dangerous thing to secure by Oath and Act of Parliament those in the exercise of an Authority and power in the King's Country and over His Subjects which being received from Christ himself cannot be altered or limitted by the King's Laws and that this was directly to set the Mitre above the Crown And it was farther offered that this Oath was the greatest attempt that had been made against the King's Supremacy since the Reformation for the King in Parliament may alter diminish enlarge or take away any Bishoprick He may take any part of a Diocess or a whole Diocess and put them under Deans or other Persons â—or if this be not lawful but that Episcopacy should be jure divino the maintaining the Government as it is now is unlawful since the Deans of Hereford and Salisbury have very large tracts under their jurisdiction and several Parsons of Parishes have Episcopal jurisdiction so that at best that Government wants alteration that is so imperfectly settled The Bishop of Winchester affirmed in this debate several times that there was no Christian Church before Calvin that had not Bishops to which he was answered that the Albigenses a very numerous People and the only visible known Church of true beleivers of some Ages had no Bishops It is very true what the Bishop of Winchester replyd that they had some amongst them who alone had power to ordain but that was only to commit that power to the Wisest and Gravest Men amongst Them and to secure ill and unfit Men from being admitted into the Ministery but they exercis'd no jurisdiction over the others And it was said by divers of the Lords that they thought Episcopal Government best for the Church and most suitable for the Monarchy but they must say with the Lord of Southampton upon the occasion of this Oath in the Parliament of Oxford I will not be sworn not to take away Episcopacie there being nothing that is not of Divine Precept but such circumstances may come in humane affairs as may render it not Eligible by the best of Men. And it was also said that if Episcopacy be to be received as by Divine Precept the King's Supremacy is overthrown and so is also the opinion of the Parliaments both in Edw. 6. and Queen Elizabeths time and the constitution of our Church ought to be altered as hath been shewd But the Church of Rome it self hath contradicted that Opinion when She hath made such vast tracts of ground and great numbers of Men exempt from Episcopal jurisdiction The Lord Wharton upon the Bishops claim to a Divine Right asked a very hard question viz. whether they then did not claim withall a power of Excommunicating their Prince which they Evading to answer and being press'd by some other Lords said they never had done it Upon which the Lord Hallifax told them that that might well be for since the Reformation they had hitherto had too great a dependance on the Crown to venture on that or any other Offence to it and so the debate passed on to the third Clause which had the same exceptions against it with the two former of being unbounded How far any Man might meddle and how far not and is of that extent that it overthrew all Parliaments and left them capable of nothing but giving Money For what is the business of Parliaments but the alteration either by adding or taking away some part of the Government either in Church or State and every new Act of Parliament is an alteration and what kind of Government in Church and State must that be which I must swear upon no alteration of Time emergencie of Affairs nor variation of humane Things never to endeavor to alâ—er Would it not be requâ—site that such a Government should be given by God himself and that withall the Ceremonie of Thunder and Lightening and visible appearance to the whole People which God vouchsafed to the Chrildren of Israel at Mount Sinaj and yet you shall no where read that they were sworn to it by any oath like this nay on the Contrary the Princes and the Rulers even those recorded for the best of them did make severâ—l variations The Lord Stafford a Noble Man of great Honor and Candour but who had been all along for the Bill yet was so far convinced with the debate that he freely declared there ought to be an addition to the Oath for preserving the freedom of debates in Parliament This was strongly urged by the never to be forgotten Earl of Bridgwater who gave reputation and strength to this Cause of England as did also those worthy Earls Denbigh Clarendon and Aylisbury Men of great Worth and Honor. To Salve all that was said by these and the Other Lords The Lord Keeper and the Bishops urged that there was a Proviso which fully preserved the Priviledges of Parliament and upon farther enquiry there appearing no such but only a Previous vote as is before mention'd they allowâ—d that that Previous vote should be drawn into a Proviso and added to the Bâ—ll and then in their opinion the Exception to the Oath for this cause was perfectly removed but on the other side it was offered that a positive absolute Oath being taken a Proviso in the Act could not dispence with it without some reference in the body of the Oath unto that Proviso but this also was utterly denied untill the next day the debate going on upon other matters the Lord Treasurer whose authority easily obtained with the major Vote reassumed what was mentioned in the Debates of the proceeding days and allow'd a reference to the Proviso so that it then past in these words I A. B. do swear that I will not endeavor to alter the Protestant Religion now by Law Establisht in the Church of England