may have Learning enough to use those Four ordinary Words none of them being artificial Law Terms but such honest English as every Gentleman that converses with Persons above the lowest Rank is capable of understanding and using But this candid Gentleman seeing his Cause could not be maintained but by Tricks for this whole turn of Government was nothing but a Trick of Policy disjoyns by his Discourse illiterate from unskill'd in the Law and refers the Four cramp Words to the former and his passing a peremptory Iudgment about our Laws to the latter and when he has done he tells us very sadly one may justly wonder at it and indeed it is very wonderful For to play so many jugling Tricks in so little room wresting almost every Word 'till he has made it crooked and then gracing every Flam he gives us with such a demure Hypocrisie is altogether Monstrous He tells us p. 9. That the Loyal Martyr design'd two Things To assert his Principles and to testifie his Innocency and he sets himself to prove that he did neither As for the former he grants that by the Faith of the Church of England Mr. Ashton meant the Doctrine of Passive Obedience and then confutes him most learnedly by telling us That he suffered not for Passive Obedience but for want of it and that had he regulated his Life by this Principle he had preserved it Did ever any Man's Reason turn tail so aukwardly The constant Doctrine of the Church of England was Passive Obedience to a lawful King and he is the lawful King according to the Constitution of our Government who has Title to it by immediate Succession Now comes this acute Gentleman and pretends without Shame or Wit that the Doctrine of the Church of England is not Passive Obedience to the legal King whom all the World did ever acknowledge for such in their clear unbâ—ass'd and 〈◊〉 in us Thoughts but to anoâ—her who has dispossest this legal King of his Kingdom and whose Title is quite annulled by our English Laws nor own'd by any but some of those who got their Advantages in doing so or who dare not do otherwise And then after he had prevaâ—icated thus eg egiously he teâ—ls us very gravely That certainly there must be some gâ—eaâ— mistakes about the Doctrines and Principles of our Church Whereas if there be any 't is manifestly on his side but to say the plain Truth there is no mistake at all even on his side but an open Prevarication and a wilful shuffling and shifting the whole Subject of the Church of England's Tenet making our Passiâ—e Obedience regard not only a wrong but an opposite Object which is to make the Principles of our Church face abâ—ut with the Times and point as a Weather-cock does to the Wind to a Dispossessour of the true Prince so he gets but Power enough to make himself a strong Party and keep under or Murther by his new Laws and new Judges those who dare be Loyal He pretends that The Doctrines and Principles of our Church are to be found in the Articles and Constitutions of it If he means that only some of them are found there it reaches not home to his purpose But if he means that All the Doctrines of Faith which our Church holds are found there he shews himself to be very weak Sure he cannot forget that God's written Word and it only is our intire and adequate Rule of Faith and that the best Interpreter of it for us to follow is the most unanimous Exposition of it avow'd by the Doctrine of our Church-men and the agreeable and constant Practice of our Church If then he would prove that our Church does not hold Passive Obedience and Indispensable Allegiance to our lawful King upon our Rule of Faith that is does not hold it part of her Faith he should have produced such and so many genuine grave and eminent Members of one Church as are beyond Exception who have unanimously declared themselves to understand the Scripture in an opposite Sense and upon that ground held the contrary I except always from that Number Dr. Sherlock who is so flexible a Complier with every side that I fear he is of no side and ready to be of any as God-Mâ—mmon shall inspire him by proposing a good fat Deanry or some such irresistible Temptation As for the Practice of our Church giving us light to know her Faith it cannot be possibly manifested better than by her Carriage towards King Charles II. in the Protector 's days who had Abdicated twiâ—e if the leaving England to avoid danger to his Person might be called Abdicating and there was another actual supreme Governor who had got all the Power into his Hands and so was Providentially Settled in Dr. Sherlock's Sense yet none of the genuine Sons of our Church flincht from their Allegiance to their King in those happy days when honest Principles as yet unantiquated made our Church shine gloriously even in the midst of Persecution but all adher'd to their legal King though all of them suffered in their Estates and many lost their Lives rather than forego their Duty But as our Author told us formerly that Mr. Ashton died for want of that Passive Obedience which the Church of England holds so he