Succession of Bishops and Priests they retain a Liturgy they continue the Sign of the Cross and bow at the Name of Jesus and wear the Surplice and seeing in all these things they agree with the Church of Rome Therefore the Church of England are Papists Now from the same Systeme of Logick I thus argue The Turk agrees with the Protestants in their renouncing the Popes Infallibility Supremacy Indulgence Transubstantiation Adoration of Images c. Ergo the Turk is a Protestant Sir I think it just as far from Constantinople to Geneva as from Geneva to Constantinople and when your Cretain Disputers will quit their Sophistry and grant the Church of England to be no Papists then I will be so honest as to protest That the Turk is no Protestant but till then I will defend that the Argument does bene quadrare or in plain English 't is as long as 't is broad Pray Sir do not mistake me for I assure you I am so far from any Alliance to Popery that I dare adventure to converse with that nice Company of Mr. Oates I am sure he never saw me at a Popish Consult in his Life I have had the good Fortune never to know one Jesuite or Romish Priest in Europe but I confess I have no great Fondness for the Words Protestantâ— though I am resolved to live and die in that Religion as it is wisely established in the Church of England and because I am not of the Fanatick-Temper to cavil for nothing but Obstinacy and Humor I will ingenuously give you my Reasons why I have a singular Disgust against that Word Protestant I doubt not but you are so much Dutchified as to understand the Phrase Hogan-Mogan as well as I and to grant Protestant to be a High and Mighty Word in England but yet for all this I do not like it and for these Reasons First My last Intelligence from Adrianople assured me That the Grand Sultan and all his Musselmen are no way Popishly affected but are ready to take the Test against Popery and to renounce all Popish Doctrines and Superstitions with as much Devotion as any Presbyterian in England Now if the meer Protesting against the Pope must be the Essential Character of Christian Religion I confess I cannot tell how to avoid the Consequence but must conclude the Turk to be a Protestant and I think that Name ought not to be so passionately Courted by a Christian that will not distinguish him from a Turk Secondly The Established Church of England though the best Reformed Church in the World yet in great Wisdom does not assume this particular Characteristick of Protestant in all its Articles Canons and Liturgy and therefore I see no reason why I should be so privately enamoured of that Name which the Church never thought fit Publickly to espouse Thirdly The Word Protestant is above four and fifty Degrees of Northern Latitude and hath so large an Arch that it comprehends Quakerism Anabaptism Catabaptism Familism and all the Fanatick Colonies and New-found-Lands of Enthusiasm And though Sir such a Paper-Roguery as the Dialogue may call these men Fanaticks yet you know all sober and moderate men call them Protestants and I acknowledge I have no great kindness for that Word which does level a Cathedral to a Conventicle and makes no distinction betwixt an Archbishop and a Lay-Elder If I were cast upon Japan and some Commanding Japonese would have an Account of my Religion I suppose you would give me leave to answer I am a Christian which is a Sound intelligible to all Nations If I should tell him I was a Protestant he would Fancy that Name to be some particular Sect of Northern Paganism But suppose in my Return I should Land at Thoulon and there some Brisk Monsieurs should demand my Religion now if I should answer I was a Protestant they would run me through all the Compass of Protestant Religion ask me Whether I were a Protestant according to the North or according to the Points of the North and by East or the North North-East or the North-East and by North and so whirl me through more than two and thirty Points before I could come to State my true Position And since our Circumstances require that we must have some other Denomination besides that of Christian I confess I have most Veneration for the Title of Catholick which was of much Elder Date than the Papacy and hath been Confirmed and Conseerated by Three Creeds and Four General Councils and the constant Vsage of the Eastern and Western Churches and though the Ancient Church did in Councils and Publick Confessions protest against the Heresies of Arrius Novatus Eutyches Donatus c with as much Solemnity as ever any did against Popish Doctrines yet they thought it not Wisdom from this Accident to call themselves Protestants but did sacredly retain the old Title of Catholick and notwithstanding the general Signification of the Word Catholick yet I observe that particular Patriarchates