nor the Government of this Kingdom in Church or State as it is now by Law established and I do take this Oath according to the meaning of this Act and the Proviso contain'd in the same so help me God There was a passage of the very greatest observation in the whole debate and which with most clearness shewd what the great Men and Bishops aimed at and should in order have come in before but that it deserved so particular a consideration that I thought best to place it here by it self which was that upon passing of the Pâ—oviso for preserving the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments made out of the Previous Votes It was excellently observ'd by the Earl of Bullingbrook a Man of great Abilitie and Learning in the Laws of the Land and perfectly stedfast in all good English Principles that though that Proviso did preserve the freedom of Debates and Votes in Parliament yet the Oath remain'd notwithstanding that Proviso upon all Men that shall take as a prohibition either by Speech or Writing or Address to endeavor any alteration in Religion Church or State nay also upon the Members of both Houses otherwise then as they speak and vote in
the penalty of 500 l. and also that this Act had a direct retrospect which ought neâ—er to be in Penall Laws for this Act punishes Men for having an Office without taking this Oath which office before this Law pass they may now lawfully enjoy without it Yet notwithstanding it provides not a power in many cases for them to part with it before this Oath overtake them For the clause whoever is in Office the 1. September will not relieve a Justice of the Peace who being once Sworn is not in his own power to be left out of commission and so might be instanced in several other cases as also the members of the House of Commons were not in their own power to be unchosen and as to the Lords they were subjected by it to the meanest condition of Mankind if they could not enjoy their Birthright without playing Tricks sutable to the Humour of every Age and be enforced to swear to every fancie of the present times Three years ago it was All Liberty and Indulgence and now it is Strict and Rigid Conformity and what it may be in some short time hereafter without the Spirit of Prophesying might be shrewdly guest by a considering Man This being answerd with silence the Duke of Buckingham whose Quality admirable Wit and unusual pains that he took all along in the debate against this Bill makes me mention Him in this last place as General of the partie and coming last out of the Field made a Speech late at night of Eloquent and well placed Non-sense showing how excellently well he could do both ways and hoping that might do when Sense which he often before used with the highest advantage of Wit and Reason would not but the Earl of Winchilsea readily apprehending the Dialect in a short reply put an end to the Debate and the major Vote ultima ratio Senatuum Conciliorum carried the Question as the Court and Bishops would have it This was the last Act of this Tragi-Comedy which had taken up sixteen or seventeen whole days debate the House sitting many times till eight or nine of the Clock at night and sometimes till Midnight but the business of priviledg between the two Houses gave such an interruption that this Bill was never reported from the Committee to the House I have mention'd to You divers Lords that were Speakers as it fell in the Debate but I have not distributed the Arguments of the debate to every particular Lord. Now you know the Speakers your curiosity may be satisfied and the Lords I am sure will not quarrel about the division I must not forget to mention those great Lords Bedford Devonshire and Burlington for the Countenance and support they gave to the English Interest The Earl of Bedford was so brave in it that he joyn'd in three of the Protests So also did the Earl of Dorset and the Earl of Stamford a Young Noble Man of great hopes The Lord Eure the Lord Viscount Say and Seal and the Lord Pagitt in two the Lord Audley and the Lord Fitzwater in the 3 d and the Lord Peter a Noble Man of great Estate and always true to the maintenance of Liberty and Property in the first And I should not have omitted the Earl of Dorset Lord Audley and the Lord Peter amongst the Speakers for I will assure you they did their parts excellently well The Lord Viscount Hereford was a steady Man among the Countrey Lords so also was the Lord Townsend a Man justly of great Esteem and power in his own countrey and amongst all those that well know him The Earl of Carnarvon ought not to be mention'd in the last place for he came out of the Countrey on purpose to oppose the Bill stuck very fast to the Countrey partie and spoke many excellent things against it I dare not mention the Roman Catholick Lords and some others for fear I hurt them but thus much I shall say of the Roman Catholick Peers that if they were safe in their Estates and yet kept out of Office their Votes in that House would not be the most unsafe to England of any sort of Men in it As for the absent Lords the Earl of Ruttland Lord Sandys Lord Herbert of Cherbury Lord North and Lord Crew ought to be mentiond with Honor having taken care their Votes should maintain their own interest and opinions but the Earls of Exceter and Chesterfield that gave no proxies this Sessions the Lord Montague of Boughton that gave his to the Treasurer and the Lord Roberts his to the Earl of Northampton are not easily to be understood If you ask after the Earl of Carlisle the Lord Viscount Falconbridge