little more Dirty and seems as if it was bred in a Pigsty 4. I am yet further obliged to you for confirming according to your Model and Talent all other Matters and Things in the Remarks you have thought good to take Notice of so that if you had pleased you might have called your Pamphlet a Defence of the Remarks For I can assure you it is a much better Defence of the Remarks than of the Sermons This I suppose you did not think on and it may be you do not yet know it but in this I shall relieve you by an enumeration of Particulars and then take my leave of you I. You tell me p. 1. That I charge such of the Clergy as think themselves oblig'd to speak honorably of the present Government with inconsistency with their former Principles and Practices and then add If it could be but as well proved as it is boldly asserted Well Sir whether I have proved it or no I shall leave to the Reader but I am very certain you have proved it sufficiently For you immediately tell me I should have consider'd what hath been writ in defence of the Clergy from that Charge by Mr. Johnson and the Author of Bibliotheca Politica This Sir let me tell you is a very lucky Choice and you could not have pickt out two such Authors for my Purpose For the Principles that both of Them proceed upon are directly contrary to those which the Gentlemen whom the Remarks charges with inconsistency have asserted preached and maintained over and over Mr. Johnson and the Letter to the Lord Russel consist like Fire and Water and Dr. Burnet's Dialogues and the Bibliotheca are as consistent as Contradictions or as that Doctor is consistent with himself so that you defend them from inconsistency by plainly proving it For if these Gentlemen justify their present Practices by the Principles of those two Authors then they do it by deserting and abandoning their own Principles and that Sir with your good leave is Inconsistency with a Witness and if you please down-right Apostacy But you tell us they defend them from inconsistency by proving That Passive Obedience as cry'd up in the late Times was never the Doctrin of the Church of England But by your Favour that is more than they or you or all your Party are able to prove but that is not the Question now and therefore suppose it what is that to the Purpose These very Gentlemen believed and taught That Passive Obedience was the Doctrin of that Church and as such pressed it upon the Consciences of Men under pain of Damnation And does not your own Mr. Johnson tell one of them Dr. Tillotson That he cram'd Passive Obedience down the Throat of a dying Lord And could you find no Body but Mr. Johnson to defend him from Inconsistency And I 'll warrant you Dr. Sherlock is defended from Inconsistency too by his old Friend Mr. Johnson Sir you have the strangest way of defending Things that ever was heard of But it seems even this Defence such as it is admits of Exceptions for you add For such of them as might be hurried into that Opinion by the Current of the Times meaning St. Asaph Dr. Tillotson Dr. Burnet Dr. Patrick Dr. Sherlock and all the Ecclesiastical Champions of the Usurpation for these are the Men who held this Opinion are charged with Inconsistency and whom you undertake to defend from it These it seems are the light and inconsiderate Men who took up an Opinion of this Weight with haste and precipitation and without due Regard had to the Nature of it So that when Dr. Tillotson wrot the Letter to the Lord Russel when Dr. Burnet wrot his Dialogues Dr. Patrick his Friendly Debate and Paraphrases Dr. Sherlock his Case of Resistance Dr. Stillingfleet his Jesuits Loyalty 't was all Weakness and Incogitancy they swam with the Stream without either Caution or Consideration Now Sir if this is all that can be honestly said for them 't is sure no extraordinary Character and makes their Authority of no Value in the World For if Men can be hurried into such Opinions by the Current of the Times who knows but they may be so still And the wisest Man living will never be able to distinguish whether their new Opinions and Practices are the result of their Judgments or the effects of the Times and give me leave to tell you That when Men change their Doctrins with Seasons and Opportunities 't is a shrewd Suspition that the Times make the Doctrines and if you will derive their Pedigree they may say to the Revolution Thou art our Father However such it seems they are and what is to be said to defend them Why as to that you tell us It may be reply'd that no Man is forbid to examin his Principles To examin his Principles No doubt of it But pray Sir what do you mean by Examining One would think that when Men preach Sermons write Books treat of the Question ex Professo that they either had or at least ought to have examined them Upon my Word you make rare Men of them and fit to be trusted with our Consciences And this is a glorious Defence indeed that from Year to Year