sinfulness and Danger of Rom 3 8 your Project of Exclusion will be very Evident for of them that do Evil that good may come the Apostle saith Their Damnation is Just They shall without Repentance be Punish'd Eternally for it and it is Just they be so Punish'd By Evil the Apostle means Moral Evil the Evil of Sin any thing that is absolutely or in its own Nature Sinful and Wicked no such Evil as this may ever be done for the attaining any good whatsoever if it be the Apostle tells them that do it what they are to expect from God as their Recompence even Just Damnation We know not any greater good saith that excellent Casuist Bishop Sanderson than the Sermon 2d pa 30 Glory of God we scarce know a lesser Sin if any Sin may be accounted little than an Harmless Officious lye yet may not this be done no not for that will you speak Wickedly for God and talk Deceitfully Job 13 7 for him If not for the Glory of God then certainly not for any Inferiour end not for the saving of a Life not for the Conversion of a Soul not for the Peace of a Church and if even that were possible too not for the Redemption of a World no Intention of any end can warrant the choice of Sinful means to compass it But your attempt to Exclude his Royal Highness from Succeeding his present Majesty is the committing great and manifest Oppression and Injustice the Robbing an Innocent person of his Right the Doing that to him which you would not have Done to your selves and therefore absolutely or in its own Nature Sinful Wicked and Unlawful and it is intended for a good end to preserve the King and the Establish'd Religion from the Impious Attempts of the Church of Rome to Destroy both So that you do Evil a great Evil an Evil Aggravated as I said
not worse fears suggest and would it not be Egregious Knavery for some of the Mariners to cast the Pilate overboard because they have a wild Suspition that he will run the Ship upon a Rock on purpose to sink himself and them Besides though every man be allow'd to do all that is just and innocent for his own Preservation yet there are some Persons that must not have any injury or violence done them for any cause whatsoever because the great Author of the Law of Nature forbids it saying Touch not mine Anoynted No Provocation can ever make it Lawful for a Son to assault his Father nor for a Subject to resist his Prince because that is contrary to Nature this destructive to Civil Society of which he is born a Member and which he is indispensably obliged by the Law of Nature to preserve The Jews were full of Projects and had their Grand Expedient to save their Nation It is Expedient St. John 11. 50. for us saith Caiaphas that one man should dye for the People and that the whole Nation Perish not The Nation was in no Danger at all no Storm nor Shipwrack approaching no more Fear of the Romans than at other times only a danger feigned that they might have a poor pretence to Destroy an Innocent Person to Murder the Holy Jesus And what was the event of this Politick Expedient did it answer their expectations contribute any thing to their Safety or Security No no! instead of saving it sunk the Ship turn'd their so craftily pretended into a real danger involv'd their whole Nation in the greatest and most deplorable Ruin or Destruction and that by the Romans that ever any People Suffer'd or any History Related thereby warning all Kingdoms and Nations to take heed of such wicked Expedients never to do any unjust thing for the avoiding any danger how great or real soever or to seek the Publick Safety by oppressing or injuring any Innocent Person for God is Righteous and will be sure to Punish the wrong-doers So that the Bill of Exclusion is contrary to the Law of Nature as well as to the Law of Christ and as this forbids so that condemns it and therefore it cannot be agreable to Natural Justice unless they mean that of Mr Hobs who represents the Humane to be as savage and barbarous as the Brutish Nature and affirms that Men have no obligations upon them to do justly but what humane Laws lay upon them but that all Men have a natural Right to do every thing they please and that to all Persons for which and all his other lewd and impious Assertions he hath been sufficiently reproved and bafled by divers learned and excellent Persons The Bill of Exclusion may be acknowledg'd if that be any honour to it to be agreeable to this Wild and Atheistical Justice but Christianity condemns and Right Reason abhors it This is the true Character and real Nature Subsect 5. of your so much admired Project of Exclusion I have done it no injury laid no false colours upon to render it more deformed and odious than it is and deserves to be but have only examin'd it by the just and holy Laws of Christ and the Dictates of Right Reason that seeing what your fears of and Zeal against Popery would not then give you time to consider the high Injustice and great Impiety of it you may be ashamed and repent of it which with all humility I conjure and beseech you to do by all that is dear to you and which you have the greatest Reasons and most pressing Motives to perswade you to The Offence you have commited against God For doth