is to dread and fly from damnation one way and to run into it another But that their hatred of it is most just appears from the causes of it which are the Errours and Corruptions of the Romish Church in Doctrine and Worship and the intolerable Rapines Exactions and Cruelties of it The Errours and Corruptions of its Doctrine and Worship our People know very well that the Church of Rome locks up the Holy Scriptures which contain that most precious Treasure the words of eternal life in a forreign language which they do not understand and casts the greatest contempt upon them by denying their sufficiency and perfection by inlarging the Faith which they propound by setting up such a way of worship as they forbid and say God abhors and against which they denounce the most dreadful curses and horrible punishments by giving Men Dispensations to do what they condemn and to omit what they require These and their other Errours are such an heap of dirt and rubbish as hath made not only our People but other Nations hate so foul a Church which being often reproved and chidden for it will not reform or cast it out of doors but retains or keeps it as tenaciously as if it were an heap of Silver or pure Gold Our People have no mind to worship Images to creep to a Crucifix to pray to Saints that can neither hear nor help them to kiss and fall down to their mouldy Reliques nor to adore a consecrated Wafer but would fain that they may please God and save their Souls keep themselves from Idols believe and live and worship their Creator as he commands them in the Holy Scriptures and therefore they abominate the Church of Rome because it would not allow them if they were Members of it so to do but would force them to make shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience and that which is the result of these Eternal Happiness and Salvation The other things that disgust our People and render them such implacable enemies to the Romish Church are its intolerable Rapines Exactions and Cruelties Our People are not ignorant nor is it possible they should so long as we have so many Records and Histories relating them what spoil and havock the Romish Clergy made of the Estates of their Forefathers cheated them of their Money by selling them Pardons and Indulgences by telling them they might be redeemed if not from Hell yet from Purgatory a Prison of the Popes making and in a manner as disconsolate and uneasy for the time the poor captives stay there as Hell it self if they were to be believed with corruptible things as Silver and Gold How they exhausted the Treasure drain'd away the wealth of the Nation by Peter Pence and First-fruits and Tenths and Fees for Dispensations and investing Bishops and Appeals and I know not how many other ways so that the Kingdom groan'd under their insatiable avarice and beg'd of God and his Anointed to ease them of such an intolerable burthen and oppression not to suffer our Silver Thames as it is called to be the unhappy Channel to carry out the English Treasure and cast it upon the banks of Tyber to support the pride and grandeur of a Forraign Patriarch And indeed the Flux was so violent that if it had not been stop'd in time it would have destroy'd the Body Politick have let out the Bloud and Spirits of the Nation discouraged their industry and thereby beggar'd the People for seeing their land devoured by Strangers and Forreigners reap the fruit of their labours being forced to send great sums abroad and haunted continually with lazy Monks and begging Friars at home the miserable People had no encouragement to imploy their time and labour to get Wealth for such Caterpillers to Devour And if Popery produce such oppressions lay such grievous or heavy burthens upon them 't is no wonder that the People are no fonder of it and being by our Laws freed from such ravening Wolves as the Romish Clergy were when they had the Rule or Authority here have no mind they should return any more lest their long and forced abstinence render them more hungry then formerly and whet their appetites so that a moderate morsel or revenue cannot satisfie them But Mony is not the only thing they thirst after for they delight in Bloud and Cruelty think they do God good service and offer him the most acceptable Sacrifice when they kill those they falsly call Hereticks and root them out of the Land of the Living Men of such a fiery or burning Zeal that when they have Power in any measure equal to it they make Living Bonefires or Burnt Offerings of all that dissent from them and will not truckle to their Superstition Their horrid Massacres in France their savage Executions by Duke Alva and others in the Low Countries their Inhumane Butchering and cutting Peoples Throats in Ireland their Gunpowder Plots their Racks and Inquisitions the Fires they make for the Living and their Damning the dead Saints or Christians as far as the Popes Anathema's or Curses can do it to the everlasting Flames of Hell are sufficient Instances and Monuments of their bitter Zeal and barbarous Cruelty These have enlightened and convinced a great part of the Christian World that they are not of Christ have none of his good Spirit in them who came not to destroy mens lives but to save them Their Law against Hereticks as the Learned 1 Epist ad Wading Jesu Ant. Chap. 8 Pag. 126. Episcopis observes is so Cruel Bloudy and Nesarious so contrary to the mild and merciful Genius of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that Royal Law of Charity which he would have extended to our very Enemies that I doubt not to affirm that cannot be the Holy Church as they call and would have it believed to be in which so barbarous a Law so cruel a Discipline so inconsistent with right reason and common humanity is in force and practice These things have created in our People a mighty aversion to and hatred of Popery and if their hatred kept within its due bounds and shewed it self in just and lawful ways they would deserve great honour and commendation for it but to be so inflamed at every discovery of any Popish Plots or Designs or by the impious frauds and artifices of the Seditious who are always spreading false rumours of Popery to do mischief as to cast off the Loyalty Justice and Honesty which our Lord requires of all that profess his Religion this instead of haters of Popery proves them to be the Enemies of Christ and equal Criminals with the worst of Papists for every wise and good man therefore hates Popery because it prompts the Zealots for it to do such evil and wicked things as are destructive of Salvation but if Zeal against Popery put men upon any sinful and therefore damnable Practices these are certainly as bad if not worse then those and both of them
the Preacher out And as Preaching cannot unless they be forced to hear and the just Correction of the Laws drive them from their Conventicles to our Assemblies so Writing hath done no good upon them all the excellent Books that have been written both formerly and of late Years by the excellent Divines of our Church in which all their exceptions against it have been fully answer'd all their scruples satisfi'd all their Pleas and Apologies for their Separation throughly confuted and the Authors of them put to all the shame and silence Men of their Confidence are capable of yet they are never the better but persist stubbornly in their wicked Schism and prove to all the World that they are such as hate to be Reformed the crafty seducers tell their Credulous followers that such are Lewd and ungodly Books and that frights them so that they dare not upon any Terms give them the Reading all that their guides think fit to do in the case is to imploy some Pragmatical Fellow to write an Answer which how silly or impertinent soever is admired and applauded by the whole Faction as an Incomparable piece and the Author hugd and caress'd by the Brethren and Holy Sisters as a very precious Man Nor can any better success be reasonably expected from the other way that of Conference because if they will not hear our Clergy Preach nor Read the excellent Books they have writ in defence of the Church they will be as averse especially when they have their Liberty to private Conference be with great difficulty brought to admit the Charitable