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<DATE>2007-09-13</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Elspeth Healey</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE
Chri&s;tian Moderator:
<HI>OR,</HI>
PERSECUTION
FOR
RELIGION
<HI>CONDEMNED,</HI>
<LIST>
<ITEM>By the
<LIST>
<ITEM>Light of Nature.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Law of God.</ITEM>
<ITEM>Evidence of our own Principles.</ITEM>
</LIST></ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<BIBL>JAMES II. XII.</BIBL>
<Q>So &s;peak you and &s;o do, as they that are judged by the law of liberty: for they
&s;hall be judged without mercy that have &s;hewed no mercy.</Q>
<Q>Mille hominum &s;pecies, &amp; rerum <HI>di&s;color</HI> u&s;us,
&mdash;per me equidem &s;int omnia protinus <HI>alba.</HI></Q>
<P>Printed for <HI>H. J.</HI> in the yeer 1651.</P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="discourse">
<PB REF="2">
<PB N="1" REF="2">
<HEAD>Per&s;ecution for Religion condemned, &amp;.</HEAD>
<P>WHen I con&s;ider how tenderly your Saviour Chri&s;t recommends
the precept of mutuall love to all that profe&s;&s;e his Name, ma|king
it the Character of his followers. <HI>By this all men &s;hall know
that you are my Di&s;ciples, if you love one another, John</HI> 13.
35. And when I reflect how highly the great Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul</HI>
exalts the &s;ame Commandement, abridging into this one precious <GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="4+ letters">ble, the
whole duty of a Chri&s;tian, <HI>All the Law is fulfill'd in one word, Thou &s;halt love
thy Neighbour as thy &s;elf, Gal.</HI> 5. I cannot &s;ufficiently wonder, to &s;ee mo&s;t Chri|&s;tians
in this pre&s;ent age with fire and &s;word per&s;ecute each other, only upon the
account of Religion: how are we degenerated from the Primitive Believers, who
would rather have given their own lives, to per&s;wade their enemies to piety, then
&s;ought to take away the lives of their Brethren, to force them to Hypocri&s;ie?</P>
<P>Yet hath it plea&s;ed the Lord Chri&s;t in our daies, <HI>upon whom the ends of the world
are come,</HI> to infu&s;e the like tenderne&s;&s;e into the bre&s;ts of many con&s;cientious and
godly minded people of this Nation, (who &s;eeing the deformity and unrea&s;on|ablene&s;&s;e
of tho&s;e cruell Maximes, that preach ruine and de&s;truction for the lea&s;t
difference in belief) cea&s;e not to pray unto the God of heaven, and &s;olicite the
Governors of the earth, that an impartiall freedome, and ab&s;olute incoercency in
matters of Religion may be firmly and irrevocably e&s;tabli&s;ht, for all that profe&s;&s;e
the Go&s;pell of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P>For incouragement of which holy de&s;ign, woven out of the bowells of mer|cy,
and for determent of tho&s;e tempe&s;tuous &s;pirits, that with thunder and light|ning
&s;trive to &s;torm mens con&s;ciences, I have indeavoured in this &s;hort di&s;cour&s;e
to demon&s;trate, that Con&s;cience-per&s;ecution among&s;t Chri&s;tians is clearly re|pugnant
to the <HI>Light of Nature,</HI> the <HI>Law of God,</HI> and the <HI>evidence of our own
Principles.</HI></P>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Demon&s;trative Rea&s;ons again&s;t forcing of Con&s;cience.</HEAD>
<P>1. SInce we have &s;o happily &s;haken off that intollerable Yoke of Popi&s;h infalli|bility
(<HI>which neither we nor our Fathers were able to bear</HI>) it is become
to us not only tyrannicall, but ab&s;urd, to compell others to a way, that our &s;elves
confe&s;&s;e may po&s;&s;ibly be erronious; we &s;ee one Parliament repeals tho&s;e Articles
of faith which a former enacted; that form of wor&s;hip which the Laws of the la&s;t
age introduced, is now generally exploded; nay, the very la&s;t Reformation, &s;et|led
with &s;o &s;olemn a Covenant, and carried on with &s;o furious a Zeal, is already
by better lights di&s;covered to be meerly humane, &amp; therefore de&s;ervedly laid a&s;ide:
The late Synods Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith (hatch'd by &s;o many years &s;itting) is now
learnedly examined, and indeed for a great part &s;olidly confuted, by Mr. <HI>W. Par|ker,</HI>
and other learned per&s;ons in print; how prepo&s;terous is it then to con&s;train
a &s;oul, not only to for&s;ake his con&s;cience, which may be truth, but drive him con|trary
to his own heart, to a way that may be error!</P>
<P><PB N="2" REF="3">
2. Since the Word of God is the &s;ole Rule of Faith, and no humane authority
&s;o highly impowred, as to bind up our a&s;&s;ents to what&s;oever interpretation it &s;hall
plea&s;e to propo&s;e; it clearly follows, that as all the children of God have equall
intere&s;t in the Te&s;tament of their Father, &s;o no one among&s;t them has any right
to impo&s;e a force upon the judgement of his brother: One holds Bapti&s;m of
children to be nece&s;&s;ary, another e&s;teems it unlawfull, a third denies both the&s;e O|pinions,
admitting well that it may, but not that it mu&s;t be done: they conferre
Texts, look into Originall Tongues, pray ince&s;&s;antly to God, and profe&s;&s;e &s;o|lemnly
the &s;incerity of their intentions; yet after all their diligences and devotions,
&s;tedfa&s;tly remain in their former per&s;wa&s;ion; truely for my part, he that &s;hould
advi&s;e per&s;ecution in &s;uch a ca&s;e (unle&s;&s;e his fire brought light too with it, to de|mon&s;trate
the truth) would &s;carce &s;atisfie my &s;u&s;pition, that his coals were fetcht
from the infernall pit.</P>
<P>3. If we reflect upon the difficulties that encounter us in the way to Truth, for
<HI>&s;trait is the gate, nnd narrow is the path,</HI> and withall con&s;ider the &s;hortne&s;&s;e of
our &s;ight, for <HI>here we &s;ee but in part, and under&s;tand but in part:</HI> there will ap|pear
more rea&s;on to endeavour the mutuall a&s;&s;i&s;tance and &s;upport, then malicious
ruine and de&s;truction one of another. However, &s;ince all have neither equall depth
of naturall judgment, nor the &s;ame mea&s;ure of &s;upernaturall illumination, <HI>but the
&s;pirit bloweth how and where it plea&s;eth,</HI> we ought not to attempt &s;o high a pre|&s;umption,
as to de&s;pi&s;e or per&s;ecute our b<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">other for his innocent and blamele&s;&s;e
mi&s;takes, le&s;t we be found to fight again&s;t God, who is the free di&s;po&s;er of his
gifts; we know <HI>the way of man is not in him&s;elf,</HI> Jer. 10. 23. but his <HI>&s;teps are ru|led
by the Lord, Pro.</HI> 20. 24. and therefore certainly, did we bear a due re&s;pect to
God, we would be content to wait his lei&s;ure, who has engaged him&s;elf by his
Apo&s;tle, <HI>Phil. 3. 15. If any man be otherwi&s;e minded, God &s;hall in time reveal
even this unto him:</HI> let us therefore entertain &s;uch an one, who proceeds in the
&s;implicity of his heart, with <HI>milk,</HI> till he grow &s;tronger to dige&s;t <HI>&s;trong meat.</HI></P>
<P>4. All compul&s;ion upon the Con&s;cience returns us flatly to our old &s;lavery
under the <HI>Prelates,</HI> nay more to the implicite faith of the <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> with this only
difference, that we are wor&s;e then either, becau&s;e our con&s;ciences accu&s;e us of do|ing
that which we condemn in others; for what&s;oever I am con&s;trained to &s;wear
or profe&s;&s;e more then I am convinced of, proceeds from as great a tyranny as the
High Commi&s;&s;ion, and is as blind an a&s;&s;ent, as can be match'd in the gro&s;&s;e&s;t Po|pery,
and dare we <HI>think that doing the &s;ame things we judge in others, we &s;hall
e&s;cape the Judgement of God,</HI> Rom. 2. 3.</P>
<P>5. Force is puni&s;hment, and con&s;equently not ju&s;t, unle&s;&s;e the offence be vo|luntary,
but he that believes according to the evidence of his own rea&s;on, is ne|ce&s;&s;itated
to that belief, and to compell him again&s;t it, were to drive him to re|nounce
the mo&s;t e&s;&s;entiall part of man his rea&s;on. Why &s;hould we be commanded
<HI>to try the &s;pirits,</HI> 1 John 4. 1. <HI>to prove all things, 1 The&s;.</HI> 5. 21. if there be not
a faculty in the &s;oul to judge for her &s;elf? why are we enjoyned to <HI>hold fa&s;t that
which we find to be be&s;t,</HI> if after our mo&s;t &s;erious and deliberate election we &s;hall
be whipt out of our con&s;cience by penalties? To what purpo&s;e do we preach poor
&s;ouls into ju&s;t &s;o much liberty of Scripture, as may beget their torture, and not
permit them to re&s;t where they find &s;atisfaction; Either prohibit to &s;earch at all,
or leave us &s;en&s;ible of &s;ome benefit by teaching; To believe what appears untrue,
<PB N="3" REF="3">
&s;eems to me impo&s;&s;ible, to profe&s;&s;e what we believe untrue, I am &s;ure is dam|nable.</P>
<P>6. As it is certain, who&s;oever &s;werves from the dictate of his Con&s;cience com|mits
a grievous &s;in, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14. So without que&s;tion they that endeavour by force
or artifice to draw any man to profe&s;&s;e or act contrary to what his &s;oul believes,
are as deeply guilty of the &s;ame crime, <HI>When you wound the weak con&s;ciences of
your brethren, you &s;in against Chri&s;t,</HI> 1 Cor. 8. 12. How dangerou&s;ly then do they
expo&s;e them&s;elves to the ju&s;t indignation of God, who by Oaths, Impri&s;on|ments,
Forfeitures, &amp;c. both drive others, and fall them&s;elves into eternall per|dition?
How de&s;perately do they attempt to extingui&s;h the light of Nature, which
indi&s;pen&s;ably obliges all men to deal with others, as they would be dealt with
them&s;elves, a light placed by God in clear and candid &s;ouls to &s;hine and guide
them, but in black ones to condemn and burn them; I &s;hall clo&s;e this di&s;cour&s;e
with the advi&s;e of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom. 14. 13. Let us therefore u&s;e our judgement
rather in this, that no man put a &s;tumbling block before his Brother.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>2. Unan&s;werable Texts of Scripture again&s;t coercency in Religion.</HEAD>
<P>NOr are the&s;e &s;o excellent and important truths built only upon the firme
foundation of &s;olid rea&s;on, but al&s;o upon the infallible authority of evident
Scripture, 2 <HI>Tim.</HI> 2. 24 &amp;c. <HI>The &s;ervant of the Lord mu&s;t not &s;trive, but be gentle
unto all men, apt to teach, for bearing, in meekne&s;&s;e in&s;tructing tho&s;e that are con|trary
minded, if God peradventure will give them repentance, to the acknow|ledging
of the truth, that they may recover them&s;elves out of the &s;nare of the
devill, who are taken captive by him at his will:</HI> and another Apo&s;tle forbidding
us to condemn one another, &s;aith (<HI>James</HI> 4. 12) <HI>There is one Lawgiver, who is
able to &s;ave and to de&s;troy: who art thou that judge&s;t another?</HI> and in <HI>Paul</HI> to the
<HI>Romans 14. 4. Who art thou that judge&s;t anothers &s;ervant? to his own Ma&s;ter he
&s;tandeth or falleth, yea he &s;hall be holden up, for God is able to make him
&s;tand; one man e&s;teemeth one day above another, another e&s;teemeth every day a|like,
let every man be fully per&s;waded in his own mind, ha&s;t thou faith? have
it to thy &s;elf before God, happy is he that condemneth not him&s;elf in that which
he alloweth,</HI> that is, who&s;e con&s;cience inwardly accu&s;eth not his outward profe&s;&s;i|on;
The &s;ame mo&s;t zealous Preacher of the Go&s;pell returns &s;o conde&s;cending and
moderate an an&s;wer to a ca&s;e of a far harder &s;ound then we undertake to maintain,
that it &s;ufficiently proves he took his gentle pen from the &s;oft wing of the <HI>Dove,</HI>
1 Cor. 7. 12. &amp;c. <HI>If any brother hath a wi&s;e that believeth not, and &s;he be plea|&s;ed
to dwell with him, let him not put her away, and the woman that hath a
husband that believeth not, and he be plea&s;ed to dwell with her, let her not leave
him, but if the unbelieving depart, let him depart; a brother or a &s;i&s;ter is not in
bondage in &s;uch ca&s;es, but God hath called us to peace; for what knowe&s;t thou
O wife, whither thou &s;halt &s;ave thy husband? and what knowe&s;t thou O man whi|ther
thou &s;halt &s;ave thy wife? as God hath di&s;tributed to every man, as the Lord
hath called every one, &s;o let him walk, and &s;o ordain I in all Churches.</HI> What
can be &s;aid more efficaciou&s;ly to oblige Chri&s;tians, in charity and meekne&s;&s;e to
forbear one another, then &s;o expre&s;&s;e an Injunction of &s;o great an Apo&s;tle, to live
peaceably even with an Infidell? and again 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 1. 24. He denies that even the A|po&s;tles
them&s;elves have any Soveraignty over the Con&s;cience, but only Commi&s;|&s;ions
<PB N="4" REF="4">
to a&s;&s;i&s;t the con&s;cientious, <HI>not that we have</HI> (&s;aies he to the <HI>Corinthians)
Dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy;</HI> therein exactly ob&s;erving
the orders which Chri&s;t gave to his Apo&s;tles, <HI>Go and teach,</HI> not compell, <HI>and if
any one receive you not, &s;hake off the du&s;t of your feet,</HI> no<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> trample upon them,
as du&s;t under your feet, <HI>Mat.</HI> 10. 14. Con&s;tant to which Doctrine of Meekne&s;&s;e,
our Saviour thus in&s;tructs his Di&s;ciples, Mat. 23. 9. <HI>Be not called Rabbi</HI> (that is
Ma&s;ters in &s;piritual matters (<HI>for one is your Ma&s;ter, even Chri&s;t, and all you are
brethren.</HI> To this belongs the patient forbearing the <HI>tares,</HI> and letting them grow
together with the <HI>wheat</HI> till the time of harve&s;t: as al&s;o that admirable pre&s;ident
of mildne&s;&s;e towards the Samaritanes, who refu&s;ed to receive even Chri&s;t him&s;elf,
whereupon the Di&s;ciples <HI>James</HI> and <HI>John,</HI> would immediately command fire from
heaven to con&s;ume them, as in the daies of <HI>Elias,</HI> but our mercifull Lord rebuked
their zeal, with this &s;weet and tender reply, <HI>You know not what manner of &s;pirit
you are of, the Son of man is not come to de&s;troy mens lives, but to &s;ave them,</HI>
Luke 9. 54. which one example abundantly &s;atisfies all objections drawn from
the practi&s;e of <HI>Elias, Jehu,</HI> the &s;ons of <HI>Levi,</HI> &amp;c. in the old Te&s;tament, for as
they had an expre&s;&s;e command from God to warrant their Zeal, we have an ex|pre&s;&s;e
warrant from Chri&s;t to command us meekne&s;&s;e. If any one &s;hall &s;huffle in
