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<DATE>2012-04-24</DATE>
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<NAME>Olivia Bottum</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE CASE OF THE <HI>Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants:</HI> In Relation to RECOGNISING, OR Swearing ALLEGIANCE to, And PRAYING for King WILLIAM and Queen MARY, Stated and Re&s;olved.</P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed for <HI>Robert Clavel,</HI> and are to be Sold by <HI>John North,</HI> Book&s;eller in <HI>Dublin.</HI> M DC XC I.</P>
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<PB REF="2">
<HEAD>Adverti&s;ement.</HEAD>
<P>THE following Paper contains the Re&s;ult of a certain Per&s;ons Thoughts, &s;ome|time &s;ince, when he, being cut off from the u&s;ual means of <HI>con&s;ulting with others,</HI> could only enter into a <HI>Con&s;ultation with him&s;elf,</HI> for <HI>re&s;olving his own Con&s;cience.</HI></P>
<P>It is no <HI>mans &s;in</HI> &s;imply to <HI>doubt,</HI> but it is <HI>every mans bu&s;ine&s;s</HI> to endeavor his own <HI>Sa|tisfaction:</HI> and 'tis <HI>&s;ome mens Duty</HI> to <HI>&s;atis|fie others</HI> be&s;ides them&s;elves.</P>
<P>Of <HI>this number,</HI> becau&s;e the Author took him&s;elf to be, he <HI>communicated</HI> the&s;e his Thoughts to <HI>&s;uch</HI> for whom he was <HI>concern'd:</HI> and 'tis at their Promotion if they now go further.</P>
<P>In his Arguing he cho&s;e for Satisfaction to pro|ceed rather on Foundations of <HI>Divinity,</HI> than <HI>Po|licy</HI> and <HI>Law:</HI> little meddling with tho&s;e Grounds,
<PB REF="3"> on which, &s;ince the Writing hereof, he finds abler Heads most to build. He is very content to leave each Man to his own Province, and only de&s;ires he may not be cen&s;ured, as too ignorant, for keeping &s;o clo&s;e within what he apprehends to be his. It is indeed herein he finds mo&s;t &s;olid Content, Re&s;olution and Repo&s;e of Mind.</P>
<P>God make all of us Sincere, Humble, Satisfied, and if not &V;nanimous, yet at lea&s;t Peaceable and Quiet.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Octob.</HI> 27. 1690.</DATE></DATELINE></CLOSER>
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<HEAD>THE CASE OF THE IRISH PROTESTANTS: In Relation to RECOGNISING King WILLIAM and Queen MARY, STATED and RESOLVED.</HEAD>
<P N="1">I. FOR the due <HI>Stating,</HI> and &s;o more &s;atisfactory <HI>Re&s;olv|ing</HI> this our <HI>Ca&s;e,</HI> it will be nece&s;&s;ary to con&s;ider in the beginning, <HI>what Recognition</HI> of the&s;e Princes, or of their Sovereignty, is either <HI>expre&s;ly,</HI> or <HI>by con&s;e|quence, required</HI> of us; and then <HI>what Barrs</HI> there lie <HI>in Con&s;cience,</HI> to our making &s;uch Recognition.</P>
<P N="2">II, THERE can be no doubt, but it is <HI>intended,</HI> that we &s;hould receive and &s;ubmit to King <HI>William</HI> and Queen <HI>Mary,</HI> as perfectly and intirely, as ever by Law we &s;ubmitted to, or owned any of our late Sovereigns. And I mu&s;t add, we <HI>Pro|te&s;tants,</HI> e&s;pecially in <HI>Ireland,</HI> have <HI>all the Rea&s;on</HI> in the World, even from our own <HI>Intere&s;t</HI> to do it, with <HI>more Zeal,</HI> and <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion,</HI>
<PB N="2" REF="4"> than we did to either of their immediate Predece&s;&s;ors. But all the <HI>Recognition,</HI> which, as far as yet to me appears, is <HI>expre&s;ly requi|red</HI> from any, is, only to take an <HI>Oath of Fidelity</HI> to them, and to <HI>pray for them as King and Queen,</HI> and perhaps as our <HI>Deliver|ers</HI> from Oppre&s;&s;ion. Now that <HI>Oath,</HI> as I am informed, is pen'd in a <HI>&s;horter, ea&s;ier,</HI> and <HI>milder Form,</HI> than any of our Oaths of Allegiance in the Reigns of our former Kings. Thus it is &s;aid to run:</P>
<P><HI>I do &s;wear to bear Faith and true Allegiance to King</HI> William <HI>and Queen</HI> Mary.</P>
<P>The very <HI>penning</HI> of this Oath &s;hews the <HI>Tenderne&s;s, Modera|tion and Temper of the&s;e great Princes.</HI> For there is <HI>nothing</HI> therein <HI>Dogmatical,</HI> (if I may u&s;e that Term) of which Nature was the greater part, and mo&s;t of the Paragraphs of the former Oath, but only a <HI>Sacred Promi&s;e</HI> of (what is needful) <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>true Allegiance.</HI> Which tho (I &s;ay) it be mo&s;t certainly intended, it &s;hould be <HI>firm</HI> and <HI>plenary,</HI> (and according to the Intention of the Impo&s;er mu&s;t every Oath be under&s;tood by them that take it, el&s;e there is Fallacy and Equivocation therein) yet as to each Man's &s;ecret Sentiments there is by the&s;e <HI>indefinite Terms</HI> much <HI>left</HI> to the <HI>Judgment</HI> and <HI>Con&s;cience</HI> of every individual Subject, what the particulars of that Faith and true Allegiance are. A <HI>Temper</HI> not ob&s;erved in the penning the former Oaths of Alle|giance or Supremacy.</P>
<P N="3">III. THE <HI>Barrs in Con&s;cience,</HI> which any I think can pretend to again&s;t &s;uch Recognition are, <HI>Oaths</HI> formerly taken, and a <HI>Re|cognition</HI> made of <HI>James</HI> II. who is yet alive; and the <HI>Bond</HI> with which <HI>Holy Scriptures tie</HI> all <HI>Oaths</HI> upon our <HI>Con&s;ciences</HI> and Practice, yea, tho &s;omewhat unadvi&s;edly and prejudicially made, even to <HI>our own Hurt and Damage.</HI> The Oaths, I think, which can &s;tick upon any are chiefly Two, The <HI>Oath of Allegiance,</HI> and of <HI>Supremacy.</HI> Yet there is al&s;o, if I mi&s;take not be&s;ides the&s;e, what &s;ome called the <HI>Short Oath, [Not to take up Arms a|gain&s;t the King or any Commi&s;&s;ioned by him,] impo&s;ed</HI> on the Members of mo&s;t <HI>Corporations</HI> in this Kingdom, as I have
<PB N="3" REF="4"> been informed, of late days. However, there is a <HI>Declaration</HI> in the&s;e Words, <HI>&s;ub&s;cribed</HI> and <HI>publickly read,</HI> or recogni&s;ed, <HI>In Sacris,</HI> by all the <HI>Conforming Clergy</HI> of the three Kingdoms, in &s;o &s;olemn a manner, that it was even upon them equivalent to a mo&s;t &s;olemn Oath. The <HI>Recognition</HI> is that made in the late (pretended) <HI>Iri&s;h Parliament (May</HI> 7. 1689,) and pa&s;t in form of an Act, penned, I confe&s;s, with all the Weight and Empha&s;is, which, I think, either proper or improper Language could put into it. Now that the Re&s;olutions of all Doubts ari&s;ing from any of the&s;e, may be as di&s;tinct, as the Brevity de&s;igned, will permit, we will con&s;ider each &s;everally. And if in the end it ap|pear, that in our pre&s;ent Circum&s;tances there lies no Obligation upon us, to <HI>James</HI> II. from any of the&s;e Ties, then we may with &s;afe Con&s;cience perform what is required.</P>
<P N="4">IV. AND fir&s;t, for the <HI>Oath of Allegiance.</HI> This Oath <HI>was lawful</HI> and <HI>whole&s;ome</HI> enough, and <HI>in former Reigns,</HI> even <HI>to Prote&s;tants po&s;&s;ible</HI> to be kept; and al&s;o <HI>Obligatory.</HI> But there are <HI>three</HI> things which <HI>wholly take off</HI> our being obliged by it to King <HI>James.</HI> Fir&s;t, <HI>he the &s;aid King James</HI> II. has made it to us <HI>un|lawful.</HI> Secondly, <HI>God and King James</HI> have made it at pre&s;ent <HI>impo&s;&s;ible.</HI> Thirdly, <HI>we in Ireland</HI> are <HI>formally relea&s;ed</HI> from it, perhaps by <HI>Law;</HI> I am &s;ure in <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> and <HI>Equity.</HI> Now if any one of the&s;e three be true, the Obligation thereof to King <HI>James</HI> is di&s;charged: much more, if all.</P>
<P N="5">V. FIRST, I &s;ay, <HI>King James</HI> II. has <HI>made</HI> it to us who are Pro|te&s;tants, <HI>unlawful</HI> to pay him &s;uch Allegiance, as was due to his Predece&s;&s;ors, and would have been due to him, by virtue of that Oath, had he trod in his Predece&s;&s;ors Steps. His Predece&s;&s;ors, &s;ince the framing this Form of Oath, went not about to <HI>&s;ubject the Imperial Crown</HI> and Dignity of the three Kingdoms (as <HI>King James</HI> has done, <HI>e&s;pecially that of</HI> Ireland, with a Witne&s;s) to the Power of any Foreign Prince or Potentate, no not of the Pope him&s;elf. Which for a Subject to do (for of Princes we will not &s;peak) is <HI>unlawful, and Trea&s;on by our Laws.</HI> We can|not