not he love righteousness and hate iniquity and require that all men especially Magistrates do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with him But this Device of yours is a manifest contradiction to all these 'T is to oppress and rob an innocent person of his Right to offer him that hard Measure which you would by no means have done to your selves and therefore to do unjustly 'T is to treat an erring person for such his Royal Highness is if he be a Papist with the greatest rigor or severity to ruin or make him miserable in this because he is become as you believe a Proselyte to that Church which he if he be of it thinks though erroneously will guide him safely to the Eternal Glory and Happiness of the other World and therefore is most unmerciful If any man Err from the truth Charity prompts and obligeth us to endeavour his Conversion and to restore him in the Spirit of meekness with all mildness and gentleness to shew him his mistake and represent to him the evil and dangerous consequences of it that he may hate and forsake it But your attempt to Exclude the Duke doth not design his Conversion but Destruction leaves him no place for Repentance but intends his Ruin and therefore is Cruel not Charitable Amongst the many praises they adorn'd it with some of the Admirers of it I remember commended this Device for the mercy of it An Elogium destitute of all shadow or appearance of Truth because the punishment it would inflict is worse than Death for a brave and valiant Prince as his Royal Highness is had rather dye than survive the loss of a Crown which is his Right by Birth if he survive his present Majesty than to be degraded from and unjustly depriv'd of the highest Dignity and Honour upon Earth to see another leap over his Head get into that Throne wear the Royal Diadem and possess the Kingdoms he was born to must needs be a continual grief trouble and vexation to him and make him weary of his Life Such Iniury and Disgrace would be intolerable and cause him to dye daily to linger out a tedious Life but Death would soon put a period to all his miseries and conduct him to that blessed place where they that suffer wrongfully here shall be greatly rewarded when a Man hath no just claim to any thing that the World admires and calls great or glorious the want of it cannot reasonably create him any trouble or discontent but he is as well pleas'd with and thinks himself as happy in his low condition as others are in the highest and most honourable stations upon Earth but to be deposed or cast down from that Empire or Soveraignty which his Illustrious Ancestors enjoy'd before him and not suffer'd to Inherit the Throne of his Fathers to be laid aside as unworthy to possess the Kingdom he was born to this must needs be an Hell upon Earth the greatest or most perfect misery any Man living can endure that hath nothing to comfort or support to sweeten or ease it and therefore must needs be most rigorous and cruel If this be mercy God deliver every Man from it And being a contradiction to that Justice and Mercy he requires it cannot possibly be consistent with the other great duty the walking humbly
spread it self farther in the World but when this was done and the time come for them to confirm or seal the truth of that and to glorifie him by their Death then he was with them in the other manner to strengthen and support them in their Sufferings to give them courage patience and resolution to lay down their Lives to give Testimony to his Truth And I see no reason why this promise should be restrain'd only to the Apostles because all true Christians have great need of this presence of Christ that he should be with them hoth to protect and defend them from their Enemies and to help or support them in their Sufferings and also because the time mentioned in it reaches farther than the Age the Apostles Lived in Loe saith he I am with you alway to the end of the world which if it be understood in the narrowest sense those words the end of the World are capable of which is the destruction of the Jewish Nation by the Roman Army yet none of the Apostles but St. John lived to see that dreadful period and therefore it is most reasonably to understand it of the Apostles and the then Christians whilst they lived and of all true Christians in all Ages of the World till time shall be no more And if we of this Nation will but call to mind the former mercies and kindness of our Lord in what an eminent manner he hath been with us ever since the Reformation how graciously and wonderfully he hath guarded us from our cruel Enemies of the Romish Church we can have no cause at all to distrust him for the future How were the Romish Faction enraged at our Ancestours because renouncing their Errours Superstitions and Innovations they returned to the Pure and Primitive Christianity and yet notwithstanding all their rage fury and restless endeavours to destroy it it still continues and I hope will do to the last period of the World 'T is true indeed Queen Mary's coming to the Crown which she obtain'd notwithstanding all the Arts and Methods that were used to Exclude her obscured and removed it for a time so that it was