and the Lord Berkely of Berkley Castle because you find them not mentioned amongst their old Friends all I have to say is That the Earl of Carlisle stept aside to receive his Pention the Lord Berkely to dine with the Lord Treasurer but the Lord Viscount Falconberg like the Noble Man in the Gospel went away sorrowfull for he had a Great Office at Court but I despair not of giving you a better account of them next Sessions for it is not possible when they consider that Cromwell's Major General Son in law and Friend should think to find their Accounts amongst Men that set up on such a bottom Thus Sir You see the Standard of the new Partie is not yet set up but must be the work of another Session though it be admirable to me how the King can be enduced to venture His Affairs upon such weak Counsels and of so fatal consequences for I believe it is the first time in the World that ever it was thought adviseable after fifteen years of the highest Peace Quiet and Obedience that ever was in any Countrey that there should be a pretense taken up and a reviving of former miscarriages especially after so many Promises and Declarations as well as Acts of Oblivion and so much merit of the Offending partie in being the Instruments of the King 's Happy Return besides the putting so vast a number of the King's Subjects in uâ—ter despair of having their crimes ever forgotten and it must be a great Mistake in Counsels or worse that there should be so much pains taken by the Court to debase and bring low the House of Peers if a Military Government be not intended by some For the Power of Peerage and a standing Army are like two Buckets the proportion that one goes down the other exactly goes up and I refer you to the consideration of all the Histories of ours or any of our neighbor Northern Monarchies whether standing forces Military and Arbitrary government came not plainly in by the same steps that the Nobility were lessened and whether when ever they were in Power and Greatness they permitted the least shadow of any of them Our own Countrey is a clear instance of it For though the White Rose and the Red chang'd fortunes often to the ruine slaughter and beheading
pressure laid upon them but to be made uncapable of Office Court or Armes and to pay so much as might bring them at least to a ballance with the Protestants for those chargable Offices they are lyable unto and concluded with this that he desired me seriously to weigh wheâ—her Liberty and Propriety were likely to be maintained long in a Countrey like Ours where Trade is so absolutely necessary to the very being as well as prosperity of it and in this Age of the World if Articles of Faith and Matters of Religion should become the only accessible ways to our Civil Rights Thus Sir You have perhaps a better account of the Declaration then you can receive from any other hand and I could have wisht it a longer continuance and better Reception then it had for the Bishops took so great Offence at it that they gave the Alarum of Popery through the whole Nation and by their Emissaries the Clergy who by the Connexture and Subordination of their Government and their being posted in every Parish have the Advantage of a quick dispersing their Orders and a sudden and universal Insinuation of whatever they please raised such a cry that those good and sober Men who had really long feared the Encrease and continuance of Popery had hitherto received began to believe the Bishops were in earnest their Eyes opened though late and therefore joyned in heartily with them so that at the next meeting of Parliament the Protestants Interest was run so high as an Act came up from the Commons to the H. of Lords in favor of the dissenting Protestants and had passed the Lords but for want of time Besides another excellent Act passed the Royal Assent for the Excluding all Papists from Office in the Opposition of which the L. Treasurer Clifford fell and yet to prevent his ruine this Sessions had the speedier End Notwithstanding the Bishops attain'd their Ends fully the Declaration being Cancelled and the great Seal being broken off from it The Parliament having passed an Act in favor of the Dissenters and yet the sense of both Houses sufficiently declared against all Indulgence but by Act of Parliament Having got this Point they used it at first with seeming Moderation there were no general Directions given for prosecuting the Non-conâ—ormists but here and there some of the most Confiding Justices were made use of to try how they could receive the Old Persecution for as yet the Zeal raised against the Papists was so great that the worthyest and soberest of the Episcopal party thought it necessary to unite with the dissenting Protestants and not to divide their Party when all their Forces were little enough In this posture the Sessions of Parliament that began Oct. 27. 