Person that comes to undeceive them or if they do they are generally so ignorant and so conceited that it is very hard to make them understand the nature of the things disputed what Schism is and how exceeding Sinful and if this be done they are so highly conceited of their own Gifts and Godliness as to think themselves Wiser and Holyer than he that offers them Instruction Besides they are such Slaves to so wholly at the Command of their own Guides and Teachers that if they tell them their separate Meetings are Innocent and Holy Assemblies and those of the Church so impure or defiled with Popish Prayers Ceremonies and other Humane Inventions that it is not safe for them to venture their precious Souls in them they believe such lying words as firmly as if they were Divine Truths and adhere to them in spight of all the Scripture and Reason that can be brought against them These therefore and all other vain projects laid aside the Government if it will be safe and happy must with great and earnest care endeavour to reduce them to the Church which can be effected no other way but by a strict Executing the Laws upon all Dissenters an unwearied persisting in it letting them see that if they dare be so impudent as to Affront Transgress the Laws and defie Authority that both will and dares do Justice upon such bold Offendors This in time will make them leave their Fooling to give it no worse Title Teach the People to shun the Meeting-Houses with the same caution and waryness as they do the Dreadful and Disconsolate Places where Misery and Ruin dwell This will put them upon serious Thoughts and Considerations Oblige them strictly to Examine the Cause for which they Suffer prompt them to ask themselves such questions as these what harm or venom is there in the Ceremonies of the Church that we should be so affraid of them as to run from the Communion of it Do not our own Guides and Teachers confess the Doctrine of it to be pure or agreeable to the Scriptures Are there not abundance of Learned Pious and Holy Men that Live and Dye in the Communion of it and can we think that such Men are not Saved And if they be Why will not the same Faith the same Doctrine the same Prayers and Holyness carry us to Heaven Are not the Doctrine Government and Worship the same that were Taught exercis'd and used by those brave and Holy Men that with such admirable zeal and courage suffer'd Martyrdom in the Reign of Queen Mary How can that be Popery now which was practic'd by them who would rather burn at a Stake then turn Papist and are we Wiser or more Conscientious than they The Wise Merciful Correction of the Laws will by degrees bring the Offendors to a sight and abhorring of their Errours and produce in them such good Thoughts as these and consequently ingage them to return from whence they are fallen I mean to our Holy and Excellent Church which will put an Happy end to all our Schisms and Divisions and the People by coming constantly to our Pious Loyal Assemblies will in a little time Learn to Fear God and the King and meddle no more with them that are given to change But if this great means of reducing them be waved or neglected or coldly prosecuted such a Blessed and desirable Revolution can never be attained but our fewds and contentions will be Immortal and we shall be as the scorn of so the most Miserable and Distracted Nation in the World Without this nothing can reduce them but in Conjunction with and Subordination to it there are other things that will contribute very much to it as the Exemplary Piety and strict Conformity of the Clergy and the putting them into such a Condition that they may not depend upon the Benevolence of the People for their Maintenance Their Exemplary Piety that none be suffer'd to Dishonour our most pure and holy Church by their Evil and unsuitable Lives for though 't is certain we have the most Learned Pious Unblamable and therefore Excellent Clergy in the World yet if there be any irregular Persons amongst them as 't is possible there may in such a great Body of Men be here and there one that forgets himself that care be taken and means used to Reform them that they give no Offence Minister no Occasion to any to Reproach the Church or to speak Evil of our most Holy and Undefiled Religion We see how cautious and careful the Schismatical Preachers are to seem Holy that they may gain the Esteem and Veneration of the People and lead them by the Noses whether and to what they please and if the shadow in them to be sure the Substance of Holiness a Vertuous and unblamable Life in all our Clergy will gain them great Authority with the People and convince them that must needs be an Holy Church that hath so Pious Regular and Excellent a Clergy The next is their strict Conformity that all of them be compell'd to observe all the Orders and Constitutions of the Church Unless this be done the People can never be drawn off from their prejudices against and misperswasions concerning them but will think them unlawful Impositions because some of the Clergy do not observe them and they will admire applaud and follow those that do not observe them as
against it because 't is possible they may and easie to say nay to perswade Credulous People they have Dispensations from him to do such things But Colemans Letters they say speake of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Church and Religion therefore he is not only a Papist but a Zealous one the inference is not certain because though those Letters say so yet they may speak falsly What are Papists so great lovers of Truth as to make any Conscience of telling a Lye Do not the Excluders think them a Faithless and Deceitful Generation and Men that have no truth in them Do they not believe that the Jesuites and others nay Coleman himself that were Executed for the Popish Plot who asserted their Innocence and deny'd themselves to be Guilty of or Privy to any such design at their Death do they not believe I say that these Men Dyed with an Impudent and Notorious Lye in their Mouthes And if they dare do that at their Death to be sure they are not affraid to do it at other times when they apprehend no harm nor danger near them They that are so Prodigal of the Blood of Princes as to think it Lawful nay Meritorious to kill them will make no Conscience of Blaspheming and Slandering them of speaking all Words that may do them Harm and Injury blast and stain their Honour render them Suspected to and Rob them of the Love Esteem and Reverence of their People Was not that glorious Prince King Charles the Martyr as I observed before Reproach'd and Ruin'd by the Odious name of Papist which his Enemy's falsly cast upon him and can any Man think the Jesuits and other Zealots of the Romish Faction were careless or backward to spread so Mischievous a Rumour to publish such a story as would Expose him to the Hatred and Contempt of a great part of his People for knowing him to be so Zealous and Resolved a Protestant that he could never be gain'd to their Church their Malice and Reveng prompted them to call or report him a Papist that they might Inrage and Provoke his Subjects to take Armes against him But there can be no Colour nor Pretence for this the Excluders will say because Colemans Letters were not writ to Protestants but Papists therefore tell a true not feigned Story Supposing them to be writ to Papists why may they not only declare Colemans Opinion of his Royal Highness Or else be an Artifice or Trick of Colemans to get Mony of the French Kings Confessor Declare the Opinion he had of the Duke for Men of that Church are very Credulous otherwise they would not be of it apt to believe any thing they either desire or fancy if a Man shew them the least Kindness chance to speak any thing in Favour of their Church though it be little and inconsiderable and he have no Thought nor Intention ever to be a Proselyte to it they believe presently he is theirs and tell it far and near what a Convert they have gain'd when no such thing is 't is probable will never be done therefore what those Letters speak of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Church may be no more but a vain glorious Brag or confident Fancy of him that pen'd them or else a crafty Trick or Wheedle to get Mony from France or Rome or Both by the Confessors interest in both those Courts to carry on the Plot in England Coleman knowing very well that such a Story as this of the Dukes Zeal for the Romish Religion would be a mighty Motive or Inducement to prompt his Holiness and all the Zealots of that Communion to a great and Liberal Contribution the Design they had in hand being so expensive that it would too much exhaust and impoverish the English Catholicks to manage or carry it on at their own Charge Well but if the Duke be not a Papist why doth he not say so Why doth he keep the Nation in Suspence Why doth he not declare himself of the Church of England and publickly profess the most Holy and Excellent Religion Established in it To these Queries divers Answers may be given That he hath declared it for in his Speech to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London he said if my Intelligence deceive me not My Lord I am sure I am the first Man that can demand October the 21. 