tells us here that he might have believed himself obliged by his Religion to look upon his rightful lawful Prince whatever his Principles were or his Practices might be as God's Vicegerent and accountable to God only from whom he received his Power All this says he he might have done and have been alive still because as he contends King William was his rightful lawful Prince So that it seâ—ms let King William be of what Principles he will even though he were as zealous a Papist as King Iames or let his Practices be what they will even to the Subverting all our Liberties Properties nay the most Fundamental Laws of the Land still we are to believe our selves obliged by our Religion to look upon him as on God's Vicegerent accountable to God only and consequently to obey him as such Which ridiculous Partiality overthrows a good part of his Book and makes all the Deserters and fiâ—st Adherers to the Prince of Orange and the whole Parliament that set him up for their King and the Consent of the Nation he talks of to be Irreligious and Wicked For since King Iames was confessedly at that time their rightful lawful King nor can he be pretended to have worse Principles and Practices than those mentioned which comes within the compass of his whatever his Principles are or his Practices might be and this Man confesses that notwithstanding all this they were obliged by their Religion to submit to him as God's Vicegerent it follows unavoidably that we are to believe they violated the Principles of Religion in the highest Degree who deserted him opposed him turned him out and set up a Stranger in his stead Yet this Action of theirs confest
cited by Hottinger in his Thesaur Phil log l. 1. c. 1. s. 3. amongst the several Distinctions of Apostates among the Iews reckons those who taught or sollicited others to sin I shall not make a particular Application of these significations of the word Apostacy to the forementioned Persons I onely refer the Reader to their Sermons and other Discourses their very Prayers and Practices it being so easie to be observed by the meanest Capacity but shall onely add this following Remark as an Illustration of what has been just now charged upon them If the Abrenunciation and the solemn Stipulation to keep God's holy Will and Commandments c. before Baptism were the real Tests of the Faith and Sincerity of the Candidate by which he was obliged to deny himself and to take up his Cross i.e. to forsake Father and Mother Wife and Children Lands and Possessions and to lay down even his very Life when ever they should come in competition with his Duty and we cannot ordinarily be called to the Performance of this our Vow and Covenant but under unrighteous and persecuting Princes then it follows clearly that by our entring into Christianity we have tied up our hands by our own solemn Act from making any forcible Resistence against our supreme Governours upon any pretence whatsoever and that the Doctrine of the Cross or Passive Obedience is a fundamental Doctrine or Principle of the Christian Religion and lastly that whosoever teach or practice otherwise are Renegadoes and Apostates from Christianity it self This was very near the Assertion of Dr. Burnet himself in his Sermon on Rom. 13. v. 5. p. 36. But blessed be God our Church hates and condemns this Doctrine viz. of deposing and resisting of Kings from what hand soever it come and hath established the Rights and Authority of Princes on sure and unalterable Foundations enjoining an entire Obedience to all the lawful Commands of Authority and an absolute Submission to that supreme Power which God hath put in our Sovereigns Hands This Doctrine we justly glory in and if any that had their Education in our Church have turned Renegadoes from this they proved no less Enemies to the Church her self than to the Civil Authority so that their Apostacy leaves no blame on our Church If this be the Case as we have all the Reason in the World to think so it 's plain and evident to any ordinary Understanding That these Men are not true Church of England Divines as they would have all the World believe neither is the Church in Possession any more to be esteemed the True Legal Ancient Church of England than the Donatists of Old were to be accounted the only Catholick Church Their Priesthood is now become Schismatical having erected Altar against Altar their Liturgy Blasphemous and Diabolical wherein they address themselves to God as the Author and Fountain of all unjust Power the Patron of Injustice and the grand Protector and Encourager of the Notorious Violators of his most sacred Laws What is this but with the most impudent and horrid Blasphemy that ever was heard of to beseech the Almighty to divest himself of his most glorious Attributes and to enter into a League with Hell it self for the support and maintenance of all their detestable Impieties What have they now to say Confusion and Shame must cover them who are the Scandal and Reproach of the Pure and Undefiled Religion they should profess Thousands