1673. tound Matters which being suddenly broken up did nothing The next Sessions which began Ian 7. following the Bishops continued their Zeal against the Papists and seem'd to carry on in joyning with the Countrey Lords many excellent Voâ—es in order to a Bill as in particular That the Princes of the Blood-Royal should all Marry Protestants and many others but their favor to dissenting Protestants was gone and they attempted a Bargain with the Countrey Lords with whom they then joyned not to promote any thing of that nature except the bill for taking away Assent and Consent and renouncing the Covenant This Session was no sooner ended without doing any thing but the whole Clergy were instructed to declare that there was now no more danger of the Papists The Phanatique for so they call the dissenting Protestant is again become the only dangerous Enemy and the Bishops had found a Scoth Lord and two new Ministers or rather Great Officers of England who were desperate and rash enough to put their Masters business upon so narrow and weak a bottom and that old Covenanter Lauderdale is become the Patron of the Church and has his Coach and table fil'd with Bishops The Keeper and the Treasurer are of a just size to this affair for it is a certain rule with the Church Men to endure as seldom as they can in business Men abler then themselves But his Grace of Scotland was least to be executed of the Three for having fall'n from Presbitery Protestaant Religion and all principles of Publick good and private friendship and become the Slave of Clifford to carry on the Ruine of all that he had professed to support does now also quit even Clifford's generous Principles and betake himself to a soâ—t of Men that never forgive any Man the having once been in the right and such Men who would do the worst of things by the worst of means enslave their country and betray them under the mask of Religion which they have the publick Pay for and charge off so seething the Kid in the Mothers milk Our Statesmen and Bishops being now as well agreed as in Old Land's time on the same principles with the same passion to attain their end they in the first place give orders to the Judges in all their Circuits to quicken the Execution of the Laws against Dissenters a new Declaration is published directly contrary to the former most in words against the Papists but in the Sense and in the close did fully serve against both and in the Execution it was plain who were meant A Commission besides comes down directed to the principal Gentlemen of each country to seize the Estates of both Papists and Phanatiques mentioned in a Liâ—t annexed wherein by great misfortune or skill the Names of the Papists of best quality and fortune and so best known were mistaken and the Commission render'd ineffectual as to them Besides this the great Ministers of State did in their common publick assure the partie that all the places of Profit Command and Trust should only be given to the old Cavalier no Man that had served or been of the contrary Party should be left in any of them And a direction is issued to the Great Ministers before mentioned and Six or seven of the Bishops to meet at Lambeth-House who were like the Lords of the Articles in Scotland to prepare their compleat Modell for the ensuing Session of Parliament And now comes this memorable Session of Aprill 13. 75. then which never any came with more expectation of the Court or dread and apprehension of the People the Officers Court Lords and Bishops were clearly the major Vote in the Lords House and they assured themselves to have the Commons as much at their dispose when they reckoned the number of the Courtiers Officers Pensioners encreased by the addition of the Church and Cavalier party besides the Address they had made to Men of the best quality there by hopes of Honor great employment and such things as would take In a word the French King's Ministers who are the great Chapmen of the World did not out-doe ours at this time and yet the over ruling hand of God has blown upon their Politicks and the Nation is escaped this
reverence towards the Crown but they alleadged they were to be excused when all was concerned And without speaking thus plain it is refused to be understood and however happy we are now either in the present Prince or those we have in prospect yet the suppositions are not extravagant when we consider Kings are but Men and compassed with more temptations then others And as the Earl of Salisbury who stood like a Rock of Nobility and English Principles excellently replyed to the Lord Keeper who was pleased to term them remote Instances that they would not hereafter prove so when this Declaration had made the practise of them Justifiable These Arguments enforced the Lords for the Bill to a change of this part of the Declaration so that they agreed the second and thrid parts of it should run thâ—s And I do abhorr that Trayterous position of taking Armes against by His Authority against his Person or against those that are commissioned by Him according to Law in time of Rebellion or War acting in pursuance of such Commission Which mends the matter very little for if they mean the King's Authority and his lawful Commission to be two things and such as are capable of Opposition then it is as dangerous to are the Liberties of the Nation as when it run in the former words and we only cheaâ—ed by new Phrasing of it But if they understand them to be one and the same thing as really and truly they are then we are only to abhorr the Treason of the position of taking Armes by the King's Authority against the King's Authority because it is Non-sense and not practicable and so they had done little but confest that all the Clergy and many other Persons have been forced by former Acts of this present Parliament to make this Declaration in other words that now are found so far from being Justifiable that they are directly contrary to Magna Charta our Properties and the Establish'd Law and Government of the Nation The next thing in course was the Oath it self against which the Objection lay so plain and so strong at the first entrance Viz. That there was no care taken of the Doctrine but only the Discipline of the Church The Papists