and Provinces of the Christian Church did claim a share in this Title for I have seen Imperial and Conciliary Epistles to the Bishops of the Catholick Church of Alexandria Constantinople c. And this Sir before the first Date of your History of Popery I love no Stylo novo in Religion and therefore according to the Old Style I call my self a Member of the Reformed Catholick Church of England Now this Character will distinguish me from the Pope the Fanatick and the Turk that Fiery Triplicity of the World Fourthly I have a Perswasion That if the several Churches which reformed themselves from the Errors and Superstitions of Rome had continued a Succession of Bishops and Priests and had retained the Title of Catholick with some decent Reverence in publick Solemnities all modest Papists would have embraced the Communion of the Reformed Churches and the Pope would soon have been confined to St. Peter's Patrimony But leaving the Pope in possession of that Ancient Title of Catholick and assuming to our selves a New Style which the Church never knew for 1500 years was as mighty an advantage to Rome and as great a mischief to the Reformation as our Enemies themselves could have designed for this gave occasion for many to conclude That our Church had no Elder Epocha than the Augustan Confession and that our Religion was as new as the Title of it How many Proselytes this great Scandal though little Argument hath gained the Church of Rome I leave to unpassionate men to consider and whether the Jesuite have not used all his Arts to render this Word Protestant as Sacred and Venerable as he can is not unworthy of Suspition or Enquiry I know there are many good Men who never well thought of this Matter who with great Innocence glory as much in the Title of Protestant as the Ancient Martyrs in that of Christian and I openly declare without any Masquerade That I do as sincerely abhor all Papal Usurpations Innovations and Superstitions as
excellent Credit for the Established Ministry under whose Conduct and Teaching they live Cav I confess if all the Souls in England were under the actual Conduct of the Established Ministry there were some Consequence in your Insinuation but you know very well that there are many Thousands who are bewildred by those Wandring Stars who have no Fixure from Heaven nor Establishment on Earth It was this sort of Seduced People for whom that Reflexion was intended and therefore had you been unpassionate you might have observed That it was the Fanatick's Lot to speak that Passage and as of those of his own Tribe and indeed I do believe That most of those deluded People have no more skill in Primitive Christianity than the Chineses have in Mathematicks And how is it possible they should have a clear Notion of Religion who are led by the Mists of Darkness as St. Jude calls the Schismaticks of old I suppose you have seen the Authentick Speeches of Kid and King the two late Preaching Rebels of Scotland Were not they excellent Professors of Divinity How passionately did they expound some Texts of Moses for the Religious observation of the Scottish Covenant which had no more relation to that Matter than the Chapter of the Cow in the Alcoran of Mahomet And you cannot expect that the People should have more Judgment than their Rabbies And therefore when some of the Captive-Rebels were interrogated for what Reason they took up Arms they Answered for Defence of the Truth And being further examined For what Truth They could give no Account of that And being Catechized they did not know two Articles of the Christian Creed nor one of the Ten Commandments and as for their Duty towards God or their Neighbour I suppose you will easily grant they were never taught such meer Moral Divinity Now pray Sir consider How can such silly Women and uneducated Men who were scarce over taught any other Gospel than that according to the Canticles who never heard any other Divinity besides Fanatick Separations and Enthusiastick Vnions how can these I say he supposed to have any truer Notion of Christianity than the Chineses had in Clock-work But as for that humble and devouter part of the Commonalty who have lived in a constant Communion with the Established Church I believe they have a better Understanding of Christian Religion than most of the Friers of Rome or the People-Drivers of England This Expression may offend you especially when I must tell you I was taught it by Imperial Authority for when the Council of Chalcedon had determined that Controversie for which they were Assembled the Emperors Valent. and Marcian did strictly Command by their Imperial Edicts That all should acquiesce in the Decrees of the Council and did prohibit all Conventicles in this excellent Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and