a &s;u&s;pition, that this moderate temper was meant only for the times of per&s;ecuti|tion,
when the Chri&s;tians had no temporall Power; let him fir&s;t confe&s;&s;e that
tho&s;e were the be&s;t and pure&s;t times, and then &s;how a Warrant dormant under
our Saviours hand (that is in his Go&s;pell) to Commi&s;&s;ionate his Di&s;ciples as &s;oon
as they &s;hould get the Sword into their hands, to cut the throats of all di&s;obeyers,
and I &s;ubmit; but if they can cite no &s;uch authority, let them freely acknowledge
that per&s;ecution for Con&s;cience is an unwarrantable tyranny over the ju&s;t privi|ledges
and liberty of a Chri&s;tian.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="section">
<HEAD>3. Our own Principles again&s;t con&s;traint upon the Con&s;cience.</HEAD>
<P>COn&s;onant to the&s;e rea&s;ons and clear Texts of Scripture, are the Principles of
all the godly and well-affected of this Nation: to begin with them to whom
we owe this liberty of di&s;cour&s;ing, the unparallel'd Army, in all who&s;e proceed|ings,
and Declarations (e&s;pecially &s;ince managed by the prodigiou&s;ly &s;ucce&s;&s;efull
hands of the two later Generalls) their <HI>Motto</HI> has been <HI>Liberty to all tender and
oppre&s;&s;ed Con&s;ciences,</HI> the glory of which &s;o dazles the eys of our enemies, and in|courages
the hearts of our friends, that notwith&s;tanding whatever other di&s;advan|tage,
we &s;till find the Author of our Victory mindfull of the <HI>word,</HI> which him&s;elf
gave to our Army, <HI>The meek &s;hall inherit the Land;</HI> Of which &s;hort Texts writ|ten
in our En&s;igns, we may read a clear and perfect Commentary in the Propo|&s;alls
of the &s;ame &s;til triumphing Army. 1 <HI>Aug.</HI> 1647. when penetrating exactly in|to
the true &s;tate of the Que&s;tion, they prudently di&s;tingui&s;h between quiet exerci|cers
of their Con&s;ciences, and active prejudicers of the Common-wealth, and
thereupon offer their earne&s;t de&s;ires, <HI>that all coercive Power, and all civill Pe|nalties
for non-conformity be wholly repealed, and &s;ome other provi&s;ion made a|gain&s;t
&s;uch Papi&s;ts as &s;hould di&s;turb the publike peace.</HI></P>
<P>Many and wonderfull are the deliverances which our good God has di&s;pen&s;ed to
his &s;ervants, in reward of this their inclination to mercifullne&s;&s;e, yet among&s;t all
the glorious appearances of the Lord for his people, none can be found more emi|nent
<PB N="5" REF="4">
then the renowned victory over that rigid and &s;evere Kirk-army of the Scots,
<HI>September</HI> 1650. who declining the mild coun&s;ell of our Saviour, <HI>to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e their
&s;ouls with patience,</HI> de&s;ervedly lo&s;t their lives by violence, a fatall argument, de|ciding
manife&s;tly this very controver&s;ie in favour of meekne&s;&s;e, where the main|tainers
of compul&s;ion were no le&s;&s;e ingeniou&s;ly then cruelly confuted, while&s;t a&s;&s;u|ming
to them&s;elves a Power to force our &s;ouls, they could not &s;o much as defend
their own bodies.</P>
<P>In memory of which great Salvation from the pride and fury of the <HI>Presbyteri|an
Prie&s;thood,</HI> the Parliament, as a new Covenant of Thanksgiving for &s;o &s;ea|&s;onable
a mercy, in the &s;ame moneth enacted an aboli&s;hment of divers rigorous
and penall Statutes, contrived on purpo&s;e by the haughty Prelates, to break the
hearts of tho&s;e, who&s;e con&s;ciences they could not bend, which one Act has won
more hearts to acknowledge and love the authority of the Parliament, then all
their &s;tupendious victories have forced bodies to confe&s;&s;e and fear their Power&punc;
and if it be not check'd by limitations and partiality in the execution, will render
them ab&s;olute Ma&s;ters of all that under&s;tand their own felicity: for what can be
imagined more welcome to a Chri&s;tian people newly delivered from an Antichri|&s;tian
bondage, then to &s;ee them&s;elves infranchi&s;ed into a holy Liberty of pro|ceeding
&s;incerely, according to their con&s;ciences in the Wor&s;hip of their
God?</P>
<P><HI>Wherefore as we are full of joy for &s;o excellent an Act, by which (as the A|po&s;tle
&s;aith</HI>) we are called unto Liberty, <HI>&s;o we are full of hopes to be perfectly
happy, by the free and univer&s;al ob&s;ervation thereof, without the lea&s;t &s;elf-intere&s;t
or re&s;pect of per&s;ons, being &s;o conformable to the con&s;tant received Maximes and
&s;olemn deliberate profe&s;&s;ion of the Parliament, as appears by the</HI> Declaration <HI>of
the</HI> Lords and Commons, <HI>in an&s;wer to the Scotch papers,</HI> 4 Mar. 1647. <HI>where</HI> fo|lio
43. the Di&s;cipline of Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall Cen&s;ures, and all other puni&s;hmeuts for
matters of Religion are di&s;claimed, as grounded upon Popi&s;h and Prelaticall
Principles, not to be revived under any image or &s;hape what&s;oever; <HI>and a little
after</HI> folio 63. <HI>they proceed in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e,</HI> We &s;hall not be afraid at the day of
Judgement, that we have been more forward to &s;et Chri&s;t at liberty, then to ca&s;t
him in pri&s;on, it being better in our opinion (where the ca&s;e is not very clear) to
leave God to deal again&s;t many errours, then to u&s;e his authority for the &s;up|pre&s;&s;ing
of one truth; the weapons of fa&s;ting and prayer, being both more Chri|&s;tian,
and more available in &s;uch ca&s;es, then tho&s;e of force and violence: <HI>and
yet more fully (if po&s;&s;ible) in another</HI> Declaration <HI>in an&s;wer to the letters of the</HI>
Scotch Commi&s;&s;ioners, 17. Feb. 1648. As for the truth and power of Religi|on,
it being a thing intrin&s;ecall between God and the &s;oul, and the matters of
Faith in the Go&s;pell being &s;uch as no naturall light doth reach unto, we conceive
there is no humane power of coertion thereunto, nor to re&s;train men from be|lieving
what God &s;uffers their judgements to be per&s;waded of. <HI>Words of that
&s;olid weight and precious value, as de&s;erve to be ingraven with letters of gold, and
religiou&s;ly ob&s;erved for ever by all render con&s;ciences, as an Oracle.</HI></P>
<P>Conformable to the afore&s;aid Principles is that excellent Doctrine and advi&s;e
&s;et down by Mr. <HI>Parker</HI> and his Brethren, in their <HI>Examen of the late Synods
Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith,</HI> in the&s;e words, <HI>page 128. Liberty of Con&s;cience may be in|fringed,
fir&s;t by &s;eeking by violent means to alter con&s;cientious mens judgments,
<PB N="6" REF="5">
and their pre&s;ent per&s;wa&s;ion; for it is the office of him who is the Lord of Con|&s;cience,</HI>
to lighten and change mens minds, when and how he plea&s;eth, <HI>Phil.</HI> 3. 15.
Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded, and if in any thing you
be otherwi&s;e minded, God &s;hall reveal this unto you.</P>
<P>2. By inciting another by like forcible means, to will and act again&s;t his Con|&s;cience,
aud much more by impri&s;onment, mulcts, terrours or threats, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14.
15. 20. 21. For this is to make him de&s;troy his &s;oul, <HI>ver.</HI> 20. 23.</P>
<P>3. We may not di&s;turb the peace of mens Con&s;ciences, or make their hearts &s;ad
with our invectives, or menacing them cau&s;le&s;ly with terrors from the Lord,
<HI>Ezechiel 13. 32. Becau&s;e with lies ye have made the hearts of the righteous &s;ad,
whom I have not made &s;ad, &amp;c. And in page 230. thus,</HI> But we would not have
you a&s;&s;ume to your &s;elves, or attribute unto others, a Power to Lord it over mens
Faith and Con&s;ciences, e&s;pecially when men walk obediently towards tho&s;e that
are in places of Rule and Authority, and live a godly, &s;ober, honest, peaceable,
and unblameable life. If men will do wickedly, and defend a Liberty in Chri&s;t
&s;o to do, let them be liable to the Sword of Ju&s;tice for &s;o doing. But far be it
from us, &s;o much as by example, to draw a weak brother, a Saint and fellow-&s;er|vant
of the Lord, whom no man can accu&s;e, but for his differing judgement, to do
any thing against Con&s;cience, whereby he &s;hould condemn him&s;elf, as the Apo&s;tle
&s;peaks, <HI>Rom.</HI> 14. How much more ought Governours to be tender and abstemious
in the u&s;e of violent and coercive means, to precipitate men into &s;uch perillous
and de&s;tructive cour&s;es. All authority is given of God for mens welfare, and
much more for the pre&s;ervation, and not the de&s;truction of the &s;oul.</P>
<P>By the&s;e con&s;iderations (I conceive) is clearly demon&s;trated the freedome of a
Chri&s;tian &s;oul in her commerce for heaven, which &s;ince the mercifull bounty of
God holds forth indifferently to all, the cruell covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e of man ought not to
ob&s;truct to any, &s;urely it is the wor&s;t of <HI>Monopolies</HI> to lay Impo&s;itions upon the
way to Paradi&s;e; Chri&s;t by his death, removed the Angell that cha&s;ed from thence
our fir&s;t parents; and &s;hall any of us take the Flaming Sword into our hands, to
&s;heath it in the bowells of a poor Pilgrime, who with a &s;incere heart travails to
the &s;ame Countrey, only becau&s;e he goes not in our company? In my <HI>Fathers
hou&s;e are many Man&s;ions,</HI> &s;aies Chri&s;t, why may there not be as many paths that
lead to them? If <HI>they that have no Law, &s;hall be judged without the Law,</HI> cer|tainly
they that unblameably mi&s;take the Law, &s;hall be tryed according to tho&s;e
Expo&s;itions which appeared unto them, to be the meaning of the Law-giver, (for
the &s;en&s;e is the Law, and not the letter) &s;pecially having &s;o gracious a Judge,
who has already declared by his Apo&s;tle, 2 Cor. 8. <HI>If there be fir&s;t a willing
mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he
hath not.</HI></P>
<P>Wherefore let us not by a &s;uddain violence break into pieces the con&s;ciences of
our brethren, but mildly thaw them into a cordiall and ingenuous unity, that
righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e and peace may flow together in the &s;ame channell, and not as bro|ken
Ice da&s;h one again&s;t another: let us patiently expect, till the Lord be plea&s;ed
to take off the vail from their hearts that are otherwi&s;e minded, and not by forcing
their judgements, add to their vail of ignorance a wor&s;er of hypocri&s;ie, it being
now a common experiment, that generally the i&s;&s;ue of compul&s;ionary and for|ced
conformity clo&s;es in this, to make &s;ome few counterfeit <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> and a
<PB N="7" REF="5">
great many reall <HI>Athei&s;ts;</HI> whence it is clearly concluded, that the only true
means of winning &s;ouls to God, is the Go&s;pellary way of meekne&s;&s;e and per&s;wa|&s;ion,
and indeed it may worthily be e&s;teemed the prime miracle of <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI>
that a per&s;on &s;o humble as our <HI>Saviour</HI> appeared, without the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of Kings
and Princes, without the enchanting words of mans wi&s;dome, without the af|frighting
threats of fines, impri&s;onments, and deaths, (though all the&s;e were ab|&s;olutely
&s;ubject to his plea&s;ure,) &s;hould conquer Powers and Principalities, &s;hould
out-charm the Magick of humane eloquence, and by the admirable &s;ucce&s;&s;e of his
mildne&s;&s;e, condemn all tho&s;e politique Religions that confe&s;&s;e their own crazine&s;&s;e,
by u&s;ing cruelty to &s;upport them; whereas to reduce the di&s;obedient only with the
&s;pirit of gentlene&s;&s;e, and admonition, or at mo&s;t de&s;ertion, argues indeed a Divi|nity
in the Author, and a Purity in the Ordinance: and here we may fitly apply
the words of our Lord, John 14. <HI>If it had been otherwi&s;e, I would have told you;</HI>
if the way of planting my Faith had been by impo&s;ing penalties on the hearers, and
not rather by expo&s;ing the Preachers thereof to dangers, I would have told you:
if the means of pre&s;erving Religion had been by watering it with the bloud of re|fu&s;ers
to embrace it, rather then of tho&s;e that &s;ought to propogate it, I would have
told you either by my example (all the world being in the power of my Deity)
or by my Doctrine, all ju&s;tifiable proceedings concerning the government of my
Flock, being derived from the warrant of my Word; thus we &s;ee our gracious
Law-maker, faithfull and con&s;tant to his own Principles, <HI>The Son of man
came not to de&s;troy mens lives, but to &s;ave them:</HI> Thus we &s;ee our own duty to
<HI>learn of him, for he is meek and humble of heart; let us not therefore judge one
another any more, but u&s;e our judgement rather in this, that no man put an occa|&s;ion
to fall, or a &s;tumbling block before his brother,</HI> Rom. 14. 13. Let us alwaies
remember the adverti&s;ement which the beloved Di&s;ciple gives to all his fellow-&s;ervants
of the Lord Chri&s;t, John 13. 16. <HI>The &s;ervant is not greater then his
Lord, if you know the&s;e things, happy are you if you do them.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Of tender Con&s;ciences.</HEAD>
<P>THe&s;e few unpoli&s;ht <HI>lines,</HI> which I here pre&s;ent for incouragement of tender|ne&s;&s;e,
I de&s;ire may not be <HI>&s;tretcht</HI> to draw in a wild and extravagant licenti|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e,
&s;ince they aim no farther then to hold up a Liberty to &s;uch only as pro|fe&s;&s;e
Chri&s;t, and walk before the Lord in the integrity of their heart, who by the
following marks are ea&s;ily di&s;cernable from all tho&s;e that for their bla&s;phemies
in Doctrines and debauchery in manners are worthily excluded from the benefit of
this Indulgence.</P>
<P>Suppo&s;ing fir&s;t, as confe&s;t by all under&s;tanding men, that tenderne&s;&s;e of Con&s;ci|ence
is not the &s;ame thing with truth of judgement, (el&s;e there could be but one
only kind, becau&s;e truth is but one) but it &s;ignifies a proceeding <HI>bon&acirc; fide,</HI> with|out
&s;ini&s;ter re&s;pects, or di&s;&s;imulation, &s;eeking before all things to know God,
and fearing above all things to offend him. And &s;econdly, &s;ince in our enquiry,
to whom belongs &s;o honorable a title, we cannot pierce into the inward thoughts
of men, we mu&s;t give &s;entence as they appear to us, which rule in ca&s;es of this
quality is in it &s;elf &s;ufficiently certain; however, 'tis the only means God has al|lowed
our nature to guide her re&s;olutions in the judging of others.</P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="6">