of these could not say though in reality the well known pretence of most that they swore for Bread God forgive them they durst not trust Providence wanted the Courage to give a good Example or to teach their Flocks the danger of Perjury They sinned against God and his Anointed and their own Souls and knew they did so In the preceeding Age we can scarce name a Dignifi'd Clergy-man or any Person Eminent for Piety and Learning in either of the Universities in City or Country who were not outed their Benefices for refusing to take the Covenant or Engagement but now the great Body of the Clergy have been observed to renounce their Allegiance and worship the Idol of the Hogans Indeed out of this Number we must except the Most Reverend the Metropolitan and Seven of his Right Reverend Brethren and the other Clergy and Loyal Fellows in the Universities who have not defiled themselves with the Abominations of their Apostate Brethren whose Virtue and Piety is the only Thing left to attoneâ— for these loud and crying Sins of our Clergy and who incessantly like Abraham intercede with Almighty God to avert his Judgments from this sinful Nation and which the Perjury and Apostacy and the general Defection gives but too sad an occasion to fear hangs over our Heads In short whatever hopes we may conceive of ever seeing the true Church of England flourish in its true Lustre and Purity we must owe it next to the infinite Mercy of God to those never enough applauded Heroes of our Church the true Arch-bishop of Canterbury and those ejected Bishops c. who have stood in the Gap of Schism and borâ—â— up Loyally against the all over-bearing Torrent of the prevaricating Party who have preferred the Peace and Comfort of a good Conscience before all wordly Honour and Interest and fear'd the offending their good God more than their own certain Ruine from ill natured Men. How will these glorious Lights of our Church and true Servants of the living God shine after their Tryal is over past when the Adorer's of Mammon those interloping Arch bishops Bishops and those other mean spiritted Worldlings who preferred their Profit before their Honesty shrink look dim and pale with Guilt and at length their Candlesticks being removed from them come to be utterly extinguish'd and go out like an ill scenting Snuff Some Instances he brings p. 26. to shew we are not singular in Perjury and Rebellion He tells us that the Law of the Land and of Nations require us to swear Allegiance to him who is in Possession Which lame Pretence is answered fully over and over in the forenamed Books against Dr. Sherlock only this Gentleman's Assertion is more raw than his for he proceeds upon quiet Possession as do also our Lawyers whom he speaks of and would have quoted if he durst But this Man makes account that bare Possession however qualified gives Title to our Allegiance nay obliges us to swear it too which we cannot do unless we can safely swear that this Discourse of his is Convictive which Iâ—le be sworn is most pernicious Nonsense and would if followed pervert all the settled Order of Mankind and all Right in the World To assert that mere Possession of a Thing gives a Man Right to it is enough to encourage all Men to be Rebels Vsurpers Robbers Thieves and Cheats It cries aloud to them all Catch that catch may my Masters all that you get is your own by the Law of the Land and of Nations of once you get
THE Loyal Martyr VINDICATED AFTER Mr. Ashton's Paper had been shewn by the Sheriff to those that sit at the Helm and that it was known there were more Copies of it given abroad so that it was impossible to sham or disguise it it raised in them as I am informed very sollicitous Apprehensions what Effects it was likely to work in the Minds of all the true Sons of the Church of England to see a genuine Member of that Communion with his last Breath admonish his prevaricating Brethren of the enormous Crimes of Perjury and Rebellion in which they they had of late so deeply plunged themselves denounce Prophetically to them the Judgments attending their Apostacy if not timely repented of profess so stoutly his Allegiance to his much injured and unjustly Dispossessed Prince seal our Church's Doctrine of Non-resistance with his dearest Blood and dye so resignedly chearfully nay joyfully in Testimony of that Christian Principle could not but be apprehended to our Statis's to be the most powerful Motives imaginable to reclaim those who had been misled by false Information or seduced by Interest into a Repentance of their Errors and to establish the rest in the Loyal Principles to which they had hitherto adhered Besides the honest unaffected Reason which appears in the Account he gives of his Tenets and Conscientious Proceedings and the Christian Moderation and sincere Piety which he observed throughout his whole Paper Praying heartily for his very Enemies though unjustly thirsting after his Blood the proper Temper of a dying Martyr could not but recommend the Contents of it to the esteem of every indifferent