now proceed Sir Cour. You falsly suggest that there are many unconforming Ministers posted in the Establish'd Church by the Title of Sober and Moderate Men. Cav Sir I heartily wish that Suggestion were false I am infallibly assured That there is a lamentable Corporation in the Cantons of the East-Angles which according to my Map is next door to Roterdam the Living indeed is an Appropriation and managed by Fanatick-Lessees but in this Half-Moon have been posted two or three Non-conforming Ministers who have no more Holy Orders than the Turkish Mufti and here the unfortunate Infants either have no Christendom or else by no better Commission than a Midwife-Authority and the Dead Buried with no more Solemnity than an Ass Whether the Churches Canons have lately forced these uncommissioned Officers to quit the Post I am not yet informed but I am sure That for some years since the King's Restaturation they did desecrate the very Church and had their Pay out of the Parochial Tithes and were adored by the silly Vulgus with the Title of sober and moderate Men But I acknowledg These sort of Men were not principally intended by my Insinuation for I look upon these as Religious Banditi and under a Covenant to war against the Church but I mean such who by Episcopal Orders and Institution have a fixed Station within the Church and yet by Disobedience and Treachery do undermine that Establishment Sr. My Conscience assures me that the Latin Verse which is the Sign-Post to your Popish Courant is a false position as to me but in respect of these Men it will run true Tuta frequensque via est sub amici fallere nomen Tuta frequensque licet sit via Crimen habet I think it might be demonstrated that he is a Non-conformist who not only crosses the Line but comes short of the direct Canon of Conformity Suppose you should lend upon bond to one of your dear Brethren whom ye will not call Fanaticks the full Sum of an hundred pounds of good and lawful English Money to be paid to the above said Couranter at a determined time and when that Period be expired your friend should honestly come and tender you thirty pieces and tell you that he was able indeed to pay the Sum total but having some in his Family who had a great tenderness for Money and did not love the height of Law-conformity that therefore he was resolved he would never pay more than this thirty pound Would you gravely applaud the Prudentials of the man and style it soberness and moderation or would you according to Law call it non-payment Sir do but consider without prejudice whether the Oaths and Obligations of Canonical Obedience are not more Sacred Ties of Conscience than the hand and seal to a Noverint Vniversi and eke also c. but you are so good at Deductions that I will leave you to make the application The honest Divines of the Church of England who for the◠Conscience and Obedience are Branded for High-flyers look upon the Rubricks of the Common-Prayer-Book as indispensible Directions of the Church and as commanded by Authority of Parliament for the act of Uniformity not only establishes those publick Praiers and Offices but commands That all and singular Ministers in any Cathedral Collegiate or Parish-Church or Chappel or other place of publick Worship within this Realm of England shall be bound to say and use Morning and Evening Prayer Celebration and Administration of both the Sacraments and all other the Publick and Common Prayer in such Order and Form as is mentioned in the said Book Entituled the Book of Common-Prayer c. That is according to the Rubricks for that is the only Order and Form of usage Now one of the first Orders which is to be noted in the Common-Praier-Book is that such Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof at all times of their Ministration shall be Retained and be in Use as were in the Church of England by the Authority of Parliament in the Second Year of King Edward the sixth But I know some humoursome Ministers in the Establish'd Church that dare
not wear a Surplice in Winter because it is too cold a Garment They would fancy themselves to be in Lapland and buried in Snow and to put it on in Summer looks like going into the Furnace of Babylon perhaps there may be two or three Critical Daies within the Calendar of Moderation when these Men will vouchsafe to be clothed in white but then they wear these Ornaments of the Church with more Regret than the Christian-Martyrs did the Bear-skins It is enjoyned by Rubrick and Statute-Law That the Offices of Morning and Evening Praier should be fully and exactly performed for this Service being devoted both by Church and State as the National Sacrifice to the Eternal God There is great reason that the God of Infinite Perfection should not be affronted with the sleight Oblation of half a