The &s;igns then of tender Con&s;ciences are the&s;e, if they lead regular, vertuous,
and peaceable lives; if their opinions be not ju&s;tly accu&s;eable of &s;elf-intere&s;t or
licentiou&s;ne&s;&s;e, but rather require of them a prudent and religious &s;everity again&s;t
the inclinations of corrupted nature; if their judgemen<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">s be &s;teddy, not fann'd to
a new &s;en&s;e with every breath of wind; if they continue in the &s;ame per&s;wa&s;ions
at their death, which is no time for di&s;&s;embling, at lea&s;t we ought to judge &s;o,
if they not only die in their Faith, but for it, not only give away good part of
their e&s;tates charitably, but &s;uffer all to be taken away patiently, and all this for
Chri&s;ts &s;ake, or (to &s;peak more clo&s;ely) for that which they believe to be his will
and Commandement, no higher te&s;timony of a true and reall &s;incerity can po&s;&s;i|bly
be given, or ea&s;ily imagined; and who&s;oever doubts after &s;uch evidence,
(chiefly if many concur in the &s;ame way) de&s;erves to be condemned, as the mo&s;t
pa&s;&s;ionate, malicious and uncharitable per&s;on in the world, for though one man
may value his fancy above his life or e&s;tate, yet it is very neer an ab&s;olute impo&s;|&s;ibility,
that many (e&s;pecially if they be di&s;creet and rationall in other negotiati|ons)
&s;hould agree to undo them&s;elves for a meer conceit, did they not &s;eriou&s;ly
believe, it more imports them to keep their Faith, then lo&s;e their for|tunes.</P>
<P>By the&s;e rules we may ea&s;ily conclude the admi&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e pious and religi|ous
per&s;ons, who were impri&s;oned and per&s;ecuted by the late Prelates, into the
number of tender Con&s;ciences, as al&s;o tho&s;e precious &s;ervants of the Lord, who
by a voluntary bani&s;hment left their friends and Countrey to plant the liberty of
the Go&s;pell among&s;t the &s;avage Heathens of <HI>America.</HI></P>
<P>Whil&s;t I was fini&s;hing the&s;e lines, a worthy friend of mine came to honour me
with the civility of a vi&s;it, to whom reading the&s;e la&s;t two or three con&s;iderations,
he told me, that as he believed, the Characters I had given of a <HI>tender Con&s;ci|ence,</HI>
were mo&s;t evidently true, and to all unbia&s;ed-minds perfectly &s;atisfactory,
yet they were appliable to a &s;ort of people in this Nation, who&s;e being di&s;counte|nanced,
is thought &s;o profitable to the State, and &s;o plea&s;ing to a certain froward
part of the Mini&s;tery, that he feared my rea&s;ons might incounter &s;ome oppo&s;ition,
unle&s;&s;e they met with very ingenuous and di&s;intere&s;&s;ed readers, plainly telling me,
that the mea&s;ures I had cut out for tender Con&s;ciences would fit the <HI>Papists</HI> as
well as if they had been made for them, for who live more peaceably with their
neighbours, (&s;ayes he) who deal more ju&s;tly with all men, then they? who are
more con&s;tant in their Religion, and more &s;crupulous in the ob&s;ervances of their
Law, then they? who &s;uffer for their Faith more then they; nay at this time,
who be&s;ides them? they &s;ubmit their under&s;tandings to the definitions of their
Church, and their wills to the obedience of it's Di&s;cipline, in Fa&s;ting, Confe&s;|&s;ion,
and many other burthen&s;ome duties, all which are very di&s;agreeable to the
Dictates of fle&s;h and bloud, as containing the real practi&s;e of the highe&s;t &s;elf-deni|all
that can be imagined: and for the &s;erious hour of death, I mu&s;t confe&s;&s;e, I
have known many of us turn Papi&s;ts upon our death-bed, but never in all my life
&s;o much as once the contrary; and to &s;peak ingenuou&s;ly, I have often ob&s;erved,
that they who go from us to them, &s;eem (which you make the only judge) more
&s;pirituall, retired, and devout, then before they left us, whereas of the Papi&s;ts that
become Prote&s;tants (be&s;ides the worldly de&s;igns they may ea&s;ily be thought to
have) mo&s;t commonly they grow more licentious, both in Faith and manners, e&s;|pecially
<PB N="9" REF="6">
the Prie&s;ts, who &s;eldome or never are converted, if once pa&s;t the age of
marrying.</P>
<P>I, who had alwaies believed the puni&s;hments laid upon them, were reducible to
civill crimes, though defended by them as points of Religion, re&s;olved to follow
tho&s;e &s;o certain and evident Principles, which I had already framed (for di&s;cern|ing
of tender Con&s;ciences) whither&s;oever they &s;hould lead me; and therefore de|&s;ired
my friend to bring me to the knowledge of &s;ome moderate and di&s;creet Pa|pi&s;t,
that I might examine their Tenents, not doubling their ea&s;ie exclu&s;ion from
the priviledges of tender Con&s;ciences, this my friend immediately did, recom|mending
one to me, a morally hone&s;t and under&s;tanding man, though (&s;ayes he)
a little abu&s;ed in his Religion, and a great deal for it; After we had met, and a|greed
to di&s;cour&s;e with all freedome, the <HI>Recu&s;ant</HI> began with a &s;hort &s;tory of the
pre&s;ent &s;ufferings of <HI>Papi&s;ts;</HI> whereof (he &s;aid) <HI>Some are &s;eque&s;tred for Delin|quency,
and tho&s;e of all Cavaliers</HI> (caeteris paribus) <HI>the mo&s;t &s;everely, though of
all the mo&s;t excu&s;eable, becau&s;e wholly depending upon the plea&s;ure of the late
King, and infinitely obliged to his Royall Lenity; noting it as an unan&s;werable
argument of their fidelity and gratitude towards &s;uch as deal with them in mer|cy,
as al&s;o that their declining to receive the Oaths of</HI> Supremacy <HI>and</HI> Allegiance,
<HI>for which they have heretofore been &s;o violently per&s;ecuted, proceeded not from
any aver&s;ion to civill obedience, but becau&s;e there were mingled in tho&s;e oaths
certain expre&s;&s;ions of a pure &s;pirituall nature, repugnant to their Con&s;ciences,
and altogether unnece&s;&s;ary to the common &s;ecurity.</HI></P>
<P>Others are equally puni&s;hed, that is their whole e&s;tates &s;eque&s;tred, allowing on|ly
a fifth part for their wives and children, though in true rea&s;on they are altoge|ther
ju&s;tifiable, having never been in any Engagement, but found only in &s;ome
Garri&s;ons of the King, whether they were driven for refuge, being put out
of the protection of the Parliament by publique Proclamation, their hou&s;es eve|ry
where rifled, their goods plunder'd, and lives endangered by the &s;ouldiers,
who&s;e condition &s;eems clearly to be within the equity of that Article of the Ar|mies
Propo&s;alls, <HI>Aug. 1647. That the Kings meniall &s;ervants, who never took
up Arms, but only attended on his Per&s;on, according to their Offices, be freed
from Compo&s;ition;</HI> much more tho&s;e who had both the civill rea&s;on of duty,
and the unan&s;werable argument of nece&s;&s;ity, to plead for their di&s;charge: And
(which is yet more hard) &s;ome Recu&s;ants of this Cla&s;&s;e, who never bare Armes,
but were only found in Garri&s;ons, for their own per&s;onall &s;ecurity, as afore&s;aid,
are now rank'd among the highe&s;t Delinquents, and their e&s;tates to be &s;old, &s;uch
are Sir <HI>Henry Beddingfield,</HI> Mr. <HI>Bodenham,</HI> Mr. <HI>Gefford, &amp;c.</HI></P>
<P>As for the &s;ingle Recu&s;ants, two thirds of their e&s;tates are &s;eized upon, only
for the cau&s;e of Religion, under which notion are included all &s;uch as were here|tofore
convict of not re&s;orting to <HI>Common Prayers,</HI> or do now refu&s;e the Oath
of <HI>Abjuration,</HI> a new Oath made by the two Hou&s;es, when the former kind of
&s;ervice was aboli&s;h't, wherein the practi&s;e is &s;trangely &s;evere; for upon bare in|formation,
the e&s;tate of the &s;u&s;pected is &s;ecured, that is his rents &amp;c. &s;u&s;pended,
before any tryall, or legall proof, even in the&s;e times of peace, and being once
thus half-condemn'd, he has no other remedy to help him&s;elf, but by for&s;wearing
his Religion, and &s;o by an oath a thou&s;and times har&s;her then that <HI>Ex Officio,</HI>
they draw out of his own mouth his condemnation.</P>
<P><PB N="10" REF="7">
When the Seque&s;trators have thus &s;eized into their hands two thirds of the
most innocent Recu&s;ants lands and goods, then come the Excize-men, Tax-ga|therers,
and other Collectors, and pinch away no &s;mall part of the poor third pen|ny
that was left them; &s;o that after the&s;e deductions I have known &s;ome e&s;tates
of three hundred pound a year, reduced to le&s;&s;e then three&s;core, a lean pittance to
maint<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter">in them and their children, being per&s;ons for the mo&s;t part of good quali|ty,
and civill education: and as for Priests it is made as great a crime, to have
taken <HI>Orders</HI> after the rites of their Church, as to have committed the mo&s;t hai|nous
trea&s;on that can be imagined, and they are far more cruelly puni&s;h't, then
tho&s;e that murder their own Parents.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides the&s;e extreme and fatall Penalties that lie upon the Recu&s;ants meer|ly
for their Con&s;cience, there are many other afflictions whereof few take notice,
which though of le&s;&s;er weight, yet being added to the former, quite &s;ink them
down to the bottom of &s;orrow and perplexity; as their continuall fear of having
their hou&s;es broken open, &amp; &s;earch'd by <HI>Pur&s;uivants,</HI> who enter at what hours they
plea&s;e, and do there what they li&s;t, taking away, not only all the in&s;truments of
their Religion, but oftentimes money, plate, watches, and other &s;uch Popi&s;h I|dolls,
e&s;pecially if they be found in the &s;ame room with any Pictures, and &s;o in|fected
with a relative &s;uper&s;tition.</P>
<P>Another of their afflictions is, that they, I mean the&s;e &s;ingle Recu&s;ants, have
no power to &s;ell or morgage the lea&s;t part of their e&s;tates, either to pay their ju&s;t
debts, or defray their nece&s;&s;ary expences, whereby they are di&s;abled for all com|merce,
and their credit being utterly lost, (upon which many of them now provide
even their daily bread) they mu&s;t needs in a &s;hort time be brought to a de&s;perate
nece&s;&s;ity, if not ab&s;olute ruine; and if any, the mo&s;t quiet and moderate among&s;t
them, &s;hould de&s;ire to tran&s;plant him&s;elf to a milder Climate, and to endeavour
to avoid the offence that is taken again&s;t him in his own Countrey, he cannot &s;o
di&s;po&s;e of his e&s;tate here, as by Bill of exchange, or any other way, to provide
the lea&s;t &s;ub&s;i&s;tence for him&s;elf and his Family, a &s;everity far beyond the mo&s;t
rigid practice of the Scotch Kirk; for there (as I am informed) the per&s;ons of
Recu&s;ants are only bani&s;ht out of the Kingdome, and prohibited to re&s;ide at their
own homes above forty daies in a year, which time is allowed them for the managing
of their estates, and their e&s;tates allowed them for their maintainance abroad:
A proceeding which their Principles would clearly ju&s;tifie, if they could ju&s;tifie
their Principles: but in England, where compul&s;ion upon the Con&s;cience is de|cryed
as the wor&s;t of &s;laveries, to puni&s;h men &s;o &s;harply for matters of Religion,
contrary to the Principles publikely received, is a cour&s;e that mu&s;t needs beget
over all the world a &s;trong &s;u&s;pition and prejudice against the honour and repu|tation
of that State, which at the &s;ame time can practi&s;e &s;uch manifest contra|dictions.</P>
<P>To this deplorable condition (<HI>&s;aid he almo&s;t weeping</HI>) are the Engli&s;h Ca|tholiques
now reduced, yet they bear all, not only with patience, but even &s;ilence;
for among&s;t the printed complaints &s;o frequent in the&s;e times, never any thing
has been &s;een to proceed from them, though alwaies the chief, and now the &s;ole
&s;ufferers for their Con&s;ciences, except (not to be altogether wanting to them|&s;elves)
&s;ome modest Petitions humbly addre&s;&s;ed to the Parliament, though &s;uch
has been their unhappine&s;&s;e, that more weighty affairs have &s;till di&s;appointed
<PB N="11" REF="7">
their being taken into con&s;ideration; el&s;e were they admitted to clear them&s;elves
of the mi&s;takes and &s;candalls unju&s;tly imputed to them, they would not doubt
fully to &s;atisfie all ingenuous and unpa&s;&s;ionate men, nay even whom&s;oever, that
were but moderately prejudiced again&s;t them.</P>
<P>To this I an&s;wered, that as every one &s;ees the &s;everity of the Penalties which
Papi&s;ts &s;uffer, &s;o for my &s;elf, I believe the tenderne&s;&s;e of their Con&s;ciences, be|cau&s;e
they &s;uffer: and upon this ground we &s;ee our Judges and Commi<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1+ letters">ee-men
allow Deeds, where they find cleer proof of a valuable con&s;ideration: but Idola|try,
and the de&s;tructive Principles concerning Civill Government, &s;eem
to me the two points that are <HI>onely</HI> and <HI>altogether</HI> intolerable in that Re|ligion.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Whether Papi&s;ts be guilty of Idolatry in the Que&s;tion of
Angells, Saints, and Pictures.</HEAD>
<P>THe Papi&s;t here fir&s;t took for granted, which indeed I could not deny, that if
any Opinion be probably true, per&s;ecution in that ca&s;e is certainly unlawfull,
becau&s;e otherwi&s;e both &s;ides, for both are probable, if one be, might ju&s;tifiably
per&s;ecute one another, to the utter de&s;truction of all Society, and after returned
this an&s;wer to my fir&s;t objection.</P>
<P>We reverence indeed (<HI>&s;ayes he</HI>) the Angells and ble&s;&s;ed Saints, with a re&s;pect
far more then we u&s;e to men, becau&s;e far above their Dignity, but infinitely below
the adoration we give to GOD, becau&s;e infinitely below his excellency. All the
mi&s;takes in this controver&s;ie ari&s;ing from hence, that the language of men has
more di&s;tinctivene&s;&s;e and variety then the gestures of their bodies, and yet is far
le&s;&s;e copious then the thoughts of their minds, whence it is they &s;o frequently ap|ply
to mo&s;t different conceptions the &s;elf-&s;ame words and po&s;tures of body, as
the titles of <HI>&s;acred Maje&s;ty, mo&s;t High, mo&s;t Mighty,</HI> given to Kings and
States, the &s;tile of <HI>Grace</HI> to Dukes and Archbi&s;hops, of <HI>Lord</HI> to Noblemen, Ge|neralls,
Amba&s;&s;adors, &amp;c. of <HI>Wor&s;hip</HI> to Gentlemen of quality, and &s;uch as
bear any con&s;iderable Office in the Common-wealth; &s;o kneeling to Parents, &s;tan|ding
bare to the Parloament, and other Courts, bowing to one another, &amp;c.
