to give up our selves and relation to God and the Gospel as for English Queens we may in time have Protestant Queens In the mean time we know our gracious Queens will not impose upon us the publick practice or indulgence at least of their Religion no more then we impose our Religion upon them they had rather few then whole Kingdoms should suffer they had rather see you suffer for your conscience then force us to allow your way against our consciences however to avoid some supposed inconveniences we will not commit sin which is a real and the greatest inconvenience in the World To your eighth ninth and tenth Reason we say if you are true to the Popes Supremacy you cannot be true to the Kings Government if you deny that as you seem to do you deny the foundation of your Religion yea the sum of Christianity as Bellarmine saith Whether you speak as you think in the eighth and ninth Reason we know not for you can equivocate we know your Brethren will never say so when they have obtained a Toleration and we know it is no new thing to have a few moderate men offer that in adversity which their Brethren will never own in prosperity Indeed you can juggle so as that some shall write for Supremacy and others against it and laugh among your selves to see how you cheat the world we know what the Sorbonistâ— stand upon at this time however you are punished here onely for actual disobedience upon what principle soever you disobey if some of you think loyally you all live disobediently to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm II. Reason You say you are forced to be dangerous by fleeing to forreign Embassadours and parts for safety Answ. 1. It 's well we know your designe 2. If you did not go to Forreigners for Religion you need not go to Forreigners for Protection if you will worship with them you may live with them 3. If you keep correspondence with our enemies and practise against us when you are in danger of punishment what will you do when you are tolerated If you deal with Forreigners now to secure your selves from us much more will you deal with them hereafter that you may have power over us what you do now for liberty you will do hereafter for power this threatning insinuation will signifie little with us who measure our Religion by our Consciences and not by Interest whatever inconvenience follows upon your punishment we will not displease God to tolerate you To your twelfth Reason we can say upon sad experience that you may do more harm by creeping into houses then we can do good by preaching in Congregations To your last we say Our Bishops can prove their Consecration they will make their authority eminent in awing you if they cannot make their perswasions eminent in converting you and that when they are the severest enemies to your corruptions they are the most hearty well-wishers to your persons and you may hear them as such Sirs As you did your duty in serving the King in his just War so he will allow you all just priviledge in time of peace but you must not think that the reward of your obedience to him in some things shall be a liberty to disobey him in other Although we have been as you say fellow sufferers with you we will not sin with you You say you hazarded much to restore the King to his Throne To what purpose I pray you if every man shall do what is good in his own eyes as when there was no King in Israel And you must know his sacred Majestie makes Laws against you not to satisfie any mans passion or revenge but to satisfie his own conscience Whereas you speak of his Majesties mercie and word from Breda 1. Let me tell you That Toleration would be the greatest cruelty in the world 2. You know his Majestie promised no more at Breda but that he should condescend to such provisions for tender Consciences as his Parliament would think fit May it please therefore the wisdome and goodness of both Houses of Parliament setting aside those plausible insinuations which undermine the principles of Government to see that the permission of Roman Catholicks is not onely contrary to the peace quiet and union of the subject but also dangerous to the constitution and threatning to the welfare of this Church and Kingdome and not let that be promoted upon shallow and fallacious suggestion of any interest and advantage especially since the wisdome of France The Duke of Rhoan hath made it appear to the world and your wisdom makes it clear to your selves That the Protestant Religion is the Interest of England FINIS The excellent Reasons of the Honourable House of Commons against Indulgence with Historical Observations thereupon BUt to what end do we trouble the World with our inconsiderable Reasons now we are all concluded by the common reason of the Kingdome at least that part of it wherein we are included represented by the most Honourable the Commons of England assembled in Parliament then whom the Sun scarce beheld a more noble a more resolved a more unanimous a more loyal and Orthodox Assembly and Assembly as that excellent Bishop