He might know in what State His Kingdom stood in and though I never saw them afterwards yet I do not question but there was endeavours used to blind Him but if it had pleased God that His Majesty had Liâ—ed a little longer I do not doubt but he would have taken New Measures That you should never have had cause to Boast that you made him a Preselite And as for my Soveraign that now is he is as Sweet and Precious a Pâ—ince as the World can afford and it is pity you should Abuse Him for He is a King of Great Experience and hath Suffered as much as any Prince in the World which doth teach His Majesty such Wisdom that it is His whole Caâ—e to keep His Kingdoms in Peace and to have His People to Flourish and will not disturb the Peace thereof upon any Condition whatsoever and God be Thanked the King hath no need to distrust us for is not His God our God and we acknowledge Him to be a Christian King who Belives in the Almighty who made the Heavens and the Earth and he doth believe that Jesus Christ is His Son and that he came into the World to Save Sinners and I doubt not but that His whole Trust is in His Merits and we all hold and own the same so that we lack nothing but a Holy Life agreeable to the Life of Jesus but I find you are Mettlesome Spirits and want Employ therefore I would desire you to go to the Turks and Infidels and Convert them and in so doing you might expect your Reward and I should like it well but for you to think that you can Convert People when they are Converted already is meer Nonsense for it is Perverting and undoing what the Blessed Spirit hath done which will be a Sin of such a Nature that I would not be guilty of it for all the World. I know you will be Angry but I do not value it for I must discharge my Conscience toward all and if you would have me to be your Friend you must take New Measures and Learn of Christ for he did Good to all and hurt to none and if you would not have me to speak against you you must not give me the Occasion I am sure my Soveraign will not allow you to Villifie and Abuse us for He is a Prince of Justice as well as Mercy and hath promis'd That He will Defend us and not only so but will venture as far as any in our Vindication and the King was satisfied with our Loyalty and declared it to the World and how dare you condemn the Kings Judgment and Scandalize the Church for all that knows Her knows Her to be the only Church for Loyalty for doth any of you own the King to be Supream Head and Governour but She And for your part all the World knows what you own so that my Soveraign cannot be your Supream Governour and therefore there is no Comparison to be made I my self can Weigh you all down for Loyalty and if I can do so much for that am but one what shall we all do Therefore I know the King will not be Angry with me if I Vindicate the Church of England for in Vindicating of Her I Vindicate His Majesty which I have always done for when the Peers Speech Abused my Soveraign I Answered it for I hate Rebellion and the Church doth not hinder any one from that Singular Gift of Loyalty for Her Desire is That all should Fear God and Honour the King and She is the Spouse of Christ and He will own Her for His Mystical Body and every one that truly believes in Christ is a Member of that Body and all the Members makes the Whole and Her Doctrine is Holy I wish those that own Her would Live according to Her Doctrines for then they would be Safe and Happy She hath been Infallible in Her Duty to Her King which Her Discontented Brethren knows full well for that was the only thing that they laid to Her Charge That She would not be Treacherous to Her Prince nor Side with His Enemies for if She had you would not have been so great as you are now tho She was not for Popery as some thought for indeed She hath always been the Bulwark against it and that makes you Envy Her so for you think if you can but bring Her down you shall do well enough with the Brats whom you Begot tho your Infallible Belief in them may deceive you for though you made them Enemies to the Church of England yet I find they will prove no Friends to the Church of Rome for indeed every Good Soul will rather endure any thing than to be inslaved with Popery And as for the Church of England She never Lived under the Slavish Fear of it as the Dissenters did but doth Trust God with all and desires nothing else but to Serve God Truly and the King Rightly And as for Her Revelations as you say is Peculiar to Her Self is a clear Mistake and yet Her Lord and Head hath promised That the gates of Hell shall not prevail against Her And what is the Gates of Hell But all those things that lead us to Darkness and Ignorance and to fling down Gods Holy Will and to set up the Will of Men and secretly makes us to be an Enemy to Christ and a Friend to Anti-Christ But Christ is able to Save HIS OWN and that you shall know for He hath His Chosen People amongst all and I really do believe He hath His Saints and Servants in the Church of Rome as well as any other and I hope our of His Infinite Mercy He will Reconcile our Differences and make us Happy And as for those that envies our Happiness They shall not be able to stand before the Almighty in the Day of His Anger for His Power is able to disperse them and to blow them away in a Minute as his Divine Power did the Locusts Therefore I would Advise all the Enemies of the Church of England to be Quiet and Amend for the time to come for while we are Contriving the Ruin of one another God may justly destroy us all and bring in the Heathens who may bring forth better Fruits than we And for your Allowing our Loyalty to King Charles I. I do not thank you for it is well known or else you would not have owned it For that Destruction of Three Kingdoms and the Death of the Best of Princes is Writ in Gods Book and who shall be called to an Account for it God Almighty knows but I am sure You cannot be Acquitted For was it not the Fear of Popery with your Pride that caused the Difference when you Compelled the Queen to go bare-foot and in the mean time such as you Rid in Her Coach to the great Hazard of Her Life For as I was told She Miscarried who did you learn it of I am sure not of Christ nor His Disciples