Sacrifice but I know some whom the People will call sober and moderate Men who like the irregular Sons of Eli will chose and snatch at some peculiar parts of the Sacrifice which best please their nicer fancies and leave the rest as not worthy to be touched It is prescribed both by Authority of Church and Parliament that the Communion-Office to the end of the Catholick-Praier should upon all Sundays and Festivals be read at the Holy Table and this is so far from Innovation that the whole Christian World for about 1500 years never had such a thing as a Desk in their Houses of Praier but all their Devotions or Christian-Sacrifices which were immediately directed to the Almighty God were offered up at the holy Table which was therefore called the Altar and I have reason to believe that this Altar was railed in for I find the Council of Chalcedon which assembled in the Church of S. Euphemia were placed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is sitting before the Cancelli Rails or Steps of the holy Altar and yet I know men within the establisht Church who are more unwilling to go to the Altar than our Saviour was to go up to Mount Calvar men who never come at the Table but upon the necessity of a Sacrament and then too they will force the Table to come down to them It is required that he who Ministers should read the Publick Prayers with a distinct and audible voice I know some of these moderate men who read them with such cold and careless murmurings as if they thought that Sacrifice not worthy of the Calves of their lips but when they mount the Pulpit the Calm is changed into Thunder and Tempest It was the custome of the Ancient Church and the Command of our own to use the sign of the Cross within the Office of Baptisme and though that usage is carefully stated and expounded by the Sense of the Church to prevent mistake or superstition yet I know some who prefer the Chamber before the Church and the Possit-Bason before the Hallowed Font which have no more regard to this significant Ceremony than Jews or Mahometans who are declared Enemies to the Cross of Christ Indeed if there chance to be in the Parish a bold Cavaliering Gentleman who looks upon the Cross as the great Ensign of our Religion and Nation perhaps if such an one be concerned the moderate Curate may be frighted into observance and yet then if possible he will cheat the Congregation and give the Infant only a dash over the head like an Adverb but will avoid crossing the line for fear of raising Spirits or Storms Now in this matter I would humbly advise these scrupulous Gentlemen to construe and consider the modest Sentiment of Isaac Caesaiâ—bon who was a man of as much learning and as little Popery as any moderation-man in England Scimus veterem Ecclesiam in vita communis usu in ritibus sacris multum usam esse venerabili illo signo sed ut pia ceremonia quae rationi addicta animos fidelium ad Christi crucem veheret non materiae alicui terrenae aut figurae aut gestui affigeret Hoc sensu Sanctissimi Prudentissimique illi Antistites qui Ecclesiae in Anglia reformandae negotio praefuerunt in publicis locis cruces passi sunt remanere in nonnullis etiam ritibus sacris retinuerunt ut in Baptismo And now truly Sir I am still of opinion that those Demi-canons whose mouths are turned into the Church do it more mischief than all the Fanatick Blunderbusses Cour. You call the Commons of England uneducated Cav This Cavil is so idle and so mistaken that it deserves not to be considered and therefore all I shall say to it is this that that part of the Commons who are indued with honesty and good education will have so much wit and loyalty as never to quarrel with the expression and for the rest they are at your service Cour. Nay but you dishonour the Gentlemen and say they are half-witted and easie to be imposed upon Cav I see malice is no good Commentator for the Text implies no more than that some of the Commons are uneducated and some of the Gentlemen half-witted and he that doth not believe this to be true must neither have wit nor education I call them half-witted Gentlemen who will suffer their private Animosities to become publick Quarrels against their Prince I think them half-witted Gentlemen who can be decoyed into the Tents of the Faction by that cajoling pretence that there is no method to keep out Popery but to bring in the Presbyterian Now these wheadled Gentlemen look to me like the Sheep in the Apologue who being informed that the ill-natured Curs had a plot upon the Flock were put into great hurries some of the wisest thought it their greatest security and interest to keep close to the conduct and protection of the Shepherd but the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 appointed several Woollen Committees to consider of this