<PB N="4" REF="5"> therefore <HI>with all our might a&s;&s;i&s;t and defend &s;uch a King,</HI> which yet in the Oath of Allegiance we &s;eem to have &s;worn to do, becau&s;e by this a&s;&s;i&s;tance we are guilty of contributing to the highe&s;t Breach of our Laws; we commit Trea&s;on again&s;t the Crown: And there being no Acce&s;&s;ories in Trea&s;on, I will not &s;ay in what danger we &s;hould be in a Prote&s;tant Succe&s;&s;ors Reign.</P>
<P>But there is more yet in the Ca&s;e. It is <HI>unlawful by the Law of God,</HI> for a Prote&s;tant People to a&s;|&s;i&s;t and defend in the Exerci&s;e and Po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ion of Regal Power &s;uch a King as <HI>James</HI> II. has made and carried him&s;elf: for they could not thereby but mani|fe&s;tly contribute, and put their Hands, not only to the <HI>de&s;troying their own, but their Prote&s;tant Fellow Subjects E&s;tates, Liberties</HI> and <HI>Lives,</HI> and what is more, their <HI>Common Religion</HI> too. <NOTE N="*" PLACE="inline">The proof of the&s;e Particulars by &s;ome Hi&s;torical In&s;tances, in the Treatment which the poor <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants found from tho&s;e in Power under the late King, would ca&s;t &s;uch <HI>Odium</HI> on more per|haps than were guilty, that I can|not per&s;uade my &s;elf to &s;et it down: and po&s;&s;ibly it is &s;o notorius, that I need not. Enough has fallen from my Pen in the Sequel, through a kind of Impotency, or too tender Sen&s;e of what I have &s;een,</NOTE> If it be &s;aid, the <HI>King promi&s;ed</HI> to maintain us in the Profe&s;&s;ion of our Religion, and Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of our E&s;tates, Liberties, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> He did indeed &s;o <HI>promi&s;e,</HI> and I believe, of him|&s;elf at fir&s;t <HI>intended</HI> it: But he had <HI>put the Power</HI> of all into &s;uch Mens hands, thar he <HI>could not perform</HI> what he had promi&s;ed. Were not our <HI>Rights,</HI> our <HI>Lands,</HI> our <HI>Goods,</HI> and our <HI>Churches</HI> them&s;elves taken from us, <HI>contrary,</HI> not only <HI>to his Promi&s;es,</HI> but <HI>Proclamations?</HI> And which of any of the&s;e (e&s;pecially our Churches) tho upon his expre&s;s Command, under his Hand and Seal, was ever re&s;tored? What can be expected from him, who fir&s;t <HI>incapacitates</HI> him&s;elf to <HI>perform,</HI> and then <HI>makes fair Promi|&s;es?</HI> Did not the <HI>Iri&s;h Act of Attainder debar</HI> the King of his Pre|rogative to <HI>pardon</HI> tho&s;e which it made Criminals and Traitors (contrary to the Law of Nature, that common Te&s;t of Equity, &s;o much appealed to by &s;ome in the late <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Hou&s;e of Lords,) for flying merely to pre&s;erve their Lives, or &s;ecuring them&s;elves from <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Mercy, that is, from&mdash;what I will not &s;ay. Nor will I in&s;i&s;t upon, what I might add and aggravate: By the Con&s;titu|tion and <HI>Laws of the Religion he profe&s;&s;es,</HI> he either <HI>had &s;worn to</HI>
<PB N="5" REF="5"> <HI>de&s;troy</HI> (or <HI>ought</HI> to have &s;worn to de&s;troy) both <HI>us and our Re|ligion.</HI> And when Men fir&s;t <HI>&s;wear to do</HI> a thing, and then <HI>promi&s;e not to do it,</HI> and <HI>capacitate</HI> them&s;elves <HI>to perform their Oaths,</HI> but <HI>incapacitate them&s;elves to perform their Promi&s;es,</HI> which can be ex|pected &s;hould take place, the <HI>Promi&s;e,</HI> or the <HI>Oath?</HI> I may &s;afely avow in behalf of the Prote&s;tants of the three Kingdoms, there is not a con&s;cientious Man among&s;t us, would ever have with|drawn from King <HI>James</HI> even our <HI>Active Obedience,</HI> could we have <HI>&s;ecured</HI> our <HI>Religion and good Con&s;cience</HI> by active Adhe&s;ion to him. I will add al&s;o, becau&s;e in my Con&s;cience I believe it; had not the &s;ecuring the Prote&s;tant Religion, more forcibly moved the <HI>Prince of Orange,</HI> than the Ambition of a Throne, he would never have attempted &s;o <HI>&s;peedy a Succe&s;&s;ion.</HI> In a Word, we did obey as far as God's Command goes; Gods Command is with Limitation. <HI>Obey in the Lord;</HI> we did &s;o. We did obey as long, and as far, as was lawful, and that is as far as any Oath can bind us, for to an unlawful Act no Oath can bind. <HI>He|rod's Oath</HI> did not bind him to cut off S. <HI>John Bapti&s;t's Head;</HI> nor can our Oaths oblige us to be A&s;&s;i&s;tants, and aiding to the cutting off the Heads of innocent Prote&s;tant Peers, or hanging up &s;uch Commons; and to the di&s;arming, and putting out of Power, all Prote&s;tants, and arming and advancing all Papi&s;ts, and &s;o de|&s;troying our &s;elves, Neighbors and Religion. This is unlawful by the Law of God.</P>
<P N="6">VI. I might here, in&s;tead of &s;aying King <HI>James</HI> has made the Al|legiance due to him by this Oath <HI>unlawful</HI> for Prote&s;tants to pay, have &s;aid (perhaps with more Propriety of Speech) he has made the <HI>Oath as to him void and null.</HI> For all his Subjects, who took it, were &s;uppo&s;ed by Law to &s;wear to a <HI>Legal King,</HI> that is, to a King who would govern according to Law, and protect his Sub|jects and their Rights, as by his Oath and Law bound. Such a King the Oath was de&s;ign'd to: and actually to &s;uch a King we &s;wore Allegiance. But &s;uch, <HI>King James</HI> did not plea&s;e to be. Wherefore by this Oath no Allegiance is due to him. But I thought, this <HI>notion</HI> might &s;eem to &s;ome more <HI>&s;ubtile,</HI> and the <HI>proof</HI> of it might, as above &s;ugge&s;ted, have been <HI>more odious</HI> than
<PB N="6" REF="6"> the other. Each comes much to the &s;ame final i&s;&s;ue: for accord|ing to either the Obligation cea&s;eth, as concluded; and the Rea|der may take in his Candor which he plea&s;es. To proceed then.</P>
<P N="7">VII. GOD has made it to us the <HI>Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants,</HI> here at lea&s;t, <HI>morally impo&s;&s;ible</HI> to perform to King <HI>James</HI> the Duty which in the Oath of Allegiance we &s;wore: Therefore the Obligation of that Oath cea&s;eth as to him, or which is the &s;ame, we are not bound to him by that Oath. I doubt not but that our Adver&s;a|ries will &s;ay, <HI>defending the Per&s;on and Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of a King by force of Arms,</HI> to be a <HI>point of Allegiance.</HI> I &s;ay we are here by God's Providence unable to defend King <HI>James</HI> by Arms in the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;i|on of the Crown. Not to mention, that it is not long &s;ince our Roman Catholick Adver&s;aries, by King <HI>James</HI>'s Orders (as they &s;aid) took away our Arms from us; (and &s;urely we are not per|jur'd for not being in Arms for a King, who would not &s;uffer us to bear Arms) God has now put us under the Power of the <HI>Se|cond William the Conqueror,</HI> whom I mu&s;t affirm (be&s;ides his be|ing, more ways than one, otherwi&s;e ju&s;tly intitle'd) to have <HI>a Right to our Allegiance by Conque&s;t;</HI> that which gave the King of <HI>England</HI> the fir&s;t (and &s;till avowed) Title to <HI>Ireland.</HI> I do averr us in <HI>Ireland conquered,</HI> and with my Heart ble&s;s God for it. For be&s;ides our being thereby <HI>delivered (intirely</HI> and <HI>finally</HI> I hope) <HI>from Popery,</HI> we are delivered al&s;o, if we attend thereto, from <HI>all Scruple,</HI> which would &s;tick in us touching the Will of God as to our Subjection to our new King: For we cannot doubt but that we <HI>ought to be &s;ubject to them, whom God has &s;et over us.</HI> And when by his Providence, he &s;o plainly <HI>pulls down one,</HI> and <HI>&s;ets up another,</HI> we <HI>cannot doubt,</HI> who it is whom he has &s;et over us. If &s;till any will doubt, I demand of them, what &s;hould a van|qui&s;h'd Multitude, what &s;hould Men, Women and Children, brought under Subjection do? Mu&s;t they all dye Martyrs for the Title of a Prince, who would not pre&s;erve their Rights by Law and Peace, and through the hand of God has not been able to defend his own or theirs by War? Do not the <HI>Iri&s;h Roman Catho|licks,</HI> who blame us mo&s;t, daily <HI>make Conditions for them&s;elves,</HI>
