Reasons against petitioning the King for restoring the deprived Bishops without Repentance By a Divine of the Church of England 1. TO petition King William for restoring those Men to their Revenues Dignities and Functions who think him an Usurper and the late King James to be rightful King and that all who have sworn Allegiance to King William who hâ—â— formerly sworn to the late King James are forsworn is in effect to petition for the late King James that he might be set in the Throne and for the French King his right Arm and for the supposititious and feigned Prince of Wales and for idolatrous Father Peters it is to petition King William against himself and against the Parliament and against the present Government and to undo all that hath been done and involve three Nations in Confusion and establish Popery and Slavery for all Generations I say to petition that they may be restored without Repentance of this their wicked Error is plainly so 2. The Persons petitioned for while they retain this their wicked Error cannot be restored without an essential Alteration of the present Liturgy which the Petitioners themselves are utterly against and the Persons petitioned for all along unto the present Change have been utterly against also and must be supposed to be so still unless Self-Interest or some other Reason hath made them change their Mind For the prescribed Forms of Prayer for K. William and Q. Mary are an essential part of the Liturgy and no Man can without notorious Hypocrisy and dissembling use them and unfeignedly assent and consent to them and require of Persons to be ordained instituted and inducted unfeigned Assent and Consent to them who thinks in his Conscience that King William and Queen Mary are Usurpers and that it is sinful to swear Allegiance to them So that if the King and Parliament had made no Law for swearing Allegiance to their present Majesties but had left all Ministers free to swear or not as they saw good of necessity the Persons petitioned for must have been Non-conformists to the Church of England in one essential Point and to dissent in any one essential Point is instar omnium as if they had dissented in all 3. The Persons petitioned for have made themselves infamous to the Nation and to all the Reformed Churches and to the late King James and all his Adherents by their own notorious self-contradicting and self-confounding Practices For they by their published Declaration Decemb. 11 1688. to which I refer them immedia 〈…〉 upon the late King's withdrawing himself and real Abdication and leaving his People as Sheep without a Shepherd and by subsequent Acts pursuant to that Declaration did indeed tho â—â—t in word renounce and disclaim all Allegiance to the late King James and betook themselves to the then Prince of Orange as under God the Saviour and Prâ—tector of the Nation from Popery and Slavery So that of all Persons in the Nation none have so little reason to scruple Allegiance to their present Majesties as the deprived Bishops Let them but reconcile themsel 〈…〉 to their former Actions and they must needs own and consent that his prâ—seâ—â— Majesty is most rightful King For them now to stand off from Alleg 〈…〉 to their present Majesties what is it but to play fast and loose with God and Conscience in Matters which concern the Temporal and Eternal Safety of three Kingdoms which is very sinful and scandalous in a common Man and much more in Bishops They please not God and are contrary to all Men 1 Thess 2. 15. 4. It is alledged that the Persons petitioned for did in the Reign of the late King perform an Act singularly meritorious which cost them Imprisonment in the Tower Touching which let these things be impartially weighed 1. In the Judgment of the present Bp of H. it was no meritorious Act at all but criminal as his own published Paper doth witness and his sending abroad the late King's Declaration to the Clergy of his Diocess to publish it contrary to the Judgment and Practice of the imprisoned Bishops And therefore it is to be wondred at if his Lordship shall now in petitioning for the deprived Bishops applaud that as highly meritorious which some Years ago he did in Print declare to all the World to be vituperable 2. Admitting it to be singularly meritorious it could merit only Temporal Glory and this they have had the Nation hath applauded them for it This can be no Atonement for future Crimes and Scandals without Repentance They have stained the Glory of their past Merit for lack of Perseverance and by their Disloyalty to the present Government For the late French Invasion and the Rebellion in Ireland and united Endeavours of Papists and other Sons of Belial against their present Majesties and their Government are the genuine