grand Affair these Staple-Politicians voted in the Wolves as the most proper and stoutest Guardians against their implacable Enemies the bloody Dogs but no sooner were these Patrons admitted into the Fold but they devoured that Flock they were chosen to defend even so he that hath but one scruple of Wit will understand the Moral Shall not I think those Gentlemen easie to be imposed upon who can be brought to believe that those men who once overturned the Government are the fittest persons to be chosen to support it Cour. But there 's worse than all this yet for you scoffe at the Protestant Religion and call it a Hogan-Mogan Word nay you say the Turk may be taken into the Poll-Book of Protestants because he abhors the Popish Mass c. Cav I do not question but you have seen the Letter from Legorn Now I do think the Turk is full as much a Protestant as the Queen is a Mahometan and I will further maintain That the Turks are as much Protestants as the Church of England are Papists for thus your dear Friends dispute against us The Church of England continues a
if I had intended to have acquainted the Fanaticks as I call them with this Advantage and security of Assassination that I would have Published the Mystery No sure I should have gone to * An House of Vanity or a Conventicle Bethaven and whispered the Matter to some of the Secret Ones but I thought to publish the Danger was a very honest Method to prevent it But I observe you are very Civil to the King and call him Sacred Majesty and so indeed he is by the Style of Religion and Law but I am afraid that men of your Temper do never complement Princes but when they are above your affronts and you will allow the King to be Sacred so long as he can assert his Majesty but if ye can devest him of his Sovereignty and reduce him into condition to be affronted then he shall be Charles Stuart again and his Family no more jure divino than that of the late Vsurper There are a sort of men in England who treat their Princes as the Pagans did their Deities call them Sacred and pay them adoration and Sacrifice as long as their humours are served and their Interest indulged or under some present air but like them they must have their Gods inclosed in narrow shrines and in a Storm if the wind do not favour their course they will affront their Numen which before they adored and having him upon the chain will whip him into compliance But these men I speak of under the rose to use your own Parenthesis have out-done those Pagan Insolencies and in a Tempest of their own raising cast their Deity overboard because he would not answer their unreasonable Addresses And here Sir in plain dealing which you call Impudence I will give you my Sence of Popish Plots I am so far in this matter from being an Infidel that I believe the Popish Plot is as old as the Reformation and that there have been no times since the happy Inauguration of Queen Elizabeth without some Trains and Jesuitical Consults to subvert the establisht Government of Church and State except the times of our late confusions for then there was no need of Plotting when the Jesuite by his Fanatick Engines had effected the ruine of Church and Monarchy and so sate down in ease and triumph and founded Colleges in those days which made such a noise in these No sooner had God by a Miracle restored the King to his Crown and the Church to its orderly Establishment but the Popish Mines were framed anew and the Jesuite proceeds in course to consult our ruine and as for those men that opened the Vault and discovered the Mine in our late Critical Juncture may they find that reward which their truth justice and honest intentions deserve Now that which gives the Pope such a peculiar Envy to the Church of England is this By our Episcopacy and Priesthood by our publick Confession of the Ancient Creeds by our well-composed Liturgy and by solemn Decency and Order in publick Devotions We retain the Face of an Ancient Catholick and Apostolick Church and if we should continue undisturbed for some Ages the Beauty and Eminency of our Primitive Christianity might have such an Influence upon most part of Christendom That they would discover the Cheat of Popish Supremacy and Innovations and reform according to our most excellent Model of the first 400 years but I am confident if this Monarchy and Hierarchy were destroyed and Fanaticism had the Regency of England that the Pope would be at no farther charges for the carrying on of Plots for such a Chaos of Fanaticism would serve as an excellent Foil to commend the Beauty of the Romish Church and might add many Proselytes to that Religion but for want of Foundation and Argument they would be so unable to contend with the Papacy that the Pope would not think them worthy of his Designs If there be not some