all the&s;e very expre&s;&s;ions are the &s;ame we u&s;e towards God him&s;elf, and pa&s;&s;e in|nocently,
when rightly under&s;tood, but to a &s;crupulous and wilfull &s;pirit, how of|fen&s;ive
would this one word <HI>Wor&s;hipfull</HI> be, if he reflected with a little rigour
and frowardne&s;&s;e upon it? now as every old woman has capacity enough to make
a different apprehen&s;ion betwixt going to &s;peak with one at the <HI>Lion</HI> in <HI>Cheap|&s;ide,</HI>
and going to &s;ee the Lion in the <HI>Tower,</HI> &s;o may any the mo&s;t &s;imple Catho|lique
in the world, by a very little teaching, learn to distingui&s;h the <HI>Crucifix</HI>
which he &s;ees in the Church, from Chri&s;t whom he believes to be in heaven, and
con&s;equently in no more danger of committing Idolatry to that Picture, then the
other of fearing to he torn in pieces by the Sign.</P>
<P>Upon this Argument of the Papi&s;t, I call'd to mind what I had read my &s;elf
in Scripture, how the Prophet <HI>Balaam</HI> fell flat upon the ground, and adored an
Angell, <HI>Num.</HI> 22. 31. and <HI>Jo&s;hua</HI> gave the &s;ame honour to another, that &s;til'd
him&s;elf <HI>Captain of the Lords Ho&s;t,</HI> and therefore could not be the Lord, <HI>Jo&s;.</HI> 5.
13. nay he was commanded yet farther, to <HI>put off his &s;hoes, becau&s;e the ground
<PB N="12" REF="8">
was holy,</HI> by the pre&s;ence of an Angell; the&s;e examples I confe&s;&s;e, being related
in the Bible, without the lea&s;t note of reproof, enforce us to admit &s;everall de|grees
of wor&s;hip, infinitely differing in the intention of the mind, though very
little in outward expre&s;&s;ions. Now by what&s;oever names we <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> &s;hal agree
to call this behaviour of <HI>Balaam, Jo&s;hua,</HI> and even all the Jews before the Ark and
Cherubins, I &s;ee plainly will fully expre&s;&s;e, and &s;hrewdly ju&s;tifie (at lea&s;t from
Idolatry) all the approved practi&s;es of the Papi&s;ts, which truly ca&s;t up, as far as
I can di&s;cern, amount to no more then a reverence towards Saints and Angells,
&s;uitable to the excellency of their State, and for Churches, Altars, Pictures,
&amp;c. only to an Eccle&s;ia&s;ticall kind of good manners. And by the Light of Na|ture
thus far &s;eems to me evident, that all honor or di&s;honor done to the Image,
reflects upon the Principall, &s;ince not one among&s;t us but would condemn him
for a Malignant, that &s;hould &s;hoot at my <HI>Lord Generalls Picture</HI> without <HI>Temple
Bar,</HI> and if any &s;hould reprove him for his temerity, we would pre&s;ently conclude
&s;uch per&s;on wel-affected to the pre&s;ent Government, and not at all &s;eque&s;trable for
<HI>Idolatry,</HI> unle&s;&s;e we could prove that the abu&s;ed and doting people &s;uper&s;titiou&s;ly
adored the painted cloth, which kind of wor&s;hip, I am &s;atisfied, no Recu&s;ant gives
even to the picture of our Savionr.</P>
<P>La&s;tly, I think it probable, not certain, as the Papi&s;ts do, that the &s;econd <HI>Com|mandement</HI>
intends not to forbid any &s;uch inferiour &s;pirituall civilities, becau&s;e
wi&s;e Governours contrive their Laws again&s;t tho&s;e vices, to which they &s;ee their
Subjects particularly enclined, and therefore downright <HI>Idolatry,</HI> by offering Sa|crifice
to Gods, made with hands, and repo&s;ing confidence in their a&s;&s;i&s;tance, be|ing
the common &s;ins of tho&s;e times, 'tis probable we ought to interpret this <HI>Pre|cept,</HI>
as a provi&s;ion again&s;t Heatheni&s;h Idolatry, not again&s;t &s;uch kind of reveren|ces
as the Jewes by Gods own appointment u&s;ed before the Ark and Che|rubins.</P>
<P><HI>Agreeable to this, is the Opinion of the learned Mr.</HI> Hobs <HI>in his</HI> Leviathan,
<HI>where</HI> fol. 360. <HI>he affirms that</HI> to wor&s;hip God in &s;ome peculiar place, or turning
a mans face towards an Image, is not to wor&s;hip the place or Image, but to ac|knowledge
them holy, that is to &s;ay, &s;et apart from common u&s;e; for that is the
meaning of the word <HI>holy,</HI> which implies no new quality in the place or Image,
but only a new relation by appropriation to God, and therefore is not idolatry.
But to wor&s;hip God, as inanimating or inhabiting &s;uch place or Image, is idola|try,
as al&s;o to wor&s;hip God, not as inanimating or pre&s;ent in the place or Image,
but to the end to be put in mind of him or of &s;ome of his works, in ca&s;e the place
or image be dedicated or &s;et up by private authority, and not by the authority of
them that are our &s;overaigne Pa&s;tors, is idolatry: for the Commandement is,
THOU SHALT NOT MAKE TO THY SELF ANY
GRAVEN IMAGE.</P>
<P>Thus in my judgment doth that learned <HI>Prote&s;tant</HI> ab&s;olutely clear the Papi&s;ts
of idolatry, though perhaps he had more preci&s;ely expre&s;t this la&s;t way of tran&s;|gre&s;&s;ing
the &s;econd <HI>Commandement,</HI> if he had call'd it <HI>will-wor&s;hip</HI> rather then <HI>ido|latry,</HI>
becau&s;e there is only a want of commi&s;&s;ion, no exce&s;&s;e in the degree of reve|rence:
And though afterwards he condemne praying to Saints departed, as ido|latry,
yet it is only upon a particular &s;uppo&s;ition of his own, that there is yet no
&s;uch thing as Saints in heaven.</P>
<P>When I had read this pa&s;&s;age of &s;o famous an Author to the Recu&s;ant, he to
<PB N="13" REF="8">
requite my civility, immediately &s;hewed me the words of the <HI>Councell of Trent&punc;</HI>
which he &s;aid differed nothing at all from Mr. <HI>Hobs,</HI> and very little from me: For
as I thought, that the exhibition of &s;ome inferior kind of reverence towards
Churches, and other in&s;truments of piety, was probably unforbidden: So that
Councell decrees the ab&s;olute lawfulne&s;&s;e thereof in the 25. <HI>Se&s;&s;ion,</HI> where to the
Canon concerning Images are added the&s;e words of explanation: <HI>Not that there
is believed any divinity or vertue in them, for which they ought to be wor&s;hip|ped,
or that they are to be petitioned for any thing, or any confidence ought to be
repo&s;ed in images, as of old was done by the Gentiles, who placed their hope in
Idolls, but becau&s;e the honor exhibited to them is referred to the Prototypes they
repre&s;ent, that &s;o thorough the Images, which we ki&s;&s;e and before which we bare
our heads and kneel down, we may adore Chri&s;t and venerate his Saints.</HI></P>
<P>Upon occa&s;ion of which words, the Papi&s;t a&s;&s;ured me, that in no Councell is u|&s;ed
the phra&s;e of <HI>Religious wor&s;hip,</HI> when they treat of the&s;e que&s;tions, nor any
thing concerning them commanded as nece&s;&s;ary, but only their lawfullne&s;&s;e de|clared,
that &s;uch as find benefit by their a&s;&s;i&s;ting the memory, or exciting the af|fections,
may &s;afely u&s;e them, the re&s;t may let them alone, provided they cen&s;ure
not the practi&s;e of others, over whom they have no Juri&s;diction, nor condemn
the judgment of the Church, who has Juri&s;diction over them.</P>
<P>And hereupon we both agreed in this collaterall ob&s;ervation, that if all mo|dern
Controverti&s;ts would re&s;train their di&s;putes to po&s;itions generally received
as of Faith in the Church, of which they are members, attending only to her ex|pre&s;&s;ions,
and not to the termes of particular Writers, the differences among&s;t
Chri&s;tians, &s;o fatall to the peace of <HI>Europe,</HI> would be both le&s;&s;e numerous, and
far more reconcileable.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Whether Papi&s;ts be guilty of Idolatry in the Euchari&s;t.</HEAD>
<P>BEfore we could proceed to the &s;econd part of this Que&s;tion, the Recu&s;ant
upon &s;ome occa&s;ions was obliged to go into the Countrey, whence he &s;ent me
this following paper.</P>
<P>Since it is concluded between us, that probability exempts from per&s;ecution, I
&s;hall endeavour to prove that the reall pre&s;ence of our Saviour in the <HI>Euchari&s;t,</HI>
is at lea&s;t a probable Opinion; and in order thereunto, cite the most expre&s;&s;e and
direct termes of the holy Scripture, as fir&s;t the promi&s;e of our SAVIOUR,
John. 6. 5. <HI>The bread that I will give is my fle&s;h, which I will give for the life of
the world,</HI> and ver&s;e 55. <HI>My Fle&s;h is meat indeed, and my Bloud is drink in|deed.</HI>
Secondly, The performance of that promi&s;e, in the words of In&s;titution,
<HI>Take eat, this is my Body;</HI> punctually repeated by the other three Evangeli&s;ts,
<HI>Mat. 26. 26. Mar. 14. 22. Luke</HI> 22. 19. And thirdly, the places declaring the
u&s;e of this Sacrament in the Apo&s;tles time, 1 Cor. 10. 16. <HI>The Cup of ble&s;&s;ing
which we ble&s;&s;e, is it not the Communion of the Blood of Chri&s;t? and the bread
which we break is it not the participation of the Body of the Lord?</HI> 1 Cor. 11. 29.
