joined with the Revolutionists in deposing his Prince If he joins with Mr. Johnson in his Argument it is Common-wealth all over if he take up with the other Arguments of his Brethren Julian hath fairly â—iss'd them out of Doors I did once think that Men who raved against the Evasions Equivocations Mental Reservations Dispensations and other deceitful Arts and Tricks of the Jesuits had been Men of Plain dealing Simplicity and Integrity But since I have discovered that those very Men who made the deposing Power their Bell-wether Argument against the Papists were at that same time busie in contriving how to depose their own lawful Prince I have been prone to think that if you should take a Latitudinarian Protestant and a Jesuit and put them both in a Bag and shake them well together it would be hard to determine whether he that came out â—irst or last was the greatest Knave After the deplorable Consusions Divisions Wars Devastations and Oppressions they are the Words of the Act wherewith these Kingdoms were harassed in the former Rebellion the Wickedness of which no Man would have thought could have been exceeded had he not seen this the People jâ—ded with their own Folly and Villany and seeing no â—nd of the Rapine Madness and Cruelty of their Oppressors call Home their Lawful Sovereign King Charles the Second And in the 12th Year of his Reign but of his actual governing the first an Act passed wherein his undoubted Hereditary Sovereign and Regal Authority was acknowledged a perpetual Thanksgiving for his Restoration ordered to be annually and publickly kept All Ministers are thereby bound to celebrate it and to give God Thanks and publickly declare the extraordinary Mercies Blessings and Deliverances received all People are bound on that Day to repair to some Church or Chappel where the Service appointed may be had all Ministers to give notice of it the Lord's Day before and upon the Day to read the Act pablickly and distinctly to the People And this is again confirmed the 13th Car. 2. cap. 11. Certainly no Man that had a Grain of Honesty could think that any People could be guilty of such fulsome Hypocrisie and such downright mocking of God as to keep a publick Thanksgiving for the restoring one Brother to his Right and at the same time to plead the lawfulness of driving away and keeping out the other Brother by force of Arms when the Right and Title of both Brothers was exactly the same By what Authority do they call the other Rebels when they do the same thing Or is it a wicked thing in Presbyterians and Independents to depose Kings but lawful and commendable in Latitudinarians But if forty Parliaments had laid their Heads together to secure their Sovereign from any Violence or Harm against any Man Men or body of Men whatsoever of his own Subjects or most effectually to confute Mr. Johnson's Argument I cannot imagine how they could do it in more apt proper and full terms than is done by the Act 12 Car. 2. cap. 30. wherein it is declared That by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom neither the Peers of this Realm nor the Commons nor both together in Parliament nor the People collectively or representatively nor any other Persons whatsoever ever had have hath or ought to have any Coercive Power over the Persons of the Kings of this Realm Here plainly by a full and free Parliament and by universal consent all sorts and all bodies of Men are restrained from using any Violence to their King and this not only at present enacted but declared to be so by the undoubted and fundamental Laws of this Kingdom If this be true Bracton must be mistaken Or shall we esteem his Authority above that of the High Court of Parliament Or what shall become of his respectuetur ad Magnam Curiam when that very Court in this case denies it And that too upon this very account that the undoubted and fundamental Laws are against it There are many other Statutes which seem to be pursuant of this as 13 Car. 2. cap. 1. where that Opinion is condemned That both Houses of Parliament or either of them have a Legislative Power without the King by which alone all the Acts of the Convention are overthrown and all the pretended Authorities thereupon founded Hence in the same Act they proceed to condemn the Proceedings in the former Rebellion declaring That the Oath usually called the Solemn League and Covenant was in it self an unlawful Oath and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom and that all Orders and Ordinances and pretended Orders and Ordinances of both or either Houses of Parliament for imposing of Oaths Covenants or Engagements levying of Taxes or raising of Forces and Arms to which the Royal Assent either in Person or by Commission was not expresly had or given were in their first creation and making and still are and so shall be taken to be null and void to all intents and purposes whatsoever Now as if they had had a Spirit of Prophesie this Act seems to be more strongly levelled against the Convention than the long Parliament for the long Parliament were