Truth in this pray give me a Reason Why since the Reformation we never heard of so many Popish Plots against Holland and Geneva as against the established Government and Religion of England Cour. You have impudent Reflections upon the King and Parliament c. Cav I confess the Reflections you point to were very impudent but in that consists their Propriety The Pamphlet was a Dialogue between the two immortal Enemies of the King and Church and I thought that wise and honest men would not mistake those rude Expressions for the Sentiments of the Author for if I had made the Pope and Fanatick to have spoken Civilly of Princes and talked like honest men and good Subjects I had misrepresented the Scene and perverted the Nature of the Beast for had you been with me at Leicester-Election and heard those rude Fanatick Clamors against his most Sacred Majesty and seen their Affronts to the Loyal Gentry and Clergy you would have thought that I had managed the Fanatick with great Prudence and taught him to speak with more Modesty and Manners than he would have been guilty of had he been left to his natural Idiom But if you will have my own Sence I look upon the King to be as God's immediate Delegate in the Government of these Nations and therefore reckon a Libel against my Prince to be but one Remove from Blasphemy I have a very great Honour and Veneration for his Grace the Duke of Lauderdale and I do not question but that Noble Lord whose Wisdom hath contributed very much to the Safety of Three Kingdoms will easily discern That the Author intended no Dishonour to his Name by that honest Rudeness of Lucifer or Lauderdale Cour. You have an impudent Reflexion too upon those of the Long Robe p. 4. Cav I believe there never was more worthy and Loyal Men under the Long Robe than there is in this Age but you know there was once a Society less Numerous and more Sacred that yet had one Traitor that wore the Pallium and among so many Thousands that are used to carry the Bag it would be little less than Miracle if there should not be found two or three who would betray their Lord to an High Court of Justice if there were a Jewish Sanhedrim to tempt them with the Silver pieces Cour. You ridicule Sir E. B. G's Murder and scornfully call him that meer Shadow of a Knight Cav I had as great a value for Sir E. B. G. and as serious a Sense of his Murder as you but you know from his thin Body he was usually called The Ghost and being to speak the Sense of his Enemy I thought the Shadow of a Knight might have been a pardonable Phrase for my part I am so far from making a Ridicule as you call it of that Worthy Person that I look upon the Blood of Sir E. B. G. as the most substantial Evidence of the Popish Plot. Cour. You affirm The Common People of England have no more Judgment in Theology than the Chineses had in Mathematicks an
your Courantship it self but I confess I have no Courtship for that distinguishing Name of Protestant which serves so much to Eternize the Divisions of Christendom and to promote the Jesuitical and Fanatick-Intrigues of England Cour. You honour the Cavaliers with the Title of unconsidering Animals Cav As for my calling some of the Cavaliers unconsidering Animals if they please to consider the honest purpose of that Reflection it will be the best Answer to you and Satisfaction to me Cour. But you dishonour the House of Commons making your Fanatick say We have a House of Commons of our own Temper Cav In this I was so far from forcing the Fanatick against his Sense that I left him to his own Freedom for after the last Election they did openly boast in Streets and Coffee-houses That they had now a Parliament that would make the Clergy leave off their Surplices and they hop'd now to see the Day when their Gowns should be pull'd over their Ears with such like insolent Bravado's And therefore if there be any Mistake or Injury done to tee present House of Commons they must impute the Reason of our Suspitions to the publick and imprudent Triumphs of the Fanatick Party who did so much Glory in them as their Mighty Friends and Patrons Indeed this Present House of Commons had the ill Fate to be introduced with just such Tumults and Popular Heats as that of Forty One And I know 't is Faction only that is Turbulent Loyalty and good Meaning are quiet Virtues and never produce an Earthquake or a Tempest though they may do what they can to preserve themselves from these violent Commotions I know there are many Gentlemen of undoubted Integrity to Church and State but there is reason to suspect a Mixture or else we should never have had so many Popular and Factious Petitions handed with so many subscribing Conventiclers for the Sitting of this Parliament Cour. But you strike at the Basis of the Government and blow a Trumpet for Rebellion