way and also know their Right of Petitioning which makes some people suspect that they had not so much to say for their refusing the Oaths as they had for the Declaration or else they would not have been so wanting to themselves as not to have done it before now unless the neglect proceed from a worse Principle that of the slighting and despising the Government it self And they cannot more effectually clear themselves from that Imputation than by proposing something that may be equivalent to the Oath and consequently as good Security to the Government Which if refused they will then have something to say for themselves and may lawfully complain But I believe Sir that you have reason to think it would be accepted if offer'd and at a venture I dare promise them your Vote for the Author of this Letter is not the only one that has wish'd some Expedient might be found out that those excellent Persons might continue in the Station they so well became The rest of the Letter is only Panegyrick of the Bishops and a Prophecy of the Resentment that the whole Nation is to express when the Sentence comes to Deprivation And as to the Encomium he makes of them I should be very well pleased with it in the Positive Degree but Comparisons they say are odious But why they should be advanced to the Superlative only for not taking the Oaths I do not so well understand for we have Two of the famous Seven who may pretend to as great Merit as any for I am sure they suffered as much as the other Five needed to have done and I think do not deserve the less from the Nation because they have not made a Faction and Schism in it as the others have nor been the occasion of the expence of so much Treasure and Blood too For whatever obligation we in England may have to them I doubt the poor Irish Protestants have not so for I believe you and a great many in your House are satisfied That if the Church of England had unanimously come in to King William at first so that he could have sent his Army over while the Protestants in Ireland had been in a condition to have assisted them that Kingdom had been reduced long ago and consequently so many Lives saved as it has and will cost to do it now But this is not a Subject for me to insist on tho it deserves their consideration But I perceive the Author thinks there is no falling from Grace else he would not have concluded that after one Eminent good Act it was impossible for them to do an ill It would indeed be very happy if one generous piece of Piety would render one infallible ever after but I fear the rule will fail though I heartily wish it may not in those Reverend Persons for whom I have as great and true a Veneration as any body can pretend to But in case they should think fit to prefer Quiet and Privacy before Profit and State and adhering to their own humour before serving God and the Church in the places they so well fill'd if I say they should think fit to do this I cannot suppose those dismal consequences must necessarily follow that this Author foretels for I fear the generality of the People do not so much value true worth as to be concerned for what good Men suffer if they themselves are at ease and in safety But good words cost nothing and they can easily afford them that will not do any thing more to serve either King or Bishop Which may be one reason why both have been so out in their computation For King James making his Musters by his Addresses I 'm sure reckon'd without his Host and I fancy the Bishops have been a little out in their Count too as to the numbers of the Clergy that would refuse the Oaths as 't is possible this Author may be in his But indeed where the dissenting Bishops are the whole Church a very small Party may by the same reason be the whole Nation and both contained in a good honest Conventicle Nay for any thing I know at the rate some men talk both Church and Nation may in a few years be reduced as the Church of the Donatists was to one single Person But I do not desire to be a Prophet in that point for I do from my Soul wish that we may be all united as in one Faith so in one Communion that we may with one Heart and one Mouth Praise God and Pray for our King whom God has been pleased to make the Glorious Instrument of the greatest Deliverance that ever yet happened to the Reformed Church And truly it does seem as strange to me that any body that calls himself a Church of England Man doth not both see and acknowledge that as it does to this Author to think that the great Assertors of the Protestant Religion and English Liberties should be Suspended and Deprived But the latter is still in their own choice and let them but qualify themselves for Their Majesties Favour by complying with the Law and I do not question but they shall receive such marks of it as shall be proportionable even to their Merits Which I do think as great as any body can pretend to but without admitting the Doctrine of Compensation I cannot say that the Sepererogating in one point of the Law should give one License to break another For St. James tells us Chap. 2.10 That whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all And I suppose this holds in Humane as well as in the Divine Law. Therefore unless they do think fit to comply I cannot help it though the Law do look upon them as Criminals though I must always admire their Personal Endowments and particular qualifications for Government which makes it so desirable they should keep their Stations But if they think fit to deprive the Church of their further Service for after all the exclamation that is or can be made against it 't is apparently their own doings because their choice although the Proverb That seldom comes a letter may be very likely to hold in their Case yet I do not think there is so great a scarcity of Worthy Men in the Church but that it may be possible to find out four or five as good who may be able to supply even their places and come up to their pitch Of which the two last Vacancies is a convincing instance to me for by that time that the Diocesses of Worcester and Chichester are thoroughly acquainted with their New Bishops I do not believe they will think they have changed much for the worse although the two Predecessors were as Eminent and as good men as any they have left behind them But I fear I have exceeded the bounds of a Letter tho' I hope not those of your Patience for I question not but you can pardon a Fault to which I was betray'd by my obedience to your Commands for all your desires you know are so to Dear Sir Your most Affectionate Friend and Servant Nov. 1. 89.