said quo nihil videt orbis augustius their famous Vote which may satisfie all your Reasons their Vote at which your conclave at Rome may tremble all the Conventicles in the World shake a dejected and forlorn Church raiseth up its selfe decayed Religion is recovered the soules of the first reformers if they have any sence of things here below rejoyce O if there be joy in Heaven at the recovery of one sinner what is their at the Recovery of a Nation millions of unstable Soules are setled the many breaches of our Church are close that threatning evill of schisme and separation is checked the loose hopes of dangerous men are bounded the callapsed Honour of England is restored former miscariages are expiated for which our gracious King the Defender of the true Ancient and Apostolick Faith heartily thankes them In which the Nobles if they have any sence of their Ancestors Honour will concur with them the reverend Clergy will be bound to pray for them and we with our posterity that are yet unborn will stand up and call them blessed their famous Vote to which we must submit is this The Vote That it be presented to the Kings Majesty as the humble advice of this House That no Indulgence be granted to the Dissenters from the Act of Vniformity And that you may know that this is not an Act of power but of reason not what they think they may but what they think they ought you have added their reason too Ordering That a Committee be appointed to collect and bring in the Reasons of this House for this Vote upon the present Debate to be prescuted to his Majesty and that the nominating of the Committee be adjourned till to morrow morning But reason is not
FAIR-WARNING OR XXV REASONS Against Toleration and Indulgence of POPERY WITH THE Arch-Bishop of Canterbury's LETTER TO THE KING AND All the Bishops of Irelands Protestation to the Parliament to the same Purpose With an Answer to the Roman-Catholicks reasons FOR INDVLGENCE ALSO THE Excellent Reasons of the Honourable HOUSE of COMMONS Against INDULGENCE With Historical Observations thereupon London Printed for S. U. N. T. F.S. 1663. TO THE KINGS Most Excellent MAJESTY May it please your Majesty I Have been too long silent and am afraid by my silence I have neglected the duty of the place it hath pleased God to call me unto and your Majesty to place me in And now I humbly crave leave I may discharge my conscience towards God and my duty to your Majesty And therefore I beseech your Majesty give me leave freely to deliver my self and then let your Majesty do with me what You please Your Majesty hath propounded a Toleration of Religion I beseech you Sir take into your consideration what the Act is next what the Consequence may be By your Act you labour to set up that most damnable and heretical Doctrine of the Church of Rome whore of Babylon How hatefull will it be to God and grievous unto Your good Subjects the true professors of the Gospel that your Majesty who hath often disputed and learnedly written against those wicked Heresies should now shew Your self a Patron of those Doctrines which Your Pen hath told the World and Your Conscience tells Your self are superstitious idolatrous and detestable Besides this Toleration which You endeavour to set up by Proclamation cannot be done without a Parliament unlesse your Majesty will let your Subjects see that You will take unto your self a liberty to throw down the Laws of the Land at your pleasure What dreadfull consequence these things may draw after them I beseech your Majesty to consider And above all lest by this Toleration and discontinuance of the true profession of the Gospel whereby God hath blessed uâ— and under which this Kingdome hath for many yeares flourished Your Majesty do not draw upon the Kingdome in generall and your self in particular Gods heavy wrath and indignation Thus in discharge of my duty towards God to your Majesty and the place of my calling I have taken humble boldnesse to deliver my conscience And now Sir doe with me what you please I am Your most faithfull Subject and Servant G. Canterbury TO THE Right Honourable THE LORDS AND COMMONS Assembled in Parliament Humbly sheweth THat the Religion of the Papists is Superstitious and Idolatrous their Faith and Doctrine erronious and hereticall their Church in respect of both Apostaticall To give them therefore a Toleration or to consent that they may freely exercise their Religion and professe their Faith and Doctrine is a grievous sin and that in two respects For first It is to make our selves accessary not only to their superstitious Idolatries Heresies and in a word to all the abomâ—nations of Popery but also which is a consequent of the former to the perdâ—tion of the seduced people which perish in the Deluge of the Catholick Apostacy And as it is a great sin so also a matter of most dangerous consequence the consideration whereof we commend to the wise and judâ—cious Beseeching the zealous God of Truth to make them who are in Authority zealous of Gods Glory and of the advancement of