publickly own'd only by the Martyrs and Confessors but that as was said of the Julian Persecution was but a cloud and soon vanished away for her Reign was short and Popery in England died with her For Queen Elizabeth succeeding her Restored Establish'd or most firmly Setled the Reformed Religion to the great Joy of the Nation and the indignation of Rome for that Faction were so incens'd and provoked as to try all ways to destroy that glorious Princess and with her our Religion hence proceeded frequent Treasons and Conspiracies to Poyson and Assassinate her several Bulls from Rome to forbid the Catholicks to come to our Churches to Excommunicate the Queen declare her fallen from all Dominion to Absolve her Subjects from their Allegiance and Excite them to take Arms against and depose her And such was the rage of Pope Pius Quintus against her that he declared he would be ready to aid in person to spend all St. Peters Patrimony all the Chalices and Crosses of the Church nay his very Cloaths to promote so good a work as he thought her destruction to be And when no clandestine or secret means succeeded the King of Spain sent his Invincible Armado as it was arrogantly and as appeared by the event falsly called to invade and take her Kingdom from her but all in vain for the gracious and watchful providence of God preserv'd her discover'd all the Treasons defeated all the Attempts that were made against her so that she died in peace and full of years The same good providence did also protect her most excellent Successor King James and the Parliament from the Destruction intended for them they being all by Romish Treachery and Cruelty appointed as sheep for the slaughter and the Conspirators took all possible care to prevent discovery so that it was little less than a Miracle that it was detected and thereby disappointed But I need not look so far back our present most gracious Soveraign being an Illustrious Instance or Proof of the certainty of those words of the Royal Prophet Great deliverance Psal 18. 50. giveth he to his King and sheweth mercy to his Anoynted For hath not a tender providence shrowded him under its Wings and confer'd the most Eminent blessings and deliverances upon him How many dangers hath he been in was he safe in Scotland when in the hands of those Men that Rebelled against and ruin'd his glorious Father Was it not possible for him to have fell at Worcester by a murdering Bullet or to be taken as he went off from that unfortunate Battell Were there no searchings for no rewards offer'd to them that could give information where the Royal Wanderer was Was the Oake such an Invincible fortress such a sure defence so safe an hiding place as to afford him protection if the power and providence of the most high had not guarded and overshadowed him And hath not the same providence that protected him then placed him upon the Throne of his Fathers and preserv'd him from those two horrid Conspiracies that of the Romish and this of the Fanatick or Common-wealth Faction By all which you may know and see if you do not wilfully shut your Eyes that the Lord helpeth or saveth his Anoynted that the Kings life is most dear and precious to him That besides those you see and so unjustly murmur at he hath an invisible guard the Angels of God to be a Security and Defence to him How then can the King be safer than under the Protection of the Almighty and why should you doubt of his Future care of him having such experience of the past deliverances he hath blessed him with That God who hath been with and so miraculously preserv'd him all his life will not withdraw his defence from him unless the sins of his People provoke him to it And your pressing His Majesty to so unjust an Act as the passing your Bill gives the World just cause to suspect that you do not really desire his safety for that cannot be had without the protection of God which is to be obtain'd only by the use of just and lawful means And therefore if you sincerely desire it as in duty and gratitude you are obliged be not faithless but trust in God and depend upon his Providence you see he hath saved his Anoynted and therefore have reason to believe he will do it still especially if you and all his People make it their frequent and earnest petition to him For Secondly is there no Efficacy in Prayer Do the pious and devout Supplications of holy and good men Prevail nothing with God Do they Call down no blessings from Heaven Conduce nothing to the safety and welfare of those that use them upon Earth If not mankind have been sadly deceiv'd for in all Ages and Places of the World the