<HI>He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to him|&s;elf,
not di&s;cerning the Lords Body.</HI> Thus the great Apo&s;tle <HI>S. Paul,</HI> and all the
<PB N="14" REF="9">
foure Evangeli&s;ts unanimou&s;ly teach the Doctrine of the Reall Pre&s;ence, and not
one &s;ingle place produceable that in direct termes calls the <HI>Euchari&s;t,</HI> a &s;igne or
figure of Chri&s;ts Body, notwith&s;tanding the maintainers thereof admit no proof
as authenticall but the preci&s;e text of Scripture, yet in this &s;o important contro|ver&s;ie
they flie to logicall inferences and Philo&s;ophicall di&s;cour&s;es, and &s;o make
their own rea&s;on the Judge, and not the Word of God, rendring by their now and
private interpretations this great Sacrament inferior in dignity, not only to the
<HI>Pa&s;chall Lamb,</HI> a type of Chri&s;t, but even to <HI>Manna,</HI> which was but a figure of
this very my&s;tery.</P>
<P>Surely if we &s;hal add to &s;o many &amp; evident texts of Scripture, the constant iudg|ment
of the Fathers, and the univer&s;all practice of the whole Chri&s;tian world
for above a thou&s;and years (&s;ince &s;o long is acknowledged the ab&s;olute reigne of
our Religion) we may &s;afely conclude the Doctrine of our Saviours pre&s;ence
in the <HI>Euchari&s;t</HI> to be at lea&s;t probable, and con&s;equently Catholikes in no wi&s;e ac|cu&s;able
of ra&s;hne&s;&s;e or ob&s;tinacy, in believing a Po&s;ition &s;o efficaciou&s;ly recom|mended
unto them.</P>
<P>But admitting the Doctrine of non-reality to be true, (<HI>&s;aid the Letter of the
Recu&s;ant</HI>) yet ought not Catholikes to be iudged guilty of the &s;in of idolatry,
becau&s;e their adoration is not intentionally directed to any creature, but to the
Per&s;on of Chri&s;t our Lord: and if He be not there, their wor&s;hip is mi&s;taken
in the place, not in the obiect, and therefore at mo&s;t an error of fact, and no
formall Idolatry, which no temperate Judge will impute unto &s;in, much le&s;&s;e our
mercifull Redeemer, who came to &s;ave, not to de&s;troy, who accepts of the good
meaning of his &s;ervants, though mingled with humane infirmities, as when <HI>Abi|melech</HI>
mi&s;-took <HI>Sara</HI> from her husband, being informed by <HI>Abraham</HI> that &s;he was
his Si&s;ter, the &s;incere and con&s;cientious King received ab&s;olution from God him|&s;elf,
upon this account, that he did it (&s;aith the text) <HI>in the &s;implicity of his heart,</HI>
Gen. 20. 6. which &s;eems an expre&s;&s;e and infallible deci&s;ion of this Controver&s;ie,
that men may be unhappy by being deceived, but are not guilty, unle&s;&s;e they de|ceive
them&s;elves.</P>
<P>This kind of rea&s;oning prevailed &s;omewhat the more with me, becau&s;e the A|pology
of the <HI>reformed Churches</HI> of <HI>France,</HI> expre&s;&s;ely approves it; &s;aying, <HI>if an
Apo&s;tle had by mi&s;take adored &s;ome other man re&s;embling Chri&s;t, when he lived
on earth, his error would have excu&s;ed him, Daill&eacute;</HI> chap. 11. As on the other &s;ide,
<HI>Mary Magdalens</HI> not adoring Chri&s;t, when he appeared to her in the habit of a
Gardener, <HI>John</HI> 20. 15. was never accu&s;ed as a defect of devotion; wherefore
&s;ince the Papi&s;ts all profe&s;&s;e not to terminate their adoration in the &s;pecies of
Bread and Wine, nor any other creature, but in the ble&s;&s;ed per&s;on of our Lord,
I conclude them erroneous in their Doctrine, but not Idolatrous in their
practi&s;e, to be pitied as &s;ouls mi&s;led, not per&s;ecuted as malicious.</P>
<P>Nor can I &s;atisfie my Con&s;cience, &s;ince as to this point the Opinion of the
<HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> is no more oppo&s;ite to us, then that of the <HI>Lutherans,</HI> why we &s;hould
freely allow Communion to <HI>the&s;e</HI> even of &s;pirituall things, and in the mean while
not afford <HI>them</HI> &s;o much as the liberty to po&s;&s;e&s;&s;e their own temporall goods. The
<HI>Lutherans</HI> believe our SAVIOUR to be as really in the <HI>Eucharist,</HI> as he
was upon the Cro&s;&s;e, but do not adore him; the Papi&s;ts both believe and adore;
for my part, I &s;hould clearly, either do both, or neither, at lea&s;t I &s;hall never be
<PB N="15" REF="9">
brought to this partiality, to cheri&s;h the one as brethren, and per&s;ecute the other as
enemies; e&s;pecially when I con&s;ider the Chri&s;tian proceedings of the Prote&s;tants in
<HI>New-England, Virginia,</HI> aud the other plantations in the <HI>Indies,</HI> where we ab|hor
to de&s;troy the Natives, though confe&s;&s;edly Idolaters, but rather &s;trive to con|vert
them, by holding out the truth in love.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>Whether Papi&s;ts are incon&s;i&s;tent with Civill Government.</HEAD>
<P>BY the next Po&s;t I received from the &s;ame hand another Letter concerning the
common objection, that Papi&s;ts hold many Principles de&s;tructive to civill So|ciety;
wherein the Recu&s;ant prote&s;ting fir&s;t &s;olemnly, as in the &s;ight of God and
his holy Angells, to u&s;e all ingenuity and candor in his relation of the Catho|like
Doctrine, earne&s;tly intreated me to give credit to his report in the matters
of <HI>Fact,</HI> and for the right, to judge freely, as I &s;aw cau&s;e.</P>
<P>We will divide (<HI>&s;ayes he</HI>) the main Que&s;tion into two points, as it relates ei|ther
to our equalls, or Superiours: for the fir&s;t touching Commerce and Conver&s;a|tion,
we ab&s;olutely di&s;claim that &s;candalous opinion, <HI>that no Faith is to kept with
Heretikes,</HI> and flatly deny, that our Engagement, promi&s;e, or contract, may law|fully
be broken by our &s;elves, or di&s;pen&s;ed with by any Power on earth, to the
prejudice of a third per&s;on, of what Religion &s;oever, and for <HI>equivocation, men|tall
re&s;ervation,</HI> &amp;c. I am confident, though I have not here any oportunity to
look into books, that no Generall Councell mentions either any &s;uch word, or any
&s;uch thing; Schoolmen indeed frequently di&s;pute &s;uch &s;ubtilties, which by men of
different principles and affections in Religion are ea&s;ily mi&s;under&s;tood, and often
perverted, but among&s;t <HI>Catholiques</HI> every one has liberty to deny them as he plea|&s;es,
without any prejudice to Faith: and though tho&s;e &s;peculations generally de|&s;erve
encouragement, yet when they arrive at a certain degree of nicene&s;&s;e, they
rather become an innocent curio&s;ity, then profitable euployment, and in &s;uch an
infinity of Opinions, as Catholike writers have lei&s;ure to publi&s;h, it is impo&s;&s;i|ble,
but that thorough pa&s;&s;ion, unwarine&s;&s;e, or humane frailty, &s;ome mi&s;takes mu&s;t
e&s;cape, and then the unhappine&s;&s;e is, that prejudiced and captious Readers apply|ing
their whole &s;tudy to find faults, forget the good and whole&s;ome notions they
meet, and remember nothing but the errors.</P>
<P>As to the &s;econd branch concerning our duty to Magi&s;trates, we deny, <HI>&s;ayes the
letter,</HI> any earthly power can di&s;pen&s;e with our civill obedience, and acknowledge
our &s;elves bound, not only by the Law of Nature, but by the expre&s;&s;e Word of
God, to <HI>render unto Cae&s;ar the things that are Cae&s;ars, to be &s;ubject not only
for feare, but con&s;cience &s;ake;</HI> What Chri&s;tian Prince or State is there in the
world, whom the Subjects &s;erve with more fidelity then the <HI>Spaniard, French,</HI>
and <HI>Italian,</HI> all Catholike Dominions? and particularly in <HI>England,</HI> where we
are &s;ome of <HI>Paul,</HI> aud &s;ome of <HI>Apollo,</HI> and &s;ome of <HI>Cephas,</HI> what compari&s;on is
there betwixt the behaviour of <HI>Catholikes,</HI> towards <HI>H. 8. Edw.</HI> 6. and <HI>Eliz.</HI> and
the fury of <HI>Lutherans</HI> and <HI>Calvini&s;ts</HI> in <HI>Germany,</HI> and indeed where&s;oever they
are di&s;contented; yet there is a va&s;t difference, as to Government, between the&s;e
two ca&s;es, to oppo&s;e by force the introduce men of innovations, by which the peace
mu&s;t needs be endangered, and to attempt by force the extingui&s;hment of an an|cient
Religion, whereof the people are univer&s;ally in quiet and immemoriall po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion,
the one drives others out of po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion, the other maintains him&s;elf in, the
one invades his neighbours rights, the other defends his own.</P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="10">
How many modern experiences (the ea&s;ie&s;t argument to be under&s;tood, and &s;u|re&s;t
to be relied on) clearly re&s;olve this que&s;tion; if we but con&s;ider the union
of hearts, and common intere&s;ts of State, between the Prote&s;tant and Catholike
<HI>Cantons</HI> of <HI>Switzerland,</HI> where very many Churches &s;erve by turns upon the &s;ame
day, for the exerci&s;e of both Religions, dividing every Sunday morning into
two parts, and a&s;&s;igning to each about three hours for their devotions, wherein
they are &s;o punctuall to maintain equality, that if the <HI>Prote&s;tants</HI> have the fir&s;t
three hours one morning, next week they are to have the la&s;t; and this they conti|nually
practi&s;e, without enterfering or offending one another.</P>
<P>To this &s;o pregnant example (&s;ufficient of it &s;elfe to cleare the con&s;i&s;ten|cy
of tho&s;e two Religions) I &s;hall further add their fair comportment
one towards another, in many Provinces, and free Towns in <HI>Germany;</HI> but
mo&s;t remarkable is their friendly and peaceable living together in <HI>Holland,</HI> even
during &s;o long and dangerous wars with <HI>Spain; Spain</HI> the chief protector of the
Catholique Faith; <HI>Spain</HI> the mo&s;t zealous propagator of the Pontificiall Autho|rity,
to who&s;e Dominion, if the united Provinces &s;hould again return, certain|ly
the Catholikes there might prudently promi&s;e to them&s;elves all po&s;&s;ible advan|tages;
yet notwith&s;tanding &s;o great occa&s;ion of jealou&s;ie, the <HI>States</HI> (then whom
none are more vigilant over their true Intere&s;t) have not only with &s;ecurity, but
exceeding benefit to their Common-wealth, tolerated the <HI>Catholikes</HI> of quiet
Conver&s;ation, to live freely among&s;t them. And on the other &s;ide the <HI>Catholikes,</HI>
in gratitude for &s;o favourable a treating, have exactly corre&s;ponded to the
mercy of their Magi&s;trates, with a mo&s;t con&s;tant, &s;incere, and faithfull
obedience.</P>
<P>To none of the&s;e &s;u&s;pitions are the <HI>Recu&s;ants of</HI> England in the lea&s;t mea&s;ure
obnoxious, becau&s;e whatever change of Government can happen, they mu&s;t expect
but a milder degree of di&s;affection towards them, at mo&s;t a &s;ufferance, no incou|ragement,
or particular confidence; and infallibly, if the rigour of the Laws
(made upon far different motives which are now no waies pre&s;&s;ing) were qualifi|ed
to a temper of mercy, that the <HI>Catholikes</HI> might enjoy but half the Liberties
to which they were born, they would be the most quiet and u&s;efull Subjects of
England, &s;ince their Religion obliges them to obey the lawfull commands of
their Superiours, not only for fear, but con&s;cience. Nor did ever the very wor&s;t
of them &s;tir in any &s;edition at a time when they were admitted to but half the
common rights of Engli&s;h-men, nor were they many that ever attempted their
own relief by endangering their Countreys peace, all the re&s;t &s;itting quietly and
patiently under the burthens which the heavy hand of tho&s;e times continually
heapt upon them.</P>
<P>Now that the crimes (though never &s;o hainous) of a few di&s;contented and de&s;|perate
&s;pirits, &s;hould be imputed to their Religion, who&s;e Principles expre&s;&s;ely
condemn &s;uch con&s;piracies, &s;eems extremely rigorous; but when to tho&s;e di&s;hono|rable
imputations are joyned intolerable penalties, both upon our lives and e|states,
and not only against the then living Catholikes, but all their Po&s;terity
to this very day, &s;urely it mu&s;t needs appear the mo&s;t har&s;h and &s;evere proceeding
that ever was practi&s;ed in the world: wherefore I &s;hall clo&s;e this &s;econd Letter
with my humble prayers to the gracious Redeemer of our &s;ouls, that you would
cea&s;e to impute all our faults to our Religion, and we begin to commit no other fault
<PB N="17" REF="10">
but our Religion, &s;o &s;hould we happily overcome our own infirmities, and fully
&s;atisfie your jealou&s;ies.</P>
<P>When I had well peru&s;ed this Gentlemans di&s;cour&s;e, and attentively read his
letters, I mu&s;t freely confe&s;&s;e, I could not have believed that either the Papi&s;ts had
&s;uffered &s;o much from us, or been able to &s;ay &s;o much for them&s;elves, I doe not
mean in order to prove the truth of their Religion, but the unrea&s;onablene&s;&s;e of
our per&s;ecution; &s;ince really to my under&s;tanding our jealou&s;ies of their obedi|ence
&s;eem as unnece&s;&s;ary unto us, as prejudiciall to them; for I am confident there
is no Religion in the world, but by good Laws again&s;t breach of Peace, and due
execution of them, may be made con&s;i&s;tent with any Kingdome or Common|wealth
what&s;oever; who more oppo&s;ite in belief then <HI>Chri&s;tians, Jewes,</HI> and
<HI>Turks,</HI> yet we &s;ee by experience that <HI>Jews</HI> are not incon&s;i&s;tent with the Govern|ment
of <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> nor <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> with that of the <HI>Turks,</HI> no not &s;uch <HI>Chri&s;ti|ans</HI>
as are here in que&s;tion, <HI>Papi&s;ts;</HI></P>
<P>As concerning the Doctrine we charge upon them, of the Popes power over
Supreme Magi&s;trates, I had the fortune &s;ome few years &s;ince, to meet with a pa|per
that clearly an&s;wered all my difficulties, wherein were written the <HI>negative</HI>
&s;ub&s;criptions of many Engli&s;h Recu&s;ants again&s;t the&s;e three following <HI>Propo&s;i|tions,</HI>
as no part of their Faith or Religion, the Sub&s;cribers being both in number
and quality &s;ufficient to repre&s;ent the whole body of them in this Na|tion.</P>
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. That the Pope or Church hath power to ab&s;olve any per&s;on or per&s;ons from
their obedience to the civill and politicall Government e&s;tabli&s;ht, or to be
e&s;tabli&s;ht in this Nation in Civil and Politicall Affairs.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That by the command or di&s;pen&s;ation of the Pope or Church, it is lawfull
to kill, de&s;troy, or do any injury to any per&s;on or per&s;ons living within the
Kings Dominions, becau&s;e that &s;uch a per&s;on or per&s;ons are accu&s;ed, con|demned,
cen&s;ured, or excommunicated for <HI>Errour, Schi&s;me,</HI> or <HI>Here&s;ie.</HI></ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That it is lawfull in it &s;elf, or by di&s;pen&s;ation from the Pope, to break
promi&s;e or oath made to any of the fore&s;aid per&s;ons, under pretence that
they are Heretiques.</ITEM>
</LIST>
<P>The&s;e they utterly di&s;claim, and renounce as no part of their belief, profe&s;&s;ing
under their hands their readine&s;&s;e to abjure (if the State &s;hould &s;o require) the
practi&s;e and execution of them all, which gave me &s;o much the more &s;atisfaction,
by how much it was be&s;ides my expectation, nor have I now any thing to &s;ay a|gain&s;t
them upon that account.</P>
<P>And indeed if we con&s;ider the&s;e differences between us impartially, our &s;u&s;pi|tions
are not only confuted, but &s;hamed by our own daily experience, for we tru&s;t
<HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> in all Negotiations, as indifferently as <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> nay even our Tra|vellers
and Merchants beyond Seas (where the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> are Ma&s;ters) conver&s;e and
traffique &s;ecurely with them, and yet I never heard the lea&s;t complaint of any one
&s;ingle Prote&s;tant's being cheated by them, upon pretence of exemption or di&s;pen|&s;ation,
and therefore &s;ince they practi&s;e not that part, which may &s;ometimes be
profitable, I cannot think they hold to no purpo&s;e, that which is alwaies preju|diciall.</P>
<P><PB N="18" REF="11">
For my &s;mall experience in the world, all the objection that ever I heard of
again&s;t the credit of our <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> was their being di&s;abled by &s;eque&s;trations to pay
their debts, not taught by their Religion to deceive the Creditors.</P>
<P>If their Doctrines were &s;o de&s;tructive to civill Society, as our accu&s;ations pre|tend,
how comes it to pa&s;&s;e that all our fundamentall Laws were enacted by them,
who inve&s;ted the Supreme Authority of this Nation with &s;o honourable Privi|ledges,
and yet provided &s;o prudently for the ju&s;t &s;ecurity of the people, again&s;t
the unju&s;t inc<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">oachments of Prerogative? from whom have all tho&s;e excellent
cu&s;tomes and Statutes of this Nation de&s;cended upon us? is it po&s;&s;ible we &s;hould
derive all the ancient Priviledges of Parliament; and Liberties of the Subject con|tained
in <HI>Magna Charta, &amp;c.</HI> from the times their Religion governed the Land,
and yet &s;ay now their Religion is incon&s;i&s;tent with the Government of the Land?