Consequence of this wicked Error and seditious Principle held by the deprived Bishops that their present Majesties are Usurpers and that it is sinful to swear Allegiance to them 3. The deprived Bishops about the time of their Imprisonment did in Print express Tenderness towards the Dissenters and promised them fair things when they should have opportunity in the next Parliament and Convocation the generality of the Nation both Clergy and Laity did approve this their Promise They have had the opportunity of performing this their Promise but they have not had the Honesty and Integrity so to do For it is the deprived Bishops and their Adherents who refuse to come to reasonable Accord with the Dissenters and keep up the Breach between their Majesties Protestant Subjects and dislike the Act for Toleration and so render themselves dishonest and peâ—fidious Persons who in time of Affliction and impending Calamity make just and equal Promises and when the Affliction is over refuse to perform and invent sinful Shifts and Evasions to cloak their Hypocrisy 5. To petition the King and Parliament for restoring these Disloyal Persons to their Profits and Honours and Ecclesiastical Functions without Repentance of their 〈…〉 Error against the present Government is plainly to petition the King and Parliament that they will be unjust and make themselves and the Laws and Government odious to God and all good Men by affording equal Honour Countenance and Protection to good and bad Subjects to loyal and disloyal Persons to the worthy and unworthy Sontibus nimis ignoscendo in sontibus fit injuria 6. The present way of petitioning is not for mutual Forbearance and Condescension towards all such as agree in the Foundation and do but differ in Circumstantials and things indifferent and variable Modes and Forms no way destructive of the Foundation such a Petition we are no way against but greatly for But it is that the King and Parliament will devise some way whereby those may be restored to their Profits Dignities and Offices whose disloyal and seditious Principles strike at the Foundation and unhinge the Government and tend to universal Confusion and
and protecteth his Subjects in their Civil Rights and in the free exercise of their Religion and it cannot be proved that he is an Usurper All that can be alledged is but Conjecture and uncertain Opinion and doubtful Disputation which in a Point of this nature signifies nothing at all For unless it be plain and clear as the Sun at Noon-day that he is not rightful Possessor of the Throne if the Evidence be not so clear and plain as fully to convince the Consciences of all impartial Men sincerely studious of their Duty to God and the King if there be twenty Reasons for and as many Reasons against King William the Consciences of all in the Nation are bound to own and submit to him as rightful King and to renounce and disclaim Allegiance to the late King James as having no Right at all to the Throne 11. The Nation hath not deposed the late King but he hath deposed himself and abdicated himself from the Government by invading the Fundamental Laws of the Nation whereby the mutual Rights of Prince and People do consist particularly by going about to impose on three Kindoms a suppo 〈…〉 〈…〉 ce of Wales in order to bring in the Papacy and subjecting them to a Foreign Ju 〈…〉 ction as to Ecclesiastical Causes and enslaving them as to their Civil Rights and excluding the right Heir Against this Invasion of the Fundamental Laws and Rights of the Nation the Nation having no other Remedy did by the Prince of Orange their Head and Chieftain whom it principally concerned in right of his Princess justly appeal to God the supream Judg with their Swords in their Hands and God received their Appeal gave Sentence for them in wonderful manner and made the late King by real Abdication to quit all Right to the Throne and the whole Nation unanimously by their Representatives lawfully and peaceably assembled to fill the Throne with their present Majesties Not they who fight for but they who fight against the Fundamental Laws of the Nation by which the mutual Rights of Prince and People do conâ—ist are to be esteemed and judged Fighters against God's Ordinance and just Authority 12. Earthly Kingdoms and Monarchies are an Image and Resemblance of God's Kingdom over all Now God claims no Allegiance and Subjection from any Man but in consideration of those Benefits and Favours which he affordeth in common to all Men as their Creator and Upholder and to all elect Men in special as their gracious God in Christ and if he shall not perform his Oath and Covenant to all Men in general to all elect Men in special he is contented that we esteem him no God and renounce all Subjection and Allegiance to him and he makes our own Consciences Judges between him and us Isa 5. 