<PB N="7" REF="6"> and &s;hall it be unlawful for us to do the &s;ame? The great diffe|rence betwixt them and us, as to our pre&s;ent Circum&s;tances, is, <HI>They</HI> were <HI>conquered with their Swords in their hands; We,</HI> as be|ing <HI>their Pri&s;oners,</HI> perhaps they may think Slaves and Properties, as it has been too plain to us they would have u&s;ed us. But this is in our favor: For it appears hereby, tho&s;e who were <HI>their Con|querors</HI> were <HI>our Deliverers;</HI> and if it be lawful in this ca&s;e for the <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> to accept of Terms, 'tis our duty to be thankful to God that there are tho&s;e now come, who can give Terms both to them and us.</P>
<P>This Plea &s;ufficiently ju&s;tifies us <HI>Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> again&s;t any po&s;&s;ible Imputation to us from our <HI>Iri&s;h Adver&s;aries</HI> in this be|half. And as to our <HI>Engli&s;h Friends,</HI> we will &s;uppo&s;e them more &s;en&s;ible of our Condition, than that before them we ought to make Apologies, when in our Con&s;ciences we want none.</P>
<P>But as to the <HI>Iri&s;h,</HI> let me tell them farther, no imaginary free|dom of theirs can now in Con&s;cience exempt them from this Sub|jection. The <HI>People of the Jews,</HI> the Seed of <HI>Abraham,</HI> were <HI>ne|ver in bondage to any</HI> (as free born a People certainly as <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Men can be) yet when God put them under the Yoke of <HI>Nebu|chadnazzar,</HI> his command by the Prophet (encouraged too by a ble&s;&s;ing annext) is <HI>&s;erve the King of</HI> Babylon <HI>and Live.</HI> The &s;ame which God &s;peaks now by the Voice of his Providence to the Natives of this Kingdom, in as much as he has left nothing el&s;e po&s;&s;ible to them: They mu&s;t therefore be &s;ubject <HI>not only for Wrath, but Con&s;cience &s;ake,</HI> and for Men to &s;wear to do what is their duty to do, cannot certainly be unlawful.</P>
<P N="8">VIII. FURTHER, not only <HI>God,</HI> but even King <HI>James</HI> II. has <HI>made it impo&s;&s;ible</HI> to his Prote&s;tant Subjects to keep the Oath of Allegiance to him. For that Oath expre&s;ly (as well as ano|ther ordinarily taken by many of us, (I mean the Oath of Su|premacy) obliges all who have taken it, not only to defend to the uttermo&s;t of their power <HI>His Maje&s;ties Per&s;on, Heirs and Suc|ce&s;&s;ors,</HI> but both <HI>His and Their Crown and Dignity.</HI> Which Crown and Dignity &s;ignifie (as the Oath of Supremacy, and &s;o the Law
<PB N="8" REF="7"> interprets tho&s;e Terms) <HI>all Juri&s;dictions, Preeminences and Au|thorities, granted or belonging to the Kings Highne&s;s, his Heirs or Succe&s;&s;ors, or united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm,</HI> that is of <HI>England.</HI> The <HI>Crown of England</HI> &s;aith our Law is <HI>Imperial,</HI> and &s;ubject to no Prince on Earth; but only unto God: If therefore a <HI>Prince</HI> will <HI>&s;ubject his Crown,</HI> and &s;o his <HI>Peo|ple,</HI> to a <HI>Foreign Power,</HI> and e&s;pecially to that Power, which has now the&s;e &s;everal Ages ince&s;&s;antly and indefatigably, by all means within its Sphere, &s;tudied and endeavor'd the Ruin of them, and the Extirpation of their Religion, <HI>I mean to the Pope of Rome,</HI> it <HI>becomes impo&s;&s;ible</HI> for the <HI>Subjects of &s;uch a King,</HI> at once (or toge|ther) to the uttermo&s;t of their power to defend <HI>His Per&s;on, and His Heirs and Succe&s;&s;ors, His and Their Crown and Dignity.</HI> The <HI>Kingdom of England</HI> (of which by Law and Pre&s;cription <HI>Ireland</HI> is a Branch and dependent) has ever been avowed, and to this day is, a <HI>Free Kingdom:</HI> But how Tributary and en&s;laved it would become, by being again &s;ubjected to the Papacy, I li&s;t not to ag|gravate; yet cannot but in &s;hort take notice that the <HI>Heir,</HI> by the Subjects defending and maintaining &s;uch a King Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or, <HI>lo|&s;eth of his Power and Rights:</HI> and <HI>&s;o doth the Crown of its Digni|ty, Preeminence</HI> and <HI>Authority.</HI> In &s;uch ca&s;e therefore a Man can no more keep this Oath, than he can <HI>reconcile Contradictions;</HI> which even the <HI>Roman</HI> Catholick Divines ordinarily Teach, is not in the power of Omnipotence. And &s;uch is the Ca&s;e between <HI>James</HI> II. and all the Prote&s;tants of the&s;e Three Kingdoms.</P>
<P>But it was <HI>wor&s;e</HI> with the <HI>Poor Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants,</HI> than with the re&s;t of the People of any of his Maje&s;ties Dominions. <HI>We,</HI> though mo&s;t of us <HI>Engli&s;h-men,</HI> were not only &s;ubjected to <HI>Roman Catho|licks,</HI> but to the mo&s;t inveterate of them, <HI>Iri&s;h Roman Catholicks,</HI> (Enemies to us on other &s;cores be&s;ides our Religion) contrary to the <HI>expre&s;s Laws</HI> of both Kingdoms in this behalf, contrary to the manife&s;t <HI>Intere&s;t of the Heir,</HI> contrary to the <HI>Honor and Dignity of the Crown of England;</HI> from which as far as an Act of an <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Par|liament could do the feat, this Kingdom of <HI>Ireland</HI> was by Sta|tute (&s;olemnly pa&s;t in that their Parliament above mentioned) in effect actually &s;eparated and di&s;united. The Crown of <HI>Eng|land</HI>
<PB N="9" REF="7"> was hereby to lo&s;e the Kingdom of <HI>Ireland,</HI> a very con&s;ider|able <HI>Emolument</HI> certainly as well as <HI>Honor</HI> and <HI>Juri&s;diction.</HI> The&s;e things are notorious matter of Fact, and &s;o publickly manife&s;t, that they cannot be denied.</P>
<P>I &s;peak not of being &s;ubjected to a <HI>French Government, and Governors;</HI> of our being enforced to &s;upplicate many times for our Liberties and Lives, (I am &s;ure for the &s;upports of our Lives, the eating the Bread, and wearing the poor Clothes, which of our own were left us; and &s;ome of us directly for our Lives, even in Ca&s;es wherein we were Offenders again&s;t no Law of God or of Man, Military or Civil) I &s;peak not I &s;ay of our being nece&s;&s;ita|ted thus to &s;upplicate to Governors of a Foreign Nation and Lan|guage, who could not under&s;tand us when addre&s;&s;ing to them in our own Speech, and would not under&s;tand our Interpreters in theirs. I &s;peak not of <HI>Pacts and Sales,</HI> (of which great Evidence, as to this Kingdom of <HI>Ireland,</HI> or a great part of it, might be gi|ven) nor of other like or more odious things; as de&s;ignedly avoid|ing all that might exa&s;perate &s;ome Men, or together immoderately aggravate others Guilt as well as our Oppre&s;&s;ions. But it is here|by as clear as the Sun, that if there could be degrees in natural Impo&s;&s;ibilities, there lay the <HI>highe&s;t natural Impo&s;&s;ibility</HI> on all (but e&s;pecially the <HI>Iri&s;h) Prote&s;tants,</HI> in the Circum&s;tances they were in, to <HI>keep this Oath:</HI> and that not by any fault of their own; for they were ca&s;t into this impo&s;&s;ibility by the Prince, to whom, by that Oath, Allegiance was, or was to have been due. Now fora&s;much as no one can be bound to that which is impo&s;&s;ible, of all Men, the <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants &s;tand not, by the Oath of Allegiance, bound to defend the Per&s;on of <HI>James</HI> II. in his or their pre&s;ent Circum&s;tances.</P>
<P N="9">IX. IF it &s;hould be &s;aid by any, <HI>The&s;e Pleas</HI> can only <HI>di&s;charge</HI> Subjects of &s;o <HI>much Allegiance</HI> as can be proved <HI>unlawful</HI> or <HI>impo&s;|&s;ible,</HI> but they &s;hall &s;till &s;tand <HI>obliged</HI> to <HI>what is lawful and po&s;|&s;ible, I allow it for truth: and together Avow,</HI> that <HI>notwith&s;tanding our Performance of what either or both</HI> the fore-mentioned <HI>Branches</HI> of Recognition by the pre&s;ent King and Queen <HI>required</HI> of us do