true Religion zealous resolute and couragious against all Popery Superstition and Idolatry Amen Ja Armachanus Auth Medensis Ro Dunensis c. Richard Cork Cloyne Rosses Tho Kilmore Ardagh Mich Waterford and Lismore Mal Casohellen Tho Hernes Laughlin Geo Deceus Andr Alachadeus Theo Dromore Franc Lymrick Since then neither in right reason and true policy of State it is either becoming or safe for Christian Magistrates to have no acknowledgment of any face of Religion so farre among their people and Subjâ—cts as to stablish own and command it nor is it any piety for Christians to be alwayes scepticks in Religion ever unsatisfied and unresolved and unestablished in matters of Gods worship and mans salvation still ravelling the very grounds of Religion with endless cavells and endless disputes Since the Word of God is neer and open to direct all men in the wayes of God and since what is necessary to be believed and obeyed in truth and holinesse is of all parts in Scripâ—ure most plaine and easie No doubt but Christian Magistrates are highly bound in Conscience to God and in charity to the good of their Subjects to whom they must do more good then they are desired to do by the Vulgar to establish those things as to the extern order Ministry form and profession of Religion both in doctrine and duties which they shall in their conscience judge and conclude upon the best advice of learned and godly men to be most agreeable to the will of God as most clearly grounded on the Word in the general tenor and analogy of it and as most fundamentally necessary to be believed and obeyed by all Christians whereto the Catholick beleife and practice of all Churches more or lesse agreeing gives a great light and direction Christians must not be alwayes tossing to and fro in Religion as if nothing were true fixed and certaine in Religion nothing heretical corrupt and damnable in opinion and doctrine nothing immorall unlawfull and abominable in practice nothing perverse uncharitable and uncomely in seditions schisms and separations John Wigorn. Twenty five Reasons Against Toleration of Popery Reason 1. THat way which seduceth poor Souls from the great Rule God hath given to live by and be saved is not to be tolerated shall we allow them among us who take away from Immortal Souls all the sure foundation they have against the time to come shall we endure them among us whose business it is to hide the eternal counsel of God from men Popery doth seduce poor Souls from the great Rule of life Papistis and shall they be tolerated make it part of their Religion to perswade us that we should not search the Scripture wherein we may have life Catholicks and shall they be Indulgent make it their business to keep us from the holy Sriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation perfect and thoughly furnished unto all good works they of Rome and shall they be connived at draw poor Souls from the word of God that is able to build us up and to give us an inheritance among them that are sanctified they said that there should be such among us endeavour that we should not prove what is the good the perfect the acceptable will of our God that without knowledge of this will the people should perish they and what can Satan do more disuade poor Souls from reading the Scriptures they persuade them that the Scriptures ought to be in an unknown Tongue that hearing poor Souls might hear and not understand the things that belong to their peace
your religion if I may so call it is the farthest from that which is styled the old Protestant then from any other way professed and owned in England 4. And is it come to that that you have raised so many Sects among us for the Sects are but your by-blowes that we have but this sad choice left either to be swallowed up by them or to close with you This is plain English 1. Reas. Roman Catholique was the Religion of England a thousand years Ans. the Roman Catholique way was not the Religion of England but the corruption of its Religion these thousand years Although however that 's not the Christian Religion that is of a thousand standing onely our Religion was the Word of God for 1400 years to which the Papist added their Idolatry superstition and tradition these 900. years the Religion of England was alwaies contained in the Lords Prayer the 10 Commandments the Articles of Faith the Doctrine of the Sacraments the Order and Discipline we have now established by Law the corruptions of Rome were only of late brought in upon these foundations and are now removed by Law and really it 's strange that humane corruptions such as Popery is should claim the same right with Gods institution such as Judaism was one institution of God may give place to another by degrees though it give not place to the corruption of men not for an hour We have buried your way in honour our care is how that it rise not again in dishonour As the Primitive Christians suffered that generation of Jews which was bred up in Judaism to continue their own way though they suffered