from Sermon to Sermon from Book to Book they inculcate these Principles and fasten them upon the Consciences of Men as eternal and immutable Doctrines and yet never examined them themselves Sir this is a lamentable Case and you are very hard put to it when you have no other way to defend them but what at one Dash blasts all their Authority and discredits every Thing they have said since the Revolution as well as before For I crave leave to tell you That meer Swearing will never mend a Man's Character And therefore you call upon them to much purpose to lay hold on all Occasions to commend the present Government when at the same time you have taken extraordinary Care that their Words shall go for just nothing For if the World believe you I am certain they neither will nor can believe them But for all that they must be defended And you yet add That my whole Charge amounts to no more than this that some of the Clergy were formerly Blind but now they See Well! if my Charge amounts to no more yours you see amounts to a great deal more and you must answer for it as well as you can However methinks this is a pretty way to defend them from Inconsistency for what you call Blindness and Seeing I call Owning and Renouncing and so does all the World besides But you may call it what you please your Metaphors mean the same Thing and the plain English is They have forsaken their former Principles and that is the Inconsistency I charge them with which you frankly own and abundantly prove so that as far as I can see we are perfectly agreed and there need no more Words about it II. The next Thing is the Distinction
and Correspondence and you know the Maxim Quae conveniunt in aliquo tertio conveniunt inter se So that it might be old Friendship still notwithstanding the outward seeming and apearance to the contrary Well Friendship or no Friendship Old or New the Doctor however hath abundance of fine Words to say and they are but Words for there is no Truth nor colour of Truth in the bottom but that I suppose may be excused if there is a Friend in the Case In the first Place the Doctor tells us He had great Designs to serve the Christian Religion and the Church of England in its truest Interests And again The great use he made of the Favour and Interest that he had was to do publick Service to Religion and whatever some Men might suspect to the Church of England Well then it seems this Matter was not so clear but there were some Suspicions as to his Designs on this Head And the singâ—e Question is Whether these Suspicions were just and reasonable As for that the Doctor leaves People to think as they please and hath not said one Word to discharge them but plainly confirms them For he adds immediately though it may not be perfectly in their way Now the Church of England as it sustains that denomination stands distinguished from Dissenters of all Sorts by her Canons Articles Homilies and Liturgy and the old Way of pursuing the Churches Interest was by being true to these our selves and by using our Power and Authority that others might be so too And this is the way that hitheâ—to hath been taken by all those who have heartily and honestly espoused the Interest of the Church from the beginning of the Reformation But this was a Way that did not please the Doctor 's Friend but he was for a new Way of his own and though the Doctor does not tell us what Way that was it was sufficiently known It was a Way of Alteration and Comprehension and he made a Commissioner for that Purpose and would fain have been Prolocutor of the Convocation to have brought it to effect And this was that great Design he was always pursuing with all his Might and Cunning that is He was endeavoâ—ing to alter and comprehend away â—he Church who being himself first false to her Principles and Constitution was designing to frame a Church of the same Model and make it as false as himself In short he was for making a Dutch Church of an English one which is a very fine way indeed of having Designs to serve the Church of England in its truest Interests I doubt not but Mr. Baxter and another of the Doctor 's old Friends Dr J. O. had also great Designs to serve the Church of England though not perfectly in their Way that is In a Way to let themselves and their Schism into the Church which is Dr. Tillotson's Way So that had the Doctor said That his old Friend had great Designs for the Interest of the Dissenters he had spoke truth and I dare say he will yet say it if ever Things be â—ipe enough to open thus boldly But to talk of his Designs for the truest Interests of the Church of England 't is the extravagantest Thing in the World For there is nothing more ridiculous than to call those Designs for the Church of England which were designed purely to undermine it to throw up the Inclosure and make it Common to take away those Things upon the Account of which it hath its denomination and is distinguished