as it is very true, that &s;ometimes the Popes power here was abu&s;ed to &s;upport a tem|porall
intere&s;t, &s;o it is evident to tho&s;e that know Hi&s;tory, that his mediation has
been often available, both for the preventing and reconciling of our differences,
as well with our neighbouring Kingdomes, as among&s;t our &s;elves.</P>
<P>Nor is it po&s;&s;ible that any Modell of Government &s;hould be ab&s;olutely proof
again&s;t all exceptions, but in the experience of five or &s;ix hundred years &s;ome a|bu&s;es
wil certainly happen; whence it is ea&s;ie for a &s;evere ob&s;erver to gather obje|ctions
enough to puzzle the mo&s;t able and politique Stati&s;t in the world to an&s;wer,
e&s;pecially if they be managed with dexterity and eloquence among&s;t a half-witted
and &s;tubborn people, who neither can guide them&s;elves, nor will be led by others,
not blind enough to be ignorant, where they are, and yet too &s;hort-&s;ighted to &s;ee
whether they go; unhappy chiefly in this, that they are tender in the &s;en&s;e of any
pre&s;ent evill, and wholly incapable of fore&s;eeing the de&s;truction that followes
their impatience.</P>
<P><HI>Hear what is charitably &s;aid of Papi&s;ts in the fore&s;aid</HI> Examination <HI>of the late</HI>
Synods Confe&s;&s;ion of Faith (<HI>page</HI> 266.) The Papi&s;ts believe in the &s;ame God
with the Prote&s;tants, even in the Father, the Son, and the holy Gho&s;t, though
they differ in &s;ome Articles, or branches of Articles of their belief, and in their
way of wor&s;hip; yea &s;ome of the Papi&s;ts are regenerate, con&s;cientious, and
vertuous per&s;ons.</P>
<P>Wherefore (I humbly conceive) our Magi&s;trates and Mini&s;ters ought &s;incerely to
enquire into the truth of things, and make a con&s;cience of judging or preaching
otherwi&s;e then <HI>&s;ecundum probata,</HI> and not upon bare jealou&s;ies, or the blind opini|on
of the vulgar condemn any free-born member of this Nation farther then he
&s;hall be proved to be guilty: Nor do I believe it rea&s;onable, to charge every un|ju&s;tifiable
action of particular <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> or extravagant opinion of any private
writer among&s;t them, upon the whole Body of their Religion; The Decrees of
their Councells, they profe&s;&s;e to be the only ab&s;olute declarers of their Faith,
among&s;t who&s;e determinations there are faults enough, which they &s;trive to de|fend,
no need of impo&s;ing upon them errors, which they flatly deny&punc; Let us
lay our hands upon our own hearts, we our &s;elves want not our capriches and
exorbitant conceits, which ough<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1 letter"> not to be imputed to the whole refor|med
Religion, but to the imperfection of humane nature, ea&s;ily decei|ved
with the colour of truth, and pa&s;&s;ionately in love with it's owne in|vention.</P>
<P><PB N="19" REF="11">
Be&s;ides in&s;tead of jealou&s;ies and dangers, I cannot &s;ee but great &s;ecurity and
advantages would accrue to this Nation, by treating in mercy all peaceable Pa|pi&s;ts;
the Pope would be deprived of that &s;pecious pretext of relieving his di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed
Flock; the Princes and States of that Religion, would for honour
as well as con&s;cience, upon all occa&s;ions, expre&s;&s;e their &s;atisfaction to &s;ee
them mercifully u&s;ed, whom for their profe&s;&s;ion they account brethren,
and for their &s;ufferings, Martyrs. The <HI>Protestants</HI> in other Countreys would
be more a&s;&s;ured of the freedome they injoy, and more hopefull of obtaining
new encrea&s;es of their liberty; The Papi&s;ts of England would be bound by their
own intere&s;t (the &s;tronge&s;t obligation among&s;t wi&s;emen) to live peaceably
and thankfully in the private exerci&s;e of their con&s;ciences, and, becoming gain|ers
by &s;uch compa&s;&s;ion, could not &s;o rea&s;onably be di&s;tru&s;ted, as the <HI>Prelaticall</HI> or
<HI>Presbyterian</HI> Party, who mu&s;t needs reckon them&s;elves no &s;mall lo&s;ers, in that
the reines of authority are taken out of their hands, which they had by turns abu|&s;ed
into meer whips for their brethren.</P>
<P>Of the one we have had too long experience in their <HI>High Commi&s;&s;ion,</HI> e&s;pe|cially
&s;ince its power was overgrown by the con&s;piracy of the <HI>Starchamber;</HI> a
Court, where fines were impo&s;ed not according to the quality of the offences, but
of the Judges, who thought it below their honour to puni&s;h under thou&s;ands of
pounds for every <HI>Peccadillo.</HI></P>
<P>Of the other, though our tryall has been but &s;hort, yet it was very &s;mart, and
lives &s;till in the memory of <HI>England,</HI> which is every day refre&s;ht by the pre&s;ent
practi&s;e of <HI>Scotland,</HI> where the <HI>Kirk</HI> has condemn'd all that differ in the lea&s;t
tittle from her humor, crying <HI>Anathema Maranatha</HI> upon all the Congregations
of the Saints, as appears by their <HI>Synodicall Act,</HI> &s;et forth in <HI>Jan.</HI> 1650.
and &s;ent to their Brethren in <HI>Edenburgh,</HI> where, having fir&s;t called our wayes
<HI>abominations,</HI> and our &s;elves a <HI>perver&s;e generation,</HI> and branded tho&s;e few ho|ne&s;t
Scots, who &s;uffered them&s;elves to be undeceived by the rea&s;ons and civility
of our Army, with the infamous name of <HI>Apo&s;tates,</HI> they proceed to the mo&s;t
bitter, malicious, and &s;candalous words that an inraged Scot can utter, &s;peak|ing
thus to their Party. <HI>We exhort you, and by all the power over you: we
have in the Lord, require you, carefully to avoid all familiar conver&s;e of e|very
degree, above all, that you beware to joyne with them</HI> (tho&s;e that adhere
to the Parliament of England) <HI>in any publike or private exerci&s;e of Religion,
tho&s;e who will adventure to touch pitch, may be defiled before they be aware,
tho&s;e who will not abstain from the Harlots hou&s;e, &s;hall not be innocent&punc; take
heed</HI> (dearly beloved) <HI>of them that are led by the &s;ubtilty and depth of the Divell,
and among all his in&s;truments, we intreat you to avoid none more then the&s;e
mi&s;erable Apo&s;tates of our own Nation, for we conceive none more &s;itted to work
mi&s;chiefe among you then this &s;ort of men:</HI> and in their motives or grounds for a
Fa&s;t in <HI>June</HI> 1651. their expre&s;&s;ions again&s;t us are no le&s;&s;e bitter: &s;ee how
their zeal boyles, while they are but a kindling, while we choke the fuell in
its owne &s;moke, how will their fury run over, when the fire &s;hall by
any &s;ucce&s;&s;e be rai&s;ed into a flame! how will they drowne the whole
Countrey in an inuadation of more then Antichri&s;tian &s;lavery!</P>
<P><PB N="20" REF="12">
But becau&s;e I perceived by a pa&s;&s;age in the Recu&s;ants di&s;cour&s;e, that nothing lay
more heavy upon them then the new Oath of <HI>Abjuration</HI> made by the Presbyte|rian
Party in the beginning of the late troubles; I &s;hall adventure humbly to
move &s;ome <HI>Queres</HI> thereupon, tran&s;cribing fir&s;t a true Copy of the Oath it
&s;elfe.</P>
<P>J. A. B. Do abjure and renounce the Popes Supremacy and Authority over
the Catholike Church in generall, aud over my &s;elf in particular, and I do be|lieve
that there is not any Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation in the Sacrament of the Lords
Supper, or in the Elements of Bread and Wine after Con&s;ecration thereof, by
any per&s;on what&s;oever; and I do believe that there is not any Purgatory; and
that the con&s;ecrated Host, Crucifixes or Images ought not to be wor&s;hipped, nei|ther
that any wor&s;hip is due unto them; and I al&s;o believe that Salvation cannot
be merited by works, and all Doctrines in affirmation of the &s;aid points, I do
abjure and renounce without any AEquivocation; mentall re&s;ervation, or &s;ecret
eva&s;ion what&s;oever, taking the words by me &s;poken, according to the common and
u&s;uall meaning of them, So help me God.</P>
<P>1. Whether this Oath do not flatly contradict the known Laws of the Land,
by enforcing a free-born Engli&s;h-man to accu&s;e him&s;elf&punc; with &s;o &s;trong and dan|gerous
a temptation to perjury, where the choice is only this, either for&s;wear your
Religion, or ruine your e&s;tate; a &s;everity that far exceeds the tyranny of the Pre|lates,
who&s;e indignation &s;tayed it &s;elf upon the exteriour non-conformity; where|as
this pa&s;&s;es on to con&s;train the inward belief of the mind, which God (the
&s;earcher of all hearts) hath re&s;erved to him&s;elf, and all this, in Que&s;tions no waies
concerning either Idolatry, or the &s;ecurity of the State; as Purgatory, and the
Doctrine of merits, for that con&s;cience that is not wide enough to &s;wallow all
the Oath, how great &s;oever the part is that he can dige&s;t, it will do him no
good.</P>
<P>2. This Oath being wholly Negative, and no Po&s;itive Articles e&s;tabli&s;ht by
the Parliament, to be propo&s;ed to all as the touch&s;tone of Faith, whether it be
con&s;cientious to oblige the Papi&s;t to &s;wear away his own Religion, before we have
provided another for him?</P>
<P>3. <HI>Whether it be con&s;cientious or rea&s;onable for us to enforce this Oath on the
Papi&s;ts, &s;ince we have many godly per&s;ons of our own party, who will not take
it, and others who will not &s;wear at all: Hear what is &s;aid in the</HI> Examination
<HI>of the before mentioned</HI> Synodicall Confe&s;&s;ion, <HI>page</HI> 238. There is a greater re|&s;traint
laid upon us now then in the old Te&s;tament, Mat. 5. 34. James 5. 12.
which hath made &s;ome to &s;hun Oaths, though called to &s;wear by the Magi&s;trate
in matters lawfull. <HI>And again,</HI> that it is a &s;in in tho&s;e, who impo&s;e unnece&s;&s;ary,
&s;ubtill and en&s;naring oaths, <HI>Zach.</HI> 5. 3. 4. There is a cur&s;e gone out again&s;t &s;wea|rers,
as well as against thieves, becau&s;e of needle&s;&s;e &s;wearing, as well as fal&s;e
&s;wearing, <HI>a Land is made to mourn,</HI> Jer. 23. 10.</P>
<P>4. Since all the&s;e Negatives are not clearly &s;et down in Scripture, as funda|mental
paints of Chri&s;tian Faith, but deduced from pa&s;&s;ages, to which the An&s;wers
are believed as probable by them, as the arguments by us, why &s;hould we &s;o
cruelly per&s;ecute one another for Doctrines; that are either ob&s;curely revealed, or
not nece&s;&s;arily enjoyned.</P>
<P>5. How &s;hall we defend the Oath again&s;t this Objection, that any <HI>Jew, Turk</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="12">
or <HI>Infidell</HI> may take it lawfully, according to their Principles, nay will delight
to &s;wear again&s;t &s;o many points of that Church, which (by rea&s;on of their con|fining
Territories) mainly oppo&s;es them; nor have we any Law at all (to my
knowledge) for which Jew, Turk, Heathen, or the mo&s;t gro&s;&s;e Heatheni&s;h Ido|lator
is &s;eque&s;trable, nor any penall Oath again&s;t the mo&s;t extravagant bla&s;phe|mies,
that a loo&s;e wit can imagine, and a prophane tongue utter, as <HI>Ranters,
Antitrinitarians,</HI> and the like? what can be more de&s;tructive to the very foun|dation
of <HI>Chri&s;tianity,</HI> then the prophane and &s;candalous bla&s;phemies of Mr. <HI>Fry,</HI>
a late Member of Parliament, who publikely in print, not only denies, but de|cides
that Supreme My&s;tery of <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> the &s;acred <HI>Trinity,</HI> calling it a
<HI>chaffy and ab&s;urd Opinion, &amp;c.</HI> yet the mercy of the Parliament contented it &s;elf
with a moderate and favourable puni&s;hment, excluding him only from &s;itting a|mong&s;t
them; and if his Dignity and publique Character had not rendred him
obnoxious to the crime of &s;candall, he might perhaps have remained as free
from trouble, as all the re&s;t of his Opinion do, who never yet have &s;uffered the
lea&s;t mole&s;tation for the greate&s;t exorbitances that can be devi&s;ed.</P>
<P>In particular at the Quarter Se&s;&s;ions at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter,</HI> on the 24. of <HI>June</HI> 1651.
there wered five <HI>Ranters</HI> convented before Colonell <HI>Baxter,</HI> and other Ju&s;tices,
and &s;ufficient proof, that they had maintained that one <HI>Robins a Glazier was a
Prophet, and that his wife was with child of the Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> with &s;uch other bla&s;|phemous
&s;tuff; but four of the&s;e, not then ab&s;olutely a&s;&s;erting the&s;e Opinions,
nor yet denying them, but evading the &s;everall que&s;tions demanded of them by the
Bench, were di&s;charged, the fifth was committed (as he well de&s;erved) not for his
Opinions, but for calling the Ju&s;tices Traytors, &amp;c. On the &s;ame day a gentle-woman
great with child, and &s;ome others, were al&s;o convented, for a &s;uppo&s;ed
hearing of Ma&s;&s;e, on the day commonly called <HI>Chri&s;tmas</HI> day 1650. at the then
<HI>French Agents</HI> in Long Acre, and though there was no direct proof that they
were at <HI>Ma&s;&s;e,</HI> but at Mattins or Prayers before Ma&s;&s;e, yet Colonell <HI>Baxter</HI> did
maintain again&s;t &s;ome other of the Ju&s;tices, that <HI>Mattins</HI> and <HI>Ma&s;&s;e</HI> was all one,
and &s;o the gentlewoman and the re&s;t were fined one hundred marks a piece, and
&s;ent to pri&s;on, according to the rigour of the Statute in that behalfe formerly
made, the &s;everity of which la&s;t proceeding, and the partiality of the fir&s;t, needs
no Comment.</P>
<P>Why mu&s;t the <HI>Papi&s;t</HI> be thus &s;ingled out from all the re&s;t, and peremptorily
forc't to this hard choice, of either forfeiting his e&s;tate, or for&s;aking his Con&s;cience?