provoking God to cast us off In former Ages they that were so unreasonable as to deny the Author of their being and the great Creator of the World were yet so cautious as to conceal their impious unbelief of his Existence with their mouths they did not durst not though in their hearts they said with the fool There is no God but now such an one is laugh'd at as a timerous and sneaking Atheist as a modest ungentile Infidel that dares not set his mouth against Heaven and tell all the wise and religious part of Mankind they ly if they say there is a God This is such brazen and impudent wickedness that the very Heathens abhor'd and severely punish'd it What a shame is it then that such monsters of men should dare in a Christian State openly to deny the God it Worships of whose Existence there is so much rational Evidence so many mighty Arguments and convincing Proofs as hath been shew'd by many learned Writers of our Church that can permit no man to be an Atheist but he whose horrid contempt of Him and violation of his Laws cause to despair of finding mercy from him and to think his crimes so great that he will not forgive them 'T is certain that all wicked men wish with all their hearts there were no God to call them to account for their lewd and filthy living but their wishing of it will not make him cease to be who is as certainly as they deny him he whom they now renounce and scoff at will one day recken with them for all the affronts they have put upon him who will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh and we might leave them to be punish'd by his vengeance and their own debaucheries but that they are so mischievous to the state For setting the provocation it gives to God aside this open Atheism ought not to be suffer'd because it is most pernicious to the Government For is not this the Foundation of all that Honour and Obedience which men pay to Soveraign Princes that they are Gods Vicegerents derive their Power and Authority from him and Govern the World in his stead are his Representatives and Commissioners but they that say there is no God deny all this make Empire or Dominion a meer humane creature and so free men from the strongest and most effectual obligations to obedience which Religion lays upon them and put those weak ones which are easily broaken in their stead Interest want of Oppertunity fear of temporal Punishment For such men will obey the Prince no longer than he heaps his Royal favours and benefits upon them than he advances and inriches them when he turns the streams of his bounty from them they are disobliged and watch for an Opportunity to depose him and when ever they think it safe to make head against him or can find a Powerful Faction to lead they will be sure to Rebel because then they fear nothing from the Prince in this and believe nothing that Religion speaks of the Punishments of the other World But he that believes there is a God and Princes to Reign by Him by his Order and Appointment that he requires all their Subjects to Reverence and obey them and that he will inflict Eternal Punishments upon all that for any cause whatsoever Rebel or take Arms against them this Man cannot dares not so long as he believes these things refuse to pay them all due honour and obedience And therefore for their own Sakes as well as for the honour of their Glorious Founder it is the great Interest and Concern of Princes to punish open and profess'd Atheists as his and their most dangerous Enemies especially those that make it their Common practice to expose and render every thing ridiculous that is believed by others to bear his Name and Inscription laugh at his Laws which he hath given us to direct our Lives and Actions as injurious and unreasonable impositions that require Men to deny themselves the Pleasures and Delights of the World to part with every thing that is dear to them to endure Poverty and Death and all the miseries of the World and all this to obtain Rewards and avoid Punishments which are to commence after this Life These and all their other Blasphemies against God and his Son Christ Jesus and his most Wise Holy and Excellent Religion would be severely and exemplarily punish'd and one such Decree as King Nebuchadnezzar made in honour of God would effectually stop the mouths of these bold Sinners and Mischievous as well as Impudent Blasphemers Therefore I make a decree that every People Dan. 3. 29. Nation and Language which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abednego shall be cut in peces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort Such a Bill of Exclusion as this to shut Atheism Blasphemy and Prophaneness out of the Nation and the strict Execution of the good Laws already in being upon all the Reigning Sins that are amongst us would conduce mightily to the security and preservation of our Religion both as it would prevail with God to continue it amongst us and discourage our Enemies from attempting the subversion and destruction of it First prevail with God to continue it amongst us for when he sees a Nation or People have that high honour and esteem for his Laws as to obey them heartily make it their chief study and endeavour to live up to them prise them above all Earthly Injoyments and admire them as the most precious Treasure his goodness will not permit him to take them from such a People because they answer all the ends he proposed to himself in the donation of them which are his Honour and their Salvation His honour that he might be glorify'd by their Piety and Holyness by all those vertuous Actions and good Works which they perform in obedience to them Their Salvation that his bounty and goodness in rewarding them with the Immortal Felicities of his Heavenly