<PB N="10" REF="8"> contain, We both <HI>may,</HI> and I doubt not all con&s;iderative con&s;cientious Per&s;ons within the&s;e Kingdoms <HI>Do,</HI> bear and <HI>pay all lawful parts,</HI> or In&s;tances of <HI>Duty</HI> to our late King. And principally what the Article of King <HI>John's Magna Charta</HI> in &s;uch Ca&s;e as this exacts: <HI>The Safety of the Per&s;ons of the King and Queen, and of their Children,</HI> we look upon as mo&s;t religiou&s;ly inviolable. None of us would attempt, or con&s;ent to any attempt, upon their Sacred Per&s;ons.</P>
<P>There is indeed a <HI>Child in Controver&s;ie,</HI> touching which it mu&s;t at lea&s;t be confe&s;t what a mo&s;t zealous and con&s;tant adherent of King <HI>James</HI>'s (the &s;ame too if I mi&s;take not, more than once in great Power and Tru&s;t under him) has not doubted to pub|li&s;h to the World. <Q>The bu&s;ine&s;s of the <HI>Prince of Wales</HI> has been &s;o carried, as if tho&s;e, whom it mo&s;t concerns that it &s;hould be true, had not had a mind it &s;hould be believed,</Q> [or words to that effect, for I have not the Paper by me: 'tis intitled <HI>Eng|lands Cri&s;is.</HI>] It is to me an ungrateful task to give &s;uch De&s;cant, or Illu&s;tration, to this ingenuous Acknowledgment, as the Ca&s;e requires: but in&s;tead thereof I mu&s;t be &s;o faithful to my own &s;en&s;e as to add, That the Per&s;ons mo&s;t concerned for the Legiti|macy of that Child, have now &s;o farther managed the matter, that I &s;ee not how its <HI>Legitimacy</HI> is <HI>po&s;&s;ible</HI> ever to be made out to the <HI>Publick Satisfaction</HI> of the&s;e Nations. Wherefore, in my Apprehen&s;ion, it mu&s;t remain a doubt till the day &s;hall come, that &s;hall open all things. In the mean time, being there is the <HI>&s;ame Rea&s;on</HI> of things <HI>not in being,</HI> and of things <HI>not apparent,</HI> no Man can forfeit his Allegiance, for not being &s;ollicitous for the pre&s;ervation of this Child: e&s;pecially now it is removed out of the Sphere of our Defence, as well as Knowledge.</P>
<P>As to <HI>any other part of Allegiance</HI> imaginable, in the pre&s;ent Juncture, lawful or po&s;&s;ible, it would be con&s;idered in &s;pecial what the Particulars are. Our <HI>Coun&s;el</HI> would never be taken, and we have been declared again and again not to be tru&s;ted; yea and (notwith&s;tanding the utmo&s;t fidelity of many of us) reviled and treated as &s;uch. As to our <HI>Prayers,</HI> what it is not lawful for us to endeavor, it is not lawful for us to pray for. But
<PB N="11" REF="8"> it has been &s;hewn King <HI>James</HI> has made it unlawful for us to de|fend him in his Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion and Exerci&s;e of his Regal Power: And to bring him back thereto, as far as human Prudence (I think) can &s;ee, were but to bring our Religion and its Profe&s;&s;ors under the &s;ame Yoke, Opre&s;&s;ions and danger of Extinction, under which we &s;o lately groaned: therefore this it is unlawful to pray for. As far as we may lawfully pray for him, we own we do: nor is it incon&s;i&s;tent with the Prayers required of us for King <HI>William</HI> and Queen <HI>Mary.</HI> Among&s;t tho&s;e who <HI>Err</HI> and are <HI>Deceived,</HI> among&s;t <HI>Our Enemies, Per&s;ecutors, and Slanderers,</HI> whom we be|&s;eech God to have mercy on, to <HI>forgive them and turn their Hearts,</HI> by <HI>way of Eminency,</HI> we tacitly compri&s;e our late King. In &s;ecret al&s;o, perhaps by name, we further pray, That God would take from him all Ignorance, hardne&s;s of Heart and contempt of his Word, and to bring him home to Chri&s;t's Flock, that he may be &s;aved among&s;t the remnant of the true <HI>I&s;raelites.</HI> To do this for him by <HI>Name in publick,</HI> would be looked upon as Affront and publick Reproach: To do it in &s;ecret, as it is Prudent Charity, &s;o it is a Loyalty we di&s;own not. Thus <HI>Samuel mourned for Saul,</HI> even when <HI>God had rejected him,</HI> and it <HI>repented the Lord that he had made him King.</HI> And beyond what I have thus openly and freely &s;pecified, I acknowledge I &s;ee not any part of Loyalty and Devotion left lawful or po&s;&s;ible to us <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants in be|half of King <HI>James</HI> II. except any would have added a <HI>&s;ublime degree of Civil Honor,</HI> (the &s;aluting or &s;erving him upon the Knee, or &s;uch like) of which together with a <HI>Revenue</HI> ample enough to maintain a Court, I think there ought to be no di&s;pute; but none of the&s;e interfere with the Recognition required.</P>
<P N="10">X. Now to return from Objections, and to proceed with what was above propounded. La&s;tly, it is to be &s;aid for the <HI>Prote&s;tants,</HI> who now are (at lea&s;t who all along the&s;e Troubles <HI>remained) in Ireland,</HI> they are as fully and directly <HI>Relea&s;ed</HI> from this Oath, at lea&s;t from that part of Allegiance, Defending King <HI>James</HI> by force of Arms, as <HI>Rea&s;on, Equity,</HI> or even <HI>Expre&s;s Law</HI> can be well conceived to relea&s;e them. In
<PB N="12" REF="9"> all <HI>Civil Othas,</HI> if the <HI>Power impo&s;ing the Oath,</HI> and to whom the Oath is made, <HI>&s;hall relea&s;e</HI> the Obligees, &s;uch Obligees are di&s;charged of their Oath, and reduced to their fir&s;t Liberty. Now I &s;ay we (the People before &s;pecified) were <HI>three ways re|lea&s;ed,</HI> either from the <HI>whole Oath,</HI> or at lea&s;t from <HI>this part of it,</HI> which &s;ome expect we &s;hould own our &s;elves bound to, of <HI>fighting for King James</HI> II.</P>
<P>Fir&s;t, the <HI>whole Oath of Allegiance,</HI> Summer was twelve|month, by King and Parliament, (a Parliament at lea&s;t who&s;e Authority and Legitimacy our Adver&s;aries will not impeach) was in this Kingdom by expre&s;s Statute <HI>repealed;</HI> under the Name (if my memory fail not) of the <HI>New Oath of Allegiance.</HI> And whereas &s;ome Peers (upon Rea&s;ons which are not needful here to be in&s;erted) &s;tood again&s;t the Repeal of it, and one excepted again&s;t that &s;tyle, <HI>The New Oath of Allegiance,</HI> the An|&s;wer was returned by them who ruled, a&s;&s;igning the Reign, in which that Oath of Allegiance was made; a point wherein the Objector was not at all ignorant, as I take it, but I am &s;ure was born &s;ome Ages, at lea&s;t, a long Age, and upwards, &s;ince that Reign, and &s;o never took any elder, and (I am as confident) never any Newer or Later Oath of Allegiance to King <HI>James.</HI> Wherefore being by this Repeal relea&s;ed from that Oath of Allegiance, and having never taken any other, &s;uch <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants as I &s;peak of, are under no Oath of Alle|giance to King <HI>James</HI> the Second, and that through his own and his <HI>Dear Roman Catholick Parliaments</HI> Act. Which being, I think, the only Service they did us, we ought not, but <HI>with thanks,</HI> to <HI>acknowledge,</HI> and <HI>record</HI> it to Po&s;terity: tho what Service thereby they did THEIR King (as appropriating him to them&s;elves they u&s;ed to call him) we mu&s;t leave him and them together at their lei&s;ure to con&s;ider.</P>
<P>Again we <HI>Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> were not only <HI>di&s;armed,</HI> as above|&s;aid, but by iterated Proclamations <HI>interdicted,</HI> to have any kind of <HI>Arms</HI> in our <HI>Hou&s;es,</HI> tho merely for the <HI>Defence</HI> of them <HI>from Thieves and Robbers:</HI> and that under <HI>divers Forfeitures,</HI> which in each <HI>later Proclamation</HI> were &s;till made <HI>&s;everer,</HI> and in
<PB N="13" REF="9"> the end, as I remember, the <HI>Penalty</HI> was no le&s;s, than being proceeded again&s;t as <HI>Traitors.</HI> How far the&s;e Proclamations were executed upon many innocent per&s;ons, in City, and in Country, by &s;uch, who, coming into our Hou&s;es to &s;earch for Arms, could ea&s;ily find what them&s;elves had hid, I have no mind to &s;peak: But certainly King <HI>James</HI>'s forbidding us &s;o &s;trictly, to wear or have Arms, was on his part a Di&s;charge to us from the u&s;e of them, tho in his Defence. For what it was <HI>Trea&s;on</HI> for us <HI>to Have,</HI> how could it be <HI>Allegiance</HI> or <HI>Duty</HI> for us <HI>to &V;&s;e?</HI></P>