Reader and even be able to shock all such as were not resolutely byass'd Nor can I blame them for being so highly concerned that such a Legacy was left to the Loyal Party Those politick Men were well aware of the successful Methods by which Christianity was Propagated at first and that The Blood of the Martyrs was the Seed of the Church and therefore they judged it very Expedient that some speedy and effectual Means should be taken to stop the prejudicial Effects which it would otherwise produce It was then thought the best way to seem to slight and undervalue the Paper by Printing it themselves and at the same time to endeavour to baffle and confute it by an Answer going along with it penned with as much plausibleness as the Cause could bear But Truth is not easily trampled down His Christian Constancy has made too great an Impression in the Hearts of his Admirers to permit his Meritorious Sufferings to lie under the Scandal of a Treasonable Guilt and has given Courage to some of the meanest of them to vindicate his Cause and Credit against the wicked Slanders and weak Reasons of this mercenary Writer though he foresees that if they be discovered they can expect no other Reward but the same fatal End The Holland Lyon has begun to taste English Blood and finds it so sweet that it draws on an Appetite of shedding still more To fall then to our Reply His First Sham for the whole Piece is a continu'd fardle of such Stuff is That the Paper is none of Mr. Ashton's This if made good would they hoped take off the Authority and Influence of it as noâ— being the proper Act of the Martyr but of some other of that Party â— it required therefore his best skill to make this Credible Let us then examine his Arguments His First Proof is Because 〈…〉 with too much Art and Care to be the Work of one who professes he thought it better to employ his last minutes in Devotion p. 8. What a ridiculous Cavil is this His last minutes were at the place of Execution which the Martyr professeth he thought it better to employ in Devotion and holy Communion with his God than in making Speeches which if they were Loyal and delivered his Thoughts fully were likely to be interrupted and so not attended with the designed Success and therefore he chose rather to deliver what he had to say in Writing Now comes this Gentleman and pretends if his Words have any Tenour or Sense in them that he must have compos'd this Paper of his aâ— his last minutes that is at the Gallows which he says he could not do with so much Art and Care those minutes being taken up otherwise viz. In Devotion and therefore forsooth the Paper is none of his As if he had not time enough between his Sentence and the Execution of it to compose a Paper both larger and more full of Art and Care had he minded such Advantages than this was Or as if good Men whose Piety enclines them to spend their last minutes in holy Thoughts could not in the time anteceding use both their best Art and Care to pen a true Account of their Principles and the Cause for which they Suffered but indeed there is little Art or Care in the Master or Sense of the Paper but a plain and candid Discovery of his Thoughts and Affections both towards God and the World and as for the manner of Writing it if it were indeed such as this Man exhibits it there was neither any the least Art or Care shewn in it but perfect Negligence or rather great Ignorance and Folly throughout the whole as will be seen shortly His Second Reason to prove the Paper was not the Martyr's is Because Mr. Ashton says he was illiterate and unskilled in the Law and yet uses such Bug-words as Impending Prevaricating Premisses and Consequence and gives such a peremptory Iudgment about the Laws of the Realm in a Case acknowledged by all ingenious Men of his own Party to have a great deal of difficulty in it this Man will say any thing though never so openly false Not one Mâ—n of his Party ever thought there was the least difficulty in this That it was Treason by our Laws to resist a legal Prince or acknowledge any other for King while he lives No not this Writer himself as appears by his not thinking it his best play to alledge the Laws of the Realm buâ— flying off and recurring to the Law of Nations And as for the Law as it relates to his own Case he was far from Peremptory as is manifest from his saying I am told I am the First Man that ever was condemned for High-Treason upon bare Presumption or Suspicion Do not these Words I am told sound as modestly as is possible and bar all shew of his passing such a peremptory Iudgment about the Laws of the Realm as he puts upon him p. 8 What will not this Caviller say But 't is pleasant to observe what Prancks he uses all along 'T is plain Mr. Ashton meant no more but that he was illiterate that is unlearned and unskilful in the Law as appears by his desiring the Iudges to observe for him what might be for his Advantage And sure a Man who has not made the Law his Study for the Word reaches no farther