Kingdom might appear great and illustrious and be the Subject of their eternal Praises and Thanksgivings And if these be the ends of his giving of them as no doubt they are 't is reasonable to believe that by obeying the Laws of Christ by leading the pure and holy Lives his Religion requires of us we oblige and invite the Divine Goodness to preserve or continue it amongst us because we put it to the excellent use he intended it for But if we prophane and dishonour it by lewd and impure living if we call our selves Christians and live like Heathens the worst and most brutish sort of Heathens as we deserve so sad a punishment so it is most just for God to take his Gospel from us it being as our Saviour speaks Casting pearls before swine to continue a divine and holy Law to People lapsed into all Impurity and Sensual living for
should have been murder'd with him and as they are conjoyn'd in blood and the dearest affection so the same untimely and cruel fate was intended for them both that Life which his Royal Highness had so bravely ventured for the safety and defence of his Country should by the most execrable treachery and baseness have been took from him And do or can you think they that had conspired the destruction of two such excellent Princes would if their hellish design had succeeded have been either merciful or just to you No no! Multitudes of you had perish'd by their bloody Swords and those that had escaped would have lead a Life worse than Death the Life of Slaves a life made miserable and tedious by continual fears and intolerable oppressions The Estates your careful Parents left you or which you have obtained by your own Labour and Industry would have been a prey to these your new Masters and when they had been devour'd you must have drudg'd for more to glut their insatiable coveteousness I conjure you therefore by all that is dear to you by the Honour Love and Loyalty you bear to the King and as you tender your own safety and happiness to chuse none of the Excluders none that gave their votes for that as I suppose I have proved it wicked Bill or are known to be admirers and favourers of it if you do you are partakers in their guilt create new trouble and disquiet vexation and danger to the King offer fresh injuries and indignities to his Royal Highness cast more reproach and dishonour upon our Religion encourage men of Trayterous and Wicked Principles to Plot and Imagine more mischief and so bring your selves and the Kingdom into misery and ruin Be wise then and let not remote and distant if not imaginary prompt you to expose the King the whole Nation and consequently your selves to present and real dangers but take the first opportunity to remedy all these evils There is no want of loyal and brave persons thanks be to God that are able and ready to serve him their King and you in that high Station if you please to make choice of them you may know them by their fruits their Addresses and Abhorrences that is by the Declarations they have made of their Loyalty and Resolution to stand by and defend the Kings most Sacred Maiesty with their Lives and Estates against all his Enemies and all Traytors both Popish and Fanatick and their protestations of their dislike and hatred of the injurious Treatment that hath been offer'd to his Royal Highness These are the men that must close our gaping wounds heal our ruinous Dissentions appease our deadly Feuds and Differences and restore us to our Ancient Peace and Happiness But the other are Physicians of no value their Physick is too violent instead of recovering it would destroy the Patient they are not for moderate Counsels but run into dangerous extreams bring fuel to feed instead of water to quench the Feuds and Contentions that burn so fiercely amongst us Be sure then to leave out these and chuse the other the Men of Loyalty and Integrity who as they hate Popery so they do heartily love Righteousness these will please God and the King and it will be an high honour and a great happiness to you and the whole Nation to have such excellent Representatives And hoping the next House of Commons will consist of such worthy Patriots and Members I humbly petition that then truly Honourable House that they will please to do that which God and all good men expect from them and their own loyalty and generosity cannot but prompt them to that they will make some grateful and suitable Returns to the King for all his Royal care watchfulness most prudent and happy endeavours to preserve us in Peace and secure our excellent Church and most holy Religion from all the attempts of all its Enemies The Ship of State and all its precious Lading must needs have perish'd when the winds of Sedition blew so lowd and the waves of Faction raged and the storms of popular Tumults beat so Furiously against it if his Royal hand had not Guided the helm stear'd an even and a wary course But Oh what care and labour how many anxious thoughts sleepless nights and painful days did it cost him to weather the Storm And can you be so ungrateful as to overlook his Royal labours to attain this rest and render him no agreeable returns for them It cannot be your Loyalty will not your