<P>La&s;tly, it mu&s;t not be omitted here, what is with the greate&s;t A&s;&s;urance reported by Multitudes, even of our Adver&s;aries, that upon the late Defeat at the <HI>Boyn,</HI> King <HI>James</HI> him&s;elf told his <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Commanders, then about him: <Q>He &s;aw their Men would not &s;tand, and they had nothing to do to think of conte&s;ting with &s;uch an Army, as was again&s;t them; commanded too by &s;uch a Prince for their General. He therefore advi&s;ed them to &s;hift for them&s;elves, as, he &s;aid, he would do [and in|deed did] and to make the be&s;t Terms they could for them|&s;elves.</Q> The &s;ame in effect, as is te&s;tified by many, he after|wards repeated at his pa&s;&s;age through <HI>Dublin;</HI> and 'tis plain he <HI>confirmed</HI> the&s;e his Sentiments by his <HI>practice.</HI> Now what was &s;aid to them, we cannot but take as (implicitly at lea&s;t) reach|ing and extending it &s;elf to <HI>all his People in</HI> Ireland, then in &s;ub|jection to him; as I am &s;ure were we, touching whom the pre|&s;ent Con&s;ultation proceeds: Wherefore we were then relea&s;ed among&s;t others, and left to our &s;elves, to make Terms; and the Conqueror allowing us no other Terms but the&s;e, we are there|fore by this Relea&s;e (if we had not been &s;o before) at liberty to embrace and accept them.</P>
<P>We have then thus done with the Oaths of Allegiance and Su|premacy, together with the Obligation of them both, as to King <HI>James</HI> the Second.</P>
<P N="11">XI. IT follows we proceeed to the <HI>Oath</HI> or <HI>Declaration</HI> of <HI>Not taking up Arms again&s;t the King, or any Per&s;ons com|mi&s;&s;ionated</HI>
<PB N="14" REF="10"> <HI>by him,</HI> extant in the <HI>Act of &V;niformity</HI> (Anno Dom. 1662.) and either taken or &s;ub&s;cribed and avowed pub|lickly by very many of us. Touching this, I will not &s;ay what I have heard &s;ome Learned in our Laws have &s;aid, that this De|claration is not to be found in the Original record of that &s;tatute IN TERMINIS as in our Books, but has been corruptly and &s;urreptitiou&s;ly in&s;erted (as it &s;tands) into the Printed Copy. If this be true, it was an abominable Wrong and Impo&s;ition on the Subject; and upon whom to be charged I will not &s;peak, nor &s;o much as &s;uffer my &s;elf to gue&s;s. But certainly it would in &s;uch ca&s;e much take off from the Obligation of that Oath or Decla|ration, that it &s;hould be &s;o fraudulently and illegally impo&s;ed. <HI>My An&s;wer</HI> then <HI>is;</HI> I conceive <HI>Mo&s;t,</HI> I might have &s;aid <HI>all Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> have <HI>little to do</HI> wirh <HI>this Oath</HI> in the pre&s;ent juncture. For either we are <HI>already in Arms,</HI> or <HI>Not.</HI> Tho&s;e of us who are <HI>already in Arms,</HI> cannot but be pre&s;um'd to be <HI>&s;atisfied,</HI> touch|ing the lawfulne&s;s of that War, wherein we now are engaged, and are not <HI>after Vows to make Enquiry.</HI> To me truly <HI>the &s;atis|faction</HI> &s;eems <HI>ea&s;ie:</HI> For a Commi&s;&s;ion contrary to Law (as are all Commi&s;&s;ions of late years granted, or in pre&s;ent being to <HI>R. Catholicks)</HI> is by Law no Commi&s;&s;ion, and con&s;equently the Per|&s;ons who bear it <HI>not commi&s;&s;ionated</HI> but <HI>private men,</HI> or rather while they Act pur&s;uant to &s;uch Commi&s;&s;ions, <HI>Publick Robbers;</HI> which point ju&s;tified all that ro&s;e again&s;t <HI>Tyrconnell,</HI> or any o|ther R. Catholicks in this Kingdom pretending to Commi&s;&s;ions from K. <HI>James.</HI> And if K. <HI>James</HI> would put him&s;elf at the head of &s;uch a body to countenance, and abet them, I do not &s;ee how his pre&s;ence (even if he had been in full po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of his Crown) could give them more Authority; Since he could onely thereby make him&s;elf le&s;s a Legal King, not them more Legal Officers. And the &s;ame thing (if there were no more) &s;till ju&s;tifies tho&s;e who now fight again&s;t them that act in his name: Not to &s;peak that K. <HI>James</HI> has otherwi&s;e here <HI>&V;n King'd</HI> him&s;elf; for certainly a King, which <HI>relea&s;es his Subjects</HI> of their <HI>Allegiance,</HI> as we have &s;hewn him to have done, is <HI>no longer their King.</HI></P>
<PB N="15" REF="10">
<P> Tho&s;e who are <HI>not yet in Arms,</HI> if they have any &s;cruple, for which I profe&s;s I &s;ee no rea&s;on, may forbear taking Arms in that Cau&s;e, wherein they are not &s;atisfied. I do not &s;ee any compul&s;ory means u&s;ed to bring them into Arms. It is <HI>not re|quired</HI> of us all <HI>to fight,</HI> but all of us are to promi&s;e to be quiet and to pray for our Protectors, which certainly all may do with|out touching on any thing in that (whether) Oath or Declarati|on. Wherefore in our pre&s;ent condition the&s;e al&s;o are out of Doors.</P>
<P N="12">XII. WE are in the next place to con&s;ider the <HI>Recognition,</HI> which was made per&s;onally of <HI>James</HI> the <HI>Second</HI> in the late (pre|tended) <HI>Parliament</HI> of <HI>Ireland.</HI> As to which parliamentary Act (be it what it can be) it mu&s;t be &s;aid, <HI>No Iri&s;h Prote&s;tant,</HI> even of tho&s;e few that were pre&s;ent in either Hou&s;e, are <HI>accomptable</HI> for the very Body and Frame of it, much le&s;s for every parti|cular Expre&s;&s;ion or even Clau&s;e therein. It was the fir&s;t Act that was pa&s;t, and truly precipitated. It was not admitted to any due debate (at lea&s;t in the Lords hou&s;e) and &s;ome who in the end earne&s;tly de&s;ired the alteration but of one Expre&s;&s;ion, which was apprehended to be improper Language, could not &s;peed therein. Now tho&s;e who would not at our importunity, alter their &s;tyle, would not for our &s;akes have waved any of their fundamental materials, of which they were much more fond. What <HI>Perpetual dread</HI> and <HI>Moral Force,</HI> all the prote&s;t|ant members were under, I am very unwilling, if not unable, to &s;peak. It &s;ufficiently &s;peaks for them, that as many of them as by their quality were capacitated to prote&s;t, <HI>did prote&s;t</HI> a|gain&s;t all the more Momentous Acts that pa&s;&s;ed, this haply be|ing excepted, again&s;t which they had no time well to think, much le&s;s to form a Prote&s;t: the Act being fir&s;t brought in to the Hou&s;e of Lords, there read ha&s;tily three times (for Forms &s;ake rather than otherwi&s;e) and, to the be&s;t of my memory, immediately &s;ent down to the Commons, and never by the Prote&s;tant Lords heard of again, till brought in for the Royal A&s;&s;ent. Be&s;ides this, having been all along kept <HI>in the dark,</HI> the Prote&s;tants there
<PB N="16" REF="11"> <HI>knew not</HI> on what bottom, or in what po&s;ture, things &s;tood in <HI>England,</HI> (a <HI>Regency</HI> and many &s;uch Expedients were whi&s;pered up and down.) Nor had they had experience, how a <HI>Royal Catholick</HI> would <HI>keep</HI> his <HI>renewed Promi&s;es</HI> with <HI>Hereticks.</HI> (Po&s;&s;ibly they thought his own Misfortunes might have taught him, if not better Faith, yet more of Government.) And final|ly, <HI>none</HI> could either with <HI>&s;afety</HI> of their Liberties, or even Lives, <HI>have prote&s;ted.</HI> To have &s;poken again&s;t this Act, had been to have &s;truck at the Foundation of the Authority, not only of that (what&s;oever it was of a) Parliament, jealous and tender enough be &s;ure of its own Power, but even of the whole Government of the Kingdom in all its Branches, And it was as clear as the Sun, &s;uch per&s;on would have been either, <HI>ip&s;o facto,</HI> by Vote of both Hou&s;es executed for Trea&s;on; or if he had got out of the Protection of either Hou&s;e, been forthwith <HI>De Witted,</HI> and torn in pieces by the Multitude.</P>