1679. Property in England and have the greatest Property of any Subject in England and therefore have the greatest Reason to defend it any other Man may have private Interest but I can have none for I know very well that as long as this City and this Nation are well I shall be so and that I can be so no longer And I do assure you My Lord that no one Person in all this Assembly can ever Venture his Life more freely in the Defence of this Nation and City and the Government thereof as it is now by Law Establish'd than I will and have been always Ready to do as I hope is well known If this be not plain enough His Royal Highness hath declared since if my Information be true as I believe it was That he was satisfied this Monarchy had no true Friends but the Church of England And if he be so perswaded of is as he hath the highest reason to be how can he be of any other Church Will a Prince that is next Heir to the English Crown depart from a Church he confesses to be the only true Friend to it and joyn himself to one which by consequence he acknowledges to be no true Friend to it This is too unreasonable to be supposed But these if they be admitted they will say are but private Declarations and not so generally known nor so satisfactory as a publick Declaration would be The first was publick enough being made to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London Would they have him declare it in Parliament He may do so if he pleases but it would be to no purpose to do it in an Excluding Parliament for if he tell them never so seriously that he is no Papist they will not believe him Should he make the most solemn Protestations take all the Oathes and Tests that can be devis'd Vow Swear receive the most Blessed Sacrament upon it call the Pope Antichrist and Heretick give him all the hard words and infamous Appellations he could invent it would be in Vain for the Excluders would not believe him but say he had a Dispensation to say and do all these things And therefore if he be never so desirous to declare it in Parliament Common Prudence will oblige him to stay till the Excluders are shut out of it and Men of better Principles and a more moderate temper are elected in their stead To do it before would be to tell them that which they have no Mind to hear and no Faith to believe and what can it be but lost Labour and a vain Attempt to
I leave it to the Consciences of the Excluders to determine what high and horrid Injustice it is to deprive or take it from him if he have not forfeited this Right which is now to be Examin'd or enquir'd into All I know that is pleaded for the affirmative is his changing his Religion or turning Papist and the Dangers thence proceeding to our most Gracious King and excellent Religion here then two things are to be enquired into First Whether the Duke be a Papist Secondly If he be whether that forfeits his Right SECT IV. First Whether His Royal Highness be a Papist revolted from ours to the Romish Church and Religion I may have leave I hope to put the Question and no good Man will be offended at me if I have that honour for a Grand-Child of our English Solomon King James who was so zealous an Opposer of the Romish Superstition for a Son of the Royal Martyr who Lived and Died in the Holy Apostolical Faith professed in our Church for a Brother the only Brother of our present most Gracious Soveraign who is the Great Patron and Protector of the Reformed Religion as not rashly to conclude him guilty of such a change a change so reproachful to them and Injurious to himself The Excluders I know will laugh at nay be angry with me for putting the Question it being as they affirm Notorious that he is a Papist and they believe him so to be as verily as they believe any Article of the Creed but I confess I do not think it so notorious as is pretended but look upon it as a doubtful Case because his Royal Highness hath so much reason to disswade him from such a change and because the Arguments for the Affirmative that he is a Papist do not as I apprehend prove him so to be There is nothing which they that are serious in it use to adhere to with a more firm stable and immoveable Resolution than the Religion in which they have been educated this if it have nothing else to endear and recommend it ingages their constancy and fixes them firmly to it like the magnetick needle to the North even a false Religion having the advantage of prepossession will keep its ground against the true though it comes with the clearest reason the most convincing Arguments and such unanswerable Proofs of its Divine Original and Authority as may justly not only perswade but Command Admittance and Reception This detain'd the Heathens in their Abominable Idolatry and Superstition it was the Religion they had been brought up in which they suck'd in as we say with their Mothers Milk and they were resolv'd to follow their Ancestours in it as they had happily done those that went before them and they pleaded in defence of their refusing Christianity that it was a new Doctrine and an upstart Sect not known nor heard of in the Days of their Fore-Fathers and they asked the Christians in the greatest scorn where was your Religion before Jesus Christ And it hath ever been accounted a mighty Dishonour and Reproach to any Nation or Persons to change their Religion but upon the greatest most weighty and pressing Reasons and Motives and therefore God upbraids his People with it Hath a Nation Jeremiah 2d 11. changed their Gods which are yet no Gods but my People have changed their Glory for that which doth not Profit Never any Nation was so absurd and unreasonable as to change their Gods though false and but supposed ones till they were fully or throughly convinced that they were not what they took them for As wild an Errour and oversight is it for Men to change their Religion unless there be the biggest reason and the greatest necessity for it It argues great Lightness Ignorance and instability of Mind to be of an Ambulatory and gadding Humour in a matter of such moment and concern as Religion shews the Persons guilty of it to be of a weak and Childish temper Like Children tossed to and fro and carryed about with every Wind of Doctrine It reproaches their Wisdom Arraigns their discretion that they should imbrace a Faith or Religion they dare not be constant to such considerations as these do commonly keep Men firm stedfast in the Religion they first imbraced though a better be offer'd and proposed to them But this is Foolish and Wicked Obstinacy a blind and dishonourable Constancy it being as St. Ambrose well observes nullus pudor ad meliora tranfire no shame no reproach at all to change for the better to quit errours for the truth a corrupt for a Pure Church a dangerous and sinful for a safe and holy Religion but to turn from the truth to errour from a pure to a corrupt Church to exchange a safe and holy for a lewd and dangerous Religion is a great shame and such a Sin as without Repentance must needs be Damnable if any Man thus draw back my Soul saith God shall have no Pleasure in him They therefore that say the Duke hath changed his Religion reconciled himself as they call it to the Church of Rome must say he did it either with Reason or without that he had great and considerable motives to induce