called by the King 's Writ and by his assent to a Bill were continued till they should dissolve themselves but the Convention was a Mushroom sprung up of it self and remaining without root or foundation They were so far from having any colour of Law to warrant them that when they had traiterously driven away their King with Lies Noise and Threats they met contrary to all Law at the invitation of a Stranger their King's Enemy against whom they ought to have defended him and therefore were Traitors in that very Act The long Parliament indeed boldly assumed the whole Authority to themselves but withal they seemed not before hand to be destitute of a very considerable Legal Authority but the Convention as they had no manner of Authority in that case so they pretend to give the Supream Authority to one who as a Stranger had less Authority than themselves But neither could they give what they never had nor he receive from them what they had not to give and therefore this Act as strongly makes null and void all the Oaths Acts Orders Ordinances and Proceedings whatsoever of the present Government as they call themselves as it did the Solemn League and Covenant and other the proceedings of the Rump Parliament and Olivâ—r the First 13 Car. 2. cap. 6. There is an Act wherein it is declared That within all his Majesty's Realms and Dominions the sole Supream Government Command and Disposition of the Militia and of all Forces by Sea and Land and of all Forts and places of Strength is and by the Laws of England ever was the undoubted Right of his Majesty and his Royal Predecessors Kings and Queens of England and that both or either of the Houses of Parliament cannot nor ought to
measure executes it self So that Excommunication ipso facto is Excommunication ab ipso jure sive sententiae a jure latae and is so call'd in Contradistinction to Excommunication ab Homine sive Judice where the definitive Sentence must be waited for and pronounced before the Excommunication can take effect From what hath been said it is evident that the guilty Person in this Case is immediately in the state of Excommunication so that he ought not to thrust himself into the Communion of the Ch. it being a thing which belongs not to him and to which he hath no Right and from which he can receive no Benefit but ought to put himself into the state of a Penitent to bewail his Fault and make what Satisfaction he is able and to endeavour his Reconciliation to the Church upon such Terms and Conditions as the proper Judge in that case shall think fit for that end and purpose of which a true and hearty Repentance so far as Man can discern is always one But then whether all Persons are bound to treat this Person as an Excommunicate is another Question Indeed if he as he ought confess his Fault declare his Condition and bewail it there can be no doubt but that others though they may pity him yet ought to treat him as an Excommunicate till he be restored by due course but then it too often happens that the Fact is hid and secret or if the Fact be known yet the Criminal is not or if both Fact and Criminal be known yet it may not be known or but to few that there is any Canon or Law which ipso facto puts such a Person under Excommunication yea after all though Fact Criminal and Canon be known yet it may be a doubtful and controverted case whether the Crime be within the Verge and Censure of such Canon Now in such a case I humbly conceive that no Man is strictly bound to treat such a Person as an Excommunicate until a declaratory Sentence of a proper Judge have passed on the thing though a definitive one be needless that is that the Judge having true notice of the Crime do declare that it is the same against which the Canon pronounces an Excommunication ipso facto and this published shall be sufficient to oblige others to treat the Person so declared against as under a state of Excommunication But then again there are Cases wherein so much as a declaratory Sentence is needless and Persons may be bound to look on the Criminals as Excommunicates without any such Sentence as when the Fact Criminals and Canon passing Sentence thereon are notoriously known in such case the Church requires all persons without more adoe to take notice of the Offenders and to treat them as persons under the Sentence of the Canon tho' the Judge hath given no Sentence in the case and commends them for so doing tho' in other cases it allows them not the Judgment This Mr. Hody doubtless would have told us if it had been for his turn but thanks to more fair and ingenuous Persons the Canon now speaks plain for itself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But if any shall separate themselves from Communion with their Superiour for any Heresie condemned by the H. Synods and Fathers he publickly preaching the same Heresie to the People and teaching it barefac'd in the Church such shall not onely be free from Canonical Censure for separating from Communion with the Bishop so called before synodical Condemnation but they shall be thought worthy