when you tell the World of an immortal opposition between the King and Parliament That the Constitution that is of Parliaments is unpracticable and that either we must have a King without a Parliament which is an English Impossibility or else a Parliament without a King And to make sure Work you repeat it in these Words There is no Medium to be fancied between Empire and Commonwealth the King must either resolve to take up the Imperial Crown or prepare to lay down his Head whereby you must mean an Absolute Despotick Power Cav Though we are ready to defend our Sovereign with our Lives and Fortunes we are only prepared to suppress a Rebellion but never design to foment it Our Powder will never fire within an Ordinance of Parliament nor shall our Swords ever breath a Vein without a Commission from the King I have as natural an aversation to Rebellion as a Fanatick hath to Loyalty I have not in me one Atom of Popery or Presbytery but my Allegiance is of the same Temper with that of Primitive Christianity But I suppose I might with Convenanting Kid be a Rebel to my Prince and yet enjoy the good Opinion of the Saints and have the Privilege to be Canoniz'd for you know many of your Friends Allarm'd the Nation into a late Rebellion by Carse ye Meroz and such like Celeusma's and quoted the Revelations for sounding of Trumpets but I perceive the high and mighty Crime that you so aggravate is Misprision against the most Sacred Majesty of the People for you say I strike at the Basis of the Government when I insinuate that the Constitution by Parliaments is unpracticable Sir I know that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is honest Greek for a King and it signifies the Basis of the People but I see according to some Constructions the Commons are the Basis of the King and Government too and so by this Scheme of Politiques when an Ordinance of Parliament struck off the Head of the King the Aâ—ce did not strike at the Basis of the Government only cut off some Guilded Flourish upon the Top of the Column but the Foundation was unshaken as long as any Commons sate at Westminster Pray Sir for fear of this nice Danger of striking at the Basis of the Government be pleas'd in your next Courant to give us a Logical Definition of the Government of England whether we may in one word call it a Monarchy and then I know who is the Basis of the Government and if he never be wounded till my Hand strike him I promise you for all me he shall be immortal or whether we must call it a Monarchical Aristocratical or Democratical Government or a Democratical Aristocratical Monarchy Sir This looks like a Conjuring Circle but if you can find out the certain Square of it it will be a very obliging Discovery But when you accuse me for making the Constitutions of Parliaments unpracticable you sum up the Evidence without the least Favour or Mitigation for you might have considered That I granted Parliaments to have been a most-happy Constitution and that it was the fault of Fanatick-Confusions and Effronteries that rendred this Constitution unpracticable There is no man hath more Wishes and greater Veneration for Loyal Parliaments than I for then I should think the Constitution not only practicable but the most Happy in the World but when the Nation is convuls'd with Fanatick-Rage and Madness of the People and so much Canvassing for a Choice of the most likely Men to oppose and affront the King so long I must think that Constitution unpracticable but then it is not I but your Friends in Meeting-Houses that render the House of Commons unpracticable Sir Let me tell you a Story from Legorn There was a Poderoso Sennor who had left to him by his Ancestors a most curious piece of Clock-Work which for many years after its first composure perform'd its motions with excellent order and exactness but in process of time one of the considerable Wheels broke loose from the Clasps and due subordination to the Primum mobile which so disorder'd the whole Frame that nothing was heard but Whurries and Alarms This Noble Lord did several times by his own hands pull up the weights to try whether the Wheels might fall into their due Center and Order but no sooner were they mounted aloft but down they came with noise and confusion at length an honest Don plainly tells his Lordship that one of the three greater Wheels had started from its ancient Circle and from the power of the first mover and so long as it was thus displac'd and disorder'd the motion would be confus'd and irregular and it was but vanity to pull up the weights But if his excellent care and wisdom could provide another Wheel that might be made of the ancient Temper and fram'd with fit Dimensions and plac'd upon its just Center with a due Closure and subordination to the primary moving power