him to it or he had not If they say he had not but did it without Reason they put the greatest slur and abuse upon him imaginable charge him with the highest imprudence make him a Child not a Man cast a greater Calumny or Reproach upon him than that base slander for which he brought his Scandalum Magnatum against the impious impairer of his Honour this being to say that he would in a sullen and unaccountable humour Create his Royal Brother a Brother so tender of his Honour and Interest so great danger Vexation and Trouble put the Nation into such horrid Tumults Disorders and Confusion bring upon himself so many Dangers incur the Clamours Obloquies Hatred and contempt of all the Factious People without any cause or inducement at all If they say his Royal Highness had reason for this change considerable motives to induce him to it these must be either his Interest and Advantage in this World or his Salvation in the other because these are the greatest and most momentous reasons that could be offered to move him to such a change but to turn Papist I shall prove is neither for his Interest and Advantage here nor his Happiness and Salvation hereafter both these being better secured and provided for by his stay in ours then they can be by joyning himself to the Church of Rome His interest and advantage in this World for what can a Prince whom Heaven is pleas'd shall Reign desire more then all the Authority Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to the Royal Dignity a Loyal and Obedient People their Welfare and Felicity with all that Honour and Renown Fame and Glory that these are always attended with Every wise Prince if he was permitted to chuse his happiness would have it Compounded or
Regions above for his most faithful Servants So that a Popish King cannot be safe unless he sets up that Religion he must be a Zealous Assertor Promoter and Maintainer of it or else his own Party will depose and lay his Honour in the Dust down he must come unless a special Providence Guard him descend into his Grave by a violent and untimely Fate if he do not Imploy all his Power and skill to advance or set up that if he refuse to do this he Ruins and undoes himself for being of that Religion he must have some of its Priests to perform the Sacred Offices of it which gives them access to his Person and consequently Oppertunity to Dispatch him And therefore if his Royal Highness be a Papist and as such comes to the Crown by refusing to set up that Religion he will expose himself to the fiercest Rage of that party and Consequently to the greatest Danger though that rage of theirs will be most unreasonable because unprofitable to them all the rest of the Royal Family being known and professed Protestants so that no advantage can accrue to them by his Deposition or Death Besides 't is very probable that he may have no fear or Apprehension at all of it for if he be a Convert to that Church to be sure he hath a good Oppinion of it and thinks them honest Men or else he would never have joyn'd himself to them and being so Perswaded how can he apprehend any danger from them if he do not set up that Religion which he agrees with them in their Profession of He may think he doth the Romish Faith Honour enough by the open owning of it and sufficient Service as his Example is a great allurement to invite others to imbrace it and he may Consider that to set it up by force will produce such Cruelty and Oppressions let in so many Miseries that his Clemency and Goodness may oblige him to abhor the thoughts of doing it If it be said that every Man desires to Propagate and Advance his own Religion and therefore the Duke if he be King will have the same desire to Promote his I grant it but then I say every Man will not make use of unjust and cruel Methods for that purpose but endeavour to win Men to it by Arguments and Perswasions he will do the Religion he is of all the Right and Service he can without wronging others he will by fair and lawful ways gain all the Converts he can to it but he will not make Sacrifices of those that refuse it and no Man knows but this may be the Dukes Resolution if he come to be King and be a Papist To say he will think that God requires him to set it up and that he cannot be Saved unless he do it is to say that he will think God requires him to make three Kingdoms Miserable to commit many Oppressions Cruelties and Murders and that such Horrid things as these which God forbids and declares to be Damnable are necessary to his Salvation which are most Unreasonable for any man that is truly Religious to think If the Duke think the Roman to be the true Religion he will think God requires him to beleive and profess it and to Endeavour by all Lawful means to Convert his People to it but if those do not Prevail he must in reason think himself Obliged no farther because the using cruel and unlawful means to that Purpose is Apparently Destructive of that Salvation which he designs to obtain by Imbracing that Religion And being assured God will not be Displeased with him if he do not set it up because it cannot be done without doing those things against which his Wrath is revealed from Heaven he may either Apprehend no danger from the Professors of it or if he do despise it relying upon the Divine Protection which his Consulting the safety and welfare of the People is a great Endearment of For if he set up the Romish Religion the People must either become its Proselytes or not If they do they lose Heaven If they do not they are sure to be Miserable upon Earth For Men to profess known Errours and to Practise Gross and known Sins must needs be Damnable but all Protestants know and are Convinced in their Consciences that the Romish Church is guilty of many and great Errours Sins and Impietys Errours in Doctrine Impieties Hainous Impieties in Worship such are the Images they make of God and the Divine Honour or Worship they give unto them as also their Praying to Saints Adoring their Images and Reliques and the Elements in the Eucharist with divers other Abominations which they are Guilty of and therefore for them that are convinced of the Sinfulness of these things to turn to that Church must needs be to shut themselves out of the Kingdome of Heaven But if that be too great a good to be so parted with then to secure it they must resolve to undergo all the Miseries and Cruelties and Sad things which upon their refusing the Romish Religion will break in upon them for either they must fly from the Storm become voluntary Exiles leave their Native Country their dearest Friends and Enjoyments go seek their safety and some of them their Maintainance in other Nations which is a great and sad Calamity or else stay and be Executed as Hereticks at home And seeing these will be the Lamentable consequences of his setting up the Romish Religion I desire those that are so forward to believe he will do it to consider what advantages can accrue to his Royal Highness by such violent and Tragical actions can it be any Pleasure to him to hear the Groans of Dying Men or to see the Funeral Piles of them that are Sacrifiz'd for the Faith of Christ Blaze before him Or can it be for his safety to destroy many of his best and most Loyal Subjects and by the Terrour and Severity of their Sufferings to force others to turn Papists this is to drive them from a Loyal to a Trayterous Church and how can he expect they should be true to him whom he Compells to be Unfaithful to their God Is it for his Honour to Execute the Bloody and Inhumane Sentences of Rome upon his good Subjects to be the Popes Instrument to commit what Cruelties he pleaseth in these our Brittish Islands Is not Murder an Hainous Sin and will not Innocent Blood the Blood of those that will be Slain if Popery be set up for professing the true Faith and Holy Religion of Christ cry aloud to the Righteous God for Vengeance and Provoke him to punish him here with a short Reign with the Terrours of a guilty Conscience with one Plague and Judgment after another till he pass from Hence to the other World and instead of the Glorious Crown the Pope and his Priests flatterd him with the hopes of he find an Horrid and Intolerable Ruin Search all Histories Examine all the Annals of the