<P>In a word, let this Recognition be of all the force and exactne&s;s imaginable to oblige us, it was extorted from us <HI>Vi et Dolo ma|lo.</HI> And how far then it can oblige being &s;atisfied in our own con|&s;ciences, we will leave to any, who will be &s;o ju&s;t as to &s;uppo&s;e them&s;elves to have been in our ca&s;e, and to judge of us by their own &s;en&s;e of them&s;elves, to pa&s;s &s;entence. We are &s;ure no Ca|&s;ui&s;ts, or Per&s;ons learned in the Laws of God or Man, &s;carce a|ny man of Rea&s;on or Con&s;ideration, can condemn us.</P>
<P>But give it what it had not, the <HI>E&s;&s;ence</HI> and <HI>Form of an Oath,</HI> aye, and &s;uppo&s;e it <HI>not extorted:</HI> After all the <HI>&s;ame Procedure,</HI> as above, changing only the Term Oath of Allegiance into that of Recognition, <HI>di&s;&s;olves the Obligation</HI> of this as of the Other; for the Arguments are equally valid again&s;t both. Wherefore neither from this Recognition does there lie any Obligation upon us to <HI>James</HI> II.</P>
<P N="13">XIII. Now la&s;tly, as to the <HI>Sacred Tye</HI> with which <HI>Holy Scrip|ture</HI> binds all Oaths upon the Con&s;ciences of Chri&s;tian people, that they are not to <HI>Inhabit the Holy Hill,</HI> or may not expect to go to Heaven, except when <HI>they &s;weare even to their own hurt, they</HI>
<PB N="17" REF="11"> <HI>change not,</HI> were it our own <HI>Temporal, Per&s;onal</HI> or <HI>Private Hurt</HI> that were concern'd, there had been &s;ome colour of Rea&s;on for us to have abode both by the Oaths and by the Recognition. We might, and perhaps mo&s;t of us would have ventured the <HI>lo&s;s</HI> of our <HI>E&s;tates, Liberties</HI> and even <HI>Lives</HI> in a <HI>Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience</HI> (as in deed we have done, and actually &s;u&s;teined the lo&s;s, for no &s;mall time, at lea&s;t of two of the three) had either we our &s;elves, in our <HI>&s;in|gle Per&s;ons,</HI> been likely to have proved the &s;ole &s;ufferers, or had we been to have &s;uffered only in our <HI>Outward Man.</HI> In a word, would <HI>&s;elf-Denial</HI> and <HI>taking up our Cro&s;s</HI> have &s;olved the Diffi|culty, we had e&s;teemed &s;uch practice our Duty: And we can &s;ay without Vanity, we did really proceed therein, many times with chearfulne&s;s, in Imitation of, as well as Obedience to, our Ble&s;&s;ed Lord; <HI>&s;uffering patiently for well doing,</HI> as far as we could judge patient &s;uffering lawful for us. But he who commanded us to Deny our &s;elves, and take up our Cro&s;s, did <HI>not command us to de&s;troy our fellow Chri&s;tians</HI> and ruin our Po&s;terity; nor to <HI>cruci|fie</HI> with the <HI>corrupt,</HI> all <HI>natural</HI> affections. A man may indeed be conceived to have a right to di&s;po&s;e of his E&s;tate or Liberty, and in &s;ome ca&s;es, or in &s;ome mea&s;ure, of his Life by Honorable venturing of it: But however lawful it may be for a man to im|poveri&s;h, en&s;lave, or ca&s;t away him&s;elf, no man &s;imply has right to di&s;po&s;e of the E&s;tates, Lives and Liberties of others: And thus &s;tood affairs with us. It was not to our own or a &s;ingle mans hurt or two, that this Oath was wre&s;ted and abu&s;ed, but to the <HI>de&s;truction of the whole body</HI> of the <HI>Engli&s;h Reformation.</HI></P>
<P>Again in the duty of &s;elf-denial, 'tis <HI>only</HI> the <HI>outward man</HI> or <HI>Temporal concerns</HI> that come within the verge of the precept; <HI>no wi&s;e our &s;ouls</HI> and everla&s;ting welfare. I am not commanded to damn my &s;oul, through fidelity to any Oath; but I am rather to e&s;teem &s;uch Oath a &s;nare. Now it has been above made out, the Loyalty by this Oath claimed from us, was not con&s;i&s;tent with the common means of our Salvation; namely, not with the Enjoyment and Exerci&s;e of true Religion. But without the Pub|lick Exerci&s;e of true Religion, People cannot ordinarily and gene|rally attain unto Salvation. Except therefore Men can be concei|ved
<PB N="18" REF="12"> bound to keep an Oath to the ca&s;ting away their own Souls, and the Souls of the generality of People, this Rule cannot be ur|ged in the pre&s;ent Ca&s;e. Now this is &s;o unrea&s;onable a thing to bind men to, as none but Madmen would expect it from any. Who would hear a Man exhorting at this rate; be con&s;tant to your Oath of Allegiance to your King, even to the abandoning the means of Salvation, and to virtual renouncing your God and Chri&s;tian Faith. Break your Dutiful Vow, which you have &s;ome hundred times iterated at the Communion, to keep an Oath once or twice &s;worn to a purpo&s;e, and in a &s;en&s;e, clear different to what it is now urged for. Perjure your &s;elves to God, to be Loyal to your Perverted Sove|reign. Damn your Souls to pre&s;erve a Prince in the Abu&s;e of his Power. God deliver us from &s;uch Arguing, and &s;uch frantick <HI>Mi&s;application</HI> of <HI>Scripture-Rules,</HI> as leads thereto.</P>
<P N="14">XIV. I &s;hould here conclude upon the whole, but that I have frequently heard it, not without In&s;olence and Scorn, demanded by more than a few, <HI>Where is now the Doctrine of Non re&s;i&s;tance and Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience?</HI> I an&s;wer, where it ever was: In our <HI>Bibles</HI> and in our <HI>Hearts;</HI> and I will add too, (not without Defiance to all who reproach us on this account) in our <HI>Practice</HI> al&s;o.</P>
<P>But this being a Gird from <HI>two &s;orts</HI> of Men, &s;ome who <HI>upon the main are our Friends,</HI> and others <HI>altogether our profe&s;t Enemies,</HI> it mu&s;t have an An&s;wer di&s;tinctly accommodated to each.</P>
<P N="15">XV. FIRST, to tho&s;e who though upon the main our Friends, yet &s;eem to <HI>reject this Doctrine,</HI> upbraiding it of Novelty, and them, who taught it, of Court-Flattery, Compliance, Cowar|dice, or &s;ome &s;uch commendable Qualities, it is to be &s;aid; tho &s;ome Men <HI>under&s;tand not</HI> this Duty, or have po&s;&s;ibly <HI>mis&s;tated</HI> the Doctrinal part of it, and others who have no mind to practice it, <HI>will not under&s;tand</HI> it to be their Duty, but perhaps ridicule it, yet <HI>in due Circum&s;tances a Chri&s;tian Duty it is,</HI> and mu&s;t be ac|knowledged &s;uch, till the <HI>Go&s;pels,</HI> (or words of Chri&s;t Je&s;us) till the <HI>Epi&s;tles of St.</HI> Paul <HI>and St.</HI> Peter, as well as other Canonical Books, be torn out of our Bibles, or denied to be the Rule of Chri|&s;tian Morals. And I mu&s;t add, as to our Ca&s;e in particular;
<PB N="19" REF="12"> Had not the <HI>alwi&s;e Providence,</HI> and &s;pecial Grace of our Heavenly Father, <HI>guided</HI> and governed the Hearts of &s;ome in this Kingdom to <HI>preach,</HI> and of many to <HI>practice</HI> this Duty, during the&s;e our two &s;ad la&s;t years, in which &s;ome of our Friends fled for their own &s;afety, others perhaps were ignorant of our Condition, or much unable to help us (who (by the way) dearly earned their help, in &s;taying upon the &s;pot to keep Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion) there had &s;carce been <HI>a Prote&s;tant</HI> left <HI>in one half,</HI> I had almo&s;t &s;aid in <HI>three parts of four,</HI> of the Kingdom.</P>