3. Gen. 9. 8 9 c. and 18. 23 24 25. Heb. 11. 6. 1 Joh. 1. 9. There is therefore a mutual Covenant tacit or express in every legal Monarchy whereby the mutual Rights of Prince and People consist which Covenant being broken and made void in the substantial Branches of it the innocent Party hath ground of Appeal to God the supream Judg and Disposer of Crowns and Kingdoms in whose Decision all Sides and Parties are to acquiesce But where this Appeal cannot be made by the Sword without ruine of the State and doing more hurt than good it is not to be attempted no Remedy can be eligible which is worse than the Disease 13. This is the true Mean between the Doctrine of resisting Authority supream and subordinate and the Doctrine of not resisting those who pretend Authority but really have none but are Cut-throats Murderers Assassins and Invaders of just and lawful Rights having no Authority so to do To resist Authority supream and subordinate is not to resist Man but God and they who resist him are guilty of Folly and Impiety and can look for nothing but Damnation Not to resist those who pretend Authority but really have none when we are sufficiently able to resist them and to save our selves from their unjust Violence is not to be Martyrs but Fools unworthy of God and those Blessings and good things he doth beâ—rust us with which he will call us to account for and damn us if we have not been wâ—se and faithful Stewards thereof Now the Undertaking of the Prince of Orangâ— and his Adherenâ—s was not a resisting of Authority but a just Vâ—â—dication of those Rights which the late King James without all Authority did seek by Force and Fraud to deprive them of For the Question between the late King on one side and the Prince of Orange and his Adherents on the other side being plainly this Whether the supposed Prince of Wales was really born of the Queen or not Here it is evident that the late King was not Judg but a Party And it is unreasonable and against all Laws of God and Man for any Man yea for the Emperor himself to be Judg in his own Cause as â—p Vsher grants in his Book of the Power of the Prince pag. 162. The late King being no Judg as to this Point he could have no Authority his refusal to give the Nation just and reasonable Satisfaction was a refusal of common Right contrary to the Law of Nations and to the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom whereby the Throne is upheld and upon which as a Foundation the Crown stands which F 〈…〉 tion falling the Crown must needs fall with it and the Conscience of the Subject â—â— discharged from all Ties and Bonds of Allegiance 14. Admitting the Prince of Wales to be feigned the Consciences of the late King and all his Partakers both Foreign and Domestick will compel them to yield that it was a Complication of horrible Crimes against all Law both Divine and Human that all the Subjects of these three Nations and Kingdoms were bound in their several places all that in them lay to withstand and hinder such a Villany and Injustice from taking effect and that all who fight and take up Arms in defence thereof are Fighters against God against common Honesty against those Fundamental Laws of the Nation which secure the mutual Rights of Prince and People and which the late King was sworn to observe inviolate and that they who fight against the Authors and Abettors of this Villany under the Conduct of the Prince of Orange in right of his Princess and the next Heir to the Crown are fighters for God and for common Honesty and have Law and Conscience on their side Now the late King refused to give the Nation just and reasonable Satisfaction and put himself upon trial and decision of his Cause by the Sword and sinking in his Undertaking withdrew himself left the Throne and the Nation to shift for it self and see to its own Safety which accordingly it did by placing their Majesties in the Throne and thereby securing publick Peace and laying a sure Foundation for future Peace and