World and you will find that of the Philosopher to be a great truth That Tyrants seldome live to be Old the Saints pray their Blood and Sufferings cry to Heaven against them and God Abhors and the Earth Groans under the burthen of their Crimes and Hell is ready for them How then can it be for the Dukes Honour or Felicity to be one of them to live and that but for a little time Abhor'd by God dreaded and forsaken by all good Men to die Unpityed and Unlamented to depart this World not with the Tears and Praises but with the Joy and Thanksgivings of his Subjects that by his Death they are deliver'd from the Miseries and Oppressions his Reign was attended with to have the story of his Life there being some that delight to Record the Actions of Princes transmitted to future Ages stain'd with so many Executions Cruelties and Oppressions which his setting up the Romish Religion will occasion and to be remembred no otherwise when he is Dead and gone than Plagues and Wars and the most dreadful Calamities are that is with Horrour and Amazment How unreasonable is it then to believe his Royal Highness if he come to the Crown will thus ruin and undo himself for no Reason or Inducement at all Common Prudence will not suffer him to be so much his own Enemy And therefore they that upon idle Rumours or meer Suspicions entertain such unbecoming thoughts of him do great Injury to and extremely wrong so brave a Prince who is confessed by his very Enemies to be Highly just and hath ventured his Life in defence of his Country and therefore in reason and justice ought neither to be accounted nor treated as its Enemy that hath any intention to Ruin if it be the will of Heaven that he Reign over it 'T is certain then that it is not for the Duke Interest in this World to turn Papist and therefore if he be so that cannot be the Reason of it The only Motive therefore he could have to Subsect 4. perswade him to such a change must be his Happiness and Salvation in that which is to come This indeed is the great End the Highest reason any Person can propose to himself in the Choyce of his Religion that it be such as will conduct him safely to Eternal Happiness Now if I can prove that there is no danger of missing this in the Communion of the Church of England and that there is great and apparent Hazard of losing it in the Communion of the Church of Rome then this can be no Reason for nor Inducement to such a change it being most Absur'd and Imprudent to Exchange a safe for a dangerous Church a Church wherein there is a certainty for one wherein there is at most but a bare possibility of Salvation The enquiry then must be if the case be not thus between ours and the Church of Rome whether in that there be not a Certainty in this at most but a meer Possibility of Salvation God the Supream Lord of Men as he made them to Serve and Glorify him here and to injoy or live with him in Immortal Glory and Happiness hereafter so it must needs belong to him alone to appoint what Service they shall Perform to him to declare how and in what instances he will be Honour'd and Glorifi'd by them to prescribe measures of Obedience and the terms or conditions upon which he will admit them to the Participation of that Supream and Soveraign Happiness for being the greatest good that God can give or they desire 't is most unreasonable to believe it Inconditional promised absolutely either to all or a select part of Mankind so that they shall be sure to have it though they do nothing towards the Obtaining of it And if it be proposed upon certain Terms or Conditions as it evidently is God alone must determine and propose these determine them because that transcendent Felicity being his Kind and Bountiful offer none hath any Right but he to appoint the things that must be done by Men for the acquiring of it Propose them because 'till he hath Revealed them none can know what they are To leave Mankind to their own Fancies and Conjectures in a matter of such Moment and Concern to offer them Eternal Happiness and not tell them how to Obtain it would have been a disparagement to the Divine Goodness because it would have been to Mock and Delude them with the discovery of a Treasure more precious then all the World whch they knew not how to possess themselves of if they guess'd at the way of doing of it it would be great odds but they would mistake and guess wrong leave the true Pathes or means leading to so lovely and desireable a good and follow false ones as we see all the Heathen World did in that prime part of Religion the Worship of God So that one of these two things must necessarily follow either that God had no Purpose or Intention to save or make Mankind Eternally Happy or if that be Inconsistent with his Mercy and the Benignity of his Nature that he did reveal or declare not only that he would do it but also upon what Terms or Conditions he would be pleased to do it which Revelation of his Royal Pleasure in both the parts of it being of the greatest Moment or Concern both that Men might know and admire the Transcendent kindness of the Gracious Author of their being towards them and be sufficiently Instructed how to Express or Declare their Gratitude for it in fit and acceptable returns of Obedience and Duty to him ought in Reason to be kept as the most precious Treasure and carefully preserv'd from all Change and Injury that it might descend safe and Intire to all Ages and Generations of Men and so afford them full and Perfect Instruction what they must believe and do how they must live or behave themselves in this that they may obtain the Eternal Felicity of the other World To transmit or hand down this Revelation from Age to Age from Generation to Generation through all Succeeding time from the first Publishing of it to the end of the World by Oral Tradition or word of Mouth was not possible without continual Miracles both to Preserve it intire in the Minds and Memories of the Relators and to aslure those that receiv'd it from them that they had neither by fraud nor forgetfulness Corrupted or changed it any way added nothing to it nor kept back any part of it and seeing this might be secured another way by his common Providence why should God multiply Miracles continually to no purpose for without these such a Treasure could not be safely committed to such a way of Conveyance Oral Tradition being a very hazardous and uncertain way of delivering things to others especially at any great distance of time and therefore the greater Moment the things are of the more dangerous is it to trust them to
as the Scriptures give no testimony of it so neither reason nor any thing else can prove his Holiness to be Infallible because he is not and there is no need that either he or any other Bishop should be so because God hath fully and clearly propounded to us in the Scriptures all things necessary to Salvation as I have already Prov'd and for that part of them that is obscure we are certain we may be Saved without the knowledg of it otherwise the Merciful God that loves us and desires our Salvation would have made it plain to us Now to bring this Discourse home to the great Point in hand if Eternal Happiness and Salvation be the kind offer or Proposal of God and this cannot be had but upon certain Terms or Conditions which must be determin'd and reveal'd by him determin'd because that is his Right and none but he hath Authority to do it reveal'd because unless he declare upon what Terms he will save them Mankind can never know them nor consequently obtain the proposed happiness and those Terms or Conditions be fully and intirely plainly and intelligibly deliver'd in the Scriptures then that and none but that is the true Church in which Salvation may certainly be had that adheres or cleaves to the Scriptures and follows them as the great and only Rule of Faith and Manners of all things that is necessary to Salvation This is the only sure Mark of the true Church that may be rely'd upon without this all other Signs are false Fires and deceitful Lights that mislead their unwary followers but he that chuses his Church by its Profession of the Christian Faith and Doctrine contained in the Scriptures is safe and in such a Society where nothing is wanting to Salvation but if he leaves that he may wander up and down the World in vain