need not scruple the taking this Oath for Episcopacy remains in its greatest Lustre though the Popish Religion was introduced but the King's Supremacy is justled aside by this Oath and makes better room for an Ecclesiastical One in so much that with this and much more they were inforced to change their Oath and the next day bring it in as followeth I do swear that I will not endeavour to alter the Protestant Religion or the Government either of Church or State By this they thought they had salved all and now began to call their Oath A Security for the Protestant Religion and the only good design to prevent Popery if we should have a Popish Prince But the Countrey Lords wondred at their confidence in this since they had never thought of it before and had been but the last preceeding day of the Debate by pure Shame compell'd to to this Addition for it was not unknown to them that some of the Bishops themselves had told some of the Roman Catholick Lords of the House that care had been taken that it might be such an Oath as might not bear upon them But let it be whatever they would have it yet the Countrey Lords thought the addition was unreasonable and of as dangerous consequence as the rest of the Oath And it was not to be wondred at if the addition of the best things wanting the Authority of an express divine Institution should make an Oath not to endeavor to alter just so much worse by the addition For as the Earl of Shaftsbury very well urg'd that it is a far different thing to believe or to be fully persuaded of the truth of the Doctrine of Our Church and to swear never to endeavor to alter which last must be utterly unlawful unless you place an Infallibility either in the Church or Your Self you being otherwise obliged to alter when ever a clearer or better light comes to you and he desir'd leave to ask where are the Boundaries or where shall we find how much is meant by the Protestant Religion The Lord Keeper thinking he had now got an advantage with his usual Eloquence desires it might not be told in Gath nor published in the Streets of Askalon that a Lord of so greats Parts and 〈…〉 himself for the Church of England should not know what is meant by the Protestant Religion This was seconded with great pleasantness by Divâ—rs of the Lords the Bishops but the Bishop of Winchester and some others of them were pleased to condescend to instruct that Lord that the Protestant Religion was comprehended in 39 Articles the Liturgie the Catechisme the Homilies and the Canons To this the Earl of Shaftsbury replied that he begg'd so much Charity of them to believe that he knew the Protestant Religion so well and was so confirmed in it that he hoped he should burn for the witness of it if Providence should call him to it But he might perhaps think some things not necessary that they accounâ—ed Essential nay he might think some things not true or agreeable to the Scripture that they might call Doctrines of the Church Besides when he was to swear never to endeavor to alter it was certainly necessary to know how far the just extent of this Oath was but since they had told him that the Protestant Religion was in those 5 tracts he had still to ask whether they meant those whole Tracts were the Protestant Religion or only that the Protestant Religion was contained in all those but that every part of these was not the Protestant Religion If they meant the â—ormer of these then he was extreamly in the dark to find the Doctrine of Predestination in the 18. and 17. Art to be owned by so few great Doctors of the Church and to find the 19. Art to define the Church directly as the Independents do Besides the 20. Art staâ—ing the Authority of the Church is very dark and either contradicts it self or says nothing or what is contrary to the known Laws of the Land besides several other things in the 39 Articles have been Preached and Writ against by Men of great Favor Power and Preferment in the Church He humbly conceived the Liturgie was not so sacred being made by Men the other day and thought to be more differing from the dissenting Protestants and less easy to be complyd with upon the advantage of a pretense well known unto us all of making alterations as might the better unite us in stead whereof there is scarce one alteraâ—ion but widens the breach and no ordination allowâ—d by it here as it now stands last reformed in the Act of Vniformity but what is Episcopall in so much that a Popish Priest is capable when converted of any Church preferment
without Reordination but no Protestant Minister not Episcopally ordain'd but is required to be reordain'd as much as in us lies unchurching all the forreign Protestants that have not Bishops though the contrary was both allowâ—d and practis'd from the beginning of the Reformation till the time of that Act and several Bishops made of such as were never ordain'd Priests by Bishops Moreover the Vncharitableness of it was so much against the Interest of the Crown and Church of England casting off the dependency of the whole Protestant partie abroad that it would have been bought by the Pope and French King at a vast summ of Money and it is difficult to conceive so great an advantage fell to them meerly by chance and without their help so that he thought to endeavor to alter and restore the Liturgy to what it was in Queen Elizabeths days might consist with his being a very good Protestant As to the Catachisme he really thought it might be mended and durst declare to them it was not well that there was not a better made For the Homilies he