of Him But I find you have not attain'd to that Excellent Perfection to have a True Faith in Christ for if you had you would never have brought your false Accusations against us for what do we do that you find so much Fault with us for I am sure all Condemns us for doing so much And as for the Dissenting Parliament I was as much against them as any but I wondered that they did do no more when the late King said He would Establish the Protestant Religion to the End of the World but they were so Factions they could not agree for there was a Duke stood in their Way but did not we stand for Him and overthrow all their Doings And did not we value the Kings Life that now is above our own We could not adhear to their fair Pretences to do Evil that Good might come of it neither to hurt Him in the least but Trusted God with all and if He was a King as He is we would lie at His Mercy And what made the Dissenters to be so much against us but because we were so much for His Majesty And how dare any to Abuse us I have not Patience to bear it for if I let it alone the very stones would speak in Vindâ—cation of Uâ— And as for the Parliament that now is it is a very Honest Parliament and I Love them and Wish them all Well and they are Knaves and Fools that speaks against them for they have Established the King in His Throne and Bear down His Enemies and have Supplied His Wants And what is it We have not done for our Soveraign For we Love Him above all things in this World for we Acknowledge Him to be Christs Vice-gerent and therefore we own none for our Governour on Earth but He and I do not doubt but our Loyalty will out-doe all Upstart Loyalty for ours doth not proceed from Shaftsbury but it proceeds from God Therefore the Church of England needs not Change Her Loyalty neither will the King doubt it for He is assured of Her Fidelity long ago Therefore She need not Learn of Her Catholick Neighbours for she is able to Teach the World Loyalty to Princes And as for the Kings Perswasions he hath Manifested to the World He is a Christian Catholick and no Roman Catholick for he doth not Tie up Conscience in such a Narrow Compass as to think none are Christians but those that owns Rome and He hath declar'd That it hath always been His Opinion and that His Majesty calls God to Witness And as for Your Complaint of King Charles I. That He would not own nor Succour you He is not to be blam'd for that for was not the Factious Party so set against Him that they were ready to devour Him for Your sakes And for Your Beast That you Exposed your Lives and Fortunes in the Kings Service it would have been better for Him if you had not been so forward you say You took great Pains in Perswading to Loyalty I do not know what you did for the Father but I am sure you did it not for the Son And for You to Examine the Behaviour of the Church Is it not known to the World that they both Perished Together And the Dissenters were in good hopes They should never rise no more but contrary to all the Expectations of such as you God hath given them A Blessed Resurrection And who should His Sacred Majesty be Kind to when He Entered the Throne of His Brother but the Church of England who stood â—n the Gap when you did not dare â—o appearâ— You say The Kings Promise did Elevate our Spirits And well it might for is not the Favour of a King Life And â—f we did Droop it was not that we Feared our Prince But Such as You as Counts Us Hereticks You say It was never known that the King did break his Word but it is no God-a-mercy to you and now You think you should be Happy if the Test and Penal Laws were Taken Away but I hope the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 satisfie your Desires for though His Majesty doth not make use of them They may stand as Rods doth upon Mantle-Trees to keep Rebellious Children in Subjection What have you done for the King that He should so much admire you I am sure he hath been a great Sufferer for you and why should you Condemn the Power of our Church for Chastizing Offenders when God never Established a Church without it for did not God give the Children of Israel Laws in all Things and those that would not submit to them was to be severely Punished and if any did secretly Intice to serve other Gods They were to be stoned to Death And as for the Death of the Priests that you so much complain of were not the Laws of God and Man against Them But what do you make so much Complaint for hath not the King Pardoned every Body that all should be Quiet And I would not have any one think that the Church of England is not worthy to obtain the Affections of Her Soveraign because she will not comply to you For God knows she is no Snake and therefore the King may Trust her and She needs no New Article and were not you ashamed to say That One Article of Loyalty was more than the Thirty Nine You are a Goodly Christian And as for Your Parliament you boast on That will not so easily Admit a New Article into Their Creed They may be such