of the Honour that is due to the Orthodox because they have not condemned a Bishop but a false Bishop and a false Teacher and have not divided the Vnity of the Church by Schism but have studiously endeavoured to preserve the Church from Schisms and Divisions Thus in cases manifest and notorious Christians followed the Censure of precedent Canons without staying for particular Sentence the onely Question then is whether there be such notoriety in our particular case And truly I think that there scarce ever appeared in the World a more notorious and manifest case the Matter of Fact is evident to all there being scarce a Child of five years old in the Kingdom who doth not know how the Authority of K. James is trampled on despised and denied if he be not taught to do it himself and as for the Persons they are as well known the Laymen glorying in it in all places and the Clergy roaring it out before whole Congregations and then the Canon which censures them as excommunicate ipso facto for so doing is or ought to be as well known for it is commanded with the rest once every year to be read in all Churches which I think is fair notice and if they will not take it affected Ignorance will rather aggravate than excuse their Fault from all which it is plain that these Offenders ought to be treated as excommunicate ipso facto upon the Authority of the Canon without waiting for the declaratory Sentence of a living Judge Having considered the nature of an Excommunication ipso facto I shall next enquire into the state and condition of an excommunicated Person which is very sad and dreadfull as to any Man but when it falls to be a Clergyman's Lot it makes fatal Work For 1. It divests him of the Power of Exercising any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and if nevertheless he will take upon him to exercise it it renders all his Acts invalid and null And I think it will be worth some Mens pains to enquire whether this may not affect all the Ecclesiastical Courts in England for I doubt it will not be sufficient to say that many things are done in those Courts which were committed to them by the Civil Power as things that seemed most fitting to be done by Ecclesiastical Persons tho' they might be done by others for though this tacitly acknowledges a Nuâ—…ity or what proceeds from their Spiritual Authority yet I see not what Service it can do them as to what is intrusted to them by Secular Authority for if it were intrusted in them as Ecclesiastical Persons and as Ecclesiastical Persons thâ—y stâ—nd excommunicate I cannot see how they continue capable of exercising such Eccâ—esiastical Jurisdiction But let those Persons look after that who have or shaâ—l have any Suits there or have occasion to prove any Wills wherein they are intâ—â—estâ—d or the like for if ever things should come to Rights again which I hope is no hurt to wish if such Matters were not confirmed by a lawful Authority perhaps some who at present are proud of their Rebellion and the Effects of it may live to curse the time that ever the Mob made Kings or a Dutch man Archbishops 2. Excommunication renders a Clergyman so long as he continues in that state unâ—apable of any Ecclesiastical Benesice or Promotion and if he attempt to take any all means used to conser it upon him become ineffectual a Presentation of such
pretend to the same nor can nor lawfully may raise or levy any War offensive or defensive against his Majesty his Heirs or lawful Successors c. And in the same Act the grounds of contrary proceedings they call Rebellious Principles the Governments set up against the lawful King they stile usurped Governments and the effect of such doings they say was almost the Ruine and Destruction of this Kingdom But what was wanting then we have just cause to fear will be made up now we are within a little of leaving out the almost and are upon the very brink of utter Ruine and Destruction Now if the sole Supream Government was in King James and the whole power and disposition of the Militia and all Forts and places of Strength were undoubtedly his Right and no War offensive or defensive may be raised against him then all those places were wrongfully taken from him and all the present Rebellions Proceedings and Usurpations are as void as the former It were no hard matter to heap up many other Statutes to this purpose but I think these sufficient for this was the Constitution when King Charles the Second died this was the state of the Government when King James the Second his lawful Successor entred upon it and all these Acts were in their full force when he was driven away and they assert maintain keep up and secure his Right and Supream Power as well against his own Subjects as Foreigners And therefore the Supremacy Authority and Right being still his as all proceedings against him are null in Law and condemned by it so all Persons thus unlawfully divesting him of that his rightful Supremacy and Authority have incurred the Centure of the fore cited Canon made pursuant to these Constitutions and must