P. of O. And I would fain ask what their Lordships then thought For if they did not then think King James had disserted the Government I am very confident they would not have done what they then did For I am sure they take upon them as if there was no King in Israel And because 't is possible you may not have the Declaration by you I will with your good leave transcribe some part of it We do therefore unanimously resolve to apply to the Prince of Orange who with so great kindness to these Kingdoms so vast Expence and so much hazard to his own Person hath undertaken by endeavouring to procure a Free Parliament to rescue us with as little effusion as possible of Christian Blood from the imminent Dangers of Popery and Slavery And we do hereby declare That we will with our utmost Endeavour assist His Highness in the obtaining such a Parliament with all speed wherein our Laws our Liberties and Properties may be secured the Church of England in particular with a due liberty to Protestant Dissenters and in general the Protestant Religion and Interest over the whole World may be supported and encouraged to the Glory of God the Happiness of the Establisht Government in these Kingdoms and the advantage of all Princes and States in Christendom that may be herein concerned And in the mean time we will endeavour to preserve Peace taking care to disarm all Papists And if there be any thing more to be performed by us for promoting his Highness generous Intentions for the publick Good we shall be ready to do it as occasion shall require These are the very words of the Declaration which was sign'd and delivered too by the Persons above-mentioned so that we have reason to look upon it as their own Act and Deed And must therefore beg leave to be resolved in one Point and that is By what Authority their Lordships did this And I cannot suppose they will say it was done by any Deputation from King James or any Power they derived from him so then it seems they did it in their own right And if so 't is pretty indifferent to me whether King James disserted or no for let them take which fide they please either will do my business For if they will own the Dissertion they yield the Point we have all this while contended for but if they deny that and say that King James was at that time actually their King then I perceive that Subjects may prescribe to nay force their Kings to do their Duty But what becomes of Passive Obedience all this while I wonder For here we find our good Bishops not only applauding but joining with and assisting that very Person whom their King James called an Invader and whose very Errand hither as they themselves at that time very well knew was only to teach him better Behaviour And how they can avoid one of these Consequences for we may allow them their choice I must confess I cannot very well see For the involuntary Return which King James did make to London does not in my Conceit much alter the matter unless we will allow Kings to play at Boe-peep with their Government and now they will be seen and now they will not But I hope the Persons I was now speaking of have too much Gravity as well as Understanding to approve of much less to act their Part in such Boys-Play especially in things of this Nature and Consequence And yet to our great wonder as well as trouble we find those very wise Men recalling their Consent flying from their Subscriptions and nauseating all those great and glorious Designs they then seemed so eagerly to pursue For since that very Free Parliament has been obtain'd and the Rights of this particular Church and Nation as well as the Interest of the Protestant Religion in general secured as far as Humane Wisdom can reach now they loath this Manna and long for the Flesh Pots of Egypt again and with the Men in the Gospel they will not have this Man though courted before to reign over them Now what can one say to Men of this Temper Nay what can God himself do for them since they are displeased with Heaven for granting their Desires and quarrel with Providence because the Change was not made exactly by their Model although for any thing I perceive they were not very well agreed about it themselves For should we have attended till they had pleased themselves with a Scheme of our Deliverance 't is probable we might all before that have been swallow'd up in that Common Ruine which was then just ready to overflow the Nation But pardon me dear Sir if my Zeal for the Publick have transported me too far in this Point For it would raise something of Indignation in any English Man that had a true sense of his Countries Interest to see People sent abroad God forbid I should say by the Bishops for I have a much better Opinion of them but however by those that pretend to be of their Party to proclaim That now Iniquity is Establisht by a Law. But whether what they are pleased to call Iniquity Establisht by a Law is not at a venture better than a Lawless Power that will both Establish and Maintain Idolatry and Cruelty I fancy is a Point that will be pretty easily decide if left to the Majority of Voices in this Nation But I have been hitherto relating only Matters of Fact which I hope I have done so impartially that they only conclusion I have made I believe will be found to flow very Naturally from my Premises that is indeed from the Declaration that was both signed and sent by these Worthy Bishops Now to return to the Letter you sent me I find the Author does not only think the Oaths Lawful but Necessary wherein I must agree with him as I do also in wishing the Bishops would yet take them and as he well says bring their Consciences to go along with the Stream of the Publick Judgment That they would consider what allowance is to be made for the Real Necessities of a Kingdom and whether the Safety of a People must not be preferr'd to all ordinary humane Rule And these being the very Words of their own Advocate I knew not how to put my Queries into more proper Terms and therefore recite them and where Salus Populi est Suprema Lex is the avow'd Maxim of the Government and Constitution one would think it should not require much deliberation to answer the Question But now if they please we will come to dispute the matter in cool Blood and shall not restrain this great Law only to the Subject but by the Safety of the People understand the Government in the Concrete For we know the Saying is derived from the Old Romans among whom the People with their Senate did carry the Face of the Supream Magistracy And we may be sure the Safety of the whole was