this Had the Prince of Orange pursued only the Ends express'd in his Declaration and obliged King Iames as he might easily have done to redress Abuses here and make a lasting League with the Confederates abroad it had in all likelihood by this time reduced the French King to a low Condition For then King Iames had been able to unite all the Force of England Scotland and Ireland and bend them unanimously against the Common Enemy Whereas now our Men and Money too are employ'd in Fighting against one another in Scotland and Ireland nor only so but England it self whose free Consent he so much brags of is so Distracted that we know not how soon we may fall into the same Misfortunes some out of Conscience not daring to hazard their Souls in Swearing Allegiance to one whose Title the most zealous Adherers to him cannot agree on nor themselves are satisfied with and far more of them being disgusted to see our Countrey beggared to maintain the Quarrel of Foreigners and enrich our greatest Enemies the Dutch so that this Pretence of pulling down the Heighth of France though I doubt not but it was the Intention of the Confederates was far from being the main Design of the Prince of Orange He could then have no other Motive of Invading England Driving out his Father and Usurping his Throne but mere Ambition seconded by Dutch Policy making use of our Rebelliousness silly Credulity and our addictedness to Lying that they might cheat us of our Money make us defend their Quarrel and impoverish us to that degree that we should not dare to resent it when they get our Trade and câ—zen us of our Plantations as they have done often and then to crown the Dutch Jest laugh at us for a Company of dull-headed block headedly Fools when they have done But I must not forget the Instances he brings to prove this Invasion to be agreeable to the Church of England's Doctrine and vouch'd by the Law of Nations and those are these Three First he Instances in Queen Elizabeth giving Assistance to the Dutch against the King of Spain p. 16. Now this hath been so well answered already in the Defence of the Bishop of Chichester's Dying Declaration that I do not see any Reason to concern my self with it and methinks this Answerer should have first answered what had been alledged there before he ventured on this Instance but some Men have a peculiar Confidence to bring in Things over and over though they have been answered sufficiently and yet never take notice of the Answers However it is sufficient here to observe that this is nothing at all to his purpose he tells us but four lines before That what he is to make out is that the then P. of O by his Relation to the Crown had a just Right to concern himself in the Vindication of our Religion and Liberties and that this is not repugnant to the Doctrines of the Church of England p. 15. And I pray good Sir Had Queen Elizabeth any Relation to the Government of the Low Countries And if not how does this Instance prove that which he is to make out that the Prince of Orange by virtue of his Relation to the Crown had a just Right to concern himself and his Instance proves that any Prince whether they have any such Relation or not have a just Right to concern themselves And what I pray is all this to a Title by Conquest Let it be admitted but not granted and which I suppose will not be easily proved that no Foreign Prince hath a just Right to make War upon another Prince for Invading the Liberty and Religion of his own Subjects hath he therefore a just Right to make a Conquest of these People whose Liberties he pretends to defend and to set himself King over them Or had Queen Elizabeth upon pretence of securing the Dutch Liberties a just Right to make her self Queen over them In my Opinion it is a preâ—ty odd way of rescuing People's Liberties to make a Conquest of them and if this be the Case Princes and their Flatterers may talk of Piety and a Care of the People but all the World will see that the Design is not Religion nor Liberty to the People but a Crown to themselves and it cannot chuse but be very Pious and Religious to gain a Crown His next Instance is in King Iames's time When the Prince Elector was chosen King of Bohemia And how does this prove his Point Why he sent to King James for Advice and he had no mind he should engage in it And therefore the Prince of Orange hath a just Right to concern himself and to make himself King according to the Principles of the Church of England I perceive it is not for every body to make Consequences for who but our Authour could ever have found out how such wonderful Things followed from King Iames's denying his Son to engage in it Well But the Arch bishop wrote a Letter to the Secretary and said that he was satisfied in his Conscience that the Bâ—bemians had a just Cause and that the King's Daughter professed she would not leave her self one Iewel rather than not maintain so Religious and Righteous â— Cause And that may be too but without Reflection on that Princess that is no Evidence of the Righteousness of a Cause for some Kings Daughters