if we fear their encrea&s;e, we overvalue their Religion, if we doubt their di&s;turbing
us, we undervalue our own &s;trength, abundantly &s;ufficient are the means which
God has put into our hands, to &s;ecure our &s;elves from a few di&s;arm'd Papi&s;ts, abun|dantly
&s;ufficient were this only provi&s;ion, to exclude them from Offices of im|portance,
and execute &s;evere puni&s;hment upon &s;uch as &s;hould actually attempt any
thing to the di&s;compo&s;ure of the State.</P>
<P>Nor can &s;uch gentlene&s;&s;e and moderation towards quiet Recu&s;ants, be ju&s;tly
accounted a toleration of them, becau&s;e (I conceive) that word &s;ignifies an ab&s;o|lute
equality in all civill re&s;pects, betwixt Subjects of different judgements in Re|ligion,
el&s;e the pre&s;ent &s;ufferings of <HI>Papi&s;ts,</HI> paying their two thirds, might by
the &s;ame frowardne&s;&s;e be accu&s;ed as a toleration; whereas the Penalties indeed
are altogether intolerable: Not to inflict the utmo&s;t &s;everity of puni&s;hment, is
<PB N="22" REF="13">
not pre&s;ently to be reputed an allowance of the crime, God him&s;elf &s;uffers
all the &s;ins we commit, but approves none of them; we our &s;elves daily permit
mi&s;chiefs to avoid in conveniences, and for that rea&s;on we prohibit not <HI>Ma&s;&s;e</HI> in
the hou&s;es of Amba&s;&s;adors, nor pnni&s;h u&s;ury, though the Statute it &s;elf 13. <HI>Eliz.</HI>
8. brands it with the name of Vice, and mo&s;t Divines hold it a dete&s;table
&s;in, expre&s;&s;ely forbidden by the Law of God.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="section">
<HEAD>A con&s;cientious way of &s;etling Religion propo&s;ed.</HEAD>
<P>IN the &s;ame place where God commands children to obey their parents, he
forbids parents to provoke their children, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 6. And where he exacts fidelity
in &s;ervants, he likewi&s;e requires moderation in Ma&s;ters, nay more, the text in|cludes
even bondmen and &s;laves, enjoyning the Ma&s;ters <HI>to forbear threatning,
knowing that their Master al&s;o is in heaven, neither is there re&s;pect of per&s;ons
with him:</HI> thus clearly doth the Word of God condemn as well har&s;hne&s;&s;e and
cruelty in Governours, as &s;tubbornne&s;&s;e and treachery in Subjects; &s;o that there
is al&s;o a tenderne&s;&s;e of con&s;cience requi&s;ite on the Magi&s;trates part, to proceed
&s;incerely and purely for the good of the people, that he may truely &s;ay with the
Apo&s;tle, <HI>I &s;eek not yours, but you,</HI> 2 Cor. 12. 1. and again ver&s;e 17. <HI>Did I
make a gain of you, by any of them whom I &s;ent unto you?</HI> in which two
lines we are plainly adverti&s;ed of the chiefe danger which Superiours ought care|fully
to avoid, that neither them&s;elves, nor their under-Officers make a pro|fit
of mens con&s;ciences concerning matters of Religion.</P>
<P>Since therefore the only tolerable de&s;igne of the Corrector in &s;uch ca&s;es is the
benefit of the &s;ufferer, it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that before we can with the lea&s;t co|lour
of Ju&s;tice inflict a penalty upon any different profe&s;&s;ion, we ought to u&s;e all
means po&s;&s;ible to recover them to truth, and therefore our fir&s;t work &s;hould be
to collect a body of po&s;itive Articles, evidently contained in Gods Word, and
ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to mans &s;alvation; it being very improper, to pen the publike
form of Faith in the Negative, becau&s;e my believing Chri&s;tian truths makes me
a Chri&s;tian, and not my disbelieving the errors that oppo&s;e it, el&s;e he that believes
nothing at all would be the be&s;t Chri&s;tian.</P>
<P>In order to which collection, the mo&s;t religious way is, that every one that will
mode&s;tly, may &s;afely propo&s;e and di&s;cu&s;&s;e tho&s;e difficulties he meets with in Gods
Word, and if after all po&s;&s;ible diligences of &s;tudy, meditation and prayer, no &s;a|tisfaction
or union follow in any point, it is an evident &s;ign the que&s;tion is either
ob&s;cure or unnece&s;&s;ary, and then provide for the peace of the Common-wealth,
and &s;ubmit the re&s;t to the plea&s;ure of God.</P>
<P>When we have agreed upon a &s;ummary of belief, according to the&s;e three con|ditions
<HI>po&s;itive, evident,</HI> and <HI>fundamental,</HI> (with which the <HI>Creed,</HI> commonly call'd
the Apo&s;tles, &s;uits be&s;t of any I ever &s;aw) then ought the Magi&s;trates hold forth
in the &s;pirit of love and meekne&s;&s;e, tho&s;e &s;o clear and important verities, and
if any &s;hall be found di&s;&s;enting (which I am confident will be very few) let us
follow the Apo&s;tles rule in puni&s;hing, a gentle one it is indeed, but powerfull,
2 The&s;. 3. 6. <HI>Withdraw from &s;uch a one, that he may be a&s;hamed,</HI> and ver&s;e 15.
<HI>e&s;teem him not an enemy, but correct him as a brother,</HI> at wor&s;t, <HI>rebuke him
<PB N="23" REF="13">
&s;harply,</HI> Tit. 1. 13. <HI>and after the first and &s;econd admonition reject him,</HI> Tit. 3. 10.
that is, leave him to the hardne&s;&s;e of his heart: if his con&s;cience grow tender, it
will check; if obdutate, he will &s;oon break out into lewdne&s;&s;e; and then be ju&s;tly
puni&s;hable by the Law, as other criminall Malefactors; only we mu&s;t be carefull
not to anticipate his condemnation before he be legally convinced of &s;ome actu|all
offence again&s;t the publique repo&s;e.</P>
<P>If we &s;u&s;pect the di&s;affection of any Party, as the Papi&s;ts, let us fir&s;t make it
their intere&s;t to love their Countrey by treating them at lea&s;t mercifully in it, and
then we &s;hall have a fair tryall of their fidelity; I do not know one example, where,
to a Prince or State that u&s;ed them well, they have &s;hown them&s;elves un|gratefull.</P>
<P>And though it be the duty of every Chri&s;tian to love his enemy, and do good to
tho&s;e that per&s;ecute him, yet &s;urely it is a <HI>hard &s;aying,</HI> and the mo&s;t &s;incere profe&s;|&s;ors
of any Religion what&s;oever find difficulty enough to ob&s;erve it, even <HI>Prote|&s;tants</HI>
as well as <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> know how to fall out with tho&s;e Magi&s;trates that op|pre&s;&s;e
them, el&s;e how &s;hall we excu&s;e the civill wars of <HI>France, Germany, Hol|land,</HI>
&amp;c. if we have not recour&s;e to the har&s;h u&s;age of their Superiours; nor
need we &s;eek the rea&s;on of the&s;e di&s;orders among&s;t the Articles of any Parties Re|ligion,
when by the in&s;tinct of nature, not only man, but even the mo&s;t triviall
creature that &s;eems to have no intere&s;t in the world, attends with diligence to the
pre&s;ervation of it &s;elf: who can blame the humble worm, that whil<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;t we walk
fairly by, it pro&s;trates it &s;elfe before us, and lowly creeps upon the ground,
if when we tread upon it, it lift its head, and &s;trive to wring it &s;elf from un|der
our cruell feet? Notable to this purpo&s;e is the old example of the <HI>Privernates,</HI>
an ancient people of Italy, who having rebell'd again&s;t the Common-wealth of
<HI>Rome,</HI> and being almo&s;t quite reduced by force of Armes, they di&s;patch their
Emba&s;&s;adors for terms of peace; the Senat &s;ternly ask them, <HI>What new peace
they could expect, who had &s;o in&s;olently infringed the old?</HI> to which they &s;toutly an|&s;wered,
<HI>We mu&s;t now take &s;uch conditions as you plea&s;e to give; if they be mode|rate,
you &s;hall find us faithfull, if too heavy, we &s;hall ob&s;erve them only till we
may &s;afely break them;</HI> which free and generous expre&s;&s;ion induced that wi&s;e
Senate to a&s;&s;ign them their own demands. This &s;o full and pregnant in&s;tance I
humbly offer, as mo&s;t worthy the imitation of our Engli&s;h Senate, that even to
<HI>Recu&s;ants,</HI> who ingage to live innocently and quietly among&s;t us, &s;uch rea&s;ona|ble
conditions of &s;ub&s;i&s;tence may be allowed (&s;ince they are equally with our
&s;elves born to the freedome of this Nation) as their con&s;ciences be not vio|lated,
their &s;pirits embittered, nor humane infirmity tempted to de&s;pair; let us
rather incourage them to come to our meetings, and freely propo&s;e their difficul|ties,
which now they dare not, for fear of di&s;covering their judgements, to the ru|ine
of their e&s;tates; let us u&s;e the &s;ame gentlene&s;&s;e here in <HI>England,</HI> that his Ex|cellency
the <HI>Lord Generall</HI> practi&s;es in <HI>Scotland,</HI> towards tho&s;e that are not only
otherwi&s;e minded in Religion, but <HI>contrary minded</HI> in civill concernments, and
actually in arms to maintain their oppo&s;ition: he invites them to conferences, and
him&s;elf with admirable temper and moderation manages the di&s;cour&s;e, allowing
free liberty of reply to the adver&s;e party, without pa&s;&s;ion, bitterne&s;&s;e or threat|ning,
and though he find not the event an&s;werable to his endeavours, remaines at
lea&s;t &s;atisfied in his con&s;cience, by having given a rea&s;on of his actions; and
whom can we better imitate, then &s;o great an in&s;trument of the liberty we all en|joy?
<PB N="24" REF="14">
or wherein can we follow him with &s;o much prai&s;e both of God and man,
as in the mildne&s;&s;e of his &s;pirit, by which he conquers more powerfully, then by
the &s;harpne&s;&s;e of his Sword? have not the <HI>Papi&s;ts</HI> under&s;tandings as well as we,
which our Arguments may rectifie? have they not &s;ouls to &s;ave, which our chari|ty
may gain to heaven? why do we not erect a Committee to purcha&s;e &s;ouls, as
we have Contracters to &s;ell Lands? why is there not e&s;tabli&s;ht a Committee of
<HI>Salvation,</HI> as wel as of <HI>Indempnity,</HI> where the Que&s;tions of Religion may be freely
di&s;cu&s;t, and the di&s;tre&s;&s;es of tender and innocent con&s;ciences impartially relieved?
if men dealt mildly, and only by the Go&s;pell way of per&s;wa&s;ion, &s;urely there
would in time grow Society, Commerce, and mutuall confidence, and &s;o frequent
oportunities of clearer information: when once all jealou&s;ies and mi&s;under&s;tan|dings
of one another &s;hall be laid a&s;ide, the differences among&s;t Chri&s;tians will
&s;oon be reconciled, if not to an ab&s;olute and preci&s;e unity of Faith and Doctrine,
yet at lea&s;t to a ble&s;&s;ed union of peace and love.</P>
<P>Oh how much better and more admirably divine is the gentle method of the
Chri&s;tian, how to propagate it &s;elf <HI>in plain evidence of the &s;pirit,</HI> then the un|naturall
Turki&s;h cruelty, of taking children from their parents! or the unwor|thy
<HI>Machiavillian</HI> policy of taking the inheritance from the children! or la&s;tly,
which is, wor&s;e then either, the barbarous Heatheni&s;h tyranny of &s;hedding bloud,
and tearing limb from limb meerly upon the account of Religion.</P>
<P>Nor can I find any &s;atisfaction in that &s;huffling and hypocriticall di&s;tinction,
invented by the Lawyers to deceive the common people, who&s;e &s;implicity and in|nocency
they ea&s;ily beguile, by pretending that none are executed for Religion,
but for offending again&s;t the Laws? what can be more palpably fal&s;e, or divel|li&s;hly
malicious then this? who does not &s;ee but by this rule tho&s;e bloudy tyrants,
<HI>Nero, Diocle&s;ian,</HI> and the re&s;t of the ten infamous per&s;ecuters, mu&s;t be canoni|zed
for good and con&s;cientious Ju&s;ticers, becau&s;e they judged according to Law?
who does not &s;ee that by this rule tho&s;e glorious Martyrs, who watered the Chri|&s;tian
Faith with their precious bloud, mu&s;t be accounted Traytors, becau&s;e they
&s;uffered according to Law? nay even the cur&s;ed Jews, who crucified our ble&s;&s;ed
Saviour, impiou&s;ly alledged the &s;elf &s;ame rea&s;on for them&s;elves, <HI>We have a Law,
and by our Law he ought to die,</HI> John 19. 7.</P>
<P>Nor can I forbear to profe&s;&s;e how extremely unwelcome that &s;curvy news was
to me, of one <HI>Wright</HI> a Je&s;uite, being drawn to Tiburn as a Traytor upon a
hurdle for his Religion, on the 19. of <HI>May</HI> 1651. becau&s;e I had &s;o often commen|ded
the moderation of the pre&s;ent Authority, as having never &s;pilt one drop of
Bloud for Religion: and though the <HI>Seque&s;trations</HI> of all peaceable <HI>Recu&s;ants&punc;</HI>
were flatly again&s;t our Maximes, yet the pre&s;&s;ing nece&s;&s;ities of the State, and
their purpo&s;e (which I alwaies believed) of taking away all penalties upon the
con&s;cience, after a &s;hort time, when the Government &s;hould be a little better &s;et|led)
exceedingly qualified the har&s;hne&s;&s;e of tho&s;e pecuniary &s;everities; but now
with grief I mu&s;t lay down my arms, and with &s;hame revoke all my arguments
which I have hitherto u&s;ed, to le&s;&s;en the inju&s;tice of our &s;eque&s;tring for con&s;ci|ence,
and pacifie the ruines of many well-affected and religious per&s;ons, who
highly di&s;liked even that <HI>&s;oul-money,</HI> as King <HI>James</HI> u&s;ed to call it, wherein as I
have had no &s;mall &s;ucce&s;&s;e: &s;o now I cannot with a &s;afe con&s;cience endeavour
any more, lea&s;t I &s;hould cooperate to deceive the people; <HI>Seque&s;trations</HI> I con|fe&s;&s;e
did &s;hrewdly crack, but this killing has broken quite in pieces all our Princi|ples.