A LETTER Out of the COUNTRY To a MEMBER of this present PARLIAMENT OCCASIONED By a late LETTER to a Member of the House of Commons Concerning the BISHOPS lately in the Tower and now under SUSPENSION Licensed Nov. 7. 1689. J. F. LONDON Printed for Awnsham Churchill at the Black Swan near Amen-Corner 1689. A LETTER to a Member of the House of Commons c. SIR THE concern which in your last to me you were pleas'd to express for those good Bishops now under Suspension for not taking the Oaths and your earnest Enquiry after some Expedient to prevent their utter Destitution do well become that Character of Goodness and Generosity by which you are known no less than by your Name It is some comfort to see that a Person of your Understanding and Practice in the World doth not yet despair nor give up these Excellent but Unfortunate Persons as lost beyond possibility of recovery Some begin to bewail their Fall already as a thing unavoidable and others may be casting lots for the Garments there is nothing that the Church of England in general desires more than the Preservation of these bright and shining Lights that direct and adorn her and cannot think with any patience that they should be extinguished in Dishonour They have the Compassion and the good Wishes of the People which if they have not always Effect yet may serve for a good Omen and portend something better than what now appears But after all there can be no ground of Hopes but by a Parliament for the Act has left no other Remedy and we cannot expect that the Dispensing Power should now revive to save those from whom it received its mortal Wound in the last Reign Now Providence has so far favour'd their Cause that a Parliament is assembled within the Time assign'd for taking the Oaths and before the last Severities are to fall upon the Refusers and who can tell but it may be with a Design to give that great Assembly an opportunity to find some Relief for these Reverend Bishops who have deserv'd so well of this Church and Kingdom and whose absolute Ruine cannot but be dishonourable and invidious I do not pretend to justifie their Refusal of taking the Oaths but wish with all my heart they would yet take them and bring their Conscience to go along with the Stream of the Publick Judgment that they would consider what allowance is to be made for the real Necessities of a Kingdom and whether the Safety of a People must not be preferr'd to all ordinary humane Rule We of the Church of England have the greatest reason in the World to wish this for we cannot but account it one of the greatest Calamities that can befall us to see the chiefest and best of our Guides divided from the major part and general Consent of the Nation But our Affliction will be insupportable if we must see our selves deprived of such Men under whose Conduct we have found Safety and Honour in the most difficult Times and see them whom we reverence and love as Fathers disgrac'd and depos'd and undone because they boggle in a kind of moot Point of Conscience and cannot satisfie their Minds about the Oaths now enjoyn'd Nor can I much wonder that several of the Clergy have their Scruples upon this occasion for Men of Retirement and Study are not so quick in a Change as Statesmen and those who have the Experience and Practice of the World. As those who keep within doors are not so soon sensible of alteration of Weather as those who are abroad and live in the open Air. Besides the Arguments for the maintenance of our rightful Liberties and just Defence and all the grounds of our Common and Necessary preservation have been so miserably abus'd by restless and seditious Men that they have lost a great deal of their Operation They have been so often pretended without reason that when the real Case of Necessity happens many may be apt to suspect it for Counterfeit and meer Pretence as those who have been too often abus'd with false Alarms may not so readily be brought to arm and prepare upon a real one The Parliament therefore that made this Actt enjoyning these Oaths could not but foresee that several of the Clergy might probably be under great difficulties upon this Occasion and upon this Prospect thought fit to exempt Twelve Persons from some part of the Penalties of the Statute so far as to leave them at the King's Discretion for a third Part of their Revenues which shews that in the Opinion of this very Parliament there might be some Refusers not unworthy of Favour But it is possible they might not foresee al that happen'd nor think that the Rigour and Severity of that Act should in a manner wholly fall upon such Persons who are the Chief for Merits as well as Authority in our Church and that they only should feel the Extremities of that Law who had deserv'd another kind of acknowledgment and return from the Nation for that unparallell'd Zeal for the Protestant Religion and for the Priviledges and Liberty of the Subject which in so signal a manner they shew'd in the last Reign It is little more than a year since most of the Bishops who are now so unfortunate as not to be able to reconcile their Consciences to the Oaths were hurried into Prison for their opposition to Popery and Slavery The Zeal and Courage which they made appear upon that occasion cannot so soon be forgot for who cannot but have yet a lively remembrance how sensible the whole Nation was affected with their Sufferings and Enlargements how all sorts of People were concern'd as if the Fate of the Kingdom had been ty'd to theirs and all must have been ruin'd or preserv'd with them I might mention the Malice and Virulence of their Prosecution and how near Treason it was then thought by some to oppose King James his Arbitrary Power But I do not now call the Sufferings of these great Men in remembrance with any design to render the Instruments of them odious But to let you see how strange a thing it will appear to the present Age and to Posterity that those Prelates who had escap'd the fury of Papists and had made so glorious a Confession for Protestant Religion and English Liberties should in so little a compass of time come to be disgrac'd and depos'd and ruin'd under a Protestant Government without any high Crime laid to their Charge but only because they cannot prevail with their Consciences to take the Oaths which tho' I think to be just and necessary yet cannot but acknowledge to have some Circumstances that are unusual and extraordinary It might be expected upon the Deliverance of this Nation from Popery and Tyranny that those who had stood in the gap and distinguish'd themselves by the check and stop which they gave to the Progress of those spreading plagues might have been proportionably distinguish'd by the