be adjudged to stand ipso facto excommunicate I am not insensible that by a certain side-wind an Objection may be here brought in which both Prerogative and Commonwealth-men have as it served their Turn insisted on That the Statute-Law is super-induced and to be in force according to the tenour of the old preceding Laws and Customs of England and if repugnant to them void if obscure and doubtful to be explained by them And I am informed that the Paltry I should have said the Poultrey Doctor in his private Pleas in making Converts or rather Perverts doth farther alledg That the Statute-Law is utterly insignisicant in it self and that we are wholly to be guided by antecedent Laws and Customs Whether he means by this to warrantize Rebellion by the worst of Precedents or would have all swallowed up in the Prerogative I cannot tell for he is as much for William as he was against King James so tempting a thing is even the bare hopes of a Bishoprick But against this I desire these few things may be considered 1st I humbly request this bold Doctor or any of his Complices to tell me in plain English Whether the august Court of Parliament which is brought together with so much Charge appears in such State and is stiled the highest Court in the Kingdom sits in all that Formality and Solemnity only to devise New-Nothings or to make Rattles and Baubles for Fools and Children For if his Objection be true I see not what they do more but must be the meerest piece of Pageantry that ever was 2dly It is observable that this Argument if not first trump'd up yet was most warmly managed in the time of King Charles the First when the matter of the Petition of Right was under debate and though they threw Dust in one another's Eyes and amused the Kingdom with sine Harangues about old blind antecedent Laws which no Body knew what to make of yet when they come to pen the Statutes they fairly leave them all to shift for themselves and found it wholly upon preceding Statutes as any Man may there see to his satisfaction 3 Car. 1. in initio 3dly That the fore-cited Statutes are so far from expressing any thing obscurely or doubtfully that they are as intelligible plain and easie as if they had been written with a Beam of the Sun Lastly and which indeed is most considerable all or most and the most pertinent of the fore-mentioned Statutes are not meerly constitutive but declaratory not barely telling us what for the future should be Law but informing us what by the old antecedent Laws were the undoubted Rights of the Crown and rule of Succession and indeed I can discover but two ways whereby the Crown can succeed according to our Constitutions viz. either bâ— Proximity of Bloâ—d in a lineal Succession or by the last Will and Testament of the present rightâ—ul Prince in Possession ratified in Parliament both which are mentioned in the Act of Settlement 35 Hen. 8. and made a rule of Succession for ever 1 Eliz. cap. 3. neither of which will do our Adversaries any Service And thus I think I have given as fair and full an answer to Mr Johnson as he hath done to the rest of his Brethren and the Obstacles being now removed may justly proceed to the Canon which declâ—res all such Persons as deny the Supremacy of their lawful King to be excommunicate ipso facto As to which I shall consider these several particulars First That this Canon is no Novelty but pursuant to and taking pattern from other Canons of the Church of Christ made all along for the security of Princes Secondly What is meant by Excommunication ipso facto Thirdly What is the State and Condition of Persons excommunicate Fourthly What ought to be the Behaviour of other Christians towards such as stand â—xcommunicate Lastly the particular restraint here laid as to reconciling such Persons who are censured by this Canon As to the first Christianity which not only teacheth but obligeth us to do good for evil took care of the Supremacy of the Supream Powers even when they were Persecutors but when Kings and Queens became Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers and took the Church into their Protection defending the Persons not only as Subjects but Christians and backing the Canons and Censures of the Church with Civil Laws and Penalties from thâ—nce the Church became bound not only in Duty but in Gratitude to contribute all she could to the protection of that lawful Government which protected her and to render the Civil Laws and Penalties more aweful and effectual did farther enforce them as occasion required but especially for the security of lawful Princes with the Threats and Terrors of Divine Vengeance which by Authority committed to her by God she had power to denounce against such Offenders The Doctrine of Obedience to lawful Powers has been a part of Christianity from its very first entrance into the World even then when it was the greatest Sufferer under them Thus our Blessed Saviour teacheth the Seditious Jews Mat. 22. 21. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are Gods Thus his Apostle St. Paul to the Romans