Tranquillity to all Generations As for those who think it is sufficient for the saving their Consciences if they swear Allegiance to King William as King de facto not de jure I do very much question it non tali auxilio nec defensoribus istis tempus eget this present Cause needs no such Advocates I see not how they can excuse and defend those of the Nobility Gentry Clergy and Commonalty who did invite the Prince of Orange over and hazard their All in his Cause after his landing Debile fundamentum fallit opus The Superstructure can be no stronger than the Foundation and if the Prince of Orange had no just ground for his Undertaking I see not how his Adherents can be justified I say not that the business of the Prince of Wales was the only ground for his now Majesties Undertaking but I think it was a principal one which considered in its Causes Concomitants and Effects is abundantly sufficient for Vindication of the present Settlement and for ever stopping the Mouths of all its Opposers I do not build the Justice of his Majesties Cause upon bare Success but yet a righteous Cause I hope is not the worse for being blessed by God with wonderful and astonishing Success 15. That which in my Observation makes the Enemies of the Government to bear ill-will to it is Hatred to impartial Godliness The Devil doth not use to envy Men Prosperity in Wickedness but the more they prosper in Wickedness the more he is pleased they may take their fill of it he will not disquiet them And if the present Settlement were only Prosperity in Evil Satan would not envy and he so much against it as it is visible he is by his Agents and Instruments King David once said â— am this day weak tho Anointed King and these Men the Sons of Zervi 〈…〉 〈◊〉 too hard for me 〈…〉 the Lord shall reward the Doer of Evil according to his Wickedness 2 Sam 3. 39. There have been among us and yet are Sons of Zerviah too hard for the Government but the comfort is the Government is like the House of David waxing stronger and stronger and these Sons of Zerviah the Doers of Evil wax weaker and weaker The Sons of Zerviah were those who adhered to David against the House of Saul and were Men of great Interest and Power they were a Combination and Faction in the State who took advantage of the Weakness and Infancy of the Government to the compassing of their own Ends and politick Designs against the general good of Prince and People The like we have among us at this day but the Lord shall reward the Doer of Evil according to his Wickedness 16. I see not how â—â—y Man can be a good Man who is 〈◊〉 peaceable Man and I see not how a Man can be peaceable who governs himself â—â— unpeaceable and seditious Principles Loyalty and Allegiance to the higher Powers is an essential Branch of the fifth Commandment comprized in our Baptismal Covenant and taught to Children in the common Catechism And tho many may be loyal to their King and Country who are void of holy Love and Loyalty towards God yet I see not how a Man can be truly holy and loyal towards God who is not a good Subject a good Common-wealths Man who is not zealous for the publick Good who governs himself by Principles destructive of human Society 17. Upon the same grounds that the Persons petitioned for scruple Allegiance to their present Majesties they might have scrupled Allegiance to those who were last in the Throne and the Subjects of any King now on Earth may scruple Allegiance to their Soveraign For I would ask them what better Right to the Throne had the late King James after his Brother's death than their present Majesties now have They will say The Right of Succession Very well Now all sides grant that a successive 〈◊〉 A certain Grand Jury were severely reproved by an emiâ—ent Judg for offeâ—ing this Petition which is a suffiâ—ient E 〈…〉 ce of the Illegality thereof Kingdom is no Inlargement of Right but a Continuation of what the Predecessor had For he that succeeds succeeds in universum jus defuncti into all the Right of the deceased Now because there cannot be processus in infinitum infinite proceeding therefore of necessity we must come to some first in whom the Monarchy began But no legal and just Monarchy can begin and be constituted without mutual Compact and Covenant tacit or express between Prince and People It were easy to shew this at large from Scripture Natural Reason the Custom of Nations and approved general Usage and the Concessions of Adversaries Now this Right their Majesties have as good as Will. the Conqueror had and as good as Henry the 7th had As for the grand Objection of a former Obligation to the late King the Answer is that he was as truly and as strongly bound to us as we to him and we did not first forsake him but he forsook us we did not resist lawful Authority but only those who pretended Authority but really had none For no Law whether Divine or Humane gave the late King Authority to impose upon the Consciences of all in three Kingdoms a feigned Prince of Wales to the Excâ—uâ—ion of the right Heir and overthrowing the Right of Succession He by engaging in defence of this Villany did engage against God against the Law against common Honesty against the common Good and made himself no legal Monarch but a Subverter of the Legal Monarchy and so he did discharge us from all ties of Allegiance o him and it became our Duty by force of Arms to stand up for the legal Monarchy against its Enemies FINIS