<PB N="25" REF="14">
Again&s;t what have we principally fought all this while, but coercency in Re|ligion?
for what have we made &s;o many tedious marches and Declarations, but
<HI>liberty of tender Con&s;ciences?</HI> is this <HI>to hold forth the truth in love?</HI> is this <HI>to
in&s;truct in meekne&s;&s;e,</HI> as becomes the &s;ervants of the Lord? let us take heed how
we fall into the hands of the living God, let us alwaies remember that voice
&s;peaking within us, <HI>They &s;hall be judged without mercy, that have &s;hewed no
mercy.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides the &s;harpne&s;&s;e of the &s;entence, the very tryall (as I am informed) had
many &s;ingular and unu&s;uall pa&s;&s;ages, as that nothing was proved again&s;t the Pri|&s;oner,
but that a great many years ago he had &s;aid <HI>Ma&s;&s;e</HI> in <HI>Flanders,</HI> and this
only by one witne&s;&s;e, and one who in open <HI>Se&s;&s;ions</HI> profe&s;t a particular <HI>pique</HI> and
quarrell towards him, alledging an old grudge as one of the rea&s;ons why he came
up out of the Countrey to &s;wear again&s;t him, no di&s;turbance of the publique re|po&s;e,
nor &s;o much as the lea&s;t breach of peace laid to his charge, but only his being
a <HI>Prie&s;t,</HI> and in England: And that this was his only crime, is unque&s;tionably clear
by the <HI>Mini&s;ters</HI> charitable offer at the <HI>Gallows,</HI> that <HI>there was yet time enough
for him to &s;ave his life, if he would renounce his Religion, and become a Pro|te&s;tant;</HI>
which he re&s;olutely denying, as again&s;t his con&s;cience, was fir&s;t hanged
among&s;t the thieves and murderers, and then quartered as a <HI>Traytor;</HI> and yet both
Sheriff, Jury, Judge, and every one that cooperated to the execution; all &s;eriou&s;ly
profe&s;&s;e, that nothing is &s;o dear to them, nothing &s;o rea&s;onable in it &s;elf, as inco|ercency
in matters concerning the &s;alvation of our Souls. I pray God we be not
too guilty <HI>of having a form of godline&s;&s;e, but denying the power thereof.</HI> I pray
God the&s;e &s;evere and ungo&s;pellary proceedings (e&s;pecially this la&s;t of bloud, &s;o
di&s;plea&s;ing to the Spectators, and unprofitable to the Authors) become not in
time a prejudice to our Brethren beyond the Seas, a di&s;contenting of our friends
at home, and a &s;candall to all the world; for that very day of the Prie&s;ts executi|on
I o'reheard a nimble witted man &s;ay the&s;e very words, <HI>Since we are come to this
pa&s;&s;e that we can fight again&s;t the Covenant for Reformation of the Kirk, &s;eque|&s;ter
men for Recu&s;ants, and continue their Sequestrations, whether they continue
their Recu&s;ancy or no, make a clo&s;e peace with Spain, and openly hang up Je&s;uits,</HI>
SIT ANIMA MEA CUM PHILOSOPHIS.</P>
<P>Surely it were far better to let the Papi&s;ts for a while practi&s;e their kind of
Chri&s;tianity, then upon a &s;uddain deprive them of the only Religion to which
they are accu&s;tomed, and &s;o indanger the driving of them to <HI>Athei&s;me,</HI> in&s;tead
of reducing them to <HI>Prote&s;tancy.</HI></P>
<P>Be&s;ides how ea&s;ily may the like &s;everity be exerci&s;ed again&s;t our &s;elves, if any
Power di&s;-affected to godline&s;&s;e &s;hould gain authority over us? it is but &s;training the
word <HI>Recu&s;ant</HI> a little above the common note, it is but making our holy confe|rences
Trea&s;on by Statute, and then all the precious Saints and deare&s;t &s;ervants of
the Lord, may be hang'd, drawn and quartered by Law, and yet at the &s;ame time
our Executioners may profe&s;&s;e (as &s;eriou&s;ly as we now &s;eem to do) Liberty of
Con&s;cience; only they will think it rea&s;onable to their own interpreters, and con|&s;equently
intend by this charming &s;ound of Liberty, an ab&s;olute and uncontroul|able
freedom indeed, but to be enjoyed by none but them&s;elves.</P>
<P>How do the Papi&s;ts them&s;elves in <HI>France</HI> outgo us in their tender and moderate
behaviour towards the Prote&s;tants of their Countrey, notwith&s;tanding former
<PB N="26" REF="15">
provocations to jealou&s;ie in the la&s;t civill warrs? nay notwith&s;tanding pre&s;ent pro|vocations
by our &s;everity again&s;t all of their profe&s;&s;ion in <HI>England,</HI> they di&s;pute
openly and frequently together, not only the Clergy, but trade&s;men one with a|nother:
at many of which conferences I have been pre&s;ent in <HI>Paris,</HI> where eve|ry
one freely defended his own Opinion, &s;o civilly and peaceably, that I never re|turned
from the place of tho&s;e di&s;cour&s;es, without exceeding comfort and &s;atisfa|ction,
thinking often with my &s;elf, it were a fa&s;hion as worthy to be tran&s;poorted
into <HI>England,</HI> as any our Gallants bring from thence.</P>
<P>At the end of the Di&s;pute, (which is not upon any &s;olemn challenge, but ca&s;u|all,
though very often) if either party &s;eem un&s;atisfied, his liberty is inviolably
pre&s;erved, without &s;eizing upon a penny of his e&s;tate (which there is accounted
but a politique covetou&s;ne&s;&s;e) or touching &s;o much as a hair of his head, (not to
&s;peak of &s;pilling his blood for a different opinion) which they dete&s;t as a mo&s;t abo|minable
cruelty, but with a courteous friendline&s;&s;e and mutuall compa&s;&s;ion, part
in as perfect charity as they met, each hoping and praying for the others conver&s;i|on:
in the mean while the King allows a certain number of publike Churches to
<HI>Protestants,</HI> and as much liberty in private for the exerci&s;e of their con&s;ciences,
as any di&s;agreers from the common belief of the State can rea&s;onably de&s;ire.</P>
<P>Nay, even the Spani&s;h Inqui&s;ition (&s;o univer&s;ally abhor'd) practi&s;es all ima|ginable
means towards the accu&s;ed, to reduce his judgement to theirs, before they
pronounce theirs again&s;t him, and upon conformity immediately acquit him;
whereas our con&s;cience-&s;eque&s;trations are laid on, without any di&s;puting; and
hardly taken off, upon never &s;o much conforming; which very thing I have
heard &s;ome <HI>Presbyterians</HI> object to us, though them&s;elves made the abjuring
Oath on purpo&s;e to pinch the Papi&s;t, yet they &s;aid it was intended only for times
of war, when all other waies, either of convincing by rea&s;ons, or convicting by
Law were ob&s;tructed.</P>
<P>And, proceeding upon the &s;ame &s;ubject; they alledged divers Papi&s;ts by name,
who have not only gone to <HI>Church,</HI> but taken both the <HI>Communion,</HI> Oath of <HI>Ab|juration,</HI>
and <HI>Engagement;</HI> and all this undeniably proved by &s;ufficient Te&s;timo|ny,
yet after &s;olemn debate upon their Petitions in <HI>Haberda&s;hers Hall</HI> to be no
longer puni&s;ht, &s;ince they were no longer guilty, the Commi&s;&s;ioners declared <HI>that
it was not expre&s;s'd in any Act or in&s;tructions from the pre&s;ent Parliament, what
&s;hould amount unto, or be adjudged by them to be a Conformity;</HI> and therefore
they continue the Seque&s;trations as formerly, notwith&s;tanding &s;uch conformity as
afore&s;aid; In particular, on Wedne&s;day the &s;econd of <HI>July</HI> 16<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="faint" EXTENT="1 letter">1. It was the ca&s;e
(&s;aies my Presbyterian friend) of one <HI>Smith,</HI> a &s;u&s;pected Papi&s;t; who had Lands
in the <HI>Soke</HI> of <HI>Winche&s;ter</HI> &s;eque&s;tred; upon his appeal at <HI>Haberda&s;hers</HI> Hall,
he produced &s;ufficient proof that he had been &s;everall Lords daies at Church, and
had twice taken the Oath of <HI>Abjuration,</HI> but one of the <HI>Commi&s;&s;ioners</HI> made an|&s;wer
that this was not enough, he mu&s;t al&s;o take the <HI>Communion,</HI> otherwi&s;e mu&s;t
continue &s;eque&s;tred as a <HI>Papi&s;t:</HI> wherto <HI>Smiths</HI> Councell replied, <HI>That if it were
a mark of Papi&s;ts not to have received the Communion, we are</HI> (&s;aid he) <HI>all Pa|pi&s;ts
in our Pari&s;h, for we have had no Communion in our Church the&s;e four years:</HI>
And 'tis very probable that that very <HI>Commi&s;&s;ioner</HI> who made this objection, hath
not of late, and perhaps will not receive the <HI>Communion,</HI> in manner as is pre&s;cri|bed
by the Statute; and certainly it is a very &s;ad ca&s;e for us to force others, un|der
<PB N="26" REF="15">
&s;o great a penalty, as the &s;eque&s;tration of their e&s;tates, to do that which we
will not do our &s;elves: All the relief and hopes, that <HI>Smith</HI> and others in his con|dition
(who have both gone to Church, and taken the <HI>Communion</HI> and Oath of
<HI>Abjuration</HI>) have received at the &s;aid Hall, is, that the &s;aid Commi&s;&s;ioners have
promi&s;ed to move the Parliament, to know <HI>what &s;hall amount unto a Conformity;</HI>
and it might al&s;o be de&s;ired to know what Religion the Papi&s;ts (in ca&s;e they be
forc'd to leave their own) &s;hall conform unto, &s;ince we have three &s;everall Religi|ons,
that at pre&s;ent &s;eem to have an equall power or influence: the Prelaticall or
old Prote&s;tant (as &s;ome call it) is e&s;tabli&s;ht by Law; the Presbyterian carries the
vogue in the Pulpit; but the Independent has the power and countenance of the
State. Certainly the above&s;aid &s;trange proceedings mu&s;t needs appear, both to all
the reformed Churches abroad, and to very many con&s;cientious people at home, as
&s;avouring of a de&s;ign to make &s;ure of the Papi&s;ts e&s;tates, what&s;oever becomes of
their &s;ouls.</P>
<P>And all this while we hold forth <HI>meekne&s;&s;e,</HI> and all this while we cry up <HI>Liber|ty
of Con&s;cience!</HI> is it po&s;&s;ible we &s;hould &s;o far forget our principles, as to &s;eize
the e&s;tates of our neighbours and kindred for Religion, and at the &s;ame time pro|fe&s;&s;e
to venture all our own to purcha&s;e freedom of Religion? is it po&s;&s;ible we
&s;hould expo&s;e our own lives in &s;o long and dangerous a war, to e&s;tabli&s;h and &s;ecure
<HI>Liberty of Con&s;cience;</HI> and at the &s;ame in&s;tant of time, hang, draw, and quarter
men for their Con&s;ciences? how &s;hall we an&s;wer at the day of Judgement our
&s;hedding &s;o much bloud to deliver our Countrey from coercency in matters of
belief, if as &s;oon as the power is in our hands we emb<GAP DESC="illegible" REASON="blotted" EXTENT="1+ letters">e them in the bloud of
our Countreymen meerly for their Religion; have we &s;o &s;oon forgot tho&s;e &s;harp
reproofs of the Apo&s;tle, Rom. 2. <HI>Behold you are called Jews and re&s;t in the Law,
and make your boa&s;t of God, you know his will, and approve the things that are
more excellent, you are confident that your &s;elves are guides of the blind, and lights
to them which are in darkne&s;&s;e, instructers of the fooli&s;h, and teachers of babes,
who have the form of knowledge and of truth in the Law; you therefore, who
teach another, teach you not your &s;elves? you that preach a man &s;hould not &s;teale,
do you &s;teale? you that abhor idols do you commit &s;acriledge? In the day when
God &s;hall judge the &s;ecrets of men by Je&s;us Chri&s;t:</HI> how can we an&s;wer that ex|cellent
and &s;elf-evident precept of nature, <HI>do as you would be done unto?</HI> God is not
mocked, he promi&s;es indeed, that <HI>the meek &s;hall inherit the Land,</HI> but &s;urely
means not &s;uch as &s;eem <HI>meek</HI> only to inherit the Land.</P>
<P>Thus &s;harly went on my angry <HI>Presbyterian,</HI> and I confe&s;&s;e I was extremely
a&s;hamed to hear him &s;ay &s;o much rea&s;on, that u&s;ed to &s;peak nothing but pa&s;&s;ion,
and to &s;ee my &s;elf &s;o confounded by one, that I have alwaies overcome with ea&s;e
upon any other &s;ubject, and &s;hould have liked far better his ob&s;ervations (which
with grief I acknowledge to be too true and open to all the world) if they had come
from an indifferent and unfactious &s;pirit, becau&s;e I &s;u&s;pect they may perhaps pro|ceed
rather from envy towards the gainers, then pitty upon the lo&s;ers: for during
the violent, and therefore &s;hort, Dominion of the <HI>Presbyterians,</HI> never were more
cruell torturers of the <HI>Con&s;cience,</HI> then they, never a more tyrannicall Tribunall
then their <HI>Jure divine A&s;&s;embly,</HI> and cla&s;&s;icall High Commi&s;&s;ion, but the hand of
the Lord &s;topt them in their full career, and by wofull experience they now find
the truth of Gods threatnings, <HI>If you bite and devoure one another, take heed you
be not con&s;umed one of another,</HI> Gal. 5. 15.</P>
<P><PB N="28" REF="16">
Wherefore it &s;hall be my daily prayer to our great and good God, that he would
graciou&s;ly in&s;pire his &s;ervants, who now &s;it at the Helm, to prevent the like hea|vy
judgements upon them&s;elves; and &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;idering that both their allegi|ance
to rea&s;on, their duty to God, their Engagement to their own Principles, call
&s;o loudly upon them, they would <HI>fulfill now our joy,</HI> and compleat the good work
&s;o happily begun, by puttting the tender-con&s;cienced and peaceable-minded people
of this Nation into a condition of perfect &s;ecurity for matters of Religion,
which cannot be effected without a generall Act of Con&s;cience-indemnity, firm|ly
to be e&s;tabli&s;ht as a fundamentall and unalterable Law of the Land, for all that
profe&s;&s;e the Go&s;pell of Chri&s;t.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="postscript">
<HEAD>Po&s;t&s;cript.</HEAD>
<P>SInce there is &s;carce one whom &s;omething in the&s;e few
&s;heets will not plea&s;e, nor very many whom &s;omething
will not di&s;plea&s;e, they therefore freely &s;ubmit them&s;elves,
not only to the judgement of the civill Magi&s;trate, but of
every civill man; and I have (according to the Order of
Parliament) hereunto &s;ub&s;cribed my name,</P>
<CLOSER><SIGNED>William Birchley.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<PB REF="16">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