from all others and particularly the Doctorâ—s Friends the Dissenters But I had rather you should have this in Dr Sherlock's own Words and you shall see what he hath said and printed of this very Man and in this very Case And in the first Place he enquires whether there is any Necessity of such Alterations and says * A Letter concerning some Querys about the new Commission for the making Alterations in the Liturgy Canons c. The Members of the Church of England generally believe there is none And then asks Whether it be for the Reputation and Establishment of the Church or for the Increase of Reverence and Devotion in the People to be so frequently meditating unnecessary Alterations Again he asks Whether it be for the Peace Unity and Edification of the Church for some few assuming Men to alter the establish'd Worship to make it comply with their own private Conceits or to serve their own private Ends Whether it be for the Churches Advantage to change the ancient Rules and Forms of Worship for some new modern Inventions How shall we justify our selves against the Charge of Novelty and Innovation if we reform away all the Remains and Characters of a Primitive and Apostolick Church Here you have Dr. Sherlock's Notion of the Design and there is much more to the same Purpose And now you shall have his Opinion of the Man in the pursuit of this Design Whether the known Character of some leading Men in this Commission be not Reason enough to suspect the Event Whether Men who conform'd with difficulty themselves or upon Principles which wise Men foresaw would destroy the Church in time who have Latitude to conform to a Church de Facto which hath Power on its Side and to conceal their own Inclinations till it is time to shew them are not likely to do the Church of England a good Turn when opportunity serves and which perhaps they imagine now they have Again Whether there was any such haste of altering the best constituted Church in the World which honourable Title some of these Commissioners in a good Mood have in their Writings bestowed upon the Church of England Meaning his old Friend Dr. Tillotson Once again And thus our Church may be changed and altered and transformed by Nine Men who may have Tenderness and Moderation enough to part with any Thing but their Church Preferments Now Sir you will confess that the Doctor tâ—eats his Friend especially an old Friend a little coursely and unfriendly And I doubt very much whether the Doctor in those days would have given him his Vote for the Archbishoprick or yet for the following Characters of the clearest and brightest Reason truer Judgment more inflexible fearless Honesty for these are directly contrary to the Characters he gives of him here But the Doctor I suppose is grown Wiser now and which you know no Man is forbid Nay he is gâ—own wiser than the wise Men themselves for you have heard That wise Men foresaw such Principles would destroy the Church in time But the Doctor now is so wise as to see plainâ—y That those Principles are for the Churches truest Interests Now Sir whatever you may think of the Cause I pray now tell me what you think of the Preacher Are not these delicate Things from the Mouth of Dr. Sherlock who hath in so many Words asserted the câ—ean contrary of the same Design and of the same Man engag'd in that Design Had
the Doctor nothing to say for his old Friend but by spiting in his own Face and shewing himself to the World for a rank Apostate in contradicting almost every Thing that ever he said in his whole Life in the mean time he may say and preach what he please of this or of any other Person but he hath taken extraordiny Care that no Body should believe him For if Dr. Tillotson's Character is to be taken upon the Credit of Dr. Sherlock then you must believe both or none for the Queries and the Sermon have the same Author and the same Authority too However at last it was Friendly done to sacrifice his own Reputation to the Memory of his Friend For by contradicting the hard and foul Characters he has given of Dr. Tillotson he hath taken off the Credit of them so far as they relate to him and no Man is bound to believe them because Dr. Sherlock said them but his Friend's Memory will get but little by the Bargain for this taints all his good Characters too and for the same Reason no Body is bound to believe them Here we have of the same Person upon the the same Occasion and by the self-same Man these very agreeing Characters That he had and he had not good Inclinations to the Church of England That his Designs were and they were not for the Reputation of that Church That whatever some might suspect he did and he did not purpose to serve her in her truest Interests That he was and was not a Time-server Did and did not conceal his Inclinations to do the Church a good Turn c. And the present Age and Posterity is left to believe which they please either or neither for what Dr. Sherlock