Piety cannot suffer you to be so unmindful either of your own Duty or his Princely Care and Goodness to you As you have congratulated his deliverance and paid your solemn thanks to Heaven for it and in his your own so let it be your care to put his Sacred Majesty into such a condition by your liberal Supplies that he may be able to defend himself and you and all his good Subjects from the Violence and Cruelties of all the Disturbers of the Peace and Destroyers of the Happiness you injoy under his Royal Care and most prudent Government This is a Tribute your gratitude cannot your wisdome will not deny to such a Prince that so tenderly loves so watchfully protects you and having fill'd Heaven with thanks for the wonderful preservation of his Sacred Person and most Precious Life and all parts of the Nation with your admirations and praises of his incomparable Wisdom Justice and Goodness what an unpardonable Solecism and Errour will it be to give encouragement to the Wicked and Seditious to enterprise or attempt any thing against him by reason of the emptiness of his Exchequer To keep the Prince poor is dangerous to the People both because it renders him unable to protect them and also abates their fear and thereby animates his and their Enemies to attempt against him and to endeavour the Subvertion of the Government And it is very reasonable to believe the late proceedings had never run so high but that the Authours of them presumed upon the necessities of the King they thought though with strange Insolence and Impiety he would deny them nothing they demanded of him in hopes of getting mony of them All which evils it is now in your power to prevent the Nation by His Majesties Providence and excellent Conduct is in a flourishing condition the Loyal Party are so willing to give that if you do not make hast they will Assess themselves rather than their Prince shall want and the Disafected can find mony Voluntarily to contribute towards the Subversion and Destruction of the Government and therefore should be forced to pay towards the Suport and Preservation of it If the wicked Conspirators had prevailed in their late villanous Design both your Lives and Estates had been a prey to their barbarous Cruelty and insatiable Covetousness and having escaped so dreadful a Danger and such imminent Ruin take heed how you encourage them to imagine any more Mischief
Distracted about it I perceiv'd it to be a bone of Contention because there was so much snarling about it and was very apprehensive of the dreadful consequences of it and therefore I thought my self obliged to contribute my endeavours to undeceive the People by shewing them the Evil and Injustice of it it being the duty of every good Subject to bring Water to quench the Flames of Sedition and Contention which this Device had kindled And I had as I apprehended great encouragement and weighty reasons to prompt me to undertake this Subject The first because The Right Honourable the House of Lords cast out the Bill as an abominable thing and all the Loyal Gentry had publickly protested against and declared their abhorrence of it and indeed all of the Church of England that I converse with though they heartily abhor and pray against Popery did freely own their great dislike and hatred of it which satisfi'd me that it was not my singular Opinion that it is unjust but that I had therein the suffrages and consent of all good men The reasons too that moved me to it were weighty which are these To vindicate the Justice of my Soveraign by shewing he had the highest reason to reject this Bill and consequently to stop the mouths of those that are so prophane as to blame his Sacred Majesty for refusing it To assert and defend the Right of an Injured Prince to shew them that were so unjust and unchristian as to Treat him so despitefully and to offer him such hard measure the evil of their doings that they may repent and humbly beg pardon both of God and Him To do honour to the Church of England both by protesting in its name against this Project and by proving it teacheth the right way to Heaven which will certainly lead all that follow it to the Immortal Joys and Felicities of that blessed place to reprove the folly wickedness of those fugitives that run from the Communion of it either into Popery or Fanaticism To caution or warn all that love the Establsh'd Religion not only to have no hand in but to abhor and oppose the Bill of Exclusion as that which will be an indelible stain or blemish to it make it if it should expire at any time goe out in a snuff leave an ill savour behind it and hinder its happy Resurrection To allay the heats and calm the passions it hath put men into and to let them see if they please to open their eyes what an evil and wicked thing it is they admire so much and therefore unworthy of the value they put upon it These are the reasons that moved me to undertake this Subject and are sufficient in my apprehension to justifie the doing of it so that if any blame me for it I shall answer them in the words of David to his peevish Brethren VVhat have I now done Is there not a cause wherein have I transgress'd or offended VVhat have I done