<P>Be&s;ides, we mu&s;t be &s;o free as to tell our Friends, it is to be con|&s;idered not only what <HI>ought,</HI> but what <HI>could</HI> be done by us. We were <HI>&s;cattered</HI> throughout the Kingdom <HI>without a Head, and</HI> (other|wi&s;e alas!) <HI>di&s;united</HI> among&s;t our &s;elves; in mo&s;t places, none of us could make &s;o much as a fair Pretence to command one another, and in others, People would not obey &s;uch as were fit or might claim &s;ome kind of right or color to command. We were obnoxious to, <HI>(what we felt)</HI> the <HI>frequent Inva&s;ions</HI> of the <HI>French,</HI> and the hourly <HI>Incur&s;ions and Depredations of the Natives:</HI> 'tis uncertain which of the two more mercile&s;s: Furthermore, <HI>cut off from all Succors</HI> (which good God! how long with wearied and fail|ing Eyes, with &s;inking Hearts did we look and groan for!) We can &s;ay, whatever Con&s;piracy, Union or <HI>juncture of Circum&s;tances,</HI> may be conceived to make the duty of <HI>Non-re&s;i&s;tance more oppor|tune,</HI> &s;ea&s;onable, and &s;o <HI>more obligatory</HI> at one time than another, did occur in our the poor <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants Condition, who were under the power of the <HI>Roman</HI> Catholicks. We had nothing left us to do, but what we did; fir&s;t, to commit our Souls to God, and then yield our outward man and concerns, to what &s;hould betide us, without fruitle&s;s (and to us certainly de&s;tru|ctive) Struglings, and Exa&s;perations of our Enemies. We could thus <HI>heap Coals of Fire upon</HI> our Per&s;ecutors <HI>Heads;</HI> that is per|haps melt their otherwi&s;e relentle&s;s Hearts, &s;often their Temper, or exhau&s;t the <HI>impetus</HI> of their Cruelty. This way too, there was <HI>po&s;&s;ibility of e&s;caping;</HI> the other none. And this cour&s;e ta|ken, was next to the Divine Protection, <HI>our great Pre&s;ervative,</HI> and in our Condition, as far as we can yet &s;ee, the <HI>only one</HI> ima|ginable:
<PB N="20" REF="13"> I am &s;ure it was the <HI>only inducement</HI> or <HI>rea&s;onable Topic,</HI> which &s;ome of us, upon the utmo&s;t Con&s;ideration, could find out to urge to our hard Ma&s;ters with hopes of &s;ucce&s;s for mercy. In a word, we by <HI>this Practice</HI> made up a <HI>Temper,</HI> and <HI>mixed</HI> (what our Saviour taught us in time of Per&s;ecution to do) <HI>Wi&s;|dom</HI> with <HI>Innocence;</HI> and if &s;ome think us herein to have been im|prudent, and others too credulous, we crave leave &s;till mode&s;tly and peaceably to di&s;&s;ent: <HI>it is a very &s;mall thing to us that we are judged of men:</HI> Touching our Hone&s;ty, Sincerity, and through all our Sufferings, Con&s;tancy to God, to our common Religion and true Intere&s;t, (and I may add touching our Charity and upright Intentions to Mankind) we appeal to the Judgment of him who &s;earcheth and &s;eeth Hearts. I will, I need &s;ay no more to the&s;e our Friends.</P>
<P N="16">XVI. AS to the other &s;ort, who perhaps with us acknowledge [at lea&s;t, <HI>in Hypothe&s;i,] Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience</HI> to be a Duty, but ac|cu&s;e us, not only of the neglect of it, but of Pre&s;umptions and wilful ca&s;ting it off, we avow, and &s;tand to our avowry, <HI>we have practi&s;ed it all along in its due latitude,</HI> and we adhere to the pra|ctice of it at pre&s;ent. We have been and are con&s;tant to our &s;elves, con&s;tant to our Faith and Duty. We never were, nor are we, of the number of tho&s;e, who cry up Ab&s;olute Power, under a <HI>Roman</HI> Catholick King, and exclaim again&s;t the Exerci&s;e of legal and qualified Power under Prote&s;tant Princes: who therefore &s;hew, it is not any more true Loyalty, than true Religion (or Con|&s;cience) that acts them, but Intere&s;t and blind Obedience dictate to them their Opinions, and then Faction or Bigottry governs their Practice; and that &s;o &s;lavi&s;hly, as not to &s;uffer them to be impartial, in what yet for the general they approve. As to us, the Holy Word of God is our Rule, and Primitive Catholick Saints our Patterns and Examples: And from the&s;e we allow not our &s;elves to &s;werve. Of <HI>Active Obedience,</HI> as far and as long, as with good Con&s;cience we could, we declined no part, as above profe&s;&s;ed: When we could go no farther, or through the Sugge&s;tions of our Enemies, might not be tru&s;ted we <HI>quietly &s;ub|mitted,</HI>
<PB N="21" REF="13"> even to the enduring Oppre&s;&s;ion it &s;elf, in its very extre|mity. In both regards, thus <HI>rendering unto</HI> Cae&s;ar <HI>the things which are</HI> Cae&s;ars. We could not &s;erve in a War for the De&s;truction of the Prote&s;tant Religion: No more did the ancient Chri&s;tians again&s;t their fellow Chri&s;tians; and they are reputed Saints for it to this day, even in the <HI>Roman</HI> Church: Witne&s;s the famous Ca&s;e of <HI>St. Martin.</HI> There have been perhaps &s;carce in any days more illu&s;trious <HI>Spectacles of Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience</HI> (The <HI>The|baean Legion</HI> being excepted) than &s;ome <HI>parts of Ireland</HI> have &s;hewn within the&s;e <HI>fourteen or fifteen Months</HI> la&s;t pa&s;t. Many hundreds of <HI>able,</HI> lu&s;ty, and well &s;pirited Men, have rendred them&s;elves up in a body, at the cry of a Bell-Man, or &s;ome &s;uch mean Summons, to a few People then in Power, who&s;e Per|&s;ons they would have &s;corned, had they not worn the mo&s;t plau&s;ible Character or Pretence (there was at that time in that part of the Kingdom) of legal and ordinary Authority. We can &s;ay, it was only <HI>through want of Commi&s;&s;ion,</HI> that is, <HI>through mere Con&s;cience</HI> of want of due Authority on our &s;ides (which we now own our &s;elves to have) that we &s;uffered our &s;elves (while we were &s;en&s;ible of our real Strength) to be <HI>driven in flocks</HI> to remote <HI>Pri&s;ons,</HI> (we knew not but) <HI>as Sheep to the &s;laughter;</HI> for not a few peri&s;hed by or in Pri&s;on. Mean while &s;ome poor Prote&s;tant Women, <HI>with their Sucking Children</HI> in their <HI>Arms,</HI> and <HI>at their Brea&s;ts,</HI> have been <HI>knockt down,</HI> with the <HI>Butt ends of Muskets,</HI> for giving their hungry Husbands a bit of Bread in their Hands, as they pa&s;&s;ed by driven to Pri&s;on. And I my &s;elf, when complaining of this, have been told, <HI>This u&s;age was too good for us, &amp;c.</HI> The&s;e In|&s;tances and Vici&s;&s;itudes of Impri&s;onment and Oppre&s;&s;ion, we <HI>Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> have &s;uffered oftener than my Memory now or per|haps knowledge from the fir&s;t &s;erves to report. And the&s;e are <HI>ample Demon&s;trations</HI> of our <HI>due regard</HI> to the <HI>Chri&s;tian Laws</HI> in this behalf.</P>
<P N="17"><PB N="22" REF="14"> XVII. BUT &s;ome of the&s;e Gentlemen, whom we are now an&s;wering, may po&s;&s;ibly further urge. However the quiet part of the <HI>Prote&s;tants in Ireland</HI> may not formerly have had <HI>&s;o great a &s;hare in Rebellion,</HI> as their <HI>Brethren in England,</HI> yet mu&s;t they acknowledge <HI>tho&s;e their Brethren</HI> to have in the pre&s;ent Revo|lution <HI>utterly ca&s;t</HI> off the afore&s;aid <HI>Doctrine and Practice:</HI> and them&s;elves now joyning with them, mu&s;t needs become, if not equal, yet <HI>Parti&s;ans</HI> in their Guilt, and con&s;equently be <HI>Rebels</HI> and <HI>Apo&s;tates</HI> from their own avowed Principles.</P>
<P>In An&s;wer hereto, the&s;e great <HI>Patriots of Chri&s;tianity in Di&s;pute,</HI> but <HI>Enemies and Oppre&s;&s;ors of it in Practice,</HI> mu&s;t &s;uffer us to tell them, (for it is no great pre&s;umption to &s;u&s;pect mo&s;t of them, either through Infirmity, Wilfulne&s;s or Devotedne&s;s to a Party, <HI>ignorant)</HI> that <HI>Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience</HI> or <HI>Non-Re&s;i&s;tance,</HI> as well as o|ther Chri&s;tian Duties, has its <HI>Bounds, and Sea&s;ons of Practice;</HI> and tho it be an undoubted Duty, obligatory to private per&s;ons, and perhaps to &s;ome &s;mall &s;ubordinate Societies of Men, yet does it not either concern all &s;orts of Men, or all Bodies of People; much le&s;s whole Nations. It is not the Bu&s;ine&s;s of this Paper, to a&s;certain all its Mea&s;ures. But in &s;hort: Who can imagine <HI>not re|&s;i&s;ting Evil, turning the other Cheek, giving the Cloak al&s;o,</HI> are Duties to be Preached to, or <HI>required of a Parliament?</HI> Can any be &s;o ab&s;urd, as to put no difference betwixt the private Rules of holy Living, and the publick Laws of Civil Government; betwixt means intended to bring penitent Men to Heaven, and tho&s;e de&s;igned to curb or re&s;train ob&s;tinate wilful Sons of Vio|lence, that they de&s;troy not the innocent and one another? For the attaining of one end, the great Mea&s;ure to be ob&s;erved, is Self-denial, and abundance of Charity; for the other, &s;trict Ju&s;tice, and in&s;i&s;ting upon particular Rights. On the one hand, in fit Circum&s;tances, Non Re&s;i&s;tance takes place as nece&s;&s;ary; on the other, Re&s;i&s;tance, where other Means will not do, is no le&s;s nece&s;&s;ary and lawful: So that what we ought, ordinarily, to teach a private handful of People to &s;ave their Souls, we mu&s;t not dictate to the three E&s;tates, to the Lords Spiritual and Temporal,