seeking Rest but finding none All then that will be necessary to make good my Assertion in both the parts of it that there is a certainty of Salvation in the Church of England and at most but a Possibility of it in the Church of Rome is briefly to shew the agreement of ours and the Repugnancy of theirs to the Scriptures That Church which affirms that the Holy Scriptures Comprehend all things necessary to Salvation and that nothing but what is contained in them is to be press'd or requir'd as such and receives them as its sole or intire Rule agrees fully and perfectly with them but our Church affirms those and doth this therefore it adheres or keeps close to the Scriptures Holy Scripture it saith containeth all things necessary Article the 6. to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby is not to be required of any Man that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith or be thought requisite or necessary to Salvation Unto a Christian it declares there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledg of Holy Scripture forasmuch as in it is Homily the 1. contained Gods true word setting forth his Glory and also Mans Duty and there is no Truth nor Doctrine necessary for our Justification and Everlasting Salvation but what is or may be drawn out of that Fountain and Well of Truth In Holy Scripture is fully contained what we ought to do and what to eschew what to believe what to Love and what to look for at Gods hands at length This is as full a Declaration of the perfection sufficiency of the Scriptures as can be made and that our Church receives them as the sole or intire Rule of Faith is so Evident that the Church of Rome confesseth it by making it an Accusation or Objection against it though this be to upbraid it with that which is its Glory I mean its strict adherence to the Scriptures and if they did not confess it it might be unanswerably proved by comparing the Doctrine of our Church with those Sacred Writings which whosoever doth will find a most perfect Union or agreement between them that it observes and follows and adheres to them in all things as if the same good Spirit that Inspir'd the Holy Prophets and Apostles to Pen them did in a more than ordinary manner guide and direct our Reformers to the same Faith or Sum of things to be believed the same Rule of Life or Paths of Piety and Holiness the same Object and way of Worship the same Sacraments and all other things which they propound to Mankind either as the Terms and Conditions upon which God will save them or Dr. Potter Answer to Charity mistaken pa. 13. Page 14. as helps and means to inable them to perform those Conditions So that no Church as a Learned and excellent Person speaks doth afford more Plentifully the means of Grace nor more abound with all helps and advantages of Piety than this of ours The word of God is diligently Preach'd amongst us the Sacraments of Christ Reverently Administred Abuses in both are removed the two Extremes of Religion Superstition and Prophaneness are avoided The Ignorant are Instructed the Disorderly admonish'd Comforts are applyed to the Afflicted Terrours to the Impenitent Censures and Punishments to the Obstinate In our Liturgy Policy and Ceremonies in the Government of our Prelates in the Diligence of Inferiour Pastours in the whole Face of our Doctrine and Discipline we have a most near and fair Resemblance of Reverend Antiquity All tending to the gaining of Souls to Christ and to guide them in the way of Peace As great Assurance Assurance then as any Christian hath that the Scriptures are true so full and absolute a certainty is there of Salvation in our Church because it teaches and requires all those things and no other that the Scriptures teach and require as necessary to Salvation and to the Performers of which they promise Eternal Life and Happiness and therefore if the Scriptures say true as all Christians acknowledg they do there can be no doubt or question at all of being saved in the Church of England unless Men will either not believe and Live as it teacheth and Commands them or if they do it will not persevere or continue in so believing and Living to the end of their Lives And therefore that none who are Members of this most Holy and Excellent Church may deprive themselves of so great a good as that Immortal Happiness is by their Evil and Unsuitable Living I shall conclude this Discourse with that admirable Exhortation which their Mother the Church gives them to obey or keep the Commandments of God their Father which is this Wherefore as ye have any Zeal to the Right and Pure Honouring of God as you have any Regard to Homily of Good Works Part. 3. p. 35. your own Souls and to the Life that is to come which is both without Pain and without End apply your selves chiefly above all things to Read and hear Gods word mark diligently therein what his
go about to satisfie Men that will never be satisfied A time may come and I hope it is approaching when such a Declaration will not only be believ'd but receiv'd with the joyful Acclamations and grateful Acknowledgments of both Houses and if it be thy Blessed will Oh God let such a time a time so much desired by all good Men come and that quickly But for my part I do not think it civil or decent for those that are unacquainted with the greatest affairs of State to take upon them to prescribe to his Royal Highness or to tell him when or in what manner he should declare himself because this would Savour of Rudeness and Presumption and therefore they must leave it to his own Prudence and the Wise Determinations of those Great and Honourable Personages that understand and conduct the weighty concerns of the Government it being for Them to know the times and seasons of so important an Action and not for Men of privacy and low degree Stay a while then and consider what you are doing be not too confident Oh ye Excluders make not so much hast nor such a stir to shut the door upon a Prince that you are not sure is gone from you believe it possible for you to Err or be Mistaken in your Opinions of him you see he hath no Reason to be a Papist and the Arguments for it are insufficient do not prove it therefore be not too confident he is so SECT IV. So far I have consider'd the first Question Whether his Royal Highness be a Papist The next and great Enquiry is Whether if he be so that Forfeits his Right That it doth not I assert and am now to prove In order to which I affirm That it is possible for a Good Conscientious and well meaning Man one that desires to go the Right way to Heaven to turn Papist Errour may look so like Truth and Superstition be so adorn'd with the paint and fair colours of true Piety that Men of good understanding and great integrity may be deceived and deluded by it Thus the excellent Chillingworth a Pious and Learned Man was seduced to the Romish Church though by the Grace of God he saw his errour return'd to our Church and lived and died in the Holy and Apostolical Faith which it professeth and not long after his return to it mindful of that sacred precept of our Lord to St. Peter when thou art converted strengthen by Brethren writ his excellent Book St. Luke 22. 