thought there might be a better Book made and the 3. Hom. of Repairing and keeping clean of Churches might be omitted What is yet stranger then all this The Canons of our Church are directly the old Popish Canons which are still in force and no other which will appear if you turn to the Stat. 25. Hen. 8. cap. 19 confirmed and received by 1. Eliz. where all those Canons are establish'd untill an alteration should be made by the King in pursuance of that Act which thing was attempted by Edward the 6th but not perfected and let alone ever since for what reasons the Lords the Bishops could best tell and it was very hard to be obliged by Oath not to endeavour to alter either the English Common-Prayer book or the Canon of the Mass. But if they meant the latter That the Protestant Religion is contein'd in all those but that every part of those is not the Protestant Religion then â—e apprehended it might be in the Bishops Power to declare ex post facto what is the Protestant Religion or not or else they must leave it to every man to judge for himself what parts of those books are or are not and then their Oath had been much better let alone Much of this nature was said by that Lord and Others and the great Officers and Bishops were so hard put to it that they seemed willing and convinced to admit of an Expedient The Lord Wharton and Old and Expert Parliament Man of eminent Piety and Abilities beside a great Friend to the Protestant Religion and Interest of England offer'd as a cure to the whole Oath and what might make it pass in all the 3 parts of it without any farther debate the addition of these words at the latter end of the Oath Viz. as the same is or shall be establish'd by Act of Parliament but this was not endured at all when the Lord Grey of Rollston a worthy and true English Lord offered another Expedient which was the addition of words by force or fraud to the beginning of the Oath and then it would run thus I do swear not to endeavor by force or fraud to alter this was also a cure that would have passed the whole Oath and seemed as if it would have carried the whole House The Duke of York and Bishop of Rochester both secondâ—ng it but the Lord Treaâ—urer who had privately before consented to it speaking against it gave the word and sign to that party and it being put to the question the major Vote answered all arguments and the L. Grey's Proposition was laid aside Having thus carried the question relying upon their strength of Votes taking advantage that those expedients that had been offered extended to the whole Oath though but one of the 3 Clauses in the Oath had been debated the other two not mentioned at all they attempted strongly at nine of the Clock at night to have the whole Oath put to the question and though it was resolutely opposed by the Lord Mohun a Lord of great courage and resolution in the Publick Interest and one whose own personal merits as well as his Fathers gave him a just title to the best favors of the Court yet they were not diverted but by as great a disorder as ever was seen in that House proceeding from the rage those unreasonable proceedings had caused in the Country Lords they standing up in a clump together and crying out with so loud a conâ—inued Voice Adjourn that when silence was obtain'd Fear did what Reason could not do cause the question to be put only upon the first Clause concerning Protestant Religion to which the Bishops desired might be added as it is now established and one of the eminentest of those were for the Bill added the words by Law so that as it was passed it ran I A. B. do swear that I will not endeavor to alter the Protestant Religion now by Law established in the Church of England And here observe the words by Law do directly take in the Canons though the Bishops had never mentioned them And now comes the consideration of the latter part of the Oath which comprehends these 2 Clauses viz. nor the Goverment either in Church or State wherein the Church came first to be considerd And it was objected by the Lords against the Bill that it was not agreeable to the King's Crown and Dignity to have His Subjects sworn to the Government of the Church equally as to Himself That for the Kings of England to swear to maintain the Church was a diffeâ—ent thing from enjoyning all His Officers and both His Houses of Parliament to swear to them It would be well understood before the Bill passed what the Government of the Church we are to swear to is and what the Boundaries of it whether it derives no Power nor Authority nor the exercise of any Power Authority or Function but from the King as head of the Church and from God as through him as all his other Officers do For no Church or Religion can justify it self to the Government but the State Religion that ownes an entire dependency on and is but a branch of it or the independent Congregations whilest they claim no other power but the exclusion of their own members from their particular Communion and endeavor not to set up a Kingdom of Christ to their own use in this World whilest our Saviour hath told us that His Kingdom is not of it for otherwise there would be Imperium in imperio and two distinct Supream Powers inconsistent with each other in the same place and over the same persons The Bishops alâ—eadged that Priesthood and the Power thereof and the Authorities belonging thereunto were derived immediately from Christ but that the license of exercising that Authority and Power in any Country is derived from the civil Magistrate To which was replied that it was a