unbecoming a Christian or a Protestant in writing upon this Subject Had I not great cause just and cogent Reasons for it But I hope I have given no offence thereby to any honest Man I am sure I did not intend it And as for the censures of all that are otherwise I scorn and think them below my notice or observation let them censure me as they please I shall never trouble my self about them All that can require an Apology is that which I am very apprehensive of that I have wrong'd this great Argument by my low and unskilful manage of it I wish with all my heart I could have done it better it being in my apprehension a Case of very great moment and concern though I must say it was my endeavour to speak reason in the case and I hope what I have done will find acceptance with all good men and conduce to the great ends I design'd it for And seeing we all call our selves Christs Servants and Disciples I thought it the fairest and most equal way to compare this so much admired Expedient with some of the prime Laws of Christianity by which we shall all be judged at the last day and have made it appear I think to be an open defiance and contradiction to them and therefore not to be done by a Nation professing his most just and merciful Religion which commands us to do good to all men and injury to none That which may be thought by some a great omission is that I have not consider'd that which is alledg'd in the beginning of the Bill as the prime Reason ef their Resolve to Exclude his Royal Highness That by his turning Papist great encouragement hath been given to the Popish Party to conspire the Destruction of the King and Government and the Extirpation of the True Protestant Religion This indeed I said nothing to not because it is unanswerable but in truth because I thought it deserv'd no Answer for unless they can prove he turned Papist with that intention their taking encouragement from it to conspire against the King doth not involve the Duke in their guilt nor make him justly punishable because Wicked and Trayterous People are glad of any occasion to do mischief and encourage themselves to attempt it when no motive or inducement is offer'd them and it is most unreasonable as well as uncharitable to believe he had any such intention unreasonable because no Prince will be a Proselite to that which he believes to be a Trayterous Church This being to put himself into the hands of his Enemies and to run wilfully upon his own Destruction If his Royal Highness be of the Romish Communion which I do not believe to be sure he thinks it an holy and a loyal Church and upon that perswasion joyn'd himself to it If so he could not possibly intend to encourage that Faction to attempt the Kings Life because he believed them honest and loyal People that heartily abhor'd such wicked and cruel practices but if he was deceiv'd in his Opinion of them and those whom he thought to be Sheep be Wolves ravening and blood-thirsty People and those whom he took to be Saints be really Devils this is their crime not his and therefore he is not answerable for it and to punish him with the severity the Excluders design'd upon this supposal is the most execrable Injustice because it is to punish him for other mens Crimes to deprive him of his Birth-right because the Zealots of the Church he is of are though he neither knew nor believed them so to be Trayterous and Cruel This will appear more plainly and convincingly to some if we put the case thus suppose the next Heir to the Crown thinking theirs to be the best and purest Religion and such as would conduct him most safely to eternal Glory and Happiness should turn Fanatick and that Faction Encouraged by his being their Proselyte should Conspire the Death of the King and the Destruction of the Church
which horrid Conspiracy being by the goodness of God discover'd the Church party to preserve the King their Religion their Lives and Estates from the Rapine Oppression and Cruelty of that Faction slighting all other means of safety should resolve upon this as the only sure Expedient for that end to Exclude the Fanatick Successor In this Case he by becoming their Convert intended only to save his Soul or go the right way to Heaven but the wicked Faction thinking they should never have such an opportunity again to set up their Discipline and way of Worship took encouragement though he meant to give them none from his joyning himself to them to Plot the Death of the King and the Destruction of the Church I demand then if it would be just for this reason to Exclude this Prince How would the Faction take it Would not their mouthes be Open'd and their pens Sharpen'd against the Authors and Promoters of such a Bill of Exclusion Would they not Fill Heaven and Earth with complaints and cries against such Injustice and Injury done to a Prince of their Perswasion no doubt they would why then do they offer that hard measure to a Prince of another that they would not have done to one of their own Church For if it be unjust to Exclude the Fanatick it must be equally so to Disinherit the Popish Successor because he no more intended by turning Papist to encourage his Party to Conspire against the