will not leave themselves a Jewel rather than not to take away and keep a Kingdom from their Own Father and which is neither a Religious nor a Righteous Cause His Third Instance is in the time of King Charles the First When the King of Denmark had taken Arms to settle the Peace and Liberty of the Germans and was Defeated and King Charles thought himself concerned to assist him and Arch-bishop Laud drew up a Declaration setting forth the Danger and requiring the People's Prayers and Assistance to prevent the growth of Spain c. Now it does not appear whether thâ— King of Denmark's pretence of taking Arms was just or unjust for our Authour has a peculiar faculty of talking of Things at random and never stating them and bringing them down to the matter in Dispute But let that be as it will it makes no difference in the present Dispute for let the Cause of his taking Arms be originally what it will I hope King Charles might assist him to prevent his being over-run thereby securing the Peace and Safety of his own Kingdom And this was plainly the Case The King of Denmark had made War upon the Empire and was defeated and it â— had â—een â—eâ—t without Assiâ—â—ence the Emperour might have wholly subdued him which would not â—â—ely have ruined Denmark but have endangered all the Northern Princes and especially England as the Declaration it self speaks there will be an open way for Spain left to do what they pleased And what is this to our Authour's purpose Is there no difference between Assisting one Prince actually at War
with another to prevent his utter Overthrow and Destruction and in such a case for wise and politick Ends to stop the exorbitant and dangerous Growth of a potent Neighbour and for the same Prince to take away another Prince's Crown because he is uneasie and ungratefull to his Subjects Yet after such fallacious Inferences our Author with his wonted Modesty adds Let those who now with as much Ignorance as Confidence upbraid Men with Renouncing the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England read and consider these Passages and if any thing will make them more wise and humble this will He contends all along to prove from those Instances which are of several Independent Governours and so relate to the Law of Nations that this Proceeding of the Prince of Orange is not repugnant to the Doctrines and Principles of the Church of England p. 15. and more particularly afterwards from the Homilies p. 21 22. which say we are bound to obey a Heathen Tyrant and to pray for him from the Jews who were commended to pray for the King of Babylon and for obeying Augustus lastly from our Saviour's acknowledging the Roman President 's Power and Authority as given him from God Nay he argues a fortiori p. 21. from the Homilies thus If they and consequently the Church of England declare we are bound by God's Word to obey a Heathen Tyrant much more ought we by the Doctrines and Principles of our Church to pay Allegiance to good and religious Princes c. This is the full force of his Argument why we ought to pay Allegiance to the present Governours But first We cannot think thâ—m good and religious whilst we see they have wilfully broken and obstinately continue to break God's holy Commandments the Observing of which is the best Test of Goodness and Religion Next he leâ—ves the main Point which Dr. Sherlock mentions out of his Convocations that are better Declarers of the Church of England's Doctrine than the Homilies That the Authority of all those Conquerours was to be thoroughly settled so that there was no morâ—l Possibility the former Governour in case he had been alive could evâ—r by himself or his Friends be restored and therefore we seldom or never hear that any of such ejected or subdued Sovereigns did ever struggle for their Kingdoms or went about to recover them Hâ—w this suits with our preseâ—t Câ—se where the former supreme Governour is living did ever and does still claim it pursues the Recovery of it has a most potent Monarch abroad for his Friend who espouses his Quarrel has engaged his Honour he will either restore him to his Crown or lose his own is easie to be discerned But moreover which is nâ—â—ess material in this Business King Iames has great Parties in each of the three Nations who do not acknowledge thâ— present Governours and look upon them as unjust Vsurpers of their Father's Right Besides which alters the Case extremely here was no Conquest or subduing England by Force nay no War at all exercised upon it His bad Cause forces this mercenary Writer to shuffle to and fro and pretend now one Thing now another but all of them when they come to be scann'd and applied equally to no purpose Conquest he dares not call it in down right Terms for fear of disgusting all England by making us all Slaves yet those Instances of Rightfall Power which he brings and would have us think to be parallel to this New Government and proper to aâ—et it were all true Successes in War and by consequence perfect Conquests 'T is easie to discern by