<PB N="23" REF="14"> together with the whole Commons a&s;&s;embled in Parliament (a Body of near eight hundred Per&s;ons, all of highe&s;t Quality, in their re&s;pective Ranks and Orders, in the Kingdom) as a Standard, by which they are to regulate the State. <HI>What Sen&s;e</HI> would it be to exhort them in Authority (and great is the Authority of the three E&s;tates; when the King leaves the Nation, the greate&s;t certainly in the Nation) what Sen&s;e would it be, I &s;ay, to preach to <HI>them in Authority,</HI> or <HI>to the higher Powers,</HI> to be <HI>&s;ub|ject to, and not re&s;i&s;t them&s;elves?</HI> But it is Sen&s;e, and the <HI>Duty of the Clergy</HI> to <HI>di&s;&s;uade</HI> their People from <HI>Revenge,</HI> from <HI>multiplying Suits at Law,</HI> from <HI>Sedition, Tumults</HI> and <HI>rebellious Projects;</HI> and for this purpo&s;e to lay before them the Commands of the Go&s;pel, which require of them Peaceablene&s;s, Meekne&s;s, and rather to &s;uffer Wrong, Damage, nay, even Oppre&s;&s;ion it &s;elf in &s;ome mea|&s;ure, than involve all in War and Blood, which is a far greater Oppre&s;&s;ion: And this is all the Non-Re&s;i&s;tance we preach or hold. But whereas we are now involved in War, who&s;e Fault is it? Theirs &s;ure who begun it, who fir&s;t rai&s;ed, and then main|tained an Army contrary to Law, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> In a word, and to &s;peak roundly, The <HI>King of England</HI> is <HI>King of three Kingdoms;</HI> by Law <HI>Prote&s;tants, not Slaves.</HI> It is <HI>impo&s;&s;ible</HI> for three King|doms to have <HI>all their Eyes put out.</HI> They mu&s;t therefore &s;ee them&s;elves ruining, before ruined. And it is as <HI>unrea&s;onable,</HI> as impo&s;&s;ible, to <HI>per&s;uade three Kingdoms</HI> to give <HI>all their Throats to be cut.</HI> No Law of God, or Man, can be thought to oblige them hereto. For any therefore to think, that as the three Kingdoms &s;ee, &s;o they &s;hould not with&s;tand their own Ruin, or which is much the &s;ame, that the Duty of Non Re&s;i&s;tance &s;hould take place in &s;uch a Ca&s;e as this, is for him to forfeit all Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on, or to become really mad, that he may &s;eem to be Religious. Wherefore when things have their true Names, either <HI>Engli&s;h or Iri&s;h Prote&s;tants</HI> taking <HI>Protection under a Prote&s;tant Prince,</HI> who&s;e ju&s;t A&s;&s;ertion of his own Rights nece&s;&s;arily involved al&s;o their Defence (and this at a time when their own King had ca&s;t them off from Protection) mu&s;t be acknowledged <HI>no Rebellion:</HI> I avow them who thus fly for, &s;eek, or accept, Protection to be as Pa&s;&s;ive as any where the Go&s;pel requires them.</P>
<P N="18"><PB N="24" REF="15"> XVIII. BUT it will be &s;aid, in re&s;pect of the <HI>Invaders,</HI> there mu&s;t at lea&s;t be acknowledged an <HI>Offen&s;ive War.</HI> Be it &s;o, yet was it a mo&s;t ju&s;t one. For the <HI>Prince of Orange</HI> was <HI>no Sub|ject,</HI> and therefore could <HI>not be a Rebel;</HI> and the Cau&s;es which he had to enter <HI>England,</HI> when he did, and in the manner in which he did, with armed Force, were both more in number, and for Weight and Ju&s;tice far greater, than it can be expected &s;hould be repre&s;ented in this Paper. Nor was his Advancement to the Throne le&s;s ju&s;t and equitable. I do not find that they, who have impartially con&s;idered all, can a&s;&s;ign any thing that could be done, more <HI>rea&s;onable,</HI> and as far as Man can &s;ee, more <HI>whole&s;ome to the Intere&s;t of Religion</HI> and <HI>Peace,</HI> whether in the <HI>three Kingdoms,</HI> or even in <HI>Chri&s;tendom</HI> it &s;elf. But the&s;e things have been undoubtedly deduced by abler Hands; nor is it need|ful to our pre&s;ent purpo&s;e any more than to point at them. <HI>We here</HI> have had a <HI>long and very dark night,</HI> and have been often <HI>abu&s;ed with fal&s;e Lights;</HI> &s;o that perhaps we know not yet the true State of many Tran&s;actions, nor are capable therefore to di&s;cour&s;e of them, as were requi&s;ite. <HI>Some per&s;ons</HI> po&s;&s;ibly there are, <HI>all who&s;e Conduct</HI> I cannot <HI>excu&s;e:</HI> but the <HI>Swearing Faith</HI> to, or <HI>Praying</HI> for, <HI>King William or Queen Mary,</HI> does no wi&s;e <HI>in|volve</HI> any in a <HI>nece&s;&s;ity</HI> of &s;uch Mens <HI>Vindication.</HI></P>
<P N="19">XIX. THE Conclu&s;ion then of all &s;hall be; Out of <HI>the Power of a King,</HI> which would not be per&s;waded to pre&s;erve him|&s;elf, and neither could nor would protect his Prote&s;tant Subjects; Out of the <HI>Hands of mercile&s;s and barbarous Fellow-Subjects,</HI> who were bent to have de&s;troyed both them&s;elves and their Country, and all in it with them&s;elves; and finally from the <HI>La&s;hes of the Scourge of Chri&s;tendom,</HI> God has brought us poor oppre&s;&s;ed Prote|&s;tants under a Prote&s;tant Prince. The <HI>Ca&s;e</HI> now in &s;hort is, whe|ther <HI>we will accept Protection</HI> or no? The <HI>Conditions</HI> indeed (&s;ay our Adver&s;aries) are very hard: Yes, they are no le&s;s than what <HI>God</HI> has <HI>made our Duty,</HI> if not our <HI>Nece&s;&s;ity,</HI> to <HI>Swear to bear Faith,</HI>
<PB N="25" REF="15"> and true Allegiance to, and <HI>to Pray for</HI> our <HI>Deliverers,</HI> and their <HI>Conquerors,</HI> in that Quality wherein we find them, and wherein they have Delivered us, and Conquered them. That is to pro|mi&s;e &s;acredly to Man &s;uch Subjection, and to make to God &s;uch Prayers, which in our pre&s;ent Condition, even without &s;uch Pro|mi&s;e, it were &s;in not to do. In the whole Revolution God has not vouch&s;afed to us &s;uch <HI>Iri&s;h</HI> Prote&s;tants (who are mainly concerned in this Paper) any active part in advancing the&s;e Princes to their Power: He has thought fit to a&s;&s;ign us &s;till only a <HI>Pa&s;&s;ive Lot.</HI> We mu&s;t acknowledge it is not, it has not been our Bu&s;ine&s;s to &s;et up Powers: but yet we mu&s;t own it is our Duty to obey them. And no le&s;s (certainly) to be thankful to God and them, if we may be protected by them. The Scripture is ex|pre&s;s, <HI>Let every Soul be &s;ubject to the higher powers.</HI> Such cer|tainly the <HI>Conquerors are.</HI> And, <HI>I exhort, that fir&s;t of all Suppli|cations, Prayers, Interce&s;&s;ions, and giving of Thanks be made for all Men, for Kings, and all that are put in Authority;</HI> [even for the per&s;on of a <HI>Nero</HI> therefore at that time:] and if <HI>for the froward,</HI> much more <HI>for the good and gentle.</HI></P>
<P>Let us chearfully then comply in both points, and <HI>lay down</HI> not our <HI>Conquered Arms</HI> (for Arms we Prote&s;tants have not been now a long time &s;uffered to wear,) but our <HI>captivated Hearts,</HI> at the <HI>Feet of</HI> King WILLIAM and Queen MARY, whom <HI>God long pre&s;erve.</HI></P>
<P>AND, <HI>O thou who ha&s;t hitherto delivered us from our Enemies, Deliver us now from our &s;elves. Let there be no</HI> Shimei <HI>or</HI> Sheba <HI>in our</HI> I&s;rael: <HI>But bow thou the Hearts of all the Tribes as one Man, that they may e&s;tabli&s;h the Kingdom in their Maje&s;ties, whom thy Hand and out &s;tretched Arm has now &s;et over us. Do thou, O King of Kings, defend the&s;e the true Defenders of the Faith, and make their Arms by Land and Sea Victorious, for the Reformation (if it might be thy Will) at lea&s;t for the Pacification of Chri&s;tendom; that we whom thou ha&s;t &s;aved from the Hands of</HI>
<PB N="26" REF="16"> <HI>our Enemies, may &s;erve thee without fear, in Holine&s;s and Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s before thee all the Days of our Life; and the&s;e Kingdoms may flouri&s;h, in Truth and Sanctity, in Peace amd Plenty, to the Glory of thy Name, and of the Ble&s;&s;ed Memory of our Deliverers to all Po&s;terity:</HI> Amen.</P>
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