says on one Side the same Dr. Sherlock confutes on the other So that whether the Doctor hath consulted his Friend's Reputation it is plain he forgot his own For such changeable and double dealing in matters of such Moment hath been always infamous to say no worse And the Doctor stands upon Record both as to Persons Things and Causes the greatest Instance of Self-contradiction that this or perhaps any other Age hath bred I shall not trouble you with a large Reflexion on his other Characters for a very few Words will serve the turn and the very naming them is sufficient to expose them In the next Place he tells you The greatest Fault I know he had was That some Envious and Ambitious Men could not bear his Greatness which he himself never Courted nay which he industriously Avoided This you must take for a Commendation of his singular Modesty join'd with an Aspeâ—sion of Envy upon some others and I doubt neither of them very true So whether he courted his Greatness or no a very little Industry would have served to avoid it And any Man who knows the Methods used for the gaining Possession of Lambeth will be soon satisfied That though there was very little Courtship there was a great deal of Industry imployed And it is very pleasant to talk of such a Man industriously Avoiding when he was not only an Intruder but violently thrust himself into another Prelate's Right by litigious Suits and false Claims and under the pretended Power of Law And then for his Greatness it carried its Antidote with it and there was enough to choke any Man's Appetite whose Ambition did not exceed his Probity For he was both an Usurper's and an usurping Bishop And these are no such tempting Titles and Acquisitions as to move the Envy of any but such as Dr. Sherlock And I doubt I cannot so safely apply the remaining part of the Character to the Doctor as I did some before viz. That he never Courted but industriously Avoided his Preferments And then it will follow That those who industriously Court Preferments are the ambitious Men who envied his Greatness And by this Mark the Doctor if he pleases may distinguish them and point them out for I dare say There is never a true Son of the Church of England who envied his Greatness but despiâ—ed it and whomsoever he would insinuate by this gâ—odly Character 't is as plain as the Sun That it suits with no Body but themselves The next Thing is very fine and Artificial Had it been put to the Poll there would have been vast Odds on his Side that he would have been voted into the See of Canterbury You see the Doctor 's Rhetorick runs very low when he is forc'd to take up with such Childish Topicks 'T is an admirable Vertue indeed that must receive its Lustre from the Poll and the Doctor hath given us a curious Rule by which to measure worth viz The Mob and most Voices In the mean time this Assertion is as bold as 't is ridiculous The Doctor would be thought a wise Man as if he had felt the Pulse of the whole Kingdom and knew well the Inclinations of all the People for he tells us All England knew his worth Whereas this plainly betrays him and shews That though he talks large and wide and like a Traveller yet that in truth he was bred at home and knows very little beyond his own Doors For above one half of the People scarcely so much as heard of his Name and four parts of six hardly knew whether he had any Worth or no whether he was good for something or for nothing And of those who did know him a great many knew him a little too well to give their Vote for him And of this we have a very plain and full Instance when he stood to be Prolocutor of the Convocation there was as undecent and uncanonical Strugling to make a Party for him as perhaps ever was known in England and yet neither his own worth so great and so known as the Doctor says nor the Interest and Canvasing of Dr. Tâ—â—â—â— and all the Latitudinarian Tribe with all the Wilt Cunning Vigilance and Artifice were able to carry it but all the Odds was against him and that considerably So that I doubt the Doctor is a little out as to his Judgment about the Poll. In the mean time it is very pleasant to talk of Voting an Archbishop into the See of Canterbury as if the Mob and vulgar Multitude by far the most numerous of any Nation were the fittest Judges of Episcopal Qualifications And see what a wise Reason he gives for this For no Man had ever a clearer and brighter Reason a truer Judgment a more easy and happy Expression nor a more inflexible fearless Honesty Now that Particle For denotes the Reason why the vast Odds in Polling would have been on his Side and therefore you must needs be convinc'd that he would certainly have carried it because the common People are the best Jâ—dges in the World of clear and bright Reason true Judgment happy Expression and fearless Honesty He had better by half have mention'd his Corpulency and Fatness or his Hospitality if he cou'd have told