these Hints what he would be at and not hard to conjecture what Title though they have agreed of none hitherto they intend at length to pitch upon finally unless the Patriots of the Subjects Liberty do in time restrain such audacious Attempts Thus far in Answer to his settling King William's Title which being shown to be incoherent and ill grounded in every Regard it follows that Mr. Ashton suffered for a Righteous Cause and for his due Allegiance to his true Sovereign which entitles him to the Honour of a glorious Martyr and this in case he had endeavoured to make way for his Master's Restauration It remains to vindicate his Paper from those other petty Exceptions this Gâ—ntleman makes against it He denies p. 24. that King Iames's Usage after the Prince of Orange's Arrival was very hard severe and unjust Let the World judge A Council was held at Windsor upon Notice of the King 's being in hold at Feversham where it was debated whether or no he should be sent to the Tower And 't is well known who they were that voted in the Affirmative But the Prince having laid his Design feared that if the King staid here some Accommodation would be made so he sent Monsieur Zuylisten to tell him he would have him to stay at Rochester which being a Port Town and towards the Sea might afford him opportunity to escape out of England The Message mist him so he returned to White-hall The next Night the Prince of Orange sent three Lords to him at Midnight to tell him he would have him remove by Ten the next Morning to Ham a place very unlikely to be approved of there being as the King objected neither Furniture nor Provisions for him and therefore as he expected he moved for his Return to Rochester which after his sitting an hour in his Barge waiting his Pleasure was granted And thither he was pack'd away in great State with Dutch Myrmidons now to the eternal Shame of English Suâ—jects their King's Gaolers under whom he suffered Hardship enough but he was not allowed out of his own Exchequer one Farthing to bear his Charges The King had before this sent him a Message by the Earl of Feversham offering to settle all things in Parliament to His and the Kingdom 's Satisfaction Now had the Prince of Orange meant sincerely in what he pretended and come onely for the Good of the Nation what could he have wished more But what would have obliged and sweetened another did highly exasperate him for he relish'd this Condescendence of his soâ—ll being indeed unsuitable to the ambitious Aim he proposed to himself that first contrary to the Law of Nations he made his Ambassadour Prisoner and thâ—n sent his Worshipfull Command at Midnight to his Father to be gone out of his own Palace to a Prison for they told him a Guard was appointed for him at Ham-house whither the Prince of Orange ordered him to go the next Morning enough to let the King see what he was to expect He tells the Prince of Orange could have prevented his going away true But then he feared the Nation would only reduce King Iames not depose him much less chuse another their own King being present it was therefore thought more Politick to fright him away and then pretend Abdication and the Necessity of a new Government which he knew well as he and
from doing what he pleases though they cut off from the Sinner all reasonable Hopes of the Relaxation or Mitigation of them p. 16. Of what comfortable Importance this Doctrine may be to some and how necessary under our present Circumstances let any one judge 'T is impossible Men should have perpetrated such abominable Villanies as have been lately transacted to the Amazement of all that have the least Sense of Piety or Honour left unless their Minds had been first debauched with these or the like Principles He that will audaciously violate the sacred Commands of God acknowledged such by the Church of England his own Subscriptions Oaths and Preaching must necessarily fansie some secret Reserves of Mercy in the Breast of the Almighty for the Authors and Abetters of such horrid Crimes upon some Occasions which will not suffer his Justice to pass upon them in another World or some extraordinary Relaxations or Mitigations of future Torments The first seems to be despaired of because there is small Hopes of Repentance left the Scriptures for that very Reason perhaps amongst many others comparing Rebellion to the Sin of Witchcraft the latter therefore is pitch'd upon as most congruous to carnal-minded Men who to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season and not willing to go to Heaven through Tribulations and Afflictions do rather chuse to undergo a future Puâ—ishment especially if it consists onely as to its Perpetuity in a bare Exclusion from Eternal Happiness Serm. p. 15. Now I say such a Series of Villany as has been hitherto and shall be farther exposed being altogether inconsistent with the Principles of Christianity which this accursed Generation of Monsters had not long since most zealously professed they found it as necessary to Abdicate their Saviour and