32. in which he fully and unanswerably proves that which is the Subject or Title of it That the Religion of Protestants is a safe way to Salvation a Book highly meriting the perusal of all that either need or desire satisfaction in that Great and most weighty point In the Preface to it he tells his Readers the Motives that perswaded him to turn Papist which though they were as he truly calls them and to which he there gives full and satisfactory answers silly Sophisms and false Suppositions yet they so abused that good Man as to Proselyte him to the Church of Rome And why may not others as Pious Prudent and Conscientious as he be deceiv'd and misled into Popery by these or such fallacious Arguments or Reasons 'T is very well known that the Jesuits and Missionaries of the Roman Church are Persons Learned and Subtile trained up by the most expert Masters and not suffer'd to go abroad till they are thoroughly skil'd and instructed in the controversies between them and us and furnish'd with all manner of Arts and Abilities to seduce and deceive People And cannot Persons so prepared and fitted for it make gross errours and the foulest practices look fair and plausible varnish them over so with Apologies or Excuses extenuate their guilt pare off the Absurdities adhereing to them with Distinctions and set them out to such advantage that an honest Man shall not only think them Innocent things such as have no harm nor venome in them but be very much enamour'd of or taken with them They that read their Books must acknowledg if they will speak the truth that nothing is wanting in them that either Wit or Zeal can invent to defend or put a fair gloss upon the errours of their Church though what they plead in Justification of them be false or deceitful Argumentations poor idle Sophisms meer Paint Varnish no better than Gilding a Rotten Post or Cloathing Errour in the dress and vestments of Truth yet they seem so plausible look so fair and inviting that a Good Conscientious and well meaning Man as I said before may be so abus'd and deluded by them as to become a Proselyte to the Roman Church And being so is he not a Christian A Papist I suppose cannot truly be deny'd to be a Christian because the Church of which he is a Member is a Christian Church though lapsed into great Errours and Impieties a Christian Church it must needs be because it makes Profession of the Faith and Religion of Christ ascribes enough to him to secure to it self the Glorious Title and Denomination of Christian for the Council of Trent in the Explication of the Article of Justification gives this account of it Hujus Justificationis causae sunt c. Session 6. cap. 7. page 35. The Causes of this Justification are these The Final Cause is the Glory of God and of Christ and Eternal Life The Efficient Cause is the Merciful God who freely washeth aod sanctifieth signing and anoynting with the Holy Spirit of promise who is the the earnest of our Inheritance The Meritorious cause is the most beloved and only begotten Son of God who when we were Enemies for his great Love wherewith he Loved us did by his most holy passion upon the Cross Merit Justification and give Satisfaction to God his Father for us By which it is Evident that the Church of Rome holds That the Merits of Christ are the moving or procuring Cause of our Justification so absolutely necessary to it that as that Council speaks a little after Nemo possit esse justus nisi cui page 36. merita Passionis Domini nostri Jesu Christi Communicantur no Man can be Just or Righteous but He to whom the Merits of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are Communicated Now they that acknowledg or own this Great and Fundamental Truth that we are justified by the Merits of Christ and consequently that he is our only Saviour and do adore him as the Christ or Son of God which they cannot be deny'd to do though that Acknowledgment this Worship of theirs be mixt and accompany'd with many and those very dangerous Errours must be acknowledg'd to be a Christian Church And if the collective Body be such the particular Members must be so too I suppose then it will be easily granted me by the greatest Zealots against Popery it being but a reasonable concession and such as I shall not
its desired rest and satisfaction he is neither ashamed in publick nor affraid in private but finds his actions so fair and just and agreeable to the dictates of right reason that he is highly pleased every time he reflects upon them And as his obedience to the Law of Christ secures his inward so it provides for his outward happiness for every Man that Lives as Christ requires him hath his promise to assure him of all those Enjoyments that are necessary to his well being upon Earth his Piety towards the great Governour of the World invites his Bounty and calls down his Blessings upon him and he that is so liberal to all the other Creatures as to open his hand and fill them with plenteousness will not let those Nobler Beings that Love Adore and Reverence him want any thing that is good for them Besides the several branches of the Law of Christ the Vertues it commands us to practice have a direct tendency this way thus Temperance preserves our Health and Estates makes our Lives both long and provided for and Justice is not only an Honour or Reputation but a great Safeguard and Advantage to us the Labour or Diligence Christianity enjoyns every Man to imploy in his calling hath an apparent tendency both to obtain these outward conveniencies of Life and to improve or increase them and the being Contented with the possessions that either descended to him by Inheritance or which he acquired by the Blessing of God upon his labour and industry affords him great Comfort and Delight as it frees him from the vexations of Covetousness the tediousness of Expectation and Attendance the grief and torment of Disappointment and obliges him to an acquiescence and satisfaction in his present Enjoyments he that is continually desiring and pursuing things which he apprehends to be necessary ingredients in his happiness or the materials of which it is composed must needs be miserable because he hath not attained to but is in pursuit of that which he calls his happiness and is uncertain whether he shall ever be able to possess himself of it but the contented Person is actually happy because he hath reduced his desires to a complacency or delight in that which he is possess'd of And as these so all the other parts of the Christian Law are a present Blessing and Advantage to the Observers of them as well as the Conditions of that Eternal Felicity which is to commence at the period of this life there being such a necessary connexion between the Precepts of Christ and the Rewards of his Kingdom that they who obey the one shall certainly enjoy the other and they must needs be Blessed to eternal Ages that perform those noble things to which our Lord hath promised that blessedness both because he is faithful that hath promis'd and that is the certain consequence or result of those So that consider'd single or a part Christianity makes every Man happy that obeys or lives according to it It promotes the felicity of mankind also as conjoyn'd or united in Societies which are either private or publick Families or Kingdoms The happiness of Families by obliging Husbands to love treat their Wives with due tenderness and respect and them to reverence obey and be faithful to their Husbands and to live together in peace and concord by injoyning Parents as nature prompts them to take care of their Off-Spring to Provide for and Educate them in Piety and the Fear of God and these to Honour Obey and if by any of the misfortunes of the World they fall into want as gratitude obliges them to relieve their Parents by requiring Servants to be faithful and obedient to their Masters and these to be just merciful compassionate to them knowing they have a Master in Heaven God Almighty to whom they are answerable for all their Actions for in the performance of these mutual Offices the felicity or welfare of Families consists The happiness of Kingdoms by obliging Princes to Govern with Mercy and Justice to take care that their People lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty that they neither wrong one another nor be injured by other Princes or States but that they be protected both in their Persons and Estates from Violence and Oppression by requiring the People to honour and obey their Princes and all that are in Authority under them to pray for their prosperity to pay them Tribute to Defend them with their Persons and Estates that no harm nor violence may happen to them by Commanding all the People to Love and deal Justly one with another not to hurt or injure but to Help and Succour or as they have Oppertunity to do good unto all Men to put on Bowels of Mercies Kindness Humbleness of Mind Meekness long suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any Man have a quarrel against any which are excellent Preservatives of that Peace and Unity which they are Commanded to follow with all Men and without which they cannot be happy And is not that an happy Kingdom where the Prince Governs with Justice and Mercy Preserves his People in Piety Peace and Safety they Honour Obey and Serve him faithfully deal Justly with and Love one another where there are