neither Jews nor Gentiles to be bred up in it in the next generation so we used that generation we found here at first very civilly but would not suffer any more to learn that way The Apostles that suffered Jews to practice their way for the present would not suffer them to teach it for the future and we who indulged Papists in the first generation after the Reformation to live in their own perverse way would not allow them to pervert others in the next generation And as we would not force a Heathen as he saith to our way so would we not suffer him to perswade others from our way we would not compel Heathens or Papists who in some places are little better then Heathens to the truth but we would restrain them that they should not seduce others to their errours Reas. But shall the old Protestant who confesseth Rome a true Church and himself derived from her persecute her and call her a Whore let the Presbyterian c. Answ. Let the world know that the old Protestant bears as little honour to the corruptions of Rome as the Presbyterian and that the Presbyterian bears as much honour to the truth of Rome as the old Protestant and that both for we will not by your Artifices be divided any further then needs must own her as a true Church though they do not own her as a corrupued Church They will allow the Church of Rome and they maintain their own here they condemn not them that live in communion with the Church of Rome because they have the foundation of Religion They allow them not the same priviledge with those of their own communion because they build dangerous things upon that foundation we own all Protestants for Christians yet we hang them for murder and felony so we own Papists for Christians yet we punish them for superstition and Idolatry Reason 3. If we acknowledge they have all things necessarie to salvation then we should indulge them An. Indeed you hold as you say the fundamental truth by which men may be saved but you hold likewise some errors in judgement and corruptions in practice contrary to those fundamental truths by which men may be damned we embrace your faith and yet we oppose the heresies you hold contrary to the faith I love a man though I hate his disease I love the Religion of Rome I hate her prophanation of that Religion if any man be saved in Rome it 's by the truths we and you hold in common and not by those abominations we punish in you and we must needs say that we restrain you not as Christians whom we shall see in Heaven one day but as Idolaters and Hereticks whom except you repent we shall never see in Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 Gal. 5.20 21. 4. Reason We differ but in small questions and opinions c. therefore 1. Answ. If so small the difference between us why so great your cruelty towards us were we burned massacred tortured banished imprisoned famished upon quirkes and differences in words rather then in real points 2. But is the worshipping of Creatures but a quirkâ—s with you is saying to a peice of bread Thou art God but a trifle and to God Thou art not able to instruct us for salvation without humane tradition but a Toy 5. Reason Because we own one rule of Faith with them that is Scripture and tradition we ought to tollerate them Answ. We disown this reproachful insinuation we own no rule of Faith but the Scripture by which we try all humane writings judging in our selves what is right and though we have the Fathers and the first Councils against you yet we desire nothing but the Scripture for our selves we reverence the practice of the Ancients we walk by the rule of Scripture as we would do as they did so would we walk by the same rule they did 6 Reason The Lutherans agree with the Papasts elsewhere therefore c. Ans. I. How the Lutherans agree with Papists we say not we are sure the Papists agree not with Lutherans what else means the quarrels plots seditions tumults discontents we hear of every day 2. We walk not by example but by rule 3. This favour the Lutherans and Hugonots got by arms and keep by interest before we know how they were used 7. Reason As to what you say of commerce and marriage we establish not our religion upon policie but upon piety we look not what is most advantagious but what is most lawfull although yet it be the interest of forreigners as much to be of our Religion as it is ours to be of theirs the English peace and trade is as much their advantage as theirs is ours as for the Earl of Bristow he told King James and King Charles that for which he was questioned by the Duke of Buckingham in Parliament As for the Earl of Leicester he did a little regard Richleau as he did him and he hath lived to see as great a Cardinal court the English when resolute in their way though never so severe to Catholiques their resolute are fooled the resolved are feared as for the Queen of Bohemia if we had followed Her interest she might have been the greatest Queen in Europe and the Lord would have let the World have seen that it was the highest advantage in the World