his Precepts as well as their King and his Rights as far as they durst The first thing they did was to ridicule and blasphemously expose the Doctrine of the Cross and if they could have drawn over the Majority of the Convocation to their Party the next thing they design'd was to have expunged out of the Liturgie the Athanasian Creed which was in effect to have denied the Divinity of our Saviour leâ—t they should have been charged with Rebellion against God as well as their King if all Power be derived from the second Person of the Trinity as Mediator and all lawful Kings whether Christians Heathens or Mahometans be his Vicegerents and he hath the Dispâ—sal of their Crowns and the Command of their Power and doth actually employ and makes use of it in the Prosecution of the righteous Ends of â—is Government as Doctor Scot has learnedly proved in his Christian Life Part. 3. As it appeared necessary to reform the Doctrines of Christianity to make them square the better with their late Practice so likewise to procure an Alteration amongst our Ecclesiastical Governours too it being as much for the Interest of this upstart Government the Metropolitan should be an Vsurper as the supreme Governour in the Civil State Like Bishop like King being as true a Maxim now a No Bishop no King heretofore If the Metropolitical See had been realâ—y void this present nominal Archbishop was unqualified for it being esteem'd an Heretick and by the 84th Canon of the Apostles as being an actual Rebel who ought to be deposed or degraded from his Priesthood and though in the present juncture he cannot be convicted and sentenced yet his Crimes being so notorious all that understand them ought not in Conscience to own him as a Christian Bishop or hold Communion with him according to the 33d Canon of the Laodicean Council that we ought not to pray or communicate with Schismaticks or Hereticks Of what grand Concern these particulars are let every good Christian seriously consider and lay to heart Now it is that Poison is poured out into our Church therefore it 's high time for us to avoid the Contagion according to that excellent Advice of St. Cyprian Keep at a Distance from the Infection of such Men by fleeing from them and shun their Conversation as you would the Cancer or Plague according to the Premonition of our Lord Mat. 15.14 They be blind Leaders of the blind and if the blind lead the blind c. Let them perish by themselves who are willing to perish let them alone remain without the Church who have forsaken the Church Epist. 40. ad Plebem c. How can these Men pretend to be Guides to others who keep to no certain Path themselves What certainty can there be in their Doctrines when they vary thâ—m with their Interest and ever calculate them to serve a turn Therefore none ought to communicate with them who value the Salvation of their Souls and are not willing to partake of their Guilt and Punishment The Doctrines and Duties of our holy Religion have the Spirit of Truth and Holiness for their Author and like him are always the same without any shadow of Change But from what Spirit must these bold Attempts upon Common Christianity proceed Holloixius in his Defence of Origen lib. 3. cap. 6. cites several Passages out of his Writings wherein he assigns a different evil Spirit to every Vice or Sin which he calls inimicas adversarias Virtutes and delivers this Notion among the rest There seems to me says he to be an infinite number of contrary Powers or Spirits because in almost every Man there are certain Spirits which incite and provoke him to the Commission of divers Sins E.g. There is a Spirit of Fornication and a Spirit of Anger a Spirit of Avarice and a Spirit of Pride and if it happens that any Man be acted by all these or more Sins he is to be look'd upon as possessed by so many or more Enemies or evil Spirits Surely then according to this Opinion of Origen Legion must have taken Possession in some of the Grandees of this new schisinatical Church of England How obvious is it for any but those who are infatuated and spiritually blind to discern the Spirit of Rebellion Ambition and Emulation the Spirit of Heresie Schism and Persecution the Spirit of Blasphemy Lying Slandering and Apostacy reigning and triumphing among them This word Apostacy I am very sensible will found very harsh in their Ears but let any sober and unprejudiced Person seriously consult the several Acceptations of the Word among sacred and prophane Authors and he will soon be convinced that it will be no easie Task for these Gentlemen to purge themselves from the imputation of it Grotius in his Appendix to his Commentaries de Antichristo tell us thâ—t by Apostacy is understood all kinds of Hostility or Conâ—umacy against a Superiour who has the Right of Commanding and proves it from several Texts of Scripture Sometimes it signifies a Defection or a Revolt see Suidas and Stephanus In its common acceptation amongst Christian Writers a Departure from the Faith by going over to Heresie c. Maimonides as he is