no Cruelties nor Oppressions no Treasons nor Seditions no Hatred nor Contentions but Justice Loyalty Peace and Charity Reign or Flourish this must needs be an happy Kingdom and the People Blessed that are in such a Case and if Christianity was heartily and universally received and obey'd it would make all the Kingdoms and Nations of the World so exceeding happy and blessed not only conduct Men to Heaven when they Dye but turn this Earth into a kind of Heaven to them whilst they Live And seeing Christianity prosecutes that which is the great design or tendency of the Law of Nature the Common good of all Rational Beings the Glory of God and the Felicity of Mankind 't is reasonable to believe that this is contained in that That the Law of Christ is a perfect Digest or Body of the Law of Nature This might be farther confirm'd by comparing things contained in both these great Laws but this I need not do because every Mans Reason will tell him that these Laws having the same Author and the same end must be the same in Substance and agree in the Means ministring to that which is equally the Design of both for neither can God be Glorifi'd nor Mankind made happy any other way than that which Christianity directs and the Glorious Author of it reduces to these two Heads the Love of God and our Neighbour the first containing all those Expressions of Honour which the Transcendent Excellencies and Perfections of the Divine Nature challenge from us and all those grateful Returns which as obliged Persons we owe to our great Benefactor the other comprehending all that Justice Mercy Charity Temperance and those other Vertues which conduce to our own and
to venture upon any unjust or unlawful means for the attaining any good whatsoever because errour is a boundless thing and when men are once drawn into it they know not where to stop but run on still proceed from bad to worse fall from one wickedness to another and never come into Gods Righteousness So that it is the highest wisdome as well as his indispensable duty for every Man to keep innocency and take heed to the thing that is Right to do no evil nor unjust thing upon any inducement or for any end whatsoever because whatever happens in the mean time this will be sure to bring a man Peace and Salvation at the last God hath given us a most just and holy Law to live by teaching us as all Piety to Him so all Loyalty to his Anoynted actually to obey all our Princes Lawful commands and patiently to suffer what punishments he is pleased to inflict for our non-performance of those things which he requires in opposition to the Law of God if at any time through Errour or Mistake he impose any such This promotes the Honour and Glory of God the Safety and Felicity of Princes and the Peace or Tranquillity of the World They that keep to this rule can never suffer as Traytors and Evil-doers but if they suffer at all it must be for Well-doing for their obedience to God and his Laws and then most happy or blessed are they because they will have the joys and comfort of a good Conscience to ease and sweeten their Sufferings and God will support them under them and give them a great reward in his Heavenly Kingdom Every Man that doth his duty to God and his Prince that commits himself to the care and keeping of the Almighty by a just and pious Conversation hath all the safety and security that can possibly be had or reasonably desir'd in this World for if God protects any these in all probability are the Persons that may expect and obtain that favour from him Besides what temptation or inducement can Princes have to oppress or injure to ruin or destroy good peaceable and harmless People that pay them all due honour and obey them as far as is consistent with their duty to God None none at all which makes the Apostle say Who is he that 1 St. Pet. 3. 13. will harm you if you be followers of that which is Good Every Man that hath any Religion or fear of God will be both afraid and ashamed to do it for if he Persecute and Destroy such Innocent People they shall be saved and shine with Christ in Heavenly Glory but he shall suffer the terrours of an evil Conscience ly under the sense of Gods displeasure here and when he Passes out of this World Cruelty being commonly short lived have an intolerable portion with the Unjust and Oppressors with the Blood Thirsty and Persecutors in the black Regions of Eternal Sorrow and Misery But when Men seek to save or secure themselves from dangers whether real or imaginary by unjust or unlawfull means such as this Project of Exclusion is these instead of averting invite and hasten their approach nay multiply and increase them instead of making a way for them to escape intangle them so that they grow desperate and resolve upon the most bloody villanous and wicked Enterprizes such as this Treason is For besides that it is an open affront and defiance to all the Laws of God the breaking all those Sacred Bonds asunder with which he ties the hands of Subjects from doing violence to his Anoynted an insolent slighting the dreadful Judgments and most terrible Punishments he hath inflicted upon such presumptuous Sinners as if they thought Heaven had wasted all its Artillery spent all its Thunderbolts upon the Traytors of former times and had no Vengeance in store for them that now Conspire the Death of Princes or else believed the Righteous God was so partiall as to discover and punish none but Popish Traitors so that they might commit the same execrable crime in Zeal against Popery and be if not innocent yet safe and have no harm nor danger happen to them Besides this contempt I say of Gods Commands and Judgments those forbidding Treason as a crime most damnable these confounding Traitors and hurrying them away to Hell with a swift and dreadful destruction how have those of your Party ingaged in this barbarous Conspiracy shamed all your former Professions and Pretences For was not this the great Plea for your Bill of Exclusion the mighty Argument with which you press'd the Passing and thought to justifie or maintain the Lawfulness of it That it was the only Expedient as to suppress Popery so to save the King to preserve his most precious life from the Treachery and Cruelty of that Faction You made the Nation believe that you could be content to run all hazards to expose your selves to all dangers to endure any hardships or miseries if the King was but safe and guarded from the hands of violence and all the bloody attempts of the Romish Party These things looked fair and plausible and some that loved the King thought them real and were deluded into a good opinion of your Proceedings but now the Masque is off and those of you that were ingaged in this Hellish design have no Cloak nor Covering for their Treachery for though their words were softer than butter yet they had War in their hearts though their speeches were kind and fair smoother than oyl yet were they very Swords They tender of the Kings most precious life and studious to preserve him from harm and danger Who can or will believe it If they were so then why did they Plot to destroy him since What hath the King done to merit or deserve their wrath If they really design'd and desired his Preservation before why did they resolve to Murder him now Had not the King as great Reason as they to consult his own safety and doth not the admirable wisdom he shews in the conduct of all his great Affairs demonstrate him best able to judg what ways and methods would be most conducive to the attaining so desirable an end So that their Plotting his destruction since proclaims to all the World that they did not realy desire to save him from the Papists then or if they did that it was because they intended to kill him themselves and that in the same manner the Papists design'd to destroy him even by surprise to come upon him unawares and cut him off from amongst the living which is most Treacherous and Base Cursed Cruelty and Cowardise joyn'd together A Brave and Valiant Enemy would scorn to treat the most hated person so or to rob any Man of such a Jewel as his Life in such a vile and sneaking manner Men of any Courage or Gallantry though wicked could not be so base Spirited as to steal upon two of the bravest Princes in the World and knock them on the