for ought I know that will not own any like them that will own Christ within but disobey Him in the Chief of His Commands But is this your Love You ought rather to have studied the Peace of his Kingdoms but you would hurry all into Confusion and then Laugh at us when you have done Do you think we value the King and Government at so small a Rate as to resign up our Interest to such as you No we value that above the World and therefore do not Condemn them that are not free to Abrogate the Test for if they be I think they do not Love His Majesty or is not willing to serve him for the Test is only an Assurance that they might Serve Him and as long as They are Just and Honest I know none more fit for they have been True to their King and I hope they will be so to their God for I am sure Gods best Servants are the Kings Best Subjects and as for Your Opinion which is Spread through Christendom Is no Argugument of the Truth of it for Christ says My Flock is but a little one and many are Called but few are Chosen And as for the Corporal Presence of Christ which you count is his Real Presence is a Clear Mistake to think that any of the Divines of the Reformed Church do own for Christ cannot eat Himself but for His Divine Presence God forbid any own should disown for Christ hath promised That where two or
three were gathered together he would be in the midst of them and how much more at the Administration of His Blessed Sacrament which Represents His Death None disowns but that by Faith it is the Spiritual Body and Blood of Christ but as for His Natural Body it is in the Heavens and there to be Reserv'd till the Dissolution Therefore It cannot be broken nor eaten And as for the Gravity of the Church of England That She is fond of any New Point of Faith and that you say her own Children blames her Alass they do not understand the Subtilty of the Spiritual and Temporal Adversary for God would not allow a Similitude of His own Presence for God says What will you liken me to And when Mâ—sâ—s Died did not God hide him and was it not because the People was naturally Inclin'd to Idolatry And doth He not fill the Heavens and the Earth and is He not in all Things else and where was He before the Heavens were made Is He not Almighty and His being is in Himself and who can conceive Him For when He moves the Angels flee and the Cherubims cover their Faces For who is able to behold His Glory What then will become of sinful man since God is so Glorious that none can stand before him if Christ had not took Humanity upon Him and thereby made us partakers of His Divine Nature that we might be capable to partake of His Glory in his Eternal Kingdom Therefore you that are Enemies to Christ and his Saints I would intreat you if ever you intend to be happy to Repent and do not be overmuch Conceited of Your Infallibillity for you see the Jews were Mistaken and do you think to be more Infallible than they that God planted with Miracles which he never did yours I know there is nothing Infallible but God and His Eternal Word and I do really believe the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against His True Church but is it any Argument that you must be that because you have a Being in the World and don 't you know some may Die and yet Live and the Fallen Angels were not destroyed for God prepared a place for them for there is nothing comes by Chance for Gods Providence takes Care of all and God will be Glorified of all Therefore I would not have you to be deceived but to Believe for God tells you That Soul that sins shall die he doth not say That he shall go into Purgatory and that some Men of your Order should Punish it and when you think it is enough a good sum of Money will send it to Heaven Doth not this Rob God of His 〈…〉 And whereas He hath commanded that there should be no other Gods 〈◊〉 Himself doth not it make many For there is none hath power over the Soul but God for is it not His own Breath But pray tell me where this place is and which way they go to it and who it is that keeps the List of every Mans sins For certainly you must send some Trusty Messenger that must bring the Last of their Iniquities safe for else every sin will not be punish'd and how do you know when they are and who is he that can tell how many sins a man commits for they are very cunning and may not confess all And there be some things that Men count sin which God may not and some things which Men count not how can you distinguish I am very Inquisitive to know because I lov'd my late Soveraign and I highly condemn you for your Unkindness for if you had had any Charity you could not have let him staid so long but I hope God will deliver my Soveraign that how is that He shall never come under such Dominion You stole away my Soveraign and yet are not you Contented Methinks this should have made you New Creatures the Favour of such a Prince But what disturbs you that you should be so Angry with us What doth the Sun shine too bright upon you Or doth God shew you too much Favour Or have you got the Nature of the Fallen Angels that did not know when they were Happy or hath Shaftsbury left his Spirit for a Legacy that you may carry on his Designs Do not Disturb the Kings Peace but rest Contented lest God Clips your Wings and if you Fall I hope you will have no more Resurections in this part of the World. And tho others may prompt you to be an Enemy to the Church of England yet their Fall would be your Ruin. But God be Thanked we have no need to Fear for the King will not with-draw his Favour from us neither shall Men or Devils prevent it And so GOD Save the KING