King than the other by turning Fanatick design'd to animate his Party to the like wicked attempt So that to Exclude his Royal Highness for this reason because his being as they suppose a Papist hath encouraged the Papists to conspire the destruction of our King and Church is most unjust because as I observ'd before it is to punish and that most severely the Innocent for the Guilty to ruin one man for the Sins of others For that he intended by turning Papist if he be so to encourage that Faction to attempt such execrable things as it cannot be proved because 't is known to none but the great searcher of Hearts so it is the highest and most horrid uncharitableness to suppose that the Duke in defiance to God common Honesty natural Affection every thing that is Great Good and Just should turn Papist on purpose to prompt and exite that Faction to murder his Royal Brother that he might Fill his Throne They that harbour such black thoughts of a Prince so Just in all his other actions and so great a lover of the King as he is known to be must needs be odious to God his Angels and Saints in Heaven and to all good Men upon Earth and without such a purpose or intention their taking Encouragement from his being a Convert to their Church to conspire the Destruction of the King and our Religion doth not cannot make him justly punishable Their other Pleas and Arguments for this Project of Exclusion I have Consider'd in the Discourse it self and given I suppose full and rational answers to them If any where my pen hath slipt I hope Reader thou wilt be either so ingenious as to pass it by or so charitable as to shew me my mistake that I may reform it for I am none of those stiff and obstinate people that resolve to adhere pertinaciously to their own Sentiments or Opinions be they right or wrong but shall ever account it a greater glory to amend an Errour than to be able to defend it One favour more I beg of all my Readers which they cannot well deny me that they will please to read the whole Discourse before they pass Sentence upon it because that which may look like an Objection in one place may be answer'd or taken off in another I have no more to add but my hearty Prayers to Allmighty God that he will graciously please to lead us all into the Pathes of Peace Piety and Loyalty that we may be happy now and blessed for ever Amen The Grand Expedient FOR Suppressing POPERY Examined OR The PROJECT of EXCLUSION Proved to be contrary to Reason and Religion WHen great and extraordinary dangers steal upon People and give them no notice or warning at all of their approach they produce in them strange Disorder and Confusion of Mind a mighty Tumult or Hurry of Thoughts then as the Psalmist speaks of men tossed in an angry and tempestuous Sea they are at their Wits ends and know not what to do fain they would according to the dictate and inclination of nature preserve themselves decline the impending evil and the danger which approacheth them with an Aspect so menacing or full of terrour and thâ— first Act of their mind upon the apprehension of it is to decree and determine that it must be avoided this is so great an evil that we cannot bear it if it comes we are undone it doth certainly bring ruine and destruction along with it therefore we must and will if it be possible prevent or stay its approach block up all the avenues and ways by which it may make its passage to us Whilst they thus resolve every thing that offers it self as a means of safety and comes with fair pretences of security is welcome and receiv'd with all expressions of love and joy they applaud and hug it as their Friend and Deliverer and their minds are so pleased transported with it that they are not at leisure to consider whether it be just and lawful whether God and his law allow them to preserve themselves by such means to enquire whether the safety it offers them at present be not attended with more and greater dangers hereafter Whether that which they resolve upon as a means to save them now be not inconsistent with their eternal happiness and such as will ruine or destroy them for ever For if either Reason or Religion might be heard they would satisfie and convince men what a wild attempt it is to decline temporal dangers by such ways as lead to eternal miseries to make use of such Arts to save them from suffering here as will expose them to the wrath and vengeance of God hereafter that no evil unjust or wicked thing is to be done though according to the rules of humane policy it might preserve and secure us at present because it is of infinite hazard to our Souls and will be their eternal undoing When we can by fair and innocent ways provide for our safety we are unjust to our selves if we do it not but when these fail and we are reduced to a sad necessity either to Sin or Suffer if we chuse rather to sin then suffer we are prophane and wicked have no Religion nor Fear of God But in great dangers there is no room for such thoughts or considerations as these but every thing by some People is accounted good and lawful or however excusable that promiseth safety and security and when their Religion their Lives and Estates either are or are